Forever Rewrighting

When it's time to recycle your writing

2012-03-12T17:44:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is the release day of PRETTY CROOKED by the awesome Elisa Ludwig. I interviewed her on my blog last September; since then, she's added a book trailer you'll want to check out here.

You'll notice I'm a tad late in posting my usual Monday info. I was at a state championship competitive hockey tournament all weekend and had hoped to actually still be there today. Alas, my son's team was defeated in the crossovers (with help from some very questionable refing) so we came home at midnight last night with our heads hung low. This is our eleventh year of being a hockey family; my son has played since he was four. Needless to say, every year games get more tense, the stakes get a bit higher as the ever elusive goal of a hockey scholarship nears.

Last year's championship game - the Boy is #8

I say elusive because there are only 900 Division 1 hockey scholarships in the nation. 900. Sounds like a lot until you consider there are tens of thousands of kids just like my son who can play pretty well. One of those Division 1 schools is the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. Number of scholarships they've offered to their home-state kids for hockey? Not many. Competition is fierce, folks, and there's always somebody willing to go play in the juniors or throw money at expensive camps Outside or that simply has more talent.

Chances are, the Boy won't make the cut.

You may be asking how this all relates to writing...although I'm guessing the numbers above are creating the metaphor in your mind. In case it's not, here's how: there are only so many publishing houses out there. And hundreds of thousands of writers. Just looking at the numbers can throw you into despair.

But wait. We're all multi-talented writers, right? Like the Boy - who has a talent for test-taking and, when he isn't being a bonehead, is a pretty smart cookie - we can look at the market for ~~weaknesses~~ niches that don't have as much competition.

If the paranormal romance genre is awfully crowded and agents are rejecting your vampire/ghost/werewolf/talking-spider story right and left, what other genre can you try? Maybe your MS is centered around a mystery or has elements of a thriller. Could you strengthen the mystery/thriller aspects of the plot and change the characters around a bit?

Or you have a fantasy with an MC who discovers she's half-fey and has powers to rule/change/destroy the world. Unfortunately, it turns out that about half the other querying writers out there have the same premise. Your plot is so centered around this idea, you're totally bummed. But your MC is this mind-blowing, a** kicking heroine you can't bear to consign to the drawer. How about using elements of her character in another plot?

Know this: nothing you've written so far is wasted. It may never be published but it ISN'T a waste. Step back from your creation and look at it like it's a house you want to sell. You've got to make it marketable, right? So try removing your emotions - because the MS isn't your baby, it's your business - and view it with fresh eyes.

The Boy probably won't get a Division 1 hockey scholarship. But chances are pretty good that his brains will attract what his brawn will not. An academic scholarship at a Division II school is a real possibility. Sure, it's not as prestigious as Div I but an education is an education. That's our ultimate goal.

What's your ultimate goal? And are you committed enough to reaching it to get creative with your approach?

How to launch a series, with Rachel Morgan

2012-03-09T21:15:00.000-08:00

Today I am thrilled to introduce you to Rachel Morgan, the intrepid author of the CREEPY HOLLOW novelette series that kicked off with Guardian March 5. Everything about this project is so classy, clean and professional looking, I was dying to find out how Rachel pulled it all together. (BTW, do stop by her blog. She's got some awesome giveaways going on in honor of her blog tour that runs through March 15.)

But first, check out her blurb:
1. Receive assignment.
2. Save a life.
3. Sleep.
4. Repeat.

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until one of her assignments—a human boy who shouldn’t even be able to see her—follows her into the fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? But Nate and Vi are about to land themselves in even bigger trouble—and it’ll take all Vi’s training to get them out alive.

is this an awesome cover or what?

1. You are hitting your GUARDIAN launch with all social media guns blazing - blog tour, author site, book series site, giveaways - it's an impressive list! Talk about where you've gotten your publicity approach (a mentor?) and how many people you've hired to make it all look so professional and cool.
Um, I haven’t hired anyone to help with publicity! And I don’t have a mentor either. (But I’m glad you think it all looks professional and cool!) Basically I just watch what other authors do and get ideas from them. The blog tour idea has been going for a while, so I always knew I wanted to do one of those. Then it just came down to what exactly would be happening throughout the blog tour: a “launch day” where I asked a number of bloggers to post about the release of GUARDIAN to get the word out; book reviews; author interviews (like this one); character interviews (those are fun) and guest posts. None of these are radically new ideas. For the book reviews, I didn’t want to only ask writers that I know, so I Googled YA book review blogs and searched for the ones that accepted self-published books. I sent each of them an email and waited for their response. The really scary part was when I then had to send out actual review copies for people to read! I was HONESTLY terrified!

If you want to read some of those reviews, check out this list.

2. Creepy Hollow is a novelette series. Why did you decide to go shorter and what's the word count difference between a novel and a novelette?Wikipedia gives the following information regarding the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and their Nebula Award categories:
Novel: over 40,000 words
Novella: 17,500 to 40,000 words
Novelette: 7,500 to 17,500 words
Short story: under 7,500 words
The very first reason I decided to go shorter was that, after following several successful self-published authors, I noticed that they all had something in common: a list of published works behind their names, not just a single novel. Okay, great, so I wanted to do that too, but it would take me years to publish several novels. So I figured the easiest way to get several titles out there in a short-ish amount of time would be (obviously) to make them short works. Hence the novelette :-) That then morphed into a series of interrelated stories, CREEPY HOLLOW.

I think it's a great idea - savvy, fun and a good business decision all in one.

3. So you grew up in South Africa and you're teaching Maths to girls right now. From your use of 'maths' plural, I'm guessing you're not living in the U.S. So where do you live right now? And what influences have you drawn on to write GUARDIAN?
I am still living in South Africa, and we all say ‘maths’ (plural) here! It sounds weird to us to say math with no ‘s’. I mean, how can you teach/learn a single math? What about all the other mathS?! ANYWAY, getting back to the point. For GUARDIAN and the CREEPY HOLLOW series I’ve been influenced by a number of different books and TV series that I’ve enjoyed: Paranormalcy, Hex Hall, Graceling, The Vampire Diaries, Veronica Mars. And as for writing styles, I really enjoy the way Cassandra Clare and Stephanie Perkins write (though the writing voice of CREEPY HOLLOW is way more similar to Stephanie than Cassandra).

Fellow teachers and I have discussed the weird singular title of Math here in the US. I have no idea why we dropped the 's'. It's a bit misleading.
4. Now, tell us how this series is different from other Fae series out there. Why should we buy it?Well . . . I can’t be completely sure (because I haven’t read all the faerie books in existence out there) but I think (I hope!) that the main idea is quite unique: faeries who are protectors of humans. Kind of like guardian angels, but with magic and sparkly weapons and super-gymnastic attack skills! These faeries spend years developing their fighting skills so that when they receive their assignments they can successfully protect humans from dangerous fae creatures, all while remaining invisible and undetected by humans.
This is also fiction that doesn’t take itself too seriously. There’s a time for “serious” fiction, but I wanted to have fun with this series, and I hope readers have fun reading it :-)

5. What's your goal for this series? And your next project?
Okay, if I’m going to be honest, my goal (for all my writing) is probably the same as any other writers’ goal – to magically make enough money to quit The Day Job and be a full-time writer! Yup, that’s my ultimate goal, and I’m holding onto it for as long as it takes to reach it. And as for my next project . . . I am so consumed by the current project (I’m not exactly sure how many CREEPY HOLLOW stories there will be, but at least seven), that I’ve barely thought about the next project!

Wow - seven!? I'm guessing you're a plotter. Thanks so much for joining us, Rachel.

~ ~ ~

Rachel Morgan is the author of Guardian, the first novelette in the Creepy Hollow series. She was born in South Africa and spent a large portion of her childhood living in
a fantasy land of her own making. These days, in between teaching mathematics to high school children, she writes fiction for young adults.

Buy Guardian from

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Smashwords

The Creepy Hollow Series

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Book Trailer

Author Info

Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Google+

Friday funnies

2012-03-09T07:51:00.000-08:00

First time I've seen this clip featuring Johnny Depp confronting Ricky Gervais for his jokes on the Golden Globes.

And one of my all time favs from Talking Animals - The Bacon Dog.

Speaking of food, this isn't funny so much as COOL and GIMICKY in a temporarily awesome way. Meet: the Cupcake ATM: http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2012/03/08/cupcake-atm-vends-sweet-treats-around-the-clock/?hpt=ea_bn2&hpt=hp_c2

Click on the video to get an idea of how the machine works. This first one is based in Beverly Hills, where people there apparently don't mind paying $4 for a cupcake from a sophisticated vending machine.

Second Campaigner challenge

2012-03-06T10:22:00.001-08:00

Since I missed the first challenge due to crazy busyness, I'm determined not to miss out again! This one gives a variety of prompts and choices to fulfill - go here to see the photos and catch up.

Flash fiction - under 200 words

Fighting the Light

It really sucked to be poor. As he sifted through the dump searching for food, Dem remembered happier days before his parents were killed by the lighting strike. Back then, the rain still came, occasionally so hard Dem would watch its glistening funnels dance across the river. Now the river was dried up, his parents were gone and instead of clouds, the sky was webbed with deadly golden tendrils of heat.
"That kid is going to get struck," Lara said, lifting hair wet with sweat off her neck. Dem followed her gaze to see a child chasing a ball across the broken bridge. Tendrils coiled above the boy’s head.
"Hey!" Dem yelled, already running, Lara beside him. The boy kicked and played, oblivious to the lightning above. Dem wanted to run faster but he was too weak; the light hit, blinding him. A hand closed around his arm, pulling him to safety. Something sharp jabbed his leg as he collapsed next to Lara.
"We tried," Lara said. Rust from the bridge piling flaked off on her skin.
Dem thought of the boy-shaped pile of ash above their heads. "But it's never enough."

Talking Origin with Jessica Khoury

2012-03-05T07:56:00.008-08:00

Jessica Khoury

This week I'm thrilled to be featuring up-and-coming author Jessica Khoury, whose work I first read over at QueryTracker last summer. She'd posted her first five pages for review and I was blown away by her concept (a girl scientifically bred to be the first of an immortal race) and writing style. I tend to do a bit of cyber-stalking when I find interesting folks like that, so I found her blog and discovered she'd just landed Lucy Carson of the Fredrich Literary Agency as her agent. Then a month or so later, she hinted that she had bigger news she was waiting to share (which in author-speak means "I've sold my book and I can't tell you yet!!"). Not only did she sell it, but Razorbill/Penguin has committed a HUGE first print run of 250,000 when it debuts in September. I don't have to tell you this is a dream come true for any writer...wait. I just did tell you that. Sorry.
Anyway, the wait is over, both for her pub announcement AND her cover art. It's so fab I've posted it below. I know you're dying to get inside Jessica's brilliant brain so I'll stop writing and let you read on...

Talk about the origin of the title ORIGIN. How many titles did you go through and who suggested this one?

The title was originally "Perfectly Pia," which was deemed too "chick-lit." And I agreed. So the folks over at Razorbill brainstormed and I brainstormed and we just threw ideas back and forth. We came up with some great titles, but there was always some little thing that was wrong -usually they were too close to something already out there. It was my editor who suggested it ultimately, and we all loved it.

Before you signed with Lucy, she suggested some revisions. What kind were they - indepth or mainly fine tuning?

They were actually fairly in-depth. The biggest change was the ending. I'd tell you more--but don't want to give anything away.The rest of the revisions had to do with pacing and information control and fleshing out some of the characters. In all, it took me about three weeks to do the revisions, which is a long time for me (I wrote ORIGIN in four weeks).

And how did you know those edits were right for your story?

Though the changes were big, they all ultimately enhanced my original vision for the story. Instead of changing what the book was about, they helped to make its core stronger. That was part of the reason I chose Lucy as my agent. The other agents I talked to wanted to see revisions that would have done the opposite: altering the story's essence and changing Pia's voice. I am thrilled with the revisions Lucy suggested. It's a huge bonus to find an agent who's not only a totally savvy salesperson, but an insightful--and willing--editor as well.

What kind of edits did your editor suggest after you signed with Razorbill, and how did those differ from Lucy's?
There really were no points on which my editor's suggestions differed. Laura's revisions weren't as drastic--thanks to the fact Lucy had already helped me shape the book into much of what it is. My editor mostly had me add information. She wanted me to answer world-building questions, add some new chapters, deepen some of the relationships more, stuff like that. Actually, during my revisions for Laura, the book gained a lot of weight. ORIGIN went from 80,000 words to 105,000!

There's a reason why we keep our debut novels short, people! It's so the editors who buy them have room to deepen the story if it necessary!

I've always wondered why it takes so long before you can announce a deal. What is going on during the delay between you knowing about the sale, and being able to announce?
The reason we had such a long delay was because my publisher wanted all the edits to be finished before the announcement. So the deal was signed in October, but we went through several rounds of edits--from the major changes to the niggly little details--during that time. The reason for this was so that when the announcement was made, we would be able to send the finished manuscript out as soon as requests for subsidiary rights started coming in. And an extra month delay was added because we were lucky enough to get picked up by Publisher's Weekly for the announcement, which meant we had to wait for them to print it.

I've heard many authors don't get cover approval for their first book. Did you? If not, did you have concerns about ensuring the cover fits the story?
I saw some preliminary cover work--and it was absolutely gorgeous! I am getting quite a bit of say in that process, though I haven't had any major complaints. I've made a few suggestions on some of the details, all of which have been graciously accepted and implemented. Really, the team at Penguin is fantastic. I couldn't be happier.

How are you balancing the demands of a debut author with that of a writer? Do you set aside some days for writing and others for authoring?
Well, since I've been pretty much embroiled in editing up till now, the two have pretty much been synonymous. I have spent a lot of time trying to build my online platform, but my brain is starting to itch for a new story. I am a pretty fast writer, so I'm not too worried about running out of time. Once I dive headfirst into writing, though, I don't do much else. So there will probably be at least one month this year in which I disappear from Twitter and Facebook, then reemerge later like some kind of troglodyte, manuscript in hand. I won't even think about ORIGIN during that time unless it's absolutely necessary.

What are you working on now? Right now I'm developing several different ideas. I have about six new projects in outline form, any of which I could start writing tomorrow. But again, when I'm writing a novel, I delve into it with a kind of feverish tunnel-vision, so I don't commit to anything until I know I have the time to really dig into it and get it done. My next project will definitely be YA. And it will not have vampires. That's about all I can say for sure.

How has your drafting process changed now that you've gone through the whole gamut of revision, from betas to agent to editor?
I've certainly learned oodles from my agent and editor. I know now what my weak points are as a writer (e.g., too many commas, not enough backstory, romance), and I'll be able to watch for those better. Just from working with Lucy and Laura, I've grown so much in my ability to look at plot, characters, and pacing more objectively, and I find myself often catching plot holes or dialogue flaws I might have missed before. I also know now what my strong points are and what kind of things I write best, and I can exercise those to the fullest. I can write with their past critiques in mind--and best of all, get immediate feedback on my work. So I think the most valuable change in my drafting process is that I now have stronger confidence. Before, I was always second-guessing what I'd written, wondering if it was total crap; but now, I have a lot more faith in myself and in my ability to evaluate my own work.

Thanks, Jessica! If you have questions for her, be sure to leave them in the comments. Have a great week!

Friday funnies

2012-03-01T20:54:00.000-08:00

I heard of Dr. Horrible through the fantastic Carrie Butler and couldn't resist sharing:

And it isn't Friday without some lol cats

Finally, as I start a new WIP (this one has the Iditarod, wolves, a murder and a fearless young musher) I'm going to be keeping this reality in mind:

Author Matthew Quick, Movies and Boy 21

2012-02-26T21:15:00.002-08:00

I'm so excited to welcome one of my favorite authors, Matthew Quick, to the blog today. You may remember when I ~~gushed~~ talked about his first YA novel, Sorta Like A Rock Star, which I read as an ARC back in 2009. That book totally blew me away and, for someone who reads dozens of books per month, that doesn't happen for me often. So I started following his blog and found out that his debut (The Silver Linings Playbook - an adult contemporary) was not only optioned for a movie - info here and here- but it actually stars Bradley Cooper, Robert DeNiro, Julia Stiles and Jennifer Lawrence. AAAAHHHH! Can you say Oscar potential?? The movie wrapped recently; it'll premier in November. More on that below....

Matthew's third novel is another YA called BOY21, which explores the friendship and lives of two teen guys in very different places. Watch the trailer here. If Finley is anything close to Amber Appleton (the MC of SLARS) he's going to be one of my favs.

1. Let's talk about BOY21, which debuts March 5. It's about basketball, family, friendship and how tragedy brings two unlikely guys together. You said in another interview that the genesis of this story was playing pick-up ball with guys with whom you've since lost touch. In your observations, how does friendship between guys at this age differ than that between girls?

I'm not sure you can make a blanket statement about this. Gender issues are a lot more complex and individual than we'd like them to be. One thing I noticed when I was teaching high school was this: because we live in a culture that doesn't often encourage boys to speak about their emotions, I think many boys struggle to express their feelings for each other during the teens years. Ironically, it's the intense male friendships boys cultivate during the teen years that shape much of their identity. BOY21 explores this issue.

2. Your target audience of teen boys can be a slippery one. What's your marketing plan to get these guys to give your book a try?

BOY21 isn't a 'boy book,' nor is it a sports book. It's much more than that. It's a book for boys, girls, and adults too. That being said, I think there are a lot of teenage boys who are desperate to read about and discuss emotions, mental health, and the need to make their way in the world independent of their family history. BOY21 is about all of these things. I'm hoping that the book will speak for itself and find its audience. My publisher, Little Brown Books for Young Readers has a wonderful marketing team. They've done a tremendous amount of work getting Advanced Reading Copies to educators and librarians and mavens all over the country. They are a force; I'm very thankful for all their good work. I'll be doing a bunch of events too, which you can check out here.

3. How is publishing your third different from your debut? Do you get any more publisher marketing love - book tours? A private plane? Free hotel food? A plushy bathrobe? A case of bookmarks?

Ha! At the risk of killing my author mystique, I'll say it's a lot less glamorous than you'd think. No private planes yet. Although it's always nice to attend a conference or visit a new state, and I'll be doing both more than once. My publisher has done a great job getting my work and me out and about around the country. Sometimes when I am speaking to a room full of people I think, "Wow, you really are an author!" Those are nice moments. But then I go home and sit alone in a room for months growing a beard and trying to come up with the next book. That part doesn't change...ever.

I was hoping you'd say that after the third book, the Good Idea Fairy sprinkles you with permanent best-seller dust. Or gives you a magic best-seller elixir. Now I am bummed.

4. Talk about your revision process. What's changed as you've progressed in your writerly talents - does it take fewer passes to polish? Are you more aware of your strengths/weaknesses, etc? Do you need fewer betas?

BOY21 (my third published novel) was by far the hardest to write and required the most editing, so maybe I am regressing! Although, Alicia thinks BOY21 is also my best book. Each book is different. I think the biggest post publication change is that you know what's coming...the reviews, strange comments from friends and family members, how public publishing is. That and you also hear more voices in your head. All the positive and negative comments about your previous works want to yell at you while you write and revise--those voices want to write your books. All the Amazon reviews, everything you read on Goodreads, the bizarre asides at signings. And the praise can be even worse, if you take it too seriously. You have to silence those voices daily before you work, return to the writing place where only your voice exists, or else you're done. The more voices you accrue (and each books brings more responses) the harder this process can become.

I've heard via a NYT best-seller author-friend-of-a-friend that the instantaneous feedback on Amazon, etc. can get addicting. She's finding it hard to unplug and write amidst all the hoopla of her debut. However, still a problem most writers would love to have...

5. Let's talk movies. You said in a 2008 TV interview that the film rights to The Silver Linings Playbook (Matthew's debut novel) sold faster than the US rights. Explain how it's possible that a film director can read your book before it's published and option it for a screenplay.

My search for a lit agent was long and arduous. I had one referral that went nowhere. I actually ended up befriending one of the agents who rejected TSLP, and she became a huge cheerleader/coach as I continued to submit and weather more than 70 rejections. Eventually the universe laughed and sympathized and TSLP was pulled out of a Sterling Lord Literistic slush pile. Doug Stewart fell in love with the manuscript and I signed with him. Little did I know that he had a partner in LA. Rich Green of CAA became my LA agent even before I knew I had representation in LA. Rich got TSLP into the hands of Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella, both of whom loved the novel and made things happen quickly for us in LA. The book actually sold at auction to an Italian publisher before the movie deal was done. And the US book deal came third, if I remember correctly. It was a wild few months. I was living with my in-laws and had been writing full-time without a paycheck for three years. I had reached the end of our bank account. The news seemed to arrive at just the right moment. Before the deals were made, all of this would have seemed very impossible to me.

I love these kinds of basement-writer-makes-big stories. And they seem to happen with regular frequency. Hmmm. Maybe I need to get a house with a basement.

6. From what I hear, film rights for novels are sold on a regular basis, but very few continue into development. Talk about that process from the author standpoint - do you have any control over it once the rights have sold? And what's it like to be on the sidelines watching your characters go through the Hollywood grist mill?

I've heard other authors say it's like doing a drug deal. You walk up to the Hollywood wall, throw your manuscript over, they throw a bag of money back, and then--keeping your mouth shut--you run away and never look back. Lucky for me, one of my storytelling heroes was tapped to write the screenplay and direct. I have always admired David O. Russell's work. I loved the TSLP screenplay and enjoyed my day on the movie set. I can't wait to see the film. When I met David we talked about how the book was my baby and the movie was his to raise up into final form, and I got that from the beginning. Film and books live in two very different worlds. I'm glad my characters will get to live in both.

David O. Russell's film credits include Three Kings (George Clooney, Mark Wahlburg) The Fighter (Christian Bale, Mark Wahlburg) I Heart Huckabees, and more.

7. Most writers and readers dislike watching a movie based on a book - the plot wanders, the plot is unrecognizable, there are extra scenes or a character is ruined, etc. Did you have any control over how the screenplay was written, or any authority to nix something that didn't follow your plot?

