A Word's Worth

Moving!

2010-04-22T08:15:00.000-04:00

After a lot of thought, I've decided to change my whole blogging focus and location. My new blog, Holy Terrors, will address topics about genre fiction and religion.

I hope you all will consider paying me a visit!

Book Review B-I-N-G-O!

2010-04-09T19:47:00.000-04:00

Have you had your fill of cliched book reviews? Then give this a try...

The brain child of Book Examiner, Michelle Kerns, Book Review Bingo is an game every bibliophile ought to try. Here's how to play:

- Begin with the top 20 most annoying book review cliches

- Print off the Bingo cards (below)

- Mark off a square every time you run across one in book review

So why is Kerns promoting this new game? She sees it as kind of a wake-up call. "...unless book reviewers quit with the knee-jerk reviewerspeak, we will lose the hearts and minds of everyone who is even remotely partial to the Great Literary Discussion"

Enjoy!

WonderCon, The National Enquirer and Jonestown

2010-04-07T09:47:00.001-04:00

It's a Wonder

Comic book enthusiasts who flock to Comic-Con International in San Diego might want to consider going north to WonderCon in San Francisco. Last year's attendance at Wondercon topped out at 34,000, and this year is expected to met or exceed that number. Many attendees appreciate the smaller convention and think that the San Fran convention hasn't been overrun by Hollywood. (Publisher's Weekly).

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Truth is Stranger than the National Enquirer

In a story so outlandish that even the National Enquirer might not have printed it, the grocery store tabloid was nominated for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize earlier this year for uncovering the John Edwards sex scandal. But, according to an article by Shelley Ross, a one-time editor for the paper, this isn't the first time the tabloid has had a shot at the coveted prize. Back in 1978, a reporter came to the paper eager to write a story on, "a cult of Americans in Central America, many brainwashed, being put through mass suicide drills." Yes, it was Jonestown. And, no, the Enquirer didn't carry the story.

Welch, Salinger in the Limelight

2010-04-06T08:25:00.000-04:00

Raquel Welch Tells It Like It Was

Rebecca Dana, blogging for the Daily Beast, reports that at age 69, former sex symbol Raquel Welch is telling her story in her new autobiography Beyond the Clevage. Among other things, the actress's book uncovers is Ms. Welch's feelings against feminism. Says Welch, "We are not like men. We don't want to be like men, not really."

J.D. Salinger Okay by FBI

Although many famous writers of the 20th century including Hemingway and Alan Gingsberg attracted the attention of the FBI, Catcher and the Rye author, J. D. Salinger did not. Though that may not be the final word on the matter since the request to cross-reference is still pending. (The Huffington Post)

Vook, The Girl, and Preppies Run Amok

2010-04-05T11:15:00.001-04:00

This is a new look and format for my blog. I hope that all of you find the publishing news interesting and informative!

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Watch Out for New-style e-readers

First there was Kindle, then Nook, now meet Vook. According to Publisher's Weekly, book publisher Vook is releasing a unique line of media (Think Video + Book = Vook). According to the publisher, their new blend of words and video is a perfect match for Apple's new toy - the iPad.

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Waiting for The Girl? Well, keep waiting

National Public Radio reports that fans the final book in Stieg Larsson's Millennium popular trilogy (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the Girl who Played with Fire) may have to wait a little longer to read The Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. Even buying the book online may be problematic because any US sales violates the publishing agreement, says The Girl series publisher, Knopf.

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Gag Me with a Spoon...Again

Remember that old classic from the 1980's - The Official Preppy Handbook? Well, it's about to get a face lift. The New York Times reports that True Prep is hoping to gain a whole new audience of preppy aficionados. While some things remain the same, True Prep is going multi-cultural by adding a section on African-American preppies and adding information on what technology defines a prep.

Review - "How to Train Your Dragon"

2010-03-30T20:15:00.003-04:00

Once again, my good friend the FilmNut let me blog on his site. Today's review is How to Train Your Dragon.

Under the Dome

2010-03-25T21:18:00.001-04:00

Under the Dome by Stephen King

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
One fine day in early October, the little New England town of Chester's Mill is suddenly encapsulated in a mysterious dome. For the next fives days, the residents struggle to survive an ever-deteriorating environment as the outside world looks helplessly on.

For the past several years, Stephen King has been offering his readers tepid versions of his earlier, far more frightening stories. The plots have been full of holes, the scares have been weak, and the books have been, well, boring.

But no more.

At 1,1000 pages, 'The Dome' can be an arduous read (the cast of characters tops out at about thirty), but it is well worth the trouble. Classic King, this novel is full of those wonderfully, horrible moments that will give nearly any reader nightmares. Or at least the heebie-jeebies.

Additionally, the book is a marvelous allegory of our time. It reflects the reality of our blame-happy society, letting us know that we all play a part in our demise.

Read this book!

If you dare.

View all my reviews >>

Jealousy

2010-03-20T18:09:00.002-04:00

Envy
Originally uploaded by Moochin Photoman

A number of years ago, before I'd published any of my work, I formed an Internet 'friendship' with another speculative fiction writer. Not only was she a wonderful author, she was a terrific editor who gave me many insights and useful suggestions. A few months after we'd begun exchanging e-mails, my friend sold her first short story to Marion Zimmer Bradley's Fantasy Magazine.

I was devastated.

Don't get me wrong. I was very happy for my friend. Her story was , and she deserved to have it sell. But, like I said, at that time, I had not yet published anything. And it wasn't for a lack of trying. So seeing her story printed in one of the best fantasy magazines of its time was a terrible blow to my ego.

Because publishing is such a competitive field, professional jealousy is an occupational hazard. Sometimes it's due to frustration; having other people succeed where we've failed is irritating! At other times, the cause might be what we perceive as limited resources. That is, we tell ourselves that because our friend has published a story (gotten an agent, won an award), there is now one less slice of the pie for us. Or it just may be that when we look at another's success, we see ourselves as failures.

Jealousy terrible thing. It can not only break apart our friendships, it can also destroy us as well. If you are faced with a situation in which you are envying another person's success, take a few minutes and ask yourself:

- Is my friendship more important that my feelings of jealousy?
- Is my jealousy blinding me to my own successes?
- How would I want my friend to treat me if I were successful?
- How much success is enough? Will I ever be satisfied with my accomplishments?

Best selling author, Jennifer Cruise, has a self-test about professional jealousy along with a few great suggestions on how to beat it.

In the case of my friend and me, things didn't turn out the way I expected. Not long after my friend sold her story, I sold one as well. And then I sold another. And another. But my friend, who had been dealing a lot of stress in her family and personal life, stopped writing. After a while, she dropped out of the writing scene altogether.

And that's a shame because she really was a terrific writer.

Instructions

2010-02-25T15:45:00.002-05:00

Instruction for Use by Industreal
Originally uploaded by industreal

How good are you at following instructions?

Before beginning this quiz, find a piece of paper, a pencil, and a yellow marker. Then read all of the instructions.

- Write your name in the upper, right-hand corner of the paper.
- In the middle of the page, draw a horizontal line
- Draw a shorter, vertical line that intersects the horizontal line (you should have a cross or 'T' shape now)
- In the upper, left-hand quadrant, draw a square
- Draw a circle inside of the square
- Color the circle yellow
- In the upper, right-hand quadrant, write the name of your best friend
- Circle the name of your best friend
- In the lower, left-hand quadrant, draw a smiley face
- In the lower right-hand quadrant make a check mark
- Do not write anything on your paper, and next time read and follow all of the instructions before beginning!

It's a silly quiz, I know! But the point is that reading and following directions is an important skill.

When it comes to sending out queries, reading the instructions is crucial. It's no fun for us writers! But, as literary agent Rachel Gardner points out in her blog, there are reasons for these guidelines. Queries that don't follow the guidelines often end up in the trash.

Writers who can read and follow directions will put themselves way ahead of those who don't!

Creative Byline

2010-02-21T19:26:00.008-05:00

Like any author eager to get her work published, I'm always open to exploring new avenues that might give me more exposure. The other day, I was introduced to a new one of those new avenues. It's a website called Creative Byline.

According to the website, Creative Byline purports to, "[provide] online submission management services for publisher and writing contests." That is, they work like a writing version of Match.com - hooking up writers like me with editors who will love my manuscripts.

H-m-m...color me skeptical.

But, what the hay, Like I said, I'm always up for a new way to knock on those publishers' doors. So I thought I'd give Creative Byline a try.

The nice thing about Creative Byline is that it does offer some of its services for free. You can, for example, create a profile of yourself (one that highlights your published work, if you have any) and then submit up to ten projects for editors to look at.

So far, I've uploaded two. It is a lot of work (not because the website is difficult, but because writing a query and an outline and a synopsis is always a real pain in the fanny), but since I'd be doing this very same work anyway if I were querying the old-fashioned way, it really is no extra effort.

Now that I've uploaded my professional information and my two projects, all I need to do is sit back and wait for a flood e-mails from editors eager to see my work.

Yeah, right. Again, color me skeptical.

In addition to Creative Byline's few free services, it also offers some paid ones as well. If you are willing to shell out roughly $100 a year, you can contact editors instead of waiting for them to find you. Also, C.B. offers some kind of service in which they provide feedback to authors about their writing.

I'm not paying the extra money for those services, but because I will be attending the Calvin College 2010 Festival of Faith and Writing this spring, I was given a special promotional deal with Creative Byline which allows me to link directly to editors and publishers who will be at this same conference. I'm curious to see if I'll get any interest.

When it comes to publishing, I don't believe in shortcuts. Nor do I think there's a quick or easy way method to get a contract with a six-figure advance (if there was, I would have found it by now!) So I admit that I am very skeptical that paying Create Byline a hundred dollars will do anything but make me 100$ poorer.

But on the other hand, I'm practical. Not to mention a little desperate. And since some of the services offered by Creative Byline are free, then I'm willing to at least give it a try.

I don't expect to have an in-box overflowing with offers. But I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

Just in case.

Michigan Author

2010-02-13T18:44:00.003-05:00

Usually, I feel like a poser. That is, I feel like a person who is pretending to be a writer. Yes, I have an office and a laptop. On my shelves is a copy of my novel and magazines that have printed my stories.

But, in my heart, I don't feel like a writer. Probably this is because there are so many things I don't have: an agent, a New York city publisher, a monthly royalty check that covers my bills.

Yet sometimes, I brush up against the feeling that, yes, I guess I am a writer. Today is one of those days. I'm now listed on the State of Michigan's official 'Authors and Illustrators' web page.

I may not have enormous royalty checks, but - by golly - I am government approved.

The Versatile Semicolon

2010-02-08T20:28:00.002-05:00

edamame
Originally uploaded by Adrasteia9

Recently, I took one of those silly FaceBook quizzes entitled, "What Punctuation Mark Are You?" I, apparently, am a semicolon.

I actually took that as a compliment because semicolons are wonderful, versatile little things. Kind of like shelled edamame (which are my current favorite veggies). But, like shelled edamame, if you aren't accustomed to using them, they can seem strange. Sure, we writers are used to periods and exclamation points. But semicolons? How do you use these strange, little things?

A semicolon works much like a period does. That is, it separates two independent clauses. So, for example, below are two independent clauses (clauses that contain a subject and a verb and can stand on their own):

- yesterday, my dog stole my lunch
- today, the cat did the same thing

If you wanted to put these two independent clauses into a single sentence, you could simply add a conjunction:

- Yesterday, my dog stole my lunch, and today the cat did the same thing.

However, you could also use a semicolon.

- Yesterday, my dog stole my lunch; today, the cat did the same thing.

I like semicolons because I think of them as kind of a setup for a punchline. It's as if they are saying, "Here's a sentence...but wait! There's something more." Semicolons just seem to add that extra bit of (very) dry humor to the sentence:

- My kids ate birthday cake for dinner; I nibbled lettuce.
- He couldn't figure out why he'd gotten a speeding ticket; he'd only been going 100 mph.
- Susan didn't mean to hit the neighbor with the rotten tomato; she was aiming for her ex-husband.

