Marketing mysteries Lake writer releases second novel

"I'm a grandmother who kills people" is how novelist Sally Roseveare describes herself. And she does kill people, but they're characters in her mysteries set at Smith Mountain Lake.

The self-deprecating Roseveare, a North Carolina native who lives in Bedford County, last week released her second mystery, "Secrets at Sweetwater Cove." She combines a sense of humor with a keen observation of people to help plot her next novel, her next plot twists, her next grisly murders.

Roseveare said she thinks about writing most of the time, even when she is not at her desk.

"Everything is material," she said. "I might overhear a simple comment that would be a perfect motive for a crime."

Roseveare admits to having a vivid imagination; she's been making up stories all her life.

"When I was a child, my silver bicycle was my magnificent stallion," she recalled.

She began writing casually 25 years ago. When she and husband Ron were in France in 1996, she began thinking more seriously about writing fiction. She wrote the draft of a novel, asked her husband to read it and then decided she needed more practice.

"Ron fell asleep reading the first page," she said.

Roseveare joined reading and critique groups to help her polish her craft.

In 2005, she published her first mystery, "Secrets at Spawning Run," which is set in and around Smith Mountain Lake. She uses real locations, but creates fictional characters.

Roseveare admitted that when she first began, she was naive about the business of writing and getting published. She followed the standard route in an attempt to see her story on paper. She wrote letters to various agents, received numerous rejections and hoped one would bite.

One day, an agent showed interest. After executing a contract with the agent, Roseveare found herself tied up for two years without anything happening, no closer to having her book published.

"I learned that not every agent could sell my book," Roseveare said. "I broke the contract and published it myself."

She researched the options of self-publishing and selected a print-on-demand (or POD) publisher. It gave her both editorial control and the ability to get her mystery in readers' hands. Roseveare did research on what to expect from a POD publisher.

She found that most offer a range of services from assistance with cover design to layout to editing, all for fees. Writers purchase copies of their books at a discount to sell wherever and however they want. The best POD publishers link to Amazon, fill orders directly from booksellers and accept returns for unsold stock.

Authors who self-publish typically sell few books. That's because writers write; most are not astute at marketing themselves or their work. Without the support of a large publishing house, writers must arrange local press coverage, interviews and book readings, book signings, placement in various commercial shops and anything else necessary to publicize their books.

A best-seller for a self-published work is considered to be around 500 copies. Roseveare sold 2,000 copies of "Secrets of Spawning Run" through book signings and at gift shops around the lake.

Roseveare's personality comes through in the characters she creates; readers can see her soft side in the concern she shows.

Her characters are either good or evil. Good ones find themselves in peril and have to use their wits to survive. Aurora Harris, her recurring, unwitting sleuth solves the mystery with the help of King, a black Lab.

Roseveare dispatches her bad characters gleefully, and in some cases, with a fair amount of blood, although not before they wreak havoc on their hapless victims.

Like many authors, Roseveare weaves her personal values into her works without coming across as preachy or overbearing. A woman who cries at both happy and sad movies, she said she takes delight in creating memories for her readers as well as for her hoard of grandchildren who frequently fill her house with shrieks of joy.

The Roseveares moved to the lake in 2000 and built a house large enough to host family gatherings with a dozen grandchildren plus their parents. They met in high school when Ron moved to Greenville, N.C. Roseveare says she loved his "ducktail haircut," an unusual style in her high school, but played hard-to-get for a year. They were married two years later.

Roseveare worked to put her husband through school, and when children came along, she stayed home.

A semi-retired engineer, Ron stays active in his industry by consulting for a select group of clients.

Roseveare has not retired.

"How does a grandmother retire?" she asked. "The job is never done."

When the family is not visiting, the Roseveares share their home and time with two rescue dogs, Angus and Yellow Dog. Yellow Dog dropped in one day two years ago. The couple didn't give him a proper name, because they thought he was a stray whose owner would show up. Yellow Dog is still with the Roseveares.

With the recent release of her second book, Roseveare is restarting the marketing machine. She has a built-in readership of 2,000 and said she hopes to sell copies of her second book to those who bought the first.

"People who bought my first book have been asking what happened to Aurora and King. The new book brings them both back for a second round of dangerous adventures."

A word of caution: Be careful what you say around Sally Roseveare. You might end up in her next story. "Secrets at Spawning Run" is available at Gifts Ahoy, Kitty's Little Book Shoppe and The General Store.

BETSY ASHTON | Special to Laker Weeky 297.3585