Novel Spaces

Giving It Away and other Indie Thoughts

2012-02-01T00:00:00.041-05:00

Marissa recently blogged about the Free Bandwagon and posed some questions. I have a few answers based on my own experience. I put two indie eBooks in the Kindle Publishing Select Program (go to KDP's website to read details).

Like any business decision I gave it some thought. The books I chose weren't selling very many copies on ANY site. So going exclusive on Amazon for a limited time meant not giving up money. I wouldn't do this for books selling sell (25+ books per day, but you can come up with your own definition of "selling well"). So how well did it work? In about six hours on the first day of being free Best Enemies (A Willa Crown Mystery) went from a ranking of over 200,000 to around 450. About 3,000 copies were downloaded. The book also stayed on the free top 10 "women sleuths" list on Amazon for 4 days.

My take away: free works better if you have a series or the same type of books (genre, sub-genre) that readers can come back to buy immediately. I didn't have a series as part of my backlist, and I have to write the next in the Willa Crown series. Other writers who have connected books with on-going characters report seeing a lot of sales spill over. A lot. For genre writers free works. Well IMHO anyway. I'll be using this tool in the future, but maybe in different ways. I will have a second in a series, a paranormal thriller called Between Dusk and Dawn, finished soon. I'm debating on reducing the price of A Darker Shade of Midnight rather than making it exclusive. Then I'll compare the results and decide on putting one or both in the KP Select program.

Finally I'd like to give my .02 on another topic. What I call the "Blockbuster Syndrome" has some influence over us indie writers. By that I mean suddenly folks are comparing numbers and rankings, Twitter followers and Facebook "likes" like crazy. Most of the feeling of writers can be summed in, "I want blockbuster success, and I want it now". Which leads to the, "What's wrong with me? Syndrome" or WWWMS?. Symptoms develop like this: Writer A announces she's sold 1,500 books in one day. Writers B-G feel like gum under the shoe of indie publishing. There are books written on not comparing yourself to others, blah-blah-blah. Y'all know I'm a clinical social worker and can talk a blue streak about self-worth issues. Bottom line - write, stop watching numbers daily, and write some more.

Traditional publishers make lots of profit because they have a lot of books out. They can't depend on blockbusters because editors and publishers get it wrong, a lot. They pay through the nose expecting a huge seller, and flop. They reject a book, said book finally gets published somehow and mega-blockbuster history gets made. You need more books (your product) so readers who like your stories can buy them. Not more tweets, likes, tags and whatever else new comes down the social media pike. I'm not selling huge numbers, but I'm selling. To readers. Not spending time mailing off manuscripts or queries. I'm writing books that people are BUYING.

Which brings me back to readers. A recent survey shows that 49% of readers choose books based on recommendations- not tweets, FB liks, etc. Word of mouth is king. Getting your books into the hands of people who talk about them to friends is a huge accomplishment (why I like my results with KDP Select).

Now I'm going to finish writing Between Dusk and Dawn, a story with a sexy heroine and hero who solves crimes and kill off a rougarou or two with the help of a serial killer called The Blood River Ripper. Yes, Louisiana has a Blood River. I made up the serial killer. You can get to know LaShaun Rousselle and Chase Broussard now in A Darker Shade of Midnight.

If that is too dark for you, enjoy my Willa Crown mystery Best Enemies. A cozy with action, drama and a lot of fun. Oh, and murder. Did I mention the stripper and missing drug money? And how Willa inherits her murdered ex-husband's pregnant mistress, who decides to become Willa's new best friend? Yeah. A lot less dark.

Lynn

Guest publicist Penny Sansevieri: The Power & SEO Behind Blog Commenting

2012-01-30T00:01:00.005-05:00

Penny Sansevieri is CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., a best-selling author and internationally recognized book marketing and media relations expert. Her company is one of the leaders in the publishing industry and has developed some of the most cutting-edge book marketing campaigns. She is the author of five books, including Book to Bestseller which has been called the "road map to publishing success." In the past 22 months AME's creative marketing strategies have helped land 11 books on the New York Times Bestseller list. To learn more about Penny’s books or her promotional services, visit her web site at http://www.amarketingexpert.com.

For the past five or so years, we’ve organized teams to support an author’s efforts to increase the SEO of his or her website. We’ve done this a number of ways, but the biggest and most powerful was - and is - blog commenting.

When we first launched teams to offer blog commenting, most people didn’t have a clue how powerful this type of marketing was. Most Internet people did and have been doing it ever since. Now it’s become more mainstream, and everyone seems to want to jump on the blog commenting bandwagon. But let me caution you, because there’s a right way and a very wrong way to do this. I’ll explain both.

Creating a Blog Commenting Plan

The first step in blog commenting is creating a plan and, of course, knowing who you’ll be engaging with. Here are a few ways you can get started:

Deciding who to follow: Who will become part of your online networking tribe? These are the people influential to your industry. They might be competitors to you, or spokespeople. They might also be authorities in one way or another. Whoever they are and whatever they offer, it should somehow dial into what you are promoting. I recommend that you make a list of the top 5-10 names. Don’t go overboard for now. I’m sure there are more people you could engage with but to start, I want you to focus just on a few. You can grow the rest of your list from there.

Once you have your list, you’ll want to start following their blogs and also find out where they are appearing. This might mean commenting off of their website, I’ll explain in a minute why that’s important. First, let’s look at how you can organize this information:

RSS feeds: This is the quickest and simplest way to get started. Subscribe to their RSS feeds and keep all of these in your online reader, or Google iPage. That way you can spend a few minutes in the morning going through your blog posts to see which ones you want to comment on.
Twitter: This is another great way to find content to blog on. Follow your favorites on Twitter and follow the links to their blogs. This will often give you great insights into the biggest and most popular posts on their website. Don’t forget to comment on their Twitter posts too!
Google Alerts: Another great system for finding good content to comment on. Plug in the names of the folks you’re following. Also, enter their blog URLs too! Often bloggers will reference a blog post and not the name of the person blogging. Having this link as one of your Alerts will allow you to follow each and every mention of this blogger. So, why do you want to blog off their site? Anytime a blogger is featured on a website, it’s likely that site is one you’ll want to follow too. Or, at some point you may also want to blog comment on that site as well. It’s a great way to network with folks who might one day interview you or feature your book!

Tips for a Great SEO Plan

Frequency: I generally recommend you try to comment on 3-5 blogs a week. I also recommend you spend no more than 30 minutes a day ferreting through blogs and posting, anything more becomes a time-drain that will prevent you from keeping up this work.

Engagement: Remember that each comment is no different than a post you would write for your own blog. You’d never consider writing “great post!” on your site and leave it at that, right? You should consider writing short but thoughtful posts for your blog comments. Offer additional insight, another perspective, or a link to where the reader can get more information. Don’t be salesy, that’s the first way you’ll get blasted.

Quality over Quantity: As per the above note: make it count. Don’t worry about the amount of posts you do, but spend the time considering the quality of the comment itself. You’ll find much better engagement and response when you do.

Where’s the Juice: The SEO juice from this strategy will be apparent in the incoming links that now direct to your site. Each time you post a comment it will ask you for your URL (if you’re already registered on a particular site, the login will remember your URL and post it in each comment). While not all blogs allow follow links, there’s a lot of debate on no-follow blogs and whether they are still good for SEO. What is “no follow”? No follow is a term used in the SEO world to describe sites that can block your outbound link (the link to your site), using a No Follow Tag. See here for more on no follow.

The No Follow essentially tells Google not to consider your link when ranking for algorithm. Even though you may get referral traffic, Google will act as if you aren’t even on the site. Meaning, you may get traffic from the link, but no “link juice” per se. This deters a lot of SEO people, but my take is this: If a link from a high-traffic site will get you traffic, why not post there? We still see a significant amount of traffic from links posted on No Follow sites. Also, keep in mind that search engines pay a lot of attention to social sites like Twitter and Facebook which are both No Follows.

The point being, a strong SEO plan should include blog commenting. Not just for the SEO benefits, but for the engagement and connections blog commenting brings with it. Consistent, high quality posts will not only bring you great traffic, but also fantastic connections as well.

Good luck!

Guest author Shelia Goss: Follow Your Dreams and Pursue Your Writing Goals

2012-01-29T00:01:00.057-05:00

Shelia M. Goss is a national best-selling author and a 2012 Emma Award Finalist. She has thirteen books in print and seven ebooks. She writes in multiple genres: Christian fiction, romance, women’s fiction, suspense, and young adult. USA Today says, “Goss has an easy, flowing style with her prose…” She's also the recipient of three Shades of Romance Magazine Readers Choice Multicultural Awards and is honored as a Literary Diva: The Top 100 Most Admired African American Women in Literature. To learn more, visit her website or follow her on Facebook.

Writing and wanting to be published comes with ups and downs. Sometimes it's easy to get discouraged when you have obstacle after obstacle against you. But if you feel that being an author is what you were born to do, you cannot let anything or anyone stand in your way.

So today, I want to talk about following your dreams and pursuing your writing goals.

You may be asking yourself: how can I achieve my dreams or goals of being a writer, if I'm working and going to school, have a family to take care of, kids and other responsibilities?

Here are a few things I've learned that will hopefully help you as you embark on pursuing your writing goals:

1. Remember, you only have one life to live. There are no do overs so why not pursue your dreams while you still have time. Don't let years pass you by and then you look back and say, I wish I had written that book. Now is the time.

2. Write it down. What is your dream or goal that you want to achieve? Write it down and place it somewhere where you can see it every day until it becomes a reality. Keep it in the forefront of your mind. Most importantly, if you want to be a writer, you must write. So write the story in your head down.

3. You must take a leap of faith. Know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your goal is attainable and put forth the effort that it will take to achieve it. That means take workshops, do your research, read books in the genre you want to write in, etc. Which leads to point #4.

4. Quitting is not an option. You will face obstacles. You will face rejections. Even after becoming published, you may get bad reviews. It's not going to be easy. But you can't allow the situations that will come up, to stop you from pursuing your goals in life. They may detour you, but don't allow them to stop you.

5. Set miniature goals in order to reach your ultimate goal. Simply set tasks that will lead you closer and closer to reaching your goal. Write a page a day. Then increase it to a chapter a day and before you know it, you will have completed a novel.

Set a goal to complete X number of pages or words by a certain date and don't allow anything to stand in the way of meeting that goal. A goal without a plan is just a wish. In order to make that wish into a reality, these are the things you must do.

You must make plans.
You must change your attitude.
You must take action.
You must focus.
You must set boundaries with those around you.

Remember, You are never too old to pursue your dreams. Just don't let time pass you by. If I hadn't taken a leap of faith and pursued my dreams, I wouldn't be here today with more than thirteen books under my belt.

When you have a dream or a goal, you have to:

LIVE IT
FEEL IT
BELIEVE IT
and last, but not least, DO IT!

If you do all of those things you can ACHIEVE IT!

Discipline

2012-01-27T00:35:00.001-05:00

I read an article in which a woman claimed that she writes 1,000 words every morning before getting her children ready for school. After that, she might write another 2,500 on some days, nothing on others, but each day she knew that she had 1,000 words under her belt.

I did a quick calculation. My children's books are usually about 15,000 words long. At that rate, I could complete writing two books each month (except February). What am I doing with my life?

I am not sure if this woman is typical of successful writers or not, but the article really brought home a single thought. You need talent to be a great writer, but it takes discipline to become a successful writer.

What are your targets for your writing? Are you meeting them?

Surprise!

2012-01-26T00:01:00.001-05:00

I was talking to a friend the other day about poetry, and I pointed out that, when poetry works, it is often because the ending “surprises” the reader. Haiku may be the best illustration of this. Here’s a couple of mine: “After a hard rain, in the field, fish,” “Cat asleep on a pillow, dog.” Here are some better ones from the master, Issa (the commas are mine): “from the great bronze Buddha’s nose, a swallow,” “snow melting, village brimming over, kids.” But haiku is not the only kind of poetry that contains surprises. In fact, a lot of poetry does, especially poetry written for children.

Prose writing is the same way, and it’s not just surprise endings or sudden surprising plot twists. Those can be great and are absolutely necessary in some genres of writing. But surprise is a tool that can be used throughout an entire story. Here are some potential examples. For a horror story: the opening paragraph suggests a scarecrow hanging in an autumn field; the second paragraph shows us that it’s a human body instead. For a fantasy story: the opening paragraph shows a theft occurring; the following paragraph shows that the thief is stealing something “back.” For a literary story: the opening paragraph shows a mother and child in public with the child beautifully dressed and the mother so caring; the second paragraph shows the mother and child arriving home, and in private everything changes.

Like any tool, surprise can be overused. If the readers can never count on any stability in your work, they may well move on to someone who is not so variable. And, surprises need to develop naturally in the story, not just be thrown in for the very purpose of surprise. But surprise, at the right moment, is absolutely delightful to most readers, especially at the beginnings and endings of stories. I know it is for me.

The key to using surprise, I think, involves withholding information from the reader. Consider the horror story idea again. We see the scarecrow in the field from a distance. We pan in closer. We notice an anomaly. There’s blood on the scarecrow’s clothing. Then the realization hits us (is shown us by the writer), that the “scarecrow” is a murder victim hung up on a stake to simulate a scarecrow. This isn’t really enough for a whole story, but it’s a great ‘set up’ for a story. The question becomes then, how long can we stretch out the moment of final realization? For such a simple reveal, probably not very long. A paragraph or two, perhaps. But the more we stretch it without losing the reader, the more powerful it will be. Then, of course, we need more surprises to keep the reader reading. The victim is not only not a scarecrow, but is someone the main character knows. Perhaps it’s someone the character knows, but who they “thought” was dead years before.

I certainly haven’t worked out everything about this “theory of surprise” yet. Maybe some of you have thoughts or comments on the idea. What I do know is, 1) surprise is a powerful tool for evoking interest in readers, 2) surprise is something the writer needs to consciously (at least most of the time) set up ahead of time, and 3), surprise is based on withholding certain information from readers.

Sopa & Pipa—what does it mean for writers?

2012-01-24T11:13:00.015-05:00

Last Wednesday I went online to do a bit of research for the second in my series of children’s science adventure novels. As a rule, I do not use Wikipedia for scientific information, since the system of entering information on that site exposes it to errors. But Wikipedia can get you in the ball park and does point you to more sources for gaining more accurate information. So I turned to Wikipedia. Much to my consternation, Wikipedia was blacked out. I did a Google search. The letters on Google were blacked out.

“What’s happening?” I asked myself. The words on the Wikipedia page filled me in. They were protesting SOPA and PIPA. What in the world are SOPA and PIPA?

Before then I had no idea that SOPA and PIPA were new legislation to be voted on by congress. SOPA which stands for Stop Online Piracy Act was being considered by the house, while PIPA which stands for Protect IP Act was being considered by the US Senate. Both bills would in effect allow U.S. attorneys general and copyright holders to enforce punitive actions against websites selling counterfeit goods or violating intellectual property rights. They would block access to websites containing unauthorized copyright material and content owners would be given the power to request court orders to shut down sites associated with piracy. Advertisers, payment processors and Internet service providers would be forbidden from doing business with infringers based overseas.

It sounds great for authors who constantly fight against websites pirating copies of their novels and selling them without their consent or remuneration. Sometimes these websites even offer the pirated copies for free. However, there is another side to the story. Many opponents of the bills suggest that it goes too far and limits freedom of information sharing. It threatens to shut down or censor legitimate websites that might inadvertently link to or display such content.

Massive protests were staged both physically and online. Wikipedia and quite a few other information websites blacked out their sites to demonstrate what would happen without access to information. Google blacked out its name but still
continued to operate. The biggest response however came from a group of hackers called “Anonymous” which shut down many government and entertainment businesses websites including the FBI, Department of Justice and Universal Studios. Millions signed petitions to stop the bill. Congress was inundated with calls and emails. In the end the bills were shelved indefinitely.

So what does this mean for writers? We depend on the internet for information and access, yet we stand to lose revenue with the peddling of pirated copies of our books. Many writers have complained and even tried to get some of the websites guilty of selling pirated copies shut down. Though some writers have had limited success in shutting down those websites and/or removing their books, it has been like a game of whack-a-mole. For each piracy website stopped, three more pop up.

Does the defeat of the SOPA and PIPA bill mean piracy websites are now emboldened to sell illegal copies of copyrighted material? Does it mean that the bills would re-emerge in a better worded, improved form that would indeed reduce online piracy without censoring free exchange of ideas and access to information?

What do you think? What does the proposed SOPA and PIPA and their subsequent defeat mean for writers?

Guest author Barbara Monajem: Hmm, does this story work?

2012-01-23T00:01:00.061-05:00

Barbara Monajem wrote her first story in third grade about apple tree gnomes. After dabbling in neighborhood musicals and teen melodrama, she published a middle-grade fantasy when her children were young. Now her kids are adults, and she's writing historical and paranormal romance for grownups. She is the author of the Bayou Gavotte paranormal romances Sunrise in a Garden of Love & Evil and Tastes of Love & Evil, as well as three Regency novellas for Harlequin Undone: Notorious Eliza, The Wanton Governess, and The Unrepentant Rake. She lives in Georgia with an ever-shifting population of relatives, friends, and feline strays.

Last month, I submitted a full manuscript – a Regency – to my editor at Harlequin. A few weeks later, I got my revision letter. She wanted lots and lots of changes.

This in itself wasn’t a surprise. I never get it quite right the first time, so thank God for editors. I’ve had four so far, and they’ve all been great at picking out what’s not working, at asking good questions, at putting me back on track. They’re not always right, but in this case she was 90 percent spot on. I suffered a minor twinge of dismay at having so much rewriting to do, but what really, really bugged me about this particular revision letter was that I already knew much of what was wrong with the story. Not consciously, or I wouldn’t have sent it in – but subconsciously, I knew, and had known all along. Thinking back, I remembered being uneasy about certain aspects of the story. I even recalled passages where I’d thought, “Hmm, does this work?” But those niggling doubts hadn’t registered strongly enough for me to do something about them.

This is a problem. The more an author hones her craft, the more aspects of it should take care of themselves automatically. We learn to vary our sentence structure, to cut excess words, to stick to one point of view at a time, and so on. Catching what’s not working story-wise before sending it to an editor is just as important. Obviously, what works and doesn’t depends a lot on the genre you’re writing, but I’ve written for Harlequin before, I’ve received both acceptances and rejections, and I know more or less what they want. I should get more and more efficient…right?

Hopefully so, but on the other hand, writers aren’t robots. We can’t write the same old stuff every time without getting burnt out or bored to death. We have to be willing to take chances, to listen to the muse, do something different even while doing the same. Which leads me to what I’ve been blogging about this month – my latest novella for Harlequin Undone, The Romance of the Toe Bone.

No , that’s not the real title. I knew Harlequin wouldn’t go for that. It’s actually called The Unrepentant Rake, which perfectly captures the hero’s personality. (He was a hoot to write!) But the story premise and the happily ever after depend on a holy relic that’s been passed down in the heroine’s family for centuries— the toe bone of St. Davnet, an Irish saint of the 6th or 7th centuries.

My muse loved the toe bone concept, and so did I! It was so much fun. And yet, I was sure my editor would find it too weird – so sure that I forgot to look for St. Davnet’s staff when I visited the National Museum of Ireland last summer. (Duh! I wanted to see the staff anyway, and it’s not like I get to jet over to Dublin any old time I like.) I was surprised when her revision letter didn’t tell me to ditch the toe bone, and even more surprised when she accepted the revised story, toe bone and all.

Sooo… What do you listen to? Experience? Commonsense? Instinct? The muse? I hope to get better at this, but sometimes, I just don’t know.

One lucky commenter will receive a free download of The Unrepentant Rake.

Professional Organizers Can Help Writers

2012-01-21T00:04:00.350-05:00

Professional organizers don't come cheap, but sometimes they can pay for themselves by making a writer much more productive.

I have used professional organizers twice, and they were a great help both times.

The first time, I had been living in New Orleans for almost fifteen years, and I had outgrown my home office. When a friend mentioned that she and a friend of hers were starting a professional organizing business, I commented that my office was a lost cause. Her eyes lit up. She said that they needed to get some practice jobs so they could get references and suggested that they give me a discounted price with the understanding that if I were happy with what they did, I would write a reference for them for their Website.

Dubious that anyone could help me, I still couldn't pass up such a good offer. The two women came to my office, crawled over piles and dug through the closet, took lots of measurements, and asked lots of questions. Then they came up with a brilliant plan that gave me lots more space and a more efficient work space. They even did all the work themselves in one day, shutting the door so I couldn't interfere. I was happy to write a good recommendation.

A lot of what they did for me was to make me question my assumptions. A few examples:

I had been keeping every draft and every piece of reference material for every article I had ever written, or ever proposed, since I had started as a freelance writer. They convinced me that now that the Internet had been invented and information was easy to come by, I could get rid of many journals and all but the most recent background information for articles.
I had one table for writing and one table for editing, with reference books and basic supplies by each. That had made sense when editing work arrived by Fed-Ex or fax machine and I edited manually. But now that I edited mostly on the computer, they consolidated the two work areas into one.
I had all my bookcases and tables against the walls with a big empty space in the middle of the room that I used for storing piles of papers. They took my tables and arranged them in the shape of a U, making a work cockpit. From my chair I could now reach every project on every table as well as my printer and fax. The room felt bigger because my work area was neat and there weren't piles all over the floor; I had more work space because the "cockpit" took advantage of the middle of the room; and I even had wall space for more bookcases.

I went from having a messy, crowded office without enough space to work to a work space that saved me time and energy and suited my work style perfectly.

The second time I used a professional organizer was a month ago. We had lived in California for more than four years by then, and yet many boxes from my former office were still sitting in the hall, waiting to be unpacked. My major problem was that my office in California has no closets and is lined with built-in wood bookcases and drawers. They look beautiful, but I can't reach their top shelves, and they leave no space for filing cabinets. I was at a loss where to put books so I could reach them and how to store papers I would otherwise file.

The problem only increased over the succeeding four years as I generated more paper and started new projects. I had nowhere to file or store them, so the floor and every other surface in my office was covered with stacks of paper. I wasted 15 to 30 minutes a day looking for phone numbers I needed to call, notes I needed for a project, and other important things such as scissors, my calculator, my pocket knife, even my house keys.

I was overwhelmed and, some days, frustrated to tears. The mess stressed me out, but I didn't know where to start.

This time I found an organizer by searching Google for professional organizers near my Zip code and then reading the organizers' Websites carefully to see what types of jobs they did and whether they had experience with people with memory and health problems. I selected a company that listed "elderly people" as one of the groups it served.

The woman the company sent out was a former nurse who had seen worse messes than mine and was not intimidated.

She took everything off the bookcases; I chose what books to keep, what to throw away (some of my medical and scientific books were so out of date that they were useless), and what to give to Goodwill. When she refilled my bookcases, I had room for books that were sitting in piles, waiting for a home.
She cleaned out my cabinets and reorganized them.
She convinced me that old computer, printer, and USB cables; old phones; and old phone cables should be boxed up and put in the garage, where they would be easy to access but not taking up limited drawer space in my office.
We went through all the piles of papers and still-packed moving cartons and we filled boxes and boxes with papers and junk I no longer needed.
With the addition of several files trays, my tall pile of "papers to do something with soon" became neatly organized by topic and urgency.
Once the hall was empty of moving boxes, I bought short bookcases for along the hall wall to store books and papers for current projects. Now components of projects are together at a level I can reach, and the hall looks nice instead of as if we're preparing to move.
My organizer took several empty plastic file boxes sitting in the hall and, using hanging folders I already had, filed important papers in them. I have no place to put the boxes except to stack them on the floor in the corner, but at least they look orderly and contained and I can find what I need.
Many organizers—watch out for this if you decide to hire one!—want their clients to buy expensive prepackaged systems for organizing and filing. Personally, I don't care for nouveau-middle-class matchy-matchy decorating, and I certainly don't want to pay money for it. My organizer was similarly frugal. She organized my drawers and cabinets with things we already had around the house or in the garage, buying only a few attractive—and cheap—storage containers and file trays at Target.
Because my organizer didn't use a prepackaged system, she was able to organize my office and storage around the way I work and think, not around the way the designer of a prepackaged system did.

The professional movers who had packed us up in New Orleans had put things in boxes willy-nilly, without regard for what papers, folders, or books were grouped together in my office. Materials for a half-written novel had been packed in several different boxes. Thanks to the organizer's help in unpacking and sorting, I now have everything I need for that novel reunited.

My office is a haven again and no longer a place of stress.

This time, I received no friend discount or early client discount. I paid by the hour, and it was expensive. However, my organizer worked quickly and had excellent ideas for fixing my problems. I was amazed how quickly she got things in order, and I needed her for far fewer days than she or I originally estimated. I'm working efficiently now. I know where things are, and I no longer fret that I'm forgetting something I'm supposed to do. I don't have to climb over papers anymore to get to my desk or a bookcase or a cabinet.

As before, it was worthwhile to hire an organizer to get my office—and me—back on track. I expect 2012 to be more productive and lucrative than 2011, and hiring a professional organizer is a big reason why.

I'll be blogging again at Novel Spaces on February 6. Hope you visit again then.

—Shauna Roberts

The Free Book Bandwagon

2012-01-20T00:00:00.007-05:00

Free: Without Cost or Payment - say what?

I know we've discussed the topic of free books before on Novel Spaces, but I'm starting to see the benefit of offering significant deals, including offering a title for free - every now and then.

I've wondered why authors or publishers would only charge $1.99 or $.99 for their titles (actually I have a couple of books offered for $2.99 - and my publisher will offer one of my titles for $1.99 this summer), let alone give them away for free. Just like shopping for clothes or renting a car, we all enjoy a deal, and price does matter. We still charge $20 and $15 and $10 for books and they do sell, especially if a reader really wants that particular book. But when readers are browsing online nowadays, thinking about taking a chance on a title that piques their interest, they are considering price more than ever, especially when they can get immediate gratification and have it delivered at the click of a mouse.

The question has been, does lowering that price or offering it for free devalue our works? After all, though we are in this for the love of it, it is a job, a career, and we want to make money so that we can live. Ya gotta eat! We want our hard labor, and our blood, sweat, and tears to pay off monetarily, literary masterpiece or not.

When it comes to ebooks, especially books that are only in the ebook format where print book versions are not available, and/or ebooks that have been out for a few years, to offer it for free for a short period of time can mean that readers who have not read our titles can have an opportunity to try our works and perhaps come back for more.

The concept of giving to receive may or may not come easy to some authors when it comes to offering books for free. Are the long terms benefits worth it? Or should we just give away ebooks every now and then because it's the good natured thing to do? I keep printed copies of my books in my car and hand them out for free, quite often. Not to mention giveaway promotions. It becomes an investment in the belief that the reader will tell someone who will tell someone, and so on. But free books on a major website like Amazon is something different.

I'd be interested in hearing what my fellow authors think. Are you ready to hop on the gratis bandwagon?

