Shanna Swendson's Blog, page 151
July 17, 2015
Running Away to the Circus
I had a grand day out yesterday. It's been a while since I went to what I lovingly refer to as "the little old lady matinee" at the Music Hall. The Thursday afternoon show tends to be dominated by retirees. There are even retirement home vans in the parking lot. That gets entertaining when the show is a little weird or different instead of being a classic standard like The Sound of Music or Camelot. I still grin when I think of the group I ended up sitting with to see Spamalot. At intermission, they asked me, "Do you understand what this is about?" Though there was one intrepid lady who went and bought the CD at intermission so she could read the lyrics off the liner notes. Her problem was being able to hear and understand the lines, and once she could read them, she was fine and thought it was funny.
Pippin (at least this production, a recent revival) is a pretty odd show because it's one of those show-within-a-show things that gets all symbolic and metaphorical, as it takes place within a circus, breaks the fourth wall a lot, and has some rather racy stuff conveyed in odd symbolic ways. Plus an entire number that gets into some dungeony S&M imagery. So, yeah, watching the little old ladies watch it was rather entertaining, as was listening to the conversations about it on the train ride home. I loved the circus elements. A lot of the cast were actual circus performers, with a couple of acrobatic teams, some jugglers, and some rhythmic gymnasts/aerialists. They used a trapeze (stationary, not flying), some suspended hoops, silks, and poles. Then there were a few numbers involving crazy tumbling through hoops. There's a place nearby that offers circus fitness classes, and now I'm kind of tempted to give it a try.
John Rubenstein, who was the original Pippin in the 1972 cast, now plays the king, and he stole the show (I found myself reminded of the evil lawyer he played on Angel and now want to rewatch his episodes). For a while, I was feeling really bad for the guy playing Pippin. He had the proper Bambi-like look and a lovely tenor voice with a beautiful high end, but I was starting to feel like he was cast for his looks and his voice because he was just so awkward, like he was suddenly conscious of having hands and feet and wasn't sure what to do with them. There was all this amazing movement on stage, and he could barely walk across the stage without looking like it required concentration. But then there was a cathartic scene near the end when he and the Lead Player were alone on stage and started dancing in some pretty tough Fosse-like choreography, and he could really cut loose. So it turned out all the awkwardness was acting and was part of the character. It gradually went away through the show. I guess it shouldn't have been a huge surprise, as there were a couple of moments when he got thrown around by the acrobats and made it look easy (though I noticed all the circus professionals moving into just the right places to spot him whenever he did stunts).
Though I should have remembered that if I like a fictional portrayal of anything taken from history, I should never look up the real history. In this case, the only resemblance between history and the show was the names and one incident, to the point where I think it's all metaphorical and wasn't meant to be at all about Charlemagne and his son.
In other news, I got my final WorldCon schedule, and it turns out there's a reason I just got one programming item. They're also doing a Discworld convention within the convention that was programmed separately, and I'm all over that one. Plus, I ended up with a reading, an autographing, and a kaffeeklatsch, and I'm one of the mentors for the writers' workshop. So I will be very, very busy and will have to stop whining about them not knowing who I am. I bought my plane tickets earlier this week. And now I need to reread all my Terry Pratchett books. For work. It'll be a real trial, let me tell you.
Pippin (at least this production, a recent revival) is a pretty odd show because it's one of those show-within-a-show things that gets all symbolic and metaphorical, as it takes place within a circus, breaks the fourth wall a lot, and has some rather racy stuff conveyed in odd symbolic ways. Plus an entire number that gets into some dungeony S&M imagery. So, yeah, watching the little old ladies watch it was rather entertaining, as was listening to the conversations about it on the train ride home. I loved the circus elements. A lot of the cast were actual circus performers, with a couple of acrobatic teams, some jugglers, and some rhythmic gymnasts/aerialists. They used a trapeze (stationary, not flying), some suspended hoops, silks, and poles. Then there were a few numbers involving crazy tumbling through hoops. There's a place nearby that offers circus fitness classes, and now I'm kind of tempted to give it a try.
John Rubenstein, who was the original Pippin in the 1972 cast, now plays the king, and he stole the show (I found myself reminded of the evil lawyer he played on Angel and now want to rewatch his episodes). For a while, I was feeling really bad for the guy playing Pippin. He had the proper Bambi-like look and a lovely tenor voice with a beautiful high end, but I was starting to feel like he was cast for his looks and his voice because he was just so awkward, like he was suddenly conscious of having hands and feet and wasn't sure what to do with them. There was all this amazing movement on stage, and he could barely walk across the stage without looking like it required concentration. But then there was a cathartic scene near the end when he and the Lead Player were alone on stage and started dancing in some pretty tough Fosse-like choreography, and he could really cut loose. So it turned out all the awkwardness was acting and was part of the character. It gradually went away through the show. I guess it shouldn't have been a huge surprise, as there were a couple of moments when he got thrown around by the acrobats and made it look easy (though I noticed all the circus professionals moving into just the right places to spot him whenever he did stunts).
Though I should have remembered that if I like a fictional portrayal of anything taken from history, I should never look up the real history. In this case, the only resemblance between history and the show was the names and one incident, to the point where I think it's all metaphorical and wasn't meant to be at all about Charlemagne and his son.
