AuthorCulture

What Is Speculative Fiction?

2012-02-01T04:00:00.000-06:00

We know what SF is, an abbreviation for Science Fiction. (Sci-Fi also works, although the purists will make a strong distinction, sneering about Sci-Fi the way literary fiction sneers at SF - it's all about feeling superior and favorable toward one's preferred genre. But I digress.)

But you should probably also know about the other SF, Speculative Fiction.

Speculative Fiction as a genre term is often attributed initially to Robert A. Heinlein. While he didn't initially include Fantasy in his definition, the term has grown to include many genres.

Speculative fiction is an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history.

Because SF and Sci-Fi both refer to Science Fiction (in lesser or greater degrees), some abbreviate Speculative Fiction as 'spec-fic.'

In my own reading, I started reading more serious Science Fiction authors like Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, however, it was the discovery of Roger Zelazny that changed my preferences forever. Zelazny sometimes defined his writing as 'speculative fantasy,' indicating his awareness that he often trod a different path from more rigorous Science Fiction authors.

Roger Zelazny is the most notable of several speculative fiction writers who mix fantasy with science fiction. Zelazny brought stylistic consciousness, somewhat better characterization, mythical archetypes, humor, and deeper explorations of psychology to his novels.

Rebecca Weybright has another definition for Speculative Fiction that I quite like.

All fiction is to some degree concerned with speculation–asking the question ‘What if.’

Speculative fiction, however, asks the ‘What if?’ question in both broader and more specific ways. The main branches of speculative fiction are science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and there are many fabulous little hybrids and sub-genres of those three.

To be very simplistic, science fiction goes beyond the boundaries of the known, real world through (you guessed it) science; fantasy does so through magic or other paranormal means; and horror does so by expanding the role of fear.

There is a nice list of the many 'fabulous little hybrids here. Some of my favorite hybrids are cyberpunk, magical realism, and space opera.

Finally, Charles Tan explains why Speculative Fiction is so cool—it's harder to pin down and allows room for genre surprise as a reader.

The term speculative fiction holds a special place in my heart because it is able to accommodate all the other genres under its umbrella. What I mean by that is that fiction written under it can include elements of romance, mystery, horror, etc. In a certain way, the same can be said about the other genres....

There's also another advantage to such a vague term as speculative fiction. The only expectation one comes into reading it with is that anything can happen. Take horror, for example. When you read a short story that's classified as horror, you're already preparing yourself for the horror element to pop up. Compare this to reading a story simply labeled as speculative fiction, where you don't know whether it'll tickle your sense of wonder or frighten you (or both). While there's something to be said about the technical craft of writing a horror short story, sometimes it's better to not know that it's a horror piece in the first place for it to have a greater impact.

And for added value, you can mix and mashup some of these sub-genres to make for a truly fantastic reading experience. But we can talk more about that next time. ;)

Literary Felines

2012-01-27T05:30:00.000-06:00

Indispensable Writing Resources

2012-01-23T13:23:00.000-06:00

I recently loaded a fresh version Windows 7 onto a new SSD (Solid State Drive) for faster boot-ups, and just because I wanted to take an SSD out for a spin.It's always interesting to me to see what apps I load first to get back up and writing as quickly as possible. Here's the list this time.

Antivirus

Any (Windows) computer with a good always-on broadband connection is open game for all kinds of nefarious shenanigans. I bought a site license for Trend Micro on my primary computer but even with rigorous protection, recently found myself a victim of an exploitation that got in, I think, through a self-updating Java update. I woke on my anniversary in December to discover that my computer had become infected while I slept. It took me most of the day to clean my computer. That was a pain.
So I went to install an antivirus app first thing on the new SSD and, lo-and-behold, Trend Micro said I was already using my three licenses. I rolled my eyes. Yes, it's loaded on my other hard drive, but it's still just protecting this computer. But happily, I'd recently read an article at Lifehacker on this very topic, and they ranked the Microsoft Security Essentials antivirus app as the best performing free antivirus app. That was good enough for me. I loaded that up, did a quickscan, and have been utterly happy ever since.

Browser
After loading antivirus protection, the first thing I do is hop into Internet Explorer. IE has gotten much better since the bad old days when it was a standards non-compliant virus-magnet. While I've been a Firefox user forever, I've discovered that I'm using Google Chrome for more and more, and it has some spectacular surprises (more on that in a bit). It loads Hulu and Netflix faster for me, and I particularly like the way it integrates with other Google products I use everyday, including Gmail, Google Reader, and the next item on the list.

Social Networking
My social networking needs change from season to season (remember those awesome days with MySpace and Shoutlife?). I've since left both those communities and have standardized on just three: Facebook, Twitter, and the new Google+. The upstart newcomer already has over 100M users and is quickly expanding. After setting up rigorous Circles, I find I don't use the circles much at all but the free video hangouts are brilliant, and I find the tenor of the posts in my stream are more techy, more thoughtful by and large than the more family-life and browser games discussions I detect in my Facebook stream. Twitter remains its own thing, and I enjoy having specific lists of people I follow there.

I prefer to do single-source posting, writing one thought and automatically forwarding it to a number of services. I used to use Ping.fm for that, but with the advent of Goodle +, I now cut out the middle man and do all my posting right at G+. I write-once, post-many, crafting my thoughts on Google+ (where I can edit an existing post, whee!) and then automatically forward my posts to Facebook and Twitter. If my posts are longer than 140 characters, my posts are shortened and a link is inserted to my primary post on Google+. (It may be annoying to people in my Twitter stream, but it works for me.)

Extensions / Add-ons

Which leads to my next tool, sgplus.me, an extension for Chrome and Firefox which allows me to auto-forward my posts to Facebook and Twitter (among others). And the cool thing is I can uncheck Fb or Twitter or both to customize each post to determine what posts go where.
I also made sure that AdBlock was running, because really, why not?

Adobe Apps

I quickly loaded Adobe Reader, Air, and Flash, because I know I'll be using these things to do stuff on the internet. Add in Microsoft Silverlight for Netflix and I'm good to go.

Writing

Forget Word, Scrivener is the most powerful, most fun writing app I've discovered. I can export to any file format I need, I can write and move scenes around to fit my writing style, and I can even use the Snapshot feature to go back to an earlier version of the story. There are versions for both Windows and Mac, and I keep my working files in the cloud on Dropbox for easy and secure access anywhere.

The Old Standbys

I've written about most of these before so I won't spend much time on them here. I can't live without them or something like them:

Dropbox - I keep copies of all my documents in the cloud and can access them anywhere there's an internet connection and a browser. Up to 2 gig free.
Evernote - Whenever I see something interesting online that I want to mark to read or save for later, I clip it into Evernote, another cloud-based app. I tag my articles for easy use later, such as AuthorCulture, Resource Roundup, Writing Stuff, and so on.
DU Meter - This is a little bandwidth monitor I keep in my Windows sidebar that shows me download and upload speeds in real time.
Pidgin - Open source IM client.
Apple iTunes - automatically downloads podcasts easier than anything else I've found.

Browser Bookmarks / Favorites

On Firefox, I'd normally go through a process to backup and save and recover all my bookmark favorites, but with Google Chrome, that's not necessary. I logged into Gmail / Google+ and I noticed that shortly thereafter, my Chrome bookmarks had automatically updated. I had the following already in my bookmark favorites toolbar:

Gmail - brower-based e-mail I can follow my computer or any smartphone
Google+ - social networking (with the best integrated way of keeping up with threads I've commented in, and with animated .gifs if you so desire!)
Google Reader - with the demise of Blogspots, this has become my go-to RSS reader. I'm not crazy about the latest face-lift, but it is powerful and ubiquitous.
Facebook - the big kahuna among social networking sites. I remain here because so many of my friends and family don't know there's anything else (no matter how hard I try to edumacate them).
Twitter - taught us the merit and simple addictive joy of microblogging, 140 characters at a <---- this is a joke
Hulu - free streaming TV with a robust Plus version.
Netflix - streaming movies
Pandora - free streaming radio
Grooveshark - free streaming albums

Next to last, I set up my Windows Sidebar gadgets, including a calendar, clock, countdown reminder, CPU / RAM monitor, moonphase thingy, Weatherbug, and DU Meter. I've added other things as I think of them, but have been pleasantly surprised with how fast I was able to get back up and running.

Finally, I was surprised by the apps I haven't yet loaded because I haven't needed them. (Microsoft Office, I'm lookin' at you.)

Fabulously Fun Friday: Why Writers Really Own Cats

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

Review of Better Than Great by Arthur Plotnik

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

Arthur Plotnik has long been one of my favorite wits in the writing world. His depth-plumbing columns and articles in The Writer magazine were always among those I clipped for rereading, and I was sorry to see him retire from the post a year or two ago. So, naturally, I was tap dancing with excitement when his latest book Better Than Great: A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives was announced. The book offers 230 pages of alternate words, designed to replace the “thin” standards such as “great,” “fabulous,” and “excellent.”

This book easily provided the most fun I’ve ever had in a thesaurus. To make look-up easy and accessible, Plotnik divides the words into fifteen categories: Great, Sublime, Physically Affecting, Mentally or Emotionally Affecting, Beautiful, Joy-Giving, Large, Exceptional, Intense, Delicious, Trendy, Cool, Wicked Cool, Forceful, and Challenging Belief or Expression. He fronts each chapter with a fun intro that explains the chapter to follow and offers insight into his choices and how to utilize the book to full impact.

Admittedly, the book offers a limited scope of word alternatives. To begin with, the words are confined to the above categories of “positive superlatives.” And, within those categories, many of the suggestions would be appropriate only in moments of hyperbole or humor. But, even with its limitations, Better Than Great is a delightful book to put a writer’s shelf. It’s fun to flip through, great for on-the-spot inspiration, and sure to encourage us to reach deeper into our word choices, even if all we do is glance at the spine on our bookshelf every now and then.

Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking As A Writer

2012-01-16T06:00:00.016-06:00

For a couple years I have had my eye on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking program. I have a friend whose son can't use his hands. He has used Dragon NaturallySpeaking for years to complete school projects and she constantly raves about what a great product it is. So I'd done a lot of looking at the program trying to decide which version I wanted to buy, and finally settled on the home version - which I bought just a couple weeks ago.

When my friend first told me about Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I looked into other talk to text programs that were free. The one I tried..., well let's just say it didn't work too great. That made me a little leery of shelling out money for a program when I wondered whether it would even work. However, I kept hearing from various sources what a great program Dragon NaturallySpeaking was. So I finally decided to give it a try.

The box claims that Dragon NaturallySpeaking will give you 99% accuracy straight out of the box. Based on my experience with the other speech to text program I had used previously, I figured that was probably an exaggeration. However, I have been pleasantly surprised by how accurate Dragon has actually been straight out of the box. I did about 10 min. of training with it, reading one small paragraph, and a few paragraphs of a short story, and then launched right into using it.

I've only had the program for a couple of days, but I'm very excited to see what doors this will open for my writing. Some of the commands are not exactly intuitive for me, for instance, to create an action like hitting the enter key you have to say, "new line." I'm always wanting to say, "enter." Also, there's a certain knack to learning to pause before you give commands, so they aren't typed out in your document. For instance, if you don't pause before saying "new line," then the program might type "new line" right in the body of your document.

Due to the fact that you have to "train" Dragon to recognize your voice, the program really is only a one user program. My son put my microphone on and tried to dictate a passage, however the program totally did not understand what he was saying. You can create multiple user profiles within the program, however the terms of service state that for each additional user profile you create you need to buy an additional license. Also,if you train your program in a totally silent environment and then try using it with background noise going on, the program will not understand what you're saying. So I suggest training your program inside the environment where you will use it most often. However, as time goes on the program continues to perfect your user profile. So at first this is much more of an issue then later on.

The only other drawback I see to the program is that you also have to dictate your punctuation. That takes a little getting used, but I've been surprised at how quickly it comes.

I'm sure as time goes on I'll learn a lot more about the program and the program will learn to understand me better and since I'm a visual-audio learner I think this program will help me to be a lot more productive.

So if you've been looking at Dragon NaturallySpeaking, I can say that I highly recommend the program. Maybe some of you already use the program? Do you have any tips and tricks to share with the rest of us?

Incidentally, I have typed this whole blog post by "talking it."

FFF: Why Stephen King Is Afraid of Clowns

2012-01-13T04:00:00.000-06:00

Stephen King is credited with popularizing the 'clowns are skeery' meme. In this clip, he explains where that came from (I'm lovin' it!).

Lessons from the Pros: Bad Guy Protagonists

2012-01-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

Brady Darby has a smart mouth. He’s sullen and rude and sportin’ for a fight. No small wonder he’ll eventually murder his girlfriend.

Michael Camp will scope out your motel room, your car, your apartment. He'll break in while you're gone, or knock you out if you're there. He'll steal from you anything of value so he can buy his next fix.

Different characters from different books. What do they have in common? They’re the protagonists.

A protagonist doesn’t have to be a hero, he doesn’t even have to be likable, but he does have to be sympathetic. Brady Darby, from Riven by Jerry Jenkins, and Michael Camp, from I Called Him Dancer by Eddie Snipes, are definitely not heroic during the bulk of their stories, but amazingly enough, they are sympathetic.

Although Jenkins and Snipes started their characters’ stories at different points in their lives, they both developed backstories guaranteed to touch the heart. The reader got to watch Brady Darby grow up. We watched him leave his trailer home, where he and his little brother lived with their drunken mother, and go to school where he relished in his tough guy rep. No one dared tease him about being from the “other side of the tracks.” While we watch, he gets into scrapes that take no one by surprise, but he also participates in things that make us root for him. His early life is a series of ups and downs, but the one constant is his deep love for his brother.

When Darby finds a girl to love, the readers hope for a turnaround. But he makes awful decisions, has awful luck--and a loaded weapon he didn’t really intend to use. By the time he commits murder, the readers aren’t surprised, only disappointed.

Snipes opens Michael’s story at his worst point–living on the streets in New York, washing car windows at red lights in hopes for a dollar or two. That’s how his high school dance partner finds him.

Michael’s mother abandoned him at the home of a relative who didn’t want him either. He did eventually land with a family who cared enough for him to allow him to chase his dream of becoming a professional dancer. The reader roots for him all the way from after-school dance classes to the elite Pahl School of Dance, all the while seeing the abuse he has to overcome doled out by high school bullies. But because of the way Snipes opened the story--in the tale's "present time," the question throughout the backstory is: How did Michael become a street bum?

After all the lectures about dumping backstory into your novel, we see stories like these, where backstory is vital to making bad boys sympathetic. The reader has to care about these characters or they won’t read far enough to see what happens to them. Just telling the reader that the protagonists had a rough life doesn't cut it. The reader needs to see hopes and dreams dashed and see a feasible progression from the character's history to the character's current state.

But we also have to see the protagonist doing things that would reinforce our sympathy. Darby protects his brother, Michael protects his dance partner. Because of these actions, the reader continues to hope for redemption, and continues reading until his hope is fulfilled.

Writing bad boy protagonists is trickier than it sounds. The risk of losing your reader because he hates the character is present all through the novel. You must obtain and retain sympathy, or no one will care about the story. Develop and present a backstory that will earn sympathy, and show events that will provide the reader with hope, and you'll have him hooked all the way though.

Writing Tips--Dialog Tags

2012-01-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

If you’re writing fiction (or sometimes even nonfiction), the subject of dialog tags sooner or later is going to come up. What is a dialog tag? In its purest form, it lets you know who’s saying what: “Blap blap blap,” he said.

Simple, right? Well maybe. If there are only two people in the conversation, sometimes a writer can get by with no tags at all, if each speaker has their own voice:

“I’m going to the ball game,” Joe said.
His wife Janie plucked at his sleeve and said in a small voice, “Please don’t. Your brother is supposed to stop by tonight.”
“Let him. I’m going. I’m done with that deadbeat.”
“But the money he owes us—”
“We’ll never see again, and you know it! I never want to—”

If a writer is skilled enough, such a conversation be carried on for quite a while, with no danger of losing the reader. But add a third character:

The door to the flat swung open, and tall man with tough eyes entered unannounced.
“See me again?” he finished. “That hurts, Joe. What would our sainted mother say?”
“Ben, as I live and breathe” Joe gritted. “I heard the sheriff sprung you.”
Nervously Janie picked up a pitcher of tea. “Please, guys … don’t fight, okay? Joe, isn't it good to see Ben, after all this time?"
"No."
"Come on, hon. I just made this. Let's all have some.”
The visitor’s smile was cold. “I always liked you, Janie.”
The gun almost teleported into Joe’s hand. “Time to leave, Ben.”
Janie’s hand flew to her mouth. Her nightmare was coming true at last.

And so on.
In another post we’ll talk about why some writers strictly go with “said” for each character’s tag, while others—like me—tend to mix it up a bit.

Happy writing!

Fabulously Fun Friday: The 72-Hour Novel

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-06:00

How to Add Instant Originality to Your Fantasy

2012-01-04T06:00:00.000-06:00

One of the reasons speculative readers love fantasy is the originality. When reality doesn’t apply, the possibilities for unique characters, worlds, powers, politics (you name it) are endless. But one of the chief complaints of many inveterate fantasy readers is that few stories provide that sense of originality. Raise your hand of you’ve ever read a Lord of the Rings or The Wheel of Time knock-off (Eragon, I’m looking at you). So, as a fantasy author, how do you add originality to your story?

Aside from having a knock-out premise or a generally offbeat sense of creativity, one of the easiest ways you can add originality to a fantasy story is simply by looking outside the box. Since most fantasy stories are grounded in specific eras of our own history and mythology, all you have to do to leave the beaten track is to start hunting out little-used time periods.

Image by Farazsiyal

For example, “high fantasy” has long utilized familiar medieval European history and Norse mythology for its foundation. So what if you wrote a story that took the basis of its setting and worldview from the ancient Mayans? Or the Maori? What about Native Americans? Or how about keeping the European setting but changing the timeline to something less medieval and more Renaissance or Roman? When reading Brent Weeks’s The Way of Shadows, I was excited at his early hints of an unusual Orient-based setting and disappointed when it didn’t play out and the author returned to the familiar medieval archetypes.

This trick, of course, won’t guarantee you a unique story—or reader satisfaction. The worth and originality of your story is based upon many factors. But you can take your first peek outside of the box and into a realm of exciting new possibilities simply by switching out a few of the “normal” fantasy stereotypes.

The Givers and the Takers

2012-01-02T12:00:00.000-06:00

I recently had something happen to me that highlighted the fact that there are givers and there are takers in this life.

Just before Christmas, on Wednesday night, I locked up the house and left for church. My son had been sitting on my bed with my laptop watching his endless basketball replays on YouTube and my other son shut down the Wii to head off to youth group. It was a typical Christmas break afternoon. My younger son was having a friend to stay the night, so an hour and fifteen minutes later we all trooped back into the house visiting with the father of the other boy and everyone headed off to settle into their favorite activities.

First came the request, "Mom, where's your laptop?"

I looked at him. "It's back on my bed where you left it."

He frowned. "I don't see it. I'll go look again."

At this point I'm still clueless as I continue to visit with our guests' father. But he left only a moment later and since my son still couldn't find the laptop I got up to go show him where he'd left it.

Not so much.

We'd been robbed. It was only a moment later that we realized the Wii and a few other small things were missing including one Christmas present - more on that later.

After calling the police and giving them a report we all felt a little numb. There were no signs of forced entry. So we surmise that my oldest son's key that he lost a few months back wasn't really lost, but taken by one of his friends who sadly has fallen into drugs and been in and out of Juvey several times already in his 15 years. Just a guess and nothing has been recovered, however something else happened after this and that is what I want the focus of this post to be.

The word got out, of course, and a friend of mine put out a request for donations on Facebook. It was quite humbling a few days later when they brought by the donations they'd collected, and told us that someone had offered to buy us a new laptop, as well. Over the next few days donations continued to come in and our family was simply blown away by the contrast of the two actions.

On the one hand you have someone who goes into another person's home to take what is not theirs. And on the other hand, you have those who have not been wronged in any way but who are willing to take on part of the burden anyway.

I don't know about you, but I want to fall into the latter group.

And I got to thinking about this - how it should apply to my writing career. We all know that as writers we have to self-promote. And sometimes that involves recruiting the assistance of others. But let us be careful to remember to be givers first, and then the help we need will come.

There are a lot of other writers out there whose books I really do enjoy. So this year, I plan to be a giver - I'm committing myself to helping others along this writing journey - whether with promotion, or information, or advice.

Interestingly enough, the one Christmas present that was stolen, ended up being a Bible. And whoever broke into our house now has our whole church praying for them (and I hope you, now too.) So more good than has already happened may come from this, yet. And I'm reminded of a verse - Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

He certainly has for me this year. And I know I can move ahead into this new year, with my future completely assured.

Happy New Year, everyone.

A Bit of Christmas Humor--With Apologies to the USAF

2011-12-23T05:00:00.001-06:00

Lessons From the Pros: Ernest Cline

2011-12-21T04:00:00.000-06:00

If anyone can be considered a 'Pro' after one sale, it is Ernest Cline. Cline worked for ten years on his first novel, READY PLAYER ONE, and it was, as they say, an instant classic. Here's what I learned along the way.

Cline wrote a dystopic story set in the future where everyone loses themselves in a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) that doubles as online school and digital economy. The game is OASIS, and before he died, the game's developer left instructions to award ownership of the game and its massive wealth and influence to whoever uncovers and solves a series of progressively difficult 80s-influence pop culture easter eggs. READY PLAYER ONE is a first novel, and it shows in places, but it is also a passionate love letter to our collective youth, specificially focused on pop culture from the 80s and 90s.

It's a fiction writing cliche, but write what you know.
Cline was enamored of all things 80s pop culture; video games (like Pac-Man and JOUST, which were played on big consoles in places like Aladdin's Castle in the Mall), music (Ladyhawke), movies (recreating a scene from War Games from memory and having to get every quote exactly correct), anime (big fighting robots!), and role playing games.
Go ahead - wear your passion on your sleeve.
Passion overcomes a multitude of evils. Check out these quotes from serious genre fiction authors:
“A nerdgasm…imagine Dungeons and Dragons and an 80s video arcade made hot, sweet love, and their child was raised in Azeroth.”—John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Old Man’s War
“Completely fricking awesome...This book pleased every geeky bone in my geeky body. I felt like it was written just for me.”—Patrick Rothfuss, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wise Man’s Fear
The praise goes on in that vein for quite some time. The point is, if you're passionate for something, there is a very good chance someone else may be as passionate. Instead of setting that passion aside, mine it, exploit it, throw it carelessly on the floor and roll around in it while giggling like a maniac. You may find you're not alone in the rolling and the giggling. Use that shared passion to your advantage.
Write your Big Idea right out of the gate.
In Cline's case, he took ten years to hone and rewrite his idea, and there are places where the writing could use a little extra editing. And you know what? Nobody cared. His ideas were so big and his approach so audacious that people overlooked the little nits here and there and just settled in an went along with the ride. True, it's a calculated risk, but fortune favors the bold.

