Mollie Hunt currently has around 16 published titles: 11 mysteries in two cozy series, 1 standalone novel, 3 science fiction novels, 1 memoir, and 1 book of poetry! A common theme in her books is cats because…
Why Cats?
Cats aren’t just cute. They have a place in our world. They interact with humans. And we can learn from them (as Mollie makes clear in her memoir).
Why Cozy Mysteries?
Cozy mysteries are clean, no swearing, no grotesque violence, and always have a happy ending – think “Murder She Wrote” on TV.
Mollie enjoys reading them, and so began writing them. Cats drive the story, and cats drive her to write. But there are lots of cozies out there. If you’re going to write them, you have to decide how your books will stand out. What will make them special?
How do you write Genre Fiction and make it Different?
Mollie uses epigraphs (tiny blurbs) at the beginning of each chapter in her Crazy Cat Lady series. These give the reader tidbits of information about cats, their lives, their needs, etc. and make her books different from anyone else’s. You just have to think of something to make your series special. But Mollie doesn’t just write Crazy Cat Lady novels.
How do you write in more than one genre and not have them all sound the same?
Mollie read to us from Cat Summer (science fiction), Cats Eyes (Cat Lady mystery), and There’s a Cat Hair in my Face Mask (memoir). The writing voices sound completely different.
- Her science fiction novel is written in third person, with slow evocative descriptions to draw the reader in.
- The Cat Lady novels are written in first person with a fast, breathless narration that’s part of the character.
- The memoir is first person again, but much quieter, more thoughtful and contemplative.
- She didn’t read from her paranormal mystery series, but says that paranormal stories are more directly story-driven.
It’s good to read in your genre and have a sense of what readers expect when you decide what voice to write in.
How do you create a New Voice for a New Series?
Go into it thoughtfully.
- Punctuation helps to change the flow of sentences:
- A cozy mystery will have lots of Oxford commas. Clean tidy sentences.
- Science fiction has fewer commas, longer flow.
- Point of view – 1st or 3rd person – changes the voice
- Choice or words, and repetition of words
- Poetic or just-the-facts language
- Start with the idea that this will be a different story and see what happens
There are lots of different ways to express yourself. Difference genres. Different purposes.
How do you write Mysteries?
Mollie might begin with just a title. She doesn’t know where the story will go, and her writing feels like reading (only slower), waiting to learn what comes next. At some point she has to choose between possible endings. One thing might look obvious, but something more complicated might work for a better mystery. Then she’ll have to go back and rewrite some earlier sections, add clues and red herrings, and clean up the story so it works.
Agatha Christie wrote the endings first. Mollie writes till the ending presents itself, then writes the ending and fixes the rest of the story.
Is Writing Hard Work?
Yes. If Mollie didn’t love it, she wouldn’t do it. Very long hours. Can be really boring. But she loves it.
She’s often working on more than one book at once – it’s relatively easy to keep the stories separate, but when they’re ready for publishing, there’s a lot of effort involved – hard to publish more than one book at the same time
Mollie writes every morning after feeding the cats. You have to commit to spending the time at it.
It takes about a year to write a book.
What is involved in writing a Book?
- The first draft comes first. This is where she writes from beginning to end, puts XXX in all the places she hasn’t had time to research yet, and learns what the end is going to be, and it’s perfect! Don’t try to do all your research while writing. Find out what you need then research it after the first draft.
- The second draft is where she gets rid of the XXXs, realizes how stunted the dialog was, finds words repeated over and over in one paragraph, spots what doesn’t work in the plot, etc. She uses Word and Googledocs to edit. They both have advantages, and using both means she gains from both.
- Third draft, and Mollie’s still fixing things, but now it’s time to…
- Read the story aloud. Or let Word or Google read it aloud. When you hear your words aloud, you’ll find more things you want to fix.
- Give the book to her editor. Mollie reminds us you can’t edit yourself. You will always miss stuff. It’s important to have an editor that you trust:
- An editor who will give meaningful advice
- But who won’t tell you what to do.
- She will also be working with a cover artist.
- Then she’ll send her book to beta readers. Beta readers don’t already know the story. They’ll spot the places where the author knew exactly what was happening but didn’t convey that information to the reader. Mollie will assign questions to her beta readers:
- Did you know…?
- Were you confused when…?
- What did you like/not like? Etc
- At this point it’s time to make a proof copy of the book, uploading the manuscript and cover to Amazon KDP (just like we do). Unlike us, Mollie doesn’t hit publish straight away, but instead buys a proof copy because you’ll always find more things when the book is in print that you missed when it was on the computer.
