Meet best - selling author CJ Lyons

by Vivian Zabel 

          I first met CJ Lyons on two Yahoo email lists: Crime Writers and Sisters in Crime. Soon after I discovered that she would be one of the speakers/ workshop presenters at the OWFI (Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc.) writing conference May 1-2, 2008.

          Not only did I attend CJ's sessions and have her autograph my copy of her debut medical thriller LIFELINES, but she also joined me at my writing group's table at both banquets.

      Now, join me on a warm imaginary evening on a deck under a star-spangled night. CJ agreed to an interview, and I wish to make it appear we visited in person again.

Vivian: Thank you for allowing me to interview you, CJ. I enjoyed our time together at the OWFI conference. Please share with us: How did/does your history and home background affect your writing?

CJ: My mom was a voracious reader, so I grew up surrounded by books. I began reading at a very early age and skipped the whole "see Dick run" stage, going right to books like Agatha Christie.

          And fairy tales—lots of fairy tales. But not the sanitized Disney version, my mom had lots of the "real" ones—Perraults, Grimm Brothers, etc. I think they helped me to learn the value of a good story, how the hero's journey works on a subliminal level, and also that no happy ending comes without paying a price.

Vivian: Tell us something about your background that has made you a better, or more caring, writer.

CJ: Being a pediatrician definitely has given me insight into how real heroes are born. Watching children and their families respond to tragedy and triumph has both inspired and humbled me.

          Since I spent a lot of my career working in urban trauma centers and as a victim's advocate, I also witnessed occasions of true evil—and saw how insidious it is, how easily it can hide in plain sight. And I saw how so many of us live our lives in a gray area between good and evil.

          That's the reality of our world. In my fictional world, I try to address this cosmic ambiguity, with many of my characters doing all the right things for all the wrong reasons—or all the wrong things for all the right reasons. I love stories of redemption, of triumph over one's own self.

Vivian: Please fill us in on your hobbies, interests, or activities you participate in during your leisure time. *laugh* If you have any.

CJ: Great question — strange to say, but I used to have a lot more free time when I was practicing medicine! Now that I write full time, it seems that almost everything is tied to the writing. Either getting the current book done, researching the next, or marketing the one hitting the stores now.

          But that's all good!. When you do something you love, it doesn't seem like work. And I've been able to expand my writing career to include a busy teaching schedule. Now I get to combine my love of travel with trips to give master classes, workshops and keynotes. This way I'm always meeting new people who share my love of storytelling!

Vivian: Authors are often asked when they started writing or what triggered their interest in writing, but I would like to know what keeps you writing.

CJ: I've been telling stories all my life—took me a looooong time to figure out the difference between fiction and reality when I was a kid. This led to many hours in time out—which led to more stories fermenting in my imagination…..a vicious cycle.

          I honestly don't think I could stop writing if I tried. It's an addiction for me. There are so many stories to tell and so little time.

Vivian: You have so many projects going all the time: working on books, traveling, etc.; how do you manage?

CJ: I'm a lousy housekeeper. Seriously, you should see my place—my Christmas gift to myself was investing in a Dirt Dog robot vacuum cleaner so at least the floors would get done. Now, if I could just teach it to dust and do the laundry….

Vivian: Ahh, I knew we had lots in common.
          How do you manage to come up with the ideas for your medical thrillers?

CJ: Most of my ideas come from things that frustrate me and that I want to change. Topics that I feel passionate about.

          LIFELINES was inspired by a photo I once saw. In it, there was an old man wearing a VFW uniform with a lot of medals and decorations. He was holding a sign that read: Freedom includes the right to hate.

          I was caught by the ambiguity—here was a man who had shed blood to protect me and my country, who had earned my respect, yet he was espousing an idea that I despised. That it was okay to "hate" someone because we live in a free society.

          Then I read about the ACLU defending the KKK's right to protest during a rally. And I knew that I would use all of these conflicting ideas in a book someday. That book became LIFELINES.

          My second book, WARNING SIGNS, was inspired by my days as a medical student as well as a lot of recent high profile medical stories including the melamine contamination. I kept wondering, how does anyone know if what they eat or drink, the air they breathe, the medicine they're prescribed, if any of it really is safe?

