News: Secrets of a Bestselling Mystery Author

USA Today reporter Carol Memmott chatted with bestselling author Janet Evanovich who has written more than two dozen books, including her popular series about bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. But success didn't come easily or early, Memmott writes. She began writing in her early 30s. At one point, frustrated and sobbing, she dragged a crate of rejection letters out to the curb and burned them. "Now I wish I had saved them," says Evanovich, 64. "Some of them were pretty funny." Evanovich never gave up, and 10 years after she started writing, she was finally published.

Evanovich is now offering guidance and support to budding novelists with her new book, How I Write: Secrets of a Bestselling Author. The book details the elements of writing and publishing a novel, and addresses all categories of fiction—from mystery/thriller/action titles to romance; from stand-alone narratives to series. It offers practical and inspiring advice on such subjects as structuring a plot and handling rejection. And it combines one of today's most successful fiction writers with a published non-fiction writer who teaches creative fiction. "I didn't have an easy time getting published," Evanovich says, "so I have warm feelings for other people trying to do it, and it's becoming more difficult all the time." Mammott concludes with some advice from the author: "Do everything you can to make it happen. The saddest thing is to give up your dreams. I could have given up, but then I never would have been published and have had all this fun."

Read the entire article on USAToday.com here.

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