Pseudonyms, nom de plumes, pen names, or being someone else...

"A friend who did something like this says he needed his alter ego, not to conceal his real name but to “be” that fictitious person, who wrote a scene in which a father cannibalizes a family pet."

 This and other reasons for using pen names are explored in this article in the New York Times, and also in the book it examines, Nom de Plume: A (Secret) History of Pseudonyms, by Carmela Ciuraru.  The specific reason quoted above is one that I'd never considered--to feel like and "be" the kind of person who is writing the book you want to write. Interesting and worth pondering, and I can understand that motivation, for sure.



Many women authors have chosen to use initials instead of their names to hide their gender. Despite the fact that JRR Tolkein, TS Eliott, et al are men who wrote using their initials, it was pointed out to me that  in recent decades an author name with initials is almost always a woman, thus, it doesn't have the effect it once had. Thus, using a name that is neuter-gender is the best way to remain genderless as an author, or most likely, be assumed to be male. A quick google of 'genderless names' revealed another aspect I hadn't considered--that names that I think of like Pat aren't even on these lists, which are clearly made by a younger generation. Which is another thing to consider when choosing a pseudonym--do you want to reveal your age or appear younger, or appear ageless?

Choosing a pseudonym is like naming a character in some ways. What do you want it to say about the author? Do you want it to be taken as 'serious' or 'playful' or 'sexy' or 'romantic?'

Last April Fool's Day some Book View Cafe authors had fun with pseudonyms.  One effort turned into an actual book. [Go ahead and click those links. You know you want to.]

For about 30 seconds I considered using initials but have since decided against it.*

 

In my classes I have given some general information about creating a 'secret' identity. Choose your pseudonym before you start marketing yourself; acquire a po box for that name so that it never is associated with your home address; get a dba from your local county [if you are in Texas; I don't know how they are handled in other places]; get a tax ID number to use instead of your social security number.  Other steps may also be necessary in this age of open records, such as having an attorney or other representative handle everything so that all those pointers point back to that business and address. I am not sure that total anonymity is possible if your work becomes newsworthy and people really want to dig.

Some of my friends want their names on those books hoping that everybody who ever knew them will see the books and know they wrote them. Some said their family would feel slighted if they didn't use their real name--that family members were proud of their accomplishments and would feel hurt or slighted.

As in so many things, there is no single right answer. I know people [usually women] who wish they had been less easy to find and thus, wish they had used a pen name.  I know people [also women] who wish they'd never chosen to use pen names for various reasons.

What do you think about them? Do you use one? Do you wish you'd used one? Do you have one picked out for 'when it's time?'

* This is the cover of the chapbook sampler of my new fantasy novel that was distributed at LoneStarCon3 and elsewhere; if you want to read it and don't mind digital just let me know which you prefer, Kindle/mobi or epub/everything besides Kindle.

Writing in 2014

Thanks to the Writers Guild of Texas email newsletter for the following information:

START MAKING PLANS FOR 2014!


Friday, Saturday 4-5 April 2014: North Texas Book Festival. Entries now being accepted for NTBF book awards. PMB# 274, 24 W. University Dr., Denton TX. Check website for details. http://www.ntbf.org/ntbf-book-awards.html

Friday-Saturday 24-25 April 2014: Northeast Texas Writers Organization (NETWO) conference. Mount Pleasant Civic Center, Mount Pleasant TX. Check website for announcements of speakers, workshops, contests. http://www.netwo.org/

Thursday-Saturday 1-3 May 2014: Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. conference. Embassy Suites, Oklahoma City OK. Check website for announcements of speakers, workshops, contests. http://www.owfi.org/

Friday-Sunday 2-4 May 2014: DFWWW Conference. Sci-fi- thriller writer, Jonathan Maberry, keynote speaker. Hurst Conference Center, 1601 Campus Drive, Hurst TX 76054. Check website for announcements of speakers, workshops, contests. Early registration:
https://www.regonline.com/Register/Checkin.aspx?EventId=1241108


* * * * *

First Saturday each month (except January): Dallas MWASW (Mystery Writers of America, Southwest). Texas Land & Cattle, 812 South Central Expressway, Richardson, TX 75080, from 9:30-11:30 a.m. $5.00 door fee, cash only. All who attend are invited to remain for lunch. Contact info: LaRee Bryant, LBryant316@aol.com. Permission to forward.