If you like science fiction and anything remotely related to the 80s, read this book. If you've never tried science fiction, read this book. USA Today called READY PLAYER ONE “Enchanting…Willy Wonka meets the Matrix. This novel undoubtedly qualifies Cline as the hottest geek on the planet right now. [But] you don't have to be a geek to get it.”

I finished this book in two days (two /work/ days). I immediately proclaimed it the best Sci-Fi book I've read in 20 years. Will Lavender wrote: “I was blown away by this book…A book of ideas, a potboiler, a game-within-a-novel, a serious science-fiction epic, a comic pop culture mash-up–call this novel what you will, but READY PLAYER ONE will defy every label you try to put on it. Here, finally, is this generation’s Neuromancer.”

I had a rollicking good time reading READY PLAYER ONE. Learning something more about the art and craft of writing was just icing on the cake.

Interview with Marketing Wiz Jo-Anne Vandermeulen

2011-12-19T05:00:00.002-06:00

I'm super-excited to introduce special guest Jo-Anne Vandermeulen, who has recently helped me with a couple of marketing projects, and did so successfully! She's such an accomplished and inspiring entrepreneur, I thought our readers should meet her.

AC: You’re a writer, promoter, radio talk show host. Out of all the hats you wear, do you have a favorite?

JAV: No. To me, the different "hats" are like my choice of a favorite color…depending on the day, one may be more a favorite then the other. I call the three different roles my balance in life.

AC: How did you get into helping others promote their books?

JAV: When I was writing my first novel, I had read that marketing needs to happen even before publication date. Gosh, I was so scared to take this foreign path. In 2007, I began studying promotion and surprisingly, hit a passion in my life I had never imagined. The marketing content was so so cool that I just couldn’t keep it bottled . . . so, I began sharing the wealth of knowledge with others. With no expectations and completely unconditional in my "wants," the feedback began rolling in and I mean by the thousands! The responses fed my innate desire to help others (being a teacher for twenty years and a mother of two daughters) promote their books.

AC: What is the best, most effective marketing tool you have found?

JAV: My followers or fans are my most effective marketing tools. By myself, I could never bring so much exposure to my books. Actually, quite a rewarding and effective promotional tactic, "I’ll scratch your back, and it would be great if you could scratch mine." Simple and effective.

AC: How do you acquire these helpful friends?

JAV: It’s a toss-up between blogging and social networking. Blogging takes commitment to post regularly. The articles must supply content that is both valuable and unique, and written in a voice that rings true. The end goal is to attract huge targeted traffic or numbers of followers interested in your books.

Social Networking (my favorite social media site right now is Facebook). Again, having followers on Facebook takes a genuine and authentic voice—to gain trust in growing relationships.

AC: What is the primary mistake you see newbie authors making while marketing their books?

JAV: Hey, I can answer this one from experience…lol…The number one mistake newbies make when promoting their book is spending time bringing exposure to the wrong audience. Marketing is very time consuming so if the newbie is "barking up the wrong tree," not only are they wasting time where they could be pitching it to the "right" or targeted audience, but also they will not gain sales because no one is interested in their book.

I remember spending so much time with other writers, it just felt comfortable that I forgot to introduce myself to suspense/romance readers. Don’t get me wrong, this was not a waste of time as I learned a lot, but I did not get the sales I had hoped.

AC: Tell us about your first radio interview. Nervous?

JAV: To be honest, I wasn’t nervous, I was excited. I really missed teaching and professional speaking, so after researching blogtalkradio to death, I knew I was prepared and roaring to go.

AC: You’re changing the name of your show. What to, and why?

“Authors Articulating with Jo-Anne Vandermeulen” is now going to be called “Talk Radio Network." Change is seldom a bad move. I have been producing and hosting radio for two and a half years, seeing seventy-five archived shows, and I have over 12,000 active listeners with over 250,000 followers. I had done the show as gratis to authors and those in the writing field. It is time for me to expand my audience to include anyone who is selling products through the Internet. It matches the theme to my upcoming release Internet Marketing Made Easy (January 2nd, 2012), and it is time I receive payment for my time, effort, and experience.

AC: Internet Marketing Made Easy is coming out soon. What can we hope to find between the covers?

JAV: Lots of user-friendly and valuable tips about marketing on the Internet.
Here’s my pitch:

Now you will be able to make a difference to your sales and *conquer all obstacles* "INTERNET MARKETING MADE EASY” will give you the knowledge to make the profits you deserve.
What makes this RESOURCE BOOK, “INTERNET MARKETING MADE EASY”, unique?
Packed with tips that are proven to work
User-friendly for the beginner, average, and advanced marketer
Up-to-date attainable tips you can use right now,
Flexible in that you can use these tips for ANY product you wish to sell online, and…
Quick read - (although a costly publishing and printing costs for her, she PERSONALLY REQUESTED THIS ADDITIONAL TECHNIQUE so you will be able to flow through the entire book quickly and with complete understanding – instead of just a glossary at the back, each technical or marketing term is highlighted with a definition and/or example RIGHT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SAME PAGE! BRILLIANT!!!)

“INTERNET MARKETING MADE EASY” – What are the Topics?
Getting Started: Creating a Following
Establishing a Voice (BLOGGING)
Advancing in the Search Engines
Jo-Anne’s Favorite Tips
Guaranteeing Massive Exposure (SOCIAL NETWORKING)
Creating a Platform (ATTRACTING CLIENTS)
Targeting your Audience (SAVING ENERGY)
Balancing Online Activities (MANAGING TIME)
Reaching Your Goal (SUCCESS HERE I COME!)

AC: What else is in the works for you?

JAV: I try and live my life as one day at a time. I strive for balance—work, play, and rest (and not always in that order), feeding myself: spiritually, intellectually, mentally, and physically. I listen to my needs or inner instincts and walk through doors that are open—doing the footwork of sudden and unplanned opportunities (kinda like this interview which will provide more exposure. I’m so grateful for this opportunity). I heed to obstacles that interfere with my chosen path and abruptly turn around and go down another road. So what is next for me is a question that can change answers on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. For example, today my agenda included this interview, a workout at the pool, a walk in the park with my mini-daschound—Oscar, answering emails while hanging out at an Internet Café, and I’m looking forward to a movie tonight while curled up in front of my fireplace. I’ve dedicated the month of December to "self"—a clean-up month of websites, computer hard-drives, and year-end income tax. Oh ya, and the launching of Internet Marketing Made Easy. To be honest, I haven’t got a clue what is in store for January or the 2012 year. If it is anything like the previous, I’ll just hold on tight and enjoy the ride.

AC: Where can our readers reach you?

JAV: The simple answer is to Google my name. I’m all over the place and love to interact with my readers.

AC: What services do you offer?

JAV: “Premium Promotional Services” *You Create – We Promote* offers these services:
Marketing
Book Promo
Promo Deal
Twitter Promo
Facebook Business Page
Talk Radio Network

Bio:
Jo-Anne Vandermeulen is a Canadian author, expert blogger (offering free Internet marketing tips), producer and hostess of “Authors Articulating” on Blogtalkradio, founder and marketer of the online marketing business—“Premium Promotional Services”, appears on many major social media sites (Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Goodreads, etc.)...as a professional support network for writers, and donates to the registered charity 'Spirit Pet Sanctuary'. With two books out (including a suspense/romance novel) called “CONQUER ALL OBSTACLES”, Jo-Anne has overcome her own obstacles to follow her dreams. An English major, graduated from the University of Saskatchewan (Canada), in 2006 she had to give up teaching when she was diagnosed with an illness that forced her to get out of the classroom. Now, with the novel “Conquer All Obstacles”, and the non-fiction resource books “Premium Promotional Tips for Writers” and Internet Marketing Made Easy”, Jo-Anne Vandermeulen is an inspiration for many.

Fabulously Fun Friday: darn fine eatin'

2011-12-16T06:00:00.003-06:00

Children, today's topic is food. And not just any food, either. I'm talking about bad food.

First, we all know the (supposed) benefits of a healthy diet, a diet that's high in fiber, low in cholesterol, and with a paucity of polyunsaturated (why does that put me in mind of a parrot beneath an umbrella?) fats. I'm told such a diet will make one virile and handsome and able to lift a Chrysler one-handed. Yippee. Let us leave such people to their grazing.

No, what I'm talking about is a bit more ... elemental. Earthy. Sensual. In a word, tasty. Specifically, junk food.

What constitutes junk food? Is it food that's by definition terrible for your health? Sure, that helps, but not necessarily. For instance, I grew up in the South. For years I daily ate such fare as country ham (containing salt content on par with the Dead Sea), green beans with fatback, cathead biscuits, fried corn, spoonbread, chocolate pie, iced tea so strong and sweet a guy could chop a cord of wood after just a glass ... all manner of things that I'm sure would cause Richard Simmons to roll over in his grave (he is dead, isn't he?).

In my college days my standard favorite dish, owing to extreme poverty (not to mention congenital bad taste) was cheap Winn-Dixie chili mounded on top of cooked Minute Rice, all heated in a Mirro popcorn popper, and washed down with grape Tang. Even now, my mouth waters.

Today my favorites include such varied fare as chili dogs, Vienna sausage out of a can (don't wipe the jelly off; it's good), bags of beef jerky (or if I'm flush, kippered beef strips), salted peanuts in the shell, boiled eggs, and Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. Yowza. As the thread title says, darn fine eatin'.

So what say you all? Anybody like to tell what your secret ba-a-a-d foods are? Come on, spill. We're all friends here.

Far be it from me to tell your wife.

Review of Alchemy With Words

2011-12-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

Good reference guides for fantasy writers are few and far between. I know, because I’ve pawed through most of the options. I took a shot in the dark in purchasing Alchemy With Words, volume one of The Complete GuideTM to Writing Fantasy. Published by a small press and written by a collection of fantasy authors who haven’t much collective experience or acclaim among them, the book has much to recommend it—and much not to.

On the plus side, this is one of the most varied and complete offerings I’ve seen on the subject (and this is just volume one). Subjects include Roots of Fantasy, Characterization, Race Creation, World Building, Clichés, Plot, Medieval Clothing and Food, Health and Medicine, Magic, Mythology, Religion, and Arms and Armor. Although a few chapters skim by with only basic info, many of them include insightful and detailed explanations of aspects of the genre that every author would be wise to heed. Of course, with only a chapter devoted to each subject, the book can’t be considered definitive. But it offers an excellent jumping-off point into further research.

Based on the quality of information alone, I consider the book worth reading. However, the production values offer some serious drawbacks. Aside from general poor editing and typesetting, the lack of professionalism displayed by the various authors—some to the point of out-and-out self-indulgence, in which the authors ramble about their own unpublished fantasy manuscripts or state their subjective pet peeves as if they were rules of the genre—is annoying at best and downright frustrating at worst. If you can get past the writing to access the information, you may find this book a useful primer on the world of writing fantasy.

The Link Between Memory and Imagination

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

My mind used to be a steel trap. I could remember details of past events that left other people standing slack-jawed. But about six years ago, I wrecked an ATV, cracked my skull against a fence post, and—whammy!—my steel trap rusted shut. Nowadays, my memory seems to have a mind of its own, coming and going. Mostly going. If you and I have an important meeting at three, I better write it down, or you’ll be waiting at the café, wondering why I stood you up. At first glance, this is kinda sad. In a sense, life is memory. But, after another glance, there are actually some interesting benefits in the organic, ever-changing relationship between memory (or the lack thereof) and the writer’s best tool in trade: his imagination.

Memory and imagination are inherently linked: everything we build in our imagination is the product of the raw materials supplied to us by our previous life experience—i.e., our memory. Because all of our memories are faulty, to one degree or another, empty spaces open up in our minds, which our imaginations can then take advantage of and fill. In his article “Let your imagination play” (The Writer, February 2011), Bob Blaisdell expounds on South American author Jorge Luis Borges’ thoughts on memory and imagination:

Image by peet-astn

When our everyday memory dissolves, as it will, it leaves a blank canvas for us to fill with imagination. “Although reality is exact,” Borges reflected, “memory is not.” … Compared to an inability to imagine, the tangible effects of imagining (producing artwork, books, music) are scarcely important. We can imagine, whatever our artistic limitations…. To think is to forget a difference, to generalize, to abstract.

In a sense, authors have to forget in order to imagine. As Polish literary critic and Pulitzer nominee Francine du Plessix Gray puts it:

Purify your mind of toxins of memory. … Writers have to have this kind of digestive process for the psyche.

If we’re writing strictly from memory—whether that be in the construction of fact-based non-fiction, or the reconstruction of real-life settings for our novels—we’re not imagining. We’re not creating. We’re just recording. Nothing wrong with this, of course. The facts are the vital ingredient in convincing readers to suspend their disbelief. But few of us will argue that the true joy of writing comes in the raw, primal act of creation. When we forget the facts, deliberately or not, a vast, unpainted plane opens up in front of us, like an artist’s blank canvas, just begging to be filled with wild splashes and combinations of color.

So, although my wonky memory forces me to buy day planners and filing systems and expend extra energy on research and fact checking, I’m thankful for the opportunity to be released from the confines of memory’s exactitude—if only for those hours of beautiful, unchained creativity while I sit at my desk creating new realities.

Attack of the Horrible Holiday Specials

2011-12-09T04:00:00.000-06:00

If you saw the original Star Wars in theaters, you remember the absolute furor about the film, which would grow into a furor for the franchise. (Until the prequels, but that's another post.). But who among us could have predicted that the same cast and elements that made the original film so good could collaborate on a one-off TV variety show that was so bad that it ranked as "the worst two hours of television ever." The Star Wars Holiday Special is the stuff of legend. Carrie Fisher wrangled a copy of the special that she shows at parties, "mainly at the end of the night when she wants people to leave." George Lucas (who had nothing to do with the special) has said his fondest wish is to have the time and a sledgehammer to track down and smash every copy. (Thank God we have the internet.)

John Scalzi has he's imagined a number of similarly terrifying holiday traditions. Here's a taste.

An Iron Man Christmas CarolYes, Tony Stark is a superhero -- but he's also part of the 1%. This Christmas Eve, his cynical side has gotten the better of him and his view of the world, and all the little people in it. Seeing him wallow in his own bitterness, three of his fellow Avengers take it upon themselves to help Stark reconnect with the joy of the holiday season. Captain America is the Superhero of Christmas Past, the Black Widow is the Superhero of Christmas Present, and the Hulk is the Superhero of Christmas Smash. Paul Bettany makes a cameo as Jarvis Cratchett, Stark's impoverished computer technician. Samuel L. Jackson shows up at the end, because, well, that's what he does, isn't it.

It's a Wonderful Life, George LucasThe year is 1986, and George Lucas, despondent at the failure of Howard the Duck, considers throwing himself off the Golden Gate Bridge. But then an angel, played by Bill Moyers, shows him what life would be like if he never lived at all. Lucas, horrified at a world in which Han always shot first, throws himself back into life and plans the prequel trilogy. Meanwhile, the angel is revealed to be the devil himself. His dark, maniacal laughter goes on endlessly as the screen fades to black.

I am almost certain I am not the first to suggest that last one.

If you aren't reading Scalzi's column at filmcritic.com, John Scalzi on SciFi, I highly recommend it. It's a weekly column that covers some of my favorite things; SciFi, film, and geek culture. Also, this week the internet discovered the fantastic Cello Wars: The Phantom Cellist by ThePianoGuys, which is also highly recommended.

Update: It could be worse. At least George Lucas didn't have his knighthood revoked...

Labeling Fiction ~ Just How Would That Work and Should it be Done?

2011-12-07T06:00:00.002-06:00

So I was on Amazon the other day and happened upon a thread in their forums. The original poster was complaining that they'd been "duped" too many times into downloading a novel onto their Kindle from the free list only to later discover that the book was Christian. They were lobbying for books to be clearly labeled as Christian by Amazon.

I had several thoughts about this, not the least of which was; there are only a few Christian fiction publishers - learn who they are and don't download their books if they are so offensive to you. My second thought was about how many of the books being complained about have been tagged multiple times as "Christian." So I disagreed with the original poster who seemed to think this was something along the lines of spam that was being sneakily foisted on them by Christian publishers.

Still there is that little concept of not casting pearls, mentioned in the Bible. If people are not ready to hear a message, it does no good to speak to them about it because they will just stop up their ears. On the other hand, someone who is ready to hear might read a Christian story and be blessed, even changed, by it. Would labeling books mean that everyone who didn't want to read that particular book would be prevented from reading it? Doubtful. Would labeling books mean that someone who might be blessed by a book, wouldn't purchase it because of the label? Perhaps.

While I can see both sides of this issue, if Amazon does start labeling books, at what genre-differentiation do they stop? What if a Catholic wants Christian books but only those with a Catholic slant? Or what if a Baptist doesn't want any books that mention speaking in tongues? What of Muslim literature? Or Buddhist? Or republican or democratic?

It is a muddle... So I thought I would ask you all. What do you think?

Free Marketing Tools, by Michael Wong

2011-12-05T05:00:00.001-06:00

FREE Marketing Tools

Here are 9 FREE marketing tools used by thousands of visitors every month. The free internet marketing tools include: Search Engine Rankings, AdWords Wrapper, Top 500 Keywords, PageRank Checker, Instant Domain Name Search, Keyword Tool, Link Popularity Checker, Marketing Forum Watch and Ecommerce Forum Watch. All free marketing tools were developed inhouse, and are exclusive to Mike’s Marketing Tools.

Feel free to share with your friends.

Search Engine Rankings

Search Engine Rankings offers FREE, instant, online reports of web site rankings in the top 4 search engines: Google, Yahoo! Search, Bing (MSN) and AOL.

AdWords Wrapper

The Google AdWords Wrapper is a FREE time saving tool that wraps keyword phrases in “quotation marks” (phrase match) and [square brackets] (exact match) for use in Google AdWords campaigns.

Keyword Tool

The FREE Keyword Tool offers 70+ 1-click keyword editing functions that help you edit and clean hundreds, even thousands of keywords, quickly and easily. You may enter 1, 10, 100, or 1000+ keywords – 1 keyword per line.

Top 500 Keywords

Top 500 Keywords offer FREE, top 500 searched internet keywords, compiled from a database of over 330 million search terms, which are extracted from popular metacrawlers: Metacrawler and Dogpile. The keyword reports are updated daily and kindly provided by Wordtracker.

PageRank Checker

PageRank Checker is a FREE PageRank tool that offers instant online Google PageRank reports of any domain or webpage. There are no CAPTCHA requirements to use the PageRank Checker.

Link Popularity Checker

Link Popularity Checker offers FREE, instant, online reports of a webpage’s link popularity or backlink rating by 3 top search engines; Google, Yahoo! Search and Bing (MSN). Link Popularity refers to the number of backlinks pointing to a webpage.

Instant Domain Name Search

Instant Domain Name Search is a FREE domain tool that instantly checks in real-time, as you type, whether a domain name (any domain extension) is available for registration.

Marketing Forum Watch

Marketing Forum Watch offers searchable headlines from 31 of your favorite internet marketing and search engine discussion forums and message boards, updated every 5 minutes.

Ecommerce Forum Watch

Ecommerce Forum Watch offers searchable headlines from 16 of your favorite ecommerce and web design discussion forums and message boards, updated every 5 minutes.

Michael Wong is the editor of Mike’s Marketing Tools, which offers the original AdWords Wrapper and the new Keyword Tool. Michael has over a decade of experience in the internet industry, during which he founded two companies, sold a website to a SoftBank funded start-up, wrote one of the first ebooks on SEO, and generated millions of dollars in affiliate sales.

Publishing Rights: You may republish this article in your web site, blog, newsletter, or ebook, on the condition that you agree to leave the article, author’s bio, and all links completely intact.

Fabulously Fun Friday: How Not to Save Your Reader's Life

2011-12-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

The Agent Game, by Lisa Lickel

2011-11-30T05:00:00.002-06:00

I had to give back the engagement ring the other week. We'd actually gotten to the altar, smelled the roses, Mr. Annerson and I, but I had chilly feet and asked for a pre-nup at the last second. Didn't go over too well, and the love died before we even considered consummation. At least we hadn't bought a dog or had any kids. Small favors.

I should feel worse. I've been divorced twice: once I left him and the other time she dumped me. Supposed to get easier every time it happens, isn't it? Ah, there's the rub. With each exciting new love affair, we lose a little piece of our soul. Every ad in the singles page reveals a little more of our vulnerability, our desperation. Along with the constant blood loss, a body wears thin.

Scared ya with that last one, didn't I? But you authors know it-that's real crimson hemoglobin, salty sweat and gummy tears on every page we crank out. Every jot, every word, each sentence, scene, story arc, personality, theme-all groaning for an audience.

A hundred years ago, insurance was a kind-hearted in-law. Twenty years ago, literary agents were held in high disdain. "Go wrangle over yer supper check with a lawyer, ya horse thief" the mobs would jeer. Today? The author who can't sell a million on Smashwords and has her sights set on one of the big seven-oops, make that six-publishers crawls on her belly the lowest. You can't even bribe 'em. Now where's the righteousness in that?

I started my authorial career doing pretty well. Top ten finisher in Jerry Jenkins' first CWG First Novel contest. Sold an article to Writer's Digest. Three years later sold my first novel to one of the larger Inspy houses and signed with an agent at the same time.

And then, nothing happened. Nada.

Until I stretched out my little hands to the mid-level independent traditional royalty-paying publishers. No, I was not overwhelmingly welcomed. It's a business, people. With real dollars invested during a messy downturn in the economy and ink media drying up and children in the workforce who must tweet instead of read whole words. But I have sold novels, won awards, attracted a few followers and stuck to them like Velcro. I try my level best to reach out and haul other newbie writers after me, and warn them that they're about to enter ... a nuptial horror show.

