Lara Lee's Blog, page 26

So You’re an Assassin too?

[image error]Tropes. This evil word used in writing circles describes all the types of stories that are old and overdone. I honestly think that we need to stop worrying about tropes for the most part. In the eighties, tons of stories started at an inn or tavern because, well, that is a logical meeting place for medieval strangers. Then you had the stack of stories in which a farm boy becomes a hero. We never did get tired of elves, dwarves, and orcs… until we did.

Recently, in sending short stories to fantasy magazines, I have seen a long list of tropes they don’t want: no zombies, no taverns, no werewolves, no mermaids, no cat stories, no vampires, cloning, and no “I was only dreaming” endings. OK. I have no problem with that because some magazines actually do want those.

Then I see those who make fun of dragon books, but no one takes that too seriously. After all, what is fantasy without magic, dragons, and such?

One trope, though, has started to make me roll my eyes to the point that I am sure my eyes will get stuck there eventually. Assassins. Check out any list of fantasy books published in the last five years, and I promise at least 80% have an assassin as one of the main characters: protagonist, villain, or supporting character. This must derive from the fact that being an assassin is necessary to being a real bad-ass, as though no other character qualifies. Forget the warrior, the thief, the trickster, the adventurer, the rogue, or the knight. We are done with pirates, spies, really good heroes, or clever survivors.

Nope. You only need to be an assassin because stabbing people in the back shows honor and real talent.

Did you see my eyes rolling again? Got to stop that.

And why does it take ten years full time to learn to stab someone? Why is it always orphans who become assassins? Is revenge really that great of a motivator for a career that you can never retire from?

I am honestly really tired of assassin stories. How about a really good guy would gets into trouble and then back out again? Then again, watch me find a really great assassin novel to read next week.

Rolled my eyes again. Blah!

Why am I ranting about assassins? They apparently sell books and that is precisely the point about getting rid of this war against tropes. I really would like to stop seeing people complain about genre books using genre tropes. Instead, we need to focus on good writing and storytelling. Part of the reason fantasy works is because there are tropes we are all looking for. We want magic, heroes, far away places, unusual creatures, and world-ending conflicts.

In fact, the majority of fantasy is built on one kind of story arc called the hero’s journey. It is kind of a there and back again sort of story arc. The hero learns of a problem, travels to solve it, returns a new person. There, now you know the plot of most fantasy books. Does this mean you’re going to stop reading them? Nope.

As both a writer and reader, what I long for is an origonal idea within the genre’s tropes. A write isn’t inventing new things, but combining old things in new ways. We scribe our real experiences with some magic and a little luck. Fantasy gives us great stories about things that we already love.

 

So if you want to be an assassin, so what? I’ll be a princess mermaid pirate, and we can just fly away on our dragons as happy as can be. Just don’t judge my trope.

Book Review: Dragons at Crumbling Castle by Terry Pratchett

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Terry Pratchett is best known for his Discworld series, but I have never read it. One of these days, I will get to the bottom of my stack of books and go out to buy some. Consequentially, I can’t compare this book to any on Terry Pratchett’s more popular novels.

Dragons at Crumbling Castle is a collection of short stories written by a seventeen-year-old Terry Pratchett when he worked as a junior reporter at a local British newspaper in the nineteen sixties. This was at a time when people actually still hired teens to do real work, and you didn’t have so many child labor laws to make it impossible for teens to learn a real trade. He did odd stories of random country events, but also wrote weekly stories for children. This book is a collection of those children’s stories.

Even at that young age, Terry Pratchett was a talented writer. This isn’t descriptive prose to win awards. It’s just fun stories that line up one joke right after another.

There are fourteen stories in this book and each one is funny in a slap-stick juvenile way. I loved them all, but I didn’t really laugh at loud at them. My sense of humor tends more toward dry irony, but I can appreciate the humor in this book anyway. I’m actually amazed at the number of clever ideas Terry Pratchett had as a teenager. He has reoccurring stories about the carpet people which inspired his first novel. I really enjoyed the time traveling commuter bus story. Actually, I did laugh out loud for the punchline to that one!