David O. Russell is a master filmmaker. I love his work. I wouldn't want to exert my control over David. He's an artist. He needs to make the movie his way. And many of my favorite films were originally based on books.

That's because writers rule the world.

8. Will you attend the November premier with your wife (the most awesome Alicia Bessette, a novelist whom I interviewed here)? Do you get to walk the red carpet and pose with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence? can I come?

I hope to attend one of the premiers. Of course, Alicia will be my guest. I have no idea what that will be like, but I'm looking forward to finding out. I met Bradley Cooper when I visited the movie set. He walked right up to me and said hello. I liked him and his take on Pat Peoples a lot. Unfortunately, you cannot come.

What?? You're not going to let a ~~stalkerish~~ virtual stranger attend this event with you? I'm stunned. *wipes a tear*

9. So, two YA books under your belt and one adult fiction. You've said you're writing an adult genre novel next. How long will it take you to finish?

Each book has a life of its own. Some books get written rapidly. Some feel like melting an iceberg with a hairdryer. I hope I finish the next adult book soon, but I know that it will be finished when it wants to be finished. Was it Thoreau who said you can't rush a sunrise?

Ooh. I had no idea the MS had an opinion about deadlines. *vows to ask next time*

Thanks, Matthew! And another huge congratulations on selling your fourth novel, FORGIVE ME, LEONARD PEACOCK to Little Brown Children's. It's supposed to launch spring, 2013. Keep an eye out for it, people.

Have any questions for Matthew? Leave them in the comments.

Friday funnies and a teaser

2012-02-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

So what do Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper have in common?? (Besides the fact they're both gorgeous and make a ton of money saying words other people write?)

On Monday, I'm interviewing the author of the book their next movie is based on. o.O

In other words, he gave these two a job. Kinda. Once the screen play was written, I mean.

Because writers rule the world, people. If we stopped hearing voices, the world would be a very dull place.

Jennifer Lawrence

Bradley Cooper

Now, on to the funnies....

Thanks to Tara Dairman for this latest HP entry, which will make you giggle...

And the latest take on the meme that's floating around:

Continuing the spoofage, how can I leave out this take on the Hunger Games? (The end is my fav.) Have a great weekend!

Reality Check

2012-02-21T08:09:00.001-08:00

The title of this post should more acurately be called: when you can't figure out why you're not getting any (or more) requests. But that's a bit bulky for a title.

Although I've been blogging only since last summer, I've noticed there isn't a bloghop that goes by without evidence of the awesome writerly community online. Comments are filled with encouragement and statements of how talented we all are. Taken from a nurturing standpoint, this is wonderful.

Taken from a business/reality standpoint, it's awful. And here's why.

Say you're an emerging writer who has a great idea for a first book. You've stayed up late writing so fast, your fingers smoke. You follow blogs that cover technique, you track your favorite authors. You've started a blog and are dipping into the Twitter waters. You critique, comment, contest and campaign your little heart out. You've even sent your MS off to a few betas who all respond with hearty applause, so you gird your loins and start writing a query. A few months - and hopefully revisions - later and off it flies to agent inboxes.

And...nada. You might get a request or two out of every fifty queries sent but after that? Crickets. Or rejections. And those few requests end up months later in form rejections.

Because, despite what all your readers have said (and they're great people, they want you to succeed) you're not ready. Your idea has too much competition, your MS rambles like an out-of-control freight train and you are the rule, not the exception. It's the equivalent of going in public with your fly down and nobody telling you. Or having something green in your teeth and everybody smiling vaguely while avoiding looking directly at you. Or....well, you get the picture. Your blogging buddies, your betas, your family, aren't telling you the truth - either because they can't see it or they don't know.

You realize this in stages as the months go by. First denial, then anger, then tears - all the stages of grief encompass you and you wonder in despair if you just DON'T HAVE WHAT IT TAKES. *sob*

Here's the thing: you don't. Not yet. Not with this MS. Not with this economy/trends in the market/writing abilities you have right now. I underlined that for emphasis because it's everything.

This is the point when many emerging writers go for self-publishing. And I'm not knocking this. There are success stories every few months of self-pubbers who go on to land a publishing contract (and thousands more who sell ten copies.) If that's your choice, go for it. You'll learn a lot.

For those of you whose dream it is to go the traditional route, know this: Just because your current MS has more rejections than Jack Black at a super model convention doesn't mean your next story is doomed.

All these rejections are telling you now is to try harder. READ. Write something else, maybe a short story or a nonfiction article. Hone your craft by going shorter, learning how to trim, focus, target, plot. READ. Find a beta who isn't scared of hurting your feelings and will tell you what's wrong. READ. Grow a thick skin so you don't get offended, so you can actually learn from those comments. Be suspicious of kind comments because, let's face it, you're not Shakespeare. (oh..and READ. Set a goal for at least a book a week. I won't tell you how many I read bc it is kind of embarrassing in a holy-cow-she-has-no-life way.)

You will get better with relentless practice. In the meantime, the market might shift so your next MS is now the trend.

Realize this. Own it. Move on. There's a reason most professional writers look more like the Velveteen Rabbit than Barbie. It's just part of being real.

Contest and critique winners!

2012-02-19T22:53:00.000-08:00

Tricia has read all the entries and narrowed down her choices. Remember - as she says below - requesting more pages reflects her own personal taste and not always your writing skills. Think of yourself browsing in a library to put yourself in her (or any agent's) shoes.

AND keep reading below. I'm offering up two free MS critiques PLUS another free premium subscription to QueryTracker, chosen by Random.org...so if you didn't get a request, there may still be something free for you.

Take it away, Tricia!

I'd like to see full manuscripts from:

Cassie Mae, HOW TO DATE A NERD
Angelica R. Jackson, SPIRITS FROM THE VASTY DEEP
Melanie Stanford, DAZE AND KNIGHTS
Christopher S. Ledbetter, THE SKY THRONE

I'd like to see the first 50 pages from:

Jenny Kaczorowski, THE ALTERAE
Enchanting Editor, BALLAD KEEPER
Sara, THE GIRL IN THE MIRROR
Krista V. THE REGENERATED MAN AND ME
andimjulie, THE SYMPTOMS OF OUR SHADOWS
Hope Roberson, MY PROTECTOR: THE CALLING
Tristina Wright, THE GIRL WITH THE PORCELAIN WINGS

Please send the requested material as a Word attachment (.doc only) to tricia@emliterary.com with the subject "Requested Material."

And a little note from me for everyone:

I so enjoyed every single query and first 250 words that I read. There is so much talent included here. I found it difficult to choose (which is why I chose more than one of each), so please don't take not being picked personally. Me not picking your query only means that I didn't connect with it as much as I'd like. I wish you all much luck and can't wait to see great things from all of you in the future!

Thanks for taking part in the contest. What a treat!

Congratulations to the winners and the runner-ups, and to everyone for taking part!

Full MS critiques from Melodie offered to:

CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE CYBORG - by MarcyKate

THE CURIOUS WORLD OF WATSON & CRICK - by Jen Hilt

Ladies, if you'd like to take me up on this offer, email me at rewrighter (at) gmail (dot) com. It can be the MS mentioned or another WIP.

Finally, the QueryTracker premium membership goes to:

Ladonna Watkins!

Congratulations all and thanks so much for participating.

The Great Campaigner- getting to know ME :)

2012-02-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

The lovely-and-fellow-campaigner Gina Denny passed on these 11 questions. (Go here to learn more about Rachael Harrie's Platform Campaign.) Some of them remind me of ones asked during psychological testing - you know: if there were four old men and a baby and you in a raft, who would you eat first? - the answers of which suggest dire/forboding/scary things about your psyche but then I read Gina is pursuing a masters in childhood development and education and went Ah! No wonder she's going all super-psychological on me. Having almost finished my own similar degree, I recall spending months wading through all kinds of ~~obscure data~~ info on psyches in an effort to understand those mysterious, unknowable beings we call children (she said sarcastically).

1. What was the greatest live music experience you've ever had?

A Third Day concert with Michael W. Smith in Tacoma, Washington several years ago. The stadium had about 15,000 people in it and Michael led us in a worship song. I swear the air went thick and golden. It was like being in heaven for a few minutes. Nobody wanted to leave.

2. What was your worst date ever?

H mm. It wasn't a bad date, just an unsuccessful one. This guy took me out for pizza once and we started talking about politics - I was in college - and I realized we did not see eye-to-eye at all. He was cute, I liked him a lot but part of me realized this relationship wasn't going anywhere.

3. If money is no object, what would your dream vacation be?

Tahiti or Bali. In Tahiti, there's a resort with these huts right over a lagoon. There are glass windows in the floor so you can watch the fish swim by in the turquoise water. It costs about $5,000 a night. Sigh.

4. Would you rather live in a crowded city or small town?

I'm from the Midwest and now live in Alaska. Guess.

5. Would you be willing to murder one innocent person if you knew it would guarantee an end to all world hunger?

If that innocent person is my child, then no. If it's your child...wait a second...No. My answer is no. These questions always have a nasty sting on the end, such as: killing someone would end world hunger because everyone else would kill somebody until there was nobody left to starve.

6. When did you last cry in front of somebody (who is not your partner)?

Uh, it's been a while. I think it was when we left Minnesota ten years ago. I told my MOPS group about it and burst into tears.

7. Would you be willing to endure night terrors- every night- for the rest of your life if you were given vast personal wealth to use however you wish in exchange?

Ugh - no.

8. If you could choose the manner of your death- but not the timing- what would you choose?

Holy cow. I feel like I'm in the movie "The Box." *checks for one-way mirror* Um - I'd choose to die in my sleep.

9. Would you rather switch back to black and white TV with only five channels, or no internet?

Give me the b/w TV. We don't have cable at my house so I watch most of my shows online anyway.

10. If you could use a voodoo doll to hurt somebody, would you do it?

Only if I was really, really mad. Or in middle school.

11. What if the voodoo doll was only able to annoy them tremendously (for example: causes pervasive itching of genitals while in public, causes slight ringing in ears at nighttime, etc), would you do it?

Of course. Anyone who tells you different is lying.

Now I get to pass on my own ~~tormenting~~ delightful questions to other campaigners. *evil cackle while rubbing hands together* By now, I'm guessing everyone has been tagged so if you're reading this, pick ONE for fun and answer it in the comments.

1. What kind of stuff do you write?
2. What kind of pizza is your favorite?
3. The age when you got your first kiss? And who did the kissing - you or the other person?
4. The title of your first novel - the one that will never see the light of day?
5. Age when you first realized you were going to write or die trying?
6. Leftie or rightie?
7. Mac or PC?
8. You're stranded on a deserted island with a rubber ball and a stuffed animal. How will you survive?
9. The thing you see when you look out your front window?
10. Most embarrassing moment since 2002?
11. The kind of car you drive?

Have a great weekend!

Friday funnies

2012-02-16T19:48:00.000-08:00

First, a SNL short called "British Movie:"

Author Maggie Stiefvater goes bovine on the joys of living near a whole bunch of cows.

And how I would look if I was a cat after Valentine's Day:

Finally, the lovely Taryn Albright, a wunderkund who just nabbed Vickie Motter for her agent, lists Sh*t Querying Writers Say. She also runs an awesome critique service with her friend, Kate Coursey, called Teen Eyes. Do check it out. (I assume when they both age out of teen-hood, it'll be called YA Eyes.)

Pitch contest with Tricia Lawrence of EMLA

2012-02-12T22:56:00.000-08:00

CONTEST CLOSED! Please comment on at least five entries IF you entered prior to 5 p.m. EST I've been in a classroom until now so will be checking date stamps of entries. If you entered after the time cut-off, at this point you will not be considered by Tricia.

Okay, writers, today is the DAY! You've helped me get the word out, you've researched Tricia Lawrence and read the interview (in case you haven't, check it out here) and you're ready to go.

Tricia is excited to read the entries of who post their query and first 250 words in the comments below. I've changed my comments to allow replies (assuming Blogger will work!) so please check out at least five other entries and give feedback. ~~We're all about encouraging each other so constructive criticism only, please!~~ Yeah, I don't have to warn you guys. You're all awesome that way. :)

Tricia will announce a winner next Monday, Feb. 20.

Giveaway winners!

2012-02-12T18:47:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who participated in my Get The Word Out drawing for The Snow Child and the Query Tracker subscription.

And the winner of the Query Tracker premium membership is: Stacy Jensen!

The Snow Child goes to: Jenni Brown!

See you all tomorrow, when you'll share your query/first 250 words for YA/MG agent Tricia Lawrence of EMLA in the comments of my Monday post . We're only taking the first fifty comments so be sure to stop by early for a spot.

Friday funnies

2012-02-09T22:22:00.001-08:00

If you're here for the blogfest, scroll down.

As Downton Abbey nears the end of it's second season (did Bates kill his wife? Did he? *tears at hair*) I must share the second installment of the most excellent BBC spoof, Uptown Downstairs Abbey.

In honor of Valentine's day...

Emotional moment

2012-02-09T22:22:00.000-08:00

The final challenge is here! Emotion is the engine of a story. Pick an emotion and in a flash fiction piece of 250 words MAKE us feel it! We want to connect with your character.

People say I have a huge ego, but I need one. Seriously, being an actress is the worst way to build self-esteem. Every audition is a slime-fest of negativity: you're too fat. Too old. Too freckly. Too short. Your voice is squeaky. Your hair color is all wrong. You move like a robot. Your enunciation is straight from the trailer park.

Next! Next! Next!

One gum chewing agent gave me the worst rejection ever. "Honey," she said. "You're just not what we're looking for."

She was trying to be nice but duh. Of course I wasn't what they were looking for. Hence the big fat no. But I keep trying. Actors and actresses - hell, anyone looking for a job - are all just random puzzle pieces trying to find a fit. We search for the spot where our colors blend, our talents merge to create a gorgeous story or picture or song or business.

And it hurts to be flicked to the side like we're a piece of the blue puzzle sky, where nothing we try stands out.

Dialogue introduction

2012-02-08T09:15:00.000-08:00

Abe: Introducing Rachel Marr.

Rachel: Smooth. I can tell you've done this before

A. Hey, you're the one with all the press experience. Show me how it's done.

Rachel *clears throat* You've heard about him in the pages of Archaeological Digest. You've read his extraordinary treatise on the demise of the Mayans...

A: The Mayans? I've never...

Rachel: *quietly* Just go with it. And you've seen him covered in dust on the local news. His face is everywhere - and what a handsome face it is - please welcome Abraham Osiensky.

A: You think I'm handsome?

R: Sure. Now you go.

A: Uh...Introducing Rachel Marr, the girl who has it all: beauty, brains and a phenomenal acting ability that's propelled her to fame most people only dream about. She can speak four languages...

R: It's more like, three, but we'll go with that.

A: And she's richer than God. But underneath all that glam is a really nice person. I should know - she just saved my neck in a major way.

R: Aw. You're so sweet, Abe. *pinches his cheek*

A: *jerks away* That's why it's easy to overlook her shortcomings.

R: Shortcomings? Like what?

A: You're scared of bats. And you drive like you've escaped from a mental institution.

R: Just because I don't like sitting in bat poo doesn't mean I'm scared of them. You're the real the chicken here, buddy. *flaps arms like chicken wings* Brock!

A: Oh shut up.

Interview with Tricia Lawrence of EMLA

2012-02-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks to all of you who've helped get the word out about next week's pitch contest with Tricia of Erin Murphy Literary Agency. For those of you just joining us and have no idea what's happening, click here and be sure to sign up for a great giveaway via Rafflecopter. (If you're here for the character blogfest, scroll down.)

Tricia

1. How do you go about finding clients since your agency is closed to queries?

TL: We may be closed to queries, but we get referrals constantly from current clients, editors, other agencies, publishing folks; last week we got a referral from Danielle Steele! If we have time, we take part in contests with other agents (I read entries on Miss Snark and elsewhere, invited agent or not!) or we have fabulous clients who offer to run contests with queries/first 250 words such as this one (thanks, Melodie!). We may not have slush to read, but my Kindle is always full. I don’t ever have a day without submissions to read.

2. Do you look for other characteristics in your clients besides the writing - online presence, member of writing organizations, etc.? You're a strong advocate for social media. What steps do you recommend aspiring authors take in this area before querying?

TL: I’m merging two questions into one here. Sure, it’s always nice to be able to do some research on a possible client, especially if the writing is promising. I often do my due diligence when I’m considering offering representation or if I’m even going to ask for an R&R (revise and resubmit) and I like seeing a blog/website that I can poke around at. Plus, social media, SCBWI, Verla Kay, QueryTracker are awesome ways to get to know other writers, editors, agents, industry people. You’ve got to be savvy these days and why not use all the free tools that are out there to be in the know, rather than stubbornly insist that your writing should speak for itself. Good writing does speak for itself, but we’re in a publishing age in which we’re all connected. No longer can you sit and scribble in the dark, hidden away from everyone and expect to make a living or sell a lot of books. So, don’t focus on it, but consider it. So it goes (1) good writing and then (2) social media/online presence, SCBWI.

3. What type of relationship do you have with your clients? Do you talk often?

TL: We do talk via email as often as necessary. I’ve got clients on submission that check in, clients revising that check in, clients that I am still working with on figuring out revisions that check in. Email is wonderful.My clients are so kind about allowing me to take a break on the weekend or figuring out that by later in the evenings, I’m probably sacked out on the couch watching Big Bang Theory. They are patient to know that I’ll reply as soon as I can.

Also, there is a very strong trust relationship between author and agent. I mean they have essentially hired me to represent them to the industry. They trust my judgment and I trust them to ask thoughtful questions about my process or something I’ve said or done. The best part is that my clients take a step back and let me do the agent stuff. They are then able to relax and do the writing stuff.

MW: I'll jump in here. Tricia is great at communicating via email or phone, however her clients feel comfortable. One thing I wanted in an agent is someone who responded promptly, and she definitely does that.

4. What annoys you most in a potential client?

TL: Someone who doesn’t listen. I don’t have time to spend repeating myself, especially if they are not my client (my priority is my current clients, always) and if I write an email explaining how I think an author should approach said manuscript, I don’t like when they reply back and ask a question that shows they weren’t really paying attention to what I just wrote.

My words aren’t chiseled into stone, but I don’t have time to argue the point. Sometimes giving a critique is the most helpful thing I can do. People who don’t understand that do annoy me.

5. Is there a difference between being an agent in Washington State vs. New York?

TL: I believe that I have an alternate life and in it I live in NYC and I LOVE IT. What is that Katy Perry song called “In Another Life”? That’s me. While I miss all the publishing/literary events located only in New York, I really don’t feel I am out of the necessary loop. Email, again, is a wonderful thing and when I need to go back into New York and see faces to talk business, I always can. Being away from a big city, however, FOR ME, helps me to be very thoughtful about my work. Sometimes things move so fast, it’s nice to be able to walk away from the email/phone and go think a bit. I like being out away from all of the extroverted clamor that is a big city (introvert alert!) and I like my own home office that looks out over my back yard. Plus, I’m a Pacific Northwest girl. I was born and raised here. My husband and I have created a life here. NYC is always waiting for me when I’m ready to talk shop. Best of both worlds, I say!

5. This past weekend at SCBWI in NY, a YA editor said "MG is the new YA." What are you hearing from editors about what they are looking for in MG? Favorite MG reads?

TL: There is a huge demand for quality middle grade, yes. But I think that editors are being much more careful about their approach with MG versus the onslaught of YA that has happened in the past few years. They are staying picky, which is good. They want amazing stories, first. MG is tricky because it smells like YA, looks like YA, but it sure is not YA. The middle grade reader is facing different challenges, friendships, awkward growing pains; it’s like your most vivid memories, both good and bad on high voltage. So editors are looking for MG, true, but a great, great, great MG, not something that was transplanted from YA or the adult world. The MG world is startlingly unique.

And I think the middle grade quest is all about placing that character in a unique world and how he/she reacts to that world in all its weirdness. A middle grade reader may think they know what they’re doing (or then again, maybe not) and then it turns upside down again the very next day. Editors are looking for the experience that can seem real and authentic to as many readers as possible, but is something new transmitted differently that has never been experienced before. That sounds impossible, but I just described my favorite MG reads!

These include:

SPARROW ROAD, Sheila O’Connor
ONE MORNING AND ONE AMAZING DAY ON ORANGE STREET, Joanne Rocklin
PENDERWICKS, Jeanne Birdsall
NOWHERE GIRL, A.J. Paquette

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi

FROM THE MIXED-UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER by E.L. Konigsburg

THE FALSE PRINCE, Jennifer Nielsen

I am also reading the ARCs for spring 2012 and I think we’ve only seen the beginning of the fantastic MG boom! I can’t wait!

6. Do you like historical fiction? Would it turn you off or interest you if the historical fiction aspect were blended with something else? My historical fiction YA is mixed with social satire and spoof, not straight historical, and I know some other people have mixed historical fiction with sci-fi or fantasy.

TL: I love historical fiction. There’s a term being thrown around New York in kids books publishing (at least a few months ago, it was) called historical plus. Historical plus sci-fi or historical plus fantasy, just like you said. It would definitely interest me and would also raise the bar, because mixing genres is NOT for the faint of heart. I would encourage writers to write a first draft and let everything into it, including the kitchen sink, and then as they revise for several drafts, begin to winnow out what doesn’t fit. And then, when they pitch an agent, give it to us high concept, ie, “a 1980s ghost town that isinvaded by humans” or “1870s Wild West town that wakes up to find out it is set in the middle of the world’s largest mall—as an amusement park” (those are just off the top of my head, so take ‘em if you want). Oftentimes, the high concept can start your story creation process, but remember you have to do it well and it will take several drafts and multiple rounds of revision to get the character emotional development arc and the dramatic action plot and the thematic arc all working together and not against each other. Whew. Now I’m tired.

7. How do you know when a genre is 'in' or going 'out?' How do you know when the market is gearing up for the next big thing? Do you have any inclination as to what the next big thing will be?

TL: I think I’ve heard more and more lately that editors are weary and very timid about dystopian manuscripts. They’ve scheduled a lot of it in the next two years, so I think we’re definitely moving on. I think I’ve heard that sci-fi and space fantasy for YA is becoming a trend. Thrillers as well both for YA and MG. And nonfiction is definitely an interest.

