tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10033740093518188132024-02-20T21:27:42.801-08:00Karen E. OlsonIn So Many WordsKaren Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-66809376017394934562023-09-10T12:37:00.002-07:002023-09-10T12:37:44.677-07:00Tudor obsession pays off<p> A lot has happened since 2018, the last time I posted anything on this blog. My daughter graduated from college and moved to the West Coast; I was in a car accident and suffered a concussion; COVID upended all of our lives and after catching it in the early days of March 2020, I have been dealing with long covid issues (albeit much less so now, but it's not completely gone.) </p><p>In the midst of all that, the book that I've been working on for years had a lot of fits and starts. But I am so thrilled to finally announce that AN INCONVENIENT WIFE is going to be published on April 2, 2024 by <a href="http://pegasusbooks.com/books/an-inconvenient-wife-9781639365654-hardcover" target="_blank">Pegasus Crime</a>. I am beyond thrilled to be part of their list. The book description is as follows:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Kate Parker knows what she’s getting into when she marries billionaire businessman Hank Tudor—she’s his sixth wife, after all, and was by his side as his assistant when his fifth marriage to actress Caitlyn Howard fell apart. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">But honeymoon plans go awry when a headless body is discovered near Hank’s summer home, forcing Kate to contend with two more of his exes: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Catherine Alvarez—the first—who lives as a shut-in with her computers carefully following Tudor Enterprises; and Anna Klein—the fourth—who runs a bed-and-breakfast where she and her wife keep a steady eye on things—particularly Hank’s children, Lizzie and Teddy.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The three women become entwined in a game of cat and mouse with each other, Hank, and Hank’s fixer Tom Cromwell, as Kate seeks to figure out who the murdered woman is, who killed her, if and how she is related to Hank, and whether her death has any connection to the <i>other</i> headless body eight years earlier. </span></p></blockquote><p>If this sounds familiar, it's because it is. Anyone who knows the story of Henry VIII and his six wives will see that story in this one. I've always wanted to explore a modern retelling. What might Henry and his wives be like in the 21st century? What would the wives be like? Would they get along? Why would the sixth wife actually marry him after seeing his track record with wives?</p><p>I've been obsessed with the Tudors since I was 14 and read Mary Luke's <i>A Crown for Elizabeth</i>. I don't generally read historical fiction; in fact, the only novels about the Tudors that I've read are the Hilary Mantel Wolf Hall books and Elizabeth Freemantle's <i>Queen's Gambit.</i> Instead I've read countless biographies by historians Alison Weir, Antonia Fraser, Joanna Denny, David Starkey, Linda Porter, Gareth Russell, and Hayley Nolan. </p><p>I was curious what a Tudor historian might think of the book and Joanne Paul, who has written the recent <i>House of Dudley</i> (I haven't read it yet but it's next on my TBR pile), said this about it:</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><blockquote>“<i>An Inconvenient Wife</i> is a truly captivating and often startling ‘what if’ adventure, both eerily familiar and entirely unknown. Karen E. Olson brilliantly captures the psychological terror of the Tudor period, translating it into a vivid twenty-first century world. It is clever, captivating and oh-so-difficult to put down; the mystery deepens with every turn of the page. The book combines all the feminist fire of <i>SIX</i> with the dark familial murder-mystery of <i>Knives Out.</i>”—Joanne Paul, author of <i>The House of Dudley: A New History of Tudor England</i></blockquote><p>This made me so happy!</p><p>I've also gotten wonderful endorsements from Alafair Burke, Alison Gaylin, Laura Benedict, Michele Campbell, Reed Farrel Coleman, Elizabeth Freemantle, and Naomi Hirahara.</p><p>I hope you'll check out the book! It's up for preorder, and you can find links at my website <a href="https://kareneolson.com" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>And if you're a reviewer and would like a review copy or a press kit, please find the link <a href="http://pegasusbooks.com/books/an-inconvenient-wife-9781639365654-hardcover" target="_blank">here</a> to email my publisher.</p><p><br /></p><p> </p><i></i><o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-51853244034191222342018-10-04T06:32:00.001-07:002018-10-04T06:32:50.005-07:00Moving on, but still hereTwo years since I last posted. I've told myself that blogs are dead, that no one reads them. We'll see.<br />
<br />
Two years later, I have completed the Black Hat thriller series, with the publication of <i>Vanished </i>in February. It's time again to move on and try new things.<br />
<br />
I'm working on a standalone. Or maybe it's a trilogy. It could be either. But it's not a conventional series. It's something I've wanted to write for a long time, something I actually started back before I began writing the tattoo shop mysteries. It will be very different than my other three series, as it's written with several points of view in third person, rather than my usual first person POV. It's been a challenge.<br />
<br />
It's also been a challenge because I'm distracted by daily life as well as what's going on in our country right now. I have just deactivated my Facebook account. Probably only temporarily, while I work on the revisions to my book. I've found that Facebook too easily distracts me. I am tempted by all the shiny objects, all the news that bombards us every day, all day. I need a break from it, as it's exhausting.<br />
<br />
Hopefully I will have something to show for my break from social media within a few months, something that I hope knocks the socks off some editor somewhere. At least that's what I'm aiming for. Wish me luck, and perhaps I'll be back before 2020. But I can't promise anything...Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-48795763265442938202016-08-22T12:47:00.000-07:002016-08-22T12:47:08.016-07:00I'm back...at least for nowIt's been a long time since I've posted. The last time, I was excited about the publication of my book HIDDEN. Since then, SHADOWED, its sequel has debuted and I've turned in the manuscript for BETRAYED, the third in this suspense series featuring a woman computer hacker. BETRAYED will be out in the UK on December 30, and here in the US on April 1. I'm not sure how I feel about having a book debut on April Fool's Day...<br />
<br />
Since I last posted, too, I've had a upheaval in my personal life. I switched jobs, from a part time one editing a medical journal to a full time one in the acquisitions department at Yale Press. The two positions couldn't be more different, and my entire life schedule had to change. I began getting up at 5:45 a.m. to get to the gym by 6 and writing during my lunch hours and for a couple of hours after work. My daughter is in college now, though, so at least I no longer play the role of chauffeur. It's been a bit of an adjustment, but I think I'm finally on track.<br />
<br />
It's been interesting being on "the other side" of publishing these past months. I now see all the behind-the-scenes things that I never realized before. I can read my own contracts and understand them, although royalties "on reserve" still baffle me. I enjoy working with the authors, and I think they feel a little better knowing that I can understand their frustrations and joys about publishing a book. I had one author call me when his book came out just to tell me how wonderful it was to hold it. He said, "you know how that feels."<br />
<br />
I'm hoping to have many more experiences like that myself. In between, though, I'll try to get here a little more often. Hope to see you here, too.Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-32303561374267930752015-11-13T14:47:00.002-08:002015-11-13T14:47:56.765-08:00More books in the HIDDEN series!I am so thrilled to announce that there will be a third book in the HIDDEN series! I have recently signed a contract to continue the series with Severn House Publishers. The title will be BETRAYED.<br />
<br />
The second in the series, SHADOWED, will debut in the UK on February 28 and in the US on June 1. Here is a teaser:<br />
<br />
<i>The
computer hacker formerly known as Nicole Jones is now living as Susan
McQueen on a remote island in Quebec, Canada. She is living a quiet
life, working as an artist - but she has not given up her computer.
