Adrian Stephens's Blog - Posts Tagged "author"
When you last tuned in, we were discussing the importance of giving NBC the opportunity to have a do over with Heroes.
Though nothing could be as important as that topic, we must leave it behind for something of almost as great importance...authors crossing genres.
My first novel, In My Shoes, is a teen fiction novel. Though it has appealed to men and women of all ages, it was written specifically with the teenage audience in mind. I am very proud of this novel.
Since I completed In My Shoes, I have continually walked around with three stories in my brain. Truthfully, I have about seven stories that I am working on. Four of them have been saved for later, but the three are always with me. The thing is, they are all in vastly different genres. Of the three, one is another teen fiction novel. Another is science fiction.
I started the third novel around the same time as I started In My Shoes. The story came to me out of a really bad dream. After a few weeks, I had two chapters of each story. I gave the chapters to several of my closest friends and family, who I thought would be interested in providing me thoughtful feedback. After reading both, they told me they liked In My Shoes, but they overwhelmingly agreed that I should finish the other story first.
As much as I thought they may be right, I wanted to finish In My Shoes first because the story was light and fun. I really wanted my first novel to be a fun story that all of my family could enjoy. The other story is not light and fun. It is dark and serious (and I believe meaningful) but is targeted to a non-teen audience.
So, here's my problem...what would happen if a fifteen year old finished In My Shoes, and looking for other books I've written, picked up this much darker, adult fiction novel, thinking it would be equally light and fun? That thought concerns me. Don't get me wrong, I am truly proud of how the book is developing, and I feel it has a quality message to it. It's also not to say that a teenage reader is not capable or ready to read such a book, but I still feel every person should read it when they are ready for such a story. I certainly don't want any reader to be blindsided.
What I would like to know is, what do you the reader expect from an author? Do you expect an author to stay within a genre? Now, I'm not talking about writing style either. Just genres. What do you expect from your favorite authors? I am sure there are widely varying opinions on this. I'd like to know yours.
My next novel should be ready for purchase early next year. What I am trying to gauge is whether it will be published under my name or a pseudonym. Though it means starting over for name recognition, it may be appropriate in this case. Thanks for your feedback!
Though nothing could be as important as that topic, we must leave it behind for something of almost as great importance...authors crossing genres.
My first novel, In My Shoes, is a teen fiction novel. Though it has appealed to men and women of all ages, it was written specifically with the teenage audience in mind. I am very proud of this novel.
Since I completed In My Shoes, I have continually walked around with three stories in my brain. Truthfully, I have about seven stories that I am working on. Four of them have been saved for later, but the three are always with me. The thing is, they are all in vastly different genres. Of the three, one is another teen fiction novel. Another is science fiction.
I started the third novel around the same time as I started In My Shoes. The story came to me out of a really bad dream. After a few weeks, I had two chapters of each story. I gave the chapters to several of my closest friends and family, who I thought would be interested in providing me thoughtful feedback. After reading both, they told me they liked In My Shoes, but they overwhelmingly agreed that I should finish the other story first.
As much as I thought they may be right, I wanted to finish In My Shoes first because the story was light and fun. I really wanted my first novel to be a fun story that all of my family could enjoy. The other story is not light and fun. It is dark and serious (and I believe meaningful) but is targeted to a non-teen audience.
So, here's my problem...what would happen if a fifteen year old finished In My Shoes, and looking for other books I've written, picked up this much darker, adult fiction novel, thinking it would be equally light and fun? That thought concerns me. Don't get me wrong, I am truly proud of how the book is developing, and I feel it has a quality message to it. It's also not to say that a teenage reader is not capable or ready to read such a book, but I still feel every person should read it when they are ready for such a story. I certainly don't want any reader to be blindsided.
What I would like to know is, what do you the reader expect from an author? Do you expect an author to stay within a genre? Now, I'm not talking about writing style either. Just genres. What do you expect from your favorite authors? I am sure there are widely varying opinions on this. I'd like to know yours.
My next novel should be ready for purchase early next year. What I am trying to gauge is whether it will be published under my name or a pseudonym. Though it means starting over for name recognition, it may be appropriate in this case. Thanks for your feedback!
I received a text message from one of my closest friends the other day. He told me that he had finally started reading my book, and he was enjoying it. He was actually excited to tell me this. He finally got around to it, and he was burning through the pages.
