S.L. Viehl's Blog, page 207

Mr. Ray on Writing

Ray Bradbury just finished running me over again this morning. So to speak. I'm reading his Zen in the Art of Writing, a collection of his essays on the craft, some dating back to the year on my birth certificate. I'm about halfway through but I'm not rushing; I like what he says too much to skim.

The book is mainly memoirish -- as with most famous writers, it's all about them -- but Mr. Ray is utterly in love with the craft, not himself, and passes along enough practical advice that I don't mind the autobiographical framework. For the record, I have read Farenheit 451, The Illustrated Man, The Martian Chronicles and part of Something Wicked This Way Comes, and so far I've enjoyed getting some of the behind-the-scenes details from their author.

As for book's content, it is about writing, and art, and lots of other interesting things, but Zen? Not in the slightest. Ray Bradbury is about as Zen as a highspeed carnival ride -- one that is either about to go careening out of control and smash through all the safety gates, or has some alien component ready to vacuum your brains out of your skull at the moment your adrenalin spikes. Great book, very high energy stuff, completely inappropriate title.

Mr. Ray also reminds me of a story I want to write someday, one that begins with something my mother used to say to me whenever I complained about having two brothers, two sisters, and absolutely no privacy: My great-grandmother had twenty-one children, and they all lived. Mom's strict Catholic upbringing and love for big families always colored this statement with awed approval, but even when I was very little that last part always sounded ominous to me: . . . and they all lived. Like they shouldn't have but did anyway. And the pattern-lover in me would then kick in: What if all 21 of them had 21 kids, and they all lived to have 21 kids, and they all lived to have 21 kids . . .? One time I got out a calculator and discovered that in just five generations great-great-great Gran would end up with just over four million descendents.

At which point the storyteller in me kicked in with: What if the original 21 were only part human?

I've always had mixed feelings about Ray Bradbury's work, probably most about The Martian Chronicles, which I read when I was still young enough to be believe that life was fair and if you worked hard you would be appropriately rewarded (thus my younger self thought that book was just plain mean.) In his other works Mr. Ray has charmed me one minute and disturbed me the next. He's also shaken me up quite a bit; "The Veldt" still holds a top spot among the scariest stories I've ever read. Even when he's not ripping apart clueless parents, it's safe to say that Mr. Ray is definitely not a comfort read.

I also know Ray Bradbury's work has influenced my own; when I decided to write about characters with superhuman abilities symbolized by the ink on their skin I first thought of The Illustrated Man, and how he used tattoos to tell the story. We share a love/hate relationship with carnivals, something that resulted in my trunk novel Night of the Chameleon. Even back when I thought Mr. Ray was mean, he may have initiated the evolution of my dislike of the mindless HEA ending. I think the mark of a great writer is when their stories stay with you long after you read them, and I suspect his will never leave me alone.

As always, you don't have to take my word for it. In comments to this post, name a writer you think has influenced your work, and how (or if you're above the influence, just toss your name in the hat) by midnight EST on Saturday, January 8, 2011. I'll pick three names at random from everyone who participates, and send the winners an unsigned copy of Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury. This giveaway is open to everyone on the planet, even if you've won something here at PBW in the past.

Changing Editors

I've had a couple more indicators that for me 2011 will be the Year of Change. Earlier today I was at the doctor's getting a follow-up check, and while his nurse was taking my blood pressure she kept frowning.

"Can't find a pulse again?" I asked her (my BP regularly runs very low, and I have a heart murmur, so I routinely scare the daylights out of people using stethoscopes.)

"Actually it's a little on the high side. For you, anyway." She pumped up the sleeve again. "Any reason you might be feeling some stress?"

I thought for a moment. "My new novel is being released today, and everyone is already saying great things about it, something that in Publishing never goes unpunished. Last night one of my editors asked me to synopsize two hundred years of a character's backstory from a book I'm not actually writing until 2012. I have to electronically correct a set of proofs for another book before my mother visits next week, but I don't think that editor is going to send them until Friday afternoon. And right before I came here, my agent e-mailed to tell me the editor I've worked with longer than any other in my career is quitting the business, possibly before she finishes editing my current novel, and I have to decide on a new editor. So now I have to pick who I want to work with on the bestselling books of my career until 2013 in the next twenty minutes before I call the agent back."

