Publishing A Gay Mystery Novel

Getting Books

2007-07-31T15:37:00.000-07:00

One of the coolest parts of writing a book is that day when you first get the copy of the finished book.

About two weeks ago, I got some covers-- just flat sheets of paper with the front and back covers. That was really neat, because I got to see the back of the book for the first time.

Then last week, the first copies showed up in my mailbox. The page proofs I looked at didn't have the dedication or acknowledgements, so that was the first thing I turned to. Fortunately it was all good.

I'm still at that honeymoon stage when I haven't found anything wrong yet-- haven't discovered any typos, misprints, etc. Ah, but honeymoons always end!

Mahu Surfer Cover Art

2006-08-18T18:22:00.000-07:00

I just got the cover art for the new book, Mahu Surfer, which will be coming out from Alyson in August, 2007.

I think it's cool, though I wish they had been able to find a way to incorporate the Mahu logo into the cover. After all, I'm trying to develop a brand, and the logo is part of the brand identity.

James Kirkwood

2006-08-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

Vicki Van Lieu was my best friend as a teenager. We used to hang out after school and write stories, and it's through Vicki that I discovered a writer who was very influential in my development. Vicki's mother had a sleek black cat named Rajah, and Vicki and Rajah had a love-hate relationship. So when Vicki stumbled on a book called P.S. Your Cat is Dead, she picked it up immediately.

She lent it to me later, and I fell in love with it. It's the story of a struggling actor whose girlfriend has left him, and it's New Year's Eve and he's all alone. Oh, and p.s., his cat is dead.

Then a burglar breaks into his apartment. Could things get any worse? Well, how about if the burglar was gay, and awoke something dormant inside our hero?

I haven't read the book in years, though I probably should again, just to see if it stands up. But it was really meaningful to me back then, when my own sexuality was more than dormant, and I'm not sure it would have the same impact now.

However, it drove me to read everything James Kirkwood had written. And then I discovered he was the co-author of the Broadway smash A Chorus Line, which opened on Broadway in 1975, the year I graduated from high school. He ended up sharing a Pulitzer and a Tony for his work.

I quickly read everything of Kirkwood's that I could get my hands on, and the homoeroticism of his work, which was very understated, spoke to me in a big way. Like A Separate Peace, the John Knowles novel that sparked the desire to write in me, Kirkwood's work came at a time when I needed to read it, and I'll be forever grateful.

Gay Guy/Weak Guy

2006-07-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

Though I've pretty much given up on MTV's Real World (I'm just too old for all that adolescent posturing) I'm still a fan of The Real World/Road Rules Challenge. And I'm fascinated by something that Shane, the only openly gay contestant on this season's challenge, said last week.

He and his female partner had to cross this rope strung high across the water from opposite sides, cross over each other, and then continue to the other side. Not something I could do in a million years.

Shane couldn't do it either--he fell to the water below. He was clearly upset with his performance and said, "Don't mind being the gay guy. Don't want to be the weak guy."

It struck me as something that Kimo would say-- and something lots of out gay men would probably say too. We've accepted our sexuality, but don't want that to imply that we're somehow weaker than everybody else.

As a matter of fact, it's probably something Kimo will say at some point in the future. Thanks for the line, Shane.

ThrillerFest

2006-07-07T10:58:00.000-07:00

Now that I've been home from ThrillerFest for a few days, I've had a chance to think about it and process what I learned. I typed up all my notes, which were mostly on the technical panels, and I certainly feel that I learned a few things from those panels. I could have spent a whole day listening to Nick Hughes, and I'd love to get him to Sleuthfest.

First of all, if I closed my eyes it sounded like Sean Connery was talking to me-- and I could listen to him forever. But more than that, Nick had so many interesting things to talk about-- his experiences in the French Foreign Legion, work as a bodyguard, and how to survive a street fight.

The last stuff was the most relevant to my writing. I have Kimo volunteering at a gay & lesbian teen center on Waikiki, and I want him to be teaching a once-a-week course on self-esteem and self-defense. How to stand up to bullies, for example, and how to feel good enough about yourself that you can.

