Interview with Five Star Mystery Editor Deni Dietz

Recently, I interviewed Five Star Mystery Associate Editor, Deni Dietz. You can find the interview on my Articles page. My previous interview with agent Laura Bradford can now be found in Archives.

Deni is my first editor interview. Deni was also my editor for WHERE SHE BELONGS, my December 2011 Five Star Expressions release. As I’ve mentioned before, the Expressions line will close with the publication of my novel. However, Deni, who publishes under two names as well as being an editor, has also edited the Five Star Mystery line all along.  She will continue to do so. Some romantic suspense and romantic mysteries will qualify for the Five Star Mystery line. Deni says:

We have no “official” romance-to-mystery/suspense ratio. But as a crime fiction author since 1992, I know my audience. If there’s too much romance, the book won’t fly. If the romance is integral to the plot, the book will have wings as well as legs. Example: I was 50,000 words into a new Mary Ellen Dennis historical romance, The Midnight Bridge, when the Expressions line went belly-up. “Bridge” even has my favorite opening lines: “The solicitor smelled a rat. Twenty minutes later he didn’t smell anything at all.” I call my Mary Ellen Dennis novels “history-mystery-romances,” and Five Star said they’d consider Midnight Bridge for their mystery line. I thought about it, and decided that I, as an acquiring editor, would turn it down. The ratio was askew—more romance than mystery. So I guess what I’m saying is that I’ll know if the ratio works, and every submission comes to me before it’s reviewed for publication.

Deni also shares Five Star Mystery formatting tips in the interview and describes where you can find Five Star/Cengage books. Other delicious tidbits can be found in the interview. So hie thee over to the Articles page and lap it up!

By Cindy

I'm irritated because my posts won't publish.