          While writing it I was very cognizant of the fact that this is an uncomfortable subject for many. But I also wanted to be as honest as possible, to illuminate the courage I've seen in victims—and how an assault changes their lives. I can only hope that I did their stories justice.

Vivian: Do you have a particular writing process or technique that you use, if so, what?

CJ: Nope. After seventeen years of medicine, following a strict schedule, I totally wing-it now. I have my deadlines and they keep me in check, but I don't write every day or have a set word count or the like. I also don't write in chronological order—which drives my friends who outline and plot crazy.

          My only rule is: No rules, just write!

Vivian: How do you feel when you complete a book?

CJ: When I finish the rough draft, first there's this sigh of relief, wow, I did get it done.

          Immediately followed by a thrill of elation—Wow! I got it done!

          Two seconds later that's followed by: Wow! I have a ton of work to do—this thing stinks!

          But, when I finish the final draft (revisions from my editor, page proofs, etc) and it's gone to press and I can't do anything more with it, then I just kind of let it go….like releasing a baby bird and seeing if it will fly.

          The readers will decide its fate—all I can do is get to work on the next book and try my best to make it better.

Vivian: What are your writing achievements and goals?

CJ: Achievements? I won a few contests before I was published: LIFELINES has been graced with many wonderful reviews, including a Top Pick from Romantic Times, and good reviews in Publishers Weekly, Newsday, the Baltimore Sun, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, among others.

          But I consider my greatest achievement to be the fact that I had the courage to take the leap of faith to write full time. So far I'm supporting myself on my writing and hopefully will continue to do so!

          As for goals—while hitting a list would be nice, writers really don't have a lot of control over that. My main goal is to continue to tell stories that readers love and to inspire, entertain, and empower. If I do that well enough, readers will spread the word and more readers will come…..

Vivian: How do any writing groups benefit you and your writing? Also, we might tie some information about your presentations at conferences with this.

CJ: As much as we love the idea of the lone poet scribbling in his garret, writing today is anything but an individual effort. Yes, it's your idea and your vision, how you make it come to life is unique.

          But once you entertain the idea of publishing you're entering a whole new world—a very strange one, I may add, one that it is best not to navigate alone.

          That's where the help of fellow writers is invaluable—the writers' groups I'm involved with have offered me invaluable support, motivation, inspiration, knowledge, and guidance. They include the Motivated Writers' Life, Sisters in Crime, PASIC (the published author chapter of RWA), and International Thriller Writers, among others.

I try to give back by offering my own knowledge and support—I have given keynote speeches and taught workshops for groups such as the Colorado Fiction Writers, Oklahoma Writers Federation, the University of South Carolina at Beaufort, RWA National, MWA's Sleuthfest, Lowcountry RWA's Master Class, Left Coast Crime, and PennWriters, among others.

Vivian: What advice would you have for a new author?

CJ: Follow the immortal words of Tim Allen (or Winston Churchill—always get the two confused, lol!): Never surrender, never give up.

          I'm convinced that the three key ingredients to becoming a successful author are Vision (know what you write), Passion (know why you write), and Commitment (know who you're writing it for). If you have these three, you can make magic happen!

          But always remember, you make your own road to travel—it's no good looking over your shoulder at how someone else is doing it.

          And of course: don't forget to have fun along the way!

          Thank you, CJ, for visiting with us.


About CJ:
          As a pediatric ER doctor, CJ Lyons has lived the life she writes about in her cutting edge suspense novels.


4RV Publishing website 
4RV Bookstore 

Who reads your manuscript?

Do you edit and read your own work?

The problem with trying to edit your own work is, that you know what you meant to say, but is it what you said? Did you get your point across effectively to the reader?

As the writer, you may be too close to the writing to be totally objective.

Having someone you trust to tell you what you need to hear from the readers POV and not what you want to hear is the key to work that may be what the reader will get.

Unless you are writing for yourself and have no desire being published than don’t worry about editing or having a trusted source tell you what you need to hear to have the reader get what you are trying to say.

If your desire is to be published and have the public read your book, than a writing buddy, or some other trusted source to tell you with honesty what works and what doesn’t in your manuscript will make your writing better and the story more readable.

