This week I am pleased to introduce you to Lucy Burdette, author of twelve mysteries, eight written as Roberta Isleib. Lucy Burdette is the penname for New Jersey born clinical psychologist Roberta Isleib, an Agatha-, Anthony-, and Macavity-award nominee. She is past-president of Sisters in Crime, International, as well as her local New England chapter.
Lucy’s most recent mystery series stars Key West food critic Hayley Snow. Topped Chef, the third book in the series, came out in May. The fourth, Murder with Ganache,
hits bookshelves in early February, but can be pre-ordered now [click on link].
I had the privilege of meeting Lucy Burdette this past September at Seascape Writers’ Retreat—an annual writing workshop in Chester, Connecticut, sponsored by Lucy and pals Hallie Ephron and Hank Phillippi Ryan. The week-end was practical, eye-opening, encouraging–and loads of fun.
Recently I asked Lucy to share the most important advice she would give to aspiring writers, like me. This is what she said:
When Connie first invited me to share the best advice I had on writing, I thought it would be easy. I imagined a million ways to start—with fifteen years writing fiction and almost twelve books published, shouldn’t I be a font of information?
How about this: Read a lot, but make sure you include books in the genre in which you’re writing? For each genre, the readers have expectations. For amateur sleuth mysteries like the ones I write, some of the necessary conventions include playing fair with clues, avoiding the trap of the female in jeopardy, not withholding necessary information from the reader, not allowing a gimmick to take the place of a good story…
But then I thought my words would be better focused on making sure you take time away from writing to live life. Because life feeds fiction, especially after a writer has mined her personal business for the first novel. Travel, exercise, cook, eat, spend time with friends and family…and listen to the people around you, thinking all the while: what if?
But wait, maybe it’s most important to warn new writers about the importance of friends. Writing and publishing are both difficult, not for the faint-hearted. You’ll need friends who don’t roll their eyes when you talk about your characters as if they were your kids. And friends who can buck you up when you get a rough critique or bad news. And friends who might cook for you or lend you a quiet room when you’re on a crushing deadline. And friends to be happy for your success and come to your booksigning…
But in the end I decided the best advice is this: Never rush to send your work out. With agents and editors and contests only a mouse click away, it’s easy to hit send before the work is the best it can be. Rewriting is a writer’s best friend—whether a newbie or an old hand. Put the precious words in a drawer, cyber or real, and let them simmer. Get feedback from trusted sources, rewrite again.
Lucy can be found online in “way too many places” (her words): Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Mystery Lovers Kitchen, and Jungle Red Writers. Plus her own websites, as Lucy Burdette and Roberta Isleib.
Pre-order Murder With Ganache: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780451465894
Find Lucy at:
www.pinterest.com/lucyburdette
www.mysteryloverskitchen.com [killer recipes!]