While in an online chat room, she sees a shadow - someone is inside her
laptop, watching her every move, and somehow knows exactly who she is.
Afraid that he will track her down, Susan is on the run again - but from
whom? Is it the FBI or someone associated with her past crime sixteen
years before? Making her way across the border and back to the USA, some
unsettling discoveries make Susan realize that she won't be able to
escape her past a second time.</i><br />
<br />
Are you hooked yet?<br />
<br />
And here is the cover of SHADOWED:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzf2X6wn2uIp1tHY0Wqru1z8lDssm8RKxP7r9b5k8Ez3GdhOo2ISV_pbbm5VYvAifC_4jaK3mWK7iQvZ0l6_iBcFw2CTfUuZoyDJSBcDi7wl0Pcrk5Nvj7dRtL2-Fq0pZfYHJqWKSZHtM/s1600/shadowed+2+red.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilzf2X6wn2uIp1tHY0Wqru1z8lDssm8RKxP7r9b5k8Ez3GdhOo2ISV_pbbm5VYvAifC_4jaK3mWK7iQvZ0l6_iBcFw2CTfUuZoyDJSBcDi7wl0Pcrk5Nvj7dRtL2-Fq0pZfYHJqWKSZHtM/s320/shadowed+2+red.jpg" width="201" /></a></div>
<br />
What do you think?<br />
<br />Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-55488463179823676522015-09-08T05:16:00.002-07:002015-09-08T05:16:30.801-07:00New website and title reveal!My website has a new look!<br />
<br />
I decided that I needed to change it up a little, since my new books are more suspense than mystery and definitely not cozy. It had been a long time since I really updated my website, so it was definitely time. I have separate pages for my Annie Seymour and Tattoo Shop mysteries, and a new page for HIDDEN, with an excerpt from the book and the acknowledgments that were inadvertently left out of the actual book itself.<br />
<br />
I'm really thrilled with how it looks. Check it out!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.kareneolson.com/">www.kareneolson.com</a><br />
<br />
And please send me your comments through the Contact page. I set up a new contact form and I'm hoping it keeps the spam at bay.<br />
<br />
In other news, I finally finished the sequel to HIDDEN and have sent it off to my editor! The title of the new book is:<br />
<br />
SHADOWED<br />
<br />
In this book, Nicole Jones, who is now Susan McQueen and living in Canada, discovers that she has a "shadow" in her computer who is watching her every move.<br />
<br />
SHADOWED will come out in the UK on February 28 and the US on June 1.<br />
<br />
<br />Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-22560770997827523462015-06-30T12:10:00.003-07:002015-06-30T12:10:55.891-07:00I should be writingThe title of the post says it all.<br />
<br />
I should be writing.<br />
<br />
And I am. In the way that this book is being written.<br />
<br />
To explain: I have never written a book like this before. I am a fairly linear writer. The story comes out of my head in the order that it will appear. Usually. This book is quite defiant, though, in that it doesn't want to be linear in my head at all. It wants me to write a scene but it doesn't necessarily want to be in the place that I have written it. I am constantly cutting and pasting, moving bits of text around to find where it fits best. <br />
<br />
I am also spending a lot of time thinking about what is going to happen next, or what should have happened before, or what's going to happen at the end. So when I "should be writing," much of the time I am "thinking about what I'm going to write."<br />
<br />
I have finally hit 40,000 words, though, which means I am about halfway done. I have two months to go. But the book isn't the only thing on the agenda this summer. I have a daughter who has just graduated high school, we have just hosted a graduation party, we have to start organizing what she's going to need to bring to school. We are heading to New York City for the Boomer Esaison Foundation's Run to Breathe in a couple of weeks; we have a trip planned to Montreal in August.<br />
<br />
So I grab at moments to sit and write, move more text around, see if the story is jelling, even though it's not linear and I don't know where it's going to end up. Except that I do. Know where it's going to end. Or at least I know what the big reveal will be at the end, or close to the end. Or maybe in the next page I write.<br />
<br />
That's the way this book is going. I have no idea what's going to happen from one day to the next.<br />
<br />
So I should be writing.Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-75488247540776808242015-05-29T08:29:00.001-07:002015-05-29T08:29:55.706-07:00Nods and breaths and other victims of copy editingI've just gotten the page proofs for HIDDEN. This is the last stage of the editing process, when the book has been typeset and I get to look at it one last time for any errors. I really like seeing how the pages are going to look inside the book, because I notice that sort of thing when I'm reading a book. Because the pages have been typset, though, I can't make any huge changes at this point; it's merely to look for spelling or small grammatical issues. It was in the copy editing stage that those bigger fixes can be made. And I made them.<br />
<br />
I was appalled at how many times characters in the book were nodding. They nodded here and there, sometimes two or three times to a page. That's not all, either. Everyone seemed to take deep breaths. All. The. Time. There was so much heavy breathing going on, it could've been an erotic romance. Or a long description of an asthma attack. How I didn't see this before I sent it off to my editor is a mystery. And I'm embarrassed that I didn't see it. But not looking at the book for four months helped me look at it with much more open eyes. So there is a lot less heavy breathing and nodding going on now.<br />
<br />
I have a superb copy editor at Severn House. Sara caught a lot of those little nitpicky grammatical problems that are the bane of the copy editor's existence. I admit to loving being a copy editor, so the copy edit stage is one of my favorites. One thing about being published by a British publisher is that sometimes my Americanisms were questioned. As an example, there was a sticky note asking what it meant when one character said he had to "hit the head."<br />
<br />
There were times while I was looking at the copy edits that I wondered if I didn't like this more than the actual writing. But that came from the fact that the second book in the series is very slow going at the moment, and copy editing was so much easier because HIDDEN is already written. (There are a ton of reasons why writing is slow right now, most of them external, like the fact that my daughter is going to be graduating high school in less than a month and there is so much to do that isn't writing.)<br />
<br />
I have a week to go over the page proofs and then the book will be out of my hands completely. I won't be able to change a word, and what's there will be there when you open the book to read it. That scares the daylights out of me, she says while nodding and taking a deep breath...Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-86823621324113713032015-03-27T05:44:00.000-07:002015-03-27T05:44:01.328-07:00HIDDEN cover revealed!I have a cover for HIDDEN! My new publisher, Severn House, has created the perfect cover for the book. It evokes the atmosphere I've created perfectly. Check it out!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOOfGWDqHKHYm1zvq2PQ-Q1PxbHit6OtEqvG45zBH-r_3DO0XAxQmKcGDWtymXLGzXDL3ZFgu6u7Kr-DrZJRuOECbA7xzj_XoMLxz4-Ww5qWv1ZSn5_LimpNj2P6DU5ultnmeLEe0f-QG/s1600/hidden+3+no+strap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOOfGWDqHKHYm1zvq2PQ-Q1PxbHit6OtEqvG45zBH-r_3DO0XAxQmKcGDWtymXLGzXDL3ZFgu6u7Kr-DrZJRuOECbA7xzj_XoMLxz4-Ww5qWv1ZSn5_LimpNj2P6DU5ultnmeLEe0f-QG/s1600/hidden+3+no+strap.jpg" height="320" width="199" /></a></div>
<br />
Severn House has also sent me the cover copy:<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Nicole Jones – if that is her real name – lives off the
