Sharon Skinner's Blog, page 14
September 8, 2015
#amwriting The Love-Hate-Love-Hate-Love-Hate Part of My Writing Process
While I am eagerly anticipating the release of my new book, The Matriarch’s Devise, and looking forward to getting into the hands of readers, as usual, I am hard at work on the current WIP.
Yesterday was a good day, an I love this character, did I really write that, it’s better than I thought day.
Today, not so much.
As much as I wish I could say I always love my work, I find that my writing process seems to contain a perpetual love-hate-love-hate loop that drives me to the “cliffs of insanity” where I find myself looking down and thinking of jumping off the publishing trail. Then I remember why I #amwriting in the first place and realize that if I don’t write, I’ll be right back here at the edge of the cliff looking down into an even darker abyss.
So I write and I work through the devastating doubt, ignore the blistering self-criticism, push through the I hate my work days. Not because I’m certain I’ll come out on the other side and fall in love with my work again, but because to do anything else is basically unthinkable.
Writing is an art form, but it’s also a passion. And there are few emotions as passionate as love and hate. As any artist knows, there is an amazing amount of truth in the song lyric by R&B vocal group The Persuaders. It is indeed “a thin line between love and hate.” At least until the final revision.
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September 3, 2015
The Matriarch’s Devise Cover Reveal
Here it is! The cover for The Matriarch’s Devise, due out November 2, 2015. Presales are now open!
I am overjoyed to have my words once more wrapped inside the fantastic art of Thitipon Dicruen (xric7). Thitipon is extremely talented and always manages to take the images from my head and enhance them, bringing the characters to life and filling them with emotion and meaning. Each time I look at the artwork, I see more of Kira’s world reflected than I could have imagined in one illustration. Ah-mazing!
Once more, Brick Cave Books has done a beautiful job of packaging my work. Just look at that color match in the title. I am so lucky to work with such an extraordinary and creative team!
I am so happy to be able to bring the next stage of Kira’s journey to my fabulous, faithful readers, who have waited too long to be able to take to the road with her again. Thank you for joining Kira (and me) on this marvelous quest. Also, a huge shout out to my editor, Anne Lind.
Thank you to all for your support and companionship on this publishing trek. I couldn’t it without you.
And, yes, I have already begun working on the next book. I will try not to make you wait so long for the next installment.
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August 26, 2015
Write What You Feel: Making an Emotional Connection
I drove home through a storm yesterday. Once inside, where I felt safe, I checked to make sure the animals and house were secure and then relaxed a bit. It got me to thinking about how the journeys we take with our stories, the ones that are memorable and stick with us, are a lot like driving home through a storm.
The discomfort and anxiety that we get in heavy traffic while also battling the elements, rain and wind, with thunder and lightning intensifying the unease, is exactly what we should be giving our readers, as we ramp up the tension and conflict.
Much like a method actor does in bringing a character to life, I think the best writers use their own emotional experience in their writing. In fact, I have stopped telling my workshop participants to write what they know, instead I say, “Write what you feel.” To me, that’s really the secret.
I may not know what it’s like to have a dragon as a companion, but I know what it feels like to have a loyal animal give me unconditional love. I may not know what it’s like to battle a troll, but I know what it feels like to be outmanned and struggling against huge odds. I may not know what it’s like to be a werewolf, but I know what it feels like not to be comfortable in my own skin and to have anger and power surge through me so complete that I lose control and forget for the moment who I really am.
This is where we connect with readers. Emotionally. This is where we tap into their hopes, dreams and ambitions. By tapping into our own hopes, dreams and ambitions, laying our emotions on the line, and showing it all through character, situation and plot, By doing this, we offer readers a glimpse of not only who our characters are, and who they aspire to become, but also ourselves and allow them to see their own potential to be amazing heroes in their personal stories.
Do you write what you feel?
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August 20, 2015
August 18, 2015
Why Don’t I Write About My Military Service?
As a woman Navy vet, who likes to tell “Sea Stories” and who is also a writer, I get asked on a pretty regular basis why I don’t write about my time in the military.
The standard answer is short and simple: Because I write fantasy, not reality.
The real answer is NOT so short and simple:
Because I write fantasy, not reality.
Because I prefer to write for kids and/or the kid inside all of us.
Because it’s one thing to tell a funny story about that time, but another thing to share it in a way that is truly meaningful.
Because I’m afraid my readers would find me much less interesting and engaging than they do my characters.
Because my time in the military was filled with a lot of stupid, much of which was related to my own behavior.
Because memoir is another word for spilling embarrassing secrets.
