Thanks to Ria for leading July’s meeting and taking these excellent minutes. Wish I hadn’t missed the meeting!

Writers’ Mill Minutes, July 2019

The meeting came to order timely at 1:00pm. In attendance were two guest speakers, Mollie Hunt and Jason Brick. Both came early to the conference room to set up displays of their books and brand, and meet and greet our writers as they arrived. We had about 12 members attend the meeting; including Jean Harkin’s daughter, Nancy Pilotte, who was visiting her mom and was who kind enough to help with room and set up and setting out the snacks which Jean brought this month.

Ria was leading the meeting this month, an angst-ridden task at best; Ria asked folks to go around the room and introduce themselves, tell us what their genre of writing/interest is and she asked that they offer what book they were currently reading and why. Several excellent books were mentioned by the attendees, including our guest speakers. Ria offered that she was reading Cat’s Eyes by Mollie Hunt and was enjoying it immensely. A few other books were 8 Times Up (Jason Brick was reading this), which he said was a poignant story about a paraplegic who had once been a vibrant athletic man and was coming to terms with his present day physical condition. Jason explained that the title, “8 Times Up,” is a martial arts reference to getting knocked down 7 times, and getting up that eighth time, a kind of nod to life and never letting life’s circumstances keep you down. A few other titles were Wheel of Time by R. Jordan; and another book entitled The Harder They Come.

Matthew reminded Ria that it was time to announce winners from July’s contest. Karin had family visiting and so Judy passed out the gifts to:

• Third Prize went to Robin Layne (Wilkinson) for “After Ruby”
• Second Prize went to Kelsey Cleveland for “Listen to the Waves”
• First Prize went to Matthew for “Max & Patty’s Space Adventure

Our second and third prize winners were not in attendance.

Next month’s Contest Theme is: “Mom said…” Entries go to contest @ portlandwritersmill.org and more information can be found at http://portlandwritersmill.org/contests/aug-2019-contest-page/ (password MomSaidAug19)

Mollie Hunt was introduced to the group. She is an accomplished writer and has been showered with accolades, which include: For Cat’s Paw (third in her mystery series featuring Lynley Cannon) finalist for the 2016 Mystery & Mayhem Book Award; fifth in the series, Cat Café won the World’s Best Cat Litter-Ary Award in 2019. Mollie is a member of the Oregon Writers’ Colony, Sisters in Crime, Willamette Writers, the Cat Writers’ Association, and NIWA. She is a native Oregonian and lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and several cats. Like her Cozy Cat Mystery heroine, Lynley Cannon, she volunteers at a cat shelter.

Mollie launched into a very informative talk, which she broke into three parts, below:

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Mollie Hunt’s Talk to the Writers’ Mill, July 2019

Part 1: Writing a Mystery

First decide whether or not you are going to write a stand-alone mystery or a series. Questions you need to ask yourself:

• Is this mystery going to be a thriller or a cozy mystery?
• Are you going to offer the solution at the beginning or will the puzzle be revealed over the process of writing?
• Is the hero of the story going to be an amateur sleuth or a law enforcement professional?
• Should you write what you know or should you follow your dream to write the mystery of your mystery-writing fantasy?
• These are the types of questions Mollie believes you need to ask yourself before you launch into writing a mystery.

She advocates for keeping an outline. She starts with an outline, and she takes meticulous notes and has post-it notes, too, to keep her facts straight about her characters (especially her recurring cats and the Crazy Cat Lady herself). She pointed out that if your books have a following — and particularly if you have written mysteries that are part of a series, with the same hero/heroine and perhaps other recurring characters — your readers will be very quick to point out inconsistencies between Book 2 and Book 4 and so forth. So keep notes! And file them in a place that makes sense to you and where you can go back and quickly and easily refer to your outline and your archival historical knowledge of your lead character and your recurring characters, so that mistakes and inconsistencies will not occur in future novels of the series.

Mollie describes her writing process as “Pantser,” which implies that she writes by the “seat of her pants,” as opposed to being a “Plotter” type of mystery writer. This is a quote from her notes entitled, “Unraveling the Mystery of Mystery Writing”:

“Often I begin with a title. My first draft is mostly spontaneous. I make notes as I go along.” Mollie insists that she writes every day; she never has writer’s block and she often works with a cat on her lap. In other words her “Pantser” process really works for her. She surrounds herself with the things she loves (her own cats) and her heroine is modeled after her own life. Mollie writes about what she knows. And she knows about cats and she knows what it’s like to be a 50-to-60 something year-old woman who volunteers her time at a cat shelter. Therefore her cat mystery novels feature Lynley Cannon, a sixty-something cat shelter volunteer who, “finds more trouble than a cat in catnip.”