One thing to remember: a semicolon links two clauses that somehow relate to each other or build on the same message. Therefore, this is okay:

- The student didn't want to do his homework; he was too tired.

But this sentence is not:

- The student didn't want to do his homework; the woman went to the grocery store and bought soap.

Semicolons are cool! If you don't believe me, check out The Oatmeal.

An Open Letter to J. K. Rowling

2010-01-29T09:27:00.005-05:00

Dear Ms. Rowling,

As a child, I devoured books eagerly. Every plot line seemed fresh and exciting. I bonded with every character. By the time I reached my forties, however, I'd become jaded. It seemed that I would never recapture that sense of wonder. But then you came along and opened a door to a whole new world. And while I appreciate everything about Harry Potter and Hogwarts, there is one character in particular whom I love.

Ms. Rowling, thank-you for Molly Weasley.

I'm the kind of person who still, even in my mid-forties, needs a good role model. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of middle-aged female characters to look up to. I'm definitely not Desperate Housewife material. Nor - God help me - a housewife like the ones in Orange County. No, I'm a suburban mom who wears her sweats to the grocery store and who drive a minivan. I knit. I garden. I do many uncool things. I hate to shop and don't particularly like to get my hair done. I don't wear make-up.

That's why I love Molly. She's a mom. A real mom. Someone you could invite over for coffee without having to clean the house first. Someone who you would trust to give you advice on how to cure a cough. Someone who understands that kids will be kids. Someone who doesn't care about hair and makeup and moving into a better neighborhood.

Molly loves her brood, but she's no pushover. If ever there was a mom who doled out tough love, it's she. Yet, she's forgiving as well. Who but a loving mother would be willing to welcome back a son like Percy who had so terribly betrayed her?

When my own daughter brought home a friend who looked like she could use a hot meal and a hug, I thought of Molly and how she willingly accepted Harry as one of her own. It gave me the push I needed to let my daughter's friend 'live' at our house for the next eight years and make her part of our family.

Molly is brave. She fights for a cause she believes in, even though it's risky. And she defends her children with the savage ferocity of a mother Kodiak bear. I and all my friends cheered aloud when she put herself between Ginny and Bella LeStrange.

Yes, Molly is my role model, my hero and my favorite literary character of all time.

So, thanks.

An Avid Fan

The Lovely Bones

2010-01-27T08:04:00.002-05:00

Once again, my friend the Film Nut has let me post on his blog. This time, I've reviewed The Lovely Bones.

My New Spot on the Web

2010-01-25T08:39:00.002-05:00

I finally got my website up and running. I feel so writerly. Sometimes, even if the writing is going poorly and the mailbox is stuff with rejections, little victories like getting the website up and running make me feel oh-so-much better!

My next hurdle is to create a simple-yet-elegant stationary template. I don't send snail mail queries very often any more, but the next time I do, I'd like to have some nice looking stationary.

Some Favorite Movies about Writers

2010-01-20T09:08:00.003-05:00

Movie night
Originally uploaded by Andrei Z

Lest people get the wrong idea from my post, The Mythical Writer, I do like some movies about writers. In fact, I thought I'd list a few of my favorites.

1. Sideways. One thing I love to do is laugh at myself, and the character Miles Raymond is the perfect foil. A frustrated, middle-aged writer, Miles takes a road trip with his quasi-famous TV star friend, Jack, and along the way, tries to come to terms with his own lack of success. I'm convinced this is the ultimate writer movie because there is so much humor that only writers will get. For example, when Miles tries to explain his novel to the girl he's falling in love with, he says, "[The plot] shifts around a lot. Like you also start to see everything from the point of view of the father. And some other stuff happens, some parallel narrative, and then it evolves - or devolves - into a kind of a Robbe-Grillet mystery - with no real resolution." Gotta love that.

2. Barton Fink. You take one neurotic writer, stick him in a ghastly hotel with an insane serial killer, add an insincere Hollywood movie producer and you get... well, a majorly creepy, sometimes funny, ultimately bizarre movie by the Coen brothers (writers and directors of such films as No Country for Old Men and Fargo.)

3. The Shining. Okay, I had to go there. 'Scary' and 'creepy' don't even begin to describe what this movie is like. Watching Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) is like staring deep into a nightmare and not being sure if you'll ever get out of it alive. Stephen King claims that he never liked the movie, but it remains one of my very favorites.

4. Stranger than Fiction. True, the main character Karen Eiffel represents every myth I hate about writers (she's a depressed alcoholic who is pampered by her publisher), but I love this movie all the same. The genius of this movie, in my opinion, is that it looks at fiction from the character's point of view. It's a wonderful film, full of fun and whimsy and has a lot to say about writing and the writer's relationship to her characters.

5. Shakespeare in Love. What would have happened if William Shakespeare had written 'Romeo and Ethel, the Pirate's Daughter' instead of his more famous love story? I'm not a huge fan of romantic movies, but I fell in love with this one. Not only is the story fun, but the Elizabethan costumes and dialogue are wonderful as well.

Here are some more movies that offer a unique perspective on the writer's life:
- Naked Lunch
- Synecdoche
- Adaptation
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Have any favorites to add? I'd love to know!

A Writer's Earnings

2010-01-14T07:47:00.005-05:00

Posted on the bulletin board above my desk is my favorite Peanuts cartoon. I keep it there to make me smile whenever I get a letter of rejection. In the cartoon, Snoopy is on top of his doghouse typing a letter to the publishing house that has just rejected his novel. Snoopy writes: "Dear Sirs: Regarding your recent rejection. What I really wanted is for you to publish my story and send me fifty-thousand dollars. Didn't you realize that?"

Ah, yes.

Besides the obvious topic of rejection, this cartoon illustrates another myth regarding writing: money. I'm always amazed by the amount of misinformation on how much writers earn. For some reason, people seem to think that writers who don't make at least a six-figure income are doing something wrong.

Recently, I've come across a few authors who have graciously made the information about their earnings public. Jim Hines, a fantasy author with DAW, earned about $28,000 last year. YA author Kimberly Pauley reports about the same. Although this is not a bad chunk of change, it certainly is not enough to live on. Self-publishing authors, of course, make much less. SmashWords author V. J. Chambers reported that her yearly sales were a dismal $180.00.

Even a NYT best selling author has spoken out. Twilight Falls author, Lynn Viehl, blogged last April about how much she made on her book. Even I was shocked to hear that she netted only $26,000 from her first royalty statement.

So what about yours truly? I've not published with a major house (yet), nor do I self publish. My publisher, Mundania LLC, offers the same percentages as a large house, but - of course - the volume of sales is much less. Right now, I have only one book with them (thought I've signed contracts for two more.) While I'm not entirely comfortable giving the exact dollar figure for my earnings, I can safely say that it falls between the self-publishing Chambers and the DAW author, Jim Hines.

But, as I so often remind myself, I am in this business for love, not money. And I'll happily celebrate every victory - no matter how small.

The Mythical Writer

2010-01-07T08:55:00.006-05:00

Recently, I watched a few episodes of the Showtime television series, Californication. If you've never heard of it, the show revolves around the life of Hank Moody, a writer, philanderer and all-around basket case.

I'll say flat out that I wasn't impressed (and I apologize to anyone who may enjoy the series - taste is so subjective, isn't it?) But it wasn't the strong language that turned me off. Or the depiction of drug use. Or even the nudie scenes. No, my beef with the show was that Hank Moody was such a stereotypical writer.

For some reason, there seems to be a kind of mystique surrounding the persona of writer..the brooding, lonely, morbidly-self obsessed lout who keeps himself locked away from humanity and longs so desperately for just the right soul mate to understand his angst....

P'shaw!

Writers aren't a special breed. Certainly no more special than anyone else. We're just regular people. And just like any other group (clergy, pre-teen girls, lawyers, people who live in Ohio), writers are made up of people many different backgrounds, lifestyles, and personality types.

Just so that everyone knows what I'm talking about, I've listed a few of the typical writer stereotypes here:

1) All writers are hostile, arrogant, ego-centric people.
Sure, there are some writers who think they are God's gift to humanity, but the vast majority are very nice people. Writers love their families and friends and enjoy getting out. Some are religious; many do charity work. Writers drive their kids to soccer practice and go to coffee with their friends where they listen patiently to stories about financial worries or love interests or whatever. Generally, writers don't throw tantrums in public or go around alienating every one who crosses their paths.

2) All writers are drug (alcohol, sex, whatever) addicts.
The lives of writers like Egdar Allen Poe, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Hunter S. Thompson stand out because, let's face it, bad behavior is always more interesting than good behavior. But not every writer is a drug addict. One prime example would be Stephanie Meyer (author of the Twilight Series) who is a Mormon. As far as I understand Mormonism, this means Ms. Meyer would not so much as drink a cup of caffeinated coffee. Yes, many writers have struggled with addiction, but it is certainly not a prerequisite.

3) All writers are best friends with their agents/editors/publishers.
No.
In case that wasn't clear, let me say that again: NO!
When it comes to agents/editors/publishers, writers are not friends; they're clients. And as such, the writer and her agent/editor/publisher have a business relationship.

4) All writers have terrible family lives.
Personally, if it weren't for my terrific family, I'd never have the courage and determination to keep writing. My family is my own little cheering squad, and I can't thank them enough for their support. Sure, writers have painful childhoods or horrible ex-husbands or friends who betray them. But so does everyone else. The only difference is that writers use that material to fuel their writing.

I understand that a hard-drinking, womanizing, misanthrope like Hank Moody might make for a much more interesting character to watch on television than say, someone like me (boring suburban soccer mom). However, I just want to set the record straight...

...not all writers are alike.

New Year; New Resolutions

2010-01-05T20:26:00.002-05:00

Champagne
Originally uploaded by fuzuoko

Now that the new year has arrived, I find that I must do something about the resolutions I made on December 31 (after a few too many glasses of champagne, I might add.) One of those resolutions - maybe the hardest one - was do something with this blog.

Something...anything!!

Looking back, I see that I made a huge mistake when tackling the blog thing. That is, the name. The very sight of it makes me cringe: Writing Advice for the Absolute Newbie... What was I thinking? After all, I'm the newbie!

Because of the obnoxious title, I beat my head against the wall every time I want to create a post. I feel a great deal of pressure to give all of this wonderful advice when, the truth is, I don't have a clue about what it takes to be a highly successful writer. After all, if I did, I'd be on the NYT best seller list.

But beyond all of that, I do enjoy blogging. Mostly because I like writing in any form. But there's also the added bonus of seeing that I have 'followers' (which is a strange word to use since it makes me feel like a cult leader or something.) I also love the comments people leave (the nice ones anyhow). And I love reading your blogs as well!

So the blog - despite it's wickedly pretentious name - continues on. More than likely without much advice.

Unless I drink too much champagne, that is.

Even More Shameless Self Promotion

2009-10-02T11:14:00.003-04:00

Here's yet another review for my novel, The Dragons of Hazlett. This one comes in from Long and Short Romance Reviews. Four and a half books out of five. Not bad!

A Writer's Primer

2009-09-28T19:54:00.003-04:00

Sinking in words ...
Originally uploaded by so_martinha

It occurred to me the other day that some of the slang that writers use isn't always easily understandable to the uninitiated. Therefore, here are a few simple terms and phrases to help you navigate writers' websites, chat rooms, and other sites:

Beta reader (or betas) - (n) readers who give critiques and advice on a writer's work in progress. This step usually takes place when the book has been completely finished, but before it is sent off to a publisher or agent.

Dialogue tags (or speech tags) - (n) those bits of description that are conjoined to a characters dialogue. For example: "But, Henry," Kristen said with tears in her eyes, "I thought you liked yogurt."

Fan Fic - fan fiction (n) a type of fiction written by fans of pre-existing stories, especially those in a television series. For example, many people who enjoy Star Trek and The X-Files write fan fic about the series.