8. What do you want to see more of as an agent?

TL: I’ll repeat myself a bit. I love thrillers, sci-fi, space fantasy, and historical plus, but I also love a good contemporary. I’m always interested in fantasy and retellings, including mythology. I’m also looking for a fantastic chapter book (a la CLEMENTINE!) to become a series. That one is hard and not necessarily MG or YA, but you never know who’s working on a good one!

9. What would you like to see in the way of YA non-fiction?

TL: I just met E. Kristin Anderson, the author of DEAR TEEN ME ( Zest Books), and also her editor at ALA Midwinter, who is keen to find more nonfiction aimed directly for teens, so the sky’s the limit, I think. There are just so many opportunities to write a book about any subject as nonfiction, but aim it directly for a YA audience. Subjects such as taking tests, driving safely, shopping smart, cooking, time management, art, creativity, relationships, being a good employee, resumes, etc. I would love to see some really strong proposals for YA nonfiction in the days to come!

So there you have it. If you think your MS fits Tricia's tastes or want list, polish your query/first 250 and plan to stop back Feb. 13-17 to share both.

In the meantime, get the word out and sign up for some great prizes here.

Characters on the couch

2012-02-05T20:12:00.000-08:00

The past month's excitement completely erased my short-term memory and I FORGOT I signed up for this bloghop. *red face* However, I'm going to woman-up and post as often as necessary this week, since I also promised an interview with my uber-agent, the wondrous Tricia Lawrence, prior to the pitch contest next week. (Click here for deets on participating in that AND how to sign up for two gorgeous prizes.)
Anyway, Cassie and Angie are sponsoring this very cool writerly experience and if you want to learn more, go here.

Today, we're psychoanalyzing a character in our WIP by ~~forcing~~ having them participate in a Q&A. My character is Rachel Marr, the MC in Things We Save, a WIP I just finished. Click on 'WIPS in my life' page to learn more about her story.

What is your biggest vulnerability? Do others know this or is it a secret?

Uh, that is a rude question to ask a stranger. Srsly. And anyway, the tabloids are blowing it all out of proportion. "Substance abuse problem" my ass. I was upset my dad had died, okay? And I wasn't due on set for two days. I have a full-time job, own my house, pay taxes and my employees - in every way but one, I'm an adult. The law that says I have three more years until I'm legal is totally lame.

What do people believe about you that is false?

That I'm immature and have issues with drugs and alcohol,completely ignoring the fact that a. my dad just died and b. I work in a very competitive industry. Also people think I'm stupid just because I'm an actress.

What would your best friend say is your fatal flaw? Why?

Lindsay thinks I'm this close to being frigid. (She'd use the word prude if she knew what it meant.) But I'm not about to jump into bed with any hottie that looks my way. One of the last things Mom told me before she died was that waiting for true love was worth it. So I guess waiting is a way I feel closer to her.

What would the same friend say is your one redeeming quality? Why?

Hmmm. Probably my money. Ha! No, Lindsay would say that I can keep secrets. We both keep each other's secrets, although she has more to keep than I do.

What do you want most? What will you do to get it?

Honestly, I'd turn back time. I want to tell my dad I love him and hug my mom again. But I can't so I guess I'll do my best to find out more about the life he had after Mom and I left. Even though I haven't been near an archaeological dig for four years, it's time to go back. I'm going to take care of his employees and his stuff. And find out why he left me that really weird Islamic coin. His diary makes me think he was onto something big. I'm going to do everything I can to find out what that was...

Friday funnies

2012-02-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

Whew! Between avalanches and canceled/postponed trips and a snow/rain mix that made our roads up here (the ones that weren't blocked by avalanches) drive like underwater skating rinks, it has been quite a week. I could use a good laugh.

If you stopped by to check out the contest with my super agent, Tricia Lawrence, click here.

Otherwise, enjoy!

Ten things I learned from opening a bookstore - a funny/wry post on the vagaries of operating a literary business in a non-literary world.

Chuck Wendig fills you in on what you should know about literary agents.

And if your Sunday plans include a certain football game, the Washington Post has compiled a hit list of the best commercials you'll see. But you, lucky duck, get to see them now! Woo-hoo!

Finally, I had to copy "Sh*t Agents & Editors Say" because I loved it. I also love YA Highway's Fridays posts, which is worth a click here. (Scroll down that page to see more funnies.)

On Monday, I'll post Tricia's interview for more info on what she's looking for. Until then, have a great weekend.

Upcoming pitch contest with Tricia Lawrence of EMLA

2012-01-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

I am very excited to announce that Tricia, my shiny new agent, is willing to read any/all entries in a query/250-word submission window from Feb. 13-17. Erin Murphy Literary Agency does not accepted unsolicited queries so this is your in, folks.

Go here to read a recent interview she did with another client.

Go here to find out about her literary taste.

And stop by NEXT Monday to read an interview I'll post for even more info. Tricia has been in publishing for quite a while and, while Erin Murphy Literary Agency is well established in YA/MG, there's not a lot of online stuff about her yet because she's such a new agent.

Now, here's where you come in.
I need your help in 1. getting the word out about the pitch contest (because I've never hosted one of these before and I'd really like to avoid the metaphorical egg all over my face should Feb. 17 arrive with only two entries *red face*) and 2. coming up with questions to ask Tricia in next week's interview.

If you choose to become an Honorary Marketing Partner, I'm offering two prizes. TWO!! The first person chosen by Rafflecopter will get to choose between them. The second will win the other choice or give it to the next in line, etc. I'll announce the winner Feb. 13.

Prize #1: The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

This is a hardcover, signed, first-edition that is coming out Feb. 1. Eowyn is almost my neighbor, has been interviewed on this blog and her book is an Oprah Magazine Top 10 pick for Feb. It's also number one in various European countries and will no doubt make Eowyn very famous. *crossing fingers* Mark my words, some day this first edition will be a collector's item.

Prize #2: a year's subscription to Query Tracker

Many of you know that, had it not been for the awesome QT and the forums offered there, I never would've connected with the agents at EMLA. It is a must for any serious querier and yes, the premium membership is totally worth it. If you win this prize, you'll get to enjoy all the premium membership features, including agents with similar tastes, rollover of your query list for various projects and much more.

So, will you help me?? If that's a yes, increase your chances through the typical blogging ways:

+1 to be a follower of this blog or on Twitter

+1 tweet about the giveaway

+2 if you suggest a question for Tricia (Feb. 3 deadline)

+5 if you blog about this contest

The Rafflecopter widget is below. Take it away! (If you can't see it, click on the title of this post and it should show up when the page refreshes.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday Funnies for Jan. 26

2012-01-26T20:22:00.000-08:00

This first one has some inside jokes so you need to know a few things to get them.

1. Wasilla is literally the duct tape capital of the world. Wal-Mart here sells more duct tape than anyone else in the nation. (Also, it comes in about 20 pretty colors.)
2. The Carr's on Gambel Street had to put their mouthwash behind locked cabinets bc the winos/druggies were stealing it to get drunk.
3. Snow machine. Period.
4. Anchorage charges zero tax.
5. The Bush Company is actually a...wait, you should be able to figure this one out...

Kristin Baker Przybyla (who needs at least one more consonant in her last name) has a consistently writing funny blog. Check out this post for some great pics.

And if you haven't yet visited Slush Pile Hell, I hereby recommend a trip forthwith.

Finally, since I promised funny cats and have yet to deliver:

Have a great weekend! Then stop back by on Monday. I'll have some exciting news for the not-yet-agented.

Elements of a great hook

2012-01-22T18:29:00.000-08:00

First chapters are problematic for me. I rewrite them dozens of times – especially those first paragraphs, because they must do many things well. Of course, they must hook the reader but ‘hook’ is a pretty big, generic word when applied to writing.

So what elements are there in hooking a reader?

I’m using 100-word (give or take) excerpts from three YA novels as examples – The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Imaginary Girls by Nova Ren Suma, and Looking for Alaska by John Green. Two of these are considered YA classics; Suma’s book just came out this year but her first few paragraphs are so well done, I'm including her.

As you read, watch for subtle manipulations of your psyche. The writer will go straight for your heart with his/her hook. They’ll appeal to your emotions – either through your feelings for your family, your friends or your pity. They want you to fall in love with their MC and these 100 (or so) words are their first of a barrage of manipulation arrows aimed at making you react in certain ways.

1. Identification. Look for the MC to be in a situation that you’ve been in or can picture yourself in.

2. Emotions. The MC will react to the situation in an understandable way, a way that illuminates their character and makes you like or pity them in a good way. You need to root for the MC.

3. Situation foreshadowing. There are clouds on the MC’s horizon. She/he may not know what they are yet but they know change is coming.

Imaginary Girls

Ruby said I’d never drown – not in deep ocean, not by shipwreck, not even by falling drunk into someone’s bottomless backyard pool. She said she’d seen me hold my breath underwater for minutes at a time but to hear her tell it you’d think she meant days. Long enough to live down there if needed, to skim the seafloor collecting shells and shiny soda caps, looking up every so often for the rescue lights, even if they took forever to come.

It sounded impossible, something no one would believe if anyone other than Ruby were the one to tell it. But Ruby was right: the body found that night wouldn’t be, couldn’t be mine.

1. We all know a Ruby – a charismatic character so confident, life itself seems to bend to their will. We’re naturally intrigued by such characters.

2. We want to have such a character on our side. If this person said something, it often became true. People like Ruby open doors in life and being under her wing means safety.

3. There is water everywhere in this scene, and now the assurance (the over assurance?) that no drowning would occur. Or at least, not to the narrator. Then why mention rescue lights so early?

Looking for Alaska

The week before I left my family and Florida and the rest of my minor life to go to boarding school in Alabama, my mother insisted on throwing me a going-away party. To say that I had low expectations would be to underestimate the matter dramatically. Although I was more or less forced to invite all my ‘school friends,’ i.e., the ragtag bunch of drama people and English geeks I sat with by social necessity in the cavernous cafeteria of my public school, I knew they wouldn’t come. Still, my mother persevered, awash in the delusion that I had kept my popularity a secret from her all these years.

1. Those who've attended a public high school know exactly what Miles means here. The rigid clique system hasn’t changed much in fifty years. The small group of ‘popular kids’ is far outnumbered by kids like Miles. Chances are, the reader is like Miles.

2. We’ve all felt the terror of throwing a party where nobody shows up. Or imagined the humiliation. Miles’ stoic acceptance of this – his lack of whining or hatred – move him out of pity territory and into admiration. We’re on his side.

3. Miles’ life is about to change. He’s going to boarding school in another state very soon. Also, that count down tells us there’s an ‘after’ and it probably isn’t good.

Hunger Games

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold. My fingers stretch out, seeking Prim’s warmth but finding only the rough cover of the mattress. She must have had bad dreams and climbed in with our mother. Of course, she did. This is the day of the reaping.

I prop myself on one elbow. There’s enough light to see them. My little sister, Prim, curled up on her side, cocooned in my mother’s body, their cheeks pressed together. In sleep, my mother looks younger, still worn but not so beaten down. Prim’s face is as fresh as a raindrop, as lovely as the primrose for which she was named. My mother was very beautiful once. Or so they tell me.

1. Katniss and her sister share a bed, which suggests poverty. Katniss wakes alone because her sister has abandoned her in favor of a parent, who offers more safety. ‘Or so they tell me’ suggests a rift between Katniss and her mother because Katniss has to be told of her mother’s beauty by others. She can’t see it herself. There is something wrong there.

2. Katniss wakes alone and observes them as one apart. Her mother is ‘worn but not so beaten down’ which, again, suggests poverty and a hard life. The picture of the mother/child cuddled together cements their vulnerability as well as Katniss’s apartness.

3. The word ‘reaping’ here could mean crops but the fact Prim has nightmares the night before suggests something more sinister.

Most importantly, notice what the writer does NOT include in these excerpts. They TELL us nothing. Suma doesn't say that Ruby is dangerous. Green doesn't say that Miles's loner status is about to change. Collins doesn't say that Katniss loves Prim or has issues with her mother. They give us just enough to figure this out, and now we want more.

So, what else should a writer accomplish in the first 100 words? What have I missed? What examples can you recommend?

Uptown Downstairs Abbey and the Spork of Doom

2012-01-19T20:27:00.000-08:00

CJ Redwine arranged an interview between the Spork of Doom and Incarnate author/Apocalypsie Jodi Meadows. It is Hil.Ar.I.Ous.

And for all those Downton Abbey fans (me!) *waves arms excitedly* do check out the very plummy BBC spoof, with Dumbledore doing the voice over. It's jolly good.

Finally, this video has apparently been everywhere already but if you haven't seen it, check it out now:

Critique winner and how I got my agent

2012-01-15T21:08:00.000-08:00

The winner of the full MS critique offered by Tawdra Kandle is: Suzi!! Congratulations!

And now, I'm very excited and happy to announce that Tricia Lawrence of Erin Murphy Literary Agency is my agent!
Honestly, as I type this, part of me feels like I'm living in an alternate reality. I'll wake up tomorrow and realize it was a dream and I'm still querying. :)

Anyway, huge thanks to Patrick, the mastermind of QueryTracker and everyone who posts on the forums. Without QT, agent Ammi-Joan Paquette wouldn't have seen my query posted there for advice and she wouldn't have passed it on to Tricia. (EMLA is closed to queries except for referrals or conferences.) Read all the deets here.

Moral of the story: Post your query for critique. Enter contests - especially those over at Miss Snark's First Victim or Mother, Write, Repeat. Agents troll the Internet, people, and they're always hunting for gold.

A few of my statistics:

Started querying: Mid-October
Queries sent: 25 or so
Response rate: around 45 percent
Stopped querying: beginning of Dec. with 10 fulls or partials out. I worried it would take too long to hear back from everyone if I got an offer.
Offer: Dec. 23 from another, wonderful agent.

Dec. 23 was when everyone went away for the holidays. The offering agent and I agreed to speak after the holidays, and then I gave the other agents another ten days to respond. Tricia emailed me, we talked the next day and I signed with her immediately.

Because when it's right, there's no point in waiting.

She's suggested some great revisions for SA, which I can't wait to tackle. And I'd love to introduce her to you...perhaps through a pitch contest or something else fun? Hmmm. *mental note to ~~strong arm~~ convince Tricia to play along*

For those of you wondering when this news will be your news, I'm sharing this post from one of my favorite blogs. I don't talk about my faith much here but today I must say this: God keeps His promises. Always. And not just to me.

Talking with Tawdra and a critique giveaway

2012-01-12T23:12:00.000-08:00

I first met Tawdra Kandle last summer, when she graciously invited me to participate in an online critique group. I quickly picked up on Tawdra's encouraging nature. She's also a brave, ambitious writer who's not afraid to put herself out there and try something new. Fearless is her debut fantasy YA ebook she's published via Amazon; it's to be the first of four in the King series.

Because she's a generous soul (and has a ton of experience critiquing) she's offering up a free, full MS critique to one lucky commentor! Just include your email address below so I can contact you if Melvin the Magic Sorting Hat coughs up your name Sunday night. A winner will be announced Monday...along with some REALLY exciting news!!! *hyperventilation followed by chocolate intake*

1. Your MC in Fearless can hear thoughts. Agents have said this characteristic is very common in their query box, so how does your MC stand out from the crowd?

First of all, this ability is not really the point in the book; it is just one aspect of the main character, and it informs some of her decisions and choices. I think that may be part of what makes her stand out. Also, Tasmyn was born with this particular gift; it's not a recent acquisition, as it is in some books, where the character has to adjust to a new and possibly frightening talent. In some ways, her ability is representative of any of a thousand other traits that might serve to isolate a teenage girl.

2. How did you get this MS ready for publication? Did you hire an editor or just depend on your critique partners?

I re-tooled this work several times, based on advice from my critique group, from certain key agents and editors and from a few beta readers. My most critical readers were my own three daughters, who are now 16, 20 and 23. They are all discerning readers and were able to point out any weak or questionable areas of the story.

3. You mention the pros and cons of e-publishing in your blog. What made you decide the pros outweighed the cons?

It wasn't an easy decision. Of course, I think every writer dreams of a traditional publishing contract, of seeing her work in print and of having the backing of a publishing house. That was certainly my hope and goal. I began re-examining that goal after I attended a writers' conference. I came away from the weekend with a renewed sense that the traditional publishing world is a state of major flux. I also realized just how subjective the whole process is. We were in a group setting, and we saw one group of agents in the morning and another in the afternoon. Our entire group was astounded by how completely contrary one set of agents' advice was to the others. Not long after, I had the opportunity to chat on-line with a few well-known published authors who told me that if they were selling their initial works today, they would go with independent publishing. That really pushed me over the edge. I like the idea of having more creative and financial control over my work and of being able to make it available to a larger audience.

4. What kind of promotion are you going to try for Fearless? So far, what's your favorite option?

Well, that can definitely be the down side of independent publishing--no publishing house to help an author with PR. Of course, nowadays even traditional publishers have scaled back significantly on the promotion they offer first time authors. I am open to any and all kind of promotion! I am doing a blog tour, several interviews and guest posts. I am working hard on my author and series Facebook pages, Twitter and my author website. It is a steep learning curve, but I am blessed to have gifted people to help me at about every turn. Social media is something I really enjoy, and I think the possibilities there are limitless.

5. What's your ultimate goal with the publication of this book?

I would definitely like to cultivate name recognition and a following, since I have a lot of other works in process. But my main goal for writing this book was just the telling of the story, and it is definitely gratifying to hear from people who have read and loved it.

6. What advice would you give an author considering epublishing? Any must-know tips?

Find someone who knows their way around the process. Put yourself in her hands and do whatever she advises! Seriously, there is so much more to epublishing than what is presented on most websites. From book covers to blurbs to formatting. . .unless you are very well-versed in all of this, it's a good idea to solicit help from someone who is. The best way to find such a person, other than hiring her, is to spend a lot of time on good writing sites. There are some wonderfully supportive groups out there, and women writers in particular (in my opinion!) tend to be very nurturing to each other. Most are willing to help each other with PR and some of the technical aspects of epublishing. I know I have amazing fellow writers in my corner, and I am excited to be able to return the favor!

7. You also head up a monthly critique group over at A Writer's Block's Facebook page. Talk about guidelines for a good critique.

I've learned so much in my years with A Writer's Block! I think the most important part of critiquing is knowing what the writer needs. We frequently encounter writers who have amazing stories and yet their form, grammar and spelling are so lacking that it undermines that story. It can be hard to give them the advice they're seeking--the worthiness of the plot, development of characters--without addressing the more glaring flaws. But we've found that pointing out repetitive errors can be discouraging. So it's a balance. Mention the issues once and then move on. And we've also found that it's important to ask the writer what she wants from her critique and giving it to her. That doesn't mean only giving glowing reviews--that would be worthless--but it does mean being sensitive to where she is as a writer. I also think that it's vital to give a balanced critique; it's easier to accept the hard words when there are also some that are encouraging.

8. How has being the author of Fearless changed the way you draft other works? Do you write more quickly, have tighter plotting, etc.?

I definitely think my writing is tighter. There are three other books in the King series, and they were far easier to write. Some of that is because the characters were already established, but it was also just an easier process. I don't know about the faster part! When I wrote the first book, my life was in a much quieter place. The other books have had to be written around editing Fearless, dealing with the query process, learning about publishing (both traditional and independent) and just plain life stuff. While I was able to write Fearless at home, late at night and in free afternoons, for the subsequent books I've had to get away on my own in order to get in some good solid days of writing.

9. Will you go for epublishing for your next book, or do you continue to query even as you branch out?

My plan is to independently publish the rest of the King series. I would love to see the books in solid print as well, and that might happen, one way or another. The next series I'm working on is very different from the King series, and so I'll probably query the initial book, but I won't spend as much time doing that as I did with Fearless. I'd love to someday have at least one book go through the traditional publishing process, but it's not as important to me as it once was.

10. What's your next project?

My next project is an adult book with tremendous series potential; it's much lighter than the King books, and although it has a supernatural element, it's not an urban fantasy book per se. At the same time that I'm working on that, I'm mapping out two other books related to the King series. One is a very pre prequel--it is the history of Gravis King, the founder of the town of King, and it tells the story of how he gathered his carnival together and eventually established King. I love the relationship between Gravis and Sarah, a Romany witch he rescues from a burning stake in Europe. I'm looking forward to that one. The other is Nell's story; what happens to her after Tas and Michael's story is over. I'm excited about this one, as well. Nell is one of my favorite characters!

Thanks for stopping by, Tawdra! She's always willing to answer questions so fire away - and don't forget to include your email address if you'd like a full MS critique!

Believing the Lie review

2012-01-11T11:48:00.000-08:00

Before I jump into my reactions to Elizabeth George's latest mystery (which comes out Friday!) here's what's coming up:

On Friday and Saturday, stop by for an interview with the awe-tabulous Tawdra Kandle, a debut author who's epublishing her book, Fearless. We'll talk about her journey, her story and she'll be giving away one free full MS critique to a lucky random commentor. You won't want to miss!

On Monday, I'll write a short post on some exciting news. (For me, anyway. :)

Believing the Lie blurb: Twenty-five years after George wrote her first Inspector Lynley novel (and 16 novels later) she brings another installment in the Lynley saga:
Inspector Thomas Lynley is mystified when he's sent undercover to investigate the death of Ian Cresswell at the request of the man's uncle, the wealthy and influential Bernard Fairclough. The death has been ruled an accidental drowning, and nothing on the surface indicates otherwise. But when Lynley enlists the help of his friends Simon and Deborah St. James, the trio's digging soon reveals that the Fairclough clan is awash in secrets, lies, and motives.
Deborah's investigation of the prime suspect-Bernard's prodigal son Nicholas, a recovering drug addict-leads her to Nicholas's wife, a woman with whom she feels a kinship, a woman as fiercely protective as she is beautiful. Lynley and Simon delve for information from the rest of the family, including the victim's bitter ex-wife and the man he left her for, and Bernard himself. As the investigation escalates, the Fairclough family's veneer cracks, with deception and self-delusion threatening to destroy everyone from the Fairclough patriarch to Tim, the troubled son Ian left behind.

