January 12th, 2021 → 5:13 pm @ rldonovan
@bookologylive
elia: WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF YOUR ARTISTIC PROCESS?
Robin Leemann Donovan: Editing, when I don’t have a clear picture of whether or not the editor is on board with my plans for the plot. For example, my books are mostly about comedy and secondarily about murder mysteries. One of my editors got very angry because he said instead of having my characters brought to the police station for questioning and released, I missed an opportunity of having them brought to trail and put in jail – thus missing the entire point of everything I was trying to do. I asked my publisher to remove that editor from my book – and they did.
Romelia: DOES YOUR FAMILY SUPPORT YOUR CAREER AS A WRITER?
Robin Leemann Donovan: Absolutely, although most of them don’t really know the best way to support an author (as most people don’t, I.e. tell them you love it – but also write a review, buy copies as gifts, etc.), but the encouragement and praise are priceless.
Romelia: IF YOU HAD TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENTLY AS A CHILD OR TEENAGER TO BECOME A BETTER WRITER AS AN ADULT, WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Robin Leemann Donovan: I would have started writing novels much earlier. I didn’t start until I was in my 50’s.
Romelia: HOW LONG ON AVERAGE DOES IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE A BOOK?
Robin Leemann Donovan: That’s a tough one. The first one took three months – which was a shock to me – it all just came tumbling out. I wrote the second one in between editing and proofing and promoting the first book. So there were a whole lot of interruptions along the way. The same is true of the third book – I was working on editing, proofing the second and marketing both the first and second. So after the first, it was about a year to a year and a half due to stopping and starting.
Romelia: DO YOU BELIEVE IN WRITER’S BLOCK?
Robin Leemann Donovan: Not really. I think if you’re blocked maybe you’re not writing what you should be. I tried writing a fictionalized version of a very painful event in my life – I was more blocked than unblocked. When the lawyers decided it was risky to publish something so incendiary I went on to write comedic murder mysteries – and I have never looked back. the writing is more fun that I could ever have imagined, it’s actually hard for me to stop myself once I get started. And I only start when I’m in the mood – which is almost always.
Romelia: AT WHAT POINT DO YOU THINK SOMEONE SHOULD CALL THEMSELVES A WRITER?
Robin Leemann Donovan: After you have written the entire piece, edited, proofed and published it (either independently or through a variety of publishing options) and have started to market it.
Romelia: WHAT DIFFERENCE DO YOU SEE BETWEEN A WRITER AND AN AUTHOR?
Robin Leemann Donovan: For many years I was a writer. I blogged my way through the internet on a variety of topics. Technically, I authored those pieces, but I didn’t view myself as an author until I had a novel that was selling.
Romelia: HOW DO YOU PROCESS AND DEAL WITH NEGATIVE BOOK REVIEWS?
Robin Leemann Donovan: After years of getting reviews both good and bad, it becomes easy to spot the majority of bad interviews which are clearly from people who: Hate your genre or are just plain trolls. There are a few who just don’t appreciate your particular style – and that’s fair – although I personally don’t write reviews when the style I’m reading doesn’t appeal to me.
We are told to ignore bad reviews, so I do. It does annoy me that they lower my rating on amazon – but everyone gets them. I actually had one reviewer say mine was the worst book they’d ever read – I laughed out loud at that one – clearly they haven’t read much. Another troll declared they couldn’t stomach reading past page 60 – and then they complained about a scene on page 200 – there’s definitely a shady trend here.
Romelia: WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF YOUR WRITING PROCESS?
Robin Leemann Donovan: Not being able to write whenever I feel like it. When the mood strikes me I just like to sit down and start writing, sometimes for eight hours with very short breaks. But I also don’t force myself when I’m not in the mood – I did that once and found that I wrote very little and none of it was good.
Romelia: HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN WRITING OR WHEN DID YOU START?
Robin Leemann Donovan: I have been writing since I could first pick up a pencil, but I didn’t start writing cozy mysteries until I was in my early 50’s. And while it’s a whole lot of work, I just wish I could have started at least a decade earlier – because it has been so very rewarding.
Romelia: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO A WRITER WORKING ON THEIR FIRST BOOK?
Robin Leemann Donovan: Before you even start writing, manage your expectations. Even Malcom Gladwell said in his blog “we don’t make money on our books, we hope they help us gain recognition so we can get paid speaking gigs.” And even that only happens to a small percentage of authors. That said, I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Romelia: WHAT, TO YOU, ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF GOOD WRITING?
Robin Leemann Donovan: A basic knowledge of good grammar so that when you break the rules it’s deliberate. I think you also have to be a proven talented storyteller, so that you can capture the imagination of your reader.
Romelia: WHAT COMES FIRST FOR YOU – THE PLOT OR THE CHARACTERS – AND WHY?
Robin Leemann Donovan: I create them simultaneously. As I start down a road for the plot, I determine whether or not any of my existing characters will work in the scenario – and if none do, I create a new character or occasionally change that segment of the plot for one that fits my existing characters.
Romelia: HOW DO YOU DEVELOP YOUR PLOT AND CHARACTERS?
Robin Leemann Donovan: I’ll give you an example. In my first book, I had my basic cast of characters. One thing that I felt would be critical was for my protagonist, Donna Leigh, to be humble, to be able to laugh at herself and to be human enough to have clearly visible flaws. That’s when I invented her alter ego, Clovis Cordoba Seville. Clovis is an extreme narcissist who never fails to find massive fault with Donna. And even though there might be more than a hint of truth in some of her assaults on Donna, Clovis’ level of drama makes everything she says and does laughable – at least I hope it does. And it helps to elicit the characteristics I want from Donna Leigh.
