S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 206

Questionable

Ten Questions I Wanted to Ask Today

According to this article, the earth's rotation has shifted all the astrological signs, and that means I'm now a Gemini. Which is cool with me; I've always like Gems -- but does it mean I have no more excuse to be crabby?

Evidently 500 million people are on Facebook (probably more now.) So why when I read that did I immediately think of bacteria and the number of burgers served at McDonald's?

How come every time I go to buy some bookmarks at BAM the only ones left on the rack are Harry Potter-, Jesus- or Zombie-inspired?

I love my guy, but he is a terrible speller and he knows it, and I know it. So every time he asks me to correctly spell a word for him, and I do, why does he say "That doesn't look right"?

If the cat catches and eviscerates something, why does he always drop the juicy remains on my chair, my pillow or inside one of my shoes? Also, why don't I ever discover this before the squish as some part of my body comes in contact with it?

What, exactly, is in these chewy granola bars that makes them chewy?

When writers paid (usually a substantial sum) to self-publish their books in the old days, we called it vanity publishing. Now that it doesn't cost anything to self-publish digitally no one calls it that anymore. So is it only vain if it costs you money?

Why do puppies walk right past the new, lovely chewy bone you just put down for them to gnaw on something plugged into an electrical outlet?

Why is the most expensive package to send overseas always the only one that gets sent back due to some customs snafu?

Zodiac thing again (can't resist the Z) -- our planet has been rotating the same way for a very loooooooong time. Astrologers likewise have been star-charting all of us since the Babylonians were the hip kids on Earth. So why didn't anyone notice the signs were messed up before now?

Know Thy Hub

While I've been reading Mr. Ray's book on writing, I realized why he is so object-obsessed. He encourages writers to make noun lists and use them to spark ideas because he uses objects as story hubs, or that thing around which everything else in the story revolves. Once you know what a writer's favorite or most frequently used hub is, you can begin picking them out (for Ray Bradbury, the playroom, the carnival, the tattoo, the planet Mars and the book have all served as hubs.)

The object as hub is an effective device: Guy de Maupassant likely used a beautiful diamond necklace to write one of the most miserably ironic short stories of all time; Stephen King used a '58 Plymouth Fury named Christine for a novel that made most of us give our cars an uneasy look or two (two more of his vehicle-as-hub works are From a Buick 8 and Trucks.)

My story hubs are almost always characters (the faceless man, the girl-knight, the golden assassin) or character-based concepts (the doctor who can never get sick or die.) This is probably because I find people more fascinating than objects, settings, events, etc. I've used one character as the hub for a ten-book series, and seven characters as the hub for a single novel. Even in my one dog story, Familiar , the shepherd who serves as the hub used to be a person and still retains most of his human qualities.

Some writers may argue that they never use a hub, and that's a possibility, although I think in those cases the hub may be tucked away in the subconscious. The process of discovering the story as they write it may be important than knowing the hub up front. Organic writers who just sit down and let it flow might not want to name their hub is because it could kill their momentum. Hubs are not always great things, either; they can repeat on you, and if you're not careful, they can take over your work. This may be why those writers reuse the same hub for their books over and over ad nauseum end up becoming cookie-cutter novelists; they can't escape that one hub that sinks its claws into their brains.

Knowing your hub isn't a requirement of writing, but I think it helps to know what you were planning to write around whenever you get stuck. At times when I falter, stumble or otherwise get mired down in a story, I usually end up thinking about the hub character and asking myself questions as to how my problem relates to them and their situation. Everyone and everything in the story serves the hub, and if it doesn't, I've gotten off-track and wandered away from my story, usually with another character who distracts me (nine times out of ten, that's always the case.)

If you're not sure how to determine what your hub is, think about what inspired you to write the story, or make a list of those elements that are most important to you and/or that you spend the most time developing. If knowing doesn't squash your enthusiasm, having a good grasp of what your hub is gives you some advantages, especially when you write up your story premise for a query or a synopsis for a submission package.

So what are some of your favorite hubs to use for stories? Does knowing your hub help you write a better story, or do you prefer to discover it along the way? Let us know in comments.

