Marla, here, welcoming author Greg Rhyno to the blog! Greg’s giving away a copy of Who By His Own Hand to one lucky reader, so read on and comment by midnight on Friday, September 18, for your chance to win. Take it away, Greg!

---

In March of 2022, I had a dentist appointment. After the hygienist hacked away at the plaque and tickled my teeth with an electric toothbrush, she left me alone with a paper cup of fluoride rinse. As I swished, I pulled out my phone and checked my email. There was a message from my agent Sam Hiyate, and I braced for bad news. 

For almost a year, Sam had been trying to sell my manuscript, and for the better part of that year, he’d been diligently forwarding all the publisher rejection letters. All the “thanks, but no thanks.” All the “wish we could, but we can’t, so we won’t.”

But this time, when I opened Sam’s email, I nearly spat bubble gum-flavoured fluoride all over my lap. Cormorant Books wanted to buy my manuscript. And not only that, they wanted to buy my next two manuscripts. The offer was a three book deal. It was, as Sam later joked, the best news I would ever get sitting in a dentist’s chair.

After the initial thrill wore off, I realized there were some challenging realities to consider. All of a sudden I was facing not one, but three intimidating deadlines. As a full-time high school teacher and a full-time dad, how was I also going to be a full-time mystery writer?

Suffice it to say, the learning curve was a little on the steep side.

#1 Find Your Magic Hour

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from award-winning author, visual artist, musician, world-travelling anthropologist, and associate professor Justin Armstrong. When I asked Justin how he maintains any kind of momentum with all his different projects, he told me that if he’s working on something, he tries to check in with it every day. Even if it’s just for five minutes.

By extension, I’ve tried to carve out one hour a day to work on any ongoing writing project. During the week, that might look like writing in my classroom after school until I have to go pick up my kids. On a weekend, it might look like getting up early or writing when the kids are in bed.

If I can spend more than an hour with my work, then great. But if an hour is all I’ve got, then I use it. And that doesn’t necessarily mean meeting a particular word quota. It means sitting with my manuscript, and whatever gets done, gets done. 

And it works — hour by magic hour, I eventually finished three novels.

#2 Don’t Fear the Weasel

On his excellent podcast What Happened Next, Nathan Whitlock described the dichotomy between the writer’s creative process and the writer’s promotional efforts as two separate identities: the artist and the weasel. 

The weasel always gets a bit of a bad rap. But the reality is, unless you’ve got a massive marketing machine promoting your publication, you’re going to have to toot your own horn. And why wouldn’t you? After spending months, sometimes years, on a manuscript, don’t you want other people to read it? 

And honestly, I think the process of promoting a book can be a little artistic in and of itself. Planning a book launch, chatting on podcasts, making silly reels on social media — all of these things require thoughtful, creative choices. Even writing an article for this illustrious website is, admittedly, a little weaselly. Did I mention my new novel Who by His Own Hand is now available in bookstores?

#3 You’re Only Human (Thank Goodness)

Maybe the most important thing I learned from this experience was that, after grinding for two and half years, it became apparent that I wasn’t, in fact, a machine. I was burning out, struggling to make my third and final deadline, and eventually, I had to swallow my pride and ask for more time.

Luckily, the kind folks at Cormorant Books understand that writing is still a very human business. And they gave this particular human the necessary time to make his book better. 

As our various intelligences get more and more artificial, many of us fear that the unreliable writer will be replaced by the relentless robot. But until that dark day comes, we need to remember that the very thing that makes us fallible is the same thing that makes us readable: we’re human. Take the time you need to make your work as human as possible.

Readers, Greg’s giving away a copy of Who by His Own Hand to one lucky commenter. To enter, tell us: What’s your recommendation for a great detective series and why?

Author’s Bio:

Greg Rhyno is the author of Who By Fire, a finalist for a Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence, and To Me You Seem Giant, which was shortlisted for a ReLit Award and an Alberta Book Publishing Award. His latest novel, Who by His Own Hand, is now available from Cormorant Books.