Rebecca Besser's Blog, page 60

A Writer’s Moods – Adrenaline and The Low Road

Writers are a moody lot, and there are reasons for that. Most people – non-writers – don’t get why we are the way were are, so I’m going to give you an inside look at what it really means to live a writer’s life. I’m also going to give you some insight into why we feel the way we do; it goes hand-in-hand.

It is said that artists – of all varieties – put something of themselves into their work, and this is true. Our voices, or angle, comes from our perspective of life and life experiences. Therefore, they are somehow, on some level, emotionally attached to their work.

Writers spend hours writing a story and then agonizing over every word in the editing process, second guessing themselves on punctuation and content. Then they have to make a decision: Is it good enough to share with other people? Or will they laugh, make fun of me, or point out my flaws? It’s basically like the first day of school every single time you write something. Eventually you swallow the fear of rejection bullet, and submit your story somewhere or post it on your blog to share with the world; it’s your very own masterpiece.

Now brace yourself for the bad news. Writers get more rejections than they ever do acceptances. They get more negative feedback than they ever do positive. That fear of rejection is a real and living beast inside a writer’s heart because it bites hard, and often. And that’s not the only fear a writer has – they’re always concerned (like all artists without inflated egos) that they aren’t good enough. This is constantly reinforced with critiques that shred your story down to nothing, and/or a rejection from a publication you really wanted to make it into. The only ones that make it in this business are the thick-skinned writers who have more of the ‘watch me succeed” attitude than anything else.

It’s really depressing to put so much time, effort, and self into something only to have someone tear you apart. It’s not over there though… Then come the reviews once you have been published. Reviews from people who don’t know you but think they can personally attack you and your writing. There can be fifty great reviews and two bad ones and a writer will still feel like everyone hates them.

Why would anyone ever put themselves through all that, you might ask… Well, it’s because writers love to write, and they love to share their stories with the world. When that one acceptance out of thirty rejections finally comes to them, it’s like someone just handed them the world on a platter. It’s an adrenaline rush and validation that they aren’t crazy and are good enough for someone to back them and want to publish them!

The sad part? This shiny adrenaline feeling doesn’t last long, but it’s now addictive. Writers will keep writing and sending out submissions in hopes of getting this feeling back. They fall to the low road of depression very easily and need that upswing again; they’ll go through the multiple rejections to achieve that one moment of bliss. The best part about that though, is the more a writer writes the better they get at writing and the more acceptances they receive!

After the blessed acceptance, and going to print, and past the positive and negative reviews, we then get to sales and royalties.

A writer feels amazing when their book comes out. They think the entire world will want to read the greatness they’ve put into this work. It’s brilliant and a genre changer, after all. Then the book doesn’t sell. No one wants it, and that evil demon who sits on your shoulder and whispers “You aren’t good enough!” comes back with a cynical laugh to add salt to the wound you thought was healing.

When people do actually buy your book, you don’t get paid for three to six months and you’re lucky if you make $10 after the press gets their cut (you only get a percentage, after all). The writer has spent hours, days, weeks, and sometimes years on one project and then they see almost nothing for their efforts. Their family doesn’t see a point to it, because all that time they saw the writer spend on something to get so little back doesn’t seem worth it. So, now, the writer is not only getting bashed on by the world, but their own family doesn’t see a point or a worth to what they’re doing because no money is coming in. Sure, they’re proud to know apublished author, but it doesn’t really mean much to everyday life. There’s still dishes, and laundry, and every other little mundane thing life has to offer, and that grabs an author by the throat and chokes them sometimes, because they aren’t understood even by the people closest to them.

This is the reality of writing. Those of us that do it all the time to even have a mere glimpse of success in any way have gone through all of this multiple times. We swing from the highs to the lows. We don’t think we’re good enough and doubt ourselves. We press forward and beg for more punishment just to make our dreams come true – telling our stories.

I hope this has given you something of an insight into what it’s like to be a writer. A glimpse at why we have our highs and lows, and what causes them. The best thing you can do to encourage a writer is read their stories – that’s what they’re there for. Oh, and leave a review… Not a mean one, but a nice one that’s honest, stating what you liked and what you didn’t like about what you read. A writer needs the feedback to make sure they’re on the right path to increase their chances of acceptance.

 

©Rebecca Besser, 2012. All rights reserved.

The Truth Behind The Article – A Bibliography

I’m sure most of you – like me – have read articles at some point in your life. Sometimes people question the truth behind what they’ve read because they either don’t believe it or they’ve read another article that contradicts it. If you’ve ever written an article though, you know there has to be some truth there or it wouldn’t have been published.

There’s a list of facts (where you got your information – the sources of your research) required with an article submission. This is called a Bibliography.

In a bibliography you list all your sources for the facts in your article. If you submit your article to a publication, they have someone check your sources to make sure they’re true (if it’s a legit and professional publication). If the facts aren’t true or your bibliography or sources don’t pan out, they will refuse to publish the article. Publishing something that’s not true can do harm to the professionalism of the publication and/or the author of the article. So, even if some people think so, they don’t just throw BS at the world in an attempt of making you believe it, at least, not of the publication is credible.

One of the problems today is that anyone can put their opinions or views up on their blog and people believe it. And I’m sure there are not so professional online publications that love to publish articles of more ‘conspiracy theory‘ than actual fact or truth. This can cause a lot of confusion when you’re reading articles that contradict each other. If you read something from a credible publication, but also read something from a not so credible publication that can lead to a lot of confusion.

I tend to have a stronger belief that what I’m being told is the truth if there are links to sources in the online article that supports the article I’m reading. To me, that means there’s truth and basis for what the author is telling me.

Something else that makes articles complicated is angle. I can take a subject and give it to two different authors, telling one to support an idea and one to debunk it. Both can do research and come up with good, strong articles. This is because most times, there are facts to support both. Nothing will ever be completely positive or negative. What happens is that you only use the research that supports what you want to say with your article. You aren’t going to list five sources in your bibliography that undermine what you’re trying to get across, are you? No! You’re going to list all the sources that uphold your argument. This doesn’t mean that it’s true…or false.

That’s where things get even more complicated. You can read articles on the same subject that don’t agree and they could both be right. When that happens, you need to do your own research and find out what the truth really is. Chances are, both are right to some degree.

Really good articles will list some pros and cons on the subject. But that sometimes becomes limited when the author is restricted to a very small word allowance, etc. Then you just express your point and hope you do it well.

Keep in mind that people aren’t really trying to trick you – at least most of them aren’t anyhow – all they’re doing is expressing their views and beliefs based on the facts they believe to be the most important. Everyone has their own feelings on various subjects; it’s what makes the human race beautiful.

This gets very apparent in political articles. They’ll tell you only what they want you to know or believe to get you to support them or dislike someone else. This is the strongest example of ‘angle‘ articles you can get. Usually this is because parties or candidates are looking for the support of certain like-minded people. They believe certain things are more important than others and will twist things to their advantage. Like before though, often both the good and bad are true. With politics small things are blown out of proportion or dramatized for the effect it will have on the listener, or things will be taken out of context. We see it all the time. This just re-enforces the need for people to do their own research on things they don’t believe or understand.