Reading (Brockmann and Burke) to learn

2012-01-18T12:03:00.009-05:00

Most of my work is genre fiction, and each genre has its rules and tropes – attributes that define the genre. A writer needs to be familiar with these, and to remind herself often of how and when to use them and why. While I'm in the writing phase of writing – the actual typing part – I don't read fiction related to what I'm doing. However when I'm in the planning stages of a novel-length project – working out main plot arc and subplots, mapping the locations, making casting decisions – I do read novels in the genre by writers whose works I admire. I'm not looking for ideas, ideas are the easy part. I'm looking for tips on mechanics, looking at how the tools of our craft are utilized within the genre.

Take romantic suspense. A good (as in top-selling) romantic suspense novel is a taut suspense novel wherein the protagonists think and talk about their feelings a great deal. I haven't done a line-by-line count, but I would estimate that 25-30% of a Suzanne Brockmann "Troubleshooters" novel is Navy SEALs, mercenaries, and FBI agents working their way through past emotional baggage or talking out their feelings and aspirations for the future. A scene comes to mind in which a Navy SEAL and a female FBI sharpshooter are defending a family in an isolated vacation home against domestic terrorists. The terrorists have set the house on fire, but it's a big house so they've got time to respond. He's on his way to the garage to create a diversion and she's on her way to the third floor with her rifle to thin out the opposition when they meet on the stairs and have a conversation about trust; during the climactic firefight each is thinking of the other and their relationship. Objectively this makes little sense - in the midst of crises you focus entirely on what's happening and what you can do about it - but within the context of the story it works; not only does Brockmann's narrative leading to that moment prepare the reader to willingly suspend disbelief, the conversation and later ruminations under fire set up the satisfying resolution of the romantic conflict. Excise their romantic scenes and Brockmann's novels would rank high in suspense and action markets – and have something like one-tenth the sales. These scenes are vital to the romance trope, and the way Brockmann makes them work – and on rare occasions doesn't quite make them work – is worth careful study.

To my mind first person narrative and detective mysteries are perfect partners – they play fair with the reader, showing her only what the protagonist sees and challenging her to solve the puzzle. I cut my teeth on Travis McGee and Archie Goodwin, and the subgenre remains one of my favorites.
Among current writers James Lee Burke is often cited as the master of the form. He's also known for his ability to set a scene, creating a three-dimensional setting for the action. In a recent summer I read a dozen of his books, written over two decades, back-to-back. Found a few patterns. His evocative descriptions usually hinge on sly use of similes and slightly offbeat adjectives. A sky full of impending storm, for example, looks like burnt pewter or a trailer is dejected. His Robicheaux novels are set in New Iberia, a real town where Burke lives, not far from New Orleans; I suspect some of his descriptions are based on years of familiarity. A few times his descriptions threw me, however. Detective Dave Robicheaux may look out from his dock and smell fish spawning in the bayou or be on a street and smell dead waterbugs in the storm drain. I've never been on a bayou, but I'm a Florida native who (mis)spent a lot of my youth in blackwater swamps and salt marshes. You can't smell fish spawning; they're at the bottom of the water. I think I know the smell he means. Before a storm the water's surface takes on an oily sheen and there's a scent that's no one thing but the whole swamp preparing itself to receive fresh rain. And large colonies of waterbugs (aka palmetto bugs, aka cockroaches big enough to scare the housecat) do have a smell - a musky, musty odor – but it's the live ones, not the dead, giving off the gas.
One limitation to first-person narratives is the difficulty of depicting scenes when the protagonist is not present. In his Robicheaux novels, Burke uses transitions to present pivotal events the detective didn't witness. (Something along the lines of: It took me weeks to get the full story, it came in bits and pieces over beers on the dock, aimless conversations in the shade of the oak, and one long afternoon trolling for bass that wouldn't bite.) However in his Billy Bob Holland series, following a former Texas Ranger turned small town lawyer, the unknowable scenes (a murder from the victim's perspective; precipitating events Holland is never aware of in a distant time or place) are simply dropped in. I've not aware of anyone complaining about this, but it was enough to throw me completely off the series.

The lessons I carried away from my educational summer project? Keep the reader engaged with unexpected descriptors, but nothing that might pull her out of the story. And respect the rules of the genre.

Read widely. Don't analyze while you read. Some books recommend counting lines of dialog, or how many sentences are used to describe characters or actions, or how many pages between sex scenes; this way lies madness. Read authors you know you can learn from, but read like a reader – let yourself experience the book. If a scene from the novel sticks with you – if you find yourself thinking about it weeks or months later – go back and read the passage again. Then analyze. Figure out what the writer did right (or if it's a negative memory, did wrong). You may never write a scene just like it, but you will expand your storyteller's toolkit.

Writers Don’t Wait. They Write!

2012-01-16T01:30:00.003-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I paused to recognize a personal milestone: it was ten years ago this month that my first novel was published.

It was a media tie-in; specifically, a Star Trek novel. It was the first time I’d ever attempted writing anything approaching that length or level of complexity. The opportunity came about after I’d sold stories to each of Pocket Books’ first three Star Trek: Strange New Worlds writing contests, and the editor of those books asked if I was interested in writing a Star Trek novel for him. Heck yeah!

So, I spent a couple of months corresponding with my editor, who also acted as my mentor during the process of completing a story outline. Once he was satisfied and the licensing people at Paramount Pictures also gave their thumbs up, I went to work writing the actual book. Several months later, I turned in my manuscript, and then I waited. More than a year separated my manuscript delivery and the book’s scheduled publication date. During that time, I waited for editorial notes. I waited for the copyeditor’s notes. I waited to see galley pages. Wait, wait, and wait some more.

Meanwhile, a writer friend of mine was telling me that I should be working on my next novel. “Writers don’t wait,” he said. “They write. Get back to writing.”

It’s not as though I was sitting completely idle. While I was waiting for those various things to happen with my first novel, I still was working. In addition to the day job, I wrote with my friend and frequent co-writer, Kevin Dilmore, and we completed a couple of novellas for Pocket’s line of Star Trek e-Books, along with a magazine article or two. Those things took a couple of months to accomplish, after which I once more found myself waiting. My editor contacted me from time to time, and I tended to the various edits, revisions, and so forth which come with writing a novel.

However, I didn’t give serious thought as to what I might write for a second novel. Heck, I even felt sort of guilty for dividing my attention among other projects while this first novel, my baby, gestated in the hands of my publisher. Much of what I’d heard or read from other authors was that you agonized over a novel; you sweated it, bled for it, lost sleep over it, and when it finally was ready for publication, you sent it off into the wild to fend for itself. Then, and only then, did you start to contemplate your next trick.

“That’s crap,” said my aforementioned writer friend, himself a veritable writing machine who possesses what I call “Fingers of Fury” as well as many more years of experience and publications to his credit. “In the time you’ve spent waiting for your one novel to be published, I’ve written two. Write, rookie! That’s what you do if you want to be a writer.” Other writing pros I respect gave me similar advice, which soon started to sink into my thick skull and boil down into one simple nugget of wisdom. Yep, you guessed it: “Writers write.” This is particularly true when you write on assignment, such as for a newspaper or magazine, web sites and, as I was about to learn, media tie-in books.

Soon, the editor of the Star Trek e-Books line contracted me and Kevin to write additional novellas for him. Then, the editor of my still-forthcoming first novel came calling again, asking if I was ready to try something different. The process of outlining and story building began anew, after which I was working on my second book and what was to become my first original science fiction novel. Things were different, as by now I had plunged neck-deep into the world of “professional writing,” and that’s how it’s gone during the ensuing ten years.

The lesson here, if there is one, is that if you want to be a working writer, don’t spend all of your time and energy on a single project. Even as you’re working to finish one story, be thinking about what you’re going to do next. Over the last ten years and as I’ve (supposedly) labored to improve my writing craft, I’ve become much more adept at juggling multiple projects with overlapping or even competing deadlines while working in service to several masters.

If that sounds like it could be draining, well...it is. Therefore, a companion piece of advice is to not overdo things. Writing is just like any job, in that you have to pace yourself and take a breather now and then, in order to avoid burnout. This is definitely a risk if you, like me, write as a “second job,” and I’ve made this mistake a couple of times.

Back in November, I had several deadlines which all converged on the same three-day window. I already was tired coming into the month after an extended period of demands placed on me by my regular day job, family, and other writing deadlines. I decided after meeting the November deadlines that I was going to give myself some time to recharge. So, with just a couple of small exceptions, I treated December as something of a “writing holiday.”

But, now we’re in a new year and the itch is back. I’ve started working on a new story, even as one or two others yell and stomp their feet for my attention. Yeah, I’m ready to get back into the thick of it. Though I currently have no pending deadlines or editors tapping their feet, I’m forging ahead. I’m tired of waiting.

After all, I like being a writer, and writers write.

Getting to know you

2012-01-12T00:49:00.007-05:00

"Mom!" my son called from his bedroom, "My school pants are too small!"

Of course it was the first day of school, and before you chastise me for being a disorganised mother for not making sure that school clothes were in order before the start of the semester, note that it was the first day after the Christmas holidays. Children aren't supposed to grow over the Christmas vacation, are they?

As I write my fourth book in the Caribbean Adventure Series, I am faced with the dilemma of growing children. In my first three books, I let the book lead me. Don't get me wrong, I know my characters well. I can see their faces, expressions and mannerisms in every scene. With book 4, I feel the need to be sure that while the children are impacted by the events that unfold in the story, that they grow and change in a way that makes sense given who they are.

So I am writing a detailed biography of the characters that will hold me in good stead if there are additional books. This includes details on what the characters look like in great detail, where they live and were born, physical quirks, their siblings and parents, weaknesses, and deepest desires and fears. The last item is crucial as the fears are a potential source for conflict in the story and what child does not have interesting an irrational fears? The behavioral traits are the most interesting. How does the character behave differently with adults than with other children, for example; with his friends as against his siblings.

Some of the details may be relevant to this book and some may not, but I believe that the better that I know these children, the better my book will be.

How deep you you dig when creating characters for your books?

(Couldn't resist this one ...

The Genesis of an Idea

2012-01-10T00:05:00.003-05:00

It’s back to school now, back to my daily hour and fifteen minute commute. (Each way.) The time isn’t wasted. I do a lot of thinking during my drive. I work on plot twists for stories I’m writing, and on brand new ideas for stories I haven’t started yet. I carry a little tape recorder along with me to record anything I might forget. This morning I got a whole story out of the drive and was able to quickly produce a rough draft as soon as I got into the office. I thought I’d talk about how the story came about.

On many days, I set myself a mental task for my commute. This morning I decided to work on ideas for a noir story using a title I came up with weeks ago: “Long Dead Woman in a Black Dress.” I started thinking about a crime scene in a forest, the discovery of the Dead Woman of the title. Immediately, a sheriff and a coroner character occurred to me. They didn’t get along, providing some nice conflict in the opening. Dialog began to unroll between them but I realized the story was moving toward a heavy duty CSI kind of tale, and my interest began to wane.

As I often do in such situations, I stopped pushing on the story itself and started thinking more about the setting. Many times, figuring out exactly where and when a story is set helps me generate the primary plot points. I don’t consciously decide on setting so much as I just let thoughts flow until something coalesces. Here’s what came to me: Southern Louisiana. The swamps. A small rural community with folks who hunt and fish and keep lacquered gator heads on their boats and in their river shacks.

A character appeared. I didn’t try for him. He was just there, embedded naturally in the setting. His name was Swampy Jack. I could see him; I could see the little store he ran, where he sold bait and bottled cokes out of an old timey dispenser, with aisles of dusty fishing lures and a jar on the counter full of homemade jerky.

That did it. I went back to the first scene, the local sheriff and the coroner examining a crime scene in the woods. That scene had changed because of my new knowledge of the setting. The sheriff character had changed, because in this setting he would be the type to know everyone. He would know Swampy Jack. Things began to fall into place, like dominoes toppling. The murder had to change too, and so the original title just wouldn’t work. A new title stepped up to claim supremacy: “Swampy Jack’s Finest Cut.”

I don’t know if other writers work this way or not, or if they could work this way, but the keys for me with this story were:

1. Having some time to think. In fact, the commute almost ‘forces’ me to take that time. I can’t be checking email. There are no students coming in. I can’t read or watch TV.

2. Visualizing a scene where there is some kind of mystery. This was the crime scene in the woods with the sheriff and the coroner.

3. Letting the characters in the scene talk. And I mean “letting” them. I try not to be directive. I wouldn’t say it’s impossible to consciously write a story, but I think it’s pretty tough. Every story requires hundreds if not thousands of decisions, and it’s a lot easier and more productive, I think, to let the unconscious make most of those decisions, especially during the rough draft phase, and use consciousness to evaluate them for the final draft.

4. When plot blocks occur, and they will, switch your mental focus from the story itself to the setting. If you can’t answer one question at a particular moment, answer one you can. Just don’t stop generating questions, possibilities, and images.

5. For me at least, the most important thing in the beginning is to not be overly judgmental about ideas. So what if you generate ideas that ultimately don’t work. So what if you develop some that turn out to be silly. No one ever has to know. They can’t read your mind. Ultimately, thought is cheap. It costs you nothing. And the only thing that can stop it from solving your writing problems is you.

Lessons From Third Grade English

2012-01-09T09:42:00.011-05:00

My third grader came home a few weeks ago with some English homework consisting of sentences with a verb and one or more qualifying adverbs. She was supposed to replace the weak verb and qualifiers with a stronger verb. Two of the sentences caught my attention. They both involved dialog. In one, the verb to be replaced was “said quietly”. Of course "whispered" was the correct word choice. The verb to be replaced in the other was “said excitedly” and that was replaced with “exclaimed.”

That got me thinking about dialog in writing. Dialog is an integral part of fiction writing because it gives the characters voice. That voice breaks the monotony of narration, highlights the personality of the characters, and tells what the characters are doing, feeling and thinking. More can be done with well placed dialog than with multiple paragraphs of descriptive narration. Unfortunately, too often the word used to describe what the characters are saying is that innocuous “said.” Oftentimes we use qualifiers and description of movement or position for example, “Oh No!” she said emphatically, placing her hands on her hips. However, a strong verb replacing the “said emphatically” could give a clearer mental picture of the person’s feeling and movement.

I went back over my WIP and I counted how many times on a page of dialog I used the word said. I was amazed at the frequency. There are so many more words available and yet I was stuck on the innocuous word said. I was limited.

I came to the conclusion that I need help. I would like a list of words that can be used instead of “said” to describe dialog, capture emotions and movement. Here is a short list of some words:

Exclaimed: said excitedly
Commented: said
Insisted: said forcefully
Whispered: said softly
Cooed: said soothingly
Inferred: said with implication
Intimated: said subtly
Shouted: said loudly
Cried: said loudly with passion

I know there are many more. So please add to the lists. Let’s see how much we can come up with. Be sure to include the meanings.

Guest author: Ty Johnston

2012-01-07T00:01:00.013-05:00

Ty Johnston grew up in central Kentucky, then spent nearly 20 years roaming various Appalachian states as a newspaper editor before deciding it was time to get serious about his fiction writing. Now he spends his days writing or reading or traveling with his wife, their beagle and house rabbit. His novels include City of Rogues, Ghosts of the Asylum, and More Than Kin. In early December 2011, he experienced an extended stay in a hospital. What follows he wrote his first night in the hospital

As I type this, it is nearly 4:30 in the morning in the hospital where I am propped up in a bed. Thank goodness for netbooks, right? And thank goodness I’m still here to write.

Six years ago I was diagnosed with heart disease. There are multiple names that go along with my condition, most of them long and including words like cardio or cardiac and congestive, but it boils down to my own heart stumbles in its rhythm from time to time because it is enlarged and I had a virus a few years back. There are a half dozen lesser problems and symptoms with my heart, none of them having to do with blockages of the arteries. In other words, it’s not likely (though not impossible) I would have a traditional heart attack. Still, my heart could give out on me, or it could skip a few beats and then I would be up the creek without a paddle.

A little more than a year ago, I had an operation which implanted an internal defibrillator device into my chest right above my heart. You know what a defibrillator is, don’t you? If nowhere else, you’ve probably seen them in movies or on TV. Those things with electric paddles some doctor uses to shock a patient back to life, those are a defibrillator (though most of the ones you see on TV or in movies are kind of old fashioned at this point ... but they look dramatic on the screen). Well, I have a miniature defibrillator in my chest. It is there to give me a jolt if my heart should get out of whack. All in hopes of keeping me alive, at least long enough to get me to the hospital.

Well, the day before I am writing this, I was out in the woods behind my house doing a little work. We have several old barns and smaller buildings, and I was cleaning one of them out. I swear, I was doing nothing overly strenuous, just tossing some items out of one of the buildings.

Then my defibrillator went off. And it went off again. And again. Eventually, it was a total of six times before it stopped.

That is not a good sign.

Imagine an invisible god with a giant of a war hammer slamming that mighty weapon into your chest. Repeatedly. That’s kind of what it is like. Coffee has nothing on waking you up like a good old shock from the internal defibrillator.

This was the first time my defibrillator had ever gone off other than when it was tested after my initial surgery. An invisible blow cracked against my chest and I reeled, my eyes watering. I thought I was having a heart attack. I thought I was dying.

But I was still conscious, and still on my feet. I started moving toward the house, walking quickly but not running. I didn’t want to put any more stress on my heart than was already there. Maybe thirty seconds had passed when the next volt hit me and I yelled involuntarily.

You know how athletes shout out during a tennis match? That’s what I sounded like, and I couldn’t help myself.

At the door to the house, I could already hear my wife inside yelling for me. She had heard me outside and knew something was wrong.

I reached for the doorknob, and got zapped again.

I yanked the door open, stepped into the house and yelled something like, “Honey, call 9-1-1, my chest insert is going off!”

And I got slammed yet again.

By this point, I was sure I was dying. I was positive I had but moments to live, that my heart was going to give out any time now or that the next jolt from the defibrillator would just end me (though I knew in the back of my mind the defibrillator is supposed to do just the opposite, jolt me to keep me alive).

My wife showed up, not quite panicked, and our beagle was at her feet running circles.

I moved toward the nearest chair. As my wife grabbed a phone and started calling, I was blasted again.

Then again.

As I sit here typing, more than 14 hours since being zapped, I still keep expecting to get shocked at any moment. Yes, I’m suffering anxiety. And this after I talked to a half dozen cardiologists, had an untold number of tests done on me, been stuck with a hundred needles, and had and still have at this moment a dozen wires trailing from one point or another of my body. Now that I think about it, none of that probably helps my anxiety.

I have more tests coming later in the morning and over the next few days, but right now the consensus seems to be there was not an “event” that sparked my defibrillator, that it went to work because my heart rate had risen a little too high. The cardiologists have tinkered with my device (not directly, but through the magic of a computer and a wand of sorts that can literally control my heart – now that’s scary!), and have told me the device is not likely to go off again unless I have a major problem.

None of which makes me feel better.

When I sit and think about it (and I’ve had plenty of time today to do that), it has not been the fear of death that has bothered me so much as it has been fear of the lack of control. My defibrillator going off (six times!) is one of the most frightening events of my life, but what bothered me more than anything was that it kept happening and happening and happening and there didn’t seem to be a damn thing I could do about it.

Okay, if you’ve stuck with me this far (thank you), you might be wondering what this has to do with writing or books or fantasy, all things associated with me.

Well, here at almost 5 in the morning, I’ve been feeling lonely for the last few hours. I sent my wife home because there is nothing she can do for me over night, and she needs to check on the beagle and our house rabbit. My mother was here earlier, but again, there wasn’t much she could do, so I sent her home as well.

I’ve been with no one but strangers (though nice strangers) for hours now. Normally that would not bother me, but I’m feeling especially freaked out today, so pardon me for not being the most manliest of men.

But sitting here feeling lonely, I remembered I have my Kindle with me in one of my bags (thanks for packing it, honey). Before writing this, I grabbed my Kindle and went to the main page. There I found a list of true friends.

And I no longer felt alone.

So, thank you Steven Erikson and Alexandre Dumas. Thank you John Milton and Geoffrey Chaucer. Thank you Edward C. Patterson and K.C. May. Thanks to all of you, and to others I’m too tired to list, for being there for me when I needed you.

Roasted Pepper and Four Cheese Cannelloni...

2012-01-06T00:14:00.001-05:00

[with]...manchego, fontina, parmesan and goat cheese with pine nuts, spinach, roasted portabella and spicy tomato broth."

The above is an entrée description from the menu of Mat and Naddie's, a neighborhood restaurant in New Orleans' Riverbend area. Which would you rather order, "Cheese-Stuffed Cannelloni" or an entrée whose menu description tells you what you are getting and makes you eager for it to arrive? I doubt I'm unique in preferring lovingly detailed descriptions in the menu.

Fiction writers as well as menu writers need to sell an entire sensory experience with a few carefully chosen words, the "significant details."

What makes details significant? I'll give an example from my ancient copy of Roger Tory Peterson's A Field Guide to the Birds: Eastern Land and Water Birds. Peterson doesn't bother describing each species completely; each bird could fill a book. Instead, he describes each species in a third of a page or less.

Use Important, not Unimportant, Details
How does Peterson describe a bird so compactly? He first lists the features shared within the taxonomic family and then notes for each species only the details that help the birdwatcher distinguish one species from another. He doesn't use photographs of individual birds; instead, he draws a generic member of each species and sketches in the details most important for identification. For example, on page 88, he says the Least Tern is notable for being very small and having a yellow bill. Adults have yellow feet.

Very small; yellow bill; yellow feet in adults: Three significant details are all you need to know to identify the Least Term.

For the fiction writer, important details are those that are, well, important. Few people go through life noting every sound, every sight, every smell, every taste, and every feeling. That would be unnecessary data overload. Instead, the brain filters incoming data for what's relevant—such as a red light or a train whistle—or interesting.

Viewpoint characters are people too. Put a book's characters all in the same small room, and:

The claustrophobic character cringes because the walls and ceiling close in.
The self-appointed leader frowns because the circular table has no head for him to sit at.
The architect compares the placement of the doors and windows with where she would have put them.
The artist leaves the others to study an unusual painting on the wall.

To write a description of the room, you should not list every feature, but only the few that stand out or matter to your scene's POV character—and those few features likely are different for each character.

Use Significant, not Insignificant, Details
Some decisions about details must transcend the characters. If a character's blue eyes or the broken spine of the pine tree are crucial to the plot, you must mention these early in the book, whether or not they would normally be important to any of the characters.

Details should always be in the book for at least one reason, preferably more. For example, the examples above of "important details" enlighten us about the characters. Details can also create suspense, reinforce the theme, fill out the world, draw the reader's attention to something important, and advance the plot.

Use Specific, not Generic, Details
The fiction writer should also follow Peterson's example by avoiding generic details ("the jail cell had a barred window") and focusing on the specific, unique traits of a person, place, thing, or action, what separates that one from all others ("Jimmy took one look at the Pepto Bismol–pink walls of the jail cell and his stomach roiled").

What you don't describe, the reader fills in from experience. So there's no need to describe what your typical reader is familiar with. Focus instead on what is distinctive. Zoom in on the homeless person's Harvard class ring, not their shopping cart piled with blankets.

Specific details draw the reader into the story and make it feel more real. For that reason, it's good to include details from all the senses (not just sight) and to use strong nouns and verbs to bring the scene to life.

Why use nouns and verbs instead of adjectives to introduce details?

Doing so forces you to focus on action instead of passive description.
"Show, don't tell."
Details can fill more roles when they are revealed through action. Take this sentence: "'Lovely fuchsia dress, Emily,' Livia said to the new widow." We learn not only that Emily is wearing a hot-pink dress but also that Emily is flouting the social conventions of mourning and that Livia is catty. We wonder about Emily's choice of dress. Did Emily dislike her husband, or is she so poor she has only a few dresses, none black? Why is Livia cruel to Emily, and is she cruel to everyone?

A Final Word
One could write entire books on using details (and people have). I'll end here with advice from Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White. Their rule 16 for composition is, "Use definite, specific, concrete language," and they comment:

The surest way to arouse and hold the reader's attention is by being specific, definite, and concrete. The greatest writers—Homer, Dante, Shakespeare—are effective largely because they deal in particulars and report the details that matter. Their words call up pictures.

What are your favorite rules of thumb for writing details? Do you agree with my three?

Thanks for stopping by. My next post here at Novel Spaces will appear January 21, when I will talk about how professional organizers can help writers.

—Shauna Roberts

Author Goals and Getting Motivated in 2012

2012-01-04T00:00:00.009-05:00

As a follow-up to Lynn Emery's GREAT blog post from New Year's Day, I began thinking about doing a "Writer's Wrap-Up" to summarize my accomplishments in 2011, and that prompted me to make a list for 2012. Thanks, Lynn, for inspiring me to do that!

I didn't start out with a list in 2011. Some of the great things that happened last year came about as spur of the moment ideas or opportunities: forming a group of female touring authors, publishing the e-book version of Something He Can Feel, accepting an invitation to contribute a story to the A Chapter A Month.com site, accepting an offer to write a 10k word erotica novella for the February 2012 anthology, The Heat of the Night.

What was scheduled for 2011 was my third Pynk book, Sixty-Nine, and also venturing back into print/electronic self-publishing with the release of Hot Girlz. I'm grateful for these accomplishments.

So this time, the items on my list for 2012 include publishing two e-book novellas, publishing the print/electronic sequel to Dr. Feelgood, You've Got It Bad, the release of my fourth Hachette book, POLITICS.ESCORTS.BLACKMAIL, and submit the option book, Sin City. I would like to participate in more events and book club meetings, as well as co-write with various authors, and also, embark upon some freelance gigs. One of my biggest goals is to read more books. I slacked off on that last year.

The beauty of having a list is that it is a visual, tangible item reminder. And what's even more beautiful is when you have an opportunity to add those unexpected, newly birthed, yet welcomed additions to the list.

What has been consistently on my schedule for the past three years has been the great opportunity to contribute bi-weekly to this amazing Novel Spaces blog. Even when the dates roll around quicker than sometimes anticipated, I always appreciate the opportunity to join other authors in discussing the business, our lives, and our works.

So as we embark upon another year of this thing called writing, I send positivity to each of you in meeting your goals, living your dreams, and enjoying all of the success and happiness you desire.

For now, I've got until the end of the month to finish my current manuscript, and so I'm headed off for a full writer's heaven retreat. And then, on to the next one, the next goal, the next item - and soon, the next year's list. Cheers to using the tools that will get us all motivated, including lists!

Happy New Year!

The most important communication

2012-01-03T01:58:00.002-05:00

Valerie and I and our youngest spent the new year weekend in Atlanta, staying in the home of Valerie's brother and attending a young cousin's wedding. Valerie's brother is a doctor, a career he came to late in life after pursuing design and architecture; his field is clinical research. His home is stunning, but though he identifies himself as "living in Atlanta," it's actually in a suburb several miles outside the city. Atlanta sprawls on a scale I associate with Miami or LA, and the sprawl evidently affects the minds and perceptions of those who live under its influence. The "good restaurant close by" was an hour's drive away, "up the road" required an afternoon in traffic to reach, and two places "right next to each other" had a half mile between them. I'd thought I'd have time to see a few people and places while in the city, but abandoned those plans once the scale of the requisite journeys registered.