When I received his text, I couldn't help but to smile. In talking to other authors, I've heard their frustrations with family and friends (let's call them framily to save space) who hadn't read their novels. They take it as a lack of support for their work.
In a way, they are right. The problem is, they fail to see it from their framilys' standpoint. Our framily have known us a long time. They know us a certain way, with a certain personality, and they know our strengths and weaknesses.
More than that, they care about us. While many authors feel that if their framily cared they'd read the book, I realize it's their caring that makes some of them hesitant to read it. Why? What if it's not a genre they like? What if it's just bad? What if it's so bad that they have a hard time getting to the end of it? Now, we'd all like our framily to have more faith in our abilities but, especially when it's our first book, is it fair to ask them to expect that we have a talent that to this point may have been hidden?
Let's face it, we all think we can write, or we wouldn't have taken the time to do it. But, just because we think
can write, doesn't make it true. Even if we have a brilliant idea for a story, the ability to develop it, create interesting characters and put it all together for a well developed novel eludes enough of us to warrant the fear.
The last thing our framily wants to do is tell us they didn't like the novel we worked so hard on. And it's hard to lie and tell someone they've got talent if they don't believe it. It's much easier to have excuses why they haven't been able to read it. It may not even be a conscious decision, but it happens.
Having had several of my framily seemingly excited to tell me that they liked my book, I recognize that it's really not even excitement. It's relief. A weight has been lifted. They don't have to lie or make excuses. They don't have to trudge through the pages. Relief.
I made a decision when I started writing In My Shoes (and even my Ghostbusters III treatment) to do my best not to put people in that position. I don't ask people if they've read my book, and I don't ask them how they liked it. It's not that I don't care, I just don't want to put them in an uncomfortable position. If they want to talk about it, what they liked and what they didn't, I'm always more than happy to talk about it. I'm proud of it, so talking about it is quite fun for me. If they gush too much, I get a little embarrassed, but I still enjoy it. And when they tell me they loved it with that hint of excitement/relief, I still can't help but smile.
If you haven't read In My Shoes yet, I hope you do, and I hope you enjoy it! Stay tuned...I will be providing information on my next novel soon!
When I received his text, I couldn't help but to smile. In talking to other authors, I've heard their frustrations with family and friends (let's call them framily to save space) who hadn't read their novels. They take it as a lack of support for their work.
In a way, they are right. The problem is, they fail to see it from their framilys' standpoint. Our framily have known us a long time. They know us a certain way, with a certain personality, and they know our strengths and weaknesses.
More than that, they care about us. While many authors feel that if their framily cared they'd read the book, I realize it's their caring that makes some of them hesitant to read it. Why? What if it's not a genre they like? What if it's just bad? What if it's so bad that they have a hard time getting to the end of it? Now, we'd all like our framily to have more faith in our abilities but, especially when it's our first book, is it fair to ask them to expect that we have a talent that to this point may have been hidden?
Let's face it, we all think we can write, or we wouldn't have taken the time to do it. But, just because we think
can write, doesn't make it true. Even if we have a brilliant idea for a story, the ability to develop it, create interesting characters and put it all together for a well developed novel eludes enough of us to warrant the fear.
The last thing our framily wants to do is tell us they didn't like the novel we worked so hard on. And it's hard to lie and tell someone they've got talent if they don't believe it. It's much easier to have excuses why they haven't been able to read it. It may not even be a conscious decision, but it happens.
Having had several of my framily seemingly excited to tell me that they liked my book, I recognize that it's really not even excitement. It's relief. A weight has been lifted. They don't have to lie or make excuses. They don't have to trudge through the pages. Relief.
I made a decision when I started writing In My Shoes (and even my Ghostbusters III treatment) to do my best not to put people in that position. I don't ask people if they've read my book, and I don't ask them how they liked it. It's not that I don't care, I just don't want to put them in an uncomfortable position. If they want to talk about it, what they liked and what they didn't, I'm always more than happy to talk about it. I'm proud of it, so talking about it is quite fun for me. If they gush too much, I get a little embarrassed, but I still enjoy it. And when they tell me they loved it with that hint of excitement/relief, I still can't help but smile.
If you haven't read In My Shoes yet, I hope you do, and I hope you enjoy it! Stay tuned...I will be providing information on my next novel soon!
First, I apologize for being absent for a while. I've been in writing mode, which means I've been working on my latest novel, and neglecting my blog. At the end of this blog, you'll find an update on my latest novel!