GenJ for Characters

Writers generally have to keep track of a lot of characters, and none have more to track than series writers. I have at least seventy notebooks filled with name lists, character worksheets, backstory ephemera, seemingly endless timelines, body model images and art, related relationships, titles they've appeared in; you name it, I've written it down.

Because I'm maxed out on storage for this kind of thing, and I'm always interested in getting more efficient with organizing story elements, I've been looking around for a freeware program that would allow a writer to record all this character data in something like a genealogical format. I figured that using the genealogy approach would be logical (characters may not be real, but they're still people), easy to access and use, and simple to manipulate in order to build fictional records and trees. None of the ones I've found thus far allow much more than stat-type info (birthdates, marriages, offspring, etc.) to be entered into the database, all good info but too scanty for what I need.

GenJ, designed by Nils Meier, may be just what I was looking for. Looking at the screenshots page, I already see four different things I already want to use for my series characters. It also works for Windows, Mac and Linux, and under GNU General Public Licence you can modify the software (beyond me, but I know lots of much smarter people who could play with it.)

I photoshopped this to show an example of how I would use the record editor to set up a character data sheet in the pre-built GenJ:



Even without modification, this works pretty well for a brief character outline. The notes section on the bottom right makes a great place to jot down important biographic bits. I also like having the upper right hand space for an image; that could double as a spot for cover art, author sketches, a tattoo design or some other character-related graphic. It wouldn't take a lot of time to create a record like this for all the characters in a novel. The other cool thing about it is that you can download it in English or several other languages like German, French, and Spanish.

Bill Peschel mentioned something in comments last week about being insanely busy and never having time to test these freeware programs, and even though I'm the one who finds them I know I'm usually in the same boat. In keeping with 2011's theme I'd like to change that, and while I can't personally test every freeware I find, I could surely do one or two a month. This is why I'm considering trying out GenJ myself so I can see how it works in unmodified form as a character outliner and data compiler. Then if it does work like I think it will, I can do a mini-workshop on it or maybe put together an e-book with instructions and suggestions.

What do you all think? Worthwhile experiment, waste of time, other? Let me know in comments.

Made It

Today I heard from my agent, and the NYT mass market bestseller list for January 23, 2011 will show Frostfire coming in at #32 on the extended list. There was much tough competition from huge names, and many rollover titles, and since the list was calculated only four days after my release date probably only about half of my first week sales counted toward it. For all those reasons #32 is a genuinely awesome showing.

Plus it's the Times. Come on, who is going to cry about making the Times list, wherever one's book lands? Not me.

Since no one picked #32 (and that is partly my fault for suggesting numbers 1-30; the extended list actually runs to #35 -- I forgot this) I put the names of everyone who participated into the magic hat, and the winner of the Odd Times pool is:

NinaP

Nina, when you have a chance please send your ship-to info and what you'd like for your BookWish to LynnViehl@aol.com. My thanks to everyone for joining in as well as getting out there and buying Frostfire. You guys are the best.

Book Places

Another of our spring projects this year is moving our high schooler into our college kid's old bedroom, and turning her bedroom into a guestroom. We'll probably recycle most of the furnishings from the college kid's room for the guestroom, but it's time I replaced the ancient particle board bookcase he used for eighteen years with something a bit smaller and guest-friendly. Of course there has to be a bookcase in the guestroom; to me a room without books is boring and lifeless.

The problem with bookcases are that 90% of them are basically designed to resemble open-fronted rectangles, rather like refrigerator boxes with built-in shelves. Functional, yes, inspirational and/or decorative, not especially. While I appreciate the many utilitarian shelves I use for storing my collection, for a guestroom I'd like something different, maybe quirky or arty and more fun than a big box (without being so weird it gives our guests nightmares.) It would be really neat if someone designed bookcases with themes from genres, series or even individual titles, wouldn't it?

CustomFurnitureOnline.com's prices for their handmade furnishings are most definitely beyond the reach of my budget, but two of the bookcases on their site caught my eye. This first one reminded me of that old nursery rhyme that started off with "There was a crooked man and he walked a crooked mile . . . " Visually it's wacky, fun and appealing, and it looks as if it would fit in the same space as a traditional bookcase. I think this crooked charmer would work great in a child's room, too. My only reservation (aside from the hefty price tag) is the narrowing of each shelf at one end; you'd likely only be able to fit paperbacks or some low-profile art object on that side. Also the slanting of the books might bother some people who prefer to read non-tilted spines.