The cousin getting married was on Valerie's father's side of the family, which meant I was only vaguely aware of who she was and how related. While family on Valerie's mother's side has always been involved with ours, most of the family who would be at the wedding hadn't seen Valerie or me since her father's funeral twenty years ago – many not since a family reunion a few years before that. Valerie grew up farther down the Carolina coast than we now live, closer to Savannah than Charleston. Before her mother moved to Wilmington we used to drive down every few months to visit. The fastest route from Wilmington to Atlanta follows our old run as far as Florence, which of course prompted memories of those days (which in turn prompted our 20-year-old daughter to don headphones). We passed South of the Border for the 900th time without stopping; I keep being surprised it's still standing. (Their official site and the Wikipedia entry.)

At the wedding and reception/family reunion/New Year's Eve party I kept introducing myself to people who knew me. (In my defense, I think that after 20+ years it's easier to remember "Valerie's white husband" than it is to remember 137 names.) More than one person commented on the fact last time they'd seen me I'd worn my long(ish) black hair in a ponytail; Valerie's aunt Stella gave me a playful poke and said: "You used to be a skinny thing," making her the only person to mention the additional eighty pounds. (Going to have to dig my bike out of the garage.) A few asked about my photography business, a venture I'd driven into the ground a quarter century ago, before I'd gone back to school to become a teacher. It struck me that that failed business had not been something Valerie and I had reminisced about while driving. As nearly as I could tell, no one knew I was a writer.

On the drive back to Wilmington Sunday night I couldn't help but reflect on the many jobs I've had over the years and my nascent Kvaad Press. Actually, it would be hard on the January 1st of any year not to be taking stock and considering the future; visiting my brother-in-law, meeting extended family I hadn't seen in decades, and attending a wedding merely sharpened the focus a bit. Normally I keep my musings to myself, but with both my wife and our daughter uncharacteristically awake and nothing but midnight interstate around us I ended up talking with them about the future – particularly my writing. I discovered both of them have read more of my work than I thought they had and learned one of our daughter's professors at William & Mary her freshman year liked "The Monkey Puzzle Box," my Dixon Hill (Star Trek) mystery. Neither of them is concerned about the lack of cash flow; neither of them had paid any attention to the fiscal milestones I'd expected for Kvaad Press's sixth month (January, 2012). At the same time, neither knew my goals as a writer or what I considered a reasonable investment of time and energy for reaching both my creative and business goals. For my part I'd missed some things my wife and family expected from me in terms of availability and involvement. In other words, though we'd talked about these in the past, we had either not communicated or forgotten elements we'd once understood.

The details of our discussion aren't relevant to this column; the fact the discussion took place is.

While writing is a craft, writing professionally is a business. And no business succeeds without clear communication both within and with partners, suppliers, and customers. None of us questions the importance of communicating with editors, book packagers, etc., and we put a lot of thought and effort into communicating clearly – making sure we understand and are understood. As freelance writers we work alone, but only at our craft. We live our lives as part of a family, a community, a network, whatever form it may take, made up of people we count on and who count on us. Communication is as key to personal relationships as it is to professional relationships; more so. Keep your family - your natural supports, whoever they are - in the loop. They don't need to know details about the passage that's giving you fits, but they shouldn't have to guess how your writing is going from your mood. Plan family events; be clear on deadlines and objectives; know other people's schedules; protect what you need to protect, but be flexible when and where you can. This may seem like a no-brainer, but tugs of war and contests of will are common in writers' families; avoidable stressors that negatively impact both our work and our relationships. Whether it's a weekly meeting, a master calendar on the kitchen wall, or a family-only private FaceBook community, create a structure for clear and regular communication with the people in your life you value. It will de-stress the writing process and strengthen your relationships.

It's 2012 & I'm Back In Stride Again

2012-01-01T00:01:00.035-05:00

Happy New Year!

Well here we are in 2012! Most of us think about the past year and set goals for the coming one. I've only briefly done my "Writer's Wrap-up", but here is how 2011 stacked up for me.

Finished two original indie novels
I went from frozen with fear at the thought of indie publishing to putting on my big girl pants and getting it done. Two new mystery books plus four back list romance titles are now on sale (hint -hint)
Learned new POVs of traditional publishing that helped me make wiser decisions about what I want in the future
Participated in a cooperative promotion effort that had positive results

For the 2012 I will:

Finish the second and third novels in my paranormal thriller triology. A Darker Shade of Midnight is now on sale at Amazon , B&N and Smashwords
Take part in more cooperative promotions if I can find the right partnters
Start the second in my cozy mystery series. Best Enemies is now on sale.

What do I mean by "cooperative promotion"? Two author friends happened to have holiday themed romance novellas that they were getting ready to release as indie titles, eBooks of course. Angela Benson came up with a great idea. She suggested we do a group e-blast promotion through Shades of Romance Magazine (SORMAG). She also suggested we put blurbs and links to each other's titles at the end of our novellas. Monica Jackson threw in with us and we were off! We saw our sales rankings drop on the Wednesdays the e-blasts went out (last three in November). We scheduled those dates to fall in line with readers getting into the holiday spirit and shopping mode with all those eReaders being bought or gifted. Of course we tweeted and did Facebook wall posts. This was 3 holiday romances x 3 authors getting the word out = increased sales. Fellow authors, I recommend this kind of effort for sure.

As a reader I fought with the writer side of me and made time to read more. I was rewarded with delightful hours that reminded me why I decided to be a writer at eleven years old. So readers, I'm not leaving you out. Here are wonderful books I read in 2011:

Kwanzaa Homecoming by Monica Jackson
Friend and Lover by Angela Benson
The Dead Detective Agency by Peg Herring
In Her Name (entire triology) by Michael R. Hicks
Cannibal Nights by Kiana Davenport
Darkness and the Devil Behind Me by Persia Walker
Sweet Liberia, Lessons from the Coal Pot by Susan Peters
New Orleans Confidential by O'Neil De Noux
Coyote Ugly by Pati Nagle
Dark Bayou by Nancy K. Duplechain
Sanctuary by Niambi Brown Davis
The Hungar Games (still reading) by Suzanne Collins
Dying on the Edge by Francine Craft
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke

Whoa, that's some list. I hadn't actually looked at it before writing this post. In fact, I believe I've left off a title or two. As you may notice my reading is all over the map: romance, mystery, sci-fi, memoirs, short story collections, literary, cereal boxes, etc.

In 2011 I did something else I'd scoffed at before, read all but the last two books on my IPhone. Yes, I bought a Nook Color for my twelve year old niece, two VTech readers for my five and six year old nephews; but Aunt Lynn doesn't own a dedicated eReader device. Because I love reading books on my phone. I mean, this thing goes everywhere with me. That means I can whip it out and be into a great book at a moment's notice. Where I used to grind my teeth and mutter cuss words while waiting in lines, at the doctor's office, etc., I'm now serene. Time whizzes by while I catch up on news or even better, read a book.

Have a great 2012 writing and reading!

Lynn Emery
Amazon Store
Nook Books
Smashwords

Guest author Joanne C. Hillhouse: Got an author reading? Don't sweat it

2011-12-31T00:01:00.014-05:00

Photo by Emile Hill

Antiguan and Barbudan author Joanne C. Hillhouse is the author of Oh Gad! – a novel scheduled for publication by Simon and Schuster in 2012. Her previous books are The Boy from Willow Bend and Dancing Nude in the Moonlight. She’s published in various literary journals, and her literary prizes include a UNESCO Honour Award, the Michael and Marilee Fairbanks international fellowship to participate in the Breadloaf Writers Conference, and the David Hough Literary Prize from the Caribbean Writer. Her activities include youth writing programme the Wadadli Youth Pen Prize.

I don’t sweat.

Well, okay, I do sweat; quite a bit, actually. I’m talking the kind of dampness that has people (okay, one person, one time) approaching me in the supermarket, concern wrinkling her brow: “Miss, you okay?”

But I don’t sweat when I’m nervous, like I invariably am, right before a reading. No, the signs are subtler: For only I can hear my heart trying to sledgehammer its way out of my chest, and the way everything gets dark and tight until passing out is a real possibility. And only I, once at the lectern, can feel the way one leg locks, firm, while the other trembles – not shaking like it does when idle, but trembling like an earthquake; And only I can sense the weird standing beside myself thing that happens.

One self chastises, “your leg is shaking, stop it, stop it”, worrying that the leg will give out and leave me sprawled on the floor; while the other keeps reading, initially stumbling over familiar words before catching her stride. This self is, by definition and inclination, a writer not a reader nor entertainer – which people seem to expect writers to be. But her motto is ‘feel the fear but do it anyway’, and so she does. She’s impressive really, this second self. On good days, she will begin to feel herself vibesin’ with the audience – encouraged by their laughter and murmurs. She’ll assert herself, as she tunes in to the story and her audience tunes in to her and the story she’s telling, the two of them hitting the same frequency. And just like that, they’ll merge. And soon she is one with them, the audience, herself, and Sexy Sadie (or whichever character happens to be commanding their attention).

I am no authority on readings. But since publishing my first book, I’ve survived (yes, you read that right: survived) more than a few readings – at this writing, I just completed one at the University of Toronto which included the first ever previews of my forthcoming book Oh Gad! alongside previously anthologized poetry. It went amazingly well.

I’m not sure how the next one will go, of course, but while I’m in the zone, here are some of my tried and true tricks, which you might find useful too.

1. Breathe. Cliché but true. I suck it in and hold it, counting down, trying to slow my heart beat. And it works. Deep breaths keep me from passing out – because like all humans, I need oxygen to live – and they slow things down. They remind me to trust the work; it’s ready…and with another deep breath, I’ll be ready too.

2. Distract Yourself/Be Present. Now, this sounds like a contradiction but it really isn’t. I try not to obsess about what I’m about to read. As I prepared for tonight’s reading, I ironed, watched music videos, surfed the web, tried to work (couldn’t settle down enough for that), tried on my outfit, took it off …all before leaving the hotel room.

At the event, I listen to the other speakers. I clap. I laugh. I am there. Beats sitting and worrying (read: obsessing) about all the things that could go wrong.

On this particular night, my debut reading from Oh Gad! nothing did. And isn’t that usually the case?

3. Prepare. Of course, distracting yourself only works if you’ve prepared; you know, like you can only sleep the night before the big test, instead of being up all night cramming, if you’ve actually been keeping up with your reading throughout the term. So, I prep and practice (when you’re not a natural, you have to) then, like they say in those Italian mobster movies, fuhgeddaboutit. Which is not to say that during early performances of my rare acting turns (in local productions of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues and Antigua & Barbudan equivalent When a Woman Moans) you may not have found me prowling back stage running lines trying to get into the right emotional head space; I’m not Meryl Streep, after all.

4. Take it in. This is a big one, and one I still have to work on. I’ve been known to treat readings like I did those big tests in that, I do not want to discuss or think about it after it’s done. I was not the girl to stand around discussing what answer I put for question six, when it was past the time that I could do anything about it. Move on, that’s been my mantra. But, this approach doesn’t work with readings where it’s advised that you hang around and discuss the book, make small talk, socialize. Me, I fled my Breadloaf reading as soon as it was done; turns out, several people actually found me in the days that followed to congratulate me on the reading, would have been better if I had hung around to hear it. In Toronto, I stayed put and survived (no, I can actually say that I enjoyed) the small talk, and embraced the response from the audience that, as I subsequently told a friend, felt like love.

So, my final bit of advice to you – and me – be in the moment. After all, it’s your moment.

5. Oh, and, go to the bathroom before leaving your room, or sweating may be the least of your worries.

So, what are your tips for giving your best reading?

That Resolutions Time of Year

2011-12-28T15:08:00.003-05:00

Hard to believe we are already counting down the days before the New Year arrives. Why it seems as if only yesterday we were ringing in 2011. Where does the time fly?

This can only mean that it is resolution time again. I had a number of resolutions for this year, such as make my deadlines, write a certain amount each day, pace myself accordingly, and keep the writing world in a proper perspective in keeping in mind what is truly important in life, such as good health and love of family. I also vowed to exercise regularly and no longer use the writing as an excuse not to.

Happily, I kept all of my 2011 resolutions and am the better for it.

Now, with 2012 right around the corner, my resolutions for the New Year begin with those from this year in terms of maintaining a dependable and workable writing daily writing schedule, not missing a single deadline, and doing my part to ensure good health while taking enough time to smell the roses in life and spending as much quality time with my wife and family as possible in keeping my priorities in order.

Along with these resolutions, I also want to continue to please my fans with great fiction and nonfiction; and spread my writing wings, so to speak, by adding more screenplays to my repertoire, having already written one currently being read by two producers.

Lastly, I am resolved to taking my wife to Maui, our home away from home, this year, where everything is beautiful , including the weather. Maybe while enjoying the leisure, sand, sun, and ocean, I can look ahead on resolutions for 2012...

What are your resolutions for the New Year? Did you have any for this year? Did you achieve them?

Happy New Year!

Devon Vaughn Archer

e-Gift Giving

2011-12-27T00:28:00.004-05:00

It's that time of year when lives are busy and time for updating blogs is short. I have to complete all the things that I planned to do in 2011! No, seriously, I am heading out on a trip to the Western Region of Ghana and very excited about it so please forgive me for this short and not particularly insightful posting.

This Christmas, I gave my husband and father books for their presents; not physical books this time around, but eBooks. Now, keep in mind that I am a major proponent of this development in the realm of reading. I have released my three children's books as eBooks and purchased Kindles for my children. I must say, however, that it felt a bit odd to give an eBook as a present ...convenient (I chose my husband's books in the wee hours of Christmas morning) ... but I missed watching him open the present and flip through the pages to preview his new novel.

I imagine that by next year I will be an old hand at this and presenting eBooks to everyone on my list!

Color and Mood

2011-12-26T01:25:00.000-05:00

Do you use a lot of color terms in your writing? Do you do it with a purpose?

Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan the Cimmerian, often used “black” in his fantasy and horror fiction. Some say he used it too often, but when you read his stories you don’t really notice the frequency of the word, you notice the mood the word helps create.

Howard also used shades of red a lot. I use them as well, partially because I write horror and adventure fiction and there’s always the color of blood to describe. Of course, words like dark and black and shadow appear in horror fiction a lot as well. As do their opposites, such as pale and pallid and white.

The proper use of color in fiction depends much on the environment/setting as well. In the summer woods you will have prominent greens and browns and grays, with only wisps of other colors. In the desert there will be sandy tans and, possibly, pale pinks and reds and oranges. If your work features skies and oceans, then certain colors follow naturally. If you are trying to create a sense of exotica, then exotic colors may help. Think about the strange colors of the foods and plant life that you see on many episodes of the original Star Trek.

Color is a powerful subjective experience for most people. If used carefully it can suggest much without weighing your prose down with multiple adjectives.

Do you have a color or colors that you depend on a lot in your own work? For me it’s probably black and red. If you do have a writing “color,” is it the same as your favorite color in the real world? My favorite colors are the dark reds, tending toward the maroons.

Let me close with a short list of some of the more interesting color terms available to writers. At least in my opinion.

Aeruginous bluish green like copper rust
Amaranth dark purplish red
Amethyst purple or violet
Argent silver
Cinereous ash gray
Cinnabar brilliant red
Cyan dark blue-green
Fuchsin purplish red
Fulvous dull reddish brown, brownish yellow, or tawny
Gules red as referred to in heraldry
Indigo a deep violet blue
Lapis Lazuli azure-blue
Lavender pale purple
Magenta purplish red
Mauve delicate purple
Niveous the color of snow
Ochre dark yellow
Onil a deep violet blue (indigo)
Puce brownish purple
Russet yellowish brown or reddish brown
Saffron orange yellow
Sepia dark reddish brown
Taupe brownish gray
Topaz yellow
Umber raw = yellowish brown, burnt - reddish brown
Vermeil scarlet vermilion
Vermilion brilliant red or scarlet
Violet bluish purple
Xanthous yellow or yellowish

Christmas wish list

2011-12-25T00:08:00.004-05:00

It’s Christmas day again. Another year that flew by. It’s a time of traditions, myths and gift giving. In my family, we’re still trying to forge a tradition which incorporates my husband’s and my culture and that of the country wherein we live.

For my kids, though, it seems to be all about the presents. My eight year old, of course, had a long wish list that grew longer with each passing day. My three year old just wanted a present and my two year old had no idea what was happening besides seeing pretty lights.

My husband, my ever unchanging sweetheart, did exactly as he’d done for the many years we’d been together. He waited until the day before Christmas Eve to ask me what I wanted for Christmas. I thought about it long and hard, because what I want, he probably cannot give me. So here are five things that topped my Christmas wish list:

1. Good health
2. Increased sales on my existing books
3. A day job
4. A publisher for my children’s book series
5. A good contract with a major publishing house.

Of course since my husband can give me none of the things on my wish list I just told him to surprise me.

What’s on your Christmas wish list?

Guest author Catherine McNamara: The Waiting Game

2011-12-23T00:01:00.070-05:00

Catherine McNamara grew up in Sydney and studied visual communication and African and Asian modern history before moving to Paris. She worked in pre-war Mogadishu and later lived nine years in Accra, Ghana, where she ended up running a bar and traditional art gallery. She moved to northern Italy several years ago, where her jobs have included translating welding manuals and modelling shoes. She has impressive collections of African sculpture and Italian heels.

And I thought pregnancy was a long wait! Each morning this week, just before midday, I will be listening for the postman’s motorbike coming down our drive and the dog beginning to run up and down the fence in a frenzy. The postman is to deliver the first dummy copy of my novel, The Divorced Lady’s Companion to Living in Italy, which has occupied my thoughts and time for a good few years. Not to complain – it is my debut novel and I am thrilled – but my editor has worn me down and the revisions have been endless. This is the last step in this part of the process and in April, after advance review copies have been sent out, my book will finally be published!

Let me take you back to the beginning. The seed, if you like. One summer several years I slept over at a friend’s and was driving back on a straight sun-soaked road to my neck of woods in northern Italy, where I live with my kids. That summer I was taking a break from a heavy literary novel set in Ghana where I spent ten tropical years. My friend suggested I write something funny, something about Italy. But at the time Italy was driving me nuts. A sexy but sexist country run by a shameless entrepreneur (Signor Berlusconi), whose shifty manners and ways had filtered through society. Write about Italy? Something funny?

By the end of that car trip I had a title, a first sentence and a great burst of writing energy that saw me typing away in the chicken shed by the house until winter.

Round 2: Submission. I find this the most disheartening part of the game. Probably because it involves not only waiting, but usually rejection as well. They say that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger or, in a writer’s case, makes you a better editor. After a couple of years of submitting I did a stretch of 5am starts and produced a sharp new version. Then, midsummer last year, I was sitting in a bar with an Australian friend on holidays when I glanced through my emails.

And there it was. We would like to offer you a contract of publication.

Several Campari spritzes later the message was still there and proven not to be an illusion of the drink. Soon after, I signed my contract, revised again (this involved reading out loud with a red pen – backwards and forwards) and waited.

And waited. Perhaps I didn’t push enough and there were other authors more pushy than myself. Perhaps I hadn’t understood the time frame. My publisher is a small independent press and months passed before I was introduced to my editor, with whom I went over and over The Divorced Lady’s Companion to Living in Italy. There were moments when I thought I couldn’t look at another page of it. When my eyes burned and nothing made sense – the original text, my editor’s suggestions, my ideas... nothing! And yet there were times after a break when I still giggled at my own humour (had I gone crazy?).

A couple of weeks ago we hit the FINAL VERSION. Which, given the amount of tiny errors we were adjusting at the end, seemed even premature. What if there were escapees within the text? Lack of flow? Repetitions? But I do believe we are there. The book is evenly paced; I didn’t have to sacrifice too much of my whacky language; I think that technically, it all makes sense. The experience has given me even greater respect for any person able to put a book on a shelf in a bookstore, a story that intrigues from beginning to end without hiccoughs. Editing is awful.

And so these days I am waiting. Last month I received word from my publisher that my collection of Africa-based short stories Pelt and Other Stories has been accepted for publication. While my heart burst with joy and relief, I am already (just a little), worried about the editing to come. In the meantime, Mr. Postman, please hurry up with my book.

– Catherine McNamara

Richard Pryor: A role model for writers

2011-12-21T00:04:00.042-05:00

This month marks the anniversaries of both the birth of Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III (December 1, 1940) and his death (December 10, 2005).

Richard Pryor has long been a hero of mine, and I would like to share with you some of the reasons why.

Pryor was the quintessential American hero who rose from adversity to achieve his dreams. As he himself said, "I live in racist America and I'm uneducated, yet a lot of people love me and like what I do, and I can make a living from it. You can't do much better than that."

And he made that rise from adversity repeatedly.

He started life as the son of a prostitute who abandoned him when he was only ten. He was then raised by his grandmother, the madam of a brothel, who beat him. That was not the worst of his childhood. He was also sexually molested as a six-year-old by a neighbor and later by a priest. At 14, Pryor was expelled from school. He spent some of his time in the Army in jail for beating up a racist white soldier. There was every reason to expect Pryor to be a failure.

Instead, after he left the Army, he began singing in clubs. He discovered his talent lay more in comedy and soon began appearing on TV variety shows and then in Las Vegas. By age 27, he had risen from rags to riches and was a well-known comic.

He would have to rise from the ashes (one time literally) many more times. The next time was in the mid-1960s when he sought a more authentic comic persona that would portray black life and race relations with brutal honesty. His race-related themes and his increasing use of profanity made him controversial, and opportunities to work dried up.

Instead of giving up, Pryor reinvented himself. He moved to Los Angeles and began appearing in movies. He generally had poor roles to work with, yet he was hired again and again, eventually appearing in forty-two movies.

Although he was perhaps the greatest stand-up comedian ever, his personal life was less successful. He married seven times and had five different wives. His drug use, his adultery, and his alleged mistreatment of most of his wives contributed to this turnover. He had a heart attack at age 36. He was not happy, and in a strange suicide attempt in 1980, Pryor poured rum over himself and set himself on fire after freebasing cocaine.
Despite the odds, he survived, badly burned. It's hard to imagine anyone bouncing back from such despair, severe injuries, and public humiliation. But he did. He even worked his freebasing incident into his comedy routine and got big laughs making fun of himself.

In 1986, Pryor was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. A long-time advocate for animals, he continued to oppose medical experimentation on animals even though such research might lead to better treatments for MS. He continued performing comedy and acting for years after his diagnosis.

Writers can learn many lessons from Pryor:

When life knocks you down, get back up. Repeat as necessary.
Take responsibility for your failures and turn them to your advantage.
Be willing to reinvent yourself.
Be true to your vision as an artist.
Reveal the truth, even if it hurts your career.
Don't take yourself too seriously.
Avoid self-pity.
Use your pain to understand and help fix the suffering of others.
Help those who are not as well off as you.
Hold true to your principles.

These lessons have proven invaluable in my personal life too. As some of you know, I have many chronic illnesses that at times have made it difficult or impossible for me to work or to do the things I love. Each time, I thought about Richard Pryor and followed his example. No self-pity. Get back up. Reinvent myself to accommodate my new circumstances. Use my pain to help others. Repeat as necessary. Because Pryor bounced back, I knew I could too.

Thank you, Mr. Pryor.

I'll be blogging again at Novel Spaces on January 6, 2012, when my topic will be the use of details in fiction. I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

—Shauna Roberts

Holiday Deadlines - Help!!!!!

2011-12-20T00:00:00.002-05:00

No, I don't quite look or feel like this woman, yet! They say, "never let 'em see you sweat." Not sweating, but busy as hell!

I always seem to have a deadline in December or January and each time, my plan is to complete the manuscript at least 30 days before the due date. However, I find myself writing during and after the holidays, carving out time to promote, attend events, keep up with other titles and opportunities, market, ship, self-publish, keep up with groups, handle other projects, etc., and remember to put up the tree and wrap gifts. Oh yeah, make time to buy the gifts. There never seems to be enough time during any month, but even more so in December. Plan, organize, schedule, discipline, time-management - blah, blah blah!

This month, the 20th rolled around entirely too fast, and here I am posting when I know I should have scheduled my post in advance. I do see that other authors have done that. Why didn't I?

I'm writing on this topic because an author friend reminded me, we'll get it done in due time, we'll make a way, it'll work out, cut out what you need to so you don't over-promise, and do what you can. Make adjustments as necessary and be glad for the opportunities. I know that deadlines are a good thing - it means we've put ourselves out there and are brave enough to engage in taking a shot at delivering. In the big scheme of things, that is what the allure of living out passions is all about - being able to create and deliver. Thank you, my dear author friend. This all comes along with living my dream.

To those who like me, feel their plate is too full - sometimes we've got to trim the fat and take a deep breath. It's all good and it's okay! You're not alone. But bottom line, make time for family, and the reason for the season. That is what matters most. The rest, will get done in due time. Maybe just not in the time it was due!! And in order to keep our sanity, sometimes you've got to readjust. Live up to your commitments, but don't wreck your brain and your holidays doing it!

Happy Holidays!

Naked Came the Stranger

2011-12-18T01:16:00.015-05:00

At some point during discussions of the viability or validity of independent publishing someone critical of the concept is bound to opine that traditional publishing houses act as quality filters, ensuring that only books worth reading get published. Which will usually cause someone on the other side of the fence to bring up Nicole "Snookie" Polizzi's "A Shore Thing." Fact is, you don't have to cite extreme market miscalculations like that one. The old Barnes & Noble in Wilmington was a few blocks from UNCW and had a café friendly to writers and college students, complete with wooden tables for four and a long counter with stools across the front where I did much of my early writing. (The new, trendier B&N is nearer the beach and its café features little round tables fit for two coffee cups and a biscotti; no counter.) One of the pleasures of writing there was that at any time I felt overwhelmed or discouraged, I could stroll through the racks and find a dozen books worse than anything I'd written published by major houses.

However, as bad as some traditionally published books are, in every case they represent a storyteller's sincere effort to master the craft and an editor's belief in the quality of that effort. (Or, in Polizzi's case, the belief that a tell-all book disguised as a novel by a TV reality show personality would be of interest to someone, anyone.) You might take it as a given that no one ever set out to write a bad book. And you would be wrong.

Back in the late 1960s the bestseller lists in the USofA were dominated by works by writers like Harold Robbins, Jackie Collins, and Jacqueline Susann. Vapid novels about morally bankrupt people who would make the characters of Gossip Girl look like philosophical giants exploiting everyone around them, having sex at the drop of an innuendo, drinking and drugging to ridiculous degrees, and either coming to a bad end or finding eternal happiness as a result. This was the era of "Valley of the Dolls" and "Portnoy's Complaint." By the standards of today's more erotic romances, the sex was pretty tame, but it was shocking stuff forty-five years ago.

A newspaper columnist named Mike McGrady became so fed up with (or so alarmed by, depending on the source) the "sex sells" mentality he saw driving American culture that he decided to do something about it. He put together a team of twenty-four fellow journalists for the sole purpose of producing a horrifically bad novel with lots of sex and trying to sell it. The basic premise for "Naked Came the Stranger" was a husband and wife who are NYC celebrities with a morning radio talk show. The wife (Gilly) discovers her husband (Billy) has been cheating on her and decides to even the score by having sex with as many married men in their upscale Long Island community as possible. Her goal is to corrupt and seduce every archetype of civic and moral leadership she can find. Rules for writing were purple prose throughout (example: Gilly's breasts are "pendulums of passion swinging in the winds of lust") and two sex scenes in every chapter, with the sex act itself depicted mechanically but with awkward euphemisms for the clinical details. None of the writers knew anything about what the others wrote and McGrady required rewrites if he detected any literary merit whatsoever. Gilly's appearance and body type change with every chapter, though she is consistently beautiful. (There's a scene wherein the sight of her naked breasts causes a homosexual man to become heterosexual.)

