Tag: Agatha Christie

Cosy Crime?

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ Leave a comment

Assigning their books to the most suitable categories in online databases is an important part of marketing for self-published authors. People looking for new reading material often search under these categories, but will be disappointed if the content of what they get is different from what they expect. Several different categories would often seem equally appropriate for the same book. Determining which of them will achieve optimum exposure on Amazon is a complex process, and there are websites giving expert advice.

In my own experience I have found that classification of non-fiction books is usually quite obvious, but finding the best category for novels – many of which could be described as “cross-genre” – is more challenging. Thinking back to my medical career, it reminds me of the difficulties faced by doctors who are required to give diagnostic labels to that large number of patients who are clearly ill but whose symptoms do not match any officially recognised disease.

Taking crime, mystery and detective fiction as an example, classification systems such as BISAC (an acronym for “Book Industry Standards and Communications”) include many different divisions and subdivisions. Both as a reader and a writer I find it somewhat overwhelming to have so much choice, though I realise the development of these subject headings is based on extensive market research.

A code I have avoided up till now is the one called “cosy” (UK) or “cozy” (US). I feel this term sounds uncomfortably twee and – given that books about murder are designed to entertain – that it goes too far towards trivialising such a serious topic. The phrase “cosy crime” is surely an oxymoron, though perhaps this is the key to its appeal. Some “cozies” – an even more irritating name – are far too whimsical for my taste. But a recent conversation with a writer friend prompted me to Google descriptions of the genre, and I found that it was broader than I realised. According to the entry in Wikipedia, typical features include:

  • an amateur detective, usually female
  • a closed community setting such as a village or a house party
  • murder by a non-violent method such as poisoning, often occurring off stage
  • murder motivated by greed, jealousy or revenge, often rooted in the past
  • little or no sex
  • emphasis on character and plot rather than action
  • a thematic element relating, for example, to pets or hobbies (BISAC has introduced the subdivisions of general, cats and dogs, crafts and culinary)

Most of the books by the great Agatha Christie meet these criteria, and they are now classified as “cosy” – though I think this gives quite the wrong impression, a view apparently shared by her great-grandson James Prichard, who administers her estate. What other term would be better – “traditional” perhaps?

My own novel Fatal Feverfew, a rather lightweight and old-fashioned murder mystery set in England’s west country, fits well into the cosy genre as described above. A while ago one reader gave this book a negative review, and I think this was partly because I had referred to it as medical fiction and it did not align with her conception of that genre; medical crime novels are usually more graphic and dark. I have now moved Fatal Feverfew into the cosy category on Amazon and Smashwords, and hope this will help it reach an appropriate target readership.

The lure of the murder mystery

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ Leave a comment

I’ve always enjoyed reading crime fiction, especially the more benign kind of murder mystery epitomised by Agatha Christie’s books. Old-fashioned though these may be, they are still popular today. I think several elements contribute to their enduring appeal: An intriguing puzzle, with a credible solution that is not too obvious, although it could in theory have been worked out from the clues hidden in the text. An ending that demonstrates the triumph of good over evil, and the restoration of justice. Descriptions of crime and criminal psychology that manage to be both sympathetic and entertaining, and never sordid or sensational. Perhaps the universal fascination with death. I could never aspire to anything near the standard set by Agatha Christie, but her influence may be apparent in Fatal Feverfew, one of the books I wrote about thirty years ago but did not publish until now.

The main action takes place in an isolated healing retreat in England’s west country. Lucia, accompanied by her husband and cat, arrives there to recuperate from a recent illness only to find that she is suspected of poisoning their hostess. Lucia reluctantly takes on the role of detective and, with the help of the local doctor, succeeds in uncovering the true course of events.

It can be purchased online as an ebook in various formats from Smashwords.com; and also from the Amazon website for your country of residence, either as a paperback or for a Kindle device.

 

ff-cover-smashwords

The older writer

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ 2 Comments

Young authors with the potential for a long future career, especially if they are photogenic or have an unusual background, are the ones most likely to find favour with agents and publishers. But many wellknown authors have continued to produce new work of a good standard in old age. I have just finished reading Angela Bull’s excellent biography of Noel Streatfeild (1895 – 1986), who wrote numerous books besides the famous children’s classic Ballet Shoes, and who published her last novel when she was in her mid-eighties. Other English women authors who continued writing in their later years include Agatha Christie (1890 – 1976), Iris Murdoch (1919 – 1999), and P. D. James (1920 – ) who is, I understand, currently working on another book at the age of ninety-four. There are many more examples.

