So, bad news for the impatient: A few of you have noticed that Between the Sea and Sky's release date on Amazon is now October 25th. I got confirmation that this is true.
WHAT? you might cry. HOW CAN I LIVE THESE EXTRA MONTHS?
That is also what I thought. But I was informed of very good reasons for the delay that aren't really anyone's fault, so...I will soldier on until October. These things happen.
In the meantime, you can look forward to my story in the Corsets and Clockwork anthology in May. I got an ARC of the collection and I must say, I really am enjoying it! Usually with short story collections there are some stories I have to slog through but so far I haven't encountered any like that in this collection. I think it's really stellar! I mean, there is a mermaid girl who eats people and a theatrical automaton and a steampunk Civil Rights story and all kinds of cool junk, and I'm not even done with it yet, so definitely pick it up if you are so inclined!
And also in May, the Magic Under Glass paperback will have a preview of Between the Sea and Sky in it. So enjoy the tease! I continue to be very impressed with the amount of people adding the book on Goodreads, pre-ordering it on Amazon and emailing me asking for review copies, so, THANK YOU!!!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Outsider Boy Love
At the Branson retreat we had a question of the night, and one of them was two things that push your buttons as a reader.
I have a very specific button-pusher, which is: Outsider people who are different in some physical way that they can't hide but who find a way to fit into society without compromising who they are. And preferably, who they are is also a hot boy, just saying.
Which led to a tweet from a certain moose (yes, the taxidermy in our house was tweeting, which I find disturbing) about how I like hunchbacks, but that is not really what I MEANT (although admittedly, Dean "Jarback" Priest from the Emily books was one of my childhood literary crushes, before I realized he's kind of a jerk, so maybe I do mean that).
There are a lot of ways to make a character different, though, especially in fantasy and spec-fic, where you can have a guy who looks like a demon for no apparent reason (Nightcrawler from X-Men), a guy with dragons growing from his back (Star Ocean: The Second Story for PlayStation), or a guy with scissors for hands (do I even need to tell you?). That is, besides the obvious ways to make a character different: disabilities, scars, being a different race from the norm, having strange coloring of some kind, etc. In fantasy, it's all blown up even beyond the differences we have to deal with on Earth.
I just can't seem to get away from this trope in anything I write. Sure, I have some other character types I love too (Arrogant Man with Pain Beneath His Exterior is another one that gets me every damn time), but that is like the soul of my writing.
It took me a long time to realize why I was so drawn to these stories, but I think (if I can't explain it with past lives?) it's because from the first time I was thrown into a crowd of peers (in 2nd grade, the only year I wasn't homeschooled) I realized I was deeply different. The things I ate, the medicine I took when I was sick, the music I listened to, the things I liked to do, even the way I thought the world worked, were all markedly different from my peers, and it was a shock. I still get that same shock every time I am in a large group of people. I think everyone must feel this way to a degree, but for whatever reason the theme always really resonated with me.
I think the other reason I am attracted to it is because when your outsideriness is obvious, you sort of have to work extra hard to be normal. I tend to see the outsider characters as the most "normal" at heart, I think. (And in this case I think of normality as a positive thing...like, relatable, moreso than "someone who is very average".) For a romantic lead, it can also be a rather vulnerable position...if you have a disability or are of a different race from the norm or whatever you have to have an extra dose of determination or cleverness or some it factor to get ahead.
A few of my favorite physical-outsiders-who-find-their-place-in-the-world:
Gen from Megan Whalen Turner's books
Otto from A Long Long Sleep (which comes out in August, I just read it, it's AWESOME)
The aforementioned Nightcrawler from X-Men, in his more fun-loving, swashbuckling configuration and not Emo Religious Mutant
Tyldak from the Elfquest comics
Chichiri from the Fushigi Yuugi anime
Gah, I know there are plenty more, but I have to go make dinner. And one of my favorite literary boys is Po from Graceling but he doesn't truly qualify. Anyway, if you have any recommendations, fire away, I'd LOVE to add more to the list...
I have a very specific button-pusher, which is: Outsider people who are different in some physical way that they can't hide but who find a way to fit into society without compromising who they are. And preferably, who they are is also a hot boy, just saying.
Which led to a tweet from a certain moose (yes, the taxidermy in our house was tweeting, which I find disturbing) about how I like hunchbacks, but that is not really what I MEANT (although admittedly, Dean "Jarback" Priest from the Emily books was one of my childhood literary crushes, before I realized he's kind of a jerk, so maybe I do mean that).
There are a lot of ways to make a character different, though, especially in fantasy and spec-fic, where you can have a guy who looks like a demon for no apparent reason (Nightcrawler from X-Men), a guy with dragons growing from his back (Star Ocean: The Second Story for PlayStation), or a guy with scissors for hands (do I even need to tell you?). That is, besides the obvious ways to make a character different: disabilities, scars, being a different race from the norm, having strange coloring of some kind, etc. In fantasy, it's all blown up even beyond the differences we have to deal with on Earth.
I just can't seem to get away from this trope in anything I write. Sure, I have some other character types I love too (Arrogant Man with Pain Beneath His Exterior is another one that gets me every damn time), but that is like the soul of my writing.
It took me a long time to realize why I was so drawn to these stories, but I think (if I can't explain it with past lives?) it's because from the first time I was thrown into a crowd of peers (in 2nd grade, the only year I wasn't homeschooled) I realized I was deeply different. The things I ate, the medicine I took when I was sick, the music I listened to, the things I liked to do, even the way I thought the world worked, were all markedly different from my peers, and it was a shock. I still get that same shock every time I am in a large group of people. I think everyone must feel this way to a degree, but for whatever reason the theme always really resonated with me.
I think the other reason I am attracted to it is because when your outsideriness is obvious, you sort of have to work extra hard to be normal. I tend to see the outsider characters as the most "normal" at heart, I think. (And in this case I think of normality as a positive thing...like, relatable, moreso than "someone who is very average".) For a romantic lead, it can also be a rather vulnerable position...if you have a disability or are of a different race from the norm or whatever you have to have an extra dose of determination or cleverness or some it factor to get ahead.
