Mette Ivie Harrison's Blog, page 49

New Romance Video

Here I am, talking about Happily Ever After endings, and the balance between making the reader satisfied and twisting expectations in The Rose Throne:

Writing Wednesday: Some Books Are A Gift--And Some Books Aren't

On occasion, I have had one of those experiences where I sit down and write a complete first draft of a book within a month or even less time. And then on occasion, I have sold a book that I have written in that fever-hot month. I have heard other authors talk about selling books in the same set of circumstances. I sometimes cringe when I hear authors tells stories like this, even though I know that on some level, there is a kind of truth to it. Here are a few of the things I want to say to aspiring authors who hear stories about the book written in a month and sold virtually unchanged from that first draft:

1. There is no guarantee that any book you write, in one month or any other time frame, will ever be sold.
2. The fact that you write a book in a short time period means very little about the quality of that book one way or the other. But honestly, telling an editor or an agent that you wrote a book in a month may make you sound like a newbie and that isn't a good thing.
3. How many other books did you write that went unsold, before the one you wrote in one month that did sell? (The point here is that if you spend five years writing books that don't sell and finally figure out what you were doing wrong, you haven't skipped the lessons of the writing apprenticeship.)
4. No one can tell the difference by the time a book has been through a professional editing process what books were written how quickly.
5. Just because you never feel the "Muse" inspiring you to write a book in a rush doesn't mean that you are a bad writer or that you should give it up.
6. Waiting around for a book to appear to your as a "gift" in your mind is not likely to lead to anything other than a lot of waiting around. Namely, it is not likely to lead to a book being produced.

The Princess and the Hound was a book that originally was a retelling of "The Princess and the Pea." Only the princess wanders into the castle in the middle of the night, dripping with rainwater, with this hound she insists has to go on all her tests with her. Prince George in the original story is rather like Watson, chronicling things, but with no story of his own. His magic, all the magic in the story, was created in later drafts.

The Rose Throne took me about four years to write, once I knew the story I wanted to write. In some sense, the arc of the story has remained much the same as in my original version. But almost none of the words or scenes are the same as the original version. It went through about nine massive rewrites, and several of them took me off in completely the wrong direction and I had to throw them out and go back to previous versions.

Tris and Izzie I tried to write the first time around about three years before I sold it. I gave it up as a partial, and then went back to it, figured out how it really ended, and wrote my first finished draft in about six weeks. The final version is much like this first draft, but that was three years after I had given up on it and let it sit around in my subconscious.

My point here is that it doesn't matter how the book came to you. In days or years, it is up to you to make the book the best you can. It doesn't matter if you feel "inspired" to write the book. It doesn't matter if you cobbled together the book from several previous books. It doesn't matter if you hate the book at many points. It doesn't matter if you think it is the best book ever. Or if you are sure that no one but you will ever love it.

You do the work that the book asks you to do. You do it the best you can. You accept the book as it comes to you, easily or not. And then you make sure that you have people around you who give you feedback about the book. And if a book comes as a gift, you never, ever expect that another one will ever come that way again.

Why I Hate My Body

I am using all of my courage stores from the last several weeks of good news to post this video of me talking frankly about all of my body issues. Women in particular have a problem with body image, and I think it is because of all the images we see airbrushed images of models and actresses who already have "perfect" bodies, but must be made to have smaller arms, thinner stomachs, and bigger breasts than is actually possible with real, functional bodies. If your body is doing what you need it to do, it is already the perfect body. And if it isn't, give yourself a break! Let's start trying to love our bodies!

Monday Book Recs: Marie Brennan's A Natural History of Dragons

This book ought to be a primer on how to do voice right. The voice is so spot on perfect, word by word. It feels a bit like a Jane Austen
heroine, but there’s never a hint of inauthenticity. I loved Isabella as a child. I loved her as a rather innocent young married woman. I loved
her most of all as the narrative authority who was telling us every detail that was right and wrong about what we had already heard about
her life. I am jealous not to have written this book myself, and that doesn’t happen to me often.

The story follows Isabella, dragon-crazed young girl and then young woman, as she married and then finds herself on a real scientific expedition to study dragons along with her husband and a scientist friend of his in a far land. I liked very much how the authorial Isabella talks about her younger self’s prejudices and assumptions about the “native” population who live among the dragons. I won’t say anymore about that for fear of spoiling the wonderful unfolding of the events as told by Isabella.

