A.I. Winters's Blog, page 3

A Sparkling Dog Named Mille

Sparkling dogs? Iguanas wearing party hats? Big 80's hair? It could only mean one thing -It's Throwback Thursday (#TBTWriter)!

I Want To Go To There - The Coolest Places to Read A Book

Where do you usually read? For me, it's usually in my bright red Alice in Wonderland style chair by the window or in bed at night. But always reading in the same place can become a bit...boring. According to Mark Twain, "In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them.” I couldn't agree more. So I started thinking about super cool places to read and here's what I found.

How Do Writers Handle Criticism?

Dealing with criticism is one of the most difficult things about being a writer, especially since there are a zillion ways people can zing you these days. Reviews can range from honest attempts to evaluate your work with insightful, albeit negative, feedback, while others just plain attack you. So how do authors muster the strength to keep writing? Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind so you don't lose sight of the big picture:

1) Seek Out Reviews: No writer is 100% perfect. Every writer - no matter how long they've been writing or how famous they are - is always improving. Good or bad, reviews are a free way to gain valuable feedback so you can improve your writing. If the same issues are repeatedly brought to your attention (e.g., structure, pacing, etc.), you might need to change some things in your next book, which could result in an even better book. Is that so terrible? The important thing to remember is to let as many diverse people as possible read your book because everyone’s opinion differs. Here’s what the lovely Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat, says about criticism:

“No one should be so precious as to refuse criticism of their work. But to respect an opinion, we have to know that it was given honestly and with proper thought. Reviewers who haven't read the book (one of my novels was once described in a national newspaper as "another of Harris's sweeping historical romances" – it was actually a crime novel set in the 20th century) run the risk, first, of making themselves look ridiculous, and, second, of alienating still further the very readers who keep them – and all writers – in business. Similarly, those who deliberately give away key moments in books or films (as just happened to me), thereby spoiling the experience for anyone who reads the piece, are guilty of the worst kind of arrogance, abusing their position to score one over a colleague at the expense of the general public.” (from Criticism is Fine, But Do You Have To Spoil The Plot?, via Independent)

2) As Much As It Sucks, You Can't Take It Personally: It’s hard not to take negative feedback personally because your work is, well, personal. It can totally shatter your confidence. Ice cream and bonbons anyone? The truth is that the more you get used to hearing feedback, including negative feedback, the easier it gets. It’s important to mention that not everyone is going to like your work. For example, if a critic loves cozy mysteries and gave your epic alien sci-fi novel a thumbs down, it’s probably because your book never had a shot to begin with. Personally, I dislike a lot of mainstream authors, not necessarily because I think they suck, but because I just don’t like the genre or their writing style in general. It’s nothing against them personally, and it’s nothing against you.

3) Ask Away: If you just can’t fathom why you received a negative review, don't be afraid to ask questions. Not only will asking questions help you fully understand why the critic said what they said, it will also make the critic feel validated. If you feel that the critic’s suggestions are valid, incorporate them accordingly and possibly resubmit later. They might actually love the next thing you write. If they don't respond at all, then oh well. Maybe steer clear of them in the future.

4) Don’t Accept Every Criticism: Sometimes critics are just plain wrong. It’s up to you to assess whether or not the criticism you receive is founded. This brilliant quote from Neil Gaiman puts it perfectly:

“When people tell you something’s wrong or doesn’t work for them, they are almost always right. When they tell you exactly what they think is wrong and how to fix it, they are almost always wrong.”

5) Focus on the Positive: Did your family and friends love you book? Why? What did they specifically say? Do you have a five-star review on Amazon or Goodreads? What did the reader(s) say? Even if it's just one person, you touched their life in a meaningful way because they cared enough about your work to say something awesome about it.

6) Bad Reviews Increase Sales: Say what? It’s true! Studies by Stanford and Wharton Business Schools show that books written by relatively unknown authors saw a 45% increase in book sales after their books were hit hard by critics. Why? Harsh criticism makes readers aware of a book, so haters are actually doing you a favor.

7) Re-Evaluate Why You Became a Writer: Did you start writing to become world-famous, make a million dollars, and have everyone adore you, or did you become a writer because you had a story you wanted to share with the world, and if the other stuff happened, all the better? If you're in this for the latter, then it's time to re-prioritize what matters most.

8) Look to Your Heroes: How do your favorite authors deal with criticism? A simple Google search, or visit to an author's website can change your whole perspective. And, because it's coming from someone you adore, you're probably more likely to listen.