grid. She doesn’t have a license, passport or bank account. She definitely
doesn’t own a computer. She hasn’t left her refuge, Block Island, in fifteen
years. She’s hidden from the world and she likes it that way. Nicole doesn’t
use a computer, not because she’s afraid of it, but because she’s afraid of
what she – a badass hacker in her past life – would do with it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">When the last person Nicole wants to see suddenly
reappears, using a name he knows will draw her out, Nicole realizes that her
time hidden is now ending. Her past secrets tumbling into the open and her
carefully constructed new life set to fall apart, Nicole must re-hone her
long-suppressed computer skills in order to escape from an island that is no
longer a haven, but suddenly a prison. </span></div>
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<br /><br />I can't wait to see it in print!<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-hyphenate: none; mso-pagination: no-line-numbers; text-align: justify;">
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Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-82677482199021484362015-03-10T12:26:00.003-07:002015-03-10T12:27:33.180-07:00A strong sense of placeI'm so excited that my new book HIDDEN will be out in the UK on July 31 and in the US on November 1. I hope to be able to share the cover with you soon. But in the meantime, I'm working on the second book in the series, which is due at the end of August.<br />
<br />
When my agent asked if that deadline was possible, it was before Christmas, I did the math, and said, sure. And then I started the book. And started it again. And started it again. Whatever I wrote just wasn't working. Finally, after many mis-starts, I finally had a first chapter I was happy with, a launching point for the book.<br />
<br />
It's hard writing a sequel to a book that wasn't supposed to have one. But the more I'm writing, the more I realize that Nicole's story isn't entirely over yet, and I'm glad that Kate, my new editor at Severn House, saw that.<br />
<br />
However, I did leave Nicole in a place that is so remote, I couldn't figure out how to get her out. Because get her out, I felt I had to do.<br />
<br />
At least at first.<br />
<br />
Nicole is in Quebec. A beautiful place, a place I've loved to visit. And while it is remote, I'm discovering that she needs to stay there for a while. Maybe even through the whole book (although I'm only 50 pages in, so that can change, too).<br />
<br />
Even though I've been there, it's been a while, so I hunted down the travel pieces I wrote for the New Haven Register after our trips there. As I read them, they brought me back, and I could close my eyes and see the mountains edging up to the St. Lawrence, see the pinks and oranges of the sunrises on Ile-aux-Coudres, still smell the exhaust of the car as it struggled up the incline after getting off the ferry going back to Baie-Saint-Paul. Since I'm probably not going to get to Quebec again before I finish the book, I have to rely on my words and memories from before.<br />
<br />
I believe setting is a huge part of every book. It is a character in and of itself, and I tried hard to bring Block Island alive in HIDDEN. As I hope I can bring Quebec and the Charlevoix region alive in this second book.<br />
<br />
Are you drawn to books with a strong sense of place?Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-22021982753159766462014-12-18T08:07:00.001-08:002014-12-18T08:07:41.005-08:00HIDDEN to be published!<br />I'm so thrilled to announce that the Manuscript from Hell, which now has the title of HIDDEN, will be published by Severn House!<br />
<br />
Here is the official announcement that was in Publisher's Marketplace:<br />
<br />
<i>Tattoo Shop Mystery series author Karen Olson's HIDDEN, a new series
featuring a woman who has spent 15 years hiding from her criminal-hacker
past with zero carbon footprint, only to be discovered on Block Island,
where she's been living as a bicycle tour guide and painter without a
cell phone or bank account, to Kate Lyall-Grant at Severn House, in a
two-book deal, by Josh Getzler at Hannigan Salky Getzler (World
English). Translation: Dburby@hsgagency.com Film/TV: jgetzler@<a href="http://hsgagency.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hsgagency.com.</a> </i><br />
<br />
I have been working on this book for a long time. Years, in fact. It is a huge departure from my previous books in that it's not a mystery, but a suspense novel.<br />
<br />
I am also very excited to be joining the Severn House list. HIDDEN will come out first in the UK, possibly even as soon as July 2015, and then here in the US, possibly in November 2015. <br />
<br />
I did write HIDDEN as a standalone, but my new editor saw a series potential in it, so I am now working on plotting out the second book, which is due at the end of August. While I have been busy this past year, I will be busier in the new one.<br />
<br />
It promises to be a very Happy New Year! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-64048284420820831572014-04-11T06:53:00.001-07:002014-04-11T06:53:49.771-07:00Procrastination: Friend or Foe?Some days I just don't feel like writing. Yes, I can hear that voice in my head: But real writers force themselves, make themselves sit down and put something on the page. Anything on the page. Every day.<br />
<br />
Does writing a Facebook status count? I mean, I did write something. How about Twitter? Oops, can't use that excuse, since I haven't updated my Twitter status in a long time. Okay, what about an email? A long email. One that sums up what's been going on my life for the last week or so to friends I haven't written in a while. That should count.<br />
<br />
Despite what anyone says, procrastination isn't always easy. I mean, there's the guilt. Lots of guilt. Why didn't I write today? Because I felt that doing two or three loads of laundry should take priority? Or maybe the bathroom needed cleaning? Or I had to work on the taxes (oh, can't use that excuse, since I submitted everything to the accountant two months ago). And then there's the library book I put on hold that just happened to be available this week. I only have two weeks to read it, so I have to get started. Now.<br />
<br />
How can any of those things be more important than sitting at my keyboard creating fictional worlds?<br />
<br />
Maybe it's because I finally finished up the Manuscript from Hell and am feeling a bit like a vacation from writing. That book took a lot out of me, although it's been done for a couple of months now and is out in the world waiting to see if an editor likes it enough to publish it, so that's not a great excuse.<br />
<br />
Maybe it's because I've been trying to work out what to work on next. I have about 60 pages in what I call my Suburban Mom Thriller, and I do want to go back to that. I re-read what I've got and I like it, but I still need to work out some plot things in it, so I'm using that as excuse. And in the meantime, I have revisited an idea for a possible new series, but while I've got a nugget of an idea, I have no plot and no well-formed idea of character yet. I also need to do some serious research before I can develop either, and I'm not a huge fan of research. I like to just make it up as I go along, but this one needs research and I can't fudge it.<br />
<br />
So while I'm working all this out in my head, I'm not writing. I look at my laptop across the room while I play yet another level of Jelly Splash, check Facebook, see if anyone besides Macy's and William Sonoma has sent me an email, decide that it's time to clip the cats' claws.<br />
<br />
Do you procrastinate?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-31602704747066894662014-02-20T07:55:00.003-08:002014-02-20T07:55:36.809-08:00New year, new postHow does time go by so quickly? It's been almost a year since I last blogged. So, I suppose, it's time for an update.<br />