Genre - (n) a subcategory or type of fiction such as fantasy, historical romance, horror, etc.

ISBN - International Standard Book Number (n) a unique identification code for books that are published internationally.

MC - main character (n) the protagonist or main character in a work of fiction. For example, Ishmael is the mc in Herman Melville's Moby Dick.

POV - point of view (n) the perspective from which a book is written. First person and third person points of view are most common; however, second person pov is also possible.

Scifi - Science fiction (n) a genre of literature usually involving, although not limited to, space and/or time travel, advanced technology, interplanetary exploration, etc.

Voice - (n) the tone and style of a story, oftentimes the thumbprint of the author. Voice includes such things as word choice, sentence length, pacing, etc.

WC - word count (n) the number of words in a particular story or book.

WIP - work in progress (n) the manuscript(s) that the author is currently working on.

First Rights

2009-09-21T07:27:00.004-04:00

If you're lucky enough to have published a piece of fiction, you've certainly signed a contract with the publisher. Whether your piece was a short story or a novel, a poem or an editorial, you gave the publisher permission to be the first one to print your work in his or her publication.

Whenever this happens in the U.S., Canada or Mexico, the author has signed away her first North American serial rights (fnasr) to the publisher. (My apologies to the rest of the world, but I'm only going into North American rights in this post!) That is, the author gives permission to the publisher to be the first to publish her work.

Until these rights expire, an author may not sell her work to other markets. The contract she signs with her publisher will set forth how long the rights extend. Generally, for a short story being printed in a magazine, the rights will be set at a year. For novels, this may be different.

As simple as this sounds, confusion still abounds. If an author self-publishes her work (either by posting it on a blog or going through a self-publishing agency such as Lulu or Publish America), she has already used up her first printing rights. If she's posted her work on a message board or an online group critique forum (unless that forum has adhered to certain standards such as a 'members only' or 'password protected' policy and is unintended to be viewed by the general public), she may have already used up her first rights. And if the first rights have already been used up, many publishers will not reprint it.
So be careful!

Stay Fresh

2009-09-10T20:36:00.002-04:00

Shhhhhhhhhh!
Originally uploaded by amp'ed

Living in the moment is important; writing for the moment is not. Good writers give their writing staying power. That is, they work to make sure that what they write sounds as current to a reader today as it will to a reader in twenty years.

There is a tendency among some writers (and I lay claim to this fault as well!) to insert such things as brand names or current iconic figures in their writing. I think this is an attempt to connect with the readers, and to make the fiction seem very 'now' and 'current'. But what seems hip and new and oh-so-cool right now will be passe and dated and completely out of vogue in a very short time.

For example, let's say that a writer five years ago, wanting to be current, writes the following:

Tom turned off the television, sick of the Hurricane Katrina coverage. There was so much tragedy in the world, so many people suffering! Not that his family cared. His middle daughter was pouting because he wouldn't let her go to the movie with her friend so that they would worship their idol, Hillary Duff. And his son was already begging him for a Nintendo DS, and the toy hadn't even been released in the U.S. yet! His kids had no idea how good they had it.

Now, let's try that with all of the trendy parts removed:

Tom turned off the television, sick of watching the news. There was so much tragedy in the world, so many people suffering! Not that his family cared. His middle daughter was pouting because he wouldn't let her go to the movies with her friend. And his son was already begging him for a video game that wouldn't be released in the U.S. for another month. His kids had no idea how good they had it.

Which of these scenarios sounds more current? The first one, with all of the references to pop stars and news headlines, definitely reads like it was written in 2004. The other one would have been current in 2004, 2009, and - unless things change drastically - 2020.

Whenever possible, leave out references to current cultural trends, news stories, and even brand names because when you do, you are placing a big 'sell by this date' sticker on your work. In this world, things change in a heartbeat. What sounds current now will only sound dated by the time your work is published.

Unless you are writing a period piece, you you don't want to date your writing. period.

Share the Love (of reading)

2009-09-04T19:55:00.003-04:00

Rebecca over at Scratch That pointed out this bit of fun.

* Grab the book nearest to you.
* Turn to page 56. * Find the fifth sentence.
* Post the sentence with instructions on your blog.
* Post link to Storytime with Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the closest.

Or, if you prefer, just place the sentence in comments here.

Here's my contribution (from my son's copy of Weird Michigan) : "Besides inventing and perfecting illusions and escape techniques, Houdini was very interested in spiritualism."

Another Review of "The Dragons of Hazlett"

2009-09-01T18:48:00.002-04:00

I'm pleased to announce that another review of my novel, The Dragons of Hazlett, has been posted at Stella Matutina's blog.

Deep Purple

2009-08-28T19:54:00.002-04:00

Deep Purple
Originally uploaded by nerdvin

There are so many lovely words in the English language, aren't there? Quixotic, erudite, tenebrous... All those lovely adverbs and adjectives just waiting to be used by the likes of us. Like shopping in an exquisite candy store, sometimes it's difficult to reign ourselves in. (Besides, unlike the candy store, words are free!)

But we have to. Most times, restraint and not overabundance is what makes a writer good. Consider this:

"Her face had the fragrance of a gibbous moon. The scent of fresh snow. Her eyes were dark birds in fresh snow. They were the birds' shadows, they were mirrors; they were the legends on old charts. They were antique armor and the tears of dragons. Her brows were a raptor's sharp, anxious wings. They were a pair of scythes. Her ears were a puzzle carved in ivory. Her teeth were her only bracelet; she carried them within the red velvet purse of her lips. Her tongue was amber. Her tongue was a ferret, an anemone, a fox caught in the teeth of a tiger."

Now, not every author has a style that I appreciate, but this is WAY over the top (and, yes, this is an actual quote from a book published by a major publishing house. I was first alerted to it by a post on Live-Journal.) The above selection is an extreme example, but sometimes it takes an extreme example to make a point.

This kind of writing should be done as a warm up activity only. Or, it can even be helpful to brainstorm in this way. Frequently, I wil freewrite for ten minutes when I'm confronting a passage of description. But after I put those words on paper, I edit my work. Three paragraphs of writing may be condensed down to a single sentence or two.

Grapes, wine, and pansies can all be purple. But never, ever, let your prose get that way!

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - a Movie Review

2009-08-26T16:45:00.003-04:00

Once again, my friend and fellow blogger The FilmNut gave me the opportunity to review a movie. So here it is!

Take Time to Edit

2009-08-10T20:27:00.002-04:00

Grasshopper
Originally uploaded by forbesimages

If you're like me, the moment you finish writing a story (or a novel, or a poem, or whatever), you want to dash off a thousand queries to a thousand markets in the hope that one will accept it. There's something about typing the words 'The End' at the bottom of the last page that make me want to send that manuscript off pronto!

But when I feel this way, I always remember those immortal words, "Patience, Grasshopper."

Over the years, I've found that the very last thing I should do when I first finish a story is send it out. That's because finishing a work is a lot like finally consummating a passionate, oftentimes rocky, relationship. You've struggled with writing the story, maybe even laid awake at nights thinking about it. The plot has thwarted you. The descriptions have plagued you. The characters have evaded you. But now you're finished. It's a genuine high. (I've been known to literally do a dance in my office after finishing a piece, much in the same way that quarterbacks will dance in the end zone after completing a touchdown.)

This is the time you'll have that post-consummation, dreamy feeling about your story. You won't see its flaws; you'll only be rejoicing that you've finally finished the darn thing. You'll be thinking of seeing your name on the printed page and fan mail and royalties.

What you need (and what your story needs) at this point is a good dose of reality. You need to look at your work - not with those dreamy, lovey-dovey eyes - but with the cold, hard eyes of someone who has woken up the next morning and realized that she's written a book (or a story or whatever).

Once you complete that story - even if you've been editing all along - set it aside. For a week. Better yet, if you can stand it, for a month. Then re-read it carefully. Read it out loud to yourself, in fact. You'll be amazed at what you discover. Those words you thought were all perfectly spelled, that carefully crafted plot, those passages of description... There is nothing like time and distance to make the flaws in your writing stand out (and I am saying this from a lot of personal experience).

When you send your work off to the agent or market of your choice, you want to be 100% confident that your work is the very best it can be. For that, you need to give yourself some time away from your work.

Ten Most Wanted

2009-08-04T17:53:00.003-04:00

Speaking of queries...

If you think selling short fiction is tough, the process for novel-length work contains its own novel-sized problem.

The snarky yet hilarious post on Tumblemoose puts query writing into perspective. Cops style.

4,000 to 1

2009-08-03T19:34:00.003-04:00

Other imprint's slush pile
Originally uploaded by Katertot

First, something fun.

National Public Radio is hosting another writers' competition. This one has to do with writing titles. In honor (well, kind of) of the late Robert Ludlum, NPR is asking listeners to tweet their attempts at the worst possible title for a spy movie. In order to read the entries, go to Twitter and enter #AbsurdSpyMovies in the 'search' box. Some of my favorites include: The Carradine Complication, The Freudian Fling, and "Live and Let Tie-Dye". I'm also proud of mine: The Gordian Nautilus.

# # # #

Okay, onto today's real topic. Slush.

No one likes to think about slush piles. Not editors, not agents, and certainly not writers. The very idea of a slush pile can make hardened writers tremble and turn gray. Today's blog title, "4,000 to 1" is actually a statistic that was posted on Mike Resnick's recent article Slush. This is the odds of a new writer being accepted by Asimov's magazine. And the picture for today's post? You guessed it - it's a slush pile.

Over the next few posts, I hope to help you improve your slush-pile odds. But let me be clear: I cannot guarantee that you will be accepted!! I am speaking as a somewhat newbie writer myself (though, I will say that I have a dozen or more publishing credits!) Certainly, I suffer from slush and rejections as much as anyone.

But even though there is no magic formula to success, there are concrete things that you, as a writer, can do to help your manuscript the best it can be and - hopefully - make it to the top of the slush pile.

Sometimes Summer Gets in the Way

2009-08-01T19:44:00.006-04:00

It's been so long since I've last written that when I tried to enter the Blogspot site, I was sent to the login page. It's like being asked for your ID at the neighborhood bar. But to be fair, I haven't written in a while.

Sometimes summer just gets in the way.

Well, I'm back with a few new ideas for posts (including some on how to proofread a story and what makes a story work), but for today, I'd like to share a fun bit that I found on NPR (National Public Radio).

Writing flash fiction is difficult. It may not seem that way, but it is. The fewer words a story contains, the more difficult it is to tell the story. It's like trying to run a household on a tight budget. There's no room for extras.

Enter NPR's Three-Minute Fiction Writing contest. Last June, National Public Radio asked its listeners to submit stories that could be read in three minutes or less. After slogging through 5,000 submissions, the results are in. You can read the winning entries here.

Flash fiction has never been something I've been able to write. I guess I'm just too verbose. But I had a fun time reading these winning entries, and I hope you will too.

It's good to be back!

A Review of "The Dragons of Hazlett"

2009-07-10T09:46:00.003-04:00

My novel, The Dragons of Hazlett, has just been reviewed at Bearmountain Books. Needless to say, I'm thrilled!

Publishing with a Small Press

2009-07-06T10:25:00.002-04:00

I knew fairly early on after completing my novel that I wanted to publish with a small press. I'd run the gauntlet of submitting to major publishing houses before and, having some idea of the massive slushpiles and phenomenally long response times, didn't feel up to the task this time around. Agents, of course, are another route, but the first agent I queried (a big name in the speculative fiction markets) said that he thought the world in which my book took place was too unbelievable. Worrying that other agents might feel the same way, I began to seriously consider an alternative.

The obvious place to begin looking for a small press was the Internet. The first thing I discovered is that there are a lot of small presses! Some of these I immediately rejected because they weren't very established: their author lists were quite short and their name recognition seemed to stretch only as far as the boundaries of their web page. Others didn't print speculative fiction. When I came across Mundania, however, I found that it met all my criteria. It had a history of publication with many authors, it was well rated on the writing advocate websites I checked, and its authors produce quality, award-winning work. After researching the company, I knew I'd found a place to submit.