Another, smaller design offered on their site is this three-shelf unit that includes two front braces either carved from or carved to resemble tree branches. I liked this shelving unit because it is more suitable for limited space (the room we'll be making over is the smallest bedroom in the house.) The open sides and curving front braces also help it avoid that refrigerator-box feel; it made me think of the great treehouse from Swiss Family Robinson. I'm not particularly in love with the appearance of the wood they used for the backing and shelves, though, because it looks a lot like the cheap plastic veneer-particle board stuff they use for bookcases you can buy for thirty bucks from Wal-Mart. I think a darker wood would have contrasted better with the prettier front branch-shaped braces.

21st-design.com offers this unique Wintertree design bookcase that I instantly imagined right at home in any kid's library or school media center (the first book I'd put on it would be Where the Wild Things Are. It's stark enough to work just as well in some artist's loft in Soho, too. And wouldn't it be great if you could stretch a hammock between two of these bookcases? I'd probably spend every afternoon curled up there with a book. The problem here is the height; I'm guessing that short folks like me would only be able to reach the first two or three shelves. Also, stability -- unless the base is heavily weighted, it would probably be easy to to tip over and topple this tree.

Iroonie.com has one of the topsy-turvey bookcases that I've seen used by some publisher somewhere (can't remember off the top of my head now.) It sets the traditional bookcase on point, something we quilters do with patchwork to get a different perspective, so any of Jennifer Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilts novels would look at home in this. In fact I can think of dozens of geometric quilt patchwork designs that would make wonderful bookcases. You'd need a lot of wall space, however, to accommodate a good-size version of this design because the base ends up being so wide. This time the incline of the book spines actually bothers my eye; I don't like the look of that.

Since my guy and I grew up by the sea, when I found this boat bookcase on Etsy I immediately felt lust in my heart. I like everything about it: the craftsmanship, the contrasts between the natural wood and the painted outer hull panels, the combination of functionality with art and the quirkiness of a boat-shaped bookcase. It's also a visual metaphor for exactly how books can whisk us off on exciting journeys. When you look at something like this as a theme it inspires you; you could literally build an entire room around this one bookcase -- and promises to be a lot more fun than just going with colors, patterns or furnishing styles. That said, as much as I like the boat bookcase, Hemingway's The Old Man and The Sea is not the look that I want for this room.

So I'm still looking around, but I'm sure when I see the right bookcase I'll know it. Or maybe I'll design something myself based on themes from my books. I could do a spaceship with shelves for StarDoc, a suit of medieval armor for the Darkyn, a double helix for the Kyndred . . . makes me wish I was a carpenter.

What sort of bookcase(s) do you have in your favorite reading space? Have you come up with a unique way to make a place for your book collection? Let us know in comments.

Got ISSN?

ISSN is the acronym for International Standard Serial Number. The Library of Congress suggests thinking of it as "the social security number of the serials world." Like the ISBN, or International Standard Book Number, it is a number assigned to a publication as identification. The ISSN is used when the publication is ongoing or serial versus a one-time-only publication like a book. Simply put, an ISSN is a bar code for your blog.

Weblogs fall under the category of serial publications (a serial does not have to be printed) and getting an ISSN for your blog is something to consider for a number of reasons. First, there are no special benefits involved in obtaining an ISSN for your blog. Having an ISSN doesn't give you any special copyright protection; registering your blog with an ISSN doesn't mean no one else can use the title of your blog (titles are not copyright-protected; occasionally they can be registered with the Patent Office, but that's another can of worms.) If you use blog content in newsletters you mail out, having an ISSN doesn't entitle you to discounted postage rates (although the post office does use it to regulate certain serials like magazines and other print periodicals that come through their system.)

