When are you fully committed?

It's time for a new idea and I truly don't know what to write. Brainstorming is my favourite part of this writing process, and at this point, everything is on the table. I'm committed to absolutely nothing, not even genre, so I'm really going where my best idea takes me.

I like to plan in advance, have a strong sense of the major plot points, but usually I jump into a book too soon, a mistake I'm hoping not to repeat.

So my usual process is, I brainstorm a general plot, the beginning, the end, the internal and external conflicts and then, when I should be thinking more of developing the relationships between the characters or how the character arc plays out, I get impatient to start and I write the first chapter and go from there. Once the first chapter is written, I'm pretty much committed to the idea and I rarely back off from there.

I know people, who are committed to the idea almost from it's inception, and others who can write three chapters and still back away from an idea.

But by the time I start the first chapter, I'm so excited about the prospect of the story that I get caught up. It's nice, it's a place for me that has little doubt, and that's about the only part of the writing process that lacks doubt.

Anyone gotten farther into a book and turned to another idea?

Building a Platform

I'm participating in a mentorship program through one of my online writers groups and my "grasshopper" recently asked me this question:

When did you start building your platform? Can you identify the major steps to take? What made a real difference?  

In answering her, I thought I'd just make it into a blog post.

First... I actually don't think it's essential for fiction writers to build a platform before they're published. I know or know of lots of very successful authors who had zero online presence prior to their first sale. A platform will not get you published in fiction unless it's a really awesome one. And wearing these shoes wouldn't count as an awesome platform for fiction, unless your name is Snooki or Lauren Conrad or Tyra Banks.

That said, I am someone who started to build a platform before I sold.

I used to be very active on several writers loops. I did this more to learn about writing and the industry, and to share what I'd learned with others, than to build a platform per se... but I did develop a fairly significant network of writer friends both via loops and via blogging. 

The keys with blogging are at least two fold. First, make your content interesting. And second leave meaningful comments on other people's blogs in the hopes that you'll gain readership either from those individuals or their readers. Or maybe that they'll link to your blog from their blog. It can be a lot of work to do both of those things consistently, so I only recommend this for someone who enjoys it and has time. Also, you have to be careful not to say something that will paint you in a negative light.

And I don’t think that either of those venues are as active as they used to be. More people are now on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.

I was a pretty early adopter of MySpace and Facebook and Twitter and Google+, but I don’t think it’s essential to do these things professionally before you’ve got a publishing contract. The trick is, unless you have really great content on those venues, why would anyone you don't already know follow you before you have a book out? It’s tricky. And is there any point in building up huge numbers of Facebook friends who are mostly interested in either hitting on you via skeevy messages, or asking you to buy them a cow for Farmville? (Asks the girl with 3800 Facebook friends. Do what I say, not what I do.)

Here's my twitter page if you're not already following me there. :)

Some people do social networking extremely well, but I don’t think it’s essential if it’s not something you enjoy. It's easy to get started on these social networking sites, and the main "tricky" thing for a writer is deciding whether to separate your personal identity from your writer identity. If I could turn back time three or four years, I would have set up Facebook differently for sure. Not that I really could have done it the way I wish I'd done it, because it's changed so much.... 

If you're starting on Facebook now, it's a good idea to set up a Page. But again, why would anyone "like" your page before you have a book? So, it's really just preparation and I wouldn't spend a lot of time trying to coerce people into liking your page. You'll just alienate them. Once you have a book out, they will come. ;) Especially if you have links for them to "like" you on your website and in various other places. :-)


My Facebook Page:

And here's a like button for Molly's new Facebook Page:

There are lots of great resources with advice on using social networking but I think the bottom line is be genuine. Be yourself. And again, be careful you don't tweet or post anything you might later regret. What you post online stays there forever. Minimize drunk tweeting. ;) Especially from an iPhone with autocorrect!


In terms of building a platform, one step I would advise writers to take before they sell is to buy the domain name(s) for whatever author name(s) they plan hope to use. There’s nothing more heartbreaking than realizing you can’t get “yourauthorname.com” when you want it. I reserved my website name in about 2003 and launched my website and blog after I got my first agent (in 2006) when I thought I was about to sell. I didn't get my first book contract until 2009. If I could turn back time, I’m not certain I would have put as much time/thought/money into my website. I do love the look of my site. My designer was very talented and really “got” me and my writing that I shared with her. Problem is, I ended up published in a different genre than I was writing at the time and while my website fits me as a person, I’m not sure it fits my current work... And I'll definitely need a new design with the books I have coming out starting next year (that I still can't talk about...)