My wife is my reader and tells me what she sees that doesn’t work, or isn’t clear to her. If I haven’t made myself clear to my life partner, how clear can I be to a reader that doesn’t know me that I plan on entertaining, inspiring, or trying to change their life while they are reading what I wrote?

As an avid reader for more years than I care to admit, I find books with typos, wrong word choice, lack of consistency in terms, and other blatant errors as a reader is a turn off. I only read these books for review and not for pleasure. Reading for pleasure should be enjoyable and not a chore as some authors.

Authors should submit their best work while always striving to make their latest piece better than the preceding one.

The opinions expressed are those of freelance writer, Robert Medak.

Robert Medak

Writer, Blogger, Editor, Marketer, Poet, Proofreader, Researcher, and Reviewer.

Robert J Medak Writing & More

http://stormywriter.com

4RV nominations for Preditors & Editors Readers Poll

by Vivian Zabel  

     The following, with links, are the nominations for the Preditors & Editors Readers Poll from 4RV Publishing. I've tried to scan all the categories to find 4RV nominates. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I'd been nominated in the Author division.

  Author - Vivian Zabel   http://critters.org/predpoll/author.shtml

  Romantic novel - The Joke's on Me by Laurie Boris

  http://www.critters.org/predpoll/novelr.shtml

  Print Book and e Publishing ( yes, both) - 4RV Publishing
   http://www.critters.org/predpoll/ebookpublisher.shtml

  Science Fiction - Time Pullers by Horton Deakins
   http://www.critters.org/predpoll/novelsf.shtml

  Children's - Walking Through Walls by Karen Cioffi illustrated by Aidana WillowRaven
                        Gunther the Underwater Elephant by Ginger Nielson
  http://www.critters.org/predpoll/novelchildrens.shtml

   Other Novels - Sparrow Alone on the Housetop by Jean James and Mary James
                              Aldric & Annaliese  by Harry Gilleland 

    http://critters.org/predpoll/novel.shtml

   Book/ebook cover artwork  - Strangers in the Stable by Aidana WillowRaven
   http://critters.org/predpoll/bookart.shtml   

   Artist - Aidana WillowRaven  

   http://critters.org/predpoll/artist.shtml

     We would appreciate any and all votes. The polls close January 9. Also, votes only count one per category (if you vote again, previous votes are deleted), and voters need to finish the process for votes to count.

Writing Books for Children: From Contract to Sales to a Writing Career

You’ve chosen to write books for children, and you’ve done it by the book: you did your homework and learned the craft of writing; you created a polished manuscript; and you submitted it to publishers.

And, knowing it’s not necessarily the best writer who gets published, but the one who perseveres, you were steadfast and didn’t let initial rejections deter you.

Now, it’s finally happened - all your hard work paid off. A publisher accepted your book, and you’re on your way. 

But, this is far from the end of your writing journey . . . this is just the beginning.

After your book is accepted for publication, there are three steps you will go through . . . if you intend to make writing books for children a career:

1. Writing Books for Children: The Book Contract 

You may want to sign that publishing contract as soon as you can, but be sure to read the contract carefully; if you don’t understand something, ask for an explanation.

Once you’re sure you understand everything in the contract and agree with it, sign away.

After you sign a contract, you’ll be ‘put in queue,’ and at some point begin editing with the publisher’s editor. This will most likely involve more revisions.

From start to actual release, the publishing process can take one to two years.

2. Writing Books for Children: Book Promotion

A few months prior to your book’s release, you should begin promotion to help with book sales.

As soon as you have a book contract, you should begin creating an author website and platform - you will need to create visibility for you and your book.

You need to become a ‘blip’ on the internet radar. To create and maintain this ‘blip,’ you’ll need to post content to your site on a regular basis and use a number of other strategies to extend your promotional reach.

After your book’s release, you will want to take part in virtual book tours, do blogtalk radio guest spots, school visits, and all the other standard book promotion strategies. You can take this on yourself, or you can hire a book promotion service or publicist.

There’s much involved in book promotion, so if you can afford it, make use of professionals. Just be sure to ask around for recommendations; you want to use a service or individual who knows what she’s doing and who gives you value for your money.

Book promotion generates book sales.

