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This is the record of a "meet the author" conference on Delphi on May 8, 1996, the night before Show Control's release date. The conference was sponsored by the Book & Candle Pub.
EAGLE: will the conf this eve be closed? Keith: I sure hope not. Lance: Eagle, no, it won't be closed. rob: controled I mean? Lance: Keith is the author of "Show Control", a book that is due to be wildly successful. (G) rob: ah! Lance: I don't think there will be any real control unless things get such that Keith can't answer the questions, but that's not likely. Keith: Yes, wildly! Lance: We're polite.....usually (G). Keith: Hey, we've already got two more participants than I was expecting, so go ahead and be rude -- I'm happy. Lance: I'll have to have someone keep a log of this so I can put it on the Author's Page of the Web Site. Lance: Where do you guys live, btw? Keith: I'm in Venice, California, logging on from my office/studio. Lance: Venice??? I'm in Riverside, home of the alien beating deputies... Keith: Those poor little guys. No sooner does their saucer touch down than a bunch of knuckle-draggers are cracking their little pointy skulls open with truncheons. rob: I would be interested in short bio about our host tonight? Scott: Book comes out tomorrow, right? Keith: Yep, tomorrow! Scott: Keith, how long is your book? Keith: 260-something pages, Scott. Here comes the bio rob requested... Keith: Author of new murder mystery novel "Show Control," Keith Snyder lives in Venice, California. He is a composer and principal talent at Woolly Mammoth Multimedia, which creates multimedia and printed materials for such companies as Symantec, USC, and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. Keith's articles and interviews are regular features of "AfterTouch -- New Music Discoveries" magazine, for which he also designs the front cover, and his short fiction appears in Writers' Workshop Review. Formerly the keyboardist with Afropop band Kadara, Keith now performs with spoken word & acoustic/electronic music group The Cosmic Debris. "Perseids," his first solo album, is distributed by CMC, and was featured in "Keyboard" magazine. He has performed with Nigerian music star Chief Ebenezer Obey and acted as a Macintosh/audio technician on the soundtrack album of the Broadway musical "Jekyll and Hyde." "Session 52," a short film which Keith produced and scored, screened at the 1993 New Orleans Film Festival and the 1994 Bombay International Film Festival. Keith is currently busy doing post-production on another short film, "Ladies' Man"; writing the sequel to "Show Control," entitled "Coffin's Got the Dead Guy on the Inside"; and, under the name Flow of Soul, recording an album entitled "Enraptured" with operatic mezzo-soprano Kathleen Haaversen. Lance: That's right!!! I forgot about your musical background! Scott: Kathleen is the diva? :) Keith: Kathleen is the Diva. :) Janet: Keith, your sample chapter was pretty funny - I can't wait to read the rest of the book. Keith: Thanks, Janet! Deirdre: La Diva!! Lance: Ok, so Keith, where did the idea come from for "SHOW CONTROL?" Keith: Wow, a full house! I'm so pleased. :) TOM: hmmm, Keith, you said a mouth full Chris: You had a macro for that? :g: Keith: The idea... well, I'm not sure there was just one place. As you can tell from the bio, I'm pretty active in the electronic music world, so setting a book there seemed natural... Keith: Basically, I just wrote "Show Control" because it didn't exist, and I wanted to read it. Lance: That sounds as good and as honest as anything any other author has said! Janet: Keith: :)
Lance: I'm glad it wasn't to reform society. (G)
rob: clapping!
Lance: You left Rob speechless.
Keith: If there's any reforming to be done, I think society will be trying to do that to me. You may have had it backward. :)
Scott: Did you start with your crime and work backwards or work forward to it? (if that makes sense)
Keith: Thanks, Rob. :)
rob: lockup!
Keith: The crime occurs in the very first pages of the book, so it was necessary to start with it.
Lance: Ok, so what do you want to do next, another book? What direction?
Keith: Yes, another book -- I'm about 130 pages into the sequel to "Show Control" But before that, I have some music projects to finish.
Keith: I'm also working on a radio drama and some short film projects...
Deirdre: How long did Show Control take you to write?
Keith: Three years. I started it when I wsz 23, finished it when I was 26, sold it when I was 28, and now I'm 30 and looking forward to publication. :)
Lance: Ok, so we know you have talent in both areas. Do you think the writing talent is still emerging, becoming more sophisticated as you go along?
Geoffrey: Now I don't feel quite as bad at taking nine months to write forty pages... :-)
Keith: Yes... the writing is still improving, but I'm not sure that ever stops, if you have a certain mindset.
Keith: No, don't feel bad at all, Geoffrey!
Scott: Keith, you're a full time musician, right?