Romelia: WHEN DID YOU FIRST CALL YOURSELF A WRITER?
Robin Leemann Donovan: At a very early age my parents labeled me “the writer” and my sister “the artist.” I have always been “the Writer”. – even if only through letters to friends and family – I always got great reviews on them – I could always make them laugh – and that has never changed. 15 years ago my business partner urged me to create a blog on menopause. Menologues was a trailblazer in giving women practical information on menopause that was not dry as dust. After publishing Menologues for several months, it was republished on Vibrant Nation and on all top. It also won some awards. That made the “writer” moniker feel more real. And that’s why my series features a menopausal protagonist.
At one point, A reacquainted friend from high school wrote and told me she shared menologues with a friend who was starting on menopause and feeling terrified. she swore my blog saved her life. That alone made all of my hard work completely worthwhile and so rewarding.
Romelia: HOW DO YOU USE SOCIAL MEDIA AS AN AUTHOR?
Robin Leemann Donovan: I use Facebook to connect with other authors and to find invaluable interview opportunities. Once these are public, I post them on Facebook(my home page, my author page and my series page, linked in, and my website (rldonovan.com). the connections through Facebook are more prolific than the sales.
Romelia: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE AND LEAST FAVORITE PART OF PUBLISHING?
Robin Leemann Donovan: My favorite part is when you first hold that final proofing copy in your hand. My least favorite part is waiting to find out if your newly assigned editor “gets you” and “gets your work.” When that doesn’t happen it’s a nightmare. I once had an editor tell me that I couldn’t reference the soft drink as coke, I had to call it coca cola.
Another one told me I couldn’t use “shit” when my character spills coffee on her blouse on her way into a meeting, “people really say, damn,” he corrected. Not in my world they don’t! My dialogue is extremely precise to the specific characters, messing with that messes with my whole brand. Hmmm, does that make me a diva?
Romelia: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO AN AUTHOR WHO WANTED TO DESIGN THEIR OWN COVER?
Robin Leemann Donovan: In my experience very few people are gifted as authors and graphic artists alike. It’s not impossible, but its so rare. And by that I mean, if you design an awesome cover for your novel, maybe it’s not as good a read as you think. All of my covers were designed by designers in my ad agency. When they would ask my opinion, I always reminded them that they were the designers – I always used their recommendations for the best possible design impact. Do what you do best – don’t try to be best at everything, it’s just not realistic.
Romelia: HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU WRITTEN AND WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE?
Robin Leemann Donovan: The Donna Leigh mytery series has three books: is it still murder even if she was a bitch, I didn’t kill her but that may have been shortsighted and I don’t know why they killed him he wasn’t really that annoying. All three are my babies and all three have elements that I love the most. The first was the easiest to write, the next two were more of a challenge because I didn’t want to make them formulaic. In the first book it was all about advertising in Omaha. In the second book, my protagonist has to make a trip back to Connecticut where she used to live and the third book takes place in an advertising venue, but is really all about the wine industry. They all feature pairing food and wine at some point.
Romelia: WHAT PART OF THE BOOK DID YOU HAVE THE HARDEST TIME WRITING?
Robin Leemann Donovan: My third book was the hardest to write. I forced myself to write the first half while the second book was being edited. I was afraid if I didn’t have it at least half finished I would never get around to writing a third book. That first half sat for almost 2 years. When I finally got back to it I hated it. Too lazy to scrap all that work I spent some time trying to come up with a way to make it work with minor editing.
After a few weeks, I came up with an ending I loved and a mechanism to make the first half work with that ending. Once those changes were made, I absolutely fell in love with my third book. I would not have thought that possible. I’ve never written the ending before finishing the whole book before – if I planned it, it would not have worked out as well.
Romelia: WHAT PART OF THE BOOK WAS THE MOST FUN TO WRITE?
Robin Leemann Donovan: All of the funny parts – and I hope there are a lot. I laughed my way through all three books – and when I reread them now, I still laugh out loud!
Romelia: WHICH OF THE CHARACTERS DO YOU RELATE TO THE MOST AND WHY?
Robin Leemann Donovan: My protagonist, Donna Leigh. She is roughly based on my life. Like me, she is a menopausal owner of an ad agency in Omaha, Ne. They say write about what you know and there’s nothing I know about more than myself.
Romelia: IF YOU’RE PLANNING A SEQUEL. CAN YOU SHARE A TINY BIT ABOUT YOUR PLANS FOR IT?
Robin Leemann Donovan: I have been thinking about a 4th book in the series. I already have a working title and I plan to have one of the staff members in donna leigh’s ad agency get murdered – which would keep it close to home and spawn even more drama. I would love to write a 4th book because the writing of this series is so much fun for me – but I do realize that I owe it to my other three books to spend some serious time in marketing them.
Romelia: TELL US SOMETHING FUNNY ABOUT YOUR ADULT LIFE.