Because my young life wasn’t nearly as tragic or important as I thought it was at the time.
Because I’d rather not tell you just how many ways a young twenty-something can choose poorly.
And, maybe, because I’m not really ready to go there, yet.
Full disclosure: I have actually written a few things about my time in the United States Navy. So, if you are curious, you can find several such essays in my book, In Case You Didn’t Hear Me the First Time. (Warning: Contains Sailor Talk/Adult Language.)
And now that I’ve said I don’t write about my military service, perhaps, as happened when I said the same thing about Flash Fiction, I might just start.
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August 12, 2015
More Flash Fiction: The Treasure
Inciting incident: I sat down to write a Blog post for the week. But when I went looking for a topic, I discovered the opening sentences to piece of writing that was never completed and I thought I’d see where that took me.
Action: So, apparently I do write Flash Fiction, but it generally seems to take a dark turn. I wonder what that’s all about.
Results:
THE TREASURE
To all who come after, I bequeath the knowledge herein entailed. To those who would seek the fabled treasure of Al Kazmin, I leave this warning: turn back and you may yet live. Beware the siren that guards this tomb.
I have lived long and prospered greatly, spending my lifetime searching for and uncovering the greatest of treasures. In my greed for knowledge and riches, I sought to finally uncover the most celebrated treasure of all. A vast trove of wealth buried beneath an army of secrets and deadly traps.
Too late, I came to understand, the deadliest trap of all. Love.
The first time I saw her, she shone like the greatest diamond. Sheathed in silks, she could not have been more stunning, but the clothing she wore had been a lowly, undyed cotton, woven by her own hands.
Here is another treasure, I thought. One I must have. I will raise her up into luxury and shower her with riches. She will be mine.
Those hands. They wove through the air as she spoke. Graceful and fine, yet strong. If you had told me she could spin gold from the clouds, I would have believed. Believed as I came to believe she might love me.
Folly, mine. She had been sent only to punish me for my greed. Oh, I had never confessed to any crimes, never been found guilty in the eyes of any law, but my sins were—are—plentiful. And over time, she pulled them from me. One by one by one.
She led me like a dog on a leash.
Her bright eyes, alluring as precious gems.
Her soft lips, sweeter than the finest wine.
Her murmured promises, lies as great as my own.
The candle flickers. The air grows thin and my hand grows heavy, mind dimming with the guttering flame.
Her face fades from memory.
For all I would warn . . . but even her name escapes . . .
But she calls . . . she calls . . . and I must answer . . .
He finished deciphering the ancient text, wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped back from the stone tablet where the words trailed off as if the hand that carved them had been interrupted.
The lamp burned low.
How long had he been at his task and where was his guide? She had been beside him only a moment ago.
He opened his mouth to call her name, but his mind came up blank.
A sound hissed in his ears, the murmuring of a song. Familiar, yet strange. A lullaby from his childhood perhaps?
No. This was something earnest and sensuous. A dark and deadly aria.
It wrapped around him like a cocoon and sang inside him, gripping his heart.
The lamp clattered to the ground, went out, and darkness engulfed him.
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August 8, 2015
Highlights From the SCBWI 2015 Conference in L.A.
I’m late. I’m late. I’m late.
I know.
But for a good reason. I was in Los Angeles attending the awesome SCBWI 2015 Conference in L.A.
It was great to see so many writing friends, do some work, sell a few books, laugh a little, work some more, dance a little, and learn a lot!
Lin Oliver was, as always, a wonderful conference host.
Steve Mooser made us all feel welcome. 
I got to raise a glass with super author Ellen Hopkins.
I had a chance to dance with SCBWI Staffer Sarah Diamond and North Texas RA & BFF Carol Barreyre.
Molly Idle taught us that “You can’t always be an Oompa Loompa.”
Mem Fox enthralled us with her Picture Books, and Shannon Hale shared this bit of wisdom after unrolling a collection of rejection letters that stretched across the entire stage: “Even if there is a thing, even if it’s not your thing, you are not no thing, you are something with your thing.”
I had an excellent manuscript consult with Karen Grencik of Red Fox Literary Agency. She gave me great feedback and I am diligently working to make the recommended revisions to my manuscript.
All in all, one of the best writing conferences ever, and I gained so much from this year’s amazing faculty my head is still buzzing!
For conference highlights via twitter, check out: #la2015scbwi
For additional highlights of the hardworking RACs/RA/ARA/IC Volunteers & RAEs, check out this YouTube Video. (Look for my smiling mug about 25 seconds in.)
