Category Archives: Writing

STEPHEN KING’S SURPRISINGLY SIMPLE SECRET TO SUCCESS

When it comes to being a master of the commercial writing craft, few authors are more successful than Stephen King. The “Horror Guy”, who King calls himself, has tirelessly worked for over sixty years. He’s produced more than fifty novels and countless other pieces in a non-stop career during which he almost died from substance abuse and a nasty vehicle accident. “Prolific” is an understatement when it comes to labeling this writing machine, and there’s a surprisingly simple secret to Stephen King’s success.

Yes, the secret to Stephen King’s success is surprisingly simple. It’s a concoction beyond natural storytelling talent, which he has in spades. It’s a mix beyond craft knowledge and prose perfection. And it’s a blend beyond something else—something most writers simply won’t do in their lives. Yet it’s a simple success secret which Stephen King slyly shares if you follow his work.

Before I disclose Stephen King’s s simple success secret, let me tell you what triggered this post. I’m a big Stephen King fan. I’ve read a lot of his stuff—From A Buick Eight is my mind-blowing favorite—and I know many readers can’t Stand him (pun intended). Certainly, he’s verbose compared to James Patterson, but I’m on Team King all the way, even though Team Patterson outsells him.

I connected with a lady who recently retired from the same police force I served with. I didn’t know her directly, but I worked with her dad in the RCMP years ago. She made a career as a detective with Vancouver’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (I-HIT) and was their high-profile spokesperson for a long stint. Now this fine lady has a keen interest in beginning a crime-writing career, and she was silly enough to turn to me for advice.

I see piles of potential in this unfolding writer. She has the proper package required to be a commercial success and a household name in crime fiction circles, just as she was in the true crime world. Part of our long talk was me recommending resources to study. Stephen King’s On Writing—A Memoir of the Craft was at the top of the list.

Stephen King. Where do you start to explain his success secret? First, Stephen King is self-made. He didn’t come from writing royalty, and that story of him working nights at a laundry and throwing Carrie in the trash isn’t bullshit. His wife, Tabitha, rescued the manuscript and submitted it to Putnam and the success of Stephen King—writer—began.

Stephen King is coming on to 74. He still writes every day that he can and that includes Christmas and his birthday. Mr. King still finds time to read—lots of reading time—and he generously gives what he has to spare in helping others to develop their writing skills. That includes unfolding writers like my retired detective friend who I hope has redlined, yellow highlighted, and made black ink notes in an On Writing copy as I have.

In prepping this post, I reread On Writing. Or, I should say reviewed my red lines and yellow bars along with black ink notations. I’ve paged this prize at least a dozen times as I’ve built my skills, and I’m now at the point that I can legitimately call myself a commercial writer who’s achieved international bestselling status.

Call me a bragger. Just don’t call me a bullshitter, and I attribute my achievements much to Stephen King’s simple success secret which I’ll keep you in suspense from while I do a quick review of what’s in On Writing and why these pages of gold are so, so valuable for anyone who wants to make it in the commercial storytelling world.

Mr. King wrote On Writing in 2000. At least that’s what the copyright page says. That would have made him around 52 which is 11 years younger than I was when I decided to take writing stories seriously.

On Writing opens with this quote in the foreword: “What follows is an attempt to put down, briefly and simply, how I came to the craft, what I know about it now, and how it’s done. It’s about the day job; it’s about the language.”

It’s about the day job and it’s about the language. Commercial writing is a job. It’s bloody hard work that requires a writer to show up every day, sit down with their ass in the chair, and put their fingers on the keys—not just when they feel like it or when they think the muse calls. And it’s about using those keys to transcribe language into a crafted story that’s saleable to a mass market.

Like Stephen King has been doing tirelessly every day for 60 years.

“This is a short book because most books about writing are filled with bullshit. Fiction writers, present company included, don’t understand very much about what they do—not why it works when it’s good, not why it doesn’t when it’s bad. I figured the shorter the book, the less the bullshit.”

On Writing is a short book by Stephen King standards. It runs just shy of 300 pages, but those pages contain sage quotes like these:

“You must not come lightly to the blank page.”