In other news, I got my final WorldCon schedule, and it turns out there's a reason I just got one programming item. They're also doing a Discworld convention within the convention that was programmed separately, and I'm all over that one. Plus, I ended up with a reading, an autographing, and a kaffeeklatsch, and I'm one of the mentors for the writers' workshop. So I will be very, very busy and will have to stop whining about them not knowing who I am. I bought my plane tickets earlier this week. And now I need to reread all my Terry Pratchett books. For work. It'll be a real trial, let me tell you.
July 16, 2015
Writing Seasons
So, the book has been out a couple of days now, and the people who've read it seem to like it (though at the moment it has the lowest star rating of all my books on Amazon). I have no way of knowing how well it's selling, but I am getting enthusiastic tweets from people who've read it and are demanding the sequel NOW, and that's one of the main things that matters. I have a feeling that if this turns out to be any kind of hit, it will be of the slow-build, word-of-mouth variety rather than being an instant smash. In a way, that's better because it can be sustained and is more organic than something that gets a lot of hype from a publisher but doesn't have any real foundation to it. It just would be nice to have something be easy, for once. Then again, I do love those difficulty points. It would be a lot more satisfying to have something become a hit on its own than to have one of those books that the publisher makes into a hit by throwing lots of marketing resources at it.
Meanwhile, I'm about halfway through this round of revisions on Fairy Tale book 3, and I'm starting to get some ideas for how to deal with the ending. I've got the cover artist on board and need to get some concepts to her.
But I'm taking some of today off for a day out at the theater. There's a Thursday matinee of the touring company of Pippin, a show I've never seen, and now that there's train service right to the music hall, I can see a weekday matinee without fighting rush hour traffic to get home. I can sit on the train and point and laugh at the people sitting on the clogged freeway. The train will probably be fairly crowded, but as I'll be boarding before downtown, my odds of getting a seat will be good.
Then I'll work tonight. This seems to be more of a "night" book anyway. I'm doing my best work after dark. Since the book is set in late November and there's snow at times, maybe there's too big a clash between a hot Texas summer afternoon and what's happening in the book. Because it takes months to write a book, it's nearly impossible to sync up the time you're writing and the time the book takes place. Even if you start at the right time, unless your book spans months, you'll end up out of whack at some point.
I have noticed that almost all my series start in late summer/early fall. I guess that's because I tend to start new projects around that time -- that sense of "back to school." That's also when I tend to take my research trips, so my sense of the locations is pinned to those times. And fall is my favorite season. The Enchanted, Inc. series starts in September, since that's when I went to New York to research it. The Fairy Tale series starts in late August, since that's when that research trip happened. Rebel Mechanics takes place in September, as well, I think because New York is really familiar to me at that time, and also because that's when I started writing it. Plus, there's that sense of change in the air that's thematic with the book.
I might mix things up in the future. One potential series starter seems to kick off in the summer in my head, and the opening scene for another involves snow, so it's probably at least late fall.
Meanwhile, I'm about halfway through this round of revisions on Fairy Tale book 3, and I'm starting to get some ideas for how to deal with the ending. I've got the cover artist on board and need to get some concepts to her.
But I'm taking some of today off for a day out at the theater. There's a Thursday matinee of the touring company of Pippin, a show I've never seen, and now that there's train service right to the music hall, I can see a weekday matinee without fighting rush hour traffic to get home. I can sit on the train and point and laugh at the people sitting on the clogged freeway. The train will probably be fairly crowded, but as I'll be boarding before downtown, my odds of getting a seat will be good.
Then I'll work tonight. This seems to be more of a "night" book anyway. I'm doing my best work after dark. Since the book is set in late November and there's snow at times, maybe there's too big a clash between a hot Texas summer afternoon and what's happening in the book. Because it takes months to write a book, it's nearly impossible to sync up the time you're writing and the time the book takes place. Even if you start at the right time, unless your book spans months, you'll end up out of whack at some point.
I have noticed that almost all my series start in late summer/early fall. I guess that's because I tend to start new projects around that time -- that sense of "back to school." That's also when I tend to take my research trips, so my sense of the locations is pinned to those times. And fall is my favorite season. The Enchanted, Inc. series starts in September, since that's when I went to New York to research it. The Fairy Tale series starts in late August, since that's when that research trip happened. Rebel Mechanics takes place in September, as well, I think because New York is really familiar to me at that time, and also because that's when I started writing it. Plus, there's that sense of change in the air that's thematic with the book.
I might mix things up in the future. One potential series starter seems to kick off in the summer in my head, and the opening scene for another involves snow, so it's probably at least late fall.
July 15, 2015
The Life Cycle of a Book
Getting a book out into the world can be a long, difficult process. To give a sense of what it can take, here's the life cycle of Rebel Mechanics, my book that was published this week:
Fall 2009: I came up with a story idea that mixed steampunk and fantasy in a technology vs. magic situation. I started reading as much in the genre as I could find and began doing research on the time period and the technology.
Late winter/early spring 2010: I'd more or less figured out my main plot and characters, inspired in part by a trip to an antique show where I bought some old photos that caught my eye.
Summer 2010: I decided I was definitely going to write this book and began researching in earnest.
Late August/early September 2010: I wrote a proposal -- about three chapters and a synopsis -- and sent it to my agent.
November 2010: My agent submitted the proposal to fantasy publishers. I kept writing the book and completed a draft.
