Octoberguest! Karen Dionne

I could spend an entire blog extolling the virtues and talents of Karen Dionne! As the founder of Backspace--The Writers Place, she's been a motivating, powerful influence on hundreds if not thousands of new and emerging writers. And as a member of International Thriller Writers, she was one of the guiding minds behind the Debut Authors group--long before her own debut thriller Freezing Point was published. (Just last week!) But writing is her first love. On the release of the timely Freezing Point, bestselling author David Morrell called Karen "the new Michael Crichton."

Karen writes here about the debut of Freezing Point, and I can't urge you strongly enough to check out her very cool (yes, I said it!) revolutionary launch site. And on Wednesday, she'll be appearing at Susan Henderson's LitPark with heavy-hitters Barry Eisler, David Morrell and Gayle Lynds.

Also, she's just an incredibly sweet person! (She's so sweet in fact that she's tossing a signed copy of Freezing Point into the Handbasket!)

Welcome, Karen!




On Promotion by Karen Dionne

I discovered an interesting thing about myself on the road to publication: I like marketing and promotion. I enjoy thinking up promotional ideas that are a good fit for me and my novel. And because I’d much rather lead the pack than follow it, some of the things I’ve tried are a little outside the norm. I sent my novel on a “Freezing Point Pre-Publication World Book Tour” without me (a reasonable success), and set up a Freezing Point “Star in My Book Video” contest (not quite as successful).

But the centerpiece of my personal marketing plans was the online book launch party I threw last week, which turned out to be every bit as wonderful as I had hoped. The website saw more than 2,700 visitors, and 400 people left comments in the guest book - many of them friends and coworkers I hadn’t been in touch with for years.

I got the idea for an online launch party over a year ago, when I realized that no matter where I held a real-world book launch, only a fraction of my friends would be able to attend. So with help from a dozen thriller authors including Lee Child, Doug Preston, John Lescroart, Gayle Lynds, and James Rollins, I threw an online book launch where family, friends, and fans could mingle and win prizes – and catch the buzz about my novel in the process.

Entertainment for the event included video welcomes from the best-selling thriller authors who had given me blurbs, a reading by a professional voice actress who’s also a New York Times author, stand-up, a compilation clip with four authors who write series characters answering the question “Would Your Character Read Freezing Point” – even testimony from a thriller author who’s also a medical doctor regarding the science behind my story’s premise. There were door prizes: a boxed set of the BBC’s “Planet Earth” series on DVD, bottles of genuine iceberg water, and Penguin Gear from my publisher. And because a book launch party wouldn’t be complete without, well, books, two independent booksellers made signed copies available.

The video endorsements from best-selling thriller authors turned out to be an unexpected bonus. When I asked the folks who’d given me blurbs to record a video or audio contribution for my party website, I was thinking strictly in terms of entertainment. What I didn’t realize until I saw the first video clip was how powerful these would be. Seeing and hearing Douglas Preston tell readers how much he enjoyed my novel and that he looks forward to seeing it on the New York Times list is the Internet equivalent of a 45-second television commercial. As one guest book commentor wrote: “Swanky party! What a great concept. And with all these top names shilling for you who can resist? I'm picking up my copy today.”

Naturally as authors, we tend to think first in terms of words. But on the Internet, we’re not limited to text. I can easily imagine authors putting similar audio and video endorsements on their regular websites. They’re certainly easier and cheaper to produce than a book trailer, and quite possibly, more effective.

To a Web 2.0 generation accustomed to tag clouds, wikis and widgets, our static text-and-images-only websites run the risk of looking as outdated as Fred Flintstone’s writing tablets. The good news is authors don’t have to be afraid of the Internet. We’re writers. We’re creative people. We can figure out how to use the Internet to spread the word about our books in new and exciting ways.

So now I’ll turn the mike over to you. What cool and interesting things have YOU done to promote your books on the Internet?

Thanks for being here, Karen!

[Remember--Everyone who comments is entered to win $100 Godiva Chocolatier and Harry & David giftbaskets, plus books from several Octoberguest! authors! Drawing held November 2nd.]

Tomorrow: Clair Lamb, aka Answer Girl

Octoberguest! Interview with Gerry Doyle

I've owed thriller novelist Gerry Doyle a guest spot for a long time. His debut book, From the Depths, came out early last November--just a month after my own debut. Debut writers always go to the head of the line at the Handbasket. Newbies need all the exposure and support they can get!