The real pity is that I didn't even really want the Matrix Agency that Mr. Annerson was attached to. And when Mr. Annerson held me dangling for three months, hemming and hawing and asking me to revise this, and put a picture on it and tie it with a bow and douse it in smelling salts, I went along with it. When he mailed me the real company contract I was pretty thrilled. Sure. Another notch on the belt. I had two questions that weren't even that hard to answer: 1. Who else can control my fate if I sign with the agency rather than you personally? 2. What if none of the agents wants to send out a manuscript, but I do, and I sell it? You really think I'm still going to give you fifteen percent of that?

Before we started dating, Mr. Annerson and I, I asked him how he felt about the machine world. He was curious, he said, and would get permission to visit. Good, I said.

Apparently not. For two weeks after my questions, Mr. Annerson pulled the plug saying the machine world didn't really exist. At least, not for him. Look! Over there! Another bridal boutique has business for you! he said. 'Ta.”

So, dear newbie friend: If you open the door to the sound of wedding bells, wave back at the tentacles for me, K? And plug me back in, please. I'm going in for another trip up the rose-petaled carpet first chance I git.

*****

Lisa Lickel is a Wisconsin writer who lives with her husband in a hundred and sixty-year-old house built by a Great Lakes ship captain. Surrounded by books and dragons, she writes inspiring fiction. Her novels include mystery and romance, all with a twist of grace. She has penned dozens of feature newspaper stories, short stories, magazine articles and radio theater. She is the editor in chief of Creative Wisconsin Magazine and of OtherSheep, a Christian spec fiction/nonfiction magazine. She loves to encourage new authors. Find her and all her connections, books, and resources at LisaLickel.com.

Web: http://www.lisalickel.com

Blogs: http://www.livingourfaithoutloud.blogspot.com

http://www.thebarndoor.net

http://reflectionsinhindsite.wordpress.com

Now available: Meander Scar, A Summer in Oakville (with Shellie Neumeier), Lavender Dreams, and coming in April 2012, The Map Quilt.

Resource Roundup

2011-11-28T05:00:00.004-06:00

Since getting published, I've been on the look-out for things that will help increase traffic at my different sites and pages. So I was excited to find Pagemodo. This site is for the sole purpose of creating exciting fan pages on Facebook. And it has free templates!

Along the same lines, Simply Amusing Design Studio does the same thing, but for a fee. This company provides several other services as well, such as:

Web Design & Development

Facebook Design & Development

Facebook Business Development

Marketing Strategy Development

Blog Design & Development

Branding & Identity

Newsletters & Brochures

SEO & Copywriting

Social Media Training

WordPress Training

Suzanne Woods Fisher used them to design her fan page. I chose Pagemodo for Give the Lady a Ride. It was amazingly easy to use, and allowed links to other sites (like Amazon!) along with the images you upload.

For free designs for your Twitter home page, try Twitr Backgrounds. They also will create custom designs. But, honestly, I'm on the lookout for something better. Know of one?

I also found an interesting post about advertising tools and results. In contrast to my own analysis of pay-per-click ads (on Goodreads and Facebook), I found this one, written by Laura Pepper Wu, who probably did a better job of running her ad campaign than I did. She also includes an analysis of ads purchased on search engines, like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. You may find her conclusions interesting!

Fabulously Fun Friday ~ Are you a Terrible Speller?

2011-11-25T06:00:00.001-06:00

Okay, I am a notoriously terrible speller, so this cracked me up. Hope you all have recovered enough from your turkey induced comas to enjoy this. Happy Friday, all!

Edgy - Should Christians Write on the Edge?

2011-11-23T06:00:00.001-06:00

As you move through the process of presenting your work, you'll be bombarded by the typical industry 'lingo'. Some might come in the form of a rejection letter or others in conversations making suggestions regarding your writing. Before succumbing to the lingo you need to take time to understand what the terms mean and how they will affect your book - or if they even will.

Perhaps the most used catchphrase today is edgy. The tide has been turning against classic, solid timeless storytelling to edgy. But what exactly does edgy mean? Edgy is different for adults than young adults, though some are heavily pushing more adult material into young adult, juvenile and even little children's books. Certainly edgy in secular fiction is quite different than in Christian novels. Or is it? Have the lines blurred so greatly between secular and Christian fiction that the distinction is barely visible?

To an editor, edgy means to push the envelope, to take people just to edge of improper and pull back. In short whet their appetite and go a little further next time. Is that really what we’re called as Christians- or even authors - to do? Bring people the edge of sin and pull back? To entice them into wanting more darkness and then satisfy induced curiosity with further edginess? Where does the author’s responsibility come into this trend? All publishers are in the business of making money and will follow current trends to help their bottom line – profit.

Fortunately, in my experience, despite the push toward edgy, people aren’t biting. I’ve encountered many who are rebelling against the trend. Parents seek suitable substitutes for these edgy books on school reading lists in favor of what they feel is more appropriate for their children. Even kids want fun stories. In the Christian market the Amish books dominate. Some of the most popular secular kids books are Narnia, Percy Jackson, and oh, yes, the ultimate of edgy - Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

So when an editor, publisher or agent throws the term edgy at you concerning your manuscript, ask them what exactly do they mean? How will it help your book? Does their suggestion compromise what you want to say in your story? Don't go edgy for the sake of publication. Just like trendy fashion fads come and go but classic styles remain, so fiction styles change, but timeless, well-told stories live on. Do what you feel is right for your story, your peace of mind, your readers and ultimately, the impact and legacy your books will someday leave behind.

Shawn Lamb is the author of the epic Christian YA fantasy series Allon, along with The Huguenot Sword, and once wrote for the animated series BraveStarr, produced by the same studio that did He-Man and She-Ra. She has won several screenwriting awards including a Certificate of Merit from the American Screenwriters Association. This year she is among The Authors Show - 50 Great Writers You Should Be Reading 2011.

Interview: Bryan Thomas Schmidt

2011-11-21T04:00:00.001-06:00

Johne here - I first met author Bryan Thomas Schmidt while wearing my editor's hat for our online magazine and have followed his career ever since. I have a specific set of interests online, and started bumping into Bryan over and over in these various widespread and frequently obscure places. I was delighted when T.W. Ambrose and Randy Streu of Diminished Media Group picked up Bryan's first novel for publication. This has been a whirlwind year for Bryan, and I wanted to give our readers a peek behind the curtain. Without further ado, I present the AuthorCulture interview with Bryan Thomas Schmidt.

AC: Genre fans used to be the nerds, the outsiders. What prompted you to write in the genre form for your debut novel, The Worker Prince?

BTS: Is this a therapy session or an interview? Yeah, okay, I have issues. I’m an outcast, outsider. That’s right. I need to be loved. Please love my book. Give me a good review. I am an adopted child. I have ADHD. I have always been socially awkward and a bit of a loner. And, as a result, I have always felt on the outside looking in. That shows in my writing work which often have similar themes or certainly themes of characters finding themselves, coming into their own, finding their place in this world. That said, my first attempt at a novel was not Science Fiction (SF). It was love story. I love Nicholas Sparks books. I have a great story I want to tell. But my prose level was not there yet. Then I remembered this idea I’d been carrying around since my teenage years of Moses in space. It just seemed like a great epic story which would fit well told as space opera with all the tropes I loved from my youth reading Golden Age SF and watching movies and shows like Star Wars and Star Trek and Battlestar Galatica. So one day, I just sat down and started writing. Four months later, I had a completed novel. Of course, that was just the beginning.

AC: The Worker Prince uses a famous Biblical character for some of its source material. Did that impetus make the writing easier or harder?

BTS: Easier in borrowing plotline and story structure for part of it. Harder in dealing with a story people already know so well. How do you keep it interesting and unpredictable? So I made the characters Christian and chose to have the Moses story as part of their prehistory. In parts, the story echoes that biblical story, but it also allowed me to depart from it and take it new directions, while still utilizing the themes from the biblical story and key scenes.

AC: Blogger and uber SF fan Steve Davidson argues there can't be a reconciliation of religion and SF while blogger / author Mike Duran counters it is a logical topic for SF. What say you? Is there room in SF for discussions of religion without the fiction becoming a tract for proselytizing? How might that work?

BTS: Well, Davidson's post is one of the most opinionated, badly written posts I’ve seen. The guy was criticized by people who agree with him, so in the end, I don’t think he made his points well. He had an agenda and that was all that was about. Of course I think religion and SF go together. I did a post for SF Signal which was quite popular about SF classics with religious themes. And it includes some big name books like Dune, Asimov’s Foundation series and Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, as well as Ender’s Game and more. I think religion is something that is a part of every society in some form, so one has to deal with it in worldbuilding somehow for people to find your work believable. So Davidson’s suggestion was ludicrous just based on that. But at the same time, I think the greatest witness we have is our lifestyle and how we live. Shoving our beliefs down people’s throats is offensive. Who likes it when the Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses come to the door? Not very many people. And all too often, Christian fiction is guilty of shoving beliefs in people’s faces. Why can’t we just show through our themes, our characters’ lives, etc. and let people ask questions which give us an opening? To me, that’s much more effective. With Worker Prince I worked it into my worldbuilding. I explain it briefly to be clear what these people believe. They are not fundamentalist. They are Evangelical and since so often people confuse that, I wanted to be clear. But even those who wish I hadn’t included those themes all tell me it’s not preachy. So how can it be done? With great care and deliberate intention to reach people well, not preach at them, but tell stories.

AC: In addition to writing, you're also editor of an upcoming Anthology. What have you learned about the writing game when you donned the editor's hat?

BTS: Rejection sucks from both ends. Who likes to tell someone their story isn’t good enough? Not me. But there are also lots of reasons for rejections that have nothing to do with that. I rejected stories from Jay Lake, Kevin J. Anderson and Chuck Gannon which were fantastic but just didn’t fit the theme. So it certainly gives you perspective in facing rejections yourself.

AC: You've become a successful marketing machine promoting your new book. Can you give our readers an overview of what you've done to market The Worker Prince? What's has been most and least effective?

BTS: Boy, this could be a long answer. First, I started building a blog, website, and social media presence long before my book came out. I worked really hard to just network and build friendships and support people. I listened to them and learned what they’re doing, what they like, and tried to identify who might be interested in my work. I started blogging and tweeting valuable content, content which would help people. It took some time to sort out the kinds of things that people responded to, but once I did, things really took off. I also built relationships with fellow bloggers and writers by encouraging them, spreading their posts, etc. Those paid off when I needed help spreading the word about my stuff. Some retweeted or posted my stuff without asking, some I requested. A publicist for Random House included my book release on the Suvudu releases list with all the major releases just because I’d helped him so much in the past. That got me huge notice and legitimized my book as a major release. Second, I planned a blog tour. I went out of my way to plan a blog tour in advance and write meaningful, valuable, quality posts. I worked hard to make sure they fit the themes of the blogs I would appear on and to schedule a variety so that I had reviews, interviews, guest posts, excerpts, etc. scattered rather than the same thing day after day. I also experimented creatively, using dialogues, character interviews and more. This also included podcast appearances and a prequel short story being published. Many linked to each other so people just followed it daily and it kept the interest up. Certainly my presence daily out there made a difference. Third, press releases to local media. I didn’t wait on my publisher. I did them myself. Still doing this, in fact. Fourth, plan appearances. Contact conventions, bookstores, libraries, etc. but know how to do it. Do your research. Fifth, get books out to reviewers and keep doing it. Reviews are the single best selling tool. The more good reviews, the higher the listing on sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. And the more impulse buys you get as well. Sixth, contests. Goodreads, Facebook, etc. Giveaway copies and get it out there. More reviews, more word of mouth. Two essentials to success. So far what’s worked best? Doing everything you can. It’s not just a one-track thing. You have to do everything you can.

AC: Speaking of social networking, you're also the host of an innovative weekly Twitter interview column called SFFWRTCHT. How did that come about?

BTS: I went to some conventions and met so many successful authors and learned so much. Then I was unemployed and knew I wouldn’t get the chance again for a while. I had met so many people in the business from Twitter and knew of some chats, I thought, why couldn’t I utilize this to create content which provides opportunities to learn from successful writers, helps them promote their books, and builds networking and my brand all at the same time? So I did it. And it just took off.

AC: Who's been your favorite interview? What's been your greatest surprise about SFFWRTCHT?

BTS: Wow. Tough call. AC Crispin was pretty awesome because she’s a writing hero. Also, Mike Resnick. I loved having Ken Scholes too. But for sheer fun, Maurice Broaddus was a real blast. Greatest surprise is how influential and popular it became so quickly. Most major publishers send me books without even asking now. They contact me to book their authors. It used to be all on me and my wallet. It’s really made me a known presence in the industry too. And I’ve made a lot of friends who have helped me and advised me, etc. It’s been great on so many levels. I didn’t have any idea all of this could happen so fast. Less than a year. It’s pretty amazing. Our one year anniversary is December 7th.

AC: What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

BTS: Write. And remember, concert musicians practice daily. So why shouldn’t you? It’s easy to think up ideas. It’s easy to dream. It’s hard to write. You are not a writer until you actually write. And that means writing a lot of crap along the way. Get over it. It’s part of the journey and process. We all do it. Robert Silverberg still throws stuff away. So does Orson Scott Card. So does Stephen King. That’s the way it goes. I offer regular tips posts on my blog every Thursday on various topics. Those might be useful as well. There are lots of people giving advice out there though. Find them. Learn from them. Use what you can. Discard the rest. Most of all, do it because you love it and can’t help it. It’s not to make money. It’s a passion.

Starting this Wednesday, Bryan's novel will be serialized with a new installment every week over at Ray Gun Revival magazine. Come on over and get a taste of some great throwback Space Opera adventure!

Fabulously Fun Friday, with guest, Penny Zeller

2011-11-18T05:00:00.000-06:00

Penny Zeller has written several books and numerous magazine articles. She is also the author of the blog A Day in the Life of a Wife, Mom, and Author, www.pennyzeller.wordpress.com where she also provides weekly doses of humor, along with movie reviews from a Christian worldview, and interviews with some of her favorite author friends.

So, without further introduction, here's Penny's guest post:

The other day, I was writing a scene for my new historical romance series. My fingers flew across the keyboard as I ventured back to the 1860s…

Glancing from side to side looking for a place to hide, she willed her feet to move. Would this be how it would all end for her – a moment’s decision sealing her destiny?…

Of all the genres I enjoy writing, historical romance is my favorite. However, there are some days when it’s clear to me that I’ve spent a bit too much time in the days before modern technology.

If you write historical fiction, you know exactly what I mean. So, just for fun, I’ve listed six surefire ways to know that you’re a writer of historical fiction…

1. You’re getting ready for a family outing and you ask your husband to please hitch up the wagon instead of start the car.

2. Speaking of husbands, although your husband’s name is Lon, you find yourself calling him Zach, Jonah, or Nate because you’ve spent so much time with your male protagonists…

[Caption: Zach Sawyer from McKenzie in my Montana Skies Series]

3. You say “I reckon” far too often.

4. Your kids are beginning to call you “Ma.”

5. You reach for a bonnet instead of a baseball cap to cover a bad hair day.

6. Your family doesn’t let you visit museums anymore because they know that when you visit, you become so engrossed in the historical photos that you never want to leave. They clearly don’t understand that gazing for a mere few hours at antiques and old photographs gives you 10-years-worth of inspiration!

[Caption: You are grounded from museums until further notice...]

So there you have it…six surefire ways to know you might be an historical fiction author. Now back to the 1860s I go!

Bio:

Penny is an active volunteer in her community, devoting her time to assisting and nurturing women and children into a closer relationship with Christ. Her passion is to use the gift of the written word that God has given her to glorify Him and to benefit His kingdom.

Hailee is Penny’s latest book and the final book in the series, which began with McKenzie and Kaydie in Montana Skies, her first series with Whitaker House. When she's not writing, Penny enjoys spending time with her family and camping, hiking, canoeing, and playing volleyball. She and her husband reside in Wyoming with their two children.

Penny loves to hear from her readers at her website, www.pennyzeller.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pennyzellerbooks

Should You Use a Real-Life Setting for Your Story?

2011-11-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Speculative authors don’t give a second thought to creating settings out of thin air. They create whole planets when their stories demand them. But even authors writing within the confines of the “real world” are sometimes confronted with the choice to use an existing setting or make one up. This setting can be something as relatively miniscule as a made-up restaurant within a real town, or it could be an entire city. But the question, of course, is how do you decide when a made-up setting would be preferable to a real-life setting? And if you do utilize a made-up setting, how do you pull it off convincingly?

Let’s consider an example. Pulitzer-winning author Edna Ferber’s final novel Ice Palace takes place in pre-statehood Alaska in the 1950s. The real-life Alaskan setting is vital to the story’s plot. The book couldn’t conceivably have taken place anywhere else, and it’s very obvious that Ferber did her research and layered her setting with a wealth of realistic details. However, within this real-life setting, she chose to use the made-up sub-setting of the supposedly prominent city of Baranof, which she created entirely out of thin air for her own purposes.

So why did she do this—and how did she pull it off? I suspect Ferber chose to create Baranof for the same reason I created the town of Hangtree in my historical western A Man Called Outlaw. Namely, she wanted the freedom to depart from the facts wherever it would benefit her story. Had she set the story in Juneau or Sitka, she would have been bound to historical fact. However, she obviously understood that for the make-believe setting to work, she had to make it just as convincing and realistic as any real-life town. She researched real Alaskan cities and composited them into her make-believe one to keep readers from ever having a reason to suspend their disbelief.

Setting Your Story to Right Order

2011-11-14T06:00:00.001-06:00

As story-crafters it is our job to give our readers a powerful emotional experience - that, after all, is what keeps them coming back for more.

To that end, we want our writing to be gripping, easy to follow, and emotion inducing.

One very simple tool in our "easy-to-follow" tool box is to keep the actions of your characters and your descriptions happening in the correct order. It is subtly jarring to your reader when things are stated out of order.

Let's look at a couple examples to clarify what I mean by this.

"Taylor walked down the hallway toward her office. She smiled when the scent of new carpet and fresh paint assailed her as she paused to absorb the peace of her little domain after opening her door."

What is wrong with this little bit of description? It's a bit jarring, isn't it? The reason is, we've stated the characters actions out of order. She can't smell the new carpet and fresh paint until she opens the office door. So as readers, with the way this little paragraph is written, we jump ahead to the scent of new paint and then are thrust backward to see the door opening. Instead try wording it like this:

"Pushing open her office door, she paused to absorb the peace of her little domain. The scent of new carpet and fresh paint assailed her and brought a smile to her face."

The second way is nice and smooth and easy to follow because we do everything in the correct order. First we open the door, then we pause, then we are assailed by the scents and respond to them.

This might seem like a fairly obvious technique, but if you look over your manuscript, I'll bet you'd be surprised at the number of times character actions and responses happen out of order. It is a very easy little glitch to miss.

I'll give you one more "before" example here. How would you correct the order of the paragraph below to smooth it out?

"She reached into her top drawer and snatched up the bottle of pain killers to alleviate the headache that had been pressing at the back of her head all morning. Lifting her ever-present Dasani water bottle she swallowed down the three pills she tapped into her palm."

Fabulously Fun Friday: Voting time again?? Oh, NOES!

2011-11-11T06:00:00.002-06:00

Well, the mid-year elections are finally over, the victors are popping champagne corks while the losers eye high bridges, and the Presidential political season is upon us again. Lock your vaults and hide your daughters.

It seems every politician, known and unknown, from both sides of the aisle, is throwing his (or her; hi Hillary!) hat into the ring. Or since hats are passe, "forming exploratory committees." You know. Like a colonoscopy.

The runup to the Presidential choosing is policial Darwinism at its most elemental. "Dog eat dog" is too bland a phrase for what we're about to witness; "slash and burn" says it more plainly. And brother, does it seem to take forever, this time we're entering. If farming season lasted as long, we'd be harvesting green beans the size of dugout canoes. This Chinese water torture we Americans put ourselves through every four years puts me in mind of a childhood memory.
When I was a boy, my family would sometimes take Sunday drives. Long Sunday drives. Endless, bleak, soul-killing, waiting-for-Godot Sunday drives. There we'd be, my dad behind the wheel of our Ford Galaxy (Clark Kent hat tilted at a rakish angle), my mom beside him. In the back seat were my little brother, and yours truly.

Along about the eighteenth hour (or so it seemed) of the drive, my brother and I would grow bored, although "bored" doesn't really say it; that's like calling the firebombing of Dresden a "warmish day." Anyway, Scott would casually throw his leg over mine. I'd toss it back. He'd do it again, with a bit more force. I'd toss it back. He'd stick his tongue out at me. I'd look back and pretend to eat boogers. He'd pinch me. I'd slug him. And so on.

The only thing that could end the fun was my dad, eyes still on the road, screaming obscenities while flailing his arm over the back of the seat, hoping to nail one of us, or both. While this occurred my mom would laugh behind her hand, but I still saw it.

That's kind of like what election season is reminiscent of. Yeah.

Review of The Art and Craft of Story by Victoria Mixon

2011-11-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

Longtime freelance fiction editor Victoria Mixon follows up her hilarious and enlightening The Art and Craft of Fiction with this “2nd Practitioner’s Manual.” In the first book, she covered the basics of storytelling; in this one, she digs deeper to show the bones beneath the flesh of any good story. Her warm, engaging, incorrigibly cheeky voice guides you past the surface level of the craft to understanding those seemingly mystical inner workings of structure.

The first half of the book was easily my favorite section, surpassing even the treasure trove of advice offered in her first book. Sections on character and narrative arc, exercises in utilizing our pleasure reading to learn major plot points and structural efficiency (some of those exercises can be found in a guest post on my blog Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors), developing rounded characters who fuel the plot, and, especially, several delightful sections on the differences and similarities found within the broad scope of genre.

The second half of the book focuses on that ever-important, but oft-overlooked subject of plot structure. Using examples from several novels and short stories, Mixon walks you through the major plot points of a successful story and further breaks them down, showing you how each beat needs to be structured. This section of the book might be heavy going for some, especially those not already familiar with the basics of structure, since Mixon throws a lot at her readers at once and it’s easy to lose track of where she’s at within the overall story framework. However, the section is worth reading and re-reading, since it’s chock full of solid structural advice.

In short, this is a heavier book than the first one, but just as worthy of a place on the serious author’s shelf of writing craft books.

Marketing

2011-11-07T05:21:00.004-06:00

I'll be the first to admit that although I'm not the most tech-savvy person around, one thing that's helped me get the word out about my books is social media. Everyone knows about Facebook and Twitter, of course, and even a couple hours a week making posts there will help let people know who you are. But one thing: don't make every post about your book; use most of what you put there to help folks know about you. Do this enough times, and they will naturally be receptive about what you've written. But constant bloviating about your latest tome will tend to make you come off like the old joke, "but that's enough about me; what do YOU think about me?"

