Catriona writes: It's lovely to welcome back a good friend of the blog, Liz Milliron , who is celebrating the launch of her fourth Homefornt mystery - THE TRUTH WE TELL. I'm a huge fan of this beguiling series about blue-collar hero Betty Ahern in 1940s Buffalo. By day Betty does her bit for the war effort in an aircraft engineering works, by night she sleuths; hence the "Sam Spade meets Rosie the Riveter" log line! Just like Betty, Liz is pitching right in today, answering the question of the week, about the best and (for bonus points) worst writing advice. WARNING: FIGHTIN' TALK AHEAD. (You'll see.) And now, Liz Milliron Thanks, Catriona, for having me back on
Criminal Minds.
Advice. There’s a saying or a song lyric
out there about free advice. Something about it being worth what you paid for
it. Unfortunately – fortunately? – there’s a smorgasbord of advice to choose
from when you are an author. No matter what point in your career you’re at,
someone has an opinion.
My grandfather had a saying about those,
too, but this is a G-rated blog.
The best advice I ever received wasn’t
actually directed at me, personally. It came from author Jonathan Maberry. He
of the Joe Ledger series, some comics, an epic fantasy Kagen the Damned ,
and a bunch of other things. Yeah, not my genre, right? I met him a couple of
times at the Pennwriters conference. Pennwriters is another writing
organization I belong to, a multi-genre one for Pennsylvania writers. They have
an annual conference which is one of the best for your buck if you are trying
to make a career out of this writing gig.
But I digress (slightly).
Jonathan was the keynote speaker several
years ago at that conference. In his speech, he said, “Writers do best with
their own species.”
Now, if you aren’t a writer, you might
think he’s saying we writers aren’t quite human. And since he writes both
sci-fi and fantasy, hey, that’s a valid thought. But that isn’t what he meant.
His point is that writers need other
writers. In other words, “find your tribe.” If you’re a writer, that means your
tribe is, well, other writers (duh). You may have many tribes, but one of them
ought to be writers. Otherwise, well, it’s a lonely, lonely world out there as
you battle rejections, smaller-than-expected royalty checks, tiny turnouts at
events…you get the picture.
But if you have a tribe , there are
other people to commiserate with, give pep talks, buy you another drink,
whatever you need. Maybe it’s a genre-specific tribe (this is where I give a
special shout out to Sisters in Crime, but there are others for crime fiction
authors). If you write sci-fi/fantasy, there’s an organization for you. Ditto
romance. Same for children’s authors.
Again, you get the picture.
Or maybe it’s a multi-genre group, such as
Pennwriters. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.
Just get together with your own species.
Bonus points: Worst advice
I’m sorry, Stephen King. I really am. I
know he’s adored by legions and his book, On Writing , is a must-have for
writers. But I’m going to take umbrage with “Never use adverbs.” Actually, I
will expand that to any advice that includes the words never or always .
I’m just not a fan of absolutes because it
rarely applies to everyone. Adverbs are a fine piece of language. Just use them
wisely, okay? And not everyone has the luxury of writing every day. I have one
of those pesky “day jobs” and sometimes I’m too spent. (Although it does a fine
job of paying those other pesky things called “bills,” so I won’t complain too
much.)
So, I’d have to say the worst advice I ever
got is anything that includes an absolute.
Except when it comes to personal hygiene.
Always wash your hands after using the bathroom.
Liz Milliron is the author of The Laurel
Highlands Mysteries, set in the scenic Laurel highalnds and The Homefront
Mysteries, set in Buffalo NY during the early years of World War II. She is a
member of Pennwriters, Sisters in Crime, International Thriller Writers and The
Historical Novel Society. She is the current vice-president of the Pittsburgh
chapter of Sisters in Crime and is on the National Board as the Education
Liaison. Liz splits her time between
Pittsburgh and the Laurel Highlands, where she lives with her husband and a
very spoiled retired-racer greyhound.
May 1943. Betty Ahern is studying for her
private investigator’s license when a new client—Edward Kettle—hires her to
clear his name after he was dismissed from his job at the American Shipbuilding
Company. When Edward is brutally murdered, the dead man’s sister hires Betty to
finish the original job and find the killer. The job hurls Betty back into the world of
wartime espionage, but with a twist ... Betty must unravel the mystery, uncovering truths that others would prefer to keep hidden despite threats to her morals her beliefs, and her life.
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