I am delighted to announce that Jeri Westerson is the second author of my new AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT series.
As you may be aware I asked authors on my facebook page if they would like to appear on a series of *interviews*. I wanted to connect with other writers, find out what they write about, why they write, their thoughts about the writing process, likes/dislikes and learn a little more about them. I find writing incredibly lonely, but knowing there are other people out there (who are far better at their craft than I am) gives me inspiration to continue writing.
Jeri has written nineteen books and here’s what she had to say about them, being a *hybrid* author, what she’s currently working on & what else has she got up her armoured sleeve for the future.
Please find the full interview here (also linked to my twitter, tumblr, facebook, Goodreads, and google + accounts) and do share with your circle of book friends - thank you:
Tell us about your first novel? When did you start writing and why?
I suppose you mean my first published novel, because my first written honest-to-goodness-finished novel was when I was sixteen and it was a Tolkien-esque adventure novel with all sorts of magical creatures and a hero’s journey. It wasn’t bad, actually—since I’d been dabbling in writing quite a bit prior to that—but it is locked away, never to see the light of day. As it should be.
So my first published novel was VEIL OF LIES, the first Crispin Guest Medieval Mystery. It isn’t the actual first Crispin Guest novel, just the one that was published. Having joined a professional writing organization (Sisters in Crime) and schmoozing and networking with the folks there, I learned that quite often the first in the series doesn’t get picked up by a publisher. Either the author isn’t quite there yet with their style or it just doesn’t hit the mark, we don’t know. So once I had finished the first novel (CUP OF BLOOD) and polished it, I worked at getting an agent. But while that was happening I didn’t sit back on my laurels (which are a bit uncomfortable, truth be told). I started right in on the second novel, keeping in mind it might become the first. Also I wanted to see if I could write a second in the series because prior to writing a mystery, I had been writing and trying to sell standalone historical novels. The kind I liked to write, focusing on fictional individuals, ordinary folk in extraordinary circumstances, did not seem to appeal to editors who wanted something more from court life, the more well-known monarchs. But this idea of a fictional protagonist with the more famous people from history on the peripheral translated very well into mystery, with a fictional detective solving fictional murders. So the genre was all new to me to write.
At what point in your writing career did you manage to *secure* an agent?
After the first manuscript of historical fiction was done around 1993 I went looking for an agent. I know most people today think they don’t need one but an agent can do things for you and your career that you simply cannot do for yourself. It took me three years to get my first agent, and we worked together for three more years–even obtaining a contract with a publisher who, unfortunately, went out of business before the book could make it to print. We failed to place that book elsewhere. After a while we parted ways since we couldn’t seem to do anything more for each other. I had two more agents over the years–one simply flaked out on me the other I fired–and then secured my current agent in 2005 on a fluke. I had been reading the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Series (that eventually became True Blood on HBO) in those early days when those books hadn’t made it near the bestseller lists and I saw how the books were gaining, how they started in trade paperback, then to hardcover and wondered about the agent who was helping her career along. I looked him up, saw that one of his junior agents had a degree in medieval history, and on a whim, I sent them my fIrst Crispin book, CUP OF BLOOD. We had a back-and-forth email conversation about improving the manuscript for about a year before I asked if they were going to send me a contract already, which they did. CUP OF BLOOD never sold but fourteen months later, my editor at St. Martin’s asked if there was anything more from me because “he couldn’t get the characters out of his head.” I had only just turned in VEIL OF LIES. In a week I had a contract. And it only took fourteen years to get one.
How long have you known your agent? Describe your relationship?