Not that submitting to a small press is a sure-fire guarantee that an author will be published. Like the major houses, small houses like Mundania receive a significant amount of queries. And the numbers of submissions keeps increasing. Right now, Mundania estimates that it only accept one query in five-hundred. Anyone assuming that a small press does not have high standards and therefore will publish anything is wrong. When I received an e-mail from the publisher letting me know that my novel had been accepted, I was thrilled. I knew that I'd accomplished something major.

Since then, my experiences have been very positive, and I like that I've been able to cut my publishing teeth with a small press. The editors are very easy to work with and the publishers work hard to keep their writers happy. There is ample opportunity to network with other Mundania authors. I've been able to give input into such things as my cover art and am allowed to ask questions and offer opinions. Perhaps most importantly, there have not been major turnovers in staff and therefore I have not been passed around to people who aren't familiar with my work.

I am finding, however, that there are stigmas against publishing with a small press. Some people seem to think that "small press" and "vanity press" are the same thing. This is not true. Mundania passes the vanity press litmus test with flying colors. That is, they pay me for my work; I do not pay them. And although I was not given an advance, my royalty percentages are the same as those given to authors at larger houses. In fact, Mundania's royalties on e-books are significantly greater than those offered by large publishing houses.

Another difference between larger houses and a small press is exposure. This seems to be a sticking point for some people who think that, because a small press author is expected to promote her books, she is somehow being taken advantage of by the publisher. However, authors in larger houses - especially new authors - are expected to do this as well. Bookstore signings, speaking engagements, public appearances, maintaining an author website and blog are all tools that all authors must to use if they want to promote their books and boost sales.
For writers who are unsure of whether or not to try a small press, I would highly recommend it but with a caveat. Do your research to make sure that the publishers you are interested in are reputable. Check their booklists and publishing records. Definitely read a few of the novels they have published. Finally, realize that you will be responsible for promoting your work. But if you are willing to put in this effort, a small press may be just what you're looking for.

Make Yourself Invisible

2009-06-20T09:54:00.008-04:00

As writers, we are, at times, tempted to show off our skill. We want to write that amazing word picture of the windswept coastline or give a detailed description of our favorite character. We are artists, and words are our medium...

Okay, let's get real. Yes, writers use words to create pictures for their readers, but they also use words to tell stories. Too much description, however, will bog down a story; it may even stop it in its tracks. Personally, I'll take a well-written descriptive sentence over a lumbering paragraph every time. Maybe that makes me a cretin, I don't know. But what I do know is that I'm not alone in this opinion.

Today, the editing blog The Blood-Red Pencil posted a link to an essay written by Elmore Leonard entitled "Easy on the Hooptedoodle". Some of the hints include not opening with a discussion on the weather, not going into too much detail in our character descriptions, and not to use words like 'suddenly'. If you are unfamiliar with Leonard's work, I highly recommend picking up one of his books. His prose is tightly written and full of action yet contains vivid descriptions and interesting characters. The man is a terrific writers and knows what he's talking about in this essay!

Putting your thumbprint squarely on your manuscript is as bad of an idea as putting it in the middle of the pie you just baked. You might appreciate it, but others probably will not.

Life After Agents?

2009-06-12T09:48:00.002-04:00

Writer Dean Wesley Smith posted an interesting bit about agents and what they do and don't do for a writer. There's some great history here as well as a not-often heard opinion on agents.

After you've read that, you can pop over to Absolute Write to hear what other authors (including yours truly) think about Smith's post.

Up

2009-06-08T21:21:00.002-04:00

My friend the filmnut asked me to blog again for his site. Today's review is Up by Disney/Pixar.

Plot Progressions

2009-06-06T09:35:00.003-04:00

Making readers want to read on, that's the writer's goal. No one wants to have their readers stop halfway through the book or story. Surprise endings are one way to create tension (though not a very good way.) So is dramatic irony. A third method is plot progression.

Plot progressions are a type of dramatic irony in that the audience is clued in to what is coming next. The story starts with a small action, repeats that action on a somewhat larger scale, and then repeats the action again with even greater consequences (and a greater payoff for the reader). Readers are kept on the hook because they can see where this course of action is leading (even if the protagonist cannot).

There are many, many examples of this kind of plot (in fact, I challenge you to come up with your own examples!), but my favorite comes from Stephen King's Pet Cemetery. (Warning: spoilers follow!)

Pet Cemetery centers around the idea that dead bodies buried in a secret Native American burial site will come back to life. Well, 'life' in a reanimated corpse kind of way. The plot begins with the death of a student; a person who is only marginally associated with the protagonist, Dr. Louis Creed. But this action makes Creed begin thinking about death and his own philosophy of the afterlife. Next, Creed's elderly neighbor dies, and the doctor gets a more personal look at the tragedy. A while later, Creed's daughter's cat dies and the doctor, unable to bear his child's sorrow, buries the cat in the enchanted cemetery. The results are disastrous, and he vows to never do it again. But then his son dies...

Looking at this progression, you can see how King builds the tension and intensifies the payoff. Sure, the audience has a pretty good idea of what is going to happen, but they can't wait to read it. Like watching an impending car wreck, you can't tear your eyes away.

Plot progression can be as simple as a fairy tale (which is the basis for such stories as Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Jack and the Beanstalk) or as complex as a Stephen King novel, but it is a terrific way to keep your readers involved in your story.

Rules for Writing

2009-05-31T19:41:00.003-04:00

I love to poke around on the Absolute Write Water Cooler. Mostly, I hang around the scifi/fantasy genre boards, but lately I've ventured out into the novels section. I'm not sure why I've never run across this before, but today I found some excellent posts by author, James D. MacDonald.

When I read this one, I just knew that I had to post it. So here it is, 'Uncle Jim's Twenty-five Simple Steps to Becoming an Author':

Rules for Writing

There are twenty-five simple steps to becoming a published author.

Here are the steps:

1. Black ink on white paper.
2. Place your name and address in the top left-hand corner of the first page.
3. Place the title and byline, centered, half-way down the first page.
4. Put a running head (your name, the title, and a page number) in the top right hand corner of every page.
5. Your pages should have one-inch margins.
6. Doublespace your text.
7. Use Courier 10 or Courier 12 only.
8. Type on one side of the paper only.
9. Continue until you reach "The End."
10. Rewrite.
11. Rewrite.
12.....21. Revise
22. Obtain the guidelines for a market that accepts material similar to what you have finished.
23. Follow the guidelines scrupulously when you submit your material.
24. While you are waiting for your rejection slip, start again back at step 1 for your next work.
25. When the rejection slip arrives, send the manuscript to the next market on your list, that same day.

Okay, maybe these steps aren't as simple as they sound (but what worthwhile thing ever is?). But this is heck of a good bit of advice.

I, for one, am going to do my best to follow the plan.

A Writer's Toolbox

2009-05-28T07:55:00.006-04:00

Betty Dobson at Apollo's Lyre had a great post yesterday: The Top 10 Things Every Writer Needs. I love her list, but I'd like to add just a couple of items of my own:

1. A baby name book. This sounds strange, but it is an invaluable tool. Most times, writers have the names of their main characters already picked, but there are times when a minor character needs to be named and a baby name book can help with this.

2. A flash drive. Backing up your files is extremely important! I've blogged on this before. Having a good flash drive will make backups much easier.

3. Index cards and a small file box. Every time you finish a story or other writing project, write down the information (title, word count, genre, etc.) on the file card. Under that, keep a list of the markets you are submitting to (noting the date you submitted and the date your response came). This is an easy way to keep track of your writing and submission record.

4. A library card. Writers need to read as much as possible, but who can afford to buy every book she wants? Libraries are a poor writer's best friend.

5. A sense of humor. Don't get me wrong, I love to write, but writing can be one of the most discouraging, frustrating endeavors a person could ever take on. To keep up my spirits, I keep cartoons (Snoopy atop his doghouse, writing 'It was a dark and stormy night'), funny bumper stickers ('Sometimes I creep myself out'), pictures of my kids (to remind me that there are other things in life besides writing) and other positive motivators pinned to my bulletin board.

6. Patience, patience, and more patience. Patience with yourself, with your writing, with the response times of the markets, and with everyone and everything that seems to get in your way when you want to write.

Dramatic Irony

2009-05-25T09:05:00.005-04:00

How I've envied artists over the years! Unlike fiction, paintings and drawings can be viewed (and judged) in an instant. Of course, I know that to gain a full understanding of great art, one must spend time studying it; however, no one can walk away in the middle of a painting. Even a cursory glance allows a viewer to see the piece in its entirety.

Not so with writing!

One of the biggest challenges a writer faces is to make sure that her audience reads to the end of the piece. This is especially true of slush editors who, within the first few sentences of a story, know whether it is worth their time to read on or not. Recently, I've had several rejections in which the editors indicated that they read to the end of my story. Even though the rejections stung (they always do!), it gave me great satisfaction to know that I could write a story that people - even editors! - wanted to finish.

So how can that be accomplished?

As I mentioned in a previous post, a shocking ending is not a great way to accomplish this. A writer who composes a story with a shocking ending must put so much energy into the buildup, that other elements of story telling (characterization, setting) oftentimes get lost.

One great way to build tension in a story and keep a reader moving forward is the use of dramatic irony. Dramatic irony is a situation in which the readers know something that the characters do not. For example, in Romeo and Juliet, Romeo thinks his beloved is dead. The audience, however, knows that Juliet is simply drugged.

Dramatic irony is a twist on story telling because in a traditional, linear plot, readers and characters are carried into the unknown by the writer. The advantage to dramatic irony is that the audience can become very anxious on the behalf of their favorite character, wondering when and how the character will finally come to realize what he doesn't know. Mentally, they can be begging him to do or not do something because they have knowledge he does not. (Sometimes, the audience might be verbally communicating this - have you ever gone to a movie and shouted at the actress on the screen, "Don't go into the basement!!"). At it's best, dramatic irony can create an almost unendurable tension in the readers, making them want to read on in order to see how the tension is resolved.

Of course, using dramatic irony is a difficult skill, for in order to work, dramatic irony must weave more than a single thread of narrative. There is the thread that the audience knows (Juliette is drugged, not dead), as well as the thread that only the character knows (my beloved has killed herself!). It takes some skill to do this, but the payoff can be tremendous.

Twitterpated

2009-05-19T21:31:00.005-04:00

Twitter this and twitter that... What's the point?

Well, up until now, I wasn't sure. I, for one, am not interested in who is walking the dog and who is eating toast with jam. But in a recent blog post on Reading, Writing, & Stuff That Makes Me Crazy, Marianne Arkins explains how she used Twitter to not only chat with people, but to draw attention to her blog. Clever!

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, Twitter is a messaging system in which people can post very brief messages on what they are doing. But a clever few have turned this strange new communication tool into works of art. Sort of.

Some Twitterers give out information, for example, entries of free fiction that has been posted on the Internet. But others actually post full-fledged fiction Twitters. Well, at least as full-fledged as fiction can be in 120 characters.

For me, I decided to post 120 character book reviews on my Twitter account (which you can view here.) And since 120 characters seems awfully short, I've decided that I could actually make my reviews rhyme. I've always admired the poet Ogden Nash whose famous couplets (such as, "candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker") were both clever and insightful. And while I don't claim to be either clever or insightful, I can at least write a rhyming couplet.

Today's book review is "Duma Key" by Stephen King:

Duma Key was not for me/its lengthy plot was scary - not!

So thus, the birth of the Book Review 120 is born.

Writing Exercises

2009-05-19T18:04:00.003-04:00

I hardly dare even say the words, "writer's block" for fear of cursing myself, but we all experience it. So if you are stuck in the middle of a dry spell, check out today's blog post on Apollo's Lyre, Writing Exercises to Get You Going. These exercises are terrific, and I'm sure will help you circumnavigate that block.