Then there’s something called ‘live news.’ This is most of what you get from news stations as current events unfold. At that point, most reporters only know what they’ve been told and sometimes they aren’t allowed to tell you certain things because it hasn’t been verified or cleared for one reason or another. They have to be very careful, because their job is supposedto bring the truth to the people; if they make a mistake they could cause an unnecessary panic or cause people harm by not telling them if danger is on its way. So, even if the story changes, it’s not because they were lying or trying to fool you, they were going on what they knew to be true at the time.

The truth is: Articles are based on facts, and it’s your responsibility to do more research if you think what you’ve read isn’t true. No one is lying to you – they’re expressin their truth.

Never believe anything blindly, especially if it seems to be off in some way. Chances are, you’ll learn something you didn’t know.

 

 

©Rebecca Besser, 2012. All rights reserved.

Character Mapping – Do What?!

After reading the title of this post, are you sitting there, scratching your head, wondering what the hell character mapping is? Well, don’t fret because you’re going to find out in this post!

People love characters that seem real. They don’t want some lame-ass, half-defined, limp page dwellers. They want real breathing characters that will become their mental friends, enemies, or even sometimes, lovers. Some people have the ability to make their characters breathe the real of life naturally, while other don’t have a snowball’s chance in Hell.

I’m here to give you a few tips on how you can make it happen without straining your brain and pulling your hair out.

Character mapping is like an outline of a specific character. (Yes, I said outline. DON’T PANIC!) It’s really easy. Basically, you want to see your character as a real person so you can write them to seem like a real person in your stories – this includes silly quirks or repeated OCD actions. What do I mean by that? Make them a nail biter when they’re nervous, or a fidgeter, something!

Then come other physical aspects: hair color, eye color, height, build, etc. These are all things you might want to know and remember about your character before you slap them willy-nilly into your imaginative world.

What about the character’s past? What has shaped them into who they are? What makes them tick? What makes them react in certain ways in different circumstances?

Did you just say to yourself ‘But s/he’s not real!‘ and think they don’t have a past? KILL THAT CHARACTER, because s/he’s not going to involve your reader in the story. No, I’m not joking. Do it now! Draw him/her on a piece of paper (even if it’s just a stick figure with a name written in crayon above his/her head or under his/her feet) and tear that paper to shreds. S/he’s a story virus! A murder of all things that tug at the heart strings. Done? Good. Let’s move on.

Your character should have a past and a personality all their own. They should have their own voice, and even their own speech mannerisms that are striking to the reader. They should stand out for the others in the story so that if you don’t use a dialogue tag, everyone knows who’s speaking!

Does all this sound complicated yet? I promised simple…didn’t I?

Here’s where it gets really simple: You map each character out. Still scratching your head?

Okay, I’ll break it down for you. Get a piece of paper and a writing utensil: pen, pencil, stub of a crayon. I’ll wait…

Back yet?

Okay. At the top or the paper, write down a character’s name. Anything you want. Oh, make sure to give them a middle name – this adds to the fun. Next, write if they’re male or female, and how old they are. After that, write their hair color, eye color, height, build, etc.

Now…give that character a trait. It can be something like, oh, I don’t know: constantly rubs their nose because they have allergies, or twirls their hair around their finger when bored or thinking. Write that down.

Next, write down the family history of the character. Maybe they were raised by a single parent in a city, or by random creatures of the forest in an alternate universe. Maybe their middle name (especially if it’s weird) is one used often in the family. Write it down.

Once you have most of that planned out, you’re starting to get a feel for your character. Now, here’s a fun part… Have a conversation with your character (aloud or in your head, whichever you’d like). Ask them a question and wait for an answer. No, I’m not crazy – they’ll talk to you. You’ve just painted the picture of them in your head, DUH! Write down the questions and the answers.

Don’t know what to ask? Here’s a couple ‘simple’ ideas… How about: What’s your fav color? What foods absolutely disgust you? Do you like to wear jeans or dress pants? Candy or bubble gum? Do you lose your temper often, or have a cool demeanor?

Ask questions until, or even beyond, the point where that character is no longer just writing on a page, but a real, living, pulsing person.

What are you going to do with this character once they start breathing on their own? Why write them a story of course! Now that you have a clear view of who and what they are, you can make them dance on the pages and they’ll be more real to your readers. I suggest mapping a bunch of characters (you might want to get a notebook just for this, or make a file just for your characters) and keep them on record for future use. Just keep in mind, you don’t have to use all the information you’ve gleaned on your character in the stories you write about them, but you’ll have a clearer picture in your head of who they are, which will allow you to define how they’ll act in certain situations, etc.

I hope you have fun with this process, because it can be a blast to pull a living, breathing person out of thin air and give them a life in your stories.  Happy mapping and writing.

 

©Rebecca Besser, 2012. All rights reserved.

Creatures of Habit – We Limit Ourselves

I’ve often watched movies or read books of an apocalyptic nature and thought the people in them were rather dumb. Mostly, I think this because they are unable to let go of a loved one who has died or turned into a zombie, or they’re forced to leave their home in search of a safer place. To me it’s pretty cut and dry what needs to be done, and the characters just aren’t doing it. Yesterday, I think I finally figured out what their problem was… They’re creatures of habit like we all are.

Whether we realize it or not, we all have our little routines and daily lives that make us feel comfortable and safe. For a lot of us, if something happens to throw our plans out of whack, we get very upset – angry even. I know I’m one of those people because I like to keep certain things in my schedule organized so things go smoothly. I’m not saying I can’t handle things if plans change, because I can and have many times, but a schedule of sorts helps overall.

The safety and sanity (mental peace) thing doesn’t only come from routines though. It can also come from familiar places, smells, people…just feeling like you’re in the ‘normal’ place for you in life. Each person’s sensory delight is different, and we build on that to make our world. When something or someone that has always been close to us is removed, our minds panic. I think this is why we grieve so strongly for people we love who have been taken from us. Instantly, we lose one of the main structures in our tower of life and we have to readjust everything so it works for us again.

Having been married for 11 years now, I know how one person can mean so much to you. You know their sounds, their smells, their thoughts, and the comfort of having them close. One touch can mean so much when you’re close to someone. If all that is taken away, we freak out inside.

Where we live – our homes – is another major part of who we are and our sanity. We make our homes our place of sanctuary against a world we don’t like or understand. Or maybe we do like and understand it, but have to get away from everything occasionally. If most people would have to leave that safety, I believe it would break them mentally. They aren’t prepared to go out into the unknown and start again with God knows what! I believe this is also what holds people in unhappy marriages or relationships – even though they suck, there’s that security of known verses the unknown. Many people aren’t capable of making the changes that will improve or save their lives. The fact is, most people lack the skills to even know where and/or how to begin to do things they’ve never done before; they don’t have the ability to learn a new pattern for their lives.

