Maine Crime Writers

Starting this week, we’ll be posting a writing tip (or more than one!) each Wednesday. We hope you’ll come back each week to see what we’ve shared.

Today, Kate Flora is sharing something she used to share with her writing students. One of the things that’s hardest, even for those who dream of writing and have a strong desire to do so, is to make the time to sit down and write.

Far too often, the challenge is that they don’t feel entitled to take that time when they’re only beginners or when they haven’t been published. Part of my coaching is to get them to believe in their right to be writers. Not to wait until someone else has validated that or given them permission, but giving themselves permission to honor that desire to write and make the time to do it.

As part of helping aspiring writers to sit in the chair and do the work, I gave each of my students a sign that simply reads:

NOT NOW. I’m Writing

I tell them that only they will know whether that sign needs to go on the inside of the door to keep them in, or on the outside of the door to keep away friends or family members who want to interrupt them.

P.S. Want to win a bundle of mysteries to read during the long, cold winter? Just leave a comment on one of our posts between now and the end of October and you could be the lucky recipient.

Jule Selbo taught MFA students in Screenwriting for many years and one of the last things she and student would do is go through the student’s script to make sure that EVERY scene was moving the main characters or story forward.  I think it still applies to the mystery crime novel. The genre, IMO, works best with a TENSION that the crime/mystery has to be solved.  Trim out the excess.

I grew up in the woods and now live in a different part of the forest. But I found my neighborhood in 2019.

Writing, as they say, is a lonely pursuit. Unless, of course, you find your neighborhood. For me, that was discovered at Crime Wave six years ago. I’d dabbled with writing ever since graduating from college in 1989. Self-published a book. Shopped a few others around.

I thought my shtick was historical fiction and attended some conferences, but I did not relate to most of the attendees. It seemed that they were largely romance authors who write about love in the past. Perfectly fine, but it was not my shtick.

Luckily, I was not yet relegated to a desk in the woods. I was busy raising kids, coaching sports, running businesses, and teaching school.

In 2019, I attended Crime Wave in Portland, Maine, and that all changed. Writing became my neighborhood. It took me a very short time to realize that people who write about murder, mayhem, and mystery are my community. My neighborhood. My people.

Crime conferences are a great time for bonding, of course, and I attend as many as finances and time allow, which is not nearly enough. But the connections happen everywhere, every day. My publisher, Encircle Publications, who luckily published mysteries as well as historical fiction, began a weekly happy hour on Zoom where their writers met to chat about books and things. Just hang out. My circle widened.

From those connections made at conferences and happy hour, I began doing joint author events. These began with a few close friends at Encircle, BJ Magnani, S. Lee Manning, and Kevin St. Jarre at the start, but has slowly rippled wider and wider to include so many more author friends than I can even count.

In the past year, I have been involved in countless events with other writers. I have interviewed authors about their books and launches. I’ve been in conversation at events with other writers about our writing. I’ve been on panels, at roundtables, teaching workshops, attending Noir at the Bar events, done COST TALKS to audiences, signed at bookstores, been featured at book clubs, and become fully enmeshed in my crime writing neighborhood.

Of course, I spend many an hour at my desk with my headphones on staring at this laptop screen as words emerge in front of me creating new friends and neighborhoods. But it is nice to get out and embrace my living neighborhood as well.

Murder, mayhem, and mystery might not be Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, but it is My Neighborhood, and I relish in it and the people around me every day of my life.

About the Author

Matt Cost was a history major at Trinity College. He owned a mystery bookstore, a video store, and a gym, before serving a ten-year sentence as a junior high school teacher. In 2014 he was released and began writing. And that’s what he does. He writes histories and mysteries.

Cost has published six books in the Mainely Mystery series, starting with Mainely Power. He has also published six books in the Clay Wolfe Trap series, starting with Wolfe Trap. There are two books in the Brooklyn 8 Ballo series, starting with Velma Gone Awry. For historical novels, Cost has published At Every Hazard and its sequel, Love in a Time of Hate, as well as I am Cuba. The Not So Merry Adventures of Max Creed began a new series this past April. Glow Trap is his eighteenth published book.

Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. They have been replaced in the home with four dogs. Cost now spends his days at the computer, writing.

