Writing Mysteries that Sell Part I: An Interview with Cynthia Baxter

Aside from the logistics of publishing - needing an agent to get your manuscript looked at in the first place, then needing someone who knows what she's doing to negotiate your contract and make phone calls if any problems arise, so you don't have to - it's nice to get a knowledgeable opinion on what you're doing. Faith helped me shape the first book, she encouraged me to make it part of a series, and she was very encouraging all along. She had a sense that someone would publish it, and that kept me going. It was important for me to get validation so I wouldn't go off in the wrong direction. Agents pretty much know what's going on out there in the publishing world, and the good ones help you maneuver your way around.

DEAD CANARIES was positioned as the first book in a series from the start, although it wasn't until Bantam had expressed an interest in publishing it that I submitted ideas for the next two books.

I really like writing a series. To me, it's like a friendship. You know you have plenty of time to enjoy it, watching it change and develop and turn into something really solid. I love watching Jessie and Nick and Betty go forward with their lives, encountering new things and replaying their same old neuroses. That's even true for Max and Lou and Cat and Prometheus. It's also fun to start adding new "regulars" - like Suzanne Fox and others who show up in LEAD A HORSE TO MURDER (Book 3)!

DC: Bestselling Irish novelist Marion Keyes, in THE OTHER SIDE OF THE STORY, pokes fun at the classic follies and perils of the book industry. Under the caption "Dude, Where's My Book?" her fictional character Lily dashes to the neighbourhood bookstore to discover that they aren't going to carry her novel. "It was a matter of pride that I waited until I was outside the shop before I wept." In real life, when her first book was published Keyes used to go out looking for her book in the shops and it was never there. "It was so sad, the disappointment and humiliation . . ." she laments.

Do you think this is a common experience for writers? And why do you think new novels often can't be found in the bookstores? I know I almost

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