In 1968 a relative of McGrady's posed as new author Penelope Ashe marketing "Naked Came the Stranger" as her first novel. The book sold to the first major house she

approached and was published in 1969, becoming an instant bestseller (the picture of the naked woman on the cover probably helped). Book reviewers in major markets, including Stern, Le Monde, and the New York Times, used phrases like "sizzling" and "thought-provoking" and compared the ersatz Penelope Ashe to John Updike and Philip Roth. She appeared on talk shows, was interviewed about sexual liberation in women's magazines, and advised aspiring writers to impale themselves on their typewriters. After a few months the authors appeared en mass on the David Frost Show, explaining their reasons for the hoax and expressing some embarrassment that their intended pillory of "sex sells" novels was now outselling its competition. The revelation of the hoax actually triggered a jump in sales fueled by widespread speculation the novel was in fact a roman-a-clef and that the adulterous men in the Long Island community were nationally known public figures.

Naked Came the Stranger is more fun to read about than it is to read. In fact, reading it is a chore. Not only are the mores of the period awkward by today's standards, the book itself is deliberately and methodically awful. Oh, there are moments. Like when Gilly asks a pornographer where he gets all his kinky ideas and he replies: "From nature. Like every other writer, I draw from the human condition." But on the whole, McGrady did a thorough job of eradicating anything of value from the manuscript.

Naked Came the Stranger was a bestseller not because of its excellence, but because people will read what they want to read despite what any arbiters of literary taste say or gatekeepers of excellence do. And "gatekeepers" includes the band of hoaxers who were sounding the alarm about the degeneration of American literature. The trend they were protesting matured, outgrew its "look what we can get away with" stage, and diversified into the spectrum of spicy, sensuous, and erotic romance novels that today makes up the lion's (lioness's?) share of the world fiction market. All of which says a lot about the role of traditional publishers, and the potential future of independents.

(More about Naked Came the Stranger in Museum of Hoaxes and Wikipedia)

NaNoWriMo: It's Not You; It's Me.

2011-12-16T09:31:00.003-05:00

Okay, show of hands: How many people here participated in the annual “National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)” during November? If so, how’d you do? If you met or exceeded the goal of the exercise, then I applaud you. What you accomplished in those thirty days is nothing short of amazing. Even if you signed up with the best of intentions and fell short, give yourself a pat on the back. It's hard enough just sitting down to write in the first place, let alone trying to do it while staring down that kind of pressure.

Me? I didn’t participate this year, though I came closer to going for it than I did in 2010. Back then, I was still smarting about the previous year. Why? Because in 2009, the first year I decided to try my hand at what definitely is quite the challenge presented by NaNoWriMo, I failed.

Spectacularly.

My intentions were pure. In late October 2009, as I was gearing up to start writing the novel which would be due to my editor in February 2010, I decided that I was perfectly positioned to take my own shot at this “NaNoWriMo thing” I’d been hearing others talk about during prior years. 50,000 words in a month? That would be half of my projected word count for the book, putting me well ahead of the schedule I’d already outlined for myself between November 1st and the novel’s actual due date. The first day of the month arrived and somebody somewhere fired the NaNoWriMo gun, and we were off. My output for Day 1 was something shy of 1,300 words, just under the per-day pace to which one might aspire if intending to pursue the month’s goal. I could make up the difference with little or no problem, I told myself.

And then? Well, I could offer all sorts of excuses, maybe trot out a story about how real life got in the way (it did), or my day job (that, too), or how other writing assignments—each with their own crunch deadlines—showed up. They did, and I met those deadlines, but what about my personal goal of knocking out half of my novel in a month?

Um, not so much. By the end of the month, and while I actually stayed more or less on pace with meeting my actual, contracted February deadline, I was well short of meeting the NaNoWriMo goal. What the heck happened?

The simple answer? I suck at self-imposed deadlines.

My day job is ruled by deadlines; immovable milestones which cannot be missed regardless of when those particular days of the month fall on the calendar. Failure to hit those marks carries with it the prospect of financial penalties as well as damaging our standing with our clients. Weekends, holidays, illness and/or vacation don’t matter; the dates are the dates, and that’s just the way it is. With kids, you’re always on some kind of schedule, be it school, Taekwondo, gymnastics, play dates, and so on. So far as my commissioned writing is concerned, I take those deadlines and due dates very seriously. I loathe the very idea of being late, and my friend and co-writer, Kevin Dilmore, will tell you that my level of focus and crankiness increases as a deadline looms.

On the other hand, when it comes to writing just for me, I tend not to set any sort of real deadline. Instead, I just write and see where the words take me. I guess you can say it’s my way of scratching the writing itch while at the same time taking a break and decompressing from the “job aspect” of the process. It’s also one of the few opportunities I have to give the calendar, my schedule, and everything else the Big Finger. After so many years spent figuring out how to balance my professional writing with my day job, family, and other responsibilities and demands on my time, I think it’s just second-nature for me to do things this way. In the back of my brain, I know that no matter how I dress it up, a self-imposed writing deadline carries no penalty.

That said, I’m stubborn, and part of me keeps telling myself, “Shut up and try again, bonehead.” It’s obviously too late for 2011, but what about NaNoWriMo 2012? If I’m going to sign up for the program next year, I’m going to need some kind of accountability plan; something public so that I can equate it in all the ways that matter to a contracted deadline. Yeah, that just might be the ticket.

So, anybody else struggle with deadlines, be they external or self-imposed? What methods or tricks do you employ to keep yourself focused?

Guest author Chicki Brown: A Brave New World

2011-12-15T04:08:00.001-05:00

Contemporary women’s fiction/romance author Chicki Brown has published four Kindle best selling novels. An avid reader, her favorite authors are Beverly Jenkins, Eric Jerome Dickey, Lisa Kleypas, J.R. Ward and Suzanne Brockmann. A New Jersey native, Brown and her family relocated to suburban Atlanta, Georgia in 1994, and she now proudly calls herself a “Georgia peach.” Her many homes in cyberspace include her website, personal blog, Twitter, and Facebook.

A Brave New World

I’m certain this title has been overused when talking about electronic publishing, but it is most appropriate. June 2012 will mark my second anniversary as an e-author. In this short time, I have learned enough about the industry to fill volumes, and the learning process continues daily. The publishing industry is morphing into an organism that’s never before existed, and this is a good thing for authors. We are now in the driver’s seat. It’s not such a good thing for those who are rushing to throw something into cyberspace just to jump on the bandwagon.

My concern is with what I see happening in the industry lately. Many first-time authors are spitting their books out onto Kindle and Nook hoping to cash in on the explosion in electronic publishing. Unfortunately, in their zeal, many of these newbies have skipped several essential steps in the process of becoming a successful e-book author.

During my daily Internet travel, I end up talking to new and aspiring authors. It is becoming clear to me a great many of them are under the misconception that e-publishing is the “quick and easy” road to publication. They haven’t done their homework on the details of what it takes to get a properly formatted manuscript onto Kindle, Nook and the other electronic readers. Some of them even assume those e-tailers will do the formatting, revision and even marketing for them. Wrong!

I know I’m from a different generation, but I believe expecting instant anything other than rice or oatmeal is a joke. Publishing, whether traditional or electronic, involves a LOT of hard work, long hours, tedious revisions and repetitive tasks. Certainly, an author can farm these duties out to someone else, but unless the aspiring author is a celebrity or independently wealthy, they can’t afford to do so. This means the responsibility is on the creator of the work.

Before I started writing, I had always been an avid reader, only I had no idea how my favorite authors created the stories I loved. Writing my first books was a blast, but the plot was convoluted, it was filled with headhopping and tons of backstory. All I did was put the story on paper that was in my head. It will never be published, because every time I go back and look at it, I cringe.

In the past eighteen months, I have released four novels, but what some of the newbies don’t understand is that those novels were written over a period of ten years. During those years, I devoured writing craft web sites, joined my local Romance Writers of America chapter meetings, learned about plot, point of view, characterization, backstory, foreshadowing – all the stuff I didn’t know about when I wrote the first manuscript. Yet I don’t regret doing the process backwards. It taught me how much I had yet to learn about the craft of writing.

Another major misconception I’ve heard is the idea that once your book is published, the marketing aspect can be taken care of by a few posts to your Facebook page and handing out a couple of hundred flyers. Wrong again. Most e-book authors spend several hours every single day marketing and promoting their books. It is essential to learn to navigate the social networks in a professional manner and observe the expected etiquette. This doesn’t mean you still can’t have fun online, but being known as “SuziethebigbootyAuthor” is no longer acceptable if you want to be taken seriously. Posting about how drunk you got at last night’s party gives readers and potential readers a negative impression you do not want as a published author.

Make it a daily habit of reading the top e-publishing blogs like:

http://jakonrath.blogspot.com/
http://thewritersguidetoepublishing.com/
http://www.selfpublishingreview.com/
http://www.publetariat.com/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/books/

My advice to new and aspiring authors is to put in the time it takes to become knowledgeable, so you don’t go out there looking crazy. Invest in preparing yourself for the journey. It will be well worth the effort.

Chicki’s new release, Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing, debuts on January 2, 2012 on Kindle and Nook.

All of Chicki's books can be found at Amazon and Nook.

Writing and Reading Christmas Fiction

2011-12-13T10:54:00.006-05:00

As a writer, I love this time of year when the spirit of Christmas is in the air and the snowflakes are falling and gift of giving is in full swing.

I have been fortunate enough to embody this in a number of Christmas-themed novels, including CHRISTMAS DIAMONDS, CHRISTMAS HEAT, and my two latest ones, CHRISTMAS WISHES: Laura's Story and PRIVATE LUAU. It has been fun to use the season and its many wonderful dynamics to my advantage in carving out tales of good tidings and joy that so many people can relate to.

As Christmas 2011has nearly come and gone, I am already looking ahead to Christmas 2012 and beyond to see what new and magical tales I can conjure up that says, "Have Yourself a Merry Christmas."

But perhaps even more satisfying to me than writing Christmastime fiction is reading it by other writers. Some classics immediately come to mind.

Obviously, A CHRISTMAS CAROL by Charles Dickens tops most lists. THE CHRISTMAS BOX by Richard Paul Evans is a must for as inspirational fiction. MRS. MIRACLE by Debbie Macomber was a delight, as was THE CHRISTMAS SHOES by Donna VanLiere. More recently, I enjoyed James Patterson's THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING.

It is definitely the most wonderful time of the year and I plan to take in at least one Christmas novel as I curl up on couch in front of fireplace and sip hot chocolate with the Christmas tree decorated and presents snuggled beneath.

What are your favorite Christmastime novels? Or nonfiction?

Happy Holidays to all!

Children's Book Signing

2011-12-12T00:03:00.007-05:00

As a children's book author, I have a number of different issues to deal with than my compatriots who write for adults. Most of the issues are positive, for example, children are often more willing to suspend disbelief than adults. However, when it comes to marketing, life can get a little sticky.

Last Saturday I held a book signing for my latest book, Trapped in Dunston's Cave. Now, I have never planned a book signing for an adult book, but I can imagine my plans would circle around a staid location (a bookstore, a cafe, or something similar), wine and cheese for snacks and a quiet reading of the book followed (hopefully) by an orderly line of people waiting to sign and purchase a copy.

When I think of a children's book signing, the first few lines of Ogden Nash's poem Children's Party comes to mind:

May I join you in the doghouse, Rover?
I wish to retire till the party's over.
Since three o'clock I've done my best
To entertain each tiny guest.
My conscience now I've left behind me,
And if they want me, let them find me.

Parents and children arrived at the location I had chosen, the Nubuke Foundation here in Ghana which supports the Arts and does a lot of work with children and literacy. The children started colouring on the sheets that I provided to entertain them until we got started. This went well with one, two or three little ones, but once we got past four and five, the quiet, organised scene began to unravel as they decided to explore the garden.

It took us some time to round them all up. When we finally got them all seated in the right place at the same time, one child who had been sitting quietly for a while piped up,
"Can I go back to my colouring now?"

I told the children an interactive story and then got them to create a story of their own, line by line, one child at a time. They chose to create a story about a dinosaur which ate the narrator's sister. There was a lot of laughter before we were able to engender some sympathy for the sister and the story turned in a direction that led to her rescue.

After this, the children were released to colour some more and to make bookmarks that they could use as they read their books. They ran in the expansive garden, ate cup cakes and by all accounts had a great time.

I was exhausted at the end, but fully satisfied. I did not sell many books, however, I felt that the children had a very enjoyable experience that could help them to associate reading with fun.

A Matter of Convention

2011-12-10T00:01:00.006-05:00

I was at an SF/Fantasy convention a couple of weeks back. They had an autograph table set up in the dealer’s room for the author guests to use. I passed through the dealer’s room many times, and whenever I saw any of my fellow guest authors sitting at the autograph table alone I stopped and talked and bought one of their books.

I didn’t know any of these authors before the convention. Many of the books I bought from them may never get read. I’m sure they’re well written; it’s just that in a world of limited time they are not likely to make it to the top of my TBR pile. I’ve got a lot of friends who I know are writing good books that I’ll enjoy, and there are other authors who I don’t know but whose work I like. Those books are the ones that rise to the top of the heap.

Once my panel load slowed down, I went and sat at the autograph table for a couple of hours myself. A couple of folks I’d bought books from passed through. Most seemed to make an effort to avoid eye contact. I was trying to do the thing you do at autograph tables, smile and cross glances with folks who pass by. It didn’t work on my fellow authors, perhaps because they were so conscious of having done the same thing when theywere at the table.

One particular incident actually bothered me. I’d bought one author’s book at the table, for 19+ bucks. Later, while I was there with my books, none of which approached 19 dollars in cost, the same author came and sat down again. We chatted but he hardly gave my books a glance, and certainly did not buy one. He insisted I take his card, though, and then began grilling me about my publisher and what kind of deal I had with them. He was apparently unhappy with his publisher and was looking to switch. I suppose I was a bit troubled by not selling any books to fellow authors, but my interaction with that one specific author actually left me feeling a little unclean, a little used.

Then I started thinking that, instead of being irritated, maybe I should take the lack of reciprocity as a sign that I’m doing this writing thing all wrong. I understand that a writer’s objective is to sell their books, not spend more money than they take in on buying other authors’ books. That seems to translate into the need to be a bit mercenary. It means: SELL! Don’t BUY!

I’m not sure I can do this, though. I think too much about how nice it feels when someone expresses an interest in your work. I also know, intimately, how it feels to sit at a table with no takers for your wares. And how you still smile.

I guess I’m lucky to have a day job, that I don’t have to subsist on what I make from my writing. I don’t have to be mercenary. I'd love to hear from other writers about this kind of thing. How mercenary should we be? How do we seek a balance between supporting our own careers and supporting other writers?

Technology and me

2011-12-09T00:02:00.010-05:00

When it comes to technology, I consider myself to be in the middle of the pack: savvy enough to know what’s out there but not enthusiastic enough to run out and get it. I believe technology should serve a practical purpose and so I never acquire something because it’s the hot item out there. I just never see the point of having a desktop, a laptop, an IPAD, an IPod a Nook and a Kindle all at the same time.

So two years ago when Verizon Fios gave us a voucher for a Netbook, I looked around and evaluated the technology that I already had. Both my husband and I had laptops and we both had desktops. The problem though, our desktop computers were outdated running on Windows 98 operating systems. Those platforms couldn’t even support most of the new programs. Oh yes, I thought a Netbook would be great for portability, but I had a fully functioning Dell Latitude laptop. So I decided what we needed was a new desktop, especially as my kid was now learning computers in school. So instead of the Netbook that I had drooled over before, I got a desktop computer.

It was great. Sleek, fast, just what I needed to give my writing a boost. There was one drawback: I wrote best in my bed late at night. So of course, after the novelty wore off, I was back to using my trusted old Dell Latitude laptop.

Fast forward two years. My wonderful laptop has all but given up on me. It is eight years old. The initial battery died a year ago. My back up battery died six months ago. I was still determined to use it. Of course I had to have it plugged in at all times. The problem with that is the minute it became unplugged, I lost all my work. Plus it took a full twenty minutes to booth up. Finally, as if things couldn’t get worst, the keys began to drop out one by one (thank goodness I’m a touch typist).

I decided it was time for a technology update. I wanted something for my writing. I wanted something portable that was small enough to fit in a pocketbook. I wanted something with a Windows platform. I also wanted an e-reader. My daughter who’s been harassing me for an IPAD for the longest time hounded me to get an IPAD or a tablet. I thought the tablets were cool and very portable, and they worked well as universal e-readers. But they were not as practical for what I do on a computer as I’d like.

Then I discovered the Dell Inspiron Duo. It’s a tablet. It’s a laptop. It has the portability and touch screen of a tablet, the size of a (slightly larger) e-reader. Most importantly, it’s a fully functioning laptop/notebook. After much deliberation, I purchased it. I love it. I can lug it around anywhere without having to lug a heavy computer bag. It supports everything I use my laptop for. It can even be used as a phone if you so desire (not that I’ll ever use it that way). Most of all it’s given my writing (and reading) a shot in the arm. So forget the Kindle, the Nook, the IPAD, and the laptop. I’ve got my Dell Inspiron Duo.

What about you…how do you go about acquiring new technology?

Taking the plunge

2011-12-07T00:01:00.020-05:00

Many of my fellow Dorchester Leisure authors have done it. Several current Novel Spaces members have, too, including KeVin Killiany and Lynn Emery, and a former Novelnaut, Farrah Rochon, has been the latest to take that plunge. Are you curious yet? I'm talking about authors who were formerly published by traditional houses - and many of whom still are - taking the plunge into indie publishing.

I'm next, guys, and if you don't think this is a huge departure for all of us, then you have no idea how unthinkable the concept of publishing oneself used to be up to, oh, even one year ago - two at most. To quote The Next Web:

Indie publishing, the act of an individual person publishing a book, is not a new concept. In fact, for the last several decades such activities have been panned as ‘self-publishing,’ and dealt with an attached stigma that labelled any self-published author as second-tier, and not quite good enough to find a ‘real publisher.’

But everything in the publishing industry - an industry that has been badly broken for a long time - has changed: the technology, the markets, the distribution, and the newly empowered writers/authors who are blazing trails and managing their writing careers themselves. I don't expect to immediately start smiling all the way to the bank despite the good news from authors like Gemma Halliday who are kind enough to share their indie sales figures; I'm aware that many writers who are making significant money by publishing themselves have extensive backlists that generate most of the sales and stimulate sales of their new books.

What I do expect is to experience the satisfaction of self-reliance; whatever comes of this venture will be up to me, not to an army of intermediaries only tenuously connected to my work and who control every aspect of its publication while I stand on the sidelines, invisible, impotent and in the dark about everything from pricing to print run, release date to cover image. To paraphrase Lynn Emery, it's all about control. I no longer feel ambivalent about my writing and publishing ventures. I feel empowered, positive and energised - a startling contrast to the way I've felt over the last three years. Stay tuned - and wish me luck.

The Piracy Pirates and Ebooks

2011-12-04T00:00:00.003-05:00

A fellow author sent myself and a few other authors an email about a site that had free downloads of ebooks. Two of us in particular discovered that our books were included on the site. Needless to say we were not happy. I posted a reminder on Facebook that day that we do not write for free. Well, at least that's not the intention.

First thing the next day I sent an email to my publisher who forwarded it to their piracy department. I'm sure there were other authors on my publisher's list who were also on the site. Well, by the end of the day, that site was gone, poof, pow, see ya!

We were elated! Not sure if it was the publisher or some other reason or combination of reasons that did the trick, but the link is not valid (hopefully that's not temporary).

After that, the other author from the group who realized her books were on that site and I discussed the fact the there are other sites as well. She found one other that include hers, and I found two that include mine.

Is it like killing one single ant, when there are eggs just waiting to hatch? There are so many people who do this, and being that ebooks are a sign of the times, how do we really monitor this, or should we even bother? I'd like to think that I will report each site that I discover, also handling it myself if it's a self-pubbed title, but I also wonder if it will be like killing that one lone ant.

There are so many other aspects to writing and publishing that we must give attention to. And just as with the music industry, and movies, books are obviously not excluded from feeling the hit of piracy.

What are your thoughts on how to monitor this or best deal with it, if at all?

And still, I write!!

Suspension of Disbelief

2011-12-03T00:51:00.001-05:00

My daughter took me to see Immortals Wednesday. I was reminded of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct stories, Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, Allen Drury's Washington, just about anything by James Lee Burke, several columns about verisimilitude in writing by Lawrence Block, and of course Naked Came the Stranger. (Really must do a column on NCtS one day.)

In writing Immortals, the Parlapanides brothers did to ancient Greece and its mythology what Stephanie Meyer did to vampire and werewolf traditions. Though the gods do not sparkle in sunlight, the five extras from 90210 who represent the pantheon do wear gold lamé and pout when thoughtful. They also have more trouble with the Prime Directive than Captain Kirk. In Immortals Greek villages are Pueblos carved from cliffs hundreds of feet above the sea – and the Hellenic "wine dark sea" is actually dark with oil that makes everything except the Virgin Oracle's scarlet gown look like Prince William Sound. I was annoyed by the Titans being about five feet tall and jumping around like rabid flying monkeys but got a kick out of Athens being fortified by a model of Hoover Dam (one of the characters actually says it was originally built as a dam). My favorite bit was the horizon-spanning salt desert covering the heart of Greece where nothing grows and even the buildings are carved from salt, but which inexplicably has fresh water oases; this is the location of the salt mine. (My daughter's favorite was the people being tortured in the iron bull breathing through rubber hoses attached to plastic masks held in place by elastic straps – but I see that more as a production issue than part of the storytelling.) And – though Frieda Pinto's naked bottom does have a cameo – it's the storytelling, the plot's inconsistencies, that reminded me of NCtS. (Example: Hyperion spends the first few scenes torturing priests and sacking villages looking for the Virgin Oracle. Survivors are sent to the salt mine, in the middle of the salt desert, where he's been keeping the Virgin Oracle prisoner for weeks. No fear, she leads a prison break, so perhaps Hyperion was just being proactive in his torturing and sacking.)

Despite all of that, Immortals was a guilty-pleasure blast. Freed from the constraints of plot, history, or logic, director Singh was able to focus on overwhelming our senses with wide-screen spectacle. Everything from special effects to costumes to sets to dialog is over the top without slipping into campy. While it seemed clear no one in front of the cameras gave much thought to acting, every man jack of them devoted their hearts and minds and various other body parts to the cause of entertaining the heck out of us. And they delivered.

Which of course relates back to Evan Hunter (McBain), Allen Drury, James Lee Burke, and Lawrence Block. Allen Drury loved Washington – the city and the politics – and when his characters are in the halls of Congress or the streets of Georgetown you know he has seen every detail he describes. My impression is Hunter loved New York City, but he did not want to restrict himself to the reality of the place; the city of McBain's 87th precinct is never identified but it is made up of neighborhoods and locales lifted from NYC then repositioned to serve the needs of his stories. Lawrence Block also loves NYC and sets his stories there, but he fudges just a bit on the geography. I'm told you can always find the neighborhood, maybe even the street corner identified in his story, but you'll never find the exact hotel or bar or alley where the action takes place. Even so, New Yorkers I know aver he gets the city, they know he's one of them when they read his stories. (John D MacDonald did the same thing with south Florida; you'd get lost following his directions, but he got the feel of my home in the 1960s exactly right.) I've spent a total of three weeks in New Orleans – the last thirty-five years ago – and I have no idea how accurate James Lee Burke's descriptions are. But the man has a gift for description that amazes, and if the reality of the region doesn't match what he's created, then – to paraphrase John Milius's opening to The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean – if this isn't the way it was, it's the way it should have been.

And that's important. We are storytellers, not historians, not cartographers, not scientists or biographers. Everything we do, every tool that comes to hand, must serve the story – that is our craft. We should respect facts, we should use them whenever possible. Not just because they're true but because they are the hooks on which we hang our fiction. But we have to use facts in a way that strengthens the story and moves it forward. In teaching English as a second language I frequently returned to the theme of the difference between literal meaning and contextual meaning. (For example, whenever an alarm goes on, most English speakers say it went off.)
Sometimes we have to subsume the literal facts to the facts of the story. This can be as subtle as Lawrence Block capturing the spirit of a neighborhood while using addresses that don't exist or as in-your-face as Tarsem Singh choreographing a Jet-Li-esque kung-fu smackdown between the gods and the Titans. If we do our jobs right, our readers will willingly set objective reality aside and join us on our journey.

Loving The Writer's Life

2011-12-01T00:00:00.022-05:00

My niece and nephew, Christmas 2007

Thanksgiving 2011 is distant memory, but I'm still counting my writer blessings. A big one has to be the family I was born in, bless their southern eccentric hearts! Southerners love to tell a tall tale. My uncles could lie, I mean tell a good story with the best of 'em. But great storytelling is an equal opportunity skill, because my aunts, older cousins and grandmother were just as entertaining. The holidays have always been a time of family coming together, and as a kid that meant eavesdropping on the adults. Of course there is an art to listening in. You have to be a chameleon- blend into the woodwork or furniture so that the grown-ups forget you're there. That way you can hear the really juicy stuff. Ah yes, the holidays packed my gift bag with loads of material for books.

Here are a few tales from warm family gatherings:

One of my maternal uncles used to work for a man who was very rich. This man's wife used to have strange "spells". That was the polite southern belle term for it. My uncle put it more bluntly, she was nuts. This rich man, from an old southern family, put up with his wife but just barely. He'd married her for money and her family name, both sets of parents expected them to wed you see. Translation- you want to inherit the family loot? Marry the right person. Anyway after many years a tragic accident happened. The poor wife wandered into the pond on the family estate and drowned. No doubt during one of her "spells". Then my uncle at the end of this sad story leaned forward, his voice low and said, "I don't think she ended up face down in that pond by accident." A murder mystery!

One of my ancestors (great-great-great grandmother I think, the story is murky) was a Choctaw Indian bought as a slave before the Civil War. Her master was a doctor from Manchester, England. They had two sons. Reportedly he never married, and doted on their mother. He died and left his sons his land. There was outrage from the white population when one son defiantly tried to petition the court for his inheritance. With help from the sheriff, they set out to kill him, but he escaped into the frontier (Opelousas, land of Jim Bowie). No one knows what happened to him after that. Rich source for a sweeping historical saga!

Finally from me, a heartwarming memory of Christmas. My father worked for the local company, Gulf States Utilities. Each year they would sponsor a Christmas party for the children of employees. What fun, but not because of the toys. No, the fun was watching "Santa". GSU hired Santa to give toys to every child. He'd sit on a stage in an auditorium, and all the kids would line up to get their gifts after a brief program. Sometimes our Santa had a nip of "cheer" before he got to the program. One Santa would break into blues songs like, "Merry Christmas, baby. Ya sho been good to me!" Another one would admonish rambunctious kids not to be naughty, with a gruff, "Hey, stop actin' a fool!" or "Shut up, and sit your butt down!" Gotta love old Santa, huh?