<br />
My year has been eventful and uneventful at the same time. Life is settled into a quiet hum of activity. <br />
<br />
<br />
I have spent much of this year working on what I have been calling my Manuscript from Hell. After rejections on two YA books, I went back to a book I started in 2009, right after NAL dropped my Annie Seymour series and right before they contracted me for the tattoo shop mysteries. This book is totally different than anything I've ever done before. It's not a traditional mystery, but more a suspense thriller about a fugitive who has been missing for 15 years and how her past finally catches up to her. It is about love and betrayal and no matter how hard you try to change, deep down it might not be possible. I have called it my Manuscript from Hell because it has challenged me in a way that no other book has. I have stepped far out of my comfort zone and developed a character and a voice that my readers might not find familiar but I hope will resonate with them. Although first it needs to resonate with an editor somewhere!<br />
<br />
When I haven't been writing, I've been reading a lot. Mostly crime fiction, but I got two Tudor England books for Christmas that I need to start dipping into. My daughter is in her junior year of high school, and the college search
and visits have begun. It reminds me of when I was looking at schools. I
remember walking onto the Roanoke College campus and thinking, This is
where I have to go to school. It struck me immediately. But back in my
day, it was a bit easier and not so competitive to get into the school
that you absolutely wanted to go to. I am hoping that my daughter will
be able to go to that school that speaks to her as Roanoke spoke to me. <br />
<br />
The days seem to move into each other so quickly that there isn't time to reflect. But this past year has been a year of decisions and thoughtfulness and creativity that hopefully will feed into this next one.<br />
<br />
For now, though, I wish it would just be spring already.<br />
<br />
If you want to say hello, please leave a note in the comments! <br />
<br />
<br />Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-59167221394285216322013-03-19T17:28:00.001-07:002013-03-19T17:28:04.772-07:00The return of the Naked AuthorsI really should pay attention to this blog. But I'm afraid it's sadly neglected, like the plants in my living room. Those poor plants have to be droopy and starting to turn brown before I notice and water them. I can't be trusted with plants. And clearly, I've forgotten what it was like to blog religiously once a week, like I did with the First Offenders. Maybe it takes a village to keep a blog going these days.<br />
<br />
My friend Patty Smiley emailed me about a week ago to tell me that the <a href="http://www.nakedauthors.com/" target="_blank">Naked Authors</a> are back blogging. They stopped blogging about a year ago, maybe. And somehow they all talked themselves into blogging again.<br />
<br />
I don't think the First Offenders are coming back, although the Who and the Rolling Stones have had a lot of comebacks, so we can never say never. The Naked Authors said never, and, well, here they are again.<br />
<br />
I didn't want to break it to Patty, but I'm not reading the book and writer blogs anymore. They are all here, bookmarked to my left, but I rarely visit. I'm not quite sure why, except that since I got my iPad, I spend a lot of time with Angry Birds and the Weather Channel and the New York Times. I even check out the wait times for Soarin' and Space Mountain in Disney, even though I'm a three-hour flight away, but a girl can dream, can't she? It's easy to waste time on an iPad.<br />
<br />
In full disclosure, however, I am reading some blogs. But they aren't the writerly kind. Since I was diagnosed with a labral tear and CAM impingement in my right hip (Lady Gaga and I have a lot in common these days), I've discovered a world of people who blog about their hip arthroscopy surgery. I haven't had surgery yet, and my surgeon is being very conservative at this point, but it's nice to be informed for when that day arrives. <br />
<br />
Not very exciting, is it?<br />
<br />
I think I'll go over to <a href="http://www.nakedauthors.com/" target="_blank">Naked Authors</a> and see what's going on. But I know better than to promise I'll be here more often.<br />
<br />
<br />Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-5736168759396942502013-01-04T07:26:00.004-08:002013-01-04T07:26:38.474-08:00Looking ahead to the new yearIt's 2013.<br />
<br />
Last year was a tough year in a lot of ways, but it was also a turning point. I challenged myself and branched out more with my writing and found a new agent whom I couldn't be more happy with.<br />
<br />
I get a lot of emails from readers who want me to continue my tattoo shop mysteries and even Annie Seymour has fans who would love to see me write more of her stories. It's hard to explain to people why when I wrote "the end" on Ink Flamingos and Shot Girl that it really was The End. I don't like to look back; when I'm done with something, I'm done with it. I thoroughly enjoyed writing Annie, since she was the reporter I always wished I could be, and Brett, who was so entirely not of my world that it was fun to spend a couple of years with her.<br />
<br />
But I am not inclined, as many have suggested, to write and then self-publish more books in both series online. I have been watching the rise of the ebook self-publishing phenomenon, but I am not yet ready to take that leap myself. I feel I still need to have my work vetted by a publishing professional. Are there problems in traditional publishing? Sure, as in every business. But my ego is not big enough to think that my work can go out in the world based solely on the fact that I think it's just fine the way it is and people should read it.<br />
<br />
So with two series over and no desire to self-publish, I am perched on the aforementioned turning point. I have written a young adult novel and a middle grade boy adventure book. I have tons of short starts on my flash drive, one of which I have focused on at the moment. I also have another idea for a young adult book and am fleshing out the characters and a plot. I have no idea what will happen with any of these projects, but they are all completely different than what I've published before.<br />
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I don't like writing the same thing over and over. I like to stretch myself creatively, and that's what I plan to do in this new year. I want to hear new voices and embark on new adventures, pulling myself out of my comfort zone just to see if I can do it. My agent said recently that when he opens one of my files, he has no idea what he'll be reading. That's exactly the reaction I'm looking for. I know readers do like the "sameness" of series and an author's voice, but writers like Stewart O'Nan and Jess Walter intrigue me because I never know what I'm going to read when I open one of their books.<br />
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So here's to the new year!<br />
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<br />Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-61714965488465885862012-05-22T07:57:00.001-07:002012-05-22T08:05:14.949-07:00Back to high schoolI know it's been a long time since I posted when I log in and there's a whole different layout to Blogger.<br />
<br />
So what's been going on the last couple of months since I last posted?<br />
<br />
I've been writing. A lot. And a big decision has been made.<br />
<br />
I have decided to put my adult crime novel on the back burner for now and concentrate on writing young adult books.<br />
<br />