With all that being said… I can see why people – usually characters in stories – have some of the issues they have with leaving behind what they know and letting go of those they love. These traits make them more human. The problem for me though, is that I’m a practically minded person and often suppress my emotions to do what my brain tells me is the logical course of action. Of course, this is an ability I’ve built over the years and not everyone has it. I’m more of the ‘do what needs to be done no matter how you feel about it‘ type, but as you can tell from my ramblings above, I can see how people would act otherwise.

All the metaphors in apocalyptic fiction teach us valuable lessons. Because, realistically (cutting out all the emotional turmoil stuff), if humanity is to survive anything of an apocalyptic nature, or just the hardships of a regular life and relationships, people are going to have to learn to adapt to new situations. They’re going to have to step, or even leap, out of their safe, comfortable places to start training themselves for the hardships life can throw at them. Then maybe we’ll grow as people and not be stuck in the same-old-same-old of the comfort zones of life, because they can be very deadly when you need to move on for your own safety.

 

©Rebecca Besser, 2012. All rights reserved.

I Want To Be Published There – Target Marketing

There are a lot of markets for writers out there. One of the best skills to have to be successful in making it into most of them is fitting into what they want. I’m sure some people see this as selling out, but it’s not. Mostly, target marketing is knowing the publication you’re getting into. Following theme, or word count limits, is part of being a professional when you approach these publications. With magazines, it’s especially important.

Target marketing doesn’t mean that you have to lose yourself or style; it means your tailoring your uniqueness in a way that will get you into the publication you want. Be creative and show them something they’ll be inspired to publish, while playing by their rules. Believe me…this is harder than it sounds and takes skill.

Magazines and ezines state in their guidelines that you should check out a couple back issues to get a feel for what they like (tone, type of stories/articles, etc.) before you submit. This saves them and you time if what you wrote doesn’t fit – you in submitting, and them in reading and selecting submissions. Some mags/ezines also have theme lists (this is especially true for children’s mags). These theme lists help the mags/ezines put out the content they want and it helps you have a better chance of getting published with them, because it’s like a secret inside hint of what they’re actually looking for.

Themed anthologies are also along the same lines. Usually there’s a short list of things they don’t want, and a description of what they do want. There are also other things to pay attention to, like word count limits. These have more leeway then mags/ezines, because usually they’re looking for a variety of stories on the same theme and will sometimes look at stories that don’t fit into the word count limits. Usually when I’m editing an antho, if you think outside the box and make your story very original, you stand a better chance of securing a place in the pages.

Genres are a bit more tricky…because you can mix them and still have a good chance. The only complicated part is when you write something and you aren’t exactly sure it fits into any genre (been there, done that!).

The downsides to writing for a specific theme or genre is that if you don’t place your story/book/article with them, you might have a hard time finding another market for it (dealing with this right now myself). But, at the end of the day, it’s mostly about the luck of the draw with the editors – they all like different things. Writing to their specifications, though, increases your chances all around.

Again, I have to stress how important it is to follow the guidelines for any press/publication. When you go over the word limit, or under, or don’t even bother to follow the theme…it makes you look VERY unprofessional. Professionals don’t want to work with unprofessionals. That’s just how it works.

Basically, if you want to have a better chance with mags/ezines/anthos you’re going to have to learn to tailor your content and length to fit. Always, always, always try to be as original as possible – it gives you a better chance of an acceptance. Just do it in a way that will be usable by the publication/market you submit to. It’s so disappointing for everyone – you and the editor – when the piece is perfect, but the tone or parameters are wrong. If you’re lucky, you’ll find an editor who is willing to work with you if changes are needed, but this doesn’t happen often.

A good place to search for markets by theme and word length is: duotrope.com

There you can search by something you already have written by looking for a specific genre or word count. You can also do searches by pay scale. If you sign up for their newsletter, you will get lists of new market calls and what they’re looking for.

There are also books that you can buy or borrow from your local library that are full of market listings. Not everyone is online you know!

Search the markets, find a place to fit, and get published! I wish you all the best of success!

 

 

©Rebecca Besser, 2012. All rights reserved.

Interview with Author Joe McKinney

Bec: Welcome to my blog, please start out by sharing a little bit about yourself:

Joe McKinney:  Thanks!  Okay, well, I’m a husband, a father, an author, and a police officer.  All of those things have come together to form my public persona as a horror writer.  They also define the directions I’ve chosen to pursue in my stories.  I draw on each to shape the stuff I write.  Those four sides of my personality form the nucleus of my themes, my characters, even the stories themselves.  I guess that pretty much describes me in a nutshell.

Bec: What first got you interested in writing?

JM:  I’ve been writing since I was twelve or thirteen.  I don’t really remember what made me decide to start writing stories, but once I did I found I loved it.  After that, writing became something I did every chance I got.  It’s an addiction, you know?  There’s a thrill that comes from completing a story, and especially a novel, that is unlike any other.

Bec: What are the worst struggles you think writers face, writing and marketing?

JM:  Marketing, by far.  Marketing, in fact, sucks.  There’s nothing I hate worse than getting on Facebook and reading yet another post from writers who sound like used car salesmen trying to put me in a lemon.  I cringe, then I get angry – or rather, resentful – because I know that, to a certain extent, marketing is necessary.  The trouble is that so many people are unable to do it tastefully.

Bec: Tell us about your book/s -

JM:  I’ve written quite a bit, though my most popular by far have been the four books that make up my Dead World series.  Zombies are hot right now, and of course the Dead World books are all about our undead du jour.  Dead City, Apocalypse of the Dead, Flesh Eaters, and the soon to be released Mutated, have all been very kind to me, and I’m grateful for the success they’ve brought me.  They are, in fact, putting my kids through college.  But they represent a very small part of my professional interests and endeavors.  I’ve worked in crime fiction, for example, turning out a novel, Dodging Bullets, and several dozen short stories.  I’ve also worked in fantasy and science fiction, such as with my novel Quarantined.  The fact is that I have a lot of paths still to try, and my future novels will hopefully showcase that.

Bec: Are you working on a sequel/s?

JM:  My next full length novel release is going to be the final book in the Dead World series.  It’s called Mutated.  It takes place eight years after the events described inApocalypse of the Dead and should tie up a lot of the loose ends left by earlier books in the series.  Of course, not all the loose ends will go away.  A writer has to keep a few cards close to the vest, just in case, but I think readers will feel rewarded for sticking with the series as long as they have.  And who knows, maybe, just maybe, I could do another Dead World novel after Mutated.  Like I said, I haven’t played all my cards.

Bec: What other projects are you working on or involved with?

JM:  For this year, my major products include a police procedural ghost story novel called The Charge, a zombie novella for Creeping Hemlock Press, a haunted house novella called Crooked House for Dark Regions Press, a werewolf novella that hasn’t found a home yet, and a zombie novel called Midnight Buffet.  In between I have several short stories, articles, blurbs and introductions to write, but those are the major fiction projects.  It should be a great, if not incredibly busy, year.

