Thanks for all the comment on FATAL SECRETS! I appreciate it

First, Nicole, I really love Lucy Kincaid and am very excited about the series. I’ll have more information on it in early 2010 . . . I have two books to write before that one! But it’s tentatively scheduled for October 2010. The only family that I know (pretty much know, anyway!) will be in the first book is Dillon (and of course Kate, who is teaching at Quantico) and Patrick.

Barbara, Maria, Michelle thank you so much!! I’m thrilled you all enjoyed FATAL SECRETS. Sonia might be my favorite heroine so far.

Jessica, great question about human trafficking. When is it too much? When I was researching the topic, I was truly sickened and saddened by the state of affairs in our world. Human trafficking is an epidemic. Over 800,000 people–mostly young women and children–are trafficked across borders each year. This number does not include those who are slaves in their own countries. Some countries are better about combating the tragedy than others. Whether they’re importing girls for the sex trade or boys to be soldiers or women to labor in factories in appalling conditions–with no option to leave and no pay–it’s wrong, immoral, and evil.

In my book–because I do write primarily to entertain and not to preach–I tried to focus on the human element. Namely, Sonia my heroine who had been sold by her father into the sex trade, but escaped and was adopted by a family in law enforcement. Through her eyes, we see the results of human trafficking. How it impacted her, what she saw as a child, what she’s seen as an ICE agent. Because it’s filtered through her judgment and experience, it’s not as “raw” as it could have been. I don’t like political or social rants in books I read, no matter how justified. I’d rather show a snapshot of whatever tragedy I’m writing about–from human trafficking in Fatal Secrets to distant politicians playing media games with our military in Sudden Death to domestic terrorism in Cutting Edge. That way, I can tell the story without commentary. “Story is character” is a common writing phrase which means that the story comes from the characters in it, not as an external plot or rigid plan. My characters are all “real” in the sense that I know how they think and even if I don’t agree with them 100% of the time, I know WHY they do everything they do–from the heroes to the villains.

As far as saying “too much” — the entire issue of human trafficking is “too much” — but as a society, I don’t think that we can turn our back on evil because it bothers us. That is precisely WHY evil prospers in the first place. So in that regard, I didn’t have any problem tackling the subject matter. I did have some moments of sad reflection about what I learned and did a lot of soul searching. Not just with this subject, but when I researched child predators in THE KILL and online stalkers for SPEAK NO EVIL, I found stories that were disturbing. I don’t write the graphic violence, for the most part, but show instead the aftermath–how the tragedies impacted the friends, family and investigators of the victim.

More questions? Post below and I’ll be back next week.

SOME NEWS

ORIGINAL SIN — book one in the Seven Deadly Sins series — will be released on February 23, 2010.

CARNAL SIN — book two in the Seven Deadly Sins series — will be released on May 18, 2010.

I’m very excited about this supernatural thriller series and I hope everyone else is too!

FATAL SECRETS, book two in the FBI Trilogy, is on sale today!

In publishing “Velocity” means that a book sells many copies in a short period of time. The first two weeks are particularly crucial when it comes to hitting lists like the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists. In the end, the bottom line is ALWAYS most important (how many copies a book sells overall), but neurotic authors tend to look to lists as some sort of external validation that they’re not failures. I know, we’re crazy, but don’t we have to be a little bit crazy to come up with characters and stories that, for a time, feel as if they are really happening?

So if you see FATAL SECRETS, I hope you’ll pick it up.

THE STORY BEHIND FATAL SECRETS

Originally, FATAL SECRETS was supposed to be Matt Elliott’s book (a recurring character from PLAYING DEAD and SUDDEN DEATH and the hero of a short story I wrote in the KILLER YEAR anthology.) But as soon as I started writing, the story—an assassination-type plot–fell apart. Basically, the characters weren’t working for me. I love Matt and hope to have another story for him, but it won’t be in the next year or two.