What I ~~liked~~ loved: One of the reasons I love George's writing is the way she develops her characters. There are no cardboard cut-outs, no cliches or straightforward individuals in her books. Everyone is as layered as an artichoke, with defense mechanisms, hang-ups and hurts carefully concealed. These stories are definitely character driven and the plot only serves as a stick of dynamite to all the cords of deception, selfishness and desires of everyone involved. In this case, the plot is a murder-that-may-not-be. Lynley and his friends' digging uncovers a lot more than a possible conspiracy, and the reasons/reactions to this are when George peels back those layers to reveal all facets of her characters' psyches. While they're rooting around in Cumbria, Lynley's faithful work partner Barbara Havers is tasked with helping Lynley at the same time her neighbor - for whom her crush is buried so deep, I'm not sure Barbara even realizes her feelings for him - is having a family melt-down. The book ends not with Lynley, who has taken yet another step in the grieving process for his late wife, but with Barbara and her reaction to her neighbor's stress. If the clue is correct, George's next novel will take a huge detour into Barbara's virtually nonexistent personal life. (Yay!)

What I didn't like: In my opinion, some of the sub-plots were weak, especially the one involving Zed Benjamin, the Jewish tabloid reporter sent to dig up dirt on the Fairclough family prior to Lynley's involvement. In one scene, Zed resorts to using a hotel computer to type up his story because he doesn't have his laptop. !!!!! Seriously, this would not happen, especially not for a reporter on assignment. There are also a few issues with character choices, particularly one that seemed contrived to give that story thread the right amount of pathos.

Recommended: Yes! Although if you haven't read George's work before, I suggested starting with any of her earlier work (This Body of Death, for instance) before diving into this one. If you enjoy cerebral mysteries, you won't be disappointed.

How much tech is too much?

2012-01-08T19:39:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, I got an iPhone and a Kindle...two things my oldest children say were long overdue. Both of them fell on the iPhone like it was a raft in turbulant waters, despite the fact they also have a Wii and a PlayStation. They've managed to upload more than a dozen free games which they take turns playing until the battery wears out. Which doesn't take very long, unfortunately. (They also scoff at my own game playing abilities whenever I try to wrest it out of their clenched fingers. Seriously, how am I supposed to get better if they hog it all the time??)

As for the Kindle, the kids don't get to touch that. Ever. I've had it embedded into my arm so my favorite book is never more than twelve inches away from my face. Kidding. (Or am I?) Combined with Netgalley, my Kindle is the best thing ever. I'm reading Elizabeth George's new release a full week before it's released. *happy squeal* I know!! It's amazing.

Which brings me to my point - and thanks for sticking with me this long. My life is crowded with technical stuff. I spend about four hours on the computer each day, whether I'm writing, doing research, blogging, Facebooking, emailing or looking up the recipe for Eggnog Fudge. My husband, son and I text often - even to the point of, when hubsy's in Belgium, I'm texting him at son's hockey game while hubsy is listening to the game online via the local radio station. o.O

Technology is everywhere. So how much of it should I include in my WiP? (This is definitely a problem Charles Dickens or LM Montgomery didn't face. Unless of course, they had to wrestle with the intriguing problem of electric vs. gas lights and which would fit better in their story.) Tech is changing so fast, it's a pretty sure bet that whatever we include will be dated in say, five years. But for contemporary writers - especially YA writers - leaving it out is a HUGE omission. Like leaving the nose off a character's face.

On the other hand, including too much of it will probably be a bit like watching a movie when a rotary phone rings or a character develops film in darkroom. As a reader, this details pulls me out of the story for a moment, if only to mentally reassess my mental pictures of the characters' appearances, surroundings and mindsets. I do this going into reading a classic novel but for contemporary fiction, this can be a jarring transition.

As authors, we not only have to create our world, we have to determine which parts of the real world are likely to be around long enough to become standard. Like cell phones. I think all of us can agree that, barring a nuclear catastrophe or an asteroid hit, cell phones are here to stay. As are personal computers. But what about the process of 'renting' a movie? Amazon already streams them, as does Netflix, which means the slow death of external rental places (perhaps including RedBox). And the terminology may change as well to simply 'streaming' a movie. Why is this important, you ask? Well, for contemporary YA authors, how often do teens watch movies on the weekends? Yeah, a lot. This is a tiny detail but nevertheless, the kind of detail that can date your story. I'm sure you can come up with other, better examples.

The fact is, we have no idea what's coming tech-wise in the next five years. I just read that a dude in Japan invented the first touchable hologram...so imagine what gaming could be like in the next decade. People who own iPhone 4S can already talk to it...so imagine the way voice interface will affect keyboards. (Imagine not having to type!) The Ford Focus can parallel park itself...so imagine an auto-drive feature. And forget paper maps or phone books. Anyone with a GPS or a computer no longer needs to read them. This kind of speculation is a playground for dystopian authors but contemporary authors are stuck with what IS.

So how do you handle technology in your story? How do you write a good dose of reality without shortchanging the future?

at least, not right now...

Rebecca Hamilton and Immortal Ink Publishing

2012-01-07T10:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we learned all about Rebecca Hamilton's debut novel, The Forever Girl. It will be released later this month as the first of Immortal Ink Publishing's offerings. Rebecca will also act as the company's acquisition editor when they go live for queries in May. She talks about how that happened below, as well as tips for other aspiring self-publishers.

And don't forget, you can sign up here to get a .99 release copy of The Forever Girl. For every ten who sign up, Rebecca will give away one free e-book. So get your ereaders ready or dust off your bookshelves and sign up today for this exciting paranormal fantasy.

7.  You're also acquisition editor for Immortal Ink (using the name Shana Raywood). Is it weird being on the other side of the virtual desk? What's your goal for the company this year?

          We’re not open to queries yet, but we’ve gotten a few, including one person who became irate when I let him I know we weren’t open yet. So, is it weird? Not really. But sometimes it’s bizarre lol. We open for submissions in May, hopefully, and we’re excited about it! There’s so much talent out there. I hope some of them will consider submitting to us! Our goal this year is to publish around 6 books. Ultimately, we may publish as many as 12 books a year. We know that is LOT less than even the smallest of small publishers currently out there, but we want to really put everything we can into the books we do sign. This is, IMO, in everyone’s best interest. Authors deserve time and attention to their novels. Readers deserve a quality read—not just a selection of books thrown at the wall to see what sticks. And we deserve to not run ourselves into the ground!

8. Your blog has a lot of visual effects - moving words, a great book trailer. Do you have a background in design or computer graphics? If not, how did you learn to do all the cool technical stuff you do?

You’re too funny! Google is my friend. I have no background in graphic design, but I used to do photography and I do ENJOY graphic design. I think I have a knack for it, but I was never sure until you just confirmed J There’s a lot of tutorials out there. I’m also very picky and very stubborn and I refuse to give up until I figure out how to get something done.

9.   Getting back to The Forever Girl - your launch is very soon. What kind of publicity do you plan?
          I’ll be doing a blog tour in January, and I might have a twitter release party, too. I’ve also arranged for some book bloggers to receive free copies of my book for review. I hope word of mouth will spread and I hope that word of mouth will be from happy readers! I am also looking into some forms of advertising. This will be a learning experience to see what pays off. Having wonderful bloggers like yourself invite me to yammer on is a great help, too. I can’t thank you enough for having me here!

10. It's obvious you'll have a lot to juggle in the coming months. What's your strategy to keep your creativity while wearing so many business/creative genius hats?

       All I can do is keep a reasonable schedule. Try what works and rearrange things if things are too much of a struggle. I try not to overdo it. I tell myself I don’t have to do everything every day. That helps keep me from getting to stressed. I try to keep time for writing, time for editing, time for marketing, and so on. And, of course, time for family, which I’ve mentioned last but always comes first.

Fast five - New Year version

Pumpkin pie or chocolate cream pie?
Chocolate Cream!

Me, too! *gains 5 lbs just thinking about it*

Favorite read of 2011?
Amy L Kinzer’s Girl Over the Edge, available on Amazon for only .99!

Proudest moment?
           When my oldest son started showing an ability to respond to frustrations in a healthy way. It’s still a battle for him, but I’m so proud every time he is able to overcome his immediate reaction and make a good-but-hard choice to stay in control.
          Also when my daughter made the gymnastics team at her gym. I’m proud of her because not only did she do so from practicing ALL the time (and she will tell you this much herself) but also because I knew it was a big girl step for her to accept the invitation. She loved her coach in her little girl class, who wouldn’t be in the big girl class. It’s why she didn’t move up when she was first ready to move up. But she ultimately decided she wanted to be there for the sport. She also started trying to make friends with the girls on her new team, which is great!
         I’m also proud that my youngest is potty trained now and has finally stopped smearing poop on the walls. That was a long two and half year phase!

Wow - 2.5 years of poop for wall paper? I hate to think what that child's teen years will be like. :)

The time you almost quit?
         I am very persistent and refuse to give up even when it would probably be better if I did. I think it drives my husband and everyone else around me crazy, as they tell me to stop trying to do impossible things. I just keep insisting it IS possible and I’m going to do it. Then, eventually, I get it done. It doesn’t stop them from trying to talk sense into me the next time, though.

Top goal for 2012?
          I want to read more. I looked at how few books I read this year compared to all the years before, and I realized that I’d been so busy working that I’d stop making time to just relax and do something I love. In 2012, I want to read at least 1 book a month. It’s not as much as I used to read, but it’s a sad year for me that in 2011 I didn’t even read that much. 2012 will be much better!

I agree! Thanks for stopping by, Rebecca and best wishes for your debut and your new editing gig.

Rebecca Hamilton and The Forever Girl

2012-01-05T22:40:00.000-08:00

This week, I'm featuring aspiring author/editor Rebecca Hamilton, whose debut The Forever Girl comes out this month. Today, we're discussing how this story evolved, along with the experiences that convinced Rebecca to launch it herself. Stop by tomorrow to learn how Rebecca co-founded Immortal Ink Publishing, which will open to queries in May.

Either day, you can sign up here to get a .99 release copy of The Forever Girl. For every ten who sign up, Rebecca will give away one free e-book. So get your ereaders ready or dust off your bookshelves and sign up today for this exciting paranormal fantasy.

1. Your blog states you're a mom of three, including one child with autism spectrum disorder. Talk about how you organize your writing day - are you a scheduled or on-the-fly writer?

I try to have a schedule, but it’s really not working out so well. Mostly I write at nights, and use daytime for social media and editing, as I don’t mind being interrupted when doing those things. A lot of days, however, there’s so much to do with the kids that I don’t really get anything done. Maybe that will change once they’re all in school .

2. 2011 has been a big(ger) year for you. You've started Immortal Ink Publishing and are getting ready to launch The Forever Girl - first in the FG series. What made you decide to go into publishing in the first place?

         The seed first planted itself before I started writing. I have always loved reading, but not only that, I was also amazing at picking out books that me and all my friends would like, no matter how different we were.
         This feeling intensified some time after I started writing, when I got into editing. I used to do paid editing for very cheap, but only for novels that I was personally interested in. Many of the books I edited later went on to agents and/or publishers. I knew I had a knack for editing, but I also knew I had a knack for finding the right stories to edit.
         Meanwhile, my closest writing partner and I had been discussing some kind of literary venue. We didn’t know what at the time—literary magazine? A website to feature authors? Something else? We were always discussing, but no idea ever stuck. In the end, with some additional experiences coming into play, we decided to open Immortal Ink Publishing.

3. I've read the first chapter of The Forever Girl on your blog and have to say, I was hooked. You've discussed the impact your MC's religion has had on some readers (Sophia is Wiccan) - talk about how this story grown from its first draft.

            Thanks ! The final draft is completely different from the original. There’s not much the same except for the characters and the very bones of the story. The religion has been the biggest hurdle, especially being an American author. A lot of people now assume I’m Wiccan. (I’m not; I’m agnostic, though I’ve studied many religions including Wicca and Christianity.) It wasn’t until I started writing this novel that I realized there was still such a judgment against the Wiccan religion. Some were upset also that there are some not-so-great characters who call themselves Christians in the novel, but I also have flawed Wiccan characters in my story and Christian characters who are kind-hearted, so I think the balance is there to anyone open to see it.Hopefully the free sample I provide has enough there to convey that the good and bad in my characters come from the characters themselves and not the religions they associate with.

4. What made you decide to go the epubbing route instead of traditional - snagging an agent, going on sub, etc.?
          This goes back to why Rudy and I started Immortal Ink Publishing. Over the course of the last year, several publishers and agents approached me regarding my book after reading a sample online. I knew my book wasn’t ready, but in several of those cases I was persuaded to send anyway because “things can always be revised”.
           Ultimately, both agents and 2 of the 3 publishers passed, all asking to see future projects. They said I had a great writing style and “voice”, but all had different reasons why they didn’t have room on their list for The Forever Girl. Some hated parts others loved, and vice versa.
         I figured I might be onto something but knew the book needed more work. I hired some well-regarded editors, two of whom mentioned the idea of resubmitting. I’m not Stephenie Meyers or Amanda Hocking, but I had enough that I worried I might I start LOSING interest instead of gaining it if I didn’t make my book available, so I decided it’d be wiser if I didn’t put my book in limbo for another 6-12 months.
          Getting my novel ready meant I had a lot to learn. I figured…what a waste for me to learn all this just for me. As Rudy was also looking to self publish, I suggested we start our own publishing house. We agreed to use our own books as guinea pigs for the publishing house to show what we can offer. I still suspect self-pub will be the preferred option for many, but we hope to be a small publisher that is a good option for authors who don’t want to do the behind-the-scene work themselves or can’t afford to invest in themselves but still want to give their readers a high quality product.

5.  What are some technical details behind epubbing you didn't know before you started the process - the cover, the ISBN number - etc? How hard is it to get it all done these days? How expensive is it?
           I knew a fair bit since I’d seen it talked about so often online. The biggest hurdle for me has been more on the business end—registering a business, for example. The next has been formatting. Sure, there’s some fast and easy ways to do it, but I want to put out the best quality I can. I don’t think it’s really hard (aside from getting formatting done the right way). It’s just time consuming. And, in some cases, it can be expensive to some people. For me, paying what I did for my book covers was no big deal. A few of the covers in The Forever Girl series are done by the same person who designed the overseas covers for the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris.

6.  Now that you're familiar with the process, what advice do you have to other authors thinking about epubbing?

           Get a great cover artist. Get opinions on your cover from people you can trust to be honest with you. Get an excellent editor. Be sure they provide quality editing, and remember you will need to do several edits on your manuscript from large scale to small, preferable in that order ;) Do your research and don’t be in a rush.

Other epublishing authors have told me that the importance of a great cover can't be overstated. And the one for TFG is really great.

Thanks, Rebecca. Join us tomorrow for part two to find out more about submitting to Immortal Ink Publishing.

Logline and first 250-word critiques

2012-01-01T22:48:00.000-08:00

This week, I'm hosting critiques for nonwinning (adult genre) entrants to the Baker's Dozen auction, hosted by Miss Snark's First Victim last month. Five brave souls have volunteered to have their words ~~ripped apart~~ analyzed. Helpful suggestions ONLY please! Our aim, as always, is to encourage each other.

If your post is below, please comment on all the others. If you're just stopping by, we'd love to hear constructive criticism on how to polish these entries to a shine. And do swing by the lovely Lauren's blog, as she's hosting additional entries for critique over there.

Coming up: on Friday and Saturday, my interview with Rebecca Hamilton will post. She's a debut author of The Forever Girl, as well as acquisition editor for the fledgling Immortal Ink Publishing. She's going to be giving away a fantabulous prize you won't want to miss.

Post #1

2012-01-01T22:45:00.001-08:00

LOGLINE:
In contemporary London, 25 years old paranormal consultant Robyn Wise joins forces with the ancient spirit living inside her, to fight the Dark Cloud, a malevolent entity determined to absord Fairyland's power. If Robyn fails, all good magic will disappear from Earth and our world will be turned into a hopeless desert.

FIRST 250 WORDS:

“Do you think he will come, Miss Wise?”
“Of course he will, Mr Wilson, no worries.” I say, trying to hide my concern with little success; dissimulation has never been my best feature,after all. That's probably why my client doesn't seem at all reassured; he keeps twisting his fat fingers while his piggy eyes dart around the place.

He’s nervous and I'm terrified, which is perfectly normal when you consider that I'm here, at night, in the middle of nowhere ... with a werewolf. A very nasty werewolf.

To make things even worse, there's not a single cloud in the sky, it's oneof those clear winter nights that show up in London once or twice a year.

My usual luck. Of course there's a full moon tonight, so a few drops ofrain wouldn't hurt, in case things go wrong. But they won't, let's be optimistic for once shall we? After all, Mr Wilson is a werewolf determined to be cured, that's why we are here in the middle of nowhere,waiting for a shaman to perform a healing spell on him. Let's just hope he's punctual, please, I've never counted on English punctuality so much in my entire life. That's probably because my entire life depends on English punctuality, in this particular case: to work, the spell has to beperformed before the moon rises and my client transforms into a blood-thirsty monster. Thirsty for my blood, of course. In this particular case.

Post #2

2012-01-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

Title: Shield & Crocus
Genre: Fantasy

Logline:
Aging superhero First Sentinel finally has a chance to overthrow the oligarchs who have ruled his city for fifty years, but it means making a bargain with his oldest enemy, a gangster who has schemed her way to the top. His team takes the offer, plotting a mission to destroy the Rebirth Engine, a machine that wracks the city with magical storms. If the team cannot turn the oligarchs against one another, they will hunt his team down and crush their rebellion.

First 250:
Wonlar’s apartment was a carefully constructed ruse. Papers, schematics and yet more papers covered the floor, spotted with yard-high stacks of books, delicate arrangements of spare parts, and sealed bottles of reagents. Bookshelves filled the walls from floor to ceiling along three sides of the apartment, broken only by a closet, the hall to the bedrooms and the opening to the kitchen. Over the last twenty years, the apartment had settled into Wonlar’s image: scholarly, brilliant, and scattered.

That was the intent. His neighbors wouldn’t expect that Wonlar Gonyu Pacsa, absent-minded artificer and handyman could also be First Sentinel, leader of the Shields of Audec-Hal, the only major force standing against the rule of the oligarchs. If they thought he was barely organized enough to keep track of whose oven he had to fix by Monday and mumbled to himself incoherently, they wouldn’t ask questions about why he was up at all hours and never seemed to be around for parties.

Wonlar stood above a table, squinting to focus on the job at hand. He was approaching his seventy-first birthday, but he looked no older than any other Ikanollo. He had the same square jaw, the same high forehead, sun-yellow skin and dark brown hair. For other races, cadence and personality were most of what set Ikanollo apart, since each man looked like every other, each woman a perfect copy of one another in features and build.

Favoring his left leg, Wonlar stepped over a short pile of books on rare reagents.

--M.U.

Post #3

2012-01-01T22:44:00.001-08:00

TITLE: Spirit Weaver
GENRE: Fantasy

LOGLINE:
When the man she loves unexpectedly disappears, Lora abandons her high post in the army and sets off alone into enemy territory to search for him. This choice turns her king against her and inspires an oppressed people who become convinced she is destined to save them from tyranny. Captive to a prophecy she doesn’t believe, she must accept leadership or risk the life of the man she gambled everything to save.

First 250 words:
Lora thrust her ski poles into the knee-deep snow, raising a mittened hand to shade her face from the glare of the sun. She stared past the wolverine ruff of her parka hood, down the slopes to the evergreen forests rolling out like a legion of the king’s Honor Guard.

Now that she was here, the fear turned her gut into clenching coils—like a snake consuming itself. The snake twisted at the thought of what she might find in the valley below, twisting tighter at what she almost certainly would not find.

Yet she had to know what had become of Gaern. He was the only man—the only person, even—to have somehow found a way through her inner-most defenses.

She searched for the smoke-haze of Eloedir rising up through the crowns of the distant conifers, though she knew all signs of her village would be hidden beyond the valley’s bend. Her own frozen breath was the only sign of life now, drifting back past the unstrung shaft of her wooden bow protruding above her right shoulder. Over the other shoulder gleamed the mottled bronze hilt of a curved saber engraved with the swan of the king.

Lora adjusted her pack, stamping her feet in their bindings to warm her toes. She pushed forward down the slope, finally letting her eyes settle on the place below where five years ago her father and brother had been slain.

--M.A.

Post #4

2012-01-01T22:44:00.000-08:00

Logline:

Special Agent Alexandra MacPherson can't decide which is worse - a witness who dies or a suspect who won't stay dead.

First 250:

Sometimes it all comes down to the gun you choose. SIG Sauer P226 .40 S&W or Rossi .357 Magnum revolver with a six-inch barrel. I’d picked the SIG. I should have gone with the Rossi.
I sneaked a look at the battered clock on the wall of the loading dock. Doyle was only five minutes late. Not so long I worried he’d had second thoughts. I needed him to show soon, though, before my unease fermented into something harder to conceal.
The SIG was a cop’s gun. I knew if anything tipped off Doyle, it would be the gun.
“He’s late,” Mike said.
I shrugged. Played like I didn’t care, hadn’t noticed.
“You see the game last night?” Mike asked.
“What game?”
“The Sox.”
God help me. A Sox fan. I’d happily watched the Phils beat the Braves the night before, but Kate Campbell didn’t give a shit about the national past time. “No,” I said. “I don’t follow baseball.”
“They play the Yankees tomorrow.”
“Well, I do hate the Yankees.”
“Who doesn’t?” Mike dropped the remnant of his cigarette to the floor of the dock and crushed it under his shoe.
Kate Campbell was a vegetarian who sold lattes at an internet cafe and lived in a dump near Temple University. A fugitive from the United Kingdom for alleged involvement in a train derailment in North West England, she fancied herself a modern day Guy Fawkes.
I was ready to be done with Kate Campbell.

--T.K.