Why Write Short Stories? Lessons from the Maine Crime Wave

A few weeks ago, my friend and fellow Maine writer Rebecca Turkewitz and I co-facilitated a roundtable discussion on short stories with other crime writers at the Maine Crime Wave. It was a fantastic chance to talk craft. (If you haven’t read Rebecca’s exceptional collection, Here in the Night, please check it out.)

I wanted to share some of the essential tips I’ve picked up along the way.

Why short stories?

During the roundtable, a number of writers shared why they enjoy both writing and reading short crime stories. And there are a few things that truly exceptional crime writers do in short stories, maybe better than any other genre.

Subtext. The short form allows writers to go deep, fast. I tried this in my story “For Laura” by trimming out as much as possible, leaving the characters on the cusp of a tragedy. So much of suspense is what is left off the page. It’s the quiet between the sentences. And often, for me, the best writing contains precise and specific details (toenail clippings, a bottle of catsup on the microwave, etc.) but in the end allows for many interpretations, motives, and meanings.

The art of a the twist. My favorite short story writers have mastered the twist. Like a magician’s sleight of hand: the twist should never be entirely unexpected. At the same time, the road should be lined with breadcrumbs; readers know something is coming. Twists with no crumbs feel undeserved, and too many crumbs make the plot predictable. In my flash piece, “Lubbock to El Paso” (available October 15th), I tried to lean into this idea by sprinkling small omens along the way to earn the ending.

Experimentation. Short stories offer a low-stakes environment for risk-taking that is difficult in a full-length novel. You can try a second-person POV, explore deeper, darker themes, and test ideas without committing to a massive time investment. This frees writers up to be truly innovative.

What resources are out there?

• Short Mystery Fiction Society (SMFS): This free, fantastic listserve is where over a thousand of short story writers share calls for submission, market news, craft questions, and encouragement. SMFS also sponsors the Derringer Awards.
• Reach Out to Authors: Did you read a short story you loved? Email the author! When I started out, I tracked down three of my favorite writers and received outstanding advice and encouragement.
• Buy books, share what you love on social media and with friends, show up!: Take a minute to showcase what you’re enjoying. Write the reviews. Show up for book events. This writing stuff is hard. It means a lot when people shout out the good that they are reading.

Where can I find a market?

When you join the SMFS, you get access to a comprehensive market list that has been compiled lovingly by members over the years. Below are my personal favorites. (Full disclosure: my list skews toward dark, ambiguous, and literary crime fiction. Always check the submission requirements and read what the publication is putting out to get a sense of their distinct vibe.)

1.) Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (EQMM): A gift to the genre. They published my first story and invest in new voices. The editor puts together a great edition. Highly regarded and competitive, they pay professional rates. Response time is typically 3–4 months.

2.) Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (AHMM): A sibling publication to EQMM and a guaranteed good read. Every editions offers at least 2 stories that I love, and many more that I enjoy. The editor reads every story, so the response time is longer—twelve months plus—but they pay professional rates.

3) Rock and a Hard Place (RHP): Great for noir and dark literary fiction (my go-to for edgy pieces). They take risks and produce interesting collections. Standard pay is $25 per story.

4.) Dark Yonder  Focused on Neo-noir; they look for tightly written, deeply subversive, and unsettling stories. Pays $50 per story.

5.) Shotgun Honey Excellent small publisher for flash fiction ($\text{1,000 words or less}$) and unexpected themed anthologies. This is an online publication and offers $15 per story.

6.) Dark Waters Anthology (Annual): A podcasting duo that runs an annual call. Listen to the podcast – they interview some great writers. Pay is $25. The call for submissions opens in the summer.

7.) Crime Spell Books (Annual): Publishes The Best New England Crime Writing anthologies. Pay is $25, and accepted authors are eligible for the Al Blanchard Award (which comes with a $250 cash prize). Calls for submission open in January

As always – thanks for reading. And if you have any short story specific questions, feel free to drop them in the comments or send me a message by going to my website www.gabrielastiteler.com.

My latest stories:

In Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine (September/October issue): My story, “A Hard Night’s Sleep,” explores a mother’s attempt to host a peaceful Thanksgiving, disrupted by her husband’s worsening condition and family resentment. The evening culminates in an act of violence that shatters the fragile world she was trying to protect.