The Shocking Truth about Shocking Endings

2009-05-16T18:07:00.004-04:00

"...and you won't believe the shocking ending!!!"

How many times have you heard this on television? Nearly every week, some show or another is promising its viewers an ending they won't believe. Or can't imagine. Or will be shocked by.

Yawn.

Sure, surprise endings have their place, but they've been way overused of late. Unexpected surprise endings might work in a short story or a television show, but a very good surprise ending is very difficult to write. Why?

1) In many cases, the audience is expecting it. Most people, when reading a story, are working to forecast the direction of the plot (Where is this story going? What's going to happen next?). This means that, aside from children (who are more of a pure audience due to their lack of experience), most readers will spot a 'surprise' ending a mile away. And, believe me, there is nothing worse than a surprise ending that falls flat.

2) Because of #1 above, writers must reach farther and farther for an ending that will actually surprise the readers. This means that, in many cases, surprise endings are becoming more and more improbable. Some even reek of deus ex machina.

3) Surprise endings often fall into the realm of cliche. Joe Bob thinks that everyone has forgotten his birthday, but all of his friends were merely planning a surprise party for him. Mary Jane thinks her boyfriend is cheating on her because he's out all night, but - wow! - he's really a vampire. Little Billy is being chased by a huge monster, but - surprise!! - he wakes up and finds out that it is all a dream.

Again, there is nothing worse than a surprise ending that is no surprise. There are much better ways to build tension in your fiction. Over the next few posts, I'm going to explore some of these ways. There. I've told you what I plan to do and, therefore, have spoiled the surprise. On purpose.

Writing About Children

2009-05-11T17:59:00.004-04:00

Maybe it's because yesterday was Mother's Day, but I've been thinking a lot about child characters in adult books. So often I've read what I've thought was a very good novel only to be annoyed by the lack of authenticity in its younger characters. Every character in a book, even the little ones, need to be convicing. I'm not sure if some authors don't have any experience with kids, or if they think their characters are exceptional, but after living with and working with children, I have found that, despite their differences, they share a lot of similarities.

1. Children are not tiny adults - This seems obvious, yet so many times I've read stories in which the children behave like adults. Obviously, there are some very well mannered children, but even these will get cranky at times. Children fidget. They cry. They whine. They pick their noses and blow bubbles with their saliva. In Martin Scorsese's movie Kundun, a very small boy is chosen to be Tibet's next dalai lama. As such, the boy is expected to meditate several hours each day. One of my favorite scenes in this movie is of the little dalai lama, who is barely out of toddlerhood, wandering off while the other monks are deep in meditation. Of course he's not able to sit motionlessly for hours on end! He's just a child!

2. Children are concrete thinkers, not abstract thinkers. I can think of many novels in which young characters are discussing philosophy or solving complex logic puzzles. This is simply not realistic. I'm not saying that there aren't some exceptional children who can out-think many adults, but this is the exception, not the rule. Lisa Simpson is a great example of this. I love the character - in fact, she is my favorite Simpson - but her interests in women's studies and jazz don't make her very childlike! (Obviously, this is part of the fun of the show.)

3. Most children are fearful and suspicious of change. Because their range of experience is so limited (they've only lived a few years, after all!), they tend to worry about things. If Mom has a cough, does that mean she's going to die? What will happen if I go to kindergarten and have to use the bathroom? And just try to get a child to try a new food that looks a little different from what he's used to!

Now, if you're looking at this list and shaking your head, chances are that you've had enough experience with children to know the exceptions to these observations! In that case, you are probably familiar enough with children to write believable characters. If not, try to observe children to see how they act and what they do. Even if your child character is a genius (such as Ender Wiggin in Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game) he or she is still a child! Just like a female writer must pay special attention when writing a male protagonist and vice versa, so too adults must pay special attention when writing about the youngest of their characters.

[As an end note, I've noticed that the best children's characters are written by authors of children's and YA books. Katherine Anne Patterson, Jerry Spinelli, and Andrew Clements excel at writing about children and young people. If ever you need some tuteledge in writing young characters, I suggest reading a few books by these authors.]

Character Sketches

2009-05-04T19:31:00.004-04:00

One skill I find very difficult is describing characters. Especially minor characters who grab center stage for a very brief time. A waitress, for example, who occupies the main character in a brief conversation or the next door neighbor who pops in and out of chapters but never sticks around longer than a paragraph or so.

Part of the challenge, I think, is balance. A writer wants to offer enough of a description so that the reader has a basic picture of who this character is and what she's like. But at the same time, the description shouldn't clutter up the narrative with a lot of unnecessary details. The last thing a writer wants is for his readers to silently say, "Enough already! I've got the picture."

To help myself improve this skill, I've started doing what I think of as 'word caricatures' of people. I'm sure you've all seen caricaturists: artists who set up shop at carnivals and shopping malls and draw cartoonish likenesses of their customers. They pick out a few distinguishing details of their subjects and then drawing them at lightening speed. (My husband and I once had one done at a bar and the result was funny yet amazingly recognizable.)

I work on my caricatures as I'm waiting in line in the grocery store or the bank or wherever. I watch the other people and attempt to mentally describe one or two specific details that set them apart from the crowd. (Please note, that I never intend to be cruel or judgmental. I simply try to capture what I see.)

For example, last week, while I was helping out in my daughter's elementary school, I saw two little girls with long-sleeved black shirts. Both girls had long, gray streaks of dried mucus on their sleeves where they had used their shirts as tissues to wipe their runny noses. This, I think, is a very arresting detail that would work well to implant a minor character in the reader's mind.

Another example came today when I was at the gas station. The elderly man behind me in line walked with a cane. The attendant was a teenager with jeans that sagged well below the waistband of his boxers. When the elderly man stepped up to the window to pay for his gas, the teenager grinned widely and said, "Hey, Mr. X. How's my yo' boy?"

Again, these are very brief examples of people, but brevity is what's needed. You don't want to flood your readers with a lot of details; you want to keep them focused. But because minor characters often play important parts in the narrative, they deserve some sparkle, too.

News from the Slushpile Front

2009-05-02T19:47:00.001-04:00

Here's one editor's take on slushpile at Mundania LLC.

The Word Economy

2009-04-26T10:43:00.007-04:00

Whenever I look at short story markets, I tend to cringe at their limits on word count. I am seldom able to keep my stories under 5,500 words; even 6k can seem a bit snug. Yet many of the short markets demand word counts of 4k and less and, of course, in the flash fiction

But, over the years, I've come to see that learning to write within these limits can be a very important exercise. Like a pianist practicing scales, writing shorter fiction makes a writer more disciplined. It makes him pay attention to what words he uses and how those words are used. Novel writers, it seems to me, can be too proliferate with their words; they're like millionaires handing out pennies. But we short story writers need to be smarter with our language. We need to dole it out carefully, paying attention to how it's spent.

So how is that done?

One major waste of words is the infodump. Sometimes called 'backstory', an infodump occurs whenever a narrator gives a lengthy account of everything he thinks the reader needs to know. This might be the history of a certain place or the background of a character's love life or even a detailed description of a certain activity. These kinds of things will bog down the plot like a heavy backpack will slow down a runner. In a short story, you want your plot to fly!

A skillful writer doesn't need to rely on infodumps. Instead, he can weave important bits of information seamlessly into a story. A paragraph on Susan's benighted lovelife can be condensed into a sentence that simply says, "Susan had never been lucky in love" or "Susan knew that, just like her other relationships, this one was doomed as well."

Using well-chosen words and combinations of words can also bring down a word count. Instead of writing, "The boy ran very quickly up the hill", why not try, "The boy sprinted uphill." Sprinted, of course, is much more incisive than ran very quickly. Lessening a word count by a two might not seem like a lot, but not only will several of these changes bring the overall number of words down, using more precise words will strengthen your writing.

Almost always, when I go back to edit a story I've written months earlier, I find that I need to trim the fat. If a piece is 7,000 words, I try to bring it down to 6,500 or 6,000. If a story is 6,000, I'll back it up to 5,500 or fewer. The important part of writing fiction (any fiction) is the impact of your words, not the number of them. After all, the shortest verse in the Christian Bible, "Jesus wept", is perhaps the most poignant.

Recently, Jason Sanford in the online zine, The Fix, also commented noted how writing short stories can discipline a writer. Short story writers, he said, "learn to balance description, narrative, plot, characterization, and insight against the need for the story to both make sense and be beautifully told. To do otherwise is to guarantee that a short story will fail."

Novel writers may have the ability to use words more freely than the short story writer. But many times, just because you can do something, doesn't mean that you should.
markets, the restrictions are even greater.

Mrs. Quent and the Magicians

2009-04-22T16:39:00.011-04:00

Sometimes I worry that good storytelling is dead.

So often, I find that gimmicks have replaced well-crafted plots, and that characters all display the bland plasticity of Ken and Barbie Doll. But then I read Galen Beckett's wonderful novel, The Magicians and Mrs. Quent.

Although it takes place in an alternate world, Mrs. Quent is written with a Victorian flourish. Characters such as Ivy, Mr. Rafferdy, and Mr. Quent might well have stepped directly from the pages of a Bronte novel. The language and dialogue are delightful, full of those sensibilities that made readers like myself fall in love with Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

Not that this book is simply a magical retelling of those novels. No, Mrs. Quent is definitely its own story set in its own peculiar world. The plot is intricate, weaving together three narratives from three main characters. And though the novel's social structure is reminiscent of Victorian England, Altania (the country in which the novel takes place) is as unique as Narnia.

Although the book doesn't shy away from the grimmer aspects of its plot, it manages to remain genteel throughout. For someone like me who does not enjoy reading about brutality and torture, Mrs. Quent offers a refreshing change. The book is engrossing enough for an adult to read, but mild enough for a preteen to enjoy.

If I have any quibbles with this novel, it is with its pacing. The book is divided into thirds with the first and final sections written in third person. The middle portion, written as a letter from the main character, Ivy, to her mentally ill father is interesting enough, but it chops up the narrative so much that the impact of the book's final chapters is significantly lessened. (Think of reading the first half of Sense and Sensibility, then switching to the Turn of the Screw, and finally finishing up the Austen novel.)

The Magicians and Mrs. Quent is one of those wonderful novels in which the reader can plunge herself into a whole new world and befriend the characters she finds there. I am rarely an on-the-edge-of-my-seat kind of reader, but I couldn't put this book down.

Yes, Mrs. Quent harks back to the days of the Victorian novel, and I have a feeling that - somewhere - the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen are smiling.

And I'm smiling, too.

Second Person

2009-04-20T15:36:00.006-04:00

One day, my twelve-year-old son told me that his junior high English teacher had been explaining the difference between first person and third person points of view. When my son asked about second person, she said that there was no such thing (much to his outrage).

Yes, the rumors are true...there is a second person voice.

It reads something like this:

You opened the refrigerator and saw that your roommate had once again drunk all of your beer. Outraged, you pounded on his bedroom door, demanding an explanation. He kept his eyes on the video game he was playing and refused to answer. You stormed away, hating him.

Sounds weird, doesn't it? But while this type of writing defies convention, there are some writers who use it. One notable example is A Prayer for the Dying by Stuart O'Nan. This book is not only written in second person, it is also written in present tense which is doubly strange. Although I believe that this voice would be difficult to tolerate in a long work, A Prayer for the Dying is short. Additionally, the second-person present tense gives the story a powerful impact that it might not otherwise have had. If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend it. (Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney is another example. I have yet to read that one, though.)

In the book Story Matters by Margaret-love Denman and Barbara Shoup, second person POV is also discussed. Story Matters, an outstanding resource for writers, quotes writer Pam Houston who says, "[A second-person] point of view is always about a 'narrator who's ashamed of herself, afraid to say I'." Story Matters goes on to say, "Using the second person washes a layer of shame over the story without the narrator ever having to admit it."