9) Build A Community: A supportive community helps you build resilience. Don't do it alone! Join people who are going through the same thing. You might be surprised how incredibly supportive other writers are. When I was first starting out writing, I was still trying to find my voice and genre, and for a brief period was a member of Sisters in Crime. Each year, they hold a "Queen of Rejection" contest for members to submit how many times they've been rejected by agents. Yours truly won! It was a fun, interesting way to embrace rejection. Didn't hurt that I won an Amazon gift card either. :P

10) Ignore It: Still feeling down in the dumps? Ignore it. As an author, it is impossible to control the opinions of readers. It’s just one of those things you have to learn to live with. If you spend all day poring over what other people said about your work, you're simply wasting time. Get back to what's important - writing!

Agree? Disagree? How do you handle critic smack-downs? Share below.

TBT Writer - X Never Marks the Spot

It's #TBTWriter! Time to share some embarrassing pics and things I wrote back in the day. If you’ve got a writing throwback, post it with this hashtag so we can all read your story.

Click HERE to see mini-me and my Indiana Jones-themed story I wrote when I was ten. Enjoy!

Disney Meets the Devil - What's On My Nightstand

Random. The only word to describe how I select books to read and the order in which I read them. I do it because it’s, well…fun. If you’re looking to read some totally random (good) books, then you’ve come to the right place. Here’s what I’ve been reading (in this order):

The Lurker at the Threshold
1) The Lurker at the Threshold By: H.P. Lovecraft: The more books I read, the more I realize that Lovecraft is my favorite author of all time. He was not only a genius with creating a complex pantheon of gods, but his style of writing has a way of getting in your head. Lovecraft never really tells or shows you anything to evoke fear; instead, it subtly creeps into the story on its own. The Lurker at the Threshold is one of the very few actual books he wrote—the rest are all short stories—and it does not disappoint. This horror story not only had me clinging to every masterfully written word, there were a few moments when I didn’t want to read it alone. I’m so sad that it’s over now :(

Anne of Green Gables
2. Anne of Green Gables By: L.M. Montgomery: I watched the movie and show growing up, but for some reason never read this beloved classic until now. It’s filled with wholesome, Disney-style antics and plenty of heart-warming moments, and I liked that every chapter had a different adventure. Montgomery’s descriptions of Prince Edward Island are absolutely breathtaking.

Meditations
3. Meditations By: Marcus Aurelius: I always like having a non-fiction book to read, and I usually pick one that’s philosophical in nature. I’ve been obsessed with Stoicism for a few years now and have read many of Aurelius' insightful passages, so I’ve been really enjoying reading his complete insights in Meditations.

Lost Souls
4) Lost Souls By: Poppy Z. Brite: Billy Martin, professionally known as Poppy Z. Brite is a trans man and prefers male pronouns and terms, which I will do so here. Much of his work features openly bisexual and gay characters in dark, gothic scenarios. Years and years ago, I read Exquisite Corpse and LOVED it. Then I tried reading one of his newer books, Liquor, and really didn't like it. I had completely forgotten about him until my hubby recently let me borrow Lost Souls from his library, and I’m so glad that he did. This book has me completely and totally hooked! The essence of New Orleans is effortlessly captured. Dark, twisted, and unbelievably addicting, this is the real McCoy of vampires books!

What are you reading at the moment? Have a recommendation for me? Post your comments below. I’d love to hear from you.

Strange Luck Secrets Revealed!

Fortune-telling crickets, mysterious candy, and haunted antiques?! I had a blast sharing 10 things you didn't know about Strange Luck and received such awesome feedback that I decided to share a few more secrets and elaborate on some of the ones from my post. I hope you enjoy it. And check out Loki's debut!!! He's the best sidekick ever. :)

Watch The Video!

How to Be a More Productive Writer

We all want to find the time to write more, but those darn annoying things called “responsibilities” get in the way (*eye roll). Then there are those unexpected things that tend to pop up every time you get in "the zone." You know what I’m talking about. Your allergies are bugging you, it's your great aunt's b-day, or your dog just threw up on the new carpet. Okay, some things are more urgent than others, but still, whatever the reason, finding the time to write and sticking with it is well, really freakin hard! It’s something that all writers struggle with, including me, which is why I'm sharing my biggest productivity takeaways in hopes of helping you achieve your writing goals and feel great at the end of the day. Now, let's do this thing!