One clear advantage I saw to blogging when I started, was that before I had a blog, when you googled my name most of the top hits weren’t me. After I’d been actively blogging for just a few months, and other writers had linked to my blog, suddenly most google hits for my name were actually about me and not some other person named Maureen McGowan. But again... that didn't get me published. I just thought it was cool.

If you know you’re going to use a pseudonym, then by all means start to create an identity online under that name, but know that things might not turn out as you plan. Maybe your publisher won’t let you use the pseudonym of your choice. Maybe you’ll change your mind by the time you’re published. Maybe you’ll end up in a different genre than the identity you’ve built up... 

All this said, I think unpublished writers should concentrate more on their writing and honing their craft than worrying about a platform. Platforms are only essential for non-fiction writers. For fiction writers they're just a bonus, not a necessity and won't get your novel published unless your platform is that you're a cast member of a big reality TV show. If you enjoy social networking and have time, by all means. But make writing your first priority until you have a contract. An agent or editor won’t sign you or publish your novel because you have a gazillion facebook friends or a pretty website. In fact, unless they already love your book, they won’t even check to see.

Cutting the Squirrel

No. It's not a euphemism for something dirty. Trust me. I double-checked on Urban Dictionary. It might, however, be my new Cutting One's Darlings equivalent.

I had a lovely chat with my adorable and way-too-perceptive-for-her-age editor about my WIP. I'd had a chat back with another editor at Ace when we went to contract for the book. She'd really had only one real objection. It had to do with the squirrel.

I hate squirrels. I'm terrified of them and I'm pretty convinced they're out to get me. They're constantly dashing out across the bike path trying to knock me off my bike. I know people think they're cute, but they attack children, set cars on fire, cause car accidents and may even be involved in espionage.

It was one of those happy writing accidents when I was researching Norse mythology for my third Messenger novel and stumbled across Ratatoskr. He's supposed to be quite the gossip and I figured he could help me get information from one place to another and would also help me work through some of Squirrel issues. I mean, isn't one of the points of writing fiction to basically get cheap therapy?

Alas, I must cut Ratatoskr. Apparently, he doesn't "resonate." Also, I already have crows and some oxen in the book and my editor felt like it was turning into a something like a Disney movie gone terribly wrong. I don't think it will be terribly hard to fill the plot holes his disappearance will make, but I have to admit I'm a little bummed to leave him. I mean, just because he didn't resonate in a synopsis doesn't mean that he won't resonate just fine in the actual book. Sadly, he won't have the chance. I must cut the squirrel.

Have you had to cut any personal squirrels?

COVERS!!!

Well, here they are my first single title covers from Bantam! I've never had the naked guy cover before and while initially it threw me for a loop - I have to say I've grown fond of his abs. Very very fond. And I think you will too. So: Can't Buy Me Love

I love the look on the woman's face behind the model. She's the perfect representation of my heroine: Tara Jean Sweet.

And my personal favorite of the two, the cover for CAN'T HURRY LOVE not because we see MORE of his chest, but I love the cowboy hat and the fact that his shirt is wrinkled? I adore it. I really do. Not to perfect, just perfect enough, sort of like the hero: down on his luck cowboy Eli Turnbull.

Let me know wht you think!

Vampire Diaries and the surprise plot revelation

Welcome to my ongoing fascination with the Vampire Diaries. It's pretty much the only show in the week that I watch in real time, and if I have to PVR it, I do a back up recording at another just in case my PVR screws up. Because you miss a show in this series and you miss a lot. They somehow manage to keep it moving at that pace, without losing the central relationships either.

And this week was no exception. They surprised me (pleasantly) twice with revelations I didn't see coming, but made absolute sense within the framework of the story and the plot, and more importantly the revelations made the external plot tighter and added some lovely character drama to all of it. Essentially, they kept it all within one family and did it brilliantly.

Lovely surprises happen when you write, really lovely twists and turns, but I'm still a big believer that the important twists, (like the big bad also being the big daddy) is usually something that takes some advance thought. I do some of this, but I never feel as though I do enough, and the Vampire Diaries, on a weekly basis, is convincing me to to do more advance plotting before I ever type a word.