Mollie keeps track of her characters with an Excel spreadsheet. She transfers information from the story outline and the post-it-notes to the spreadsheet to keep herself honest, and for the purpose of having a reference tool that is handy to use and right at her fingertips. Everything around her may inspire a novel or a title for a novel. As she explains it, “Some little thing I see or hear will strike me, and there’s a book!”

As for the writing process itself, whether it is fiction or non-fiction, Mollie keeps to the code:

• do research, fact check
• develop characters
• observation
• keep character logs and timelines

Where Mollie differs from the “writer’s code or standard process” is:

• the puzzle: The puzzle is the integral part of the mystery; it’s the meat and bones. Mollie will fill in the details of the storyline which surround the puzzle to be solved.

How I do it: “I start with details I want to introduce, then weave the story around the puzzle.” Mollie indicated that she “Follows her mind,” as she is writing. She writes “nano-fast” then she fluffs out the characters. How many McGuffins or Red Herrings does she put in the books? Unknown until she gets into the “deep dive” of the storyline.

The second draft is where the fun begins: Here is where she will color-code her characters that live in the Excel spreadsheet she keeps current. And this is where she will flesh out the details she wants to include in this novel.

Cozy Mysteries (Mollie’s specific mystery genre) are, “gentle mystery stories without foul language, explicit sex or graphic violence. They have a happy ending.” Mollie is often asked how long it takes to write one of her “Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mysteries.” Generally speaking, it takes Mollie about a year to write each novel. She works through the process in stages: There is a first draft, a second and a third draft; the printed read-through; the beta reader; the edited copy, and up to two proof copies. Plus the launch/promotion, so from beginning to end, this generally takes about a year.

It is interesting to note that Mollie works on more than one storyline or novel at a time. Her biggest challenge is promoting her books and promoting herself. She has found that what works for her, as far as promotion goes, is in-person book signing events. Mollie admits this is her favorite way to self-promote the “Crazy Cat Lady Cozy Mystery Books”

And it certainly is an opportunity for folks to meet the author and get to know her a little bit, experience her personality and get drawn into her cozy cat mystery series and come to feel and understand the mystery solver herself, Lynley Cannon. It is also an opportunity to ask the author questions about the persona of Lynley Cannon, and to ask after all those fun cat facts that Mollie includes in her books. Each chapter begins with a fun fact about cats.

For example, Chapter 13 of Cat’s Eyes (the book Ria is reading at present) begins with this interesting fact about cats:

“Cats have more than 100 vocal sounds, while dogs have only about ten.”

I’ll bet most people haven’t taken that deep of a dive into the life and world of cats (except perhaps other devoted cat owners); thus, not only are you getting a fun mystery to solve with the heroine of the book, but you are also learning some cool things about cats that you might not otherwise have known or learned.

How Mollie Hunt Became a Writer: In 1994 her husband was sent to Japan for work; Mollie stayed in Portland. Mollie loved reading mysteries, but had no idea about agents, publishers or knowledge about the business in general. She wrote a mystery which was 450 pages long. She got a lot of rejection letters, which were useful, because even though they were rejection letters, they often included some good tips about what it takes to write a good mystery; and once written, what it takes for it to be published. One of those tips is that the murder or mayhem needs to take place, “within the first 10 pages of the book.”

Mollie realized she had a lot to learn. She took a master class which was offered by David Gerrold (writer of The Trouble With Tribbles, which became both a script for an episode which aired on the original “Star Trek” series. “The Trouble With Tribbles was one of the most popular episodes aired by CBS — so much so that the story (like the series itself) took on a life of its own and Mr. Gerrold wrote a “Star Trek” novel derived from the “Trouble With Tribbles,” script.

What Mollie learned in this master class was that your “first million words = your practice run.” And you may get several books (after the rewrites) out of that first million words of writing. You may have the conceptual treatise for your mystery series or your TV show scripts.

But after that is where the “real work” begins; that is, fine-tuning this million words into a breathable, believable, readable, living mystery novel series, with recurring characters and a relatable heroine that people will crave and come back to time and time again. Thus, Mollie Hunt found herself a writer with a bona fide, solidified mystery series!