The sites I'm talking about in particular are ones you may not be familiar with, AbsoluteWrite dot com, and, for those of you writing for the Christian market, ChristianWriters dot com.

The former is the largest online writing community if, in not the world, at least the United States. There are a lot of forums there devoted solely to craft, but there's also one strictly for posting info about your works. Free publicity: you gotta love it. These forums get thousands of visitors a week, and to me, becoming a member there is a given.

The latter also has a sub-forum for posting your book news, with the added benefits of fellowship.

Hope these help!

FFF: I'm Guilty of This Myself

2011-11-04T11:21:00.002-05:00

So, hey, it's Friday already? WHERE DID THE WEEK GO?

(Sorry, CAPSLOCK error.) ;)

This observation into how dependent we've grown on the internet for our knowledge from the always-observant Randall Munroe over at xkcd:

See also Let me google that for you.

Genre Talk: Conflict in Romance

2011-11-02T06:00:00.001-05:00

Romance. Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl back. Whether comedy or drama, whether he's getting her or she's getting him, that's the basic format, but not all three components have to be involved in the novel. Boy met girl and lost her before your novel started, and the story now is about getting her back. Or, boy meets girl, and spends the entire novel "getting" her, with an implied happily-ever-after. Maybe boy loses girl, which, 350 pages later, we discover was for the best, and happily ever after means they both recognize they weren't meant to be.

But a story that jumps from "boy meets girl" to "happily ever after" isn't much of a story. As with every novel, romance needs conflict--plausible, realistic conflict. Leigh Michaels, on page 63 of her book On Writing Romance: How to craft a novel that sells, lists what conflict isn't:

Fighting, arguing, or disagreeing.
A delay that prevents progress (which is only an incident, not conflict).
Failure to communicate.
The trouble-causing interference of another person.
A main character's unwillingness to admit that the other person is attractive.

Tension caused by any of these listed is artificial and won't endure throughout the novel--it's not conflict, that which threatens the characters' relationship.

The conflict in romance comes from several sources:

Character/personality differences--from something simple, like he's a morning bird and she's a night owl, to something more complicated, like she's a lady of the evening and he's a man of the cloth.
Situational problems--maybe she's dying, maybe he's married, maybe she lives on the east coast and he lives on the west.
Conflicting goals--he wants to tear the building down and create a parking garage, but she wants to save the neighborhood hangout. She wants her client to have a bigger slice of the pie than his client, he wants to cut her client out entirely.
Conflicting motives--he wants to feed the hungry, she wants a photo-op. She wants to convert the natives, he wants to sell them cheap trinkets.
Conflicting backstories--she had a fairy-tale childhood, he lived on the streets. He graduated college with honors, she has a third-grade education.

Whatever the conflict, it must be plausible and realistic. Whether it's insurmountable depends on how you picture the end of your story. If you're aiming for "happily ever after," the conflict must be resolved in a forever-love way. If you're aiming for bittersweet, you have two alternatives: the relationship didn't work and both characters are happy with it, or the source of the conflict--death, for instance--makes a happy ending impossible.

So, we've got the basic components and the different conflict sources--now we can mix and match. Where do you want to start your story? Boy gets girl back? What separated them to begin with? Maybe he needed to grow up (conflict based on character), and now that he has, he's ready to prove his worthiness. Maybe she was transferred to Tokyo (conflict based on situation) and he finds her there.

What if you want the boy to lose his girl? By the time the story begins, they're already a couple. Maybe she's comfortable with surburbia and he's got his eye set on a mansion (conflict based on conflicting goals). Maybe they get thrown together to work on the same project--he's more take-charge and bossy than she realized from their home life, and their conflicting personalities drive them apart.

Wherever you start your story, however many components of the format you want to include, be certain you have a conflict that is realistic and plausible.

Interview with Psychological Thriller Author, Steven James

2011-10-31T05:00:00.008-05:00

Steven James has written more than thirty books, including the award-winning Bowers Files, an eight-book series featuring chess terms as the titles. I recently read the fifth in the series, The Queen, in which environmental criminologist Patrick Bowers must find the link between Cold War secrets and present-day tensions in the Middle East.

About his writing habits, Steven says this in Wikipedia,

When it’s time to crack down on some serious writing, the office in his basement, his porch, and his kids’ tree house (which he built “supposedly for them”) are a few of his favorite places to tune out the world’s distractions. Finding his optimum time to write, however, can be tricky: “It’s funny; I work really well late at night from 11 to like 1 and from like 6 to 10 a.m. or so, which really stinks because I can’t do them both one day after the other. I have to choose: Do I want to stay up late or get up early?”

Here's a little more about him:

AC: Scattered among the thrillers and action films of your favorite movies list are Finding Nemo, Enduring Love, The Princess Bride, and Babe–all undoubtedly thanks to your daughters. I wonder, do you analyze any part of these films–theme, characterization, etc.–and derive lessons from them? Do you feel they influence your writing?

SJ: Whenever I watch a movie or read a novel, I can’t help but view it through the eyes of a storyteller, of a novelist. I’m always looking at characterization, the movement of the story, the pace, etc. However, there are certain movies where I’m so engaged where I don’t do this. For whatever reason, they grab my attention and my emotions and don’t allow me to analyze them. These always end up becoming some of my favorite movies.

AC: While I’m on the subject of deriving lessons from outside sources, do you learn from any of the authors you read? And as a side question, what do you like to read?

SJ: I tend to notice more when something’s not done well. Whether it’s issues of believability, or flat characters, or whatever. This goes for both movies and novels. Lately I’ve been reading and enjoying Mark Greaney, Gillian Flynn, Gayle Lynds, and Lee Child.

AC: You’ve defined yourself as a “tree house builder,” which says “family man” almost as well as your movie list does. Do you draw from your family to develop the relationship between Bowers and his step-daughter?

SJ: I have two teenage daughters, and there are times when their comments, attitudes or actions spark ideas for Tessa in my novels. Sometimes they’ll say something and I’ll say, “Cool, I can use that in a book.” And they’ll groan, roll their eyes, or shake their heads. I think they think I’m desperate for material.

AC: You did an excellent job of explaining why you write about evil, but do you have a line you refuse to cross? Something you simply will not depict?

SJ: This is a good question. I tend to show the prelude and aftermath of violent acts. I don’t show the slow step-by-step process of someone being beheaded or anything like that. So, in other words, I do my best to keep most of the violence off the page, and I try to avoid images that I just don’t need rolling around in my head.

AC: I read through the more critical reviews on Amazon of the first in the Bowers Files, The Pawn, and was astounded to see the words “cardboard characters” applied to your work. I didn’t read The Pawn, but if it’s anything like The Queen, I believe the claim is unfounded. One of the critics said you used James Patterson’s “Alex Cross” as a pattern. I've read some of Patterson's Alex Cross books and believe there's quite a difference between the two characters, but here’s your chance: Care to respond?

SJ: No, I didn’t use his character as a pattern. Patrick Bowers is a much different character than Alex Cross. Patterson is certainly a successful author, and I’m not criticizing his work, but I think my books tend to be more complex and have more twists. As far as cardboard characters, The Pawn was my first novel, and I think that with each book my characters become more dimensional as I learn about the craft of writing. So if that criticism was leveled at any of my books, I suppose The Pawn would be the one.

AC: In The Queen, the way you handled your bad guy, Alexei Chekov, fascinated me. You portrayed him as an assassin with integrity, and I found myself developing a warped sense of sympathy for him.

SJ: Many readers have noted that Alexei has become a favorite character of theirs. As I wrote the novel, he became an assassin with a conscience, which fascinated me. It added depth to his character and allowed me to explore the evil I believe lurks in each of our hearts, and the good that constantly fights against it. I think of all the villains I’ve created, he’s the most interesting because he’s not pure evil, but a little more like me, with a mixture of both the good and the bad.

AC: You have a lot of technical information in this novel. How long did it take you to research for The Queen? Do you have “inside sources,” or do you have to scratch and dig to retrieve your info?

SJ: My novels typically take nearly a year to write. I always travel to the location of the book to do research of the site. I also interview experts in the field, so I did the same with The Queen. I spoke with sources in the military to get the most up-to-date information about cyber warfare that I could.

AC: In your “Story Trumps Structure” article in Writer’s Digest (February 2011), you suggested forgetting about structures and formulas in favor of “propelling your protagonist through a transformation.” Do you outline your novels?

SJ: I despise outlining. I can’t imagine what it would be like to outline a novel then spend the next six months filling in the blanks. I write organically, continually evaluating the story and its direction, asking myself a series of questions related to the movement of the story. As I write, I’m constantly surprised about the direction the story goes even though I have in mind certain ideas regarding the ending as I begin the project. Even when the book is done, I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to go back through the story and try to write an outline of what happened.

AC: You choose not to use explicit language in your novels, but other authors feel expletives are necessary to maintain “realism.” How would you respond to them?

SJ: I empathize with the goal of creating realism. In fact, I believe it’s a central and vital part to the story. It’s not always easy to write a thriller without profanity, but I hear from readers all the time that coarse language is a distraction to them. I don’t hear from too many people asking me to use the word “f-bomb” more. So I feel as a service to my readers that it’s worth the extra effort to develop believability without resorting to profanity.

AC: This is the fifth book in a series, yet I don’t feel like I’ve “missed something” by not reading the others. Novice writers want to catch the reader up on everything that happened in the previous books all at once, or they continue to make references about the previous books that make no sense to the reader of the current novel. What would you suggest to authors of series novels to make each of their books stand alone?

SJ: Every story, even the first in a series, has back-story, context that has developed the character to where they are as the story begins. I look at each of the novels I write as stand-alone projects just as I would if I was writing the first book of the series. However, to satisfy my readers, I also have an overarching narrative that spans the series. I have a policy: Never write a book that someone can’t understand unless they read another book.

AC: Novice suspense/thriller writers seem to have trouble knowing what to reveal and when to reveal it. They want everything, including the full names of the characters, kept secret until later. What advice would you give them?

SJ: Always give the readers what they want, or something better. At every moment in the story, in every chapter, in every paragraph, that’s the principle that guides my writing.

That's a terrific principle, and a perfect way to end the interview. AuthorCulture appreciates Steven for taking the time to answer our questions.

If you want to learn more about his Bowers Files series, see the videos and excerpts on his website, Steven James, and you can find his books on Amazon.com.

Note: Steven's publisher, Revell, provided The Queen for review.

Fabulously Fun Friday: The Writer's Clock

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

Image by Angela Giles Klocke

Review of Writer on the Side by Bryan Cohen

2011-10-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

Subtitled “How to Write Your Book Around Your 9 to 5 Job,” this booklet provides a fast read packed with easily grasped and implemented life-management tips. Most of us only dream of making writing our primary livelihood. For the majority of writers, our writing is something we’re forced to squeeze into odd hours when real life isn’t making its incessant demands. And, for most of us, this is a major challenge. How are we supposed to find enough time to write, edit, and market our work when the vast majority of our day is taken up with such necessities as earning our daily bread, eating our daily bread, and generally cleaning up after our daily bread?

As someone who’s been there, done that, Bryan Cohen offers tips that apply as much to living a organized and fulfilled life in general as they do to living a productive writing life. He opened with a chapter sketching his own journey and growth from a writer who wasn’t writing because he didn’t think he had time, into an author who disciplined himself to become both efficient and prolific. He then divides the standard work day into morning, afternoon, and evening chapters and further breaks them down into schedules and tips. Some of his suggestions are the generic sort we’ve all heard (get up early, prioritize your tasks, etc.), some are geared toward helping writers reach their peak of creativity by maintaining a physically and emotionally healthy lifestyle, and some are suggestions for optimizing creativity while actually writing.

The author’s friendly, self-deprecating style makes this a fun and encouraging read. You won’t find anything earth shatteringly new in these pages, but you will find an accessible list of tips and tricks to keep you focused, fulfilled, and, most importantly, writing.

Resource Roundup

2011-10-24T13:11:00.001-05:00

There are several books I use a LOT when I find myself stuck. Three are by writing master Sol Stein: Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His Craft Techniques and Strategies; How to Grow a Novel: The Most Common Mistakes Writers Make and How to Overcome Them; and Sol Stein's Reference Book for Writers: Part 1: Writing, Part 2: Publishing. All three are invaulable treasure troves of great information.

Another one (and trust me on the title) is Telling Lies for Fun & Profit by Lawrence Block and Sue Grafton. Howlingly funny and packed with good info, both of these writers are masters of the suspense/mystery genre, and most of the articles are reprints of Block's work he did years ago for Witers Digest.

Enjoy!

Fabulously Fun Friday ~ Writer's Block

2011-10-21T06:00:00.012-05:00

Okay, so my drink of choice is either coffee or Vanilla Coke, otherwise I've totally been here! :)

What is your favorite way to conquer writer's block?

The 11 Elements of a Great Proposal

2011-10-19T06:00:00.007-05:00

I recently spoke to the Northwest Christian Writers' Fiction Group on how to create captivating proposals. The below information is taken directly from that talk. While this post is supposed to be "Lessons from the Pros," and I know I still have a long way to go before I consider myself to be a "pro" in this business, I think you will find useful information in this post - especially if you are new to creating proposals, or have seen the last rejection slip you ever want to see!

What is a proposal?

A proposal contains the basic information a publisher will need to make an initial decision about your book. Today’s post is about the elements that need to be included to help the publisher make a sound choice.

Overview:

As you create your proposal try to look at it from the publisher’s point of view.

It needs to contain enough information about you so they can contact you if they are interested. (At a minimum your email address, but it is recommended to include your physical address, email address, phone number, and website. Also include a short biography and a good head-shot of yourself.)

It needs to contain enough general information about the book so they can determine if it is even a genre / subject matter, target market, and length that they are looking to publish at the moment. (Be specific about genre – don’t just say romance if it is a paranormal historical romance. Length can be rounded to the nearest thousand words. Target market can be a little hard to nail down, but resist the urge to generalize. For instance, don’t say “all women,” instead narrow that down by whatever means feasible for your book – religion? ethnicity? age? political affiliations? marital status? etc.)

It needs to contain enough specifics so they can verify whether they think it will be a strong story, and assess the writer’s skills. (Chapter by chapter synopsis and a sample of the writing itself – generally the first 3 chapters of the work.)

It needs to tell them about your authorial reach – how many customers can they expect you to come into contact with directly? (List specifics here. What social networking sites do you belong to? And how many friends do you have on each one? How many followers does your blog have? Do you belong to any associations? What other places on the internet or public forums do you frequent?)

Remember that publishers see thousands of proposals a year, so it is imperative to make yours stand out (in a good way) from the pack. So let’s quickly look at the eleven major sections that should be included in a proposal and what each one should contain.

Specifics:

Title Page – We’ve all been writing these since our first reports in the third grade, so I’m sure you know the main elements to include, but just as a refresher…. The page should contain: The title of the work, series information, your name, the fact that this is a proposal, your address and above mentioned contact information.
Table of Contents – Again, just what it sounds like. List out the nine sections below (other than the Title Page and the Table of Contents) and what page that section begins on. If you are submitting this proposal online, you can even link each line to the appropriate page in the document.
Overview – This section should contain three short blurbs. “Your book in 50 words or less,” “your book in 100 words or less,” and “your book in 250 words or less.” The goal is to grab the publisher’s attention with that first 50 words, get them to read the 100 word blurb and be even more interested, and then reel them in with the 250 word synopsis. Much easier said than done, but you are a professional! You can do it!
Character Descriptions – Give a short analysis of each of your characters, both major and minor. (Only the ones who are the important players.) I like to put all my major characters in one section and the minor characters in another. Give a little interesting tidbit about each one and why they are important to the story.
Chapter by chapter synopsis – Try to condense your book down to about three pages, give or take, and list what happens in each chapter. If you need to group a few chapters together, that’s fine. This section is just to give the publisher a general idea of how your plot flows. This section should be double spaced.
Target Market – as mentioned above, try to be as specific as possible. But don’t leave anyone out! Who are the people who will MOST enjoy the book you’ve written?
Author Biography – just give a little bit of your history, publishing credits, etc. Any interesting information in your history that makes you the perfect one to write this story? Be sure to list that here. Also include a picture of yourself in this section – a professional looking image.
Platform and Publicity – Some of this was mentioned above, but what is your authorial reach? List your social networking sites and how many friends and followers you have on each one. List your blog and how many people follow it. Any other public forums where you are a regular speaker or associations you belong to are important too. If you’ve been previously published you can list things that you’ve done in the past to promote your books. For instance, did you do a blog tour? Did you do any book signings? Any speaking? Etc. All this gives the publisher an idea of the type of writer they are working with.
Competitive Works – This section is to give the publisher and idea of some books already in the marketplace that are similar to your book. They will use this to determine sales potential and target audience for your book. Resist the urge to only mention highly successful books with the thought that the publisher will then be more likely to offer you a contract. They will see through this. Be honest. And yes, there are already other books out there similar to yours, so you must also resist the urge to throw up your hands and declare that you simply can’t find any other books similar to your own.
Other Information of Note – This is the section to list the word count and genre of your book, whether the book is complete or, if not, when you expect to complete it and what percentage of completion have you attained? (Note for first time authors: Most publishers won’t even give you consideration unless your book is complete.) Is the book part of a series? You can take a paragraph each to talk about other books you have planned for a series here – also list their status and approximate word count.
Writing Sample – generally it is best to include the first three chapters of your book. However, sometimes authors will choose to include the first, middle, and final chapters. I recommend you stick with the first three chapters because that will give the publisher a good idea of how your story flows together from chapter to chapter. This section should also be double spaced.

So there you have it. I hope this has been helpful. I know it’s been a bit long, but I wanted to give you a thorough post on what to include in your proposal.

Any questions or comments for me?

How Long Does It Take to Break Into Publishing? - Interview With C.J. Darlington

2011-10-17T09:00:00.001-05:00

Antiquarian bookseller and award winner C.J. Darlington is the author of Thicker than Blood (Tyndale) and its sequel Bound by Guilt. She can be found on her site, blog, and Twitter. Today, she was kind enough to stop by and share her journey as a writer, the lessons she’s learned along the way, and her marketing strategies for promoting her work.

What’s your writing background? What inspired you to begin writing?

There has always been something about stories that’s fascinated me. I’ve loved to read since I was a kid and would bring home bags and bags full of books from the library. I think God placed the love of reading in my heart, and he sparked the desire to write when I read stories like Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness and Piercing the Darkness, I too wanted to tell stories about hurting people on their journeys of faith.

Actually, I explored painting and music before writing, and while I enjoyed both (I thought I was going to be a painter as a teenager), when I started writing stories I realized with my painting and my music I was always trying to tell a story. But writing a three minute song and filling a blank canvas didn’t give me the satisfaction writing fiction did.

When I was fifteen I started the story that would become my first published novel Thicker than Blood. Around this same time was when I began to read writing how-to books from the library. I’ve probably read hundreds of them over the years and learned a great deal. I never had any formal training in writing, just reading enough novels and those how-to books gave me a wonderful foundation.

You’re a relatively young author to already have published an award-winning novel (and its sequel). Tell us about your journey to publication.

Well, it was a long one! From idea to publication, it took fifteen years for my first novel to hit the shelves. But during that time I was growing as a writer, and a person. I re-wrote Thicker than Blood numerous times. When I was twenty-three I saw an ad in Writer’s Digest magazine for a contest sponsored by the Christian Writers Guild called Operation First Novel. The prize was publication by Tyndale House and $50,000. I thought, hey, why not? I made the deadline for entries my deadline for finishing the book. Then I waited. And waited. And waited. Finally I found out that my novel was one of 20 semi finalists! I was thrilled. To have that nod of recognition that I wasn’t spinning my wheels was huge. Turns out the book didn’t win, but it gave me the encouragement to start submitting it elsewhere. I did a lot more revision but was met with rejection.

Discouragement began to seep in, and I wondered if perhaps I should set Thicker than Blood aside and start submitting my next book (which I had already written). But one night while lying in bed I had a spark of inspiration I now know had to be from the Lord. I thought, “Why not enter this new and improved version into this year’s Operation First Novel contest?” I did, and the waiting game started again. A few months passed and I heard I was one of four finalists! They would announce the winner at their annual writers conference in Colorado Springs. I was shocked when Jerry Jenkins named Thicker than Blood the winner in 2008. That’s how I connected with the fantastic folks at Tyndale House, and I was blessed they wanted to publish my second novel Bound by Guilt too.

How long does it generally take you to write your books?

Ha! It took fifteen years for Thicker than Blood. For Bound by Guilt it was a lot faster, but still...it took something like four years. Now keep in mind that I’m not a full-time writer. I usually only write in the evenings and one day on the weekends, so I’m not as prolific as some. Hopefully I’ll be able to speed up the process as I go, but we’ll see.

What was your biggest lesson learned writing Thicker than Blood? What about Bound by Guilt?

For Thicker than Blood it was persistence. I really had to choose not to give up, even when it seemed like I’d never be published. As far as the actual writing of that novel, early on I struggled with dialogue and action scenes. I had to learn how to picture a scene in my head and really slow it down on the paper to make it read right.

Bound by Guilt taught me to write the story of my heart. I had desired to write some of the scenes in the book for many years before I actually wrote them. Letting them percolate that long helped me write them better. When I first started brainstorming ideas for a second novel I did a little exercise in which I asked myself the question, “What I really want to write about is ____” and then I had to fill in the blank. In my novel writing journal I wrote down my response. I forgot I’d done this and only later, after I’d beaten around the bush many times in my plot brainstorming, did I realize I eventually settled on the very idea I’d wanted to write about in the beginning. I think God often will give us the desire to write a certain story, and then we talk ourselves out of it (ask me how I know!).

What’s your platform and marketing strategy?

I’d been involved actively online for years before I was published, so I did have contacts through industry professionals and other writers through my work at TitleTrakk, which helped me promote my books. Overall I just try to be as real and natural as I can be and take advantage of every opportunity I can. I do my best to stay on top of trends and stay socially active on sites like Twitter and Facebook. I think readers really enjoy interacting with the authors they read. I make myself as accessible as I can be along those lines. I also utilize every marketing tool I can. People haven’t yet measured the effectiveness of book trailers, but I paid to have one made for each of my novels because I figure every marketing avenue, whether it be print, visual or whatever, is important to at least explore. I try new things whenever I can but ultimately must remember that unless I have something to promote, all the marketing won’t do me any good.