A few of my favorite physical-outsiders-who-find-their-place-in-the-world:
Gen from Megan Whalen Turner's books
Otto from A Long Long Sleep (which comes out in August, I just read it, it's AWESOME)
The aforementioned Nightcrawler from X-Men, in his more fun-loving, swashbuckling configuration and not Emo Religious Mutant
Tyldak from the Elfquest comics
Chichiri from the Fushigi Yuugi anime
Gah, I know there are plenty more, but I have to go make dinner. And one of my favorite literary boys is Po from Graceling but he doesn't truly qualify. Anyway, if you have any recommendations, fire away, I'd LOVE to add more to the list...
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Escape from Branson
Some of you may recall that a week ago I left on a writing retreat to Branson, MO (which is where we happened to find a cheap house big enough to fit 23 authors). Rare is the vacation where so many things go wrong that if you could go it all over again...you probably wouldn't. But the Branson retreat was one of those trips, for me. Not because of the company (which was lovely) or the beauty of the lakes and hills of the Ozarks (it really was beautiful there). Just because of...everything else. Which means it makes for some great blog fodder.
We arrived Saturday, and had a fun time with the usual hijinks that occur when a zillion writers get together. I had a lovely little room on the top floor with my critique partner Jessica Spotswood with windows all around overlooking snowy woods and snowy lake. It was lovely. Sunday was our first full day. I talked to people. I even got my 1000 words for the day. I also noticed a tickle in my throat.
The tickle, alas, did not go away. By that night it was more like a lump of congestion that kept me up all night, and in the morning I had a fever. I made my way downstairs, weakly, and soon realized...all I wanted was to go back to bed. So I did. The fever got worse. I was so exhausted and with such chills that all I could really do was sleep. At that point I was so sick I didn't even CARE that I was missing out on fun. I just wished I was home with Dade and the kitties and access to my local health food store and my teapot.
On Tuesday I was able to sit up and mostly stay awake, but I still couldn't really make it downstairs. But Wednesday we were leaving. I wasn't looking forward to flying and changing planes since I was still pretty wiped and dizzy, but it would be all worth it once I got there.
I woke up to the news that we were snowed in and our flight was canceled. Despair! But then it got a lot worse. I called AirTran to reschedule my flight and they told me I couldn't go home until FRIDAY. "When are they telling you guys you can go home?" I called at the rest of the group. (There were twelve of us on the same flight.) "Tomorrow!" they said.
Yes, every other person got on the flight home the next day. EXCEPT ME. Even people who called AirTran AFTER I did. I called them a couple more times, and Jessica even called and pretended to be me, but they just kept saying the flight was booked, overbooked in fact, and I was not likely to get on it.
After a good crying jag, I really TRIED to make the best of this. We had almost run out of food in the house, but I had brought food with me, including a bag of baby potatoes, which I brought out at this point to share for lunch. 24 ounces of potatoes for 18 people = 1 baby potato per person. While Myra stretched them out into soup, I looked at hotels in Branson and tried to find a place where I could maybe walk to some attractions or shops or something. There were some thrift stores downtown. Maybe I could trudge through the snow and thrift.
But, let's face it, I really did not want to wander alone and sick in Branson, I wanted to GO HOME. So I kept checking AirTran. Around 8pm, I saw that I could buy a ticket from Branson to Atlanta. But now there were no Atlanta to Orlando tickets. I called again and asked if they could at least just LET ME LEAVE BRANSON. I was told no, they had to book the whole ticket at once. Dawn said I should call customer service, so I did, and the nice woman there was finally willing to work with me and she found some way to book me on the flight. She seemed a little confused by my enthusiasm for the new situation.
AirTran Woman: Okay, ma'am, here's what I can do. I have you on the Branson to Atlanta flight.
Me: YOU HAVE ME ON THE BRANSON TO ATLANTA FLIGHT?
AirTran Woman: Yes, but, ma'am, all the flights to Orlando are full. I can get you a flight leaving at...ooh, that's a long layover. I can get you out at 8:30 the next morning.
Me: AWESOME!
AirTran Woman: That's 8:30 in the morning, ma'am. I can't get you out that same day.
Me: I KNOW! YOU ROCK! All I want in life is to LEAVE BRANSON.
I really wasn't worried, honestly, if I could just get to Atlanta, because there were five flights leaving Atlanta for Orlando that evening and I found it highly unlikely one would not have a standby seat. And in fact, Dade called again for me around 1 am and got me a seat on the 5:49 pm flight out.
However, the flight was only half the battle. There was another battle going on, a battle that was luckily not mine to fight, but a battle for all of us still trapped in the Branson house. You see, even with a flight out, we were still all trapped in the house. There are four cab companies in Branson, apparently, that are all actually run by the same people. They had two vehicles capable of traveling in the snow. But there were twelve of us. We needed a van. They were trying to get use of a shuttle van, but they weren't willing to take it all the way to the house.
At some point, I was told, "Worst case scenario, we just have to walk a mile at 7 am in 0 degree weather and 6+ deep snow with all our luggage uphill to the main road."
No, worst case scenario is, the weakest among us are left to die. At least I've heard freezing to death is very peaceful.
But, what luck, some kind local soul helped us out. I was now told, "All right, this guy with a truck is going to pick us up in batches and drive us down to the Mule Mart to wait for the cab. I don't know if the Mule Mart will be open, so dress warmly."
So that is what happened. We were trucked on down to a convenience store called the Mule Express to wait for an hour with our luggage. It was open. At some point a local came in and asked, "Are you ladies havin' a sewing circle?"
Guys, I CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP.
So, the shuttle arrived (at this point, each thing that happened: transport to mule-themed convenience stores, or the shuttle actually happening, was greeted with exclamations of joy verging on disbelief) with ALMOST enough room for all of us (we crammed in there somehow) and we got to the airport. Our plane was late. There is no food in the Branson airport except a barbecue joint. Not a tasty one either. Woe to the stranded traveler. Did I mention I came home quite a bit skinnier than I left?
As a final note, my plane from Atlanta to Orlando was full of cheerleaders (perhaps junior high age) from Tennessee. I mean, fully half the plane was solid cheerleaders. When I got on there was a cheerleader in my seat.
Me, to patient-looking stewardess: I think that's my seat, 19C.
