Why Mysteries? by Phyllis Smallman

One of the questions I’m always asked is, “Why do you write mysteries?”

First of all, I love to read mysteries. Mysteries are epic adventures, life and death struggles to right wrongs, to see justice done and to discover truth.  Often reluctant and unprepared, the hero or heroine goes on a quest, taking us with them.

Stories of crime explore the darker side of human nature, greed, anger; jealousy and love…all of these emotions are at the heart of a good mystery. We all fear being the victim of crime. Each of us feels as vulnerable to crime as we do to disease.  Money won’t protect you …nor does education…nor culture…and while we already know how dangerous the world is without mysteries to tell us, our fear holds us enthralled. 

As I grow older a phrase comes back to me…. “things are going to hell in a handcart.”  From the bible to Starwars, the fight against evil goes on.  In fact the first crime stories appear in the bible…Cain murdering Able...Joseph being sold into slavery…the bible is full of tales of theft and murder, tales of the killing of babies.  And you think identity theft is new?   Think of Jacob stealing Esau’s birthright.  These stories tell us things are not getting worse, they were always like this and for me this is a comforting thought. We may not be winning but we’re not losing either. It is a struggle that goes on day after day and generation after generation.

Crime is so central to life we name it like the Eskimos name snow. Petty crime, blue collar crime, or major crime, I write about it because I write about the drama of life.

Phyllis Smallman

www.wphyllismallman.com

This article was first published on OmniMystery News on February 5th, 2013. It's re-printed here by permission of the author.

Phyllis Smallman is the award winning author of 5 books in the Sherri Travis mystery series, chosen by Good Morning America as one of the 6 best mystery series for summer reading in 2010.  Her next book, Long Gone Man out in the fall of 2013, and is the first in a new series.
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Meet the author...

Phyllis Smallman will be moderating the panel discussion -- Marketing Your Work -- and will be providing blue pencil critiques at...
Making Crime Pay
National Crime Writing Month Mini Conference Events
Greater Victoria Public Library
Central Branch
735 Broughton
on Vancouver Island
in British Columbia
from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm
on Saturday, May 25th
Mystery Mini Chats to follow (from 2:30 to 5:00 pm)
this is a free event and well worth attending

Writer royalties and advances

Recently a friend asked, "Are royalties the same across publishers? I understand royalties  to be author gets a percentage of each book sold? Is that correct? What is the percentage?"

Here is my answer...

Royalties are usually between 5 to 10% of the cover price of the book. (The exception is an eBook publisher. They offer a higher royalty because they generally don't offer an advance.) For example, a paperback sells for $20. The author receives $1 or $2. And if you have a literary agent she gets 15% of your royalties. It doesn't look like much when you think in terms of a small number of books. But remember most publishers make large print runs.

Yes, you can make money writing. Two examples:  J.K. Rowling and Stephen King.

This weekend I bought an excellent book on the craft of writing:  The Breakout Novelist:  Craft and Strategies for Career Fiction Writers by Donald Maass (literary agent). And I immediately  skimming though it. I stopped dead in my tracks when I got to chapter 25--a chapter called Numbers, Numbers, Numbers.

Donald Maass writes:  'Advances are an estimate of eventual royalties .. A nonreturnable advance is money you keep, but advances levels are not permanent [and]...can go down suddenly and sharply.' He explains that the publisher's estimation on the amount you will earn is based on the net sales of  'your last novel.'

'[B]ookstore chain buyers...order new novels by the numbers, meaning according to the net sale of your last book. [If] [y]our last book sold poorly...there's no reason for a chain buyer to imagine that things will [improve]... So well known is this pattern that publishers' sales reps have a term for it:  selling into the net...

'Weak sales on one book become a self-fulfilling prophecy on the next, and so on and so on... 

'[And] there's no bouncing back.

[The solution:] Earn out. That starts with an advance that you can exceed in royalty earnings.' [p. 307 - 308]
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Aspiring knitwear designer Gwen Bjarnson is stuck in Purgatory. To escape, she must re-examine her life, journey through her past and right a wrong. But which wrong?

Young and in love, she works to establish her career, except fate has different plans. One rash act and she loses everything. Never resting, always seeking, and yearning for what she can no longer have, Gwen faces the truth:  if she remains, others are destined to die.

How will she solve the mystery before it is too late?

Amazon

Bono Bookstore

Chapters

Smashwords

For more information, visit http://sweatercursed.blogspot.ca/p/the-sweater-curse-ebook-blurb-reading.html

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Sharing my author journey...

I'm starting to look at my author career not in terms of publishing one or two books but rather as a body of work. How does each book introduce, compliment, emphasize the next?

free knitting pattern: "Kayesha" woman's summer top

This pattern was first published in A Needle Pulling Thread:  the magazine promoting Canadian needle arts (spring, 2008)

Carla A. Canonico (editor-in-chief)

Kayesha

Finished tunic measurements:

Bust:  XS – 30/ S – 34/ M – 38/ L – 42/ 1X – 46/ 2X – 50 inches

76.2 / 86.36 / 96.52 / 106.68 / 116.84 / 127 centimeters

Length:  XS – 27.5/ S, M, L – 28/1x, 2x – 28.5 inches

69.85 / 71.12 / 72.39 centimeters

Knitting needles:  4.00 mm/US 6 OR size to obtain tension

Yarn:  Ornaghi Filati Italy bamboo worsted weight (approximately XS, S – 685 (625)/M, L – 822 (750) /1X, 2X – 959 (875) yards (metres)

Gauge:  5 stitches x 7 rows = one inch (2.54 centimeters) worked over Stockinette stitch

Stockinette stitch

Row 1:  knit – to end of row.

