Evette Davis's Blog, page 8
October 28, 2014
Dark Horse Official Release and Launch Party!
October 21, 2014
Finding Our Voice
September 2, 2014
The Amazing Blog Tour Continues… Pass it on
The Amazing Blog Tour Continues…Pass it on
Last week Andrea Dunlop tagged me “it” and asked me to participate in a blog tour. I’m publishing my answers today and passing the baton to two other talented writers – more about them in a minute.
For those of you not familiar with Andrea, by day she is my publicist and mentor, helping me promote myself as a self-published author. By night she’s a writer with an agent currently pitching her novel The Sojourn, which is the story of a young woman who goes to France for a year and becomes involved in a love triangle with ultimately dire consequences. Sounds interesting! I know I’d buy that book!
What am I working on?
I just returned the manuscript for Dark Horse, the second book in my paranormal romance trilogy, back to my editor. Writing is always an arduous process, especially as you near the end and you’re trying to ensure every word counts and all of the plot lines make sense. In paranormal fiction, this can be really tricky because the rules for whatever magic you’re incorporating have to stay consistent. If you decide vampires can walk in the daylight, for example, or drink alcohol, then it must remain so for the life of the story.
How does my work differ from others of its genre?
The books of my Dark Horse trilogy mix politics and current events in with paranormal situations and characters. My main character, Olivia, is a political consultant who gets tapped to join a secret society that intervenes in political races to maintain a civil society. Her adventure begins when an ancient time walker appears in her kitchen one day, changing her life in ways that she could never have imagined.
One thing that separates my work from much of the paranormal romance genre is that while the books are sexy, I don’t ask my heroines to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. (Except maybe the sword fighting) It’s important to me to create strong female characters that inspire women to be leaders and stand up for themselves.
Why do I write what I do?
I’m drawn to the bigger questions in life. Why do humans repeat their mistakes? How is it possible for extremists who do things like behead journalists in public squares to have followers? How can they win elections? Can we draw lessons from past history? I like the flexibility that the science fiction/fantasy/paranormal genres give me as a writer. I can examine these timeless human issues from the perspective of a 1000-year old vampire, or a time walker from the thirteenth century. These are creatures that have lived through the life/death cycles of the world and have a lot to say about human nature.
How does my writing process work?
I work four days a week in my office in San Francisco and try to reserve Fridays for writing. I also write most evenings and on vacations. I carry a notebook with me everywhere, so if an idea hits I can jot it down.
And now, it’s my pleasure to introduce Kayla Williams and Holly Lynn Payne. I know both women through my work as a writer and member of the Board of Directors of Litquake, San Francisco’s one and only annual literary Festival. Keep an eye out for their posts on Wednesday, September 10th.
Kayla Williamsis the author of the memoirs Love My Rifle More Than You: Young and Female in the US Army and Plenty of Time When We Get Home: Love and Recovery in the Aftermath of War. She is a former sergeant and Arabic linguist in a Military Intelligence company of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). She regularly speaks and writes about military and veterans’ issues for numerous media outlets, including MSNBC, CNN, BBC, Huffington Post, The Guardian, and Slate.
Holly Lynn Payne is an award-winning, internationally published author, writing coach and founder of Skywriter Books, an independent press. A Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers author, she has written four novels. Her latest work of historical fiction, DAMASCENA: the tale of roses and Rumi, is a mystical thriller about the wisdom of the heart. She loves helping people reclaim their voice through storytelling and coaches writers around the country.
August 20, 2014
When Things Go Wrong, Send in the Women
I’m obsessed with female leaders and their portrayal in entertainment. Are great women leaders seen as ruthless? Sexy? Brittle and sarcastic? Or are they kind, but firm, leading through inspiration instead of intimidation.
For me, creating a compelling female character is tricky. Too many portrayals of women in popular culture repeat outdated stereotypes or reinforce negative images. Recently, I shared a rough draft of book two in my Dark Horse trilogy with a few beta readers. The feedback about the protagonist Olivia – a woman coming to terms with an unknown past, while being groomed to lead a secret society – was interesting. Through their eyes at times, she was too weepy, too callous, too discombobulated and even disloyal. Although they liked the book, they clearly wanted Olivia to behave differently.
These are smart readers and I’m making some tweaks accordingly – but I also took their comments as validation that I’d hit on something with the way I’d written Olivia That is to say that Olivia is imperfect: human, a work in progress, striving to become someone better. Their responses also got me thinking about some other deliciously complex female characters. Herewith are my top five favorites. I’ll add five more in an upcoming post.