Stewardess: *checks log* Okay. *to cheerleader* What is your seat assignment?
Cheerleader: *chewing gum, giving blank look preteens are so good at* 19B.
Stewardess: Okay. And *to girl in 19B* what is your seat assignment?
Cheerleader 2: *gives same blank look* 19A.
A look passes over the stewardesses face like, what if every cheerleader is sitting in one seat wrong from their assignment? She looks over at 19F. "That looks like the seat that is open. Would you like that seat?"
Me: "I would LOVE that seat."
The cheerleaders mostly occupied the entire back of the plane. When it stopped, the man in the aisle seat behind my row jumped up and said, "I'll hold 'em back for you!" to those of us ahead of him. And he did.
I had made it home.
We arrived Saturday, and had a fun time with the usual hijinks that occur when a zillion writers get together. I had a lovely little room on the top floor with my critique partner Jessica Spotswood with windows all around overlooking snowy woods and snowy lake. It was lovely. Sunday was our first full day. I talked to people. I even got my 1000 words for the day. I also noticed a tickle in my throat.
The tickle, alas, did not go away. By that night it was more like a lump of congestion that kept me up all night, and in the morning I had a fever. I made my way downstairs, weakly, and soon realized...all I wanted was to go back to bed. So I did. The fever got worse. I was so exhausted and with such chills that all I could really do was sleep. At that point I was so sick I didn't even CARE that I was missing out on fun. I just wished I was home with Dade and the kitties and access to my local health food store and my teapot.
On Tuesday I was able to sit up and mostly stay awake, but I still couldn't really make it downstairs. But Wednesday we were leaving. I wasn't looking forward to flying and changing planes since I was still pretty wiped and dizzy, but it would be all worth it once I got there.
I woke up to the news that we were snowed in and our flight was canceled. Despair! But then it got a lot worse. I called AirTran to reschedule my flight and they told me I couldn't go home until FRIDAY. "When are they telling you guys you can go home?" I called at the rest of the group. (There were twelve of us on the same flight.) "Tomorrow!" they said.
Yes, every other person got on the flight home the next day. EXCEPT ME. Even people who called AirTran AFTER I did. I called them a couple more times, and Jessica even called and pretended to be me, but they just kept saying the flight was booked, overbooked in fact, and I was not likely to get on it.
After a good crying jag, I really TRIED to make the best of this. We had almost run out of food in the house, but I had brought food with me, including a bag of baby potatoes, which I brought out at this point to share for lunch. 24 ounces of potatoes for 18 people = 1 baby potato per person. While Myra stretched them out into soup, I looked at hotels in Branson and tried to find a place where I could maybe walk to some attractions or shops or something. There were some thrift stores downtown. Maybe I could trudge through the snow and thrift.
But, let's face it, I really did not want to wander alone and sick in Branson, I wanted to GO HOME. So I kept checking AirTran. Around 8pm, I saw that I could buy a ticket from Branson to Atlanta. But now there were no Atlanta to Orlando tickets. I called again and asked if they could at least just LET ME LEAVE BRANSON. I was told no, they had to book the whole ticket at once. Dawn said I should call customer service, so I did, and the nice woman there was finally willing to work with me and she found some way to book me on the flight. She seemed a little confused by my enthusiasm for the new situation.
AirTran Woman: Okay, ma'am, here's what I can do. I have you on the Branson to Atlanta flight.
Me: YOU HAVE ME ON THE BRANSON TO ATLANTA FLIGHT?
AirTran Woman: Yes, but, ma'am, all the flights to Orlando are full. I can get you a flight leaving at...ooh, that's a long layover. I can get you out at 8:30 the next morning.
Me: AWESOME!
AirTran Woman: That's 8:30 in the morning, ma'am. I can't get you out that same day.
Me: I KNOW! YOU ROCK! All I want in life is to LEAVE BRANSON.
I really wasn't worried, honestly, if I could just get to Atlanta, because there were five flights leaving Atlanta for Orlando that evening and I found it highly unlikely one would not have a standby seat. And in fact, Dade called again for me around 1 am and got me a seat on the 5:49 pm flight out.
However, the flight was only half the battle. There was another battle going on, a battle that was luckily not mine to fight, but a battle for all of us still trapped in the Branson house. You see, even with a flight out, we were still all trapped in the house. There are four cab companies in Branson, apparently, that are all actually run by the same people. They had two vehicles capable of traveling in the snow. But there were twelve of us. We needed a van. They were trying to get use of a shuttle van, but they weren't willing to take it all the way to the house.
At some point, I was told, "Worst case scenario, we just have to walk a mile at 7 am in 0 degree weather and 6+ deep snow with all our luggage uphill to the main road."
No, worst case scenario is, the weakest among us are left to die. At least I've heard freezing to death is very peaceful.
But, what luck, some kind local soul helped us out. I was now told, "All right, this guy with a truck is going to pick us up in batches and drive us down to the Mule Mart to wait for the cab. I don't know if the Mule Mart will be open, so dress warmly."
So that is what happened. We were trucked on down to a convenience store called the Mule Express to wait for an hour with our luggage. It was open. At some point a local came in and asked, "Are you ladies havin' a sewing circle?"
Guys, I CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP.
So, the shuttle arrived (at this point, each thing that happened: transport to mule-themed convenience stores, or the shuttle actually happening, was greeted with exclamations of joy verging on disbelief) with ALMOST enough room for all of us (we crammed in there somehow) and we got to the airport. Our plane was late. There is no food in the Branson airport except a barbecue joint. Not a tasty one either. Woe to the stranded traveler. Did I mention I came home quite a bit skinnier than I left?
As a final note, my plane from Atlanta to Orlando was full of cheerleaders (perhaps junior high age) from Tennessee. I mean, fully half the plane was solid cheerleaders. When I got on there was a cheerleader in my seat.
Me, to patient-looking stewardess: I think that's my seat, 19C.
Stewardess: *checks log* Okay. *to cheerleader* What is your seat assignment?
Cheerleader: *chewing gum, giving blank look preteens are so good at* 19B.
Stewardess: Okay. And *to girl in 19B* what is your seat assignment?
Cheerleader 2: *gives same blank look* 19A.
