Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: Fishy Business, ed. by Linda Rodriguez

Bitter Tea and Mystery: Short Story Wednesday: Fishy Business, ed. by Lind...: The short stories I read this week are from Fishy Business: The Fifth Guppy Anthology , edited by Linda Rodriguez.  A short description from...

Guest Post: Why I Do What I Do for the Love of Short Stories by Debra H. Goldstein

Please welcome back to the blog author Debra H. Goldstein. In addition to the previous guest blogs here, she also recently wrote about this topic on the blog of the Short Mystery Fiction Society.

 

Why I Do What I Do for the Love of Short Stories by Debra H. Goldstein

In 2015, Sisters in Crime President Leslie Budewitz approached me about an ad-hoc committee investigating concerns about the health of short story markets. She observed that many SinC members, including her, earned their first publishing credits with short mysteries. While twisting my arm to help, she explained short stories “remain a tremendous avenue for new writers to break in; for published authors, they provide an opportunity to tell stories that would not support a novel or to hold reader interest between books. Other authors simply prefer the form. They’re fun to write, and fun to read.”

It wasn’t a hard sell for me to agree to chair the committee. Like Leslie, my first published credit was a short story: Legal Magic. The characters introduced in that story became the comic foil in my second novel, Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery, released in April 2016 by Five Star. Besides, how could I go wrong working with Art Taylor and Deb Lacey?

Together, Art, Deb and I explored the different markets and found that:

1)         The paying market for short stories was shrinking,

2)         The print publications traditionally publishing short stories were experiencing a major decrease in circulation numbers, and

3)         Online markets, many of short duration, had increased, but few provided paying opportunities for writers.

We proposed and the national Sisters in Crime board adopted the creation of a “We Love Short Stories” initiative. Leslie launched it at Malice Domestic 2016. Her oral presentation was followed by an e-mail blast and an article in the quarterly inSinC publication which discussed the importance of short stories. To further effectuate the initiative, partnerships were established with several publishers and corporations to provide discounts and other subscription incentives to SinC members and it was decided that a series of articles encompassing different aspects related to short stories would be run in subsequent issues of inSinC. Materials also were shared with local SinC chapters suggesting programs or activities they could adopt supporting the “We Love Short Stories” initiative.

So, why do I believe in this project and short stories so much, especially when I also write novels and essays? Because not only are they where I got my start as a writer, but because they have intrigued me since I was a child. Stories by O’Henry and Shirley Jackson showed me how an idea can be developed in a few pages with an air of simplicity and then pack a punch. Who can forget the twisted endings O’Henry specialized in or the final paragraphs of The Lottery?

Back then, it was the story’s flow that carried me with it. Today, as a writer, I read differently. I mentally break down the structure, word choices, and ideas of other writers. It is only when a story reaches a level of one by O’Henry or Shirley Jackson that I forget to be a critic and again read with joy. The first story to take me to that level after I began writing in earnest was B.K. Stevens’ Thea’s First Husband (AHMM 2012), but many others have done it since then (check out stories by Art Taylor, John Floyd, Craig Faustus Buck, and Barb Goffman – just to name a few).

It would be a shame for works like theirs to disappear. That’s why I’m involved in SinC’s “We Love Short Stories” initiative and groups like the Short Mystery Fiction Society. I hope you share my feelings.

Debra H. Goldstein ©2016

Judge Debra H. Goldstein is the author of Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery (Five Star Publishing – April 2016) and the 2012 IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue, a mystery set on the University of Michigan’s campus. Her short stories and essays have been published in anthologies including Mardi Gras Murder and The Killer Wore Cranberry: a Fourth Meal of Mayhem as well as in The Birmingham Arts Journal, More Magazine Online, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable, Alalit.com, Kings River Life Magazine, Over My Dead Body! and Mysterical-E. . Debra serves on the national Sisters in Crime and Guppy Chapter boards and is an MWA member. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, Joel, whose blood runs crimson.

http://www.debrahgoldstein.com

The Short Mystery Fiction Society Blog: SMFS Member Guest Post: An Explanation of the Sist...

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Guest Blogger: Bill Crider – How to Write a Novel (Debra H. Goldstein It's Not Always a Mystery)

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The First Two Pages: "Should Have Played Poker and Comic Relief" by Debra H. Goldstein

The First Two Pages: "Should Have Played Poker and Comic Relief"  by Debra H. Goldstein

Guest Post: "It’s Not Where You Start (It’s Where You Finish)" by Debra H. Goldstein

Last week author Debra H. Goldstein addressed the issue of orphaned books when the publisher shuts down. This week she considers the long term picture of a writing career.

It’s Not Where You Start (It’s Where You Finish) by Debra H. Goldstein

Recently, I listened to Barbara Cook’s rendition of Cy Coleman and Dorthy Field’s signature song “It’s Not Where You Start, It’s Where You Finish” from 1973’s Broadway show, Seesaw. Forty-three years after the song debuted, the words remain true.