Early 2011: The responses from the fantasy publishers weren't encouraging. Some thought there was too much romance and suggested I try romance publishers. Some wanted more magic. Some wanted less. My agent and I discussed options. I read some similar fantasy/romance series and decided that wasn't where I wanted to go with it. I suggested targeting the young adult market, since the characters were young and it's essentially a coming-of-age story. In YA, they don't really divide by genre so I wouldn't get caught in that romance vs. fantasy bind.
Spring/early summer 2011: I revised the book to emphasize the YA elements and tighten the pacing.
Summer 2011-spring 2012: I went through several rounds of revisions with my agent to fine-tune the book for the YA market (while writing another book in the meantime).
Summer 2012: My agent submitted the book to YA publishers. There were a few "almost but not quite" responses. Oddly, the more genre-oriented publishers thought it was too "literary."
Fall 2012: My agent and I decided not to give up, and my agent submitted to another round of publishers, including some of the more literary ones.
February 2013: Farrar, Straus & Giroux bought the book. (Yay!!!)
Fall 2013-Spring 2014: I went through several rounds of revisions with my editor.
Early summer 2014: I got copyedits on the book and did another round of revising based on the editor's suggestions.
August 2014: I got the cover art.
Fall 2014-Winter 2015: I went through a few rounds of page proofs, making my own corrections and responding to questions and suggestions raised by the proofreaders, then checking to make sure the corrections were made properly without introducing new errors.
Early 2015: advance copies started going out to librarians and booksellers
July 14, 2015: the book was published
Most books don't take this long between idea and publication, but it can take that long. The delays here came in reworking the book after the first round of submissions, with multiple rounds of revision (while also writing other books), and in a publisher with a small enough list that the book was scheduled for publication more than two years after it was bought. I'll admit that I came close to snapping at the fourth or so round of revisions with the editor, since I'd been working on the book for about five years at that point and was on about my tenth draft. Still, every round made the book a bit better.
The key thing to note is that publishing doesn't happen overnight, and the work isn't nearly done when you finish writing the book.
Fall 2009: I came up with a story idea that mixed steampunk and fantasy in a technology vs. magic situation. I started reading as much in the genre as I could find and began doing research on the time period and the technology.
Late winter/early spring 2010: I'd more or less figured out my main plot and characters, inspired in part by a trip to an antique show where I bought some old photos that caught my eye.
Summer 2010: I decided I was definitely going to write this book and began researching in earnest.
Late August/early September 2010: I wrote a proposal -- about three chapters and a synopsis -- and sent it to my agent.
November 2010: My agent submitted the proposal to fantasy publishers. I kept writing the book and completed a draft.
Early 2011: The responses from the fantasy publishers weren't encouraging. Some thought there was too much romance and suggested I try romance publishers. Some wanted more magic. Some wanted less. My agent and I discussed options. I read some similar fantasy/romance series and decided that wasn't where I wanted to go with it. I suggested targeting the young adult market, since the characters were young and it's essentially a coming-of-age story. In YA, they don't really divide by genre so I wouldn't get caught in that romance vs. fantasy bind.
Spring/early summer 2011: I revised the book to emphasize the YA elements and tighten the pacing.
Summer 2011-spring 2012: I went through several rounds of revisions with my agent to fine-tune the book for the YA market (while writing another book in the meantime).
Summer 2012: My agent submitted the book to YA publishers. There were a few "almost but not quite" responses. Oddly, the more genre-oriented publishers thought it was too "literary."
Fall 2012: My agent and I decided not to give up, and my agent submitted to another round of publishers, including some of the more literary ones.
February 2013: Farrar, Straus & Giroux bought the book. (Yay!!!)
Fall 2013-Spring 2014: I went through several rounds of revisions with my editor.
Early summer 2014: I got copyedits on the book and did another round of revising based on the editor's suggestions.
August 2014: I got the cover art.
Fall 2014-Winter 2015: I went through a few rounds of page proofs, making my own corrections and responding to questions and suggestions raised by the proofreaders, then checking to make sure the corrections were made properly without introducing new errors.
Early 2015: advance copies started going out to librarians and booksellers
July 14, 2015: the book was published
Most books don't take this long between idea and publication, but it can take that long. The delays here came in reworking the book after the first round of submissions, with multiple rounds of revision (while also writing other books), and in a publisher with a small enough list that the book was scheduled for publication more than two years after it was bought. I'll admit that I came close to snapping at the fourth or so round of revisions with the editor, since I'd been working on the book for about five years at that point and was on about my tenth draft. Still, every round made the book a bit better.
The key thing to note is that publishing doesn't happen overnight, and the work isn't nearly done when you finish writing the book.
July 14, 2015
Helping an Author
Rebel Mechanics is officially out. And my web site has been updated. I'm sure there's something wrong or broken somewhere in there because it kept undoing itself and I wanted to throw the computer out the window, but it seems to be functional. There are new photo galleries for all three series. I'll be adding more behind-the-scenes stuff for the new book along the way.