Post #5

2012-01-01T22:43:00.000-08:00

Logline: Border Crossings tells the story of three women from three different worlds whose lives intersect as they enter the world of organ transplant and egg donation.

First 250 Words:

Two years of opening hospital-room doors hadn’t eased the dread of seeing her tiny son lying vulnerable as a soft-bellied fish on the starched white sheets of the bed, wires and tubes surrounding him like the tentacles of a giant squid. Knowing that those mechanical tentacles monitored his fragile heart and fed him the medicine that kept him alive didn’t stifle the anxiety: How will Koji be today? Is it a good day or a bad day? Yuki counted silently to three and pushed the door open.

Koji’s crooked, five-year-old grin beamed out from his moon face, and she could tell right away it was a good day. Even better: the mechanical tentacles were stored neatly away. Her little fish was free. Yuki scooped him up into her arms, pressing his small, bony chest to her. She nuzzled into his neck, searching for his smell underneath the hospital antiseptic.
“You’re squishing me, Mama,” Koji said, squirming from her embrace.
“Sorry, sweetheart. I’m just so happy to see you.”
“Why?”
“I’m always happy to see you, silly.”
“Oh,” said Koji and he looked nervously at Asana, the nurse, who was fussing around the room, rolling up a piece of plastic tubing and stowing it in the cabinet.

Yuki stood up and bowed in greeting, silently chastising herself for not acknowledging the woman sooner.
Asana handed Yuki Koji’s chart and said, “From a heart standpoint, it was a good day.”
Yuki nodded vigorously, her excitement building as she looked at his numbers:

--J.F.

Bright beginnings

2011-12-29T18:00:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012, everyone! I hope you have big plans for New Year's Eve. My own include a game night with two of our three kids, eating the last of the Christmas cookies, and falling asleep in front of a movie while cuddling with hubsy. *yawn* I probably won't make it to midnight. Yup, I am Officially Old. :)

Next week, stop by on Monday to critique a few loglines and first 250 words of selected adult entries that didn't make it into the Baker's Dozen auction hosted at Miss Snark's First Victim. Not many have sent me entries yet, but I know those that do appreciate whatever feedback you share. And you're welcome to send your logline/first 250 even if you've never heard of Authoress. The more, the merrier!

On Friday, I talk with the lovely Rebecca Hamilton, whose novel, The Forever Girl, debuts next month as a print and e-book through her new imprint, Immortal Ink Publishing. Rebecca is also the acquisition editor for the company, which will start taking queries in May. She'll have a very cool giveaway you won't want to miss. (She's also just done a fantabulous blog makeover - definitely worth a click. I swear she's some kind of cyber-genius.)

In the meantime, I raise my nonalcoholic-apple-cranberry-spritzer to you! L'Chaim!

New Year resolutions

2011-12-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

A quick google of 'new year writing resolutions' yielded the following: finish a novel, start a novel, publish an ebook, start a blog, post more regularly on a blog, read more, spend more time writing, submit writing....

Yawn. That's all great stuff but since those resolutions bounce around my head on a daily basis, they're not items I'll add to an annual list. Also, those items are all about the writer and frankly, I'm getting a little sick of me. So this year, my goals focus on others (and are in no particular order).

1. Pay attention to real life. My daily life is broken into two parts - writer-me in the morning, and teacher-me in the afternoon. Teacher-me constantly thinks about my students, how I can tailor lessons to fit their needs, noticing which child seems down/sad and thinking how to cheer them up. Those conversations - and the ones with my family and friends - pull me out of my writer-self, remind me to pay attention and not get sucked into my writer-me's head so much.

2. Write letters to our sponsorship kids. My family sponsors several children through World Vision. Each year we get letters from them telling us a tiny bit about their lives in Third World countries. Responding to them tends fall to the bottom of the to-do pile. This needs to change.

3. Hug my kids each day. In my experience, the older my children get, the less I touch them. Giving my almost-16 year-old son a hug requires advance stealth planning. But it's worth it. Soon they'll be gone and hugging them won't be as easy as chasing them through the house. :)

4. Give more away. Money and time - two of our most valuable commodities. I've pulled back a bit from volunteering this year after several year in a row. The break was nice but I'm ready to jump back in. And I'm upping my charitable giving goal by ten percent this year. Yeah, it's not a lot but it'll be a sacrifice nonetheless.

5. Be kind. At my school, we have several expectations of our students and this one is the first. When I'm too focused on my own goals - if I'm running late or tired of waiting on someone else - my first reaction is to snap. At those times, it takes a huge effort to swallow my irritation. But it's necessary. I don't need to make someone else's bad day even worse with a careless comment. And I don't need to teach my kids that a snappish response is acceptable.

So what are your resolutions for 2012? Are you buying a gym membership, going on a big trip, changing jobs? What goals do you have that don't concern your writing life?

Best. Present. Ever.

2011-12-23T15:27:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! Have a great holiday week.

Using the dark

2011-12-19T10:32:00.000-08:00

We are three days before solstice (72 hours but who's counting?) and down to around five hours of daylight. By daylight, I mean the sky lightens a bit to a kind of twilight. At my house, Pioneer Peak effectively blocks the low sunrise except for an hour or two each day. Which means we get very little direct sunlight right now, and we have to be looking south to see it.

Downside: Most of us sleep a lot this time of year. Also, Alaskans don't produce as much vitamin D which means our bones don't heal as quickly as yours in the Lower 48. (I found this out when one of my kids broke an ankle.) And some get SAD - seasonal affective disorder from the lack of light. I've never experienced this but people who do generally leave the far north within a few years.

There are upsides to this time of year. *head scratching* No, really, there are. I'll get to them in a minute. I want to stay with the downside because it's when reality - like the writing life - fails to meet our expectations that our story begins.

Before I moved here, I had this picture of life in a cozy cabin, log fire roaring, deep in the wilderness with moose for neighbors. We'd ski every weekend, and my husband would bring home caribou bacon. We explore the backcountry on our four-wheelers. Our children would be rugged, able to handle a rifle and skin a large animal with their other hand.

Reality is a bit different. We skipped the cabin in favor of a reasonable commute to work. We don't have time to ski nearly as often as I'd like, and my husband has yet to go hunting. We do have four-wheelers but my youngest has been too young (until now) to go very far. Our children are typical kids, although all of them have been on skates since they were four and they never get cold. (Seriously. All three have been known to go jump on the trampoline in a T-shirt when it's zero degrees outside.)

So - dreams on one hand. Reality on the other. And the gap between desire and fact is the stuff of fiction. Because it's only when things aren't perfect that we recognize what is.

It's only when the lights go out that you know what you're missing.

When this happens in your writing (and it should!) does your character react with disappointment or reconciliation? With anger or surprise? With hatred or love? Does the gap change your MCs heart or harden it? What thought processes or personalities naturally lean toward one or the other? And what signals do they leave to allow you to guess?

As writers, we are supposed to be students of human nature. As humans, we use one sense above all others - our eyes - to figure out the world. But in the dark, you're forced to rely on the others: feeling, touching, tasting, smelling. The dark teaches you what stuff you're made of.

This is where your writing gets good. It gets hard, but if you persevere, it gets good. You'll start to notice the upside of being in this place.

Where I live, if we happen to catch the sun after it rounds the mountain and before it falls below the horizon, the light is ethereal. A shaft of rainbow in the black. A glittering ray of heaven showing off the muscular curves of Pioneer Peak. Or, on clear nights, the northern lights move like liquid dancers across the sky.

There's a certain kind of beauty that only comes in the dark. Wait for it. Be ready to use it when it comes.

Deja vuing: Characteristics of emerging writers

2011-12-15T21:57:00.000-08:00

A do-over from a September post...

Check out other Deja Vu postings listed at Creepy Query Girl's blog...

I'm almost finished with a graduate program that requires a LOT of academic writing. This is a totally different genre from fiction, as Calvin demonstrates so succinctly.

Fiction writing, on the other hand, defines itself by carefully orchestrated simplicity. As authors, we take our readers by the hand to lead them down our winding story road. If we lose them, in most cases it's because they fell into a plot hole or were stolen by an evil, off-topic tangent.

Just like little kids first learning the mechanics of writing, we all have weak areas that show up in our writing. Our mastery of language comes through in what we write. This is why college professors, MFA instructors, and editors urge writers to read Strunk & White’s Elements of Style (see great rap below) and other books on writing. If writing is an art, our grammar, word choice and structure are the canvas on which our stories are painted.

The difference between a master and a student is simply this: enough practice to recognize/catch these tendencies in the first draft. (And I’m nowhere near able to do this – which is why I have critique partners!)

1.A whole lot of nothing. In other words, your words take the reader nowhere. It takes 850 words to get your MC out of bed, or the MS reads like a playbook of movements – from the house, to work, to lunch, etc., with zero plot points to tie it together. Yawn. *checks watch*

2.Rambling/useless chapters. This is similar to #1 except the concept extends to chapters instead of scenes. Chapters are like rungs in a ladder – they’re supposed to take a reader to the next level. If they don’t move the story, your ladder turns into a treadmill.

3.Plotted like a potato plant. Here in my part of Alaska, we grow a lot of potatoes. To plant one, cut a potato in half and watch it grow. An emergent writer starts out with a great idea and then, presto, soon there are shoots popping out of the ground every which way. The reader has no clue which is the main idea because there’s so much going on.

4.Overwriting. Agent Mary Kole wrote a great post on how this rears its ugly head. All I’m going to say is: don’t tell us what you’ve just shown us is happening in your MS. It’s the equivalent of leading us there and then grabbing our face while yelling: “Look!” See here for more detail on this error.

5.Not enough tension. The reader needs to know why he/she is reading your story. Even a formulaic romance has the break-up. This is one I’m struggling with and it reminds me a bit of keeping a bunch of rubber bands tight while juggling a ball with one hand. According to Kristen Lamb, conflict must be constant.

6.Grammatical errors. Spell check is great but if you correctly spell a misused word, it’s still misused. Whether it's the incorrect use of they're, their or there, or the misunderstanding that you DO NOT add a possessive to a plural word (ie parent’s when you mean the two people who raised you) routine errors shout AMATEUR.

7.Thin skin. Emerging writers are reluctant to send out their work and react with anger/fear/sorrow when given constructive criticism. Sometimes they avoid it, or say they’re writing just for themselves. My response to that: keep a diary. Stories are meant to be shared.

So what did I miss? Share more characteristics in the comments!

The Elements of Style rap

The Elements of Style from Jake Heller on Vimeo.

Embracing the Critique Grinch

2011-12-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

Let me count the ways the Critique Grinch makes a grab for our writerly confidence:

An unkind comment is made on your blog. The writer accuses you of being inaccurate and requests that, from now on, only 'real writers' write posts.
A critiquer rips apart your first draft, then uses one of your writing weaknesses as the subject of her next blog post.
An agent sends a form reject for the MS she's had for two months and gives zero reasons for rejection.
A friend/parent/relative gets a puzzled look whenever you mention your writing and wonders why you don't take up crafting instead because "at least then you'd have something useful when you're finished."
You read a fabulous blog post on setting and realize with dismay you've completely forgotten to add one element of it in the MS you just sent off to your no. 1 agent.

Whether it comes from a stranger, a beta, a professional, someone who's supposed to love you, or YOU, there are so many ways we can lose our joy of writing. Blogger Alex Cavanaugh has even started a blog hop called the 'Insecure Writers Group' that meets monthly to shore up the crumbling walls of confidence. It's no secret writer-folk are synonymous with needy-folk, because we need praise, help, companionship, encouragement. Writing is so solitary and ephemeral. It's very easy to get sucked into the vortex of despair.

This is especially true for the newbies. At the heart of rejecting criticism (whether it's justified or not) is the false belief that real, professional writers are above the common mistakes, whether it be punctuation, spelling, paragraph development or story arc.

If only!

As someone who was a professional writer for many years, I learned two things:

1. Criticism is necessary. The harshest criticism is often the best to help us grow. It's like really powerful fertilizer that can burn but also produces fabulous results when used properly.

2. The difference between a 'real' writer and a hobbyist is twofold - a real writer seeks criticism, both to get better and because he/she needs the writing to be shared. And a real writer can't stop. Not really. There may be a hiatus here or there but the need to write seeps through life like water seeps through sand. It's a compulsion, a weird personality tic that many would trade in a moment for, say, a gift for languages, organization, crafting, anything else that appears to be more useful.

So if you're like me and you can't stop, try looking forward to criticism. Don't be a masochist about it and don't be scared either. Words are powerful but in the end, they're just words. You get to choose which ones you let sink into your brain and which ones bounce off.

NetGalley for Christmas

2011-12-09T11:26:00.000-08:00

Coming up for air

So I'm taking writing breather this weekend and, in between Christmas baking, decorating, cleaning up after both, Christmas card sending, shopping, hockey game/practice, I'm hitting the books. *smack*

On my Christmas list is a Kindle Fire, which I'm almost certain Hubs has at least thought about purchasing for me. I can't wait, because my queue of ARCS at NetGalley is filling fast. It's a real pain to haul my laptop everywhere so I can read them.

ARCS, you say, ears pricking. You're getting ARCS at NetGalley? What is this fantabulous site of wherein you speak?

It's right here. For all you NG virgins out there, I promise it's worth the click. Most major publishes - and several indies - make their ARCS or galleys available upon request. Just sign up, choose your genres and request what you like. My first week I requested 12 and got almost half. (Some publishers will only release to, say, Canadian residents, or they may already have met their pre-reader mark by the time I requested.)

And, like my buddy whale breaching there, I'm in a whole new element. My preferred genres aren't what I usually read - I decided to go outside my comfort zone and experience a wider range of writers, subjects, and styles. It's free, the books take up no space anywhere than on my laptop (or Kindle) and those I love, I'll buy when they hit the market. (Yeah, I'm a re-reader. I only buy a book if I've read it three times.)

Right now, I'm reading SPIN, a adult fiction debut by Catherine McKenzie (HarperCollins, Feb., 2012) Next up is the MG fantasy/mystery THE WEDNESDAYS, by Julie Bourbeau (Random House Canada, Aug., 2012) and an MG nonfiction, THE IMPOSSIBLE RESCUE, by Martin Sandler (Candlewick, Sept., 2012)

And I get to read them for FREE! And without entering a drawing against 100 other people! Wow. It really does feel like Christmas now. *misty eyed* The only thing I'll need to watch is my tendency to over-shop. According to the timer on my e-reader, each book comes with a 60-day time to read before it mysteriously disappears and I lose access. Since I'm still well within my 60 day allotted period, I don't know if this happens. I mean, the thing is downloaded onto my hard drive, which suggests some kind of sinister encription to self-destruct came along for the ride. Hmmm. I can't figure out if this alarms or intrigues me.

If you're already a NG user, let me know! And share any navigation wisdom you may have gleaned. If not, give it a try. It's snowing and cold outside (or it should be to properly celebrate Christmas. Yeah, I'm looking at you, warm states in the Lower 48) and you can't bake cookies/wrap presents/shop forever.

Revving up your revision

2011-12-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

After a break of a few months, I've dived back into revising my finished MS. This round, I'm strengthening a few plot devices and giving my villain (and a few other secondary characters) a bit more depth. How to do this has been the subject of a few early a.m. brainwaves, during which I alternately told myself to go to sleep and mentally wrote this post. Hopefully someone will benefit from the dark circles under my eyes.

When it comes to characters, the best revision always includes background introduced in the right way, at the right time. As novelists, we're a bit like Hansel dropping crumbs behind the clueless Gretel, hoping our strategically placed information will keep our audience from getting lost in the forest. The problem is, we don't know when Gretel is going to look back and put the puzzle together. Here are three ideas that, if used properly, won't fail to lead your reader to the right clues at the right time.

Stark motivation
Crimes of passion are the most common in literature. They're flamboyant, easily related to and usually involve a complicated knot of relationships. They're crucial to mystery stories but even literary fiction benefits from characters who want something passionately. Want - need - desire automatically sparks conflict because our MC wouldn't be in such a state if he/she already had it. Think Scarlett wanting Ashley or Jacob wanting Bella or Voldemort wanting power. Your villian must yearn for whatever with a strong intensity magnified by backstory. Was he/she an abused child seeking safety? An ignored teen yearning for revenge? An overlooked brother wanting attention? Whatever it is, be sure to make that stand out so your reader is in no doubt what's driving all the conflict.

Said is best
One of my betas reminded me of this a few months ago. I love words like retort and hissed and snapped. They fairly crackle with energy. Unfortunately, it's the wrong kind of energy. It detracts the reader from the dialogue, which, if I've written it right, should allow my reader to hear how my characters are speaking. Too many of those tags and I'm banging you over the head with directions. Since we all interpret stories differently, using a standard 'said' gives our readers freedom to build the world their own way. It also gives them freedom to notice what's important in the plot at the time you intend.

Eliminating cliched personalities
There's this secondary character in my MS. I love her to death - she has the most sarcastic lines and is an excellent foil to my MC. Problem is, she's a cliche, about as substantial as an area rug. So I've given her a make-over. She keeps the lines but has a much darker outlook on life, one that's made her determined not to be shocked by anything. Period. And now she works so much better in my MS. So have fun with your secondary characters. Give them weird names, odd habits or accents or taste in clothes. Hollywood's preference for quirky sidekicks makes avoiding cliched personalities a lot harder but I know you're up to the challenge.

Those are my three - I know there are more but that's all I have time for. Please share your revision suggestions in the comments.

Speaking of time, I'll be taking a break from Friday interviews until Christmas break. A grant deadline, end-of-semester work at school, kid activities and my own MS revision have swamped me (not to mention all the Christmas mom duties awaiting me). I'm cutting back to Monday postings - hope you can join me!

Meeting AdriAnne

2011-12-01T22:54:00.000-08:00

My guest this week is soon-to-be breakout YA paranormal/urban fantasy author, AdriAnne Strickland.

AdriAnne picking fish

By summer a commercial fisherperson in Bristol Bay, and by winter a full-time writer, AdriAnne is represented by Sandy Lu of the Perkins Agency. She's also a former world-traveler, proud English major (I have my P.O.E.M. shirt, do you?) who carries around a fascinating group of characters in her head. Really. Check out her web site for a really fresh take on paranormal/supernatural.
Or just read on because that's what this interview is about. :)

1. What brought you to Alaska?
My husband. We met in college in Portland, and when I found out he was from Alaska, I said (acting tough) that I’d always wanted to try commercial fishing for salmon. He laughed, and said I’d better be telling the truth because he’d been fishing out in Bristol Bay pretty much all his life. So, I spent my first summer in AK fishing in Egegik, then we bought our own boat, and now five seasons later, I’m hooked… pardon the pun. (“Netted” would be more appropriate—goodness, and I claim not to pun!)

Oh go ahead. I resisted the urge to compare any knot-tying expertise you may have - fixing nets, y'know - with tying up your fictional characters so puns welcome.
2. Your site says your first book was an adventure featuring a MC who was a little too much like Indiana Jones, and your second book featured a talking cheetah (which I would love to read.) So describe the book that landed you your agent.
I wrote the cheetah book in third grade and I had dismal handwriting, so you probably don’t want to read it! First of the Fallen is the book that got my agent’s attention, though she works with YA too, lucky for me. It’s about, well, a fallen angel meeting up with the first angel ever to fall (guess who!) and accidently triggering Armageddon. I only know what initially attracted my agent from what she’s mentioned: the fact that my protagonist wasn’t a woman prior to her fall, and Samael. My agent, Sandy Lu, really likes Samael. I’ll talk more about him in a second….

3. Your genre is supernatural and urban fantasy YA and, judging from your site, you're pretty prolific. How many hours to do you write a day?
I treat my writing like a full-time job for ten months out of the year, thanks to fishing. So when I’m deeply into a project, I’ll write for eight hours a day. Even when I’m not writing, I spend the hours from 9am-5pm working on a project, whether that’s the research stage involving a lot of reading, brainstorming/plotting, or staring at my computer in disgust.

Wow. Eight hours a day to write. *tries imagining this and fails* Just...wow.

4. Do you write different MSs simultaneously? Talk about your writing schedule or process.
I try not to write more than one manuscript at a time, because it takes a while for me to really lock into a project, and if I’m bouncing back and forth I end up distracting myself with shiny new ideas rather than getting much done. (I once ended up with 30 pages on three different manuscripts, and it’s telling that none of those three have been finished.) But I do like to have a completed project (or two!) that I can go to for revisions when I’m feeling stymied with a current WIP. Revisions give me a fresh perspective, at times. It’s been really great working with my agent, because I have deadlines, lots of revisions, and new projects to keep me constantly interested, though I feel like I get whiplash sometimes looking from one manuscript to the next.

5. The First of the Fallen is a supernatural about - wait for it - a fallen angel. Given that angels/demons are popping up everywhere in WIPs these days, how does your MS stand out?
I mentioned above that my protagonist was androgynous before she fell, and the adjustment to living as a woman is a large focus of the first part of the book. There are a lot of novels with sexy, aloof angel love-interests, but not many with a first person angel POV, really trying to dive into what it would be like to be an angel on Earth—the human side of them, if you will. The second thing that might make it different is Samael. He’s… uh… the devil. And he’s a love interest. And he’s a good guy. He also plays the piano, recites poetry, and saves the world. I think the idea of the Adversary just being misunderstood all these years is not something that many manuscripts tackle.

6. I love the premise of the Words Made Flesh trilogy. (Hey, I'm a sucker for glass pyramids and the word 'athenaeum.' I love saying it. Athenaeum.) Talk about how you drew on your life experience as a world traveler for two years to concoct this plot.
All of my projects come from “seed ideas,” something that just pops in my head, either as a random thought (First of the Fallen), a dream (Midnight), or even a phrase, which is how the Words Made Flesh came about—from reading, not from my travels. I did a lot of biblical research for First of the Fallen, and came across the line “the word made flesh” and thought—hey, what if words were really flesh? What if divine power came to be embodied in certain supernatural human beings? And then I ran with it. I loved writing Tavin—it’s the first time I’ve written a male first-person POV, and I used my wonderful, snide, loving brother as an inspiration. But some of my traveling experiences did come into play with the different Words (kids with powers), since they all come from diverse cultural backgrounds.