Because it's not just the plot twists, it's the time they take with the central relationships. They seem to understand that because they have so much external plot keeping everything moving along, they can really take their time and develop relationships slowly, build to them and trust the viewer will follow along. And I'm in, and for the first time since the show began, they have two male leads that are fascinating.
Damon and Stefan, because one walks the edge of the line and the other has to be all or nothing, and the show is more about their relationship than it is about the romance between Elena and Stefan which was never that interesting to begin with and the writers seem to understand that as well.

And just finished the Night Circus and it's amazing... loved it, every page.

New Girl... She's weird but I like her

Okay so is anyone watching this show? This is the Zoey Deschanel show on Fox. When I watched the first episode I thought… I don’t know. I watched the second and wondered… do I like her or is she just weird?

I watched the third show and I thought she’s weird… but I like her.

This isn’t some show where some actress is trying to be quirky and cute but going over the top and failing at either. This is either a) Zoey is weird and she’s playing herself or b) Zoey is doing very well as an actress playing a weird girl.

Now the impact of this is sometimes she’s adorable. But sometimes she’s so weird it’s uncomfortable and I love that. We’re not going for the “semblance” of a character. We’re going for a real person who could be like this. I have a friend who shares many characteristics so maybe that’s why I can see the real through the weird.

But you’ve got a guy who played in Europe League Basketball who is trying to figure out who he is. You have the “player” who thinks he’s great with the ladies but is desperately insecure. You have the lead guy who will eventually be the romantic foil to Zoey and does a great job playing her straight man and you have her with these guys just being herself. Last night she brought out a “feeling stick.” When the main guy broke it (predictable) she pulled out of her purse a smaller similar stick. She called her travel size feeling stick. (Totally cute and funny.)

I think it’s a great show. It’s grown up. It doesn’t always go the way you think it’s going to go and I just love that either the writers or Zoey are not trying to sugar coat her. TV does that so often. They don’t give me real characters they give me –character-lite.

We should always strive in movies, TV and books to go full monty. Will it put some people off – sure. Will everyone watch this show – probably not. But at least they’re going for it and in going for it they might find success.

Happy November!

Those of you who are writers probably know what November is. Sure, there's that big American holiday near the end of the month, but writers who really know how to party know November as the month of insanity, aka NaNoWriMo.

According to the NaNo site I've been a member for seven years and that sounds about right. I've even donated money to them (they're a not for profit) and bought a few of their t-shirts (to wear to the gym). I like NaNo so much that I've signed up this year, even though I just finished a first draft and my goal is to complete a second draft in November. But I might use the progress meter anyway. It's not cheating. ;) I won't apply to "win".

The idea, is that everyone who participates starts writing a novel on November 1st, and finishes their first draft of said novel, at least 50,000 words, by November 30th. If you accomplish that, you are deemed a "winner". It started in 1999 with 21 writers in the San Francisco Bay area, and last year there were over 200,000 participants all over the world. (I would have guessed more... but that's what their site says.)

The rules state that you can't have started the book before November 1st and that you must finish a first draft by November 30th. That is, you can't just write 50K of an ongoing WIP, or a 50K start of a new book... So while I have written 50K most Novembers, I haven't applied to "win" very often because it's rare that my timing works out that I can start something new in November.

But I have a special place in my heart for NaNo. The first "longer" book I wrote; that is, the first novel that wasn't targeted for one of the shorter Harlequin lines, I wrote during NaNoWriMo 2004. That book still might not be published, but it did land me my first agent and won a lot of awards and more importantly, it was the book that made me think I could actually be an author.

I also wrote most of Cinderella: Ninja Warrior during NaNo 2009. Yes, I kind of cheated that year. I had a December 31st deadline for that book and so started it as soon as I knew I had the contract, on or about October 20th, and I finished the first draft before the end of November. But I definitely wrote more than 50,000 words of that book in November. I wrote the bulk of during NaNo and swear competing on word counts with a few of my extextremely prolific erotica writer friends mates really spurred me on. (If she wrote 4,000 words today, so can I!)

And so Nano is inidrectly responsible for my first agent and my first published book. On different books.

What about you? Do you NaNo? Do you like to write fast first drafts or take your time to get it right?