So, I had to come up with something completely different. I ended up with a book on human trafficking. I’d always had an idea to write a book about this tragic subject, but there had been several novels out a few years back, including the absolutely incredible Edgar-nominated book VANISH by Tess Gerritsen, so I put the idea aside. Then last summer at the RWA conference in San Francisco I was talking to a friend of mine who works for ICE as a civilian, and sharing with her my FBI citizens academy experience, and she commented that ICE and the FBI had a long-standing “feud” of sorts. I thought that was interesting, and started looking into cases where jurisdictions might over-lap. At the same time, I was thinking about Dean Hooper, Will Hooper’s (KILLING FEAR) brother and what he was doing. At the same time, I saw a preview for THE UNTOUCHABLES on one of the re-run stations. I remembered how much I loved that movie, and how it was probably my favorite Kevin Costner movie. I thought of Dean being one of the best and brightest in solving white collar crimes and what if he was investigating someone for money laundering?

But then Sonia Knight, my heroine, walked on the page—a fiery ICE agent who was determined to stop human trafficking—at least as much as she could. And her backstory was hugely compelling–she’d been sold by her father into slavery and fought back. I was kind of stuck—human trafficking was ICE and money laundering was FBI and I couldn’t get them reconciled, but I knew Dean was the hero and Sonia was the heroine. Then I thought of my friend commenting on the feud—and I instantly pictured the opening scene: both agencies conducting parallel investigations on this one bad guy. Dean for money laundering, Sonia for human trafficking, and their investigations collide during a stake-out. The rest of the story came from there.

RT Book Reviews gave FATAL SECRETS a “Top Pick” and said:

Bestseller Brennan’s new heroine is the epitome of a survivor. In this chilling thriller, Brennan explores the consequences of sliding from fierce commitment into obsession. The sociopathic villain at the center of this tale is truly revolting. A master of suspense, Brennan does another outstanding job uniting horrifying action, procedural drama and the birth of a romance — a prime example of why she’s tops in the genre.

FATAL SECRETS was one of the most complex stories I’ve written with one of my favorite heroines. It’s set in Sacramento, my hometown of the last twenty years, and it was particularly fun to write about where I live and use places I know, plus making up a few along the way.

I hope you enjoy FATAL SECRETS . . . and if you like it, tell a friend or ten!

My friend Toni McGee Causey is blogging about mentors today at Murderati and giving away copies of my books. Visit and comment and tell us about who’s influenced you in your life.

I thought it would be easier to just write a blog post to comment on some of the responses on Agent for a Day.

First to Hippokrene: I sold the first two books in a series staring Lucy Kincaid. If they like the first two, I hope they’ll buy more. I have several ideas for Lucy. I don’t know how long I’ll write the series–the seven deadly sins series is seven books, that’s it (there’s only seven deadly sins!)–but right now I have three solid ideas for Lucy, and I’m sure as I dive into her life I’ll find many more. I didn’t give them an outline because they’ve already published 12 of my books and I just have to pitch the concept to them in order to go to contract. I haven’t written the book yet–I have two books in the seven deadly sins series to write first, then the first Lucy Kincaid book.

LAURIE commented that she felt Nathan Bransford ran the contest and provides information to writers because he genuinely likes writers and wants us to succeed. I agree. The agent blogs I regular visit–particularly Nathan’s and Kristin Nelson–have a very strong sense of friendliness, great advice, kindness, and honesty. I visit because I learn something new all the time. I also think that both published and unpublished authors need to keep in touch with the industry. I always wonder why they blog because I know how busy agents are . . . especially agents with client lists like Nathan and Kristin! But then I look to myself: I write three books a year and have five kids. My job–writing–is very solitary, and I’m an extrovert. I hop on-line because if I locked myself in my office without talking to anyone in person or in cyberspace, I think I’d go crazy. The internet for me is like lunch with the girls when I worked in the Capitol. A connection to others. Though agents are on the phone all the time, they too spend much of their time in the office and probably want that connection too!