A look passes over the stewardesses face like, what if every cheerleader is sitting in one seat wrong from their assignment? She looks over at 19F. "That looks like the seat that is open. Would you like that seat?"
Me: "I would LOVE that seat."
The cheerleaders mostly occupied the entire back of the plane. When it stopped, the man in the aisle seat behind my row jumped up and said, "I'll hold 'em back for you!" to those of us ahead of him. And he did.
I had made it home.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Dear Querying Writers: Use Common Sense. Now, Relax.
Once upon a time, I was a newbie to querying agents. I fretted over every word in my query, dragged my heels about sending it out, finally did at the insistence of my boyfriend, received some requests, and every little thing sent me into a panic. If I do this, will the agent hate me? How should I respond to this? Or this? What do I say in a cover letter? Is it okay if I send the manuscript media mail? Do I put a rubber band on it? If they want internet files, do I put them in a folder? Or just send files loose? Should I tell them I'm working on something else? Should I send this revision?
Every new thing to come along provoked a freak out. For awhile. However, my query search last for three years. Many many queries. Eventually, I grew casual. Professional, but casual. I just went by the rule of thumb, "Would it bother ME if someone did this?" And, "If it does bother this person, would I still want to work with them if they were bothered by such things?"
As a querying author, or an author who intends to query someday, or even an author with an agent on submission to editors, you should keep up with what's going on in the industry, sure. You should be aware of standards. And you should follow guidelines. But please remember, agents ARE just people. Some of them will be more forgiving than others, some will be annoyed by X and not by Z, etc, and there are a lot of good agents out there. As long as you conduct yourself with as much common sense as you can muster at the time, there will be an agent for you even if you make mistakes.
Some of the things I did while querying that could be considered mistakes:
--I replied to my first "positive rejection" with a gushing email thanking the agent SO MUCH and telling them I'd be querying another project soon (aaaand about a month later I did...she didn't ask for pages)
--I emailed several agents who had had my full for a month letting them know I had a MUCH BETTER version now
--I rushed a revision and queried too soon
--I emailed some agents three times with three different versions of the Magic Under Glass query over the course of two years
--I queried some agents that I'd heard kinda bad mojo about because I knew they HAD SOLD SOMETHING
--I talked about most of my submissions and rejections on my blog, plus posted teasers regularly and blabbed about the story and plot all the time
At the time, I used my best judgment with the information I had available at the time on how to handle a situation. Sometimes, in hindsight, it turned out to be wrong and I stopped doing it. But I never did anything that was so heinous a crime that I was blacklisted from all agents ever. In fact, no one ever really seemed overly annoyed or whatever and I always had plenty of requests (in fact, one of the agents I kept pestering with new revisions ended up offering representation, although she was not the agent I signed with), and in the end I got a lovely agent.
Now, I know there has been some various debate on whether posting excerpts of your work or reviewing books (especially critically) on your blog, etcetera, can hurt your chances to sign or sell. I think it is definitely wise to discuss these matters, follow these discussions, and think about what you might be saying and who might be reading when you blog (or Tweet, etc) and if you feel comfortable with what you're putting out there. But please, do not go overboard. Again, use common sense. "Don't talk about the submission process" doesn't mean you can NEVER tweet "aw, man, I got a rejection", it means, you might not want to post a breakdown of everyone who rejected you.
And even if you DID make some manner of error in blogging about all your rejections or really snarking about books or posting a chapter of your WIP, and now you are freaking about it... Well, trust me. These things fade and they never bothered some people to begin with. If you feel that what you did was a bad idea in hindsight, delete the posts and continue on your merry way. If you feel that you are doing what you want to do, such as honestly reviewing books, continue on! Just as you can't please all of the people all of the time, it is not that easy to piss off all of the people all of the time. Unless you are running around making a general jerk of yourself on a regular basis or are remaining willfully uninformed, you're probably fine, especially because social networking IS relatively new and people are still figuring out how to manage it and use it and what's appropriate and all that stuff.
Every new thing to come along provoked a freak out. For awhile. However, my query search last for three years. Many many queries. Eventually, I grew casual. Professional, but casual. I just went by the rule of thumb, "Would it bother ME if someone did this?" And, "If it does bother this person, would I still want to work with them if they were bothered by such things?"
As a querying author, or an author who intends to query someday, or even an author with an agent on submission to editors, you should keep up with what's going on in the industry, sure. You should be aware of standards. And you should follow guidelines. But please remember, agents ARE just people. Some of them will be more forgiving than others, some will be annoyed by X and not by Z, etc, and there are a lot of good agents out there. As long as you conduct yourself with as much common sense as you can muster at the time, there will be an agent for you even if you make mistakes.
Some of the things I did while querying that could be considered mistakes:
--I replied to my first "positive rejection" with a gushing email thanking the agent SO MUCH and telling them I'd be querying another project soon (aaaand about a month later I did...she didn't ask for pages)
--I emailed several agents who had had my full for a month letting them know I had a MUCH BETTER version now
--I rushed a revision and queried too soon
--I emailed some agents three times with three different versions of the Magic Under Glass query over the course of two years
--I queried some agents that I'd heard kinda bad mojo about because I knew they HAD SOLD SOMETHING
--I talked about most of my submissions and rejections on my blog, plus posted teasers regularly and blabbed about the story and plot all the time
At the time, I used my best judgment with the information I had available at the time on how to handle a situation. Sometimes, in hindsight, it turned out to be wrong and I stopped doing it. But I never did anything that was so heinous a crime that I was blacklisted from all agents ever. In fact, no one ever really seemed overly annoyed or whatever and I always had plenty of requests (in fact, one of the agents I kept pestering with new revisions ended up offering representation, although she was not the agent I signed with), and in the end I got a lovely agent.
Now, I know there has been some various debate on whether posting excerpts of your work or reviewing books (especially critically) on your blog, etcetera, can hurt your chances to sign or sell. I think it is definitely wise to discuss these matters, follow these discussions, and think about what you might be saying and who might be reading when you blog (or Tweet, etc) and if you feel comfortable with what you're putting out there. But please, do not go overboard. Again, use common sense. "Don't talk about the submission process" doesn't mean you can NEVER tweet "aw, man, I got a rejection", it means, you might not want to post a breakdown of everyone who rejected you.
