Pamela Fagan Hutchins
Pamela Fagan Hutchins is a USA Today bestseller and Silver Falchion Best Mystery winner. She writes an independently published romantic mystery and suspense series (What Doesn’t Kill You) and hilarious nonfiction. She shares her hard-earned knowledge through writing retreats, manuscript consults, online classes, and a book, What Kind of Loser Indie Publishes, and How Can I Be One, Too? She and her story-partner, publishing cohort husband split time between a small ranch near Austin and a rustic cabin on the face of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming.
Excerpt from Pamela’s Silver Falchion Best Mystery winner Fighting for Anna
I made a beeline for the ladies’ room, which was decorated in country cute: beadboard paneling with a varnished cedar countertop and homey framed quotes. It was empty, and a growing sense of isolation came over me. I stood before the mirror, out of place. The woman staring back at me had big dark circles under her eyes. She looked tired. And old. I tried for the sake of my self-esteem to believe what people told me about my looks. That Eva Longoria had nothing on me. That if my life were a movie, Jennifer Lopez would play me. But the visual evidence was unmistakable to me. The wrong side of forty and not hiding it well. Frizzy hair. Flat, sad eyes. Short and curvy, but not in a wasp-waisted sort of way. More in a generous-tush way. Adrian had told me my curves are what he liked best about my body—he called my earthiness “sensual.” But he was wrong.
I saw my abuela’s face in the mirror, and before my eyes Eva became Isabel and morphed into Tlazolteotl, bone earrings stretching her earlobes and a grotesque bone piercing hanging between her nostrils. A red snake draped her neck, and she held a broom in one hand, a bloody rope in the other. I backed up, blinking. The image wouldn’t go away. I reached for my butterfly, but in the mirror, my hand touched the nose bone. My Tlazol face sneered. My lips moved, and I heard a rough version of my own voice with an unrecognizable accent. “I am the eater of filth, the giver of life. I bring the moon, and my lust consumes me. I grant absolution for the sins of the flesh.” I whimpered, but the sound was only in my head.
I clamped my eyes shut, screwing up my face with the effort of banishing my delusions. I was losing it. I should drive straight to a mental hospital from here and check myself in. They could give me something so I’d never see Tlazol again.I peeked an eye open. Tlazol grinned, her teeth black and bloody. Then she faded away, leaving in her place my familiar, scared face.
I made a beeline for the ladies’ room, which was decorated in country cute: beadboard paneling with a varnished cedar countertop and homey framed quotes. It was empty, and a growing sense of isolation came over me. I stood before the mirror, out of place. The woman staring back at me had big dark circles under her eyes. She looked tired. And old. I tried for the sake of my self-esteem to believe what people told me about my looks. That Eva Longoria had nothing on me. That if my life were a movie, Jennifer Lopez would play me. But the visual evidence was unmistakable to me. The wrong side of forty and not hiding it well. Frizzy hair. Flat, sad eyes. Short and curvy, but not in a wasp-waisted sort of way. More in a generous-tush way. Adrian had told me my curves are what he liked best about my body—he called my earthiness “sensual.” But he was wrong.
I saw my abuela’s face in the mirror, and before my eyes Eva became Isabel and morphed into Tlazolteotl, bone earrings stretching her earlobes and a grotesque bone piercing hanging between her nostrils. A red snake draped her neck, and she held a broom in one hand, a bloody rope in the other. I backed up, blinking. The image wouldn’t go away. I reached for my butterfly, but in the mirror, my hand touched the nose bone. My Tlazol face sneered. My lips moved, and I heard a rough version of my own voice with an unrecognizable accent. “I am the eater of filth, the giver of life. I bring the moon, and my lust consumes me. I grant absolution for the sins of the flesh.” I whimpered, but the sound was only in my head.
I clamped my eyes shut, screwing up my face with the effort of banishing my delusions. I was losing it. I should drive straight to a mental hospital from here and check myself in. They could give me something so I’d never see Tlazol again.I peeked an eye open. Tlazol grinned, her teeth black and bloody. Then she faded away, leaving in her place my familiar, scared face.
Recommended Books for Aspiring Writers
- Take Off Your Pants!: Outline Your Books for Faster, Better Writing, Libbie Hawker
- It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences: A Writer's Guide to Crafting Killer Sentences, June Casagrande
- What Kind Of Loser Indie Publishes, And How Can I Be One, Too?, Pamela Fagan Hutchins
- On Writing, Steven King
- Bird By Bird, Anne Lamott
Student Testimonials
“I had a wonderful experience. I followed-up with a full manuscript critique with Pamela and landed an agent and publishing contract, too.” (Mack Little)
“Thanks to Pamela! Helpful, productive and inspiring!” (Patricia Flaherty Pagan)
“Thank you so much for the awesome writer’s workshop you conducted at Kimble County Library last Saturday. You were so inspiring. In fact a few of the ones in attendance are planning to form a “writer’s group” in the near future. Everyone has been singing your praises. I hope you have a wonderful summer. Thank you again for such a great program.” (Sylvia Lawler, Kimble County Library Director)
“Pamela Fagan Hutchins is truly at the top of her game when it comes to deciphering today’s book publishing industry. She managed to put the last piece of the publishing puzzle in place of a journey I started 10 years ago to have my own publishing house. The beauty of Pamela's work is that it is going to save me untold time and money eliminating the “trial and error” method of marketing. ” (Rita Mills)
“I had a wonderful experience. I followed-up with a full manuscript critique with Pamela and landed an agent and publishing contract, too.” (Mack Little)
“Thanks to Pamela! Helpful, productive and inspiring!” (Patricia Flaherty Pagan)
“Thank you so much for the awesome writer’s workshop you conducted at Kimble County Library last Saturday. You were so inspiring. In fact a few of the ones in attendance are planning to form a “writer’s group” in the near future. Everyone has been singing your praises. I hope you have a wonderful summer. Thank you again for such a great program.” (Sylvia Lawler, Kimble County Library Director)
“Pamela Fagan Hutchins is truly at the top of her game when it comes to deciphering today’s book publishing industry. She managed to put the last piece of the publishing puzzle in place of a journey I started 10 years ago to have my own publishing house. The beauty of Pamela's work is that it is going to save me untold time and money eliminating the “trial and error” method of marketing. ” (Rita Mills)
Teaching Philosophy
I aim to demystify by sharing knowledge, and helping class participants gain confidence, inspiration, practical understanding, and invaluable practice in the art of writing and business of publishing and promotion.
I aim to demystify by sharing knowledge, and helping class participants gain confidence, inspiration, practical understanding, and invaluable practice in the art of writing and business of publishing and promotion.