Bec: What’s your favorite color?

JM:  Green.  A deep forest green.

Bec: It’s midnight, and you’re starving! What would be your snack of choice?

JM:  A tomato and goat cheese omelet.  I make a damn good omelet.

Bec: Do you like to listen to music while you write or have complete silence?

JM:  Complete silence.  I’ve tried listening to music, but it just doesn’t work for me.  I have to have the house completely quiet, otherwise I find it hard to concentrate.

Bec: What genres do you most like to read/write?

JM:  My favorite genres to write are horror and crime.  To read?  Well, I read just about everything that catches my eye, though I love biographies and the anthropology of food most of all.

Bec: If you had the choice of riding a camel, elephant, or ostrich around town, which would it be?

JM:  Hmm, probably the elephant.  It’d be a bitch to park, but something tells me people would do their best to get out of your way.  Besides, camels spit and ostriches are a bit peckish.

Bec: Do you find writing a lonely profession?

JM:  Not at all.  My world has grown considerably since I started writing professionally.  I’m grateful for that.

Bec: If something was going to suck your brains out, which orifice would you prefer the procedure be done through?

JM:  My urethra, definitely.

Bec: What would you share with a beginning writer?

JM:  Treat writing like a business, because that’s what it is.  If you want to do this “for the love,” then go ahead and do whatever.  But if you want to make a living at writing, you need to treat it like a job.  You need to show up for work everyday.  You need to put in a solid day’s work.  You need to turn out a professional product with an eye on the fact that you’re only as good as the last thing you wrote.  The public has a short memory, and if you don’t bring your A game every time, chances are you won’t get a second chance.

Bec: Snot, blood, or vomit?

JM:  Blood is always nice, for a horror writer, but a good thriller has to have all three.  If you’re writing action the way it needs to be written, you really do need all three.

Bec: What do you wish someone would have told you when you first started your writing journey?

JM:  To be mindful of career architecture.  In many respects, our writing careers are beyond our control.  At least from a commercial standpoint.  Consider the dedicated short story writer whose first novel turns into a bestseller.  That writer will feel the pressure to turn out more novels along the same vein…perhaps even a sequel.  When I started out, that was me, the dedicated short story writer.  I had no intention of writing more novels.  I was happy cranking out stories that never went much further than the corner of my desk.  But when Dead City hit it big, I found myself suddenly branded as a zombie writer.  I didn’t, and still don’t, regret that.  I love zombies, and I’m both thrilled by, and imminently pleased with, the success I’ve had in that direction.  But I wish somebody had been there at the beginning to tell me how to space out short stories, novels, and articles.  The trick, for the commercial writer, at least, is to something out on a more or less regular basis.  And, if you want to know the truth, that something really should be a novel.  Novels do far better commercially than short stories.  Don’t get bogged down in all the offers to do short stories for anthologies.  Short stories are great, they keep you fresh, and interesting, but they won’t do anything to get your name out there.  That’s where novels really pay.

Bec: Do you think having other writers as friend is a good thing for your growth as a writer?

JM:  Absolutely, as long as they are also readers.  I don’t think much of people who don’t love books.  The key ingredient to good writing is good reading, and nothing promotes good reading like having other writers around you.  Trust me, if you don’t read, you won’t ever write anything worth reading.  Sorry.  That’s just the way it is.  Surround yourself with readers, and you will find your writing improving by leaps and bounds.

Bec: What’s your favorite book? Why?

JM:  This is one of those questions that I will answer differently on Tuesday than I do on Wednesday.  Or Thursday.  Or…but you get the idea.  I’m protean on this subject.  However, I can point to the two books that have had the most influence on me as a writer.  They are Nightshift, by Stephen King, and The October Country, by Ray Bradbury.  It’s perhaps no accident that both are short story collections.  I was attracted early to the short story, and when I started writing, it was natural for me to turn to that genre.  Even today, after I’ve written a number of novels and gotten to the point that I can support myself and my family on the sales of those novels, I still gravitate to the short story.  There is a magic there that I first encountered in Nightshift and The October Country, and that I keep trying to recapture.  I think that is why those books deserve my nod for absolute favorites.

Bec: Who’s your favorite author? Why?

JM:  There’s a famous saying – and forgive me, I don’t know who said it – that there are two types of horror writers working today: those who were influenced by Stephen King, and those who are lying when they say they weren’t influenced by Stephen King.  It’s certainly true of me that Stephen King was my biggest influence…but is he my favorite writer?  Hardly.  My favorite, by a long country mile, is Charles Dickens.  I would also put John McPhee, Philip K. Dick, Cordwainer Smith, Algernon Blackwood, and others up there pretty close to the top, but Dickens owns the top rung on my ladder.

Bec: Is there anything you would like to share that I haven’t asked you about?

JM:  Yes: I love cheese, good booze, and a huge grilled ribeye steak slathered in melted butter and sprinkled lightly with chopped parsley.

Bec: Thank you for stopping by and sharing! Best of luck with your book and future projects!

JM:  Thanks, Bec!  I had fun.

 

©Rebecca Besser & Joe McKinney, 2012. All rights reserved.

Interview with Author Gregory L. Norris

Bec: Welcome to my blog, please start out by sharing a little bit about yourself –

Hello Rebecca (and Rebecca’s readers). My name is Gregory L. Norris and when I was little, I promised my grandmother, the late, great Lovey Norris, that I would discover the secret for immortality so that she would live forever. My grandmother was a brilliant, gifted woman. In a way, I kept my promise because I frequently write about her, and dedicate books like my The Q Guide to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Alyson Books, 2008) to her. So as long as my work stays in print, she has been immortalized, after a fashion.

I am a professional writer, with work published in a wide range of venues. For many years, I wrote feature articles and columns for national magazines, mostly sports and celebrity stuff. I’ve had many short stories and over a dozen novels published, the odd nonfiction book, even a TV episode or two. Now, I am solely focused on my fiction writing, in its various formats – the short story, novella, novel, and screenplay. Writing is all that I’ve wanted to do since I was fifteen years old. And pretty much all that I have done, even when the world has tossed up roadblocks and distractions. Now, in my mid-40s, I’m blessed to be able to write full-time without much in the way of distraction.

Bec: What first got you interested in writing?

I grew up in a beautiful small town called Windham, New Hampshire, surrounded by tall, dense pine trees, a lake, meadows.  I had a best friend.  We watched Lost in Space, the original Star Trek, and the most-awesome Creature Double-Features on WLVI Channel 56 out of Boston – on rabbit ears.  When he moved away, my only close friend was my imagination.  The year I turned ten, Gerry Anderson’s brilliant series Space:1999premiered on an early September Tuesday night.  I was so blown away, so challenged by the pilot episode in which the moon is blasted out of Earth’s orbit, taking the men and women of Moonbase Alpha deep into unexplored and often hostile space, that I picked up a pen and began to write my own episodes.  Those juvenile stories still lurk in the top drawer of one of my lateral filing cabinets.  I’m approaching my 1000th completed fiction project, and #1000 will be a Space:1999 novel called Metamorphosis.  I plan to finish it in Los Angeles in September of 2012 – at the 1999 fan convention, where actors from the show will be in attendance, which I think is fitting.