And even if you DID make some manner of error in blogging about all your rejections or really snarking about books or posting a chapter of your WIP, and now you are freaking about it... Well, trust me. These things fade and they never bothered some people to begin with. If you feel that what you did was a bad idea in hindsight, delete the posts and continue on your merry way. If you feel that you are doing what you want to do, such as honestly reviewing books, continue on! Just as you can't please all of the people all of the time, it is not that easy to piss off all of the people all of the time. Unless you are running around making a general jerk of yourself on a regular basis or are remaining willfully uninformed, you're probably fine, especially because social networking IS relatively new and people are still figuring out how to manage it and use it and what's appropriate and all that stuff.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Why comics and e-books have me questioning story structure
It is sometimes commented upon that until the internet happened, writers did not have so much feedback from their fans.
However, that was not true in the comics industry. Comics (at least, in this part of the world) have most commonly been told in short, chapter form with a letters column in the back, encouraging their fans to bitch and moan about the latest issue, or write tomes of effusive praise, or point out that Nightcrawler's hand had five fingers on page 15, panel 3, or whatevs. There is something else about comics, too: They were not expected to end. Ever. Can you imagine Superman ending and that's it? They don't end, they just get canceled if they aren't selling. A little like TV, but even more neverending, and without the structure of a "season" to hang that year's plot on.
There is something else different about comics too. Self-publishing is perfectly acceptable in the comics world. Many excellent comics began as self-published works, and some of them were picked up by a larger publisher from there, and some didn't. Although the comics industry is still dominated by superheroes, scratch the surface and the level of experimentation of not just art, but storytelling, in the comics world, IMO, is astonishing. And one thing I think is very fascinating is that comic creators can choose whether they want to tell one story with a beginning and an end, like a novel, or whether they want to tell an ongoing tale that can either be passed on to other creators, or end when the artist/writer simply gets burnout, or dies.
In writing, we don't really have that option. Sure, there are a few never-ending series, like in the mystery genre for example, but even then there are few examples outside of a fairly formulaic "every book solves a mystery" or "urban fantasy story where uh-oh, there's a NEW sexy vampire in town." There are comics that simply follow the slice-of-life dramas of a groups of characters. There are comics that combine slice-of-life relationship dramas with save-the-world traditional fantasy elements like Elfquest and Thieves and Kings (which also has prose sections within the comic). There might be story arcs, but there is no common rule dictating that the story should be a trilogy and then end...a level of freedom that FEW novels (I'm not saying none) manage. Of course, I'm sure the self-publishing element is part of it, and for every good comic there is a slew of bad ones, don't get me wrong.
Also, obviously there are things you can do in visual storytelling that just DO NOT WORK in novels. I bump up against the frustration of these limits all the time, as someone who once wanted to be a comic artist (but realized she doesn't have the patience with art that she does for writing). But I don't see why a serial story of short "episodes" in prose form couldn't work.
A friend of mine had a story on her blog some years back called MARZ Saga (she knows who she is) that I won't attempt to summarize here, but it was basically, a very creative little character drama that went on for years, in the form of short slice-of-life "episodes" that fed into a larger plot of character development and human growth. (Okay, see why I don't summarize things? That sounds totally boring.) But anyway, the characters felt VERY real to me, and their interactions felt very true to life, and she was very good at getting in the heads of people of wildly different backgrounds and throwing them together. It was good stuff. I can't ever see it as a novel. It worked as episodes. It was not a novel-type plot arc at all. It also lacked an ending. I didn't care. I doubt Thieves and Kings will ever end either, but it's still my favorite comic, and you know, I'm not sure I WANT stories like that to end. Life rarely has neat and tidy endings, and some types of stories don't have to, in my opinion.
That isn't to say I don't adore the traditional idea of what makes a "good novel": the hero's journey, the tension of every page, the ending that delivers, three-act structures and defined character arcs and all that stuff. It makes for wonderful stories. Obviously, they are the kind I write and love and hope to continue to write for a long time.
But I also am cautiously excited about the idea that e-books could allow for some variations in structure, since authors have the ability to write shorter works at cheaper price points and get them to readers quickly. For example, after Magic Under Stone, I'm sure some of you will still want to know what happens to Nimira and Erris. Maybe, if there was enough demand, I could even get a third book out of them. But their whole lives just aren't going to book-worthy, unless I keep concocting rather tedious disasters for them to contend with. There is a point, however, where one might scale back. Cover a smaller, more intimate drama in their lives, maybe over the course of a few short stories that readers who are desperate to know their fate after the book ends could purchase for 99 cents, or things like that. We're already seeing a little of this, of course. This could go for the end of any book. Writers who keep thinking about their characters after the book is done could keep sharing the thoughts without spinning out an entire book from it. Or someone like me who draws all the characters throughout their development could share my sketchbooks with readers in ebook form.
There is the potential for some pretty cool stuff. And frankly, although even the suggestion that there could be a demise of print sends me into absolute DESPAIR, as I love having and holding tangible books, that is the sort of thing that gets me very excited about ebooks.
I have a feeling there is a post inside of this post, a post I didn't write, that gets my thoughts across in a less muddled way...but, there you have it for now.
However, that was not true in the comics industry. Comics (at least, in this part of the world) have most commonly been told in short, chapter form with a letters column in the back, encouraging their fans to bitch and moan about the latest issue, or write tomes of effusive praise, or point out that Nightcrawler's hand had five fingers on page 15, panel 3, or whatevs. There is something else about comics, too: They were not expected to end. Ever. Can you imagine Superman ending and that's it? They don't end, they just get canceled if they aren't selling. A little like TV, but even more neverending, and without the structure of a "season" to hang that year's plot on.
There is something else different about comics too. Self-publishing is perfectly acceptable in the comics world. Many excellent comics began as self-published works, and some of them were picked up by a larger publisher from there, and some didn't. Although the comics industry is still dominated by superheroes, scratch the surface and the level of experimentation of not just art, but storytelling, in the comics world, IMO, is astonishing. And one thing I think is very fascinating is that comic creators can choose whether they want to tell one story with a beginning and an end, like a novel, or whether they want to tell an ongoing tale that can either be passed on to other creators, or end when the artist/writer simply gets burnout, or dies.
