Inara Scott's Blog, page 10

Hot Button Topic

You know those topics that you really shouldn't discuss with family, or anyone else for that matter, because you get all hot and bothered as soon as it comes up and you can't actually carry on a rational conversation? Yeah, well, sexism and the literary establishment is mine. Hot button. Off the charts. Start me talking about this one and I start foaming at the mouth. I kid you not.

I'm telling you this partly as a warning. I'm not rational about this topic. Don't expect to engage me at a meaningful level on this. I'll just start flapping my arms and sputtering. I'm sorry, that's the way it is. I obviously should NOT blog on such a topic, but I'm going to. If you want to retain an image of me as a rational, measured human being, you might want to skip this one.

Having given this introduction, it should come as no surprise that V.S. Naipaul's sexist commentary this morning about how he's better than any woman writer should set me off. Clearly, he's an ass and I'm not going to waste a lot of time on him. I'm not even going to link to his annoying article. If you run in writerly, authorly or literary circles, it's probably already in your inbox already. And it's so predictable, why bother to read it? It's nothing new. Like so much of this sexist garbage, it goes something like this:

Women write about sentimental nonsense. Love and relationships. Men are inherently better writers than women because they write about bigger, more important themes. Like politics. And war.

Now, some will probably refute these statements by providing examples of women who write about these important themes with as much presence, skill, and insight as men. I appreciate this argument. Women can write, and write just as well as men, about politics, war, and all sorts of other themes that have been deemed acceptable by the literary establishment.

But I don't care about that. That's easy sexism. That's "anything you can do, I can do better" stuff. Of course women can write as well as men. Duh. No, what drives me crazy is the predicate argument. The assumption that sentiment is of less value than non-sentiment. That love and happy endings are less valuable than despair and death. An assumption developed by an overwhelmingly male literary elite.

(WARNING: huge generalization to follow!)

The literary establishment values themes that (surprisingly) have been preferred by male writers and readers for centuries. This is their right. But it is my right to tell them they are full of it. I say, love and relationships are just as important as politics and war. If by "sentimental" Mr. Naipaul, and the rest of the literary elite, means "full of emotion and sentiment" I say, bring it on. Write it well, take me on a journey through the heart of a character, and leave me satisfied by a resolution that is meaningful and heartfelt, and I say you've written something worthy of praise. I don't believe there's something inherently less valuable about these topics and this type of writing.

And guess what? Men who write about love and romance are welcome in my world. Men who write about war are welcome too. Women who write about politics and despair are my friends. We're all telling stories and trying to make people think and feel. We're all writers. We have different subjects and themes. These themes cannot be judged against each other. They are simply different.

I have reached my allotted time and word count for ranting, so I'm going to leave it here. My takeaway for all of this? Women and men, we've got to question more than just whether woman can do something as well as men. We've got to question the very scale that is being used to judge value. We've got to go back to the beginning. Only then will we truly overcome this insidious, infuriating sexism.

We have a WINNER!

Thank so much to everyone who came by and left me a comment. I know it's a cheap and shameless way to force people to comment on my blog and say nice things about my books and their covers. (Though, of course, that wasn't a REQUIRED part of the contest! LOL!)

But there can be only one winner.

(For now. I'm sure there will be others in the future.)

Did I drag it out long enough? Cause the winner is….

TRICIA!!!

Please email me and send your address! Can't wait for you to read the book and tell me what you think! inara.scott @ gmail.com

hugs and kisses to all –

Inara

First Ever Book 2 Giveaway!

Did you see the blog post yesterday? Did you see the groovy new covers? How about the contest announcement? Comment here or on the previous post to win! Contest closes on May 26 (that's tomorrow!).

Ripping off the Bandaid ( +2 NEW COVERS!)

I've been putting off this post for a while. I'm not usually a procrastinator, so this is unusual for me. But this has been hard to write. I've debated all sorts of cheery, "good news-bad news" ways to say this, and decided they were all a little silly. Because the truth is that I'm disappointed, and it would be lying to pretend I'm not.

So here goes…ripping off the bandaid.

The Watchers won't be coming out in August. It's been delayed. The new publication date is April 3, 2012. For those of you who were looking forward to it, all I can say is that I'm just as sad as you are. Maybe more so. Probably more so.

Why the long delay? Isn't the book already written? Didn't you show us the bright and shiny ARCs months ago? Yes. And yes. The book is written. ARCs were printed.