Bec: What are the worst struggles you think writers face, writing and marketing?

From experience, I know the biggest and worst of them is the wolf at the door that threatens a writer’s survival.  I worked very long hours, often with disappointing results, to keep a roof over my head, food on the table, the bills paid, and my pets fed.  I’ve had many experiences in the past where I worked like a madman to deliver articles, books, etc., on time, only to have paychecks show up later than promised, if at all.  One national publication folded leaving me owed more than $5,000.00 for work that was contracted for and published – at a time when that kind of money would have made all the difference in the world.  The worry about staying afloat is a terrible thing for a writer to face and keep writing – and even great writers like Lovecraft struggled to keep that wolf away.  But it can also motivate, and has lit a match under my theso (as my Lebanese grandmother would have said) to produce, to complete, to edit, and to submit to ever larger markets.

As for marketing, I’ve learned that one truly has to network through social media, a decent blog, and by constantly submitting only the best, most polished work.  One must and should be vigilant to get the right sort of notice.  I don’t believe in the writer’s block, which I think is a convenient excuse for not writing daily.  I choose to believe in the Muse, instead.  The passionate relationship I’ve earned with mine has led to incredible output.  One of the best obstacles I’ve overcome is learning to get out of my own way.  Once I did that, the amount of joy for writing in every phase of the creative process has been constant.

Bec: Tell us about your book/s –

My short stories routinely appear in anthologies.  In the summer of 2011, I was approached about doing a single-author collection of original stories by the editorial powers-that-be at Evil Jester Press, who recently published the brilliant Help! Wanted anthology.  The stories could be anything I wanted, so long as they were engaging, creepy, and page-turners.  I think I accomplished that with The Fierce and Unforgiving Muse: Twenty-Six Tales from the Terrifying Mind of Gregory L. Norris, which is being launched in March at World Horror Con in Salt Lake City, Utah.

As a note, I turned in the manuscript last November, as it was then-envisioned at a very healthy 100,000 words.  Senior Editor Peter Giglio came back to me with an offer to bulk up the book to twice that length, to include a number of the stories I sold to various anthologies at The Library of Horror, who cancelled most of their anthology projects this past October – I had some two dozen stories and novellas accepted for those books.  This also gave me the opportunity to add to the variety of the collection, so I penned five original stories to enhance what already existed, four of those five novella-length.  Muse is a tip of the hat to those old Creature Double-Features, and explores all the things that have terrified me over the years, like homelessness, spiders, haunted houses, snake-infested swamps, giant monsters, alien abduction, dolls, my father.  In one of the stories, a brooding castle high on a hill can only be seen when the wind is blowing just right – as a kid growing up, our town had such a castle, and you could see it at certain times of the year if the weather conditions were correct.  I had many dreams about trying to cross the woods to reach the castle, and my story “Alms of the Dead” plays off one such dream.  There is also a horror novella with romance elements that I hope surprises readers.  The whole collection, I hope, is surprising.  One story is set in ancient Abydos, Egypt; another, 1960s London.  I take readers to Tora Bora in Afghanistan, the Everglades in 1946, Rwanda in 1994, and to the L-shaped room at the back of my home.

I am the author of numerous novels, both as Gregory L. Norris and my Rom-de-plume, Jo Atkinson.  A decent selection of my titles can be found at Ravenous Romance (www.ravenousromance.com) or by doing a Google.  My novella “The Mushrooms” was one of five contained in the recent Grand Mal Press release, MalContents.  I’m particularly fond of that tale, which pits a celebrity chef in a kind of kitchen competition she never imagined after a jealous wannabe convinced the chef has stolen a family recipe corners her, intent on revenge.

Presently, I am wrapping up new manuscripts for my publishers, including a novel for GMP, two for Ravenous Romance, and a boxing-themed novel for another publisher who has graciously invited me to be one of his regular novel writers.

Bec: Are you working on a sequel/s?

I am – a novella, “Windtryst,” which is a sequel to a swashbuckling future romance I penned last year called “The Winter Waltz.”  I am also wrapping up a sequel to my shapeshifter romance novel, The Wolfpact 1: Endangered Love (Ravenous Romance), which was republished as a special edition by Home Shopping Network for their “Escape With Romance” collection in 2009 and 2010.

Bec: If the world came to an end, which restaurant would you raid for food first?

Though I have a fondness for Panera Bread’s asiago bagels, it would have to be a Chinese restaurant, one with a great hot-and-sour soup, boneless spare ribs, and a decent egg foo yong, with lots of brown sauce.

Bec: What other projects are you working on or involved with?

I have a screenplay in draft form that I’m pretty excited about called “Bully” and a bunch of stories of varying length and format that I’m eager to tackle.  I was invited by three different editors to contribute to anthologies they’re publishing, so I’m also working on half a dozen short stories.  One, “Mason’s Murder,” is a surreal mystery set at a private beach and is really challenging me, which I love the work to do.  Since I was fifteen, I’ve kept all of my ideas on note cards stored in a metal recipe box, which sits on my desk.  For three decades, I’ve gone to sleep, hearing them call to me in the night.  Eventually, I hope to listen to every last one.  Empty out that idea box.  The most recent headcount was 132 unwritten ideas, which sounds a lot, but six years ago, the number surpassed 260, which was a bit overwhelming.

Bec: What’s your favorite color?

Cobalt blue.  My wardrobe is peppered with it – shirts and even my new black cross-trainers have cobalt blue laces and soles.  We have cobalt blue glass lamps, plates, goblets, bowls, and other decorative pieces all around the house.  Seafoam-green pulled a close second for a long while.  I find builder beige and eggshell repellent.

Bec: If a bridge troll told you that you had to give them one of your limbs to cross the bridge and get back to your family, which would you give him?

Hmmm…I like my legs, I love both arms right where they are.  I’d probably try to trick him with that fake limb I keep in the closet, behind my Christmas decorations.

Bec: Do you like to listen to music while you write or have complete silence?

I love to listen to the right music.  Nothing that screams at me.  I also love to write to the television.  When I first started writing, I would write in front of the tube, lying on my stomach, with root beer and pretzels at my side – a favorite writing snack to this day.  In the summer, I write with baseball in the background.  In the autumn on Sundays, I love to write in my living room with the football game on our flatscreen TV.  And when there’s aStargate Atlantis or Project Runway marathon on the tube, I’m in there all day, tearing fresh pages off, one after another.  I’ve written in cafés, in hotel rooms, at the MFA in Boston in front of original van Gogh paintings, on trains, buses, and airplanes…though the cabin pressure tends to force the ink out of my fountain pens in big blots.  Messy business when I’m traveling to Los Angeles.

Bec: What genres do you most like to read/write?

