Today on Mystery Monday’s we welcome Judy Penz Sheluk. Judy will talk to us about defining a sub-genre, her book and herself.

Defining Sub-Genre

By Judy Penz Sheluk

Defining your sub-genre. It’s the sort of thing newbie authors don’t really think about when they start writing a book. Oh, we know we’re writing a mystery or romance or sci-fi, but beyond that, it’s more about getting the words down than anything else. And then, one day, after months of hard work, editing, revision and more revision, that book is finally ready to send out into the cold, cruel world. That means writing a compelling query letter pitching the book to agents and publishers in the hopes they might be interested. This process is not for the faint of heart; consider that Kathryn Stockett’s The Help was rejected 61 times before someone finally took a chance on her (read the interview here). The key then, is to make your query stand out. It also means that the author has to define not just the genre (i.e. romance) but the sub-genre (paranormal romance).

When I started pitching The Hanged Man’s Noose to publishers, I defined it as “Amateur Sleuth,” which is often referred to as a “Cozy Mystery.” After all, I had an amateur sleuth (my protagonist, Emily Garland, is a freelance journalist), I had a sidekick (Emily’s friend, Arabella Carpenter, owns an antiques shop), I had a small town (Lount’s Landing, a fictional town about ninety minutes north of Toronto), and the murders take place off screen (meaning no overt violence). It wasn’t until I sent the manuscript to a publisher of traditional cozy mysteries that I discovered I hadn’t quite nailed it.

“We love The Hanged Man’s Noose, and you made it to the final round,” the rejection letter stated, “but we only publish traditional cozies. Your book has too much of an edge. Our recommendation is that you find a publisher that looks for edgier mysteries.”

I searched the publisher’s catalogue and saw what they meant. Every cover had a cat or a dog, an idyllic town with white picket fences. Many of the books included a recipe or instructions on how to make some sort of craft. My book didn’t have any of those things.

I took the publisher’s advice and discovered Barking Rain Press shortly thereafter. I redefined The Hanged Man’s Noose as “Amateur Sleuth with an Edge,” followed their submission guidelines, and signed a contract in July 2014, for publication in July 2015. I’ve been pinching myself ever since.

Handed Man’s Noose Description

Small-town secrets and subterfuge lead to murder in a tale of high-stakes real estate wrangling gone amok.

Journalist Emily Garland lands a plum assignment as the editor of a niche magazine based in Lount’s Landing, a small town named after a colorful Canadian traitor. As she interviews the local business owners for the magazine, Emily quickly learns that many people are unhappy with real estate mogul Garrett Stonehaven’s plans to convert an old schoolhouse into a mega-box store. At the top of that list is Arabella Carpenter, the outspoken owner of an antiques shop, who will do just about anything to preserve the integrity of the town’s historic Main Street.

But Arabella is not alone in her opposition. Before long, a vocal dissenter at a town hall meeting about the proposed project dies. A few days later, another body is discovered, and although both deaths are ruled accidental, Emily’s journalistic suspicions are aroused.

Putting her reporting skills to the ultimate test, Emily teams up with Arabella to discover the truth behind Stonehaven’s latest scheme before the murderer strikes again.

The Hanged Man’s Noose: A Glass Dolphin Mystery is available in print and eBook at all the usual suspects.

Judy’s Bio

Judy Penz Sheluk’s debut mystery, The Hanged Man’s Noose, was published in print and eBook in July 2015 through Barking Rain Press. Her short fiction has appeared in literary publications and anthologies, including The Whole She-Bang 2 and World Enough and Crime. She also contributed to Bake, Love Write, a dessert cookbook featuring recipes from 105 authors.

In her less mysterious pursuits, Judy works as a freelance writer, specializing in art, antiques and the residential housing industry. She is currently the Editor of Home BUILDER Magazine, and the Senior Editor for New England Antiques Journal.

Judy lives in a small town northwest of Toronto. She is currently finalizing Skeletons in the Closet (A Marketville Mystery) and starting book two in The Glass Dolphin Mystery series.

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Next week on Mystery Mondays we welcome Brenda Chapman, award winning author of the Stonechild and Rouleau Mysteries.

Thanks for reading…

Thanks for reading…

If you’re interested, you can buy or download a sample of DESCENT at:  myBook.to/Descent

Funny Girl, Melodie Campbell, is here on Mystery Mondays…

How to Write Mob Comedies in your own Home Town, and not get Taken Out by the Family

by Melodie Campbell

It all closed in on me at the launch of THE GODDAUGHTER mob caper in Hamilton. Eighty-five people stood waiting.