Here's what happened: after coming up with the cover for The Watchers, and after printing all those ARCs, my publisher got feedback from some booksellers that the cover and title of Delcroix Academy: The Candidates weren't doing what the cover/title were supposed to do: draw in readers and explain what the book is about. Though I loved the flames and the girl's picture, I have to admit that I can understand why some folks didn't like it. Because really, if you've read the book you know it's not a story about flames and hellfire. It's about a girl. A young girl. A girl who really doesn't intend to blow up the world.



And although Delcroix Academy is the name of the school, it's a hard name to pronounce. And the title "The Candidates" doesn't tell you that this is a story about kids with superpowers.

So my publisher decided to come up with a new marketing strategy. One that, they hoped, would do a better job of communicating: 1) this is a story about a young girl; 2) this is a book about kids with superpowers.

And here we get to the good news part of the story. Delcroix Academy: The Candidates will be launched in paperback in March, 2012, with a new title and a new cover.

The new title, The Talents, will hopefully do some work for us, and the new cover will hopefully convey a few things as well. Like the fact that the heroine is 14, adorable, is not Carrie, and is headed to boarding school.

Now, I did promise that I'd give you two new covers, right? And so far you've seen one, for the paperback release of Book 1. So…what about Book 2?

HERE IT IS:



Beautiful, right? Absolutely spot on model for Dancia, and perfectly conveys the mystery and intrigue of the book. I just love it. And a new title, to go along with the new cover! And now when I blow these covers up for my wall, it will look like I've published FOUR BOOKS, instead of two. LOL!

Now, despite the LOOOOOOOONG wait for Book 2, I will have lots of ARC giveaways in the months ahead. In fact, I have an ARC to give away RIGHT NOW. It's got the old cover on it, which I am sure will make this worth MILLIONS someday.

Comment to win and spread the word — The Marked (AKA The Watchers) is coming April 3, 2012. But you can win it NOW. Contest ends Friday May 27.

On the Road Again…

I haven't done much traveling since October, which has been great for me and the family, but I'm thrilled now to be back out on the road, visiting schools and meeting teens (and tweens), teachers, booksellers, librarians, and readers of all ages. In four days I plan to cover four schools and two bookstores, and deliver a writing workshop at the Rochester Teen Book Festival. Oh yeah, and see my family (mom, dad, aunts and uncles, cousins) AND meet my cousin's brand new baby.

Needless to say, it's going to be a busy time. If you're in the neighborhood, check out my events page and find a time to come by and say hello. I'd love to meet you, sign a book, or talk romance and superpowers. Or all of the above.

But now, I have work to do before I sleep. TTFN!

Insecurity and Quitting the Day Job

Some authors are very good at spilling their guts in their blogs. In fact, one might say this is what makes their blogs so good — their honest, real life accounts of who they are and what goes on in their writerly heads. I'm not as comfortable with that. I love to tweet, chat with readers and writers, and share the good times. I'm not super comfy with sharing the insecurities and deep inner workings of my cranium.

HOWEVER…my brother and I were chatting on Twitter this morning, and he noted that I clearly had more than 140 characters to share on the topic at hand: insecurity and defining success. (Thanks to Lucy March for inspiring that conversation.) My thoughts have also been swirling around on this topic after watching Victoria Schwabe's wonderful vlog musing on her need to work CONSTANTLY and EFFICIENTLY as a writer and a business person.

So here's my take (as I eat Life cereal the way Victoria eats Honey Nut Cheerios…) on these topics. Warning, this post may include navel-gazing and self-preoccupation. Apologies in advance for this behavior.

Let's start with the proposition that true self-actualization allows you not to care what other people think and what the accidents of birth and fate have provided you. In Buddhism, you are taught not to cling to the external world because it is certain to change and not truly reflective of who you are. Just as making a million dollars in the stock market doesn't mean you're a good person, losing your home in foreclosure doesn't mean you're a bad person, and hitting the NYT bestseller list doesn't have any reflection on your worth as a human being.

Let's also assume that I am not self-actualized. I do care about these things. I want people to think I'm a good writer. I want people to buy my book. I would really really love to call myself a bestseller.

Because of my lack of self-actualization, quitting my day job has been hard. Very hard. A year ago, my job didn't have a lot of meaning, but people told me all the time that I was good at it. And when they weren't telling me, I could see it. There was tangible evidence of my success. Lawyerly things that told me I was doing a good job. And there was financial success, too. The company I worked for paid me well. They wanted me to stay. They thought I was special.