This 2012 Steven Soderbergh film features Mallory Kane, a double-crossed government operative who must battle her own colleagues, including the former lover who betrayed her, to survive. MMA fighter Gina Carano’s Mallory brings a combination of strength, courage, and wit that made this much more entertaining than your average shoot ‘em up – not to mention she did her own stunts. I particularly enjoyed Bill Paxton as her hapless father, who clearly knows the men sent to kill her are outgunned and outflanked.
Dated? Maybe. But she remains the original bad ass of the galaxy, a woman who leads a rebellion, commanding legions of soldiers as a princess, a term normally associated with flowing gowns and afternoon teas. Her bravery in the face of torture was admirable, as was the fact that—not withstanding her temporary enslavement to Jabba the Hut, where she was forced to dress as his concubine—she did it all without cleavage showing.
3. River Tam, Firefly and Serenity
Zoe Washburn, the soldier and second mate of captain Malcolm “Mal” Reynolds, probably strikes many as the prominent heroine of this short-lived but beloved television series and film. But I like River, the fragile teen assassin who is learning to live amongst humans again while she tries to come to terms with her torture at the hands of the government. Eventually she helps uncover a terrible secret, and saves her shipmates through a combination of heart-stopping brutality and intelligence.
4. Eowyn, The Lord of the Rings
Let’s face it: this trilogy is about men and their wars. Once the books were adapted for the big screen, however, Eowyn became an important character, demonstrating both vulnerability and incredible strength. Her decision not to be left behind as her clan goes off to war, and ultimately, her hard-fought battle against evil to save the king, marks her as one of my favorite characters.
5. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter
Hermione really needs no introduction. She’s often remembered as the ultimate over-achiever who is disdained for making people look bad, that is until her brilliance and bravery save the day. What I remember is that she had the strength to obliterate herself from her parents’ memories in order to save them, and then after enduring a hellish torture session at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange, had the fortitude to hold on to one of her hairs. Polyjuice potion, anyone?
Do you have some ideas about who to add to the list? Want to continue this discussion? Please send me your thoughts.
August 13, 2014
Don’t Judge A Book By Its Genre
Have you heard this one? A witch and a vampire walk into a bar and have a drink. They fall in love, but are forbidden to have a relationship. A conflict ensues and they spend the next three books trying to overcome prejudice, political malice, and murderous behavior.
How would you describe that book to a friend? Is it a paranormal romance? An urban fantasy? Vampire romance? Or would you call it plain old fiction or literature? The answer, it turns out, is it depends…
As a writer, genres matter. They’re meant to serve as guideposts to help readers find us. For books that are traditionally published, genres often determine which shelf your book will show up on in a bookstore, what the cover looks like, and even how the book is marketed and perceived. For a self-published writer like myself, there is a bit more freedom to choose things like my cover design and the keywords for an online search. But even I have to choose some genre label to help Amazon/Kobo/Smashwords determine how to market my book to readers. The problem is that genres can be a double-edged sword – at times acting as a misplaced marker that can turn readers away rather than pull them in.
The good news is that genre audiences are voracious readers and loyal, staying with the writers and themes they adore: historical romance, fantasy, noir, paranormal, science fiction, etc. I include myself among those who have anxiously awaited the next book from J.K. Rowling, Charlaine Harris, or J.R. Ward. Being a genre writer can be like being a part of a secret club, one where the language and customs are known and enjoyed by a self-selected group. The problem arises when, as a writer, you encounter a reader who doesn’t normally read those kinds of books. Even though your book might be right up their alley, they may never discover it, and therein lies the rub.
Some writers and books manage to transcend genres. Like the Spy Who Came in From The Cold, they catapult over the Berlin Wall of labels and categories and become mainstream successes, recognized as much for their literary merit as their genre appeal. Two recent examples come to mind. The first is Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Trilogy, which features a vampire, a spellbound witch, and a magical manuscript that may or may not be The Origin of the Species for supernatural creatures. The second is Edan Lepucki’s California – an apocalyptic novel written by someone who doesn’t normally write in that genre, giving the book far greater appeal to readers across a wide spectrum. Another good example is Margaret Atwood, who no one ever talks about as a genre author, even though she writes science fiction.
For the record, I adore most of the books and authors I’ve mentioned here. I’ve enjoyed their stories and improved my own writing by reading theirs. But I do ponder how well these labels work for books. In an industry that is rapidly changing – are genre categories even necessary?
On August 17, I’ll be exploring this topic in greater detail at Litquake’s summer session at the Jewish Community Center in Palo Alto with fellow genre writers Nick Taylor and Keith Raffel. Is it a blessing or a curse to be a so-called genre writer? Do we need genres anymore in this age of computer algorithms? As new writers do we need genres to help kick-start our careers? Do genre labels help self-published writers more or less than authors who come from traditional houses?