I love Paranormal Romance – to read and to write.  I love good, spooky horror, preferably light on the gore.  I’m a sucker for a mystery, an epic science fiction tale, anything, really, even the literary genre.  I used to say that I hated Westerns because growing up, that’s what they showed on TV for the rest of the weekend when the cool stuff, the Creature Double-Features, weren’t on.  Then I wrote a romantic Western and have been in love with the genre since, to read and to write.

Bec: If you came face to face with the REAL Santa, what would you say to him?

How the hell did you get in and out of the heating system in the house where I grew up?  We had no chimney.

Bec: Do you find writing a lonely profession?

I did, once, a very long time ago, but even then the payoff for devoting my time to so worthwhile an effort far outweighed anything else I might have gained by walking away from the desk.  Today, and for the past six years, I don’t feel alone.  In the late spring of 2006, I gave my Muse a face, and he’s been a constant companion, equal parts taskmaster and lover.  So I certainly don’t feel lonely or alone, and if I don’t spend copious amounts of time with the Muse, the writing, I get very cranky.  So does he!

Bec: Which do you think is more valuable to a writer: Toilet paper or printer paper?

I live in the country, where we have plenty of trees and, as such, leaves, so I’m going with the printer paper.

Bec: What would you share with a beginning writer?

To write often, every day in fact.  You can always find some time to put fingers to keyboard or pen to paper.  A true writer will generally do this anyway; it’s impossible to resist the Muse.  To write when no one else believes in you. To edit fiercely and submit only your best effort, every time.  When an editor passes on a manuscript but asks to see your next, thank the editor and send along your next.  More than anything, to embrace one’s writing like the gift that it is, which is a second heartbeat, as important as blood and oxygen.

Bec: What do you wish someone would have told you when you first started your writing journey?

Demand ‘Notice of Tentative Credits’ upfront and early – a screenwriting term I learned the importance of too late while working on my two episodes of Paramount Television’s Star Trek: Voyager series.  ‘Notice’ entitles you to see how the writing credits will appear at the start of your episode and to challenge them if your name isn’t spelled correctly (or even there!).

Bec: If there was only one kind of cheese in the world, which would you like it to be?

Muenster.  Because it’s really yummy and it sounds like “Monster.”  We love our Monster Cheese in this house, with rosemary and olive oil crackers, summer sausage, and big bunches of red seedless grapes.

Bec: Do you think having other writers as friends is a good thing for your growth as a writer?

I think having the right writer friends can be tremendously helpful.  Throughout high school, my friendship with a poet named Tina proved invaluable.  We read our work to one another, wrote together, talked shop and shared our very big dreams.  For the past nineteen years, I’ve split my time between three different writing groups, with mixed results.  I’ve met and made some great friends, but also seen the absolute worst that can result from rubbing elbows with your fellow creatives, such as jealous writers seeking any entrance into the publishing realm; individuals who would leave deep divots in your spine from walking over you.  So again, the friendships that result can be wonderful and supportive, and those are the ones you want.  The people who knife you in the shoulders are to be avoided, and will make great villains in your stories.

Bec: What’s your favorite book? Why?

I would have to say On Writing by Stephen King.  That book gave me a sort of permission slip that I needed at the time when I first read it.  I usually read that book twice yearly as a bit of a refresher.  It’s also a fun read.  On my recent trip to New York City, I cracked open the latest issue of The Writer and read it cover to cover.  I enjoy upbeat trade publications.

Bec: What’s your favorite kind of jello?

Black raspberry or blackberry.  This question conjured an image I haven’t thought about in a very long time: seeing the plastic rings of jello parfait at the grocery store when I was a kid, all those bright and dreamy colors, and salivating in response.  To this day, I’d take jello with fruit over chocolate cake any night of the week.

Bec: Who’s your favorite author? Why?

Edgar Allen Poe.  When my first book Ghost Kisses was published in 1994, I would travel to my writers group a few hours early on Thursday nights with a fresh contributor copy and a beat-up paperback of Poe’s stories and poems in my backpack and camp out in a remote grotto outside the campus library where that group used to meet.  There, I would read Poe aloud, and memorized my favorite of all poems, his or otherwise, “Lenore.”  My book was a collection of Gothic gay romance tales, so we established a kind of literary kinship.  I love Poe.  Years later, I still have “Lenore” memorized, line for line.

Bec: Is there anything you would like to share that I haven’t asked you about?

Only that I truly appreciate your interest in me and my work.  Being a writer isn’t the easiest thing in the world, all the time.  But I daresay it’s the most rewarding.  I hope that shows in the writing of mine you’ll read – that I loved the creative process and, as a result, your emotions, too, were stirred.

Bec: Thank you for stopping by and sharing! Best of luck with your book and future projects!

 

©Rebecca Besser & Gregory L. Norris, 2012. All rights reserved.

Writer’s Blind Spot – The Value Of A Reader’s Feedback

You – as a writer – have the challenge of putting you visions and ideas down on paper with words.

Most of the time you can clearly see everything in your head, and sometimes you forget the reader can’t. This is what I’m calling a ‘Writer’s Blind Spot’. There’s a slight gap in what you know and what needs to be conveyed to the reader, and it’s very important for you to make everything clear for those who will read your work.

You have a perspective on the story that no one else can have, because it’s in your brain as your own creation. When you type (or write) it out sometimes little details that you know aren’t communicated to the reader. This can cause confusion.

A good way for you to make sure that everything is coming across clear and makes sense (and that you haven’t left out important details), is to have someone read your work and give you feedback.

The feedback most specific to the issue of a ‘Writer’s Blind Spot’ would be confusing wording, or lack of information that’s somehow integral to the story.

If a reader (for any reason) finds a part of your story confusing, or says it doesn’t make sense, you should at least take that into consideration and go through the scene again to see if you can make it more clear.

If something is confusing for the reader, it’s not their fault!

As a writer it’s your job to make sure that what you’re trying to get across is getting across, otherwise you’re failing the reader.

I know that the first reaction of a writer is sometimes, “What? Are they stupid? I couldn’t make it more clear!” But, if that was the case, the reader wouldn’t be having issues, now would they? (And I’m sure some of you are cursing me right now for saying all this! LOL) As it happens most times with critiques, once you calm down, you start to see the merit behind such comments and realize your mistake. Make sure you don’t lash out at your reader, because again, it isn’t their fault!

You have to keep in mind that every time a reader stops to question anything, they’re being taken out of the story. If they have to go back two pages to see if something makes sense or if they just read something wrong, it takes them out of the story.

You never want your reader to be out of the story!



That’s why I say its a failure on the part of the writer. If your reader can’t ‘enjoy the ride‘ of your story/book, then what’s the point of them reading it? You aren’t going to get fans or loyal, repeat readers of your work if they have to re-read everything to understand it!

Take the time to get reader’s feedback, and when they give it to you… Listen! Because the readers aren’t stupid — they’ve noticed that you’ve failed them.

 

©Rebecca Besser, 2012. All rights reserved.