I loved the Arizona Biltmore, and everyone I met was very friendly. On the first day, I jumped into a caravan that went to Poisoned Pen, a bookstore in downtown Phoenix, and then out to the Scottsdale Gun Club. It was Zoe Sharp's birthday, and she wanted to shoot a submachine gun.

The rest of us got to watch her, and shoot a variety of weapons, including a 9 mm and a .357 magnum. I understood why my father's shooting jacket has a padded shoulder-- the semi-automatic rifle I fired had a real kick.

I also realized more clearly the difference between a thriller and a mystery. I don't read that many true thrillers; I hardly recognized any of the names on the panels, and those I did recognize I knew from reading mysteries and attending mystery conferences.

ThrillerFest was very well-run, though I was a bit disappointed that it was so successful-- I had been hoping for a smaller conference where there would be more opportunity to really get to know people, as I did in Toronto. Would I go back? I don't know. It will be in New York next summer, and a lot depends on where else I want to go or need to go, and how willing Marc is to let me go!

Lowered Expectations

2006-06-22T12:43:00.000-07:00

OK, I never thought Mahu was going to be a best-seller, or set the world on fire. I hoped it would find an audience, and that readers would like the book.

But I did hope for more than I got, so I'm learning to lower my expectations.

The first person I met who'd read Mahu, outside of my close friends, told me that she was a reader for Insight Out Books, that she'd loved the book and recommended it. So I kept waiting to hear from Haworth, and scanning the Insight Out catalogs that came in. I finally accepted that they had just chosen not to include Mahu in their offerings.

I was hoping to get a couple of decent reviews. Certainly I'd love the New York Times, but I knew that it could only happen by a fluke. I did think I was more realistic in getting a couple of reviews in mainstream publications, particularly my hometown newspapers.

Didn't happen. I greatly appreciate the reviews that Mahu got, which were generally quite positive, but they came from GLBT publications and websites in places like Connecticut and Minnesota. I didn't get into any of the big magazines like Out or The Advocate, and I didn't get into any newspapers in big cities.

The biggest disappointment was not making the top five finalists for a Lammy award. I thought I knew most of my competition and I was sure Mahu would stack up against them. But I didn't make it. Several people told me they thought Mahu belonged there, and that it was a symptom of how biased and/or out of touch the judges were.

I was hoping to get invited somewhere-- to speak at a conference or workshop, or visit a college. Hasn't happened yet-- but it might still, though I'm not expecting anything.

So I'm trying to be grateful for what I've gotten. Some positive reviews. Good word-of-mouth feedback. The chance to sit on a couple of panels at mystery conferences. Sales that look like they will top the publisher's expectations (though my royalties haven't yet paid back the money I've spent promoting, and probably never will.)

I've had a book published by a reputable publisher, and it opened doors for the sequel to come out in Spring 2007 (from Alyson Books) and for me to edit a collection of essays, Paws & Reflect, about gay men and their dogs. That will also be out from Alyson, in November, 2006. I now have a new agent, and I've met a lot of great writers online and through my travels.

I think any new author doesn't really know what to expect, and we should all be grateful for whatever comes out way. Now that I've gotten over my initial disappointments, I think I can be.

Pride Write

2006-06-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

When I was at Stonewall Pride yesterday, Eston Dunn (aka E. Robert Dunn, author of the Echelon's End science fiction series) invited me to join a group of other gay authors at a Borders event later in the afternoon.

I was hot and sweaty and tired and knew Marc was waiting for me at home. But I agreed to go anyway (after letting Marc know I'd be late.) And I'm glad I did.

I didn't sell a single book, and there wasn't much of a crowd. But I did get to chat a bit with Richelle, the customer relations manager. I discovered that Borders has so far sold 38 of the 50 copies they ordered for my original reading back in September. At the reading, I sold 24 copies, leaving 26 behind. So another 14 copies have sold since then.