Very Drunk Writer

I am in San Francisco with the fabulous and gorgeous Serena Robar. She's in town for a conference and I am hanging out with her, doing some writing, doing some shopping and tossing back some drinks.

I had a lovely hangover run on the Embarcadero (where were you, Molly?) and then had total sticker shock at Bloomingdale's. Thank God for Macy's and the 40% off rack where Serena found me the perfect dress for an upcoming event. Then tonight it was dinner at Zingari's and off for an end of the evening cocktail at the Redwood Room. Where we took this awesome photo in the fabulous giant chair in the lobby:



In case you can't tell, I had a Manhattan which had LOT of bourbon in it. I am not, sadly, feeling brilliant, but am quite content. Wish you all had been there drinking with us!

Effing things up for yourself...

For the last few years I have been a head of my deadlines. And not just a little. But like, months ahead of deadline. I seemed to keep having these events that I wanted to get books completed by - biths of babies, American Thanksgiving, Conference, Drunk Writer Talk. So, I had real deadlines and then I had my own.

And let me tell you, this has been great. I am heroic in my editors eyes. I have so much good will built up in this department that if I could somehow transform good will into shoes I would be Maureen.

And I've liked it too, I feel on top of my game and focused. I was really diligent every day despite being ahead of the deadline.

But OH! Oh the times they have changed - my deadline is November 15 for my Harlequin Superromance (I thought it was Nov. 22, why? No idea). And it's doable if I stick to my word count goal every day and work on the weekends and in the evenings...really, it's not even that hard. But what have I been doing? SLACKING OFF. Watching TV - in the middle of the day. Eating cookies? (That's effing up this no cookie diet I was on for about ten minutes. The second I said "Molly, no more cookies, what did I want? Ten cookies.) Friday Maureen and I had a writing date and what did I convince her to do? HAVE A BEER!

I am so far away from my word count goal that it's actually funny. Like ludicrious. Like a Monty Python sketch. And it's not my children, or my husband, or fate conspiring against me, it's me. %100 me. Though Maureen could have been a bit more firm on that beer thing...

Do you do this? When the pressure is on, do you go to sleep? Because I've been doing that too.

How much attention should you pay to the market before you write?

I've been actively watching the YA market for a while now, but never as much as now. I've always been a firm believer in write the idea that grips you, makes you smile and excited to sit at the computer. And I still believe in that to a degree, but there was a point where I would have done so without being really aware of what else was out there.

Now, as I check author/agent/publisher blogs and learn what people in the industry are saying, I realize what a mistake that can be. In YA right now, according to most agents, trying to sell a vampire/werewolf/angel paranormal would be almost impossible. It would take an incredible book to break into that market. Similar with dystopian YA. Two years ago, a dystopian would have been requested by most agents out there, three years ago, vampires were still something publishers were excited about.

As a writer, locked in my writing cave, would I have known that I most likely couldn't sell a vampire book right now. I'm not sure and it is why most agents/publishers say don't write to trends, but be aware of them. I just don't feel as though I've ever been really good at that. Looking at the market and seeing what I shouldn't write. Because like most people who read the Hunger Games, I saw tremendous appeal and potential in a dystopian world, and the potential to create drama in that kind of setting.

So is the answer to be aware of the market? To be aware of what's selling in your genre and ensure that what you are writing is different, but with the elements that still remain true to the essential nature of the genre?

I go back and forth, especially now that I'm submitting, where if you'd asked me a year ago, I would have emphatically stated that the book is the only thing that's important. Now, I'm not entirely sure.

Revenge

In keeping with the theme of mindless entertainment is anyone watching this show? It was absolutely not something I thought I would be interested in. Soap opera level drama in the Hamptons (been there/done that) But here is the thing. The actress who plays the lead is really good.

She’s completely convincing when she’s pretending to play the innocent girlfriend. Then completely convincing when the audience sees her plotting her revenge against the people who did her father wrong.

It’s got it all. Emotional conflicts, sticky situations… murder. You can’t really figure out who likes who but there are all kinds of romantic connections. Each week the heroine (who we are sympathetic towards because of how she lost her father) sets up these elaborate cons to take down the people responsible for setting up her father as a patsy. The cons are sometimes silly. The drama is a bit over played. And I’m not really sure how this can go for more than one season.

If anyone remembers the summer murder mystery series Harper’s Island – this feels a lot like that. Over the top – but completely watchable. Kind of like a Sydney Sheldon novel.