This is a very fun, light book with perfect humor for children third grade and up. I may even up re-reading this book whenever I just need something to cheer me up and a amuse me.

Book Review: The Princess and the Goblin by George Mac Donald

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I really love this children’s story! Being a fan of classic fairy tales, The Princess and the Goblin fits that format perfectly. It is a beautiful tale with two children that are wonderful to follow throughout an adventure about faith. I honestly could read this over and over again and still feel the same delight as the first time.

This a lovely story of a little princess who discovers she has a fairy grandmother, but no one believes her. She soon runs into trouble with goblins, but a boy name Curdie rescues her. He then overhears a goblin plot and tries to learn more. Instead, he gets captured and the little princes must rescue him. Together the children must save the adults in their lives from the goblins.

My short description really doesn’t do the book justice at all. Curdie is a fascinating boy who must learn to believe the strange things the little princess tells him. Both children grow and develop so much in such a story.

This is a great story to read out loud to small children, but it is also enjoyable for anyone of any age who likes fairy tales.

Book Review: The Wonderful Wizard of OZ by L. Frank Baum

[image error]There are times when I get tired of reviewing newer books. My go-to for relaxing tends to be classic children’s books I never read as a child. At the age I should have been reading books like this one, I was reading Christian and Historical romance novels with some Sweet Valley Twins thrown in. It was really a lot of mental junk food.

The Wonderful Wizard of OZ, as with so many books, is much better than the movie. I am honestly surprised how many of my reviews start this way. First of all, I didn’t realize I had seen so many movies, but secondly, I am ashamed that movies are the way I have often been introduced to good literature. I find movies are like the soup made from leftover steak. Why eat the soup when you can have the steak?

Baum intended The Wonderful Wizard of OZ to be an American fairy tale, and I believe he accomplished his goal. The story follows a little girl named Dorthy and her dog, Toto to the land of OZ. They make friends and battle evil witches before returning home. Unlike the movie, this isn’t a dream, but something that really happens to her.

The book moves much faster than the movie which I really enjoy. The ending is also longer and brings more resolution to Dorthy’s friends. They experience many little adventures on their journey which shows an irony that they actually already have that which they are searching for. I found it fun and delightful to read about the characters back stories. Unlike many adult readers who need explanations on why everything in the world works as it does, a child just enjoys the arbitrary magic of fairy tales. I guess this is what I love about children’s books. This book creates that wonderful, magical sense that children love. I was transported into the realm of dreams and whimsy in which good character actually matters.

I really enjoyed how simple the motivations of the characters were. They stayed focused on their goals and still remained faithful to each other no matter what happened to them. The world was filled with many different kinds of magical people with all sorts of impossible things happening to them. It was fun in the same way as playing make-believe with a group of young children. In their world, magic systems aren’t an issue. Magic doesn’t need a “why” and I find that refreshing. I bring this up because I saw some reviewers who rolled their eyes at the various incidents in the book. It was too bad that they lost the child-like imagination. Focusing on the “why” misses so much from a good story and the good character development.

 

I recommend this book for readers of all ages. I would even read this book out loud to children too young to read. Even though it works for young readers, I don’t think anyone could outgrow a book like this unless they become too serious-minded to enjoy a game of make-believe.

Book Review: The Sea-Hawk by Rafael Sabatini

[image error]OH MY GOODNESS!!! This is an amazing book! I loved the last Sabatini novel I read, but this was amazing! Pirates, betrayal, tharwted love, exotic locations, continual suspense… seriously, what more can you ask for?

The Sea-Hawk by Sabatini is not the same story as the Errol Flynn movie by the same name. I am an Errol Flynn fan, so I had to mention this. The stories are not even close to the same, and the protagonists don’t even have the same name. Even though the character’s personality is roguish like Errol Flynn, this book is way grittier and heavier than any of his movies.