Pre-Writing Preparation

2011-10-14T05:00:00.005-05:00

You'd rather be writing, but first you have to...

10. Reach into the freezer and get something out for dinner. WARNING: You may discover things in your freezer older than your youngest child. This has happened to me. This brings up all sorts of other issues that may further delay your writing.

9. Organize your desk - including all the drawers. This could take hours, if you're lucky. But don't think of it as luck, think of it as being thorough.

8. Vacuum the cat. Yes, scratches and a certain amount of blood loss with probably be involved. However, you can use the pain and suffering to enrich the detail in your current work.

7. Do more research. You're not wasting time, you're getting your details correct. Keep repeating this - it helps alleviate the guilt.

6. Have a snack. Go to the kitchen to discover you are out of snacky foods. Go to the grocery store. Don't forget you're out of milk. And cheese. And toilet paper.

5. Reread your previous few paragraphs to remind yourself where you are in the plot. Try to read them with no judgment. Try. Try harder. Now step away from the delete button.

4. Have a staring contest with your pet. NOTE: With a dog, you have a fair chance of winning. With a cat you have less chance. With a fish, you have no chance. No pet? Stare at a picture of one in a magazine. You're not wasting time, you're sharpening your concentration.

3. Close your eyes and imagine the blockbuster movie that will be made based on your current manuscript. Picture a scene and hear the dialogue. WARNING: This exercise may lead to actual writing. Approach with caution.

2. Think about what your characters were like in high school as a means of exploring their histories. Think about what you were like in high school. Think about what your friends were like in high school. Do you remember some of the names? Hello, Facebook?

1. To pick up dialogue tips, watch a movie or television episode written by one of your favorite writers. WARNING: This may cause severe depression and self-loathing. More snacks may be necessary.

*********
This article was written for The Blood-Red Pencil by Elspeth Antonelli, the author of twelve murder mystery games (available through Host Party.com--Murder Mystery Games and Parties ) and two mystery scripts that have been performed world-wide. You can find out more about her on her site, It's a Mystery.

Plug in Your Power Tool ~ Prayer!

2011-10-12T06:00:00.001-05:00

We can write words, but only God can touch hearts through those words. And no matter how cleverly we craft sentences, without God’s blessing, our words are merely ink on paper. That’s why it’s important to have prayer support as we write. Prayer is a powerful tool that can impact our writing and readers. But sometimes it’s overlooked.

Several years ago I realized the need for prayer support and asked others to pray for me. If you want to plug in this incredible power tool and enlist prayer support, take these steps.

Pray First, Then List Names

Who could pray for you? Ask God. Then consider relatives, friends, church members, and fellow writers. By e-mail, you can contact people around the world.

List individuals who are mature in the faith, keep their commitments, and take an interest in your writing ministry. In Philippians 2:20 and 22 (NIV), the apostle Paul wrote about Timothy, “I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. Timothy has proved himself, because . . . he has served with me in the work of the gospel.” Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have someone like Timothy on your prayer team?

God provided a dozen faithful prayer warriors for me. They rejoice in my successes and encourage me during setbacks. But mainly, they pray. And that’s where the power lies—connecting with God Almighty in prayer.

Contact Potential Prayer Partners

After you’ve made a list, graciously ask these people to consider joining your prayer team. My letter of invitation began, “Dear Praying Friend. I feel an overwhelming need for prayer support in my writing. I need God’s blessing and favor. I also know the enemy is eager to discourage me and thwart plans to advance God’s Kingdom.”

Also tell them what their commitment would involve and what yours would be. But give them freedom to say no. For example, I asked my prayer team to pray for me once a week for one year. I wrote, “I know this is a sizable commitment, so please pray about it. If you can’t, that’s fine.”

In return, I promised to use my writing time wisely and send regular updates.

Send Writing Updates

Your updates could be weekly, monthly, or as needed. I started with monthly e-mails, but prayer needs came up more often. Now I aim for weekly contact.

In your updates, start with answered prayers. I call this section “Give thanks” and list ways God helped me and blessed my writing. Sharing answers gives God glory and motivates my team to keep praying. One member recently wrote, “I’m blessed to be part of your team. I get to share in a fraction of the action of lives touched through your writing.”

Also, God values a grateful heart. Do you recall the story of the 10 lepers Jesus healed? When only one returned to thank him, Jesus sorrowfully asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:17 NIV).

I desire to be like the leper who returned to thank God. To help me remember what God did, I print out my updates and put them in a notebook. Each week I look back at previous requests and include answers in the current update. There are numerous ways to record God’s answers, so choose one that works for you.

After my “Give thanks” section, the “Please pray” portion follows with five or six requests. I list specific writing, speaking, and teaching needs and may include requests for editors, publishers, and readers.

Express Appreciation

Besides thanking God for your prayer team, it’s also important to thank them for praying. I often begin updates with, “Thank you for praying.” Then at the end I might add, “Your prayers are a real gift to me,” or “I couldn’t do this without your prayer support.”

In addition to thanking them in e-mail messages, occasionally I send thank-you notes or small gifts, such as a bookmark, by regular mail. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Valentines Day are good times to mail cards with a personal note. If your prayer team prays for you throughout the writing of a book, list their names in the acknowledgments page and offer them a free copy.

Also, don’t assume the prayer warriors will pray forever. Though most of my team has prayed for years, I ask them each year if they wish to continue.

Return the Favor

We’re not the only ones who need prayer. Pray for your prayer team and other writers. If another writer asks you for prayer support, if at all possible say yes. And as you send updates to your prayer team, sometimes include a written prayer for them. It can be as short as this prayer based on Nehemiah 8:10: “May the joy of the Lord be your strength.”

Prayer is a high calling. Right now “Christ Jesus . . . is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Romans 8:34 NIV). What a privilege to follow his example and pray for others.

Reap the Benefits

I’m grateful God nudged me to form a prayer team. They have prayed for me through joy and tears, through rejections and acceptances, and through writing a lengthy Bible study for grandparents. Now they support me as I speak to promote the book. Their support not only motivates me to write and persevere, but it also gives me courage to tackle God-sized projects I couldn’t accomplish alone. Their prayers have truly blessed me in countless ways.

If you don’t already have a prayer team, I encourage you to follow these steps and tap into this divine source of power. Then watch God work through prayer!

Lydia E. Harris has accumulated hundreds of bylines by writing book reviews, devotionals, columns, recipes, articles, and personal experience stories for publications such as Advanced Christian Writer, Mature Years, and Focus on the Family magazines. Her book, Preparing My Heart for Grandparenting, is a six-week Bible study for grandparents at any stage of the journey. Visit her Web site and grandparenting blog at www.PreparingMyHeart.net. She attributes her published credits to the prayers of others.

Characterization Multitasking

2011-10-10T05:29:00.000-05:00

Your two main characters are in the same scene, but they're not together. He's doing his thing, she's doing hers. You can reveal so much about both when you illustrate your POV character observing the other. Of course you can describe the observed character's physical features, but why leave it at that? Why pass up the opportunity to tell your reader something about both characters?

As the author and creator of these people, you know things about them that 1) you want to introduce to the reader, and 2) you want to introduce to each of the of the two people in the scene. What you know about them is called "backstory," a word I recently discovered was unfamiliar to some newbie authors (I also recently discovered that Miriam Webster has "backstory" as one word, so when you type it on your computer, ignore the little squiggly red line under it).

Whether you pre-plan your novel with outlines and character bios or, like me, you look at a scene and think, "How can I make the characters more interesting here?" and do a character interview on the spot, you need to have a backstory for each of the primary folks who populate your books. What you don't need, though, is to dump the entire backstory into one scene and explain everything you think the reader needs to know about your hero and heroine all at once.

Let me introduce Anna Roberts and Cody Batson.

Anna was a late-bloomer, the ugly duckling who didn't become beautiful by shedding weight until her early twenties. Although she's a knock-out now, her self image, ingrained by kids' cruelty during high school, is that of a fat girl. Today, she's a computer scientist at the NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and spends the bulk of her time alone.

Cody was the star quarterback and played the role of "popular guy" in school, but in truth, he's shy and longs for a relationship that goes deeper than an appreciation of his athletic skills and build. He's highly artistic, but since he got the bulk of his positive reinforcement from those who valued his athleticism, he played up to that image. Today, with his PhD, he's a professor of English Literature, specializing in the Romance Era, at George Washington University. His biggest daydream is for sonnets to make a come-back.

Anna and Cody catch furtive glimpses of each other at their high school graduating class's tenth reunion. She knows him, because everyone knew Cody Batson. He knew her as "Anna Fat Banana," although he'd never used that name for her, but today, he doesn't recognize her. He stands near the snack table, swirling the ice in his glass, surrounded by jock-types intent on recounting their glory days. He doesn't hear them because~~~

His attention was drawn to the striking woman in the corner, talking softly with a couple other women. Who was she? He should remember a beauty like her. Probably a cheerleader. That might be why he didn't remember. He'd never been attracted to the perky leg-kickers on the sidelines. Cheerleaders tended to be all show, with the depth of a pancake. No appreciation for Keats or Byron. Still, he should've remembered the smile, the dark wavy hair, the slender curve from her waist to her hips.

Randy Colbert, his tightend back in the day, slapped him on the shoulder with a loud guffaw. "Isn't that right, buddy? A thirty-yard bomb, right to my hands." Randy threw both arms up. "Touchdown!"

Cody allowed himself one more glimpse at the cheerleader in the corner, and smirked. She'd find him more attractive as a quarterback than a poet. He threw himself into the sweaty conversation with the rest of the former team and clapped Randy on the back. "That's right! Batson to Colbert. Connected every time!" He drained his glass and assumed the position. "Go long!"

In this short clip, I did more than present a physical description of Anna. I provided Cody's backstory, illustrated how he filters his impressions through his personal experiences, and showed Anna's personality simply by putting her in the corner. The fact that she's hanging in the shadows with a small group of friends doesn't dawn on Cody as being contrary to his idea of "the beauty" as a cheerleader. That speaks to his character, also.

Later, I could do the same thing through Anna's POV, and after presenting their misconceptions, I could illustrate how the two overcome them to succeed in whatever plot task I set before them.

If you looked only at the story clip, how much would you learn about the characters? If you compared the clip to the backstory I provided, you'd see what I chose to omit from the scene. Since I wrote in Cody's POV, Anna may still be a bit vague, but what the reader learns about her later will be consistent with the woman standing in the corner.

Instead of dumping backstory of each character into your work, find creative ways to illustrate them. Use every opportunity to deepen your characters through different techniques. Populating your novel with realistic, sympathetic people can bring your story to life.

Genre--Speculative Fiction

2011-10-05T06:00:00.002-05:00

Today I’d like to talk about a much-underserved genre in the CBA, that genre being speculative fiction. That may sound odd coming from me, as my first three published novels were firmly in the “suspense/thriller” camp. But with the sale of my latest, a science fiction novel called The Radiance, to a secular house, I now find myself on a little bit of uncertain ground.

That’s not so stay the story itself is unsound--I think it's one of the best things I've written--but having to take it to a general market house was … unexpected. You see, in the CBA there are really only two publishers that have much to do at all with science fiction or fantasy, the first being Realms, and the other, Marcher Lord Press. Both of these houses are solid, well thought-of, and their authors have garnered numerous awards. But still, why only two, especially when the general market is fair to bursting with publishers actively seeking not only these two genres, but subsets of them as well: horror, urban horror, steampunk, cyberpunk, and more?

The charge has been leveled by some the CBA as an entity is unfriendly to works that could be considered outside the norm. Is that charge true or false? My honest answer would be it’s true, but changing.

I think the main reason for this ongoing struggle is CBA novels must contain, in whatever small measure, a Christian element; general market works, of course, aren’t under such constraints. That’s not to say many of the works published there don’t have agendas of their own, because they do, be they humanism, New Age claptrap, psychic phenomena, or what have you. But the CBA requires that problemactical faith element, and some houses require it to be displayed in the work more openly than others.

For some writers that causes an issue, because which side of the line the Christian scribe comes down on depends in large part as to how critical to their story that faith element is. If it’s utterly germane, and to excise it would fundamentally alter the tale, then the CBA is the logical choice. On the other hand if a Christian wants to write stories without this faith element—while staying true to their own walk with the Lord—they may want to consider the general market.

So the question: for those of you who read (or write) fantasy, SF, horror, or any of the others I mentioned, which side of the line claims your allegiance? General market, or CBA?

Free Market Listings

2011-10-03T04:00:00.000-05:00

It's my turn to contribute a Marketing post, and I started looking through Evernote for all the posts tagged for AuthorCulture and Marketing. I saw a number of singleton posts, interesting stuff to be sure, but hardly enough to populate an entire post.

And then I came across this post of free Market listings by Jane Friedman. It's a one-stop shop of pure gold. (There's more at her post - be sure to stop over for more Market linkage coolness.)

Free Listings of Book Publishers
Be aware that most New York publishers do not accept unagented submissions, so sometimes “searching for a publisher” really means “finding an agent” (see next list).
Duotrope.com. For fiction and poetry only. About 3,500 listings total, which includes many types of publications.
QueryTracker.net. About 130 listings.
Preditors & Editors. Hundreds of listings; been going since 1997. Waves a red flag on publishers to avoid. However, unclear how often the information is updated.
Ralan.com. About 100 listings, focused on SF/F.
AgentQuery.com. Bare-bones list (no submission guidelines), but offers embedded links to publishers’ sites. Useful to preview the landscape.
WriterMag.com. If you subscribe to The Writer magazine, you get 3,000 online market listings for free. Vetted list.
Poets & Writers. Hundreds of listings, serving primarily the more literary side of the writing community.
Free Listings of Agents
AgentQuery.com. About 900 listings.
QueryTracker.net. More than 1,200 listings.
Preditors & Editors. Hundreds of listings; been going since 1997. Waves a red flag on agents to avoid. However, unclear how often the information is updated.
AAR Online. This is the official membership organization for literary agents. Not all agents are member of AAR.
Free Listings of Magazines & Periodicals
Ralan.com. Several hundred listings, focused on SF/F.
Duotrope.com. For fiction and poetry only. About 3,500 listings total, which includes many types of publications.
WritersWeekly.com. Offers weekly updates of markets looking for articles, as well as writing opportunities.
Preditors & Editors. Unclear how often the information is updated.

(Thanks to Jane Friedman for her original post. She also recently wrote about this question on Quora.)

10 Reasons It's Great To Be A Writer

2011-09-30T04:00:00.001-05:00

Elspeth Antonelli wrote this list earlier this week. It resonated with me (especially the accidental neologisms in step 3). How many of these resonate with you?

10. There is no dress code.

9. You're not eavesdropping; you're working.

8. Your rather eccentric computer history of websites can be explained as research.

BONUS: Actually, anything can be explained as research - it just takes a bit of thought.

7. Your active imagination now has something to focus on.

6. Although you say you don't base your characters on anyone you know, you could. Revenge is sweet.

5. People expect odd behaviour from creative types. This is an advantage.

4. You know talking to yourself serves a purpose.

3. You can tell yourself your typo isn't a typo, it's a new word. Language evolves.

2. If you write romantic scenes you can blush and tell people you couldn't possibly confirm whether they're autobiographical.

1. You can make your own rules and then break them.

hat-tip, Mystery author Elspeth Antonelli

Authors Against DRM, by guest Tommie Lyn

2011-09-28T05:00:00.004-05:00

Most of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about the nuts and bolts of how things work, we just want them to do what we expect, when we expect it. The only time we pay attention to our appliances, for instance, is when they don’t perform properly.

And you have faith that the manufacturer of your refrigerator, say, has designed and built it to meet your needs…i.e., to keep your food cold and produce ice when you want a glass of iced tea.

But what if the manufacturer has built in a feature that you’ve not been informed about...a feature that will cause it to reject certain food items—send them flying out through a chute in the door--merely because they had previously been stored in a different brand of refrigerator. Would that get your attention?

Or, to change the analogy slightly to make it more applicable, what if each food item had to be stored in a particular brand of refrigerator and refused to be cooled by a unit made by any other manufacturer?

Crazy, huh? But that’s a little bit like the situation we find with ebooks that have DRM.

DRM (Digital Rights Management) has the ostensible purpose of protecting music, movies, ebooks and other digital products from being pirated. Sounds like a worthy cause, on the surface. Until you realize that DRM does not stop professional pirates; it only presents a tiny speed bump on the road to theft.

However, it can create needless difficulty for honest people who buy digital products, like ebooks.

For instance, let’s say you own an older Kindle, and you have an extensive library of favorite books accumulated on it. Then, your family gives you a brand new Nook for Christmas. No problem, just convert your ebook files from .mobi to .epub and move them to your new device, right? Not necessarily. If any of your ebooks are DRM protected, they are on that older ereader to stay. You can’t take ‘em with you.

This is why, as an author and a reader, I object to DRM on ebooks. It’s an unnecessary inconvenience to legitimate purchasers. (Two of my books available on Kindle currently have DRM protection, because I didn’t know the implications at the time I uploaded them and allowed the default to be applied. I have plans to unpublish those two books and republish them DRM-free, like my others.)

~Tommie Lyn

If you’d like to read more about DRM, here’s a link:

http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm

And if you’d like to join some of those who are objecting to the use of DRM, here’s a link:

http://www.bookmarkselfpublishing.com/main/self-publishing-topics/self-publishing-news/68-self-publishing-news/201-authors-against-drm.html

http://readersbillofrights.info/

This image, created by Nina Paley, is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, http://readersbillofrights.info.

Tommie Lyn is a prolific writer of thriller/suspense novels. Visit her site, Tommie Lyn Writes, for a list of her fascinating books.

Resources For Writing SF/F

2011-09-26T04:00:00.000-05:00

For this Resource Roundup I thought I'd share some writing resources I use as a genre-lover and fiction writer. Each book is dog-eared and filled with highlighter, unlined sections, business cards, and Post-It notes to indicate where the good stuff is.

Three of the four books deal primarily will novel writing, and the fourth is my favorite go-to book for writing short genre fiction. While the books are primarily focused on writing science fiction and fantasy, much of this material can be used for any kind of fiction writing.

All of this is the good stuff! ;)

How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy by Orson Scott Card
This is a slim volume worth its weight in genre-loving gold. Card focuses specifically on writing Science Fiction and Fantasy, however, there's something here for anybody writing fiction. This book won the non-fiction Hugo award in 1991 and is one of two I recommend for writers who want to know how to write SF/F. In this book, Orson Scott Card defines what science fiction and fantasy is (and isn't), tells you how to build, populate, and dramatize a credible, inviting world readers will want to explore, and spends a good deal of time telling you what the MICE quotient is (milieu, idea, character and event) and how to use it. He also tells you how to structure a successful story and where the markets are and how to reach them to become published. I'm on my third copy of the book because the first two I lent out never returned. This is also the book where Card makes his argument on why authors should think twice before writing a prologue for an Event story. Highly recommended.

Worlds of Wonder: How To Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by David Gerrold
Perhaps best known as the author of the Star Trek episode, The Trouble With Tribbles (winner of the Hugo award), David Gerrold is a pro's pro. This book is chock full of information about the art and craft of writing SF/F. And this is the book where I first discovered the 'million words of dreck' meme. He figures that a million words is roughly equivalent to ten novels and writes “Your first million words are for practice. They don’t count. Remember that.”

Dynamic Characters by Nancy Kress
How to Create Personalities That Keep Readers Captivated

In this guide, award-winning author Nancy Kress explores the crucial relationship between characterization and plot, illustrating how vibrant, well-constructed characters act as the driving force behind an exceptional story. In teaching writers the fundamentals of creating characters that will keep their readers spellbound, Kress utilizes: Dozens of excerpts from well-known fiction; Enlightening exercises to help writers build strong characters starting from the outside-in; Beginning chapters that focus on the physical elements that comprise a character, providing techniques for using external qualities to reflect personality; Building skill upon skill, writers blend these qualities with emotional and mental characterization, forming multi-dimensional characters that initiate exciting action, react to tense situations, and power the plot from beginning to end.

My favorite chapter is this book is her excellent treatment of secondary characters and plot construction. Nancy has a knowledgeable, breezy style and yet packs insight after insight into her work.

Creating Short Fiction: The Classic Guide to Writing Short Fiction by Damon Knight
The Classic Guide to Writing Short Fiction

Distilled from decades of teaching and practice, this book offers clear and direct advice on structure, pacing, dialogue, getting ideas, working with the unconscious, and more. Newly revised and expanded for this Third Edition, Creating Short Fiction is a popular and widely trusted guide to writing short stories of originality, durability, and quality. Celebrated short-story author and writing instructor Knight also includes many examples and exercises that have been effective in classrooms and workshops everywhere.

This is my favorite book on writing short fiction. Knight was known for his short stories, novels, and editing prowess. With Kate Wilhelm, he founded the Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writer's Workshop. He founded the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and the Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement was later named after him. Next to Card's book on writing SF/F, this book has been marked up more than any other. Knight was the first to identify something astounding about using one's unconscious mind (he called it 'the silent mind, or simply, Fred') to troubleshoot one's writing. This is an astoundingly helpful book. I consult it regularly.

Fabulously Fun Friday: Cats and Their Writers

2011-09-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

Killing me softly?

2011-09-21T06:00:00.003-05:00

Recently I've seen something come up on a couple of Christian websites that probably needs to be addressed, because sooner or later some us may find ourselves caught squarely in the crosshairs ... so to speak. Namely, violence in Christian fiction. Not surprisingly the subject quickly found "some agin 'em and some for 'em," as we used to say down South.

In the first group are the … well, call them the "traditionalists", for lack of a better term. Without painting these folks with too broad a brush, they're mainly women, mostly older, and they prefer romance fiction, with a likeminded readership. Violence is anathema to this group, as it should be. These ladies prefer writing--and reading--books with a female lead who is either going through a life crisis or having survived the same, the resolution of which causes them to meet Mister Right. I understand sometimes bonnets are involved. Or something. If that sounds like I don't understand chick lit, you're probably right. But God bless those that do, and God really bless the houses that seem to produce them in freight car lots.

On the other side are the Others (sounds like a Lost episode). For good or ill, I find myself in this group. We're the ones trying to push our books a bit further out. Oddly, this bunch seems (the operative word being "seems") to be growing more rapidly than the first. Is it because our stuff is better-written? Doubtful; over the years I've read some CBA novels going for "edgy" that were simply poorly-penned dreck with Jesus tacked on. Story is still king, folks.