It occurred to me how often this can be true in books as well. The plot can be done to death, there can be holes and gaps everywhere, the writing might be flawed but if the voice of the author is good, really good - it can still make the book enjoyable.

I recently read a book by an author and it was just like that. I kept telling myself this… this is bad… this isn’t good… this isn’t right… I must keep reading. Is there a book two? … I must by that as well.

Ever done that with a TV show or a book?

Pure Entertainment

Eileen's post yesterday about Bridesmaids had me thinking about fun movies.

This fall, after all the dark and difficult movies at TIFF -- and some that weren't dark or difficult but didn't really inspire me all that much -- I went to a few movies just for the pure fun of it.

One was Our Idiot Brother which I found adorable if forgettable... But I've loved Paul Rudd ever since Clueless so I enjoy just about any movie he stars in, even if he's cast as an irresponsible and naive stoner.

But the film that inspired this post is Real Steel. It seems as if they were showing the trailers for this film for close to a year before it came out... Which often is not a good sign... And I have to admit, it did not seem like the kind of movie I'd like. More like one Molly's son would like. But writer-friend and movie-critic for Hard Core Nerdity,  Adrienne Kress saw the film at a press screening a week before it came out and she told me it was worth seeing so I thought I'd give it a shot.

And you know what? I was completely entertained. There are some completely corny cliche lines like, Son to Dad: "You can do this. I believe in you." (or something. I'm paraphrasing.) And while I might have rolled my eyes once or twice I had to do my eye rolling quickly, because mostly I was just too busy being entertained. :)

And if I have to watch boxing... there'd better be either a great story to offset the violence, or the boxers getting beat up had better be machines and not people. This movie delivers on the second for sure ;) and the first mostly. The story is simple, but I admired that simplicity...We know exactly who the protagonist is, how he has to change, what his external goals are... and we see him change and get what he wants and deserves.

I have a bit of a love-to-m'eh sliding continuum thing for Hugh Jackman (as opposed to Sinead who is fully in love). And this was a movie where I swung to the love side of my continuum. (As I did the night Sinead and I went to see him perform live this summer.) It's like Hugh can either be the most masculine and most feminine man on the planet -- and I heart the masculine Hugh. (Without facial hair and with his shirt on, ;) he comes off too pretty for me) But he was definitely masculine Hugh in this movie. Yowza.

The only thing that would have made it perfect for me was a tiny more emphasis on the romance, but then that would have turned off their key demographic -- twelve-year-old boys -- so I had to be satisfied with a few kisses and some clear chemistry. I'll say one thing about Evangeline Lilly -- she can look at a man and convince me she loves him. And she looked at Hugh like she looked at Sawyer.

I've read reviews that criticize Real Steel for morphing together movies from the past like Rocky and The Champ and Transformers... But I think the filmmakers were smart enough to take what worked from each of those movies: underdog triumphing, heart-breaking father-son relationship, big robots -- and combine them into pure entertainment.

I saw the movie in one of those enhanced theatres, with a bigger screen, better sound and comfy seats (with built in speakers...) and I was thoroughly entertained. And really, that's exactly what I wanted.

Bridesmaids

I just watched Bridesmaids with my darling and talented niece. I really really liked it. We laughed really really hard, but I also liked the fact that I felt a little verklempt more than a few times in the movie.

I really related to Annie. I know that awful feeling of not being able to afford to do what everyone else can and feeling like the least successful one in the room. I know the feeling of watching a friend leave me behind for greener pastures. As funny as the scene on the airplane was, I think the real reason people like this movie is that everyone has had that sinking feeling in their chest that those moments create.

Oh, we suck it up. We plaster smiles on our faces, but hasn't their been a moment when you wanted to splash the chocolate out of someone's fountain and wrestle their giant love cookie to the ground?

If the movie had been an endless parade of women having diarrhea in the middle of the street while wearing wedding gowns, I don't think it would have been that big of a hit. It was, as my brilliant niece said, how relatable it was. I know Annie. I've been Annie. I knew the other bridesmaids, too. I may also be a little bit of the blonde bridesmaid raising three boys. I am the same kind of drunk as the sweet newlywed bridesmaid. And I've run for a buffet just like Melissa McCarthy did.

