An Interview from THE MOTIVATED WRITER:

Newly psychic, Jeff Resnick has seen murder. Now to prove he hasn't lost his mind.

Murder on the Mind is L.L. Bartlett's 1st book available now from Five Star Publishing. She's since completed six more with two others in the works.

First Publication: My first short story was published in 1996, and called “Valentine’s Day,” in a microscopic romance magazine that has since folded. But I got paid. (I have a framed color copy of the check to remind me of my humble beginnings.) In total, I've sold nine short stories, and have one novel in print.

Staying Determined: Pure bloody mindedness. Tell me I can't do it, and I'll do my best to try and prove you wrong.

Secret to Success: Perseverance. I never gave up on MURDER ON THE MIND. It was the basis for others in the series and I knew if I couldn't sell it, the other books were a waste of time. (It didn't hurt that I love the characters.) It took eleven years to finally see that sale. Although I worked on other projects, every year I'd haul out the manuscript and give it another revamp. In all, it went through thirteen complete drafts. (Thank goodness it no longer takes that many drafts before I'm satisfied with what I've got.)

Challenges: Promotion. You don't know what works, so you listen to what other people have done, see if you can adapt it, and hope. Unfortunately, hope isn't enough. It’s frustrating. I also think luck has a lot to do with big sales. The ARCs for my book went out late and the big reviewers passed on it. I've struggled to find alternate review sites. The reviews I've received have been wonderful and readers seem to bond with my characters, but booksellers and libraries only read the Big Boy reviews (Publisher’s Weekly, Kirkus, Book Sense, Library Journal, etc.) and order accordingly. Its up to me to find an audience and it’s a formidable task.

Most Receptive: Several years ago I had a hot streak selling confession stories. Bang-bang! Six in a row, and then nothing. I still have a stockpile of stories that didn't make it. In some ways, I'm glad. They're good (fun!) stories and while the confession market pays well, you get no byline. I'm no longer satisfied publishing without credit.

Filling the Well: My family has a summer cottage on beautiful Sodus Bay along the Lake Ontario shore. Although it’s not a year-round house, so we only use it five months of the year, it’s where I go to recharge my batteries. (And I count the days during the seven months we can't go there.) My husband is a talented cartographer/artist and he did a painting of the view from our deck. When the snow falls, I can look at that summer scene and it makes me smile.

Keeping it Fresh: Whoa, tough question. I can't write about a subject that bores me. Most of the time my characters take over and take me on a roller coaster ride with them. That’s when writing is the most fun. When I write myself into a corner--then I end up finding excuses not to write. When I start cleaning the house, my husband knows I'm in a corner.

Writing Schedule: I was recently downsized from a large company, but given a decent severance package. For the first time in my life I didn't have to steal time to work on a manuscript and wrote the first draft of my last book in two months. I approached my writing as a job, with a daily goal. Some days it was a struggle to reach my word count. A couple of times, I managed to triple my goal. Those days were the best!

Staying Focused: I find working with a spreadsheet, monitoring my output, really keeps me on track. I like competing with myself every day, and loved seeing the total word count rise every day.

Dream Breakers: I didn't share with many people the fact that I was writing. Outsiders don't know the business and their expectations for you can reinforce a sense of failure. Instead, I set a goal of selling a book and focused on it. I went through three agents and years of rejection before my novel finally sold. Rejection can squash your spirit, and I sometimes wondered if I was a masochist to keep at it.

On the Nightstand: “Shop Till You Drop” by Elaine Viets. I'm looking forward to reading all the books in her dead-end job mysteries.

Wisdom: It’s never too early to bone up on promotion and to start a bank account to pay for it. I thought I'd be prepared when my book came out. In retrospect, I was clueless.