Keith: I'm a full-time something, but I'm not sure what. Scott: LOL!
Keith: I do multimedia work, music, graphic design, and writing...
Geoffrey: My problem is that I have to write this particular story in the morning to get the right mood, and I'm in school on weekdays.
Keith: If you have web access, you can stop by my company site and see...
Keith: the URL is in my profile.
Scott: Great!
Keith: Geoffrey -- yes, that can tend to slow things down. But as long as you just don't stop, you'll end up finishing it, which is the important thing.
rob: address please
Keith: Actually, the "Show Control" site URL is in my profile, but you can get to my company site from there.
Lance: That's right! I have to add your site to the Author's Page with Terry McGarry's. (G)
Keith: http://www.hooked.net/mammoth/showcontrol.html
Geoffrey: Oh well. Only about 200 pages to go!( And then there's #2 and #3) Janet: You'll get there Geoffrey!
Keith: Hey, you're a lot farther than you were before you startd it. Don't sell yourself short -- you have accompl;ished something already.
Keith: Did I miss someone's comment?
Lance: What was the toughest part of writing Show Control, Keith?
Keith: The thing that comes immediately to mind is something of a spoiler, so let me see how I can phrase this...
Keith: At one point, I let my killer get away scot-free. That was a plotting problem. It took me a lot of work to get him back.
Keith: That was probably the toughest part.
Deirdre: Are you finding the sequel easier to write?
Scott: So that's no good?
Keith: The sequel is easier and harder. I'm making *new* mistakes. :)
Keith: Scott -- no, that's not bad -- it's just that he actually got away with it, and that means the book is over, unless I find a way to get him back.
Lance: What was tougher for you, plot or character?
Keith: Plot.
Keith: By far, plot.
Lance: Did you try to write around the character, or the storyline you'd envisioned?
Keith: Both. It was kind of a leapfrog approach. The character was the most important thing, so he determined the plot. However, theplot had to make sense as a mystery, so the character couldn't be allowed free reign.
Lance: Do you think you'll do it that way or again, or will you be willing to kill off someone the audience empathizes with for the good of the story?
Keith: Oh, I have no problem with doing that now!
TOM: Keith, how hard was it to sell your book.
TOM: and which direction did you take?
Keith: TOM, I sold my book in an unusual way...
TOM: ooo do tell
Keith: The ABA (American Booksellers Assocation) meets yearly, and for a while they were holding every other convention in Los Angeles, where I live...
Keith: I was told by every author and editor I knew that I should not go there to try to sell my book...
Keith: which if you knew me, means you know what comes next...
Keith: I took a stack of manuscripts and synopses to the show...
Keith: (I got in by volunteering at a booth)....
Keith: and go ahold of a show program, and went through it, finding every publisher with the word 'mystery" in their blurb...
Keith: I went to all the booths and asked politely if I could annoy an editor, and pitched my book directly to them...
Chris: How many said yes?
Keith: I got something like 11 requests for full or partial manuscripts...
Keith: from both majors and small presses...
Keith: after a few months, I received nine very nice, personal rejections...
Keith: one form rejection...
Keith: and a contract offer. :)
Chris: Cool!
Janet: Whew!
Keith: Yes, very.
Keith: It's worth noting that the contract offer came from a company that was there for the first time...
Keith: and I made friends with them before I even realized they were in the market for my kind of book.
Chris: What's the sequel about?
Keith: The sequel, Chris, is...
Keith: I'm not sure I can answer that without creating a spoiler for the first one, Chris.
TOM: do you think it would have been better to go with an agency...especially if all of them had turned out to be rejections?
Keith: Tom -- as for using agents...
Keith: I'm not sure I have a useful opinion on this, since I still don't have one...
Keith: but...
Keith: I can tell you a few things:
Keith: 1. Agents were the only people at the show who wouldn't even return a smile...
Keith: 2. They're probably very useful for most people...
Keith: and 3. Yes, I probably would have targeted them if all the responses had been rejections.
TOM: do you have more "clout" now that you're in print?
Scott: Keith, have you been published in other forms?
Keith: Tom -- no real clout, but public perception being what it is, I'm suddenly an expert. :) I still have the same opinions I had before I sold "Show Control," but nobody wanted them before. :)
TOM: hmmm...let's see how many questions we can ask Keith all at once (g)
rob: Any reveiws yet keith?
Keith: Scott, yes, I have been published in other forms. I assume you're not referring to music! I have sold a couple of short stories to small magazines, and I've done music-related interviews and articles for AfterTouch magazine
Keith: Yes, there have been some very good reviews! There are some up on the web page, rob.