"Uh-huh." The nurse stopped taking my blood pressure. "When does Mama arrive, and how much house cleaning have you done?"

"Next Wednesday. We just renovated one of the bathrooms." I hung my head. "The rest of the house looks like the North Pole after an Elf Kegger."

"Poor thing." She patted my shoulder. "I'll have the doc write a scrip for some more chocolate-covered Valium."

So as I've already admitted to the cosmos, change is good. For 2011 I fully intend to be a good sport and willingly embrace it. However, it would be helpful -- and a little less stressful -- if all the changes the universe is going to throw at me didn't have to happen in the first week.

If you stay in the business long enough, you will probably have to change editors. Just like any other biz pro, editors are routinely promoted, laid off, or shuffled to another imprint or division. Older editors eventually retire; younger editors often get pink-slipped or jump ship to take a better job at another house. Occasionally some leave Publishing behind entirely; one of my editors quit the biz to go to law school.

Losing an editor can be extremely stressful for a writer, especially if you've worked together for a long time. After a few years you both know each other well and have settled into a workable routine. Even if you didn't particularly like your old editor, s/he is the devil you know; the replacement is the one you don't.

If you're given the opportunity to choose your next editor, and you haven't been collecting info about other editors at your publisher (most of us veterans do that in anticipation of editor changes), you should (discreetly) check out the candidates first versus blindly choosing one or relying on an agent or senior editor's recommendation (remember, they don't have to work with the new editor, you do.) You can go info-gathering on the internet (editors talk a bit about their professional experience in interviews, and they also sometimes list other publishers they've worked for in bios), contact other authors who have worked with them, and ask your agent what s/he knows about them.

Everyone has different expectations and desires, so you have to tailor your investigation to suit your needs. I always look at experience first (as in, where have they worked, how long have they been in the biz, and how many houses have they worked for. Also if possible I like to know how often they've changed jobs; I prefer to work with editors who don't jump ship a lot.), I also consider what's on the editor's plate: which authors are they editing, which genres are they handling and how many titles they're putting out a year. The more info I gather, the better guess I can make as to whether or not we'll be a good match.

When you have to change editors, your new editor is generally aware of how stressful the situation is for you, and will try to fill the huge gaping hole space left behind. In my experience most do a terrific job of this, so it's worth giving them the benefit of the doubt (and some time to prove themselves.) It's always a roll of the dice, but you shouldn't expect the worst upfront.

Some writers say you should always meet an editor in person before you agree to work with them, but I don't agree. At times it can even be counterproductive. The last editor I met in person back in 2003 was so young she had barely gotten through puberty -- she sounded a lot older on the phone -- and was so "on" for the conference we were at that I couldn't get a genuine handle on who she was as a person (something that later resulted in a major clash during production that I might have avoided if I hadn't met her and assumed she was -- as she behaved at the conference -- all sunshine and happiness.)

One more thing about asking around the writing community: a writer who doesn't know you is probably only going to say good things about their editor. 99% of the time this is because the writer doesn't know you well enough to depend on your discretion to keep the truth confidential. 1% of the time it's because the writer thinks their editor sent you to find out what they're saying about them. It really depends on how neurotic and paranoid the writer is.

Tomorrow I should hear whether or not if I can be moved to the editor I want to work with; tonight I'm going to think about a few alternatives if I can't. While I put together a 2012 novel notebook for the notes from the 200 year character backstory synopsis. And clean the guest bedroom -- twice. And see how chocolate-covered valium taste crushed and sprinkled on top of a big honking banana split . . .

Lilah Arrives

Frostfire hits the shelves today, and one of my duties as its author is to tempt you into purchasing it.

If it were a car, I could pop the hood and invite you to admire its gleaming engine while I regale you with details of its many innovative features. I could point out the care with which I designed and built it, and mention some of the pleasures involved in taking it for a ride. For once even the exterior on this one is pretty neat (God bless the factory paint job people.) You won't find anything else like it on the market, I'd say, and it wouldn't be a lie. Too bad it's not a car.

