Behind the Screams #33: M.E. Proctor.

A 'From Pitch to Published' Q&A.

Anyone with even a passing interest in indie crime fiction will have heard of Martine Proctor. She’s a Veteran crime writer with numerous publishing credits to her name. Originally from Brussels, Martine is now based in Texas and is here to take us behind the screams of her book, Love You Till Tuesday, the first in her Declan Shaw series available from legendary Shotgun Honey.

M.E. Proctor and the cover of her book.

1. Pitch me Love You Till Tuesday in one sentence.

The accidental involvement of Houston PI Declan Shaw in the seemingly random murder of a jazz singer sets in motion a cascade of events and unintended consequences that will bring down the innocents and the flawed, as well as the powerful.

2. What came first, the idea or the title?

The idea. The title took some brainstorming. I never have trouble naming short stories, but this was different. For seven years, the book had a working title that was a bit blah. When I stumbled upon Love You Till Tuesday, a David Bowie song from 1967 (I’m a big Bowie fan), it was a perfect match. In the song, the boy meets the girl on a Saturday night and wonders if he’ll still love her on Tuesday. In the book, Declan Shaw meets the singer on Saturday, and her body is found on Tuesday. And he definitely still aches for her, which gets him in a lot of trouble.

3. Where did the idea originate from?

Years ago, there was a terrible case in Texas. Immigrants were found dead in the back of a locked truck. The vehicle had broken down and the traffickers had left it there, in the heat. The people had no food, no water, no way to get out. That event is behind everything that happens in the book, but the connection with the murder of the jazz singer only becomes clear in the end.

4. How long did it take to write?

A little under a year, with long interruptions. Pretty typical for me. When I have a draft that I’m happy with, which might take 4-5 months, I let it sit for a couple of months. I write short stories to clear my head. Then I go back in and rewrite, finetune, polish. It goes to my beta readers, and that takes a few more months. More rewrites after the comments come back, and out on submission after that. There can still be changes later, but they’re minor.

5. Are you a plotter or pantser?

Hybrid. I used to be a pure pantster, not knowing what would happen more than a chapter ahead, but I tend to wander too much when I do that and I run into problems with timelines and cohesion that require a lot of rewriting. Now, I imagine the story, roughly, before I sit down to write it. It’s not a real outline, more like loose notes about places, characters, dates, links to research, this happens, and then this happens … it can run to ten pages of stuff full of contradictions and wild leaps. I try not to censure myself.

When I start writing, I stick to that “guide” for a couple of chapters, and then the narrative gathers momentum, new characters pop in, dialogue brings in new ideas, and the guide goes out of the window—somewhat. It’s still there as a life line if I need to bring the story back on track. I’ll never be a true plotter. If the story has no surprises in store for me, it’s boring and I’m not interested in writing it.

6. Paper or screen?

Screen. My handwriting is awful. I can’t reread myself.

7. Edit as you go or at the end?

In the beginning, I edit as I go. Rereading from the start, making changes, before tackling the new scenes. Once I’m deeper in the story, polishing the last chapter gives me momentum to continue, and I don’t go all the way back anymore. You can get stuck on chapter 1 forever if you do that. And often the original first chapter gets scrapped anyway.

8. Do you beta?

Oh yes! I’m a compulsive nitpicker, so it takes a while before I come to the point where the manuscript can be shared. It goes to four people, on average, fellow crime writers all. My husband sees the text first. He’s a wonderful writer and my toughest critic. If something rankles, he’ll flag it. Nothing slips past him. He’ll read the book once more, after final edits, just before publication, and he still finds small details to fix. It’s scary, frankly!

9. How did you approach your publisher?

A query letter and a 30-page sample. They knew my writing already at Shotgun Honey because they published a couple of my short stories in their online magazine, so I wasn’t coming in cold. I don’t think the book would have been picked up if I didn’t have a bunch of story credits under my belt. Many small and independent presses that publish crime are also active in short fiction, online and in print, and writers switch between book and shorts all the time. It’s a very lively and nurturing environment!

10. Who designed the cover art?

Ron Earl Phillips at Shotgun Honey Books is a fantastic designer. If you go to the website, shotgunhoney.com, you’ll see the covers he designed for the wide variety of books released by the press. He focuses on the particular mood of each story. Love You Till Tuesday is a contemporary detective novel, but Ron gave the cover the feel and atmosphere of classical crime/noir, the color, the texture, the mix of dark and sexy that is typical of the genre.

We talked about themes and I wasn’t much help, beyond telling him that I didn’t want one of these covers with the silhouette of a guy seen from behind! What made the design job even harder is that the book is the first in a series, so it needed to have a vibe, and the flexibility, to carry through to the next episodes.

11. How many times was the book rejected?

That’s a tricky question. By every agent I sent it to, over a five-year period? I’d rather not count … The hardest rejections were from the three agents that requested the manuscript, asked for exclusivity, and sat on it for six months. Then I signed a contract with a publisher that didn’t do anything with the book for two years, until the contract expired (as of last year, that publisher is no longer in business).

As soon as I got my rights back, I sent a query to Shotgun Honey. I had been dreaming of working with them. They asked for the complete text and offered me a contract a bit later.

12. Recommend another indie writer who doesn’t get enough love.

So many … the talent in the indie crime community is incredible. I’ll say Stephen J. Golds, the editor of Punk Noir Magazine. He’s the first writer who became a friend and he’s incredibly supportive. I sent him a gushing message on social media after reading a short story of his in Bristol Noir, something I’d never done before, I was so in awe! Steve writes hard-boiled noir that is both beautiful and brutal. “Always the Dead” is my favorite of his, it’s a dark and desperate love story.

If you like the sound of PI Declan Shaw, book 1 is available now: here in the UK and elsewhere. But be quick because the sequel is scheduled for release later this year! Martine is also active on Substack so give her a follow to keep updated on her releases and read some fantastic author interviews. Search for her on socials, too.