First Saturday each month: Pens and Pancakes Writers Workshop. 10:30 a.m.-noon. The Dock Bookshop. 6637 Meadowbrook Dr. in Fort Worth, TX 76112. Guest facilitator Shewanda Riley. Dock Bookshop (www.thedockbookshop.com). 817.457.5700. FREE.
The Dallas Area Writers Group (DAWG) put together a summer reading list—including a reading list for writers. Check it out! The more readers in the world—the more opportunities for writers! www.alanelliott.com

Second Saturday each month: North Texas Speculative Fiction Workshop. Meets every 2nd Saturday at the Hurst Barnes & Noble Bookstore, 6pm. http://www.ntsfw.com

Frisco Writers Meet-Up Groups: Day group meets every 3rd Thursday and night group every 2nd Tuesday. See website for more details. http://www.meetup.com/writers-749/

Visit http://www.writersleague.org/programs/classes.html for up-to-date information on Writer's League of Texas workshops held in Austin TX.

Visit http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/ for guidelines to participate in the annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.


The Writers' Guild of Texas is a nonprofit professional organization whose primary purpose is to provide a forum for information, support, and sharing among writers; to help members improve and market their writing skills; and to promote the interests of writers and the writing community.

If you don't wish to receive these announcements, please let me know.
Permission to forward this email is not only granted, but encouraged. Let's get the word out to as many in the writing community as possible.

Carol Woods
Writers' Guild of Texas
carol.woods@verizon.net

Also [and I'll be sending this to Carol asap]:

http://www.condfw.org/
ConDFW is a science fiction and fantasy convention featuring writing/publishing based programming, science programming, an excellent collection of guests, art show, a charity book swap and auction, a short story contest, and a slew of non-traditional activities such as the Sci-Fi Spelling Bee. ConDFW is brought to you by the Texas Speculative Fiction Association, a 501 (c)(3) organization.

I'll be on staff at ConDFW in February and DFWWW Conference [DFW Con] in May. I hope to  see some of you there! 


 

Nanowrimo is on the horizon!

You remember National Novel Writing Month, right?

Write 50,000 words in a month?

I seriously decided to attempt it once. [Signed up more than once, but seriously decided to Do It when serious real life things were happening and I thought this would give me an escape route for a period of time each day. Unfortunately, real life exploded and that attempt never even got started, but such is life, and on it goes.]

I am seriously considering seriously attempting it next month. Partially because, hey, I have a book due next year that needs werdz to get written, and going for it pedal-to-the-metal feels like a good thing.  Now, technically, I have sort of started that book already, but not really. I would probably start over.

But that brings up the subject of "starting at page one" for nanowrimo, which is the rule, and I understand it. But I also know pro writers with multiple deadlines who use nanowrimo to goose their productivity, and keep track of all their words on various projects, aiming for 50,000 total words in the month.

Enough about me. What about you? I have a couple of links to help you prep for nanowrimo, so you'll be ready at midnight, November 1st, with the [as of this writing] almost 60,000 other people who have already signed up!

Alexandra Sokoloff's October Nanowrimo Prep Month

Chuck Wendig's Nanowrimo Prep School

Okay, I just talked myself into it.

Again.

Here I am -->  pooks at nanowrimo

Where are you?

Be my buddy!

One more link: How to schedule time for nanowrimo

Maybe we all should read that one.

A Writing Career vs Being Published

Kris Rusch is filled with wisdom on this subject and expresses things much better than I ever could, as she has lived the life and career of a self-supporting writer.

I was going to post a couple of quotes so you could get an idea what her article is about, but she may have it set up so it can't be copy-and-pasted, or maybe it's my keyboard acting up. Whatever the issue, that link is worth clicking through and reading so you will understand more about the process of being published, of having a writing career, of the business.

And just like you are able to subscribe to this blog and get it via email, you can subscribe to hers.

I highly recommend you do that.

4. Book sales (part two). I almost wrote that both types of writers want to sell a book, but that’s not accurate. Both types of writers want to sell books isn’t accurate either. Then I tried both types of writers want to get published, but again, things have changed enough that even that statement is a bit suspect. Let’s just dive in, shall we? - See more at: http://kriswrites.com/2013/08/28/the-business-rusch-a-career-versus-publication/#sthash.jct0PipZ.dpuf

