Writing Partnerships
By E.A. Aymar (also E.A. Barres)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Author's Note
New Releases (That I'm Excited About!)
Two Writers You Should Read
Events
It's Contest Time!
Other Writing
Collabin'
Maybe it's the only child thing. The way I always longed for a sibling when I was growing up, and then the subsequent importance friends played in my life, but I've always loved the idea of collaborating with another writer. It's a concept I've explored a couple of times in my writing career...and it's never even gotten off the ground.
Twice I've talked with other writers about working together - we were fans of each other's writing and good friends. We discussed rough ideas, shared our writing processes, happily realized our publication goals were the same (sell it for lotsa $$). And, both times, there was simply no time to do it.
There's a lesson here. We'd assumed that this project could be done while we were writing other things. That, even as we wrote our own novels, this collaborative project could easily fall into the background. After all, it would be an experiment. My hopeful partners and I knew we may produce something unpublishable, that our styles may not mesh, that the times when writing proves arduous may overwhelm us.
But even a background writing experiment can ask for too much. And, although I often work on other projects while writing a novel, those other projects (essays, short stories, binging Netflix) tend to neatly fit in during natural breaks in a novel's creation. Another novel is too sprawling to allow that comfort.
Other writers may be different, but I (and, perhaps naturally, the writers I hoped to partner with) can't work on two big projects without cheating one of them. A novel frequently requires the type of immersion from which you emerge dazed, even occasionally confused about which world is real. And as much as you'd like to schedule your days, that kind of disappearance is hard to plan.
Still, someday I would like to do it. It's exciting to imagine creating a world with someone, trading chapters, sharing that wonderful moment when your work surprises you. I admire writers who do it. And I was a little bummed when, recently, a friend and I reluctantly shelved our idea and realized we needed to work on our own projects.
But I've had lovely moments from readers who recently read They're Gone (Amazon has it on sale, which I'm guessing accounted for this happy flurry of e-mails?) who shared those moments with me. Who contacted me after they read chapters they enjoyed, who wrote to me about characters they liked (everyone seems to really like Chris Castillo, you sickos). Who shared with me how they felt while reading it.
It's been a nice, grateful reminder that writing is always an inherently collaborative process.
EA
But, speaking of work with other writers, earlier this month I received my contributor copy of Midnight Hour, an anthology of short stories written by members of Crime Writers of Color. Every story in the anthology takes place at midnight, and the book includes some of the best short story writers working today. I'm so excited to be part of this collection (my story is a take on the classic "Choose Your Own Adventure" stories) and its available for preorder now! Click HERE or on the graphic below for more information.
Her Last Breath
Hilary Davidson
When her beloved sister Caroline dies suddenly, Deirdre is heartbroken. However, her sorrow turns to bone-chilling confusion when she receives a message Caroline sent days earlier warning that her death would be no accident. Long used to being a pariah to her family, Deirdre covers her tattoos and heads to Manhattan for her sister’s funeral.
The message claimed Caroline’s husband, Theo, killed his first wife and got away with it. Reeling from the news, Deirdre confronts Theo on the way to the cemetery, and he reveals both his temper and his suspicion that Deirdre’s “perfect” sister was having an affair.
Paranoid and armed with just enough information to make her dangerous, Deirdre digs into the disturbing secrets buried with Caroline. But as she gets closer to the truth, she realizes that her own life may be at risk…and that there may be more than one killer in the family.
Razorblade Tears
S.A. Cosby
Ike Randolph has been out of jail for fifteen years, with not so much as a speeding ticket in all that time. But a Black man with cops at the door knows to be afraid.
The last thing he expects to hear is that his son Isiah has been murdered, along with Isiah’s white husband, Derek. Ike had never fully accepted his son but is devastated by his loss.
Derek’s father Buddy Lee was almost as ashamed of Derek for being gay as Derek was ashamed of his father's criminal record. Buddy Lee still has contacts in the underworld, though, and he wants to know who killed his boy.
Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, hardened men Ike and Buddy Lee will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.
The Mother of All Things
Gabriel Blake
Following a traumatic event and the break up of her marriage, Elaine returns to her childhood home in North Yorkshire.
Between reconnecting with her mother and keeping the two children occupied over the summer holidays, Elaine starts renovating the run-down farmhouse.
Unsettled by terrifying nightmares, the stirring of memories long forgotten, and eerie happenings at the house, she worries her imagination is getting the better of her, a fear soon allayed when confronted by an intruder.
The next day a police officer disappears, his last known location, her property.
A missing policeman, a suspicious psychiatrist, and an old adversary add to her increasing tension, but when she wakes up covered in blood next to the body of a masked man, things spiral out of control.
Facing demons both past and present, Elaine must fight for her sanity, unless, it’s too late.
A Time to Swill
Sherry Harris
Chloe loves her new life pouring beers and mixing cocktails at the Sea Glass Saloon in the Florida Panhandle town of Emerald Cove. But on the job, the only exercise she gets is walking from one end of the bar to the other, so in the mornings she loves to run on the beach. On this morning’s foggy run, she spots a sailboat washed up on a sandbar. Hearing a cry, she climbs aboard the beached vessel to investigate and finds not only a mewling kitten—but a human skeleton in the cabin.