I will say that my favorite part of this novel was the romance. It was not a typical romance at all, and the narrator is acutely aware of this, that it doesn’t have the sweeping elements of romance and that the hero isn’t dark, brooding, muscular or particularly handsome. All hail the better romance hero! Jacob and Isabella are both fascinated by dragons, but if you think that is the only thing that attracts them to each other, well I don’t know if you are right or wrong. But does it matter?

I am often frustrated by the fact that romances end with the wedding bells (or before), and don’t deal with all the problems of marriage and love long-term. But Brennan’s book isn’t like that. It has all the tender moments of a real marriage in it. I didn’t for a minute feel like the hero was not loveable or strong enough. The way he loves his wife in all her parts, the way he tries to protect her and give her what she needs—that is a real marriage. I can’t say enough how much I love the romance in this book. If you are a romance lover, you will love this book! If you don’t care about romance, it won’t bother you, either. That’s the magic here. All great books can be read on multiple levels,and this is one of those!

New Friday Feminism: Female Anti-Heroes

I recently went to a panel about anti-heroes and complained (loudly) that everyone was talking only about male anti-heroes. While I certainly
have some favorite male anti-heroes myself (House and Spike, for instance), I think that there are some really interesting female anti-heroes out there that need some love. Here are my favorites:

1. Scarlett O’Hara

2. Irene, The Queen of Attolia

3. Salt

4. Kate from Lost

5. Faith from Buffy

6. Lisbeth Salander

7. Catwoman

8. Thelma and Louise

Why is it that female anti-heroes tend to get no love? I suspect it is mostly because they have too much power and tend to be seen as not
very feminine and frankly, dangerous. Not that the male anti-heroes aren’t dangerous, but that’s allowed. That’s, you know, natural.

Some of the things that mark male anti-heroes are:

1. Revenge motive

2. thrill-seeking

3. self-justification

4. deep, dark motivation

5. addiction

6. power

I really love these things and how they don’t fit with typical views of women. I love it when we mix things up and it forces us to really
examine what women are “allowed” to do and what they aren’t “allowed” to do and remain characters we can root for.

As Scarlett O’Hara used to say, “Well Fiddle-dee-dee.”

Friday Tri: moving permanently

to my iron-mom tumblr:

http://www.tumblr.com/blog/iron-mom

Go there for posts on training, life and my Ironmom book, plus youtube videos and more!

Romance Obstacles Video

With some help from Egmont publicist extraordinarire, Kristyn Williams, I am working on making these videos shorter, more concise, and focusing on specific examples from the forthcoming The Rose Throne.

Writing Wednesday: Closing the Door

I am lucky enough as a writer to have had an office for most of my adult life. Even when I had small children in the house (and I had 5 in 8 years), I had an office. My children had a fairly strict schedule which was designed around one goal: me having 2 hours of writing time every afternoon. My oldest daughter napped until she was in Kindergarten. My second daughter did not. But I still had "nap time" during which she was expected to play quietly in her own room while I worked in my office. We both had the door closed, and when I opened the door, I was available to be "Mom" again. But if she came down to bother me before the two hours were up, I made sure it was not a happy experience for her, so she wouldn't keep doing it.

The older I get, the more useful I think this idea of closing the door is. So many women seem to lament that they don't have time for anything in their lives other than caring for their children or volunteering to do charitable works. I think this is a mistake. I think that women need to spend a little time every day caring for themselves and I think that they would do well to work on some kind of beauty, something that will endure. If that is writing or quilting or home decor, I don't care. But nurturing yourself and reminding your children that you have a life that exists beyond their needs is, I believe, ultimately good for both mother and child. I would go further and say that it is good for every relationship to have a door that can be opened or closed.

Obviously, there are times in our lives when we don't get to control what we wish we could. But I think that for many women, that frantic pace is the norm rather than the exception to the rule. And it is partly our own fault. Because we don't close the door. We don't say "no, I'm busy" when people ask if we can help. We don't unplug the phone or the computer. We don't ignore the doorbell. We keep our door open at all times and then we are surprised that people are always interrupting us in our own work. We blame others when it is we who are refusing to close the door.