She talked a little bit about the different cat mystery series that are out there, such as “Pop Cats” or “Cosmic Cats.” She believes if you are going to describe your mystery series as a “Cozy Cat Mystery” series, that the cats referred to in your novels should be woven into the story and be an integral part of the storyline. Some books simply have a cat on the cover or mildly reference a cat somewhere within the story or may talk about a cat sitting on someone’s lap or show such a picture in the book or on the book cover. Mollie Hunt insists that you must include the cat in the story for it to truly be a “Cozy Cat Mystery” novel.

Part 2: Publishing Your Work

Self-Publishing; How I do it:

• Amazon, where it all begins
• Smashwords – for eBooks
• Draft2Digital – both published and eBooks
• *IngramSpark (Note: This is a self-publishing platform that sells directly to bookstores. Mollie found this platform “difficult” and does not use it; also she indicates it was expensive to use — she described it as $$$.)

Small publishers/Indie Publishers/Mainstream Publishers

How I do it:

• Professional content and copy editor
• Cover artist
• Self-publish through Amazon: Free
• However, she indicated that University Press is excellent if you are writing about a certain topic. And University Press is outstanding for non-fiction books. They will help you to hone your genre, too.
• Mollie also recommends you have a professional editor read your manuscript. Do not self-edit! Mollie has both an editor with whom she works and a cover artist.

Part 3: Marketing

Book Launch:

• Online, in person, or both?
• Free and pay-for book listing sites
• Reviews/ARC
• Social media
• Friends and family (word of mouth)
• Mollie also mentioned an organization called NIWA, which is the Northwest Independent Writers Association. This organization is dedicated to writers who publish/promote and package their own books; in other words, self-publish/self-promote. You can check out their organization by going to their website: com. Membership is $25 per year and if you join in the middle of the year or what-have-you, your membership fee is pro-rated. Renewals occur in January.

As mentioned earlier, Mollie prefers to do the book launch in person. There are free and pay-to-launch books sites. These sites are useful because hand-in-hand within the site are book reviews of your work, which become another hit point for generating interest and creating sales. She does print up postcards of her book. Nowadays, since she has a robust series in the Cat Lady Cozy Mystery genre, she will print up one postcard that includes all of her books (thus far) in the series. Mollie brought some of these postcards for her display today. Smart, as this advertises both the new book and all the books in the series, which potentially can entice attendees at book fairs or bookstores to purchase more than just the new book.

Mollie will also participate in contests and giveaways. In fact, she donated a book to our own Cedar Mill Library after the meeting, which Jean passed on to our library contact who ensures the donated books get into the for-checkout stream. Thank you, Mollie Hunt!

Mollie finished her presentation by reading from her latest novel which has not yet been released for publication, Cosmic Cat. What a great way to end the presentation, by teasing all of us with her latest book.

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Intermission: Folks were encouraged to grab some snacks and peruse the two guests’ book displays. Mollie also brought some beautiful cards for anyone who wanted them. No envelops but the blank-inside cards were stunning. Folks took a few of these and folks bought some of Jason Brick’s Anthology Series books, as well as Mollie Hunt’s books. Jean’s snacks were enjoyed and appreciated by one and all.

We resumed our meeting with our second guest, Jason Brick:

Jason has written for many different venues.

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Jason Brick’s Talk to the Writers’ Mill July 2019

How Jason Brick Got Started:

He is a martial artist and ended up writing a piece for a premier martial arts magazine. Admittedly, he will write for anyone within pretty much any venue, but Jason has a special enthusiasm and natural affinity for martial arts, since he himself is a martial arts specialist and he has two sons who are also involved in martial arts. He told me prior to the start of our meeting that he traveled to Malaysia in 2016 to write a piece for a travel magazine, but also so he and his sons would have the unique opportunity of visiting a country with a completely different lifestyle and culture very different from living here in the United States. He said it was an amazing experience for him and his sons, one which he will always treasure, plus he got paid to be there!

Jason Brick created the “Itty Bitty Writing Space,” to promote what he describes as “Flash Fiction.” It’s a writing space that attracts writers who are interested in writing stories that are 1,000 words or less; in other words, finding their writing voice within that flash fictional space that not only teaches writers the fine art of editing, but gets their story out there and read. It’s a place where writers who might otherwise never have been discovered or published can actually get discovered and be published in this brilliant anthology series.