The Sea-Hawk follows Sir Oliver Tressilian right after he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I for buccaneering. Everything is going perfectly for him: he’s rich, happy, and engaged to his love, Rosamund. Don’t expect this book to have a hook, like the modern books, and the prolog is a bit boring, but you don’t have to go far before it gets exciting. Everything goes downhill from there. His fiancee’s brother refuses to permit the engagement, and a rivalry ensues. When the brother ends up dead, all, including Rosamund, thinks he did it. He is wanted for murder while protecting the true killer, his half-brother. He is then betrayed by his brother to be kidnapped and sold as a slave to the Barbary pirates, but the ship is taken by the Spanish. He still ends up a slave. After years of slaving away on a Spanish galley, he is liberated by the Barbary pirates and rises to become their most notorious leader, the Hawk of the Sea. An opportunity arises for him to return to England and take is revenge, but things don’t work out right. Both he and Rosamund must use their wits to fight for their lives.

This is an intense book full of action and emotions. I hated Rosamund in this book for most of it and kept wondering why Sir Oliver didn’t just move on and find another girl, but she really redeems herself in the end. Her stubbornness becomes both her greatest flaw and greatest strength. Sir Oliver becomes quite cruel and heartless through his trials, but he too redeems himself. His religious views may irk some Christian readers, but he changes his beliefs like he changes clothes so I would get hung up with that. I started to worry that I would hate the ending because I couldn’t see where the solution would go. It has an amazing ending, though!

I highly recommend this book to everyone. It has some archaic English and lots of violence so it would be difficult for younger readers. High school and up should really enjoy this book though.

Selling Books

 

[image error]This week like many on social media, I saw another author quite their dream. This one stated that the spent $4,000 with nothing to show for it. Unfortunately, that isn’t unusual, and it isn’t a reflection of this person’s writing skill either. It comes from the dense fog around being an author even in this world of self-publishing.

Unfortunately, many people start their journey into the world of publishing with dreams of becoming a best seller or quitting their day job to live off of royalties. We all hope it will happen, but I want to write this article so that new authors will know the truth and be able to prepare for the marathon instead of expecting a quick sprint to success.

Electric Lit has a great article about how book sales work, but this is traditional publishing in which you are dealing with a team who has a marketing budget. The author shows the variation of a book’s sales ranging from 3,000 to 100,000. That is a huge variation. A recent Author Earnings report suggested maybe 4,600 writers earn 50k a year off of book sales alone. That isn’t very many considering that there are millions of books on Amazon, and each of the those were written by someone, but again, this is traditional publishing which often takes years to get a single book out with an advance of between $5,000 to $10,000. Usually, that is all the author will ever earn for the life of that book.

The Steve Laube Agency also has an article about book sales. He gives the average as being around 10,000 books for an author at a major book publisher.

What is a major book publisher? If you have been in the business long, you will hear of the big 5. Most imprints are owned by these.

So what about small publishers? Their typical sales are much less averaging 3,000 books, and their advance is also lower. Often, the author is also responsible for a large portion of the marketing.

Then you have self-published authors. These have the lowest marketing budgets and the biggest dreams.

BK publishers has an article with some other facts. 700,000 books a year are being self-published. With 13 million previous published books out there, the market is saturated. Get your self-published book seen at all is a struggle when most self-published books never get on a bookshelf. Most sales are on the internet.

CreativeIndie has a great article. He says that the average indie author sells below 250 books. In his experience, below even 100 books. My experience with social media validates this as the norm, and most authors get very discouraged thinking everyone hates their books. The problem is marketing.

So then, what has happened is that there is a whole industry of people who market services to these discouraged authors promising them six-figure income if they just take their course, or hire a professional editor or get a fancy new cover for their book. Authors are milked for money and get nothing in return. This makes me so angry because it is predatory scams.

The fact is that you have to treat your writing as a business and take it slow and steady. Starting out on this journey, I promised myself I would not spend more on my books than what I earn. If you want to have some starting capital, that is up to you, but don’t assume you will get it back right away. All businesses take time to grow, and it isn’t easy. Any person can make a living from writing, but as this article shows, the majority don’t keep at it. It didn’t write this to discourage anyone, but to put things in perspective. You aren’t a failure just because your sales are average. You just have to keep going. Take time to learn about the business of writing and publishing. Have patience and don’t fall for the scams. Any dream worth doing is worth fighting for, so don’t give up!

