Evelyn David

Murder Off the Books

It's no surprise that publishers are worried about the bottom line. Aren't we all? This is an industry that has been struggling for years with a steady decline in the book buying public. Now with our weakened economy, discretionary spending is at an all-time low. Buying gas v. buying a book. Our hearts might opt for the book, but that's not always possible. The end result is that editors are looking long and hard at new projects. You will need to convince not only the editor, but a committee of the sale-ability of your book. As one agent explained, "No editor, regardless of rank today, can make a deal without going through the editorial board of the publisher."

When you read the SinC report, a couple of things leap out. First, at least some publishers are already mourning the demise of the mystery genre, especially the cozy/traditional mystery. Second, thrillers are the hot new thing. They also can't get enough of paranormal books. Even better, presumably, would be a paranormal thriller.

But don't don your sackcloth and ashes quite yet. Good writing is good writing, whatever the genre. Julia Spencer-Fleming, the award-winning mystery author of All Mortal Flesh said it best: "Ultimately, what's important about the books I write and the books I read are that they create a recognizable, believable world with characters I want to spend time with."

You can't change the industry gossip. Spend your time focusing on making your book the best it can be. It's important to know what editors are looking for, but remember that you can't write a book that you don't believe in.

Last year we chose to attend three big conferences and the national meeting of the American Library Association. So far this year we've attended the Love Is Murder conference in Chicago in February and last weekend the Northern Half of Evelyn David attended Malice Domestic XX in Arlington, Virginia. This month, the Southern half heads to Omaha for Mayhem in the Midlands.

Below is the Northern half's diary of Malice. Enjoy!

False Start - Drove down from New York early Friday morning. Let's say it was nobody's finest hour. We'd put out a MySpace bulletin that Evelyn David would be bringing chocolate to Malice. About 40 minutes from the house, I asked my husband if he'd put the candy in the trunk. He assumed I had. The mystery is that we both lived to tell the tale. We zoomed back over the GW Bridge, picked up the candy, and headed back down the turnpike.

Opening Ceremonies - I sat next to Robert Barnard, British author who flew in to conduct the interview with Peter Lovesey, who is receiving the Malice Lifetime Achievement award. I also saw Chris Grabenstein; Agatha nominees Hank Philippi Ryan and Elizabeth Zelvin; and new author Rosemary Harris. I met Michael Allen Dymmock, author of the Jack Caleb/John Thinnes series.

I'm going to be broke by the time I finish buying all the books of all the authors I meet or hear this weekend.

Toxic Tips - "It's incredibly easy to poison somebody." Just came from a fabulous session by Luci Hansson Zahray, otherwise known as The Poison Lady. She's a toxicologist who loves mysteries (reads 300 books a year!). She had lots of suggestions for how to incorporate poison into a murder mystery. For example, some plants are safe to eat in the Northern states, because of the short growing season, whereas the same type of plant is toxic in the South because of the long growing season. Toxicity increases over time - so it might be safe to ingest in May, but by August, deadly. Think of the possibilities for the clever killer who knows his poisonous plants. He declares his innocence because he ate leaves from the same plant in his salad in the spring. Wasn't his fault his victim died in August eating a tainted salad!

Zahray told scary stories about ricin. Derived from the castor bean, if you ground up enough beans to equal the weight of a nickel - you could kill 100,000 people.

A bit of trivia that should appear in some novel - heroin, a morphine derivative, got its name from heroic effort against pain.

Getting Cozy - Just finished attending a wonderful panel, Cozy Up to these Sleuths: What Does a Cozy Make? A fascinating discussion about the cozy genre with Carolyn Hart, Jane Cleland, Audrey Friend, Mary Ellen Hughes, Emilie Richards, and G.M. Malliet moderating.

Carolyn Hart was incredibly thoughtful in her response to whether she liked the expression "cozy." She said she "loathed the term" because it was originally used by Raymond Chandler as a "diss" about Agatha Christie. She prefers "traditional" or "classic" mystery. Carolyn explained that "I don't write 'cute' mysteries. I write mysteries dealing with human emotions, dealing with right and wrong." She added that the traditional mystery avoids gratuitous sex and violence. It's not that those elements aren't in the classic mystery, but it's how they are presented. The panel discussed the elements of a cozy mystery and suggested that these include: a closed setting, limited number of suspects, the killer knows the victim, a plausible method of murder, and forensics can be mentioned by are not intrinsic to the solution.

Woo Woo! - Full disclosure: I'm the wrong half of Evelyn David to be at a paranormal panel. The Southern half loves this genre. Me? I get scared by the stuff.

After this panel, though, I might pick up some of these books. The authors were hysterical. Apparently hanging out with ghosts, zombies, and shape shifters, brings out the funny! All agreed that they needed some humor in their books, otherwise they'd get "bogged down.

We wrote one paranormal short story, I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries. I wasn't sure how to write a novel-length paranormal story - but this gave me some ideas. It's one of the values of mystery conferences - the opportunity to explore new directions.

Killer Villains - This panel had an interesting slant - from the point of view of the villain in a mystery. It was called, Cruella de Villain: Unforgettable Killers Make Good Mysteries.

The panelists were Suzanne Aruda, Jan Burke, Ellen Byerrum, Clare Langley Hawthorne, and Roberta Iseleib. Triss Stein was the moderator.

Laughed when Ellen Byerrum described taking a PI class. Said she flunked "surveillance" and had to take "remedial surveillance."

When asked where they find ideas for their villains, Jan Burke talked about how sometimes a character just "won't get out of my head." She also pointed out that not all first ideas are winners, but sometimes you use one and as you develop your story, a better one comes along. She suggested that it helps not to "over-direct" your creativity and sometimes ideas will develop as you let your imagination wander.

Loved the comment about the writing life by Suzanne Arruda. She said "Writing is like combing my hair. There will always be a big knot. I have to tease it out rather than rip it out."

Awards Banquet - The Agatha Awards Banquet is always so inspirational - and hilarious. The people who create fictional murder and mayhem are some of the funniest people I've ever seen.

Daniel Stashower was the Toastmaster. Incredibly articulate and also incredibly witty. He did a wonderful job moving the evening along - and he also won an Agatha for editing Arthur Conan Doyle: A Life in Letters.

Elizabeth Foxwell, a mystery historian, gave a brilliant talk on the need to preserve the letters and papers of classic mystery writers of the past, as well as how to promote the genre in the future.

Peter Lovesey won the Malice Lifetime Achievement Award. Handsome and debonair, he explained that "Behind every amazing man is an amazed woman."

Lindsey Davis was presented an award as the International Guest of Honor. It was her first time at Malice and she too had the crowd in stitches.

Sarah Masters won the Best Children/Young Adult Fiction; Donna Andrews won the short story award; Hank Phillippi Ryan won best first novel; and Louise Penny won best novel of the year.