Whether one is writing a novel, short story, or poem, the process is the same. “It’s not how you go, it’s how you land.” Writing requires coming up with an idea, getting it down on paper, rewriting, possibly tossing out one’s original thoughts, and writing the piece again and again until the words flow. It often is a solitary process, but writers have the ability to inspire and help each other.

The reality is “If you’re going to last, you can’t make it fast,…Nobody starts a winner, give me a slow beginner.” At my second Malice Domestic conference in 2013, I had the privilege of riding an elevator with Carolyn Hart. I’m a pretty confident person, but as the elevator went up, I stumbled over my words telling “Ms. Hart” how much I enjoy her books. During the conference, where she was honored with the Amelia Award, I heard how her writing career wasn’t meteoric. Her first few books either were not published or failed to sell well, but she kept writing. When she became an overnight success, it had been a long night.

Our paths crossed a number of times during the conference and at the Sisters in Crime breakfast. Ironically, we were in the elevator together again leaving the conference. This time, I congratulated “Carolyn” on her award and we actually laughed about spending the conference in the elevator.

Thinking back on the difference in my behavior during our elevator rides, I realize that the change in my attitude came from being impressed with her writing abilities and with her persistence and willingness to help other writers. Even during the hour interview tied to her award, she took the time to give a new writer a shout-out. She was the only one to do so. It takes a big person to share one’s limelight with others. Her work ethic and her generosity illustrate the premise that “Your final return will not diminish/And you can be the cream of the crop/It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish/And you’re gonna finish on top.”

Debra H. Goldstein ©2016

Judge (ret.) Debra H. Goldstein is the author of ShouldHave Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery (Five Star Publishing - April 2016) and the 2012 IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue, a mystery set on the University of Michigan’s campus. She also writes short stories and non-fiction. Debra serves on the national Sisters in Crime, Guppy Chapter and Alabama Writers Conclave boards and is a MWA member. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, Joel, whose blood runs crimson.

Guest Post: Orphaned by Debra H. Goldstein

When a publisher shuts down there are huge repercussions for all involved. Please welcome author Debra H. Goldstein who has firsthand experience with being orphaned by the loss of a publisher….

Orphaned by Debra H. Goldstein

My husband was in his sixties when he became an orphan. I will always remember this six-foot-four two hundred plus pound person lying awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, plaintively saying, “I’m an orphan.” Some friends and relatives told him losing his ninety-year-old Alzheimer stricken mother was a blessing while others said it was the natural course of things. I knew it was neither – it was a permanent and final loss. For writers, becoming an orphan is an experience that is faced repeatedly.

For every contract renewed, there are many authors who have two to three more ideas, but don’t get the opportunity to continue their series or characters. An equally common experience of late has been the number of publishers ceasing operations and leaving their authors with orphaned books. It hurts.

Although a few traditional publishing sources will adopt a series that already exists – often by focusing on a different character as the protagonist or moving the story forward a few years, most won’t. Agents and Editors smile, console, and then tend to recommend that rather than wasting energy, the author should write something new or consider self-publishing. No alternative feels good.

I know. I’ve had two books accepted and published and both have become orphans. The first, Maze in Blue, was published in 2011. It won an IPPY Award in 2012, and two weeks later, the published announced it was closing its doors. I was lucky. The publisher freely gave back rights, files, and artwork. Because of the good relationship with the publisher, which many who try to get back their work don’t have, I was able to fulfill my speaking and signing engagements by publishing a new edition via CreateSpace. Maze in Blue’s lifespan continued fairly solidly and then got another boost when Harlequin Worldwide Mystery bought its mass market rights and made it a book of the month in May 2014.

Even though I loved the characters, I accepted that Maze in Blue, for now, was orphaned and wrote a new book, Should Have PlayedPoker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery. It was purchased by Five Star, a division of Cengage, in 2014 and is scheduled to be published on April 20, 2016. This time, with a little more knowledge under my belt, I made arrangements and reached out in advance for PR opportunities. Everything seemed to be going along perfectly --- edits, final copy, and a great cover. The people I worked with were wonderful, but then Cengage informed its mystery stable that it would be discontinuing its mystery line in 2017. The 2016 catalog, which includes my book, is being fully honored as are the first few months of 2017, but the upshot is that I’ve been orphaned again. Just like last time, I’d like to continue writing these characters, but I’m moving forward. I’ve written a third book with a third set of characters.

I could have sat and moaned about being snakebit, but writing takes time and life goes on. Waiting and hoping for a second chance for either book wouldn’t bring them back. Instead, my best hope for moving forward from being an orphan is to continue writing short stories and novels.  So, I’ve shed a tear and will gladly share my current books with the world, but my eye is on a future prize – the publication of a book that actually has a published sequel.

This is the only way I’ve been able to handle being orphaned. How about you?

Debra H. Goldstein ©2016

Judge (ret.) Debra H. Goldstein is the author of Should Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery (Five Star Publishing - April 2016) and the 2012 IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue, a mystery set on the University of Michigan’s campus. She also writes short stories and non-fiction. Debra serves on the national Sisters in Crime, Guppy Chapter and Alabama Writers Conclave boards and is a MWA member. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama with her husband, Joel, whose blood runs crimson.