Robin Leemann Donovan: My husband and I went to a colleague’s wedding. I was wearing my favorite LBD (little black dress) but still wasn’t feeling as fabulous as I’d hoped. We left the party on the early side and I was grumbling the whole time. To make matters worse, I had broken a fingernail. When we got home, my husband went to his office om the first level and I went up to the master suite on the third level. I started to get undressed and then I grabbed a brand new bottle of nail glue to fix my break. Opening the glue was a huge pain and when I finally wrenched it open it had very little glue – great another problem. I did my best with the fingernail and then moved on to other ablutions. After a few minutes I moved to go back into the bedroom – and found I was glued tight to the bathroom floor. Apparently, the glue bottle had broken, dumping the whole bottle onto my bathroom tiles and my foot. Using my little gray cells I started to search for something sharp – to help me peel my foot off the tile – there was nothing within reach. I then tried to pull my foot free – and realized immediately that I would lose the whole bottom of the foot. Not wanting to end up on you tube, I hesitated to call my husband – but after 20 minutes I didn’t care anymore. I yelled for about 20 minutes to no avail. Finally, he decided to come upstairs to change his clothing. To his credit, he took one look at me and ran to the garage to grab the goo gone, freeing my foot before collapsing into hysterical laughter. I’d like to say that this was an unusual event in my life – but I’d be lying.
Romelia: DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN A FEW SENTENCES. TELL US SOMETHING WE DO NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU AND SOMETHING YOU HATE ABOUT THE WORLD.
Robin Leemann Donovan: I started as an English teacher in Watertown, Ct, then I switched to advertising and worked in Connecticut agencies for 17 years. When I applied for a job in the Omaha, Nebraska office of a global ad agency it was a great fit except for one thing, they wanted me for my DRTV planning and buying experience. I kept telling them I didn’t have any – I had direct mail and TV buying but not DR TV buying experience. They hired me anyway (hearing what they wanted to hear I guess) – I scrambled to learn what I didn’t know and ended up owning that ad agency for 20 years.
I love animals. And I’m thrilled that my ad agency has and still does stellar work for the Henry Doorly Zoo – on of the top 5 zoos in the world and a huge contributor to worldwide conservation.
I hate that there is suffering in the world.https://read.amazon.com/kp/card?preview=inline&linkCode=kpd&ref_=k4w_oembed_RIldnS1Jtphnkr&asin=B017T8X3EU&tag=kpembed-20IS IT STILL MURDER EVEN IS SHE WAS A BITCH?, ROBIN LEEMANN DONOVAN
Sunt un om asa cum vor altii sa fiu, am o viata asa cum vor altii sa o am si zâmbesc doar pentru ca asa trebuie nu pentru ca asa simt eu.Vezi toate posturile scrise de Romelia LunguReclameblob:https://www.rldonovan.com/134c016d-6d32-48da-849e-b686536ca055RAPORTEAZĂ ACEASTĂ RECLAMĂ
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February 20th, 2019 → 4:25 pm @ rldonovan
Q. From teaching at high school, to moving into advertising and taking up senior roles in management, to finally purchasing Bozell. How has this contributed to your writing career?
Whatever gene made me want to teach English also made me want to write a novel. Moving into advertising gave me fertile ground for humor. We are an emotive group in advertising – not behavior often seen in corporate America. In fact, one of the editors on my first book commented that two of my characters were “not believable.” Honey, they are real people – that shows you how much academia knows about real life.
Going from an entry level position in advertising to an owner level has challenged and shaped my thinking from a variety of different vantage points within agency life. It has also refined my sense of humor and my ability to laugh at myself. Without that, it would not be possible to write humor that still enables my protagonist to be likeable.
Q. Why did you chose to write murder mysteries? Tell us a bit about all three of your books.
My Mom was addicted to anything Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie. Gore-free murder was my early comfort zone – its where we all gathered to have fun. When my publisher asked about my passion – I said comedy. But then I had to decide the topic of the comedy – and murder just came naturally.
Donna Leigh is the protagonist of all three. She is a menopausal ad agency owner in Omaha, NE. Donna originated from New Jersey – so she has a healthy suspicion of pretty much everything. She lived in Connecticut from her teen years into her early 40’s when she was recruited out to Omaha.
In the first book, a former colleague, one Donna disliked immensely is murdered, and she fears being high up on the suspect list so is anxious to get this murder solved.
The second book is about a former colleague from Connecticut, who moved to Omaha and was telling people she did so in order to go into business with Donna. This makes Donna even more nervous than the first book’s victim. She knows her perceived close proximity to this victim could make things go horribly wrong.
And in the third book, her good friend and client, Ed the winemaker is killed. She is angry and wants justice for Ed’s wife and daughter so she proceeds to dive into conversations with winemakers who have possible nefarious dealings.
Q. How are your murder mysteries different from others?
They are murder mysteries with a dose of both sophisticated and slapstick humor. My characters are either extremely relatable or extremely bizarre – all of whom exist in my world of advertising. The relatable ones carry the plot and the bizarre ones ad to the humor immensely, but they’re real bizarre people, not fabricated bizarre people. It’s easy to fabricate crazy, but trying to capture the real thing is a lot tougher to do.
A lot of cozies don’t focus on the mystery but mine do. It is always a disappointment to me when I read any murder and find that loose ends and red herrings are popping up everywhere.
Q. Tell us about the main protagonist Donna Leigh, her character and her life in general.
People always ask me if I’m Donna Leigh. We are both menopausal women who own ad agencies in Omaha, so kind of. Donna is relatable. She doesn’t take herself too seriously, and while she has an ego, it’s not quite as overblown as some of the other characters she depicts. Donna has an outrageously narcissistic former colleague, Clovis Cordoba Seville, who act as her alter ego and never misses an opportunity to point out that Donna is both inferior and egotistical. With friends like that…
Donna has a wonderful and supportive husband who is also a gourmet cook and can solve pretty much any mystery, and she has three darling bulldogs.
Q. Your book “Is It Still Murder Even If She Was A Bitch” revolves around the murder of Donna Leigh’s former colleague. Knowing that she might be put on the suspect list, she herself steps in investigation. What all does she do?