In writing, we don't really have that option. Sure, there are a few never-ending series, like in the mystery genre for example, but even then there are few examples outside of a fairly formulaic "every book solves a mystery" or "urban fantasy story where uh-oh, there's a NEW sexy vampire in town." There are comics that simply follow the slice-of-life dramas of a groups of characters. There are comics that combine slice-of-life relationship dramas with save-the-world traditional fantasy elements like Elfquest and Thieves and Kings (which also has prose sections within the comic). There might be story arcs, but there is no common rule dictating that the story should be a trilogy and then end...a level of freedom that FEW novels (I'm not saying none) manage. Of course, I'm sure the self-publishing element is part of it, and for every good comic there is a slew of bad ones, don't get me wrong.
Also, obviously there are things you can do in visual storytelling that just DO NOT WORK in novels. I bump up against the frustration of these limits all the time, as someone who once wanted to be a comic artist (but realized she doesn't have the patience with art that she does for writing). But I don't see why a serial story of short "episodes" in prose form couldn't work.
A friend of mine had a story on her blog some years back called MARZ Saga (she knows who she is
That isn't to say I don't adore the traditional idea of what makes a "good novel": the hero's journey, the tension of every page, the ending that delivers, three-act structures and defined character arcs and all that stuff. It makes for wonderful stories. Obviously, they are the kind I write and love and hope to continue to write for a long time.
But I also am cautiously excited about the idea that e-books could allow for some variations in structure, since authors have the ability to write shorter works at cheaper price points and get them to readers quickly. For example, after Magic Under Stone, I'm sure some of you will still want to know what happens to Nimira and Erris. Maybe, if there was enough demand, I could even get a third book out of them. But their whole lives just aren't going to book-worthy, unless I keep concocting rather tedious disasters for them to contend with. There is a point, however, where one might scale back. Cover a smaller, more intimate drama in their lives, maybe over the course of a few short stories that readers who are desperate to know their fate after the book ends could purchase for 99 cents, or things like that. We're already seeing a little of this, of course. This could go for the end of any book. Writers who keep thinking about their characters after the book is done could keep sharing the thoughts without spinning out an entire book from it. Or someone like me who draws all the characters throughout their development could share my sketchbooks with readers in ebook form.
There is the potential for some pretty cool stuff. And frankly, although even the suggestion that there could be a demise of print sends me into absolute DESPAIR, as I love having and holding tangible books, that is the sort of thing that gets me very excited about ebooks.
I have a feeling there is a post inside of this post, a post I didn't write, that gets my thoughts across in a less muddled way...but, there you have it for now.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
EDIT-TASTIC, the Musical!* All about editorial letters, editorial stages, editorial process
*(not actually a musical in any way)
I've gotten in a few conversations about editorial letters this week, plus I have Between the Sea and Sky copyedits, which I am taking a break from to write this post. This will be the all-I-can-tell-you-about-professional-editing post.
STAGE 1: First Draft
The first draft might not REALLY be your first draft, but it is the first version you show to your editor. Let's start here. Before you have an editor, you probably polished the living daylights out of your first book before it sold. And then you will get an editorial letter. (Note: Editorial letters can arrive anywhere from "almost instantly" to "over a year later" from the time your book sells.) It may be easy-peasy. Or it might make you throw up your last three meals. I was told the editorial letter for Magic Under Glass would be "light" so I was expecting almost nothing, and then when I got it, I was like "WHOA THIS IS MAJOR", but having since edited another book and talked to other writers about their editorial letters, I can tell you it actually was on the lighter side. So. Editorial revisions will probably shock you a bit, the first time.
If you have sold more than one book initially, or you sell another book on proposal, you will have a new experience. The deadline! Suddenly you will be expected to write a book faster than ever before, and you might be stressed out because you may find the manuscript you turn in is not as shiny and polished as the first manuscript your editor bought. Especially because you probably had some second-book-itis going on. Note: THIS IS OKAY. Editors expect this. Really, they do. It's okay to let it go, because if you spend too much time picking at it, your editor might then give you a letter that goes entirely above what you were working on. Case in point: I stressed over a theater subplot in Between the Sea and Sky for ages. I sent it to my editor, finally all shiny. My editor suggested I might want to cut that entire subplot. I instantly agreed and almost entirely rewrote the book in six weeks. With Magic Under Stone, I think I delivered a good story with a beginning, middle, and end, but I didn't stress excessively over the loose ends and messy bits.
STAGE 2: Editorial Letter
Your letter may be just a letter or it may include the marked-up manuscript. I've had both. And both times, I have tackled it the same way. I read the letter (with a mixture of excitement and trepidation). I usually think "OHMIGOD THAT IS BRILLIANT" about some of the comments, and "I agree! But how do I FIX THAT?" about others, and maybe a couple I think, "ehhh." All of them must be considered. I take the letter, and the manuscript, if I've got it (for Between the Sea and Sky, this process occurred in a New York City hotel room), and write down a response to all of my editors points so I can discuss it with her. Some of it will just be "I love this idea, and here's how I think I'll fix it, sound good?" and some of it will be asking her to clarify things, or me explaining what I was TRYING to say, and possibly a little brainstorming from there. I talk to her, and at this point I am usually quite excited. I know some writers cry and bemoan their revision letters, but unfortunately I have no advice for that, I actually love the revising part.
Editors, mind you, do not give advice like critique partners. Quite often they don't just say "here's what's wrong", but they actually help you, with brilliant points, shape your story so it's more like what you meant to say all along. I don't know how they do this. But, they do. Unless you have an unlucky match, which happens. I have heard quite a few editorial horror stories, but most writers get through them, and I hear many more editor love stories. Not worth stressing too much about.
Once I know my editor and I are on the same page, I go through the manuscript and break it down, chapter by chapter if necessary, marking on the ms or on notebook paper depending on how involved I need to be, creating a road map for myself of what I need to do. Some people handle line edits first and then major edits, some vice versa. I just work chronologically. It might look like this:
Ch. 5--Add extra description of the house.
Ch. 6-7--Bring chapter 8 forward. During the conversation with A and B, streamline to convey that A doesn't want B to know he is a were-chinchilla, but B actually already knows.