On reflection, I think this group is trying to fill a perceived need: to wit, a dearth of hard-edged fiction that delivers a solid story without "crossing the line" … wherever that is. Sometimes the experiment works, and sometimes it doesn't. When it works, it seems to work splendidly. And when it doesn't ... well.

Which brings us to violence. What's been going hot and heavy on those other boards is the discussion of "how much is too much." In other words, if a story features a showdown between the hero and the villain, what is its logical conclusion? Does the villain suddenly drop his gun, repent his ill deeds, and vow to Walk the Straight and Narrow Evermore? Or does the said bad guy go for his gun (a fraction of a second too slow) and get drilled through the pump for his trouble? Anyone who's ever seen a John Wayne movie can answer that. I'll confess my own stuff tends to the latter resolution. Why? Because as I said upstream, the story demands it. In my world, simply put, some villains are no darn good, and will never be (Adolph Hitler, anyone?).

I'll admit the whole thing is as sticky as new paint, and I'll also be the first to admit that in my own case having a Christian hero who not only packs a gun, but is willing to use it to defend the weak and the powerless, is less than an ideal situation. But we live in a less than ideal world, and sometimes all that's left is to kill a rabid dog rather than trying to reason with it.

At any rate, it's an ongoing conundrum, a debate which has now gotten so heated even the secular press is staring take note. Where will it end? God knows. He really does, though, and about the best we as writers can do is write the most honest story we can.

So with that said, where do you find yourselves on the writing spectrum? Is there a middle ground? Are there some subjects you won't tackle, for whatever reason? Where is your "dividing line?"

Persistence Pays Off ~ Guest Post by Sylvia Stewart

2011-09-19T06:00:00.005-05:00

Somewhere between 1986 and 1988 I took a college course in Creative Writing. Chimwemwe’s Quest began as a writing-a-short-story assignment. O.K., it began short and got longer and longer the more I thought about it. (Can you guess that I’m a seat-of-the-pants writer?)

Many of my critiquing friends complained that my protagonist’s name was too long, unpronounceable and almost unreadable, so, with great reluctance, I changed her name, which meant “joy,” to Chikondi, which means “love.” Kondi is an abbreviation. Kondi’s name may have changed, but her plight remained the same. She longed to know that her father loved her.

Shortly after I finished this college class, we left for another missionary term in Malawi, East Africa. I taught classes in the Bible College in English, The Gospel of John, and Typing. I taught Beginning Reading for the illiterate or nearly illiterate wives of students, helped with a sewing class for them and did some work in the small library. Writing slid into an as-time-permits slot. I kept a journal when I had time in the evenings, writing by hand or typing on an old hammer-the-keys typewriter, often by the light of kerosene lamps. (The generator went off at nine p.m.).

Women of my generation weren’t expected to have a career; they weren’t even expected to work outside their homes, so I didn’t think of planning time to write or developing a career. It felt like a small miracle when an article would be published in one of our denominational magazines. But Kondi’s story niggled at the back of my mind and wouldn’t give me any peace.

I would add a page or two from time to time and re-write the story again. I’m sure there were at least 15 revisions before I submitted Kondi’s Quest to a publisher.

I wanted, so much, to leave a small legacy for the African children who pulled at my heartstrings. Many of them were ill, deformed, in pain or had nutritional deficiencies. (It was common to see red-headed children under five whose tummies bulged in the typical symptoms of Kwashiokor, a protein deficiency.) If I didn’t write a story for them to tell them about God’s love and His concern when they were lonely or in pain, who would? The message I wanted to share was one of the driving factors that kept me adding, bit by bit, to Kondi’s story.

By then, our children had grown and were leaving the home nest. One by one, they married – and then a wonderful miracle happened. We began having grandchildren! Oh, I longed to hold them and tell them stories and share my heart with them, but we lived half a world away.

After 21 years in Malawi, we uprooted to pioneer a work in Ethiopia. Our mission organization wanted us to start a Bible College in Addis Ababa. We were in our 50’s so language learning did not come easily. Finding and settling in to a new home took time and energy. We had no car, so we walked to the bus stops and rode the local taxis or mini-buses.

Slowly, the Bible College developed. We finally found property to rent, ordered furniture, and I became the Librarian for the college. Since I’m not trained in library science I had a huge learning curve. The initial purchase of 150 books grew to almost 4,500 volumes over the next several years.

I also taught college English to our Ethiopian students, many of whom had never had a grammar course before – not even in their own language, Amharic. I loved interacting with the students but didn’t like teaching grammar. However, learning it well made me a much better writer.

Kondi’s story was pushed into the background again. During breaks between school terms I’d take it out and add a bit.

After serving 21 years in Malawi and 11 years in Ethiopia, we retired and returned to Oregon. I joined Oregon Christian Writers and began soaking up all I could of writing techniques.

Kondi’s story was finally finished and went through another re-write. I sighed with delight as I signed up for a critiqueing class during the Summer Conference. When I walked through the classroom door my heart pounded with excitement. Kondi’s Quest felt ready for print. I’d done my best. Soon, I could look for a publisher.

The group loved the story, and the mentoring editor liked my writing style. However, I learned to my dismay, that my book was only half as long as it needed to be for the pre-teens I had targeted. My excitement deflated like a punctured balloon. However, I determined that almost 19 years of off-and-on writing for this book was not going to be wasted. Back to the keyboard!

I sent out some more articles while I worked on Kondi’s Quest. It was fun to continue her story.

Meanwhile, our daughter, Lynnette, had submitted and been accepted to the OakTara stable on recommendation of a friend of mine. After her book came out, she recommended my book to her editor and I slipped through OakTara’s oaken door on my daughter’s coattails. I had a contract!

My pre-teen’s novel, Kondi’s Quest, is FINALLY in print. It has been a 24-year journey – a journey of love and concern for African children.

I took encouragement from Philippians 1:6: “. . . He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion . . .” God gave me the step-by-step persistence to finish what I started – for His glory.

Fabulously Fun Friday ~ Lessons in Ransom Note Writing

2011-09-16T06:00:00.001-05:00

It appears that even ransom note writers need a class or two, every now and then. This made me chuckle. Happy Friday, everyone.

Tags: Atom.com | Funny Videos | Tournament | Upload

Review of The Art and Craft of Fiction by Victoria Mixon

2011-09-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Most of us read writing how-to books for the cold hard facts. We’re searching for some nugget handed down to us by in-the-know people that will transform us into prodigies or bestseller s—preferably both. (Actually, if I had a nickel for every cold, hard, dry, and deadly tome on the craft I’ve slogged through, I wouldn’t need to be a bestseller.) But longtime editor Victoria Mixon’s book offers much more than cold hard facts—it offers a hilarious, engaging read that would be worth the effort of turning every one of its 368 pages even if it failed to offer a single nugget. Happily, however, it’s teeming with gold.

Mixon’s broad look at the writing life encompasses everything from general advice and encouragement to copyediting, but she also zooms in on the meaty specifics of good storytelling. She opens her segments with fun and enlightening chapters that use examples from the lives and works of great authors such as Hemingway, Capote, and Poe to make hard-hitting points about character building, plotting, selecting POVs, writing descriptions, and crafting dialogue.

Mixon’s ridiculously entertaining voice makes this book is a joy to read. Awash with humorous and practical examples of what and what not to do (based on her own experiences as an author and editor), The Art & Craft of Fiction will make you love being a writer if only because it means you belong to the special little club that gets to read this book.

Grin and bare it (your soul, that is)

2011-09-12T06:00:00.003-05:00

Recently I came across an old list of questions a publicist once asked me, and I thought I’d ask them of you, dear reader. Depending on where you are in your writing journey, some of these may not apply (yet). But if you’re up to answering a few—or all—of them, and putting your replies up in the comments box below, I think it would prove an immeasurable help to everyone who reads them. So be honest, and tell all! *G*

What writers have you studied with, if any?

If you haven't studied writing, what inspired you to write?

Do you think your book will qualify for any awards?

Who do you see as your target market (reader)?

Is this your first book or are you multi-published?

Tell the world about your book. (Not the book blurb, the meat).

Give one line (a tagline) that describes your book.

How would you like to see your books promoted?

Do you have head shots, promotional photos?

Are you actively using social media to meet readers?

Do you have a website?

Do you maintain your website or do you have a webmaster?

Have you done public speaking?

Have you done television interviews, been before a camera before?

Have you done radio interviews?

Do you have a marketing and publicity budget?

What have you done to date to market your book? What do you feel the results were?

Where have you lived?

Children, grandchildren? Names and ages?

Pets? (Yes, I realized they could be listed under children!)

Do you have another profession? If so, what?

Hobbies?

Likes & dislikes?

What professional organizations are you members of—in any field?

Have you won any awards, grants, or any type of honor—in any field?

Author Submission Bombed

2011-09-09T05:00:00.000-05:00

Persistent writer leaves script in briefcase outside office of literary agent who calls bomb squad

BY MIKE JACCARINO

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Friday, August 12, 2011

This movie really bombed - but not at the box office.

Los Angeles cops clad in protective suits had to blow up a "suspicious" briefcase Thursday outside the office of a Beverly Hills literary agent.

The LAPD bomb squad feared an explosive was inside - but it turned out to be nothing more than a struggling screenwriter's movie script that the agent couldn't have cared less about.

The writer wasn't around to see his dream blown to bits, but cops were questioning him following the fireworks. Police did not release his name.

Nerdrage: When Changes Become Blasphemy

2011-09-07T04:00:00.000-05:00

The original Star Wars trilogy changed the way I saw genre adventures forever. A combination of saturday matinee adventure, galaxy-spanning escapism, with a healthy does of classic hero mythology, Star Wars spawned a Golden Age of a whole new wave of genre storytelling. The films changed everything.

However, those of us who saw the original films in the theater starting in 1977 remember those stories and those iconic images in a certain way. In 1997, George Lucas sparked controversy when his 20th Anniversary Special Edition verions of the films were released.

After ILM used computer generated effects for Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, Lucas concluded that digital technology had caught up to his original vision for Star Wars.[5] For the film's 20th Anniversary in 1997, A New Hope was digitally remastered and re-released to movie theaters, along with The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, under the campaign title The Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition. The Special Edition versions contained visual shots and scenes that were unachievable in the original release due to financial, technological, and time restraints; one such scene involved a meeting between Han Solo and Jabba the Hutt.[5] The process of creating the new visual effects for A New Hope was featured in the Academy Award-nominated IMAX documentary film, Special Effects: Anything Can Happen, directed by veteran Star Wars sound designer, Ben Burtt. Although most changes were minor or cosmetic in nature, some fans believe that Lucas degraded the movie with the additions.[58] For instance, a particularly controversial change in which a bounty hunter named Greedo shoots first when confronting Han Solo has inspired T-shirts brandishing the phrase "Han Shot First".[59]

He changed even more things for the DVD release in 2004. This last week, news broke that George Lucas isn't done changing Star Wars. We learned that even more things have been changed for the upcoming Blu-Ray releases.

"...several dozen or even hundred tiny tweaks have been made that will actually enhance your Original Trilogy viewing experience. These are mostly audio/video fixes, such as extensive color correction, removing matte lines, fixing problematic audio issues, and that sort of thing. The nitpickers will find these changes most welcome, because it looks like every last glitch has been meticulously and carefully addressed. They’ve even fixed whatever few technical issues the Prequel Trilogy had.

If Lucas had stopped there, I think we’d all be pretty happy. But of course he did not."

While many or even most of the changes are small and welcome, and at least one is large and welcome (switching the puppet Yoda for a new CGI Yoda in Episode I, The Phantom Menace, to be more like the CGI Yoda in Episodes 2 and 3), at least one change is receiving nearly universal outrage.

"The climactic scene of Return of the Jedi — and in fact, the entire saga, since the whole shebang is Anakin Skywalker’s story — comes when the Emperor is electrocuting Luke Skywalker, while Vader looks on. Inside, he’s feeling horribly conflicted, because he wants to obey his master, but his son is dying. Finally, at the last moment, he grabs Palpatine and throws him to his death, absorbing all of that Force lightning and saving the life of his son. In the Blu-ray version of Jedi, Vader croaks out a moaned “No…” while watching his son suffer, and then belts out a big “NOOOOOOOOO!!!” as he intervenes."

Fans are delighted with the clarity of the new Blu-Ray version, and rightfully so. But they are also furious at the continued twiddling of an iconic series.

"Lucas' constant tinkering has become a turnoff, and even the most loyal Star Wars fans can't take it anymore. After the director confirmed to the New York Times that "Nooooooo!" has been added to one of the most pivotal moments in the entire series—it was the straw that broke the camel's back. There have been rumors of boycotts, petitions and plenty of confirmed web outrage."

I have no issue with fixing technical glitches, however, I have a huge problem when major changes are made to a work well after release. One fan summed this up for me: "What if Picasso saw fit to go back and retouch paintings he had done earlier in his career? They'd be worthless now."

That's not to say that one can't cleverly handle changes to a work after publication. Engineering problems in the first Ringworld novel by Larry Niven led to a fascinating sequence of events.

"In the introduction of the novel, Niven says that he never planned to write more than one Ringworld novel; however, he did so in a large part due to fan support. Firstly, the popularity of Ringworld resulted in a demand for a sequel. Secondly, many fans had identified numerous engineering problems in the Ringworld as described in the novel. A major problem being that the Ringworld, being a rigid structure, was not actually in orbit around the star it encircled and would eventually drift, resulting in the entire structure colliding with its sun and disintegrating. In the novel's introduction, Niven says that MIT students attending the 1971 World Science Fiction Convention chanted, "The Ringworld is unstable! The Ringworld is unstable!" Niven says that one reason he wrote The Ringworld Engineers was to address these engineering problems."

You'll note that Niven didn't retcon this major plot point in the original novel, he worked the problem into a Hugo and Nebula nominated second novel.

In Star Wars (before it became Episode IV), smuggler Han Solo fired before the bounty hunter Greedo. It told us something about his character, it demonstrated that this was a smart, dangerous man, and it made his eventual redemption all the more powerful because we saw what he was capable of. Han Shot First became a rallying cry for people outraged that this critical plot point was changed in later versions of the film.

If you're a genre author, the lesson is simple—the time to make major changes is in the planning stages of a genre work. Once the project is released, the work belongs as much to the fans as to the creator. It does them a disservice to make major changes to works the fans have already embraced.

5 Ways to Get More Amazon Reviews

2011-09-05T05:00:00.002-05:00

Not only is Amazon one of the largest book-selling venues in the world, it’s also the first place many readers stop to get the lowdown about books when deciding what to purchase. The candid reviews of other readers are one of the most important elements in this purchasing experience, and authors everywhere check and double-check their Amazon pages for their next review. Reviews not only give your book credence among readers, they also lift it in Amazon’s algorithms, making it visible to more potential customers.

But sometimes those reviews are slow in coming. What can you do to get more reviews? Here are a few tips.

1. Just ask. Whenever a fan contacts you with rave reviews about your book, don’t be bashful about asking if they’d be willing to take a minute to post the review on Amazon. Link to your book for easy access and explain that reviews are gold to starving author types. Most people are more than happy to help out their new favorite author. Don’t forget to be polite, respectful of their time, and modest.

2. Send the book to volunteer reviewers. Publishing houses routinely send out Advance Reader Copies to influencers who will review the book and help promote it. Authors can take this one step further by offering copies of their own in exchange for honest reviews. Make it clear you’re not asking the reviewer to praise your book if he doesn’t like it, and, should the unthinkable happen and he does indeed end up not liking it, show you’ve got class by accepting the negative review courteously and professionally.

3. Put a note in the back of the book. If you have control over the formatting of your book, stick a note in the back, reminding readers how valuable their reviews are and asking them to take a moment to review the book on Amazon if they enjoyed it. Kindle books automatically provide a “rate me” page at the very end, which will send the reader to the book’s Amazon page. If possible, avoid including traditional back matter (such as the author bio), which readers generally skip, to ensure readers actually reach this important “rate me” page.

4. Remind social media followers. Every so often, send out a bulletin to your Facebook and Twitter fans, reminding those who have read your book how much you would appreciate their reviews. You can also remind your followers of how valuable reviews are by occasionally posting links to recent good reviews. Don’t go overboard with this, since followers won’t appreciate being inundated with these backhanded sales pitches, but a few every now and then are fine.

5. Review other authors’ books. Give and you will receive. In some instances, thankful authors may read and review your book in return, but, even if they don’t, going out of your way to help others in the same way you want to be helped can only benefit everyone involved. That said, “trading” good reviews is a shaky and generally unethical practice. Even should you trade review copies with another author, make it clear you want their honest opinion in exchange for your own.

There is no magic formula for gaining hundreds of Amazon reviews, but these tips should have you on the road toward an ever-growing number of reader opinions.

Downright punny!

2011-09-02T06:00:00.002-05:00

Most writers love puns, the more convoluted the better (a few unfortunate scribes don't enjoy them; we shall not speak of them). So here's an oldie but one of the best:

There once was scientist who’d extended the lifespan of some dolphins. but to keep his experiment private he kept them in his home swimming pool. After many years of trial and error, he'd succeeded to such a point the animals would never die. Unfortunately the secret ingredient for the formula–which the dolphins had to ingest each day to keep them alive–came from the necks of baby seagulls. Worse, because of the freshness issue, the scientist found he had to kill the birds and put the glands in the formula while they were only seconds old. This required him bringing the seagulls onto his property every day while they were still living.

Knowing full well he’d get in trouble with the ASPCA if he was caught, he decided to buy a lion–a tame but very regal beast–from a traveling circus, and use it to scare away snoopers.

Early one morning he stepped onto his porch with a small paper sack clutched tightly in his hand. In it was a freshly-caught bird, struggling valiantly for life. But as he came up on his steps, he found the lion asleep across his doorway. He stepped over it, and immediately was arrested. The charge?

Taking a young gull across a staid lion for immortal porpoises.

Thank you! AuthorCulture crowds are the greatest crowds in the WORLD!! Be sure to tip your waitresses, and good night! *G*

Peek into the World of Book Cover Design ~ Interview with Designer Yvonne Parks of Pear Creative

2011-08-31T06:00:00.064-05:00

Yvonne Parks runs a design company called Pear Creative that specializes in book cover design as well as publishing and marketing materials. She has worked for multiple New York Times best-selling authors, with over 1340 books to her credit. She lives in Ottawa Canada with her husband Jason and their 2 young daughters.

1. Your company has an interesting name, Pear Creative (www.pearcreative.ca). How did you come up with that name and is there a significant meaning to it?

Thanks! Yes, it’s not a usual name, but that was intentional. I wasn’t always Pear Creative. I started out as “Yvonne Parks Design”, but over the years as my company grew, I wanted to expand beyond just myself, and so the company needed a new name.

First, in marketing and design, the word ‘creative’ is used in a similar way to the way we understand the word ‘design’. “Joe was in charge of the campaign’s creative” Meaning: all work done to produce a marketable look, style, or theme to any visual project.

The ‘pear’ part came a few years back as a group of business minded friends and I were discussing how really good marketing can take a word or object, and change the public’s association with that word or object. Remember when an “apple” was just a snack to keep the doctor away? Now, when you say “Apple”, we think of top of the line computers, and industry changing inventions like iPhones and iPads! That is tremendous marketing of a brand! One friend joked that perhaps I should use an orange as my logo…just to play with the ‘apple’ idea. I replied with a sigh. “That’s cute, but in all honesty, I want to take people beyond just apples and oranges! I want to give them something new and fresh!” And so Pear Creative was born! Perhaps someday when people see a lone pear, they won’t think of just a yummy fruit but of that cool book cover that they loved. :)

2. I have loved the covers you’ve been creating for OakTara (www.oaktara.com) over the past year. When did you first know you wanted to get into design, and cover design specifically? And how did that come about?

I’ve always been creative. Music, painting, jewelry making, knitting…if I could use it to create something…I was drawn to it. I just loved making things pretty! When I was 7 years old, I wanted to design clothes…and carried a briefcase with me wherever I went, dreaming of being a designer. (Not just a designer, but the owner of the design company I pretended to have!) Now I can see that my passion had already manifested itself when I was just a child!

My first love has always been music. I’m a singer/songwriter/musician first, having done some recording over the years. But as a career, I spent 12 years teaching music, piano and voice until literally ‘falling’ into a job as a designer. I had been given an old version of Photoshop around 8 years ago, and just for fun, would play around with it. I began creating custom blogs and websites for friends and family, and a publisher literally called me one day after he had browsed my sites and asked me if I had ever considered a career in book cover design. The thought was crazy! Sure, I knew what looked nice to me, but I didn’t know anything about books! I actually turned him down at first. But he was persistent…seeing something in my blog designs that he wasn’t seeing in any of the resumes and portfolios coming across his desk from graduated design students. It was Divine timing, as I had just decided to stop teaching music after more than a decade, and was thinking about what to possibly do next. I was hesitant, but I eventually said yes to a trial period of 3 months of contract work with that publisher. They said they would show me the ropes of what it took to prep a book for print, and that eased my fears just a little. Well, that was 6 years ago, and I’ve done over 1000 books for that publisher alone. Since then, I’ve branched out to work with a dozen publishers, as well as self-publishing authors….having completed over 1340 printed books in 6 years.

I now do all kinds of ‘creative’ work. Not just books, but company branding, marketing materials, websites, advertising campaign creative…you name it. However, my first love is book cover design. I never tire of it!

3. Are you educated in a digital art field? Or did you just naturally fall into it?

I wish I could say that I have a big fat degree from a prestigious design school. But I can’t say that. I’m self-taught. At first, I was rather embarrassed about that, and considered going to get an education in graphic design. That is, until I had an experience that changed the way I saw myself and my work. I was asked to design a recruitment campaign that would hopefully increase the number of nurses coming to Canada. I hadn’t done this kind of work before, but just dove in. I did billboards, bus benches, websites, and career ads in Canada’s largest national newspaper. I treated every ad like a book cover. Simple, clean, eye catching. I honestly didn’t know what a career ad was supposed look like! Long story short: This campaign met with unprecedented success, bringing in record results. Our client said this about me “Yvonne thinks so outside the box…!” I said a polite ‘thank you’ to the compliment, but then laughed to myself. “I’m outside the box, because I have NO idea where the darn box is!” Having never been taught the ‘rules’ of design…I went by my own eye and what felt right to me…and it has proven to be the secret of my success. I am now asked to teach my design philosophies to classes of book design students, and have recently been asked to contribute a chapter on cover design to a design curriculum. (How ironic and fun is that!) J

4. What is the first step you take when you are starting a brand new project? And from there, how do you go about creating the covers?

