"An author interview on writing the bestselling mystery series,"

posted on the Persist and Publish

by Carol on Tuesday, 5 July 2005, at 2:21 p.m.

The message reads as follows:

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Most novelists began their careers in something other than writing novels,

and mystery writer Leslie Caine is no exception. Her background includes

a bachelor's degree in journalism and a degree as an electrical engineering

technician. She is also a certified interior decorator, though she is so

busy writing books that she only rarely works as a decorator. Married for

more than two decades, she has two children, a daughter and a son.

DEATH BY INFERIOR DESIGN, published by Bantam/Dell, is the author's first

book under the pen name Leslie Caine. It is the debut title for the Domestic

Bliss series. She has written two previous mystery series for Ballantine

under her real name Leslie O'kane. The first is the Molly Masters series

which revolves around a greeting card designer and the other is the Allie

Babcock series whose protagonist is a dog therapist.

Born and raised in upstate New York, she now lives in Colorado.

B>Inventing a Mystery Series that Sells: An Interview with Leslie Caine,

Part I

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/writing_bestsellers/114439

Leslie was once taken hostage at gunpoint and says, "writing about crimes

is infinitely more enjoyable than taking part in them." She recently agreed

to an interview:

DC: An ongoing trend in mystery writing is producing a successful series.

From the classics such as Agatha Christie to today's top crime fiction

tale spinners like Ian Rankin, mysteries are hotter than ever. Is pitching

the idea for a series a good strategy for new authors?

LC: Oh, absolutely! It takes more than one book for readers to discover

an author's name. With the advent of chain bookstores, it's harder than

ever for authors to keep their books on the shelves, but writing a series

helps immensely. When books two and three of my Domestic Bliss series come

out, bookstores will reorder DEATH BY INFERIOR DESIGN, because readers

like to see how it all began. A book series is a bit like a series on TV;

the audience gets familiar with the characters and wants to check in and

see how they're doing. That's why it's critical that, when creating a new

series, the author has central characters who can grow over the course

of multiple books. The author must be willing to spend years exploring

their lives.

DC: I understand that your publisher called your series The Domestic Bliss

Mysteries. Are you happy with that title and did you have any input into

it? How much input does your editor have in your overall writing?

LC: It was my second choice, actually, but, yes, I'm happy with it. No

one person can be an expert on everything, so the challenge is to recognize—and

act upon—good advice when you hear it. My editor felt strongly that "The

Domestic Bliss Mysteries" was a good catch phrase for my books, and I felt

strongly that my editor knows much more about selling mysteries than I

do. The decision to trust her on the matter was therefore a very easy one

to make. I adore working with my editor, because she is very skilled at

working with my voice and her suggestions are virtually always excellent.

The process is that I send her the completed manuscript, and she sends

it back in a month or two with insightful margin annotations. I make about

99% of those changes, and the manuscript goes off to the copyeditor. I

probably average two or three scenes that are completely rewritten upon

her suggestion. This is much more input than I've gotten from any of my

previous editors while writing as Leslie O'Kane. (I wrote two humorous

series for Ballantine prior to writing this one for Bantam.)

DC: If GONE WITH THE WIND had been called TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY (and

it almost was according to Arthur T. Vanderbilt, author of THE MAKING OF

A BESTSELLER) Margaret Mitchell's civil war tale might not have become

the timeless blockbuster hit that it remains today. The title of a book

is almost as important as its contents. From a sales point of view, it

might be more so, as this is the first thing an agent, editor or paying

customer reads. The title of your first book, DEATH BY INFERIOR DESIGN,

is eye-grabbing. How did you come up with that?

LC: Thank you. It's hard to describe the brainstorming process I use for

my titles, which come hand-in-hand with the premise for the book. I don't

begin writing my books in earnest until I'm happy with the title I've selected.

Choosing a title for me is a matter of considering the basic genre (that

it's a murder mystery), combined with the overall milieu (interior design),

and finally the theme of this particular book. Here there was the competition

taking place between designers Erin Gilbert and Steve Sullivan that really

was determining an inferior versus a superior design, and Erin's inner

search to believe that she wasn't an unlovable, inferior person despite

having painful and deflating secrets from her past taunting her in the

present.

DC: I can't help being reminded, after reading your novel, of the popularity

of Martha Stewart (despite her fall from grace) and the spate of home decorating

shows on television such as "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Is the Domestic

Bliss Series modelled on the success of such shows?

LC: The series concept would never have occurred to me if it weren't for

Martha Stewart and all the decorating shows. My agent and I came up with

the initial series idea from watching "Trading Spaces" on TLC.

DC: Bestselling authors Kathy Reichs, John Grisham and Robin Cook write

thrillers based on their own professions (ie. Forensic Anthropologist,

lawyer, doctor). You are a trained professional decorator. Do you think

it's a good idea to "write what you know"? Is this a formula for success?

LC: If only it were that easy. I'm a firm believer in augmenting that adage

to be: Write what you know and what excites you sufficiently to always

want to learn more about. (Not exactly advice that trips off the tongue,

is it?) I once spoke on a three-author panel entitled, "Telling Lies for

Fun and Profit," and we all agreed that we weren't "telling lies," that

our casts of characters—even though they exist only within our pointy heads—were

exploring and experiencing truths about the human condition. Yes, I'm a

trained interior decorator, I have a bachelors in journalism, and I'm also

a trained computer technician and repaired computers for IBM for a few

years. I can speak with authority about all three careers, but my heart

pulled me the most strongly toward design. So that, for me, is the litmus

test: finding wherein your passion lies and writing about that particular

field.

DC: Most authors believe that the biggest factor in making an author a

brand name is promotion. Literary agent and author Donald Maass disagrees

in his book WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL. He thinks a great story matters

above all else. He gives an example of one of his new clients who spent

all of her advances and royalty earnings from her first five novels to

her publicist. You have a publicist. What is your take on this? Is it a

good idea to invest in a publicist when promoting a new book or series?

LC: I hired an Internet publicist because I recognize my weaknesses: I'm

not a good salesperson. Most of my time goes into writing. I've been told

that J.A. Jance once said that, to be successful in today's super-competitive

marketplace, an author has to spend at least one hour promoting for every

hour he or she spends writing. I would much rather hire someone to do this.

I loved Donald Maass's book, and that's coming from someone who dislikes

the overwhelming majority of writer how-to books. This is such a difficult

business. Odds of making a good living at it are as slim as winning the

lottery. If it were simply a matter of pouring money into promotion, the

writers with the wealthiest spouses would be the bestsellers. Success is

based first and foremost on a great story, just as Donald Maass says, but

marketing and promotion are also absolutely critical. With insufficient

marketing, even a great story will go unnoticed. (One of the best books

I personally have ever read is WHERE THE ROAD GOES by Joanne Greenberg,

which failed to get the sales it so richly deserves, whereas THE DA VINCI

CODE is also a great story but had the most extensive marketing campaign

that I've seen). There is also an element of just plain old dumb luck in

the formula for success, and there's simply no way to control that.

DC: That is so true. And I agree with your comment that if book sales were

simply a matter of pouring money into promotion, the writers with the wealthiest

spouses would be the bestsellers! My interview with Leslie Caine continues

next week, March 14. More info on Leslie's books can be found at her website:

http://www.lesliecaine.com/leslie.html

Link: article on writing the best-selling mystery series

URL: <http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/writing_bestsellers/114439>