I wish you a Merry Christmas. I hope you have wonderful family memories, great food and a few stories to tell.

Lynn Emery

For a spicy Louisiana holiday romance check out

Happy New Year, Baby

Guest author Genella deGrey: What I did on my summer vacation

2011-11-30T00:01:00.002-05:00

Last August, I boldly went where I hadn't gone before: To Hawaii. In the weeks leading up to my trip, I knew I was up for a feast of the senses, which of course was the most exciting part. The least exciting part was that I knew I was going to be alone. Now don’t get me wrong, I'm not a scaredy-cat, I can drive great distances alone, go to downtown LA by myself, I can even navigate my way through Hollywood at night to go clubbing... I just wanted to have someone to share it all with, ya know? I can’t help it; I judge the monumental experiences of my life by how romantic they were. I totally understand that this could be considered a personality flaw to which I would shrug my shoulders and utter, “Deal with it, if ye be a man.” ;)

Now, the universe doesn’t always give us what we want, but it’s really good at giving us what we need . . . and someday it will become clear to me why I spent four glorious days in my own company. *eye roll*

Anyway, today I’d like to explore a couple of non-romantic reasons to “vacate” - especially geared toward writers - the position we normally stay in for long periods of time.

So, why step away from work/the computer?
Well, one reason could be to encounter views like these:

Now, that’s not to say that you NEED to head to an exotic locale where the landscape alone causes your spine to turn to jelly. Even a trip to a local park can be a refreshing break.

Go ahead, try some alone time. Don’t get me wrong, I love my 7 year-old as if he were my right arm, but sometimes I need my “me” time. And even though it seems I crave romance at every turn, there are times I need to get away from it all (keeping in mind that I live in a city with about eight million other people.)

Even when I was a little kid, I used to climb up onto the back wall, sit and stare at the sky and just ... think. In my high school years I would climb up the fire escape of our condo to the roof and do the same. Was I taking a breather, did I need the quiet time or my own personal space? Whatever the reason, this alone time served to sooth my soul.

These days as an adult, sunset is my favorite time of day. There is something inherently calming to me about a beautiful sky on the verge of night. Here are a few pix I took in Hawaii as evening fell:

Ah, just looking at those shots makes me feel a chill.

A change of routine for writers in and of itself once in a while can turn into an essay of sorts – certainly something you can tuck away to use at another date. This sort of exercise is essential for those of us who create sometimes entire worlds out of nothing. We need new or different sights, smells and various other uncommon-to-us stimuli so that our writing doesn’t become stale or over-used. Try this: take a blanket, a snack and just chill for an hour or two. You will be surprised at the sundry new perceptions you pick up on. Just be sure to escape with the intention of bringing something new to your awareness. Whether you head to the park or sit in the middle of a shopping mall or even the local coffee shop, take a note book or journal and jot down what you are feeling, seeing, smelling, etc. Then do it with your eyes closed and things will shift a bit, making you more aware – you may even find something you didn’t when your eyes were open. You might be inspired with a new story line or character, but whatever the case, I guarantee you will find a place in one of your WIPs to place bits of this particular sensory exercise.

Venture out, do something different, surround yourself with things and people under normal circumstances unknown to yourself – and don’t forget to take notes. You might find something in the process that will surprise you. You might even find . . . YOU!

Remember when attempting this exercise – no, you don’t have to check with your doctor – LOL, but where ever you go, whatever you do, even if it’s to gain a sense of clarity, do it with a specific intention in mind. This will put you into the mind-set of achieving that which you wish to accomplish.

Happy reading, happy writing and happy holidays everyone!
:)
G.
Genella deGrey's website
Her Facebook fan page

Dial D for Dialogue

2011-11-29T09:38:00.003-05:00

As a longtime writer, I have always believed that the heart of a story is crisp, right to the point dialogue.

I am all for strong narrative, description, scenery, thoughts, and other elements that make for a great novel. However, what comes out of the mouths of characters can make or break the book.

For instance, if your protagonist just goes on and on while saying little of substance, it can definitely weigh down the novel and cause the plot to drag.
On the other hand, if a character has something worth saying, that can be said in as few words as possible while still moving the story along, then that will hold the attention of the reader and give the writer something to build on.

Beyond that, I enjoy hearing what people have to say in fiction, as opposed to telling us what they are doing and thinking. I believe this breathes life into any plot and make the characters seem real. The latter is especially true when the dialogue comes from the heart or soul of character and is spoken in real language rather than scripted words as is often found in screenplays and teleplays.

Do you prefer more or less dialogue as a writer or reader?

Writer's Crossroads

2011-11-28T00:58:00.001-05:00

Three children had fallen into the crater of a volcano and I had no way to help them get out.

To make matters worse, they were my children, or they had been for the last few weeks and four chapters of my WIP, the fourth book in the Caribbean Adventure Series.

I was as stuck as they were, unable to move the adventure forward. I was suffering from the much discussed writer's block. Finally, after staring at the page for many more days, (dare I say weeks?) than I care to mention, I remembered a bit of advice about overcoming a block. That writer suggested that one solution to writer's block was to rewrite the scene, come at it from a different angle.

So, I, very reluctantly, took the kids back the way they came out of the volcano and took a second shot. It worked. This time they found a solution to that issue and moved forward to the next.

What techniques do you use to kick start your writing if it stalls?

Suspense Part Two

2011-11-26T01:15:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I talked about “quick” and “slow” suspense. Quick suspense is fast off the page by calling the reader’s attention immediately to a threat, like a ticking bomb. However, quick suspense depends more on universal threats than character specific ones, and will always be weaker than “slow” suspense, which develops when characters the reader cares about are threatened. Below are some ways that, I think, writers can create the slower and superior type of suspense. These are techniques I used in my thriller, Cold in the Light.

1. THE EXPLOITING OF CHARACTERS’ WEAKNESSES:
Characters need to be vulnerable for slow suspense to develop, and they need to be sympathetic. This is why many thriller and horror writers use children as characters, and why women are often victims in such stories. These types of characters are at least perceived as being more vulnerable, and therefore evoke sympathy in the reader. A threat against a character the reader cares about is far more effective than one against a character the reader doesn’t.

2. SACRIFICING CHARACTERS:
Most thrillers and horror novels have some characters whose sole purpose is to get killed to show how dangerous the villain is. While the loss of such characters does help establish the villain persona, they do little to increase slow suspense. What does increase slow suspense is the loss of a character who the reader already cares about. If one such character is lost, the ante is raised for all the characters, and the reader perceives the threats as more serious for everyone. The more genuine the risks appear to the reader, the more slow suspense increases.

3. THE DARK AND STORMY NIGHT EFFECT:
The environment in which characters move is, in many cases, at least as important as the characters and action. In Cold in the Light, for example, much of the action takes place at night and in the woods. The villains are at home in both. The heroes are not. Harsh environments put another strain on the character; they make his or her life harder, and if the reader cares about them, this ups the ante for the reader.

4. CLIFFHANGERS AND GOALS:
Since the days of matinee serials, and before, writers have known the value of a cliffhanger for creating tension and suspense. Page turners are page turners because the page the reader just finished generates a “need to know” feeling for what happens next--on the following page. But cliffhangers work best if they come out of goal directed behavior for the characters.
For heroes, cliffhangers occur when they meet an obstacle on their way to a goal. It seems like they are about to reach safety and, “boom,” something gets in the way. The reader is left wondering what the characters are going to do to get around this new problem.

In contrast, cliffhangers happen with villains when obstacles are removed from their path. Since the reader’s hopes lie with the heroes, when the villain acquires a new weapon, or some knowledge, or some advantage, this rackets up the reader’s suspense. The reader wonders: “What is he/she/it going to do with their new information or new weapon?”

5. THE TELLING DETAIL:
When seen from the point of view of a character, the details they focus on can do much to increase suspense. Imagine a mall. Not unusual at all. But this mall has no people in it. It’s empty, totally empty. Silent. You pass the food court and see food sitting on the tables. Coffee still steams. Food looks half eaten. But no one is around. Then comes a sound, a boom boom, boom boom. You try to place it. It seems familiar. And you realize, it sounds like a giant beating heart. Choosing the right details guides the reader’s perceptions, and their mood. It sets them up to wonder, “what comes next?” And that is the “heart” of suspense.

Procrastination is the thief of time

2011-11-24T00:06:00.013-05:00

For the second (or is it third?) year in a row my post falls on Thanksgiving Day. I originally was going to post on things I am thankful for, traditions and holidays in general. However, Liane’s post, Carpe Diem - Again, struck a note with me. Why? Because I recently missed a great opportunity.

My mother is an excellent storyteller. I spent years sitting at her feet listening to her tell old folk stories animatedly. And though the stories were repetitive, I could listen to them over and over again. I had always dreamed of writing and publishing some of those old stories. Indeed I have written a few. But one of my other dreams was to preserve those stories as told by my mother in her dramatic fashion so that my kids could hear them.

For years I procrastinated. I blamed it on the distance. I haven’t lived in the same area as my mother since 1993. I waited to get a video recorder. I waited for when we were without the distraction of a million family members talking all at once. I waited…

Well my mother is now eighty-one years old and has survived a stroke and a heart attack. I decided it was time to get those stories. So for two weeks when she visited me, I got my video and audio recorder and I tried to get her to tell those old favorite stories with all the gusto that she used to when I was little. But there was a problem: my mother can no longer remember the stories. I had to prompt her and remind her of the stories. I knew there were many more than the few I remembered, but my mother was unable to recall them. I had waited much too long.

I can think of a few cliché’s to sum it up. Chief among them is “procrastination is the thief of time.” I am thankful that I got a few stories out of her, but disappointed that many of the stories are lost forever since the culture of oral storytelling is quickly disappearing.

So I’ll join Liane in saying, “Carpe Diem.”

And well, since it is Thanksgiving, enjoy family, friends, feasts, and turkey. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Carpe diem - again

2011-11-23T00:01:00.040-05:00

Raymond on the peak of

El Tucuche, Nov. 2010

My first piano teacher was a short, rotund, elderly nun. Sister Lucy was so ravaged with what I now believe to be osteoporosis that her upper back was U-shaped and her chin rested on her chest. She could barely manage to show me the proper placement of fingers on keys, but her keystrokes as she demonstrated the movements were strong and sure. She had clear grey eyes magnified by her glasses and was a gentle soul. I think she came from Ireland like the other foreign nuns at St. Joseph's Convent and it was under her tutelage, in one of the tiny music rooms that barely managed to fit a piano, two stools and a metronome, that I discovered the joy of playing something that at least approximated music. I distinguished myself under her guidance - far more so than under her successor, a chain-smoking, gentlemanly English lady who terrified me.

I graduated from high school and went out into the not-so-wide world of work in the same town where I had gone to school, and every once in awhile I'd remember sweet Sister Lucy and resolve to go and visit her. I never got around to it, and when I heard that she had died, along with remorse at my procrastination, I began to understand that for most young people, the reality and inevitability of death is not a concept that can readily be grasped. I realized then that putting off a visit to an elderly person means that when you're ready to make the effort, the person might be gone - forever.

Which brings me to November 2010 and an e-mail I received from an elderly gentleman here in Trinidad. I had written a blog post about hiking my favourite mountain, El Tucuche. He told me he had discovered the post and enjoyed it tremendously because that was also his favourite hike and he had scaled the peak more than 100 times in his ninety years. In fact, he had celebrated his ninetieth birthday just weeks before by climbing El Tucuche once again, a feat that attracted quite a bit of media coverage.

When I finally wrapped my head around what my new friend, Raymond, had achieved, I told him he had become my inspiration: I could think of nothing I'd love more than to be able to repeat his feat if I lived to his age. We began corresponding, found each other on Facebook, and he invited me to join him on his next hike in early 2011. This one would be to Paria Waterfall, a lovely trek along the north coast and into the forest that I had undertaken several times in my earlier hiking years. I decided to work on improving my fitness so that when Raymond and his group next hiked El Tucuche I'd be ready.

The hike to Paria was postponed four times. We had an unseasonably rainy dry season and the weather simply refused to cooperate with our plans. When the hike finally came off I didn't go; Raymond had probably tired of having to call and tell me about postponements and didn't want to disappoint me again. The next time we communicated was in July when my niece graduated and he left a gracious comment on her photo on my Facebook page. By this time the true rainy season was in full pour and hiking was out of the question. The months flew by imperceptibly.

Three weeks ago Raymond contacted me on Facebook and told me he had suffered a heart attack three months before, but was on the mend and spending several days a week in his store. I was assailed by a sense of urgency; I told my friend I'd visit him at his store that week. He said he was looking forward to finally meeting me face to face. I asked if he would be at the store on Thursday or Friday. When two days passed and I did not hear from him I felt a deep foreboding. That Friday night I left a message on his page: "Well, maybe another week. Thinking of you and hoping you're okay, Raymond." The next time I visited his Facebook page I learned he had died on November 10, three days after his ninety-first birthday.

It felt like Sister Lucy all over again. I will never be able to hike and not think of Raymond pounding those trails in his nineties. He is indeed my inspiration to seize the day and to understand that living fully has no correlation with the number of birthdays accumulated.

Write that book. Sail that ocean. Climb those mountains; Raymond climbed them at 90.

In memory of Raymond "Don Ramos" Banfield, hiker, former Spanish teacher and vice-principal of Presentation College, mentor of many, practitioner of healthy living. I will climb El Tucuche again, and I know he'll be walking right there beside me.

World Fantasy Con: Can You Mix Science into Fantasy"

2011-11-21T00:04:00.002-05:00

I went to World Fantasy Convention (WFC) 2011 in San Diego at the end of October, and the second panel I attended was on mixing science into fantasy.

The panelists were Greg Benford, Yves Meynard, Brent Weeks, L.E. Modisett, Darryl Murphy, and Edward Willett.

I did not stay for the whole panel because I wanted to get a good seat at the animal show. (Yes! The San Diego Zoo brought exotic animals to WFC, and for an hour talked about their adaptations. Very cool.) But even in what I attended, I learned several interesting things I'd like to share with you.

Edward Willett says that he likes to write fantasy in which the magic does not break physical laws of nature. However, after his steampunk fantasy was published, he received criticism that by having coal- and gas-based inventions that could be built and work in real life, he had taken all the magic out of the story.

Most or all of the panelists agreed that magic in fantasy should have rules (at least in the author's mind; it's okay if the characters themselves do not understand the rules) and that the rules should make sense. One panelist pointed out that if magic is not given rules, explicit or implied, then tension and drama are reduced because anything can happen (similar to the tension-draning effects of deus ex machina solutions in literature in general). That is such a great observation that I will repeat it again:

If magic is not given rules, explicit or implied, then tension and drama are reduced because anything can happen.

The panelists agreed, though, that some authors and readers particularly like figuring out rule-based magic, while for other readers, the wonder of the magical world is what they read for. Harry Potter's world may not make sense, but who wouldn't want to attend Hogwart's Academy?

Willett said that George R.R. Martin says that magic stands in for all the things in our real universe that we can't control. I searched today for the quote and didn't find it. However, I did find a recent interview with GRRM in which he says that for magic to work in fiction, it has to be mysterious. He does not believe in creating elaborate rules. (Full interview here.)

Modisett thinks also that magic especially appeals to people who wish things were other than they are. (Shauna's note: Perhaps this partly explain fantasy's appeal to children, who are loaded with so many unwanted rules and restrictions physically and socially.)

Personally, I prefer rule-based magic. It usually takes me out of a story if, for example, Michelle Pfeifer transforms into a twelve-pound hawk with nothing left over, breaking the law of the conservation of mass-energy. But if a story is good, I am willing to suspend belief. I loved Ladyhawke despite the unbelievable magic and many anachronisms.

What about you? Which type of fantastical story do you prefer? And why?

******
Los Angeles Appearance

I will be at the Los Angeles Science Fiction Convention (LOScon) this Friday, November 25. I speak on the panel "10 Beginning Writing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them" from noon to 2 pm; I sign copies of Like Mayflies in a Stream from 3:00 pm to whenever the next scheduled author shows up; and I will be on the panel "Short, Short Stories" (about ultraflash fiction) from 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm. I hope to see you there.

Until next time (December 6)!

—Shauna Roberts

4 Literary Agents Looking for Novels

2011-11-20T00:00:00.010-05:00

Writer's Market made note of these four agencies who are actively seeking submissions, so I decided to share the info. Make sure you check out the specific agency guidelines on each website. Good luck!

VICTORIA SANDERS & ASSOCIATES accepts novel submissions via e-mail (both query and first three chapters—or about 25 pages in the body of the message). Currently looking for action, adventure, ethnic, feminist, gay, lesbian, literary, and thriller novels.
241 Avenue of the Americas
Suite 11 H
New York NY 10014
Phone: (212)633-8811
Fax: (212)633-0525
E-mail: queriesvsa@hotmail.com
Website: http://www.victoriasanders.com/

LEVINE GREENBERG LITERARY AGENCY, INC. allows prospective novelists to make submissions via an electronic submission form on their website. They represent a wide range of fiction projects—good stories are what they want.
307 Seventh Ave.
Suite 2407
New York NY 10001
Phone: (212)337-0934
Fax: (212)337-0948
E-mail: submit@levinegreenberg.com
Website: http://www.levinegreenberg.com/

SANDRA DIJKSTRA LITERARY AGENCY has a need for novel submissions, but there's a catch: Sandra Dijkstra herself is not accepting unsolicited submissions. However, four of the other agents in the agency are accepting submissions via e-mail.
1155 Camino del Mar
PMB 515
Del Mar CA 92014
Phone: (858)755-3115
Fax: (858)794-2822
E-mail: elise@dijkstraagency.com
Website: http://www.dijkstraagency.com/

BARER LITERARY, LLC accepts queries via traditional mail and e-mail (no phone or fax queries). This agency is looking for about any fiction genre that is not romance, thrillers and suspense.
270 Lafayette St.
Suite 1504
New York NY 10012
Phone: (212)691-3513
E-mail: submissions@barerliterary.com
Website: http://www.barerliterary.com/

Researching what is, was, and might have been

2011-11-18T01:03:00.003-05:00

Smith Creek loops and twists its serpentine way to the river through a basin of bog and marsh at Wilmington's northern border, its black water rising and falling with the tides. I have no idea whether the original inhabitants of this area or the first Europeans to build a colony here enjoyed Smith Creek as much as I do, but I doubt it. I admire it from thirty feet above, driving along an elevated parkway four times each day as I take my wife to and from work, a perspective no historical resident shared.

If I were to set a story even fifty years in Wilmington's past I'd have to describe a pestilent and impassible barrier known to only a few fishermen or smugglers.

I grew up in Maitland, Florida, adjacent to Eatonville, the hometown Zora Neal Hurston made famous in her stories. She passed away when I was eight, and I didn't read her works until I was in college, but I lived for a time on River Road and bought sodas and nabs at the corner store she wrote about twenty years before I was born. I could say I know the area, but to know it as she did would require much research to approximate with any authenticity.

My love of Hurtson led to a fascination with the Harlem Renaissance. I had books of Van Vetchten photographs, read works by and biographies of Hughes and Cullen and a dozen others. I knew the geography of neighborhoods like Strivers' Row and Sugar Hill and knew the histories of communities within the neighborhood -- the rising professionals, the intelligentsia, the musicians, the artists, the writers. During our first visit to my wife's extended family in New York thirty years ago, I wanted to go see the places I'd been reading about for years; particularly the 124th street library, as I recall. The family was adamant in preventing my field trip. They felt my white skin and southern accent would put me at risk wandering around an area they were afraid to visit with my camera and notebook. I could say I know Harlem of the 1920s, but I've never set foot on one of its streets.

I have always been attracted to "What if....?" It's a question that leads to discovery, invention, speculation, and creativity. It's the heart of science fiction, my first love as a writer. And it sparked my interest in alternate (or alternative) history. I grew up on "golden age" science fiction, most of which assumed a USA-centric, predominantly white, and almost exclusively male future. Prior to WWII nuclear fission and fusion were seen as free energy, not weapons, and colonization of space and the planets was a given. My father drove a tank in Company B, the 80th Tank Battalion, 8th Armored Division in WWII. When the war in Europe ended, the 80th Tank became the 80th Amphibious, the "Beach Busters," and began training in new amphibious tanks. Though they did not know it then, plans were for the Beach Busters to take the beaches of Honshu, spearheading Operation Coronet and the capture of Tokyo. America's use of the atom bomb obviated the need for invasion.

In bits and pieces over the last few years I've been constructing an alternate history, one that branches from our own with FDR's decision not to seek a third term. No nuclear weapons; no Truman to integrate the military; Japan subdued after months of bloody ground war; the Civil Rights Movement delayed by thirty years; safe, free fusion energy; colonies in space. So far only one short story, Living on Dirt, has come out of this effort but it remains a labor of love. Researching what did happen, the words and actions of the people involved, then extrapolating from that what those people would say and do if conditions were different.

The internet makes research easy. But I still collect old guide books, out of date street maps for cities I've never seen, histories, reference books, magazines. Because just as I never know when I'm going to need to know a fact, I never know when the juxtaposition of street names in Minsk or an illustration that doesn't quite match the text, or an unexpected word choice sixty years ago might spark an idea or a story or an insight.

Research can become an addiction, a time sink that costs the writer momentum and hurts productivity. But it can also lead to inspiration and understanding. It's up to the writer to have the self-discipline to control the one and the wisdom to spot the other.

They're Young, They Write...and They Inspire!

2011-11-16T10:57:00.006-05:00

Last month, I faced a situation which until that point in my career as a writer I had never before encountered. Because of this, I was very nervous as I carried out my preparations. What kind of first impression would I make? Would I know what to say? How would I react when faced with an unexpected development? What if I hesitated at some crucial moment? Would I sweat so badly that it soaked through my shirt?

These questions, and so many others, echoed in my mind as I stepped into the room and confronted a class of fifth grade creative writing students.

What the heck was I doing there? Well, it’s like this: my wife has a friend who is a fifth grade teacher at one of the nearby elementary schools. She and a few other teachers head up a creative writing program that’s part of the curriculum, and from time to time they invite authors to come and speak to the students about writing. According to what I was told, previous attempts had worked out well enough, but they wanted someone who would be more willing (or even comfortable?) to come in and answer questions posed by the students, rather than simply holding a lecture or a reading. Now, my preferred modus operandi at conventions and other gatherings where people come to meet authors is very much slanted toward the Q&A side of things, rather than simply talking at a group for an hour. With that in mind, I quickly said “Sure!”

Only after making the commitment did I pause, and begin to consider what I’d done.

Now, I’ve talked to plenty of adults about writing. Convention panels, book signings, my blog, and so on. This was very different for me. After all, it’s one thing to talk to my own kids. I mean, our kids are supposed to hang on our every word, listening in awe as we deliver unto them our hard-won knowledge, wisdom and experience, right? That is, at least until they become teenagers and end up knowing everything.

But here? I was worried about how I might be perceived, not just by the kids, but also their teachers and parents (Egads!). For all I knew, they’d be looking me up on the internet after hearing about me from their little darlings, gathering dirt and evidence against me before banding together to run me out of town with torches and pitchforks.

In a bid to make things at least a little easier, the teacher who invited me sent me a series of questions for which I might prepare answers to kick-start the discussion—a brief introduction, what I like to write, my “process” and inspirations, and so on. With that accomplished, I’d offer up a few choice nuggets of sage advice aimed at those looking to become professional writers when they grow up. Armed with my “talking points,” I entered the lion’s den, also known as “the school library,” and soon found myself facing fifty or so pairs of wide, curious eyes.

I need not have worried.

This was a fantastic bunch of kids. While my introductory remarks served me well for the opening five minutes or so, the students helped carry the next forty-five minutes, and it passed like a blur. It was all I could do just to keep up and maybe take a breath as I answered a question and pointed to the next student. The questions were fast and furious, covering a variety of topics in rapid-fire fashion, but never so fast that I felt like any kid’s question was getting short-changed. Though the talk lasted just short of an hour, I was told that the kids continued to discuss various topics we had broached well after they returned to their classrooms. Their teachers are even preparing lists of follow-up questions, which I promised I would answer and return to them so that they might share the responses with the students and perhaps prompt more queries.

It was actually one of the most rousing discussions I’ve ever had with a group about writing. The energy and passion exhibited by these kids was palpable. Given the old adage that you have to be a reader in order to be a writer, I asked for a show of hands for those who liked to read purely for their own pleasure. I don’t think every single kid held up a hand, but the vast majority of them did. That alone made me smile. As for their writing, a couple of kids even volunteered the information that they were working together on stories outside the assignments of the class, and asked whether I might be willing to read some of their work at some point. I actually didn’t get to read stories written by any of the students, but one of the things I discussed with the teacher was figuring out how to do something in that vein that doesn’t take an undue amount of time and perhaps acts as a motivator for the kids.

On top of all of that, an added bonus for me came from one of the questions I fielded that dealt with whether I’d written any stories for kids their age. I haven’t yet done that, but it’s actually been something I’ve been pondering for quite some time, if for no other reason than I think it’d be awesome to write something my own kids could read. Indeed, one idea in particular that I’ve been considering is some kind of adventure with characters based on my girls. I even have this crazy notion of writing an ongoing series, with the characters growing older more or less alongside my kids. The idea has languished for a while as I’ve turned my attention to other, more pressing projects, but this one afternoon spent in the company of these young writers has inspired me to revisit it. Hopefully, I’ll have something interesting to report in the near future.

Kids. They can be pretty awesome.

Anybody else ever talk to younger writers like these? What were your experiences and thoughts, particularly when compared to similar discussions you’ve had with adults?

Guest author Leslie Ann Moore: You Gotta Give ‘Em a Free Taste

2011-11-15T00:01:00.032-05:00

Leslie Ann Moore, a native of Los Angeles, received her doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the University Of California and continues to practice veterinary medicine in the L.A. area. In addition to fiction writing, Leslie Ann enjoys travel, reading, and attending science fiction/fantasy conventions. She also practices the beautiful and ancient art of belly dance.

Griffin's Daughter, the first in her romantic fantasy trilogy, was named the 2008 Ben Franklin Award Winner for Best First Fiction by the Independent Book Publishers Association.

You Gotta Give ‘Em a Free Taste

Those of us who’ve achieved the difficult task of getting our words into print, whether it be through traditional publishing or the brave new world of e-publishing, know that just because you have a book out there doesn’t mean people will read it. It takes a tremendous amount of time and effort to market a book and almost all of that work is now expected to be done by the author.

My first novel Griffin’s Daughter was originally published in 2007. It won a prestigious award and garnered favorable reviews from a well-known industry journal. To help market the book, I did everything recommended to build an effective platform. I had a website, a Facebook page, I submitted review requests to all the well-known fantasy review sites, I joined my local writers group to gain access to venues where I could sell my book. What I couldn’t do was hire a publicist or commission a book trailer, both of which were beyond my finances.

