Barbara G. Tarn's Blog, page 87
July 3, 2016
Sunday Surprise
Words of wisdom, writers on writing, food for thought, whatever you want to call it, for your long hot summer! Enjoy!
But every morning I got up at 5am, sat in a coffee shop and wrote until I had to go to work (this routine changed over the course of 20 years, but that was what I did between 2004 when my son was born and 2013 when I quit). I wrote screenplays and books. Most will never be published or produced because they suck or they’re irrelevant now. I couldn’t get an agent. I couldn’t get a meeting. I couldn’t get a publisher to send a rejection in an SASE. I couldn’t get anyone to read even a few chapters.
But still, I plowed on. I tried to quit, but I’m stubborn like that.
I’m not mad about the years I spent trying to shake the literary tree. I’m pretty happy about them (in hindsight). We all come into this business armed with something. Rich spouse, years blogging, great contacts, a sharp eye for trends – whatever it is, we all have tools we can lean on.
I came armed with so much rejection that nothing any motherfucker said was going to get me to quit. I came with so much practice that I knew my process. I knew my strengths and my weaknesses inside and out.
Without those years of struggle, I probably would have quit publishing in 2012 when my mysteries started tanking. Instead, I reinvented myself again.
– CD Reiss
Social media is PUSHING.
And today’s reader doesn’t buy things because the author pushed them.
As a reader, I want a book to pull me.
When I see a book’s name pop up again and again among people I trust, I want to read it.
When the cover is beautiful and the hook is compelling, I want to read it.
When I meet the author and they are gracious and kind and insightful, I want to read it.
When I listen in on a panel and like what I hear, I want to read it.
When I chat with someone on Twitter, and they make me laugh and add value to my life, I start to think that their book might add value, too.
None of those things are pushy.
None of them happen *to* me, uninvited.
I don’t want to be the object that is acted upon. I want to be the subject that makes a conscious decision, that feels a twinge of curiosity and discovers something amazing. I want to be the person who acts, not the person who is acted upon. I don’t want to be badgered and nagged and wheedled and urged and threatened and cajoled and whined at.
– Delilah S. Dawson
“Don’t wait for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel, stride down there and light the bloody thing yourself.”
– Sara Henderson
If your books aren’t selling, there is only one piece of advice that is true, I’d say:
Keep writing. (…)
Survival is the most vital success an author can engineer for herself. Simply staying in the game — emotionally, mentally, productively — is huge. It counts for a lot and it is the way to a stable writing career. Again: this is a career of peaks and valleys. A lot of writers love the peaks but can’t hack the valleys. Learn to love the valleys for their ability to let you rethink and reframe your careers and give you a new peak to which you can look forward.
(…)
At the end of the day, the most fundamental advice is the same as it is for anybody: don’t get mired in drama, do your best work, sell it for what it’s worth, and try to improve with every iteration. Do not base that improvement purely on sales or reviews, because both of those are the result of a thousand wildly spinning compasses. Sometimes it’s on you, sometimes it’s on the publisher, sometimes it’s on the fates themselves. You control what you can control, which is the work. Write. Edit. Publish. Repeat. Survive. Look to a career that is not just the few books and the few years you’ve invested but is an ongoing carousel of the weird wonder that is a writing career.
– Chuck Wendig
Every time you hear yourself whining, stop and step back. Remember that whining is not a business model.
Figure out if the solution is easy or hard.
Easy might simply mean that you have to stand up for yourself.
Hard might mean that what you want isn’t possible the way the industry stands now. The question then becomes do you fight to change the industry or do something different?
Indie publishing has made it possible to step out of the traditional system and be creative without all the strictures that traditional demands. The new world of publishing is freeing, but hard in its own way.
The new world of publishing is as brutal as any capitalistic system is. The people who succeed are those who keep fighting, not those who sit around whining. Yeah, the fight might take years.
If the fight is worthwhile, then do it.
