IndieView with Deanie Mills, author of Darkroom

Darkroom (300dpi 2700x1800)

 

Once I based a character on one of my sisters. We’d been feuding for a while. But over the course of writing the book, I came to sympathize more with her and to realize her point of view. She loved the book, BTW.

Deanie Mills – 29 September 2013

The Back Flap

Originally published in 1990, available now for the first time in e-book form!

Skye Meredith was devastated by her husband’s fatal accident. But now she was trying to pick up the pieces of her life, to forge a career as a children’s photographer. All was going well…until she received a mysterious package in the mail—undeveloped photos of a beautiful young woman, brutally strangled by a psychopathic killer.

Then it happened again. And again.

More disturbing photographs. More horrible murders. And the police began to suspect that Skye was somehow involved. Fearful of every man in her life—even her new lover—Skye never felt more alone, or more terrified.

Because now there is a new roll of photographs in Skye’s mailbox.

Photographs of…herself.

About the book

What is the book about?

Well, my situation is a bit different, in that I am already a published author, with 10 suspense thrillers and one true-crime that were published by NY houses in the 90’s & early 2000’s. We are rereleasing them as ebooks, and the first three are now out. I had to get the rights reverted back to me, and then I am self-publishing the ebook reprints. But since you’re asking about one book, I’ll talk about the first one, Darkroom.

Darkroom is a suspense thriller, about a young woman, a professional photographer, who begins receiving undeveloped rolls of film in the mail—back in the early 90’s, when it originally came out, digital cameras hadn’t yet been invented. You had to use film and get it developed. Anyway, when she develops the photos in her darkroom, they turn out to be pictures of murdered women. At first, she can’t get the police to take her seriously, but when the bodies start turning up, they start suspecting HER. And then she gets a roll of film, and it turns out to be stalker-pics of her, and she knows she’s next.

When did you start writing the book?

I first started researching and coming up with the idea in 1986.

How long did it take you to write it?

It took me a year to write, 15 months to sell, and then, it was published 2 years after it sold, in 1990.

Where did you get the idea from?

My own demented mind.

Were there any parts of the book where you struggled?

Not with the writing. I struggled with my confidence. I had already written two books that had not found a publisher, and when I came up with this idea and sent the bare bones of it to a literary agent, she said that a book like that would take “a great deal of skill” to write, and that, basically, she didn’t think I had it. So I had to write the book on my own and come up with confidence I didn’t really have. I then approached a fly-by-night agent who wanted me to change it all up, and I wouldn’t do it. So finally, I sent the manuscript to the first agent, with a sheet of letterhead stationary on top, where I scrawled, “JUST GIVE IT A FAIR READ.” One week later, she had it on the market.

What came easily?

Dialogue. I used to enjoy reading plays in college, and I can write dialogue like that, just rat-a-tat-tat. Characters will say funny things and I’ll laugh. They’ll say shocking things that surprise me. What can I say? It’s a form of insanity.

Are your characters entirely fictitious or have you borrowed from real world people you know?

Writers are stalkers of human nature. We are observers. I know I am. So when I make up a fictional character, I don’t usually base him or her on a real person, but I will take parts of all kinds of people I have known, to make them real. There are some exceptions. Once I based a character on one of my sisters. We’d been feuding for a while. But over the course of writing the book, I came to sympathize more with her and to realize her point of view. She loved the book, BTW. And once, I based a character on a real-life old-time cowboy I’d known. When the book was published, his grown son called me in tears and said, “It was just like getting to be with Daddy again.” I cherish that compliment.

We all know how important it is for writers to read. Are there any particular authors that have influenced how you write and, if so, how have they influenced you?

Well, I never did try to emulate any authors. I wanted to be unique. But there were several bestselling authors who were incredibly kind to me early in my career, who gave me great advice and encouragement. One was Dean Koontz and one was Mary Higgins Clark. Later on, bestselling true-crime author, the late Jack Olsen, was a great support to me, as was Ann Rule. In the very early years, when I had two toddlers underfoot and was trying to break in while juggling family, I read an essay in Writer’s Digest by Parris Afton Bonds, a romance author, about how to write with young children underfoot. That meant so much to me, and years later, I got the chance to tell her. We hugged and she cried.

Do you have a target reader?

I try to write stories that appeal to men and women, and that caused a lot of marketing problems for me. I also try to weave in several genres in one story. Suspense, romance, action-adventure, whatever the story calls for.

About Writing

Do you have a writing process? If so can you please describe it?

With my novels, I always knew WHAT I WANTED TO SAY, in other words, the theme of the story, right up front, as well as what subject matter I wanted to deal with. Usually, I’d find a quote in literature or music that expressed it. I’d usually have a title from the get-go. Then I’d spend at least six months doing in-depth, hands-on research, working with law enforcement officers in the field, and doing a great deal of reading on a given subject. During that time I’d do up full character charts, right down to favorite color. I’d detail the plot and any special puzzles that would have to be worked out. Then, I’d write about 10 pages a day until it was done. Spend a month or two revising it, and ship it off. Editors and/or literary agents would call for revisions, too.

Do you outline? If so, do you do so extensively or just chapter headings and a couple of sentences?

With suspense thrillers, I believe the plot has to be tight. The author has to be able to play mind-games with his or her readers because they are highly intelligent, and they are fans of the genre, so they like surprises, not predictability. My outlines were written out like screen treatments, in present tense, anywhere from 10 to 50 pages, depending upon how complicated the plot was and how many threads would be running through it. If you get bogged down reading a book, chances are the author got bogged down writing it, and I didn’t want that. That said, an outline is just a guide.  Sometimes you go completely off it if a character demands, or if the action goes in that direction.

Do you edit as you go or wait until you’ve finished?