That sounds so cool.

7. Your web site banner is awesome. (I'm talking about the photo of the wings turning into crows.) Where did you find that art?
I commissioned it from a friend, paying him with eternal gratitude and props for his awesomeness. Tony Clark, the guy who did it, is a graphic 3D artist working at Liquid Development (a 3D art team working on Halo 4, among other projects) in Portland right now. We didn’t meet in Portland—he actually grew up with me in my dinky hometown of Elko, NV. We drew together all through high school (mostly video game characters! Go Link!), though he was the one who actually ended up going to art school.

Well, he rocks. And I bet your first cover will be just as gorgeous if you're able to sign him as the artist.
8. OK, now let's talk querying. Give us the deets - how long, how many agents, and if you can, share your query letter.
First of the Fallen is sort of a weird case, because it’s both my first novel (not counting what I wrote before college) and my fourth. When I initially wrote it, I made every beginner mistake in existence—much too long, much too rough for submitting to agents, an atrocious query letter, not enough research into the agents I submitted to, etc. The problem is, I didn’t know these things were mistakes at the time—I thought it was perfect! (hah)—and I only realized it after something like 30 rejections and multiple drafts later. By my fifth or so draft, I realized the book had flaws that I couldn’t revise away, and so I actually put it in a drawer. I think it’s really important to be able to move beyond your first novel (I know quite a few people who’ve gotten stuck there, unable to bear the fact that it might just not be good enough) and try something new, grow in another direction. I did move on—I wrote two other novels—but the story kept haunting me. So I returned to it with a different perspective and more writing experience, and literally rewrote most of it without looking at the old manuscript. So it’s also my fourth novel. I only submitted it in its new form to about seven agents (the query letter said basically what the little blurb on my website says about it), Sandy Lu requested the full, and then I went fishing. A few months, emails, and phone calls later, and I signed with Sandy.

9. Talk about designing your author web site. Did you do it yourself or hire someone? What are some tips you could share with authors who haven't yet put together their own site?
I had a friend help me with it, and did some of it myself afterwards after he worked on the nitty-gritty code stuff that I have no clue how to do. Tip: find a friend! Websites are notoriously expensive, and writers are notoriously poor. Sorry, that’s probably not too helpful. Let’s see… once you find someone to help you out, have a vision and a lot of content for it, otherwise you might end up wasting time and not getting what you want. So imagine your perfect website first, with all the text, pictures, art, etc., and then dive into it with that in mind. (But also have an idea that fits your budget.)

10. What's it like being out on submission? Is it worse than querying?
I’m only out on submission as of this week… so far, so good! I know I’m likely in for a long trudge, though, but at least it’s my agent doing the querying while I get to focus on my writing and revisions. So in that regard, I’d say it’s better.

Alaska fast five

Which brand of salmon do you crave - red, king, silver or pink?

King, preferably grilled over a drift-wood fire with no seasoning.

Your dipnetting record? (no fair counting seining or gill netting. I mean with your own two hands and a net.)
I've actually never dipnetted! (I know, I know, shame on me.) But I have caught a red salmon with my bare hands during the peak of the season. Does that count?

Yes! You're just like a brown bear! Only I'm guessing you didn't tear it open with your teeth. :)

Longest day spent on a boat without a bathroom break?

I definitely haven't stripped down out of my rain gear to use the infamous bucket for about eight hours before. Not fun! Guys have it so easy!

Most favoritist place in Alaska?

Probably the abandoned cannery in Ugashik, with only the tundra and nothing else rising up into snow-capped mountains.

Best movie you've seen this year? (ok, this one isn't Alaska themed but hey. I need Red Box recommendations.

Black Swan. It was visually striking, and Natalie Portman's acting was mind-blowing... like playing both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at the same time!

Thanks so much for stopping by AdriAnne! I can't wait to hear of your first sale.

Things I learned in Cancun

2011-11-27T13:08:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving day hot tub. :)

I'm back to a 100-degree temperature difference between Cancun and home sweet home. Brrr! My extended family had a fabulous time getting reacquainted on the beach, eating too much and fending off second-degree burns on our lily white skin. :) This was our second time having a family reunion in Mexico and, while I can't recommend it as a getaway enough, there are a few things I learned this time around. Interestingly, all of these relate to writing.

1 Check your passport expiration date a month or so before leaving the country. Discovering it has expired four days before leaving costs a lot of $$ and lost sleep.
Writing tip: make your MC stupid at times. Stupid mistakes = tension.

American tourist in Cancun

2 The Cancun tourist industry delights in fleecing foreigners. A ten-minute cab ride from our resort to Tulum is $56. Each way. In American dollars. Going to the Cozumel ferry terminal costs $86 each way, or around $4 a mile. Compared to Puerto Vallarta, where cab rides cost around $2, this was a shocker. Note to self: reserve a car online before leaving.
Writing tip: Put your MC at a disadvantage. Fighting against a culture or expectation = tension.

3 Do not get so caught up in staring at the gorgeous fish swimming around the coral reef that you lose track of the current and find yourself stuck among rocks studded with sharp coral.
Writing tip = Distract your MC so he/she doesn't notice something important. Then have it bite them later.

4 Spiny sea urchin spines hurt. Especially when they're embedded in your fingers and you must swim a while to get back to the beach before yanking them out with tweezers.
Writing tip: Prolong pain for your MC. Lots of pain for even a short amount of time = tension.

5.It is possible to have too many mixed drinks in a day. *burp*
Writing tip: Um...see no. 1.

6. Evidently the term 'medium-well' when referring to steak means 'raw' to a Mexican chef. As do the terms, well-done, medium-rare and medium.
Writing tip = See 1 and 4.

ugly gnome

7. It is too much to expect Husband and Son to spend money wisely while shopping for keepsakes. The ugly naked gnome Son wanted as a joke for his locker cost $20. *unhappy face*
Writing tip: Surround your MC with those who don't agree with his/her agenda. This builds conflict.

8. Even though the scale says you've lost weight, the camera shows otherwise. Note to self: delete all photos of woman-with-a-figure-like-a-fire-hydrant off Husband's Blackberry.
Writing tip: Slap your MC in the face with reality occasionally. This also builds conflict.

9. Also, that weight you lost? It's back. See #5.
Writing tip: Disappointment is part of life. Make sure your MC experiences that.

10. It IS worth it to scrimp and save toward a big family trip. The memories we have will last a lot longer than the wood floor I could've gotten in our living room. Okay, maybe not. But the memories are a lot more fun!
Writing tip: Achieving a worthwhile goal is also part of life. Balance out that disappointment with a satisfactory ending.

Me, just before diving into the Chichen Itza cenote

Off to Cancun

2011-11-18T11:31:00.000-08:00

This is me.

No wait...

Here I am, looking a little scary.

Also spending a lot of time here:

And visiting here:

In other words, I'll be having a fabulous Thanksgiving week. And here's hoping you are, too!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Books that make me thankful

2011-11-13T17:05:00.000-08:00

I'm getting a jump on Thanksgiving by posting some great book recommendations early. This time next week I'll be roasting on a beach in Cancun consuming a pile of mind-candy (ie paperback novels) in between reacquainting myself with my niece and nephews. Oh, and eating enormous amounts of food, snorkeling and touring Chichen Itza. Sounds like paradise, right? I hope so.

Peace Like A River by Leif Enger. The story follows the saga of Reuben Land's family as they deal with the aftermath of Davy Land's retribution against the town bullies. MC Reuben narrates his father's unique faith, his sister's storytelling ability and his brother's struggle with the law. Enger's writing is flawless. His strong setting and character development will pull you in until at the end, reading it is a very sweet sorrow.

Blue Like Jazz by Don Miller. The subtitle of this book is: "Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality", informing you that Miller's essays encompass the deep questions of life. This book changed the way I think about my own faith by confronting the hypocrises in some evangelical circles in a gentle, logical way.

Kisses from Katie by Katie Davis. When Katie was 19, she went to Uganda on a mission trip and came home determined to care for the orphans there. She started Amazima Ministries, adopted 14 girls and now heads a staff of international people determined to make a difference for the people of Masese. This book is the story of her journey from high school graduate to a modern version of Mother Teresa. Every time I read her blog, I'm humbled at God's grace/ provision and Katie's courage in living her faith. Learn more about her here.

Sorta Like A Rock Star by Matthew Quick. Amber Appleton lives on a school bus (Hello Yello) with her alcoholic mom, teaches English to the KDFC (Korean Divas for Christ), routinely dresses her tiny dog, Billy Big Boy, in ridiculous outfits and manages to stay positive despite struggling with homelessness. When Mom disappears, Amber's despair causes her huge collection of friends - society's misfits, rejects and other outcasts - to surround this amazing girl and her remarkable faith. Amber is one of my all-time favorite heroines, right up there with Emily Starr, Hermione Granger and Katniss Everdeen.

The Space Trilogy by CS Lewis. (Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, That Hidden Strength) I first read these books as a student at Oxford University and they're still among my favorite reads. Although the technology and space knowledge is dated (Lewis's hero goes to a Mars populated by various Martians) the unique way Lewis views mankind is not. One of the 20th century's great apologists, this series proves the Narnia Chronicles weren't the only stories Lewis had in him.

So those are my choices. What books have you read that make you thankful?

Alicia Bessette and A Pinch of Love

2011-11-10T20:02:00.000-08:00

My introduction to Alicia came a few years ago, when I read Simply from Scratch, a novel about a grieving young widow who enters a baking contest. I loved the book and kept watching the library for Alicia's name to reappear in the New Books shelves.

Two years later, I was researching the guy who wrote Sorta Like A Rock Star, which I'd read an ARC of in 2009 and really, REALLY liked. I'd never written to an author before (cross my heart) and vowed at the time to send the author a note. I never did until one day, I was commenting on a blog that requested favorite YA reads and I wanted to recommend SLARS. Turns out that author is Matthew Quick, who is married to Alicia Bessette. *huge eyes* Matthew's blog mentioned A Pinch of Love. I read the blurb and thought - HOLY COW! I remember this book but it wasn't called A Pinch of Love. (It's been renamed for the paperback version.) The writing was soooo good. And Matthew is Alicia's husband?! How did so much awesomeness get in one family? (So that's where all the awesomeness went. I was wondering...) Anyway, I won a copy to re-read in about two days (still love it!), which encouraged me to ~~cyberstalk~~ request an interview on the off-chance Alicia was as gracious and classy as the characters in her book.
I'm not giving you my copy, which is autographed *holds onto it jealously* but I promise that if you buy APOL you will LOVE it. (Or you can send it to me for free.)

An article on your site suggests your husband's first sale was fuel for a total life-change - a move not only to a new community, but to becoming a full-time writer yourself. Talk about your thought processes then, and where you found the courage to quit your day job.

Yes, my husband and I have embraced several big life-changes. The first was in 2004, and it required the most courage. We quit our jobs, sold our home, and moved from New Jersey to Massachusetts, all in the name of becoming published novelists.
What fueled that change? Dissatisfaction. We were disappointed in our jobs and had no spare energy to fully pursue our shared dream of writing fiction. We decided that nothing would change if we didn't change it. Many people told us we were taking a risky and illogical step backward by forsaking our then-careers and moving in with my parents. But at the time there seemed to be no other alternative. While we both wanted to write, we couldn't afford for both of us to do that at the same time. So Matt entered an MFA program while I became a reporter for my hometown newspaper. Our plan was to switch places in a few years.
Which leads to the second big life-change in 2007, when Matt sold his first novel, THE SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK. We had enough money to move out of my parents' house, and I could join him in writing full time. At that point, no courage was required to quit my day job! Matt's success was all the impetus I needed. We missed Philly, so we returned to that area and rented a small apartment. My "office" was a desk and chair in the corner of the living room. It was there that I wrote A PINCH OF LOVE.
Our third big change came this year, when we moved back to Massachusetts, to be closer to woods and mountains, which fuel our creativity. We're homeowners now, and I have my own office -- a real room -- bliss!

Yay! I always pictured you in New England because the world you create in APOL is so vivid.
How did you snag your agent?

I found my agent with the help of agentquery.com. It's a very useful and informative website that I recommend to anyone seeking advice on querying, which can be a grueling process. (The first novel I wrote was not published, and was rejected by more than one hundred agents.) To any writers out there entering the agent search, stay hopeful; don't despair. Keep writing. Remember that every rejection gets you closer to the person who will become your agent. And, read this:

AgentQuery is awesome! So is QueryTracker...but I'm preaching to the choir.

Describe your writing relationship with your husband. Do you two talk about your work, or prefer to keep your professional lives as separate as possible?

We've built our marriage around fulfilling personal potential, so topics related to myth and reality, success and failure, meaning and meaninglessness, writing and editing, character development and plot, movies and books, frequently work their way into our daily conversations. Our professional lives and our personal lives are closely linked.

Your site mentions you're an accomplished pianist. Does your music encourage creativity at the computer keyboard? If so, how?

A friend participating in NaNoWriMo this month told me she wrote more than 2,000 words while listening to one of my CDs. I was so happy to hear that!
I usually listen to music when I write -- but I never listen to my own music, because all I hear are mistakes, places where I could have been either more or less subtle, both in performance and in songwriting. My mind becomes so preoccupied with my own perceived shortcomings that I can't focus on anything else. (For the same reason, I've never read A PINCH OF LOVE beginning to end in book form.) I'm very self-critical. That quality can be crippling, but it also can be a boon, especially when it comes to revision -- at the piano and at the computer.
That said, my writing breaks frequently feature me at the piano!

How do you balance life as a professional musician with life as a writer? Do you set practice time limits on both or set whole days aside to pursue one or the other?

I'm a hobbyist musician and a professional writer, and the two pursuits seem to balance each other out naturally. I made my two full-length CDs (with the help of an old friend who is a hobbyist music producer) during times when I wasn't writing much fiction. After Big Life Change #2 described above, I was separated from my piano -- it didn't fit in the apartment. That's when I really dove into fiction. Now, in our home in Massachusetts, I'm reunited with my piano. I'm playing and writing. It's a gift.

BTW, you can listen to some of Alicia's recordings here.

Your MC in APOL is a widow. I'm guessing you had to imagine yourself as a widow to get into her head. Was that hard? Did it make you view life any differently?

Instead of imagining myself as a widow, I imagined Zell, my narrator, as a widow. I got to know her entire personal history, from birth to now, in order to get inside her head as much as possible -- and out of my own. What about the grieving process is difficult for Zell in particular? Which of Zell's personality traits help her to cope, and which of her personality traits sabotage her healing? Those were my guiding questions in creating her voice and her world.
Writing a book -- especially a book that centers around grief and recovery -- is an emotional journey. I do view life differently after having written it, in the sense that perhaps I'm generally less judgmental of other peoples' complaints. Life is hard for everyone. No one is immune to pain.

What's the most surprising thing about being a published author?
How many people have participated in getting me here. No book is the result of one person working in solitude. So many people helped create A PINCH OF LOVE: first readers, agents, agents' colleagues, editors, editors' assistants, proofreaders, copy editors, publicists, marketing professionals, artists, and the list goes on. Not to mention my mother, who gave me a lined journal to write in for my eighth birthday; my fourth-grade teacher, Mr. Moran, who made reading absolutely magical for me; and my creative writing teacher in high school, Mrs. Rubenstein, who took a special interest in me during a vulnerable time in my life.

Where are you headed in your next WIP - a sequel, a new setting or genre?? (hint: SEQUEL.)Many readers have asked if I'm working on a sequel to A PINCH OF LOVE. Right now, I'm not ... but that doesn't mean I won't ever be! Regarding my current work in progress, I'm too superstitious to discuss it in detail. But I have high hopes.

Hmmm...future blog post alert. What is up with super-secret WIPs? Foment your brains, people, and come back Monday to share your reasons for staying undercover.

Fast five ...

Cat or dog?
Dog. (Cat is a close second.)

Ocean or mountains?
Mountains. (Ocean is a close second.)

Favorite swear word and time/place you use it most often.
The F-bomb. I use it all over the place.

Mine is g.d. I use it in the car all the time, ALL the time. Each of my kids' first word was dammit which they said in the car. (Not my finest mom moment. Dammit.)

First thing on your Christmas wish list
World peace. (Second thing: a red Le Creuset skillet.)

I'd like another pair of fuzzy socks. The kind with aloe vera in them?? They rock.

Thing you do that you know is annoying but you just can't stop.
Hum.

Thanks for stopping by, Alicia!

Characteristics of overwriting

2011-11-06T21:10:00.000-08:00

I've been doing a lot of critiquing lately and have come eyeball-to-page with this ugly symptom of first drafts. If your MS is a face - a perfect, symmetrical face of beauty - then overwriting is like an overbite. As soon as your story opens its mouth, overwriting is revealed. Readers are caught staring at it, rather than the whole story.

Since so many are in the middle of NaNo, here are three common manifestations of this problem: too much telling, purple prose and too many stage directions. Find others at this great post by writer Cheryl Reif here.

Too much telling. "The sight of her made me feel awful. I felt queasy, my stomach lurched, sweat broke out on my whole body. She was really sick. She threw up buckets of green liquid and could barely breathe from wretching."

See what happened there? I told you what was happening and then showed you. Was it necessary that I tell you I felt awful/queasy? That I tell you she felt sick? No. Because I showed you in the next sentences. Telling-and-then-showing assumes your reader is an idiot. Give us the tools and we'll figure it out. Promise.

Purple prose. "His smile was a ghastly grimace. As wretched tears rolled down her trembling cheeks, she wondered if she'd ever see the light of day again. The knife blade was only inches from her pearly white throat. He laughed a maniacal laugh, his teeth tiny points of malice."

Oy. That was disturbingly easy to write. Those sentences are littered with adjectives/adverbs that are another form of telling. We get carried away by our own awesomeness, by the idea we can paint a picture with words instead of what isn't said. Let me say that again: what ISN'T said. The most effective writing is one that gives the reader enough info to populate his/her own imagination. It's a fine line and one that can years to perfect. Let's see if I can demo this right off the cuff:
"He grimaced so she saw his pointed teeth. Tears snaked down her cheeks, hot trails of fear fueled by the knife at her neck."
Far fewer words, yet a much bigger impace on the reader. Or so I hope. You'll have to tell ME which is better. (This is a subjective business, no?)

Too many stage directions. "Hey," he said, sitting down next to me on the top stair. He put his backpack down and crossed his left leg, angling himself so he faced me.
"Hey," I said back, giving him a half smile so my dead tooth didn't show. I combed my hair with my fingers and then braided it into a single braid as thick as my wrist. "What's going on?"
"Not much." He rummaged in his backpack for an apple. It was red and had a bruise. He held it out to me with his right hand. The fingernail was broken on his index finger.

*sounds of choking* Um... I don't care how they're sitting or if someone has a mole on their left butt cheek. (Unless the mole is somehow diabolically related to the plot in an intrinsic way.) I want to read the dialogue or experience another plot point, not feel like I'm trapped by every single move the MC makes. Good writing is all about the right kind of detail. Constant updates on the way somebody combs their hair usually don't fall in that category.

Those are my three...and I wrestle with them often. What's your idea of overwriting? Please share with examples in the comments.

Interview with Eowyn

2011-11-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

Eowyn Ivey

Today I'm interviewing Eowyn Ivey, an author whose literary debut, The Snow Child, comes out via Little, Brown Feb. 1. I first met Eowyn in person last spring, but have known about her for years through mutual friends. (And yes, her name comes from that Eowyn in LOTR.) We also have daughters the same age, with the same name and some of the same talents so we run into each other performing mom-duties occasionally. She lives with her family north of town, semi-off-the-grid, and is a life-long Alaskan. Last summer she spent rafting down the Copper River, writing her second novel and doing subsistence stuff like berrying, hunting and gardening. She is sooo generous with her time, and sooo very talented, I'm always a bit in awe of her whenever we meet. I know you'll feel the same after reading her words, and will rush out to put in your order for her book ASAP. (BTW, isn't that a great photo? That was taken by another mutual friend. I'm surrounded by talented people!! When will that rub off? *taps foot*)

1. You found your agent in an unusual way. Please share!

I was attending the Kachemak Bay Writers’ Conference in Homer several years ago. I know a lot of writers go to conferences hoping to pitch to an editor or an agent, but that wasn’t my goal. I went to learn more about the craft and meet other writers. I was there with my mom, Julie LeMay, who is a poet. Jeff Kleinman from Folio Literary Management was the presenting literary agent, andI was impressed with the titles he represented. But my novel wasn’t finished, and I wouldn’t have signed up to speak with him if my mom hadn’t kept prodding me. What did I have to lose? At least I could get a feel for how the novel might be received if and when I was ready to query agents. I described my concept to Jeff, and he asked to read the first 100 pages. Since I wasn’t there to pitch, I hadn’t even brought my manuscript! Thankfully, I was able to get the pages to him; he read them there at the conference and offered to represent it.

Isn't that a great story? I had no idea how lucky she was until I joined the query trenches a few weeks ago. It's like Eowyn got one of those Amazing Race fast-forward passes.

2. From your blurb, The Snow Child appears to have elements of a re-telling, magical realism and historical. What's its genre and how did it get classified?

It’s general fiction. Although it has a fantastical element and is set in the past, it isn’t a genre novel. You’ll see it described as “literary fiction” by some bookstores and websites, but it’s a label I’m uncomfortable using myself because it seems to be a value claim. “Literary” to me is something that has stood the test of time. But The Snow Child would be shelved in the fiction section of a bookstore or library.

3. You did research prior to writing this book. Talk about how important the research was to your plotting.

The research provided more inspiration than facts. I was working a shift at Fireside Books when I stumbled on a children’s picture book called The Snow Child, illustrated by Alaskan artist Barbara Lavallee. That’s when I first learned of the Snegurochka fairy tale. Right then I knew this was the storyline I had been looking for. As I began writing the novel, I continued to learn more about the fairy tale. I discovered that over the centuries it has been retold in many versions and media– Russian lacquer paintings, Arthur Ransome’s translations. There’s even an opera and a ballet based on the fairy tale. All of this fueled my imagination.

Fireside Books is our local bookstore. I spend a regular chunk of Christmas dough there each year. So do my kids.