And so on, going into as much or as little detail as I need so I know everything that needs to be done as I go.
(At least, that's how it would look, if I wrote about were-chinchillas.)
When I'm done, usually in 4-6 weeks, I send it back and wait for the next round. So far my next rounds have been tiny. But it is totally normal to have one, or two, or even more rounds, getting more and more focused with each round. After that comes copy-edits.
STAGE 3: Copy-edits
Copy-edits can be a painful surprise to some authors. Some copy editors are very picky about details, and meanwhile some authors maybe wrote a book where the full moon happens every other day. The copy-editor fixes things like "Why is Mary age thirteen on page 1 and fifteen on page 12?" And grammar and style, and maybe some inaccuracies or research things. My copy editing hasn't been too painful. I'm not sure if my copy editor is just not a huge stickler, or if it's because I don't write crazy-complicated books and I am pretty good at keeping track of ages and timelines and such.
Line editing and copy-editing (which can occur in separate rounds or together; your editor does the line editing, but there is some overlap to what these two rounds accomplish) are more about details and word choices than the big exciting creative parts. As such, I find them quite easy, but also very headache inducing, and some writers actively despise them.
STAGE 4: It's almost a book!
At this point, you may get ARCs! Yay! And there is a final page pass where you are no longer supposed to make large changes, but are just supposed to make sure the grammar is right and things like that. it's pretty easy now, although I also kind of hate the final pass because at that point you're just kind of sick of the book, usually.
And then...you say goodbye. Your baby is almost ready to be born. This part is kind of sad, at least for me, because I will never work with that particular book again, and if you are saying goodbye to the entire cast of characters, you might feel downright weepy. But soon they will be shared, and that is very exciting.
DISCLAIMER: This is based on my own experience with Magic Under Glass and Between the Sea and Sky (which hasn't yet gone through all the stages) and discussion with other authors. Different publishing houses and editors do things differently, and there are no absolutes in publishing. I have tried to make this as general as possible, but you still may experience variations. If you have eight rounds of line edits and each one is delivered by an elephant, that might be totally normal for your publisher.
P. S. I almost forgot to mention I am going to a retreat in a couple of weeks with a ridiculous number of other YA author luminaries. We will be doing v-chats. You can ask us questions. Maggie Stiefvater is collecting the questions here. No obligation, as we already have a lot of awesome questions, but if you have more, now is your chance!
I've gotten in a few conversations about editorial letters this week, plus I have Between the Sea and Sky copyedits, which I am taking a break from to write this post. This will be the all-I-can-tell-you-about-professional-editing post.
STAGE 1: First Draft
The first draft might not REALLY be your first draft, but it is the first version you show to your editor. Let's start here. Before you have an editor, you probably polished the living daylights out of your first book before it sold. And then you will get an editorial letter. (Note: Editorial letters can arrive anywhere from "almost instantly" to "over a year later" from the time your book sells.) It may be easy-peasy. Or it might make you throw up your last three meals. I was told the editorial letter for Magic Under Glass would be "light" so I was expecting almost nothing, and then when I got it, I was like "WHOA THIS IS MAJOR", but having since edited another book and talked to other writers about their editorial letters, I can tell you it actually was on the lighter side. So. Editorial revisions will probably shock you a bit, the first time.
If you have sold more than one book initially, or you sell another book on proposal, you will have a new experience. The deadline! Suddenly you will be expected to write a book faster than ever before, and you might be stressed out because you may find the manuscript you turn in is not as shiny and polished as the first manuscript your editor bought. Especially because you probably had some second-book-itis going on. Note: THIS IS OKAY. Editors expect this. Really, they do. It's okay to let it go, because if you spend too much time picking at it, your editor might then give you a letter that goes entirely above what you were working on. Case in point: I stressed over a theater subplot in Between the Sea and Sky for ages. I sent it to my editor, finally all shiny. My editor suggested I might want to cut that entire subplot. I instantly agreed and almost entirely rewrote the book in six weeks. With Magic Under Stone, I think I delivered a good story with a beginning, middle, and end, but I didn't stress excessively over the loose ends and messy bits.
STAGE 2: Editorial Letter
Your letter may be just a letter or it may include the marked-up manuscript. I've had both. And both times, I have tackled it the same way. I read the letter (with a mixture of excitement and trepidation). I usually think "OHMIGOD THAT IS BRILLIANT" about some of the comments, and "I agree! But how do I FIX THAT?" about others, and maybe a couple I think, "ehhh." All of them must be considered. I take the letter, and the manuscript, if I've got it (for Between the Sea and Sky, this process occurred in a New York City hotel room), and write down a response to all of my editors points so I can discuss it with her. Some of it will just be "I love this idea, and here's how I think I'll fix it, sound good?" and some of it will be asking her to clarify things, or me explaining what I was TRYING to say, and possibly a little brainstorming from there. I talk to her, and at this point I am usually quite excited. I know some writers cry and bemoan their revision letters, but unfortunately I have no advice for that, I actually love the revising part.
Editors, mind you, do not give advice like critique partners. Quite often they don't just say "here's what's wrong", but they actually help you, with brilliant points, shape your story so it's more like what you meant to say all along. I don't know how they do this. But, they do. Unless you have an unlucky match, which happens. I have heard quite a few editorial horror stories, but most writers get through them, and I hear many more editor love stories. Not worth stressing too much about.
Once I know my editor and I are on the same page, I go through the manuscript and break it down, chapter by chapter if necessary, marking on the ms or on notebook paper depending on how involved I need to be, creating a road map for myself of what I need to do. Some people handle line edits first and then major edits, some vice versa. I just work chronologically. It might look like this:
Ch. 5--Add extra description of the house.
Ch. 6-7--Bring chapter 8 forward. During the conversation with A and B, streamline to convey that A doesn't want B to know he is a were-chinchilla, but B actually already knows.
And so on, going into as much or as little detail as I need so I know everything that needs to be done as I go.
(At least, that's how it would look, if I wrote about were-chinchillas.)
When I'm done, usually in 4-6 weeks, I send it back and wait for the next round. So far my next rounds have been tiny. But it is totally normal to have one, or two, or even more rounds, getting more and more focused with each round. After that comes copy-edits.