 

Ideas and Writers Block

[image error]I recently read a post by a well-known author about how he comes up with ideas. This has also been the most common question, in all its variations, I received on my AMA. It is hard to not follow author groups on social media and miss the hundreds of references to writer’s block. Since I have a couple of books out and a few on the way, I thought I would tackle this issue.

First of all, I can only talk about what I have read and my own experiences. I do not have an English degree of any kind, and I don’t teach writing. My interactions with other writers are mostly online. So what I write here is about what works for me and what various articles have suggested. I have read that many of the most popular writers out there, such as Stephen King, Brandon Sanderson, and others, do these same things. Other people might be different.

Writing is difficult. I do struggle with spelling, grammar, word choice, pacing, style, and a large number of mechanics. Every book is a wrestling match to wrangle ideas into a good novel. I go over each book hundreds of times making corrections and re-reading passages. Even then I find errors which drive me crazy.

Don’t sit down to write your first or even second draft thinking about all that technical stuff, though. This is how people get writer’s block. Their mind freezes when they put pressure on themselves to write something great at every sitting.

Your first draft will suck. It is the very worst your book will ever be. Accept that and move on. Do not go back and correct your writing until your first draft is done… unless you need to fill out the plot or characters. Just write a story from beginning to the end and stop.

That last statement sounds easy, but often it isn’t. Sometimes while writing, you get stuck. What should the characters do next? How do they get out of this pickle? How do I want the book to end? In my first book, I just wrote as ideas came. The rest of my books used an outline to give the story a direction. You don’t have to be bound by an outline. It can change, but it helps with the big picture of your book.

Still, even if this is what you do, you may wonder, “How do I get an idea just to start?”

Ideas and coming up with ideas isn’t hard once you get into the practice of it. I often start with a “What if” question. What if Cinderella live in outer space? What if I had magic powers? What if fairies were real?

I strongly encourage writers to have a notebook for ideas and world creation notes. I even draw pictures in mine. In this notebook, write down every silly, stupid idea that pops in your head. Some will be good, others will be bad. Don’t decide that until much later.

Ideas can be created by taking any ordinary situation in life and asking “What could go wrong?” Other ideas are just adding magic to a funny thing that happened in your life. Don’t be afraid to borrow from history or classic fairy tales. Some ideas come in dreams or just playing with your kids. I often like ideas that come from ridiculous situations people talk about. Once you get in the habit of recording ideas, more idea come.

No one idea is a novel though. It is hardly even a short story. You must take your collection of ideas and start trying to lump them together. This is why you want to write down tons of ideas. When you have enough ideas put together to have an exciting story, start writing but keep your notebook nearby. As you write, you will find that you need more ideas to keep the story interesting. Your characters will need dimension and personality. Your locations will need to be vivid and unique. Pull from real life and adjust as necessary.

After a burst of creativity, a writer often feels fried. It takes a lot of emotional energy to write. I recommend writing every day if possible. When you are unable to keep writing your story, don’t stop!

This is the second reason people get writer’s block: they get stuck with their story.

Sometimes you need to refresh your mind. At this point, start a short story or a new book. I like having two or more projects going at the same time so I can alternate. If you still feel stuck, read a book for inspiration. Just don’t stop working on your first draft for too long.

There are times when none of those things help give you the ideas you need to move on in your story. At that point, just write trash and keep going.

Seriously?

Yep.

Once you get your rough draft done, you’ll be able to go back and see exactly what should happen in that scene that caused you so much trouble. In the editing phase, you will be surprised at how trash can often transform into some of your best work. Your second and third draft is often a process of major rewriting to focus your plot and characters. You can’t really finish the beginning until you know what the ending will be.

So then the question I get asked is, “Do you get writer’s block?”

The answer is no.

I just write trash until something magical pops out.

Keep writing!

Author Spotlight: Lauren H. Salisbury

[image error]Lauren H Salisbury was an English teacher for sixteen years with an MA in Education. She is now a writer who dabbles with tutoring and lives with her husband and a room full of books in Yorkshire, England. She likes to spend winters abroad, following the sunshine and becoming the seasonal envy of her friends. When she’s not writing, she can be found spending time with family, reading, walking, crafting, or cooking. The Legacy Chronicles is her debut series.

 

Excerpt from her newest book, Conviction:

“Why did you have to go out last night?”