4. How important are beta writers or critique partners to you?

My family is my primary source of writing support. As I wrote each night, I would come downstairs and read sections aloud to my husband and older daughter. At the same time, my mom and I had an ongoing arrangement – each week she would give me a poem and I would give her a chapter. The rule was that, because these were first drafts, we could only say what we liked about them. It was really about having a deadline and encouraging each other. I was also fortunate to have other people who were willing to read finished drafts of it, including my dad, fellow authors and booksellers, and former coworkers from the newspaper business.

5. What authors inspire you with their style? Or, if you had to compare your book to others out there, what are they?

I could write pages and pages about the authors who have inspired me. My writing was born out of my love of reading. When I was a little girl, I devoured books such as Little House in the Big Woods, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, andThe Boxcar Children. As a teenager I read everything from David Eddings to Lois Lowry to Stephen King. It was in college and later that I discovered authors such as Louise Erdrich, Larry McMurtry, Annie Dillard, Cormac McCarthy, Annie Proulx, and Charles Frazier. I am a member of a book club, and we’ve read a lot of classics over the years -- Frankenstein, As I Lay Dying,Middlemarch, Crime and Punishment. I read Austen, Nabokov, Hemingway, Melville, Joyce, Chekov, Woolf. I also read a lot of modern fiction such as The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Tinkers, Everything is Illuminated, The Green Age of Asher Witherow, The Ice-Shirt. As a bookseller, I’m in constant contact with the fabulous new books hitting the shelves. I just finished Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, The Detour, and The Marriage Plot. Now I’m reading Pure by Julianna Baggott. As you can see my taste runs from westerns to fantasy, literary fiction to classics. And I would love to think that what I read influences my own writing.

6. What was going out on sub like? How did you fill the waiting?

It is a torturous process, especially having worked in journalism for nearly a decade. I was used to a fast turn over, same-day praise or rejection. In book publishing we’re talking months or even years. But I tried to put that nervous energy to good use. I wrote short stories, I began working on the next novel, and I read a lot.

7. Now that TSC has been on shelves in other countries and is doing well, talk about your expectations for the US debut. What advice have any publishing experts given you?

I don’t think anyone can give me advice on this one. The truth is no one – not the editor, the agent, the publisher, the bookseller, and certainly not the author – can predict how a book is going to do. We all just follow our guts, write and read what we love, and it can be surprising which books hit the bestseller list and which ones never see the light of day. I’m not talking about quality as much as theme and subject and approach. I believe a lot of different factors in society influence what books become well-loved at a certain time. So instead of trying to play that impossible guessing game, I’m just grateful for each email or tweet I get from a reader in Oslo or London or Orlando who has enjoyed it.

When I say 'doing well' I really mean it's a bestseller. Like, in Norway. And possibly in other countries by now.

8. You landed a grant to help fund research for your next novel. Talk about that process, including any tips for grant writing or research you may have learned.

It’s true what they say – try, try again. I’ve applied for grants before and not received them. I think a few things helped me this time with the Rasmuson Foundation. I had a very concrete project that would clearly help me write my next novel. I had a polished excerpt from the novel in progress. I had improved my resume with short story publications and the acquisition of my novel by Little, Brown & Co. And I had attended a fabulous session at Association of Writers & Writing Programs conference in Denver that was all about how to write a grant proposal. I highly recommend to anyone who wants to write and publish and apply for grants to attend conferences like these. You can get a tremendous amount of helpful information!

9. Your debut is coming right up. How will you balance publicity for this book with writing on your next?

We’re planning a book release part in conjunction with Fireside Books at the Inn Café in Palmer that evening. As for balancing everything, my goal is to enjoy the incredible ride. I write because I love to, and I always find the time when I set my mind to it. I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find The Snow Child opening new doors for me to publish essays and short stories. But however much writing I do, or don’t do, I know that publicity opportunities for The Snow Child are once-in-a-lifetime -- never again will I have a debut novel.

10. I've heard it said that landing the second contract can be harder than the first. What's your opinion on that?

I have no idea. I guess when I finish my next novel, I’ll find out.

Well, dang. I was hoping you'd dispel that as an urban (or literary) legend. Sometimes the literary life seems like a climb up Lazy Mountain - just when you think you've hit the summit, you see another peak to climb...and then another...and another....

Alaskan fast five

caribou and Mt. McKinley

Do you prefer moose or caribou?

Caribou, but I’ll never turn down a moose.

Dip-netting record? (or gill-netting if that's how you roll)

Only four. I’m lacking as a dip-netter. Lucky for me, my husband Sam is a natural and fills our permit almost every time he goes out.

Oh, we're tied! I caught four last summer...but I had my son's help. That net is gigantic and I kept slipping and getting stuck in the mud. And the salmon we caught averaged 15 lbs., which didn't help matters when we had to haul them onto shore as the creek rose. Bleck.

Cords of wood it takes you to get through the winter?

Six. And for those who don’t know the measurement, a cord is wood stacked 4 feet high, 4 feet wide, and 8 feet long. So about six of those.

Also, Eowyn chops that herself. You should see her arms. (Kidding. Or am I....)

Gallons of water you must haul each week?

300. And we do laundry in town. We used to make do with just 50 gallons at a time, but we recently got a larger holding tank so we’re getting spoiled with hot baths and everything.

Luxury item you can't live without? (Mine is Oregon Chai Tea. Mmmmm.)

Good coffee with real half-and-half, no sweetener.

Thanks, Eowyn! She'll be popping by to answer any questions periodically, so fire away!

True ghost stories

2011-10-30T14:40:00.000-07:00

So I had a post on overwriting scheduled and then realized that, in fact, I'd rather write about ghosts. Because of Halloween and all. Since popular fiction includes those based on a true story (why do we love The Blind Side? And Sound of Music? And all those animal-in-peril-until-dramatic-rescue movies? Because they're true...mostly) I had to share one of my own creepy paranormal encounters.

When I was in second grade, my parents divorced so my brother and I moved to Lawrence, KS, with my mom. The only place she could afford to rent was this seedy little duplex that smelled bad and had ratty carpet. But it had three bedrooms and was in walking distance of an elementary school. My bedroom was in the back, next to the bathroom. We'd been there about a month when, late one night, I was awoken by something jumping on my bed. I thought it was our cat and sat up. Nothing was there. So I tried to fall asleep and it happened again. And again. I got up to tell my mother, who was taking a bath in the bathroom that shared a wall with my room. She told me I'd been dreaming. So I went back to bed and fell asleep. Mom told me later that she started to hear this banging against the wall. She yelled at me to be quiet. It kept up, literally shaking the whole wall. Mom assumed I was jumping on the bed and got out of the tub to tell me to knock it off. She opened the door to my room to see the bed jumping 1-2 feet off the floor while I snoozed, oblivious, in the middle of the mattress. My mom - an Ivy League grad who holds a PhD in biology - was a brand-new baby Christian at the time and believed in the supernatural. She commanded whatever it was to be gone in Jesus name, and it stopped. We weren't bothered again. And the smell in the duplex went away. We found out later that the duplex had come up for rent after a huge drug/prostition ring bust on the previous renters. (Comforting news, no?)
That's the least shocking of my two paranormals. The second tale involved an exorcism. Both have shaped my view on evil/demons/ghosts. Do I think they're real? Yup.

So do you have any favorite true scary stories? Have they shaped your belief in the supernatural? Or, like the photo below, in the impossible?

Blog hop winner and upcoming events

2011-10-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who participated in the Casting Call character blog hop. I had a great time checking out everyone's entries and commented on as many as I could. Blogger was a bit selfish so if you didn't get a comment from me, I tried. :)

Random.org chose Jon Paul, of the blog Where Sky Meets Ground. Jon Paul, I'm unable to find contact info for you on your site so please contact me, Carrie or Lisa. Your prize is a three-chapter critique by all three of us on whatever you'd like to submit. Yay you!

Check back Sunday for a post on common overwriting characteristics, and on Friday, I'll be interviewing the lovely Eowyn Ivey. Her literary novel, The Snow Child, is a fairy-tale retelling that, although it doesn't release in the US until Feb. 1, has already climbed to the bestseller lists in Europe. She's awesome, so talented and happens to live near me. You won't want to miss her!

Casting call!

2011-10-23T17:35:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of you who commented on the rough draft of this book trailer. With help, I figured out how to adjust my titles. Hopefully this new version is an improvement!

The pictorial post of my characters is here.

And thanks for joining our casting call this week! The linky should be below, but if it isn't and you want to join us, sign up at Carrie Butler's blog for this weeklong, one-post hop. Carrie, Lisa Regan and I will randomly choose one lucky winner for a three-person, three-chapter critique - that's three pairs of eyes for the price of...well, nothing. :)

Linky

Guest post - Maximizing Word Choice

2011-10-20T15:47:00.000-07:00

Writer Sarah Belliston joins me today in a guest post about word choice. She received her BA in English from Brigham Young University. She lives in Kansas City with her husband, daughter, mother, and one pug in a never-big-enough apartment. Sarah's at the beginning of the road to publication with her manuscript Conduit, which she blogs about here.

Take it away, Sarah!

I thought about this topic when reading A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck. Here’s one example of what I mean: “We didn’t breathe for listening.” There are a million ways to say this, but these words are unique to this character.
After pondering, I came up with five different ways authors can consciously use word choice.

1. Ground the reader.
I have trouble with this. Give enough setting detail to get your reader in the scene, but don’t bore them into skimming or worse, closing the book. The answer is not necessarily more details, but the right ones.
Take Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings: “and there in that pleasant corner of the world they plied their well-ordered business of living, and they heeded less and less the world outside where dark things moved.”

You can probably guess he is describing the Hobbits and the Shire. They ‘plied’ their ‘business’ of living and the outside world was where ‘dark things moved’. Tolkien is not a short-winded author, but his words do their job of bringing you into the Hobbit’s laissez-faire lifestyle and land.
Another image is from Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth: “No one remembers where the paths go. Some say they are there as escape routes, others say they are there so that we can travel deep into the Forest for wood. We only know that one points to the rising sun and the other to the setting sun.”
She doesn’t describe the paths here (though she does in other places), but you get the feelings of hopelessness and despair that this narrator associates with these paths.

2. Set the tone.
“He stood now among the opening flowers and the new leaves, looking at a dead man, hanging by his neck from the limb of a tree in the park, on Indian Hill, overlooking the harbor.”

This is from the first paragraph of Robert Parker’s High Profile. From this sentence you can probably guess his main character is a detective and will solve this murder. But you also know the main character (MC) is going to do it in an objective way, no personal involvement, taking in all the details both good and bad. He talks about the flowers and the dead man with the same plain words.
The narrator from above wouldn’t go on to describe the victim’s clothing as ‘retro’ or ‘so last season’. And he’s probably not going to describe the bruises on the man’s neck as ‘pressure points of passion’ or ‘the color of a blood moon rising through a mist of fog’.
Authors present a tone in the beginning of their book and need to keep it throughout. When a writer fails to do this, readers say “That’s not what he would say/do.” Word choice is key to keeping that tone.

3. Narrative distance.
This is similar to tone, but emotional distance can change throughout a book. Cassandra Clare has six books out right now. My example comes from City of Fallen Angels because someone borrowed my City of Bones. Here’s the quote: “A shining blade split the night, slashing down inches from Clary’s face, severing the dog’s head from its body.” I love that phrase ‘split the night’. Clary is about to die, surrounded by darkness, and an angel blade comes to save her. The blade of light literally cuts the night away from her.
If you do it right, the words can put your reader with you every moment of your emotional scenes. You can also change from distant to close over the course of a scene to increase the impact.

4. Unique characters.

The words we use can add depth to a character that otherwise seems two-dimensional. Gloria Naylor has a great book called Mama Day. It starts off with a prologue of the legend of Sapphira Wade.
“A true conjure woman: satin black, biscuit cream, red as Georgia clay: depending on which of us takes a mind to her.”
Don’t those words sing? This woman is a mix of myth and reality. She’s anything and everything. The adjectives Naylor uses don’t just speak to the color of Sapphira’s skin, but everything she is. Smooth as satin, fluffy and soft like batter, or hard and slick like clay.

5. Narrator’s voice.
My final point ties everything else together. Voice affects every part of our writing. Our author’s voice colors all of our works, but the individual narrator’s voice can be distinct as well. This is especially important in works that have multiple POVs. The example that jumped to my mind was William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. “Then the dark began to go in smooth, bright shapes, like it always does, even when Caddy says that I have been asleep.”
“I give it to you not that you may remember time, but that you might forget it now and then for a moment and not spend all your breath trying to conquer it.”
“I'm bad and I'm going to hell, and I don't care. I'd rather be in hell than anywhere where you are.”
Each quote was from someone different in gender, education, emotional state. And you get that from the words they use.
The examples I’ve included here are not necessarily the best, but what I had on my bookshelf. In fact, I’m sure there are better ones, but the points are the same. More words may not help, but the right words will paint a picture, open a soul, and take your readers to the heart of your story.

What are some examples of word choice that have stuck with you after you’ve read a book?

Monster on the beach

2011-10-18T16:44:00.000-07:00

The third Campaign challenge is afoot!! Yahoo! This one sounds like the most fun. The rules are below...let's see if I can pull this off. *cracks knuckles*

Write a blog post in 300 words or less, excluding the title. The post can be in any format, whether flash fiction, non-fiction, humorous blog musings, poem, etc. The blog post should show:
that it’s morning,
that a man or a woman (or both) is at the beach
that the MC (main character) is bored
that something stinks behind where he/she is sitting
that something surprising happens.
Just for fun, see if you can involve all five senses AND include these random words: "synbatec," "wastopaneer," and "tacise." (NB. these words are completely made up and are not intended to have any meaning other than the one you give them).

It is SOOO hot out here. Seriously, hello global warming. I fan myself and eat a Tacise, which is so cool and pepperminty I want to rub it all over my body.
Especially the peppermint because something kinda smells.
I peer at the woman sprawled out on the beach towel beside me. She's spilling out of her red Synbatec bikini like an overstuffed bratwurst. An open tube of coconut-scented sunscreen lies next to her.
On the other side of me, a bunch of kids are making a sand castle. One little boy is crying, yelling something that sounds like 'wastopaneer.' I listen carefully to realize he's saying he 'wants to play here.'
The smell isn’t from the fat woman or the kids.
I put my hand up to stare at the horizon, where Gull Island is just visible. When I was a kid, horrible smells used to drift inland from that place. Rumors said the government was experimenting on animals out there, turning them into freaks. But that was years ago.
That smell is horribly familiar, though – rancid and greasy, as if someone mixed rotting fat with manure.
Sand grits between my teeth. I should move downwind.
I rise to pick up my towel, snapping it to dust off the sand. And then I scream.
There’s a claw attached to a skeletal hand poking up right where I sat. It’s a human hand…but the claw could belong to a dinosaur. It twitches.
I scream again and the kids come running over.
“Cool!” one of them yells and then the sand erupts. There’s a blur of huge, skinless body, of a snapping, beak-like mouth and blazing red eyes. Everyone scatters…except the crying boy.
He wasn’t fast enough.
He’s gone.
And I don’t think anyone will want to play here ever again.

My very first book trailer!

2011-10-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

I've suffered book trailer envy for the past few weeks and finally decided to do something about it. One google search and voila! Saving Andromeda has its own video.

Okay, it wasn't quite that easy. But almost. It took about three hours to put this together - it's not perfect, or fancy or really really high tech, but I did it aw by mysef. :)

And as a tip for those of you who've never tried to make one, you can use iMovie (for Macs) and Windows Movie Maker (for PCs). Both programs are similar, user-friendly, etc. One suggestion: pick your music first! It'll help your pacing, mood, etc. There are free sites that give away free clips. DM me for suggestions.

Please leave suggestions on making this better...and if you have one of your own, consider signing up at our Casting Call blogfest over at Carrie Butler's blog TODAY. It's a one-post fest to share trailers and pictorial character representations from your MS that'll run next week. (Is pictorial a real word? *shrug* I like it.)

What are pictorial character representations, you ask? Click here for an idea.

Paying it forward with Heather Lende

2011-10-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

In honor of Alaska Book Week, I'm interviewing Heather Lende, an author whose considerable talent with words is matched by her generosity, kindness and quiet humility. Through her lyrical writing and focus on small-town life, she is Alaska's version of Garrison Keillor...only way better looking. Her books, If You Lived Here, I'd Know Your Name and Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, are ones to curl up with at night and feature stories you'll savor long after you read the last page.

1. You're from the east coast. Talk about how living in Haines (pop. 2,271)is different than New York. (NOTE: You can get to Haines by ferry, by driving through Canada or taking a small plane.)

Let's see. Haines is about as different from suburban NYC as a place can be - in lots of ways. In New York, bears and moose are in the zoo and here we eat them. Also in New York, you buy bagels and lox and here we make them. There's more, too - in bigger places people live with like-minded neighbors. They send their chidlren to school with other children who have the same values, socio-economic standing, etc. In Haines because we're so small, this is all mixed up. One public school is a great leveler, as is one clinic, one golf course, one gym, one boat harbor...you know?

best thing about living in Haines:
The people, the isolation and its extreme environment/location.
Okay, actually there is also a great library, bookstore, public radio station, pool, new school, theater, weekly independent paper and in the summer, great places to eat.

and worst thing:

Fall in Haines, AK

The people, the isolation and its extreme environment/location.

2. Your obituary writing is a key component behind your story making. Tell us how writing obits has trained you to be a better writer.

In all ways. In school they say to write what you know or show, don't tell. Well, what does that mean? When I write obituaries, my one unspoken question is 'prove it.' That is why I don't write: 'she was nice.' I write: 'every Christmas for 37 years she baked cookies for the crew at the post office.' I also think that writing obituaries teaches you to listen carefully and get all the details right. You don't want to spell someone's name wrong in the last thing that's written about them. For me, writing is more about paying attention and being fundamentally curious than anything else I'm not a great writer in 'each sentence sings' kind of way. It's the stories I tell.

And I have been very very lucky to write about a long list of diverse and interesting subjects (and sources) through my work. It has also given me a huge amount of empathy. People are loved for all kinds of reasons, by all kinds of people and when you write an obituary, you're always looking for the good in people. I've been criticized for that but I'd rather add a positive voice to the world than a negative one.

3. I've said this to you before - you are the mistress of the lyrical, meaningful ending. How do you do this so consistently? Do the words just 'come' or are you missing chunks of hair trying to find the right phrase?

I feel very strongly that if you write what many people read, you have an obligation to say something more than what you think about the new picture on the Cheerios box. That's journaling. Writing is taking that observation and making it mean something - or actually, realizing that something so normal, so un-newsworthy, as much of my material is - has meaning. It is not so much a deliberate way to write a piece as it is my way of thinking and observing.

4. Both of your books have been on shelves for a while. Is it easier or harder to keep up promotion momentum than it was with your first book?

View from Haines

I'm very lucky in that my publisher promotes my books so I don't have to. What I have done (at their advice) has been pretty easy once I got over my initial terror. I maintain a web site and blog and Facebook presence. It also makes any promotion I have to do much easier. I can say 'just take that interview off my site' or picture or whatever. I don't have to spend time saying stuff I've already said again.

5. What are your favorite book promotion tactics?

The ones I have liked the most are the radio tours my publisher has booked for the launch of the paperbacks. It is so nice to stay home and answer quick questions Sometimes it can be pretty funny, though, since the time change hangs me up. I have had calls at 4 a.m. and sort of bolted up and said God knows what to some person I haven't caught the name of. Mainly, I find the best thing and most rewarding book promotion (not sure it's the right word since it doesn't sell more books) is talking to book clubs and classes via Skype. It's easy and fun and I'm always amazed at how appreciative the audience is to talk to a 'real author.' It's a huge gift to me that they're interested and yet they act like I'm doing them a favor. I still can't quite believe that.

6. You write about people you live with in a small town. How do you avoid offense?

Haines boat harbor

I don't know. I hope I do. I do, however, always do my best to write about people in a way that first transcends some local issue - that has a wider significance in the point I'm trying to make and to me personally. In other words, this is my story so I share how their action in words, life, etc., impacted mine, rather than tell their story for them. And I do it in the same way I write obituaries - in the way they would like and that their friends and family agree with. So I wouldn't quote someone's enemy saying: "She shot at me everytime I cut through her yard and was crazy as a loon." Instead I'd have her best friend say, "She was a real character; she'd actually shoot at trespassers. Thank goodness she couldn't hit the broad side of a boat shed." It's the same thing, just a different way to say it.

7. Your blog is also filled with life details. How do you decide what to share and what to keep private?

By the time I write about it, the news is not private to me or my family or friends. For instance, I have not written about my youngest daughter's pregnancy until now because she's not married and it has been a bit emotional. But now that she's four months along and posting photos on Facebook and we're all feeling happy about it, I will. When I do write about it, I will at first try to re-create that initial response to bring the readers alongside me and connect with many other parents who have had similar life-changing moments.

8. On your first book tour, you mentioned the mystique people assign to being Alaskan. Do you use that? Or are you quick to dispel it?

Both. I'm very proud to be an Alaskan and to know how to do the stuff we do and live the rural Alaskan life. At the same time so much of it - local foods, shopping, volunteering for hospice or the Humane Society, getting outdoors, hanging around with people who disagree with you, sending your kids to public school, using the library - can be done anywhere. Here in Haines, a lot of this happens by default - we have no choice. In bigger places, people who want to live like this can do it. They just have to be more intentional about it. I encourage that.

9. What are you working on right now? Title yet? Or pub date?

I'm finishing a novel, A Hole in the Middle of a Pretty Good Heart. It has been accepted by an agent and needs some small revision before it goes out in the world to hopefully be published (after what no doubt will be a long list of rejections. That is what happens to all good books, right?) Luckily my nonfiction has a good track record and Algonquin Books will be publishing a third book of essays, as yet untitled (and not finished) in about two years. Also I'm a Woman's Day columnist now and a contributing editor, which means when they say 'jump' I say 'how high?' and I still write local obituaries.