You can check out these articles for book promotion tips:

Book Promotion: The Foundation

Book Promotion: Creating an Informational Funnel

Book Promotion: 20 Strategies that will Broaden Your Reach – Part 1

3. Writing Books for Children: A Writing Career

Now, you’ve got your book, and you’re promoting it like crazy (this is an ongoing process). The next step is to repeat the process, over and over and over. You don’t want to be a one-hit wonder, so hopefully you’ve been writing other stories. If not, get started now. On average, an author writes a book every one to two years. 

Along with keeping your writing books for children momentum up, having published books opens other writing opportunities, such as speaking engagements, conducting workshops, teleseminars, webinars, and coaching. There are a number of marketers who say your ‘book’ is your business card or calling card; it conveys what you’re capable of and establishes you as an expert in your field or niche. Take advantage of these additional avenues of visibility and income.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Karen Cioffi is an author, ghostwriter, freelance writer, and editor. To learn more about writing and marketing visit http://karencioffiwritingandmarketing.com. While there, sign up for A Writer's World newsletter; you'll get two free site-related e-books in the process.

Marketing Thoughts - by Stephanie Burkhart

Happy New Year!

I was working on my blog post for 4RV when I saw Katie Raines had a great post on social networking and marketing strategies, so I decided to revamp mine and talk a little about everything today.

MARKETING ON AMAZON

When you're first starting out, it can be uncomfortable reaching out to others – especially readers. One place where you have to be careful is the Amazon forums.

I've discovered the Amazon forums are where readers hang out, but if you don't carefully follow the rules you may sabotage your attempts to successfully market your product.

THE RULES: If you're an author, Amazon has created "Meet Our Authors" just for you. Keep your promotion about your book in this forum.

However, to be effective, you have to be social and branch out – explore other threads. They have threads for Kindles, children's writing, romance – find threads that interest you. Engage in conversations. TIP: Lurk before your post and get the "feel" for the thread and don't self-promote your book outside of the "Meet our Authors" forum or the Amazon "mean" peeps will call you out.

ANOTHER TIP: Marketing and networking can be time consuming. Be mindful of how much time you have to spend on this. I try to allot about 30-45 minutes for this.

If you stick to the above guidance, you'll gradually earn readers and before you know it, you'll see an increase in sales. Amazon readers want to read and are always looking for a good recommendation. If you can build up a solid reputation, the readers will come, but it requires patience, time, and respect for Amazon's rules.

Patience may be the crux of the marketing stragedy. In today's world, we expect results instantly and when we don't get instant results we get disappointed. If you venture out on the Amazon forums remember patience is the key to becoming successful.

TEAMWORK

I love Crystalee Calderwood's "Angeline Jellybean." Why? Because it’s a story that easily relates to young children. The 3-year-olds in my Little Church preschool class light up and love to say "Blah" right along with Angeline. When I read the book to my son's kindergarten class, they got the giggles watching the jellybeans dance in Angeline's tummy. Both classes want encores.

I love sharing books from the 4RV catalog with children and other adults I meet. The books always get a warm reception. As an author, for me, it's important to support my fellow authors. Publishing and marketing takes a team. 

Who's on the team? You, the author, your editor, your illustrator, and other authors who will help cross market your book. Build the bonds of teamwork by reaching out to other authors. "Like" their Amazon pages, Facebook pages, follow them on Twitter, buy one of their books, read it, and support. You'll find most are receptive and will do the same for you.

RESOLUTIONS

It's that time of the year when we look back at 2011, evaluate our ups and downs, and look forward to 2012. Some of us make resolutions, some of us prefer goals. My big resolution/goal for the upcoming year is weight loss. My #2 is to grow as a writer and a marketer. My #3 is to conquer the Amazon forums. Wish me luck.

Do you have any tips about how to be successful on Amazon? Do you want to make a comment or have a question about social networking? Do you want to share your resolutions or goals your have for 2012?

Bio: Stephanie Burkhart was born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire. She spent 11 years in the military and now calls Castaic, CA her home. She works for LAPD as a 911 Dispatcher. Her book, "The Giving Meadow" was published with 4RV Publishing.

"Inspiration flows from the exchange of ideas."
Happy New Year to All!
Smiles
Steph

Book Review -- Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia by vehoae

          William Young gave me permission to re-post the following review of Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia, which was posted on OKNews.