Row 2:  purl – to end of row.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern.

1 x 1 rib stitch (odd number of stitches)

Row 1:  knit one, purl one – continue to end of row.

Row 2:  purl one, knit one – continue to end of row.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 for pattern.

1 x 1 rib stitch (even number of stitches)

Row 1: knit one, purl one – continue to end of row.

Repeat row for pattern.

Back:

Cast on [XS – 74/ S – 84/ M – 94] L – 104[1X– 114/ 2X – 124] stitches

Work in 1 x 1 rib stitch for 4 inches. (10.16 centimeters)

Work in 1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches; Stockinette stitch for [XS – 34/ S - 44/ M – 54] L – 64 [1X –74/ 2X – 84] stitches. Work for 4 inches. (10.16 centimeters)

Waist:

Work in 4 x 4 rib stitch for 7 inches. (17.78 centimeters)

This row:  1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches; decrease 10 stitches knit evenly across Stockinette stitch section; 1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches. Stitches remaining:  [XS – 64/ S – 74/ M –84] L – 94 [1X – 104/ 2X – 114] stitches.

Next row:  1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches; purl [XS – 24/ S – 34/ M – 44] L – 54 [1X – 64/ 2X – 74]; 1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches

Upper body:

Work in established pattern for 6 inches. (15.24 centimeters)

Armhole shaping:

Next two rows:  decrease 10 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows while maintaining established pattern. Stitches remaining:  [XS – 44/ S – 54/ M – 64] L – 74 [1X – 84/ 2X– 94]

Work for [XS – 4 (10.16)/ S, M – 4.5 (11.43)] L, 1X, 2X -5 inches. (12.7 centimeters)

Neck:

Work in 1 x 1 rib stitch for 1 inch. (2.54 centimeters)

Straps worked from two balls of yarn

From 1^st ball of yarn work [XS – 5/ S – 10/M – 15] L -20 [1X –25/ 2X –30] stitches in 1 x 1 rib stitch

From 2^nd ball of yarn decrease 34 stitches; work [XS – 5/ S – 10/M – 15] L -20 [1X –25/ 2X –30] stitches in 1 x 1 rib stitch

Work for 1 inch (2.54 centimeters)

Cast off.

Front:

Cast on [XS – 74/ S – 84/ M – 94] L – 104[1X – 114/ 2X – 124] stitches

Work in 1 x 1 rib stitch for 4 inches. (10.16 centimeters)

Work in 1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches; Stockinette stitch for [XS – 34/ S - 44/ M – 54] L – 64 [1X –74/ 2X – 84] stitches. Work for 4 inches. (10.16 centimeters)

Waist:

Work in 4 x 4 rib stitch for 7 inches. (17.78 centimeters)

This row:  1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches; decrease 10 stitches knit evenly across Stockinette stitch section; 1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches. Stitches remaining:  [XS – 64/ S – 74/ M –84] L – 94 [1X – 104/ 2X – 114] stitches.

Next row:  1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches; purl [XS – 24/ S – 34/ M – 44] L – 54 [1X – 64/ 2X – 74]; 1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches

Upper body:

Work in established pattern for 6 inches. (15.24 centimeters)

Armhole shaping:

Next two rows:  decrease 10 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows while maintaining established pattern. Stitches remaining:  [XS – 44/ S – 54/ M – 64] L – 74 [1x – 84/ 2x – 94]

Work for [XS – 2/ S, M – 2.5] L, 1X, 2X – 3 inches. (7.62 centimeters)

Neck:

Work in 1 x 1 rib stitch for 1 inch (2.54 centimeters)

Straps worked from two balls of yarn

From 1^st ball of yarn work [XS – 5/ S – 10/M – 15] L -20 [1x –25/ 2x –30] stitches in 1 x 1 rib stitch

From 2^nd ball of yarn decrease 34 stitches; work [XS – 5/ S – 10/M – 15] L -20 [1X –25/ 2X –30] stitches in 1 x 1 rib stitch

Work for 3 inch (7.62 centimeters)

Cast off.

Tips

To eliminate confusion, before working this design take a few minutes to carefully read the entire pattern. Then highlight all information that pertains to your size.

In the working of this design, cotton may be substitute for bamboo.

Would you like to shorten or lengthen the tunic?  This is relatively easy to accomplish. It is best to make these alterations between the bottom trim and waist. Currently, the pattern requires you to:  Work in 1 x 1 rib stitch for 20 stitches; Stockinette stitch for [XS – 34/ S - 44/ M – 54] L – 64 [XL –74/ 2x – 84] stitches. Work for 4 inches.

To lengthen, instead of working this area for 4 inches (10.16 centimeters) work it for 5 (12.7 centimeters) or more inches. To shorten, instead of working this area for 4 inches work it for 3 (7.62 centimeters) or less inches. Ensure that the length of the back and front match.

Finishing

Sew strap seams. Sew side seams to waist. Weave in ends.

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This is the last hand knitting pattern I'll be sharing for a while. For the entire summer season--Monday, June 3rd to Monday, August 29th--I'm planning to share...a fun summer project. : )

Next post (Thursday):  Writer's royalties and advance