The one-book writer wants to achieve a goal. It’s a bucket-list sort of thing. It may be that way because the writer has no idea that a career is possible or it may be because the writer has other interests and would rather focus on them.
So many writers who come into the publishing business are one-book writers. In fact, I would say that the majority of writers I have met over my thirty-plus years in the business have been one-book writers, with other jobs and other interests.
The career writer is in this for the long haul. She has dozens if not hundreds of books in her. She wants to make a living—a good living—from writing those books. Her goals are twofold: to have books in print, yes, but more than that. This writer wants to spend her life telling stories and/or sharing information.
She’s not in it for accolades or wealth, although those are nice side benefits. She’s not in it to get tenure or to show her literary bona fides. She needs to make the rent and do so while pursuing a non-traditional career. That takes planning and foresight, and an ability to roll with the punches.
- See more at: http://kriswrites.com/2013/08/28/the-business-rusch-a-career-versus-publication/#sthash.jct0PipZ.dpuf

The one-book writer wants to achieve a goal. It’s a bucket-list sort of thing. It may be that way because the writer has no idea that a career is possible or it may be because the writer has other interests and would rather focus on them.
So many writers who come into the publishing business are one-book writers. In fact, I would say that the majority of writers I have met over my thirty-plus years in the business have been one-book writers, with other jobs and other interests.
The career writer is in this for the long haul. She has dozens if not hundreds of books in her. She wants to make a living—a good living—from writing those books. Her goals are twofold: to have books in print, yes, but more than that. This writer wants to spend her life telling stories and/or sharing information.
She’s not in it for accolades or wealth, although those are nice side benefits. She’s not in it to get tenure or to show her literary bona fides. She needs to make the rent and do so while pursuing a non-traditional career. That takes planning and foresight, and an ability to roll with the punches.
- See more at: http://kriswrites.com/2013/08/28/the-business-rusch-a-career-versus-publication/#sthash.jct0PipZ.dpuf

The one-book writer wants to achieve a goal. It’s a bucket-list sort of thing. It may be that way because the writer has no idea that a career is possible or it may be because the writer has other interests and would rather focus on them.
So many writers who come into the publishing business are one-book writers. In fact, I would say that the majority of writers I have met over my thirty-plus years in the business have been one-book writers, with other jobs and other interests.
The career writer is in this for the long haul. She has dozens if not hundreds of books in her. She wants to make a living—a good living—from writing those books. Her goals are twofold: to have books in print, yes, but more than that. This writer wants to spend her life telling stories and/or sharing information.
She’s not in it for accolades or wealth, although those are nice side benefits. She’s not in it to get tenure or to show her literary bona fides. She needs to make the rent and do so while pursuing a non-traditional career. That takes planning and foresight, and an ability to roll with the punches.
- See more at: http://kriswrites.com/2013/08/28/the-business-rusch-a-career-versus-publication/#sthash.jct0PipZ.dpuf

Trope and Clichés

Just a couple of examples of tropes:

Agatha Christie mystery tropes

Fantasy genre tropes

More tropes

More important than understanding the tropes in the kind of story you are telling can be the tropes you personally love and hate. Use the ones you love and find ways to turn the ones you hate upside down in unexpected ways.

For that matter, turn the ones you love upside down in unexpected ways.

As a dear friend once told me, clichés are clichés because they work. When they become annoying because they are used too much and cause a groan instead of a  gasp of appreciation, that just makes the writing more fun and challenging.

Go for it!

A big Texas welcome to my Autumn Semester Basics Class!

And howdy!

As promised last night:

The most important thing I’ve read in a very long time was the Whatever entry by Mary Anne Mohanraj. I told Mary Anne I felt the need to blog about it and she encouraged me to do so, but since I haven’t had the time to address it properly yet, I will go ahead and mention it here.



 In that entry she says of writing ‘the other’ — those who are different from us in ROAARS Race/Orientation/Ability/Age/Religion/Sex [as defined by Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward in Writing the Other] :

1. You get to write whatever you want, including CoC (characters of color).
2. You may worry about being criticized for your handling of race.
3. PoC don’t have an obligation to teach you how to write CoC well and avoid criticism.
4. Nonetheless, here are some suggestions on how to write CoC well.
5. You will get it wrong. This is what you should do.

Reading that list and everything Mary Anne had to say about it was a punch in the gut, a punch to my fears of offending, of getting it wrong. It is terrifying and exhilarating and liberating. I suggest you read the article, and like I did, follow up on her other reading suggestions including the short book Writing the Other, available in paperback and for Kindle. It is going on my list of suggested reading for my classes and for anyone who recognizes a need for it.

Note: To anyone interested in more about writing the other, in this case transgender folk, check this out.

[originally posted here]

Not for Lazy Bastards

So, if bad language makes you itch, you probably don't want to follow this link. But if you want some hard-hitting, honest advice about traditional publishing and what it takes to sell to one of the big six and see your books in book stores, maybe you should follow this link anyway.