What an ISSN does is distinguish your weblog from all the others out there in NetPubLand. If you have a popular or common title for your blog, your ISSN can prevent your content from being confused with content under the same name written by someone else. It also creates an official identification that will be indexed and used in serial reference databases around the world. Libraries already use ISSN to index their serial reference databases, and as the popularity of e-readers and other internet gadgets grow, it's likely other public-access reference databases will be compile online serial content for use as knowledge bases and resource materials (the UKSG & NISO's KBart committee is already setting up standards.)

I applied for my weblog ISSN about ten years ago, and it's come in handy a few times when I've referenced my online content in letters, publication credits and such. I always assumed the number went with me wherever I blogged, but recently a friend told me that I probably need a new number for PBW because the URL and title are different from the blog I was writing back in 2001 (when I first applied.) I've written to the LoC about it, and I'm waiting to hear back from them (will update this post as soon as they let me know if title and URL changes mean you have to get a new number.)

One last thought: while an ISSN does not automatically protect your content, it does create identification for it that is registered with the Library of Congress. If I were going to sue someone for appropriating and profiting from my content, which is copyrighted the second I write it, I'd like to have that content registered under my name somewhere as a point of reference. A URL can bought by or sold to anyone, but once assigned, an ISSN is permanent.

You (or, in the event you belong to a group blog, the person designated as the blog publisher) have to apply for the ISSN, but here in the U.S. there is no fee involved. To get started, go to the Library of Congress's U.S. ISSN center to read more (you can now even apply for an ISSN online. As an eco-friendly move they're now e-mailing ISSN numbers as they are assigned to applicants. so be sure to give them a good e-mail addy for you. If you reside outside the U.S., you can apply to either the national ISSN center in your country or (if your country doesn't have a center) the ISSN International Centre in Paris.

Related links:

The Library of Congress's ISSN FAQ page.

Phase I of KBart ~ Knowledge Bases and Related Tools can be read in .pdf format here

Pub Ten

Ten Things That Indicate You're a Published Writer

All of a mega-bestselling author's technical shortcomings can be listed verbally by you on demand, as well as how they could fix them (if they weren't so busy rolling in all those heaps of cash.)

At least three of your non-writer friends ask for free books every single time you have a release; after reading them two who have no talent for writing whatsoever insist on telling you how you can improve your stories; one of them will be right.

Drama and dramatic events always interest you on your writing level first (i.e., How can I use that in a story?) If a non-writer is around you when the drama occurs, you will put on your best shock/sympathy face so they'll think your interest is purely compassionate. If another writer friend is around, together you'll dissect the drama like that flatworm in high school science class.

Every mistake you, your editor and the copy-editor didn't catch in the proofs will from the published page forever glare at you like a hot pink bloodshot eye. For a time you will be convinced that something like a missing apostrophe spells the end of your professional career, or makes you look like a complete dumbass.

Facing out your books always feels good; finding them faced out feels even better. Stacking a couple copies of your book in front of the faced-out book by your sworn writer enemy feels best, although you'll try to resist doing that because in your heart you know it's wrong and might send you straight to writer hell. Until the day you find some other writer's books stacked in front of yours; then it's simply payback.

For at least ten cities around the world you can describe in detail the local architecture, weather, living conditions, ethnic distribution of the local population and even give driving directions to numerous restaurants, hotels and local places of interest. You will not, however, have ever personally visited any of these cities, nor will you admit this.

In your opinion books by authors who sell better than you take up too much shelf space at the book store; books by great writers you admire never get enough -- and neither does your debut.

Office supplies excite you. So does opening a new ream of printer paper, successfully removing the seal strip from and installing a new toner cartridge, starting to write on the first page of a new notebook, and opening the box of new business cards that just came in the mail. The biggest thrill you will ever have is the very first time you hold a published edition of your work (which you will also read over a hundred times or more to refresh the thrill that over time settles to a satisfied glow until release day, at which point you can't look at it anymore, much less touch it.)

Sex scenes don't worry you until the moment you have to give a copy of the book to your mother, your father, and/or that frail elderly family member with the heart problem.

Writer hell for you encompasses things like having your debut novel ripped to shreds in a major trade, not winning that award you wanted, having to applaud and smile while someone else takes that award you wanted for that piece of crap they hacked out, or a close writer friend who tells you they've just donated all the copies they owned of your books to some charity or the local library, without telling you why. There are many levels to writer hell, and each is twice as torturous as the previous, like the ones you plummet through after hearing about the mysterious donation:

--Level #1: You don't ask why, but wonder if your close writer friend is a) wonderfully generous, b) totally pissed at you for something stupid you did to them and have since forgotten, or c) secretly hates you for some completely justifiable reason that is still unknown to you.