So did you see it? Did you like it? Did you relate to Annie? Or anyone else?

What a Literary Agent Should Do For You

A few weekends ago a NYT bestseller came to speak at our local RWA group and she answered all of our questions with utter honesty. One of the questions was about her relationships with different agents. She's had some good ones and some bad ones but she said with the one she has now it was the first time she actually felt agented.

This got me to thinking...do I feel agented? The answer quickly for me is a resounding yes.
But why do I feel agented? She sells my books - but is that enough? The answer quickly there was no. What are the elements besides selling my books that makes Pam Hopkins such a great agent for me?

1. She's not my friend. We're chatty. Sometimes we gossip, she's VERY friendly and warm and I like her a lot - but everything comes back around to business. I think this is important. Sometimes, after a glass of wine too many - I feel awkward, because I want secretly to be best friends with everyone, but it's business. Good business.

2. She subtly and not so subtly pushes me. I was having babies and writing Superromances and life was pretty good but after every book I turned in she'd send me an email saying - I know you're busy now, but you really need to think about single title. Every time. I never pushed her into thinking about my single title career, she was there all the time with the next steps in mind. An agent should see your worth and hopefully your trajectory. The NYT bestseller at the meeting had a conversation with an agent who had been selling a lot of her books but the writer wanted more and the agent said "not everyone can be a star." Your agent should think you can be a star...

3. She helped my work. Pam is not an editorial person and I didn't want an agent who was going to critique my stuff - I have lots of critique partners - I wanted an agent who would look at my stuff and critique it's salability. Her comments on my proposals were always things like "I don't think this works. This won't sell." She's the one having conversations with editors - she knows what they want and she helped me match my work to that need/want.

4. Respected in the business. Sometimes we don't know how our agent is viewed in the wider world - but considering the respectful and warm business relationship she has with me, I can guess she has the same relationship with editors. If your agent crosses a line in your mind with you or another author - red flags should go up. She hasn't burned any bridges. And as much as writers want to write for editors like Shauna Summers and Jennifer Enderlin, agents want to work with them too and should be building relationships with every editor despite being thorns in thier sides when it comes to contract negotiations.

5. As your career changes so should thier services. This is new to me. Moving into single title I am getting a whole different service from Pam. Wait...maybe that's not true. It's the same service but more of it. She's always been the middle man between me and my editors but now she is more so. In more ways. Tuesday she has a conversation with my editor about what the publisher is doing about promotion...that's never happened before. And I think it should. Promotion is a freaking big deal and a big freaking mystery. And almost no writer I know feels like they've gotten a great answer from thier publisher. Please, tell me if you have...

6. Despite how little money I made or make for Pam, I feel important. Writing catagory I wasn't making Pam much money - like almost none. But I always felt like I could call her. I might be uncomfortable doing it, but that was me, not her. We should feel like our agents - no matter if we're making NO money or ooodles of money - work with us. So many authors I know after a couple of manuscripts don't sell - the agents stop calling. Or returning emails. Wow. Really?

Now, sometimes questions in emails don't get answered. And sometimes it takes a day for an email to get answered. Sometimes I feel all alone in the world - but I'm a writer, I'm bat shit crazy on a good day.

Anyway - those are my thoughts. Do you feel supported by your agent? Why? What do you wish was different?

Fringe - come for the crazy mysteries, stay for the family dramatics

So I tried watching Fringe Season 1 when it played on TV and gave up when it seemed a little repetitive and kind of an X-files rip off. But then we got our hands on Season 2 and Entertainment weekly had been singing the show's praises and so I started at Season 2. (spoiler alert - I'll try not to give anything away, but it's going to be hard, so if you're planning on watching, don't read this)

Which is SO much better. They still have the bizarre monster of the week, and the overarching plotline of what are those things from the other universe, but the dynamics between the players is so much better.

And everything is underplayed. but what I've enjoyed the most is the dynamic between Peter and Walter, son and father. The father is a brilliant scientist, who spent 17 years in a mental institution and is utterly incapable of living independently, and in season 1 the character was nothing but weird and in season 2 he has developed this relationship with his cynical, clever son that humanizes the son and keeps the Dad tethered to reality.

And that relationship, in particular, is underplayed by the actors, a clever choice, considering the drama of the weekly mysteries and the strangeness of the overarching plot.