Interview with Author Nikolas Robinson

Bec: Welcome to my blog, please start out by sharing a little bit about yourself –

I’m no good at talking about myself…I always hate this part of anything…filling out a profile on a social network site or anything else. I can’t help but wonder why anyone would care to hear about me…I find myself to be really quite boring. If I have direction, I can manage to talk about myself, so I think I’d prefer to just answer direct questions and see where those lead me…good lord, I hope that I don’t end up making a total ass of myself.

Bec: What first got you interested in writing?

I don’t know…I’ve been reading since I knew the alphabet…and I actually started writing little illustrated stories back in 1st or 2nd grade…I actually recently rediscovered some of those insipid stories not altogether that long ago in a box of photographs and newspaper clippings that my mother passed my way. If I’m being totally honest, I feel like it was always what I was meant to be doing…the only thing that ever really made me feel complete…and somewhere along the way, in my 20’s, I lost sight of that…and lost my drive…my motivation…my mojo…whatever the hell you want to call it.

Thankfully I extracted my cranium from my anus and started writing again…and with greater focus than I had before.

Bec: What are the worst struggles you think writers face, writing and marketing?

Honestly, I think the biggest hurdle would be in obtaining representation of a literary agent. I made half-assed attempts to query agents with my first novel as I was approaching what I (stupidly, mind you) considered to be the final draft…and though I even happened to receive some rejections that included small amounts of praise for the sample material that was submitted along with the query letter, I did only meet with rejection.

The problem is in saturation, I think…literary agents and publishers receive so many queries and manuscripts on a daily basis that they simply can’t take the time necessary to really fall in love with someone’s material. And some of us aren’t altogether too good when it actually comes to hooking someone or adequately promoting the work. It’s hopelessly naïve, and I’m aware of that fact, to believe that the work should speak for itself (in writing and in everything else)…but I can’t get past that childish perspective for myself. I’m not equipped to shamelessly promote myself…I can’t properly cobble together treatments and summaries of what I’ve written…I already wrote the whole damn novel.

It’s that whole process between completion and sale that I think, at least personally, has to be the worst struggle…well, that and the fact that literacy isn’t exactly a high priority these days.

Bec: Tell us about your book/s –

Well, since self-publishing was decided upon as my outlet for my first novel, I decided to cobble together a collection of various poetry and the like that I had accumulated over a handful of years and use that as a way to test out the process of formatting and assembling a work for digital publication through Amazon’s Kindle store. Thus we end up with A Wreck In Progress: Assorted Poetry.

A few months later I felt like I had adequately formatted and self-edited my first complete novel, Unspoken. Of course, it isn’t perfect, being without the benefit of having a real editor and whatnot. I do believe that it turned out fairly well, all things considered, especially for a first novel. As imperfect as it might be, the final product is still something that I am proud of.

At present those are my only two completed works, but I do have plenty of additional material that is working its way through the ridiculous, convoluted pipe that is my creative process.

Bec: Are you working on a sequel/s?

I actually have entertained the thought of revisiting the protagonist from Unspoken in short fiction at some point, seeing where he is and how his situation might have changed for the worse (since I sincerely can’t even conceive of how his situation might have improved).

Bec: Rain drops or snowflakes?

Rain drops are preferable…snowflakes are what I get.

Bec: What other projects are you working on or involved with?

I have a couple of short stories that I’m polishing up for submission to a couple of different anthologies.

There’s a particular short story that I’m in the process of expanding to somewhere between novella and novel-length because it feels too skeletal to me in the current state.

In addition to the smaller scale material, there are four novels that I have in progress (in varying states of completion), and I’d like to pretend that I know which will be finished first, but there is a lot of fluctuation involved and I literally have no idea.

Of those four novels in progress, two are horror (zombie-related, though totally unrelated and coming at the theme from totally different directions), one is a sort of postmodern urban fantasy, and the other is a sort of horror/science fiction oriented project.

I would more than likely be finished with one or more of these projects were it not for having my children to take care of as well as needing to continue working a full-time job in healthcare (though said job does provide me with adequate downtime with which I am frequently able to get more writing out of the way).

The kids are some of my biggest supporters though, and I couldn’t be luckier, I don’t think…and I’m just glad that I can provide them with at least a half-assed example of someone who refuses to quit and continues to pursue their dreams…even when failure is a real possibility.

On top of the actual writing, I occasionally entertain the thought of working on music again, though that rarely ever grows beyond an embryonic state, which is too bad, because I have matured as a musician a great deal since my previous project was dismantled. Maybe someday I will actually begin recording again, who knows?

I’m including a link to the artist profile for my old material on last.fm though, just in case anyone is interested in seeing just how much of a goth kid I was back in the day.

(http://www.last.fm/music/Alter%20Noctvm…Alter%20Idem?ac=Alter Noctvm)

Bec: If you could create a planet for the human race to live on, what would it be like?

I don’t know…but I would want to name it Bob, like in Titan A.E. I suppose, if I am being honest, I would make it a nightmare of an environment, something terribly inhospitable where human survival is concerned…I think that the best we’re capable of being tends to arise from that sort of thing…what was it that Hitler said about privation being our strength? Wait…paraphrasing Hitler probably isn’t the best thing…well, it’s said already, and even a total nutcase like that man could say things that make sense. I hope that I haven’t offended anyone.

Bec: What’s your favorite color?

I don’t know…I like rich, deep shades of blue, green, red, and purple…how’s that for a specific answer? I guess that I have a problem committing.

Bec: What’s your favorite animal? Why?

I want a lemur…I don’t know if that makes it my favorite animal, but I want one…almost desperately. I also want a wallaby. I think that I just want something that jumps and hops around absurdly…I have no idea.

Bec: Do you like to listen to music while you write or have complete silence?

There is no binary, yes/no answer to this question for me, and it seems like a larger issue than just music. There are a number of times when I need the television on or music playing simply for the purpose of providing background noise. Occasionally I can only seem to write if I happen to go so far as to remove myself to a location where ample background noise exists independent of my producing it.

With respect to music itself though, there is one particular thing that I have in progress for which I have put together a playlist on my iPod and within iTunes so as to listen to specific tracks that seem to set the right tone for what I’m working on…songs with a particular theme, sound, or more nebulous quality to them which suits the material in question…maybe sort of a soundtrack to the movie taking place in my mind.

Bec: What genres do you most like to read/write?

I have what qualifies as almost an obsession with hard-science fiction, which is probably what I read more than any other genre. Beyond that I happen to very much love horror, fantasy (urban and epic), postmodern literature, and (strange as it might seem) westerns.

Bec: If you could make up a game show for television, what would it be like?

I would like to see something incorporating masturbation…violence…and viscous fluids of an unknown nature…not separately, but used in conjunction with one another. There would be questions, obscure questions without any right/wrong answers…and the host would arbitrarily determine whether the provided answers were valid based upon whatever biases they happen to exhibit…maybe they happen to find the particular contestant attractive in some way or they dislike the sound of their voice? That seems like a fun game show to me…where there’s really no way of knowing whether you have won or lost until you are informed of the outcome. I’d like an atmosphere of tension that borders on terror…maybe go so far as to have the contestants pulled off the street after signing a waiver for something else entirely…but with small print that allows for them to be pulled into the game show without any warning…draw from that pool of people who are so desperate to experience their 15 minutes that they will sign anything if they think it might get them onto television somehow?