TO ADAM:

Okay, I read your comment multiple times because I’m both surprised and not surprised. First, regarding the writing. I should have said, it’s all about the STORY. Stories sell. That’s all we’re doing is making things up. But the writing has to be decent. No reputable publisher is going to publish a book well if it’s riddled with errors, timeline problems, poor grammar, and inconsistencies. The writing has to be decent. What is good writing? That’s subjective, too. There’s a lot of literary fiction readers who think all commercial fiction is bad writing. But successful authors aren’t BAD writers. They may be merely ADEQUATE writers, but fabulous storytellers.

I know there’ll be people who say so-and-so is awful or such-and-such a book was terrible, but if a person is selling well for a long time, a mass audience is finding something comforting in their voice and enjoying their stories.

I’m a little dismayed that a published author would ridicule himself and his publisher by mocking his own books. I’m sure the books aren’t “so bad” because they’re obviously selling. To mock them is to mock his readership, and that to me seems a bit short-sighted.

But you’re right about marketability being important. Publishers want to know where your book fits in. If you have a fabulous book but they don’t know how to sell it (meaning, they don’t know who the audience is), they’re not going to buy it. This might be more a problem for literary or literary/commercial authors who can’t be categorized by genre. In commercial fiction, however, it’s pretty clear. Mysteries, thrillers, romance, science fiction, fantasy, etc. There is more blending of genres–I write romantic thrillers, and I get a lot of email from readers wondering why they can’t find my book in the mystery section. There isn’t a week that doesn’t go by where I get a panicked email from a fan that my books are “misshelved” in romance and I have to contact the bookstore immediately. But I’m technically “romance.”

With the blending of genre, there is usually one primary focus (such as romance) and then added elements from another genre. Romantic suspense. Romantic thrillers, IMO, are heavier on the thrill than the romance, but the romance is important to the story. There’s paranormal mysteries, historical mysteries, supernatural thrillers, and even in blended genres there’s a breakdown–vampire paranormal romance, or historical YA romance, etc. This is all acceptable to the reading public and to publishers because mixing the genres generally do well. BUT there are also issues where you don’t quite know where you belong. Do love stories belong in romance or general fiction? Do mysteries set in the future belong in science fiction or mystery? It sounds trite, I know, but bookstores organize by genre, otherwise you’d just have masses of books and no one would know where to find their favorite authors.

Anyway, I went ahead of myself. I know many people who were rejected because their books didn’t fit with the program. Marketing is important. Publishers make money only when they sell books. If they don’t know how to sell it, they’re not going to buy it. HOWEVER, all it takes is one publisher who can envision a sales plan to make the book work. It’s the nature of the business.

To VENUS:

I completely agree with you:

“I think you left out one of the most important and mutually beneficial reasons for a rejection–I wasn’t excited about it. And that’s a purely subjective response.”

You’re right. I would never want an agent to sign me just because she thought she could sell my book and make money. You HAVE to have an agent who loves your voice, loves your story, and wants to be with your for the long haul. Otherwise, it’ll be a miserable relationship.

To EVERYONE: Thanks so much for your kind comments about my query and my new Lucy Kincaid series. I appreciate you stopping by!

Finally, for anyone interested in reading THE PREY–my debut novel which was titled THE COPYCAT KILLER in the query letter–click over here to my contact form and send me your name, email, mailing address, with THE PREY in the subject line and I’ll randomly send the book to three people who respond by midnight PT on Monday.

Today over at Murder She Writes I’m blogging about the Agent for a Day contest hosted by Nathan Bransford. It’s a revamped version of the blog I posted on Monday, with some added comments and some of the boring stuff left out. I love revisions

Have a fantastic weekend . . . I’ll be blogging at Murderati on Sunday! See you there

Lucy Kincaid Series

I’m thrilled to announce that I sold the Lucy Kincaid series to my publisher, Ballantine. The first book will be out in October of 2010.