If you need to buy earplugs to keep out noise, do that. If you need to buy noise canceling headphones or need to put on music to focus, do that. Find what you need to do to "close your door" and get your work done. And don't make it someone else's problem. This is your choice. You keep the door open when it is open. And only you can close it and keep it closed when it needs to be closed.

10 Book Signing Strategies

#1 Used Car Salesman

This person brings a big sign, sometimes balloons, also occasionally music or a microphone. They are calling out to everyone in the store, and sometimes focus on one particular person and really do a hard sell. Before you know it, they are out of books. I personally wonder if the bookstore employees, who say they appreciate this hard work, will ever invite #1 back.

#2 Perks of Selling as a Wallflower

This person waits behind the tablepatiently, never makes eye contact unless actually addressed, andsometimes brings something else to do, such as knitting, to make thetime pass more quickly and less painfully. Sadly, this is probablythe closest to my own personal style of signing at a bookstore. I'm there, but I know I'm not going to hard sell and I'm happy to talk,but I'm also not interested in people asking me where the self-help books are.

#3 Giveaway

This person offers some kind of gift to anyone who comes close enough to be bitten. The stakes may rangeanywhere from a free cruise to a simple bookmark or a chance to win a free copy of said book. The prize may determine the usefulness of theresponse. If you are giving away a free book, maybe you will get more people who actually read books?

#4 Hansel and Gretel

This person has a bowl of candy set out. Children often come along and take from it, whether or not they are in the market for this book. Sure, you get a lot more people talking to you. But how much of the conversation is to people who are interested in buying books? How much of it is meaningless chit-chat?

#5 The Society of Creative Anachronism

This person has written a book set in a different time period and has come dressed as a character from the book. Often, this person will pretend to be “in character” during any encounters with other humans. Your experience as a potential buyer may range from bemused to frankly a little scared. I don't think these people are actually insane, even if they may seem to be so.

#6 Girls In the Bathroom

These authors are all seated together and are more interested in catching up on each other's lives than in engaging potential customers for their books. If you ask for a signature, they may send you a dirty look, refuse to ask your name, and then huffily go back to your conversation. This is sometimes tempting to me, since the main reason I go to book signings is to have fun with my author friends.

#7 Too Cool For School

This person has headphones on and is rocking out to silent music during the entire signing. Everyone around her wonders if she has stepped into the wrong place, but no one dares to demand proof of identity. She might or might not look like the author photo in the back flap of the books.

#8 Next to The Real Author

This person has been seated unfortunately next to the author that everyone is coming for. This would be a great advantage if anyone had any idea that this author was an author and that his books are something other than freebies for the real author. Six hundred people may pass by his books, but he sells not a one.

#9 Magic Show/Pet Show

This person has come as “entertainment.” A dog who does tricks or who signs the books in lieu of the author is one possibility. Others include live singing, or a magic show (possibly by the author, but it may be hard to tell underneath the black cloak and the weird makeup). The gimmick is clear here, and books are streaming out the doors. On the other hand, the bookstore employees are going to have massive cleanup to do afterward.

#10 Crafty Bait and Switch

This person has set up an attractive table with jewelry or other craft supplies with a sign that says “free.” Children and the unsuspecting flock to the table and begin to work. But before they can leave with a finished product, a book is shoved into their hands and they are told that the craft comes “with the book purchase.” Again, book sales are high, but how disgruntled are the customers?

Monday Book Recs--Jennifer A. Nielsen's The Runaway King

This book is a breathless ride, with so many twists and turns, you will never guess what happens next. Sage is the quintessential hero, who
does things that should be impossible, but when they happen, you absolutely believe that he managed it. There are a couple of awesome
moments with the pirates—because PIRATES! What book isn’t better with pirates!

I am normally not a fan of love triangles, as you know, and there is a bit of one here (princess/servant girl). But it works. That’s the

thing. Love triangles can be really, really effective at getting reader interest up. They can make readers root for things to happen, and that
is a great thing. Love triangles can also raise the stakes. The problem is that they are so often done badly, and then you want to hit everyone
involved, whether they are real or not. Needless to say, I did not want to hit anyone here. I like both of the female points of the triangle and
I would be happy for Sage to end up with either of them. I also LOVE that they aren’t rivals. They are friends. That’s the way you do it.

I have some ideas about what will happen next, but I think that is one of the best things about a must-read series. You just happen to buy the next book to find out if you are right.