People keep asking me what's the best way to buy my book to help me, so I figure it's time to do an updated version of How To Help Authors You Love:
1) Buy the book. It probably helps more to buy one of the print editions (paper or e-book) because the audio version usually comes from a different publisher, and that means the primary publisher won't count that sale when making decisions about buying another book from that author. However, I've had situations where Audible made an offer on a book before a print publisher did, so it's all good in the end. If possible, buy the book in the first week of release. Publishers are getting almost as bad as movie studios about wanting to open big. "Legs" and long-term sales don't count quite as much as a big splash at the start, and a book that makes a big splash up front might get a bit of a promo boost once the publisher realizes they have a hit on their hands.
2) If you go to a bookstore to buy the book and don't find it, ask for it at the store. The book may still be in boxes at the back of the store, and your question could get it shelved faster. The book may have sold out, and your question might get it reordered. It might not be shelved where you expect to find it. Plus, talking to store employees brings the book to their attention, which means they may look into it and start recommending it. Asking one question at the store could end up selling dozens of extra copies.
3) Write a review. Whether it's on your own blog, on Goodreads, or on a bookseller web site. Reviews help get a book noticed.
4) Talk about the book and tell others. Blog, tweet, post on Facebook or tumblr. Talk to real-life, in-person friends. Word of mouth is the single biggest way that books get sold.
So, I hope everyone likes the new book! I decided to wait on my usual running around to bookstores and signing copies because I've found that books often aren't shelved yet on day one, and it's going to be really hot today, and I'm tired from all the web design work and need to get back to revising a book. But go buy books!
People keep asking me what's the best way to buy my book to help me, so I figure it's time to do an updated version of How To Help Authors You Love:
1) Buy the book. It probably helps more to buy one of the print editions (paper or e-book) because the audio version usually comes from a different publisher, and that means the primary publisher won't count that sale when making decisions about buying another book from that author. However, I've had situations where Audible made an offer on a book before a print publisher did, so it's all good in the end. If possible, buy the book in the first week of release. Publishers are getting almost as bad as movie studios about wanting to open big. "Legs" and long-term sales don't count quite as much as a big splash at the start, and a book that makes a big splash up front might get a bit of a promo boost once the publisher realizes they have a hit on their hands.
2) If you go to a bookstore to buy the book and don't find it, ask for it at the store. The book may still be in boxes at the back of the store, and your question could get it shelved faster. The book may have sold out, and your question might get it reordered. It might not be shelved where you expect to find it. Plus, talking to store employees brings the book to their attention, which means they may look into it and start recommending it. Asking one question at the store could end up selling dozens of extra copies.
3) Write a review. Whether it's on your own blog, on Goodreads, or on a bookseller web site. Reviews help get a book noticed.
4) Talk about the book and tell others. Blog, tweet, post on Facebook or tumblr. Talk to real-life, in-person friends. Word of mouth is the single biggest way that books get sold.
So, I hope everyone likes the new book! I decided to wait on my usual running around to bookstores and signing copies because I've found that books often aren't shelved yet on day one, and it's going to be really hot today, and I'm tired from all the web design work and need to get back to revising a book. But go buy books!
July 13, 2015
Book Day Minus One
I'm staring down a few daunting, crazy weeks, and I'm sure I'll prevail, but I'm looking forward to having one or two fewer things hanging over my head. It's like the run up to finals in college, where you've forgotten what it feels like to have that nagging feeling that there's something you're supposed to be doing.
So, there's the book that comes out tomorrow, though I'm getting reports of people having found it in stores already. That means I need to finish reworking the web site today. That will be priority #1.
I also need to be doing promo stuff this week, online and in person. It's been a while since I had a bookstore book, and I really should make the rounds of local stores, meeting the staff and signing copies. There are a lot fewer stores now than there were the last time I did this, with Borders going under and B&N closing a lot of stores. I will also likely have a lot of tweets and e-mails to deal with, and I'll need to remember to actually promote myself in various relevant venues.
Meanwhile, there's other promo-related stuff. While I watch TV, I'm alternating between signing hundreds of bookplates for a special mailing the publisher arranged and putting together some swag items to hand out.
And then there's the book I have to have complete by August 1. I'm about a third of the way through revising it, and I'll need to make at least two more passes. I also need to get things going with the cover artist.
Not to mention the convention planning meeting this weekend and the convention the weekend after that. I may be signing bookplates during the meeting, and I may be holing up in my room and writing when I'm not on programming during the con.
Oh, and the people who have read the new book are already demanding a sequel and tagging the publisher in their tweets, so I suppose I need to get that proposal written.
In perhaps my last bit of true leisure time for a while, I saw the Minions movie on Saturday, and it was so much fun. I should probably be alarmed that as soon as the movie ended, all my friends said, "Shanna, you need to get a red dress." So apparently they saw a lot of me in Scarlet Overkill. But if I'm wearing that dress, it must have the nuclear armaments built in.
Oh, and if you see it, stay to the end of the credits or you're missing a lot of the fun.
So, there's the book that comes out tomorrow, though I'm getting reports of people having found it in stores already. That means I need to finish reworking the web site today. That will be priority #1.
I also need to be doing promo stuff this week, online and in person. It's been a while since I had a bookstore book, and I really should make the rounds of local stores, meeting the staff and signing copies. There are a lot fewer stores now than there were the last time I did this, with Borders going under and B&N closing a lot of stores. I will also likely have a lot of tweets and e-mails to deal with, and I'll need to remember to actually promote myself in various relevant venues.
