My Guest: Judith Lucci

Paying us a return visit this week is a gracious lady who brings medical mayhem and bloody violence to her superb New Orlean's based novels. But she's here to tell you about the world as an Indie writer. Ladies and Gentlemen...

Judith Lucci

Thru the Eyes of an Indie

The Good, the Bad and the Awful!

Good Morning Everyone and many thanks to Eric for inviting me to his blog. I want to tell you about the release of my newest book, 'Toxic New Year: The Day that Wouldn’t End'. Toxic is the fourth book in the Alex Destephano medical thriller series but first, I want to tell you a little about my evolution as an Indie author.  I must preface this by saying I was an academic writer first and the scribe of textbooks, research studies, federal grants,

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theoretical articles and anything and everything in between needed to become a tenured professor in a major University. Nevertheless, I can assure you that any prestige you receive in your discipline (mine is nursing, medicine and healthcare) and no matter how coveted your work is, that prestige in academia disappears in the popular press.

First of all, I’m Indie by choice. I started off in the summer of 2012, as a trad-based writer with a contract from a small press and an actual dollar advance. I was thrilled, and dutiful as I am, I changed my story even though I didn’t want to, killed off a character I wanted to live, and altered plot lines as I was told. The final clincher came in the restrictive language in my final contract. Since I’m an out-of-the-box, free-spirited kind of girl, this didn’t sit well with me so I bailed, returned the advance, and joined the Indie Revolution, kinda of like when I joined the hippy movement in the 1970s – with the same energy, commitment and gusto.

The Best of Indie

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There are great things about being Indie and I’m lovin’ it. I have an amazing support group and some pretty decent success as a writer. I figure I’m earning about a dime an hour now, so it’s not all bad.

Best of all I’ve met fantastic indie authors, made great friends and have a new bunch of favorite authors. I love the autonomy being Indie allows and I answer only to myself and my readers.  I make my own decisions, set my own timeline and chart my own path. My work schedule is mine and mine alone and I like having the creative control of everything I do. In a summary, being Indie Rocks!

The Bad…or Hard

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The hard part of Indie authorship being a one man show. Indies must write, blog, edit, publicize, tweet, post, market, respond to fans, present talks, turn cart wheels, smile nicely and watch their language. In essence, do everything it takes to sell write and sell a book, often without knowing how. Technology is hard for me but I’ve learned a lot, and while I did graduate work in marketing, I can assure you social network marketing wasn’t what I studied. Keeping up with social networks is a full time job so I’ve managed to select three I think give me the greatest exposure. I have most of my marketing advertisement developed through Fiverr and have a couple of folks I work with over and over. Fiverr is a pretty good deal all in all and it saves me time and money. Another albatross in Indie writing is editing (both concept and copy) and I have learned the hard way that I cannot edit what I write. I think it was Poe who said, “Write Drunk, Edit Sober” but that doesn’t work for me at all. Now, I have a small street team and a paid editor to assist me with this arduous but important task. My books go past the eyes of at least three other folks before they’re released. My street team also beta-reads my books and tells me where the problems are. And…believe me they’ll tell me. So, part of being Indie is keeping up and learning all you can to keep your books fresh, professional and out front and center. It’s hard, but it’s fun and there’re lots of great indie authors out there to help.

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The Awful!

There’s not a lot that’s awful about being Indie but there are a couple of things that are the bane of my existence and those of my Indie colleagues. They are trolls, or people who are just plain mean and set out to hurt, destroy or demean the work of Indie and self-pubbed writers. I don’t really understand the mean spirits of these people but I do know for a fact they exist.  My final curse is reviewers who drop a book one or two stars for a couple of misspelled words. I just want to rip out their carotid arteries and say, “OK, Jackass, let me see you write a 100,000 document without an error” but of course I don’t.  I just grab a glass of wine and calm my raging spirit and try harder.

OK, there you have it!  Being Indie is awesome. Now about my new release.

Many of you probably know a bit about Alex Destephano medical thriller series but here’s a quick overview from my website.

Alex Destephano is hospital lawyer living in New Orleans who struggles, like all of us, to find her way.  Life is tough. She’s been hurt in love, deserted in life and left bruised and vulnerable. All Alex wants is the simple life and a man that truly loves her. It won’t happen. Violence in her life, terror in her home and near-death experiences have panicked her. Will she make it?  And, if so, at what cost?

'ToxicNew Year' is the fourth in the series and opens on New Year’s Day at the Annual Bloody Mary Brunch hosted by Alex’s grandparents’ Congressman & Mrs. Adam Patrick Lee of Virginia. Terror prowls in every corner of the country estate and danger lurks behind each corner. The setting continues to New Orleans and later in France where fear, and panic are the order of the day.

Enjoy and let me hear from you!