Despite all my efforts, the great reviews and the award, I simply couldn’t get any traction. No major review site would read the book and I couldn’t get it into Barnes and Noble and the now defunct Borders; in short, it and the two sequels languished in obscurity, and my dream of supporting myself with my writing seemed unachievable.

My current publisher, who picked up all three books when my original publisher went belly up in 2009, tried several strategies to get people interested. Nothing worked, until, out of desperation, they offered the first book in the series for free.

It seems that human nature is such that we all want to sample something for nothing. A little taste, as it were, before committing to the entire dish. It’s a time-honored marketing strategy and, like it or not, it works. The first two months Griffin’s Daughter was offered for free, over 40,000 people downloaded it. A significant number of those people have since downloaded the other two books, and paid for them! The series is now a success, but my satisfaction is, to be honest, a little bittersweet. I can’t help but think of all the royalties I’ve lost by giving away my first book, but on the other hand, I wasn’t making anything to speak of on any of the series before.

The saying ‘You have to give some to get some’ couldn’t have proven more true in the case of my books. A lot of authors have had to do the same in order to get traction. Giving away one’s work is not the ideal strategy, however, and if the book you are considering giving away is your sole title, then it only makes sense to do so as part of a long-term plan to build a fan base. The N.Y. Times bestselling science fiction author Scott Sigler is a perfect example. He gave away his books for several years, but it garnered him a sizable audience, which in turn brought him to the attention of a major publisher. When his books were released by this big house, he had a fan base in place ready and willing to pay for his works. I’ll bet Mr. Sigler feels all those giveaways were worth far more than any lost royalties.

When my next novel is published, it will be the first of a new series. I sincerely hope all those readers who were coaxed by the gift of a free book to give my work a chance will be ready and willing to part with their hard-earned money to read this new effort. Maybe then I can finally achieve my goal of becoming a full-time writer.

The Most Wonderful Time of Year

2011-11-13T09:57:00.003-05:00

I must admit that I just love this time of year when the festive mood is in the air with a string of holidays to get through.

I think it goes without saying, but will say anyway, that this has been a tough year in the United States (and elsewhere in world) for many people with high unemployment, foreclosures, civil unrest, repeated threats of domestic and international terrorism, and general despair.

But, in the season of cheers, giving, turkey dinners, Santa Claus, and the promise that every New Year's brings, there is always reason to be optimistic at this time of year as we look ahead.

As a writer, I have had a mostly positive year with various books published in print, eBook, audio, hardcover, and paperback. I have also been fortunate enough to make a living at what I do, though still waiting for my ship stocked with gold to roll into port.

But with the wind at my back and 2012 over the horizon, I am pushing full steam ahead and looking forward to tacking whatever the New Year brings my way. I believe most others fill the same way. Especially at this time of year when hope truly does spring eternal and there's laughter and song in the air; and snowflakes and colored lights dotting and decorating our homes and neighborhoods; and lots of food and gifts to tend to.

Indeed, if one looks hard enough, soon you just might see some reindeers up in the sky, peppered with bright stars, streaking across and reminding us that is really is the most wonderful time of the year...

Are you in the holiday spirit?

A thought of my own

2011-11-12T00:54:00.004-05:00

One night this summer I had a strange dream. It involved a young boy who had a strange and life altering adventure. When I woke up I quickly noted the gist of the dream and later that day I wrote about half of a short story. Then life intervened. This week I picked it up again and ran it past my in-house experts.

"I like it Mommy," my ten year old son commented. "Actually," he said, furrowing his brow in thought, "I saw a movie just like that."

I searched online and he was right. The details were different but the underlying premise was the same. I had never seen the movie and I was crushed. A hypothesis which I have denied for 20 years pushed itself into my mind.

Are all the truly original ideas taken?

When I read of the incident with Q. R. Markham whose newly published spy novel contains passages that appear to have been intentionally plagiarized from novels by Ian Fleming and other well known writers, I had to look at this question again.

In this information age where our senses are constantly assaulted by other people's ideas, is it even possible to have a completely independent idea?

Hmmm, sounds like the seeds of a new movie. Hope it has not been done already?

Suspense

2011-11-10T00:01:00.007-05:00

Suspense is an emotion and is a critical element in all fiction. Suspense is what keeps readers reading, keeps them turning the pages. In its simplest form, suspense is wanting to know what happens next.

Suspense must always end. It can end happily, say with two lovers getting together, or sadly, as with the death of a character or when two lovers decide to go their separate ways. But it must end, and when it ends the story is really over.

“Dark” suspense is what I’m most interested in as a writer. This kind is based on threat and fear, either of the unknown, or-—sometimes—-of that which is known only too well. Unfortunately, because we are all constantly bombarded with dark suspense in entertainment, as in movies from the current crop all the way to old favorites like Jaws, Alien, and Die Hard, it has become increasingly hard to induce suspense in both movies and writing. If you as a reader are feeling a little jaded, a little like you’ve seen it all before, maybe it’s because you have.

The ante is raised for today’s readers. And for writers. The need for suspense is greater than ever, and it’s harder than ever to achieve. A first step in creating good suspense is recognizing that there are two kinds: quick and slow.

Quick suspense is how a lot of books and movies start out. The opening scene shows a ticking time bomb, or an assassin sighting in his target through a sniper scope, or a brake line being cut. It gives us a splash of blood, or a scream. It provides an in-your-face introduction of a threat. It’s also the least effective of the two.

Slow suspense is slow developing, and fully involves the reader (or viewer) in the process. It grows out of characters that the reader cares about, and it can’t be achieved on page one because no one really knows the character yet. When readers care about characters, you don’t need the threat of a bomb blowing up or a president being killed to create “nail-biting” suspense.

For example, I just don’t care for baseball. For me, it moves too slowly and lacks anything in the way of suspense. However, when my son was playing Little League Baseball I found his games incredibly suspenseful. He was a pitcher and always seemed to get sent in when another pitcher had already loaded the bases. I chewed a lot of fingernails and sat on the edge of a lot of seats when Josh was playing baseball. It’s because I cared about him that I suddenly found baseball suspenseful.

If you can create characters readers care about, those readers will feel suspense no matter what kind of event the character is expecting, whether big or small. In my next post, on November 26, I’ll talk about some of the things that writers do to create these kinds of characters.

Research By Happenstance

2011-11-09T00:41:00.026-05:00

A little over two weeks ago I mentioned I was going to Dominica for a family function and to conduct research for my current WIP set in the Nature Isle. I also promised to tell you how it went next time I blogged. Well here goes....

A lot of my research was centered on being in the right place at the right time.
1. The time was ideal for experiencing the culture of the country
October to November is the height of Dominica’s cultural celebration. October is Creole month and November is their independence celebration. Quite a bit of history is recapped at this time and the people wear their national dress and eat their local and traditional foods at this time. I attended cultural pageants, ate a whole lot of breadfruit, green fig, and dasheen, calalloo, and Titiwi Accra

2. I spent a lot of time at the local library
Because my 8 year old missed almost three weeks of school I had to do a little home schooling to keep her on track. I found it best to go to the local library and let her do her lessons. While I was at the library I was able to look up books written about the history and lives of the indigenous people, the Kalinago people or the Caribs. One book in particular, written in 1971, was written from the perspective of a young, preteen Carib. He spoke about their daily lives, their lost language and religion, their interactions with the rest of the island and most importantly the cultural changes as the push to educate the local population increased.

3. Through family gatherings and outings I was able to scout out areas where I would like my romantic settings
When people think of romance in the Caribbean, they think of a sunset on a white sand beach with coconut trees. Well when a book is set in the Nature Isle, white sand beaches is not an option. But of their many rivers, streams, crater lakes, hidden waterfalls, and beautiful mountain vistas, I was able to find way more romantic settings than I ever would need for my book.

4. I got to experience the island like a local
I was able to visit the Carib Territories, see the crafts made there and enjoy the cassava bread. I spent time in the quiet countryside in the mountains where banana, coffee and cocoa are farmed. I engaged people in discussion about the changing culture, new ethnic diversity. Most of all I was able to see the development and compare the island now, to the island I visited first in 1993 and every few or so years since.

5. I got to relive some romance of my own
I was able to visit the beautiful Peninsular at Scotts Head, that separated the Atlantic Ocean from the Caribbean Sea. Why is this area sentimental to me? It was on this peninsular that my husband proposed to me over a decade and a half ago. I was able to share this with my three children.

Overall, it was a successful research trip and an even better family vacation. And in all this how much actual writing did I get done? Exactly two pages.

World Fantasy Con: Why Do Teens Read Dystopian Fiction?

2011-11-06T00:04:00.187-04:00

Dystopian fiction has so overtaken science fiction and fantasy (sf/f) that only a small percentage of newly published books catch my interest.

I went to World Fantasy Con (WFC) 2011 in San Diego last week, and the first panel I attended was on why so much young adult (YA) sf/f is dystopian. At last, I hoped, I would understand the appeal of the seamy side of life shown in so much sf/f today.

The panelists were Marissa Lingen, John Pitts, Lissa Price, and Chandra Rooney. Below are the main points I came away with. Some are statements that panelists or audience members made, while some are conclusions I drew or my amplifications of the points.

Reasons why there's so much dystopian fiction for teens

Writers who got hooked on sf/f in the 1970s, when dystopias were common, are now writing what they read in their formative years.
Baby boomer authors, who grew up in the 1960s with high hopes for a brighter future with regular travel to the moon and the end of bigotry and war, are disappointed in what happened instead. Their writing reflects their sense of hopelessness about society.
9/11 influenced the mood of the country and made the future seem bleak.
A novel needs a conflict. A novel about a dystopia has a built-in conflict. Some conflicts in the past arose from social divisions based on class, wealth, race, ethnicity, or sex. These conflicts admit easier solutions than in the past.
Teens are under much more surveillance now. Schools have metal detectors. Surveillance cameras are everywhere. Parents can keep constant tabs on their kids through cell phones and social media. The "Big Brother is Watching You" aspect of some dystopian fiction rings true to teens because they are living that reality.
Helicopter parents have disempowered teens by trying to control what they read—a librarian in the audience said that parents come into the library with their teens to choose the books they will check out!—and making other decisions for them they should be making on their own. So the oppressive governments in dystopian fiction also ring true.
Teens today are less concerned about privacy and more concerned with assertion of independence. So they are attracted to the trope of a young person acting against authority to change the world for the better. Books based on that trope give teens a sense of empowerment.

Oddly enough, no one in the panel or the audience brought up the poor economy or the dysfunctional U.S. Congress. American teens do not remember a time in which young people got good jobs (or at least a job of some sort) or had a functioning national government. I don't view the United States as a dystopia because I have a long-range view; teens who have only been aware of the greater society for a few years may view the United States and other Western countries as dystopias, making traditional fantasy seem unbelievably utopian.

Other random comments made by panelists about dystopian fiction

Some people disapprove of dystopian teen fiction because they think it glamorizes a dark view of the world.
Publishers are getting away from the word "dystopia." One panelist's new book was labeled "futuristic thriller" instead.
Adults and teens may take away different messages from the same books. Teens of different ages may also take away different messages.
Old dystopian speculative fiction gets assigned as reading in high schools. (The panelist gave several examples; I got down only 1984 and Flowers for Algernon.) This gives dystopian fiction the status of literature. (She drew no conclusion, but if parents nowadays are choosing the books their teens read, I can see that parents might be drawn to sf/f that they think is "literature" and "less trashy.")
Most dystopias have a happy ending. (This surprised me.)

I thought the panelists' and audience comments made a lot of sense. I won't be increasing the amount of dystopian fiction I read, but at least I have a better grasp of its appeal for teens.

What do you like and dislike about dystopian fiction in sf/f, romance, or other genres? If you are a teen who reads dystopian fiction, do you agree with what the adults at the panel said? If you are a parent of a teen, why do you think teens are drawn to bleak books?

Thanks for stopping by today. I'll be blogging here at Novel Spaces again on November 21, when I likely will discuss one of the other great panels I attended at World Fantasy Con.

—Shauna Roberts

A Book In 30-Days

2011-11-04T00:00:00.007-04:00

A lot of writers have taken classes and read up on writing a book in 30-days. Some attempt it as a way of meeting a deadline so they can turn in a book that's due in a month, and others see it as a challenge, taking on the concept just to see if they can do it at all.

I have author friends who have done it successfully, and I don't knock the process, as I have also put myself to the test of finishing a book in a short amount of time. I carefully charted out the number of words per day, pages per week, chapters for the month, layers, phases, etc., examining my plan on paper, almost convincing myself that I, too, could do it. But I couldn't. Not in 30-days anyway.

For me, it takes way more than a month to get to know my characters on paper, even if they've been in my head and my heart for a long time. I don't really get to know them until I begin to take them through the friction of the chapters. And by the end of the novel, the story is sometimes so far from the original outline that the only similarities are the character's names. And even those can change.

What are your thoughts about writing a book in a month. Have you ever tried it?

Write on!

Being In Control

2011-11-01T00:00:00.020-04:00

"The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business." John Steinbeck

This month the theme is "Guide to Publishing for the First Time". I keep hearing Sade singing, "Never As Good As The First Time" for some reason. That's because remembering the first everything connected to Night Magic still makes me smile. There was the first time I listened to the voice of an editor from NYC on my answering machine saying a publisher wanted to buy my book. Then there was the first time I told someone "I sold my novel". The first time I saw a copy of what would become my first cover. Ah, memories can be lovely.

Writers who have just sold a book have a different world from the one I stepped into back then. For one thing publishing can mean selling to a traditional publisher or being an indie author. Two very different sets of advice I think. There are some similarities. Like knowing that you should do some promotion of your own, and having a well designed website is essential. Indie authors don't really need an agent I think, but once they get an offer from a traditional publisher a good IP attorney would be smart. Traditional authors can decide whether they want an agent based on a variety of factors. There is so much more, but all of that stuff you can find on the web with a search. So I'm going to go all psycho on you instead, psychological that is. Being a clinical social worker I tend to think about such things.

My biggest advice is this: don't put someone else in charge of your happiness. What does that mean? Develop your career goals based on what you can control, and be realistic about you control. For example, you can set a goal to sell 100 books at your next book signing. I hate to tell you this, but you can't control how many books sell. The weather might turn nasty and no one shows. People might not be interested for a variety of reasons. The manager might decide to only order twenty of your books because in his view you're not "famous". Yeah, this happened to me. Sold all of the books in the first forty minutes of my two hour signing. The manager apologized, and was horribly embarrassed. The day before your signing a store employee might accidentally strip half the books ordered for the event before the assistant manager goes in the back and screams, "Stop!" Yeah, this also happened to me.

The same thing goes for selling X number of books on the Kindle store, etc. Readers decide if they're going to buy. Now you can do things to make your book more attractive, or put in the effort to locate your target audience and get the word out to them. Those things increase your chances of selling. But if anyone knows of even one action you can take that guarantees a certain number of books will sell please tell me. Other than buying the books yourself that is. I will pay good money for that info!

You don't control what kind of reviews you might get. Sure, you should write the best book you can every time. But reading is subjective. I have yet to meet a writer who set out to write a bad book. So we all have stories of a nasty reviewer, or a reader who took time to tell us we need serious writing lessons.

If you pin your happiness on these kinds of things you might as well expect to check into the Heartbreak Hotel on a regular basis. Instead set your goals on things you can control: how many books you will finish; making your website up-to-date and visitor friendly; reading more non-fiction writing books to work on your weak spots like description or dialog; join a professional writers group for networking and even more learning opportunities; perform at least two marketing activities per day to spread the word, etc. Notice these things are all dependent on what YOU do.

Finally, love what you do, and do what you love. Write the stories that seduce you so much you have no choice but to write them. Make designing and updating your website a fun exercise. Promote in ways that you enjoy. Life is too short to do things with your teeth clenched, not to mention that's bad for your poor teeth.

I had to learn the hard way. You'll hear lots of "musts", you must write this way. You must do this promotion activity. Be wary any time you hear advice that insists there is only one way to write, promote, etc. I can probably easily come up with a half dozen examples of authors who didn't follow that "rule" and did just fine.

Okay, I'll finish with a funny story. I learned the hard way that book signings are definitely in the "results may vary" category. Once I took part in a multi author book signing at this large store in the New Orleans area. Being a new author the other more veteran authors invited me as a wonderful gesture. I smiled a lot, but didn't sell many books. The more established author sitting next to me felt bad, so she tried to help me out. One woman approached and picked up Night Magic from the stack in front of me. Looking at the cover she asked what it was about. I said it was a romance novel set in Louisiana. The lady didn't look impressed so my fellow author enthused, "Her book is a romantic suspense novel, and it has voodoo!" The woman dropped Night Magic like it was a snake and backed away from me. Her eyes were big as saucers as she said, "I don't fool with that stuff!" I thought she was going to whip out a crucifix and and shove it at me like I was Countess Dracula.

If we ever meet at a writers conference, and you buy me a drink or two I might tell more stories. Yeah, I can be bribed. :)

Lynn Emery

http://www.lynnemery.com/

My Amazon Store

My Nook Books

Guest author Kerri Nelson: A legend in my own mind

2011-10-31T00:05:00.138-04:00

Kerri Nelson discovered her love of writing at an early age and soon became a columnist for her local newspaper winning the Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year Award for her efforts. After a fifteen year career in the legal field, Kerri fulfilled her lifelong dream of publication and is now an award winning multi-published author of nearly every genre under the sun (and moon) and also writes young adult fiction under the pen name K.G. Summers.

A true southern belle, she comes complete with a dashing southern gentleman and three adorable children for whom she often bakes homemade treats. Kerri is an active member of Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America as well as numerous chapters including Futuristic Fantasy & Paranormal Writers and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers, of which she is president.

Kerri is giving away a Fall Goodie Bag to one commenter on this post. For details on entering her GRAND PRIZE Kindle giveaway, see below.

A Legend in my Own Mind

My latest release entitled Courting Demons is categorized in the Urban Fantasy genre. What is Urban Fantasy? Well, by definition, it is a novel set in a city that contains paranormal or fantasy elements. My book is set in a city (albeit a small city/suburb of Atlanta) and does contain many paranormal and fantasy elements - and some romance too, although the romance elements are secondary to the other story elements.

This is an extremely popular genre in the marketplace these days. I’m sure that most people can think of several books or movies that fit nicely into this category. But what are these things called…Urban Legends? Are they somehow connected to Urban Fantasy?

Well, not really…by definition…but in a way—they too are fictional stories or folklore which often contain paranormal or fantasy element although the settings may vary. In fact, when I was doing research for this post, I found pages' worth of websites devoted wholly to Urban Legends. They make the perfect scary story for telling around the good old camp fire. Here are a couple that I found that stood out for me (courtesy of urbanlegendsonline.com):

The Curse of the Faceless Woman

Lost in time, this story is told, about a woman, dark and bold.
She walks the streets on a foggy night, with a hood on her head to hide from sight.

Her story starts one summer’s eve, beside the lake an evil deed.
A thief stole her daughter’s life, and filled her soul with pain and strife.

On a moonlit night along the shore, two young lovers walked and more.
In each other’s arms that night, they talked of love and held on tight.

In the morning they were found, their hands and feet with rope were bound.
Eyes wide open a vacant stare, their souls are gone and no one’s there.

The police did search for the one, an evil deed to be undone.
In vain, they search to no avail, their efforts weak, lost, and pale.

A mother’s hear broken and splayed, a debt to justice went unpaid.
She walked the streets at night alone, to make the sinners pay and atone.

She searched the shores by day and night, a vain attempt to make things right.
And then one early morning dawn, she was found her spirit gone.

On foggy night’s times untold, she walks the streets dark and bold.
She only walks the streets at night, within the fog to hide her flight.

All clad in black she walks alone, an evil soul she’ll make atone.
She walks among the star-less night, sometimes seen beneath the bright streetlight.

All children know to be aware, least they see her standing there.
They hurry home at the approach of night, sure that they would die at her sight.

So in the night if you should see, a woman in black, listen to me.
Look not at her face I say, or with your soul you shall pay

Teke Teke

Teke Teke is the ghost of a Japanese schoolgirl who roams the train stations of Japan. In life, this girl was a scaredy cat and people were always playing practical jokes on her. One day at the train station after school, her friends decided to put a cicada, a bug that appears in the summer in Japan, on her shoulder. Sadly, this turned out to be a fatal prank. She was so scared she fell off of the platform and was hit by a shinkansen (the fastest train in Japan) and her body was split in two.

Now she is haunting the train stations of Japan, dragging herself with her elbows and sometimes her hands. She is known to kill people with her scythe and split people in half with the harsh speed of the Shinkansen to make her victims feel her pain. Her name is “Teke Teke” or “Bata Bata” because of the noise she makes when she is dragging herself around.

What do you think of Urban Legends and do you have a fave one you’d like to share? I’m giving away a Fall Goodie Bag to one commenter. Details on how to enter to win the GRAND PRIZE Kindle at the end of my “Dark Days of Demons Tour” located here.

Courting Demons by Kerri Nelson

Paisley Barton was already having a bad day before she turned her husband into a rat. First, she was fired by her boss and then came home to find hubby in the shower with a naked blonde chick. They say that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned but this break-up may just unleash hell on Earth when Paisley casts a spell of vengeance against her philandering husband.

After her spell casting inadvertently opens a portal between dimensions, Paisley finds her family home transformed into a nightly courtroom for settling disputes between demons of the underworld - and she’s the judge! If that’s not enough, she’s got to deal with a charming, ancient demon named Camden who wants to be her personal bodyguard while trying to explain her husband’s sudden, mysterious disappearance to sexy police Detective Dalton Briggs.

But Paisley will show them all that an everyday working mom is better equipped than most to deal with mystical mayhem…and with a tempting demon hottie and a flirtatious young detective vying for her affection, she soon learns that being single again isn’t so bad after all.

“When a wronged wife turns her cheating husband into a rat, you know you have to keep reading! Kerri Nelson offers up a lot of fun and wild magic in Courting Demons!” --Bestselling author, Linda Wisdom, Demons are a Girl’s Best Friend

Available wherever books are sold!

Read an excerpt

Publisher link—free gift available with purchase of print copy—while supplies last):

Amazon.com

Read more about Kerri’s books at her website: www.kerrinelson.com

Follow her on Twitter here: www.twitter.com/kerribookwriter

Visit her industry blog here: www.thebookboost.blogspot.com

Best of luck on your book tour, Kerri!

October giveaways

2011-10-30T00:01:00.006-04:00

We're giving away four titles on Novel Spaces this month. To enter, leave a comment on this post indicating which book(s) you're interested in, or alternatively you may leave a comment on our Giveaways! page. Good luck!

October Giveaways

Hot Fun in the Summertime by Chicki Brown (Contemporary women's fiction. Digital - Kindle copy only)
Texas Twilight by Caroline Fyffe (Western historical romance. Digital.)
Tastes of Love and Evil by Barbara Monajem (Paranormal romance. Digital or paperback.)
Hot Girlz by Marissa Monteilh (Mainstream. Trade paperback.)

Halloween Fiction

2011-10-29T10:10:00.003-04:00

With Halloween just a couple of days away, it got me to thinking about some of my favorite Halloween books and others worth noting.

Hallowe'en Party: A Hercule Poirot Mystery by Agatha Christie is certainly I've enjoyed. (Of course, everything Agatha wrote was wonderful). When a teenager is murdered at a Halloween party, Hercule Poirot is asked by a visiting mystery writer to investigate.

The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury is another good Halloween treat. Eight boys are out Halloween night to meet friend at a Haunted House and are taken on journey by mysterious character named Moundshroud.

Halloween Night by R.L Stine. A killer is on loose on this scariest of nights. Part of Stine's Point Horror Series.

Ghost Girl in Shadow Bay by my alter ego R. Barri Flowers, is not a Halloween novel per se, but is does contain ghosts, a haunted house, nightmares, a killer, and plenty of scary moments. It is now an audiobook, along with eBook and in print.

Other Halloweenish books I'd recommend, include the Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer and the Frankenstein Series by Dean Koontz.

What are your favorite Halloween novels?

Show the love

2011-10-28T00:36:00.006-04:00

There are three reviews on Amazon for my first book, Adventure at Brimstone Hill.

I am painfully aware of this because I just released the third edition and spent some quality time with Amazon getting the reviews moved from the old to the new edition and also linked to the Kindle edition. The folks at Amazon were probably wondering why I even bothered!

Having come face-to-face with the paucity of the reviews on my books, I have begun a major campaign to get more reviewers to make their comments online.

Why is this so important? Liane Spicer has discussed this before and a friend of mine who is an author claims that reviews are how readers show their love for authors.

There are millions of books available on Amazon. Readers need some way to make that decision to take a chance on an unknown author. One thing that persuades me to try a new book, apart from recommendations from a friend and a price that is low enough to seem risk free is a thoughtful review with an honest ring. Even negative reviews are useful as what someone else finds unappealing (for example, a strong Christian message), I may think is just the right thing. If I come across a book with no reviews, I am likely to move on without buying it.

So, how am I (clearly unsuccessfully) working to get more reviews?

Well, there is the obvious, Whenever someone makes a positive comment on my books by email or verbally, I try to get them to put it in writing on Amazon. Clearly this is not working!

I tried a giveaway, a free copy of my Adventure At Brimstone Hill Activity Guide to anyone posting a comment. This has yielded me one comment, which is actually not so bad in the scheme of things.

I have also been working on getting "professional" reviewers to comment on the book. At first I would look on Amazon for reviewers who clearly gave thoughtful reviews of similar children's books, look at their other reviews as an indication of whether they wrote frequent reviews and if so, to try to find a way to contact them. This was a time-consuming process as you can imagine, but thankfully I also found an interesting (I am not yet able to comment on the effectiveness) blog which lists reviewers along with some information on their preferred genre and other details. The list is long and many reviewers do not accept electronic copies of the books so I will have to mail a physical copy, however, it is certainly more effective than my first approach!
http://www.stepbystepselfpublishing.net/reviewer-list.html

How do reviews sway your buying decisions? Have you found a successful method to increase the number of reviews on your book?

Research in motion

2011-10-24T00:39:00.007-04:00

Researching for a novel today is much different from a few decades ago. Back then an author had to travel to the physical location. He/she had to learn the cultures, customs, and language of the people where the novel was set. Researching involved spending days in the stacks at the library combing through books and papers, or reading several different encyclopedias.

Today, with the easy access of the internet, research is much different….easier, cheaper. A simple Google search can gain an author access to many things the encyclopedia could not. With Google Earth, an author could get a street view of a location with amazing details—no travel necessary. Pictures could provide settings with one click and blogs and local radio broadcasts via the internet can give a realistic assessment of the day to day lives of people in many places. Yes the possibilities are endless.

In spite of that, there are times when research is needed. Dan Brown, author of blockbusters like “The DaVinci Code” and “Angels and Demons”, does painstaking research for his books. The internet cannot fill in the gap for the types of books he writes. There are many books that deal with topics that require much more than an internet search can provide … even romance books.

For me, a romance writer, I have kept my research rather simple by writing about contemporary people in contemporary settings. I have stuck to familiar occupations and cultures, and kept settings in places that I have lived or visited for extended periods of time. My reason for that is simple: I have read novels set in the Caribbean that just did not ring true for me, a native of the Caribbean. They didn’t capture the spirit of the place and were filled with stereotypes.