I actually worked with the junior agent for the year he was with the company and then I started working with the founder. It’s a business relationship. It’s not as if he comes over for Thanksgiving (he’s in New York, I’m in southern California). I don’t need to be friends with my agent or my editor. Some authors want that but I’d rather keep it business-like. I kvetch to him and he reassures me. He suggests a direction in my career and I try to work with that. He is my advocate, sometimes a hand-holder, and always looking for more ways to get my books to places I hadn’t thought of. He’s secured my audio book contracts, foreign sales, and offers literary advice. He’s naturally not happy that I self-publish books but I think he has seen the necessity and that it helps the brand. Self-publishing made my continuing to traditionally publish possible. I know that sounds backwards, but I’ve never made very much in trad publishing–advances are small and not nearly enough to live on–and if I hadn’t self-published and published my GLBT mysteries (he doesn’t represent those), then I would have had to get a part time job, and then there would have been no more time or energy to keep writing. It’s a strange industry.
Are you self-published or traditional?
I’m both, which is the direction of most authors these days. We call ourselves “hybrids.” I never would have self-published out of the gate. For one, in 2007, the words “vanity press” were still ringing in our ears and those who couldn’t land a publisher paid money to publish their books. That was not for me. There is something to be said for running the gauntlet of agent and then editor. It not only validates your years of hard work and rejection, but on a more practical level, having a book in a publisher’s catalogue is that imprimatur to bookstores and libraries that your book is worth their money. “Discovery,” that all-encompassing word, is the most important aspect to the author today, getting your name out there. I’m afraid it’s an even more incredible uphill battle for those who only self-publish.
So the first six Crispin books were published by a big New York publisher St. Martin’s. But after those six, they didn’t think the sales were worth their time and cut me loose. My agent got busy looking for another publisher, but I didn’t want a year to go by without a new Crispin book for sale. So I dusted off that first real book in the series—entitled CUP OF BLOOD—reworked it, called it a “prequel,” and published it on Amazon’s Creastespace platform. (Here’s a link on how we did the photoshoot for the cover) It did and continues to do well, particularly the ebook. And it garnered the 12th industry award nomination for the series.
Excellent cover photo shoot and congratulations for the award. How many books have you written?
After CUP OF BLOOD’s success, I went into the “vault” to pull out some viable historical novels I had written while searching for a publisher. Did some rewrites, got them professionally edited, and released three more: THOUGH HEAVEN FALL (what I call a medieval parable), ROSES IN THE TEMPEST (my Tudor-era tale of the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII), and NATIVE SPIRIT (a Catholic-themed book on St. Kateri Tekakwitha under the pen name Anne Castell).
In addition to that and the Crispin books, I also write a GLBT mystery series under the name Haley Walsh, the Skyler Foxe Mysteries. Those are published by a small press, and I have also self-published accompanying novellas.
And now I am delving into the paranormal and my agent is currently peddling my paranormal romance called BOOKE OF THE HIDDEN, (a feisty young woman finds an old book that releases supernatural creatures into our world, and she must return them from whence they came with the help of a handsome demon. The series is designed for six volumes). And I have a steampunk novel I will soon be marketing called THE DAEMON DEVICE (a Jewish/Gypsy magician truly can do magic with the help of Jewish daemons…for a price, in this Victorian alternate history. This series is designed for three volumes).
All told, I have nineteen books written, and a few short stories available in anthologies or on Amazon as ebooks.
You are very busy indeed. What are you currently working on?
Several things. The newest Skyler Foxe Mystery, CRAZY LIKE A FOXE; the tenth Crispin Guest Mystery, SEASON OF BLOOD; and a brand new Tudor-era mystery series with an unusual detective called SONG OF THE MAGPIE. I’m working on the research and the outline on that last one, so I expect it to take some time.
Who is your favourite character of your books and why?
Crispin Guest, of course. He’s such a wounded individual, but so full of heart. Yet he’s his own worst enemy because he is so stubborn about maintaining his honor at all costs. He’s endlessly interesting and I’ve enjoyed the process of allowing him to mature as the series goes on.
We all loved those flawed characters and creating their blemishes and foibles is really good character building. Where can readers find your books?
Some can be found in bookstores, but of course the majority is available through Amazon. You can find out more about them on my website (including a diverting series book trailer) at http://www.jeriwesterson.com
Which authors have captivated you?
