Change

Current Project: Whiskers and Wine
Status: Plotting & Character Development

<--- Check her out! Someone is enjoying summer in all her muddy glory. Kinsey. She cracks me up.

The title of my blog is pretty bland, I know, but very succinct! I subscribe to these fabulous daily affirmations that are all about change. Today's was particularly apt:

Speak the truth in an effort to create the necessary changes.
Honesty is required if you want the help of others.

I'm not asking for help, but I am announcing change. I received my membership renewal notice from RWA the other day and I've decided not to renew. The dues have gone up, which I find odd since folks everywhere are scrambling for their next dime just to survive, and I figured it's time for a change. With all the various groups and forums online, there's no lack of writerly support and friendship, but I admit I'm really going to miss you guys.

Change is a good thing. I'm no stranger to it, and the experiences change brings usually enriches and invigorates.

I'm hoping the next change for me will be my publishing status. Whee! MYSTIC TAXI is now officially out on submission, and on an exclusive with one publisher this week, then to another one next week. I'm excited to see where these exclusive publisher reviews might lead. *rubs hands together vigorously*

I'll be sure to keep in touch with you all outside the chapter, and I hope you'll still invite me to the next beach retreat. You know how much I adore those! Take care and best of luck to you all! :)

A New Point of View

Current Project: Whiskers and Wine
Status: Story Dreaming

I've got lots going on today, like Wavy had yesterday, so this is going to be a quick post. And to steal from Wavy, I'm presenting you with an exercise! I like writing exercises.

I've never had point of view problems, first or third, makes no difference. I love writing them all. However, when it comes to tailoring point of view for a specific character, it may take me a few tries to get it right. I need to have a good feeling for the character whose voice I'm using.

In my ambitious women's fiction project, my heroine, aside from being an aspiring pole dancer, makes her living as a cat behaviorist. She's owned by 5 cats. I want to write a few scenes from a cat's point of view. This is a light-hearted story, so there are moments of humor, but nothing slapstick stupid. So I won't be going into lolcatz speak. But the voice of the cat(s) will be arrogant, bratty, and childlike, which is how I perceive my own kitties.

Your assignment, should you be so inclined, is to write something -- anything -- from your pet's point of view. Cat, dog, bird, fish, ferret, makes no difference. And if you don't have a pet, borrow a friend's. Or use the squirrel that hangs out in the tree in your yard. How about a bee or a fly? Just slip into alien skin and see what comes out.

I almost used an exorcise from my book CAFFEINE FOR THE CREATIVE MIND, but the 250 exercises in there are mostly on the eccentric side. But, if you'd rather not write from an alien perspective, how about coming up with a happy meal toy for an adult? That should get your synapses snappin'. :) Have fun!

Betwixt and Between

Current Project: MYSTIC TAXI
Status: Agent revisions

What do you do when you find yourself between projects? That's where I am right now, and I think I know what I'll work on next, but I'm not a hundred percent sure.

Right now I'm making revisions to Mystic Taxi for my agent, and they're mostly in the last half of the book. A couple of them will make it hard to prevent a ripple effect in the rest of the book, but I think I have it mostly figured out. Then after I'm done? *crickets*

What I'd like to do is start on the next book in the Mystic series, but I had an hour- long conversation with my agent last week about "next steps." She'd rather I not work on sequels to either of my "as yet" unsold series. She doesn't want me wasting time on the off chance neither sells. So she wants me to write something new.

So we talked about new stuff. I have a half dozen ideas scribbled down that I'd like to pursue someday, and not all are the same genre. I love dark, edgy stuff with a strong supernatural slant, but I also like light, sensitive material with a mild supernatural slant. The supernatural weirdness is my signature and it's in everything I write, even when it's only a subtle hint.

I told my agent about my pole dancer story idea, and she wasn't too sure about it, mostly because the idea is too bare bones at this point. My MC's character arc is sketchy. However, I've been story dreaming on it and I think I have it together now, along with a full cast of quirky offbeat folks in a small coastal town in Oregon. It's more like women's fiction, but with a magical realism quality similar to Alice Hoffman (whose work I adore). I'll write the first chapter of WHISKERS AND WINE along with a one-page synopsis to send my agent for her feedback before I go any further. We both agreed that was the best way to start.

One point my agent emphasized was that I should write whatever excites me.

An agent has more value than just selling your book. He or she is also your guidance counselor. Most agents, though not all, represent your career as well as your book. I've come to depend on my agent for advice both on my work (she's really, really good at that) and my writing future. I feel like I'd be floundering right now without her.

Within the groups and forums I'm on, it's common for some writers to agonize over one completed project, the book that was meant to open doors to a future they'd dreamed about for a lifetime. They have no other projects started. No other books completed. They just received a rejection on the full requested by their dream agent. Or if they have an agent, he or she has approached every publisher in the country and all of them passed on the book. These depressed writers are ready to give up. It's so sad, and so unnecessary. Writers write. We can't help ourselves. No wonder they're depressed.

