When a 'Bad' House Joins the Cast of Suspects

Without giving away my next mystery plot, I can reveal that a strange old house is going to figure among the murder "suspects." I'll be drawing in part on memories of an old Victorian home that my parents rented briefly when I was a teen. The "gray elephant," as they dubbed it, had many unsettling quirks. For example, my bedroom was upstairs at the back and was pierced by four doors: a door from the upstairs hall, a door to the servants' stair from the kitchen below, a door to a cavernous closet under the eaves, and a door to narrow steps up to the attic. At precisely 2 a.m each night, all those doors, if not firmly closed, would open together on their own, with eerily groaning hinges and sighs of musty air from their black portals! It was definitely scary, and it became my nightly ritual to carefully check that every door was tightly shut before climbing into bed. There was probably a logical explanation, but it was natural to suspect unseen, hostile forces. And like most old places, the house had its share of unhappy past occupants and deaths. Many people believe houses can develop a "negative energy," whether paranormal entities or the lingering aura of past residents. Just witness the success of modern "paranormal investigators," feng shui planners, and the "space clearing" services featured in a June article in the elite New York Times. I don't believe the old "gray elephant" was haunted in the usual sense, but it did seem to have the sort of dark magnetism that would repulse positive, upbeat buyers and so favor unhappy histories. I will leave it to future readers to decide whether my fictional house is the cause or the result of unpleasant human energies. Have you ever experienced a "bad vibe" house? If so, for a rather tongue-in-cheek NYT article on space clearing, see http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/garden/scrubbing-the-house-right-down-to-the-vibes.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Life's Disturbing, Inexplicable 'Coincidences'

"Coincidence? I think not" has become a parodied dialog line in paranormal tales. It is inspired by "synchronicity," which is a fancy way of describing the experience of seeing two or more events as meaningfully related, even though they are unlikely to be causally related and may not be simultaneous in time. For example, suppose you are reminiscing about a beautiful rose garden when a total stranger hands you a bouquet of roses and walks away. Suppose you dream that a friend is in the hospital, and the next day you learn the friend has just been in a car accident. The concept of synchronicity was first described by Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung in the 1920s. Skeptics say the human mind is programmed to find patterns, to the point of connecting random events. Others see evidence of worlds beneath or beyond the everyday. I'm not a writer of paranormal fiction, so I generally use the plot spice of synchronicity sparingly. But since most of us have experienced inexplicably interconnected events at some point, a fictional world without any "synchronicity" also seems both unreal and uninteresting. Have you experienced "synchronicities" that impacted you significantly? For more explanation, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity

Why I Write As Katherine, Not K.D. or Keith

Did I make a mistake by publishing my debut mystery Lies Agreed Upon as a woman author? Book publishers claim studies show men don't read books by women -- so I've presumably lost a chunk of audience. I could have copied Joanne Rowling -- who obliged her publishers with J.K. Rowling so she wouldn't scare away the boys -- and published under the gender-neutral K.D. Sharma. Or I could have created a male false identity with a name like Keith Sherman. It seems very19th century, when the Bronte sisters wrote as the Bell brothers and Mary Anne Evans penned under George Eliot, but female authors do still don male names today. Maybe it's because they listen to the financially pinched publishing industry. A Wall Street Journal story last year quoted Penguin editor Anne Sowards: "It sometimes makes sense for a female author to use a pseudonym, particularly when the main characters are male, or when it's a genre with a strong appeal to men, like military science fiction, certain types of fantasy or gritty thrillers." She goes on to say, "For a new author, we want to avoid anything that might cause a reader to put a book down and decide, 'not for me.'" I pondered avoiding a bio photo and adopting a male pseudonym, but then it occurred to me: 1) Studies show that women make up the majority of readers of most fiction genres, and especially mystery fiction, and the female reading public is not biased by author gender; 2) I'm self-publishing, so I don't have to kowtow to the publishing industry; and 3) I'm self-promoting, including leveraging my social media networks, so it would be hard to get away with a false identity anyway. So I decided to focus on being an author, who also happens to be a woman. For the WSJ story, see http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324355904578159453918443978.html

Have You Joined the E-Book Crowd?

