James Huskins – JULIA MCDERMOTT

It’s the last week of April, and I just realized I forgot to do a List Post this month!

I’ve been a little busy writing…and appearing at bookstores, festivals and markets, signing copies of my books. Back in late March, I went to Asheville, NC for a few days, and to Savannah the next weekend. The first weekend of April, I went to Texas with my husband to visit family. Here’s a rundown of this month, through the end of it, this Sunday:

My appearance at Tall Tales Books had to be rescheduled from March 26 to April 8. It was lots of fun mingling with readers in a great bookstore!
Alas, I had to cancel as a Regional Writer for the Dahlonega Literary Festival last month. I hope to be back next year, though.
On April 9, I headed to Wilbur & Rudy’s Farmtable and Market in Milton, GA for a book signing.
Then on April 15, I appeared as a panelist with authors Gelia Dolcimascolo, Nancy Stephan and James Huskins at the Atlanta Writers Club meeting in Dunwoody, GA. Our panel was the 3rd speaker slot beginning at 3pm. Lots of interesting questions and discussion!
On April 22, I was one of several authors signing books at “Lemonade Days” in Dunwoody, a festival held at an area park. It was a gorgeous day and we met lots of cool readers. We appeared again the next day but had to close up shop early because of heavy rain.
And on Sunday April 30 (rain or shine), I’ll sign books at an Author Signing at the Donaldson-Bannister House in Dunwoody! Please stop by.

That’s me on the left, with two other authors and a reader who grabbed copies of our books at Lemonade Days!

What I heard: Jackie K. Cooper’s entertaining interview of authors Karin Slaughter and Chelsea Cain

Where I was: Decatur, Georgia, at the Decatur Book Festival’s presentation “Internal Affairs,” part of its Mystery/Thriller Track, with my friend, author James Huskins

What I ~~learned~~ heard, but was happy to be reminded of:

1. Characters need to have secrets

2. Characters need to be damaged in some way

3. Violence and sex* are to be included if they move the story forward

4. Writing dialogue is a good way to get over “Writer’s Block”

5. Short words, short sentences, and short paragraphs create fast pace in action scenes

(Okay, I didn’t hear #5 there; I saw that on Twitter. But this week I read Cop Town by Slaughter and noticed it)

What I did: Listened intently, laughed, clapped, was inspired – then got drenched in a rainstorm walking to my car, but was in such a good mood that I we laughed some more

What I did next: Downloaded Cop Town, read it (couldn’t put it down), and worked on my next Suspense (Book 4), paying attention to #s 1-5 and focusing on what readers want:

suspense, surprises, a well crafted plot, good pacing, well developed characters, vivid descriptions, realistic dialogue…

* To my “beau-frère:” I’m doing my best on this in Book 4!

Tag: James Huskins

List Post, avril 2017 (April)

What Readers Want