A few successful authors did not seriously begin their writing career until late in life. For example Mary Wesley (1912 – 2002) wrote the first of her seven novels for adults when she was seventy-one. Her books were original, sexy and regarded as slightly shocking and several of them, including The Chamomile Lawn, became best sellers. As the saying goes “It’s never too late to become what you might have been.”

Creative writing is one of those skills which is often well preserved, and may even improve, as age advances but there is a limit. It has to be acknowledged that books written by older people are not always of top quality, and sometimes only accepted for publication on the strength of their authors’ previous reputations. Mary Wesley knew when it was time to stop, and wrote no more novels after she turned eighty-three. Other older authors, in contrast, have continued to publish more books after they are past their peak. Linguistic analysis of the later works of both Agatha Christie and Iris Murdoch reveals signs of cognitive decline: a limited vocabulary, a vagueness of expression, and the tendency to repetition. Does this mean they should have stopped writing? I don’t think so; even if the later books by these remarkable women are not quite so good as the earlier ones, they still display outstanding talent and are valued by many faithful fans.

Older writers do possess certain advantages. They have a wide life experience to draw upon for material. If they are free of work and family responsibilities, they have ample time to write. They are likely to be driven by a genuine love of writing and the wish to create a quality product, rather than by the slim hope of achieving fame and fortune.

I had reached my sixties by the time I began to revisit my childhood passion for writing fiction, and I hope to find enough inspiration to continue for a good few years yet. Having no desire to produce best-selling books, I write mainly for my own satisfaction, however I only consider the activity worthwhile if at least some people read and enjoy my work. My second novella Blue Moon for Bombers: a story of love, war and spirit has just been published; I will post an extract of the text and details of purchasing options on this blog next week.

Goal-setting for writers

~ Jennifer Barraclough ~ Leave a comment

Is it better to structure the process of writing a book by setting goals, timetables and routines – or to let yourself be spontaneously guided by opportunity and inspiration?

Many successful professional authors approach their work in a highly organised way. For example they might have a system of completing one new book each year, like the late Dick Francis who wrote over 40 best-selling thrillers set in the world of horse-racing. He began writing a new book every January, and finished it in May, ready for publication in September. Then after a summer holiday break he combined promotional events for the new book with planning and researching the next one, to be started the following  January. Some set themselves a rule of writing for a certain number of hours per day, often at the same time in the same place. Some like to produce a consistent daily word count, while others might be content to spend all morning revising a single paragraph.

The structured approach is suitable for those who like a regular lifestyle, who need to maintain a steady output of new material to earn their living, or who tend to procrastinate unless they discipline themselves. But goals, timetables and routines are tools to help with achieving your broader aims, rather than ends in themselves, and allowing yourself to be rigidly controlled by them can produce needless stress. Sometimes it pays to be flexible in response to variations in your own energy levels, or to external events. If circumstances prevent you from meeting a ‘deadline’ this can seem most frustrating, however it may turn out that the delay was all for the best in the long term; perhaps it gives you time to polish your work, or for market conditions to improve, or for better ideas and opportunities to appear. Even if you never achieve the goal, this could be a blessing in disguise; looking back, I am glad that the manuscript of the novel which I once tried so desperately to get published was never accepted. As the Dalai Lama says ‘Sometimes not getting what you wanted can be a wonderful stroke of luck.’ Also, goals need to be reviewed from time to time to see if they are still appropriate. When I started this blog I resolved to write one post each week, but only for so long as I had plenty of ideas for topics, and then to space them out. This time is now coming so I shall be posting less often here, but more often on my other blogs Jennifer Barraclough Bach Flowers and Woman of Aquarius.

If you are passionately involved with your current writing project, there is no need for rules and routines. Intensive bursts of creative inspiration may only come once in a lifetime and it can be worth making the most of them, even if it means going short on sleep, exercise, and time with family and friends for a while. In her autobiography, Agatha Christie describes how she wrote Absent in the Spring, published under the pen-name Mary Westmacott. After an incubation period of several years, the story and characters suddenly fell into place in her mind and she wrote the entire book as a single draft ‘in a white heat’ over three days, determined to get it all down on paper without interruptions to break the flow. After it was finished she was exhausted, went to sleep for 24 hours and then ate an enormous dinner. This book, though not nearly so well known as her crime novels, is the only one which satisfied her completely.