But then the show introduces us to an alternate Walter, one far closer in personality to his son and we see what Peter could have become had he remained on the path he had been on, and we see what Walter would have been had he not had his mental breakdown and it's brilliant and a great choice by the writers.

It's show I would definitely recommend, because they never forget the characters and the writer's choices are always interesting and usually different from what I'm expecting.

And I just started The Night Circus and so far it's pretty amazing. Has anyone read it? Is it this good all the way to the end?

So I'm doing it...

I’m actually starting to make decisions now about this book I want to self-publish. It really is kind of a crazy thing. Part of me likes it.

Most of me hates it.

I’m a worrier. When I write a book for another publisher all the worries other than - did I do a good job - lands on them. When you’re doing it yourself all the worry is with you.

Forget the obvious issues – are there any typos or inconsistencies that are going to make it seem like a “self published” book? Did the copyeditor catch everything? What about copyright infringement issues. What if I used a brand name I wasn’t supposed to?

I’m also dealing with cover art and title. I have ideas. I know what “I” like – but I’m no expert in this kind of stuff. What sells? Then of course there is the marketing. How much money should I put toward advertising? How many copies do I need to sell in order to cover the costs of the copy editor and advertising combined in order to make a profit?

Because as Maureen said so eloquently yesterday… it’s about the money. I’m not going to get rich – but I need to be compensated for the effort. Yes my love of writing and for whatever reason this story in particular carried me a long way but this a whole lot of work and worry to do this for free.

I’m still a couple of months away – but then I will use this Blog to shamelessly promote it and you can all go and look at the cover and read the title and tell me how you think I did as a publisher.

(And you know… while you’re there… maybe you could buy it... if you want to…)

Stating the Obvious

Can we all just stipulate that pretty much everyone in the publishing industry wants to make money? (Stipulate is what the TV lawyers say. ;)

There are some very popular bloggers who've gained disciple-like followings by railing against agents and traditional publishers. Also, some of my writers' loops have been inundated with posts from authors complaining about how publishers or agents or retailers (especially Amazon) are just in it for the money, and how these various entities are behaving in ways that support their own interests.

To which I say, "DUH!"

What I don't get is why some--not all--of these posters seem to think that wanting to make money and caring about books/authors are mutually exclusive.

Sure, not every person in the world loves what they do for a living. Lots of people work in jobs or industries because they landed a job there and need to learn money; and so they plod along, caring little for the products or services their employers provide. I used to be one of those people.

BUT, I would assert that this is less true in the publishing industry than most other industries. Why? Because frankly there just isn't that much money in it. Or at best, the risk/reward balance is skewed such that more people earn a very small living than a great living. You don't go into a business like publishing unless you love books. You don't become an agent unless you love reading and writing and authors and books. I read a discussion recently about how it's almost impossible to become an agent or editor unless you have a trust fund or spouse backing you, because the money's so bad or non-existent for the first many years... (That discussion was about whether this "wealthy white New Yorker" preponderance in the industry biases "taste" and what gets published... but I digress.)

It is also true that the big publishers are now mostly all owned by huge multinationals whose CEOs and shareholders probably don't care about books all that much... but editors and publishers, from everything I've observed, are fighting the good fight for books within these huge corporations.

All that said, I think it's the railing against agents that bothers me the most.

I'm not meaning to suggest, for an instant, that agents' motives are altruistic, but I am sick, sick, sick of hearing authors make anti-agent arguments using, "They just want to earn more money."

Of COURSE they freaking do!!! What kind of fairy tale land are you people living in?

Given all the changes happening in the publishing world right now, I'm very interested in discussions about the pros and cons of some of the recent developments... agents being publishers, retailers being publishers, and everyone trying to figure out what's fair in terms of splitting the proceeds from selling a book in the digital age, and whether agents should earn their normal commission if authors self-publish a book the agent once sold (many years ago) or tried and failed to sell, and whether a publisher can consider a book "in print" paying an author a tiny royalty on a book they aren't promoting, but have up for sale on their website...

All important topics. All interesting. Lots of turmoil and new industry "norms" will undoubtedly be worked out over the next several years, and yes, we authors have to stand up for ourselves and our interests as this all works itself out...

But in these discussions, can't we all just stipulate that everyone involved is out to protect his or her interests and turf? That everyone wants to maximize their potential for earning a living? Including authors? Isn't that obvious?

