How Living In Coastal NYC Has Affected My Writing by Nike Chillemi

Anyone who knows me knows I love the Atlantic Ocean and have to be near it. I live about two miles from that volatile body of water, but not on its shore. No, never that! I'm wary of the sea's destructive power and keep a nationally protected salt marsh between it and my home. When hurricane Sandy hit, I was grateful for the protection of that salt marsh, as the twelve-foot tsunami-like wall of water didn't reach and destroy my home. 
But we did have water damage and sewer problems. Water seeped through the brick wall and into our basement right behind our fifteen-year-old backyard deck. So, we had to tear down the deck to fix the leak in the brick. Truth be told, that deck probably should've been torn down several years earlier. We also had to get a professional sewer and drain team out here to unclog our front drain where it meets the city's sewer line. Since Sandy and more recently Winter Storm Nemo, the city's pipelines have been overstressed. Like most New Yorkers, I consider myself one of a sturdy breed. I also feel blessed that our family was spared some of the destruction so evident elsewhere on the city's coastline. 

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I believe this tough New York attitude shows up in my writing. You'll never find a shrinking violet heroine in any of my stories. In addition, my entire Sanctuary Point series (1940s, whodunit with romance) is sent on the southern shore of Long Island. In my latest release, DARKEST HOUR, the Atlantic is an adversary to the heroine and her family. Lucinda Byrne lost her sport fishing boat captain husband to the sea. In addition, her mother and father also went down on that final voyage. Although an excellent swimmer, Lucinda now has a great fear of the water. It's been said the heroines in the first three books of the series were spunky, feisty, and a bit out of the box. Lucinda's strength is quieter and is demonstrated in how she handles her responsibilities with dignity and poise in the face of great evil. Perhaps she grew spiritually into this type of seemly deportment as a single mom and also as the sole support of her elderly grandparents.

Some have asked how I kept writing through all this storm chaos. Well, I had DARKEST HOUR coming out in February, which meant edits. So, I guess I had no choice. We do what we have to do.

Still, I think it's fair to say, I'm a very disciplined writer. I have a lot of fun writing and I tend to write what I'd like to read. I'm blessed that Desert Breeze has let me do that. But, I put in the work...and I've put in the work over the years and built up good writing habits. I started out six years ago taking the wonderful writing course Harlequin offered. I still use a shortened and modified version of the detailed character information sheet from that course. I take research very seriously, looking up hairdos, clothing styles, automobiles, and every day products from the 1940s. I don't write every day, but I do something to further my writing career every day. I could be writing a scene or chapter, or research, or marketing. I commit to doing something every day.

I have a few irons in the fire for the future. I'm working on a novella and two full length novels. The novella features a female private investigator who winds up in Texas as a suspect in a murder. The two novels feature an NYPD female detective in an elite squad. The novel is set one year after hurricane Sandy and the residents of Sheepshead Bay,
Brooklyn refer to the storm in the story and 
the hardships they encountered recovering. One of the things I did when researching the novel was drive around Sheepshead Bay after the storm and take pictures of the area where the two novels will be set. It's been months since the storm and these lower level stores and restaurants have still not reopened. The damage to the property was too severe. I try to reflect some of this in the novels as I work on them. 

Dora here. Are you writing through chaos or adversity? 

What has helped you keep writing?

Nike Chillemi has been called a crime fictionista due to her passion for crime fiction. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers (Ning). She was an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category and a judge in the 2011 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories. She is the founding board member of the Grace Awards, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction. She writes monthly book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. Burning Hearts is the first book in the crime wave that is sweeping the south shore of Long Island in The Sanctuary Point series.

We Were All Newbies At One Time by Nike Chillemi

Writers don’t wake up one day, decide to write a book, and immediately get published. Well, at least that's not how it works for most of us. Today, author Nike Chillemi shares what she learned during her journey to publication and offers important tips to those traveling towards that destination. ~ Dawn

We Were All Newbies At One Time

by Nike Chillemi

The most important thing I've learned about writing is that it's a process that takes time. I know newbie writers don't want to hear that, but it's true. Very few, in fact none that I know of, sat down, wrote a first draft of a novel, and, voila, got it published.

The advice I'd give those who want to write any type of fiction is keep writing. Turn your internal editor off and just write. Discover your voice and don't let critique groups, beta readers, or editors change that. Second to that and almost as important is to read those you admire in your genre. Read the work of those who you feel are at the top of their game, the best of the best writers. Which authors in your genre are finalists and winners in the major fiction awards? Read them. As you read, make mental notes, or actual written ones. What makes their work so compelling?

And yes, get into a good critique group if you haven't done that yet. American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) has a wonderful critique group system set up. Some people prefer Beta readers. If you're going to use Beta readers, get more than one so you can compare what they say, and get ones who aren't afraid to be critical. I love the critique group process. However, I don't change things in my manuscript just because a critique partner suggests it. If two or more crit partners see the same problem, I'll take a real close look at it and will probably make the change.

Find out how you work best. Are you a plotter or a panster? That means do you work best writing by the seat of your pants, not knowing what will be written next? Or, are you one who must outline the entire book and not only that each chapter has its own individual outline? I even know a writer who outlines each scene in the chapter, but we won't call her obsessive compulsive, will we? Hey, she's a really good writer. Perhaps you're a combination of these two. I am. I write as it comes to me, but I also have a working outline I refer to as I'm writing. Of course, what I'm writing (if it works) trumps what's in the outline.

Quite naturally, I found myself far less anxious when writing my second novel Goodbye Noel. I'd already reached publication once, so I knew I could in fact do it again. Not only that, people seemed interested to read what I felt compelled to write. That's another point, be true to yourself in your writing. 

I also suggest taking real time and online classes and seminars about writing technique and also about the business of publishing. After the manuscript is polished, the writer still has to query it, get a contract, and after its release market it.

Nike Chillemi has been called a crime fictionista due to her passion for crime fiction. She was an Inspy Awards 2010 judge in the Suspense/Thriller/Mystery category and a judge in the 2011 Carol Awards in the suspense, mystery, and romantic suspense categories. She is the founding board member of the Grace Awards and its Chairman, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction. She writes book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine. Burning Hearts is the first book in the crime wave that is sweeping the south shore of Long Island in The Sanctuary Point series, published by Desert Breeze. Goodbye Noel, the second book in the series was released in December, 2011. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and the Edgy Christian Fiction Lovers (Ning).

You can find out more about Nike and her books by visiting http://nikechillemi.wordpress.com/

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