Perhaps I could go for the emotional blackmail approach like James Patterson. I noticed he did another of those Buy my book or I'll kill my protagonist TV commercials during the holidays. It's true that novel royalties are my sole income, and healthy book sales assure that I remain employed, which is ammenable to you, yes? Okay, maybe not. I need to employ someone who no one will want to suffer, which isn't me . . . maybe the new puppy?

Not a hair on my dog's head will be harmed whether my book sells or not; let's just be very clear about that upfront.

But imagine little Skye looking up at you with her sad and beautiful dark puppy eyes, while a sign around her neck reads in wobbly lettering: Please, buy my human's book. She's so small and helpless and entirely dependent on me for buying her growth assistance food, paying for her vet visits and restocking her supply of toys. Only she's too busy playing tug-of-war with Cole and the stuffed toy candy cane that squeaks. I want to kill that candy cane; does that count? Probably not.

I could do the artist thing and talk about the novel's new world-building (Frenchman's Pass and the Ahnclann), the unusual characterizations (alternately dreamy and nightmarish to write), and how three of the cast constantly tried to steal the story for themselves. I could tell the story behind the dedication and the lucky dictionary thing between me and author Larissa Ione. Or mention that one, spooky line that came out of nowhere; so perfect and so unexpected and shook me up so much I actually had to stop writing for a couple hours so I could process what had just happened on the page. Like any writer, I'm certainly capable of boring you with all the details. Willing to? Not especially.

We'll just have to go with the standard. So:

My new book Frostfire is being released nationwide today. It's a book about the Kyndred, third in the series, but more of a standalone this time around. For those of you who liked Samuel Taske from Dreamveil, he's part of the story, as are Nick and Gabriel from the fourth Darkyn novel, Night Lost. If you have a bookstore gift card or some cash left over from the holidays, I hope you'll consider checking it out.

Or if that doesn't tempt you, look into these eyes:

Blog Check Ten

Last year the suggestions everyone made to use the extra pages Google gave me for the blog were very helpful, and did a lot to declutter the main page. This is why I'm here to bug you again about the blog.

PBW-ise I know I am pretty resistant to change. Although in the past Tom tweaked the colors and the fonts, I've used the same template for six years. I still dodge getting involved in things like blog tours, interviews, author or publisher promo and the like, which definitely will not change. Social media and I also remain quite happy avoiding each other, so no twits, facebooking or whatever is the new phone app this week.

Still, I'd like to do what I can to make PBW a fun and helpful spot to visit, and the cosmos is whispering that c-word in my ear this week. So with that in mind, here are:

Ten Things About PBW You Want/Don't Want Me to Change

Biz Posts: Most of what I do now are sub ops; I've given up on the trades. I don't get involved in NetPubLand's endless debates and same old tired arguments about the industry, but is there something more I could write about the biz?

Content: PBW is still mainly geared toward writers, but I try to write about books I like and other topics of interest to readers. How's the mix working for you? Anything I should add, subtract, stir up?

Excerpts: If I want to post an excerpt I generally put it over on the stories blog and just link to it. This is because I personally don't care to read excerpts on other writer blogs; they're usually too long or hard to pick up and follow out of the blue. Should I stick to this practice, or try another approach?

Features: Aside from twice-weekly updates during NaNoWriMo, I've gotten away from doing any regular features. I always liked doing the Friday 20, but after a while I felt like everyone got tired of it. I've noticed other writers do those day-named meme features (Thursday Thirteen, Saturday Snippers) but the linking to other blogs involved always made me leery because I couldn't preview the content I was linking to (and yeah, that kind of thing worries me because it can come across like an endorsement.) Would you like to see some sort of regular feature return to PBW?

Giveaways: 99% of the time I give away books or BookWishes because that's how I support the industry and those colleagues out there who are writing fabulous books. Is there anything more I can give away that would have equal or more appeal to you writers and readers out there?