What's that old saying? Pride goeth before a…

I quit the day job to write. And to support my husband who took a job as a public school principal. And to be there for my kids. And now, things are very different. In my old life, defining success was easy — I worked hard, and those external cues told me I was on the right track. Now I'm not so sure. What is success? Does it mean getting a letter from a reader that says they loved my book? Preparing healthy meals for my kids? Working my butt off on a book and loving the result (regardless of what an editor thinks)? Does it mean a starred review (haven't gotten one yet), nomination for some coveted award (nope, none of those either). How about a bestseller list?

(Gah. This is why you don't want me blogging about my insecurities, people. I can go on and on forever…)

Victoria Schwabe talked in her vlog about her need to work constantly on her career. She described it as the business-y side of her brain working overtime. I have felt a similar drive (I like to call it obsession) and for me, it comes from the difficultly of defining what my GOAL is with this whole crazy writing business. To make people like me? To become a bestseller? In the old job, the boundaries of my work were defined. I knew what was on my to-do list. Now, the to-do list is endless. There is ALWAYS more to be done. And no matter how much I do, I doubt it will ever be enough.

So far (there's always time, people!), I have not made a million dollars or achieved the external measures of success I had established for myself. I am awash with insecurity MOST OF THE TIME in a way I've never experienced before. Yet I'm doing what I love. I am writing. I am caring for my kids. I am crossing my fingers that at some point, more money will fall from the sky and allow me to continue on this path.

I'm pretty sure this is where I'm supposed put on my Mr. Rogers sweater and my comfy shoes and tell the kids what I've learned. Tell you how I'm going to make it all better. But crap, I have NO IDEA what any of this means. Except that writing is a hard, solitary business and unless you get self-actualized QUICK, it's going to make you an insecure mess. Stepping away from the comparisons, the external measures, and society's definition of success (including, of course, MONEY) is essential. As brilliant writer and clearly self-actualized friend Lisa Schroeder said, "I'm doing what I LOVE. We have what we need. Life is good."

Yes. Thanks for summing it up, Lisa. Success is already here. It's just a matter of opening yourself up, letting go of the external crap, and allowing yourself to see that it surrounds you.

Lazy Friday

Because it is Friday, and I am lazy, I thought that rather than write something useful and authorly, I would provide you with a list. And what better list than a list of ways in which I am lazy?

Inara's Top Ten Lazy Ways

1) I am too lazy to blog. I know, I'm blogging now, but really, when's the last time I blogged? Like, a month ago? I don't know, because I am too lazy to check.

2) I am too lazy to separate whites, darks, and colors. I do separate my daughter's clothes from the rest of the family's, but that's just because she has eczema, and I have to use the unscented detergent for her. The rest of us are too stinky for unscented detergent. Probably because we are too lazy to wash our clothes.

3) I am too lazy to style my hair. It's straight. Stick straight. I get out of the shower and finger-comb it. Sometimes, if I'm feeling very energetic, I use a brush. I wash it every day, not because I want to, but because I turn into a greasehead after about 8 hours. Really, I am lazy enough to go days without washing my hair. But I do have some standards.

4) I am too lazy to clean my car. I think there are goldfish crackers on the floor that date from the last century. Okay, maybe not the last century, but definitely the last month. There are also melted crayons, a few dirty socks, and some mail. I know I vacuumed the car last fall, because that's when the puppy had his accident on the back seat. But other than that, it's difficult to say. I try not to think about it.

5) I am too lazy to write another historical romance. My first two books were both Regency romances, and I had a blast writing them. Now, I have no idea how I possibly did this. The thought of doing all that research makes me faint. Someone asked me recently how much research I did for Delcroix Academy. None, I said cheerfully. I live where the book is set, I was a teenager (at one point) and what kind of research can you do about superpowers, anyway?

6) I am too lazy to brush my dog's hair. He is a Havanese mix, which means he's non-shedding, which means if you don't brush him regularly, his hair gets all matted and you have to shave it off. I figure, whatever. It's just hair. It will grow back.

7) I am too lazy to finish this blog. I'm sure there are about a hundred more ways in which I am lazy, but I have already lost interest in figuring out what they are.

I hope you are having a lazy Friday and have a fantastic weekend. I just received my 3rd pass of copy edits for Delcroix 2, which means I won't get to be lazy at all. So be lazy for me, would ya? Thanks.