Do you have your career mapped out? I know Genene has her ambitious series planned (I bow down to Genene's courage and fortitude *grin*), Eli has her work cut out for her, and Alice is a storytelling machine. :) How about the rest of you? Do you know what your next book will be? Is there anything that could happen that might make you change your mind? Or will you stand by your original goal no matter what?

Series Books

Current Project: Clockwork Cat
Status: Planning

When you've written the first book in a series, and your agent is shopping it to publishers, do you start writing the next book? Or do you wait until the first book sells? That's the question I'm dealing with now, and it's exactly where I was a year ago. I've written two books for two completely different series, and I'm ready to start the next project. But which series will it be? Or should it be something totally new? Hmm…

I have notes written for book two of my Knight series, and for book two of my steampunk urban fantasy series. Which one do I pursue? I plan to discuss this with my agent the next time we talk, but I think it's a good topic to mull over on the blog. Many of us are working on series books, some that are sold, and some that are hopefuls. So I thought exploring the topic might be beneficial to us all. How has it worked out for you?

There's a school of thought that a writer should go ahead and write the next book because then it will be ready to go when the first book sells. But what if the first book doesn't sell? If the second book is dependant on the first, you could be in a quandary. Though series books should be able to stand alone, some are more obviously linked than others.

I'm reading C.E. Murphy's HOUSE OF CARDS, the second book in her Negotiator series. I read the first book quite some time ago and have only a vague recollection of the characters and backstory. I'm having a tough time figuring out what the hell's going on in book two. I may have to reread book one to get my bearings, and I'd really rather not. This could be why this series was discontinued after the third book came out.

An excellent example of a series that works perfectly fine with each book standing by itself is Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I've read those out of order and each one is terrific all by itself. The only ongoing theme in the books is who will Steph pick: Ranger or Morelli. You never know from book to book who it might be. Oh, and also what car she'll blow up next. Almost forgot about that one. :)

I think it's harder for books to stand alone if they have the same main character in subsequent books. There's all the backstory to consider, and a writer has to be really good at his or her craft to make it work.

The series books that don't depend on one main character to carry the story usually do well as stand alones. A reader could read them out of order and not get lost. Like Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, and Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. Still, you want to read all the books because characters are mentioned from earlier books and you naturally want to know more about them. I think that's a great selling point for this type of series.

In both my series, I have one main character to carry over to each book. In the steampunk series, it's actually two main characters because they're a team. I plan for the story in each book to be independent of each other so they can be read out of order.

I know we've discussed this topic before, but it never gets old to me, especially when I'm stuck between books. I'm thinking of other story idea alternatives and I'm even toying with the idea of writing a middle grade adventure series for boys. I have a half-dozen ideas for all kinds of books. Which one do I work on next? I'm hoping my agent will help me decide.

Do you, or did you, go ahead and write the next book in your series? Why or why not?

The Devil in the Details

Current Project: Clockwork Cat
Status: Outline (sort of, because I don't outline)

Ever since I started taking three-mile walks with Kinsey (aka Pupzilla), I’ve tugged some old conference workshop CDs from mothballs and am re-listening to a lot of oldies but goodies. The agent and editor panel discussions are obsolete (but entertaining) since this industry changes on a dime, but the craft workshops are still spot on. I’d forgotten how good a lot of them are.

All my conference workshop CDs are from past Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Colorado Gold conferences. They’re awesome. I enjoy listening to the voices of old friends I haven’t seen for a while, and who I look forward to seeing again in the fall. But there are also some excellent workshops conducted by guest speakers, many of whom are award winning and best selling authors.

In 2004, the CG conference was fortunate to have professional journalist and mystery author Jonathan King as our keynote speaker. The man has a journalist’s eye for detail, and he taught two workshops during the conference that reflected his genius. Since I’m making revisions to Mystic Taxi, and one of the issues is including and deleting details that slow or detract from the story, I listened very carefully to Jon’s advice.

It’s vital for journalists to make every word count, so extraneous details and explanations are verboten in their work. As fiction writers, we can learn a lot from good journalism.

Jon read from a variety of examples where the details were precise and telling, using very few words. The emotions ran high in many of them. My favorite was from a piece a journalist wrote about the Oklahoma City Bombing:

After the explosion, people learned to write left handed. To tie just one shoe. They learned to endure pieces of glass embedded in their flesh. To smile with faces that made them want to cry. To cry with glass eyes. They learned in homes where children had played to stand the quiet. They learned to sleep with pills, to sleep alone.

Without explicit explanations about how some people lost their right hands in the blast, their faces disfigured by shrapnel, how they had lost children and loved ones in the tragedy, this description effectively tells readers all they need to know about this life-altering catastrophe. I want to write like that.

He gave another example from a piece he’d written himself, and again it was a journalistic work, about a murder suicide. Jon took the details provided in the police report to paint a picture of how an ordinary afternoon spent at Disneyworld had ended in two tragic deaths. Heartbreaking. A receipt found in the dead man’s pocket revealed that just a couple hours before he shot his wife and then himself, he’d bought them both ice cream at Disneyworld. This is such a telling detail. What does it say about the man’s frame of mind? The man who killed his wife and then himself was a cop, by the way.