I’m looking forward to discussing these issues with two writers whose recent works take readers from a baseball-playing private eye who stumbles into a deadly conspiracy, to President Kennedy on the eve of the Cuban missile crisis. As for me, my most recent novel is about a witch, a vampire, a congressional election, the fate of mankind, and political intolerance. Any ideas about what genre to call it?
January 17, 2014
Evette’s op-ed in the San Francisco Chronicle
The following essay appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle’s guest editorials section on January 1, 2014.
San Francisco’s story will repeat
Living in San Francisco is like having a stunning spouse or companion. Everyone wants to be near you, which can be exhausting. Our city is experiencing that now. There are too many people and not enough places to live. Rents are rising, tempers are flaring and windows are being smashed. Read the full article here.
An interview with Evette on her childhood poetry and inspiration
What is the personal story behind ‘Woman King’?
As one of the few women working in politics and public affairs in San Francisco and the region, I’ve often longed for a confidant to discuss some of the more unpleasant things that have happened in the course of doing my work. That desire sent me off to write a play about a consultant who suddenly sees an ancient female warrior appear as her invisible mentor. Read the full interview on Smashwords.
January 13, 2014
Introducing the Mocking Jay Awards
Last year ended with mixed reviews regarding the number and quality of female role models in popular entertainment. With the exception of “Heat,” summer movies were a zero-sum game, with few women even making into the picture. Music was dominated by Miley Cyrus’ bizarre and overtly sexualized antics, and over in publishing, books with one word titles like “Lick,” were climbing the charts.
Mercifully by winter, the brilliant Jennifer Lawrence returned as Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of The Hunger Games, capturing our collective imagination with the release of Catching Fire, the second movie in the series based on the books by Suzanne Collins. Although brash and clumsy when it comes to her own relationships, the brave teenager does (spoiler alert!) help crush a republic—one that is rotting away, its populace degraded from too much food and a steady diet of television violence. Whatever lessons you take from this enormously successful dystopian trilogy, one thing is certain: in the face of oppression, the fight for democracy can be dangerous and bloody—something one only need look at the New York Times to confirm.
After immersing myself in Collins’ extraordinary trilogy and being blown away by Jennifer Lawrence’s spot-on performance as the complex, captivating Katniss, it was deflating to be reminded that both the actress and the heroine she plays are such rarities. Our pop-culture landscape is littered with over-sexed female celebrities whose contributions to our daughters’ perceptions of what it means to be a woman are, in my opinion, damaging.
To combat this depressing deluge of regressive dreck, I went looking for some real-life role models to usher in 2014 on a more hopeful note: flesh-and-blood representations of the courageous spirit of Katniss. Despite their conspicuous absence from pop culture, I found no shortage of examples of women who’ve shown Katniss-like levels of courage in the face of oppression and corruption, in some cases paying a high price for their strength.
So to begin 2014, here are my awardees for the first annual Mocking Jay awards:
The Night Witch. The New York Times Magazine recently remembered World War II hero Nadezhda Popova (known as Nadia,) a member of the all-female 588th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Force. One of the world’s first female combat flight pilots, she and her comrades would cut their engines and glide perilously close to the ground to hit their targets. The gentle swoosh they made overhead evoked for German soldiers the flight of a witch’s broom, earning the squad its nickname, the Night Witches. Popova died at age of ninety-two with her eight hundred and fifty two air missions largely forgotten.
Malala Yousafzai. An outspoken advocate for the education of girls, this brave Pakistani teenager and student began blogging at the early age of eleven and was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012, as a warning to others. One of the youngest nominees ever for the Nobel Peace Prize, Malala, who is now 16, managed to recover from her grave injuries and has since become an important global symbol of peaceful protest.
Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. Members of the punk protest band Pussy Riot, Nadezhda and Maria were sentenced to 21 months in prison in Russia for singing a song that was insulting to Vladimir Putin. On Dec. 23, 2013 they were granted amnesty and released – just as Russia prepares for international scrutiny on the eve of hosting the Winter Olympics. Minutes after being released, with television cameras filming, Alyokhina promptly rejected her amnesty, saying, “I don’t need mercy from Putin.”
Tetyana Chornovil. A reporter in the Ukraine known for exposing the vast corruption of the current government, Chornovil was brutally beaten outside Kiev just before Christmas. She has bravely allowed images of her face, which reveal the extent of her horrific injuries, to be posted around the world, her image a potent reminder of the brutal attempts at intimidation that go on in her homeland.
From the brutal treatment of journalist abroad, to the revelations of Edward Snowden right in our own backyard, the sad truth is that you don’t have to pick up a novel to read about dystopia.