And yeah, it’s okay to whine. In the confines of your own house, to your closest friends, but not on social media.
But when you step into the business arena, do so with confidence. Stand strong. Believe in yourself and all you can do.
If that sounds like it’s impossible, then maybe this business isn’t for you.
– Kris Rusch
July 1, 2016
Random Friday
I got the link when I got home, so I’m posting it here – my success story @ David Farland Story Doctor!
Now I’m going to fill this with the 3 (yes, three) pictures I took on my weekend off – okay, there are more, but not for public consumption, LOL! So, there you go:
The (invisible) aviator at the Museo del Bozzetto – Pietrasanta
me framed in the streets of Pietrasanta
strange wood sculptures over a shop in Pietrasanta
And here’s #4 – a little extra for you foodies out there![image error]
my lunch in Genova
Have a great weekend!
June 29, 2016
Writer Wednesday
So, I’m writing this while still away, so it can go live while I’m on the train home. Non-writerly weekend off, I had to check a couple of manuscripts, both mine and by someone else inbetween meeting friends in Viareggio, Pietrasanta and Genova.
By next weekend, I’ll write the last tale of the southern kingdoms for volume 2 (will be shorter than volume 1, but then I’ll publish the single volume edition and they should be more or less the same length. Can’t tell until I write the last story, LOL!).
Here’s my notes about it, a handwritten brainstorming because it does need to find in the puzzle of Silvery Earth’s history![image error]
Sandals killed my feet (along with much walking, since I went to the train station on foot everyday except yesterday when there was the open air market in Massa), my legs hurt, so the last afternoon was spent in the coolness of home, translating a story back into italian. I saved an article or two to read when I get home, but no writerly links today – didn’t have time, didn’t ask my cousin’s wi-fi password and had limited tethering time with the smartphone, so I’ll catch up!
June 26, 2016
Sunday Surprise
Hi guys,
I’m Samantha and I come from another world – the original, old Silvery Earth, where people are immortal and never grow up. When I’m not switching bodies at will, I travel to other universes, especially books or movies. That’s how I met Rajveer the vampire , for example!
So, I’m taking over the interviews on this blog! And here I am, meeting people from other books/universes/whatever!
And we have a couple here! Who wants to go first? The tall barbarian or the blond elf?
Joris: I’m a Genn, not an elf.
Whatever… so you go first! Tell me a little about yourself!
Joris: My name is Joyrise, but this ugly, hairy barbarian calls me Joris.
Kolia *glares* You don’t have to tell everything like that!
Joris: So what’s the point? Try to think of her as our next employer.
Kolia: Really? You’d say that to our prospective employer? And then what, that we’re lovers?
Guys, we’re getting there! Can you please stop bickering? *sighs* Since you don’t seem to want to take turns, let’s make it a joint interview. Describe your appearance in ten words or less.
Kolia: I’m tall, a warrior with blue eyes.
Joris: Long blond hair, pointed ears, nothing any other Genn wouldn’t have.
And then you wonder why I call you elf. Maybe you were an elf in a previous incarnation! Do you have an enemy or nemesis? If so, who are they and how did they become an enemy?
Kolia: The Clan Cadwaller. They destroyed my family and threw me out of Caer Nittak.
Joris: No, they threw you in a dungeon, where I rescued you.
Kolia: Whatever, now I’m in exile. But one day… one day…
Joris: Yeah yeah… *rolls eyes*
Would you kill for those you love? And would you die for them?
Kolia: Definitely! Unfortunately when I tried to fight for my town and my people, I was defeated…
Joris: Don’t look at me! I’m Genn. The Magical Races are non-violent by their very nature!
Where do you live?
Kolia: Currently in Salamar, capital of the namesake kingdom. We’re mercenaries.
You are involved in a relationship – what is it about him that you find appealing?
Kolia: He’s a wizard! And has the longest hair I ever saw! And he saved me! And…
Joris: And he kept saying “I love you” to anything I told him, how could I resist?