She sticks her nose into police business and tries to help them uncover clues that will definitively point toward other suspects because her knowledge of tv detectives tells her she’s likely to be high up on that list. She continues to worry about that even when the lead detective assures her she’s not on the list at all. That’s the New Jersey paranoia coming out in her – not overly trusting of pretty much anything.
Donna enlists her friends and colleagues to gather information that will help solve the murder. Their antics draw much unwanted attention and along the way the killer gets wind of her involvement which ratchets the paranoia up to a much higher level.
Q. In your second book, “I Didn’t Kill Her But That May Have Been Short Sighted”, another colleague of Donna Leigh gets murdered. How does she handle it this time and how is it different from book one?
This time the murder victim has taken extreme action prior to her murder that could absolutely indict Donna, so the paranoia is warranted. It begins to appear as though Donna has been set up by the victim. This time, Donna even flies back to Connecticut where she worked with the victim years before and talks to a number of her former colleagues to try to build an accurate picture of the victim’s mindset. A picture emerges of a seriously disturbed individual. As we work our way through the book, we see that Donna’s nervousness is multi-layered. Naturally, she doesn’t want to go to jail for murder, but she is also concerned about lies spread by the victim and how they make her look to friends and colleagues in the Omaha and Connecticut advertising communities.
Q. In “I Don’t Know Why They Killed Him He Wasn’t Really That Annoying”, Donna’s close friend gets murdered. Tell us about the course of action she takes this time.
This time Donna is genuinely upset about the victim, and not just about keeping herself off the suspect list. In fact, she is never even close to being on the suspect list in this third novel. Because the victim is immersed in the wine industry, and has something of a reputation for sleuthing within that industry – Donna suspects there is a connection between his sleuthing and his murder, so she must educate herself on the people in the world of wine making and selling, some of whom are darker and more sinister than anyone she’s known previously. Although in each book it is clear that Donna has some knowledge of wine – the internal workings of the wine industry itself is still a huge mystery for her. Be prepared for a bit of a twist at the end.
Q. Do you want to share a few of your favorite lines from any of your books or tell your readers about any memorable or peculiar events inside or related to them?
There is a line from my first book that always makes me smile. It is a comment by Donna about the alarmingly narcissistic Clovis: “For the life of me I can’t imagine any way of getting more attention other than to be the actual murder victim. Sure, you’d have to be dead – small price to pay for that kind of attention in Clovis’ world.”
And another Clovis motivated comment “before she could answer I hopped back into my car and moved it to a proper parking spot. Then I jumped out to commit murder.” and slightly further on “As she watched my facial contortions it finally dawned on Clovis that she could potentially be in line for some grave bodily harm.”
Q. From all the books that you have written, which one is the closest to your heart?
After my first book I would have said no other body of work could ever be that important to me. I was wrong. These three books are my babies, I adore different aspects of each, but I could not choose a favorite. Others try and it offends me just a bit as it would with any doting mama. What do you mean you like my second book better than my first? What’s wrong with my first?
Q. What are some of the challenges in writing a humorous murder mystery?
The ability to balance humor with something as horrific as murder is a challenge. If you fall too far into the dark abyss there’s not enough humor to make it work, yet if you become too glib you risk making important characters unlikeable because they come across as unfeeling. You must show respect for the victim and their family, but find places where humor is not offensive. This was particularly challenging in my third book, where I killed a good friend. I wrote almost half of the book and let it sit untouched for over a year to edit and proof book 2. When I went back and read what I had written it was god awful. I wasn’t even sure I could save it. It was a boring and repetitive sequence of Donna’s sympathetic babble for the victim’s wife and daughter. So sappy. There was nothing funny about it and it droned on and on.
I pondered over this problem for weeks and suddenly an idea for an ending popped up in my head. It was not an ending that would have been applicable when the first half of the book was written At that point I actually sat down and wrote the ending. Then I went back and reworked and tightened the entire first half. After that the second half of the book virtually speed wrote itself. I had been worried about tying the first half with the ending – but it all just came together nicely.
One thing that is incredibly challenging in a comedy is to let the humor reveal itself – and not be too obvious about telling the reader what to look for, i.e. don’t over explain or you kill the humor.
Q. What makes you crazy about other murder mysteries that you would never do in yours?
If you’ve ever seen the movie Murder By Death, you’ll have a good idea of the bulk of my pet peeves in regard to murder mysteries. Introducing characters in the last few chapters, not tying up loose ends, giving clues that are more red herrings than clues. But that’s not all, I am tired of reading about a protagonist who is: drop dead gorgeous, young, brilliant and the most successful person in her field, but is dumb enough to make an appointment with the killer in a back alley with no back up. Then there are the cozies where the sleuth is a woman and the male detective tells her 400 times that she is impeding the investigation and should back off. I often wonder if these authors get paid by the word.
For some reason, to a remarkably large percent in cozy mysteries, the protagonist is in a restaurant, orders a large meal and completely loses her appetite when someone makes a comment – so the whole meal goes to waste – why? I don’t understand this oft repeated occurrence – there must be something they know that I don’t – there’s that paranoia again. I work very hard to ensure that none of these annoyances occur in my mysteries.
Q. Did you incorporate any life messages? If so, what are they? Did you add them deliberately?
When I started writing my first novel I had no conscious intention of incorporating any life messages into my work. As I began writing, I realized that a message about business ethics was emerging. In addition to that, there was a clear message that a woman who is not stick thin or 20-something can still be the most attractive, even the hottest woman in the room. I thought that was a much needed message, but in my very first speaking engagement, a woman with a long flowing skirt, a tie-dyed blouse and long flowing but completely gray/white hair wearing not a stitch of make-up lost no time in telling me how shallow and vain I must be. Touche. I thought I’d stuck up for those women who are born with imperfections yet make the most of their appearance and she taught me that caring at all about appearance is not cool.