I think that's pretty good. Most stores would have sent back all or most of the unsold copies right after the reading. I did sign the rest of the books, and Richelle gave us all some little "autographed by the author" stickers to put on the books.

I spoke to her about Paws & Reflect in the fall, and how I hoped to do some publicity with Andy Zeffer and Jay Quinn, and let her know that the new Mahu book will be out next spring. And I also mentioned that I'm hoping to get Tony Bidulka to come to Florida, and if she sets up a reading for him I will do my best to draw out an audience.

So I thought that was a pretty productive event, all in all.

Stonewall Pride

2006-06-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today I spent a couple of hours at the Stonewall Pride Parade and festival in Fort Lauderdale. Andy Zeffer was kind enough to coordinate a table for gay authors uner the tent of his publication, Express Gay News. He and I were joined by Eston Dunn and Richard Blanco.

Our mantra was "Gay Books by Gay Authors" and "Sexy Summer Reading." When people came up, we pointed to Mahu as gay mystery, Eston's book as gay sci-fi, and Andy's book as gay Hollywood. Richard's was gay poetry-- though there wasn't that much gay about it.

I only sold two books, though Eston and Andy did much better. But I had fun hanging out at Pride and getting my name out there. Andy handed out a ton of postcards for us, and EGN advertised the event for us and made up a great poster than ran the length of the table. So there was a lot of visibility.

I met several people who'd already read the book, and I even saw a guy wearing my Mahu t-shirt. I'm still trying to figure out where he got it-- he must have bought it online. He was another walking billboard for me!

I saw so many funny, funny t-shirts out there, and was motivated again to try and take the rainbow surfboard graphic and turn it into a money maker on t-shirts. My favorite slogans were "Hi, You'll Do," and "Stop that man! I want to get off."

My high school speech teacher also showed up to say hello-- which was wild. I hadn't seen him in 31 years, though he looked an awful lot like the way I remembered.

So the message of this post is that you have to take advantage of any opportunities you have to get your name out there and sell books-- and any time hundreds of gay men and women (young, old, and in between; handsome, hideous and in between as well) see your name and the name of your book, it's got to be a good thing.

Glad Day in Toronto

2006-06-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

While I was in Toronto, I also had the chance to visit Glad Day Books, which was a huge (by my standards, certainly) gay and lesbian bookstore. My internet friend Pat Brown (her gay mystery L.A. Heat is due out from Alyson any day now, and it's terrific) had arranged for a visit by herself, Tony Bidulka and me. Pat was sick that day and couldn't join us, but Tony graciously agreed to go along with me, even though he'd been there the day before.

Glad Day had so much stock I was just overwhelmed. I met the clerk and the manager, John, and chatted a little-- but honestly, I was too into checking out the stock to spend too much time talking! I noticed they had all four books I'm in at the moment-- Alyson's My First Time 2 and Dorm Porn (in which I have a piece, but under a pseudonym) as well as Mahu and the new Cleis anthology, Cowboys: Gay Erotic Stories.

It was fun to go around and talk to the stores, and now that I've done it I think I'll feel better about doing it in other cities. I should certainly get over to the couple of stores we have in South Florida, even though they don't have that much stock. I'll have to work on that this summer!

Hand-Selling

2006-06-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hand-selling is one of the most important parts of the whole bookselling process. A bookstore manager or sales clerk who likes a book, or knows the store's stock, can make recommendations to customers. If you as an author get to know the bookstore's staff, they can help get your books into the hands of customers.

When I was in Toronto for Bloody Words, I went to two terrific gay bookstores: Not the Rosedale Library and Glad Day. At the first, I just walked in off the street and asked to speak to the manager. I had to identify myself as an author-- not some complaining customer. Then the manager and I had a nice chat about gay books, and I told him a little about myself.

And then he hand-sold me a couple of books-- ones that his customers really seemed to like, or so he said. I just finished reading Joey Comeau's Lockpick Pornography, which I bought because the manager thought highly of it and said the store could barely keep it in stock. He knew the author's back story, too-- about how he'd started publishing online to earn enough money for college.