Meanwhile, there's other promo-related stuff. While I watch TV, I'm alternating between signing hundreds of bookplates for a special mailing the publisher arranged and putting together some swag items to hand out.
And then there's the book I have to have complete by August 1. I'm about a third of the way through revising it, and I'll need to make at least two more passes. I also need to get things going with the cover artist.
Not to mention the convention planning meeting this weekend and the convention the weekend after that. I may be signing bookplates during the meeting, and I may be holing up in my room and writing when I'm not on programming during the con.
Oh, and the people who have read the new book are already demanding a sequel and tagging the publisher in their tweets, so I suppose I need to get that proposal written.
In perhaps my last bit of true leisure time for a while, I saw the Minions movie on Saturday, and it was so much fun. I should probably be alarmed that as soon as the movie ended, all my friends said, "Shanna, you need to get a red dress." So apparently they saw a lot of me in Scarlet Overkill. But if I'm wearing that dress, it must have the nuclear armaments built in.
Oh, and if you see it, stay to the end of the credits or you're missing a lot of the fun.
July 10, 2015
Reading, Writing, and Reading but Not Writing
I may have too many books going around in my head right now. I'm revising/rewriting book 3 of the Fairy Tale series. Then last night there were some interesting WWII documentaries on TV that I was watching for work purposes for a book I have planned. I have this idea for a secondary world dystopia that looks a lot like the darker side of Dickensian England (with a steampunk touch) but that's a totalitarian society like Stalinist Russia or Nazi Germany. Since in the backstory for this world, the current regime arose less than 20 years ago and in that time has managed to reshape all of society to the point that large segments of the population support the new regime with a near-religious devotion, Nazi Germany is a good model for it. Last night on H2 they were rerunning some documentaries from a few years ago that got into what life was like for ordinary people during the rise and fall of the Nazi regime, using a lot of home movie footage, and it was perfect for the book I have planned to get some ideas for worldbuilding. I ended up taking notes while I was watching, and then once you start doing that kind of thinking, you start having character and plot thoughts, as well, so that future book idea was becoming active. And then during commercial breaks I was reading through a history book on the American Revolution to look for events I could move to a different time and place as I'm starting to develop the next Rebel Mechanics book.
So that's three entirely different books in entirely different series that I was working on in one day. I don't know if that's a record for me.
Though I don't know if I will need another Rebel Mechanics book, considering at the moment Enchanted, Inc., which has been out for more than ten years, has a much better Amazon ranking. Unless it shoots up once it's released, I may be in trouble here.
But getting back to the books in the head … At ApolloCon a few weeks ago, I was on a panel about "What I'd Like to Read but Would Never Write." The panelists decided to turn "I'd" into "I" because the "I'd" implied that it didn't exist and we were looking for it, which narrowed it down too much. I get some of my best story ideas for things I want to read but that don't exist yet. Enchanted, Inc. resulted from me wanting a Harry Potter-like thing about grownups, or else a chick lit book with some fantasy elements. Rebel Mechanics came from me wanting a fun romp of a steampunk story without vampires, zombies, werewolves, etc. I can't think of anything I'd currently like to read that doesn't exist that I don't want to write.
But there are genres I like to read and probably will never write. Or in one case, never write again. The big one for me is space opera -- science fiction stories set on spaceships that are more about the characters than about the science. My gateway to science fiction was Star Wars, and I re-read the novelization dozens of times (back in the days when you had to go to the theater to see a movie over and over again). My parents gave me one of Alan Dean Foster's Flinx books and suggested I might like that, too (we didn't know at the time that Alan wrote the Star Wars novelization, even though George Lucas's name was on the cover). And the rest is history. The way kids in my neighborhood played, it was kind of live-action role playing fanfic, where we'd pretend to be characters in whatever our favorite thing of the moment was and run around acting out stories. With Star Wars, there was just one girl, so we had to create new characters. Sometimes I managed to get to be Princess Leia, but other times I came up with a female X-wing pilot (who was also a princess, because why not?). Over the years, I kept mentally playing with that character, until finally she had very little to do with the Star Wars universe, and then I spun her off into her own universe (which was still rather Star Wars-like), and then I realized that if I wrote down all these mental adventures, I'd have a book.
So my very first stab at writing was space opera, and it was pretty terrible, but I was twelve, so what do you expect? I mostly just had a first chapter, a few later scenes, and a lot of drawings of costumes, but that was the start of me entertaining myself by writing and the start of my ambition to be a writer.
I don't know if I mentioned this on the panel, but I've since remembered that I have actually written and submitted a book that could be called space opera. It was still more Star Wars mental fanfic -- after Return of the Jedi I found myself wondering what Luke and Leia's birth parents had been like, what kind of person Anakin Skywalker was before he became Darth Vader, what kind of woman he'd have been with. I had this whole story line and characters playing out in my head. Then early in my romance writing career, there was a brief surge of interest in science fiction romance, and I figured that this story would be perfect, so I wrote it. The problem was that these were still very much romances with science fiction-like settings, and as I've mentioned, I don't find romance novels very romantic, so it was all wrong and got repeatedly rejected (for good reason). At the same time, it wasn't very good science fiction. I'm not interested enough in the technology and space stuff to write good space opera. All I really care about is the characters.
And yet, my version is still probably better than what we got in the prequels.