I do see the irony of a middle aged woman in That Time of Life writing about teenagers. But I have a teenager living in my house, so it's not really all that difficult a reach. And in a way, all those physical and emotional changes that come when we're teenagers are only slightly different for a woman of certain years, and in some ways it's worse now because everyone tells you about puberty, but mostly everything about menopause is one big secret until you're living through it.<br />
<br />
But I digress.<br />
<br />
When I signed on with my new agent, Josh, I sent him the first 30,000 words of a new young adult novel I've been working on. It's not a dystopian or a vampire or a werewolf book. It's the story of a regular girl in an unusual situation. It's her struggle to find her identity. Something we can all relate to. Josh also inherited a time travel young adult novel I'd written.<br />
<br />
In addition to those, I sent him the adult crime novel that Jack had sent to a couple of editors and I've been working on over the past year. <br />
<br />
After a long discussion and some very sage advice from Josh, I agreed that it really isn't the time to concentrate on the adult crime novel. But this is an incredibly exciting time for young adult books. I'm finding that there is a lot more leeway in storytelling in YA. In my years writing adult crime fiction, I always had to tie things up in a neat little bow at the end, my characters had to behave in certain ways, not use certain language, must have romance. From the YA I've been reading, I see that YA stories don't necessarily follow a formula, and that's very liberating.<br />
<br />
I wish when I was a teenager that there was such a thing as Young Adult in the book section. I went from reading LITTLE WOMEN to Harold Robbins, which is a pretty huge leap and now, as a mother, that would worry me. But teens today have such a variety of books to choose from, all with teenagers as protagonists, solving crimes, turning into werewolves and vampires, all of them struggling to fit in, like all teens through time. It's like one big support group, but you don't have to leave your house or actually interact and be part of a group if that's not your thing.<br />
<br />
So I will be spending far more time with teenagers in the next months than I expected, although it is nice that they're fictional and I don't have to deal with them rolling their eyes at me whenever I tell them to do something. I'll only get that from one teenager, the one who lives in my house.<br />
<br />
What do you think of young adult fiction? Do you read it? Write it? If you read it, what's your favorite YA book? <br />
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<br />Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-6204679097875369842012-04-10T16:06:00.002-07:002012-04-10T16:19:54.089-07:00Some good newsI appreciate everyone's thoughts concerning the loss of my agent Jack Scovil. It was not an easy time, since besides losing my agent and friend, I was suddenly faced with having to find another agent. Anyone who's ever had to find an agent understands how much anxiety it causes.<br /><br />I had not written a query letter in 13 years. The last one I wrote was to Jack, and that one itself was very casual, since he and I had been corresponding before that. I had completely forgotten how to do it. But the good thing about looking for an agent in 2012 rather than 2000 is that there is so much more information on the Internet! Agentquery.com is a wonderful place to check out who's representing what, and who might be the best fit for a book. Also, there are tons of blogs and other sites where you can find out just how to write that dreaded query.<br /><br />I did a bit of that, but I am incredibly blessed to be part of a writing community that reaches out and helps people who need it. I had two wonderful writer friends, Keith Raffel and Dana Cameron, refer me to their agent, Josh Getzler of HSG Agency. Keith's daughter is actually Josh's assistant, which I'd like to think gave me an even bigger "in." I did write that query, because any little bit helps, but within days, I was sending manuscripts to Josh, who was so incredibly enthusiastic, I could hardly believe my luck.<br /><br />So long story short, Josh is now my new agent. And I couldn't be happier. Not just because I don't have to send out any more queries! I had felt blessed with Jack, who was so supportive about my work, but just in a couple of weeks of knowing and talking to Josh, I know I'm in very good, capable hands, and his excitement about my work is equal to Jack's (maybe even a little more!).<br /><br />As a writer, it's really important to find an agent that you're comfortable with, that you're on the same page with, because you're both working toward the same goal: write the best book possible so it can sell. For me, it's important to find an agent who is also editor, someone who can help mold the book into something even better. Josh and I have talked at length about the young adult book I'm working on, and with his guidance, I'm feeling really confident about it.<br /><br />I can't help but hope this means good things are ahead in many other ways, too.Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-91550400926305673222012-03-05T11:28:00.003-08:002012-03-05T11:50:24.720-08:00In memory of Jack Scovil, 1937-2012Several years ago, I had a manuscript that I was shopping around to agents. It was in the days when all you could really do on the Internet was see hamsters dance and no one really knew what email was. So I went to the library in the old fashioned way to check out the guide to literary agents. I sent the manuscript out, and the rejections started pouring in. After several months, I called Thomas Fleming, a writer friend who I'd interviewed 10 years before, to see if he could help. He gave me the name of his agent's partner and said I could use his name.<br /><br />Jack Scovil had been Norman Mailer's agent. And Carl Sagan's. And Margaret Truman's. But I didn't know that then. I was incredibly naive about the entire publishing world. So, in my naivete, I called him and dropped Tom's name. Jack was very gracious and agreed to read my manuscript. I did a little happy Snoopy dance and dropped it in the mail. Only a few weeks later, Jack called me. He would not be taking me on as a client. He said he couldn't exactly tell me what was wrong with the manuscript, just that it didn't work. But then he encouraged me to try again, he liked my writing style.<br /><br />Fast forward a couple of years. I had written SACRED COWS, with a newspaper reporter protagonist in New Haven. I didn't even bother with query letters this time. Instead, I called Jack right away. He called me a few weeks later and said he would be happy to represent me. He thought the book was "terrific," a word he used a lot when he liked something.<br /><br />That was 2001. A week before 9/11. Needless to say, SACRED COWS was a victim of terrorism. Publishing was at a standstill. When it started to move again, Jack sent the book out, telling me time and time again how great it was, how it just had to be published. When I heard about the Sara Ann Freed Memorial Award competition for a first novel, I asked him if I should submit the manuscript. He said, "It wouldn't hurt." It certainly didn't. The book won, and I got my first publishing contract in 2004.<br /><br />Jack and I spent 10 1/2 years together, seeing the publication of eight of my novels. He was my staunchest supporter. He was also an amazing editor, helping me turn my books into better books. He was blunt when he didn't like something, but that's exactly what he needed to be. I completely rewrote a manuscript after he told me what I'd written was just not good. "You can do better than this," he chided. And when I turned in the revised manuscript, he called me and told me it was "wonderful."