Keith: My favorite quote is from Buck Dharma of the Blue Oyster Cult: "If Gibson is the Gibson of cyberlit, then Snyder is the Fender."
Keith: Kind of a musician in-joke. :)
Scott: LOL!!!
Scott: cyberlit?
Keith: cyber-literature, I assume.
Keith: Hey, don't look at me -- I didn't coin it. :)
Scott: Does the story have a lot to do with computers/cyberspace?
Keith: There is a definite computer angle to it, and a mysterious online stranger, yes.
Scott: And, who is the Washburn? Keith: Um... Stephanie Fletcher?
Scott: LOL!
Keith: Stephanie, for those who don't know, is a local Delphian who wrote a book called "Email: A Love Story." She was kind enough to give me a terrific dustjacket blurb.
Chris: Your release date is tomorrow?
Keith: Yes, tomorrow.
Chris: Any word on where it'll be?
Scott: Saw that one in the Barnes and Noble...
Keith: It'll be anywhere they order it. So far, there are advance orders of a couple of hundred.
Keith: Oh yes -- I shouldn't forget to say that there is a book-signing schedule on the web page, and I will be doing readings at some of them, accompanied by The Cosmic Debris, an acoustic/electronic music group.
Chris: Are you signing mainly in LA?
Keith: Yes, mainly in L.A., but there are also signings scheduled in San Diego and Orange County, and I'll be trying to get as far afield as possible. Possibly Nevada and Northern CA.
Keith: Anyone with comments, jump right in! We're casual. :)
Rod: Is this your first novel?
Keith: Yes, it's my first. Both the first I've written and the first I've sold.
Janet: Keith - tomorrow is going to be a terrific day for you. Congratulations. Happy to have you here tonight. I have to go but good luck at the signings!
Scott: Were your short stories mysteries also, Keith?
Keith: Thanks, Janet! Thank you for coming!
rob: give me a couple of your next days schedule keith, I can read the book but I would like to know more about an "authors"life!
Keith: No, but one of them used the same main character. It had no mystery angle, though -- it was a story about the kind of experience a musician is likely to have, and Jason ( my mystery protganoist) seemed to fit.
Scott: Sounds good.
Keith: Well, I hate to disillusion you, rob, but the next few days have to do with finishing up a music contract and getting some sheet music prepared. :)
rob: go on
Keith: Well, then there's about a 2-week period during which I'll be recording what I hope will be a marketable CD, and the signings don't start until June 1.
Rod: what was the hardest part of going from shorts to the novel?
Keith: The novel came first, actually.
Rod: Hmmm
Keith: I don't believe there's a "progression" from story to novel...
Scott: Big difference between short writing and novels, in your view?
Keith: a lot of writers seem to think that they have to be good short story writers before they become good novelists...
Keith: my opinion is that you become a good novelist by starting as a bad novelist...
Rod: LOL
Keith: you become what you do -- if you want to be a novelist, write novels.
Keith: Scott -- yes and no. They're both writing. But they certainly have different rhythms to them, and different things that work and don't work.
Scott: you've done both though...
Rod: Like....
Keith: Yes, but the short stories were more for a lark than anytyhing else. I have no intention of being a Short Story Writer.
Scott: Hey, they got published! :)
rob: How in h--- didyou find time to write a book? with all other interests? and why did you write it?(motivation).
Keith: Rod: Short stories must be more concise, and have very little room for tangents, but part of the fun of a novel is sometimes the tangents...
Chris: Would you like to have a series with your main character eventually? Or do you see yourself stopping at the sequel?
Keith: Yikes! Okay, hold on... typing faster than I can think! :) ...
Keith: rob -- I'm not sure how I found time, except to say that art is my love, and I'm never happier than when I'm doing it, whether it's music, writing, or whatever...I don't have hobbies, and I don't often see friends, unless I'm doing projects with them...
Keith: Chris: Yes, a series would be nice, but I don't like the thought of getting into "Jessica Fletcher Syndrome," where there are more murders in Cabot Cove than the average population!
rob: ah! now I see the person!!
Chris: :)
Keith: :)
Rod: So how did you go about starting your novel, characters, storyline..
Keith: The characters came first...
Rod: I was afraid you'd say that
Keith: The storyline grew out of the characters. I have really inefficient way of plotting...
Scott: How much of "you" is in your main character?
Keith: The main character is essentially me without a filter on his attitude.
Keith: Rod -- I want to finish answering you...
Keith: I work by writing myself into corners and then banging my head against a wall until I see a way out. But I do it in an orderly fashion...:)
Keith: I go sit somewhere with a pad and pen...