I was hooked. I bought the book, which I liked-- it's a very interesting riff on gender, in particular, wrapped around a sexy, funny story. I hope this manager will be pushing Mahu the same way!

Bloody Words

2006-06-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

I just returned from Bloody Words, a mystery writer's conference in Toronto. I think it's important to attend as many as this kind of event as you can afford when you're trying to build an audience for your book. I haven't really sold a lot of copies at events like this-- one at Bouchercon, one at Sleuthfest and one at BW. But I know I'm building my name recognition.

I also post on several list serves, such as DorothyL and Murder Must Advertise. Several people came up to me at BW and said that they recognized my name from DorothyL and wanted to say hello. It was nice to meet them, and to connect a face to some of the names I've seen online.

This morning, I made a post to DorothyL about the conference-- how well run it was, and all the people I'd met. That post served to inform the online community about the con, as well as to give me a chance to get my name out again.

Everyone I've spoken to agrees-- it's a lot of work to promote your book. But if, like me, you're in this for the long haul-- I want to make a career out of writing-- I consider it an investment in my future. And along the way, I'm having fun at conferences. I'm learning from panel discussions and from posts about writing, marketing, and mysteries. Sure, I'm not spending as much time writing as I should-- but at least this sort of thing is a lot more productive than computer solitaire!

Sleuthfest

2006-03-10T12:57:00.000-08:00

I'm finally recovering from Sleuthfest, the mystery writers' conference sponsored by our local chapter of the Mystery Writers of America. I was one of the volunteer organizers, so since January I've been collecting names of people who wanted to have appointments with agents & editors, then organizing those appointments. I spent Friday and Saturday afternoon at the center of barely controlled chaos, as writers went in and out for their 10-minute appointments.

Sometimes we were ahead, and sometimes behind. It's a mystery how it all worked out, but everyone seemed happy--except for one guy. Oh, well, you can't please everyone.

Writers' conferences are great places for name recognition and networking. I think I was laying the groundwork this winter. A couple hundred other writers and I exchanged emails, and then I met most of them face to face, even if it was only for a minute or two.

I didn't sell as many books as the bookseller or I expected, but I think that's because my panels (I moderated one and spoke on one) took place on Friday morning, before I'd had the chance to meet all those writers and impress them with my charming personality. Next year, I'll ask for a Saturday panel rather than one on Friday.

But I think this is like making posts on DorothyL, or the PublishedGayAuthors list serve-- it's about hitting your potential audience with your name over and over again. And I did sell books to people who had met me, or who wanted a gift for a gay friend or relative.

Hopefully this increased name recognition will start to pay off with the next book, Paws & Reflect-- the anthology about gay men and dogs that's coming out from Alyson in September.

The Sleuthfest Raffle

2006-02-19T18:48:00.000-08:00

I've been volunteering to help my local chapter of the Mystery Writers of America with Sleuthfest, the mystery writers' conference we put on every March. This year's runs from March 2-5, and one of the features is a raffle for items donated by authors.

During the conference, you buy raffle tickets from one of the volunteers (usually women wearing pink boas) and then deposit your tickets in front of the items you want. The more you want something, the more tickets you drop in.

At the cocktail party on Saturday night, someone draws the winners for each prize. We've had some great ones-- trips and dinners as well as autographed books. MWA members were asked to donate, so I came up with the idea of a Hawaii-themed basket of goodies.

I had fun shopping for the stuff-- a platter, glasses and mugs; a bag of Kona coffee and one of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, as well as assorted leis and a ball cap patterned with blue hibiscus flowers. I threw in one of my Mahu post-it note pads as well as, of course, an autographed copy of Mahu.

This is just another promotional expense, as well as a charitable donation. Everybody who walks by the raffle items will see my name and my book's name. This is why I volunteered, too; to get my name out there.