I could go on and on because Jonathan King provided dozens of amazing examples, but you’ll get much more from the workshop if you listen to it yourself. I copied the CD track to my computer and would be happy to email it you if you’re able to listen to AIFF audio files. I listen to them through iTunes.

I invite you to select an effective description in your WIP or finished manuscript that you feel is a good example of distinctive detail that tells more than it shows without actually explaining anything. It’s a challenge.

The Virtual Water Cooler

Current Project: Mystic Taxi
Status: Page 357

If any of you have ever worked in an office, or at least had co-workers sharing space, you know what it's like. You're never alone, there's always someone to talk to, you overhear gossip, you sometimes slip out for lunch together. Your work mates are your community. Well, I miss that.

So to make up for the lack of chumming around with work buddies, I play with my online writing pals online. And you know what? It's better than meeting in-person. There's more of us, that's for sure. Like an entire building's worth. Depending on the kind of virtual water cooler situation you're into, you can even "listen in" on conversations (lurk) as well as have private discussions (PM).

I don't know what I'd do without my online writing communities. I participate in a few, and some can be addictive. The one that sucks me in the most is the Absolute Write Water Cooler Forums. There are 30,000 members, each have varying interests, and you can chat about anything from how to train your puppy to asking for a critique of your query letter. There are even discussions about cooking, politics, screen writing, and every genre of fiction, short and long. It's an awesome place to have stimulating discussions and make long-lasting friendships.

I do have to force myself to stay away sometimes. The urge to communicate with other humans can be compelling. I can talk to my cats and my puppy all day long, but their only way to talk back is meows and barks. I need feedback, support and encouragement now and then. Online gatherings are almost as good as getting together face to face. Only I don't have to change out of my sweats or put make up on. That's awesome!

Besides this blog and the RWA loops, how else do you converse with other writers? If you don't work during the day, do you ever feel the need for adult human companionship?

Can we talk about critique?

Current Project: Mystic Taxi
Status: Page 328

My online critique group "meets" the first and fifteenth of every month. We meet via email, and the meeting consists of submitting chapters of our WIPs to each other. Most of us have been in this group for a long time, like over ten years, though we just brought a couple of excellent writers onboard to freshen things up. It's been great. Their stuff is fantastic!

One of the ongoing problems I have with my group is when someone says "...you need to remind us about thus and so. And you need to explain XYZ." Over the years, these suggestions have caused me to take on the bad habit of repeating myself more often than necessary, and over-explaining. My crit partners mean well, but what happens when you're submitting a novel chapter by chapter is that they forget information from something they haven't read for a while. Crit partners go on vacation, take a break from the group, or simply have swiss cheese memories. Sometimes they skip reading your stuff for months, then come back with suggestions for reminders and explanations. Ugh.
This means it's up to me to determine whether or not I should follow those suggestions. In my early writing days, I'd always follow whatever advice I was given, only to be told later by someone reading the book for the first time that I'm repeating myself and over explaining things. I'm trying to break myself of the habit, but after ten years of beating it into me, it hasn't been easy.

So what I've learned to do is flag those areas remarked upon by two of my crit buddies (it's always these same two writers, the others never mention reminders or the need for repeating details) and then when I'm done with the manuscript, I can determine if repetition and extra explanation is a warranted. Fresh beta readers help with this, too.

Are you in a critique group? What do you see as the pros and cons of critique? What's the worst advice you've ever received from a critique partner?

Begin at the beginning...

Current Project: Mystic Taxi
Status: Page 302

I haven't blogged about craft stuff for a while, so I thought I'd talk about beginnings today. Beginnings have become all the rage lately among writing-related blogs and forums. It's like if you don't nail down that first page, or perfect the hook that invites someone to read your first page, you're SOL.

There are a lot of ways to start a novel, not all of them good. We're familiar with those throat-clearing starts, the one where the writer is warming up to the story and needs to get all that preliminary set-up crap out of the way, like weather and the character waking up and what a tough childhood he had. Yawn. So we'll leave those as given no-nos and go on to some other first page killers.

I don't think readers can always identify what turns them off when they read the first page of a novel, but a lot of the reasons agents give for passing on a project would probably apply. Here are a few to consider:

• Opens with rhetorical question(s).
• The first line is about setting, not about story.
• Not enough happens on the first page.
• The opening contains clichéd phrases and/or situations (i.e. a character shakes his head to clear the cobwebs, character runs away from an unknown assailant, etc. )
• The main character responds to an unnamed thing (e.g., something dead in a bathtub, something horrible in a closet, someone on the other side of her peephole…) for more than a paragraph without naming it, creating false suspense.
• The characters talk about something (a photo, a person, the kitchen table) for more than a line without describing it, creating false suspense.
• The unnamed protagonist cliché: The woman ran through the forest... The man hid the knife in his pocket... yadda, yadda.
• Fake suspense created by some relevant fact that's kept from the reader for longer than a paragraph.
• The character spots him/herself in a mirror, in order to provide an excuse for a physical description.
• The first page is straight narration that doesn't involve the character doing anything.
• Too much physical descriptions in the opening paragraph, rather than action or conflict.
• When the first lines are dialogue, the speaker is not identified.
• The book opens with a flashback, rather than what's going on now.
• Descriptive asides pull the reader out of the conflict of the scene.
• No conflict.
• Too much repetition.
• Too many generalities.
• Stakes are not high enough.
• Story is written in the second person.
• The narrator speaks directly to the reader (“I should warn you…”), making the story hyper-aware of itself and thereby tossing the reader out of the story.
• When characters tell one another things they already know.
• The tag lines are more revealing than the dialogue. ( “She squawked.” "He growled.")
• The writing switches tenses for no apparent reason.
• The action is told out of chronological order.
• Took too many words to reveal what happened.
• Dull and/or awkward writing style.
• The writing falls back on common shorthand descriptions: “She did not trust herself to speak,” “She didn’t want to look…”
• Too many analogies/metaphors/similes per paragraph.
• Purple prose and overwriting
  
• Melodramatic opening
  
• Makes the reader laugh at it, not with it.
• Too much unnecessary explanation.
• Unmotivated characters.

I'm sure there are more that just these. Can you add to the list? Did anything on here make you go back to look at your first page? Do any of these opening bloopers rate high on your pet peeve-0-meter?

Time Managementaphobia

Current Project: Mystic Taxi
Status: Page 274

Uh-oh. I spaced out my blog day. Aargh! I was all set to write it this morning, then work happened and I got distracted... Sorry.

I want to talk about time management, or in my case, the lack of it. I've always been pretty bad about managing my time wisely, and I think it's because I've become sort of flighty in my, uh, mature years. In my youth, I was very militant about my time, getting all my ducks in a row, etc, etc... But unfortunately, my ducks have flown the coup.

Sometimes it's okay to just get things done whenever. Other times, not so much. I've been experiencing that lately, and it creates stress.

It seems that whenever something new gets added to my life, like a new project, or a new puppy, chaos ensues. I've accepted that and work around it.

I think time management is especially hard for writers because I don't know about the rest of you, but I require an atmosphere of peace in order to get the words down. Constant interruptions disrupt my flow. How about you? Can you write no matter what's going on around you at any given time? Can you write in the ten minutes you have before leaving for an appointment? Or while the spaghetti's boiling? Or while the puppy goes out to pee? I'm challenged in this regard. Please tell me I'm not alone.

Change

Current Project: MYSTIC TAXI
Status: Chapter Sixteen

I lay in bed this morning, wide awake but foggy-brained from getting up before the butt-crack of dawn to let the puppy out, wondering what to blog about today. There've been a lot of changes in the world lately, in the U.S. in particular, and that got me to thinking how change affects us as writers.

It's been said change is a good thing. I get a daily email from a psychic friend called "New Perspectives." Every day, it seems her message has to do with change and our response to it. Some people take change well, and others resist kicking and screaming. Today's New Perspective is: Unexpected changes ask you to be flexible and open minded. Smile when the plans change and welcome the new experiences. This is so appropriate for writers.

What's interesting about change is that you can either make it happen, or let it happen, but the one thing you really can't do is prevent it from happening. Change is inevitable, and sometimes it's good, and sometimes not so much. But it's like writing a scene in a book. Create change for your characters and see how they react, because they always will. They have to. It's human nature.

I like change. I like variety. I like to experience different things. It creates a chain of events that can only be interesting. Sameness is boring, but if my husband had his way, nothing would ever change, and then he could complain about whatever's bothering him at the moment forever. Because if he changes it, then he'll have to complain about the outcome and regret making the change in the first place. He's funny that way. I think that's why we're so good together. I adapt to anything, he adapts to almost nothing.

Gee, this was a rambling post, wasn't it? Sorry. I'm struggling through a new change in my life: the addition of a baby animal to the family. It changes everything: schedules, habits, sleep... Sigh.

So what changes have you experienced in your life recently? Have they been beneficial? Detrimental? What changes would you like to make happen for you now?

Happy Thanksgiving!

Current Project: Mystic Taxi (steampunk urban fantasy)
Status: Page 190

1...What are you thankful for this year?

That my family is healthy, and we're all happy -- for the most part.

2...Do you have a Thanksgiving tradition?

I bring the Tofurkey.

3...Are you cooking or going somewhere for dinner?

We're going to my mother-in-law's, and one of my daughters will be there, as will my son, who's here from Colorado, and my grandson. The "women-folk" will cook together. 8^) There will be much yapping of dogs since my MIL is dogsitting for my SIL's 2 mini dauchsunds, she has 2 mini dauchsunds of her own, and my daughter is brining her german short haired pointer puppy. Oy.

4...Do you have the 'traditional' Thanksgiving dinner, or do you buck tradition with something different?