What do you think The Hunger Games’ President Snow would have made of the women whom I nominated? Of their refusal to retreat, or express gratitude for false mercy? I’d also love to know who you’d nominate for the 2013 list. I’m certain I’ve barely scratched the surface of good choices, of role models who chose to devote their lives to a cause greater than their own fleeting fame.
Send me an email at evette.davis@gmail.com with your choices.
Try this at home: Reflecting on my first year as a self-published writer
Another work in progress: My Twitter feed
Not long after I became a self-published novelist, I sent out a tweet promising that I would “try never to make the same mistake twice.” If you count the fact that I often miss my target to tweet daily (oh, the irony) to keep up my social-media presence, then I have made many of the same mistakes more than twice.
Welcome to the world of self-publishing!
It’s a place of vast opportunity, but also great potential disappointment. Our roadmaps are newly inked, all of us cartographers of a future yet to take shape. On some days I hail myself as a genius, on other days, not so much. As I embark on the New Year – and Book Two in my trilogy–I thought I’d share some food for thought about lessons learned and fun tools I’ve discovered:
The roadmaps for self-published authors are newly inked, and all of us are the cartographers of a future that is still taking shape. On some days I feel like an intrepid genius, on other days, not so much. As I embark on the new year – and Book Two of my trilogy – I thought I’d share some food for thought about the lessons I’ve learned and some fun tools I’ve discovered:
Don’t be in a hurry. In traditional publishing, books can wait years for publication; self-publishing has the opposite problem. The ability to click the “upload” button without any gatekeepers whatsoever to stop you means that many stories reach the public before they’re ready. I did take time to have my first novel Woman King edited, but I should’ve given myself more time. Now as I work on a second edition of Woman King with an editor, I’m contemplating a longer timeline for editing and review of the second book in my planned trilogy.
Free, or nearly free, is often the norm. I used to think that being rejected by an agent was the most humbling experience I could have as an author. I’ve actually encountered something vastly more discomfiting: the frugalness of consumers on the Internet- especially for untested writers. It wasn’t until I made Woman King free as an e-book that I began to see any interest. My advice? Don’t be afraid to give a certain amount of your work away to build a readership.
Build an audience. One of my main tasks as I prepare to launch my second novel is to amass a following through reader reviews, social media, and blogging. Trying to create witty tweets while also finishing a novel, managing my day job, and being a participating member of my family is no easy feat, but it’s necessary if I want to bring my work to the attention of readers in a saturated marketplace. I regularly read other blogs, magazines, and online newspapers to help curate good content for my followers. I also speak at the public libraries in my area about self-publishing and attend local author events in order to be an active member of the community. To help manage my time, I write my blog posts and essays (like this one) in batches, rather than trying to draft something original every day. However you choose to engage readers—be it through social media or good old-fashioned networking-do it early and often.
Create a publishing team. Writers write. We don’t design book covers, create marketing documents, edit our own manuscripts, or do any of the other myriad things it takes to bring a book to life. Or at least we shouldn’t try to do all of those things ourselves. Whether you pay or barter for services (or end up just owing a friend a huge favor in return for their help), create a team of specialists who can help you bring your book to the marketplace that mimics the suite of professionals employed by a publishing house. At the end of the day, we should all want our work to be as flawless as possible.
Be ready to make changes. The freedom of being online is that readers can discover or sample your work at any time, which means that you can adjust the price, alter your marketing content, or even revise the manuscript itself at will. Don’t be afraid to go back and make changes that can help you expand your audience; take advantage of the fact that an eBook is a living document.
Explore serial fiction. Woman King began its journey to publication with my uploading it chapter by chapter onto Juke Pop, a curated serial fiction site. This turned out to be a huge opportunity to get the book in front of readers, where they promptly voted Woman King one of the Top 30 stories on the site. Eventually, I published Woman King as a standalone novel, but you can be sure I’ll be placing excepts from book two on Juke Pop later this year.
It turns out a picture is worth a thousand words. As of late I’ve been dabbling in Pinterest and experimenting with way that images can help writers tell the story of their books and engage readers in ways that were never available before. What does a character or a setting look like? Do you have a music playlist that inspires you as a writer? Share images of the album covers or artists from that list. There are endless ways of posting images about interesting subjects related to your work so when you’re building your social media strategy, don’t neglect these opportunities.
Keep writing. Being a writer is a tricky business. Many of us are introverts who are secretly wishing for mass approval as we write our hearts out on the page. But don’t let that be a reason to stop. Seeing my imagination take shape on the page is always exciting and fills me with a real sense of accomplishment. So, be nice to yourself, and keep plugging away.