Bec: Do you find writing a lonely profession?

My initial impulse is to be a smartass and claim that any profession that I participate in would be a lonely one by default…but not really, not writing…I have plenty of company all the time (fictional or not). There are always my children and other loved ones in the picture as well, even when I desperately strive to find isolation.

Bec: If you could have any super power you wanted for a week, what would it be?

I don’t want a super power per se…but, if you’ve seen the movie Limitless, well…that is what I want…I want that drug more than I’ve probably ever wanted anything…what I wouldn’t give to have even a year of my life with that sort of preternatural clarity and focus.

Bec: What would you share with a beginning writer?

Being essentially a beginning writer myself, at least as far as making a career of it is concerned, I really don’t feel like I am in much of a position to offer advice or anything of the sort. I can say, without any hesitation, that they shouldn’t do what I did, which is to essentially cut off that aspect of my life and stop writing altogether for a number of years. I regret that more than damn near anything…and I have plenty to regret.

Bec: Giraffe or elephant?

Elephants never forget…but I am 6’ 4”, so maybe giraffe is more appropriate? Hell, I don’t know…you decide!

Bec: What do you wish someone would have told you when you first started your writing journey?

I wish that someone had told me that I was more than likely wasting my time and setting myself up for almost inevitable failure…not for any real reason, just because.

Bec: Reptile or fuzzy critter?

Since all I happen to have are fuzzy critters, I’ll have to go with that option.

Bec: Do you think having other writers as friends is a good thing for your growth as a writer?

I don’t know how much it aids in growth as a writer…but it is nice to be able to discuss the topic with other people who have been where I am (even if they were there a long time ago and have long since established something more of themselves)…to just talk with people with the same passion is actually quite nice, even if the nuts and bolts of writing isn’t part of the dialogue.

Bec: Pen or pencil?

Pen

Bec: What’s your favorite book? Why?

Dune by Frank Herbert would have to be my favorite book for a number of reasons…the exploration of human potential to a totally fantastic degree…the assumption that humanity would still be around so far down the road, spread out through the galaxy and thriving while still suffering from the same ludicrous and petty power struggles that we presently experience…there’s a sort of optimism in Herbert’s work that I always loved.

Bec: Who’s your favorite author? Why?

Alastair Reynolds, a physicist and hard-science fiction writer. The man has a skill when it comes to extrapolation and speculation that is unparalleled in my opinion, and the scope of his writing is almost awe inspiring to me.

Bec: Is there anything you would like to share that I haven’t asked you about?

I could probably manage to get my hands(?) on a VD that I could share? I don’t imagine that you, or anyone else reading this, would be even remotely interested in something like that though.

Seriously though, I just want to thank you for the opportunity to be put on the spot and forced to think about these questions in such a way as to force me to put answers together…as incoherent and ridiculous as some of those answers might actually have been.

 

©Rebecca Besser & Nikolas Robinson, 2012. All rights reserved.

Small Presses – Warning Signs

I’ve been disgusted lately with how some small presses are conducting themselves — basically tricking people who they’ve pissed off in the past into submitting to them under a different imprint. So, I’ve decided to talk about some things you should watch for when you’re considering submitting to a small press you aren’t familiar with or that seems suspicious.

Things to check and/or watch for:

1) If a press doesn’t have a website or forum, or somewhere else that’s established for you to learn what they’re about and openly provides a way to contact them, then they’re probably not real. A real business should want to be recognized as one. (Presses that are LLCs, etc, are good presses because they’re a registered business. Nothing is a 100% guarantee, though, so don’t go by that alone.)

2) The press has multiple imprints that are publishing the same types of books.

NOTE: Having various imprints is okay, especially if they’re for different types of books or genres, but if they’re all exactly the same, that means someone is having trouble somewhere and trying to salvage themselves by pretending to be someone/something else.

3) You hear bad things from other writers you know.

NOTE: If you hear something minor from one or two people, you shouldn’t worry. Not everyone is going to have a good experience with every press they sub to. But, if you hear there have been issues from a lot of people, or there are any websites dedicated to hating the press or the owner, beware!

4) Check the Preditors & Editors site, and others like it to see if there have been reported problems.

5) Check online retailers to see if the books the press has put out have any reviews. If there are low numbers (or no) reviews for books that have been out for a long time, they aren’t marketing them, and they won’t market you. Also, the quality of the reviews should be taken into account. If you have five people giving bad reviews for poor editing, etc, then you’ll probably want to steer clear of them.

6) If their are a lot of canceled projects, or if there is a big, fast turnover in projects.

If they’re cancelling projects all the time, then you don’t want to waste your time with them because you never know when something might be dropped.

Also, if there is a big turn over in projects, then they’re not giving each one the time it deserves. It takes time to edit and format, and make sure that everything is the best quality it can be.

NOTE: Project delays are to be expected once in a while. Editors and press owners are human beings and have families and lives too, so sometimes things might get delayed for a couple weeks to a month if there are minor issues. This is not something to panic over, especially if the press has a good track record.

7) Editors being snotty or not responding to submission with acceptances or rejections. Unless it’s stated in the press’ submission guidelines that no response within a certain time period is a ‘no’, then they should get back to you. If they haven’t, it’s okay to query and see if they’ve received your submission (Email submissions sometimes don’t make it through, and even paper ones can get lost.). This is usually best done when they’ve announced that they’ve made a TOC or accepted all stories they will be using, or before. Don’t bug an editor — I can even get snippy with people that do that. I don’t mind an occasional email asking about the project though, if it has been a while since I’ve contacted everyone.

These are just a few things to look for before you submit. Keep in mind you might have success with presses others didn’t, and that you’re eventually going to have a bad experience with a press; it’s inevitable. How you choose to deal with that when it happens is up to you.

When I get disappointed or have a break with a press that I’ve previously worked well with, I move on and warn people I know privately if I know they’re thinking of submitting there. It looks very unprofessional when you’re on Facebook or Twitter ranting about things. Mostly, I think it makes the people reading the comments think: “If they acted like that with the publisher, that explains why they had issues.” In essence, you’re often times drawing more negative attention to yourself than you are to the press that you’re pissed at.

Personally, I choose not to give things more importance than they have. It’s like with writing… You don’t drag someone’s attention to something unless it’s important and will play a part in the later parts of the tale. Otherwise it’s worthless info that makes you look bad.

Besides, they say all publicity is good publicity. Don’t give them your time when you can spend it wisely elsewhere, and don’t be their angry billboard!

Find out some things for yourself before you submit your work anywhere. Ultimately it’s up to you what you do with your writing and where you want it to be published. Just watch for warning signs and go in with your eyes open so you have less of a chance of getting burned in the long run.

 

©Rebecca Besser, 2012. All rights reserved.