BIO:
Judith is a registered nurse and native Virginian who grew up in Richmond.  She holds graduate and doctoral degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia.  She has been a practicing clinical nurse for over 25 years and is currently a professor of Nursing at James Madison University and the author of numerous academic and health-related articles and documents. In addition to her academic writing she is the author of the Alexandra Destephano novels, a group of medical thrillers set in New Orleans and Virginia.  When not teaching or writing, Judith is an avid silk painter and multi-media artist.  She owns  Artisan Galleries, an art gallery with locations in Harrisonburg and Massanutten.  She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her family and six dogs.

Judith’s Links

Website:    www.judithlucci.com

Twitter:     https://twitter.com/JudithLucci

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/judith.lucci
Contact email: judithlucciwrites@gmail.com

Once again thank you, Judith, for sharing your experience of being an Indie author with us. My very best wishes for the new book whcih I'm sure will be as gripping as the rest of the series.

Eric @ www.ericjgates.com

Taking it to the Next Level!

Want to kick your novels up a notch? Elevate them to greater heights?

Who doesn’t, right?

Is there some elusive action or element you are overlooking?

Have you considered the THEME of your novel(s)?

No I’m not referring to that tune that sounds in your head every time you put pen to paper or click a key.

It’s curious but if you compare the ‘classic’ novels we all know with many of the latest being written by people trying to break into the business of writing, one of the factors that is often missing in the newer novels is Theme.

So just what is this elusive ingredient, and how can I get some?

If you think of your book(s) as something you have built from scratch, you may recognise the following schematic, which is especially true of book series:

A common book series structure

Now there are several different types of ‘cement’ required to hold this structure together. Obviously, a good tale is important, as is a set of interesting characters. Unfortunately, and again, this is essential for a series of books, you need more. The ‘glue’ that is required comes in two complementary flavours: an overall story arc (or arcs – no reason why there can’t be more than one in a series) and a theme which runs through all the books in the series.

It’s all about connectivity, you see, and the relationship between all that happens at the micro and macro levels with the overall story arc. Our individual tales, be they plots or sub-plots; the character’s actions and reactions, nay their growth and evolution during the series is marked by the theme you chose.

This is getting heavy, so let’s take a break and have a cuppa:

Some themes used frequently in novels

These are but a few of the possibilities. Now, be honest, did you consciously choose a theme for your last book? Is whatever happens in its pages consistent with that theme? Will your readers be aware of the theme you chose as they follow the events you describe?

Let’s try to make this a little simpler with an example. I don’t wish to annoy any fellow writers by dissecting their work, so I’ll annoy myself and analyse my ‘the CULL’ series to show you how I applied a theme to the wee beastie.

Now, you may know this series didn’t start off as such (if you are interested in the story I recommend reading this wonderful interview by Merry Citarella for Jaquo Magazine http://jaquo.com/an-interview-with-author-eric-j-gates/). Did I sit down prior to penning my prose and produce an outline based around a particular theme? No, I did not! Hypocrite, you cry! I shall explain. The original, stand-alone novel, now book 1, did have a theme, that of Acceptance and Overcoming Adversity (yes, you can use more than one, just don’t get too complicated.) Yet when the first book evolved into a second, I realised I needed something ‘stronger’ to carry the tale where I wanted it to go. I went over the original, now entitled ‘the CULL – Bloodline’, and saw the solution had been waiting in the wings for me to recognise its existence. The theme was Change.

My next step, long before starting the writing of book 2, was to explore this theme a little more. So I started to jot down how Change could manifest, and how these manifestations could be related to or influenced by one another. I came up with this (not the very rough, pencilled scribble I actually drew in my notebook, but a nice pretty version for this article):

the CHANGE theme diagram

So I had an exploded spaghetti of a diagram with more arrows than Custer’s Last Stand, yet what use was it? How could all these intriguing words and suspected connections be applied to my project?

Well to arrive at the answer, I went back to basics.

I write THRILLERS – you know, those books that make your heart beat faster as you flick the pages, stay up way past your intended bedtime to read ‘just one more chapter’, and are the cause of your food and drink going cold or forgetting to pick up the kids after school – yes, Thrillers! Any writer of thrillers worth his salt will tell you about the three magic ingredients that (not just) thriller novels need: Conflict, Action and Suspense.

Going back to my spaghetti scribble I immediately saw that each arrow offered at least two of the three as plot-points. For example, Amy Bree’s change – her evolution during the four books of the series published thus far, whilst arguably it has not been the most dramatic change in the novels (Katie Lindon, the other protagonist must take first prize for that), it has been the most complex and challenging. Just follow the diagram as I talk you through a little of what I used.