Keith: I'll write a single question at the top of the page:
Keith: WHY WOULD JOE WANT THE CAPPUCINO MACHINE?
Keith: Then I start answering it as many ways as I can...
Keith: The first few will be cliche and dull...
Keith: but after a few, they start getting more interesting...
Keith: and by the time I've got eight or ten on the page, there's one I like. Then I circle it and continue writing.
Rod: I like that technique, I'll have to try it.
Keith: It's basically brainstorming solo, Rod. Works really well for me.
Deirdre: Keith, did that make it more difficult to write or free you to say things you've always wanted to express.
Keith: Deirdre -- I'm not sure which of my comments you're referring to. ???
Deirdre: Character....You said he is you without a filter.
Keith: Ah! Yes. It made it easier to write. I get to say things in print that I would probably suppress in person. Ironically, print is more permanent. :)
Rod: but you already have Joe blocked in?
Keith: Rod -- I usually have a pretty good feel for characters before plotting gets to that point.
Deirdre: You start with character then?
Keith: Yes. Fiction is about characters. It doesn't matter what genre.
Rod: but you do have to make some changes in his line of thinking to fit the conflict
Keith: No, that's the tricky part, Rod -- if your conflict grows from your character, it's the *conflict* that has to bend, not the character.
Rod: Hmmm
Rod: So I guess you have a journal of characters..
Keith: I didn't when I started, but I ended up making a chart of all their characteristics.
Rod: and pull a few out to "Play" with?
Rod: find a couple that may work to brainstorm with
Keith: If I understand the question, no, that's not how I work...
Keith: The characters are set when I start -- I know which ones I want to use.
Rod: The reason I'm interested is because I have many characters but they don't fit what I want to write about
Keith: I'm not sure I answered your question.
Keith: Are you coming from a role-playing game background, Rod?
Rod: No
Rod: I'm a people watcher
Keith: I asked because that's a problem RPG'ers have sometimes...
Keith: I think you might find it useful to examine your characters more closely...
Keith: ask yourself "What would be a really bad obstacle for this guy..."
Keith: and see where it leads you. Just a thought -- there's no right answer about how to write.
Rod: ask them what the story is about?
Keith: Kind of.
Rod: I guess I'm a little backwards...
Keith: I can give you the same advice writing teachers will give, but it all really comes down to what feels right to you.
Deirdre: Rod, whenever I'm at the airport I make up stories of people's lives that are walking by (G)
Rod: I always want to fill my storyline with a character
Scott: I liked your comment on 136 about how to overcome a writer's block, Keith.
Keith: What did I say, Scott? I never listen. :)
Scott: You said, "Write."
Keith: Oh yeah. :)
Keith: Okay, here's one thing that I guarantee will work:
Keith: Keep working through the blockage...
Keith: when you're ready to give up, don't...
Keith: let it take as much time as it takes...
Keith: if it takes you three days, six hours each, to answer one stupid question, that's fine.
Keith: Not giving up is the key to everything.
tom: Keith, do you have a set writing schedule or do you just write when the story hits you?
Keith: tom, I wish I could say I had a writing schedule, but I really don't...
Keith: I do have a schedule with the projects I do with other people...
Keith: two days a week with my writing partner, for instance...
Keith: but I only work on the book in fits and starts.
Deirdre: Partner?
tom: Do you think that's better than forcing yourself to write?
Keith: Yes, I have a writing partner named Blake Arnold, with whom I'm doing some radio dramas and film. We also perform together in the Cosmic Debris.
Keith: Tom, I think you have to have one of two things: discipline or drive. I have close to zero discipline.
Chris: :) That's a great observation on writers!
Keith: Thank you!
Chris: How long have you been writing?
Keith: Almost as long as I've been reading.
Deirdre: I think it does take discipline to write, because no one else can do the work but you....
Keith: Deirdre -- it does take some discipline, but mine's not the five-pages-a-day kind.
Keith: Mine's the you're-going-to-die-some-day kind. :)
Scott: LOL!
Chris: :)!
Scott: I have that kind of discipline, too!
Keith: Without deadlines, nothing would get accomplished. Mortality is a heck of a deadline!
Chris: What's the hardest part of writing for you?
Deirdre: I'm not sure 5 pages a day is the best. I heard that once read the guy's book and it was really bad!!! (BG)
Keith: Deirdre -- on the other hand, Robert Parker is on a page schedule, and he's one of my heroes...
Keith: Chris -- the hardest part is not having enough money to devote more time to it.
Chris: I'm a pages-a-day writer, Deirdre :g:
Rod: I hear that!