I did tell her that I envied her ability to feel perfectly adequate with only the gifts given to her by Mother Nature. Clearly, I am more shallow than that.
Q. What were some of the difficulties you had to overcome in writing your mysteries?
After beginning my first mystery I realized that without a process I would never be able to complete it. Once I developed that process, my first book practically wrote itself. It must have been in there waiting to come out. Because there are several comedic events throughout my books, the challenges came in keeping the rest of the series from becoming formulaic and avoiding copying prior comedic events too closely. That’s part of the reason why a part of book 2 takes place in Connecticut and not just Omaha, because it forced me to push out of the temptation to let formulaic writing make life so much easier. In my third book, the focus is on the wine industry more than the advertising industry – again breaking out of that formula. That book required a lot more research than the first two.
Q. Did you outline the whole book before you began writing?
Not at all. The writing took me on a journey and I had no idea where it would end. That was for the first two books. The third was very different. But still no outline. It is critical that I keep tight notes on what happens in each chapter as I progress through the book. I have to be able to go back and think “you can’t use the knife in Chapter 26 that was thrown into the ocean in Chapter 6.”
Q. You have been very active in working towards certain social causes. Tell us about them.
My grandmother had dementia and she lived with us for six years. No one ever used the term Alzheimer’s back then. I learned that a completely different way of behaving was necessary for survival. Years later my mother-in-law was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. There was so little we could do to help her – helping the association was at least something. I had no idea how pervasive the disease was, and how underfunded, until I sat on their board. I was on that board for 6 years. During that time the funding for Alzheimer’s – and all dementia increased dramatically. Legislators are finally starting to release the danger it poses to society and to the healthcare industry. In addition my husband is a community educator for Alzheimer’s. Unfortunately, he is able to draw from personal experience in his lectures. Br>I started my career as a high school English teacher – so I have always been drawn to helping children. Over the years, my husband and I have hosted a number of students from France who wanted to spend time in the U.S. to improve their English speaking skills.
Now I work on cancer, wellness and helping others get jobs. There are so many important causes that need champions.
Q. What makes them so close to your heart?
Each cause, from the children’s museum to helping those in need of work is so critical and in desperate need of support. While Alzheimer’s is certainly personal for me, each and every one of these causes becomes personal when you start to hear the stories of the people involved. And the founders of my ad agency have always believed that “you must pay rent for the space you occupy on this earth.” We take that statement very seriously.
Q. When you sit to write a new book, what is the thought process that goes on in your mind and what motivates you to bring it out for the world to read?
When I sit down to write a new book I usually just have some vague notions of what might be included. The writing process for me is like a magical journey, it just flows. If I sit and write for eight hours I am constantly amazed at how I am typing the end of a thought, and the next thought just pops into my head so I don’t even have to take a short break to think it through – my fingers fly over that keyboard. Naturally, there are times when I deliberately take a break to think through what I’ve just written and make sure it tracks with where I’ve been, i.e. not using the knife in one of the final chapters that you discarded in an earlier chapter. Or don’t call Bob, George. Sometimes I have to make minor tweaks, but not as often as you’d think.
Q. How did your writing journey begin?
When I was a kid people still wrote letters. I probably wrote more than most kids. I was constantly getting feedback from friends and relatives that they loved my letters and I could always make them feel better; I could make them laugh. That was music to my ears. With a love of writing and a love of literature I became an English teacher. From early on I knew I wanted to write a book, but I kept putting it off because I didn’t have time – at least that was my excuse.
Years later, when I owned an ad agency and was doing a great deal of blogging (I wrote my blog Menologues for years and it had been picked up by Vibrant Nation and Alltop) and my ad agency picked up a publisher for a client – I knew it was the perfect storm. Now or never, I had the resources I needed to design, edit, maybe even publish. There was even a bit of a built-in audience, so I jumped in with both feet.
Q. Do you remember the first story or poem you ever wrote? Tell us about it.
I was about 6 and the bible school I attended asked me to tell one of the renowned bible stories on stage on parents’ night. I wrote out my version and practiced and practiced. I was applauded generously after my recitation. To this day I am not sure if I actually told a cogent story or if I stood up there and said “blah, blah, blah.” I knew my knees were knocking like a jackhammer so maybe their accolades were over my ability to remain stranding. Sometimes stage fright takes over and gives you wings – and sometimes you just babble like an idiot.
Q. Tell us about some interesting or memorable incidents from your life.
Buying my ad agency back from a publicly held parent company was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. In thinking back I would have to say there was more intrigue and covert behavior than an average James Bond movie. It was an exciting time, but it was more terrifying than exiting. A group of executives were individually brought into a room and coerced into signing nondisclosure papers for Operation Omega, without even knowing what was about to happen – that they were going to offer us the opportunity to buy one of their profit centers. We hired an industry consultant and spent about six months meeting and making offers that were refused one after the other, all the while still working our full time day jobs while the rest of our staff lived in ignorant fear of what would happen, I still think it would make a great movie.
Q. Talk to us about your growing years and your home. How did all this influence your writing?
My family believed in enjoying life, fun. They taught me that working hard was your path to being able to play hard – and they did. That could be positively magical, but sometimes it went too far. My parents liked to party, so I grew up fast. I could see the value of working hard to play hard, but sometimes the responsibility of dealing with their afterparties was pretty sobering. I like to think I took the fun loving spirit and balanced it with a more responsible overall outlook. My husband has been extremely instrumental in helping me find that balance – he came from a family that espoused life as a series of responsibilities and obligations. Together I like to think we’ve merged the best of both of our backgrounds.