Still, I have realized that while I love to read this sort of thing, trying to write it would be a very bad idea. I wouldn't enjoy the process, and it wouldn't be any good.
I suppose World War II novels would also be on my list. I love to read them, I'm fascinated by the period, but I don't think I'd write a serious one. Maybe alternate history in a world where magic works or all those occult things the Nazis were after had real power, maybe a secondary world using elements from that era, which I do have planned, but not a straightforward history story. Or even a time travel, a la Connie Willis. Love them, don't think I want to write something like that.
But with four fictional universes currently playing out in my head (there's one I'm not actively working on that still pops up occasionally), it's probably good that there are some things I'm not trying to write.
So that's three entirely different books in entirely different series that I was working on in one day. I don't know if that's a record for me.
Though I don't know if I will need another Rebel Mechanics book, considering at the moment Enchanted, Inc., which has been out for more than ten years, has a much better Amazon ranking. Unless it shoots up once it's released, I may be in trouble here.
But getting back to the books in the head … At ApolloCon a few weeks ago, I was on a panel about "What I'd Like to Read but Would Never Write." The panelists decided to turn "I'd" into "I" because the "I'd" implied that it didn't exist and we were looking for it, which narrowed it down too much. I get some of my best story ideas for things I want to read but that don't exist yet. Enchanted, Inc. resulted from me wanting a Harry Potter-like thing about grownups, or else a chick lit book with some fantasy elements. Rebel Mechanics came from me wanting a fun romp of a steampunk story without vampires, zombies, werewolves, etc. I can't think of anything I'd currently like to read that doesn't exist that I don't want to write.
But there are genres I like to read and probably will never write. Or in one case, never write again. The big one for me is space opera -- science fiction stories set on spaceships that are more about the characters than about the science. My gateway to science fiction was Star Wars, and I re-read the novelization dozens of times (back in the days when you had to go to the theater to see a movie over and over again). My parents gave me one of Alan Dean Foster's Flinx books and suggested I might like that, too (we didn't know at the time that Alan wrote the Star Wars novelization, even though George Lucas's name was on the cover). And the rest is history. The way kids in my neighborhood played, it was kind of live-action role playing fanfic, where we'd pretend to be characters in whatever our favorite thing of the moment was and run around acting out stories. With Star Wars, there was just one girl, so we had to create new characters. Sometimes I managed to get to be Princess Leia, but other times I came up with a female X-wing pilot (who was also a princess, because why not?). Over the years, I kept mentally playing with that character, until finally she had very little to do with the Star Wars universe, and then I spun her off into her own universe (which was still rather Star Wars-like), and then I realized that if I wrote down all these mental adventures, I'd have a book.
So my very first stab at writing was space opera, and it was pretty terrible, but I was twelve, so what do you expect? I mostly just had a first chapter, a few later scenes, and a lot of drawings of costumes, but that was the start of me entertaining myself by writing and the start of my ambition to be a writer.
I don't know if I mentioned this on the panel, but I've since remembered that I have actually written and submitted a book that could be called space opera. It was still more Star Wars mental fanfic -- after Return of the Jedi I found myself wondering what Luke and Leia's birth parents had been like, what kind of person Anakin Skywalker was before he became Darth Vader, what kind of woman he'd have been with. I had this whole story line and characters playing out in my head. Then early in my romance writing career, there was a brief surge of interest in science fiction romance, and I figured that this story would be perfect, so I wrote it. The problem was that these were still very much romances with science fiction-like settings, and as I've mentioned, I don't find romance novels very romantic, so it was all wrong and got repeatedly rejected (for good reason). At the same time, it wasn't very good science fiction. I'm not interested enough in the technology and space stuff to write good space opera. All I really care about is the characters.
And yet, my version is still probably better than what we got in the prequels.
Still, I have realized that while I love to read this sort of thing, trying to write it would be a very bad idea. I wouldn't enjoy the process, and it wouldn't be any good.
I suppose World War II novels would also be on my list. I love to read them, I'm fascinated by the period, but I don't think I'd write a serious one. Maybe alternate history in a world where magic works or all those occult things the Nazis were after had real power, maybe a secondary world using elements from that era, which I do have planned, but not a straightforward history story. Or even a time travel, a la Connie Willis. Love them, don't think I want to write something like that.
But with four fictional universes currently playing out in my head (there's one I'm not actively working on that still pops up occasionally), it's probably good that there are some things I'm not trying to write.
July 9, 2015
An Epic Trip Down Memory Lane
I took a day off from walking because I woke up with my legs aching, and not just the muscles, but also the joints. I figured my body needed a rest, and it proved it when I went back to sleep right away.
I spent much of yesterday digging through boxes of photos. I finally recalled that I'd had to scan the photos from my initial Enchanted, Inc. research trip because I didn't get them on CD (this was way before I got a digital camera). Then I figured that if I was going to scan some photos, I could do more while I was at it, and in all the trips I've taken to New York, surely I'd have taken some pictures of other stuff that applies to other books. I did find a few new things, but otherwise, I seem to have a very bad habit of taking the same photo over and over again. Going back nearly twenty years, it seems like each trip to New York, I've photographed the same things. That does mean I have some nice seasonal comparisons -- the same bridge in Central Park in snow, in summer, in fall, and in spring. But I don't have a lot of variety.