“It’s writing, damn it, not washing the car or putting on eyeliner. If you take it seriously, we can do business. If you can’t or won’t, it’s time for you to close this book and do something else. Wash the car, maybe.”

“Simple sentences worked well for Hemmingway, didn’t they? Even when he was drunk on his ass, he was a fucking genius.”

“I’m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing. Good writing is about letting go of fear and affectation. Also about making good choices about the tools you plan to work with.”

“I love this job. I want you to love it, too. But if you don’t want to work your ass off, you have no business trying to write well—settle back into complacency and be grateful you have even that much to fall back on. There is a muse, but he’s not going to come fluttering down into your writing room and scatter creative fairy-dust over your typewriter or computer. He lives underground. He’s a basement guy. You have to descend to his level, and once you get down there you have to furnish an apartment for him to live in. You have to do all the grunt labor, in other words, while the muse sits and smokes cigars and admires his bowling trophies and pretends to ignore you. Do you think this is fair? I think it’s fair. He may not be much to look at, that muse guy, and he may not be much of a conversationalist (what I get from mine is mostly surly grunts, unless he’s on duty), but he’s got the inspiration. It’s right that you should do all the work and burn the midnight oil because the guy with the cigar and the little wings has got a bag of magic. There’s stuff in there that can change your life. Believe me, I know.”

“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others. Read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut. If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”

“Constant reading will pull you into a place (a mindset, if you like the phrase) where you can write eagerly and without self-consciousness. It offers you a constantly growing knowledge of what has been done and what hasn’t, what is trite and what is fresh, what works and what just lies there dying (or dead) on the page. The more you read, the less apt you are to make a fool of yourself with your pen or your word processor.”

“A radio host once asked me how I write. I answered ‘one word at a time’. Day in and day out. Not surprisingly, it’s that simple. It’s the secret to my success.”

In my humble opinion (IMHO), Stephen King’s surprisingly simple secret to his success as a commercial writer is tirelessness. He’s tirelessly written one word at a time for over six decades and shows no sign of letting up. Long live the King.

———

Post note from Garry: There is a book karma god or some kinda benevolent page muse out there. I published this piece on Saturday, 20Feb2021 and on Sunday, 21Feb2021, I went into a used bookstore in Parksville on Vancouver Island. What did I find? A first edition, hardcover of On Writing in pristine condition. SCORE! Start the f’n car! Even the dust jacket had no fading or marks. I’m going to have this baby framed in a shadow box.

BEYOND THE LIMITS — NEW BASED-ON-TRUE-CRIME SERIES BOOK RELEASE

Book #7 in my Based-On-True-Crime Series is out. Beyond The Limits is now available in e-format on Amazon, Kobo, and Nook. (February 06, 2021) Here’s the product description (blurb / jacket copy) and the first two chapters.

What really happened to Kita Southern? A vibrant entrepreneur with high ambitions suddenly disappears from a small Vancouver Island city. She seems to have it all. Beauty. Charm. And a passion for channeling the metaphysical. But Kita has a lifestyle most don’t know of, and you never know what goes on in people’s minds. The truth in Kita Southern’s case is beyond the limits of imagination—an incomprehensible tragedy.

Beyond The Limits is Book 7 in the 12-part Based-On-True-Crime series by retired homicide detective and coroner Garry Rodgers. This story comes with a warning: Explicit descriptions of the crime scenes, factual dialogue, real forensic procedures, and actual police investigation, interview and interrogation techniques are portrayed. If you crave graphic realism in crime writing, Beyond The Limits is your book.

Chapter One — Monday, December 21st – 9:00 a.m.

“Kita. Kita Southern.” Kari Lyons dammed back her tears as she said her sister’s name. Gwen Southern, their mother, didn’t. Gwen’s silently flowed. She sat with Kari on the couch in our police interview room adjacent to the Serious Crimes Section office.

“This… is… completely out of character for Kita.” Kari choked. “So, so out of character.”

Now Kari broke down. She pushed her face into her mom’s shoulder and began to bawl. Both ladies were emotional messes.

I gave them composure time. There were tissue boxes in what we called the “soft” interview space we used for victim, witness, and complainant statements. Gwen and Kari took Kleenexes and soaked them.