<br /><br />Jack Scovil passed away on Feb. 23 after a brief illness. I didn't know much about his personal life, except he'd grown up in Utah, went to Stanford, moved to Manhattan and worked at the Scott Meredith Agency until forming his own agency, Scovil Chichak Galen (now Scovil Galen Ghosh) in the early 1990s. He had a wonderful sense of humor, which usually showed up in his frankness about the publishing business. He loved books, and it meant so much to me that he loved <span style="font-style: italic;">my</span> books. Most of the time we spoke on the phone, but we met a few times in Manhattan and once here in Connecticut when he was speaking at a conference. Once, right after SACRED COWS came out, I met him at his office and he told me he had something I just had to see. Three doors down from the entrance to his building was a store that was selling the china replicas of the cows in the Cow Parade, which is featured prominently in my book. One of the last emails I received from him was merely an image of Tattoo Barbie. No note, but he didn't need to write one. The image said it all. He'd told me I was his first and only author to ever have puns in my book titles.<br /><br />RIP, Jack. Your passing has left a hole in the world of publishing—and in my world. I will miss you.Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-77845233207280257572012-02-29T05:38:00.002-08:002012-02-29T05:43:14.583-08:00Touching base, brieflyI find that I keep apologizing for these huge lapses in blogging. But there are some reasons for this last one. Since I last posted, my life has taken a huge turnaround. Not exactly for the good, and I am trying to find the silver lining. I know it must be there; I've always believed that things happen for a reason. But this one is tough. Tougher than anything I've been through in my life before. It's a complete do-over in many ways. So if I'm not around for a while now, it's just because I'm trying to get things back on track. I am still writing, in fact, writing more now than I have in the last months, so hopefully will have a new, completed manuscript in the next month. But then comes another challenge. I'll be back, but can't promise soon. Talk among yourselves.Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-3133042503273614242011-12-17T11:15:00.000-08:002011-12-17T11:28:37.673-08:00Another one bites the dustWhat the title is referring to is the fact that the <a href="http://thelipstickchronicles.typepad.com/">Lipstick Chronicles</a> blog is bidding adieu to the blogosphere.<br /><br />Lipstick has been a great group blog written by some of the coolest women mystery writers today: Nancy Martin, Elaine Viets, Harley Jane Kozak, Sarah Strohmeyer, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Margaret Maron, and, well, you get the picture. It's been around since May 2005, when mystery writers were grouping up and forming all those cool blogs (I do have to add here that my former blog, First Offenders, was if not the first then one of the very first, starting in October 2005, but FO hung up its hat some time ago).<br /><br />In the final blog post, the Tarts as they call themselves explain that Facebook and Twitter and, well, WRITING, actually is taking up a lot more time these days. And their hit numbers are going down.<br /><br />That last reason is something I've been thinking about a long time. No one seems to be reading blogs anymore. And yes, I realize the irony of me writing that sentence in a blog post. But it's true.<br /><br />I haven't posted much in the last few months, mainly because I've had a lot of other things going on my life and just not enough time. But another reason is that sometimes I forget I even have this blog because I'm not reading blogs like I used to and I wonder if anyone really cares what I have to say. Especially since I haven't had much to say at all lately. My writing is going in fits and starts and I can't really talk about what I've been reading for reasons that may become known later. I don't know that I want this blog to be about more than that, either. I could start blogging about my daughter's new sport: fencing. But I don't know much about fencing yet, and does anyone really want to know about that? I could post about my cats, which could be popular, but unless I figure out how to take video, it's really not all that interesting.<br /><br />So I figure I'll post here when I think I have something to say, and any of you out there who want to read it, will read it.<br /><br />But I'll leave you with a question: Have you been a big fan of blogs? Do you still read them like you used to? Or do you think that Facebook and Twitter and other social media have pushed blogs aside, making them a little irrelevant?Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-63053544530665366982011-11-07T11:10:00.001-08:002011-11-07T11:33:18.642-08:00Please welcome guest blogger Reed Farrel Coleman<span style="font-size:100%;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU6h90DMR0iZRFoCi29YGXDE0dRXLFK6f_Q4uG89FLocRtp6YWJtamg9wbCj5yhY2Ts4Neq7bPKZUcxfv0rShGc6AOh0ZURBQ3Y2yDR9cmyNoQUif_ZWqQvJG-ZfbnshAvf-Q7-9bXx7eI/s1600/hi+res+author+1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU6h90DMR0iZRFoCi29YGXDE0dRXLFK6f_Q4uG89FLocRtp6YWJtamg9wbCj5yhY2Ts4Neq7bPKZUcxfv0rShGc6AOh0ZURBQ3Y2yDR9cmyNoQUif_ZWqQvJG-ZfbnshAvf-Q7-9bXx7eI/s320/hi+res+author+1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672337082933210306" border="0" /></a><br /></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /> </span><style> <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; color:purple; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >My good friend Reed Coleman has two new books coming out soon, so I invited him over here to tell you all about them and talk a little bit about how he ended up an award-winning writer.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" >How Did I Get Here?</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Someone pointed out to me recently that my first novel <i style="">Life Goes Sleeping </i>(Permanent Press, 1991) was published twenty years ago. Amazing! Now, as my 13<sup>th</sup> and 14<sup>th</sup> novels (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Hurt Machine (</i>Tyrus Books) and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Gun Church</i> (Audible.com)) are about to be released, I’ve taken pause at recollecting just how I got from there to here and how I got involved in mystery fiction at all.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">First, a little something about the new books:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="">Hurt Machine</i><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.amazon.com/Hurt-Machine-Reed-Farrel-Coleman/dp/1440531994"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 151px; height: 227px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnkHWSKpGOd4LkN2ODivLDAvx44Npqpf-uACDj6L-3sS0a21Yw8uCKZdOgz1h_oeGmhNeH-gaRURNM14KvGt5pxYzOCdgkSjxX87I-KLU4D13S2o7P-MeK5eW6yhLavz3tUwIneHGBo77/s320/Hurt_Machine+for+consortium.tif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672335647607599234" border="0" /></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"> </i>is the 7<sup>th</sup> book in my Moe Prager Mystery series. Moe is in his mid-sixties and his daughter Sarah is two weeks away from her wedding. Within days of receiving grave news about his health, Moe’s ex-wife Carmella Melendez reappears after nine years. She needs Moe’s help to track down the killer of her estranged sister. Seems no one in NYC is very interested in finding the murderer. Why? That’s the question, isn’t it?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">Gun Church</i> is my second stand-alone novel and is an exclusive on Audible.com.