1) Identifying and Sticking to Realistic Goals: Write down your writing goals for the day, week, and month and stick to it. This can be in the form of a word count, page count, or whatever gets you motivated. If things repeatedly come up and you aren’t able to meet your writing goals, there may be a simple fix like setting different goals or slightly adjusting current goals. Still not working? Ask yourself why writing is important to you and why you want to make time to write. The pieces should then fall into place.

2) The Power of Timing: Successful authors know what times of day they write best. They block out this time for writing and schedule everything around it. If you’re freshest in the morning, schedule your writing time accordingly. If work or school overlap with your best times, never fear, you can still find energetic hours. It just might be a little trickier. After I’ve had my morning walk and coffee, my brain is on and ready to go so I always reserve that primo morning time for writing new and/or challenging content. I also block out a chunk of time in the afternoon. Since I’m not as fresh then, I use the time to re-read what I had written and edit.

3) Create A Routine: Block out writing time on your schedule every day and commit to it. The only way to transform your writing routine into second nature, and thus be more productive, is to follow it consistently. Here’s what Stephen King does:

“I have a glass of water or a cup of tea. There’s a certain time I sit down, from 8:00 to 8:30, somewhere within that half hour every morning. I have my vitamin pill and my music, sit in the same seat, and the papers are all arranged in the same places. The cumulative purpose of doing these things the same way every day seems to be a way of saying to the mind, you’re going to be dreaming soon.” (from Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King, via Daily Routines)

4) Work in Increments: Group tasks into small batches instead of working for one long duration of time on one task. Not only will this help you focus, especially if you get bored easy, but you’ll be more productive because you will be regularly re-visiting your work with fresh eyes. Even if you're not sure about this one, try it out! You might be pleasantly surprised. One thing that has worked very well for me is scheduling in short blocks of time on my calendar the night before so I know exactly what I’m going to do and when I’m going to do it the next day. I’ve had to learn to accept that as much as I want to sit and write all day, I simply can’t. Although my writing time isn’t as long as I’d like it to be, I definitely utilize my writing time more efficiently.

5) Organize Your Space: If you haven’t done so already, designate a writing space where you can focus without interruption. Ideally, this would be your own office, but if space doesn’t allow, just make sure you avoid choosing a place where you relax like your bed or couch, which can send mix signals to your brain. Your goal is to train your mind to know when it should be in “work mode.” Wherever you choose to work, make sure that the area is well organized and free of clutter and distractions. An organized space = an organized mind. Also, getting the right space might take some experimenting. For me, I absolutely can't work without a view. A view might be too distracting for you though, so you can try facing your desk towards a wall instead. Don't be afraid to experiment.

6) Disconnect: Disable everything! I mean, everything. Close your Internet browser and turn off your cell phone (or at least the notification alerts which ping every time you get an email). Continuously being connected not only interrupts your flow, but the temptation of social media and emails can be too hard to resist. Before you know it you’ve scrolled through dozens of tweets, added five recipes to Pinterest, liked your BFF’s wedding pics, and written zero words of your book. I just read a magazine article that said the average person checks their phone 100 times a day! You don’t need it. Remember, you’ve got a book to write and all those things can wait.

7) Skip It: If you’re still struggling to find time to write, take a good hard look at where you are spending most of your time. You’re more likely to achieve your writing goals if you skip watching shows and movies, spending hours surfing the Internet, or even reading other people’s books. You don’t need to avoid these things all the time, only when you’re struggling to focus or unable to meet your goals. I use movies as a reward. This motivates me to meet my goals because I have something to look forward to. Chocolate is also an excellent motivator. Whenever I hit a milestone like finishing a first draft, my husband and I celebrate by going out to get a piece of pie or cake.

8) Schedule Social Media in Advance: You’ve already scheduled time to write, but what about social media and blog posts? They're important, too! Queue posts in advance and limit the amount of time you work on these things each day. You might be pleasantly surprised by how much time you’ve freed up.

9) Motivation: It’s very easy to get down on yourself for not meeting your writing goals. It’s even easier to compare yourself to other authors and ask how the hell they’ve written fifteen books when you can barely get through one. This is another time where you might just need to disconnect. This means you need to stop looking at other authors and what they’ve done or are currently doing, and just write! When I’m having a particularly rough day and don’t want to write at all, I’ll journal or go over to Pinterest and look at some inspirational quotes. After five minutes I feel so much better.