STAGE 3: Copy-edits
Copy-edits can be a painful surprise to some authors. Some copy editors are very picky about details, and meanwhile some authors maybe wrote a book where the full moon happens every other day. The copy-editor fixes things like "Why is Mary age thirteen on page 1 and fifteen on page 12?" And grammar and style, and maybe some inaccuracies or research things. My copy editing hasn't been too painful. I'm not sure if my copy editor is just not a huge stickler, or if it's because I don't write crazy-complicated books and I am pretty good at keeping track of ages and timelines and such.
Line editing and copy-editing (which can occur in separate rounds or together; your editor does the line editing, but there is some overlap to what these two rounds accomplish) are more about details and word choices than the big exciting creative parts. As such, I find them quite easy, but also very headache inducing, and some writers actively despise them.
STAGE 4: It's almost a book!
At this point, you may get ARCs! Yay! And there is a final page pass where you are no longer supposed to make large changes, but are just supposed to make sure the grammar is right and things like that. it's pretty easy now, although I also kind of hate the final pass because at that point you're just kind of sick of the book, usually.
And then...you say goodbye. Your baby is almost ready to be born. This part is kind of sad, at least for me, because I will never work with that particular book again, and if you are saying goodbye to the entire cast of characters, you might feel downright weepy. But soon they will be shared, and that is very exciting.
DISCLAIMER: This is based on my own experience with Magic Under Glass and Between the Sea and Sky (which hasn't yet gone through all the stages) and discussion with other authors. Different publishing houses and editors do things differently, and there are no absolutes in publishing. I have tried to make this as general as possible, but you still may experience variations. If you have eight rounds of line edits and each one is delivered by an elephant, that might be totally normal for your publisher.
P. S. I almost forgot to mention I am going to a retreat in a couple of weeks with a ridiculous number of other YA author luminaries. We will be doing v-chats. You can ask us questions. Maggie Stiefvater is collecting the questions here. No obligation, as we already have a lot of awesome questions, but if you have more, now is your chance!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Starring the Jaclyn Dolamore Players! aka, Thoughts on Plagiarizing Myself
So, I have a little trick I do when I am having trouble with a new character. I cast one of "the Jaclyn Dolamore players". These are old, pre-existing characters that I know very very well, and I just ask myself to think "what would they be like born into THESE circumstances?" And then, hopefully, the character will grow from there and become their own person.
Of course, I do run the risk of writing the same thing over and over. So I feel kind of bad about it. On the other hand, I do think of writing sort of like making a movie. And if I was making movies, I might keep casting Colin Firth over and over in different roles. Or I might travel back in time so I could cast Rex Harrison. You know, when you see a Rex Harrison movie, that you're getting some arrogant British sexiness right there, you just don't know what role it will take. Will I pity Rex in "The Yellow Rolls-Royce", or sort of want to smack him but still find him oh-so-sexy in "My Fair Lady", or will it be darkly hilarious like in "Unfaithfully Yours", or...
Okay, this is not about Rex Harrison. I promise.
Perhaps what bothers me more is the recurring themes. Of course, there are certain themes I embrace as hallmarks of my work. It's no use escaping them, really. Like "outsider character finding their place in the world" or "the struggle between doing what you love vs. doing what is expected/practical/profitable". But then...there are just the little plot tics and weird things that insist on popping up, again and again, insidiously. If I compare any two of my manuscripts, I can easily spot one thing they each have in common, like a villain who turns out to not really be so bad but he has issues with his dad. Augh, I used it twice! Shh. Pretend you didn't notice. Or a big plot involving raising the dead. I'm always raising the dead in my books. Or the love interests bonding over a book. (I know books are sexy, but stop it, guys!) Or snotty intellectual family members. The list is really endless. Sometimes writing feels like a minefield of trying to avoid the same plots, but even when I try...they sneak in.
But then, I think, maybe this is okay. I like Colin Firth movies not just for Colin Firth, but because I can rely on them to be a certain kind of movie. That's the trouble, really, defining the difference between writing the sort of things that make my writing mine and giving my audience a comfortably Jaclyn Dolamore sort of book, and writing things that are just the same. I'm sure we all have that writer or filmmaker we checked out on because their work became stale. For some, it takes twenty books, and for others, just a handful. I hope to keep putting new twists on the stew in my brain for a long, long time.
Of course, I do run the risk of writing the same thing over and over. So I feel kind of bad about it. On the other hand, I do think of writing sort of like making a movie. And if I was making movies, I might keep casting Colin Firth over and over in different roles. Or I might travel back in time so I could cast Rex Harrison. You know, when you see a Rex Harrison movie, that you're getting some arrogant British sexiness right there, you just don't know what role it will take. Will I pity Rex in "The Yellow Rolls-Royce", or sort of want to smack him but still find him oh-so-sexy in "My Fair Lady", or will it be darkly hilarious like in "Unfaithfully Yours", or...
Okay, this is not about Rex Harrison. I promise.
Perhaps what bothers me more is the recurring themes. Of course, there are certain themes I embrace as hallmarks of my work. It's no use escaping them, really. Like "outsider character finding their place in the world" or "the struggle between doing what you love vs. doing what is expected/practical/profitable". But then...there are just the little plot tics and weird things that insist on popping up, again and again, insidiously. If I compare any two of my manuscripts, I can easily spot one thing they each have in common, like a villain who turns out to not really be so bad but he has issues with his dad. Augh, I used it twice! Shh. Pretend you didn't notice. Or a big plot involving raising the dead. I'm always raising the dead in my books. Or the love interests bonding over a book. (I know books are sexy, but stop it, guys!) Or snotty intellectual family members. The list is really endless. Sometimes writing feels like a minefield of trying to avoid the same plots, but even when I try...they sneak in.
But then, I think, maybe this is okay. I like Colin Firth movies not just for Colin Firth, but because I can rely on them to be a certain kind of movie. That's the trouble, really, defining the difference between writing the sort of things that make my writing mine and giving my audience a comfortably Jaclyn Dolamore sort of book, and writing things that are just the same. I'm sure we all have that writer or filmmaker we checked out on because their work became stale. For some, it takes twenty books, and for others, just a handful. I hope to keep putting new twists on the stew in my brain for a long, long time.
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