Traditional, but my husband and I don't eat turkey. We bring Tofurkey and a vegetarian gravy. I made my knock-out cranberry sauce and I'll be making steamed broccoli with cheese sauce.

5...A food you couldn't do without for the holiday?

My MIL's sweet potatoes.

6..With only a month to go before Christmas, have you started your Christmas shopping?

No. We won't be doing much gift-giving this year.

So how about everyone else? I'd love to see your answers to these questions. Have a very happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The Competitive Edge

Current Project: Mystic Taxi
Status: End of Chapter 9, page 131

I run hot and cold when it comes to contests. Being published means the pool of contests I'm eligible to enter is pretty shallow. To enter a published book in a contest, the book needs to have been published in the year the contest takes place, so that closes me out completely. To enter an unpublished manuscript in a contest, that contest has to accept published authors and most of them don't.

I entered the 2008 PASIC Book of Your Heart contest this year for a couple of reasons, the main one being that entries would be judged by librarians and booksellers. Now that's different and I really liked that idea. Getting peer judges who are fellow writers is like throwing the dice. You get a fair judge, you're in good shape, but if you get one with an axe to grind, fairness goes out the window. I've heard so many horror stories about contest judges out for blood who have very little clue how to judge someone else's writing. Spare me the agony of that experience.

I got lucky with the PASIC and finaled. And I won 3rd place, which is very cool considering the multi-published authors I was up against. So I'm proud of that win. I'm proud of Knight's Curse, the manuscript that got me there, and I pray for its eventual publication. In August of this year, I bit the bullet and entered yet another contest with KC. Gulp.

Results aren't in for this other contest, which is the Nola Stars 2008 Suzannah. But I entered because it's another different kind of contest where judges are librarians and booksellers, but also fellow writers, so I don't feel as encouraged. This is a romance contest, and the PASIC was as well, but the romance in KC is only a strong subplot and not the main plot. I kind of regret entering the Suzannah now, but what's done is done. Sigh. I just hope I can final based on the strength of the writing rather than the romance. Finalists will be announced December 1. The winner will be determined by a panel of 2 agents and 4 editors, and though I don't care about the agents since I already have one, I care a whole lot about the editors because all 4 are from publishing houses I'd love to have consider KC.

The editors judging the Suzanna are Leah Hultenschmidt (Dorchester), Margo Lipschultz (HQN), Alex Logan (Grand Central), and Leis Pederson (Berkley). KC is currently with Margo for the Luna imprint, and Berkley has already rejected, but it was a different editor. Any chance I can get my manuscript in front of editors, I'll take it.

It's now time to start thinking about Pengquin's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. I heard not-so-great things about it last year, but from checking out the rules for this year's competition, it doesn't appear to be the popularity contest that it was last year. There are professional reviewers making the selections, not every Tom, Dick or Harry and their relatives. I'm hoping that's the case, anyway, because I'm seriously considering entering Mystic Taxi, which will be finished and polished by the time the contest opens on February 2, 2009.

I'm thinking of entering Mystic Taxi in the PNWA contest, but the entry fee is steep at $50, and from my experience with it last year, the feedback was ho-hum and scores aren't given so I don't know how close or how far I was from finalling with Knight's Curse. All the comments were positive. Not a single criticism, just glowing praise, but I didn't final. That kind of ambiguous feedback gives me pause. I'm not sure the contest is organized very well.

Do you enter contests? Why or why not? What are your contest plans for 2009?

The Super Book Store

I read an interesting article in this morning's Publisher's Lunch about some book stores applying for a liquor license. Interesting. Boozing and browsing. Seriously though, you figure many book stores these days feature a coffee shop, some include a cafe, so why not alcohol?

I think the main goal is to boost evening and weekend store traffic. Not a bad idea. Plus with all the big chain stores bogarting the majority of book business, the indies have to do something different to set themselves apart. Would you rather go to Barnes and Noble to browse and sip lattés? Or to the corner bookshop where you can sip a brewski as you browse. Hmmm...

There are already retail stores that may not have a book section, but they'll feature books to go with other products, like cook books in cookware, and fashion books in the clothing section (especially if the book jackets color coordinate with what the maniken is wearing), and sports books in sporting goods. So why can't book stores be a cut above the mundane? Books would always be the focus, but there'd be add-on pleasures to your book buying experience.

I remember when there used to be story time at the local book store for the kiddies on the weekends. Do stores still do that? I'm glad the library does. My kids used to love that.

There's live music in some book store cafés. In fact, Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, the writers organization in Colorado that I belong to, just started an "open mic night" at different independant bookstores throughout the city. Members sign up to perform and read from their unpublished or published work. Sounds like great fun. I remember when I lived there we'd sometimes have open mic readings at local coffee shops, and that was a lot of fun, too. But I think bringing the entertainment to the book store is even better.

There's a great need to be creative in retail during these tough economic times. Book stores offer inexpensive entertainment through reading, and family night might have mom, dad and the kids spending a couple of hours at the local book store sharing a meal in the cafe, listening to live music or a reading, buying some books, then spending the rest of the evening at home curled up by the fire, reading to each other. I see the cocooning trend coming back, and it's about time, too.

