Hugh Holton
A police officer for over 30 years and a Vietnam veteran, Hugh Holton is a watch commander in Chicago’s Wentworth district, one of the most dangerous districts in Chicago. Growing up, Hugh was a big reader of crime and mystery books, such as Mickey Spillane, Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler. However, Hugh noticed that all the police officers portrayed in the books were "stupid individuals." His father, also a police officer who eventually retired with 33 years on the force, said, "Well son, what they are portraying is inaccurate."

From the onslaught of books came TV shows depicting the amateur sleuth as more intelligent than the police officer, such as Jessica Fletcher.  Laughing, Hugh said "Cabot Cove has a higher death rate than Chicago" and the Jessica would never be allowed to violate a crime scene in real police work. A real police officer has to go through an exhaustive procedure for crimes. Hugh wanted to create an intelligent, honest cop who could solve cases "without calling Jessica Fletcher."

In 1972 Hugh had an epiphany. He was assigned to his first homicide. Someone was shot to death, with no witnesses and no suspects. They canvassed the neighborhood to talk to everyone--in particular shut ins and gossips. One neighboring male--over 6 feet tall and 300+ pounds--invited Hugh in to talk, locking the door behind Hugh. The male admitted that "I hated him" and confessed to the homicide. Luckily the male was a gentleman and surrendered without incident, but the fear didn’t leave Hugh. Hugh’s partner commented that Hugh looked "scared to death" as the male suspect was put into the patrol car. Hugh started thinking, "Someday I’m going to write a book."

However it wasn’t until 16 years later that Hugh started writing. In 1988, with more time on his hands, Hugh joined the Mystery Writers Group where he learned of a five-week writing class, taught by Barbara D’Amato, author of Good Cop, Bad Cop. His assignment was to write 15 pages. Barb said his piece was pretty good and suggested that he try to get it published. "Incident in Berlin" appeared in Detective Story Magazine for which Hugh received 4 copies as payment. Hugh was now a published writer.

Disciplined in his craft, Hugh writes at least two pages a night and his methodical approach to writing has paid off. Hugh just signed a contract for his 10^th book and he had the pleasure of seeing Windy City on the Chicago Tribune best seller’s list for 12 weeks. Visit www.hughholton.com for more details.

Hugh encourages all writers to study their craft. All writers should "finish what they start." No half-written novels sit in his closet. Hugh recommends that budding authors should also attend writers’ conferences. That’s how Hugh met his editor.

Judy Veramendi
Twenty-five years ago, Judy Veramendi wrote a paper on the life of an erotic poet, Delmira Agustini, in Uruguay. However, it wasn’t until this year that she saw a reading of her play on the poet staged in Uruguay,

Judy started as an editorial secretary for Follett and eventually became a freelance editor. She also did translations from Spanish to English. In 1979 she worked on a Spanish high school program workbook that gleaned her a sizeable sum on that one textbook series. During that time, Judy also continued with her fiction and poetry writing.

Judy recommends that all writers "don’t turn their noses up" on projects that are a bit out of their norm. She learned a different aspect of her craft from every job she did. Writers shouldn’t accept excuses either To prove her point, Judy said she often would get up at 5 a.m. to write. Her 2-year-old soon figured out that the only way to get her mom’s attention was to hit the power button on her computer.

One time, Judy was waiting for a call from a prospective children’s publisher. She locked her small children up in the TV room with a video and candy--something she rarely gives her children--and unplugged the phone. The publisher called and while they are talking, her now 4-year-old daughter plugs in the phone and says, "Momma, why did you lock us up in the TV room?"

Judy also recommends going to conventions to market yourself. Bring samples of your work, resumes, and business cards. Always be professional since a lot of this business is by word of mouth. With over twenty books published, Judy’s upcoming book Latin American Legends: the African Heritage will be published by McGraw-Hill in 2001.