I also found a lot of old photos of friends I've lost touch with and even forgotten. Oh dear, but there was a lot of 90s hair. I hadn't realized how much the early 90s were really just an extension of the 80s. The day was pretty much an epic excursion down memory lane.
Now I'm looking up vintage photos to illustrate some of the items in the steampunk book. The lovely thing about needing things from the 1800s is that the images are in the public domain, so even if I wasn't there to take photos, there are images I can use. There's also a lot of stuff I made up, so alas, there are no photos or drawings.
Meanwhile, the interviews continue. This one isn't specifically about the upcoming book, but it may still be interesting.
I spent much of yesterday digging through boxes of photos. I finally recalled that I'd had to scan the photos from my initial Enchanted, Inc. research trip because I didn't get them on CD (this was way before I got a digital camera). Then I figured that if I was going to scan some photos, I could do more while I was at it, and in all the trips I've taken to New York, surely I'd have taken some pictures of other stuff that applies to other books. I did find a few new things, but otherwise, I seem to have a very bad habit of taking the same photo over and over again. Going back nearly twenty years, it seems like each trip to New York, I've photographed the same things. That does mean I have some nice seasonal comparisons -- the same bridge in Central Park in snow, in summer, in fall, and in spring. But I don't have a lot of variety.
I also found a lot of old photos of friends I've lost touch with and even forgotten. Oh dear, but there was a lot of 90s hair. I hadn't realized how much the early 90s were really just an extension of the 80s. The day was pretty much an epic excursion down memory lane.
Now I'm looking up vintage photos to illustrate some of the items in the steampunk book. The lovely thing about needing things from the 1800s is that the images are in the public domain, so even if I wasn't there to take photos, there are images I can use. There's also a lot of stuff I made up, so alas, there are no photos or drawings.
Meanwhile, the interviews continue. This one isn't specifically about the upcoming book, but it may still be interesting.
July 8, 2015
The Lady of the Levee
I only walked about 45 minutes this morning. My legs were somewhat unhappy with me last night after yesterday's epic walk, so I decided to give them a break. Also, while it wasn't unpleasantly hot, it was too windy to walk on the levee, anyway, so I stayed around the canals, below street level with less wind.
However, I think that if there is a nice windy, misty, gray day, I need to head over to the levee with my floaty white nightgown just before sunrise, then put on the gown, let down my hair, and walk back and forth on the levee in the morning mist with my hair and gown billowing in the wind. The neighborhood lake needs a good ghost legend. I should start rumors about the Lady of the Levee so people are primed for when she makes an appearance.
I really do try to think about the book I'm working on while I'm walking, but this sort of thing tends to come up, as well. Basically, exercise is good for creativity. And evil scheming.
I have most of the website redesign done. Most of what's left is redoing the photo galleries, which is going to entail finding the original photo CDs to make sure I have good-quality pictures. Somewhere along the way, the files on my hard drive seem to have been lost or corrupted, so I only have the versions that have already been altered for the web, and I'm doing something different with them that requires the original. I spent a frustrating evening last night singing along with the Mozart Requiem while digging through my hard drive and sorting things into folders. But this is the hard part. The rest will simply involve writing captions, and the software will do the rest. Then I just need to figure out what new content I'll need to add. I've been lax on putting up bonus features for the Fairy Tale books.
Maybe someday I should pay someone to do all this for me, but I've heard so many horror stories about web designers gone rogue who make it difficult or impossible to get updates done or who vanish with the passwords. The software I have makes it pretty easy. It just takes fiddling a bit to figure out how to do cool stuff with it.
However, I think that if there is a nice windy, misty, gray day, I need to head over to the levee with my floaty white nightgown just before sunrise, then put on the gown, let down my hair, and walk back and forth on the levee in the morning mist with my hair and gown billowing in the wind. The neighborhood lake needs a good ghost legend. I should start rumors about the Lady of the Levee so people are primed for when she makes an appearance.
I really do try to think about the book I'm working on while I'm walking, but this sort of thing tends to come up, as well. Basically, exercise is good for creativity. And evil scheming.
I have most of the website redesign done. Most of what's left is redoing the photo galleries, which is going to entail finding the original photo CDs to make sure I have good-quality pictures. Somewhere along the way, the files on my hard drive seem to have been lost or corrupted, so I only have the versions that have already been altered for the web, and I'm doing something different with them that requires the original. I spent a frustrating evening last night singing along with the Mozart Requiem while digging through my hard drive and sorting things into folders. But this is the hard part. The rest will simply involve writing captions, and the software will do the rest. Then I just need to figure out what new content I'll need to add. I've been lax on putting up bonus features for the Fairy Tale books.
Maybe someday I should pay someone to do all this for me, but I've heard so many horror stories about web designers gone rogue who make it difficult or impossible to get updates done or who vanish with the passwords. The software I have makes it pretty easy. It just takes fiddling a bit to figure out how to do cool stuff with it.
July 7, 2015
One More Week
One week from today, Rebel Mechanics will be released. I can't believe it's so soon, and yet it's been forever. Stuff is starting to hit the web, an interview here and a review here.
I think I've taken care of the trickiest part of the web site redesign. Now I'm down to mostly going page-by-page to change the color scheme and then adding some new content for various books. So look for a new site in the next couple of days, depending on how much I accomplish today. I got an early start, but I took an extra-long walk. Though it may have been too long a walk, as I'm already starting to stiffen up. An hour and a half might be too much, but there was about a mile that wasn't planned when I had to backtrack because part of the trail was still under water.