What would be your fantasy book store? What would you like to see offered at your local book store that would make it special and more inviting?

The Power of Patience

I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like this is happening to me. Waiting. Always waiting. It can be so frustrating sometimes.

I'm usually a very patient person, but what I've discovered about myself is that when I'm waiting for something, I tend to subconsciously go into a holding pattern. I don't mean to, but I put off doing certain things until I hear about X, Y or Z. It's that niggling voice that whispers in my ear, "Well, there's no point in doing this or that until you hear something first."

Of course I'm talking about all things writing related. Well, other things, too, but for the purpose of this blog, I'll stick to writing. We work on our WIPs, then submit pages to our critique partners, then wait for their feedback. When we query agents, we wait for their response and hope it's not a rejection. If it's a request for a partial, we wait to hear if they like it enough to ask for the full. If they ask for the full, we wait to hear if they love it enough to offer representation.

Then comes the next phase of waiting. Our agent submits the manuscript to publishers, and you wait for news. Your agent follows up with editors, who haven't made a decision yet, and you again wait for news. I just heard this morning about a second pass on Knight's Curse, but there are still many more pending a decision. Aargh! The waiting!

So while I wait, I do other things, like work on the next book. I'm so glad I'm in love with this new project or I'd be a gonner. Even so, that waiting bugaboo bugger sits on my shoulder and whispers in my ear, trying to get me to put off this, that and the other until I hear news. So to quiet my torturer, I decided to enter a couple of contests.

So I enter the PASIC Book of Your Heart contest, make the finals, then wait past the September date winners are to be announced. It turns out the editor judge for the paranormal category (the category I finalled in) has not responded to the contest coordinator's plea for a judgment on the finalist entries. Wait some more. Then we find out a new final editor judge (St. Martin's) has agreed to do the honors, so we start waiting all over again.

I also entered RWA's NOLA Star's Suzannah. Finalists will be announced at the end of November, so I'm waiting to find out about that.

So tell me, what are you waiting for right now? And how do you deal with it?

Crit or crap?

I've been a total goof-off this morning. My apologies! I meant to have this done yesterday, but...

Catchy title, huh? But you know what I'm talking about. Sometimes the crits you get back on the work you submit are really helpful, and other times they're, uh, you know... crap. So how can you tell the difference?

It's not always easy to differentiate between the two, especially if tender feelings get in the way. "What? You think the villain's page-long speech kills the pacing for this scene? Well, that's just crap. I think it's brilliant."

Ahem. Take good advice where you can get it. This silly example is definitely one for the books. There are writers out there who are resistant to sound, logical advice. I know of many who chose not to take good advice and then wonder why they can't get an agent or publisher interested in their work. I recall a recent discussion on one of the forums I take part in where a writer couldn't figure out the problem of having a first novel that's 270,000 words long. Though others had explained the reasons to him ad nauseum. Some people just don't get it. Or refuse to get it, as the case may be.

We can flip the coin and look at the other side, too. Crit or crap?

When subjectivity interferes with objectivity, the crap-meter's needle wags to the right. A comment like: "Blond men are fags. Give your hero dark hair." Helpful? I think not. "I don't know what a scrying mirror is. You need to explain it." If you read fantasy, you'd know what it is. Explaining a common trope to readers of the genre is not a good idea. It only marks you as an amateur.

I'm lucky to be in a great critique group that I've had for ten years, but I don't use them exclusively. Because it's a mixed genre group, crap tends to creep in sometimes, so I use critters familiar with my genre to make sure that area is covered by good critique. It means more work, but it's worth it.

Do you have a critique partner, or are you a member of a group? How do you tell the difference between a good crit and a comment that's crap? Can you share some examples of both?

When your opinion actually counts

Opinions. Everybody has one. Who would think such things have much value? But they do. There are companies out there willing to pay you for what you think. I'm down with that.

Ever since I was a young mom, I've always been one to participate in marketing surveys. You know, the folks in the mall who approach you, clipboard in hand, and ask you a series of questions, then offer you money or free products if you watch a video or taste test some new snack food. I've done it all. And I'm not sure, but I think I may have gained a reputation for my willingness to participate in this silliness.

I was even contacted by the Nielsen folks, the people who determine television show ratings. They want to know what I think about the shows I watch, and I have to say I don't think much. I've cut my viewing back by about 80%, yet they still want my help. Moi? Seriously? So the last weeklong survey I did for them had only one night of television viewing and it was So You Think You Can Dance. I must be one of their oddball stats. Every stat needs at least one oddball, I guess.

Now I have an audience studies compamy knocking at my door, uh, I mean television. They called a couple of weeks ago and asked a bunch of questions, like do I watch sitcoms? Rarely. How rarely? Maybe once every couple of weeks, and usually by accident. Great! Would I like to participate in the study of a new sitcom coming to network TV? Uh, sure. What's in it for me? Coupons for free products! Hey, I'm in! I love getting free stuff.

