But ... why don't you write something real?

Father Hardy, Book 4

For years, I didn't tell people I made my living as a writer. It seemed pretentious. Also, there is a real disconnect between 'writing for hire,' and the heady world of the starving novelist.

When meeting for the first time, people always ask what you ... what I ... do. It's the frame we apply to how we intend to feel about new people, whether they are interesting enough to know. Worthy to know. I don't think it's something to get worked up about. It's just how we adjust to strangers.

So now, I tell people ... not that I am a writer ... but that I am the author of two book series about Alaska, one an adult mystery series, and the other an adventure series for the middle grades. I'm more comfortable with that. Yes, I know. Not a lot of difference.

So then, the person asks if I've been published. Back when I just wrote for money, this would often be the point where their eyes glazed over and they began to drift. Never mind that I wrote for "A" list companies like McDonald's, Starbucks, and Holland America Lines.

Seven books in.

Skip to now. I've just published my seventh novel, have a one-off novel with an agent in New York, and am writing books nine and ten. 

What hangs people up now is that I'm only writing mysteries. Not writing something real, which would be the meaningful novel. Maybe the fabled Great American Novel.

I think I am. I'm writing about new love, enduring love, and death. I'm writing about different tribes and races co-existing, or not. About concepts of belief and religion. 

People sometimes exclaim that I'm using a priest for a "detective." Who better to sort out the difference between right and wrong. Who better to explain how the rubber of our humanity reaches the road. And yes, wrapped in entertainment. 

Did you know there are more than three hundred-sixty clerical or near-clerical "detectives?" Quotes, because they're not all religious bishops, fathers, brothers or sisters. Don't believe me? Here's the list: CLERICAL DETECTIVES: http://detecs.org 

Read me.

Here's an invitation, or a challenge. You can read quite a few pages of all four of my mystery novels on Amazon ... FREE. Here's the link: https:  Father Hardy Alaska Mystery Series

Am I writing something real? You decide.  

Check this out ... a spooky short story for Christmas. 

Gabrielle, her mother, and her great grandfather, caretaking an abandoned cannery in Southeast Alaska, get a Christmas visitor they weren't expecting. 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=christmas+skiff

On "Memoir," ... an excerpt

I'll trade you an ebook for a review!

Yes, it takes more than humor and charm, I need reviews. 

Happily, I'm selling pretty well. But because I don't know most of the people who buy my books, I can't track them down to twist arms or to plead for a review. 

In my world, reviews are a big deal. On Amazon for example, I'm nearly invisible to their algorithms until I get more than 25 reviews ... and 50 is better.

Once they know I'm really there, really being read, I am much closer to the front of the line when it comes to their higher-level reviews, "best of" book lists, and so forth. 

How you can help. 

Simply read one of my books and review it. If you're willing to do that, I'll send you a free ebook. Of course, give it any rating you want to, say anything you like in your review. 

And ... tell your friends!

To get your free ebook, reply to this column or message me on Facebook. I'll do the rest. 

If you like mystery, I'll send you the first of my Father Hardy mysteries. Here's the link: Indecent Exposure

(If you're reading this blog on Facebook, remember to click on the blog to get out of FB to get the links to work.)

Books for adventure readers 

Or how about reading an Alaska adventure?! I'll send you "Cheechako," also recommended for reluctant readers. Check it out at this link: Cheechako

"Cheechako" is a great tale to read aloud, not so much when you're traveling with strangers on an airplane. But when you're traveling with kids in your own car, it helps keep them from hurting each other.  

Whichever book you decide to read ... 

Thank you! For helping out. 

How to speak from the grave. Really.

When you die ... you're dead. 

Most of us have lost someone and then wished, fairly desperately, that we could hear something from the one we lost. Just one more thing. We can't. When we die, it's all done. 

As I go through my life, finally figuring things out, achieving my small victories, I find myself imagining that somehow I'll share all this with the ones who follow ... my kids, grandkids, their kids and grandkids. All the stories, the hard-won advice, the warm words. 

There is a way to do this but you have to do it now. It's no good if you wait. It's called a memoir. Don't let that scare you. It's just a bit of remembering or story-telling that will linger after you're gone.

As simple as writing a letter.

Some people sit down in front of a video camera ... a smart phone works. Or they record audio, or ... heaven forbid ... they sit down to write.

It's not difficult. Think of writing a letter. You can send them now or, if it suits you, have them delivered after you've gone. 

What to write about? Family stories, history ... the things you already know people get confused about. "Why was Grandpa in prison?" 

It's your one best chance to have the last word about something, if that's important. 

Sometimes photos are a good jumping-off point. Pull out a collection of the ones that need explaining, maybe number them, and begin explaining. Who were these people and why are they all naked ... or whatever ... so that after you've gone on, people can make sense of who you were and why you were here. And who they are. 

A memoir is not an autobiography

So what is a memoir? Just an episode. A memoir is just one small part of the whole picture of your life. It can be quick, easy and painless. You don't have to do the whole thing from A to Z. 

You already know where to start ... with those stories you find yourself telling after dinner, around the table or the campfire ... "tell the one about ..." 

Start with that one. "The one about ..." 

But, life is uncertain. Start today.