The Writing Life with Sheila Lowe, Author of 'Written Off'
Title: Written Off
Genre: Psychological Suspense/Mystery
Author: Sheila Lowe
Website: www.claudiaroseseries.com
Publisher: Suspense
Find out more on Amazon
Like her fictional character Claudia Rose, Sheila Lowe is a real-life forensic handwriting expert. As the mother of a tattoo artist and a former rock star, she figures she’s a pretty cool mom. Sheila lives in Ventura, CA with Lexie the Very Bad Cat, where she writes the award-winning Forensic Handwriting series. But despite sharing living space with a cat, Sheila's books are psychological suspense, definitely not cozy. So if you are offended by profanity, some violence and a sprinkling of sex, they are probably not for you. On the other hand, if you enjoy delving deep into the psyche and motivations of the main characters, give them a try.
Sheila also writes non-fiction books about handwriting: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis, Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous, and Sheila Lowe’s Handwriting Analyzer software. Stop by the dedicated website and sign up for notices: www.claudiaroseseries.com. For information about handwriting analysis: www.sheilalowe.com
About the Book:
Written Off: In the dead of winter, handwriting expert Claudia Rose journeys to Maine to retrieve a manuscript about convicted female serial killer, Roxanne Becker. The manuscript, written by Professor Madeleine Maynard, who was, herself, brutally murdered, exposes a shocking secret: explosive research about a group of mentally unstable grad students, selected for a special project, and dubbed “Maynard’s Maniacs.” Was Madeleine conducting research that was at best, unprofessional—and at worst, downright harmful, and potentially dangerous? Could that unorthodox research have turned deadly?
Claudia finds herself swept up in the mystery of Madeleine’s life—and death—and makes it her mission to hunt down Madeleine’s killer. But Claudia soon realizes that Madeleine left behind more questions than answers, and no shortage of suspects. Seems the professor’s personal life yields a number of persons who might have wanted her dead—and her academic success and personal fortune clearly made her the envy of fellow faculty members. The University anticipates being the beneficiary of Madeline’s estate—but that seems in question when a charming stranger, claiming to be Madeleine’s nephew, turns up brandishing a new will.
After the local police chief prevails upon Claudia to travel into town to examine the newly produced, handwritten will she rushes back to Madeleine’s isolated house to escape an impending storm. But Claudia becomes trapped in a blizzard. With a killer.
What’s inside the mind
of a psychological suspense/mystery author?
Mysterious
stuff that would scare readers to bits if they could actually see it. Means,
methods, and motives for killing. If the police ever raked through my Internet
history they would arrest me on the spot. A particularly grisly crime in the
news immediately becomes fodder for story ideas. For me, motive is the most
interesting parts. As a forensic handwriting examiner, I deal with a wide range
of personalities, finding out what makes them tick. Inside this author’s mind, you would find all that swirling around, as
well as questions of how to best market my books and increase readership—that’s
the pragmatic side of authorship.
What is so great about being
an author?
Opening
a box of books with your name on them. Seeing them on bookstore shelves. Receiving
5-star reviews. Winning “Author Idol” at the California Crime Writers
Conference, which I did recently (sorry, couldn’t help the blatant
self-promotion). That was pretty great.
When do you hate it?
When
I don’t have a good idea for a new story or when a character decides not to do
what I want them to. Plotting is anathema to me. Oh, and then there’s writing.
Sometimes I hate that part. The truth is, I’m happiest once a chapter or scene
is down on paper (screen) and I can go back and edit it. I don’t love writing,
I love having written.
What is a regular
writing day like for you?
I
don’t have regular writing days. Because forensic handwriting examination
currently pays the bills, writing has to be scheduled around those assignments.
If I have to testify in a trial for example, it takes many hours to prepare my
testimony and exhibits. Or if I’m going to present a lecture (25-40/year) or a class,
putting together a Powerpoint takes a significant amount of time. So, usually,
it’s late in the evening by the time I start writing, and that’s only after
I’ve spent hours on the internet (procrastinating) going through Facebook
(procrastinating), and writing dozens of emails (procrastinating). Usually
around ten pm I’m ready to start doing something productive. I’m a bit late
tonight. It’s 11:30.
Do you think authors
have big egos? Do you?