So they send me a DVD of this half-hour sitcom, complete with commercials. I watched it last night. They're going to call me tonight to ask me questions. The show really, really sucked. At first I thought it was a joke, but no way would someone put that kind of money and effort into a joke, would they? So I have to assume it's the real deal. It was laughably mundane, and not in a good way. The plotline was trite and predictable. It featured a middle-income family, mom and dad in their late 30s/early 40s with a young teenage snarky daughter and brainiac pre-pubescent son. The storyline was what to get the wife for her anniversary, and of course he screws it up, and of course he redeems himself at the end. Yawn. The worst part was the lead character playing the dad. I think he's a stand-up comedian, but his acting is pretty painful to watch. All the lines were delivered dead-pan with a laugh-track guffawing in the background.

When I told my husband what I thought of this lame show, he said to be careful what I said because it could cost someone their job. Huh? You mean lie and be nice so that the show can be ripped to shreds by folks who will probably hate it, and the actors get a bad rep for making a bad choice? I say put the thing out of its misery now before the rest of the viewing public is subjected to having its IQ points sucked into the ionosphere.

However, my opinion could be exactly what they need to prove the opposite. That people like me hate this kind of show, and therefore it will be the sitcom darling of the TV viewing masses and make MILLIONS. You think? Nah.

There's no real point to my rant other than to express my distaste for drivel, but did you know there are market groups for books, too? There's a full-page ad in the October issue of RT with the headline: Have Your Voice Heard. It's from Harlequin asking readers to participate in a reader panel. Hey, Wavy, are you reading this? You'll love it! Go to www.TellHarlequin.com to join up, get free books, and win great prizes.

Back to the worst sitcom not yet on TV, it will be interesting to see how the follow-up interview phone call goes tonight with these audience study folks. I'll post the results in comments when it's over.

Do you participate in market studies? Why or why not?

Here's a piece of the show I watched:

Where am I?

I've been discussing fantasy clichés on my blog over the past week or so, and the fact that clichés can become original when given the author's own unique twist. So many plot clichés are actually story elements traditional for a lot of fiction, regardless of the genre.

How about a character who finds herself transport to a different world. A space alien abduction might be cliché, but there are plenty of other ways a character can travel from one world to the next, and for a variety of reasons. This is a story element, not a cliché. Calling this plot point a cliché is practically like saying that making villains evil is cliché. Not every story has one, and those that do don't have to be exactly the same.

What are the different reasons a character might find him or herself in a different world?

Quest: This could involve traveling to an alien world or alternate dimension. Lots of fantasy stories feature a quest of some kind, like finding the magic amulet or rescuing the princess. However, I've heard many agents say they'll reject a story with this kind of quest story line, but I suppose if it's different enough, it could pass. It's all about the writing.

Amnesia: Here's an interesting idea, having the MC suddenly find himself in a place he doesn't recognize and has no idea how he got there, or even who he is. The story is spent trying to solve the mystery. There was a television show like that a few years ago, but it didn't make it past the first or second season, so the mystery of the guy's identity was never solved. I've always wondered about that...

Accident: An incantation goes awry and the character doesn't arrive in the destination he'd intended. Time travel stories are good for this, like H.G. Wells' Time Machine. Great conflict potential. I also remember an episode on the Angel TV series where Cordelia is accidentally transported to the demon dimension of Pyleia after reciting an incantation from a book. Turns out it wasn't really an accident because the Powers That Be sent her there on purpose. Great episode (I have all 5 seasons on DVD).

Adventure: A curious character intentionally travels to another dimension, planet, country, or place in time just to see what it's like, and encounters all kinds of fascinating surprises. Maybe she finds love. Maybe she finds the true purpose to her life. Maybe she realizes adventure isn't what it's cracked up to be. Great theme opportunities here, and some interesting character arcs to explore.

I think the appeal of the foreign land or alternate dimension is the sense of awe we enjoy when encountering the unknown. Speculative fiction is all about the unknown, and whether we choose to fear or embrace it. It's one of the most exciting aspects about the genre. Avoiding it because it's misconstrued as cliché would be like giving the entire genre that distinction. If that happened, what would I have to read?

I know this is mostly about fantasy, but it can apply to any genre. When you take a fish out of water, what does she do?

I'm on my way to Eugene to spend time with both my Oregon daughter and my Colorado daughter, who's staying at her sister's house for the next few days. And of course she brought little baby Adam, my grandson, along. Squeee!! I'll be wearing my grandma hat for the next few days as I cavort with my girls to shop, bike ride, stay up late watching movies, and do yoga in the mornings. Now that's heaven! Point is, I may or may not respond to comments right away. Have a great weekend!

Ebooks or Print Books?

I'm kind of cheating here because I posted this on my blog last Monday. Even so, I feel it's an important issue to share and get feedback on. Since we have a few ebook authors in our chapter, and a few MMP authors (and soon-to-be MMP authors *grin*), it's obvious publishing in all its guises makes a great topic for blog discussion.