Than turned to the table, where Mirami was nibbling on her morning uduin rations and looking at him thoughtfully. “I told you, Kiddo,” he replied with an unconcerned half shrug. “I had to go meet with some friends.”

“Are they in the resistance too?”

At her question, his body stilled and his mind raced. Did she know something, or was she guessing? What had Gilla and Elias told her in the past? It was at times like these that he wished children came with some sort of manual, or that his sister had at least left a set of instructions for him. To give himself time, he pulled the second stool out and joined her, pinching off a piece of uduin and casually popping it into his mouth.

“What makes you ask that?” he asked, after a moment of chewing.

She gave him a look that showed she doubted his intelligence then counted off on her fingers as she answered him. “You hurt your shoulder when the resistance hit the uduin sector, you sometimes sneak out at odd times when you don’t have a shift, and I’ve heard you talking about it with your friends.”

He forced a chuckle and leaned back against the wall. “That’s some idea you have there. I’ve never said anything—”

“I don’t always go to sleep when I’m told to. But it’s all right, I can keep a secret.”

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Can two people with opposing principles overcome their differences to be together?

Than has spent his life ostensibly having fun while secretly fighting for his people’s freedom. A member of the underground resistance, he is only ever serious around his comrades and his family. When an injury forces him to step down from active duty and his reluctant nurse sparks his interest, Than finds himself in uncharted territory. The fascinating woman will have nothing to do with him.

Menali’s past has taught her to keep her head down and trust that God has a reason for allowing the human race to suffer on U’du. When Than explodes into her life, he refuses to take no for an answer and challenges all of her preconceptions. He soon has her re-evaluating her priorities and wondering what life with someone like him would be like.

Links:

Conviction selling page: http://a.co/doeQtkg

Courage selling page: http://amzn.to/2ItzMl4

Email list sign-up form: http://eepurl.com/djCo0z

Website: http://www.laurenhsalisbury.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gillascourage

Giveaway: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ebe7708e1/

 

Book Review: Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

[image error]Pinocchio is an Italian children’s book that is well worth reading. I have never read this book until now and had only known it from the Walt Disney movie. As with most films, the book is much better. In this case, it is almost an entirely different story.

The Disney movie makes the story of Pinocchio sound like a whimsical fantasy about a puppet who wants to be a real boy. The film is all about “when you wish upon a star.”

The book, on the other hand, starts with a naughty sentient piece of wood. Gepetto is tricked into taking the wood and making a marionette. Immediately, Pinocchio is alive causing Gepetto heartache and trouble, but the woodcarver still calls Pinocchio his son without hesitation. The story follows Pinocchio from one stubborn and foolish choice after another where he reaps the full consequences of his choices being saved only from death. By the end of the book, Pinocchio learns wisdom and virtue the hard way. When Pinocchio becomes a real boy, it is synonymous with being a well-behaved boy. The Story is about listening to good advice and those who love you.

I read quite a few reviews which criticized this book for being harsh. It is harsh in the way tradition fairy tales are. Magical and arbitrary thing happen to magnify Pinocchio’s choices. The consequences of his choices often lead to near death experiences. The characters tell Pinnochio the truth about his behavior without a filter. The message of the book says that even a boy is responsible for his own choices. This is certainly not the popular sentiment today.

 

I enjoyed this book more than I expected. I also saw layers and layers of wisdom in this spectacular fantasy story. The way the false friends used Pinnochio like a puppet makes sense of what he is versus a real boy. The unconditional love of Gepetto and the fairy show the actions of loving parents. The various adventure translates into the kind of temptations on experiences in life. I believe this would be a good story for children eight years old and older, but they may not grasp the hidden wisdom in the book until much later. Pinocchio is a book well worth reading and rightfully a classic.

I’ve Been Interviewed Again!

[image error]I have had the pleasure of being interviewed by H.L Burke on her blog. She is the founder of the Fellowship of Fantasy and runs numerous facebook groups. Her interviews are not typical interviews though! These are fun and silly author interviews for laughs and giggles. Check it out!

 

http://www.hlburkeblog.com/2018/09/random-interview-saturday-lara-lee.html