Kari raised her head. She spoke in hesitant spurts. “She… Kita… she would never be away… this long… without telling someone. Never.”

Gwen, too, said a nearly inaudible, “Never.”

——

Kari Lyons and Gwen Southern came into the Nanaimo police office to report Kita as a missing person. The desk officer took brief details at the front counter but, hearing the alarming circumstances, referred them to a detective. I was the only one in the Serious Crimes Section with a current spare moment, and I was the one who inherited the Kita Southern file.

Nanaimo is a small coastal city of a hundred thousand on the southeastern shore of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It’s straight across the Salish Sea from the City of Vancouver which is one of the most exotic, erotic, and expensive places on the planet. Although much smaller and somewhat cutoff, Nanaimo has a disproportionately large share of hardcore crime intertwined with the black market drug trade.

Drugs. It was always drugs. Drugs were the main source of sorrow.

——

“I need to get some details.” I had my pen out and my notebook open. I also had a video camera and audio recorder running, although Gwen and Kari couldn’t see it. “Can you give me Kita’s full name?”

Kari responded. “It’s Kita Rose Southern. Kita is spelled K-i-t-a. The other two are just as they sound.”

“And how old is Kita?”

“She’s thirty-four.” Kari sniffed. She dabbed her eyes and nose. “Just turned thirty-four on October seventeenth.”

“What’s Kita’s description?”

“She looks exactly like me.”

“Kita and Kari. Are you twins?”

“No. But everyone thinks we are. Kita is a year and a bit younger.” Kari opened her phone and flicked. “Here is a recent photo of Kita… taken on her birthday.”

I looked at a happy image—lusty skin, charcoal mane, turquoise eyes, and crimson lips circling a Hollywood mouth. Kari scrolled again. I saw more pics of Kita. I looked at Kari, then back at Kita. Could be twins. Very attractive women. Curvaceous. Full-figured. Vibrant. If old Hef were alive, they’d have a shot at Playboy’s center. “What’s Kita’s address and contact information?”

Gwen stayed silent but attentive. Kari replied, “She lives at five-twenty-three Park Avenue. The old section of Harewood off Fifth. It’s a gorgeous character home. Her cell number is… here, I’ll write it down for you.”

Kari printed 250 668-8972. She also gave me Kita’s email, kita1@gmail.com, as well as Kita’s social media accounts. Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. And a website titled TheTarotLady.net.

“Now, when was Kita last seen? Last heard?”

Kari went teary again. Gwen still was. Kari set her phone on the coffee table between us. She clasped her mother’s hand.

“She… the… from what I can determine… Kita was active until about noon on Saturday. This past Saturday the nineteenth. She went to pick up something from a friend. A close friend who has a store downtown on Commercial Street.”

“Her friend’s name is?”

“Jasmine Koch. They’re extremely close. Since elementary school, and I’d say Jasmine is probably Kita’s closest friend. Jasmine is freaking out. So is everyone else, and a lot of people in this town know Kita. But no one knows anything at all about what’s happened to her. This is so, so out of character.”

“Fill me in about what happened when Kita was last heard from.”

“I haven’t spoken to Jasmine in person. Just on the phone. But Jasmine says Kita came to the store at noon or just after. The group had a Christmas party planned for the evening, and Kita picked up something for it from Jasmine’s store. Then Kita left… she was alone… and that’s the last anyone can say they know…”

Gwen leaned forward and took Kari’s other hand. I thought she was going to crush it.

“Did Jasmine say where Kita was headed next?”

“No. Not specifically. But from what I’ve put together from phoning around… driving around… Kita had a few appointments, and I can’t say for sure if she made them. I didn’t know anything was wrong until yesterday afternoon. Then I tried calling, texting, emailing, messaging her website, but Kita didn’t answer. This is absolutely not like her. Kita has never done this before. She would never just take off and not leave a reason to not be available. She has so many contact forms, and she’s a very busy person. She needs to constantly keep in touch with people. Friends. Clients. Business associates. She would never, ever, up and disappear. It’s just beyond the limits of my imagination.”

“Sure sounds like something’s seriously wrong.” I spoke my thoughts, and it wasn’t good. Kari and Gwen went nearly hysterical.