Romance Writer Moments

I've had two in the past couple of weeks. The first happened in the grocery store. It was around 3 o'clock and I hadn't had lunch and I was starving. I figured it would be better to buy a little something healthy to eat and munch while I shopped rather devour a box of cookies in the car on the way home which was where I was headed.

So I'm eating my turkey wrap and steering the cart through the store with my elbows. There's mayonnaise dripping down my wrist that I'm considering licking off (did I mention that I was STARVING?) and this woman comes up to me in the meat department and says, "excuse me, are you Eileen Rendahl?" I said yes. And she starts clapping her hands and sort of squealing because she recognized me from the photo in the back of the book and calls her daughter over to meet me.

And I have mayonnaise dripping down my wrist and lettuce between my teeth. Very unglamorous. Not how I pictured that moment at all. I did, however, want to hug the woman, but refrained because I didn't want to pay her drycleaning bill.

The second one happened at our neighborhood block party. Andy and I were chatting with a new neighbor who lives sort of catty-corner from us when Felix who is our neighborhood Gladys Kravitz among other things came up. Felix has a VERY loud voice and a VERY thick Polish accent and is VERY nosy, but I don't care because he calls me Princess. I may forgive almost anything -- including, I suspect, some casual inspection of my recycling from time to time -- if you will just call me Princess on a regular basis.

Anyway, Felix comes up to us and says (really loudly), "You know, she write book! You can read! They have at bookstore! On shelf!"

New neighbor asks what I write and I tell him and he says, "Ha ha ha, I bet they all have Fabio on the cover."

New neighbor is now dead to me.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I found that so dismissive and denigrating. I wanted to punch him.

How do people react to you when you tell them what you do? Do you ever get recognized?

Credible Suprise and how much is too much?

So, I'm back at it. Rusty and antsy and unable to apply butt to chair for longer than an hour and half at a time. Maureen had to tie me to my seat to get to 46,000 words on Friday. But the time off has done all it should, the glaring problems are all right there, the big muddy mess I was in the middle of isn't really muddy at all - I was just going the wrong direction. So, fix fix fix.

But I had this thread I was pulling out and playing with in this Superromance I'm in the middle of. In my subplot I have a romance/friendship between an older couple. He has always loved her and is ashamed of it because she was his best friend's wife, he drank too much, he ignored things he should have stopped and basically was not a great man. He's working on that. However, in order for the romance to work and to get one of those gasp moments of credible suprise and to ramp up drama drama drama, I had her keeping a secret about her husband who died five years ago. She has no proof, they certainly didn't talk about it, but she suspects he might have been gay.

So, my question is this. How much is too much? Really. I think it would get a big gasp, and it's an interesting thing for her to have to deal with, having kept this secret and her anger and frustration with a marriage that wasn't at all what she'd wanted.

But is it more interesting to watch a recovering alcoholic and a devout catholic sort through thier stuff and feel honest things for each and just basically talk it out?

I think catagory romance lives for moments of credible suprise - in constant battles to stop predictability editors love these little suprises. I'm torn right down the middle. Securely on the fense, so I'm going to let you guys decide and I'm going to take a nap...

Everyone's a critic

Me included. When the drunk writers get together, we talk about books we've read, what we liked about them and what we didn't. We are critical, but I like to think we mostly focus on what we loved, rather than what didn't work. I read several review sites on a regular basis and most of the time the reviews are well thought out and lacking in personal bias.

And as writers, I think we all understand, that the decision to publish is partly putting your work into the world and getting that feedback, good and bad, and hopefully finding a way to mine the useful from the bad. I do honestly think it's part of the process of writing to publish.

But then sometimes I want to whine, why does no one understand how hard it is? I read a review today that basically said, book was OK, but not great. And my first thought was how does a writer absorb that? And I know it's not a reviewers job to tell us how to fix our books, but seriously, where do you go with that?

Writing is hard work, coupled with a ridiculous self-awareness of the words we put on the page, and throw in a little magic for good measure. It takes equal measure working everyday and being absorbed into the work, and finding other outlets to inspire creativity. As a critic I can easily see the great when I'm reading, but as a writer what takes the good to great feels magical.

And that's my whine for today. Great is really freakin' difficult and so for today, I'm celebrating the good books, because those authors are one little measure of magic away from great, and who knows, maybe it will happen in the next book.