25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author: Lazy Bastard Edition (Guest Post By Delilah S. Dawson)

1. IF YOU’RE ACTUALLY LAZY, GTFO

Seriously. Writing is a ton of work. No one, not even Stephen King, spits out a first draft that’s worth reading. If you think being a writer is all about dicking around with a Moleskine at Starbucks for two months, just GTFO. Writing a crappy book is hard as hell, and that’s the easiest part of the process.

More where that came from. Follow the link above.

 

Nonfiction and Fiction, and Alice Sebold

This is interesting background information about Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely Bones.

She first wrote about her own rape, and having gotten that out of her system, was then able to explore the idea, what if she hadn't survived it? What might the aftermath have been for those she left behind?

Have you read this book? I admit I haven't, although many of you have told me I really should. 

The Writer Never Pays

Available at Book View Cafe and Amazon.

Do NOT pay anybody calling themselves 'publishers' to publish your work.

Do NOT pay anybody calling themselves agents to represent you.

Got that?

Yet another cautionary tale here.

This was a woman who seemed to be legitimate, who seemed to be the Real Thing.

You know when she stopped being real? The moment she asked writers to pay expenses. Read the article. Understand it.

You may decide to pay an editor to help you get your book ready to submit or publish. If so, do due diligence and research them.  You may pay someone to create a cover if you self-publish.

Those are different issues.

Do NOT deal with any 'publisher' or 'agent' who asks you for up-front money. Not if it's $25 or $10,000.

Period.

Wait, you say. Only $25... that isn't a big deal. If somebody is going to represent me and sell my book, I wouldn't mind paying that every month or every quarter.

Here is the problem with that. An agent who has to ask his or her authors to cover his expenses while he operates a business is not a successful agent. That agent is supposed to be able to cover expenses out of profits. That's operating a business. And REAL agents don't ask their authors to front money to them to cover expenses.

You know who does that? People who prey on other people's dreams.

Scum-suckers who realize that by asking for a little bit of money, they can make a lot. Because if you're paying $25 a quarter to an agency to cover the expenses of getting your career launched until you actually, you know, sell something and have a career? You can bet a lot of people are. And that somebody is sitting there collecting those fees and making a nice little [or big] bundle off of it.

And they are not legitimate agents because legitimate agents don't operate that way.

Legitimate publishers don't ask you to pay for your own publishing expenses, either.

Never.

True Confessions

I have a guest post up at Book Babe where I talk about visions and revisions and how they seem to never end, even after publication.

Click here.

An apology.

I have the best intentions. I often receive emails that are going to require more thought and time than I have at that moment, and I don't answer immediately because I want to come back later and address it when I have time to give that email the required attention.

And then it falls off my radar. It's on my desktop waiting, but I forget about it anyway.

I truly need to respond to such emails immediately, even when I'm afraid the real answer will offend someone, the real answer being, "I'm terribly sorry but to respond to this properly would take more time and energy than I currently have. I suggest you google this subject and start there for your answers."

I want to help people. I don't want to blow them off. And yet, I end up doing just that, blowing them off by not answering.

That said, when I was asked a question by a former student, 'What’s the best way to get your foot in the door in the field of writing?' I had no easy answer, no fast answer. As a former student, he may have missed the class where we talked about that, but the answer right now is, who knows? Self-publishing is easier and easier all the time, but will you get noticed in the thousands of self-published books? What will make you feel successful?  Selling a few to family and friends and having some nice reviews on Amazon? Selling a few dozen?  A hundred? Or hitting a best seller list?

There are so many answers to 'getting your foot in the door' and they are usually found in the sidebar on this page, links to articles on that subject. Sometimes I've linked to articles in previous entries that would answer your question. 

Beyond that, I'm sorry I don't have any easy answers, or even complex answers, at my fingertips, nor do I have the time to dig out answers beyond what I give in class.

The issue I feel most compelled to address right now is, in the most self-centered of wanting-to-be-helpful ways, how to respond to questions from people who have no idea they have asked a complex question that has no easy answer without angering them, instead of shoving it aside to deal with later and losing it.

Suggestions, anyone?

My latest book--available in digital today!

Once described as 'if Erma Bombeck wrote a romance novel...' Beguiled Again is now available on Amazon for Kindle and from Book View Cafe in formats for all reading devices. Originally published by Silhouette Desire, this edition is updated.

Review copies available.