Everyone who registers for Sleuthfest is eligible for a ten-minute pitch session with one of the agents or editors who are attending the conference, and I'm coordinating the scheduling of these appointments. A couple hundred people have been getting emails from me, and will meet me in person when they show up for their appointments.

I know from my own experience that I've bought books by authors I've met at conferences, especially people who've been nice to me. So I'm doing my best to be nice to everyone-- including putting together a fun basket of Hawaiian stuff for the raffle.

The Reader's Group

2006-02-07T19:13:00.000-08:00

Tonight I had a really great experience. The GLBT book group at the Barnes & Noble in Fort Lauderdale read Mahu, and invited me to join them to discuss the book. The seven folks who were there had all read the book and liked it, and I had the chance to talk about it with them-- my inspiration, my plans for the series, and so on. It was so cool to hear the things that they liked-- the Hawaiian atmosphere, Kimo's relationships with his family, the struggles he goes through as a gay man working in a macho environment.

It was also very interesting to me to react to their comments-- to try and enhance their experience of the book with some background on how it came to be.

Thanks so much to the facilitators of the group-- John Spero, who has been such a supporter, and Leigh Rosenthal, who I went to college with so many years ago. The group was such a great experience that I hope to join them and read with them for a while.

Amazon Programs

2006-01-23T08:40:00.000-08:00

I've signed up for two new marketing efforts at Amazon.com. The first is their Amazon Connect program, which allows authors to connect with readers directly. I make blog posts on the Amazon site, which are then displayed to customers who search for my books. Here's what the Mahu page looks like.

The second is Amazon Shorts, which allows me to sell short stories bsed on Kimo's further adventures. I've written about a dozen of these stories, and hope to collect them someday in an anthology-- but for now I think it will be an interesting way for people who've read Mahu to see what Kimo is up to now.

Publishing Stories

2005-12-20T08:55:00.000-08:00

One of the ways I'm trying to promote Mahu is to get some of the short stories I've written about Kimo published. I've written some non-fiction which is around on the web, and I've always attached a tagline about the novel, but I think that giving people a taste of my fiction may make them want to read the book.

At this point, I've written about a dozen Kimo stories. Most of them are straightforward mysteries, always with a gay twist, and a couple are erotica with a mystery twist. (Why does that big, sexy guy look so unhappy? Let's get into his shorts and find out!) So far I haven't been very successful. Both Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock have turned stories down without comment, and a story I wrote for the last MWA anthology wasn't selected.

But my spooky story, Refuge, is still up at Blithe House Quarterly. In it, Kimo and his friend Gunter head off to the Big Island for weekend camping and run into the spirit of a gay ghost. And I've just won second place in a "Bad Santa" contest at Mysterical-e, an onling mystery magazine. The story, "Christmas in Honolulu" takes Kimo up into the hills above Manoa (home of the University of Hawaii's main campus) to figure out who killed a man in a Santa hat.

Does this work? Time will tell. In the meantime, I'm getting my name out there and giving Kimo a little more exposure.

Hurricane Wilma

2005-12-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

No matter how much you plan, there are some things you just can't anticipate. Who knew a late-season category 1 or 2 storm would sweep across the state of Florida, from west to east (most go from east to west) and cause so much damage and devastation? I certainly didn't.

Wilma forced me to cancel two events-- a reading at the Stonewall Library, the gay and lesbian library in Fort Lauderdale, and a signing at Murder on the Beach, a small mystery bookstore in Delray Beach. In addition, it caused the Broward County Library to cancel publication of its monthly newsletter for November-- which was advertising my reading on November 30 at the South Regional Library.

That event, where I shared the podium with fellow mystery writers Joe Moore and Lynn Sholes, authors of The Grail Conspiracy, came off nicely, but the only audience were BCC students who were there for extra credit in their classes. The newsletter may have brought additional library patrons in.

New York, New York

2005-12-20T08:35:00.000-08:00

When I left New York in 1986 to move to Florida, I knew I'd go back some day as a published author. And I did, in November.