Amy started as a young FBI agent with a brilliant IQ and a unique mind ideally suited to problem solving. She wanted to be a field agent, however, so she could apply her incisive puzzle resolution skills to capturing serial killers. But no; somewhere along the line someone gave her the FBI equivalent of a SAT (aptitude) test and she was assigned to a backroom geek role as a support agent. Cubicled! (not a word in the OED but, these days, maybe it should be!). Of course frustration set in, which lay the groundwork for her jumping at the chance to team up with another geek and go half-cocked at catching a serial killer without any support or official backing! And, of course, everything imaginable that could go wrong, did! Murphy’s Law had a field day! She got booted from the Feds and told never to return. Enter a mysterious priest, whom we learn works for the Vatican Intelligence Service and has some hold over the Vice President. Faster than you can say ‘Eidetic Memory’, she’s teamed up with sixty-two-year old, ex-NSA super-spook Katie Lindon back in the FBI’s own HQ building. But now, she’s not in the FBI, but in a covert unit of Homeland Security, and her new partner will take no naysaying from the FBI Deputy Director about what they do and who’s in their team. Experiencing this empowers Amy whilst at the same time makes her start to doubt if it is what she really wants.

And that’s just the first ten or so chapters of book 1, in a nutshell.

Amy (look at the CHANGE diagram please) has gone from being a defined Individual, member of a Group, where her own Sense of Self is at odds with what she does; is given new Friends and Allies (a slippery one in the form of Cancelli, the Vatican priest, and a solid one, who will fail her in a BIG way at the end of book one, Katie) and a new job apparently doing what she wanted all along. She Rationalises the odd way this all came about, suppressing her inevitable questions (remember she’s OCD analytical), and allows Katie’s actions to Legitimise her own, even when she knows these will cross the big red lines she respects as a Federal Agent.

All in all, pretty complex for one character in the first novel of a series, and a superb basis for what’s to come. Bucket-loads of opportunity for Conflict, Action and Suspense. Now, apply the diagram to all the other characters (Katie, of course, Cancelli, Enrique, Tadhg Griffin and, from book 2 onward, Miach, Jennifer Craven, Cardinal Moretti and even Bombeni). Imagine how the ‘diagrams’ for each of these characters would forcibly interact to provoke even more Conflict, Action and Suspense. I was amazed at the possibilities; so much so, I wrote book 2 (Bloodstone) and 3 (Blood Feud) back-to-back!

But… there was more to be distilled from applying my theme…

Theme doesn’t just manifest in the characters and their actions but in the tale itself.

Let’s do another example, this time skipping ahead to the fourth book which has just appeared (Blood Demon). I had planned to load this book with so many ‘I didn’t see that coming’ moments that applying CHANGE was guaranteed. Yet my diagram served up another interesting application.

In all ‘the CULL’ novels there are stand-alone stories which enable a reader to pick up the books in any order and quickly enjoy the trials and tribulations challenging my protagonists and antagonists (and some who you are never quite sure which side they are on). Obviously, the BEST way to read the series is to follow the advice of the King of Hearts from ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ – “Begin at the beginning, and go on till you come to the end: then stop” (That last bit’s important!)

In book 4 (Blood Demon) while Katie is still in Rome tracking down the mysterious murderer of one of her colleagues, Young Amy is stateside and finds herself dumped in the middle of a deadly investigation: someone is killing off people in the Witness Protection Program! She’s on her own, even SANTA, Katie’s unique (and evolving – more change, and yes, I applied the diagram here too) artificial intelligence computer software who’s the third member of the core team, is ignoring her (!) and she’s back to where she started – using just her wits to solve a problem that’s stumped the Department of Justice and Marshals Service investigators for months.

Note what we have: the Individual, Amy again, who’s no longer in the Group, and deprived of her Technology, using her abstract knowledge of Technology and Social Interaction to resolve the murders. (I won’t say more so as to avoid spoilers). Yes, the diagram gave me a plot! …as well as provided plenty of opportunity for Amy to evolve on her own, something she’s only had the opportunity to do at the end of book 1, although we don’t really find out about what she did until later in the series.

Yes, and yet you say you’re stuck for ideas, or blocked from developing a storyline!

Grab yourself a THEME, fellow scribe; play with it a little, and be AMAZED!

Now a wee word of warning.

Themes are not a soapbox. Of course, you have you own pet hates and personal beliefs but using a theme to thrust these down the throats of your readers is insulting their intelligence.

A summary, methinks!

To find the cement you need to build a solid structure in either a stand-alone one-off, or a series, there are two steps:

IDENTIFY (What is your story about, on all levels? Why should the reader care? Why do you, the writer, want to tell this? The answers should give you a shortlist of possible themes and help avoid soapboxing.)

CHOOSE (Pick a theme that offers the greatest potential for your objectives, one you, personally, are comfortable with, and apply it at all levels – overall arc, plot and sub-plot, character development etc. Remember, you are writing for your readers, writing to entertain and challenge them, not provide material exclusively for a book club meeting, though if you treat the theme’s application correctly, they’ll love you for it!).         

Amazon Link for book 1 - only 99 cents/pence

From the author of the critically acclaimed 'Outsourced' 

Amazon Link for 'Outsourced'

Eric @ www.ericjgates.com