Guest Bloggers: Except for my kid writing a review of her favorite book and some tech announcements from Tom, I've never actually had a guest blogger on PBW. Should I keep it that way, or would you like to see someone else at the helm? If yes on the guest, who would you like to see?

Humor Posts: I think I've exhausted poor John and Marcia, but I could put more energy into penning some parodies, funny bits and so forth. Or do I write enough already? Inquiring blog hosts want to know.

Promo Posts: I feel like I already do too many of these (there's one coming at you tomorrow for Frostfire.) But this blog is my only web presence, and readers have complained -- loudly -- that I don't talk about my books enough here. So what's your take on my self-propaganda? (and no, you won't insult me if you say I do too much already.)

Template: It pains me to think of letting go of Ye Ancient Template, but Blogger does have some very attractive alternatives available now. Should I try on some different looks for PBW, or keep her in the same old vintage skin for as long as Google will let me?

Writing Posts: This is one area blog-wise where I feel I'm not falling down, and that I do come up with some fresh ideas on a regular basis. But I could be deluding myself, too. Is PBW working as a writer's resource?

Of course I don't expect everyone to comment on all ten things or anything at all, but if you have the time and an opinion to share, please do let me know what you think in comments.

Graphic credit: © Yellowj | Dreamstime.com

By Chance or By Change

While we were fiddling with the computers on New Year's Eve, I noticed for the first time that the date for the first day of 2011 was 1/1/11. I'm not superstitious about numbers or dates, but seeing all those ones lined up seemed like a poke from the cosmos: Pay attention, this is important. Or maybe it was just the universe's way of nudging me to watch The One movie again. Been meaning to do that; I love Jet Li.

Rather than get all wrapped up in the concept of one (the cosmos is never that obvious) I decided to be on the lookout during New Year's Day for four things that would inspire me. Using the world as a creative navigator is one of my favorite things to do, and I thought it would be fun to see what directions the universe thought I should take for the next year.

The first one came as I went to file a bookmark I'd made for my readers. I put it together from a photograph I'd taken of one of our pines, and a haiku that I wrote on Christmas Day. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, so I wanted to save it. Then I opened the filing cabinet and found that my 2010 poetry folder was empty. While the haiku wasn't the only poem I wrote last year, it was the only one I thought was good enough to print out, share and save. I know poetry makes me a better writer, and one resolution I'd been thinking about was making a conscious effort to write more verse in 2011. Looked like the universe agreed with me, so #1 -- Write more poetry went on my list.

The first project of 2011 my guy and I had planned is to renovate one of our bathrooms, and that morning we went to local home improvement store to pick up some things we needed. On the way to the check-out we passed a magazine rack with all the usual how-to gardening, painting and other home stuff, when I spotted the Dec/Jan issue of Fine Cooking. Generally I don't see many cooking mags in home improvement stores, so that struck me as odd. So did the gorgeous towering dessert featured on the cover, which was one I'd never tried to make (and mentioned that here on the blog.) The message couldn't have been plainer if they'd printed it on the cover: #2 -- Don't be afraid to try things you think you can't do.

Then came the third inspiration, almost as soon as we got home. We've been hustling to get ready for Mom, our first visitor of 2011, who was due in on Monday. While I always love having company, after the holidays I'm a little wiped out, and prefer to have some downtime to regroup, shop, straighten up, etc. (who wants their mother to visit when the house is a mess?) On my desk is pile of writing work that I wanted to get a jump on, but family comes first, so I had already resigned myself to some late nights playing catch-up. Until Mom called that day and unexpectedly rescheduled her visit for mid-January. This never happens with my mother, who is the acknowledged Queen of Planet Scheduling & Punctuality, so I saw it as another kick in the backside: #3 -- Be more open to the unlikely and unexpected; it isn't always a bad thing for you.