10. Weirdest thing a reader has ever said to you about your books?

"Too bad my husband didn't die sooner or he would've been in it," speaking of If You Lived Here...

Fast five: (Alaskan version of optional questions - except the salmon recipe request bc I'm on the hunt for new ones.)

Do you prefer moose or caribou?
Sitka black tail deer

Favorite smoked salmon recipe?Creamy smoked salmon fettuccine

Fishing near Haines

Most fish you've ever caught dipnetting? (or gill netting if that's how you roll.)

About 20 gill netting. But the family record is 36. I wasn't on the boat that day. If I had been, I would've quite at 15 - that's my ideal weekly limit. The smoke house holds about eight fish and I have two big canners. We can eat the rest fresh if the family are home. But after 20 it's crazy. I'm processing fish for days and days.

Biggest vegetable you've ever grown?
Down here we don't grow huge vegetables but my strawberries are the size of plums.

NOTE: Heather specified 'down here' bc Haines is hundreds of miles south of where I live in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Here we are world-renowned for huge veggies. Seriously. Check your Guiness BOWW. We grow cabbages as big as small houses.

What you splurged on using your PFD*? (I'll go first. I'm getting a vacuum sealer. Also we're going to Cancun.)

I gave about half of it to the Haines Library Community Foundation and animal rescue kennel through the PFD Pick, Click & Give charitable gift program. I bought a ticket to Mexico with the rest.

So we are both sourdoughs, the definition of which is: sour on the weather with enough dough to get out. *snort*

PFD: permanent fund dividend, a yearly cash amount paid to each Alaskan out of the Permanent Fund Endowment. Yup, we get paid to live here. Thanks big oil! :)
And thanks Heather, for hanging out with me today.

Blogs I love:

Anita Grace Howard: she's creative, fun and sophisticated. She posts great book trailers, query success stories and beautiful poems.

Sleuths, Spies & Alibis: A brand-new blog aimed at MG/YA mystery writers and readers.

The Authoress: Her blog, Miss Snark's First Victim, offers monthly agent contests and the upcoming Baker's Dozen auction.

The elements of setting

2011-10-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

Matanuska Peak and Lazy Mountain

My house is surrounded by two ranges - the Chugach and Talkeetnas. Mat Peak and Pioneer Peak are over 6,000 feet. You can hike them if you dare but there are no roads through either range. Each year, a dozen or so people die from reckless snowmachining - usually bc they caused an avalanche. And avalanche beacons don't work in 50-feet of packed snow.

My parents live in Nova Scotia on the other side of the continent.

Random Nova Scotia fishing village

Their 'mountain' is a 3,000-ft gradual slope in the middle of the province. I didn't notice it for years until my mother told me about this snowstorm that stranded about 50 motorists. Apparently cell service got knocked out and people waited for hours in their car for help that never came. Of course, it being a maritime province at all, the storm passed, the snow melted and nobody died. (Thankfully, you can't die from a hissy fit.)

Alaska: rugged, trackless terrain. 85 mph winter windstorms that last for days are common.
Nova Scotia: gentle, road woven coast-line. Windless, foggy winters are common.

So how does this setting affect people? In a very general way:

Alaskans (non-Native): ornery, independent, occasionally on the lam or half-crazed with stubborness, gun-toting individualists who are always on the move.
Nova Scotians: polite traditionalists, insular, law-abiding, family centered folks who live in the house their great-grandparents built.

While I started to write my last MS, I knew I had a lot of culture clash to work with. What I didn't know was how the conflict would develop my setting. Or how the setting would push my conflict. My MC is yanked out of her Alaskan lifestyle and into a new Nova Scotian family. On the surface, they're her blood relatives. But underneath, she couldn't be more different. One of my goals was to show how setting, where you live, the culture whose values you share, drives character.

Beyond knowing the basics of each culture (which is key before any of the rest of this will work) here are a few techniques I used:

Weather. My characters' moods were mirrored in the weather. If the scene was happy or romantic, the sun was shining or setting. For murder/mayhem - fog/wind/rain.

Speech patterns. Check idioms and regional phrases - do people say 'some' instead of 'very?' How would someone from Australia say, "That's really cool" ? Authenticity will deepen the appeal of your writing.

Architecture. What's the typical home look like in your location? What makes it unique - high roofline, arched windows, cedar siding, big porches? Is there a widely known building/location you could write a scene around?

Local customs. Do people kiss each cheek when greeting each other? Do they kick off their shoes before entering a stranger's house? Maybe there's a favorite bumpersticker a lot of people from one area have. (Where I live, it's "Alaska Girls Kick A&*" among others....) How could you work those customs into your writing?

Food. If the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the same is true for a reader. Tell us everything about a meal - the scents, the flavors, the textures and colors - and we're right there with you. Everybody loves a good meal. Think: Under the Tuscan Sun. Mmmmmmm....if you can make it work with your plot, go for it.

Clothing. I hesitated to add this last bc seriously, nobody walks around naked even in fiction, but I think clothing is an important part of setting - especially if you write anything but contemporary. From Katniss to Scarlett O'Hara, what our characters wear says a lot about what's happening to them and when.

IMO, these are the writers whose worlds make mine fall away, whose setting wraps me up in a nice blanket of escape: LM Montgomery, Elizabeth George, Beverly Cleary, PD James, Rosalind Pilcher, Maeve Binchy...plus two Alaskan writers, Dana Stabenow and Heather Lende. (Heather is joining me Friday in honor of Alaska Book Week. *squeal!* Check out this link for more goodies showcasing authors from the Last Frontier.)

So who are your favorite atmospheric writers? And how do they do it? What are the elements of your setting? (And DO sign up for the Casting Call blogfest over at Carrie Butler's blog. It's going to be a blast!)

Casting call!

2011-10-09T19:17:00.000-07:00

In between working on my newest WIP and researching agents to query, I've decided to have a wee bit of fun. Today, I'm taking a page from the delightful Anita Grace Howard, who described a protagonist in pictures, and playing dress-up with my own invisible minions. My visions are below.

Emma

She's my MC, tall, strong, athletic, able to hunt/butcher a caribou and pack it out by herself. Her basketball team missed nailing the state championship but she still got a full-ride scholarship to the University of Alaska. She's got it all figured out...except she's not who she thinks she is.

Sam

Emma's long time boyfriend, an Alaskan fisherman who's going with her to college. He's the boy next door who's always had her back. But like all young love, it's never been tested.

Michael

Emma's famous bio-dad never stopped loving Andromeda but has no idea what actually happened the night 19 years ago when everything changed. (yup, this is actually Third Day's Mac Powell. I couldn't resist...)

Andromeda

Emma's birth mother who's been in prison for murder since before Emma was born. Untangling her story almost gets Emma killed. (Anyone recognize this awesome singer?)

Ty

Michael's protege, an up-and-coming country rocker who makes Emma reconsider her choices while the rest of her world is falling apart.

That was FUN! And kinda weird. So to help me avoid feeling silly, I'm asking you to join a weeklong Casting Call Character blogfest hosted by me, the awesome Carrie Butler and Lisa Regan. The fun starts the last week of October. Just post your own casting call (or book trailer - more on that next week!), leave your link at Carrie's blog and then hop to see others' visualizations of their book characters. We'll have a grand critique prize you won't want to miss.

Anita Grace Howard and the splintery world of Wonderland

2011-10-06T22:29:00.000-07:00

It's been a really great year for Anita Grace Howard but it didn't start out that way. Last December, she parted ways with her agent and hit a low point literally speaking. Then, in February, she received THREE offers of representation before signing on with superstar agent, Jenny Bent. (Read about that journey here.) And everything changed.

Jenny sold Splintered, a Gothic Wonderland re-telling to Amulet, who initially put publication at Spring, 2013. But yesterday, Anita got the exciting news her pub date has been moved up six months. Squee! *cue racing heart* AND, Anita is on sub for her newest MS, a gothic/literary romance called The Architect of Song. She's posted an amazing book trailer you shouldn't miss - click on her name above to watch. (BTW, if anyone knows how to do these, I would LOVE to learn. *googling how to make a book trailer*)

1. Now that you're on the pub list, share the deets about any research you did for Splintered. I ask bc there are a TON of books out there on Alice Liddell - including ones that suggest Lewis Carroll was a bit of a pedophile. Did you come across any of that? And did it affect your plot at all?

The main thing I did for research was re-read Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. I hadn’t read them in years and wanted to revisit how he wove underlying threads of eeriness into his nonsensical scenes and characters. My main goal was for this book to be a tribute to his genius, and to have the funkiness/creepiness evolve from subtle nuances to take center stage. I’m hoping it will inspire a whole new generation of readers to seek out the original. The actual idea came to me when I went to see the Tim Burton Alice movie. I watched it a couple more times while writing, so I guess that could count as research, too. I found a book called ALICE, I HAVE BEEN that clicked it all into place. It’s a historical fiction account of Alice Liddell’s life. The “pedophilic” rumors did not play a part in my story. Instead, I went strictly with the Alice Liddell slant. I needed something to tie my heroine into today's world, and some way to make the story different than it had ever been done. So I decided to have my heroine be a descendant of Alice Liddell. Everything else just came from my own warped imagination. :)

2.Fairy tale retellings are hot right now. Do you think there are specific rules to this subgenre? If so, what are they?

I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules. But in my personal favorite retellings, the author doesn’t make light of the original fairy tale. They’re less spinoffs and more adaptations. They make the most of the original author’s vision by giving the characters/details a deeper meaning. They expand on them, if that makes sense.

3. How many revisions did you do with Jenny?

We did a small revision at first, and then after a few passes, ended up cutting more wordage from the beginning of the book to get my heroine/hero to Wonderland faster.

Did the process help you identify your strengths/weaknesses as a writer?
I don’t really feel that it isolated any of my weaknesses. It was more of a nod to what publishers are looking for right now. Faster paced books with less set up and more punch.

4. How does that self-awareness help you now? Is it easier or harder than it was to write Splintered?

Ha. Ask me that in about a month or so. I’m just now starting a WIP, and this is the first thing I’ve written in about six months. I’m hoping I still remember how to write at all. LOL

5. For your next MS, you're branching out into adult. How will switching genres help your career?

I’d like to have both an adult and YA audience that can cross over. It’s a win-win, expanding my readership, and feeding my eclectic muse. I’ve always been drawn to fantasy/paranormal, but that is my one and only constant. Other than that, I like to spread my wings, and having books in both the YA and adult markets will allow me that freedom. It helps that I have an incredible agent who is rather eclectic herself. ;)

6. You've launched your author blog it is SO COOL. Thank you! It’s totally unofficial at this point. There’s still a bit more work to do. Talk about how that happened - did you hire a designer and if so, how did you choose one?

I design my own pages, just like I make my own book trailers. It’s a nice outlet for the more visual/artistic side of my creativity. My husband is my webmaster (although I suspect he does it just so I’ll call him master … heh). Right now, he’s learning all about animation because I have something very specific and cool in mind for my homepage. We’re hoping to have it ready for an official launch in a few months.

7. Does Splintered have any author blurbs on its jacket? If so, talk about the process of approaching an established writer to get a quote.

Too soon for this, but I’ve heard that both the publisher and the author can play a part in getting blurbs. I have a couple of author acquaintances in mind that I’ll be asking for props when the time comes. That’s another reason it always pays to network, online or at conferences.

8. When will your promotion machine kick into high gear?

It’s already started. The minute I signed w/Jenny, she told me to get a blog going and a twitter acct. What's involved for you as your book b-day nears? Blog tours, book tours, what?? I’ve joined a group called TeenShiver, a joint blog that promotes Texas YA paranormal authors. I’m hoping to use it (and line up blog tours/book reviews via some of my fellow bloggers).

9. Has your agent filled you in on what to expect as a debut author? Yes, in fact she wrote an amazingly detailed article on that very subject that I’d love to share. It’s here: What are your expectations? To work hard, and be flexible. To be diligent and professional. But most of all, to be grateful and never forget how hard it was to get here, so I’ll always be sympathetic/helpful to other writers still in the trenches and on their way to the shelves.

10. Best thing about being you right now.

I can finally look back at the last seven years of my life and know I was going in the right direction.
And worst thing...
When I look ahead seven years, I see the pressure of deadlines and advances to fulfill. Little nerve wracking, but totally worth it.

Fast five (questions to which you give fun, fluffy and erudite answers. All optional except for #5 bc I need suggestions for my Netflix queue.)

Favorite kind of sausage? Weiner dogs. They’re just so CUTE.

Biggest pet peeve while driving? People texting / talking on cell phones while driving. Unless it happens to be someone I’M texting/talking to.

Where you went on your last vacation? Unless you count the short time my sanity took a hiatus during the submission process (yes, I officially lost my mind), Kansas City, MO.

Historical character you'd travel back in time to meet? Christina Rossetti. Does she count as historical? I’d like to just sit at her feet and drink in her brilliance. NO ONE could write description like her. She’s my literary crush (but if you happen to leak that to Neil Gaiman, I’ll swear that you’re lying and he’s my one true love).

Best movie you saw last summer? The Fall. (HUGE fan of brilliant/vivid cinematography, and this movie had it in spades). Not to mention, there was an incredible soundtrack. Candy for the eyes and ears.

Speaking of metaphorical candy, Anita inspired the Casting Call bloghop (see button above and below) with this post, in which she puts her fashionista sense to work for her characters. Read it over and then get inspired...I did! Use that inspiration to sign up Monday over at Carrie Butler's blog to share your own casting call. What do your MCs look like? How do their personalities come through as you put together your cast? We'll have prizes and fun and it's only one post. How can you resist??

Winner, a festy button and upcoming (secret) interview

2011-10-03T07:57:00.000-07:00

I poked Melvin the Magic Hat awake this morning and he spat out the name of:

Deana!!

which is very appropriate bc Deana is a Queen Blogger in her own right. She and the awesome Emily Rittel-King are hosting a Killer Characters blogfest at the end of the month. They've got prizes, multiple days to hop and lots of fun going on. Do check them out.

Which brings me to another blogfest coming up. *looking right* Do you see that shiny new button over there? Carrie Butler, Lisa Regan and I are hosting a one-post fest that same week. What does that mean, you ask? It means you post once then hop around to see everyone else's on the same topic during the week. So you'll still have plenty of time to get your creep on, if you so desire. The linky will up next week at Carrie's site bc she's a comment magnet. (A magnet, I say.) I'll explain it more fully next Monday but let me just say ~~two~~ three words: virtual dress up.

Speaking of casting call, this week (hopefully) I'll be hosting an interview with another QB* who just sold her first book and is already on sub with another of a different genre. She is quirky, witty and totally on the literary ball. I've been on awe of her for months and am honored she's gracing my site with her wisdom. Her identity will be revealed later this week (hopefully) but let me just say two words: goat posse; and share a graphic:

Finally, I was thwarted this weekend in my attempts to comment on my blog rounds. Blogger kept erasing my comment as soon as I pressed 'comment.' *frustrated frown* Has that ever happened to you? Because it's STILL happening. I've even tried different computers (we have three at my house) and nothing works. Helpful hints are humbly accepted.

*Queen Blogger

Mindy McGinnis and the query giveaway

2011-09-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

Today is a conversation with a Queen Blogger (kinda like a queen bee but virtual). She moderates on Agent Query, contributes to The Write Angle and has her own blog she somehow manages to keep updated without breaking a sweat. If you've spent any time in Queryland, you've run into her and probably benefited from her advice/encouragement.
Because she knows a LOT about Queryland. She was a resident there for TEN - yes, that's 1-0 - years. She puts the 'e' in perseverance, she shames the Energizer bunny, she never quits...she's Mindy McGinnis!! *cymbals, confetti, happy dance*

Ten years is a whole lot of perseverance. Why didn't you quit?

Short answer: Because I knew I didn’t suck. Long answer: But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have periods when I was completely convinced I sucked. Humility is a must for a writer. I can’t tell you how many agent interviews I’ve read where they say that cocky writers are almost always bad writers, and a cocky query goes into the trash before they even get to the pages. So in a way, it’s a great thing that I went through a decade of rejections on multiple mss. I needed to learn that lesson.
Conviction played a huge part in my decision to push through the sh*t and keep going. Writing is what I do. I double-majored in English Literature and Religion, which made me pretty popular when it came to decoding LOST but other than that I’m not a useful person. My brain is a fun place, but ultimately, not a practical one.

Talk about the MS that landed you an agent. How was it different from the others?

There were a few factors at work. I’m definitely a much better writer than I was, so the ms itself was stronger. But also the market was in my favor, as it’s a dystopian title, and I also managed to totally click with Adriann Ranta over the phone so it was a big rolling ball of positive happiness that week. NOT A DROP TO DRINK is about a time in the near future when our freshwater resources have been exhausted, and people will literally kill for a drink. It’s bleak and realistic, no magic, creatures, or sci-fi elements, which sets it apart from a lot of dystopian. Adriann liked that about it, and hopefully an editor will too.

Is the writing life different with an agent? In other words, is the pot of gold really at the end of that rainbow??

At first it felt odd, I admit, when I sat down to write after being agented. I thought, “OK Mindy, this actually matters now.” But once the fingers started moving across the keyboard I was still me, agented or not. The thing that is awesome about being agented is that you don’t have to agonize some decisions quite as much. For example, if I think, “Oh man, I don’t know if this plot twist is going to totally sink the whole ms,” I can answer that with, “If it does, Adriann will tell me and we can fix it together.” Having a professional in your corner makes your corner a more comfortable place.

You are a super blogger - you have your own and you contribute to another (From the Write Angle) as well as serve as a site moderator for the writing community at AgentQuery Connect. What kind of time does that require?

Great question. I started up Writer, Writer, Pants on Fire intending to post once a week, but my brain is an active place, so it turned into three times a week, and now I’m posting daily. I tend to churn out five or six ideas at a time for blog posts, so I front load like crazy.
Team blogging on From the Write Angle is a real treat. We’ve got everything from middle school teachers to erotica writers to lawyers and a former XENA writer, so we have a good time. We each contribute once a month so it’s not a heavy load, and the return is incredible. I get so many redirects to WriterWriter off of FTWA it’s amazing.
And AgentQuery… I can’t say enough about that community – and obviously I’m a talker. There is no doubt in my mind that I would have never landed an agent without the support and advice of my fellow AQ’ers, and while it might sound lame, I’m all about giving back. It’s a kind, welcoming community. We host a weekly chat there on Thursdays @ 9PM (EDT) and newbies are always welcome! I’ve never clocked it but I’d guess I spend about seven or eight hours a week over there, and I don’t resent a second of it.

How do you avoid being sucked into the social media machine?

Getting swallowed by and losing my soul in the social media world? I’m not really worried about it, I’ve got so much to say I need to spread it around a little!

Explain AQ to newbies, and then share how you became a contributor.

AgentQuery is an online writing community designed to help aspiring writers tone their queries, find agent information, connect with other writers, share their thoughts on the industry… just about anything, really. I stumbled across it about three years ago while searching for agent contact information. I lurked, then joined after seeing the quality of the responses the veteran members provided for newbies. I got up some guts and approached a few vets personally and asked them to look at my query – which they did – and shredded it for me, politely. I posted the revised query on the forums, and it went through a positive transformation in a matter of days. I went from a collection of form rejections to a smattering of requests.
The site moved to a new software system about a year ago. A few of the veterans were asked if we’d like to be more involved with moderation on the revamped site. We immediately said yes and were handed a few of the keys off the kingdom’s keyring.

What are some unwritten blogging rules you've discovered over the past few years?

Don’t talk about yourself too much. Don’t treat your blog as a ME billboard. No one cares. Offer your followers something in your content that isn’t just about selling your book.

Are there types of posts that get more responses?

And now I’ll contradict myself – the posts featuring interviews, queries that worked, advice from bloggers and agents tend to get the highest traffic, but the posts with the highest comments are almost always the ones about something silly – like me falling down the stairs and cracking my head open.

Speaking of responses, in your experience, what kind of queries get good ones?

The ones that show they’ve done their homework. Yes, it’s frustrating to hear that. You want your talent to take you through to the top, not your research skills. But it is what it is.

What are some good guidelines for tailoring a query?

I always start with the hook, put my title, genre, brief bio and word count at the end. As far as personalization, if the agent has requested something of mine before, I do mention it. Other than that I’ve not had a lot of luck off queries that I put a lot of time into personalizing.

When do you know your query needs reworking?

I sent out batches of ten, and if I didn’t get at least two requests of some sort (partial, full, etc.) I’d rework. The exception to that is if I had rejections that were obviously personalized, but the agent was passing for some reason. In that case I knew it wasn’t the query, but a matter of subjectivity. If you’re getting form r’s – sign up at AQ!

Agreed - AQ and QueryTracker are the best tools on the web for Queryland. Bar none.

Fast five:

Celebrity you would marry:
Oh, I have to marry them? In that case, Edward Norton. I could have conversations with him the rest of my life.

Oh, agree! Edward Norton is totally hot in a cerebral way.

Biggest pet peeve while driving:
Being pulled over.

Um...does this happen a lot to you?

Word you hate:
Penalized – when it’s pronounced like “penal colony.” Pretty much anything with “penal” is just not a good one to toss out there often.

It's just too close to penis. There. I said it. (You were all thinking it!)

The first thing you'd wish for if you had a magic wand:
A book deal. But I also want a zero turn mower, so that’s kinda tough.

Hmmm...book deal...zero turn mower...eh, not that tough.

Favorite movie you saw last summer:
Well, I don’t get out much. I only saw one movie last summer. I’ll say that my favorite things I watched late summer were shows on streaming. I don’t have cable so I have to catch up on DEXTER and BREAKING BAD a season late.

Netflix streaming movie selection isn't great. :( But I'll definitely check out those shows the next time I sign off.

Thanks so much for having me, it’s awesome to be on this end of an interview!

Now that you know her street creds, wouldn't it be great if Mindy looked at your query?? I know! It would be awesome! So comment below w/ your email address and a link to how you shared this (FB, tweet, blog, etc.) for a chance to have her read, critique and suggest ways to improve. If Blogger doesn't let you comment, drop me a note at: rewrighter (at)gmail. Who knows - with her help, your stay in Queryland may be short!