So for my current WIP I chose a place that I was already familiar with. It is set in a Dominica, a Caribbean island that I have visited on numerous occasions for extended periods of time. Being married to a native of that country, I am familiar with the customs and cultures, and even though I cannot speak the local language, I am familiar with it.

I began writing that novel late this summer, though I’ve had the outline for almost a year. My timing was no coincidence. It was carefully planned to coincide with my pending visit to that country. You see, I am going to do some research on location. No Google Earth or blog sites or tourist sites for me. I intend to verify locations, places, and capture the essence of the island … the feelings the place invokes. Now my trip wasn’t designed for research. It was simply a visit to my husband’s home country to celebrate his parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. But the timing is ideal for this current WIP, and by beginning the novel before I visit the island I can identify the voids and shortcomings in the manuscript and fill them in when I get there.

So yes, in a short while, I’ll be making that journey to do “research”, the type of research that’s best done on location. In my next blog post, I’ll let you know how my research went.

How do you conduct research for your novels?

Purposeful Art

2011-10-23T00:06:00.128-04:00

I've decided to take fellow Novelnaut Shauna up on the invitation in her last post to further explore the blog's theme for this month: Should fiction have a purpose?

Last week I attended a lecture where that question was thrown out to the class in a slightly different form: Should art have a purpose? At one point the lecturer urged me to decide one way or another. I could not. Initially I found the ideal of Aestheticism, or art for art's sake, profoundly appealing. Why should art, including fiction, have any underlying purpose? Why set out to be didactic, or political, or moralistic? Why not just be wildly or quietly creative with no motive but to express an innate impulse to make something new, beautiful and utterly useless?

As the discussion progressed and I gave the issue more thought I decided that whether the artist/writer intends it or not, all art has purpose intrinsically: entertainment, yes, but also humour, exploration of ideas, places, eras and peoples, "life, the universe and everything" - or to put it succinctly, it explores all of what it means to be human. The audience brings myriad reference points to the story and each member takes away something unique and lasting. Every book I've read has made an impression, even the ones I've flung against the wall.

What makes a creative piece 'fluff'? The fact that a book was written for entertainment alone does not devalue it; I've found value in some of the most light-hearted, frivolous, agenda-free stories. So here I go, trotting over to the Aestheticist aisle once again. I submit that what debases a work of fiction is not the absence of an overt purpose on the part of the writer but whether, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, the story is well or badly written.

The Purpose-driven Novel

2011-10-21T00:04:00.426-04:00

The theme at Novel Spaces this month is, "Should novels have a purpose beyond entertaining the reader?" My answer is an unqualified, "Yes!"

It's not that I'm against novels entertaining people. In fact, I believe the most important function of a novel is to entertain. A novel that doesn't is a failure.

But a novel that does nothing but entertain is like cotton candy—without substance and a waste of time and money.

Fluff.

At minimum, I believe a book should have a theme. It can be as simple as "Love conquers all" or "Justice wins in the end " or "Honor above all," themes that run, respectively, through many romance novels, mysteries, and Westerns. It can be something controversial, such as "Fate controls one's destiny" or "People control their own destinies." Without theme, a book has no meaning or resonance, no power to last.

But books can offer a much richer experience than mere entertainment and a theme that satisfies. I have conscious purposes for almost every story and book I write. I put in situations to make my readers think, as well as messages, ideas, or information. Sometimes themes show up on their own, and when they do, I go back and develop them further.

Here are five of my several purposes for my 2009 novel Like Mayflies in a Stream.

1. Like Mayflies in a Stream is set in ancient Mesopotamia about 2750 B.C.E. Most historical fiction readers, like most fantasy and science fiction readers, want to know what it's like to live in another place, time, or society. I obliged them by having scenes set in the city, the wilderness, and a farming village. The characters are as true to their time as I could make them, as are the customs and physical settings. The reader both has an excellent time reading about the characters' adventures (I hope) and learns something about the world's first city and its people.

2. My book was inspired by the world's first epic poem, "The Epic of Gilgamesh," which is about the world's first superhero and his exploits. The tension between wildness and civilization is a thread woven intricately throughout the poem. This theme deeply resonated with me: I am only happy when living in a city with lots of music, good food, and art, yet I am also only happy when I am part of the natural world. I have never completely reconciled those two sides of my nature.

I put into my novel conflicts between wildness and civilization at several levels: between wilderness and village; between wilderness and big city; between Gilgamesh, the world's greatest king, and Enkidu, a wild man brought up by gazelles; between the sophisticated priestess Shamhat and the rustic trapper Zaidu; and within the complex man Gilgamesh himself.

The reader gradually realizes (again, this is my hope) that we 21st-century Americans are not so different. We still struggle with civilization. We want civic order and prosperity, but we want to do our own thing and make our own rules. We want to breathe clean air and hear birds sing, but we also want to live near our jobs and enjoy the safety of having our houses behind flood walls and wolves well away from our backyards.

3. Shamhat, priestess of Inanna (the goddess of love), only appears in a few lines in the "Epic of Gilgamesh." I made her the heroine of Like Mayflies in a Stream and gave her many ethical dilemmas. Her duties conflict, and she has to puzzle out whether she owes her greatest loyalty to her king, her city, her temple, her family, or herself. She makes choices—but I am still pondering whether they were the right choices. I hope readers are too; I hope reading about Shamhat's decisions will help readers when they have to make similar ethical choices.

4. I have a pet peeve: The collateral damage left behind by macho heroes in books and movies is often glossed over or even presented as entertainment. Audiences cheer, for example, when a movie has a car chase or an explosion that kills many people. Gilgamesh is the prototype for this style of hero.

I thought the world needed a feminist perspective on the epic's portrayal of Gilgamesh as a hero worthy of honor, as well as on his many modern-day successors. (Why do I consider this a feminist issue? Women usually suffer the most in stories with these kind of heroes.) In Like Mayflies in a Stream, Shamhat witnesses the destruction Gilgamesh causes, and she takes on the heavy burden of trying to protect her family, her friends, and her temple.

5. I have another pet peeve: Some authors who want a woman character to be strong make her rude and sarcastic and bossy, put her in black leather boots (high-heeled, of course), arm her heavily, deprive her of female friends, and have her be as violent and create as much havoc as Gilgamesh and other macho heroes.

I am a strong woman and I am (almost) nothing like that, and I worry about the influence of so-called "kick-ass heroines" on young people's self-concepts and on perceptions and expectations of women. So I write heroines who are strong in the way real women are strong and who are true to their societies and times. That's how I wrote Shamhat. Hadley Rille Books specializes in fantasy novels and historical fiction with strong, realistic heroines, and Shamhat and Like Mayflies in a Stream found a welcoming home there.

I invite more Novelnauts in their October posts to take up the question of whether fiction should have purpose. I have strong opinions that it should, and I believe that done well, purpose in fiction makes fiction stronger, not weaker.

What do you Novel Spaces readers think?

I'll be blogging again at Novel Spaces on November 6. Between now and then, I'll be attending the World Fantasy Convention. I hope to tell you a bit about it on November 6 and more in my November 21 post.

If you've read this far, thank you. This post was long, and I appreciate your reading it to the end. I hope it gave you much food for thought.

—Shauna Roberts

Guest Author Pamela D. Rice: What's In A Name?

2011-10-20T00:00:00.015-04:00

Pamela D. Rice is an author at Peace In The Storm Publishing. Her debut novel, The Sunday Morning Wife, was nominated for Breakout Author of the Year by the African American Literary Awards Show in 2010. She has also enjoyed a consistent place in the top ten on the Black Christian News Network Independent Publishers list for Christian Fiction. Her next novel, The Monday Night Mistress, is due late winter. In her spare time, Pamela enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and exploring other cultures.

What's In A Name? Choosing Your Characters Wisely

When readers pick up a book, the first thing most of them notice is the book cover. The next thing they look at is the synopsis and the names of the characters. Contrary to popular belief, both play a part in the reader purchasing the book.

For instance, a reader loves to read Historical Fiction. They pick up a book with a great cover, depicting a female runaway slave. They excitedly turn the book over to read the synopsis, and the main characters name is Ciara. The book is placed back on the shelf, and the reader continues to peruse the book shelves. The writer missed a great opportunity for purchase by placing a modern name in Historical Fiction. Choosing a name that is appropriate for the era which you are in is vitally important.

Another faux pas in choosing names is not researching the meanings of the names when choosing characters. For example, a writer completes an Inspirational Fiction novel in which the main character Morana overcomes many obstacles by speaking life and believing God to be her sole deliverer. Sounds good doesn’t it? Except the name Morana means death. Or, what about a main character named Mortimer, who vows to keep baptizing parishioners in spite of a new law banning baptism? Mortimer is on a mission, except his name means Dead Sea. How’s that for an irony? You should always do your research and choose names that match your characters.

In addition, make the names of your characters easy to pronounce. The reader should not have to stop reading the story to decipher a name. The characters names should roll off their tongues as they read. Names like La'Quishraniqua, and De’Trontavarius, are hard to pronounce, and the reader will spend more time trying to decide on the correct pronunciation when they should be reading and enjoying the story. (It is not my intention to poke fun at anyone’s name. The above names are used for illustrative points only).

Writers have many resources to choose from when seeking names for characters. I have prepared a small list as follows:

Internet - The internet has a plethora of names to choose from. Google “African-American names, popular names, baby names”, etc.

Library - The historical section in the library offers a great place to research names.

Movie Credits - You will find interesting names if you wait a few minutes after the movie is over. The people behind the scenes often have some very fascinating names.

Genealogy searches - When searching your family tree, you may find suitable names for your characters.

Old church records - If you have access to historical church records, you are sure to find some unique names.

Graveyards - Although it sounds morbid, graveyards offer a great wealth of names. If you need a strong name for a male character, a trip to a graveyard would find you a name like Judson Prelo Foster, who happens to be my grandfather. He was as imposing as his name sounds.

Finally, have fun. Choosing a name, while important, should never become an arduous task. If you are having problems choosing a name for a main character, insert your own name until you find one. Never let a name keep you from writing a fantastic story that is waiting to be told. You could be holding the next New York Times Bestseller. Visit Pamela at http://www.pameladrice.com/

Just Write the Story.

2011-10-18T00:01:00.004-04:00

On the last day of the public library's annual used book sale books are sold by the foot. That's when I picked up a copy of James A. Michener's Writer's Handbook for about eight cents.

I knew it was an account of his writing a novel, not a guide for beginning writers. (For an examination of one writer's process that I found helpful, try Zuckerman's Writing the Blockbuster Novel which follows Ken Follett through The Man from St. Petersburg.) Handbook follows the process by which Michener turned a discarded subplot from Alaska into the short novel Journey. It is filled with photocopies of his typed pages, compete with highlighting and handwritten notes, as he worked through various versions of the tale. One thing Handbook confirmed is something I already knew: I don't write anything like Michener. When a scene in one of his stories isn't working, he goes through and tweaks and adjusts and rearranges until he finds a balance he likes. When a scene in one of my stories isn't working, I throw it out and rewrite from scratch.

But that's not what I'm here about today. I'm here about my uncle, Allen Drury, of whom I've written before, and one of the two mistakes he made as a writer. Maybe I'll write about the other one at a later date.

My uncle was a meticulous researcher, which in the days before the Internet meant a lot of travel He spent years visiting Egypt before writing his Egyptian novels. (They were never big sellers, but the first, A God Against the Gods remains one of my favorites.) He made several trips to Asia during the last few years he was able to travel, visiting the ports of the southern Silk Road, also know as the Spice Trade since it was mostly over water, and journeying inland to see source regions when possible, for a book his failing health did not let him finish.

Uncle Al spent a lot of 1985 and 1986 along the western coast of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, with a couple of trips to tiny islands north and west of the Aleutians. I don't know many details; Uncle Al did not reveal details of works in progress. I do know he was researching the Unangan, the Russian American Company, British explorers, and Canadian and American fur traders. I also know that in 1987, because he told us, that he had outlined his novel to his satisfaction and was looking forward to a solid year of writing.

Not long after that he found himself sitting next to James A. Michener at a National Endowment of the Arts dinner. The two got to talking about their work and Michener told Uncle Al he had just sent the final galley proofs of his novel Alaska off to his publisher. Al did not tell Michener about his own Alaska project. In fact, from that moment there was no Alaska project. Al was a New York Times bestselling author, he was A-list. In his memoir On Writing Stephen King calls Allen Drury a "heavy hitter." But Al's sales were never more than a faint shadow of Michener's. He knew his book would never sell as well as and would always be compared to Michener's. Worse, he believed that because his novel would come out two years later critics and the public would always believe he was trying to copy and cash in on his friend's success. Somewhere in the six filing cabinets of papers Uncle Al donated to Stanford are all of the research notes and detailed outline of his Alaska novel that never was.

Too often as writers we compare ourselves to others, too often we worry about markets and what readers or publishers or critics or writers whom we admire might think of our work. Perhaps something very similar to the story we want to tell has been published by another, more established, and maybe just a bit better writer. These are all natural fears. And it's very probable that they are all to varying degrees true.
So what?
In all likelihood Al's book would not have sold as well as Michener's and almost certainly at least one critic would have opined that it was derivative of Alaska. BUT. It would have been Al's book, a book he'd written about a subject that had captured his imagination and a people who'd inspired him.

Writing is not a zero-sum game. When one of us wins, no one loses. We all benefit from the expansion of the reading universe – more good and successful books means more reason for more people to read.
If there's a story in you, write it.

Write Proudly!

2011-10-16T09:21:00.006-04:00

“Hey, Dayton, when are you going to give up that Star Trek nonsense and do some real writing? Why do you even bother with that stuff?”

I field some variation of this question on an irregular though not infrequent basis. Most of the time, it’s from someone who’s read my original fiction, and wants to know why I’m not devoting more time to that instead of Star Trek or media tie-ins in general.

My all-time favorite example of being confronted with this topic is from several years ago. Along with my frequent writing partner, Kevin Dilmore, I attended a writing conference hosted by a decent-sized writer’s association (of which I was a member) here in my home state. The conference’s aim was to give writers of varying experience a chance to interact with editors, agents, and other publishing professionals. Most of the people who had paid to attend the conference were new to the writing game, many of them still hunting for that first sale to a professional market. We accepted invitations from a friend on the planning committee, who wanted us to chair a discussion about the business and craft of writing for licensed properties. The opening night’s introductory session featured all of the conference’s “faculty members” for the weekend, seated at a long table atop a raised dais. Seated at a table on the floor, next to the dais? Kevin and me. Yep, we were at the kids’ table, unambiguously segregated from the “real writers.”

Though we exchanged knowing glances with each other, Kevin and I, being professionals, put on our game faces and took our seats, and waited for our turn to speak. We didn’t have to wait long, as the person chairing the discussion turned to us and offered what I’m sure was the opening zinger she’d been refining and rehearsing for weeks: “I was hoping you’d be wearing your [Star Trek] costumes.” Her comment garnered some few chuckles, after which she asked, “So, tell us, why do you write those Star Trek stories, anyway?”

Kevin will tell you that it took me somewhere between two and three tenths of a second to formulate and deliver my answer: “Because they pay us.”

The response earned me a nice round of applause from the audience, a look of contempt from the conference chair, and various offers to buy me and Kevin drinks for the remainder of the weekend. For the next two days, conference attendees and even other members of the "faculty" approached us--coming out of the closet, to borrow an expression--and asked about how they, too, could get in on that tie-in action. Only a few seemed put off when I told them that, contrary to popular myth and legend, one does not first have to be bitten by another media tie-in writer in order to become one. We even sat and talked with the conference’s keynote speaker, the wonderful, incomparable, totally awesome and equally sweet Leslie Banks. After blowing the doors and windows out of the joint with her riveting address to the conference, she wanted to pick our brains about writing tie-ins, as she had recently signed a contract to write such a book.

So, why do I write tie-ins? As I elaborated after offering that conference chair my initial (and admittedly flippant) answer, and aside from the fact that it can pay rather well, I do it for the same reason I like to write science fiction, horror and the odd mystery now and then, and why other writers craft romances, or westerns, or vampire stories: because it’s fun. Writing for hire has also presented me with other opportunities I otherwise might not have enjoyed, such as writing for magazines and certain high-profile websites. In the case of writing Star Trek fiction, it helps that I’ve been a fan of the original series since my diaper days. What’s that old adage about writing what you love? Well, that applies here, too. Getting to write all-new adventures for characters I’ve loved all my life? And they pay me? Are you kidding?

Yes, there’s a stigma attached to media tie-in writing. Many people believe such books are cranked out by hacks looking for a quick, easy paycheck. At one time, that might well have been true to a large extent, and I can’t say for certain that there aren’t still writers who take on such projects for similar reasons. On the other hand, the people I know who do this with any regularity invest the same sort of time and effort into their tie-in projects as they do their own original works. As for me, I don’t even know how not to do that. When I was a kid, my father taught me that I should carry out every task in such a way that I’d never hesitate to sign my name to the final product or result. Since that’s something I literally do every time a fan hands me their copy of one of my books, I want to be able to look that person in the eye and tell them I had fun writing the novel they bought with their hard-earned money, and that I’m proud of the work I did.

Don’t ever feel ashamed for writing what you love. Don’t ever apologize for it, either. Write proudly!

Guest author Nuala Ní Chonchúir: Language, Leisure and a Place to Sit

2011-10-15T00:01:00.041-04:00

Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1970, Nuala Ní Chonchúir lives in Galway County. Her début novel You (New Island, 2010) was called ‘a heart-warmer’ by The Irish Times and ‘a gem’ by The Irish Examiner. Her third short story collection Nude (Salt, 2009)) was shortlisted for the UK’s Edge Hill Prize; her third poetry collection The Juno Charm is forthcoming from Salmon Poetry. Her second short story collection To The World of Men, Welcome has just been re-issued by Arlen House in an expanded paperback edition. Nuala has recently completed her second novel.

At a short story conference in Toronto in 2010, I heard the supreme Canadian novelist and short story writer Alistair MacLeod say this: ‘In order to write you have to have language and you have to have leisure. You have to have a place to sit.’

Well, we all have language and, as writers, we are probably in love with it on many levels: as readers, as observers and as people who like to bend it to our own use. My childhood was steeped in language – my father was (and is) an accomplished oral storyteller. He was unafraid of both the colloquial and the learned phrase, and all of it was put to use in the stories he told and invented.

And I read, hungrily and without discrimination. All of the good writers I know are readers. Big readers. They read like vultures, devouring the words and picking out the juiciest bits to savour. Writers delight in language, whether they are stylists like Annie Proulx, or fans of the clean, clear sentence like Yiyun Li.

Leisure. It’s a word that has connotations of idleness which I know Alistair MacLeod did not mean. What he meant was you have to either find, or create, space to write. If you want to succeed as a writer and by that I mean if you hope to get the words down and get them published, you have to make the time to write. Novels are written one word at a time, over long periods of time. It generally takes me about a year to complete a novel; it took Arundhati Roy ten years to write The God of Small Things.

I always tell my Creative Writing students that writing is a vocation and you have to be dedicated. The nuns who taught me at secondary school often talked to us about vocations; they were hoping, I suppose, that some of us would veil up and replace them. One nun told us you would know you had a vocation because it would be whispered in your ear. I waited for that whisper: the idea of being a nun appealed to me as much as it appalled me. All that solitude! All that solitude…The call from Jesus or whomever never did come my way, but from a young age, someone or something persistently whispered in my ear: ‘You want to write’. Someone or something was handing me my vocation: ‘You want to write’.

And because I wanted to write, I had to find a way to gain leisure. A soon as I realised this was what I wanted to do, I switched to part-time work. When I had two books published, I left the workplace and began to write full-time. Well, as full-time as you can with two kids. Now with a third child, I have to buy my leisure. Ten and a half hours of it a week, at a cost of €208 a month. That’s the price of my daughter’s three-morning-a-week crèche place and that is what we as a family can afford for me to write.

So what of a place to sit? Well, for me, novel writing means routine – welcome routine – and in order to use my precious ten and a half hours a week fruitfully, I like to come back to the same place, so that I can pick up where I left off with ease. I have a study but it is the coldest room in the house so I abandoned it in favour of a warm corner of the dining room. Here sits my desk and computer, bookshelf, printer and lamp, and that’s pretty much all I need.

It sounds so simple: ‘language, leisure and a place to sit’ and it is simple in that it makes absolute sense. For novelists starting out their biggest complaint is always the lack of leisure time, time to get the work done. But I urge anyone who is serious about writing that first novel to carve out time from their life by any means – the language and the place to sit will fall into place, once you create the leisure.

The Spoken Word in Fiction

2011-10-13T10:49:00.004-04:00

As an author, I have had a number of my novels turned into what I call "audio movies." That is, they have all the characteristics of a movie, only you use your mind's eye to depict what the narrator reads.

My latest novels to audio include KILLER IN THE WOODS, DEAD IN THE ROSE CITY, and GHOST GIRL IN SHADOW BAY. It is the closest I have come, thus far, to having my books adapted to the silver or small screen. Hopefully, it is a step in the right direction in that regard.

But what I really want to talk about are other great audio novels out there. Before I became a novelist, I was a big fan of audio fiction. I remain one and am always looking for great audio novels to listen to while traveling or even during a meal at home with my wife, also a huge fan of great audio books.

There appears to be a resurgence in the popularity of audio books with digital downloads, CDs, iPads, etc. As a result, there are any number of means to listen to your favorite authors and more authors available in audio format in recent times.

As with books adapted to screenplay and then produced, the quality of the audio book depends largely on the actor/narrator/producer. Even if the novel is unabridged, which is often the case these days, or spoken word for word from a great novel in eBook or print, if the narrator seems to be sleepwalking through it or reading as if an article from the newspaper, most listeners will be able to tell and could mean the difference in listening to the entire book or not.

Fortunately, most audio novels I have listened to of late have been well written and well read, making all the more enjoyable. A few that come to mind are KILL ME IF YOU CAN by James Patterson, THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett (haven't seen the movie version yet, but plan to), THE ROSE GARDEN by Susanna Kearsley, and THE NIGHT STRANGERS by Chris Bohjalian.

Have you read any good audio books lately?

What are your favorites?

Reader's Challenge

2011-10-12T00:38:00.007-04:00

Christopher Morley, not the actor or rugby player but an American journalist who lived from 1890-1957, is known to have said: "The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking."

I agree with this quote, and I believe that one of the side effects is that, despite every intention by the author, good novels intrinsically have a purpose beyond entertaining the reader.

There are the obvious examples. I met a woman today who is doing a Phd on the role of women in peace keeping. She is a lawyer who was influenced by a book called "Half the Sky" by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, about the oppression of women and girls worldwide. It is clear that the writers intended to spur their readers into action.

In other cases, writers have a purpose, however, the books may have other unexpected consequences. Enid Blyton's books have a clear message to children - school is fun, play fair, there is no reward in being a bully, and so on. When I had to read them to my children, the effect was for me to consider writing books of my own.

Finally, there are the books written simply for entertainment. But I believe that it is impossible to read a good book and walk away unchanged. Well-written action scenes may be stored away in your subconscious and cause you to react if you are threatened. A romance may change the way that you behave in your relationships, even for a short while. We learn life lessons when bad guys end up in jail and also when the good guys end up with the short end of the stick.

So, a challenge: Show me a book - with a well-developed story line and at least one multi-dimensional character - which you have read, purely for entertainment, closed it and never gave a second thought to it beyond, "that was a fun read".

What does Your Writing Say about You?

2011-10-10T00:01:00.004-04:00

I had a big debate a few years ago with a fellow who apparently believed that writers only express their real life viewpoints in their fiction. We were particularly arguing over whether a particular writer was “racist” because of a racist character in his story. As a writer of horror fiction who often features less than savory characters in my stories, I find this kind of thinking really disturbing. I wonder what conclusions readers are drawing about me because of the views and actions of specific characters in my fiction.

It has already happened to me twice. Back in the early 1990s I wrote a piece called “Turnabout is Fair Play” in which the “monsters” could only possess human females. It had to do with my idea of the hormone responses of the creatures. The possessed females were then very vicious. The first magazine I sent the story to promptly rejected it for being sexist. I revised it to make half the nasty characters male and it sold immediately to the next magazine I sent it to.

Why did I write a story with only female “bad guys” in the first place? I did it on purpose because by that time I’d sold about 20 short stories, and every single one had featured primarily male bad guys. I’d had only one female bad guy at all in any of these stories and she was a vampire. In a fun kind of way, I felt I’d been unfair to the male side of the species and wanted to spread around the evil. Even the title, “Turnabout is Fair Play,” suggested my intent, but my desire to be a bit more fair backfired. And it bothered me a lot because to this day there is at least one person out there who thinks I’m a sexist.

The second time it happened, I’d sent a kid’s story entitled “The Great Cookie Caper” to a magazine. In the story, someone is stealing the cookies mom is making and at one point mom laughingly teases her son about it being him because he’s getting a little “fat.” The “fat” was a mistake. I got a mini lecture in the editor’s response letter about being more considerate of larger sized individuals. Both of these incidents involved “editors,” not just your general reader.

This kind of misunderstanding is one reason I’ve never had a realistically portrayed human character utter a racist comment against another human group. It’s not very realistic because racist people really exist, but I don’t want my own personal feelings to be misjudged on the basis of what one of my characters might say. And I’m reminded of some criticism I’ve heard of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn for being racist because of certain words used in dialogue in the book.

The Mark Twain situation brings up the issue of “tone.” I’ve heard people say that one writer’s use of racist characters is OK because the writer’s “tone” clearly indicates that he or she is not racist in their personal feelings. Wow! That really opens up a can of worms for me. I have a feeling that Huckleberry Finn is actually an anti-racist story, and it’s because of the tone I sense in the work. But I don’t consider myself sensitive enough to judge a writer’s racism, or other “ism,” purely from “tone.” Consider satire. A satirical story might feature characters who show exactly the opposite feelings from those the writer actually holds. But, 1) is everyone going to know the story is satire, and 2) what if a writer gets called on their story for being negative in some way and then promptly claims, “Oh, I was being satirical.” Do you know the difference? I don’t feel like I’m always going to make the correct judgment in such cases.

Personally, I try not to judge a “writer’s” character or personality from the fictional characters they put on the page. Now, I may not read a story that expresses certain types of thoughts or actions. For example, I generally don’t enjoy a story that features major characters who are overtly racist, but I don’t go from there to assuming that the writer feels the same way as the characters.

I used racism for most of my illustrations in this piece because I think folks understand the issue. However, humans are an opinionated group and the same issue can apply in multiple situations. Imagine a writer’s liberal character making negative comments about conservatives, or an atheist character making snide remarks about religious believers, or a bully character saying something insulting to a physically challenged character. The potential for misunderstandings is rampant.

I don’t imagine there is any way to avoid occasional misunderstandings of this type. I’ve probably made the same mistake myself. How about you? Do you make judgments about writers from their fictional characters? Are there times when it seems correct to do so? How do you know? And what does your writing say about you?