Okie Bookshelf:   Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia

Posted by Young Bill Young

on December 22, 2011M at 4:53 pm

 

The great astrophysicist Stephen Hawking warns us that contact with alien life may not be in our best interest. After all, human history shows all too well how indigenous peoples suffer at the hands of a more technologically-advanced society.
The laws of space and time suggest that such visitations are probably not in our future. Still, if we were to awake one morning to find mother ships overhead, I suspect that a nervous Earth might hear our visitors say something like the following. (Note: just replace “Indians” with “Earthlings”):

“The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed.”
—[Secton 14, Article 3, Northwest Ordinance of U.S. Congress, July 13, 1787
This quote introduces Chapter 5—“What’s mine is mine. What’s yours is mine!”—of  Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia by vehoae. In the author’s first book, she illustrates, through exhaustive research, how the perspectives and motivations of the European invaders and their progeny influenced the rhetoric, politics, and decision-making of the day regarding the continent’s Indian Nations.

Beyond the dishonest diplomacy practiced with the tribes, we are treated to the views and arguments of political and religious leaders as they sought a solution to the Indian problem. Such quotes and primary document details trace the discussions of extermination, assimilation and segregation of the tribes from early European settlement to the days of the Indian Boarding Schools.

It’s an uncomfortable history, of course. Reading about the worse angels of our nature (if I may twist the resurrected Lincoln quote) should make us feel uncomfortable. Seeing an unflattering side of American statesmen like Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson strikes at our patriotic heart.

We know this truth about our past, but some Americans would just like us to forget about it. But vehoae says, “No, look. This is what we did. Here is the proof.” Her appendix, exhibits, bibliography and end note citations take up a third of the book. (I wasn’t kidding about exhaustive research.)
While at the University of Oklahoma in the late 70s, I was lucky enough to have a class with Dr. Jerry Steffen, who warned us about condemning past generations. The future will laugh at us, and condemn us, too, he said. He reminded us to always consider past history in light of the times. This did not mean we should not pass judgements on cruelties of the past. It meant that by understanding the period of history, we could understand why such cruelties happened.

There is no advantage to ignoring our history, but there is much to gain by confronting painful truths. For what better way will we truly find the better angels of our nature?
———————————-
Visit vehoae’s website to find out more about the author, her interests and her work.
Read an interview with the author, where she discusses her book and the writers that inspired her. Plus, she provides a host of research tips for non-fiction writers!

4RV Publishing website  

Social Networking by Katie Hines

I'm still adjusting to the idea that social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, are important to me and my book, and thus, worthy of my time. Why are they, and how many should you establish a presence on?

I think exposure is the key: the more our name is in the great "out there" the more people are going to be interested in what you're doing, in what I'm doing. I'm tweeting on Twitter, and it feels so strange, because I'm not engaged in personal conversations with people. I do, however, realize that the more people that I follow (within reason), the more people will see about me and my work. The concept of tweeting 3 times a day or so takes some getting used to.

Facebook is fun, but it takes time. I have to admit this is the most fun social networking site that I'm on. I've met people I thought long gone from my life, and I'm trying to follow conversations and comment on people's walls that I think fall within the demographics of those I am wanting to reach with both my name and the name of my book.

I also belong to JacketFlap, and haven't really gotten the hang of that, either. I guess I need to make a more concerted effort to get there and "do something." Not sure what that is, yet.

In case you've never heard of JacketFlap (I hadn't heard of it until a couple of weeks ago, either), it is simply one in a list of sites I haven't heard of before. If you're into social networking--and we as authors should be--then you may want to consider some further social networking sites: Nothing Binding, Shoutlife, Live Journal, Authors Den, LinkedIn, Scribd and Axis Avenue. I have only made brief visits to these sites, so be sure and follow up on your own. Ning groups are also a great way to garner some exposure. These sites are not all social networking sites in the way Facebook or Twitter is, but are sites to be aware of where you can gain exposure and network.

Why are these sites important? Because, the more social networking groups we are a part of, the more varied of an audience we will have for our name/book. Do what I'm doing. Take the time to learn and participate. I am, and I firmly believe you will be glad you did.