I’m given the title, subtitle and author’s name for a book, and then a very concise summary of what the book is about. I like to put myself in the place of the potential buyer for a while. Obviously the potential buyer doesn’t know the full content or storyline. So how can I, as a designer, communicate through simple imagery, and even font style…a few things about this book? First, what kind of book is this? (Genre etc) Who is the target audience? What is the setting/location? In what era does it occur? What emotion do I want to evoke in the reader at first glance?

My philosophy is simple. A book cover isn’t meant to tell the whole story. It’s simply meant to pique the interest of a potential buyer….and then hint to the contents of the book. If you can make a buyer simply curious….you are halfway to selling a book…simply because you’ve caused them to pick it up. They then flip it over and take 20 seconds to read the first couple lines of the back cover copy. It’s the marriage of the curiosity-piquing cover, and the intriguing back copy that ‘seals the deal’ and sells a book.

5. What elements make for a great cover design? And in this day and age of lots of covers being shown in digital format, are there things you take into consideration that you might not have several years ago?

I find that simplicity is the key. My favorite covers are those that aren’t busied up with lots of images, collages, fonts or textures. Less is definitely more.

I’m a fanatic about fonts. Maybe ‘font nerd’ is the better word. I know all of them, and I see every font on every sign and billboard I pass. Something people don’t know about fonts is that they can go out of style! I compare them to clothing fads. You see it everywhere for a while…there is a market saturation…and then ‘bam’, they are passé. I can look at a cover and know what year it was designed, simply by a designer’s poor choice to use an overly trendy font. If it’s easily identifiable and popular, the better chance that it will also end up looking ‘old’ in a couple years. This isn’t good for sales if you want your book to sell for years to come. So I’m a fan of using simple, classic, straight fonts that are timeless.

E-books have changed design somewhat. We used to consider how a book looks ‘across the bookstore’, and how it will grab you on a shelf. Now we need to consider how it will grab you when it’s the size of a quarter on your screen on sites like Amazon. If I make it tiny, can you still read the title? Can you still make out the image? These are factors that definitely need to be considered in this new digital age.

6. What are your favorite photo editing/layout programs?

I use the industry standard, Adobe Creative Suite family of products: Photoshop for editing and manipulating images, InDesign for the rest of the text layout on the spine and back cover, and Illustrator for work with vectors.

7. I know OakTara uses stock images. Some publishing houses send out a questionnaire to authors asking for details about characters for the art department. With stock images, how do you go about finding a model who seems to fit the character(s) in the book?

The majority of publishers use stock images. The huge publishing houses have massive budgets, and will use custom photography. However, the cost of professional photo-shoots with models or staging of scenes can range from $5000 – 20,000 and more! So, with dozens of stock sites, some having 16 million images (with 70,000 new images added each week), there are more than enough images to choose from. Then with Photoshop we can tweak and alter images to be even more unique to the book.

Finding the perfect character can be a challenge. I start with looking for a certain aged person, with specific emotion. I’ll search using words like: “Wistful teenage girl”. Things like skin tone, hair style/color can be edited in Photoshop, so we start with the basic emotion, age and gender. It can take a while to sort through literally thousands of images before you see your heroine ‘pop’ off the page at you.

8. I know OakTara is very good about giving their author’s input into cover design. Do you ever get frustrated with a cover you think is just perfect, only to have the author ask for changes?

Ah yes. It does happen! Different publishers have different philosophies about the author’s involvement. OakTara is simply outstanding with how they involve the author, yet let the designer determine how to best communicate the contents of the book. Many times the author will search through stock photos and send a few samples of images that they feel represent their character, and this is just so incredibly helpful! No one knows the characters like the author, so this is such a great resource to have access to. In the end, it’s every publisher’s goal to sell books! My hope is that each author can come to trust me with their ‘baby’, and in turn, l will do my utmost to give them the most marketable product I can.

As with all business, the end goal is to make the client happy. There definitely are times when what the self-publishing author wants is not in the best interest of their book. Meaning that what the author would like to see is not what will sell their book…and sometimes it can be a detriment to sales. I try to do my absolute best to help clients make the best marketing choice….because sometimes what they like, isn’t what will sell books. So yes…I have been frustrated with a ‘perfect’ book being altered. But that is just part of the job. In the end, a happy client is what makes me smile.

9. Ah, so you work with individuals, too. Where should authors contact you, if they are interested in your services?

I work with publishers, companies, churches, non-profits, or individuals….you name it! Sometimes an author will have their book done by me through their publisher, and will then come to me on their own for additional marketing materials. I can create bookmarks, postcards, business cards, posters, blogs, websites…whatever they need to help promote their book or brand. I also create one-sheets for authors who are in the process of introducing their book to agents or publishers. Some authors have me do a front cover while shopping their manuscript, just to give it that ‘wow’ factor and catch the eye of a publisher.

There are so many ways to market and promote your book. Just because you are a newer or first-time author doesn’t mean your book and materials can’t rival any bestseller out there! Everyone should be able to have an exceptional book cover at a reasonable price.

Authors are welcome to visit my site and browse my portfolio and either use the contact form on my site, or email me at yvonne@pearcreative.ca

10. Can you give us some images of two or three of your favorite covers and tell us what makes them significant to you?

Sure! There are books I’m proud of for different reasons. Sometimes I just love the cover, but other times I’m proud of the success of the book and its author, and that I had the pleasure of having a part to play. I designed a new book for best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki (author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad) called Unfair Advantage that is currently on the New York Times bestseller list. Those kinds of successes are fun.

Here are a couple more that I enjoyed being a part of.

One Step Away is a new book in an exciting new series by Eric Wilson, the New York Times best-selling author of Fireproof. I like the simplicity of this cover. Each book in the series will be following the same title placement, with the number 2, then 3 and so on used in the various titles. It’s a fun way to connect a series visually.

Kondi’s Quest by Sylvia Stewart (OakTara Publishers) is a cover I love. There are 4 different layers of images to this cover that blend seamlessly to create a quiet mood and texture. The little girl, the grass hut, the sky, and then distressed paper all work together for a seamless effect. Add a pop of color in the title, and we have a beautiful end product.

Watched! Is an upcoming release by OakTara Publishers. In fact, you are getting a sneak peek! No one has seen this yet…but the publisher gave me the go-ahead to share this cover with you. I love the intensity of this cover. It captures you. You’d see it from across a bookstore and instantly be curious. It gives you a little glimpse of the auburn haired, young woman in the story too. See how we can ‘hint’ to the story rather than ‘tell’ the whole story? This is also great example of using a clean, simple, classic font that will always look fresh and current.

So there you have it folks, I hope you enjoyed the information in this interview, as much as I did. I could stand in a bookstore aisle and look at covers all day. As a reader, what are some attributes that attract you to a book cover enough to make you pick it up and flip it over to read the blurb, like Yvonne talked about earlier?

Here's What I Learned About Attribution, He Said

2011-08-29T05:00:00.002-05:00

I just had an epiphany about how I write. Turns out, I was writing dialogue backwards. It went something like this:

Luke said, “An attack?”
Mal said, “A warning.”
Book said, “Have they hailed us?”
Uhura said, “That’s the odd thing—there’s been nothing but radio silence.”
Book said, “I’m not a spacer, but that sounds strange.”

You see it? Said, said, said, said, said. But I think it wasn't that I was using the 'said's that was incorrect as much as where I used them. (More on this at the end.) I didn't know how to correctly handle basic dialogue tag attribution.

Attribution is how the writer tells you who said what. Mark Nichol writes:

Attribution is the convention in composition of identifying a speaker or writer when you include direct quotes (which should be enclosed in quotation marks) or paraphrases. An entire system of usage — a choreography, if you will — has developed around how to arrange quotations and paraphrases and their attributions. Here are the dance steps:

“The basic setup is to reproduce a single sentence, followed by an attribution,” he began. “Then, if the quotation consists of more than one sentence, follow the attribution with the rest of it.” If the quotation extends for more than one paragraph, do not close the first paragraph with an end quotation mark; this omission signals to the reader that the same person is being quoted in the next paragraph.

In that next paragraph, rinse and repeat.

With this in mind, let's look at that first example again with an eye on fiction Attribution:

“An attack?” Luke asked.
“A warning," Mal said.
“Have they hailed us?” Book asked.
Uhura touched the device in her ear. “That’s the odd thing—there’s been nothing but radio silence.”
"I’m not a spacer," Book said, "but that sounds strange.”

For more information click this article on how to use attribution tags to control the rhythym of fiction in dialogue.

FFF: Why Harper Lee never wrote again

2011-08-26T04:00:00.004-05:00

The only thing more interesting than publishing an enduring classic like the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill A Mockingbird is refusing to explain why you never wrote anything else. And yet, that's exactly what I bring to you today, the real explanation why reclusive American author Harper Lee never published another novel.

It is at once earthier and more believable than many of the theories I've seen bandied about.

The subject of "To Kill A Mockingbird" is off-limits for most who talk to its author Harper Lee, but not to her close friend, the Rev. Thomas Lane Butts of the Monroeville Methodist Church. "We talk about it once in a while," he tells Paul Toohey of Australia's Sunday Telegraph. "She once said to me when we were up late one night, sharing a bottle of scotch: 'You ever wonder why I never wrote anything else?' And I said, 'Well, along with a million other people, yes'. I espoused two or three ideas. I said maybe you didn't want to compete with yourself. She said, 'Bull ... Two reasons: one, I wouldn't go through the pressure and publicity I went through with To Kill A Mockingbird for any amount of money. Second, I have said what I wanted to say and I will not say it again'."

Resource Roundup ~ Suspense & Historical Research ~ Plus Some Freebies

2011-08-24T06:00:00.000-05:00

Historical Reading and Research:

Today I offer a couple of great links for historical authors. The first is to an index of inspirational historical fiction. If you've written a work in this genre you can contact the list hostess and she will add your book for you. This is a great site for doing comparables for proposals also. Inspirational Historical Fiction Index

Then there is this great site I found that has cataloged hundreds of links to articles about the Civil War. So if you need to do some research on the Civil War check out: The American Civil War Homepage

Suspense / Thriller / Crime Fiction Research:

The links in this section are all to sites that have varying relation to medical or crime research. First there is Redwood's Medical Edge. She blogs about tons of medical stuff and you can email her with questions, too.

Then there is APB Online, a crime blog that exclusively covers current crime news.

CopNet offers tons of information on police procedures and agencies around the country.

Crime and Clues is a forensics site.

And the TruTV Crime Library has tons of stories of real life crimes.

General Research:

If you would like to hear the dialect that your character speaks so you can authentically write their speech, check out The International Dialects of English Archive.

InfoPlease and RefDesk are two sites that might have useful information on your topic of research.

Promotion:

Lastly, if you are in the thick of promoting a new release, or even a book that's been out for awhile, I've found Build Book Buzz to be a helpful site.

That's all the links I have for you today. Hopefully some of them will be helpful to you! As always, if you have a site that benefits you in one of these areas, please don't hesitate to share it with our readers in the comments.

Fabulously Fun Friday: Writers Writing

2011-08-19T07:00:00.000-05:00

A Lesson in Backstory, from Lisa Gardner's The Survivors Club

2011-08-17T05:00:00.003-05:00

When Police Detective Sergeant Roan Griffin is introduced to the readers in The Survivors Club, he's talking to himself. He's rehearsing what he's going to say in response to certain questions, comments, when he arrives at his 8:30 briefing.

"Welcome back," they'd say.

"How are you doing?" they'd ask.

"My anxiety is operating within normal parameters," he'd reply.

Why would a police sergeant be nervous about going to a standard briefing? What's wrong with the man?

New York Times best selling author Lisa Gardner didn't answer these questions yet--and doesn't for quite some time. Instead, she gave us a six-paragraph backstory that begins with describing Griffin's stellar background in law enforcement, moves momentarily into his first introduction to Cindy (who we discover later became his wife), and finishes with memories of a specific event:

Two and a half years ago, when the third kid vanished from Wakefield and the pattern of a locally operating child predator became clear, there had never been any doubt that Griffin would head the investigation. He remembered being excited when he'd walked out of that briefing. He remembered the thrum of adrenaline in his veins, the flex of his muscles, the heady sense that he had once again begun a chase.

Two days before Cindy went for a routine checkup. Six months before everything went from bad to worse. Eleven months before he learned the true nature of the black abyss.

For the record, he'd nailed that son of a . . . For the record.

Lesson #1: Start with a hook. Although the backstory was a good read, Lisa didn't use it to introduce her character. She didn't begin the chapter with, "Griffin had joined the Rhode Island State Police force sixteen years ago. He'd started with four months in a rigorous boot camp . . . " If she'd begun with this dry biographical record of Griffin's accomplishments, she would've bored her reader to tears.

Instead of establishing his credibility at the first of the chapter, she put his credibility in question. She introduced him from deep inside his own head at a vulnerable time. For whatever reason, he was nervous about going to a routine briefing. This introduction captured the reader's attention--hooked him.

Lesson #2: Keep the backstory brief and immediate. We don't know who Griffin's parents are or his deepest high school secret, although Lisa undoubtedly knows. Her characterization is so realistic she probably writes 10,000 words per bio. But the reader doesn't need to know everything she does about the characters. What we needed to know is that Griffin wasn't always a nutcase, has police work in his blood, and had a case that ate at him. That's all we needed, and that's all Lisa provided at this point.

Lesson #3: If you write it, use it. Everything that Lisa wrote in this backstory served a function. The work record spoke immediately to her opening scene of Griffin talking to himself. Cindy, who was mentioned only twice in the entire segment, later became a major element, a heart-breaking twist, a wrenching pain in Griffin's gut. (If you've guessed it's because she died in the story, you're wrong. She died before the story began. I'm not giving spoilers: you'll have to read the novel.)

Lesson #4: Write a powerful ending to the backstory segment. Gardner's last line served as a hook on its own. We are now hooked on the character. Whatever he endured, we admire his grit, we're proud of his success. And we wonder why the man who nailed the bad guy is now worried about a simple briefing.

Backstory shouldn't be gratuitous. Make its word count earn a place in your novel. Maneuver it to serve your purpose--which should be to keep your reader hooked. Be discriminating in what you choose to reveal. Be merciless against uselessness. Ax the dead weight.

Interview with Crime Fictionista Nike Chillemi

2011-08-15T05:00:00.005-05:00

When you have a passion for crime fiction, you become the Crime Fictionista--at least you do if you're Nike Chillemi. And what better way for her to exhibit her expertise than to write crime novels? In her debut, Burning Hearts, twenty-three year old Erica Brogna has a jaded outlook on life, thanks to the horrors of WWII. But life’s evils become even more personal when whoever killed her mentor is now after her. Some say Harley-ridin’ Lorne Kincaid, the very man after her heart, is the murderer. Are they right?

Nike is also the founding board member of the Grace Awards, a reader's choice awards for excellence in Christian fiction, and she writes monthly book reviews for The Christian Pulse online magazine.

Readers will be hearing a lot about this talented author, so let's get to know her here:

AC: You’re a member of the “Edgy Christian Fiction Loves” (Ning). Explain what the group means by "edgy" Christian fiction.

Nike: It seems that members of the ECFL (Ning) have varied meanings for edgy Christian fiction. Of course, the default meaning almost everyone first thinks of is that the book is steamy, sensual, or sexual in at least a strong subtheme, if not in its major plot line. But many ECFL members have a broader meaning for "edgy." The novel, especially if it's a suspense, could be gritty. Burning Hearts falls into the gritty category due to its action scenes and the detailed description of the effects of the crime of murder via arson. Romance novels and women's fiction could tackle darker subthemes head-on, such as alcoholism, spousal and child abuse, etc. The one thing edgy fiction writers have in common is they don't put a shade on it, whatever the "it" is. They don't try to sanitize a gruesome subject, don't gloss it over, or make it more presentable. It is what it is.

AC: What are it’s boundaries? What is considered taboo?

Nike: Well, no subject would be taboo, IMO. There is a boundary, as far as I'm concerned. The Christian edgy fiction writer can present the subject as it really is, but should not sensationalize it. That's a fine line and one the author has to decide with the keen eye of an editor over his/her shoulder. Ultimately, the reader will be the final arbiter.

AC: What’s edgy about Burning Hearts?

Nike: First of all, I was shocked when I first submitted Burning Hearts to various contests and discovered half of the judges thought it was edgy. I'd never thought of myself as an edgy writer way back then. After all, the heroine and hero don't even kiss until the very end. It's a sweet romance between two young people who are quite inexperienced with the opposite sex. However, for some judges, what threw it into the edgy category is my accurate description of police procedure, detailed crime scenes, and blow-by-blow action scenes.

AC: Is there a point where you’d draw the line and say, “I’m not going to write that”?

Nike: Well, I tend to read far more edgy books than I write, so far. For me, it depends upon the characters. In Burning Hearts, Lorne and Erica are not socially adept in the romance department, so you're going to have a slowly developing tender romance. I just submitted book two in the series for editing. Goodbye Noel is a Christmas-themed historical romantic suspense in which the main characters are more mature and socially experienced, and so I'd have to rate it a "warm romance." All my books champion the victim of the crime. At least one of my major characters will be doggedly seeking justice for the victim. So, a line draws itself in the sand that I won't cross.

AC: Tell us about the novel.

Nike: One of the subthemes is America's recovery from World War II and the immigration that followed. I'm one quarter Czechoslovak, and I have a growing Czech immigrant community in my fictitious village of Sanctuary Point. Something quite interesting happened when the novel was in editing. I realized Erica is a bit like me. She wants to be a dress designer and I graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked in the bridal industry. She's independent and stubborn and it gets her into trouble. I'm independent and stubborn but it never got me into any trouble at all. Yeah, right. Erica's mother is very similar to my Czechoslovak grandmother. Mrs. B excels in the kitchen and has a great sense of humor. So did my grandmother. Mrs. B teases her children and is teased by them. I recall my grandmother swatting my dad with a kitchen towel. He'd laugh and hug her.

AC: What inspired the story?

Nike: I wish I had something exotic to say about how I came up with the storyline. The truth is I keep a file of possible plot lines. I've got about fifty stories in that file right now. I add to a storyline as something comes to me. One of them will grab hold of me. The characters start to take over and demand their story be told. That's what happened with Burning Hearts. I could see Erica and Lorne vividly and I had to write their story.

AC: Where do you get your ideas for the characters?

Nike: Sometimes I'll see a person in a restaurant or some place, and they catch my attention. I'll think, I should imagine an entire life for that person and put them in one of my books. And sometimes I do. With me the characters drive the story. I get ideas for storylines but when I find two main characters I'd like to spend some time with, they take over. Voila, I have a story. I'll change the plot line to fit the character rather than force the hero or heroine to do something that might be out of character for them.

AC: Big question: Outliner or Pantser, and why?

Nike: A little of both. I start with an idea for a story, and sometimes I see it from beginning to end. Then other times, half way through I realize I have no ending and have to work to construct one that satisfies. When writing a chapter I just write. No outline. Don't worry about a high point or dark moment for the chapter. Don't even care about a hook at the end too much. I keep writing until I get a first draft. Then I go back and might decide I have a bunch of lousy chapters, but still a great idea for a book. So, the rewriting begins. When banging out the first draft, as soon as a chapter is completed, I write a very short synopsis of it and create a plot line file, chapter by chapter. Then I can go back and look to see if I have a dark moment and a riveting climax or if work is needed.

AC: Love that short synopsis idea. Great tip.
What's your strongest trait as a writer?

Nike: I keep at it and I'm teachable. My writing has improved a great deal since I started this journey five years ago.

AC: Weakest?

Nike: I want the reader to get so caught up in the drama of the romance or the chase to catch the murderer that I sometimes don't put in enough backstory. I always have to look at that. Does the character have enough depth?

AC: That's a new one for me--someone wo doesn't put in enough backstory!
Is being published with Desert Breeze a goal or a stepping-stone? What are you striving for?

Nike: Desert Breeze is a great place to be and is both a goal and a stepping-stone. I love Desert Breeze because writers there are allowed to express their creativity. It's a terrific writing experience for me. On the other hand, I may have a novel in me that isn't a fit for Desert Breeze. If that should happen, I'd shop it elsewhere and that would not be a problem. Several Desert Breeze authors also publish elsewhere.

More about Burning Hearts:

Erica Brogna’s (23) parents doted on her and taught her to think for herself. Many boys she grew up with have fallen in the war, shaking her childhood faith. In rides a handsome stranger, at the hour of her most desperate need. A woman who is her best friend and mentor is trapped in a burning house. After making an unsuccessful rescue attempt, Erica stands by as this man rushes into the inferno and carries her friend’s lifeless body out.

Lorne Kincade (27) can’t out run his past on his Harley Davidson WLA, the civilian model of the motorcycle he rode in the war. He’s tried. He’s been a vagabond biker in the year since the war ended. His Uncle Ivar bequeathed him a ramshackle cottage in Sanctuary Point, on the Great South Bay of Long Island, NY and now he’d like to hope for a future again, repair the minuscule place, and settle down. The only problem is, a young woman with hair the color of mink is starting to get under his skin and that’s the last thing he needs.

Great story, Nike. Thanks for joining us!

Fabulously Fun Friday ~ Writing Jokes

2011-08-12T06:00:00.008-05:00

There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer.
When asked to define great, he said, "I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger!"
He now works for Microsoft writing error messages.

A visitor to a certain college paused to admire the new Hemingway Hall that had been built on campus.
"It's a pleasure to see a building named for Ernest Hemingway," he said.
"Actually," said his guide, "it's named for Joshua Hemingway. No relation."
The visitor was astonished. "Was Joshua Hemingway a writer, also?"
"Yes, indeed," said his guide. "He wrote a check."

A writer died and was given the option of going to heaven or hell.
She decided to check out each place first. As the writer descended into the fiery pits, she saw row upon row of writers chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they were repeatedly whipped with thorny lashes.
"Oh my," said the writer. "Let me see heaven now."
A few moments later, as she ascended into heaven, she saw rows of writers, chained to their desks in a steaming sweatshop. As they worked, they, too, were whipped with thorny lashes.
"Wait a minute," said the writer. "This is just as bad as hell!"
"Oh no, it's not," replied an unseen voice. "Here, your work gets published."