Nothing more sparked my imagination that day, and I thought I might have to go with three inspirations versus four. We happily tired ourselves out working on the bathroom, and as a reward ordered take-out from our favorite Chinese restaurant. During dinner we talked about our new year's resolutions (no one had made any) and then finished with our take-out ritual of passing around the fortune cookies and reading our slips out loud. My cookie yielded this dour advice:



At first my fortune seemed like a universal slap on the wrist: Bad girl. No cookie for you. The more I thought about it, though, the more it tickled me. I got this cookie purely by chance; and it was telling me not to depend on that (I love a good paradox.) But I felt the fortune wasn't condemning chance, it was simply telling me not to rely on it to improve my life -- that I had to do that myself by following through and taking action. It's something I completely agree with, too. So the final addition to the list was #4 -- Make the changes you need in order to make life better.

Now that my list is complete, and I know what I'm going to do about it, I feel more centered and ready to take on 2011. How about you guys? Any new year's messages from the cosmos land on your doorstep? What's one thing you're planning to change this year?

Wishing You

It Figures

Sorry I'm late posting; due to some connection problems we're currently on dial-up only, and will likely remain that way until my guy figures it out, or the cable company sends someone to check out our equipment (at this point, looks like Saturday.)

In the meantime, please be careful out there tonight. Stay home if you can, or if you're planning to go out to party, decide in advance on a designated driver who can see to it that everyone gets home safely.

Best of 2010

Toward the end of December I always catch myself thinking about what sort of year I've had. There are landmarks like my blog and my work backups that chronicle my writing journey, which is ever an interesting one. Often I count the number of personal art and writing journals I fill up in twelve months to measure how often I needed to retreat and work things out in private; I used twenty-three for 2010 (about average; a bad year can result in forty or more.)

In some ways it was a year of losses (something we're supposed to get used to as we get older, but I don't really see how one does that.) We lost another brother to cancer, and two more family members became gravely ill. We sent one kid off to university, and while that is exactly as it should be, it's been a difficult adjustment. I joined in NaNoWriMo, but losing my sweet boy Jak hit me very hard, and I didn't finish my November novel.

While I won't call it a loss, I finished StarDoc, the foundation series of my writing career, with the release of Dream Called Time in August. Not everyone was happy about the end of the series, but it was quite painful for me to let go, too. You won't find many midlist science fiction writers who are able to publish a ten-novel series; support from my loyal StarDoc readers gave me that privilege, for which I will always be grateful.

One of them more vile events of the year was when a reader alerted me to the fact that Scribd.com was using my work without my permission as part of their scam to swindle readers into paying for something I've provided for free for the last ten years. Even here on the blog I was ridiculed for going public with this information, but as it ultimately caused Scribd.com to back-pedal and allow their users to opt out of the scam, I think it was worth it.

On the upside of 2010, I wrote five novels, sold three more, moved into a new genre and will be writing new stories of the Darkyn, the bestselling series of my career. A generous reader turned one of my free e-books into an app; another created a beautiful and haunting video envisioning my characters. My German publisher has been producing a constant stream of gorgeous cover art for my work, and made the very first publishing video for my work. The cover art gods have also smiled upon a couple of my upcoming 2011 releases.

That, together with all the laughs, surprises and other bright spots helped keep me moving forward instead of wallowing in despair. Maybe the most valuable thing that 2010 taught me that there is always something to get you through, as long as you take the time to look for it, and appreciate it, and make it part of your daily life. PBW is one of those things, thanks to you guys.

I've gone through the archives, and here are what I think are the best posts from the blog for 2010:

January: Wordling Poetry, Ten Things That Indicate You and Your Story Should Part Ways, and Why God Must Be a Writer

February: Mash-O-Matic, Where's the Mothership?, The Backstory Cafe, and Is This Your Query?

March: Ten Things You Might Catch from Other Writers' Books, and Lady RaRa's Rules for Self-Promotion

April: Ten Holidays for Writers That We'd Like to See, Ten Things Writers Say About Their Books (and what they really mean), and Your Writing Horoscope

May: Coyote Con Chat Questions, and Character Therapy

June: Ten Things You Will Not Find In Dreamveil, In Character, and Ten Things I've Resolved to Do

July: Write Noise and Cloud Profiles

August: Ten Things I've Never Told Anyone about StarDoc

September: Six and a Half Weeks and Follow the White Rabbit

October: The Ten Grave Precepts of Writer Zen, e-Pestered, and Runaway Trains Part I and Part II

November: Hold the Apps, Please, Writing Gremlins, and Ten Things I Don't Want for Christmas

December: Ten Things Writers Say, and What They Really Mean (Holiday edition), Holiday Karma, and My Holiday Wish

I thank you all for stopping in to talk shop, share the laughs and keep me motivated even in the darkest times. My wish for all of you in 2011 is that you move forward, try new things, and help each other when you can. Look for the light, and wherever you are in your writing, your career and/or your life, it will find you.