As far as world-building you can’t beat Tolkien and JK Rowling. For prose there’s Robertson Davies and Arturo Pérez-Reverte. For mystery I have always loved Dorothy Sayers because she was the first to give her detective a life outside detecting. Shakespeare, Chaucer, Hammett, Chandler…
What writer or book has had the biggest influence on your work?
Right now, for mystery, it would have to be Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. When I was working out just how to write a mystery, I literally took apart THE MALTESE FALCON, scene by scene, tick by tick. And as for character and style, I looked to Chandler. His Philip Marlowe thought of himself as a white knight living by his own code, but Crispin really was a knight and continues to live by his chivalric code.
Have events in your own life made their way into your stories?
Not really. Not specifically. There was a long stretch where we weren’t doing well financially and I was depressed because years and years were going on without my getting a book contract, and those feelings of despair and failure naturally crept into Crispin’s own situation, but that’s really about it.
How many books do you read in a month?
For fiction, I only have time for two. But for research, oodles.
Where do you do your writing?
I have a home office designed just for me by my clever husband. Lots of bookshelves full of research material as well as lots of toy knights battling it out.
How many hours a day do you write?
About six, all told. Sometimes more if I’m on a roll.
What challenges do you face when writing? Are you easily distracted?
What? There was a bird outside my window… God yes, I’m more easily distracted these days simply by virtue of being a woman of a certain age. And then there’s the internet—Facebook, Twitter, email…
As an author are you self-employed or do you have another job?
I gave up my day job (possibly prematurely) years ago to write full time. Being an author doesn’t pay the bills. If you think it’s a great job to get rich then you are barking up the wrong financial tree. I wouldn’t have been able to keep on writing if I had stayed gainfully employed, even at part time as I was. My energy and concentration have changed a lot from when I started writing-to-publish nearly twenty-three years ago. My husband, god love ‘em, supports us.
What has surprised you most about writing?
How much time an author has to spend on promotion. Publishers don’t do that anymore. They don’t spend the money or time on you. The author must do the lion share.
That’s true and for most part of the day I’m marketing my own books. What would you say are the best and worst things about being a writer?
See above for the worst. But the best is creating these people and their lives and having them truly touch readers, people out there you will never meet. It’s a strange and wonderful sensation.
How do you market your books?
I spend a lot of time cultivating relationships on Facebook (I even do virtual book releases there, which are a lot of fun), I have a newsletter with giveaways, I do a lot of appearances at libraries and luncheons, and I market mostly to libraries through networking and mailings. I used to attend every mystery fan convention I could, but it’s on my dime and it’s been getting expensive. I parse those out. Besides, it all cuts into writing time.
What do you like doing when you aren’t writing?
Travel, watch old movies, snoop in antique shops and bookstores.
Do you watch TV? If so, what programmes?
Oh yes. As my husband says, if it’s got a British accent, I’ll watch it. So a great deal of PBS viewing, BBC America for my Dr. Who fix, and the classic movie channels.
Do you own an e-reader?
I do! I’m a fan. I just don’t have any more room on my shelves and I don’t get rid of books so it’s really the only option. I carry it around in my purse so I am never without a book. It has a nifty leather case that looks like a book cover to keep it all scratch-free.
What’s your favourite season and why?
I love the fall because of the lay of the light, because it’s finally getting cooler, the fall colors, etc. It’s very hot in the summer in the area of southern California I live, so if Crispin is shivering and the snow is falling, you can be sure I wrote that in the heart of the summer.
Lastly, what advice can you give to other writers?
Hone your craft, which means writing and reading constantly. There are no shortcuts; you have to do the work to improve. Listen to the advice of those who are better at this than you are and then take that advice, whether it’s about marketing or writing. Don’t be a prima donna. This is a smaller community than you think it is. We know each other and we network. Remember, no one is in competition with you. Books aren’t laundry soap. Readers don’t just pick one brand and that’s it. They are voracious and they love it all!
Thank you, Jeri, this has been delightful and insightful. For more information about Jeri’s wonderful catalogue of work, and to connect with her, see below:
www.JeriWesterson.com
@jeriwesterson
Facebook /crispin.guest
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