These anthologies that Jason has put together (three are now in print) hint that some of the submissions may imply there is a larger story to be told by the writer. The anthologies are a fun read and will hopefully lead the writers to experience future successes, in that their work within the series may blossom into a stand-alone novel down the road or lead to other avenues of writing—scripts, non-fictional work, et cetera. There is no limit to where one’s creativity and artistic flare may take them.

How does Jason bring writers to the Itty Bitty Writing Space?

• He started the creative writing space through the Go Fund Me/Kickstarter method.
• He created the website, to make the anthology book happen.
• He advertised the Kickstarter and his concept of the Itty Bitty Writing Space through Writers’ Conferences
• Networking and
• Social Media in what he described as an “Open Call Model” requesting writers to send in their stories for consideration.
• Just the act of crowd-funding itself attracted writers to the Itty Bitty Writing Space.
• The fundraiser was the easy part: The kickstarter was not asking for much — $20 for an opportunity to sponsor someone’s writing (family members or friends of the writer)
• Or the writer himself/herself to have an opportunity to be a part of a writing space that promotes and supports new, burgeoning writers or new to this type of flash fiction writing.
• In other words, a legitimate way to get your work in print that might not otherwise have been a kick-off possibility for students, or other writers who are on a tight budget and have neither the means nor even the time to see their work published.
• Kismet: the kick starter attracted hundreds of flash fiction writers to the website and to the Kickstarter that Jason Brick created.
• The Itty Bitty Writing Space is subtitled, “100 Stories by 100 Authors”

Now What? Where do I go from Here?

• Jason realized it was very difficult to sort through hundreds of writing samples by himself. Plus it’s a “hassle” to keep track of a 100 crowd-funded writers and submissions.
• He put together a community of 300 authors through writers’ conferences and through networking
• Jason brought on board Dani J. Caile as co-editor, which was a huge boast to helping perpetuate the Anthology Series and keep things organized and moving forward.
• He does put out a bi-weekly newsletter.
• He also did a promotion/benefit to communities that were a part of the donation funds given where he offered to place the Itty Bitty Writing Space anthology in the library of the donor’s choice. This was very well-received by donors and by writers, knowing that they would not only be in print, but that a copy of the anthology would be in their local community library.
• Jason was able to publish the first anthology which was born out of the Kickstarter and which enabled him to actually create the Itty Bitty Writing Space, which has since generated two more anthologies.
• Our very own Jean P. Harkin is a contributing author in the latest and third published anthology of the series. Jean’s piece is entitled “HerStory,” and can be found on Page 102 of the Itty Bitty Writing Space anthology series.
• News flash: The third in the anthology series actually has 104 writers’ stories.
• If it’s a good story that meets the criterion of the anthology series, Jason and his cohort Dani J. Caile will not turn a writer away. They may have to set your story aside and publish it in the next anthology series. But as you can see from the bullet-point above, this one included four extra stories from four additional authors. Bonus!

How Does Jason Brick Self-Promote His Books or Articles?

• Jason does something very smart: He gets outside the writers’ rooms and venues. For example when he wrote about the world of martial arts, he went to wrestling and martial arts competitions at meets and schools that have a martial arts or wrestling program. His works sold out quickly.
• Go where your topic is, rather than just going to book fairs or doing readings at book stores. These are great venues, particularly if you already have a following or are an author with a series type of novels, such as Mollie Hunt.
• But go somewhere, where you are the only author at the venue, and where your particular magazine or book will generate passion and interest because it is somehow related to the venue in which you have inserted yourself.
• Go to your grassroots support, too. Friends, family and word-of-mouth can be very effective and supportive tools to help you sell your books/articles or magazines in which your writing appears.
• Make eye contact; Jason acknowledges that some writers are rather introverted. But you will find it’s much easier to promote yourself and your book if you are surrounded by people who are passionate about the same things you are passionate about and have written about.
• Writing is an inherently brave thing—you are putting your creative self “out there.” So be brave.
• You don’t have to blitz the Social Media scene, but pick 2 forms of social media and work from there. Perhaps there is a social group in which you are a member; for example, science fiction, and then work from there to promote your book or your article in a current magazine.
• Find book communities with which to connect.
• 80% of Jason’s articles have been through referrals.
• Jason is very disciplined (all that martial arts training).
• He is also polite and listens to what it is this particular writing assignment is asking for.
• He delivers what the writing assignment is asking for.
• And if they wish to edit his work or wish him to change something he has written; or add something to it or delete something from it; Jason is always amenable, polite and professional.
• And that’s why he gets called back for further, future assignments.
• Jason is now a contributing editor to Black Belt Magazine.
• Writers are also hobbyists; often they write about their hobbies.
• Orbit those communities that approach or dovetail what it is you write about!
• Get seen or read in trade magazines. Buy a few that interest you and see what/how the articles are written.