Kari hugged her mother who was full-on vibrating. I gave them a few minutes. Then I asked a question that had to be asked. “Do you have any suspicions?”

Chapter Two — Monday, December 21st – 9:15 a.m.

Did Gwen Southern and Kari Lyons have any suspicions? Yes, they did. And to their admission, those suspicions made no sense. Looking back, they made no sense to me either. However, I’d learn as I investigated the Kita Southern file that a lot of things didn’t make a lot of sense. Especially things that went on in other people’s minds.

I’d been a detective for a long time. Probably too long, and I was nearing retirement. I’d seen a lot of things, and something I learned was never to assume things are as they first appear. I let Kari and Gwen tell me what they suspected.

——

“I don’t know how to say this.” Kari looked towards a taupe wall with non-descript artwork in the softly-lit room. “It’s Dan. He is acting… strange. Not himself. At all.”

“And who is Dan?”

Kari turned back to me. “Dan is Kita’s other. Kita’s life partner. They’re not officially married, but they’ve been together for nearly ten years. I… I can’t imagine Dan doing anything to harm Kita… but… there’s something wrong with the way he’s acting. Really wrong.”

“Dan’s last name is?”

“Porter. Dan… Daniel Porter.”

“So how is Dan acting that raises suspicions?”

Kari paused. She glanced at Gwen who nodded a go-ahead sign. “He… he seems worried on one hand. Like almost sick with worry. On the other, he says there’s no problem. He says Kita has just taken some soul time for herself, and everything is just fine. Well, it’s not fine…” Kari started to cry again which set Gwen off.

I let them vent. They were nearly cried out, and that could be a good thing. Venting helps a person focus once they’re all vented out.

Kari continued. “When I first couldn’t contact Kita, I phoned Dan. He didn’t answer, so I left a voice message then a few texts. I also phoned a few of Kita’s friends, and that set the alarm off. People called other people. It was obvious something was seriously wrong. Kita didn’t keep appointments. She didn’t respond to anyone else. She… she… vanished.”

“So did Dan contact you?”

“He did. After maybe two hours and then others were calling him, too.”

“And what did Dan say?”

“Dan said Kita was fine. Not to worry. That was yesterday afternoon. Maybe four or so. He said Kita needed time to herself and she was fine. I didn’t believe it.”

“Did Dan say where Kita was?”

“No. I asked him specifically. He said Kita didn’t want anyone contacting her for a while. I asked him how long. He was… evasive. He said he could pass messages on to her, but she didn’t want to talk to anyone or see anyone at the moment.”

“Did Dan say why she wanted… what did you call it? Soul time?”

“No. I tried to get him to explain, but he walled-up and told me not to worry. ‘Everything was fine,’ he said. I can’t believe that.”

“Has this happened before?”

Kari shook her head. “Never. This is absolutely not like her. Kita would never do anything like go away without telling anyone. She would know people… family… friends… clients… everyone would be really concerned without a good explanation. It makes no sense at all. Excuse my language, but it’s bullshit. Dan knows something. He’s not telling the truth.”

Gwen Southern spoke for the first time. She had an unusual voice. She reminded me of my mother, who was highly educated and articulate but with a peculiar way of pronouncing certain words like sawmon for salmon and toe-matt-toe for tomato.

“I have to say I can’t believe Daniel would ever do anything to harm Kita.” Gwen sat up. She leaned forward and into my space. “Something has happened between the two that I cannot remotely fathom. There has never been any conflict or discontent in their relationship. Daniel is a son to me.”

“Have you spoken to Daniel, Gwen?” I set down my pen and put my hand forward.

Gwen instinctively took it. “I have. Daniel gave me a story that Kita took a hideaway to finish a book. Kita is a writer, among the many things she does. Daniel told me… and he’s never spoken mistruth to me… that Kita had a deadline change and a manuscript rush to complete and be published before year’s end. There is truth to that. But there is no truth to Kita’s intentional lack of contact. Kita would not cut off communication with her family and friends.”

“Did Daniel tell you where Kita was?”

Gwen released her grasp. She reached for another Kleenex. “No. I asked him. He was… evasive. He told me not to worry. That Kita was under pressure. That Kita was fine. That she’d be home in a few days. Well before Christmas which is our main family event. This is the first time I’ve had reason to disbelieve Daniel. However, I have to say Daniel seems very worried himself.”