In Snakeberry: The Best New England Crime Writing: My story, “Money Well-Spent,” introduces Sloane, a cynical private investigator whose vacation is derailed by a blizzard and a troubled young woman. Sloane will reappear early next year in “The Best and Sweetest Things” in EQMM.

New story up on Shotgun Honey on 10/15. Check it out online on Wednesday (10/15) HERE.

Upcoming Events:

Stay well, and we’ll connect again in November.

Gabi

I am a prolific word counter. Yes, I’m a bit obsessed with how many words I’m writing at any given point during my novel-writing process. How did this weird compulsion to be?

Writing a novel is akin to running a marathon. A runner constantly check their time, pace and miles. Or maybe a better analogy would be like building wealth. Sure, you could spend all your money trying to hit the lottery. Or betting your life savings on the roulette wheel. But wouldn’t it be better to save some money every week and invest it? Build wealth instead of trying to make a big score? Of course the big score is sexier and more cinematic. But remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady sometimes wins the race, especially when it comes to writing. And how many of us can write a novel in a day? Or a week? Unless you’re Jack Kerouac writing On The Road on a 120-foot-long scroll of tracing paper.

I often wonder how people back in the day wrote without that little word count box on the right corner of the screen, keeping them in check. I did at one time, oblivious to the ways in which those numbers mattered. Now those numbers ground me, and speak to me about my daily progress. Often, I have to grind out a certain number each day, and I don’t stop until I’ve reached it.

People marvel when I tell them I’ve finished a novel. They often say that they could never achieve such a feat. Admittedly, it is difficult. But then I think about what they’ve said from their perspective. They look at a novel in its entirety, seeing it as singular, monolithic achievement. And it is, to a degree. But writers view that novel differently. Or at least I do. I see the novel as a series of word-building blocks stacked high. Like Legos. Blocks of words arduously formed into sentences. Blocks of sentences arduously formed into paragraphs. Blocks of paragraphs arduously formed into chapters. You get the point.

People say it’s too hard to write a novel. I tell them that if they wrote five hundred words every day for five months they would have a working first draft. An hour each day. An hour of discipline and a dash of inspiration. Sometimes it’s hard to teach the grind, but the grind is all I know as a writer. Not sure creative writing departments teach the grind, and that’s the hardest trait to develop. Grind. Never give up. Keep sitting in that chair and pushing out the words. And that’s where word counting helps me out.

I used to make myself write thirteen hundred words a day come rain or shine. If I wrote beyond that I could bank the extras for a rainy day. Or take a day off. If I didn’t meet my goal, I would have to write more words the next day to make up for the deficit. Couldn’t steal words from someone else.

In this day and age of literary austerity, managing word count matters for a novelist. The days of writing nine hundred page novels are a thing of the past, especially for crime writers. A workable word count for a mystery/crime novel is anywhere between 80,000 to 100,00 thousand words. Publishers have to manage paper costs, as well as cater to the demands of readers who have shorter attention spans. Thus, the need to keep an eye on that little box on the top left corner of the screen is imperative.

I could go on and on about this seemingly mundane subject. It’s not just good enough to be a writer these days. One needs to be an accountant of words. A CPA of literature. A story auditor. Bookkeeper of ideas. Words matter in this business, but so do numbers. Keeping track of them could be the difference between getting published and a rejection letter. So watch your words, brother. Numbers don’t lie, sister. Do the right thing and watch your word count.

I am a prolific word counter. Yes, I’m a bit obsessed with how many words I’m writing at any given point during my novel-writing process. How did this weird compulsion to be?

Writing a novel is akin to running a marathon. A runner constantly check their time, pace and miles. Or maybe a better analogy would be like building wealth. Sure, you could spend all your money trying to hit the lottery. Or betting your life savings on the roulette wheel. But wouldn’t it be better to save some money every week and invest it? Build wealth instead of trying to make a big score? Of course the big score is sexier and more cinematic. But remember the story of the tortoise and the hare? Slow and steady sometimes wins the race, especially when it comes to writing. And how many of us can write a novel in a day? Or a week? Unless you’re Jack Kerouac writing On The Road on a 120-foot-long scroll of tracing paper.