Meeting Author Archer Mayor

Meeting Archer Mayor

Really down-to-earth, approachable guy with a somewhat macabre sense of humor—not surprising considering he works as a detective, now on sex crimes against children, and writes murder mysteries. None of his stories, he says, come from real crimes that he’s investigated over the years. Being inundated in crime with his profession and as a writer, he prefers reading history to decompress. Very intelligent, knowledgeable man.

He’s what the industry calls a mid-level writer. His books are respected but not block busters. Mr. Mayor recounts that the average income for writers has recently gone down from $8,000 per year and the amount of books published—whether by publishing house or self-published—has risen dramatically, no doubt part of the downturn in income. That’s a bit depressing. Obviously, a writer has to be creative financially to make ends meet.

Joe Gunther, the protagonist in all Mr. Mayor’s books, is also a police investigator. The older books in the series are no longer offered by the current or previous publisher of the books. They can be bought through Mr. Mayor’s website: www.archermayor.com. The book coming out this fall makes twenty-five and counting. Tongue-in-cheek, he says it’s rude to ask him about his current book. He always has one that’s come out, one being edited for the next year, and another in the works for the year after that. No matter how many books, Joe Gunther, he says, will always be middle-aged.

I went with a friend who got her book autographed. Other than the uncomfortable metal chairs, we laughed a lot, learned a thing or two, and had a great time. If he ever comes to your neighborhood to speak, I definitely recommend attending.

Next time—more on The Point of the Gospel.

Meeting Novelist Archer Mayor

Upcoming Events

Archer Mayor, Vermont author of the Joe Gunther mystery series is speaking at my local library tonight. A friend who collects his books—I’ve read several—says he publishes his own books. I don’t know if that means he has a firm or is self-published. I’ll post about the evening next time.

Writer’s Tools

Your teenage kids may be one of your best assets, especially regarding the use of social media, though getting them to slow down sufficiently to take in the details gets tricky. Anyway, I think I’ve got down the basics of Facebook. The notice on my page that they’re soon changing the format didn’t thrill me. I really hope how to use it is self-evident. If not, my kid will figure it out.

He told me the difference between uploading and downloading. The first—I have to compare it with something else to remember this—sends something from my computer to the internet. I think of sending it up to a cloud. The second, I take something down from the cloud and download it onto my computer. Convoluted maybe, but it works for me.

Writing Status

I have both a professional and a personal Facebook page. My son says people can tell the difference by the profile. I hope so. I didn’t realize it and was first posting blog updates on the personal instead of the professional page.

I received a sample copy of the Fantasy and Science Fiction—I’m not sure what to call it—it’s advertised as a magazine but comes bound like a paperback. I like the stories but don’t think the story I wrote fits well. Back to the drawing board.

The Point of the Gospel

Gabriel Visits Mary

When Elizabeth was six months pregnant, God sent Gabriel to Mary, a woman engaged to Joseph, a descendent of David. She lived in the town of Nazareth in Galilee.

“Greetings, Mary,” Gabriel said. “Do not fear. You have God’s approval and will bear a son. Name him Jesus. He will be of great importance and be called the Son of God. God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. Jesus’ rule will never end.”

“How can this happen,” Mary asked, “since I am a virgin?”

“The Holy Spirit will bring this to pass, and the one born to you will be called holy. Your relation Elizabeth is six month’s pregnant despite her age. Nothing is impossible to God.”

Faithful to the Lord, Mary believed it would be as the angel said, and Gabriel left her. She went to visit Elizabeth. When the older woman heard Mary arrive, her baby rolled within her and the Holy Spirit came upon her.

“You are blessed, Mary, as is the child within you. Why does the mother of my Lord visit me? My child leaped joyously on hearing you. You did not doubt the angel’s tidings and are blessed.”

Mary praised God for taking  heed of her, though she had neither riches nor power, and doing such things that future generations would call her blessed. She stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and returned home.

The Point of the Gospel—next Friday on Joseph and Personal Thoughts (remember, these are written from the perspective of Imshalel, a character in my novel The Devoted of Imshalel) about conflicting narratives and mistakes. Yes, there are mistakes in the Bible. Read the creation story in Genesis.

Blog Directories

Writing Status

Holy cow! Am I grateful my teenager is on spring break. He saw me through the ins and outs of listing my blog on the blog directories Technorati and Blogcatalog. I haven’t had the opportunity to get a picture of myself to place on these sites. Neither my son nor I could figure out how to get a picture he took in photography class that I like to upload. Download? I really don’t know the difference. Supposedly free, these services are still businesses. The second, especially, had a multitude of services for fees to fast track your blog to success.

I haven’t yet sold any of my writing and can’t afford to take money out of the family budget, so skipped these services. Makes you wonder how that affects a blog’s standing in the directory. You hope content is the deciding factor in drawing readers but promotion is certainly a factor. I’m learning but feel behind the eight ball regarding networking. Taking these steps has made me feel better, but I have a sinking feeling that I have a lot more to do to see the benefits. I set up a page on Linked.in.com, a site for business people but need to further explore how it works.

If anyone wants details on the process of all this, leave a comment and I’ll either get back to you or post about it if there’s enough interest.

The Human Condition

My son set up a link to my blog for me on Linked.in. He’d become frustrated by this time at my pokiness in finding the words he said to click onto and my wanting to first read directions to help myself do it alone the next time. Too bad he can’t remember the repetitious, persistent task of teaching him to talk, walk, and recite his ABCs. Sorry, it’s petty, but part of looking forward to being a grandmother is vengeance.

Next time—more on The Point of the Gospel.

Discouragement and Mourning

Writing Status

I seem to be stuck in holding when it comes to furthering my writer’s business acumen. Writing itself is my comfort when I get discouraged by the effort and time it’s taking to learn how to promote what I write. I know taking the steps will at least make me feel like I’m moving forward. Discouragement wonders what good it will do.

It took me a few days to realize that world affairs and physiology converged to create a hole easy to get mired in. (Sorry, guys, but if you have or plan to have a long-term relationship with a woman, you ought to know about this stuff.) After three months free of periods, hot flashes pretty much gone, I got my period—heavy, crampy, and any little thing making me teary. Oh, joy. Now, the estrogen has to wane again, which probably means more hot flashes. More joy.

The Human Condition

The tears aren’t just hormonal, they stem from reality. I live in Western Massachusetts and it’s the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombing. The news is full of replays and stories of what the survivors have endured.

The sinking ferry in South Korea hit hard. One of my sons is in high school. I can’t imagine the no man’s land of hope, dread, and outright terror in those holding areas for the families as they wait for word of their loved ones.

So, not simple discouragement. Sometimes you have to take time to set aside personal concerns and mourn for others—the wasted potential of young lives, the loss of those left behind—then find a way to get to the place where you can celebrate the amazing courage of those who continue despite grief and hardship.