Lucy Kincaid is a character from FEAR NO EVIL and has been one of my favorite characters from the moment she walked on the page. The first book takes place when she’s 23 and a senior in college. She’s younger than most of my heroines who tend to be in the mid-30s, but since this is a series, she’ll star in several books.

Though the Lucy Kincaid series will be romantic thrillers, the relationship between Lucy and her love interest(s) will grow over several books, rather than being resolved in the first book. The series will also feature Patrick Kincaid as a major recurring character.

Kincaid Characters

To answer Kassie and Don’s questions from a previous blog, it’s very likely that the Kincaid’s will all make an appearance in Lucy’s series. Patrick will be a major character; Dillon Kincaid and Kate Donovan secondary characters; and I suspect Jack will show up now and again. But since I have two books to write first, I don’t want to make any major statements until I start writing Lucy’s story.

FATAL SECRETS (5.19.09): RT Book Reviews Top Pick

Supernatural Thriller Series

I have confirmed publication months for the first two books of my Seven Deadly Sins supernatural thriller series: Book One (Envy) March 2010 and Book Two (Lust) June 2010. We’re still talking about titles, but I should have something in the next month or two.

In addition, this fall I’ll be launching a Seven Deadly Sins series website which will feature short stories, character blogs, and special sneak peaks from the upcoming series. More to come!

Agent For A Day–Nathan Bransford

Last week, Curtis Brown agent Nathan Bransford ran a contest of sorts called “Agent for a Day” where writers could pretend they were agents and request or reject manuscripts based on a one-page query letter.

Earlier, he had solicited queries from both published and unpublished authors. I decided what the heck, I’d send him the query letter that won over my agent.

Some comments about my query letter:

* I sent this letter to twelve agents in December of 2003; five agents requested full manuscripts, five rejected me on the query, and two requested partials. I was unpublished at the time.

* I pitched the book as THE COPYCAT KILLER; my agent signed me in February 2004 and sold the book in a pre-empt to Ballantine in March of 2004. It was published as THE PREY in January 2006.

* I don’t know why I put my bio paragraph at the beginning of the letter. This was apparently a sore point with many of the “agents” who reviewed my query. The only thing I can think of is that someone I trusted suggested I put the bio first. In the four books I queried (and didn’t sell) prior to this book, my bio paragraph was at the end.

* “Seriously writing.” Ok, I probably deserved the negative feedback on this phrase. But I knew what I meant . . . I’ve been writing since I was a kid, but I only “got serious” about finishing one of the over 100 books I started in March of 2002 and seeking publication, hence the phrase “seriously writing for two years.” Poor choice of words and really not something that needed to be in there. Hand slapped.

* THE PREY hit the New York Times extended list at #33 and all ten of my romantic thrillers have hit since; my most recent book, SUDDEN DEATH, reached #10.

The rules were simple. Read fifty queries and reject 45, request 5.

I read all the query letters and know which manuscripts, other than mine, I would have requested had I been an agent. (#5, #9, #12, #27, #29, #43, #46–yes, I know that’s seven, but since I didn’t play the game, I decided I could pick as many as I wanted.) One of the letters I thought was poorly written, but the story was so compelling that I really wanted to read some pages to see if it was any good. Because — and this may come as a shock to some people — but good storytellers may not be the best query letter writers. One is non-fiction and not a book I would particularly want to read, but I instantly thought of a half dozen people I knew who would be interested in reading the book, and the author had a platform.

I’ve been trying to figure out all week why Nathan would run this agent-for-a-day game, and I think I know. Agents need to 1) be passionate about the work they represent but even more important 2) they need to see the potential for success.