"This bountifully gifted author is sure to become an instant reader favorite, combining a lively humor, sensual fire and sensitive romance into top-notch entertainment! Melinda Helfer, RT BOOK REVIEWS

 

Meet Cecilia. Available at Amazon and Book View Cafe July 16, 2013!

Order Jeff shook off Cecilia and her high school crush seventeen years ago, and he’s made an orderly, boring, safe, successful life for himself as an accountant. Just the way he wants things.

Chaos Cecilia’s taste for driven, orderly men has left her divorced with three kids and two half-incomes. But nobody’s looking over her shoulder, criticizing her for being messy and disorganized. Life is never boring, is always filled with laughter and energy. Just the way she wants things.  

Disaster From the moment she sucks him into her sticky, single-mom universe, Jeff can’t keep it together anymore. Her checkbook is a nightmare, her oldest kid hates him, and she’s lush and messy, mouth-watering and independent and annoyingly unforgettable. And he can’t stay away. Cecilia is a fighter. She doesn’t need Jeff turning up again, making her feel like she’s still fourteen years, treating her like she can’t manage her life without his assistance. Why, why, why does he keep trying to help?

To make matters worse, Jeff is hotter than ever, and a single mom can’t afford a sex life.

Plus, his parrot hates her.

In this battle between order and chaos, between hostile kids and cranky parrots, between romance and responsibility, is heartbreak inevitable?

Or this time, can love win?

Oh, and while you're at it, subscribe to the planetpooks newsletter for free stuff and book announcements!

Pearls of Wisdom from Max

"I am tired of all this sash about writers writing what they know or writing what they want to know. Writers write what they need to know. Genre and setting are negotiable. Internal need is not. Writers are seekers of truth. And we will find that truth, whether we are seeking it on the planes of Mars, in ancient Egypt, on a pirate ship, or through the eyes of a ghost cat."

Max Adams
Author of The New Screenwriter's Survival Guide; Or, Guerrilla Meeting Tactics and Other Acts of War   
Founder of The Academy of Film Writing

You heard it here first.

I've been invited to speak at next year's DFW Con in May 2014.

Can't wait! It will be my first time at that conference but I've been recommending it to students for years, and have only heard good things about it.

In that spirit, I'll share this post from their website.

Don't assume anything.

You often will be wrong.

Fortunately.

Kindle and Fanfic and Profit

The Guardian* used this image without attribution to fan-artist. Irony intended or not?

So I wrote a fanfic that has, to date, way over two million hits.  I like fanfic. But the whole "Amazon is going to publish fanfic for a profit" news last week was at first glance, gobsmacking. It won't impact me or anything I wrote, because I did not write in a fandom that has a deal with Amazon, nor will it likely ever have a deal with Amazon, and in the unlikely situation where something like that panned out, my own flights of fancy went in directions unlikely to ever get the copyright-owners public seal of approval, so I don't have a dog in this hunt.

 But as it was quickly noted, so far the only participants are television shows. They have a vested interest in building viewership and encouraging fan participation, and making money from the licensing thereof. They already do this. The arena--fanfic--is new. Licensing the use of their universes and characters for a profit is not. It will be interesting to see if any authors join in.

If this is all new to you and you wonder, what is this thing, fanfic? As we know it, it started with Star Trek. Once the show was cancelled, fans couldn't let go. They started writing their own stories and sharing them through the mail. And almost immediately those stories included things that didn't make it onto a television screen, whether it was sexual content or non-canon relationships or "What if Captain Kirk was Kirk Douglas's illegitimate son?" or ... wherever the imagination took the writers. Fanfic is not always about sex or about non-canon relationships, but it often is. But most importantly, it's people who love a universe and characters they need to tell and read more stories about it than are already told, people who want to keep telling and reading stories about it long after the official story is told. It's legality is, if you'll excuse me, 50 shades of grey. But it exists. And that's why we are where we are today.

For those of you who are interested, here are some links to various discussions about the subject. Don't forget to read comments.

 John Scalzi Another red flag: “Amazon Publishing will acquire all rights to your new stories, including global publication rights, for the term of copyright.” Which is to say, once Amazon has it, they have the right to do anything they want with it, including possibly using it in anthologies or selling it other languages, etc, without paying the author anything else for it, ever. Again, an excellent deal for Amazon; a less than excellent deal for the actual writer.

  Laura Anne Gilman 6. This will hopefully finally teach people to HOLD ONTO THE DERIVATIVE RIGHTS ON EVERYTHING THEY SELL, FOREVER AND EVER AMEN.