After reading that, I decided to try writing a story from the second-person POV. My story, The Scarlet Wristband, involved a young, teen aged boy who had to choose between telling the truth and saving his mother. Although the piece was successfully published in All Possible Worlds, when it was reviewed, my use of the second-person POV was criticized because it placed too much distance between the reader.

Personally, I enjoy reading the second-person POV (in small amounts). I think it can lend some interesting angles to a narrative. But it can also fail miserably. Like so many unique narrative structures (such as diary entries), however, second-person POV is another tool in the writer's kit.

A Little Shameless Self-Promotion

2009-04-11T19:34:00.002-04:00

My story, Family Tree, is now available online at Afterburn SF. I'm so excited!

Have a happy Easter, everyone!

Who's Your Narrator?

2009-04-09T21:25:00.007-04:00

Many years ago, I had a professor ask me this question. At the time, I had no idea what he meant. Who's my narrator? Sure, I understood that story or novel written in first person had a narrator. But what about one written in third person?

Consider the following example:

I didn't wasn't planning to steal anything when I went into the store. But when I stood in the checkout line, my hand darted out of my pocket, and my fingers closed around a pack of gum. Then, between one heartbeat and the next, my hand was safely back in my pocket again, the gum tucked away like it had a right to be there. And when the checkout girl didn't notice, I understood that this was a game. Just like my mother had always said.

This bit was written in first person (that is, from the point of view of the shoplifter). Here, the narrator is easy to identify. Who's telling the story? The woman, of course. But take a look at this example:

Carol wasn't planning on stealing anything when she went into the store. But when she stood in the checkout line, her hand darted out ofher pocket, and her fingers closed around a pack of gum. Then, between one heartbeat and the next, her hand was safely back in her pocket again, the gum tucked away like it had a right to be there. And when the checkout girl didn't notice, Carol understood that this was a game. Just like her mother had always said.

This was written in third person. So who is telling the story? Who is making the reader understand that Carol wasn't consciously thinking of shoplifting? Who is giving that little glimpse into Carol's mind when she thinks of this as a game? Again, it's the narrator.

Even if your story is not written in first person, there is a narrator. There is that invisible person who is describing the scene, giving insight into the characters' minds, and putting a spin on the entire story.

Yes, a spin. In the previous bit, the narrator might have added some incendiary comment ("Just like her mother, the thief, had always said.") Or perhaps some words to make Carol a more sympathetic person ("Carol understood this was a game. And, after what she'd gone through, who could blame her?")

The narrator decides what will be said. She (or he) will determine what details the reader is meant to notice. She will be the one who looks into the character's minds and records what he sees. In any story, understanding your narrator is extremely important.

A few years ago, long after I first heard about the narrator, I had the pleasure of hearing a lecture by children's author, Gary Schmidt. Mr. Schmidt said that he always asks his students to consider their narrator when they begin to write. It was his belief that, until a writer knows who the narrator is, the book will lack focus. I have to agree with him; understanding your narrator is as important as understanding your characters.

Don't Set Your Stories in the Kitchen

2009-04-05T09:32:00.005-04:00

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received came from a forum post written by an editor of a small magazine. She was discussing her slush pile and said that if she had to read another story that took place in a kitchen, she just might have to tear her hair out. "Do writers know how many stories begin in kitchens?" she asked, clearly annoyed. "And do those writers realize how boring that is?" (I truly wish I knew who said this because I 'd love to give her credit for the terrific insight; however, I don't even remember which forum it was.)

After reading that post, I went through all of my stories and - much to my chagrin - 90% of them took place in kitchens. Or living rooms. Or they began in a bedroom with the main character waking up (which, according to this same forum post, was even worse than beginning a story in a kitchen).

So what's wrong with writing about a kitchen. After all, interesting things can happen in a kitchen, can't they? Well, yes and no. Consider the following scenario:

Greg and Kate are having an arguement. They've been married for a year, but Greg thinks that the shine has already come off their relationship because Kate is so focused on her goal to have a baby that she's scheduled thier love making, thus taking all the fun and sponteniety out of their intimacy.

Okay, now take this scenario and put it into one of the following settings:

a) a 50th anniversary party for Greg's parents which is being held in an exclusive country club

b) a kitchen

Which of the settings makes the story more interesting?

If you are writing this argument in a kitchen in which the only two characters present are Greg and Kate, you are missing some opportunities to create tension. At the party, Greg and Kate are in a public place. Now their flaring tempers are put under even more pressure because they will probably want to remain civil to one another in order to not embarrass the family or themselves. Maybe one or both of them has been drinking too much. Maybe they have begun to argue in the cloakroom only to be interrupted by great aunt Myrtle or cousin Fred...

So you see, just by changing the setting, you are able to rachet the tension up and make the argument much more interesting.

I'm sad to say that, many times, I still opt for the safety of a kitchen or living room setting. I think this is because I am a lazy writer at heart. Kitchens are much easier to write about than restaurants. The kitchen is a very confined space; you don't have to think about the placement of the doors and tables or worry about describing the other customers or the waitstaff. It's much easier to write about a kitchen. But it is, as the editor rightly noted, it is also much more boring.

New Look

2009-04-03T09:52:00.002-04:00

I've already changed my layout once this year, but apprently that layout wasn't allowing anyone to post comments. And I do love comments! So welcome to the new blog.

The Red Room

2009-04-02T17:14:00.003-04:00

The Internet never seems to run out of places to explore!

My newest discovery is called the Red Room. Have you heard of it? It's a place for readers and writers to connect with eachother. Kind of a like a literary FaceBook.

Anyone can join and post a profile. Writers who have not self-published are welcome to become Red Room authors. Becoming a Red Room author allows you to create an author page listing your works. Additionally, the Red Room offers blog space, places to write book reviews, and snippets of news from Publisher's Weekly.

The authors posting at the Red Room range from the extremely famous, such as Maya Angelou and John Stewart, to the extremely obscure (uh, I guess that would be me!). And every kind of genre imaginable is represented: romance, graphic novels, Manga, fantasy, children's, Asian-American studies...just to name a few.

If you haven't visited the Red Room, I advise checking it out. And if you go, stop by and say 'hi'! My page is located here.

Speech Tags

2009-03-30T15:57:00.000-04:00

Speech tags are those bits of description attached to dialogue. For example:

"You underestimate me, Paul," Sarah said, lifting her chin.

or

As Anne Marie ran down the stairs, she looked over her shoulder and shouted, "You can't catch me!"

Once you begin to notice speech tags when you read, you'll never stop. They're everywhere. Sometimes, the speech tag is an adverb that is used to describe how a character actually sounds when she says something:

"You underestimate me, Paul," Sarah said loftily.

These adverbs (generally, words ending in -ly) can become quite silly if used too often. In fact, there is even a term for them: Tom Swifty. A 'Tom Swifty' is a pun, such as:

"I'm on fire," he said hotly.

or

"Anyone can do that," she said easily.

Using too many speech tags can make your writing appear clumsy or childish. Your characters should be able to express themselves with their actions rather than rely on you, the author, to tell the readers what is going on. For example:

Andrew frowned and shoved his hands into his pockets. "It's not fair," he said.

is better than:

"It's not fair," Andrew said huffily.

Another way to correct speech tags is to turn them into independent sentences of their own. For example:

"I hate you," Gwynneth said and covered her face with her hands.

Change this to:

"I hate you," Gwynneth said. She covered her face with her hands.

Some writers will even go so far as to say that a writer should never use speech tags other than 'said' when writing. While I think that 90% of speech tags can be effectively written out of a dialogue, I do think that an occasional one is fine. Stephen King is one author who, in his book, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft said that speech tags should be eliminated, yet, if you read his work, you will see that he still uses them. I would suggest that if you see that your writing has more than one speech tag per page (other than a simple, 'said'), you need to do some editing.

A final thing to notice about speech tags is that, other than said, there are a few words that be used when your characters give voice. For example:

"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"I'm sorry," she shouted.
"I'm sorry," she admitted.
"I'm sorry," she whimpered.

Please notice that 'smiled' is not among these words! Someone cannot smile something. She can smile and say something, but she cannot just smile it.

E-Piracy

2009-03-25T18:18:00.000-04:00

Now that e-books are becoming more and more popular, writers face a new concern: e-piracy.

This evening, NPR's "All Things Considered" aired a story about DRM (digital rights management) technology, comparing what is going on now to what has happened in the world of music. A few years ago, websites like Napster allowed users to download music for free. Is the world of e-books doomed to follow in the same footsteps? Will pirated e-books become as easily available as bootlegged copies of "Paint it Black" by the Stones?

I have to wonder if these concerns are really valid. After all, free fiction is already available in abundance. Websites such as Afterburn SF and Aberrant Dreams already offer quality stories and poetry for free. Yard sales, used book sales, and church rummage sales are all sources for cheap fiction. Friends and relatives trade books like kids trade baseball cards. And libraries, the worst 'offenders', are a government-subsidized way for readers to read books for free.

For myself, I've bought books by authors after taking a book of theirs out of the library just like I've purchased CD's after listening to a formerly unknown artist's song on Slacker. Sometimes, getting something for free can lead to name recognition and more sales.

I'm not alone in thinking this way. In the NPR story, author Naomi Novik stated, "The biggest danger to most authors, to most storytellers, is not that somebody is going to steal your work and pass it along — it is that nobody is ever going to see your work." I have to agree.

In my opinion, the worst crime that one can commit is not to get something for nothing, but to claim an author's work as his own. That, my friends, is the true crime. One I hope none of us ever has to deal with.

Why Editors Don't Give Detailed Rejections

2009-03-24T16:07:00.000-04:00

Note: the following post was written by the very talented Skyla Dawn Cameron and originally appeared on The Mundania Press Blog. Ms. Cameron has written several novels and is the senior editor at Mundania Press, LLC.

Whenever I send out a batch of rejection letters, I inevitably get a "Why?" response back from at least one author.

I completely understand why. Authors put a lot into their work. They wait and wait and wait for a response. And then it comes...and it's a mere form letter.

We all (well, probably not all, but many of us) want to improve our writing. Feedback is wonderful. So why did this editor not tell you what's wrong with your book? It couldn't take more than a few minutes, right?

Here is the reality:

1. You're not the only author in slush. There are, literally, hundreds of novels being evaluated. I *don't* have time to give everyone a detailed rejection letter.

2. Rejection letters aren't sent immediately after a book has been rejected. For Mundania, readers turn in their slush decisions at different times.* I wait a week or so and send off ten to twenty letters at a time. This means that I don't immediately remember the reasons why the book was rejected, and I don't have the time to look it up for every letter.

3. Sometimes (a lot of the time?) a book really, truly is bad. If I told the author exactly what the editorial panel thought of the book...it would not go over well, and with good reason. I don't want to be cruel with anyone, therefore a form letter rejection is the kindest thing I often can give.

4. Feedback used to be given in the past (when the company was smaller), and nine times out of ten, authors sent back angry emails about how the editor was stupid and didn't know anything. That really discourage the practice.

It's *not* a vast conspiracy. I know a lot of people like to think this...the book is actually good, but the evil editors are trying to keep people down by being the gateway to publication. Um, no. But publishers act as a filter, and that's a good thing. If a book is rejected, it's not because we're trying to keep new authors out--often it's because either the book just isn't good, it doesn't fit with the catalogue, or it's good but just not good enough. But that's a whole other rant...

All this being said, I do, occasionally, send back a bit of feedback. Sometimes we want to see the book rewritten/tweaked a bit. Other times we just didn't feel the genre fits, but would love to see future works. If you get that kind of feedback from an editor (not necessarily me, but anyone), please try not to snark back. A personalized rejection letter is gold in this business. It's something to be really proud of.

Finally, if you ever, ever feel compelled to write back to an editor who rejected your work, *please* do nothing but thank them politely. Burning bridges = future queryfail, kids.

(I'm bringing this up because my readers are whittling through September/October slush right now and I'll be sending out the final letters *hopefully* by the end of this month. Everyone will be notified with either a rejection letter, or a full read notice.)

