D.C. Thrillers Will Change

Political thrillers and mysteries will change now that Obama is president. Gonna be tough to keep writing those scenes with a bunch of white guys in a room deciding the world's fate, won't it? And I say, "Thank the Lord!" Writers of color have been saying this for years and getting big time resistance. Change has come gradually in the past fifteen years. I was part of a wave of black romance authors launched by Kensington Publishing back in 1995, and not without some criticism either. Can you imagine that there were white authors and readers who questioned why romance novels with black starring characters were even necessary. Some argued that romance novels (99% of which had no people of color) were so universal that making it a point to have black authors write black characters was somehow wrong, some even claimed it segregated the genre. Huh? Seems quaint and silly now doesn't it? But that was a serious discussion back in the day, kids.

Anyway, here is a article on how Washington D.C. novels will change.

By the way one mystery novel on my TBR pile is the second Jo-Ann Power novel in her Me and Mr. Jones series. I enjoyed Missing Member. Check it out if you love fast-paced, funny and smart murder mysteries.

Priorities

I haven't posted in a while. Why? Priorities. While I know it's important to be visible and give blog readers new content, I'm a writer of novels first. So I've been writing my mystery novel. Not being the Energizer Bunny, I can't do it all and not be tired. And being tired means my creative juices dry up, my brain yawns and says, "Check with me later after I've had a nap." In other words my writing suffers. So I haven't been writing posts here, making friends on Shelfari, Grouply, etc. I've been writing. First things first.

I just read this great article that makes three excellent points all writers should consider. One of them talks about writers looking inward too much. Amen. Way too many would be authors write so much about their lives and what they've been through. Not that I'm against memoirs. Yet, and this includes me, our life stories are usually not as groundbreakingly unique as we all think. From a business standpoint I've been blunt with writers who approach me with their sometimes thinly veiled autobiographies (or family stories). Most agents and editors can name at least five published memoirs off the top of their heads that tell the same stories of greed, pain, loss, abuse, abandonment, etc. So what makes your story stand out?

Anyway, here is the fab article Seven Things I've Learned About Writing, Part I