The local television station had cameras in my face.  So far, it had been an easy interview focused on my awards and comedy career. The fellow was charming.  I liked him a lot.  Then he dropped the bomb.

“So…have you ever met a member of the mob?”

I didn’t like him so much anymore.

Yikes!  Hesitation.   A lot of feet shuffling.

“Yes.” I said, very precisely. So precisely, that everyone in the room laughed nervously. “In fact, I had to wait until certain members of my family died before getting this book published. ‘Nuf said.”

The ‘nuf said’ was the closure.  He got it.  Being a smart lad, he even let it drop.

Because frankly, I was speaking the truth.  I did wait until certain people died.  Some of them were in Sicily, but more were in Canada.  Some even died from natural causes.  (“He died cleaning his rifle” was an unfortunate family expression, meaning something entirely different, if you get my drift.)

This made me think about how close you want to get in a book to real life.

As writers, we research a hell of a lot.  Of course, I did research for The Goddaughter series.  Some of the study was pretty close to home, as I riffed on memories from my childhood.

My first memory is of a family reunion at a remote farmhouse in Southern Ontario. I was about three, and tears were streaming down my face.  Big scary uncles picked me up. They tried to console me by speaking softly. But I couldn’t understand them because they were speaking in Italian, or more precisely, Sicilian.

Those were the days of Brio and cannoli after mass on Sunday mornings.   And gossip about other relatives, one of whom was a famous boxer.  My aunt’s friend, the singer (one of a trio of sisters) who could not escape the clutches of a mob underboss in the States; he wouldn’t let her go.  I remember the aunts clamming up about this, when I ventured into the room looking for Mom.

I was a darling of the family, with dark curly hair and big evergreen eyes. Later, when I grew up curvy and was tall enough to model, they doted on me. So my memories of growing up in such a family are decidedly warped.

They were warm and loving.  Very witty.  Loads of fun.  And massively protective.
In the screwball comedy THE GODDAUGHTER REVENGE, you will find a mob family that is funny and rather delightful.  Gina loves them, but hates the business.  She is always trying to put it behind her, and somehow gets sucked back in to bail them out.  I wanted to show that ambivalence.  You are supposed to love your family and support them.  But what if your family is this one?

How close is too close to home? I do cut pretty close in describing Hamilton.  The streets are real. The names of the neighbourhoods are real. I even describe the location of the restaurant where the mob (in my books) hangs out. I changed the name, of course, because the last thing I want is readers thinking this hot resto is really a mob hangout.  And besides, it’s fun when fans email me to say, “When they all meet at La Paloma, did you really mean XXX?” Readers feel they’ve been part of an in-joke.

THE GODDAUGHTER series is meant to be laugh-out-loud funny.  But there is an adage that states: Comedy is tragedy barely averted.

No kidding.  I’ve been writing comedy all my adult life.

Melodie’s Bio: The Toronto Sun called her Canada’s “Queen of Comedy.”  Library Journal compared her to Janet Evanovich.  Melodie Campbell got her start writing standup. She has won nine awards for fiction, including the 2014 Derringer and the 2014 Arthur Ellis (Canada) for The Goddaughter’s Revenge.

http://www.melodiecampbell.com

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The Artful Goddaughter Excerpt

Chapter 1

When I was a girl, my favorite movie was The Pink Panther.

Great-uncle Franco owned a movie theatre in town. He had a knock-off reel. We’d beg him to play that film on the big screen. I probably saw it thirty times. It became an obsession with me. 

When other girls dressed up for Halloween as Princesses, I was decked out in head-to-toe black. With a mask.

“Girls can’t be cat-burglars,” my cousin Paulo told me.

“Yeah?” I yelled back. “What about Mad Magda?”

“She’s not real,” Paulo sneered. “She’s just a legend, like Santa Claus. Only boys are burglars.”

This obviously did some serious damage. Because of course, I had to prove him wrong. Even if it took me twenty years to do it.

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Next week on Mystery Mondays we have the pleasure of welcoming Judy Penz Sheluk, author of HANGED MAN’S NOOSE.

Thanks for reading…

If you’re interested, you can buy or download a sample of DESCENT at:  myBook.to/Descent