It occurred to me as I was deciding what to write about, and being so busy right now, that my time is as much in demand as when I wrote In My Shoes. I've had plenty of people ask me either how I came about writing In My Shoes or how I found the time to do it. It's tough sometimes. But, for those of you out there who aspire to be authors, I thought I'd share my experience.
I started writing In My Shoes around June of 2009. To that point, I had come up with some ideas and written a little something down here or there. Nothing really substantial. With those ideas, it wasn't that the ideas didn't inspire me to write, but rather at that point I wasn't sure how to develop them. I figured I would save what I had and wait for the inspiration to come to me. With In My Shoes, the idea, the story development, the characters...let's just say it was all there in my head and, for the first time, had the inspiration to do it.
I had never considered myself a writer, and I had never been one with a plethora of confidence in my ability to do anything artistic. I'm not saying I never did anything with arts...I like to play piano, sing, draw, you name it...I just never had confidence in my abilities to do any of those things.
I can't tell you the exact date, or exactly what my thought process was when the idea came to me, but I do remember sitting at my computer one day and having this idea for a boy and girl who switched bodies. The body swap story has certainly been done before. What I wanted was to create a story that specifically dealt with the awkwardness that would occur from being in someone from the opposite sex's body. When trying to determine the best age of my characters, I remembered back to the awkwardness I (and I think most people) felt as a teenager. So much changes in our teenage years. We are learning so much and are just trying to figure out where we fit in and what is normal. By the time we reach high school, I think most of us have become more comfortable and confident (if not too confident) with who we are, how our bodies work, and we are more sure where we fit in. I thought that would be the perfect place to put my characters...at the point where they think they've got it pretty well figured out.
So, I had the age decided for my main characters. I thought about what would be involved in switching bodies. I did a lot of research. I thought about how it would feel to know someone is walking around in your body. I would want to make sure that person knew everything they could about me, so I didn't end up looking like a fool. I thought about how difficult it truly would be to pull something like that off, and realized that, if it were possible to switch bodies with someone, the only way you could really pull it off without people knowing was if you had a lot of similarities to start with. I've seen stories/movies where one character was an unintelligent, obnoxious jerk, and the other was a more refined, thoughtful, intellect. Really...how could that work? I didn't think it could, so I felt my main characters should be smart enough to be able to pull it off, and have some fundamental characteristics in common.
I thought about my target audience...who did I want to read it? Everyone! Really, though, I wanted to make a story that teens could read and relate to as they are dealing with some of that awkwardness we all have experienced in our life. At the same time, I wanted adults to be able to read it and reflect back on their experiences. Let's face it, surviving our teenage years is a learning experience. We change the way we look, talk, walk...we are a work-in-progress. That's what I wanted people to get out of it, all the while, I wanted them to be able to laugh a lot. I know how it feels to read a book you just can't put down. That's what I wanted for those who were going to take the time to read my book.
In order for boys and girls, men and women all to be able to fully enjoy it, I really felt like the story needed to be told, at time, from each of their points of view. So, I wrote down, mapped out really, every key situation I wanted to happen in the story, and I started assigning them to days. I realized that, if I was strategic, I could flip the point of view systematically. I rearranged some situations, and I had my blueprint.
I had everything ready to go. I had only two problems...I had never started writing a novel (aside from the brief, undeveloped blurbs mentioned above) and I had no time to write. The first problem was easy enough to fix. I just sat down at my computer and started writing. I knew I needed to have something jump out at the reader from the start. Something that makes the reader want to read the next sentence, and the next and so on. The first couple of paragraphs were difficult. No matter how much you've read, when you start writing you've got to think about sentence structure and the voice of the characters you are creating. Once I made it through the first few paragraphs, it became a little easier. After the first chapter, even easier. In retrospect, the first couple of paragraphs weren't very good to start, but once I was comfortable as a writer, I was able to go back and clean it up.
My biggest challenge became finding the time to write. Why? I'm glad you asked! I work a full-time, Monday through Thursday job. Because I have Fridays off, I work longer those four days. By the time I get home, have dinner and spend some quality time with the family, I have about an hour to get organized and in writing mode. That's if I have not other obligations. For instance, in the Spring (and Fall this year) I coach my boys' baseball team. The time in getting them to practices and games is already quite involved, but since I coach, I have to be there for pretty much every event. I also have to prepare rosters, report scores and attend league meetings. Fridays I help out at my boys' school. My dad used to take me to lunch on his days off when I was little, which was always special to me. I have carried that tradition on for my kids. Any number of family events and house cleaning can take a good portion of my weekends.