The skeleton is tied back to Chloe’s friend Ralph, whose wife disappeared on a sailboat with three other people twelve years ago. Believing his wife was lost at sea, Ralph remarried. Now he finds himself a murder suspect. Chloe is determined to find out who’s been up to some skulduggery, but her sleuthing will lead her into some rough waters and some bone-chilling revelations…
The Shadow People
Joe Clifford
Brandon Cossey is finishing his last semester as an undergrad when he learns his childhood best friend, Jacob Balfour, has committed suicide. The news about Jacob, who had long battled schizophrenia, does not come as a surprise—but the bizarre details surrounding his death do. Jacob was found several states away, in a quarry, burned alive. Brandon returns to his hometown and discovers Jacob had been moonlighting as an amateur DIY reporter. As sole author and editor of the homemade zine Illuminations, Jacob has been covering a wide array of conspiracy theories. When Jacob’s estranged grandfather, Francis, who also suffers from schizophrenia (but chooses to go untreated), arrives for the funeral, he tells Brandon that Jacob didn’t kill himself; Jacob stumbled upon a secret so deadly he was murdered to keep it quiet.
Soon afterwards, Brandon’s life takes a turn for the strange. He notices odd cars and lookalikes following him, his personal property is hacked and stolen, and Brandon can no longer trust what he thinks he sees. As his grasp on reality recedes and falters, Brandon must question whether a sinister gang of doppelgängers, whom Jacob dubbed “the Shadow People,” are really responsible. Events conspire to put Brandon on the road with Francis, as the unlikely duo travel across the upper Midwest attempting to learn the truth about Jacob’s death.
I Play One on TV
Alan Orloff
All’s great for sixteen-year-old actor Dalton Black as he portrays a teen killer on a crime reenactment show. That is, until he realizes someone is stalking him. When that someone turns out to be Homer Lee Varney, the man convicted of the murder, things take a dark turn, and Dalton is afraid for his life. What does Varney want? Some sort of twisted revenge? Or something even worse?
Can Dalton and his drama friends discover the truth, before they become the killer’s next victims? Stay tuned to find out!
Brand New Dark
Beau Johnson
Bishop Rider Lives! And for a dead man, he’s been busy. His story and the parts of it yet to be told being what populates Brand New Dark. Unseen moments pulled from between the pages of A Better Kind of Hate, The Big Machine Eats, and All of Them to Burn. Twenty-five new tales that bridge what came before and expand upon what can only come after.
Come, see what happened in-between.
Come, see how he made them burn.
Island of Thieves
Glen Erik Hamilton
Van Shaw is hired to evaluate the safeguards for the art collection of eccentric business magnate Sebastien Rohner. Then Rohner reveals to Van the real reason he’s been recruited: to prevent another professional burglar from stealing the art. Rohner wants to set a thief to catch a thief.
While questioning the bizarre nature of the job, Van accepts the lucrative offer and arrives at the island estate during an international summit that Rohner is hosting. Shortly after beginning his surveillance of Rohner’s highly secure gallery wing, Van stumbles across the murdered body of one of the honored guests along the rocky shore. Wary of Rohner’s true intentions, Van knows the homicide detectives on the case—and perhaps Rohner as well—believe he’s the prime suspect and will turn his life upside down in their search for proof.
Van begins to hunt for the murderer himself, but scrutiny only digs his hole deeper, as one of Rohner’s own executives is also killed and the Seattle police find concrete evidence placing Van at the scene. With no other options, he goes on the run, alone and unaided. He’s hunted by the cops, the enraged Rohner, and by a pair of psychopathic hitmen who chase Van from one coast to the next. To clear his name, Van Shaw will have to uncover the hidden motive of corporate espionage at a global level, even with a band of killers on his tail, determined to add Van to their growing list of victims.
It's rare when you run across an author who is generous and selfless with their time. It's even more rare when, unquestioningly, that person is a talented writer. And, for the trifecta, that talented writer has just happened to appear on both the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists. Today's guest for "2 Writers You Should Read," Lisa Regan, is that rare find.
Lisa has made a name for herself with her fantastic Detective Josie Quinn books (along with other titles) and her tireless support of other writers and writing causes. I consider myself lucky to know her. I'm a fan of her, her work, and also her Boston terrier.
And an author Lisa recommends?
I recommend Delia C. Pitts' Ross Agency Mysteries. Start with LOST AND FOUND IN HARLEM. These are wonderful, complex hard-boiled mysteries, and Pitts' prose is absolutely exquisite. Her writing is very atmospheric, and her characters are fantastic. You'll be transported to every place in every book like you were standing right next to the main character, Shelba Rook. Pitts takes descriptive language to a new level and yet, the narrative never lags. Through Shelba's eyes, the magnanimous Norment Ross and his smart, savvy daughter, Brina Ross come alive. The world Pitts has created bursts from every page like a full sensory onslaught. Everything about these books is captivating. Every time I read one it is like eating a very rich, delectable dessert. Number 5 in the series, MURDER MY PAST came out in February, but don't worry, these are page-turners and you'll burn through all five pretty fast.
To learn more about these authors, click on the photos above.
Southern California Sisters in Crime: The Flavors of Mystery
This is going to be a lot of fun! I've known both Tara and Alma for years, really ever since I was first published. Alma writes both celebrated spy and horror novels, Tara's two novels (and short stories) are masterworks of domestic suspense, and I tend to veer toward a mix of hardboiled and noir. We're going to discuss our different styles and our experience in publishing them as part of the summer speaker series for the SoCal chapter of Sisters in Crime. The Zoom link will be released soon, and I suggest following SoCal SinC's Twitter feed for up-to-date event information HERE.
It's contest time! The monthly contest winner wins copies of the books listed in my "Two Writers You Should Read" segment. And the winner is...
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I also ran a contest for a $50 Amazon gift card for new subscribers, and the winner of that contest is:
to_kar777
Congrats to both of you, and keep your eye out for a separate e-mail from me!
My recent column in the Washington Independent Review of Books was all about the demands that events, conferences, fairs, and festivals place on writers, and how we have to manage our time.
Man, I'm writing a lot about managing time for someone who doesn't currently have a day job. And watches a ton of TV.
Anyway, you can read that column HERE.
Until next time, much love and happy reading!