10) Know When to Step Away: Sometimes you just can’t get in "the zone" no matter what you do. The key here is to pay attention to your body to avoid a possible burnout. If you can, leave your workspace and do something fun or relaxing. Or both. Although it might feel like you’re wasting time initially, breaks can actually refresh your mind and lead to increased creativity. I’ve gotten some of my best ideas while doing something fun.

Now you share! What tips or tricks do you utilize to increase your writing productivity?

Why I Love Self-Publishing and Why You Should, Too!

Workshops, community groups, author advice, and every how-to book imaginable—all the things I utilized to craft the perfect query letter. When one wasn’t particularly effective, I modified it and kept track of the results. I checked my inbox obsessively, and when I saw that an agent responded, my heart would stop. “This is it!” I thought. “My book is finally going to be published!” But, the majority of the time, it was a generic rejection in the form of “This isn’t right for my list.” The whole process was not only overwhelming, but very discouraging. In fact, I almost quit writing as a result. Then, I received the crème de la crème of emails from an interested agent. She wanted a full manuscript exclusive!

Within a week, the agent had read my book and gushed about it. She said it was highly marketable, but I just needed to “tweak some things.” These things turned out to be not so little. She was removing entire characters and changing the era. I unwittingly made the changes. She read it a second time and said the same thing. I was so close and wanted to be published so badly, so again, I made the changes. She read it a third time and suggested even more, and again I complied. The process took a year. The result? I absolutely hated my book! Everything had changed and my voice was completely buried. I didn’t know who I was writing for anymore…and it showed. I received a cold hard rejection after everything. The worst part? The book was so mangled that I abandoned it.

This experience was the push I needed to self-publish my first novel, Strange Luck, a psychological YA fantasy about a world built on stolen memories. Self-publishing not only allowed me to see my dream to fruition, it allowed me to present the story I wanted to share with the world. Here’s why self-publishing worked for me and why it might work for you:

Every Decision is Yours: Self-publishing allows you complete control of your story, its characters, and even the description readers see on the back cover. If you choose to work with a professional editor (highly recommended), it’s still up to you to implement the changes. You also get to decide what your book cover looks like.

Publishing Is Quick: Since self-publishing is relatively instantaneous, you can see your book to market anytime you want. This is a great option if you have a particular release date in mind.

Creative Freedom: Unless you’re Stephen King, the majority of agented authors do all the marketing and promotions themselves. This includes booking and putting on author events. Since you’d most likely be doing it anyway, you can take the opportunity to be creative with your marketing efforts. Set up giveaways with a unique catch, create a You Tube channel and vlog about your book and what you’re reading, or even create your own Twitter hashtag.

Full Ownership: You own all of the rights to your book so you can do whatever you want with it, including selling movie rights if you so choose.

More Money in Your Pocket: Not only do you get to choose the price for your print and/or ebook and where your book is sold, all royalties go to you. You’re also paid once a month vs. once a year.

Springboard to Success: Some of the best-selling, highest grossing books of all time were self-published. The Joy of Cooking, 50 Shades of Gray, and The Tales of Peter Rabbit are among some notable success stories. The majority of best-selling self-published authors go on to sign with major publishing houses usually because their books and the market they created get too big for them to handle on their own. Self-publishing is actually a great opportunity to get published traditionally. If these authors hadn’t self-published their books to begin with, they might not have gained the attention needed to sign a major publishing deal.

Whatever your journey, whatever the outcome, the important thing to remember is to NEVER EVER give up writing. Yes, rejection is painful, but it happens to everyone. Stephen King’s Carrie, Frank Herbert’s Dune, Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time, and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind were all repeatedly rejected by publishers, but it didn’t stop them. And, it shouldn't stop you! Rejection could actually be the driving force you need to take matters into your own hands.

Join the Best Fantasy Books Subgenre Reading Challenge Goodreads discussion!

Strange Luck is this week's topic. Click HERE to join.

Categorizing Your Novel - Genre Definitions

You wrote a book (hooray!). It’s got a little bit of everything and will appeal to multiple audiences, so it’s absolutely, positively impossible to categorize into one genre. Sound familiar? Getting your book into the hands of your intended audience can be quite tricky, so it’s important to understand how to properly categorize your book before you begin querying an agent, or share your self-published novel with the world. Click HERE for a high-level snapshot of popular fiction genres, including info about average word count, protagonist age, and common themes.