The seeds for this trip started nearly seven years ago, when I attended a gay & lesbian writers' conference in Washington, DC called Behind Our Masks. While there I made a number of contacts that have been very fruitful. I met Dan Jaffe, a talented writer whose background is similar to mine in many ways, and we became friends. When Dan edited an issue of Blithe House Quarterly, the online gay literary magazine, he selected a story of mine, "Refuge." And then he was kind enough to provide a blurb for the jacket of Mahu.

I also read a shortened version of "Refuge" at an open mic reading towards the end of the conference, and that made an impression on Carol Rosenfeld, a New York-based writer and attorney who is involved with the Publishing Triangle, an association of gay men and lesbians in the publishing business, and with Out Professionals, a gay and lesbian networking group.

Fast forward many years. This summer, at Saints & Sinners, I met Carol again, and she remembered that story, and was kind enough to give Mahu a good review, as an advance reader for Insight Out Books, the gay & lesbian book club. She also said she'd be willing to help me organize an event in NYC.

Fast forward again to November 2005, when I gave a reading and discussion at the gay and lesbian community center in Chelsea. Only four people showed up, but I did sell two books-- a 50% conversion rate!

I learned from this experience that I have to be very aggressive at publicity for every event, even those organized by others. I assumed that the sponsorship of several different organizations, including GOAL, the organization of gay and lesbian police officers, would draw a crowd. I did send out some press releases and get into some events calendars, but as a first-time author with a largely unreviewed book, it was hard to get any additional publicity.

Even so, I thought the event went well and I enjoyed having dinner with Carol afterward. My event on Saturday, though, was a much bigger success, mostly because I leveraged my personal mailing list to get my friends to show up. About twenty people came to a reading on Saturday night at Partners in Crime, a charming little mystery bookstore on Greenwich Avenue in the Village. The store provided a lovely space at the back, with chairs and a comfy sofa, and a fabulous poster in the window advertising the reading.

The event organizer, Chandra, did a terrific job of getting the books and poster in place, and told me that the day after the reading she'd sold two books based on the poster.

Location also mattered-- the event at the Center was in a fourth-floor room,up two flights at the back of the building, far west in Chelsea. Partners in Crime has a good location in the heart of the Village, with lots of foot traffic.

Would I go back to New York again? Absolutely-- but with lots more advance planning!

Readings

2005-09-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

I'm still on a high from my second reading-- the big one, followed by a party. It was tonight, and seemed to be a big success.

I think readings are an important way of connecting with your audience. I love to go to readings myself, because I want to hear the author's voice, which then stays in my head as I read the book. I've gone to great readings, and I've gone to terrible ones, and I've tried to put everything I've learned together to create my own.

The first thing to do is to start scheduling your readings. You need to do that at least two months in advance, to ensure that the store has enough time to publicize the event. Many stores publish printed calendars, and now many send emails out as well. Since other authors are scheduling in advance, you need to do so as well.

My first call was to our local independent store, Books & Books, which has four branches. The main store is in Coral Gables, an elegant suburb on the south side of Miami. That store has the largest space for readings. But I'd already been invited to participate in a joint reading of alumni of Florida International University's MFA program in creative writing at that store, which will take place on Sunday, September 25.

So I asked to give a reading at the branch on Miami Beach's Lincoln Road. That's a big gay neighborhood, and I didn't want to go to the same branch twice.

I invited my friend Hannah Lasky, who is a talented painter and poet, to bring some of her art work to serve as a backdrop for me. I brought a CD of Hawaiian music for the store to play as we were setting up, a fake grass-skirt banner that reads "ALOHA," and some other small props to set the scene.

The readings I've enjoyed the most have given a sense of the author and the process of writing-- so I tried to do that. I began with about ten minutes on the Hawaiian language and culture, and how I came to write the book and get it published.

Then I read the first page of the book-- to establish the voice-- and jumped to about halfway through the first chapter, which I then read through to conclusion. After I finished, I asked for questions.