Seeing the Daffodils

I am lucky enough to be able to walk my children to and from school every day, but like many Blackberry-obsessed, Twitter-addicted people, I usually spend part of that walk restlessly scrolling through messages and tweets, or worse yet, emailing people while I walk.

There are two reasons this is a dangerous pursuit: first, I'm not nearly coordinated to walk and type at the same time, let alone do both while being dragged along by my enthusiastic puppy. Tripping is an everyday hazard. (So far, I am relieved to report no serious injuries.) Second, and more importantly, as I walk along, glued to my screen, I am missing the opportunity to see the world around me.

I am working on this. I have a stack of books on mindfulness, meditation, and "becoming conscious" that I will almost certainly read (if I can ever get myself away from the computer). I do yoga and work in the garden, in the hopes of regaining some control over my restless mind. But really, it's not that hard to become mindful. It just requires looking.

So this morning I looked. And guess what I saw? My neighbor's daffodils. Were they there yesterday? Oh yes. Have I seen them before? Probably. Did I really SEE them? Absolutely not.

This morning, however, filled with thoughts of the earthquake in Japan and the potential for a tsunami surge at the Oregon coast, I did. I put away my Blackberry and looked around. I saw the daffodils.

They are beautiful flowers, bright yellow and jaunty, promising warmer weather, more rain, and lots of green. I spent a minute and appreciated them, wondering how it was possible they'd been there for weeks and I'd been walking by, oblivious.

This morning I appreciated the daffodils.

I hope you get a chance to find something to appreciate this morning, too.

World Read Aloud Day

On March 9, 2011, I will be celebrating a very special occasion: World Read Aloud Day. This event is the brainchild of Pam Allyn, the Director of LitWorld, an organization that promotes global literacy.

The purpose of World Read Aloud day is simple: to take action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people. Litworld advocates for global literacy as a necessary step in alleviating poverty. As Pam put it on the LitWorld blog:

Across the globe nearly 171 million children could be lifted out of poverty if they left school with basic reading and writing skills. Quality literacy education is the difference between life and death, prosperity and despair. This is literacy for survival.

Last year was the first year for World Read Aloud day, but LitWorld still managed to bring together an astonishing 40,000 participants in 35 countries. One activity they have planned is a 24-hour reading marathon in NYC's Times Square. Across the globe, their goal is for participants in World Read Aloud activities read for 774 million minutes to represent the 774 million people worldwide who are unable to read.

I heard about World Read Aloud Day from Kate Messner. Kate has a list on her blog of authors who are interested in reading aloud on March 9th to schools via Skype. If you're a teacher, librarian, parent or administrator, check out the list on Kate's blog to find your own traveling Skype author!

If you want to know more about World Read Aloud Day, you can check out information on the LitWorld site, and the LitWorld Read Aloud Day blog.

A blessing

When you get to a certain age, you start thinking about death. I think it's the combination of seeing your own mortality drawing closer, and finding death to be somehow more inevitable than when you were a child. There is also the reality of having friends, parents, and loved ones die; writing wills; and seeing your body age and change. Death creeps into our lives until suddenly it is everywhere, and demanding our attention.

My family lost a number of pets this year, including our beloved labrador retriever Riley. Though the grief of losing an animal cannot compare to losing a parent or spouse, it did cause my children to ask the entirely reasonable question, "why did God put us here, if we just have to die?"

Which in turn forced me to come up with an answer.

I had to think about it for a little while, as parents sometimes do when asked hard questions. But in the end, the answer didn't seem all that complicated.

I don't think it really matters if you believe in a God, Goddess, many gods, or no god at all. I think that we are here to make the lives of people around us more loving. I think we are here to spread compassion and caring as long as we are able. I think we are here to create beauty, and when we die, I think it is the responsibility of those we leave behind to celebrate us and find grace in our living. To find the joy that we shared when we were here, and take that joy back with them into the world.

The world lost Lisa "L.K." Madigan yesterday, and in losing her it lost a mother, wife, friend, and truly remarkable writer. I didn't get to know her nearly as well as I had wanted, but what I did know was that she possessed a remarkable presence. She lived a life of grace and shared so much of the love that I think is our calling in this world. She was a beautiful person, inside and out.

In honor of Lisa, I would ask you to take a minute to breathe, to remember her with love, and then go on with your life with the intention of being more peaceful, more compassionate, and more joyful, at least for a little while.

And if you have another minute, please listen to the poet John O'Donohue read his beautiful poem Beannacht, which means 'blessing' in Gaelic.