Cool Calendars

I admit, I'm a calendar junkie. Every year I go out and buy a year's supply (I wait until after January 1st so I can get them at a discount) for the entire family. They are not as vigilant as I am about keeping them updated -- the slackers -- but it satisfies my ever-constant need for organization. If you're going to the brick and mortars, BAM and B&N always seem to have a nice selection, and Borders usually offers theirs with excellent discounts after January 1st.

I have found if I get calendars with themes that appeals to my victims loved ones, they are more apt to use them. So I look for nature or beach scenes for my guy, puppies for my daughter and anything Asian for the college kid. For myself I buy some type of quilt-themed wall calendar -- this because they almost always come with free patterns -- a purse-size pocket planner and a lay-flat, desk-size notebook type for my office desk.

I've never before made my own calendar, though, so in keeping with my "try new things" outlook for 2011 I decided to see how hard it was to put one together. Not difficult at all, as it turns out. Microsoft Word 2007 allows me to access and download online templates from their site, so I found a simple one to use. I inserted a blank page between each month and on those inserted an interesting photo from my collection.

The whole thing took about thirty minutes, and the resulting calendar came out great, as you can see here. I was just playing, but I think doing something like this for readers would be an excellent New Year's gift from an author, especially those of you who do a lot of booksignings, conferences and that kind of thing (I'm thinking you could also mark upcoming release dates with a cover thumbnail inserted into the appropriate calendar date block, although I haven't tried that myself.)

One suggestion: I didn't resize the photos I used for the example calendar, so most of them are really too hi-rez for printing (they also make the file over 4 MB in size; rather huge for a 25-page document.) If you're going to use digital or scanned photos for a calendar you want folks to print out, resize them first to an easily-printable resolution before you insert them in your doc.

Other calendar resources:

The simple but wonderful Chaos Manager freeware designed by Martin Bresson was such a huge help to me in 2010 I'm going to keep using it as my virtual calendar/reminder program for 2011. I've got my guy hooked on it now, too.

Veranda Magazine's February 2011 issue comes with a lovely free calendar featuring their amazing photography; I'm putting this one in the kitchen because it's attractive, not too big and yet it has decent-size blocks to write on.

Calendar Freeware fom the Freebies page: 1 year * Calendar.exe * Calendar Magic * Calendars & Planners * Chandler * Easy HR Popup Calendar * MiniMinder * Multi-Reminders * Rainlendar Lite Remind Me Please * Sunbird * TaskPrompt * TKexe Kalendar

Works for Me

The thought of making a New Year's resolution for 2011 has me once again waffling. I think change is good, but I resent having to decide and initiate the change by January 1st. I'm too tired after the Christmas holidays to work up the proper amount of enthusiasm; I'd be more receptive to something like a Valentine's Day Vow or maybe a Saint Patrick's Day Pledge.

Tradition keeps poking me, though, so I went over and rifled through the sidebar links over at The Generator Blog to find an online resolution-maker (because Gerard has a generator for everything) and of course I found one that led me here. This was the first thing the generator suggested:



Hopefully that doesn't mean a musical instrument. I'm tone-deaf.

Seriously, I would like to take more time to play. I have another idea for a year-long virtual art project similar to PBWindow, but I don't know if I have the time or the nerve to attempt it. Have to brood on that a bit more. My work schedule is pretty packed, but I wouldn't mind experimenting again (I might save this impulse for NaNoWriMo 2011.) I'd also like to try something I've never done, like make a video for fun.

I've got a few more days to think about it, so that's probably what I'll do. How about you guys? Are you making a New Year's resolution, are you undecided, or are you going into 2011 unresolved?