Gerry's an editor for the Chicago Tribune's Metro section, but From the Depths takes place far from the Midwest. He brings new energy to the techno-thriller with CIA forensic scientist Dr. Christine Meyers, who must work with the Navy SEALS to discover what killed the entire crew of a defecting North Korean sub.

This past summer at Thrillerfest, From the Depths was one of the five finalists for the International Thriller Writer's Best Debut Novel award.

Today he's in the Handbasket to answer a few questions. You can meet him at his own blog, Read Ink, too.

Welcome, Gerry!

As a career journalist, what was the instigating factor in your jump into fiction? And thriller fiction at that?

The instigating factor for my jump into fiction is the same as that for my jump into journalism: I just love writing. I've been writing fiction since the time I could pick up a crayon, and my love of the written word was what ultimately nudged me into journalism. Writing a book was almost an accident: An idea that just started gathering momentum as I put it on the page. All of a sudden it was a novel! The thriller genre is one that I think just about all of my work fits into. I tend to launch writing projects from ideas: What if? Why? How? And in the course of answering them, tense and precarious situations tend to unfold.


Who first encouraged you to write?

That would be my parents, and it's not even close. They started reading to me before I even knew what they were saying. So by the time I was reading books on my own, it was natural that I wanted to know how to do it myself--a desire that my parents nurtured. (Full disclosure: My mom also is an author and has published several non-fiction books and a children's book, "Old Enough for Magic")

Whom do you most resemble in your novel?

This is a tough one. I don't think I'm anything like the protagonist--even leaving gender aside--and many of the SEALs aren't exactly good guys. But if I had to pick one, it'd be Campbell. Like me, he's curious about the world around him and sympathetic to goals that sometimes cut against conventional wisdom. He also looks good in black.

How many times have you been asked if you might be featured on Oprah?

Ha! More times than I can count. For a long time, the easy answer to that question was, "I don't think that submarines full of dead people really fit Oprah's theme for her book club." But then she recommended "The Road"--which is a fantastic read--and although it doesn't have the submarine, it's definitely littered with corpses. So maybe I have a chance now!

What are you working on now?

I just finished polishing up a manuscript, actually. Another thriller, but this time in a more common setting: The streets of Chicago. A disgruntled journalist is forced into covering a throwaway story that ends up dragging him into a deadly conspiracy. In short.

This is a risky question. Your fellow debut novelist/journalist Julie Kramer had no answer for it and I'm worried I might have to take it out of the rotation. So--Patrick, Spongebob, or Squidward?

Patrick. Happy-go-lucky, friendly and supportive. And if you cut off one of his arms, it'll grow back.

Thanks so much, Gerry!

[Remember--Everyone who comments is entered to win $100 Godiva Chocolatier and Harry & David giftbaskets, plus books from several Octoberguest! authors! Drawing held November 2nd. I'll announce who won Mario Acevedo's book and Devil Duck tomorrow.]

Tomorrow in the Handbasket: Debut thriller novelist and Backspace founder Karen Dionne!

Blogging for Patry (repost from MySpace)

Do you know Patry Francis? She's the author of THE LIAR'S DIARY, an engaging, character-driven thriller with one of the most memorably unreliable narrators I've ever read. THE LIAR'S DIARY was released in hardcover last spring, but this fall, Patry was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

I met Patry on myspace and read THE LIAR'S DIARY when it first came out. I was immediately enchanted. Then I met Patry in person at Thrillerfest in July--and I realized why I liked her book and blog so much. She's just one of those people who has a lovely, generous light about her. You can get to know her yourself at her inspiring and unsentimental blog, Simply Wait.

THE LIAR'S DIARY will be out in paperback on January 29th. As you can imagine, Patry won't be much up to promoting its release--so a few of us writer/blogger types are declaring the 29th as THE LIAR'S DIARY blog day! We're inviting folks to get involved somehow, to review the book, give Patry's website a mention, have a liar's-theme contest, or even just ask everyone to buy a book and give one to a friend. (Paperbacks are cheap!) Already, one company has offered to do a video for Patry and Brilliance Audio (which also published ISABELLA MOON) is providing free audio clips.

As bloggers let us know they want to be involved, we're passing on the list to her publishers, Dutton, so they will give her publicity a boost as well.

The wildly energetic Susan Henderson at Lit Park has a great list of folks who are already on board. Pay special attention to the names of Karen Dionne (Backspace)and Jessica Keener, as well--along with Susan, they're moving and shaking things for Patry.

If you blog, here or somewhere else, won't you get involved? If you do, let me know before the 29th and I'll link to your site! If you have any questions, you can ask them here, or drop me an email at laura@laurabenedict.com

Sending you many blessings in advance! L.