Interview with author, Christine Goff

Hi all - We are gearing up for the second Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers 2011 Education Event. For the first time, RMFW is venturing across the mountains to provide a workshop to our western slope members and hopefully to make new friends. On June 11th, Christine Goff, Mario Acevedo and Robin Owens, all successful authors and members of RMFW, will join Charlotte Cook when she presents workshop, The Final Edit. Visit rmfw.org to learn more. 


But right now, please welcome Christine Goff, who has graciously joined us to answer (with her own unique twist) the same questions we have put to other authors. 
We appreciate your time, Christine...


First off, tell us a little about yourself and when/how/why you started writing.
I knew I wanted to be a writer from the time I was in third grade and wrote this great book called “The Haunted Mansion.” It was about these kids who snuck into a haunted house at night when the witch that lived there was out flying around. They got caught messing around with the bat wings and stuff. It was a great book.  It never sold. It was published, however, in my mother’s scrapbook, and I never gave up. I went to school and studied Journalism, then switched to Creative Writing. I left school and moved to the mountains and became a ski bum. I took a job with the local newspaper and started writing again. I got married and took a correspondence course with the Institute of Children’s Book Writing (or something like that) and wrote this great book called “The Mystery of Phantom Ranch.” It was about these kids who rode the mules down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. After being told about the ghost of Bert Loper, an octogenarian who died rowing on the Colorado River at night, they set out to find it. Only, it wasn’t a ghost, it was an Indian artifact smuggling ring. It was a great book. It never sold. Then, finally, a real writer moved into our ski town and I took a workshop in romance writing and wrote this book called “Frozen Assets.” It was about this counterfeiting ring in Breckenridge and had a great romance, great ski scenes—and it never sold. It got close though, so I started on a serial killer novel. Hey, if Thomas Harris can do it…. So I wrote this great book called “Stalked.” It was about this killer who stalked mothers at the school bus turnaround. Funny, it was like the school bus turnaround where I dropped my kids off every morning. It never sold. But, I was scaring myself, and I scared an agent. He agreed to represent my work, and the rest—as they say—is history.


And your books, what do you have published and what are you working on right now?
I published five novels in a Birdwatcher’s Mystery Series for Berkley Prime Crime. They are all out-of-print now in the U.S., though I will bring some copies to the workshop. They are, however, selling well in Japan. Maybe I’ll do a karaoke book tour in Tokyo someday. I am currently working on an international thriller set in Israel. My agent is really anxious for me to get it finished, and I’m excited at the prospects. It’s a new genre for me, but it’s what I’ve always wanted to write, so…


Rejection letters: How many did you receive before you were published?
Man, do I have to say? Counting editors, agents, family members and fans (yes, they send you mail when they don’t like something), maybe 30 or 40 or…  I will say this, it doesn’t always happen like you think it will. I was rejected and rejected, then I sold my series on a partial (30 pages and a 4 page synopsis) without ever having published a thing in fiction.


You are participating in Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers June Education Event, meeting with attendees and maybe critiquing the first 2 pages of their wip. In your experience and opinion, what is the biggest mistake or misconception new writers have? Did you as well, when you were new to the industry?
I think new writers make two mistakes – they don’t listen to advice when they should, and they listen to advice. You have to be open to suggestions, weigh them carefully, see if it makes sense, if it resonates. You have to be willing to change things, hear what isn’t working and be open to the idea that going at it a different way might make your story commercial. If you’re only writing for yourself, then by all means, don’t change a thing. Otherwise, know that almost anyone who’s taking the time to critique your work only wants to help you succeed. What success is for you is another matter. That said, don’t make every change anyone suggests. People have differing opinions, and you’ll never please everyone. You’ll end up making changes and making changes until it’s not the story you want to tell. Make sure that you only change those things that you see can help.


Did I make these same mistakes? YES. When my romance workshop instructor gave me a three page, single-spaced critique on my full manuscript, once it was done, I cried, threw the pages on the ground and stomped on them. A week later, I picked them up and read them. I made a few changes, not many. When my manuscript was considered for publication by the senior editor at Harlequin Intrigue, she rejected it with a very nice letter sighting some of the same problems my romance workshop instructor had pointed out. If I only had listened, I might be a romance writer today. I’ve also gone the other route and tried to make every change my critique group suggested, until I was writing a book for the critique group and not telling the story I wanted. When I submitted that book, I was told it had no heart.