Just
like in any other field, some do. I’m a midlist author, not at the level of
success that would inflate my ego to any great degree. When I get there (thinking
positive!) I intend to remind myself to always remain humble. Success is fickle;
you’re only as good as your last book. Even big-name authors I’ve followed for
years sometimes write books that I would like to throw across the room. It’s as
if they have become too big for an editor to correct them. No doubt they get
tired, maybe temporarily lose interest after ten or fifteen or twenty books. One
can always hope that the reviews will deflate the big ego and the next one will
be back to their old standard.
How do you handle
negative reviews?
Most
of the time I say bad words at the monitor, then re-read some of the good ones.
If a review is particularly nasty, I go against common wisdom and leave a
comment that says, “I’m sorry you didn’t like the book, but thank you for
reading it.” At least that way they’ll know there’s a live human being reading
what they wrote. Happily, I don’t get a lot of negative reviews. When I do, it’s
usually because the reader was expecting a cozy mystery, which my books are not
(they’re psychological suspense with some profanity, a little violence, and a
smattering of sex), and they objected to the use of some profanity or
sexuality.
How do you handle
positive reviews?
I
grin and Like them. If they’re really nice, I’ll share them to my Facebook
page.
What is the usual
response when you tell a new acquaintance that you’re an author?
When
someone learns that I write books, a typical response is an excited, “That must
be so much fun! I’ve always wanted to write a book.”
What do you do on those
days you don’t feel like writing? Do you force it or take a break?
If
I have a deadline, I force myself to write something,
even if it’s crap that has to be completely rewritten the next day. Other
times, I just do something else, like lie on the love seat on my porch and read.
Sometimes I do graphotherapy exercises to unblock the creative channels. (In Written in Blood, Claudia Rose teaches graphotherapy
to a troubled fourteen-year-old)
Any writing quirks?
Except
for making notes for an outline or working on character backgrounds, I can’t
write anywhere but my desk. I’ve tried taking my laptop on planes or in hotels,
but I can’t seem to get the words to come out unless I’m right here. My friends
call my semi-circular desk and three monitors the Command Center. I also have Pandora
channels playing when I’m writing—from classical to jazz to reggae, to new age and
several genres in between (no vocals).
What would you do if
people around you didn’t take your writing seriously or see it as a hobby?
I
probably wouldn’t be around them for long. Since I have been lucky enough to
have been picked up by a major publishing house for my first four books, not to
mention the smaller house who has published the ones that followed, have won
competitions and a starred review in Publisher’s
Weekly, I would happily throw that information back at anyone who accused
me of being a hobbyist (is that what you meant by a big ego? 😊).
Some authors seem to
have a love-hate relationship to writing. Can you relate?
Oh,
yes, I can. Writing can be excruciating, yet, if you are a writer, you must
write. It’s a compulsion. I have a couple of friends, one unpublished, the
other self-published, who have ideas up the yin-yang. I, on the other hand,
have ten books in print, but struggle every time with finding the perfect idea
that lends itself to the story I want to tell. Writing is freaking hard work.
But when it pays off, it is glorious.
Do you think success as
an author must be linked to money?
Some
authors write for fun. Some are independently wealthy. Others have a spouse
willing to support them while they write. None of those is true for me. Money
is definitely an important component of my success as an author. But success is
tied just as much to the enjoyment I hope to bring to my readers. If people
aren’t liking what I write, there’s no point in publishing it. So, there are
many parts to success. The money I make from writing, while not currently
enough to live on, allows me to continue producing the Forensic Handwriting
Mysteries and building my reader base. Happily, that base continues to expand.
What has writing taught
you?
Writing
has taught me that not everyone is going to like what I have to say, but enough
people do so that my publishers have found it worthwhile to bring into print. I
have learned from writing both that nonfiction and fiction are, literally, very
different stories and require different knowledge.
Leave us with some words
of wisdom.
Writing
is hard. Finding a publisher is harder. But the hardest of all is the
marketing. Any aspiring writer needs to understand this and unless they are
writing as a hobby, approach it as what it is—a business. There’s no reason why
you can’t enjoy that business, but it’s pretty rare for a new author to make a
huge splash. There are very many little fish in a very big pond. When you get
discouraged by rejection letters or the difficulty of getting your work seen,
remember that most of the big, uber-successful authors probably went through
the same thing.
Neil
Gaiman gives the best advice: “If you’re going to be a writer, you have to
write…and having written it and finished it, you should send it off to
somewhere that might publish it, and not get discouraged if it comes back.”
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