If I keep this schedule up, I'm going to be in trouble for WorldCon, since they'll be on Pacific time. If I'm waking up at 7 here, I'll be up at 5 there. I'll have to bring my walking shoes so I can take morning walks before the convention stuff gets started. It looks like there are lots of riverfront walking trails. Since my room has a microwave, I won't need to bring my teakettle, so that will give me room for an extra pair of shoes.
But first I have to get through this month, with a book to revise, a book to launch, a convention to go to, and 800 bookplates to sign for a promotion. I'm going to pretend it's a massive booksigning with an epic line. Except I won't have to ask people how to spell their names. I may look up and smile briefly after signing each bookplate.
I think I've taken care of the trickiest part of the web site redesign. Now I'm down to mostly going page-by-page to change the color scheme and then adding some new content for various books. So look for a new site in the next couple of days, depending on how much I accomplish today. I got an early start, but I took an extra-long walk. Though it may have been too long a walk, as I'm already starting to stiffen up. An hour and a half might be too much, but there was about a mile that wasn't planned when I had to backtrack because part of the trail was still under water.
If I keep this schedule up, I'm going to be in trouble for WorldCon, since they'll be on Pacific time. If I'm waking up at 7 here, I'll be up at 5 there. I'll have to bring my walking shoes so I can take morning walks before the convention stuff gets started. It looks like there are lots of riverfront walking trails. Since my room has a microwave, I won't need to bring my teakettle, so that will give me room for an extra pair of shoes.
But first I have to get through this month, with a book to revise, a book to launch, a convention to go to, and 800 bookplates to sign for a promotion. I'm going to pretend it's a massive booksigning with an epic line. Except I won't have to ask people how to spell their names. I may look up and smile briefly after signing each bookplate.
July 6, 2015
Blue Ribbon!
I'm going to have to update my author bio to include a new honor: champion dessert maker! They had a dessert contest at the church cookout this weekend, and I brought my chocolate pecan pie. Of course, I hoped to win, but I didn't really expect to. After dropping off my pie at the fellowship hall, I got completely sidetracked by having to learn the new music for the service and being one of only two sopranos, so I was having to sing nice and loud. Then after church I went through the serving line, got my burger and was getting settled at a table when someone congratulated me. When I didn't know why (I thought maybe it had to do with singing last week or what we'd done in the service that day), she dragged me to the dessert table, where there was a blue ribbon on my pie.
Though there was a bit of a mix-up when they were announcing names, so I thought maybe it wasn't me, but then it turns out that the person went on autopilot and said a different last name that she usually associates with my first name, and when they saw me they dragged me over after correcting the mistake.
I'm almost embarrassed by how excited I was about this. You'd think I'd never won a prize for anything, but in general I'm the kind of person who does really well but doesn't necessarily win.
In other weekend news, there were fireworks Friday night and I finally saw Inside Out, which basically was about my sixth-grade year. We moved midway through the school year, going from a nice house to an apartment and going from a school where I was the queen bee -- a class officer, in band, in choir, in Girl Scouts -- to a school where I knew no one, where there was no band and they wouldn't let me in the choir because it was already full, and where everyone hated me on sight. I later learned that the teacher had announced the day before I showed up (I had to wait a day after registration) that the class would have to work harder because I was so smart that I'd be competition. Gee, thanks, teacher. I knew we had no choice about moving because it was a military thing, so it didn't do to complain, and so that whole movie was basically what was going on inside my head. Though things didn't get much better for me until seventh grade, and even then, the same people who hated me from sixth grade were still out to get me.
I am impressed the Pixar managed to pull off a fun animated movie about psychology.
It's going to be a really busy week, with lots of promo work to do, the web site redesign, and revisions. I worked out most of my revision issues for the upcoming few chapters on my morning walk, which should help with that.
Though there was a bit of a mix-up when they were announcing names, so I thought maybe it wasn't me, but then it turns out that the person went on autopilot and said a different last name that she usually associates with my first name, and when they saw me they dragged me over after correcting the mistake.
I'm almost embarrassed by how excited I was about this. You'd think I'd never won a prize for anything, but in general I'm the kind of person who does really well but doesn't necessarily win.
In other weekend news, there were fireworks Friday night and I finally saw Inside Out, which basically was about my sixth-grade year. We moved midway through the school year, going from a nice house to an apartment and going from a school where I was the queen bee -- a class officer, in band, in choir, in Girl Scouts -- to a school where I knew no one, where there was no band and they wouldn't let me in the choir because it was already full, and where everyone hated me on sight. I later learned that the teacher had announced the day before I showed up (I had to wait a day after registration) that the class would have to work harder because I was so smart that I'd be competition. Gee, thanks, teacher. I knew we had no choice about moving because it was a military thing, so it didn't do to complain, and so that whole movie was basically what was going on inside my head. Though things didn't get much better for me until seventh grade, and even then, the same people who hated me from sixth grade were still out to get me.
I am impressed the Pixar managed to pull off a fun animated movie about psychology.
It's going to be a really busy week, with lots of promo work to do, the web site redesign, and revisions. I worked out most of my revision issues for the upcoming few chapters on my morning walk, which should help with that.