How often do you write? Do you stick to a schedule or work it in around life?
I try and write every day, for at least an hour, preferably four, Monday through Friday. Sometimes I write on the weekend, but that time is usually reserved for family. And I do put my writing aside when I have things come up. I have six kids (now all graduated from or in college), so my time is more my own these days; but, when I was writing my Birdwatcher’s Mystery series, I had three at home. You can’t always ignore life. That said, if you plan on hitting the NYT list and being a famous author someday, you’re going to have to make some sacrifices. All the really famous writers I know gave up time with friends and family to get where they are. Most of them have come back around to find a balance, but you’ll find the publishers will want you to turn in a book every nine months to a year, and they may want you to tour (at least put in appearances at the big writers conventions in your genre). You will have to answer your fan mail, keep up a blog or website presence. It all take time. More time than you think. So, pace yourself. Make a schedule. Stick to it. And build in time for life. It’s what fills your stories with heart.


When not writing, what do you do?
I’m a mom and a wife. I take bridge lessons on Wednesday nights. I knit. I make stuff (I’m crafty). I tile my bathroom, play with my dogs, read.


What did I not ask that you want to talk about?

 Reading. You must read. Read. Read. Read. If you don’t read—including in the genre you write—you cannot write. I know that’s a generalization and someone will point out someone who did it brilliantly; but, trust me.  The best writers read their colleagues work. Notice, I didn’t say competition. It’s not a competition. You can only write the best book you can write. And every writer’s success builds interest in the genre and in books, it expands the market. Writers need to be each other’s best advocates and cheerleaders. So, you go!

Thanks, Christine. We look forward to seeing you in less than two weeks!!!!  

Anyone who has more questions or comments, feel free to join the conversation. 

Does knowing too much suck the fun out?

Good morning Blogies

    Can you still do it? Can you read for the fun of it? With all the rules and tips and pet peeves floating around in your head, can you still just pick up a book and get lost in the pages?

    It’s one of the hazards of writing, I’m afraid. I should have known that. Before I started writing I was involved in theater as an actor, director, stage manager, stage hand, set builder, you name it and I did it. Well, except anything to do with music, no talent there. Anyway, the more I learned, the more critical I became as an audience member. I was ruined as a patron of the theater. Even when everything was great, I still analyzed why rather than let the cast take me to a place and show me a story. The wonder, the experience, the thrill; all gone. Crap!!

    Then, along came writing. I went to conferences and workshops. I joined a critique group. I read books and articles and blogs and forum posts and I analyzed books I should’ve been reading for enjoyment. Double crap!! I tell you right now, I vow never to pick up a book on deviant sexual behavior. You know, just in case I ever...I want it to be fun. Well, enough said.

    So, back to reading. I found myself critiquing the works of, published authors. I’d try to figure out why the author did this or inserted that? What was the authors intent? Is there some hidden meaning?  I puzzled out motivation; oh, so-and-so works at the shelter because he wasn’t allow a puppy as a child. Looked for tell-tales; and he’s going to kill the neighbor for kicking his dog. Anticipated plot twists; then he and the widow will fall in love. Agonized over internal and external goals; he wants to open his own non-profit shelter for abused dogs but really he just wants to be loved. Ditto for internal and external conflict; Oh, no, the police found his footprint in the neighbor’s garden. But worse, he doesn’t feel he deserves the widow’s love because he killed her husband.

    #@(& it! Reading wasn’t any fun. So I quit. Reading, not writing. Can’t quit writing. What reason would I give for banging my head against the wall? I probably didn’t read fiction for more than a year. I’d like to say I was in a dark and brooding place, but I wasn’t. I just had no interest in reading a novel. I read my crit partners’ stuff because that’s what crit partners do and you are supposed to analyze that stuff. I read Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader,  Ripley’s Believe it or Not and that sort of thing for distraction. But I read no books.

    Things were going along fine until my wife wanted to get a Kindle. Somehow, I ended up with one too. So I read. And I put it down. And I picked it up. Put it down. Picked it up. So on and so forth until I got lost in a story.

    Ha, this is fun. I read another, and focused on the characters, listened to the characters and it was fun again. I’d discovered the secret.

    Just read the damn book. The characters may have motivation, goals, blah, blah, blah, but the author didn’t put them there, didn’t decide anything. In fact, there is no author. The story just appeared out of the ether. The characters are the story. It’s the characters telling the story and they don’t know squat about writing. Remember that when you read. Remember that when you write. And, have fun when you do both. And that other thing too, deviant or not.

    Simple, huh? So, can you still read for fun?