The Purpose Driven Novel

2011-10-09T03:11:00.013-04:00

It’s 3am. My blog post is due, and I hadn’t a clue what to write about. So I did what I should have done nine days ago: I visited the Novelspaces Authors' private blog to view the theme for this month. The theme is totally optional, and most novelnaughts thus far have elected to ignore the themes. But right now, it is serving the purpose it was intended for. It is giving me a topic to blog about when my mind is drawing a blank.

The theme for this month is: “Should novels have a purpose beyond entertaining the reader?”

The short answer is, it depends.

There are many different types of novels. Some have the deliberate purpose of educating the reader. Case in point, Carol Mitchell’s “Caribbean Adventure Series.” They are a series of very entertaining children’s novels set in different Caribbean Islands. It is quite clear that they are meant to expose children to the history and to some extent geography of the Caribbean islands. I myself have embarked on a similar project but with the aim of exposing elementary to middle school students to cell and microbiology through a series of science adventure novels. For children’s books especially, the list of novels that make deliberate attempts to educate is extensive.

Even for adult novels, education is often a secondary (if not primary) purpose of many novels. Some bring awareness to the struggles of racism, classism, discrimination in an entertaining manner. One of my favorite books, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, does just that. Others expose life in certain eras, uplift women, or men or some country. The much talked about book, “The Help” brings to light the life and times of women of color working as home domestics in segregated America. And we cannot forget the timeless classic, “Roots” and its historical impact.

Some books push an agenda or a political opinion. John Grisham’s “The Chamber,” and “A Time to Kill” very entertainingly address some pressing issues like the death penalty. Time won’t permit me to list even 0.00001% of the fiction novels (and I won’t even go into the creative non-fiction genre) that pushes an agenda, political, social, or economic opinion.

But then there are some books whose sole purpose is to entertain. Many romances, horror, sci-fi and yes erotica, fall into that category. Yet even these books can unwittingly educate or promote an agenda. Even when the author’s aim is strictly to entertain the reader, there is still often a secondary purpose, subtle though it may be. Whether that purpose is to inspire, or teach, or expose something, it is there.

So in my opinion, it does not matter whether or not a novel is written solely for the entertainment of the reader. It will still serve a secondary purpose of educating the reader in some fashion. Furthermore, the readers will take away more from the book that the author even intended.

What do you think? Should novels have a purpose beyond entertaining the reader?

Free fiction on Novel Spaces

2011-10-07T00:01:00.160-04:00

In the current perplexing publishing climate when authors are urged to utilize all means at their disposal to promote their products, giving away free books is proving to be a solid marketing strategy. According to Motoko Rich of NY Times: "How do you make your book a best seller on the Kindle? The answer: Give copies away."

Ms. Rich observes that although some publishers, notably Penguin, do not give away free books on principle, others including Harlequin, Random House and Scholastic offer free versions of digital books to e-retailers and on author websites. This is purely promotional in intent as the rationale is that doing so creates attention and buzz for the authors. E-retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble make no money on these giveaways, but the payoff is that they lure customers to their e-readers - Kindle, Nook et al.

More and more individual authors are embracing the free giveaway in order to increase visibility, increase sales and create goodwill. Of ten authors interviewed in one study, all were "glad they had made their work available for free, and most reported it had increased the reach of their work. Nobody perceived that sales had decreased as a result."

One author, according to the study, reported that his book sales were double the publisher’s initial estimates. Another said that many readers wrote to tell him that they liked his free e-book so much that they bought the paper book. A number of authors from my old house, Dorchester, have published their backlist and new work themselves; making free books available at some point is an important part of their marketing strategy.

Here on Novel Spaces we have dedicated the following dates for free fiction giveaways. These dates are open to group members, guest authors, visiting authors and publishers who would like to increase their reach, visibility and goodwill among readers.

October 30, 2011
December 30, 2011
January 30, 2012
March 30, 2012
April 30, 2012
May 30, 2012
June 30, 2012

Several authors may book on the same day: the bigger the giveaway, the bigger the buzz! To participate, leave a comment on this article stating:

Your preferred date
The title, author and genre of the novel(s)
Hard copy or digital

The featured titles will be displayed in the sidebar on the Novel Spaces blog for the month of the giveaway.

Please note that although Novel Spaces will host the giveaways, individual authors whose books are featured on free fiction days will be responsible for contacting winners and either mailing paper books to them or providing guidelines / coupon codes for downloading e-books. So what are we waiting for? Let the giveaways begin!

Guesstimation

2011-10-06T00:04:00.300-04:00

"This process should take no longer than 30 minutes to an hour." So said one of the sets of instructions I read on preparing one's kitchen for termite fumigation.

The reality was far different. The tall, skinny nyloform bags had be double-bagged, and because they were floppy, I had to wrestle a paper bag or box into each to support the contents. After the bags were half full, the inside bag had to be sealed in a special way, then the outside bag. It took nineteen double-bagged to hold our nonrefrigerated kitchen items that needed protection from the gas. It was a full day's worth of work. Clearly, the person writing the instructions had never packed for a termite tenting.

We have moved many times, so we know packing. When we learned our house had to be tented and the scheduler wanted to sign us up for the following week, we knew to say "no." There were several dozens bushes and trees to be trimmed or cut down; valuables to be packed and taken elsewhere; hotels to be researched and reservations to be booked; suitcases for our time away to be packed; hundreds of items in the kitchen and bathrooms to be put into nyloform bags; get work done ahead of time; and the ground around the house to be soaked with water for several hours. We scheduled it four weeks out, and we could have used a little more time.

Similarly, I've had clients who were clueless how long their projects would take, usually because they did not understand the steps involved. "Big-picture people" have a hard time breaking down projects into the component actions. They assume drone work takes little time and base their guess of the total time on the amount of creative work needed, when in fact chasing down contact information, lining up interviews, collecting data and doing research, checking facts and spellings, finding photos and getting rights to use them, creating spreadsheets, and all the other foundation work often takes longer than writing the article or book.

As writers and editors, we need to develop the skill to estimate the time a project will take. Otherwise, we will sign on to projects we don't have time to do or get paid a pittance for a huge project.

Here are some tips I've learned.

Stick with the same clients. There are many good reasons to have low turnover in your client list, but one of the most important is that you and your client learn what's involved in a typical project and how long it takes. You can then set a per-project or per-hour rate that both of you are happy with.

Do part of the project before bidding to find out what's involved, and keep track of how long the different tasks take. You will then be able to guess how long the full project will take and bid accordingly. There's the risk that the client won't hire you if you bid too high, but that's better than being the winning low bidder stuck with a nightmare project.

Ask for an hourly rate, not a project rate. Doing so gives the client most of the risk, so they may object. But with a new client or a client who seems particularly big-picture-oriented, an hourly rate may be the only way to get a fair deal.

Assume that you will spend 25% (for a regular client) to 100% (for a new or ditzy client) more time on a writing or editing project that you estimate. Set your project fee and plan your calendar accordingly.

Writing projects are usually paid by the project, not the hours worked. Some of the information you need to know before making a bid or deciding to accept the offered fee are:

Word count
Reading level (lower reading levels take longer to write)
Audience
Nature of project
Date due
Number of people who will review your work and ask for changes
Whether your deadlines will be extended if the client is late getting info or feedback to you
What background material you will be given and what do you need to find on your own
A guess about the likelihood that the editor will keep their word

Editing projects are usually billed by the hour. Clients, not surprisingly, often want a guess ahead of time of how many hours you'll need if the project is large or unusual. Sometimes they need to get approval from a higher-up or look at their budget to see whether the project can be done or must be scaled back. Most of the information above for writers is useful to know before giving your editing client a guesstimate. Here are some other things to find out.

Whether the authors are native English speakers
Whether the authors were given a common style guide
Whether the authors followed that style guide
Whether you may query the authors directly when passages are obtuse or calculations seem wrong, or whether you have to go through the editor
Whether you have to check and correct the references
Whether you will receive complete materials or whether you'll have to write abstracts or do research to complete the chapters or articles yourself
Whether your client wants a light edit that merely corrects spelling, grammar, and house style errors or a heavy edit that also includes correcting factual errors and rewriting badly written sentences so the authors don't look like idiots

What tips for estimating time for writing or editing projects have I missed? Do you have any horror stories about times you estimated the time needed for a project poorly?

I'll be blogging again at Novel Spaces on October 21. See you then!

—Shauna Roberts

It's all a blur!

2011-10-04T00:00:00.001-04:00

Help! What has happened to my eyes? I have five pair of reading glasses, two that are hiding from me (guess I need my glasses on to find them) and three that I have either on my desk, in my purse, or on my nightstand. I'm far sighted - I can see the very top of the roof across the street and tell you if there's a dime or a nickel on the third shingle from the right. But close up - please!

My granddaughter actually reads the price tags for me when we shop - how sad/cute is that? Now, I am glad to have my eyes and my sight and I'm happy to be able to see at all, far away especially - I don't need glasses when I drive, so yes, I am blessed. I love my eyes. Don't get me wrong.

I just can't help but to wonder if I would need to rummage through the dollar store eyeglass section (1.75 to 2.00) as often (and yes, I have gone to the eye doctor for prescription glasses, I lose those, too) if I weren't a writer. Also, these days we all use computers so much and the strain we put on our eyes is worse than ever.

I watched a report on CNN that said young children are in need of glasses at a younger age now because they're playing games on small screens and using computers. We use our cell phones and that adds to the problem. And yes, we're reading books on devices, many on screens that are smaller than actual books themselves.

After four to six hours of writing (sometimes more) I force myself to stop and give my eyes a rest. My eyes can get red and dry, so I use eye drops often, but my eye doctor told me that our eyes can get addicted to the drops and we shouldn't use them too often. If we do use drops, the artificial tears type brands are better.

So, this post is a way of checking in with my fellow writers to see if I'm in the minority on this or not. I've had great 20/20 vision for years - this just started about six years ago, though it is also true that I'm no spring chicken so maybe this would've happened anyway.

All of you young folks who laugh when grandma pulls out her spectacles, beware! You, too, could one day have five pair, three that you can find and two that are hiding from you! I'm just saying!

Authors, don't sit too long, stand up and stretch out those legs, and don't stare too long, give those precious eyes a rest!

Ciao

As My Smashwords Page Lies a-Mouldering…

2011-10-03T00:01:00.012-04:00

On July 29, 2011, with very little fanfare, I launched Kvaad Press. The launch was not unexpected. The timing was. And I've learned (and am learning) a few things in the process.

Full-time writing has always been my goal. Up until a year or so ago I saw traditional publishing as the only professional route to that objective. That was until I noticed the publishing industry doing its impression of Michael Landon turning into a teenage werewolf. I began to think seriously about publishing independently at that time and began exploring options in earnest around the first of this year – anticipating a mid-January, 2012, launch. The writers to whom I was looking as role models fell into two broad groups: A) Those with established reputations, loyal followings, and a significant stockpile of stories and/or novels published years ago to which they had the rights; and 2) Those who were easing into the marketplace, were building their inventory and their reader base, and had other sources of income to support their project until it was self-supporting.

I'm not a member of Group A. Because I've been a writer-for-hire fully half my published words have appeared without my name anywhere near them. And those works with my name attached are the property of BBC, Paramount, Catalyst Game Labs, Smith & Tinker, and others. I don't have an inventory I can call my own – or in some cases even mention. For that reason, my plan was modeled on Group 2.

Dealing with deadlines has taught me to write both quickly and well and to juggle projects; using that skill set I intended to produce inventory through the summer and fall. Kvaad Press would launch with two original novels and a dozen short stories. The Press would have PoD capability (with the physical printing contracted out), an interactive web site, and a stock of thoughtful essays on the art and craft of writing (to be posted as blog entries every week or so). From that point I was confident I could maintain a schedule of one new short story a week and a new novel each quarter (that's the pace I maintained while writing To Ride the Chimera).

From the beginning I did not intend Kvaad Press to be the Kevin K show. I knew I would need an editor (knowing what one meant to say limits one's ability to see what one actually wrote) and had a short list of editors with whom I'd like to contract. I also knew that keeping PoD cost-effective meant handling art, layout, and mss prep in-house: sending the PoD provider a file ready for the presses rather than a word processor doc saves an average of $400. Professional grade software is expensive and learning how to use it takes money and time, but the investment takes only four novels to pay for itself. Kvaad Press would thus be in a position to work with other writers who were as leery of traditional houses as I but didn't have the resources/inclination to do a professional job of going independent.

Projecting sales was pretty much blind guessing, but expenses and business plan milestones were easy to map. All things considered, I thought Kvaad Press could be in the black in twelve months. My accountant was in qualified agreement. She and my mentor at SCORE were particularly excited about the commercial possibilities of editing, formatting, and midwifing publication for other writers. As a menu service they thought it would be the quickest way to earn back the expenses of software, training, and dedicated computer I needed.

So with all this nifty groundwork and planning, why did Kvaad Press launch six months early? Why leap from the precipice without the computer, software, training, interactive site, inventory of novels and short stories, or even an arsenal of pithy blog entries? Medicaid. With regulations changing almost weekly and funding spiraling downward there is less and less money available for community mental health providers. Twice in 2010 agencies I was with went under; both times I had a position with a new agency within the month. But when something similar happened in 2011, Valerie and I took a look at our options and our dreams and decided the risks in launching our dream early were worth it.

We decided Kvaad Press would begin by marketing short stories and novels in e-formats on the web while getting all the other necessary components in place and would adjust plans and timetables as we learned. A soft launch in preparation for the hard launch in January, to misuse some of the business jargon I'd learned in my research. To that end I formed a duly licensed company, complete with tax number and bank and PayPal accounts; established a presence on Smashwords and elsewhere, (including a Kvaad Press blog that is currently empty); studied up on social media/marketing; and began making contacts with other publishers and ancillary services to lay the groundwork for establishing a network.

With less than a month to create inventory, Kvaad Press launched on Smashwords with six short stories and no novels. I backed away from my initial plan to upload a new story every week when I learned there are other markets for short fiction that pay as well or better. I'm giving some thought to putting short fiction on Smashwords only as promotional tie-ins to my novels (a model many novelists use effectively). I've storyboarded two novels (a mystery and a fantasy), the first should be ready for an editor around December 1. I've also taken on a couple of write-for-hire projects, which don't help my inventory issues but are rendering cash more quickly than other options. Beyond that I have popcorn kittens – so many ideas and options it's taking extraordinary measures to keep them all moving in the same direction.

Where I am now is not where I planned on being at this point. However, given the options I was handed in June, I think I've made the wiser choice. Certainly the more exciting one. I'll keep you posted.

This Much I Know

2011-10-01T00:00:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I did a sharp left turn away from talking about the writing biz with that last post. Still I couldn't help but feel that my thoughts about The Help was related. Sort of. The discussions about the book and movie made me think about why I became a writer in the first place, which had a lot to do with my family. Little did I know that that one simple wish at age eleven would one day lead me down the rabbit hole called "The World of Being A Published Author."

At first I was going to describe a few of my adventures and misadventures after I sold my first book. As entertaining as I've been told those stories are, let's get to what I've learned. So this much I now know:

Writers should relentlessly network with other professional authors. That's the best advice I can give. Don't confine yourself to local group only, or even just one group. There is a reason self-help groups are so popular in every area of life. There simply is no substitute for talking to people who are going where you want to go, or have been there and come back with war stories.

I tell this to aspiring writers all the time, and mostly their eyes glaze over or they look disappointed. I tell this to a couple of my seasoned published authors pals who tend to be loners. Self-published, indie published, traditionally published, and any combination of all three, should network. Be selective though. Start with the major professional organizations. Why? They go after information from knowledgeable sources. Then plug in to author groups that grow out of relationships that started in RWA, MWA, Novelists, Inc, etc. These authors know their stuff. Seriously. There is way too much to learn for you to rely on a few people. Cast your net wide.

Everything I learned about indie publishing, including resources that saved me money, came from networking with other authors. More $$$ in my pocket.

So let's talk about money and indie writing. I know there is debate about authors pricing their indie eBook titles too low. Some contend that books should never be priced below $3.99. That does make sense. Authors make 70% of each sale at $2.99 and above. So why did I price A Darker Shade of Midnight at .99? Well, I wanted to give readers an incentive to try out a Lynn Emery novel. It's not, as some suggest, because I don't value my writing or lack confidence in my storytelling. Sales through retail sites give me 35%, and sales from my website give me 100%. All the money comes to me. Traditional publishing gave me 8-10% of each sale (depending on which contract I'm talking about). Add in the 15% cut to the agent, and 35% looks good to me. (Aside: God looked out for me - I made tidy $$$ on two books that were un-agented purely by chance. This planted the seed of not wanting an agent). If I wasn't selling anything I'd get 0%.

Not all of my books are .99. I have a plan. No, you can't know my plan until it's launched.

Covers. As a new author I learned the conventional wisdom, via local and national RWA (Romance Writers of America) meetings. Authors know nothing about cover design. Nothing. Sure, we know elements we'd like to see on our covers. Yet basically the advice was publishers know best. Authors simply waited, sometimes with dread based on past covers, to see what their new covers would look like. Then on author loops writers would announce the results: the thrill of victory- "They listened to me!", or the agony of defeat "Oh dear God, no-ooo!"

With my indie covers I chose the art and described how I wanted the elements arranged, then hired someone with skills to design them. I'm still no good with Photoshop, and what is exactly is a vector? You get the picture. Since writing is my top priority for now I'm keeping to that approach. But together Pati Nagle and I made a great team coming up with the covers for A Darker Shade of Midnight (the hint of blood on the letters was my idea) and Best Enemies (the gun behind the title? Yep, my idea).

Back to money. Recently on another blog this new author talked about spending $5000 or more publishing an indie eBook. There is so much you can learn from proven authors in the groups I mentioned before. There is absolutely no reason to spend that kind of money. $5000. Please.

Book Trailers - my experience is this: I had fun coming up with the ideas (colors, photos, etc.). A guy I dated even let me use his original music. We're still friends, so I might ask to use his excellent music again. A solid reason to have good break-ups if you can, but I digress. Book trailers didn't result in book sales. I'd say don't even waste the time to do one yourself, much less major $$$ paying for one.

Promotion in General - Nothing is certain. Do what makes sense, and what you enjoy. Since no one can say, "This is definitely going to sell books!", doing what you enjoy is my best advice of the two. Be willing to try ads, interviews, guest blog posts, etc. But don't spend big $$$, or eat too much into time you should be writing. Repeat - no one knows which of the various promotional/marketing efforts work best. None are sure fire for every writer anyway. What worked like magic for one author may do nothing for you.

If you have a traditional book deal:

Once again you need to network with other authors, including those that write for the same publishing house as you.
Don't be afraid to ask for stuff - like if your publisher is willing to split the cost of a promotional effort. You might be surprised. If they say "No" you haven't lost anything.
Know what every clause of your contract means, including the long-term implications. Get help from a good literary attorney if necessary. See a list provided by author Laura Resnick (scroll down).
Agents are not attorneys! Believe it or not, they don't always know the implications of every contract clause.
Agents are not always looking out for you. They are looking out for themselves. If your book deal will mess up another deal worth more, they'll choose to drop kick you. They also won't risk their relationships with editors because of something you want in a contract.
Negotiate. You probably won't get what you want each time, but go after it anyway.
Kenny Rogers was right- know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em. Don't bluff unless you're willing to walk away from a deal. Decide what you can live with, but do it based on as much knowledge as possible about the contract clause in question.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line at lynn@lynnemery.com.

Visit http://www.lynnemery.com/ to learn more about my books and other interests like forensics, voodoo and other stuff.

Guest editor Monica Harris: The e-reader question

2011-09-30T07:53:00.001-04:00

As Senior Editor at Kensington Publishing, Monica Harris initiated and edited Arabesque, the first African American romance series by a major publisher. There she also edited historical romances, mysteries, women’s mainstream novels and non-fiction. Harris has won a number of important honors, including Waldenbooks Special Achievement Award, New York Chapter of NAACP Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2003 Emma Trailblazers’ Award, and is listed in the Who’s Who of African Americans and the Cambridge Who's Who. Her company MHM Editorial Services provides re-writing, line-editing, manuscript critiquing and revision help for authors and publishers.

My eldest child had to read a geography lesson for homework. He went straight to the computer. When I asked why, he answered: “To study.”

It’s hard for me to say “stop reading” in any format. One of my earliest photos was of me with a book in my hands. I taught myself to read before I entered school and have saved my favorite childhood books for my own kids to read. I love the feel of a book’s pages between my fingers, I love the weight of a book while I’m toting it around ready to read at any quiet moment, and I love what a shelf full of books symbolizes. No doubt, I love the physical book.

I also have the Kindle app on my iPhone.

I understand that Baby Boomers have embraced the e-readers and Generation X (my generation) enjoys all that the tablets and smart phones can provide. Today’s schoolchildren are learning their subjects on individual laptops. This week, Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet came out with much fanfare to compete with the Apple iPad. Having a book available electronically has several advantages: instant accessibility, convenience, and privacy are among the top. Also, the e-reader benefits for schoolchildren and others with little access to libraries, assistance for those with learning disabilities and the ability to easily retrieve global information are beyond debate. Plus, not using paper is good for the environment. E-readers are one of the products of a Star Trek imagination that has truly been realized.

However, an e-reader does change the way we read and in my opinion, how we process information and in essence, enjoy a good story. Writers want to share their stories, their ideas. They want their own imaginations to spark others’. I wonder if passive e-readers can go beyond the words on the screen and develop their deeper thoughts about the book.

Trust me, I love a good story and I know that people who want to write will do so, no matter the method. We’ve come a long way from papyrus. And there will always be readers, no matter the medium. Even William Wordsworth’s sister complained that he wasted his mind on newfangled newspapers. My editorial services company works with authors to make their manuscripts into an e-books. I embrace technology professionally and personally, even if I’m a half-step behind.

Nevertheless, I am a firm believer in how physical activity adds to the retention process. I believe that by writing information on a piece of paper or turning a page, your brain and body register the work therefore making that info more easily recalled. I have plenty of anecdotal evidence. Fortunately, experts support a connection between the physical and the brain. Dr. Amir Soas of Case Western Reserve University Medical School in Cleveland advises to do “anything that stimulates the brain to think.” He also recommends watching less television because “your brain goes into neutral.” Is there a difference in the way the brain absorbs information when it’s presented electronically?

In October 2009, the New York Times posited similar questions to a panel of teachers and doctors. The experts thought there was nothing terrible about the medium, yet they were unsure how e-readers worked on developing brains or if going from link to link added to a lack of attention to detail. E-Reading is not just decoding for information and entertainment. E-Readers must also fight distraction. Gloria Mark, a professor in the Department of Informatics at University of California, Irvine notes that people “switch simple activities an average of every three minutes (e.g. reading email or IM) and switch projects about every 10 and a half minutes.” Not a lot of room for deep thoughts.

To read, attention is needed. Can a reader of e-books acknowledge ideas beyond the text? Will the reader ever get to what Proust once said – the heart of reading – the ability to go beyond the author’s wisdom and enter one’s own? What does that mean for writers? Do their readers love their books for the same reasons whether presented electronically or physically?

People need time to process and absorb the written word. How often have I reread beautiful passages marked by dog-eared pages? How often have I looked at a cover to be sure I envision what the author described? How often have I reread difficult pages in order be sure I really understood what was being said? How often have I used the properties of the physical book to kick-start my thoughts?

I make my children read physical books because at school they are often using e-books. I insist we go to the library for the “stumble upon” effect – to find a book or spark an interest one wasn’t expecting. I know by the time they are in college, the kids will be downloading their schoolbooks onto their tablets but they will know how to grasp meaning and do research at a library in case of a power outage.

Maybe I’m just a book lover who knows e-readers will be with us until technology evolves. Fortunately, humans have ability to multitask and ignore the unnecessary; we get what we need from our books in whatever manner we read them. However, until we figure out how to ignore the easy distractions and learn to ponder the words on screen, maybe we should practice what we do with the physical book: take a pause every few pages to review and marvel over the words.

Monica Harris
MHM Editorial Services, LLC

Kindle, Nook, iPad, etc.

2011-09-29T11:10:00.003-04:00

Just when I was adapting to my second Kindle, Amazon has introduced yet another today.

Kindle Fire is described as "beautiful full color Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games, web browsing and more, for only $199."

I must admit that I am intrigued and will likely shell out the money to get the latest Kindle. I suppose, like many others out there, I subscribe to the old adage, "the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement."

And so, staying current, I will have to add Kindle Fire to the latest Nook and iPad, which I also have.

As an avid reader and music lover, I love these handy devices that make what used to be a chore now as easy as pie, costs aside.

No more hauling big books, thick newspapers, magazines, and a batch of CDs around. Now I just go the digital download route and enjoy.

That said, I still feel a little like being ripped off by those who continue to come out with these new and improved eReaders and other devices. Yet, these are signs of the times, so...

Also, as a writer, I fully embrace every advancement in digital technology, as it means more and more readers come aboard, including audio novel readers. Meaning more readers to discover my writings in eBook and audio formats.
Bottom line, is what's good for one is good for all, ultimately.

Which eReader do you use? Which one is the best?

Do you plan to buy the Kindle Fire?

Serial Killers

2011-09-28T04:06:00.007-04:00

The third book of the Caribbean Adventure Series is finally out. In many ways Trapped in Dunston's Cave (a.k.a. TIDC) has been the most difficult book in the series to produce. I started it while adjusting to life in Ghana and it is also the first book published under the CaribbeanReads Publishing label, a process during which I climbed a very steep learning curve.

One of the significant challenges that I faced in writing TIDC is one that I believe is faced by many who choose to write a series of books about young children. (Some parents face a similar dilemma with their own children.)

How do you handle the fact that time moves on and your characters want to grow at a faster pace than you and your readers may prefer?

As time passes, children's interests, issues and challenges change. An author writing a series with adult protagonists can write years and years worth of drama without coming across this issue. Television soap operas are a testimony to that fact. On the other hand, the writer of children's books has to decide whether to keep the children (miraculously) around the same age group or to have them grow out of the target age group of the series.

I have seen this addressed successfully in two different ways.

The first approach is to focus on an engaging plot where the protagonists are interesting but somewhat secondary. The characters in Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and the Magic Tree House series are examples of characters who changed and developed very little. The Magic Tree House Series is about the adventures of a pair of siblings, Jack and Annie. There are over 40 books in the series, however, apart from some maturing of the younger of the pair, they seem to remain the same age throughout. The plots get a bit more involved as the series progresses but children remain more or less the same age and character.

This approach lends itself to a younger audience. The advantage is that it allows the author to focus on the story line however, it becomes more difficult to create a multi-dimension character and as children get older they want to read about characters like themselves. As a result, readers grow out of these series fairly quickly and the author has to continuously attract new readers.

A second approach is to develop characters that are the center piece of the plot. We see this exemplified in series like Narnia and Harry Potter. Harry Potter and his friends mature each year and the author introduces romantic relationships and other issues children face as they mature. This approach limits the number of books that the author can produce before the characters grow beyond the bounds of a children's book but it means that the author has the freedom to create characters that are truly engaging. These authors keep their readership with each book, which means that marketing is less expensive and potentially more successful.

In Trapped in Dunston's Cave, I balanced a bit on the line between these two approaches, however, I will have to take a plunge in book 4.