I'm sure many aspiring writers can relate to having to squeeze time in for writing. After all, just because we want to write doesn't mean the world is going to stop for us to entertain our new craft. For me, I found my time to write primarily on my lunch breaks. Each day, I would take my notebook and write. Sometimes I would type at my computer, but usually I wanted to get away to write. Each day, I would think about where I wanted the story to go next so that, when I had the actually time to write, I was ready. When I would get home, after spending time with the family and getting the kids in bed, I would type what I had written that day, sometimes getting a little more in before I shut down for the night. On the weekends, I would squeeze writing in where I could. It took almost exactly a year, but in June 2010, I typed the last sentence of In My Shoes. It's a great feeling to get to the end of writing a novel. For me, it told me I could do it. Not just come up with an idea, not just develop characters and a story, but to put it all together from beginning to end.
For those of you who have ever thought about writing, singing, acting, unicycling, quarterbacking...all I can say is don't give up on yourself. To be great at anything takes dedication and diligence. Very rarely is anyone ever great at something from the word go. They have to develop their skill. You may not have a cheerleading section to start, but that doesn't mean you should give up.
I have an update on my next novel. I hope to have it ready for publication by summer 2012. The title is 31 Days to Life . I will be making the rough draft of the first chapter available through my website in the next few weeks, free of charge. I will make an additional chapter or two available digitally to anyone who purchases my book by the end of November, as a sneak preview. Everyone else will have to wait. If you've already purchased it, don't worry, you won't be left out. If you know anyone who hasn't purchased the book yet, spread the word. I'll have more details coming soon. Thanks for reading!
It occurred to me as I was deciding what to write about, and being so busy right now, that my time is as much in demand as when I wrote In My Shoes. I've had plenty of people ask me either how I came about writing In My Shoes or how I found the time to do it. It's tough sometimes. But, for those of you out there who aspire to be authors, I thought I'd share my experience.
I started writing In My Shoes around June of 2009. To that point, I had come up with some ideas and written a little something down here or there. Nothing really substantial. With those ideas, it wasn't that the ideas didn't inspire me to write, but rather at that point I wasn't sure how to develop them. I figured I would save what I had and wait for the inspiration to come to me. With In My Shoes, the idea, the story development, the characters...let's just say it was all there in my head and, for the first time, had the inspiration to do it.
I had never considered myself a writer, and I had never been one with a plethora of confidence in my ability to do anything artistic. I'm not saying I never did anything with arts...I like to play piano, sing, draw, you name it...I just never had confidence in my abilities to do any of those things.
I can't tell you the exact date, or exactly what my thought process was when the idea came to me, but I do remember sitting at my computer one day and having this idea for a boy and girl who switched bodies. The body swap story has certainly been done before. What I wanted was to create a story that specifically dealt with the awkwardness that would occur from being in someone from the opposite sex's body. When trying to determine the best age of my characters, I remembered back to the awkwardness I (and I think most people) felt as a teenager. So much changes in our teenage years. We are learning so much and are just trying to figure out where we fit in and what is normal. By the time we reach high school, I think most of us have become more comfortable and confident (if not too confident) with who we are, how our bodies work, and we are more sure where we fit in. I thought that would be the perfect place to put my characters...at the point where they think they've got it pretty well figured out.
So, I had the age decided for my main characters. I thought about what would be involved in switching bodies. I did a lot of research. I thought about how it would feel to know someone is walking around in your body. I would want to make sure that person knew everything they could about me, so I didn't end up looking like a fool. I thought about how difficult it truly would be to pull something like that off, and realized that, if it were possible to switch bodies with someone, the only way you could really pull it off without people knowing was if you had a lot of similarities to start with. I've seen stories/movies where one character was an unintelligent, obnoxious jerk, and the other was a more refined, thoughtful, intellect. Really...how could that work? I didn't think it could, so I felt my main characters should be smart enough to be able to pull it off, and have some fundamental characteristics in common.
I thought about my target audience...who did I want to read it? Everyone! Really, though, I wanted to make a story that teens could read and relate to as they are dealing with some of that awkwardness we all have experienced in our life. At the same time, I wanted adults to be able to read it and reflect back on their experiences. Let's face it, surviving our teenage years is a learning experience. We change the way we look, talk, walk...we are a work-in-progress. That's what I wanted people to get out of it, all the while, I wanted them to be able to laugh a lot. I know how it feels to read a book you just can't put down. That's what I wanted for those who were going to take the time to read my book.