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;font-size:100%;" > </span><span style="font-size:100%;">K<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilcoRKDXpfb22ev83-9n1Shyphenhyphenxr066n6K3Pqn_PVNeJGK340XBS9pWnb4A3qh_yfGHxeoXklD9AFQzXQ6rXrIldgSAR61kueMWubnAAczSAiDKmy7CrDJSSFpCURGg9V3xgIyOpuJNgVeeN/s1600/gunchurch_2.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 183px; height: 183px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilcoRKDXpfb22ev83-9n1Shyphenhyphenxr066n6K3Pqn_PVNeJGK340XBS9pWnb4A3qh_yfGHxeoXklD9AFQzXQ6rXrIldgSAR61kueMWubnAAczSAiDKmy7CrDJSSFpCURGg9V3xgIyOpuJNgVeeN/s320/gunchurch_2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672335883047839570" border="0" /></a>ip Weiler is a former literary wunderkind who’s fallen on hard times. He teaches creative writing at a rural community college and saves his class from a gun-toting student. He gets a second fifteen minutes of fame and something much more important: the urge to write again. Only things don’t go so well for Kip when he realizes he isn’t quite as in control of his life as he thinks he is.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">Now that the promo stuff is done, let’s get back to the business at hand. The only formal writing classes I ever took were in poetry at Brooklyn College from David Lehman. I’d been writing poetry since I was thirteen and had hoped a college education would advance my poetry writing. Well, it did, but it also showed me I didn’t have the chops or the desire to be great at it. I figured I would find a job when I got out of school and I would continue to write poetry and publish occasionally. That’s pretty much what happened. I fell into the air freight business and wrote poetry on the side.<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:100%;">After about five or six years in air freight, I was getting pretty bored. Early on, I had taken a night poetry class at the New School—where I met my wife,by the way—but it seemed I would be shipping cargo for the rest of my adult life. A few years later, my work schedule called for me to go into Manhattan once a week from my office at JFK airport. There were a few hours of down time between leaving the airport and my weekly meeting, so I decided to take another evening class—this time at Brooklyn College—to fill up those unused hours. Only one class fit my schedule, a class on American detective fiction. I was never much of a crime fiction reader up to that point. My focus had been more literary, non-fiction, and sci fi. Talk about getting gobsmacked. The first two things we read in that class were Hammett’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal">The Continental Op</i> and Chandler’s <i style="">Farewell, My Lovely.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:100%;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><br /></i></span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"> </p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:100%;">By the time we were halfway through the term, I knew writing crime fiction was what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. A few months later I went to my wife and asked her if she was willing to make the sacrifices she would have to make in order for me to follow my dream. And for the second time since we’d met, she said yes. Both of those yeses have had a profound impact on our lives. As I have often joked, it’s a good thing that class wasn’t on poetry of the French Renaissance.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >Reed Farrel Coleman has been called a hard-boiled poet by NPR’s Maureen Corrigan. He has published fourteen novels. He is a three-time recipient of the Shamus Award for Best Detective Novel of the Year and has been twice nominated for the Edgar Award. Reed has also won the Macavity, Barry, and Anthony Awards. He is an adjunct professor of English at Hofstra University and he lives with his family on Long Island. Visit Reed at <a href="http://www.reedcoleman.com/">www.reedcoleman.com</a>. You can also find him on Facebook and he Twitters at Twitter@ReedFColeman.<br /></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt"><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /></span></p>Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-83018584851010661132011-10-24T12:25:00.001-07:002011-10-24T12:41:21.964-07:00How Much of Human Life is Lost in Waiting?I hate waiting.<br /><br />This is not a good trait for a writer. I can imagine my agent's eyes rolling when he sees my email asking if he's heard anything from anyone about my manuscript that's out and about. Doesn't that sound like my manuscript is sitting poolside drinking cocktails with little umbrellas in it? Sadly, it might as well be, because that's all the action it would be getting right about now.<br /><br />As my agent says, publishing moves on a cosmic scale, not a human scale.<br /><br />I liken the wait to hear from publishers to the wait when we were adopting our daughter. We adopted our daughter from China in 1998, but for a year and a half before we actually met her, we were waiting. The thing about adoption is that you hear NOTHING until you hear SOMETHING. There are no little notes or voice mails telling you that things are in the works. There is silence. Very very loud silence. And then all of a sudden, you get a Fed Ex delivery with a picture of the most beautiful baby you've ever seen and the wait is over.<br /><br />Publishing is exactly like that. You hear nothing. Until suddenly, one day, your agent calls and says that he's heard something. And someone wants to buy your book (the agent only ever calls if it's good news...bad news is sent via cyberspace). I got that first phone call while I was editing car and truck stories for the weekly Car and Truck Section at the New Haven Register. I don't even really remember what my agent said, because my heart was pounding so loudly. I had been waiting two years for news on that book. I had written two whole other books in that time of waiting.<br /><br />That's what they say to do: Write. Write another book. And it's good advice. I've started something new, actually, two something-news. But it doesn't mean I'm not tapping my toe on the inside, hoping that the cosmos would move just a tad more quickly on the one that's already done.<br /><br />Are you a patient person? Or do you just want to hear something already, like me?Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-61320137937026839442011-10-21T11:58:00.001-07:002011-10-21T12:05:50.496-07:00Creativity amid chaosIt's the end of the week. TGIF and all that. I wish it were TGI-six months from now. Because maybe all of the house-related problems we've been having lately will have been resolved by then. I certainly hope so.<br /><br />In the midst of all this anguish, I was bouncing around through my flash drive and found the first 10 pages of something I wrote last year, maybe around this time, when I was floundering. I'd had an idea and it resonated just long enough for me to write those few pages and then I promptly abandoned it.<br /><br />I have a lot of those files in my flash drive. The beginning of stories that never get told.<br /><br />But in this case, the story might actually get a chance. I read those pages and said, "Hey, this isn't half bad." And I proceeded to write five more pages. And then five more. And now I've got 30 pages, which I showed to my agent to see if he thought it was worth moving forward. He did. He was incredibly encouraging.<br /><br />Sometimes looking through the flash drive is a really good idea. I haven't written much since I turned my last manuscript in to my agent this past summer. I started another YA book, but haven't gotten too far with it. And then all those house things started to go wrong and distractions overruled creativity.<br /><br />Maybe I should write about dishwashers breaking down, trees falling during hurricanes, showers that leak into basement ceilings, mice in the attic, and non-watertight porch windows.