Kari offered something else. “Dan told Anita Jancovic a different story. He said Kita went on a vision quest. Dan told Anita that Kita had a card reading telling her to take an immediate break from life stress. Kita said… Dan said Kita said she needed to do a vision quest and excommunicate herself.”

“Anita Jancovic? Who’s she?”

“Another of Kita’s close friends. Anita was holding the Christmas party.”

I was getting confused. Soul time? Vision quest? Card reading? Writing deadline? Excommunicate herself? I paused to write the phrases in my notebook.

“So it seems there are two conflicting accounts coming from Dan—” I was going to paraphrase, but Kari cut me off.

“Three. Dan told me Kita wanted soul time. He told Anita that Kita had a troubling card read and went on a vision quest. He told Mom that Kita suddenly dropped everything to go and finish a book. I don’t buy any of it.”

“Okay.” I numbered my phrases with one, two, three, and four.”

“On the other hand… while this is completely out of normal for Kita… it’s also completely abnormal for Dan to act like this. Like I said, what’s happened is beyond the limits of my imagination.”

I leaned forward. “I’d like you folks to tell me more about Kita and Dan. What is going on in their lives and in their minds?”

What I was about to find out was beyond the limits of my imagination too.

——

Download Beyond The Limits — Book 7 in the Based-On-True-Crime Series by Garry Rodgers.

 

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR & WAZZUP FOR GARRY RODGERS WRITING IN 2021

Well, that was quite the ride. 2020, I mean, not my old ’69 428 Super Cobra Jet Mustang that I seriously regret selling. (But that’s for another story.) This time last year, there was absolutely no way I’d have thought “new normal” would be wearing a surgical mask outside the autopsy suite, lining-up in the rain—six feet apart—to score a cheap box of white wine, and applying online for a haircut then shaggily waiting to hear if I won the barbershop lotto. Thankfully, 2020 was actually a very good year for me. I’ll tell you about it, and also wazzup up for Garry Rodgers writing in 2021.

It was Monday, February 17th when I made the decision. The decision was committing to treat my book writing as a business, not a hobby. I’d been around the writing world for a while by then—going on ten years—and I’d written fourteen book publications, not to mention thousands of commercial web content pages, op eds & articles for online magazines, and blog posts.

Something changed that Monday morning, and I have to thank my friend Adam Croft for changing me. Adam and I have been friends for as long as I’ve been writing. I say it was back before Adam was famous and I still had hair. His mentorship taught me to develop The Indie Author Mindset, and that took my writing world to an entirely new plane.

The indie author mindset is a mental state. It involves changing your thinking, and I guarantee it will change your writing career. Being in the right mind frame invigorates, energizes, and inspires you to believe in yourself, show up, and do the work.

The indie author mindset works so well that in 2020 (despite universal doom and gloom) I published six books not to mention carrying on with blog writing and try to figure out this thing they call marketing. One book was historical non-fiction (Sun Dance—Why Custer Really Lost the Battle of the Little Bighorn), one was self-help (Interconnect—Finding Your Place, Purpose, and Meaning in the Universe), and four were part of a based-on-true-crime series (From The Shadows, Beside The Road, On The Floor, and Between The Bikers).

My 2020 book sales exploded—literally. Not only did I produce more saleable products, I “went wide” by publishing on Kobo and Nook as well as still duke-ing it out on Amazon. I also began experimenting with pay-to-play advertising and tapping retailer support systems. This past year, I’ve had well over 20,000 eBook downloads in 56 different countries which definitely paid back. By some standards, that makes me an international bestselling author.

I’m fine with that. And I’m happy my website and personal blog here at DyingWords keep growing. I installed a stat counter on my site in April 2019 that shows 340,000 visitors since then. My mailing list of regular subscribers and followers also goes steadily up.

Print books, you ask? I only have one print publication out and that was my first crack at novel writing. I think No Witnesses To Nothing was my best effort and I’ve gone downhill from there, but that’s not what the stats say and I have to go by that. The problem I see with print books, as opposed to electronic ones, is the return on investment. Sure, it’s the same manuscript. However, there’s the cost of producing a back cover and spine which adds about $200 to the production overhead and that requires a lot of sales to pay off. Having said this, though, I do plan on putting the Based-On-True-Crime books out on paper via Ingram Spark.