For a great blog post from one of this year’s fabulous faculty, Agent Kristen Nelson.
Don’t miss this excellent post by SCBWI 2015 Member of the Year, Lee Wind.
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July 28, 2015
Trusting Our Readers to Navigate the Seas of Publishing
Not too long ago, I read a comment by an individual who suggested that we need traditional publishers to tell us which books are worth reading. While traditional publishers may know a lot about what makes for good story and good writing, I find the idea that we should put all our faith, our decision-making about books, in the hands of gatekeepers, a bit appalling. My aversion to someone else deciding what books I should read is akin to how I feel about having someone else order for me in a restaurant. It’s a novel experience once in a while, but I wouldn’t want it as a steady diet.
Traditional publishing has served as the gatekeeping regime between writers and readers since we moved from the origination of self-publishing (click here for a list of famous self-published books and authors) and individual patrons to what is currently known as “traditional publishing.” At some point, access became limited in both directions by publishers and editors. Writers, in order to get published, had to convince an editor not only that their work was worthy, but that it would be monetarily worth their while. Readers were only able to select reading material from what the publishers deemed worth publishing.
For many years, there was almost no other way for writers to get their work into the hands of readers, except by investing small fortunes in self-publishing or photocopying and stapling together small portions and selling them as chapbooks.
Since their inception, traditional publishers have grown into huge conglomerates. Publishing is now a huge business with a bottom line and investors that need to be satisfied.
As an artist, one can say that there are a lot of things wrong with treating books as a commodity. However, authors cannot make a living by giving away their art. That is why book publishers and book sellers exist. The system was created to provide a way for books to reach more readers. Some writers may not like the way that process has changed over time, but in publishing, as in life, change is inevitable.
As an author of what was called by traditional publishers as “too quiet” a book to invest in, but that is now growing a lovely following of fans due to the boon that digital (POD) publishing has provided for independent authors and small presses, I have personally gained from the changing landscape of publishing. While my publisher is small and does not have the reach of a larger so-called traditional publisher, my books continue to gain fans and my audience base continues to grow.
There is an inherent risk for artists in not trusting our audience. I believe that most readers understand the difference between “junk food” reading and really good books. Just as I choose to eat healthy, I can choose to read what I determine for myself are really good books. But sometimes we just want that fast food morsel. And that’s okay, too. (And, if that is the chosen steady diet of an individual, at least they’re reading.) Additionally, because of the inherent subjectivity of art, to twist an old adage to my own purposes, often one reader’s junk is another reader’s treasured story.
I trust my readers to decide for themselves what to read. How about you?
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July 21, 2015
Characters and Emotion
I have been thinking a lot lately about characters and emotion. Partly, because I am teaching a writing workshop series and the next session deals with developing strong characters. Partly, because I have been dealing with some emotional issues and trying to sort out my own feelings and motivations. In fact, I missed blogging last week because of the emotional situation that I am dealing with, which is to say, some things take a back seat to dealing with the big picture stuff like death.
Normally the grieving process is pretty clear and understandable. Loss of love, or of a loved, one brings on unfathomable emotions. The death of someone with whom one has a complicated relationship is, well, complicated. The most difficult aspect is feeling things that one does not expect or cannot quite identify and label in normal terms, because the situation is not normal.
Sorting out one’s own feelings can be difficult. Yet, in the realm of “write what you know,” understanding emotional motivation is critical to being able to create believable characters. Complicated relationships fill the real world and should also fill your fictional world. We, like our characters, don’t always need to sort things out right away. Sometimes, it’s a process, part of the arc. But ultimately, we must work through the forest of our feelings in order to look up and appreciate the sun in the sky.
BTW–My Next Appearance:
How to write fiction at Mesa Library
Post Date: 07/22/2015 11:14 AM
Mesa Library is presenting a writing workshop, “On Solid Ground: World-Building for Engaging Fiction” on Saturday, July 25 at the Red Mountain Library, 635 N. Power Rd. from 10 a.m. to noon in the Roadrunner Room.
Author and presenter, Sharon Skinner will lead this two-hour workshop on how to transport your reader to a new world. A variety of elements go into establishing such a believable, engaging world. Skinner will teach on world building, including techniques for making it real and keeping it that way.
Skinner is the author of “The Healer’s Legacy”, “The Nelig Stones”, and “Mirabella & the Faded Phantom” and Co-author of “The Chronicles of Tavara Tinker.” This presentation is free but registration is required as seating is limited. To register visit: www.MesaLibrary.org and click on the Events Calendar.
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