Are you an e-reader? I've noticed the evidence of e-book popularity in my own book promotion for Lies Agreed Upon. I may prefer reading an old-fashioned paper book, but I also purchase e-books for my Kindle, especially because it is so convenient when traveling. So I was curious about e-reading trends. According to research in 2012, 21% of American adults reported reading an e-book in the previous 12 months, up from 17% in 2011. Doubtless the percentage of e-book readers has increased even more in 2013. And the e-readers are different from traditional readers -- in ways that make authors eager to seek them out. Compared with other readers, e-book readers read more books. E-book readers consume an average of 24 books a year compared to an average 15 for non-readers of e-b0oks. E-book readers also are more likely to purchase rather than borrow a book. E-book reading is happening across an array of devices now, including dedicated e-readers, tablets and smartphones. For more about e-reading trends, go to the report from Pew Research at http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/04/04/the-rise-of-e-reading/

Solving the Mystery of the Mystery Reader

As an avid mystery fan, and now the author of a mystery novel, I'm naturally curious about the profile of the average mystery reader. In 2011, Sisters in Crime, an organization for advancement of women crime writers, released its first survey of buyers of mystery books, based on data gathered by Bowker's PubTrack sales analysis division. It turns out that my fellow mystery readers look a lot like me in some ways: female (68%) and over age 55 (48%). They are also more likely to be Southerners (35%), to live in suburban areas (48%), and to have no children at home (77%). However, I depart from the norm when it comes to purchase behavior by embracing the digital age, making both print and e-book buys while shopping in book stores and online. In contrast, most mystery readers prefer retail stores (39%) over online (17%). And while 90% reported knowing about e-books, only 13% had read one (mostly those who were under age 30).  So how do I attract more mystery buyers to my online-only book distribution? Leading purchase drivers such as "well-known author" and "book series" aren't helpful, but one top-ranked purchase influencer is within reach: recommendations from friends and relatives, as well as other readers. So keep posting Amazon, Kindle and Goodreads reviews -- and talk it up, guys! For the full report, go to http://www.sistersincrime.org/associations/10614/files/ConsumerBuyingBookReport.pdf

Politics and Religion: Book Discussion Taboos?

My mother always told me that "polite company" avoided talking about politics and religion. Friends and book club members often tacitly follow the same rule. Here are some best-selling books that may be "taboo" because they touch on religious and political sensitivities:  Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan; Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg; and This Town, a blistering insider look at Washington by journalist Mark Leibovich. Yet surely well-meaning people can have a productive discussion about ideas that matter to them! Maybe we just need to set rules for civil discourse, rules opposite to the ones that seem to govern "debates" in the media arena. Here are my five suggestions: 1) Don't start a conversation unless you can all agree to be open to, and respectful of, other viewpoints; the goal should be self-education not changing others' beliefs or lecturing about your own. 2) Tread carefully and tactfully into unknown opinion waters; don't assume you already know other people's positions since they may agree, disagree, or not care a flip. 3) Stick to the facts (generally accepted information or research) and avoid expressing personal judgment or criticism. 4) Know when to keep quiet and when to quit (prepare an appeasing exit line such as "I'll have to consider that..."). 5) Steer the discussion from personal convictions, specific institutions and doctrines to more general theories. Turn "Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" into "What is the role of religious faith today?" Please share your tips for successful discussion of a controversial book!

Reviews: Developing a Thick Skin But Not a Thick Skull

If you're hot, cold or just lukewarm about my debut mystery, Lies Agreed Upon, please share your opinion with me and other readers by posting a brief review on Amazon.com and Goodreads.com! I really value honest feedback. Of course, more reviews can boost the book's attraction to curious readers and my Amazon/Kindle sales. But there's another self-serving reason I need your input: I'm working on my next mystery in what I intend to be a three-book series with the same main character. Your evaluations can help me write a better book the next time. Don't worry that a comment may pinch my ego. As a newspaper and magazine writer and editor for many years, I long ago stopped seeing my written work as sacrosanct. I've developed a thick skin but, hopefully, not a thick skull! I can honestly say that my writing has only been improved by the input of readers, editors and critics over the years. Besides posting a review, feel free to share your thoughts on my blog, my Facebook page or with my LinkedIn network. Also, visit my website for more background and contact info.