 Matt Forbeck As a writer, it feels like splitting the royalty on the book with the owners, which seems fair. Standard royalties on work-for-hire tie-in novels range from 8% all the way down to nada. Of course, those contracts come with an advance, which Kindle Worlds (like all self-published Kindle books) doesn’t offer. There are some catches...

 Steven Harper Piziks Don’t like the way it works? Then write your own stuff. It’s that simple. And finally...

 *The Guardian Amazon selling fanfic may sound a great idea, but the whole point of these stories is they go where the powers that be won't. [See image above.]  

Why You Need Expert Representation Before You Sign a Contract

This is the shortest of shorthand and is only meant to serve as a single example of the minefield that awaits you.  It should be a launchpad for your own research.

But this is what happened last week, summed up (with links) in three short posts.

How Random House wanted to take advantage of writers' desperation to get published and ignorance about the business: 

Random Hydra and the Terrible, Horrible, Awful, No-Good, Very Bad Contract

How writers and writers' orgs stepped up to the plate to scream bloody murder so that Random House backed away in less than 48 hours:

Update on the Random Hydra Affair

Why what Random House did still left contracts no writer should sign.

Random Hydra Rides Again: Or, Why Better Isn’t Always Good Enough

A LIST OF ATTORNEYS THAT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED BUT WITH WHOM I HAVE NO EXPERIENCE.

Have fun!

When Writing Is Hard

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Two blogs crossed my radar today. I don't know either of the bloggers but their points were interesting and I wanted to share with you.

Janice Hardy says: "I've been working on a novel for a while (okay, two years, ugh) that's a growing pains novel. I'm stretching myself, trying new and challenging things and half the time I want to toss the manuscript out the window and work on something else.

"But I can't, because I love this story and want to write it the way it deserves to be written.

"Which means I need to grow as a writer and master some genre aspects I've never done before."

And she goes onto to discuss the painful process and how she is approaching it, complete with advice on how you can approach it as well.

Laura Lee writes: "I know I run the risk of offending indie authors when I say this but here it goes: most self-published books are not novels but drafts of novels." 

Why? Because the authors call it ready before they've gone through the hard work. Why? Because they can. I can assure you that I knew my books were better than most of the books published when nobody would buy them.  I was wrong, of course. I can see that now, just as I can see that the books that did make it through the hurdles of finding an agent and then a publisher have their flaws. But at the time I wrote them I didn't see it.

Because it's now such an easy thing to turn a manuscript into an ebook or POD book, writers no longer are forced to get better, to grow and learn and put in the hard work. The fact that there are successes in self-published books that go onto sell well and lift their authors above the crowd simply means that these authors were ready for the marketplace when most aren't.

I love Laura Lee's comment: "To jump to yet another metaphor (really where are those editors when you need them?): As stones are polished by the friction of ocean waves, novels are polished through resistance."

Writing when it's hard and rewriting when it's tedious are part of the process, part of what will ultimately make your writing worth someone else's money, time and imagination.

But ore importantly, it will make it worth YOUR time, imagination and passion. Your story deserves the best you have to give it. Your dreams, your goals, your passions deserve your best efforts.

Go for it.
 

Tarot for Writers

Diane Patterson [author of You Know Who I Am (The Drusilla Thorne Mysteries)] noticed my entry on ideas and shared this book with me:

Tarot for Writers, by Corinne Kenner.

From a review of the book: Corrine Kenner, author of “Tarot for Writers”, explains that well-known writers, such as John Steinbeck and Stephen King, have used tarot cards for inspiration. She adds that Italian novelist Italo Calvino went so far as to call the tarot “a machine for writing stories.”

Really? I had no idea. But I'm not surprised.

In our class we just used the images themselves to inspire a 3-sentence story. This article delves more deeply into the meanings and symbolism of the cards, which can be interesting but isn't necessary.

To my astonishment, I find that there is a Tarot of Jane Austen Deck.

And a The Zombie Tarot.

The Science Tarot. (Is that an oxymoron, or what?)

I'm going to stop now before I spend the entire morning surfing the web looking at weird and wacky tarot decks and leaving evidence to prove I did so.

Where do ideas come from?

Good answers are here. Go read. Then come back. Or read here first, then go read there. I'll let you choose, because I'm easy like that. Bossy, but easy.

My good friend Carol Jerina wrote a book, Tropic Gold, inspired by a half-inch news story buried in the back of the Dallas Morning News about an heir being found by an heir-hunter.

Really, it was that one word--heir-hunter--that grabbed her attention.