Success means different things depending on the genre and the audience. NF is different because the subject matter needs to be compelling, original (or conveyed in an original way) and the author needs to be the best person to speak on that subject matter. For fiction, it’s all about character and story. But in a one page query letter, you have a limited space to convey both. And not everyone is good with a log line, or selling their own story. So agents need to look at the query and ask themselves:

* Does the story have a strong hook for the genre, even if the query is subpar?
* Is it something that sounds interesting, even if it’s a genre I don’t read for pleasure?
* Is the letter itself clean, devoid of major typos and grammatical errors, and coherent? (Because if a one-page query is riddled with errors, chances are the manuscript is.)
* And most important, “Can I sell this?”

My query letter had a 15% request rate by the “agents.” When I originally queried it over five years ago, it had a 58% request rate. I had a strong sense, after I received such a great response from agents, that I was going to sell the book. I did, and it ended up on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists.

My query was rejected by the “agents” for some odd reasons:

1) I listed my bio first.

I may be wrong, but I think this is a dumb reason for rejected a query. Maybe it’s not standard form, but to reject an idea because of format of a letter seems a bit short-sighted.

2) Work sounds too familiar.

I didn’t take offense to these comments because this book was written in 2003 and wasn’t published until early 2006. I never saw the movie COPYCAT, but without knowing anything about it, I’m comfortable in saying that my book is absolutely nothing like it. (I just looked it up on imdb, and it is nothing like my book, but does sound like something I would like!) And CASTLE just came out in 2009, so I’m pretty safe in saying I had my idea first. But in all honesty, you can give 100 authors the same premise and you’ll still have 100 distinctly different stories. Creativity is truly individual.

3) Comparing myself to other authors.

In the letter, I stated that my book may appeal to readers who enjoy Lisa Gardner, Iris Johansen and Tami Hoag. Why? Because I wanted my prospective agent to immediately see the market I was aiming for. In truth, my books have a bit more romance in them than those three write today, but at the time (early 2000s) they were all writing edgy romantic suspense/thrillers, which is what I was writing. I also asked my critique group which authors I should put in the letter. None of them felt it was inappropriate. I wasn’t saying I wrote like them, or was better than them, or was the “next” one of them. I simply said that their readers may like my tone, and I still believe this is a great way to show an agent your intended market.

4) Mentioning other books in the query.

While it’s true that when you’re querying, you’re seeking representation for one specific book, as an author, I wanted an agent who was with me for my career. I had a lot of different ideas and wasn’t sure which direction I should go based on my voice and tone; having an agent who would help me develop a career plan and stick with it was important. In hindsight, I probably wouldn’t have mentioned other completed manuscripts, but I don’t think it was a bad thing to do so.

5) “The story sounds as though it might be interesting, but the query itself isn’t.” . . . “I can see where this would be an intriguing story and an edge of your seat suspense, but this blurb doesn’t get me there.”

I think one of the main points of Nathan’s exercise is that agents are trained, through experience and instinct, to pull the story from the query. If they think they can sell the story, if it’s something they have passion or interest in, they’ll request pages. A sharp query letter may get an author read, but in the end, it’s ALWAYS about the writing. Hmm, I wonder if he would have requested mine? Probably not, because I don’t think he represents romantic suspense, even darker RS like I write. One of the queries I would have requested wasn’t the best query in the pile, but it had something special about it that had me intrigued enough that I wanted to see if the author was a good storyteller.

Many authors have been rejected on their first novel. Nicholas Sparks has a great article here on his website about how he found his agent for THE NOTEBOOK. He queries 25 agents and 24 rejected him, even after reading his book.

But it only takes one.

I think Nathan deserves major kudos for highlighting what really goes into agenting, at least this small part of it (reading queries.) We all know agents do more than just reading query letters–they often give editorial guidance, sell the book, emotional support, negotiating contracts, fighting for marketing and cover art and numbers and information, selling foreign rights, career planning, and much, much more.

So thank you Kim Whalen for seeing past my rather mediocre query letter to the story behind it, and taking a chance on reading my manuscript. As I’ve said before, I’m so glad you didn’t watch re-runs of LAW & ORDER that night . . .