The whole process took about forty-five minutes, and I enjoyed riffing off the questions I was asked. There were about twenty people in the audience, and after the reading I signed about ten books-- one couple, my friends Eliot and Lois, had flown in from New York and bought four copies. (They are now officially my VERY best friends.)

I duplicated the process tonight, at a big Borders store in a gay neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale. The store had printed up posters for the reading, including one on the front door, and I got some great press-- nice announcements in the alternative weekly, the New Times, and in a couple of local gay papers; one, the Express Gay News, did a huge feature on me, with a teaser on the front cover and a big photo inside.

We had a capacity crowd-- thirty people sitting, and probably another dozen standing or hovering around in the background. And there were many men I didn't even know! Lots of them even bought books! I was more than thrilled.

It's wonderful to sign books for friends, colleagues, and neighbors-- but it was really terrific to feel that people I didn't know were touched and motivated to dish out $19.95 (plus tax.)

I was also helped in promotion by networking with local groups; Karen Dale Wolman, who organizes gay and lesbian writers' workshops, sent out a press release for me, and I think her credibility helped me get noticed.

In the end, both readings were great events, and I think at least part of that comes from doing my homework-- going to lots of readings myself and listening to what I liked and what I didn't, and doing as much groundwork as I could to let people-- both friends and strangers-- know about the book and the reading.

More Bouchercon

2005-09-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

Overall, I had a great time at Bouchercon. In the mornings, I walked around Chicago, and during the day I sat in on panel discussions that were interesting and fun.

My own panel was less than successful. A very bossy panel moderator refused to let us do any publicity for our books, and kept a very tight rein on what we said. The star of our panel was Lee Child, who has written nine books in the Reacher series, and it was clear that most of the audience was there to see him, so though I was annoyed at the moderator's bossiness, it isn't like I lost a major opportunity to publicize Mahu.

I sold one book through a great bookseller, Rue Morgue (where I bought all my books) and autographed one program. But I met lots of great people and had fun. On the last day, I attended a program on short stories, with the editors of both Alfred Hitchcock and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. I made sure to go up and say hello at the end, and hand out my post-it note pads. I have stories out to both magazines; I'm hoping that the name recognition will help when those stories get read.

Bouchercon - Day 1

2005-09-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, August 31, I left South Florida for Bouchercon, the worldwide conference of mystery writers and readers. There are over a thousand people here, including a bunch from Florida, so I’m much more comfortable here than I was at Saints & Sinners. And frankly, the people here are so much nicer than the people at Saints & Sinners were. There, I thought everyone was very clique-y, yet here, everyone is much more approachable and friendly.

After I got in, I went shopping on North Michigan Avenue—hitting every chocolate shop in town, I think. Then on Wednesday night, my friend Eileen drove in from the suburbs and we went to dinner at a great – though very rich and fattening – French restaurant. Then she drove me around Chicago for a while, proving a great tour guide.

Thursday began the first day of the conference. I sat in on a panel on sex, which was actually pretty dry, then a demonstration of K-9 dogs. In Chicago, they use Belgian Malinois, German Shepherds and Dutch shepherds. The dogs are actually trained in Europe, and then purchased by the city when they are about a year and a half old. Seeing them made me want to incorporate a K-9 dog somewhere in a book or story.

I had lunch with Christine Kling and Fred Rea at a little café near the hotel, and made it back for a panel on anthologies, where I actually picked up some tips for the anthology I will be editing with Sharon Sakson. Though we haven’t gotten the official word yet, Alyson Press will be publishing a collection of true stories about gay men and the bonds they have with their dogs. It was very interesting to hear the experiences of the anthology editors.

The last panel of the day was on series characters and whether they age or not. Some characters, like Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone, age only a few months at a time, while others, like Joseph Hansen’s Dave Brandstetter, age in real time. It was very interesting to hear the panel talk about these issues.