That book had one of the greatest covers EVER.  My copy is in a box somewhere. Damn, I'm going to have to hunt down another copy of that book just because.

My western, now titled La Desperada, began when a sentence popped into my head: "Once there was a woman who was so desperate to escape that she held a cold-blooded murderer at gunpoint and said, take me with you."

I have an idea for a writing exercise for class about ideas.

I hope nobody is offended by the use of tarot cards for a writing exercise because this should be fun!

When I spoke about cover design in class...

I had no idea that Dave Smeds was going to single out La Desperada in his blog entry on the same subject.

And speaking of cover design, my friend Diane's new murder mystery, You Know Who I Am (The Drusilla Thorne Mysteries)has a great cover.

It's also a lot of fun and a very twisty tale. Check it out!

Mad Scientists and Evil Geniuses

This week the writers at Book View Cafe are blogging about Mad Scientists and Evil Geniuses.

I want to point out a particular entry (which is actually a re-post) where the Evil Genius is a horse.

For Amanda and anyone else who loves horses.

Smart Horse Tricks.

Enjoy! 

Pavlov's Soundtrack

I assume you know about Pavlov's dog.

If you don't, go check this out; I'll wait.

::whistles politely::

::provides illustration for the rest of us, while you're reading::

Back?

All righty, then.

I have learned to create soundtracks for my writing, because once my brain associates music with the writing process, it becomes easier to actually--you know--get into it.

Do you know what a blog tour is? (Does this sound like one of my typical digressions where I wander away from the topic and leave you going "wtf?" Well, this is exactly like one of my typical digressions--because it has a point! Wait for it.*)

(*Well, you always wait for it, and when you're lucky, I still remember it when I get there.)

(This is the best advertisement for my teaching EVER. Because clearly everybody will want to take a class from someone who can't stick to the topic without wandering around the world taking sidetrips, right?)

(Right.)

A blog tour is when an author promotes a new book by taking a tour of other people's blogs and writing new entries for all of them, so that a wide new potential audience of readers will be exposed to them, their work, and hopefully go buy their new book.

(See, even though this is a digression, it's still educational. But, I digress.)

I mentioned Marie Brennan's new book before, when I mentioned it's an illustrated novel. Well, I'm mentioning it again, because she's on a blog tour promoting the new novel, and I keep tripping over interesting things she's written.

Which is when we get back to the soundtrack theory. She describes the soundtrack she created for a "Natural History of Dragons" here.

She describes the process she used in choosing music.

The first time I had a soundtrack was quite by accident.  I discovered that playing Christmas music helped me write a script that took place on Christmas Eve, even though I was writing in July. It was quite brilliant, really. Plug in the earbuds and suddenly I'm in my imaginary world where it's always Christmas Eve... until midnight, I mean, when it's Christmas. Yay!

Next project was about a group of women from South Carolina who end up in England. That was trickier, until I discovered Carolina Beach Music.  Not only did I have a new view of the world I was writing about, but I also had a kind of music that joined four generations of South Carolina women and the secrets they were hiding.

And since then, the beat goes on. I now always create a soundtrack. This is no guarantee that the muse will cooperate, but it certainly pleases her more often than not.

What about you? Do you use music to tempt the muse?

Chills.

In class we touched upon--merely touched upon--the ability of an image to inspire an entire world of possibilities for story and character. Hopefully you found that fun.

Today I was googling for something else and stumbled across this image.

I saved him, because seriously, how creepy is that? Of course I know who it is and where it came from, but that doesn't mean he can't show up in my own fiction in an entirely different way.

What about you? Can a person's picture inspire a thousand words? A world? A universe?

That Kiss

Another thing we touched on in class.  Three-act structure. Even in commercials.

This one prompted this response from Laura Anne Gilman on twitter:

@LAGilman: As an Audi driver, I hope the girl was the one who socked that kid for grabbing-without-asking. #commercials

Grabbing without asking. I think I know where they got that inspiration from, and there is still discussion over whether this was an inappropriate reaction or not. I loved it. I also understand that it could be seen as demeaning, that an Academy Award-winning actress, Halle Berry, is reduced to "the prize" that is available for manhandling. Although she was pro enough to go along with it.

On the other hand, it was a beautiful acceptance speech.

So. What do you think?  Inappropriate, inexcusable, or part of the game of show biz?

And which commercials did you find that had a three-act structure?

An Illustrated Novel

This subject came up in class last week and lo and behold, what should come across my screen but an illustrated novel that happens to be written by one of my fellow authors at Book View Cafe.