--Level #2: You say nothing to the writer friend you thought was close but debate why did s/he do that? internally for at least a month before deciding that they now secretly hate you.

--Level #3: You drive yourself crazy wondering what the unknown reason is, and what to call the friend now. Not a friend, obviously.

--Level #4: You drop hints to your former close writer friend about what the unknown reason is -- very subtly so they don't know that you know that they now secretly hate you -- to see if the ingrate will slip and actually confess to the truth.

--Level #5: You stop speaking to your hateful and merciless writer acquaintance for a couple of weeks while you take a kick-boxing class, violate the terms of your twelve-step program, and/or compulsively gorge on Skittles, M&Ms and/or Nacho Cheese Doritos.

--Levels #6,7,8 and 9 are variations of level #4, until at last the cowardly monster who used to be your close writer friend casually mentions an ordinary reason for the donation, like they moved to a smaller place and had to downsize their book collection.

--Level #10: You decide that they are lying to you, return to level #1 and tour all the levels again until you find a get-out-of-writer-hell free card, like casually mentioning to the close writer friend that you now secretly hate that you've just donated all their books to a charity or the local library -- without telling them why.

Winners

Your comments for the Mr. Ray on Writing giveaway were all very interesting to read. You also surprised me by not citing someone from Ye Olde Boys Club (Hemingway, Steinbeck and Faulkner) as influences. Why weren't you guys my English teachers in high school? I'd have been so much happier.

Last night I was trying to decide which single writer has had the most enduring influence over my work. Because I learned to write books by reading them this is harder than you might think; I'd probably do better naming libraries. But in the end I think I have to blame A.M. Lightner. She got hold of me all the way back in 1974, and I can still see her influence in everything I write today. It's something to think about the next time you give a book to a youngster -- you never know what future novelist you may be shaping.

The magic hat froze last night along with our internet connection, but we defrosted it this morning, and the winners of the giveaway are:

Atropa Rainwater, who owes much to Lovecraft as well as Roald Dahl

strigine, who credits Audre Lorde for influencing poetry writing

DM Bonanno, who has been influenced by Mr. Ray as well as Dean Koontz and Gene Roddenberry

Winners, when you have a chance please send your full names as well as your ship-to addresses to LynnViehl@aol.com so I can get your books out to you. My thanks to everyone for joining in.

Odd Times

In a short while I should hear how well Frostfire did with its release week sales. I have been asked if/where I think my novel might land on the lists, and that's a tough question. Shadowlight, debuted at #17 on the Times mass market, and Dreamveil made the extended list at #26, but that doesn't guarantee anything.

New release-wise, January has always been a lucky month for me, but most of the time titles that were released in December roll over onto the lists. I just took a look at the Times mass market, and nearly all of the listers are Big Names with huge bestsellers (very tough competition for yours truly.) There has been lots of positive buzz about Frostfire, and I know many of you have gotten your readers, family and friends to buy the novel, which I appreciate more than I can say. It's also the third novel in a series, and that's the point where you start losing new-to-you readers, so believe me, every sale helps.

Basically, though, I have no idea how well it will do. My non-psychic intuition tells me (in keeping with the other stuff that's already happened in 2011) that this book's performance is going to be odd. Odd-good or odd-bad, I can't say. Could go in either direction.

But we should have some fun with it, so let's have another Times Pool. In comments to this post, tell me if you think my novel Frostfire will make the NY Times mass market bestseller list. If you don't, simply put "no" (and you won't hurt my feelings if you vote no.) If you do, put "yes" and guess at what number it will appear on the list or the extended list (that would be a number between 1 and 30.)

Once the Times lists for the week of January 23rd are released (I believe that's the list I have a shot at), I will close the pool, announce how Frostfire did (or didn't) do, and award the person who guessed correctly a BookWish*. If more than one person posts the correct guess, I will put all of the names of those who are correct in the magic hat and draw one at random to be the winner.