After some email and relaxation, I went to the Hammett Awards and welcome reception, then hung out with Chris for a while before going to the Akashic books party. Again, everyone I’ve met so far has been very nice and friendly. I think it helps that I have that little red dot on my badge that identifies me as an author—though only a little.

My first reading

2005-08-31T08:30:00.000-07:00

I had my very first reading at Books & Books, Miami’s great independent bookstore. I was running late, speeding down I-95 at 80 mph, driving right into storm clouds and drizzle. Fortunately, the heavy rains had already passed, leaving only the humidity behind.

I had invited my friend Hannah Lasky, who is a wonderfully talented artist, if she wanted to bring some paintings over to serve as a backdrop for the reading, so I met up with her in the alley behind the store and started dragging the paintings and the wire display wall in through the back door.

I brought my own props, too—an inflatable palm tree, an ALOHA banner, and a plate of coconut macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies. When I walked in, it didn’t look like there was much of a crowd, but by the time we got everything set up, all twenty seats were filled and there were a couple of other people standing around.

Of course, I knew all but a couple of those people—but I was still delighted to see them. Classmates (and a professor) from my writing program at FIU, members of my writers’ group, and friends—it was so nice to have such a supportive group. I talked for a bit about how I came to write Mahu, and about the Hawaiian spelling and symbols I used in the book, and then I read.

I read the first page of the book, as Kimo’s moving toward a drug bust, and then jumped to the last section of chapter one, beginning as Kimo leaves the bar where he has been hanging out with his cop buddies to go to the Rod and Reel Club, the gay bar where lots of the action of the book takes place.

Then I answered questions, including “When will the book be translated into Hawaiian?” It gave me an opportunity to talk about writing in general, about the research that I did for the book. Overall, it was a fabulous experience—and I was equally excited to sign about ten books afterwards, as well as signing a half dozen stock copies. There was even one ordered by a collector.

I generally wrote “Mahalo nui loa” which means “Thank you very much” and then tried to add something personal, since I knew everyone who bought a book. Overall, I don’t think I could have asked for a better first reading experience.

Updating the Website

2005-08-13T13:47:00.000-07:00

When I first started writing Mahu, I did some research on other authors of gay mysteries. I put together a list which I used to send out along with queries, to show prospective agents and editors that this was a thriving subgenre. And I always knew that I would include this list on my website and use it to help promote Mahu.

Well, now's the time. I've had the list online for some time, and I knew there were probably a few new authors to include. So I started work yesterday, and ended up updating 6 authors, adding 9 new ones, for a total of 28 new books. Now of course, some aren't that new; they're only new to me. But it still shows that this niche is continuing to build.

Once I finished, I sent an email to two different listserves that I subscribe to-- DorothyL, which is for mystery lovers, and Blue Place, which is specifically for gay mystery, but often expands to gay literature in general. Now we'll see if I get any hits!

The Books are Here!

2005-08-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening, the dog started barking-- generally a sign that we're about to get a delivery. And sure enough, by the time I got downstairs, there was a heavy box sitting just inside the gate-- the thirty books I ordered from Haworth. I get a 50% author discount-- and there was a bill right on the top of the pile.

Now I have books to carry around to readings and to sell to friends & family. Not quite sure how I'm going to handle that-- I guess if anyone asks "Where can I buy it?" I'll let them know they can buy from me.

I'm a little worried that Amazon & Barnes & Noble online still don't have the correct information and pricing-- it doesn't look available yet, and each of them has a different price. The current price should be $19.95 but neither site has been updated yet.

My First Interview

2005-08-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I had my first interview today about Mahu, with Andy Zeffer of the Express Gay News, a local paper in Fort Lauderdale. I think the interview went well; we'll see how it comes out in the paper.

But it showed me that I really need to prepare better for this publicity stuff. I threw together a press kit at the last minute, and I know I have to get a fairly nice one put together. I'm heading off to the office supply store to buy some folders, and I'm ordering more of my Mahu labels for the cover of the folder.

I need to think more about the main points I want to convey, as well-- and how I'm going to get those across. Just another step in the process, I guess.