Here is a guest blog Marie wrote about her new book, A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent.  I haven't held it in my hands, yet, but I intend to. It looks fun.

What is Middle Grade? What is Young Adult?

Leviathan is one of my favorite novels from recent years. It happens to be a young adult novel, but there's nothing childish or immature about it. Some of the best fiction written these days is written for the younger markets.

What is Young Adult? What is Middle Grade?

SFWA and Malinda Lo will tell you the difference between MG and YA fiction here.

Here's some of the top YA fiction of 2012.

Harry Potter started it. Twilight picked up the baton. The Hunger Games sealed the deal. You don't have to be a young adult to buy, read and love YA fiction any more.

But you do need to read today's YA and see what today's readers want in a novel.

This is true of any kind of novel, though. You must read the new material that's out there, the books written by new writers who don't sell books just because they are already popular writers.

You need to see what readers want to read today and then decide if that's what you want to write, can write. And believe me, there are a lot of wonderful new writers out there waiting for you to discover them.

Jenny Crusie's Whiteboard System and Collage Pre-Writing

Maybe This Time

New York Times Best Selling Author Jennifer Crusie's approach to finding her plot and working out the details is the most unusual I've run across, and fascinating and pretty!

Read, look and marvel.

Collage as Prewriting and Inspiration -- The Explanation

Collages for Various Books -- The Illustration

Her Whiteboard System of Outlining

Homework Week One

1. Take yourself on an Artist’s

     Date.

2. Try “morning pages.”

3. Read the “first pages.”

4. Use your “capture device.”

5. Watch Witness .

6. Be a writer.

Got questions?  Ask!  (Or email me.)  And don't forget to sign up for email delivery of this blog.

Go write something!

It's January and That Means...

Tonight is my first class of the fall semester, and tomorrow morning I have another. If you are signed up for classes, have googled and tracked me down and found me here--tell me!

And welcome!

It's going to be a great semester, and you're going to write a novel.

Ready? Set? Go!

Why a Writer Who Doesn't Need an Agent Wants One

Laura Anne Gilman explains today, as she announces her partnership with her new agent.

I know that it's popular now for writers to decide to go sans agent, and handle their affairs on their own, or with a lawyer's assist (especially if they've been burned in the past). I'd never say "don't do that" because for many people that is the right decision. But not for me.

Ironic, perhaps, since my previous career as an editor gave me the skills to go solo (I have no fear of negotiations, contracts or paperwork).

Read why.

Jim Hines Reveals All

No, I'm not talking about Jim Hines copycatting extreme cover-poses from paranormal/science fiction novels, although he certainly does that for both fun and charity.

I'm talking about his continuing honest sharing of his publishing-related finances.

Here's his breakdown of what he earned writing last year, along with comparisons to previous years.

If you don't already follow Jim, you should.

I have new classes starting Jan 28 and 29. Are you in them? Let me know. I'm glad to meet students ahead of time here!

Books You Didn't Like?

I was glad to read Sherwood Smith's blog entry today about books she didn't love in 2012.

As a teacher I'm constantly having people tell me how much they love books that I don't, or haven't read and don't want to. The reasons are varied. It has nothing to do with quality of work and everything to do with, "It's subjective."

I don't care how many people rave about Cormac McCarthy; his books sound so dark and depressing to me I haven't gotten to a point where I want to give them a shot.  I know he's a hugely respected writer, an award-winning writer, a writer my students often find inspiring. That's all good and wonderful and I won't mock anybody for loving Cormac McCarthy.

I will mock Twilight because it's fun to mock Twilight but I honestly won't mock readers who love Twilight. Some of my best friends love Twilight!

Anyway, I suggest you read Sherwood's thoughts and join in the discussion.

She definitely has a few thoughts on the subject!

No, I haven't forgotten you.

Though if you want to keep up with what's going on in my world it's best to follow planetpooks and/or me on facebook and/or twitter.

But I do post writing things here that don't make it to the other places, so if all you want is the occasional writing thing, you are in the right place! (Or, if you're taking a current class and want to be sure you are getting any info I might find to share between classes.)

So what am I sharing today?

From Laini Taylor: Cultivate the attitude that every word you write need not end up in the book. Some things are just exercises, part of the process of discovery. Be willing to do more work than will show. The end result is all that matters. Be huge and generous and fearless. 

Go. Read her blog post. Be prepared to understand what being a pro writer is all about.

And while you're at it, make 2013 a grand year for writing!