What about audio books? That’s another income source to tap into, and it’s very tempting considering the big upswing in audio sales that occurred in the year of whose name shall not be spoken. But… audio books are even more expensive to put out considering the output requires a voice-over that can run 200 bucks an hour for professional results. One step at a time…

I had a real honor bestowed in June 2020, thanks to crime writer and crow lady, Sue Coletta. I was invited as a regular blog contributor on The Kill Zone. This is a popular site (One of Writers Digest Top 100s) composed of 11 top thriller and mystery writers who cover all aspects of that industry. TKZ posts range from helpful pieces on writing craft to hard reality in the publishing business.

A fun side project was helping a friend, Christine Orme, publish an illustrated children’s book titled We Need More Toilet Paper. This was timely and sent a positive message to youngsters bewildered by life changes caused by Covid regulations. I did the formatting while Sue Coletta, my BFF, helped with editing.

July brought a pleasant surprise. I planned a “stacked promotion” for In The Attic which is book number one in my based-on-true-crime series. “Stacked” simply means I placed multiple ads on different online book promotion sites. The result? In The Attic hit the #1 Bestseller spot on the overall Amazon Crime Thriller list. I framed the screenshot.

Another venture was publishing a collection or boxed-set of books. I packaged In The Attic, Under The Ground, and From The Shadows into one eBook. Sales have been so-so, but it’s part of the long-term vision that makes the core of the indie author mindset.

My book business strategy involves having as many products available for sale as possible. My tactics are to increase my inventory (backlist) and speed up my delivery (new releases). For example, one eBook on Amazon is one product. An eBook with print and audio options are three products. Multiply that by a dozen titles, and now there are thirty-six products. Expand the distribution to five separate retail outlets (Amazon, Kobo, Nook, Apple, and Google) and this gives one hundred eighty individual products for consumers to choose from.

It’s a numbers game, and the key to financially succeeding is distributing decent products (i.e. marketable stories with proper editing and professional covers) as widely as possible in multiple formats. As preached in the indie author mindset, it’s all about getting your “ass in the chair and fingers on the keys”. That’s the focus for 2021.

My plans for this coming year are to release six more books in my based-on-true-crime series. The seventh one, Beyond The Limits, is nearly done and should be on the eShelves by mid-January. After that, there are five more planned to finish this series which is doable over twelve months.

The biggest new venture, however, is taking on a podcast. Podcasting is something I’ve been interested in for the past couple of years. This medium is not a sunset industry by any means, and the plan is to increase my writing exposure, or discovery, plus have some fun. I’ve spent the past month researching how successful podcasts are properly done, and I think I have a general handle on the technology.

I don’t want to slip the bag off the cat or pull the sheep over your face. But, I’ll hint I’m going to co-host a program… PostMortemPod — Two Crime Writers Dissect Famous Murder Cases. And I’m not going to mention my BFF co-host’s name either unless she wants to leave it in the comments. What we’ll do is have video/audio chats trying to make sense out of high-profile homicide and suspicious death files like JonBenet Ramsey, Natalie Wood, and the Black Dalia. You never know… we might take on a serial killer or two.

That’s an ambitious agenda, I know. However, it’s work I love doing, and this writing gig is not just a job for me. It’s my life. It’s what I do. I also love reading and learning new things which I did a lot of in 2020. My vocabulary extended to new Caronacoinage words and phrases like Covidiot, Doomscrolling, Quazz, Sanny, Miss Rona, Social Distancing, Coronacoaster, Locktail Hour, Flatten The Curve, Miley Virus, Liquor-Lockdown, Isobar, Isodesk, Blursday, Zoombombing, WFH, Healthcare Hero, Quarrantini, and this beaut from an Aussie, “Strewth mate, the Rona bought out all the Bogan magpies, so I cracked the shits and opened a coldie”.

Thanks to everyone for supporting my work. Thank you. I truly appreciate hearing from you regardless if comments are good, bad, up, or down. That’s how life goes, and I hope your life in 2021 is full of goods and ups!