January 7th, 2020 → 5:47 pm @ rldonovan
Go to pages 24 & 25 to read my feature in https://mysteryreaders.org
The Danger of Mixing Truth and Fiction by Robin Donovan
Creating Donna Leigh was easy; she’s what I know best — me. At the time of her creation the majority of female sleuths were young, hot and flawless in their brilliance. A few others were old
and doddering, so Donna Leigh was something different. She was menopausal, so not young, and dammit not doddering either. She was not skinny, but she could look damn good in the right outfit. As far as flawless brilliance goes Donna was definitely smart, but far from flawless.
What Donna Leigh does have is a whole lot more common sense than the hot, young, and brilliant female sleuths who clamor to meet with a killer in a remote and abandoned spot without any arranged backup or any other kind of realis- tic plan to stay alive. Donna doesn’t do that. In fact, when she receives a call from a voice-dis- guised gentleman suggesting she meet him late at night and alone, she pretty much blasts his ear- drums out. By the end of the call he has identified himself and apologized for scaring her. You don’t typically see that in murder mysteries, but the mature and sophisticated woman does have some formidable characteristics.
When the Donna Leigh mysteries first took shape I was concerned about characters and their similarities to people I know. I could imagine a ton of lawsuits by folks who thought their deep dark secrets were being revealed through my hu- mor. I had the good fortune to consult a literary attorney who gave me a great piece of advice. He said “any character you create is going to bear some resemblance to people you know because you can’t write about what you don’t know.” He also suggested not to get all cutesy and rhyme my character names with people I know. That advice has served me well throughout the series, and I make sure that my final edit removes any obvious similarities to specific people that may have slipped in inadvertently.
As an extra precaution, none of my scenes are lifted from true life, they are all fiction — except
one. In book one, a colleague and I were force- fully thrown out of a client’s office and that story was lifted almost verbatim from real life. The ac- tual incident turned said client into a screaming howler monkey. It was like something out of a movie, absolutely ludicrous. Afterward, as my colleague and I took stock of ourselves, she burst into tears and I could not stop laughing. Once I started writing the book I was in search of come- dic incidents that were believable. As determined as I was to keep the whole book fiction, this story kept popping into my head. I couldn’t write it any funnier than how it actually happened – so I just told the story. I hadn’t seen that client in seven years so I took a chance. I felt my odds were pretty good.
After the book was released, I was standing in our local hip bookstore arranging for my first guest appearance. The woman who was schedul- ing me was summoned into the back room to take a phone call. As I stood at the counter await- ing her return I heard “Robin? Robin Donovan?” I looked to my left and there stood my screaming howler monkey former client looking as though she’d found a long-lost relative. Trying valiantly to hide my panic, I stammered a clipped and ter- rified greeting which earned a strange look from my former client before she shrugged and headed out the door — talk about dodging a bullet!
Robin Donovan started as a high-school English teacher, then worked in advertising. She lives in Nee- braska with her husband and thtree bulldogs.
Private Eyes II
June 6th, 2012 → 9:13 pm @ rldonovan
Great audience at the Millard Branch!
Last night I had the distinct honor of kicking off the Millard Branch’s Authors Series. Attendees were wonderful and supportive! They asked some excellent questions and gave me some feedback that made it difficult to fit my head through the door as I exited the building! Every “talk” should be so much fun – for me!
I also appreciate being able to trot out an excerpt from the second book in the Donna Leigh Mysteries series, I Didn’t Kill Her, But That May Have Been Short Sighted! It really helped to be able to share my plot and characters with a new audience, and hearing the laughter was music to my ears!
I want to thank all of the wonderful folks at the Millard Branch for being so welcoming and supportive!
I recently had an acquaintance laughingly ask me if I really felt like a “celebrity.” And to his surprise, I was able to respond that there are actually a few people who treat me as though I’m a celebrity. I count the great folks at the Millard Branch and their wonderful audience as some of those few!
December 5th, 2011 → 11:20 pm @ rldonovan
That’s probably the most frequent single question that people ask. So many of us are poised to write, but hesitate because of the uncertainty of being stuck with a manuscript that no one will publish. The true diehards just go ahead and write. If they get published – great – but what happens when/if they don’t?
I can’t pretend to be one of those brave souls. I talked about writing a book for years, and none of the options appealed to me at all. I could invest all of the time, energy and passion it would take to create my masterpiece, and then spend a lot more time, energy and passion – not to mention money – in shopping it around and trying to get it published. I would bravely struggle to keep my hopes up as rejection after rejection flooded my mailbox and broke my resolve.
From what I’m told, shopping your manuscript around for an agent isn’t really much better. And, if you do find an agent to represent you there’s still no guarantee that they’ll be able to interest a publisher. I have known authors who were elated at finally finding that elusive agent – only to realize a year or two later that they are not infallible – even if they’re sure your book will be easy to sell!
Then, if you do manage to get your book published, will your publisher realize all of the financial benefits of your endeavor? I have also seen authors who earned pennies per book and could barely feed themselves after publishing more than a dozen novels.
Then there’s always self-publishing. You spend your money to back yourself and then hope there’s some change left to get out there and promote yourself. Experienced authors have cautioned that the uninitiated end up with a raw unedited piece that does not present itself, or you, in the best light.
Personally, I feel very fortunate that I stumbled upon a publisher who was willing to spend the time evaluating an unknown such as myself. My publisher took the time to help me polish my creation until it was ready for prime time; and the final product was something that could make us both proud.
My publisher has been my partner and my cheerleader, not trying to greedily reap all of the profit if profit is to be made. Everybody should have the benefit of a publisher like mine.
Let me know if you’d like to meet my publisher. I am confident they will be willing to review your work and give you an honest assessment. If they decide to take your manuscript on you will learn an enormous amount and benefit from their knowledge and connections.
Why am I making this offer? I’m too new to worry about being completely inundated with everyone trying to get to me – maybe someday. I, myself, have wondered if I would ever get the chance to share my musings with the world – and now I know that it feels incredible. If it’s what you want, you should have a fair shot at it too. And no, I’m not getting any kickbacks.
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