Blogging in 2018

I created Lying for a Living in July 2006. I did it with trepidation. My editor had urged me to  start a blog as a way to connect with readers. In 2006, that mist-shrouded yesteryear, Facebook wasn’t even available to the general public. You needed a .edu email address to join. Blogging, for most of us, was social media.

When I wrote my first post, It’s alive, I had no idea whether I would have anything worthwhile to say, or whether anybody would bother reading my semi-regular ramblings. Turns out, I did, and plenty of you did, too.

This blog quickly became a wonderful way for me to connect with people all over the world. I have laughed, and cried, and cheered at your comments. I’ve been privileged to meet a number of you in person. I’ve relied on your expertise when writing novels.

Long story short: I love this blog.

And in 2018, I also connect with readers on Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram. Many of the conversations that, ten years ago, I would have held here, now take place in those forums. Because of that, and because my writing schedule remains extremely busy, I tend to write fewer blog posts. I hope the posts I do write are entertaining and informative.

Two points: This blog isn’t going anywhere. When I have things to say, or information about books and book tours, I’ll keep on keeping on. But for quick conversations, banter, and photos, if you want to stay in touch, check out the other places where I hang out online.

If you find me on Twitter, for instance, you’ll get all my snark and weird crime headlines and writing advice, generally in bite-size chunks. But you’ll also find occasional threads about life, and family, like this one:

When I was in college, a classmate's mother met my family. She learned my dad was a college professor. Baffled, she asked, "Do you get get a discount on Meg's tuition because you're a teacher?" 1/ https://t.co/TemnYNhwe4

— Meg Gardiner (@MegGardiner1) May 23, 2018

Click here to follow the rest of that story.

Or follow me everyplace I’m hanging out:

Facebook.com/MegGardinerBooks
Twitter: @MegGardiner1
Instagram: @MegGardiner1

See you around. Here, there, and everywhere.

Reminder: Writing requires more than inspiration

Once, at a book event, a man asked me how long a novel takes to write.

I told him that for most of my career I’ve written one novel a year.

He stepped back like I’d hit him in the forehead with a spitball. “No way. A book every year? That’s impossible.”

I assured him it was extremely possible. “Deadlines are fantastically motivating.”

He frowned and shook his head. “You can’t write to a schedule.”

“Professional writers do it all the time.”

His expression shifted toward disdain. “But you can’t schedule inspiration.”

As I started to reply, he went on. Writing regularly? Ridiculous. “That’s not how inspiration works,” he said. The idea that I would deliberately sit down to write, when inspiration hadn’t driven me to the keyboard… His lips pursed.

I realized: He thinks I’m a hack.

He thought that to have imaginative value, every word an author writes must originate in an ineffable bolt of creative lightning. Unplanned. Uncontrollable. That crafting a piece of writing renders it crass and somehow inauthentic. He was a businessman, not a novelist; he admitted that the writing process was entirely foreign to him. But no matter how I explained it, he couldn’t abandon the idea that I was doing writing wrong.

I’d been invited to this event to give a speech. I’d been flown across half a continent, actually, to tell an audience of 500 people how I came to be an author with more than a dozen published novels to my credit. By pure coincidence my talk, which I gave shortly after this conversation, discussed the interplay between inspiration and craft. Inspiration is wonderful, I said. But when you’re in the trenches writing a novel, constant inspiration is neither necessary nor sufficient. Grab it when it strikes. But when it doesn’t? That’s when experience, and discipline, and a knowledge of dramatic structure, along with an understanding of plot and character and suspense — in other words, craft — will carry you across the finish line. Then you can recharge. And revise.

Inspiration, I said, looks a lot like work.

I don’t know if the man who challenged me heard the speech. Our conversation had wrapped up when he commented that he guessed publishing is a business, so he supposed that writers need to supply it with material. Then he shrugged.

“What do I know about it? I don’t read.”

UNSUB: Spanish edition coming

Here’s some news, and a cover reveal. The Spanish edition of UNSUB will be published in June.

I’m excited. And I love the cover, which is evocative and chilling. The title translates as Messages from Hell. 

My AMAfeed event: read my answers

Yesterday I did an Ask Me Anything event at AMAfeed.com. I answered questions about writing, writer’s block, story structure, characters, research, talent, and the worst review I ever received. Head on over and check it out.

Meg Gardiner — award winning thriller writer. Ask me anything!

May 21: Ask Me Anything at AMAfeed

Monday, May 21, I’ll be hosting an AMA event on AMAfeed.com. That means you can head over and ask me anything. You can even ask your question right now. When the event goes live, I’ll reply.

Meg Gardiner — Ask Me Anything
May 21, 2018
2 P.M. Eastern

Check it out!

Blast from the past: playing Royal Wedding Correspondent

With the nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle planned for tomorrow, here’s a throwback to when I was Penguin USA’s Royal Wedding Correspondent for the marriage of William and Kate.

I wandered the streets of London, kept up with the tabloids, and did play-by-play commentary on the ceremony from the depths of my living room sofa. And I recorded it all for posterity, with reams of photos, in a series of blog posts.

Click the link and scroll to the bottom to read them in chronological order: Royal Wedding.

My essay on the Golden State Killer, in Signature

I’ve written an essay for Signature — Penguin Random House’s online magazine — about the Golden State Killer, and what it was like to find out he stalked my hometown and my childhood neighborhood.

I am relieved and grateful that a suspect has finally been arrested for these heinous crimes.

Growing Up in Santa Barbara While the Golden State Killer Was at Large.