Every different behavior pattern that I observed has been fodder for the mill.
Q. What other books are you currently writing and what stage are they at?
My fourth book in the Donna Leigh series is bouncing around in my head. I have a title and I know where in Donna’s life the victim comes from, but that’s about it. As eager as I am to start writing, I am trying to spend my spare time doing author interviews in order to help promote the existing series of three before committing to a fourth. As much as I enjoy the writing, the editing, proofing, cover design and formatting are a formidable amount of work. That’s the hard part. And then there’s the marketing – a ton more hard work – sometimes really fun – but always fairly grueling when you’re also trying to run a company.
I have had several folks suggest that I turn my blog, Menologues into a book. That could happen some day – it’s written – it just needs organizing and some editing.
Q. What is your writing process, a typical writing day routine?
Most of my writing is done on Saturday and Sunday. I try to devote eight hours on each of those days. I pull out my laptop, find a comfortable spot and just go. In the winter I am usually on the couch surrounded by my dogs and in the summer I love writing on the deck. There’s nothing better than the five o’clock glass of wine while you’re wrapping up your day of writing. Eight hours goes by like 45 minutes.
Q. What book marketing techniques have been the most effective for you?
None have been as effective as I’d like, but I’d have to say the personal appearances at libraries, book stores and launch parties, followed by book clubs (whether or not I’m there – sometimes I phone in if it’s a club too far in distance) and Amazon free copies (they provide these copies to their prime audience – but I still get paid a bit).
I once spoke at a tri-state library conference. I assumed some of the libraries might pick up my book, but I was shocked that so many of the librarians bought the book for themselves. That was a lovely surprise.
Q. What do you think makes a book sell, or makes a reader buy it?
Unfortunately the biggest motivator is celebrity – and ironically they are often not the best written books. I know, in my case, a lot of folks like my titles and a lot are thrilled at getting to meet an author – even if it’s one they’ve never heard of before. That romance of being a “published author” will often make you appear to be a celebrity to some readers – no matter how humbly you deny it.
Q. What’s the most moving or affecting thing a reader has said to you?
One of my editors is an extremely talented copywriter and is known for her smart-mouth and critical tongue. She stalled getting started on reading my book. I suspected she dreaded having to tell me it wasn’t great and I was tempted to take it back from her, but I waited impatiently. After finishing the book she wrote me a lovely note. She shared that she was stunned at how much she genuinely enjoyed reading it – and she was humbled by my ability to create something of this magnitude. That note is still sitting on my desk.
Another favorite comment was by a publishing agent after hearing me speak at a library. She commented that she had never laughed so hard at a book reading, and she had been to a million of them.
Q. What are your favourite three books, and why?
Eloise at Christmastime. Kay Thompson’s poignant children’s story. Eloise came from a privileged background and had great “things” but didn’t have the loving care of her parents that every child craves. Eloise is a free spirit that turns a luxury hotel on its ear as she lunges forward creating her own adventures despite the lack of loving support she wants most of all.
Pride and Prejudice. Jane Austen proves that women can be extremely intelligent and can, to a large extent, manipulate many life outcomes even living in a society where men prevail and women fall somewhere down on the list below favorite horse, favorite dog and favorite drinking buddy (not that there’s anything wrong with loving your pets). That was a long time ago – and Elisabeth is still a role model who would serve any girl well to emulate.
Rebecca. Daphne de Maurier shows that a huge lack of self-confidence can completely alter how a person views their own situation, which in turn, absolutely drives their behavior. The author shows a timid woman dealing with a woman she believes to be flawless and unassailable and who turned out to be evil incarnate. In an instant of understanding that, the protagonist’s entire world changes dramatically and she gains the strength she could not find earlier.
Q. Who are your favourite three authors and what do you like the most about them?
Jane Austin and Charles Dickens, because they prove that sophisticated humor existed hundreds of years ago. James Thurber because of his elegance and ease in handling humor. From an early age I really enjoyed Cornelia Otis Skinner and her brand of humor.
Q. What all interests you apart from writing?
My bulldogs, reading, skiing, dancing, wine tasting and watching murder mysteries.
Q. Tell us about your publishing journey and how easy (or difficult) was it to get all your books published?
I was extremely fortunate. As an ad agency owner, I was lucky enough to get a publisher as a client. I approached them with the book I had written about buying my company. I was worried that it would get me sued. He didn’t think it would be an issue, but I demurred. He agreed to show his attorney and came back a week later to say “my attorney wants to know, are many of these people dead yet?” They weren’t – so that book was shelved. But this publisher told me to write my passion and then show it to him, I learned so much from them. They had just finished editing my second book when they were sold to a company down south. I tried the new owners with my first book for a year – but didn’t like their culture. With what I learned from my first publisher, I am able to publish and republish my books independently.
Q. What challenges do you think are faced by writers, what’s the worst thing about the book industry according to you?
The worst thing about the book industry is that some of the most talented writers are some of the most ignored and some of the least talented writers are some of the most acclaimed. Popularity of an author’s work is first and foremost based on their celebrity, or their notoriety – and the actual work is somewhere down on the list of importance.
Q. What message do you want to share with budding writers?
Manage your expectations. It is an awesome and rewarding journey if you don’t let your expectations of grandeur get in the way. Write because you enjoy the writing, not to achieve fame or wealth, because you can be absolutely gifted and still never achieve either. But you can derive enormous satisfaction from having someone tell you they read your book and enjoyed it.