*If you're wondering why I don't send rejections immediately, it's basically because slush isn't my only responsibility, and therefore isn't my priority. Dealing with already contracted authors/books is. Another harsh reality I've mentioned before.

Back it Up

2009-03-21T17:48:00.000-04:00

Always keep an extra copy of your work. Always.

You would think that this piece of advice is so obvious that it needn't even be mentioned; however, I have to admit that I have often neglected to do this.

A few years ago, I received a long-awaited letter from a publisher that I had queried asking for a complete manuscript. Of course, I was ecstatic and wanted to send the novel back to them as quickly as possible. When I went to print the pages, however, I couldn't find the final two chapters. Panicked, I searched the hard-drive of my computer, the disks that I'd saved to (okay, it was more than a few years ago!), and even the hard copies that I'd printed off earlier. Nothing. So I had to scramble to reconstruct the final pages of the book. Because a year had elapsed since the initial query and the request for the complete manuscript, I had forgotten much of what I had originally written, and I had to improvise. That is a week I hope that I never have to relive!

I wish I could say that was my only experience with not properly backing up my work, but it wasn't. I've made the same mistake again (with the same results!) But I'm hoping that you learn from my mistakes. Back up frequently.

Backing up data can be deceptively simple. After all, what's easier than plugging a junk drive into your computer and then dragging the files from your desktop onto the junk drive? And yet, this is how mistakes get made. Replacing one file with another of the same name is a sure-fire way to get yourself into trouble. Not only may you unwittingly erase the file you intended to save but, more commonly, you will end up deleting your writing history. That is, you erase the trail of edits that you've made from your original story to your current document.

For example...
Let's say that you are working on the story, "Mary in the Snow". On Monday, you write three pages. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, you write nothing. Then the next five days, you work some more on your story, changing the introduction, the names of the characters, and so forth. Now another week elapses, and you're having second thoughts. Should you have made the changes to the characters' names? Should you have changed the introduction? If you've simply saved one copy of the story over and over again, you can't go back to read what you initially wrote. That information is lost.

My recommendation is to save the story each time you work on it, using a different name to mark your progress. For example, "MarySnow_3-21-09" and "MarySnow_3-22-09" and so forth. This way, if you want to look back at something you wrote, you can easily do so.

The downside to this is that it takes up a lot of space on your hard drive (or junk drive). But, unless you are 100% confident that you will never be needing those earlier pieces, backing up in this fashion is the best way to go.

Learn from my mistakes! Back up your work. Use a junk drive to keep your files and keep a second junk drive in a secure location (I have a fire-proof safe that I use). Sound paranoid? It just might be. But isn't it worth keeping all of those hours worth of work safe?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go back up my files.

Writing Contests

2009-03-19T20:20:00.000-04:00

Back when I was first beginning to write, I entered a short story contest sponsored by The Writer magazine. I paid the fee, mailed my story, and waited for my prize. Yes, I was just that green and that vain to think that my work would actually win. Needless to say, it didn't. The story, I now realize, was terrible in the way that only first stories can be; however, since that time, I've never entered another contest.

But I have been curious about them. Many times, after reading the bio of an author who has won a prize, I've wondered if I should enter a contest again. Certainly the credentials of winning a contest gives an author's credentials a boost. And in some instances, prize-winning entries are printed in anthologies.

Part of the problem with contests, however, is trying to find them. Usually, you run across information on a contest after the deadline has passed. Additionally, it is easy to get sucked into scams posing as competitions in which writers are pressured into buying an anthology of the contest's 'winners'. That's where Moira Allen's, Writing to Win: the Colossal Guide to Writing Contests enters in.

Generally, it is my philosophy to not pay for what you can get for free. That is why, in previous posts, I've recommended visiting online sources for market information as opposed to subscribing to a magazine or buying a book. However, I have yet to find an online compendium of writing contests that compares to the one compiled by Ms. Allen. Because its listing are organized by writing type (poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, books, scripts and screenplays) and also by deadline (so that the author knows when to submit her work), Writing to Win is easy to use. And, with over three-hundred pages of listings, the book is probably as close to comprehensive as any resource like this can be.

Writing to Win isn't just about listing contests; it offers plenty of good advice about how to prepare a story for submission as well pointers on how to determine whether a competition is legitimate or not. The book doesn't claim to offer writers a 100% guaranteed way to win (I wouldn't recommend it if it did!), but what it does do is shed some light on how contests work and how writers can best present their work. If you are at all interested in entering writing competitions, then I recommend this book.

___________

Writing to Win: the Colossal Guide to Writing Contests by Moira Allen, is published by Vinegar Hill Press, copyright 2008. The book retails for $16.95 and can be purchased by visiting CreateSpace.com at
https://www.createspace.com/3364376 or from Amazon.com
(http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Win-Colossal-Guide-Contests/dp/1441404759/)

The Watchmen

2009-03-14T20:36:00.000-04:00

My good friend the Film Nut asked me to do a guest piece on the movie, The Watchmen. You can view it here.

Beta Readers - A Final Word

2009-03-13T14:56:00.000-04:00

Maybe one of the biggest challenges regarding beta readers is where to find them. If you are one of those people who do not know any other writers, or if the writers you do know don't like the type of fiction that you write, finding a beta can be difficult.

For those who are in that situation, let me offer you two websites where you can find betas. For free!

The first is an organization called the Critters Writers Workshop. Run by Dr. Andrew Burt, science fiction author and former president of the SFWA, Critters is an online forum for science fiction, fantasy, and horror writers who are looking to have their fiction peer-edited by other writers. Many, although not all, of the writers have had their work published. A few are considered 'professional'; that is, they meet the standards of professionals as outlined by the the SFWA or the HWA.

Critters uses very strict guidelines on how this exchange of critiques takes place. Writers must critique a certain number of stories (generally, one per week) in order to have their own work reviewed. Additionally, there are rules on behavior and conduct.

I've used Critters for years and have found it to be an extremely helpful resource. I highly recommend it.

Another source for finding beta readers is at the Absolute Write Water Cooler. The advantage of Absolute Write is that it covers all types of writing, not just the speculative fiction markets. Also, those looking to have their writing reviewed are not compelled to write critiques in return. The arrangements for beta reading are worked out by the authors themselves.

Whether you are a newbie or a grizzled writing veteran, beta readers offer an invaluable service in making your writing as good as it can possibly be. I encourage everyone to look into what beta readers offer.

Beta Readers: Part Two

2009-03-11T20:02:00.000-04:00

I'm sure that everyone understand the importance of having a beta reader look over your work. Now I want to discuss the importance of being a beta reader.

Making comments on someone else's work will help you improve your own writing. Why? Well, by critically reading another's work, you are forced to pay attention to details that you might otherwise gloss over. Most of us read for pleasure, but reading as a beta goes much deeper than that. Beta reading forces you to consider the craft of writing by analyzing things such as style, plot, setting, dialogue and character.

Even if you are so new to writing that you haven't even sharpened your way through your first pencil, you should consider becoming a beta reader. If you are unsure how to begin, here are some suggestions that may help:

- Never be rude or condescending! Even if you are pointing out flaws in another's writing, you can do so in a polite, constructive manner. It doesn't matter how many years you have been writing or how many publishing credits you have; we are all in the process of learning the craft. Ruthlessly tearing down another writer's work is unforgivable.

- Be sure to give praise as well as criticism. Every bit of fiction has at least one good thing in it. If you can't find something to compliment, then you didn't look hard enough.

- Read the work several times, giving yourself time between readings to think about the story.

- Learn from other writers' mistakes. If you see something that the writer did terribly wrong, make sure to avoid that mistake in your own writing. Similarly, if you really did like something, try to figure out what made it work and then apply that skill to your work.

- Make your comments specific. No writer was ever helped by a criticism that simply said, "I didn't like your main character." Ask yourself why didn't you like that character? How might he be improved?

Over the years, I have learned as much from being a beta reader as I have from having a beta reader look over my work. Having the eye of an editor is crucial for any writer. Becoming a beta reader is one step towards that skill

Beta Readers: Part One

2009-03-09T19:52:00.000-04:00

First off, what - exactly - is a beta reader?

A beta reader is simply a person who is willing to carefully read an unpublished work of fiction and offer constructive criticism. In writing, the beta fiction is what lies between the rough draft (the alpha manuscript) and the finished product that is submitted to the publisher. When submitting a work to a beta reader, it is the writer's responsibility to polish her manuscript as much as she can. The beta reader should be reading a complete work (that is, there should be an ending!)

Beta readers are very valuable people. Often, they can point out plot holes that you've missed or catch a misplaced or missing word. They can tell you if your characters seem realistic and if your dialogue sounds natural. Almost always, beta readers are writers themselves, so they are accustomed to thinking about such things as plot, setting, voice, and tension. They can correctly use terms like, 'speech tags' and 'protagonist'. You might have a family member or close, supportive friend who is willing to read your work, but oftentimes they do not make the best beta readers. Not only will they want to spare your feelings by telling you that your work is 'good' (even if it isn't), but they might not know exactly how you should improve your story.

My husband, for example, is an avid reader and a thoughtful, intelligent person. However, he is not a writer and is therefore a terrible beta reader; he simply can't tell me what the problems in my stories are. Having him try to advise me on writing would be like me trying to advise an auto mechanic on how to fix my car. Since I know nothing about cars, all I can do is tell them that I hear a clunking sound or feel a hesitation when I step on the gas. I certainly can't tell them were to start looking for the problem or how to fix it!

So, if you aren't already doing this, I strongly suggest that you find a beta reader. In my next post, I will tell you of some excellent online sources for beta readers as well as give advice on how to become a beta reader yourself.

Creating Tension in Your Plot

2009-03-07T20:24:00.000-05:00

One of the best bits of writing advice I've ever gotten (not personally, mind you!) was from a scriptwriter for the 70's television show M*A*S*H. Remember M*A*S*H? Based very loosely on Robert Altman's movie of the same title, and even more loosely on Joseph Heller's novel, Catch 22, M*A*S*H portrayed the life of doctors in a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War.

The show's writer, and I really wish I could remember his name, said that the best way to create tension in a plot was to take a character and put him in the place he least wants to be. Then you, the writer, sit back and watch what happens.

In the television show M*A*S*H, that meant placing the irascible, anti-establishment, pacifist surgeon Hawkeye Pierce in the highly regimented US army, far away from his beloved Crabapple Cove, Maine. Many of the show's episodes revolved around Hawkeye's rebellion against authority, his frustration over army regulations, and his struggle to remain sane in an insane environment.

I guess the lesson to be learned here is to not make your characters too comfortable. The unfortunate truth is that fiction without conflict is not very interesting. I doubt that a television show about a man sitting in an easy chair drinking lemonade and reading the newspaper would have won fourteen Emmys and ran for eleven years.

Multiple Subs vs. Simultaneous Subs

2009-03-05T20:05:00.000-05:00

What's the difference?

This was one of my first newbie questions, and for a while - even after I knew the answer - I was still confused. Call me slow, but the concept didn't really sink in until I started submitting manuscripts in earnest. So, in case you are also confused, here's the low-down:

Multiple submissions:
This means that you are submitting more than one story (poem, novel, whatever) to the same market at the same time. Or that you are submitting a work to a magazine (publishing company, agent) when you already have one waiting in their slush pile. So let's say, for example, that you've mailed your short story, The Flight of the Walrus, to the magazine The Walrus Review. If you turn around the next day and mail a second story to this same market, then you are submitting multiple stories.

Generally, most markets frown on multiple submissions (although poetry is sometimes an exception). Read the submission guidelines carefully before sending in your work. Some markets even have a policy that states an author should wait a certain length of time between submissions.

Simultaneous submissions:
This takes place when you send a single story (novel, poem, whatever) to more than one market. So, using the previous example, you send your short story, The Flight of the Walrus, not just to The Walrus Review but also to Walrus Weekly and Walrus World.