<br /><br />Or maybe not.<br /><br />Let's just say the book I'm working on now doesn't have any of those things.<br /><br />Yet.Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-51538025787783523302011-10-13T12:02:00.000-07:002011-10-13T12:18:10.211-07:00i GoogleI don't check my website stats very often, but when I do, it's always sort of interesting. Take, for example, the number of hits I get. In June, I got almost 20,000 hits, which makes sense because INK FLAMINGOS came out that month and my website was tacked onto reviews and whatnot. But what's really surprising is that there were 16,000 hits in September. Really? When I have done next to nothing promotion-wise. I even forgot to post that I was in St. Louis at Bouchercon.<br /><br />But what's really fun to look at in the website stats are the search strings, or words that people put into search engines and end up finding my website. These have been among the search strings listed on my site:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">clumps lipstick</span><br /><br />Really? It makes me want to go into Google and see what I come up with when I type this in.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">german mystery writer olsen</span><br /><br />Well, I'm Swedish and Norwegian, and those are Germanic languages so maybe this one makes slightly more sense. Although I hate it when people spell my name wrong.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">guilford ct tennis karen</span><br /><br />I grew up in Madison, Connecticut, which is the next town over to Guilford. I played tennis about five years ago but haven't played much since. Karen is my first name. So maybe, with all these things strung together, it sort of makes sense.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">driven to ink by karen e olson can be found in library</span><br /><br />Yes, absolutely, Driven to Ink can be found in libraries. But the person who searched with this clearly wasn't quite sure just which library, just wanted to know if the book was in the library.<br /><br />I know I've typed odd things into Google, looking for things I'm not quite sure about. We had funny white/greenish scaly stuff on the pipe that came out of the wall for the shower head. I wanted to clean it, but didn't know what it was. So I put <span style="font-weight: bold;">white/greenish scaly stuff on pipe</span> into Google and ended up finding out that I could use white distilled vinegar for almost anything. A good scrub with a Dobie soaked in white vinegar did the trick. I also got a great recipe for making homemade Windex with vinegar, water, and a little dishwashing soap, which works great.<br /><br />Considering that Google and the Internets is still so relatively new, I still can't imagine how I lived without it for most of my life.<br /><br />What was the last thing you Googled successfullyKaren Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-53564605079149744742011-09-21T13:18:00.000-07:002011-09-21T13:33:27.781-07:00Same time, next yearI've been back from St. Louis for three days now, and I'm anxiously awaiting the weekend so I can get some real rest.<br /><br />St. Louis, you ask? Why were you in St. Louis?<br /><br />For Bouchercon, one of the largest mystery conventions in the country.<br /><br />I started going to Bouchercon in 2005, when my first book SACRED COWS, was published. I met Alison Gaylin, Lori Armstrong, and Jeff Shelby there in Chicago, and we started the now infamous First Offenders blog. First Offenders is defunct now, but Alison, Lori and Jeff and I are still good friends. Jeff couldn't come to St. Louis, but Alison and Lori and I got part of the band back together and shared a room.<br /><br />Bouchercon is a little like college in that there are a lot of late nights in the bar, thus, the reason I'm a bit wrecked. But it's an incredible amount of fun.<br /><br />Some highlights of the weekend:<br /><br />Lori winning the Shamus Award for her book NO MERCY. It was so great to be able to be there and share that with her.<br /><br />Meeting Eoin Colfer of ARTEMIS FOWL fame and Daniel Woodrell, who wrote WINTER'S BONE, one of my favorite books.<br /><br />Lunch with Reed Farrel Coleman and three lovely ladies who "bought" a meal with two mystery writers.<br /><br />Meeting Mary Jane Haake, a tattooist from Portland, Oregon, who is featured in the book that convinced me to write the tattoo shop mystery series: BODIES OF SUBVERSION: A HISTORY OF WOMEN AND TATTOO by Margot Mifflin.<br /><br />Sharing Linda Brown's (of the now defunct Mystery Bookstore in L.A.) excitement about traveling to China to meet her new daughter soon.<br /><br />Explaining to a waitress that while Trey Barker really does have a gun, he wouldn't actually shoot her if she gave the check to me and not to him.<br /><br />Having Harlan Coben give me a nickname (although I'm still not sure about it).<br /><br />And seeing and chatting with: Sean Doolittle, Steve Hamilton, Wallace Stroby, Con Lehane, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Jim Benn, Lyssa Keusch, Peter Spiegelman, Jim Fusilli, John Connolly, Lauren Henderson, JT Ellison, and loads of others I just can't think of right at the moment. Like I said, I need a really good night's sleep.<br /><br />Next year: Cleveland.Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1003374009351818813.post-28726919114607019282011-09-05T10:41:00.001-07:002011-09-05T10:49:22.312-07:00Summer break's over, time to get back to workIt's Labor Day. And I've just now realized I haven't posted in almost 2 months. Consider it my "summer off" blogging, even if it didn't start out that way.
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<br />So what have I been up to for the past two months, you ask. Best answer: Not much. I have been reading and hanging out at our pool club (it's not as chi-chi as it sounds) and I finally, in the past couple weeks, have started writing something new. So I guess you can say I took the summer off from writing as well as blogging.
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<br />The new book is another young adult novel. It's sort of a crime novel mixed up with a coming of age story. I haven't gotten very far yet, but I did have my 14 year old daughter and her friend read the first 10 pages a few days ago and they both liked it, in fact, they were a little annoyed that there wasn't more and that I'd ended in mid-sentence.
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<br />This is a good sign.
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<br />I hadn't been sure of the direction of this book, which is why it took so long to really get started. I knew the basic story, but I wasn't quite sure how to tell it. I ended up taking what I'd initially wrote and cutting it and moving things around and turning it into more of a prologue and then jumping into what happened "before" the prologue, to see where the characters had started and how they end up where they end up.
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<br />I still don't have all the details worked out, and I'm sure I'll have more fits and starts, but it's finally starting to gain momentum and I'm beginning to be at the point where I'm feeling that I need to write every day again.
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<br />It's been a while since I've felt that way. But after writing a dark crime novel for adults about teenagers doing dangerous things, I needed a little break from writing about teenagers. Fortunately I'm getting over that now.
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<br />So what have you all been doing while I've been absent? Did you have a nice summer? Any nice vacations? Anyone starting a new book, reading or writing one?
<br />Karen Olsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05867709664100997228noreply@blogger.com1