Today I thought I'd address ebooks. I'm not talking about ebook publishers, like the small press that published my suspense novel and novella. I'm talking about ebook technology.

Ebook reading devices are becoming more popular despite their inflated price tag. Now that Kindle is on the scene, ebooks have become the talk of pub town. Paper will never go away, but ebooks are here to stay. I don't have an ereader like a Kindle or Soni, and I'm embarrassed to admit I've never read an ebook for that very reason. But with the promise of ebook readers becoming an affordable gizmo for the book-reading technorati, it's obvious all published books will soon be available both digitally and on paper. It's inevitable publishing evolution.

This is an exciting time for publishing. Fewer books will be printed on paper, which is better for the environment and for a publisher's bank account. The big New York publishers may finally become profitable again, which is good news for authors. Or is it? Some authors are afraid this will mean lower advances against royalties. This logic doesn't make sense to me because publishers buy content, and the content for paper books and ebooks are the same. So why would advance amounts change?

I think I know why authors fear advances will go away. Small ebook publishers, like my own publisher The Wild Rose Press, don't give advances. Instead they offer higher royalty percentages (on the net price of the book) that are paid after sales and on a quarterly basis. So there's no financial risk. Many authors think that if publishers change to the ebook model, advances will go the way of the dinosaur and be handled the same way small ebook publishers pay their authors today. But I seriously doubt it.

I believe that the cutback on printing costs will allow higher advances for authors. Small presses don't have the capital, but the big publishers do. Small presses don't have the sales, but the big publishers do. The quality of product offered by both will stay the same. Nothing much changes but the channels of distribution for NY publishers and the decreased manufacturing costs for their products. Expenses go down, profits go up. It's a win-win for everyone.

So what do you think? Have you ever read an ebook? Would you read one if you had a Kindle or the equivalent? And if you did have a Kindle, would you still buy paper books, too? And what's your opinion about how this technology will change the payment process currently used by New York publishers?

Talk the Talk

Do you enjoy writing dialog? I think most writers do. I know a couple of writers who used to write books and then switched to writing screenplays because they enjoyed writing dialog so much. They had trouble getting inside their character's heads.

It's a challenge, regardless of what point of view you're writing from, to convey the feelings and thoughts of your characters. Just let them talk it out, right? Their word choices will do the job. Maybe a gesture or two, some choreographed action here and there, a few grins, an eye-roll, a nod and a headshake. Right? Is that all there is to it?

Sadly, no. There's much more. It takes a dance of words to get it right. It's not just a few people gathered round tossing words at each other like a game of ping pong. The best dialog can still lack depth of character.

I'm judging a writing contest right now, and I read a couple of entries that were just dynamite. Very original ideas, distinctive voices, interesting and diverse characters. But both had some problems, and their problems were polar opposite.

One had this fantastic opening with lots of action and a strong female character tough as iron. The dialog was great as far as the words go. The motivation behind them? Not so much. Why did she say this? Why did she do that? If the author knows, he or she isn't telling.

As for the other entry, it too had an interesting storyline. There was a viewpoint character who was all over the place as far as personality goes, but still some good dialogue here. The problem was too much internalization in between bouts of conversation with lots of feelings emoted ad nauseum. The pace crawled. And there were a few long speeches filled with information, which were basically info dumps disguised as dialog.

Both manuscripts can be saved if their authors choose to fix what needs fixing.

Do your dialog scenes have what it takes to get the job done? It's sharing time, my writerly friends. Post in comments up to 250 words from a scene with dialog that will make readers care about your character. The point is to use action and internalizations mixed with your dialog to reveal who your character is. Write something new, or pick a page from your WIP, your choice. I'll post something, too. Happy writing!

Competition

I love this show, "So You Think You Can Dance." I've always loved dance, not that I could do it. I mean, I shook my booty with the best of 'em back in the day, but nothing like these talented, passionate young people. I didn't know the human body even had the ability to do those things!

My point for today's blog is competition, why we compete, and why those competition goals are so important to us. Take these kids on the show. 200 dancers competed for 20 spots. They put their heart on the line. They gave up jobs to be there. They spent their parents' money to be there. They trained through blood, sweat and tears from the time they were iddy biddy (in most cases) just to get a shot to fulfill their dream. Sound familiar?

It's hard to watch sometimes, but as a writer I can't help relating to their disappointment when these talented dancers give it everything they've got and most are told to go home. It's heart- breaking. But you know what? They're also told to come back next year. Top judge Nigel offers encouragement and support. He was a dancer, too, in his younger days, and he understands what these kids are going through.

I have a real penchant for reality competition tv shows, the ones that showcase talent and strive to fulfill at least one participant's dream. My favorites are So You Think You Can Dance, American Idol, Top Chef, America's Next Top Model (yeah, Alice, ANTM fans unite!), and Project Runway. Real people who have real talent, and real aspirations. I cheer with them when they win, I cry when they lose. We're living our dreams together.