Most of the time it is okay to send your work out to more than one market. It certainly can save time! But it is considered proper etiquette to let the markets know that you are doing this. You needn't tell them precisely where you are sending your work, but at least mention it in your query letter (something along the lines of, "I'm considering other markets" or "I have submitted this piece to other magazines as well as yours").

A caveat, however...
If you are submitting to a short story market, it is usually best to simply submit to one magazine (e-zine, anthology) at a time. Yes, it does mean you will have to wait longer for a reply, but most of these markets won't waste their time with simultaneous subs (especially when a new author is involved). The website Writing World has an excellent discussion on this, if you're interested.

The best time to use simultaneous submissions is when submitting a novel to an agent. But, again, it is very important to let the agent know that you are doing this.

Reading Re-Kindled?

2009-03-02T20:40:00.000-05:00

I don't often get my news from Comedy Central, but last week, I saw a fascinating interview on The Daily Show. John Stewart, the host, was speaking with Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, about the newest gadget the Kindle 2.

In case you haven't heard of the Kindle, it's a 'wireless reading device'; a high-tech machine that allows users to download books and read them from a small, digital screen. Think I-Pod for literature.

There's been a lot of talk about how this may or may not revolutionize the world of the written word. Many questions crop up. Will bibliophiles want to curl up on the couch with a computer screen rather than an old-fashioned tome? At $360.00 a pop (plus an additional $10.00 for each book), aily show, john stewart, I-pod, reading, technology, television, fiction, copyright violations, copyright, Comedy Central, fiction, getting published, reading, wwill the Kindle ever be affordable enough for the average person to own? And - probably most important to those of us writers - where's the copyright protection? (Some even wonder if it is permissible for the robotic Kindle-voice to read the books aloud).

My take on this is that it's the twenty-first century and times are changing. Writers need to get used to it. I like to think of such technological advances as opportunities, and my hope is that the Kindle will make books more accessible to a broader audience. I would love a book in which I could look up the words I don't know simply by clicking on them or get editor notes with a touch of a wand. There may even be more opportunities for lesser-known authors to promote their work by offering free Kindle downloads on their websites. I, for one, would love to offer some of my short fiction to Kindle users gratis, hoping to build a reputation that would lead to more book sales.

Of course, it is impossible to know for sure what will happen, and I'm sure that the Kindle will have many unexpected effects - both good and bad. But one thing I'm fairly sure of is that devices like the Kindle are very much a part of our future.

Characterization

2009-02-26T18:01:00.000-05:00

Creating convincing characters is obviously one of the most important skills a writer can work on. Even plot-driven stories need characters who are realistic and engaging. Details are important; you don't want to simply tell the reader what your characters are like, you want to show them as well. One way to do this is to closely consider their occupation. And by this, I don't mean to just write what they for a living, but also show the readers how the characters' jobs affect them when they are 'off the clock'.

One thing that I've noticed in real life is how much people are defined by the jobs that they do. Even when they are not on the job, they still act in ways that are related to their professions. Consider the follow examples:

I was helping a friend of mine, who is a nurse, supervise a group of small children on a field trip. Before we left, my friend advised the children to, "empty their bladders." I laughed and told her that it was such a 'nurse' thing to say! But it was true. Someone like myself, who does not work in the medical field, would have told the kids to 'go potty' or 'take a bathroom break'. But my friend, being a nurse, unconsciously reverted to her nurse parlance.

I have another friend who is a waitress. One night, we were working a charity event held at a local restaurant. I, who have never worked in a restaurant, wasn't sure what to do, but she stepped right in, seating customers, making sure everyone had a menu, and directing the rest of us to fill water glasses. This same friend will always clear the table and fetch refills when a group of us go out for coffee (though we never ask her to do this!)

My friend is married to a journalist. The funny part is that he speaks in headlines. One day he came into the house and said to me, "Well, I opened the church doors for a murderer this morning!" Then he elaborated on the story, giving me a classic example of a 'inverted pyramid' style of a news story. Because this man has written leads for news stories all his working life, this habit has infiltrated his speech

Finally, I have a neighbor who is a police officer. Not only is he far more observant than I am, he also acts as a crossing guard whenever we take the kids down to the corner bus stop. Again, he doesn't realize that he is doing this; it is simply such a part of him to be protective. It is an automatic response brought about by his police training. I am sure that if I brought it to his attention, he would be surprised.

So you see, knowing what your character does is important because it will give clues as to what kind of person he is. Even if your character isn't employed, he or she will be interested in something! Just like gardeners pay attention to other people's lawns and car lovers seem to notice the make and model of every vehicle on the roads, your characters will pay attention to those things that are important to them.

For Better or Worse

2009-02-25T18:55:00.001-05:00

It’s easy to forget that writing is hard work.

Sometimes when I’m writing, my thoughts flow onto the page as smoothly as honey on toast. I don’t have to pause to think of the right words; they simply appear. I don’t stress over the details of description (something I always struggle with). My characters make me laugh out loud or get teary-eyed. The plot enchants me. When my writing is like this, I feel like I have wings, and that I’m gliding above what I have created, enjoying the view.

But, unfortunately, most of the time, I am not soaring but slogging through the desert. I struggle for words. The plot becomes an impossible snarl. My characters are stilted or, worse, caricatures spouting wooden dialogue. The descriptions are boring. At these times, I want to delete my entire hard drive.

The funny thing is that whether I struggle or not, the end result is usually about the same. When, weeks later, I go back to review what I’ve written, I can’t tell which pages came from the sweat of my brow and which ones I wrote with ease.

If you are feeling frustrated with your writing, you are not alone! Hang tough; eventually, you will reap the benefit of your diligence.

Give Me a "J" and a "YA"!! - Great Links for Writers of Children's Fiction

2009-02-23T16:31:00.000-05:00

There are many, many great online resources for writers of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. In fact, these genres can sometimes seem to dominate the cyber-world. But what if spacemen and dragons are not your forte?

Not to fear!

Here are some terrific links that focus on the needs of children's fiction writers.

The Official Jane Yolen website - Jane Yolen, one of the most prolific writers of children's picture books, gives helpful advice to would-be writers along with links to helpful websites.

Harold Underdown - His website is chocked full of information for all kinds of writers, though he specializes in children's fiction. The article, "Getting Out of the Slushpile" should be read by everyone!

What, exactly, qualifies a book to be YA? Or J? The Write4Kids website can tell you! In addition to many great articles on writing children's fiction, this site offers tools for writers, links, and other helpful information.

Then there are the agent blogs. Here is a brief list of agents who accept children's fiction and blog:

Jennifer Jackson

Sarah Davis

Kate Schafer Testerman

Sara Crowe

Fiction to Read on Your Coffee Break

2009-02-22T20:16:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, fiction that was published on the Internet was of pretty poor quality. Just like today, anyone with the right hardware and software could post her writing for any and all to see. I suppose there were good stories floating out there in cyber-space, but although I searched, I was never lucky enough to find any of it! Websites that offered fiction tended to be put up by people who had the best computer but not the best editing skills.

Years later, when ezines like Event Horizon came onto the scene, online fiction improved tremendously, but there was still a stigma attached to it (the idea being that real writers didn't 'publish' on the Internet).

Times have changed!

Now, eiNET offers a list of forty-two ezines that print fiction, and many ezines are now paying pro rates.

In any case, unlike twenty years ago, there is a lot of great fiction being published on the Internet. Here is just a taste of what I consider to be the best:

Aberrant Dreams, Afterburn SF, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Fantasy Magazine, Necrotic Tissue

The next time you want to take a break at work, grab a cup of coffee, a bagel, and treat yourself to some online fiction.

Free Fiction Market Listings

2009-02-19T19:27:00.000-05:00

You've probably heard that old saying, "Why pay what you can get for free?"

Good question!

As a writer, one of the biggest challenges you'll probably face is knowing where to send your manuscripts. After all, that's the whole idea isn't? You want to get paid for your writing! When I first started as a writer (Yikes! Has is really been twenty years?), I would go the library, locate a copy (hopefully a current copy) of The Writer's Market, and try to find a market that accepted short stories. The process was time-consuming, frustrating, and irritating. Because of the transient nature of publishing, generally, the current Writer's Market was out of date before it even hit the bookstores! But now we have the Internet. The Writer's Market is still out there, but I have found much better places for market listings. The best part is, these websites offer FREE information! Here is a list of some of my very favorite sources for market listings:

Ralan's Webstravaganza - this website offers markets for fantasy, horror, and science fiction writers. The markets are broken down by rates (semi-pro and pro rates paying at least $.03 per word and paying markets being anything less). There are also links to book publishers and anthology markets. This is one of the best sources on the web.
The Write Market - aka the mother lode. Seriously, this site has it all - fiction and non-fiction markets, how-to information, even greeting card markets.
Writers' Write - sometimes, genre markets get all the press, but at Writer's Write, there are listings for juvenile, literary, and young adult markets as well.

What Not to Write

2009-02-18T16:31:00.000-05:00

Coming up with a fresh, new idea for a story is always a challenge. In fact, many writers (myself included) would argue that there are essentially seven basic plots and that every bit of literature from Homer's Iliad to The Dark Knight make use of these archtypes. This doesn't mean that you should give up on the idea of creating something fresh and new, however. It just means that your plot might not be as unique as you thought it was.

The editors at Strange Horizons Fiction have seen their share of overused plots. In fact, they've compiled two lists of these plots for would-be contributers to their e-zine. The first is 'Stories We've Seen too Often' and the second is 'Horror Stories We've Seen too Often'. Both of these lists are an excellent resource and offer a glimpse into the editor's point of view (sometimes a very ellusive thing.)

The point is that if the editors are telling you what they don't want to see, then trust their instincts, not yours. Relying on the hackneyed, the over-used, or the cliched will not help you get published.

Now, if you're out of ideas and feel that your creativity needs a boost, you can visit the Plot Scenario Generator. Maybe a little randomness is just what your story needs!

The HDIGIP Quiz (or How Do I Get It Published?)

2009-02-17T20:55:00.000-05:00

How do I get it published?

Great question!

I could blather on for months about important question; however, I'll instead direct you to the HDIGIP quiz. Although the quiz is intended for writers of children's books, any writer with a manuscript would do well to take it. The advice offered is sound and the quiz itself is just a lot of fun to take.

The 'Forever' Stamp is a Writer's BFF

2009-02-16T17:06:00.000-05:00

U.S. Postal rates are about to go up. Again. According to the United States Post Office, on May 11, a first class stamp will cost you $ .04.

So what does this mean for writers?

Well, if that SASE you've included in a recent query or submission letter was stamped with a 42 cent stamp, your response might be slow in coming. Or, possibly, it might not come at all. According to the US Postal Service, letters marked 'insufficient postage' are sent to the return address on the envelop. However, if there is no return address, or if you are unable to pay the postal carrier the missing postage, your SASE will be forever gone.

Just think - that acceptance letter you've been dreaming of might never make it to you!

That's why the Forever stamp is the writer's BFF. Currently, I have about three snail-mail queries that include SASE's. But I can be assured that those replies will be returned to me, even though a price increase is imminent.

I would love to see a day in which every publisher and agent accepts e-mail submissions and queries, but until that day comes, invest in a book of 'Forever' stamps!

Why Do You Want to Be a Writer?

2009-02-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

Think this isn't an important question? Well, think again!

Some people envision writing as an easy path to fame and fortune. "Look out Jane Austin and J.K. Rowling! Make way for (insert name here)."

Others want to make a living doing what they love. "I love to write. I write all the time. Wouldn't it be great to get paid to do something I'm doing already for free?"

Then there are those who feel that they don't have anything else to do. "I lost my job; what else am I going to do but write?" Or... "I'm graduating from high school in four months, I need to find a way to make a living." Or... "My kids are grown up, and I need a hobby. Writing seems like a good idea."

Understanding why you want to become a writer (and, possibly, an author) is an important first step because your motivation will impact your goals, your habits and your outlook.