To this day, I like to print out a day’s work and have a hard copy that I can mark up and fix up. I’ll read a given chapter over a dozen times, making changes, and if it starts looking like a roadmap, I’ll incorporate the changes into the computer and reprint it clean. So I’m editing it as I go along, BUT, once the whole thing is finished, you are going to be revising it yet again, and you may throw stuff out.

Did you hire a professional editor?

Well, I’m working on a book now, and I don’t plan to hire an editor, because I’ve been at this game since my daughter was a newborn, and she’s 33 now. I’ve worked with all kinds of editors through the years—magazine and newspaper editors and editors at top NY book publishing houses. I’ve worked with blogging editors over at Huffington Post, and other places, so I’ve gotten pretty good at self-editing—I’ve learned how they think.

Do you listen to music while you write? If yes, what gets the fingers tapping?

I don’t like distractions. I like to open the front door and have the wind play with the wind chimes that hang in my hallway. They were made by a musician, so they have perfect pitch, and it’s a lovely random sound. Or, I’ll work in a quiet house. But for many years, I also put on stuff that you might call New Age music—harps, flutes, and the like set to nature sounds. With classical music, or any that I love—which is all kinds—I don’t like a recognizable tune on in the background while I’m working, you see? You find yourself listening for that next note. I want my full and total focus to be on the blank screen.

That said, keep in mind that I wrote while raising kids. I can work with Looney Tunes cartoons on, I can work with screaming kids, I can work through total chaos. I used to tell them, “I don’t wanna hear about it unless you’re bleeding or unconscious.” Of course, that never worked. It was always, “HE HIT ME!” and “SHUT UP FERRET-FACE.” That kind of thing.

About Publishing

Did you submit your work to Agents?

In book publishing, at least the old-school kind, you really need an agent for your work to be seen by the people who need to see it. I sent my work to so many agents in the beginning, and even after one showed an interest, I still had to send her half a dozen things before she started to represent me. Then, at several stair-steps in my career, I moved on to other agents who shared my vision and who, frankly, could get me more money.

What made you decide to go Indie, whether self-publishing or with an indie publisher? Was it a particular event or a gradual process?

In 1997-1998, my publisher underwent a huge shake-up; there was a takeover by another house, and there was an embezzlement scandal. My editor left, the editor hired to take her place left, and my publisher left—all within about a six-month period. It was a devastating time for me, and finally, they offered me TEN TIMES LESS for my book Torch than they had paid for the two books that preceded it, Ordeal, and Tightrope. My career was essentially over. Later, I did a true-crime with a very small house in NY and for very little money. I thought I was finished, so I turned to political blogging and fighting to bring the Iraq war to an end. (My son was in the Marines at the time and deployed twice.)

But during that time, the mid-2000’s, ebooks were invented. It was like a miracle. With my daughter’s help, we decided to bring out my books as ebooks, and to do it ourselves. It has been nothing but joy.

Did you get your book cover professionally done or did you do it yourself?

I got it done by the VERY EXCELLENT Graphicz X Designs, at graphiczxdesigns@gmail.com

I couldn’t be happier with their work. We’d trade ideas back and forth, then I’d get something to look at within a day or two. It was great. Back when I was writing for a big NY publisher, I had no input whatsoever. They’d just send me the finished cover and sometimes I’d cry, they were so bad—well not BAD. Just wrong for my book. Not this time.

Do you have a marketing plan for the book or are you just winging it?

Well, I’m blessed to have a daughter who’s a bit of an expert in social media and online marketing strategies. I put it into her capable hands and do whatever she tells me to do. She gets to be the boss o’me!

Any advice that you would like to give to other newbies considering becoming Indie authors?

OMG, go for it! You have no idea how many more opportunities there are out there for indie publishing now than there used to be. Affordable options. It took me ten years to break into regular NY book publishing back in the 80’s. Much quicker now, easier, more fun. Go for it!

About You

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a suburb of Dallas, Texas.

Where do you live now?

I married a cowboy after college—no kidding!—and moved to the wilds of West Texas, where I live in a 100-year old house on a small ranch 100 miles from a mall. We’ve been married almost 40 years now, and I still love it.

What would you like readers to know about you?

My mind works like a young person’s. I don’t mean that I pretend to be younger than I am, or that I’m some kinda creepy cougar or anything. I just mean that I love how young people think and I can communicate with them, sometimes better than I can with my own peers. Baby boomers frustrate me sometimes with their extreme thinking, their all-or-nothing stubbornness. I love how young people nowadays go with the flow and are so much more tolerant and easy. I love their humor and their goofy ways. They’re fun.

What are you working on now?

After we bring out my books as ebooks, I’m going to self-publish a book that got rejected by NY publishers after my career crashed and burned. It’s a great little thriller and there’s nothing wrong with it. I look forward to that. It’s called, Beyond Evil.

Also, I’m working on what I call a “collective memoir,” in which I tell how I came to leave the city and move to the boonies and then write thrillers, but I also write about landmark events and the culture of growing up in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, coming of age and bringing up our own children in the 80s and 90s. IOW, I talk about what it FELT like to be young when Martin Luther King was marching on Washington, how it FELT to watch the Beatles for the first time on TV, seeing man walk on the moon, and so forth. My boomer friends who are reading it as I write it love reliving those things, and my kids and their friends are enjoying living it vicariously and learning more about their own crazy parents.

I will be self-publishing that, too. It’s called, American Woman.

End of Interview:

For more from Deanie, follow her on Tumblr, follow her on twitter, or check out her daughter GeekyJessica’s You Tube channel where you’ll find several episodes of Ask Me Anything (a joint venture). I confess, preparing this post took much longer than it should have when I got sucked into watching You Tube videos.

Get your copy of Deadline from Amazon US, Amazon UK, or Barnes & Noble.