- Sometimes she’ll fix errors and buy another proof. It’s an advantage of independent publishing – you can keep changing things.
- Then she publishes the book. But if a reader spots a typo, she can always go back and fix it, again and again!
What Drew Mollie to Writing?
Initially Mollie trained as an artist, but the whole having to make money off art thing put her off.
In 1995 her husband took a trip and left her with the computer. It had WordPerfect on it, and she started writing. Wrote 40 pages (saving them on a floppy disc so she wouldn’t hurt the computer) and was hooked. Soon 40 pages was 400, and the book was never published.
David Gerrold says your first million words are practice. Mollie completed that first million then, in 2011, wrote Cats Eyes, her first book. She queried agents and publishers, got some interest, some advice, and lots of rejections, then got bored and started another book.
Her advice is keep writing, start another book, and don’t get discouraged.
A high school friend said “Let’s publish Cats Eyes ourselves.” She formatted and edited the book, then published it, and Mollie started another book.
How do you Decide what to Write?
Mollie writes cozies because she likes reading them. She likes scifi/fantasy too, and poetry, so she writes these as well. She doesn’t enjoy memoirs – they don’t guarantee a happy ending the way a cozy does – but she felt compelled to write one. So, write what you want to read or what you feel compelled to write.
How did she write her memoir?
She keeps a journal, and she used the internet to find out what was happening between Feb 2020 and the middle of 2021. Covid caused lockdown, and she and her husband were locked down with cats. The cats were a major influence.
Memoir uses your own voice. It might include language you wouldn’t put in your novels, political ideas you’d not want to impose on mystery readers, a personal choice of detail. Writing memoir bounces your brain around – everyone should write one says Mollie.
What is Independently Published?
Mollie says her books are independently published, not self-published. They’re not “self” published because other people help – her editor, cover creator, etc.
The pros of independent publishing are:
- You have control. You don’t give up any rights. Your publisher’s not going to go out of business, and they’re not going to retain the rights to your book when they do!
- It’s flexible. You can go back in, edit out the typos etc, as often as you like, at no charge (no charge with Amazon anyway)
- It’s fast. When you’re ready, you publish. No long waits.
- You can buy your own book cheaply to hand-sell. Publishers will want their cut, so if you have a publisher and you try to buy your own book from them, it costs more.
There’s a downside of course:
- Sales and publicity are all up to you (though in practice they may well be all up to you if you have a publisher)
- A publisher might enter your book into contests. That’s all up to you now.
- Book stores often won’t take books from Amazon. (In Sheila’s experience, they won’t take them from other self-publishing outlets either). Your book might be available on their website but not in their store. Even Powells and Annie Blooms don’t take independent books!
How do you Market Books?
Social media is a popular approach to marketing, but don’t try to do it all. It helps to keep the cover, your face, and cats (in Mollie’s case) in front of potential readers on Facebook, for example, but it’s not going to generate lots of sales.
Mollie has used Amazon ads. You have to pay for them. They’ll help you make the “sponsored ad” with cover picture, details, etc.
Mollie’s website started out as a free blog on WordPress. Now she pays them so she can have a good web address: https://molliehuntcatwriter.com/
She has about 200 people subscribed to her newsletter, and she handed round a sign-up sheet. Sheila has about 20 subscribers and has given up sending out the newsletter. Mollie says she shouldn’t give up. Newletters keep readers in the loop, and they make you write.
NIWA is a local organization of independent writers. They take your books to events and sell them there. Plus they’re a great community who offer lots of advice. They’re well worth joining. https://www.niwawriters.com/ Mollie reminds us, you should always give back as well as gaining from a group!
Mollie says never say no when you’re invited to speak to a group. We’re glad she didn’t say no to us!
Where do Reviews fit in?
Reviews can be hurtful, so Mollie tries not to read too many of them. But sometimes they really give you a boost.
Mollie once had a review that said her book didn’t feel believable because with so many cats the protagonist would have to do more vacuuming. She hadn’t included vacuuming in the story as it’s boring, but now she includes it every once in a while.
Don’t take reviews to heart.
Summary
- Don’t get discouraged. The first million words are your practice.
- Don’t stop writing. If you can’t get it published just now, write another book.
- Don’t give up – on writing, on putting your book in front of facebook friends, on sending out newsletters.
- Don’t take reviews or rejections personally. Just write another book.
- And write another book!