In order for boys and girls, men and women all to be able to fully enjoy it, I really felt like the story needed to be told, at time, from each of their points of view. So, I wrote down, mapped out really, every key situation I wanted to happen in the story, and I started assigning them to days. I realized that, if I was strategic, I could flip the point of view systematically. I rearranged some situations, and I had my blueprint.
I had everything ready to go. I had only two problems...I had never started writing a novel (aside from the brief, undeveloped blurbs mentioned above) and I had no time to write. The first problem was easy enough to fix. I just sat down at my computer and started writing. I knew I needed to have something jump out at the reader from the start. Something that makes the reader want to read the next sentence, and the next and so on. The first couple of paragraphs were difficult. No matter how much you've read, when you start writing you've got to think about sentence structure and the voice of the characters you are creating. Once I made it through the first few paragraphs, it became a little easier. After the first chapter, even easier. In retrospect, the first couple of paragraphs weren't very good to start, but once I was comfortable as a writer, I was able to go back and clean it up.
My biggest challenge became finding the time to write. Why? I'm glad you asked! I work a full-time, Monday through Thursday job. Because I have Fridays off, I work longer those four days. By the time I get home, have dinner and spend some quality time with the family, I have about an hour to get organized and in writing mode. That's if I have not other obligations. For instance, in the Spring (and Fall this year) I coach my boys' baseball team. The time in getting them to practices and games is already quite involved, but since I coach, I have to be there for pretty much every event. I also have to prepare rosters, report scores and attend league meetings. Fridays I help out at my boys' school. My dad used to take me to lunch on his days off when I was little, which was always special to me. I have carried that tradition on for my kids. Any number of family events and house cleaning can take a good portion of my weekends.
I'm sure many aspiring writers can relate to having to squeeze time in for writing. After all, just because we want to write doesn't mean the world is going to stop for us to entertain our new craft. For me, I found my time to write primarily on my lunch breaks. Each day, I would take my notebook and write. Sometimes I would type at my computer, but usually I wanted to get away to write. Each day, I would think about where I wanted the story to go next so that, when I had the actually time to write, I was ready. When I would get home, after spending time with the family and getting the kids in bed, I would type what I had written that day, sometimes getting a little more in before I shut down for the night. On the weekends, I would squeeze writing in where I could. It took almost exactly a year, but in June 2010, I typed the last sentence of In My Shoes. It's a great feeling to get to the end of writing a novel. For me, it told me I could do it. Not just come up with an idea, not just develop characters and a story, but to put it all together from beginning to end.
For those of you who have ever thought about writing, singing, acting, unicycling, quarterbacking...all I can say is don't give up on yourself. To be great at anything takes dedication and diligence. Very rarely is anyone ever great at something from the word go. They have to develop their skill. You may not have a cheerleading section to start, but that doesn't mean you should give up.
I have an update on my next novel. I hope to have it ready for publication by summer 2012. The title is 31 Days to Life . I will be making the rough draft of the first chapter available through my website in the next few weeks, free of charge. I will make an additional chapter or two available digitally to anyone who purchases my book by the end of November, as a sneak preview. Everyone else will have to wait. If you've already purchased it, don't worry, you won't be left out. If you know anyone who hasn't purchased the book yet, spread the word. I'll have more details coming soon. Thanks for reading!
As promised, I have made the first chapter to my next book,
31 Days to Life
, available for preview on my website, free of charge. To read it, click here. As the novel is not yet finished, the chapter is still subject to change and further review.
31 Days to Life
is due to come out August 18, 2012.
Please note that this is not a light read like In My Shoes. 31 Days to Life deals with a difficult subject matter and is, to my standards, graphic.
For details on how to receive free preview copies of the second and third chapters of 31 Days to Life, click here!
If you like it, please tell your friends to check it out. And, as always, feel free to leave comments below. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!
Please note that this is not a light read like In My Shoes. 31 Days to Life deals with a difficult subject matter and is, to my standards, graphic.
For details on how to receive free preview copies of the second and third chapters of 31 Days to Life, click here!
If you like it, please tell your friends to check it out. And, as always, feel free to leave comments below. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!!