Q. From teaching at high school, to moving into advertising and taking up senior roles in management, to finally purchasing Bozell. How has this contributed to your writing career?
Whatever gene made me want to teach English also made me want to write a novel. Moving into advertising gave me fertile ground for humor. We are an emotive group in advertising – not behavior often seen in corporate America. In fact, one of the editors on my first book commented that two of my characters were “not believable.” Honey, they are real people – that shows you how much academia knows about real life.
November 7th, 2018 → 4:44 pm @ rldonovan
My primary goal has always been to entertain my readers and make them laugh, while also making them think. To give them an escape from the troubles in their lives. Based on feedback (and not just from my mother), I am grateful that I seem to be on track with that goal. There is no better feeling than when a reader is genuinely effusive about my work.
When I read this Roundup question, it got me thinking about my goals beyond the readers’ reaction and I realized it’s a very basic goal. I want to enjoy the writing experience even more.
That’s not as simple as it sounds.
I enjoy writing cozy murder mysteries and I enjoy doing the speaking and signing engagements, hell, I even enjoy editing, but all these components can interconnect in a way that makes writing either a joy or an exercise in self-debasement or both – kind of like a seesaw.
To start with I enjoy the writing, but feeling pressure to hurry up can bring that enjoyment to a screeching halt. Once the book is released there’s a huge amount of work to gain any level of awareness. I actually enjoy guest blogging and interviewing, I genuinely enjoy public speaking. But if you’ve ever done an author event to an audience of two, even considering there are torrential rains outside, you know how demoralizing that can be.
Although many of us don’t get into writing for the money (a lot of you are laughing out loud right now) it is nice to actually see some return on your investment. There was a time when I referred to my writing as a “very costly hobby.” Although I still don’t rely on my writing as my livelihood, there’s no denying that monetary gain is a measure of success, and when you’ve poured your guts out to create your masterpiece, any measure of success is a plus.
One day euphoric success, the next day humbling disappointment, and repeat. My great grandmother had a saying that seems to fit “what never makes you laugh will never make you cry.”
My goal would be to see the scales a bit more heavily weighted toward the laughing.
October 29th, 2018 → 8:51 pm @ rldonovan
As a child I was an avid reader and writer of letters. My letters always seemed to surprise people, making them laugh when they needed a laugh, shoring them up when they needed support. The feedback all seemed positive and appreciative that I was able to sense their needs and write something that helped. Whenever their comments focused on my making them laugh, I was in heaven. Even as a child, I fancied myself a cross between Cornelia Otis Skinner and James Thurber – my dreams were big. It was only a matter of time before I penned the great American comedic novel.
A great panel
Then life happened. I taught English to high school kids who suffered through my love of literature and taught me new forms of grammar and spelling that haunt me to this day. When the academic life began to pale, I ventured into the world of advertising. Sure I would be a star copywriter, I instead found myself behind a calculator in the world of media buying. It was hard work and it kept me busy. Too busy to write a novel.
As the years progressed, I found myself the owner of an ad agency with one, two or three partners, depending on the year. During one particularly stressful period when the economy was lagging and my CFO partner was obnoxious as hell, I found myself looking for escape. That’s when I started my first novel.
In retrospect, I think I wrote about murder to assuage my desire to commit murder. Killing off people who cause you extreme stress is so cathartic. And when you do it in a novel, you don’t go to jail.
October 22nd, 2018 → 6:03 pm @ rldonovan
Hide things – who me? Hell yes, I’ve hidden a ton. So, you’re asking me to give it all up now? Let’s see where I can begin. Book one, Is It Still Murder Even If She Was A Bitch?, was written after a small group, lead by one of my business partners, who had a fairly public breakdown, tried to stage a coup and throw the other two of us out of our company. There are numerous veiled references to the details of the coup, e.g. wanting financial gain without having to invest, etc. One of the less savory characters in the book has the combined name of two of the conspirators. I could go on, but that would be too much of a spoiler alert. Let’s just say the murder victim will not be sorely missed. And suffice it to say the coup was unsuccessful.
In book two, I Didn’t Kill Her But That May Have Been Short Sighted, a great deal of the back story consists of true events from my early days in advertising. Although they’re not exactly hidden, the reader would never know fact from fiction. The inspiration for the murder victim actually did all of those obnoxious things. The events leading directly up to the murder, however, are all carefully crafted fiction. The hidden part consists of numerous little character traits and foibles that paint a startlingly accurate picture of my victim, right down to the physical description. Once you know the facts, you would never question the accuracy of the fiction. The portrayal of B.J. comes from years of watching and listening to her inspirations’ unprincipled behavior.
In book three, I Don’t Know Why They Killed Him He Wasn’t Really That Annoying, the major hidden message lies in the treatment of one of my former partners. He had joined the company shortly after “the coup” and was fine for a few years. Then had his own version of a breakdown. He’s featured in the first two books as my valued partner and legendary smart ass, Donny Miller. He makes an excellent foil to my protagonist, Donna Leigh. By the time I started writing this third book, the inspiration for Donny’s character had exited the company in a most contentious fashion. Throughout the book, there are references to his departure that are in reality private jokes.