Scott: I've always been good at setting goals and getting to them in some sort of timely fashion. Too bad I can't apply it to my artistic endeavors... Keith: In fact, I'll be meeting him at one of my signings. :)
Keith: Scott -- I'm not sure the muse appreciates schedules. :)
Scott: :)
Deirdre: Yeah, I know someone else who's on a 3 page a day schedule. He's a physician too so the 3 page and 4 young sons is all he can handle (G)
Keith: 3 pages a day is very good.
Keith: I average 0 pages per day for months on end.
Chris: What do you like best about being published - besides being paid to write :g:
Keith: I like that it increases my chances of being published a second time.
tom: Keith, who do you consider some of your biggest influences?
Keith: Biggest influences:
Keith: Robert B. Parker...
Keith: PG Wodehouse...
Keith: Ernest Hemingway...
Deirdre: LOL!!!
Deirdre: PG Wodehouse?
. .tom: PG...Cool!
Keith: Oh, yes. I worship Wodehouse!
Deirdre: Hail, fellow!!
Keith: There are a couple of Wodehouse references, in fact, in "Show Control."
Keith: And in case you missed it, the name of my current music project is "Flow of Soul," which is also part of a standard Wodehouseism.
tom: Keith, what type(s) of music do you write and play?
Keith: The current project has electronic music and African percussion with an operatic voice.
Deirdre: The Diva?
Keith: The same. :)
tom: Sounds cool.
Keith: I hope a lot of people think so too, and buy many copies.
Keith: Really, though, to answer the influence question better...
Keith: the word itself means "inflow"...
Keith: and I think that although this may sound a little snooty...
Keith: I've been influenced by anything I've ever seen, done, heard, read, etc. I think that all of that stuff goes into art.
tom: Yeah, sure. It does.
Keith: I think I write better basslines because I read Hemingway.
tom: I see what you're saying. Interesting. I believe that too.
Deirdre: (G) I can imagine that.
Keith: How many artists do we have here?
Scott: Probably all of us who are left are or hope to be...
Chris: I think just about everyone in here writes Keith :g:
Keith: Probably so. :)
Keith: I meant Ernest Hemingway, by the way. Not Mariel.
Chris: Has being online helped in any way?
Keith: Yes; it's a wonderful way to procrastinate!
Scott: Some of us also pretend to play musical instruments! :)
Scott: LOL!! I figured you meant Margaux...
Chris: Pretend is exactly the way I play ,Scott :g:
Keith: No, actually it has helped. I met my bandmates online...
Rod: and some of us do art!
Keith: and learned a lot about the business side of both music and writing...
Keith: as far as the actual writing or composing, yes, there have been some specific things I've picked up from being online, but I'm not sure they were worth the monthly bills.
Scott: Rod, you're a "paint" artist?
Rod: Yes, airbrush, oils, pastels, etc.
Scott: Cool.
Chris: What sorts of resources do you think were worth it?
Keith: Online resources?
Chris: Yes
Keith: The more specialized forums.
Keith: Of course, now that I'm marketing, I may find the general forums more useful.
Keith: Delphi Custom Forum 136 is a very good place for nuts and bolts...
Chris: Nice plug :g:
Keith: Well, it is a good forum, Chris. The writer's group here is more social.
Keith: I like 136 for productivity.
Rod: What helped you most for your writing?
Keith: Are you asking about online stuff, Rod?
Rod: no, anything
Keith: Honestly: pushing ahead.
Rod: Hmmm
Keith: I think that many of the issues that you need to deal with actually get dealt with in the course of pushing ahead.
Deirdre: Don't you think there's too much emphasis on poetry right now in 136?
Keith: Deirdre -- that's just because the only person posting daily is a poet.
Scott: A very good poet, as far as I can tell...
Keith: Yes, Amy is a very good and true poet.
Keith: 136 is good people. Decloak for a while -- you might like it.
Chris: Keith, have you found it helpful all the published writers on Delphi?
Keith: Chris -- oh, I dunno. Probably somewhat helpful, but I've never been good at taking advice, so I probably could have listened a lot more. :)
Chris: Thanks for the chat Keith! :) Always fun to see you in conference
Keith: It was my pleasure! This was my first "author conference." I'll be doing one on AOL as well, but I don't yet know which Monday night it will be. If anyone wants to be on my email list, please drop me a line.
Rod: Thanks for the informative conf, Keith
Keith: I hope some of it was useful, Rod.
Rod: It sure was. Hope to talk to you again sometime
Keith: Definitely. :)
tom: Yeah, Keith. The conference was great.
Keith: Thanks! I thought there would be tumbleweeds and eerie wind noises and nothing else. :)
Rod: I'll be sure to pick up a copy of your book too!
Keith: Even better.
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