This pool is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

*A BookWish is any book of your choice available to order from an online bookseller, up to a maximum cost of $30.00 U.S. (I'll throw in whatever shipping is involved.)

Reading Spaces

I found this amusing video over at The Presurfer. It features a robotic smart chair that was evidently a graduation project at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands (completely work safe, but it does play some music in the background.)



Now if the take-a-seat came with a little side-arm desk to use for a notepad, laptop or other writing gadget, it might just be the perfect portable writing space that never lets you wander away from it.

While the idea of a robot chair is fun, I've been looking at more no-tech devices to help me out with the work. I mentioned on the photoblog last year that a plastic clear-fronted cookbook holder doubled nicely as a holder for a pattern book. I also regularly use Gimbles. My current problem is propping up books to read from them; my hands get tired pretty fast these days, and my trifocals it hard to read from a book that's flat on the desk for any length of time.

Recently I was at BAM and decided to pick up these three gadgets and try them out:

This Wooden Reading Rest (made by that company called if) is 13-1/2" X 9-1/2", and folds completely flat to 3/4". The back of the rest adjusts to three different positions to give you a choice of viewing angles, and does hold large/heavy hardcover books. There are also two small movable pegs at the bottom to keep the pages in place. It's also a nice holder for a book you want to display opened.

The main problem I had with this one is the page space allowance in the width of the holder; the page holder pegs are screwed in place and not adjustable, so they can't be used if you're looking in the back pages of a very thick book. I'm going to write to the company and suggest they put the pegs on sliders so they can be adjusted out as well as up and down. Also, while it appears to be well made, I thought the price at $29.95 was a bit high. For what you get, I felt $10.00 - $15.00 would be more reasonable. Maybe they should make it out of something less expensive than Canadian Alder wood.

The Paperback Caddy (there are any number of book rests using the same name; this one was made by Great Point Light) is also intended for hands-free reading, although as the name says, strictly for paperback books. It does hold any size paperback from mass market to trade, as the clear outer arms slide in and out for adjustment. It's also small -- with the arms pushed in, about 7-1/2" X 4-1/2" -- and made of lightweight plastic, with a kickstand in the back to provide support and give you two different reading angles.

The company claims on the packaging that the Paperback Caddy is "Designed for one-touch page turning." If that's true whoever designed it screwed up, then, because I had to use both hands. Getting the page I was turning tucked under the arm was difficult enough to make me almost wrinkle the page in the process. Just to be sure it wasn't being caused by me and my lack of dexterity, I had a fully-abled friend try it, and she had the same difficulty. I also felt this one was overpriced at $12.95, considering how troublesome turning the pages were, as well as the quality of the plastic (the arms are pretty sturdy, but the back component is thin and cheap, and I'm not sure how long that kickstand is going to last.)

The PageKeeper (by Pagekeeper Inc.) bills itself on the front of its blister packaging as "The Amazing Automatic Bookmark!" that "follows you from page to page." I'm pretty sure it was invented by someone sitting in a cubicle and messing around with a money clip and a bent paperclip, because that basically describes the entire product. You slide the money clip part to the back cover of your book, and position the bent paperclip part over the last page you've read. When you open the book and want to turn the page, you just slide it out from under the bent paperclip and it clutches the next page until you're ready to turn it.

This one actually did exactly what the manufacturer promised, fitting snugly to the back cover and keeping my place marked with the bent paperclip thing. It was also easy to free up the page I wanted to turn, and the clip didn't fall off or move much at all when I did. For that reason I got over the rather startling price of $6.95; I don't mind paying a little more for a simple invention that actually does what the package says it will.

I think the main drawback to this gadget is its limitations. It's designed to be a bookmark, not a book holder, so it won't keep the book open for you or do anything about the pages you've already read. Also it doesn't work on marking the front pages of huge thick books; the bent paperclip part doesn't stretch that far. I also wonder how long the snugness of the back cover clip will last with constant use. But if you're one of those readers that for whatever reason endures paper bookmarks constantly falling out of your books, then this is one possible solution to your problem.

Have you guys noticed any new/exciting no-tech gadgets out there for books? Let us know in comments.