There are research grants available. Knowing a foreign language helps. She received a Fulbright Scholarship and recommends to "keep plugging away." To attest to followng her dream, Judy has been invited back to Uruguay to see her play produced in full.

Patricia Rosemoor
As a teenager, Patricia Rosemoor could be found reading gothic novels by Victoria Holt or Phyllis A. Whitney or Daphne du Maurier. While traveling Europe in 1978, Patricia came across the Angelique series. These were considered historical romance, although the cover always depicted bodice rippers. Still interested in writing but now a TV producer, Patricia thought she’d try to write a romance novel. Discouraged by numerous form rejection letters with no signatures, Patricia gave up.

In 1981 Patricia met her writing partner of 13 years--and the rejection letters improved. She gave herself a year to get published. "For a year, I didn’t cook," Patricia admits. It wasn’t until the 3^rd week of the 11^th month that she was published. Her first book won the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart for the Best Young Adult Novel, although Patricia never attended the conference and she received no immediate confirmation of the award. Patricia soon began to imagine it was all a mistake. A month after winning the award, an editor called to ask, "Did I send you a contract?" When Patricia responded, "No," the editor continued, "I certainly hope you take it. I already have your book in production."

Eventually, Patricia quit her full-time job. Besides writing full-time, Patricia also teaches classes at Columbia College on romance and genre writing such suspense/thriller. However, Patricia believes the romance novel is still the woman’s voice since 95% of writers/editors are women and 75% of all agents are women. Patricia is a master of the woman’s voice, with sixty contemporary, historical and paranormal romances published. Her most recent books are a trilogy of Intrigues, Sons of Silver Springs: Heart of a Lawman, The Lone Wolf’s Child and A Rancher’s View.

Kathy McDonald
Kathy McDonald didn’t have a life. While with her previous employers, Kathy often worked from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. with a 1- to 2-hour commute. Something had to give. The impetus came after a consultant was a target of her anger. Stepping outside, her boss asked her, "Why did you just check that guy out?" With tears streaming, she blurted out, "Because I hate my job."

She knew that others experienced the same frustration she did, but nobody was talking about solutions. Knowing that it was a longshot, Kathy decided to put together a book proposal with coauthor Beth Sirull. The pluses were that nonfiction is easier to get published and that she was passionate about the topic.

She got a lot of input before the proposal went out the door. To glean names of agents, Kathy send an e-mail to everyone they knew asking for recommendations. They were amazed at how generous people were with information.

Kathy and her coauthor sent the proposal to literary agents via Federal Express one Friday, all the while "thinking we wouldn’t hear from anybody." That Monday we got a call. Eventually 3 more agents out of 12 wanted to represent us--and we had the luxury of choosing.

Within a month after signing the contract, we flew to New York on their nickel to meet with a publisher. "Nobody is going to sell your book idea as well as you can." The publishing house was very excited about the book. Meeting contacts from other departments like sales was important down the road. Staying in front of the publisher was our only shot at getting the publicity we wanted.

Kathy suggests taking the time to write a good book proposal. Include in it how you are going to promote the book. The publisher want to know that you are going to get out there and hustle. List everyone, every introduction, every speaking engagement, every group you belong to. They can all translate into opportunities to promote yourself and your book.

The advantages of going with a big publisher is that they have a full distribution channel. You can expect to find your books in major bookstores for the first 6 months. They are also able to get media attention and arrange interviews on your book.

However, you should trust your gut when signing a publishing contract. One editor wanted the book targeted a different audience than the authors had envisioned. They ended up signing with another publishing house.

Love your book idea, since you may be involved in it for many years. Kathy is now looking at four years for her coauthored book Creating Your Life Collage: Strategies for Solving the Work/Life Dilemma published by Random House.

Kathy advocates partnering with your publisher to emphasize what you bring to the publisher. Authors can even offer to write the back cover copy or suggest cover designs. All these tricks can give you, as the author, more control over the project.

All authors agree that there are many paths to success, including a little bit of luck, but the only way to hone your craft is to write, religiously and regularly.