Jason Brick’s Query Letter Template:

• He has four points he hits in his Template Letter, and they are:
• Paragraph 1 – You are awesome. Magazine editors love to hear about themselves and how wonderful their magazine is.
• Paragraph 2 – I have an awesome idea that I believe would dovetail nicely with your magazine. And tell them briefly what this idea is.
• Paragraph 3 – Explain what your credentials are, which makes you the unique person who needs to write this article or is the right fit for this writing gig. And then polish Paragraph 3 with a thank you for your time and for your consideration.
• Always include a Post Script (which is technically Paragraph 4) – In your P.S. is the tease-hook: I have two other ideas which I would love to share with you and then describe in some sort of teaser-like fashion how those two ideas would serve the magazine.

Use your Query Template letter and Query early and Query often. Keep your ear to the ground!

You can also use a “Bundling” technique wherein you are bundling your books at stores and shows that are somehow related to your topic. Themed displays.

Cross-promote yourself and your books/articles. Find the commonalities between you as the writer and your readers.

Jason ended his presentation with an invitation to all of us writers in the Cedar Mill Writing Group: Please feel free to contact Jason Brick any time. He can be reached at the following email address: brickcommajason@gmail.com

Speed Dating for New Authors— is a kind of mini-version of bundling, a concept of Lawrence Block.

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Matthew led the critique of Ria’s piece entitled “Priya’s World.” The piece was simply the prologue to the novel, which has been written and rewritten and reconceptualized by Ria since 1980. Matthew was quick to point out that the original concept was written before Matthew was born!

Matthew pretty much followed the outline of questions that were provided to everyone, together with a printed version of Ria’s prologue:

• General consensus was that Ria probably didn’t need a prologue to this story; she simply could have launched into Chapter 1.
• Whatever backstory exists for Priya, that should be incorporated or introduced into the novel, chapter by chapter.
• Both Jean and Jason indicated they would have liked to see the exchange between the librarian, Mrs. Eskew and Priya on the topic of reading books that are regarded as adult fiction and non-fiction with “too much adult content” for a 13-year-old.”
• Someone mentioned the edict, “show, don’t tell.”
• Show through conversation; show through her narrative, her thoughts.
• Jason mentioned a book entitled Heat Lightning written by John Sanford which is about a “hippie cop.” He encouraged Ria to read the early passages in the book. He felt that that particular novel hits the sweet spot early through dialogue and “showing, not telling” that this law enforcement officer is not “like the other children.” He is indeed a “Hippie Cop.”

When Ria was allowed to “take the tape off” off, she admitted that the prologue was more for “her benefit,” rather than for the readers. But of course, as we learned from Mollie Hunt, that’s what Excel spreadsheets are for! This is where you can track timelines, characters, recurring characters and character development and idiosyncrasies, such that rather than have a prologue at all, you simply “show your readers,” who Priya is, rather than spell out what drives or motivates Priya.

Ria added that parts of the “Prologue” could morph into the back cover of the book or the inside front jacket by taking out some of the details, but enticing the reader to care about “Priya’s world” and enticing enough to take the journey with Priya as she searches for the truth about her father.

And so ended our lively, two-guest meeting. Both Mollie Hunt and Jason Brick stayed to the very end of the meeting. I believe Jason and Mollie did sell books to a few of us writers. I bought the latest anthology in the Itty Bitty Writing Space just so I could get a feel for the anthology series and honor Jean’s contribution as well. I had already purchased a copy of Mollie Hunt’s Cat’s Eyes.

There were several robust post-meeting discussions going on as our guest authors packed up their book displays, postcards and business cards. Jason also donated one or two of his anthology series to our library. Jean delivered all the books to our library contact so that they could be put into circulation.

Thanks again to Jean and Nancy, and thank you to Judy for helping to clean up and close up the room.