*chuckles* What is the biggest challenge you face in the story?
Kolia: Ryan Cadwaller.
Joris: You’re obsessed with him!
Kolia: No, I’m not. He is obsessed with me.
Joris: Denial, Kolia… our biggest challenge it to take this ugly hairy barbarian back to Caer Nittak.
Please give me an interesting and unusual fact about yourselves.
Kolia: I’m your average warrior of the northern tribes…
Joris: I actually have a small portion of dark blood. I descend from Belfi, the Immortal Half-blood. And please, don’t ask Kolia about his family. Nine surviving children, can you believe it? These Humans do nothing but breed!
Kolia: Because we’re short-lived, unlike you! Besides, nine survived into adulthood but I don’t know how many survived the Cadwaller take-over, so… I might be the only one left now!
Mm, okay, thank you guys… *shoos them off* I know them… yes, from the late 1990s… Yes! “Kolia and Joris”, the 15-issues comic book fanzine by the crazy author of this blog! Took some adjustments, then… the couple of lucky readers of that comic may recognize the story, though. Hasn’t changed much… *mutters to herself* I really hope this is the last recycled story we see from this darn author!
June 24, 2016
Random Friday
Muse Randomness. Last weekend’s brainstorming:
This week’s vignette – almost a Happiness is, right?
And it’s because…
I booked the flights and the hotel, so London, I’m coming![image error] And I might have time for a trip to Hastings – the battlefield, not the city as well… in less than two months, whoot!
June 22, 2016
Writer Wednesday
I’m going to be slightly telegraphic this week. Writing: one more tale of the southern kingdom written, one last to go. Then I’ll be back to the vampires through the centuries for the long weekend ahead. Jumping on a train Friday night and coming back next Wednesday – which might mean next Wednesday the post will be late, unless I manage to do it from the netbook!
June 19, 2016
Happiness is…
It’s actually Createspace now… same old, same old…
June 17, 2016
Random Friday
Sooo, since my brain is already going mushy from the first summer heat (what happened to spring, huh? Damn!), I’m going to improvise. First, I’m reposting here an announcement I made on my private Facebook profile…
Dear Friends, since FB changed its agloritms again, from now on my blog posts will go directly to my author page. I may or may not share them here, but if you’d like to keep following my blog, you can either subscribe by email on the blog itself (in the sidebar by email or hitting the “follow” button if you’re a WP user) or “like” the author page and follow it from there. Thank you for liking and sharing the author page!
You might notice I took out the Networked Blogs widget from the sidebar as well. And yes, some of my “friends” don’t “like” my author page. Tsk.
Just kidding![image error] Told ya I’m not in my best form!
June 15, 2016
Writer Wednesday
The second book of Vampires Through the Centuries is now available for pre-order via Smashwords. And as promised, here’s the cover of Kaylyn the Sister-in-Darkness by awesome Shafali Anand.
And here’s the blurb:
Ten years after the return of the crusader, his people know he’s evil and try to get rid of him and his wife. Kaylyn escapes the fire of Baldwin’s manor with Bran’s help and leaves Lincolnshire for good.
A long journey through 12th century Europe allows her to meet other fledglings of her mysterious maker, Bran the Raven. Then it’s Muslim Spain and up to Damascus, where everything started for Baldwin.
A travel journal through the centuries across Europe, North Africa, Asia on the Silk Road, to the court of Kublai Khan and then India for the making of her brother-in-darkness, Rajveer… And it’s only half of Kaylyn’s story.
History and fantasy mix in this standalone book of Vampires Through the Centuries that will appeal to both historical fiction readers and vampire lovers all over the world.
Bonus story: The Return of the Crusader, or the making of Kaylyn.
The book will come out November 2, one year after Rajveer the Vampire. Pre-order price is 4.99$ – it will go up to 6.99$ withing the first week of release, so get it now! I even set up a Smashwords Series page!