Reading through my response I arrive at two conclusions: I have actually hidden quite a bit (and this is only the tip of the iceberg) and it’s unhealthy to be my business partner if you’re a man.
https://www.thewritingking.com/secrets-books/?fbclid=IwAR3F_vhNDIaNQUDm28fotuhdM1hKDJeGWIj-znKbA9ZI6Vr30QO-9ZdJUl0
October 8th, 2018 → 8:05 pm @ rldonovan
Writer Spectacle
Featured Writers
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What kind of content do you mostly write?
humorous cozy mysteries
How long have you been writing?
novels – 8 years
How many hours do you dedicate to writing per week on average?
8 hours on Saturday and Sunday – when I’m writing a novel
Do you have any formal education, mentoring, or experience related to writing?
I was an English major and took creative writing classes
In one sentence, what motivates you to write?
I have a huge amount of fun when I’m writing comedy.
Do you have any funny or unusual writing habits?
When I was working with a publisher and I would get the manuscript back all marked up, I would have a have a one-sided dialogue as I read through manuscript. If I disagreed with the comment i would become indignant and sometimes yell my objections, and when I felt the comment was an improvement on my work I would complimemt the manuscript graciously. I often wondered how entertaining a video of me reading my manuscript comments would be.
Pick an excerpt from any of your writing that you’re really proud of
“You mean Donny was killed because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time? A victim of circumstance?”
“That’s about it.”
In all the years I knew Donny, through all his bark and bluster, I knew the one thing he would hate about this was the fact that he was insignificant in his own death.
What advice, if any, would you give to a fellow writer who has just been rejected by several large publishers and told he or she has zero chance to make it as a writer?
If you are certain that the work has merit there are other avenues than the large publishers. You owe it to yourself to investigate another way to get your work out there.
What is the most important tip that you can offer other writers?
Manage your expectations. If your work is great and the feedback you get is consistantly positive, that still doesn’t mean you’ll ever be Janet Evanovich. You have to understand and be okay with that. Even if you don’t make millions from your work, there are moments that will make it one of the top 5 (or even 3) experiences of your life.
What would you say are some common traps that aspiring writers should avoid?
That the work is so good they don’t need an editor or a proofreader.
That acclaim will come to you and you won’t have to work your butt off for everything you get.
That you HAVE to take every piece of advice from your editor.
Have you had any adversity or challenges surrounding your writing career? If yes, what?
I wrote the first half of my third book while I was getting ready to edit my second book. When I went back to it after two years, it was just awful. I honestly didn’t think it could be salvaged. I spent some time thinking and came up with an ending that wouldn’t have been possible two years earlier. Once I had that ending, I was able to go back and edit the first half. Then I absolutely loved it and finished the second half of the book with relative ease. I never expected to like that book – and I love it. It would have been extremely defeating to have had to abandon all that work.
A direct link to your most proud of written work
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_13?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=donna+leigh+mysteries&sprefix=Donna+leigh+m%2Caps%2C159&crid=2AVA1BUQ9T752
Amazon link to: Donna Leigh Mysteries
Your website or blog
www.rldonovan.com
If a new writer asked you what you thought was needed to become an internationally famous and successful writer, what you would say or recommend them to do?
Have someone you know well get murdered, and then write a book about it. I have found that there is one absolute besides death (no pun intended) and taxes, if you are personally involved in a murder and you write a book about it – you WILL get a book and movie offers – no matter how badly you write. The more gory the murder the more celebrated the fame.
You are tasked with cleaning up and organizing a dirty, junky 10,000 sq. ft. mansion within 24 hours. The owner of the mansion hasn’t made an attempt to straighten the place out in 3 years. You are given $3000. What would you do to get it as clean and organized as possible for its happy owner?
I would find an OCD therapy group and invite them to a party at the mansion. I would use the money to for food and party favors, you know, Swiffers and windex. All of the party games would revolve around getting an area the cleanest and most organized. Bonus points would earn them extra areas to clean.
Anything else you’d like to say?
I’m kind of a ham and I like to make people laugh. That said, my mysteries hold together. I don’t believe that I can phone in the clues and leave red herrings all over just because my focus is humor. I also don’t believe that smart sleuths will deliberately paint themselves into a dangerous corner – like almost every brilliant, young and gorgeous sleuth tends to do (sure, I’ll meet the heavily breathing, disguised voice creep that calls and invites me to a dark alley at midnight). My sleuth is smart but imperfect, menopausal but cool and she’s a whole lot more relatable than a lot of today’s amateur sleuths because she doesn’t take herself too seriously.
October 2nd, 2018 → 2:40 pm @ rldonovan
Why Do You Write About Murder?
That’s a question I get asked all the time and the answer grows as I add more books to my Donna Leigh Mystery series. At first, I thought it was because my mom got me hooked on Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes from a very young age, and that’s part of it. But another very real reason is that I get to kill people I’m not allowed to kill in real life.
I’ve always wanted to write and I’ve always preferred to deal with issues through humor, but I never put the two together until life got really hard. Owning a business and losing a business partner is, I’m told, a lot like a divorce – only it’s a lot more public. During the months, and even years, leading up to the split, there were some tense times. I might even have had some murderous thoughts about the partner in question. Although, I wouldn’t allow myself to realize them until after his departure.
In the meantime, I was able to escape the tension by looking back on those people who had garnered the bulk of my murderous thoughts in the past. Killing them was pure catharsis. Not to mention that I was able to create fictional characters who readers would want to join me in killing.
Read the rest here:
https://www.facebook.com/rldonovanauthorpage/
January 2nd, 2017 → 7:57 pm @ rldonovan
The third in the Donna Leigh Mystery series, I Don’t Know Why They Killed Kim He Wasn’t Really That Annoying, is due out later this month. Look for it on Amazon – both as a soft cover as well as electronically on Kindle.
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