A screenwriter comes home to a burned down house. His sobbing and slightly-singed wife is standing outside. “What happened, honey?” the man asks.
“Oh, John, it was terrible,” she weeps. “I was cooking, the phone rang. It was your agent. Because I was on the phone, I didn’t notice the stove was on fire. It went up in seconds. Everything is gone. I nearly didn’t make it out of the house. Poor Fluffy is--”
“Wait, wait. Back up a minute,” The man says. “My agent called?”

I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?"
She answered, "If I tell you, it will defeat the purpose."

A hungry lion was roaming through the jungle looking for something to eat. He came across two men. One was sitting under a tree reading a book; the other was typing away on his typewriter.
The lion quickly pounced on the man reading the book and devoured him. Even the king of the jungle knows that readers digest and writers cramp.

Q. What's the difference between publishers and terrorists?

A. You can negotiate with terrorists.

THREE GUYS ARE SITTING AT A BAR
#1: "...Yeah, I make $75,000 a year after taxes."

#2: "What do you do for a living?"

#1: "I'm a stockbroker. How much do you make?

#2: "I should clear $60,000 this year."

#1: "What do you do?"

#2: "I'm an architect."

The third guy has been sitting there quietly, staring into his beer, when the others turn to him.
    #2: "Hey, how much do you make per year?"
    #3: "Gee... hmmm... I guess about $13,000."
    #1: "Oh yeah? What kind of stories do you write?"

How many science fiction writers does it take to change a light bulb?
Two, but it's actually the same person doing it. He went back in time and met himself in the doorway and then the first one sat on the other one's shoulder so that they were able to reach it. Then a major time paradox occurred and the entire room, light bulb, changer and all was blown out of existence. They co-existed in a parallel universe, though.

Q. How many mystery writers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A. Two. One to screw it almost all the way in, and the other to give it a surprising twist at the end.

Q. How many cover blurb writers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A. A VAST AND TEEMING HORDE STRETCHING FROM SEA TO SHINING SEA!!!!

Did you hear the one about the pregnant woman who went into labor and began to yell, "Couldn't! Wouldn't! Shouldn't! Didn't! Can't!"? She was having contractions.

I got these great writer's jokes from Jokes About Writers

Review of 45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt

2011-08-10T07:00:00.001-05:00

Based on the archetypes found in ancient mythology (mostly Grecian), Schmidt has created forty-five models “for creating original characters.” Included are fifteen feminine and fifteen masculine archetypes, as well as fifteen secondary character models. The personalities range from Artemis the warrior and Hera the mother to Hades the hermit and Zeus the ruler.

Each archetype (with the exclusion of the supporting characters which are grouped into three chapters) is described and analyzed in an easily scanned chapter. Fears, dreams, goals, and motivations are listed, along with a glimpse into the “Hyde side” of each character’s personality. Each entry concludes with a list of movies, television shows, literary works, and historical instances in which the archetype may be recognized.

Although interesting, I felt it would be difficult for an author to allow the archetypes to form the basis of characters when writing. The book might be better used as a reference point to ensure uniformity in an already existing character’s personality.

However, if for nothing else, 45 Master Characters is worth perusing just for the sake of the last two chapters which provide detailed outlines of both the feminine and masculine journeys.

Three Thriller Tips

2011-08-08T04:00:00.004-05:00

This is another post dedicated to genre writers, specifically, those interested in writing thrillers. Zachary Petit, managing editor of Writer's Digest magazine, gleaned three tips from bestselling medical thriller writer Michael Palmer (The Last Surgeon) that thriller authors should keep in mind when planning their novels.

1. Formulate a what-if question for your book.
For his book Extreme Measures, Palmer wondered, What if there’s a powerful substance that can make a person look dead if they’re not? He says your question should be highly stylized—no more than 25 words and two sentences: “The essence of what you’re going to be searching for in your book,” he says. “You should read it over and over. It should make perfect sense to you.”

Then, you’ll have the concept well-shaped in your mind, and that will help you craft your novel, and also allow you to pitch it in a pinch when you need to … say, in that storied scenario where you find yourself in an elevator with a literary agent, and you’ve got until Floor 3 to seal the deal.

2. Develop a MacGuffin.
Palmer explains the MacGuffin, a term popularized by Alfred Hitchcock and a key in thrillers, as basically the answer to your what-if question.

When he wondered about the substance that can make a person look dead but keep them alive, he thought, Suppose they used it to remove people from society? And that became his MacGuffin.

It’s the thing that drives your novel—for instance, it could be what the characters are seeking to get their hands on or discover, regardless of what that is, or why (a popular example is the film Citizen Kane, and the meaning of the word “Rosebud”). Palmer says you should start your book with the MacGuffin, even if you end up changing it later.

3. Answer the question, Whose book is this?
Consider who has the most at stake—“That’s how you can figure out who your main character is going to be,” Palmer says.

When he’s working on a book, once Palmer knows who his protagonist is, he starts to dig deeper How old is he/she? What does he/she do? Where did he/she grow up? What’d he/she eat for breakfast?

In the end, Palmer says it starts to bring the character to life—and by imbuing his characters with tiny human quirks, readers relate to them. After all, in the author’s opinion, people believe they’re reading books to see what happens, but inevitably, it doesn’t matter—people are reading those books because the author has led them to care about the characters.

Writer's Digest magazine has a number of free services, including a free weekly writing newsletter. I highly recommend it.

Sign Language

2011-08-05T05:00:00.005-05:00

Alex Adena has tons of these on his sight, Signs and Wonders. Be sure to check it out!

Waiter, There’s a Smphurphle in My Fantasy Novel!

2011-08-03T07:00:00.002-05:00

One of the joys writing fantasy is the necessity of creating unique names for your unique worlds, races, creatures, and technology. Even the best of fantasy writers occasionally take this to a worrisome extreme, however, when they start slapping made-up names on things that really aren’t so fantastical after all. In Alchemy With Words (edited by Darin Park and Tom Dullemond), Milena Benini elaborates:

The great late Damon Knight … strongly objected to people calling their small, short-tailed, fluffy animals, smeerps—when they could perfectly well have called them rabbits instead…. [I]f you are inventing a world different from our own, by all means call whatever is really different by a really different name. Just make sure you don’t merely call a horse a glymph.

Unless you’re striving for a humorous effect, you’re usually better off using prosaic words for even your most inherently original elements. The Flaming Purple Smphurphle just doesn’t inspire the same quality of verisimilitude found in the calmer (if admittedly less intriguing) ondiron, or the even simpler and more versatile flint dagger. Hugo winner David Gerrold points out, in his book Worlds of Wonder:

Occasionally, you may feel the need to make up a new word…. Sometimes you can do this to great effect, but not always…. When you are writing science fiction or fantasy, you will always be tempted to make up new words—especially technical-sounding terms like quadro-triticale and veeble-fetzer…. As a general rule, you should always be wary of inventing new words.

Fantasy authors have just as much responsibility as their less fantastical comrades to ground their stories in a sense of reality. Consider the languages spoken in your fantasy world. How has history and technology influenced the etymology? Why has this particular item gleaned this particular name? If you know why something is called a smphurphle, go for it. Otherwise, you’re probably better off toning it down to a less attention-grabbing word, so as not to prod your readers’ suspension of disbelief bubbles.

Google+ ~ New Social Media Phenom? Or Fizzle?

2011-08-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

Okay, so first let me admit that I'm very new to Google+. I mostly joined just to see what all the fuss was about, and because I didn't want to miss an opportunity to reach readers if I felt they were hanging out on Google+.

My initial thought after being over there for a month or so: What's the big deal?

But in fairness, let me do a little comparison for you between Facebook and Google+.

I do like the way Google+ handles organizing your friends a little better than Facebook. I've never grouped my friends on Facebook simply because it feels like too much of a hassle. However Google+ makes creating your own groups for friends and moving them in there as simple as drag and drop. And you can add one friend to more than one group - so if you have a friend who is an author and a personal friend, you can put them in both groups.

I also like the fact that on Google+ you can remove yourself from a conversation. (Upper right corner of a comment, drop down the menu and choose "mute this post.") So if you wish someone a happy birthday, you don't have to endure the 50 emails from the 50 other people who are also giving out birthday wishes. However, I noticed on Facebook just the other day that they have also made this option available - I believe on Facebook the option reads "Leave this Conversation."

Google+ seems to make finding new friends - read: potential readers - harder than Facebook does. On Facebook I can join a group or a page that is related to the subject of my books and from there befriend many potential readers. However on Google+ this is not possible. (At least not that I've found yet. If I'm wrong, correct me.)

I haven't found any games on Google+ either. This could be a good thing (no more people offering to give you a rare, purple, spotted chicken for your hen-house in Farmville,) but I have to say that I do like to take a few minutes to relax with a short little game once in awhile, and Facebook does have some fun ones - ones I can play with my friends.

Basically other than the above, the two sites are pretty much exactly the same. And most of the action is still over on Facebook. So for what it's worth, my opinion is, you aren't missing much if you aren't on Google+ yet. But I plan to keep my eye on it.

Anyone have any other thoughts? Things I may have overlooked either Pros or Cons?

What makes for a great thriller?

2011-07-27T11:08:00.004-05:00

We have an open slot in the AuthorCulture schedule today, so I thought I'd give y'all some insight into a specific form of genre writing—the thriller. Jessica Strawser posted an interview with David Morrell and Ken Follett. Follett is a legendary thriller author whose break-out novel was the 1978 book Eye of the Needle. David Morrell’s first book in 1972, First Blood, introduced the character of John Rambo. (Both books were made into iconic movies.)

In this snip from the article, Ken and David talk a little about what makes a thriller.

What do both of you think are the really essential elements to a thriller? When you’re developing that outline, what has to be in there?

KF: Well, I always say thrillers are about people in danger. And while it’s easy enough to think up a dangerous situation to put the people in, the challenge then is to draw that out for 100,000 words in such a way that the danger is constantly present, that the story is still developing internally. There’s a rule of thumb that says every four to six pages the story should turn. If you leave it longer than that, people start to get bored. If it’s shorter than that, it’s too frenetic. And a story turn is anything that changes the situation for the characters, so it could be quite minor—somebody telling a little lie—but it’s a story turn. And so the challenge for me is not thinking of dangerous situations to put the people in—that’s easy. The challenge is then drawing out that suspense, their responses to it, their interactions with one another, their interactions with the bad guys, and making that into a consistent drama that lasts 100,000 words.

DM: Reversal and recognition, Aristotle said. You know, that a twist causes the character to understand something about him- or herself that wasn’t there before. Aristotle in some ways had it all—I discovered if you change the words that are in the translations, it sounds like a modern writing book. And reversal and recognition is a pretty cool thing.

In Ken’s work, particularly Eye of the Needle—what makes that a place in thriller literature, and I like to think First Blood is the same way—neither book feels like a genre book. It has umpteen action scenes and all of that, but we believe that this story is happening to actual people. The element of believability.

Anybody who sits down to write and they think thriller maybe shouldn’t be thinking that way. Maybe we should be thinking novel, maybe thriller way in the background, but that these are real people to whom things are happening. It just happens to be a hell of an exciting story.

I highly recommend reading the rest of the article. It's a long, luxurious, in-depth peek into how these authors write. Morrell is more of a classic pantser while Follett's devotion to the outline is stunning. (He says he typically spend between six months and a year on the outline before he begins writing, and explains his process in some detail.) The entire post is fascinating and well worth the read even if you don't write thriller stories.

Resource Roundup - Lots of Little Things Today

2011-07-25T11:47:00.000-05:00

Most of these links will be helpful if you write historical fiction of any type. But there are other genres that would find a couple of these links helpful, too.

Need to know about vintage hats, anyone? http://vintagefashionguild.org/fashion-history/the-history-of-womens-hats/

Or how about the parts of furniture? When you need that illusive synonym this site can be very handy. Don't forget to check out the categories on the side. http://www.props.eric-hart.com/resources/parts-of-a-chair/

Struggling with how to describe your heroine's purple dress from 1862? Or simply need a dress to throw on her? Check out this site: http://www.antiquedress.com/gallerymuseum1new.htm

This is a LONG list of internet sites that do reviews of books. Great promotion opportunities here! http://authorautobahn.webs.com/reviewers.htm

I love the food timeline found at: http://www.foodtimeline.org/fooddecades.html

And here are a few links for design elements. Whether you need a background for your website, book cover, or whatever.

I played for way too long with this tartan creator.

Here is a reflection maker: http://www.reflectionmaker.com/

A Stripe Generator: http://www.stripegenerator.com/

And a navigation tab generator: http://www.tabsgenerator.com/

If you are designing your own website GRSites.Com has a ton of helpful backgrounds and other nifty stuff. This link goes to their huge database of background textures, but don't forget to explore the other offerings on their site - there's LOTS there. http://www.grsites.com/archive/textures/

And that's it for today, folks. Have a super week. And if you have some other nifty websites to share along these lines, feel free to do so in the comments.

Luke Sees A Therapist

2011-07-22T09:56:00.002-05:00

What do you do when your favorite genre hero has issues?

Link courtesy of Blastr.

Lessons From the Prose - The Great Gatsby

2011-07-20T04:00:00.008-05:00

I'm taking liberties with this edition of Lessons From The Pros to point you to Roger Ebert's recent post about reading literacy, the power of prose, and F. Scott Fitzgerald's mastery of literary style with his classic novel, The Great Gatsby. There's something to be said here about what makes a good story into a great novel. Ebert introduces his piece with a bit of compare / contrast:

I noticed the particular beauty of its conclusion. After the whole doomed scenario has played out, Nick looks once again across the waters of the Sound:

Most of the big shore places were closed now and there were hardly any lights except the shadowy, moving glow of a ferryboat across the Sound. And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors' eyes--a fresh, green breast of the new world. Its vanished trees, the trees that had made way for Gatsby's house, had once pandered in whispers to the last and greatest of all human dreams; for a transitory enchanted moment man must have held his breath in the presence of this continent, compelled into an æsthetic contemplation he neither understood nor desired, face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.

And as I sat there, brooding on the old unknown world, I thought of Gatsby's wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy's dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.

Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded us then, but that's no matter--tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther. . . . And one fine morning----

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

Evocative. Poetic. Perfect. Too good, in fact, for the "intermediate level" readers of the Macmillan Reader edition of the novel, as "retold by Margaret Tarner."*

Read her closing words:

Gatsby had believed in his dream. He had followed it and nearly made it come true.

Everybody has a dream. And, like Gatsby, we must all follow our dream wherever it takes us.

Some unpleasant people became part of Gatsby's dream. But he cannot be blamed for that. Gatsby was a success, in the end, wasn't he?

About the novel - that work is widely considered to be one of the quintessential examples of the Great American Novel, and is ranked second in a list of the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century. Fitzgerald was a master stylist, and crafted his tales in a unique fashion. "Literary opinion makers were reluctant to accord Fitzgerald full marks as a serious craftsman. His reputation as a drinker inspired the myth that he was an irresponsible writer; yet he was a painstaking reviser whose fiction went through layers of drafts. Fitzgerald’s clear, lyrical, colorful, witty style evoked the emotions associated with time and place."

And so, knowing all that about this singular writer and his incomparable novel, who would try to rewrite Gatsby? A novel is more than just the journalistic recording of a story, it is about the craft and artistry and singular voice by which the novel is rendered.

"I learn that the Margaret Tarner "retelling" employs an Intermediate Level vocabulary of "about 1,600 basic words." Upper Level students can feast on 2,200 basic words.

There are so many things I want to say about this that even an Upper Level vocabulary may prove inadequate.

The first is: There is no purpose in "reading" The Great Gatsby unless you actually read it. Fitzgerald's novel is not about a story. It is about how the story is told. Its poetry, its message, its evocation of Gatsby's lost American dream, is expressed in Fitzgerald's style--in the precise words he chose to write what some consider the great American novel. Unless you have read them, you have not read the book at all. You have been imprisoned in an educational system that cheats and insults you by inflicting a barbaric dumbing-down process. You are left with the impression of having read a book, and may never feel you need return for a closer look.

There is a place for style, for artistry. I love looking at how novels are started. Consider the difference between "I am a lonely sailor" and "Call me Ishmael." Contrast "It was a cold, hard winter" versus "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." Literary prose is more than just the telling of a story, it is also how that story is told.

We were talking about this among ourselves recently, noting that readers are smart and don't need nearly as much hand-holding to understand a story as you might think. Part of the brilliance of the original Star Wars novel (which we now know as Episode Four, A New Hope) was how George Lucas plopped us right in the middle of a much larger story without explaining all the back story. Lucas (and his ghost writer for that novel, Alan Dean Foster) introduced the desert planet of Tatooine and its binary stars. It was not necessary to detail all the history leading up to that moment. Without prologue, Lucas started right off with a fleeing cruiser being attacked by a pursuing Imperial Star Destroyer. In the first five pages, he introduces the two droids, the massive Dark Lord of the Sith, and the mysterious Princess.

It is enough. We're hooked. And if you can cultivate the unique voice of an F. Scott Fitzgerald, you not only have the events of the story, but also the artisty of the author and his prose. Tell your own story. Develop your own voice.

* I'm as quick as any to point out the need to be aware of one's audience, and context is important. Roger amended his post to reflect that Tarner's book was written for students of English as a second language. He adds "If it is, my question would be: Why not have ESL learners begin with Young Adult novels? Why not write books with a simplified vocabulary? Why eviscerate Fitzgerald? Why give a false impression of Jay Gatsby?" Fair question.

Fabulously Fun Friday: Poor Pronouns

2011-07-15T07:00:00.000-05:00

This one comes compliments of Lorna G. Poston. Click on the image for a larger view.

Review of The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference

2011-07-13T07:00:00.002-05:00

Any book claiming to be a “complete reference” guide is setting itself a mighty high bar to reach. The Writer’s Complete Fantasy Reference doesn’t come anywhere close to offering a complete view of such a vast subject as fantasy fiction, but, for readers willing to accept its limitations, it still presents a handy reference manual and more than few sparks of inspiration.

But, first, its faults: The subject matter is aimed almost entirely at writers of high fantasy. Urban, contemporary, and steampunk authors (among others) won’t find much of use here. Even just a cursory glance through the book shows that it focuses on the history, weaponry, and clothing of the Middle Ages. (And, in fact, the book could almost have been written for authors of medieval historical fiction as much as for authors of fantasy.)

The entries, each written by a different author, come together in an uneven whole. The book opens with a few chapters on cultures (including what I felt was the most eye-opening chapter of the book, which focused on little-known and -used cultures, which authors could use to step away from the typical fantasy stereotypes of medieval western Europe), then dives into two heavyweight chapters on magic and follows up with relatively brief (and, in my opinion, as someone who’s studied medieval history, incomplete) chapters on commerce, costumes, warfare, and castles. Chapters on fantasy races—both classic and lesser known—were interesting, but didn’t offer much new information or much inspiration for creating original creatures.

Despite its limitations, however, I did feel the book offered a decent overview of fantasy standards and stereotypes, which should prove useful to beginning authors. Even better, its glossaries of fantasy and medieval terms are a handy addition to the resource shelf, if you plan to write anything that will feature castles and swords. This is certainly isn’t a must-read for fantasy authors, but if you can pick up a copy cheap somewhere, you may find it has its uses.

Why Your Reader Is Your Co-Writer

2011-07-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Authors would save themselves a lot of work if they would just remember they have a partner in this storytelling game. Their readers. Literature, more than any other art form, is a collaboration between writer and reader. The writer provides the building materials—the plot, characters, dialogue, and details—which the reader then uses to construct a visual and auditory story in his imagination.

The more involved our readers, the more vivid their reading experience will become—and the better our stories will be. The trick for authors is figuring out how to get out of the reader’s way and let him personify our stories in a way that brings the action and emotion to unforgettable life. In his writing craft book Unless It Moves the Human Heart, Roger Rosenblatt compares this partnership to the one we see every time we go to the movies:

…great movie actors leave the work to the audience. …They just say their pieces and the moviegoers fill in the emotions. A good writer does the same thing. If you have something worthwhile to say and you just say it, plainly and clearly, your reader will add in his or her life and feel it personally. Your reader will think it was you who gave him the depth of feeling that’s unearthed. But all you did was hint at it. It was he who dredged up the great heartbreak, or delirium, or outrage at injustice. You merely created the sparking words.

Have you read a book or watched a movie that connected you to the characters in such a way that you could almost hear their unspoken thoughts? The Bourne trilogy, Black Hawk Down, While You Were Sleeping, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, and The Kid are just a handful of movies with the ability to accomplish this for me—and, naturally, they’re all perennial favorites as a result.

Good actors make this kind of understatement an art. What the likes of Matt Damon, Russell Crowe, and Bruce Willis can accomplish with a facial quirk and a moment of silence requires more effort and thought from a novelist, since descriptions of character expressions don’t usually carry the same weight as their visual equivalents. Below are a few tricks you can utilize to leave room for your reader to fill in the blanks in a powerful and personal way.

1. Speak plainly. Don’t confuse understatement with ambiguity. Readers shouldn’t be left to wonder what you mean. If your character is angry/ecstatic/terrified/guilt-ridden, spell it out.

2. Don’t over-explain. Don’t feel you need to explain every little thought and emotion that pops into your character’s heads. Once you’ve shown the reader what’s going on inside the character’s mind, move on.

3. Don’t under-explain. Internal narrative is our gift to our readers. Unless you’re going for a Hemingway-esque style (which isn’t recommended, unless you’re Hemingway), don’t skimp on internal narrative. Balance—just the right amount, no more, no less—is the key to effective narrative.

4. Rely on unique and evocative action beats. Authors aren’t able to achieve the same nuance of personality and emotion as actors on the screen (saying your character stared moodily or quirked an eyebrow really won’t convey all that much to your reader). But we can utilize physical responses unique to our characters and their situations to help readers see our cast as realistic and unique human beings.

5. Rely on dialogue. The subtext offered by dialogue—subtext that often says something entirely different from the words themselves—gives us a marvelous opportunity for understatement. Ideally, your dialogue should be so crisp and original that readers will have no difficulty hearing the character’s voice and all its many shades of meaning.

6. Show, don’t tell. Finally, this oft-repeated bit of advice bears sharing once more. If you have a choice between saying your character is angry, having him think Oh, I’m so angry, or showing him heaving a raw chicken at someone’s head in a fit of temper—always opt for the latter.

The art of bringing the reader in as a co-writer is ultimately the entire art of fiction. But these few tips will give you a head-start as you seek to deepen your stories and bring your characters to life.