Nina Smith's Blog: The Gothic Chicken, page 7

Indie author spotlight: Ian Andrew

THIS week Grammar Goth spoke to Western Australian independent author Ian Andrew about the biggest challenges he sees for authors taking the plunge into independent publishing, his latest instalment in the Wright and Tran detective series, and how he did at the Indie Wishing Shelf Awards, in our first indie author spotlight.

Tell us about yourself. What kind of stories are you most passionate about writing, and what are the themes you explore?

Indie author Ian Andrew

I was born in Northern Ireland, served in the UK’s Royal Air Force as an Intelligence Officer and then, after twenty years’ service, relocated to Western Australia in 2004. I’ve always loved detective stories, from Miss Marple to Harry Bosch and all variants in between, so when I decided to write a series of novels that would allow me to expand characters over time, it seemed natural to think about a detective series. However, I wanted both lead characters to be female, both to be ex-military Intelligence and both to bring to their investigations the types of skills they would have learned in the military. Not all of those skills are guns and violence - most of their traits are technical, backed with patience, analysis and centred on understanding the human psyche. Although both women can do the violence and gun thing if needed. I also wanted each character to be opposite sides of the same coin.

Tell us about the books you have previously published?.

My first novel was A Time To Every Purpose. It is an alternative history, based on one of those fascinating “What-If” moments that history is littered with. The story is predicated on one of those fleeting moments, when a single person could have decided to go a different way and, by that single action, changed the world. Set slightly in the future, in a world dominated completely by a horrendous regime, it also singles out that moment when people stand up for their beliefs and by doing so, challenge the status quo. It was published through ‘publish on demand’ technology in March 2014, was well received by press reviewers and began to gain steady downloads in paperback and e-book formats.

This reception for the book gave me the confidence to move forward with the idea of a series of detective novels. The first of these, Face Value, was released in May 2015 and introduced Kara Wright and Tien Tran to the world. The story sees siblings Zoe and Michael Sterling insisting that their middle-aged parents have gone missing. Kara and Tien are at first sceptical and then quickly intrigued; the father, ex-intelligence analyst Chris Sterling, appears to be involved with an elusive Russian thug. Using less than orthodox methods and the services of ex-colleagues with highly specialised talents, Wright and Tran take on the case. But the truth they uncover is far from simple and will shake Zoe and Michael as much as it will challenge Tien and anger Kara; anger she can ill afford, for she is being hunted by others for the killing of a street predator who chose the wrong prey.

Once more the reception for the book was positive and so I wrote Flight Path.

Face Value recently won a red ribbon at the Indie Wishing Shelf Awards. How did this come about, and what have you gained from the experience?

The Red Ribbon was awarded for those novels that just missed out on the finals list of the awards. Although it scored highly for all criteria, story, character, pace and editing, the judges didn’t like the cover and felt it wasn’t genre specific. The low score on that single category just dropped it under the “cut-off” and whilst disappointing, it was a great insight into something I hadn’t reflected on before. It has also led to quite a lot of debate amongst myself and readers as to whether I should modify the covers of both books, or continue to use the “theme” I have developed up until now. The balance seems to be that the covers we originally chose are effective and that we shall not be changing them to something more “crime clichéd”.

Tell us about Flight Path.

I suppose it’s a simple case of Wright and Tran are back!

The story begins when the enigmatic Franklyn, who is introduced at the end of Face Value, contacts the women and asks them “to make sure the dead are really dead." So it is that Kara and Tien start to investigate the apparent suicide of a local celebrity. Within days the women are embarked on a pursuit that leads halfway around the globe and into the darkest recesses of the human condition. Kara, Tien and their team will endure mental stress worse than anything they experienced from combat and, like combat, not everyone makes it home.

What are you finding to be the biggest challenge (or reward) when it comes to launching the second book in your series?

The biggest challenge was the expectations of the readers who had loved Kara and Tien first time round. Although I was obviously going to make the story as good as I could, their added expectation leant a small amount of additional pressure into the mix. Thankfully, the early readers have liked Flight Path and I’ve had the on-line equivalent of a ‘thumbs-up’ so I feel very pleased. The main reward is being able to delve back into the characters for book three which will be coming out at the end of the year.

What made you decide to take the path of indie publishing?

I figured I could spend years trying to get a traditional publishing contract, or I could concentrate on writing my books. The task of getting them accepted by one of the “publishing gatekeepers” was daunting and I felt it would be something of a lottery. So many great manuscripts end up on the bottom of the slush piles, so I determined to use publish on demand, based on the simple understanding that if readers thought they were good enough, then they would read them. I haven’t sold huge numbers yet, but given my limited PR capabilities and limited distribution, I can still feel vindicated that my writing is liked by people out there. I have outsold all other crime writers in a single bookstore in the South West (Barefoot Books, Busselton) so I know if I can extend my reach out to readers then the sales will come. In the meantime I have the independence to continue writing the books I want to write.

What do you see as the greatest challenge, for authors, of entering the indie publishing world?

As I’ve said, the biggest challenge is to extend our distribution into bookstores globally. This is the key and is incredibly difficult to achieve. Indie publishing allows anyone to write and publish but it does not come with a “quality filter” and some of the titles out there haven’t done the rest of us any favours. Because of this, many shops are cautious in taking on indie authors. It is possible, but you have to approach them on an individual basis and that takes time.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Write. Keep writing and read. Read what inspires and interests you. Write the same. Don’t give up and make sure you do it because you love it, not because you are going to get rich quick. Fame and fortune might well come along, but while you are waiting for it, make sure you are enjoying the experience.

Anything else you'd like us to know?

Independent authors in all their guises and in all book formats are now outselling traditional publishing houses and that bodes well for us in the future. But, it also comes with a responsibility to produce as professional a product as possible. That means paying editors, designers and artists to assist you with getting your book to be the best it can be. We have to grasp that responsibility if we truly want to challenge traditional methods of publishing.

The mapping of Shadow

Flower of the Great North Island Beyond the Night-Flickered Sea

IT is often said in Shadow that travelling is like a slice of stolen purple carrot cake: delicious while it lasts, but bound to end in varying degrees of death or (at the best) severe injury should you be seen in the wrong places.

Now don't be disheartened! Plenty of people have travelled Shadow and lived to tell the tale - the saying came, in fact, from a muse famous for two things. One, being the only person ever to produce a reliable map of Shadow, for which we will always remember him (should we ever find him). Two, for his legendary phobia of the outdoors. Why Gregoire of the Perilous Navigation of Unknown Seas did in fact set out to map all Shadow with such a crippling limitation we will never know for sure. Some say he took a dare from his brother, himself famous for his failed attempts at inventing a one-wheeled cart. Some say he was under orders from the king. Still others say he was stirred by the very navigators to whom he provided such inspiration in charting the medieval world of Dream, to conquer his fear and map his own mysterious world. Who can say? All we know for sure is that the map arrived by messenger (a Bloomin Fairy whom he apparently paid for the service with the tooth of a fire-breathing shark) but Gregoire himself was never seen again.

Following is the original map, reproduced in full, as found in our seminal collection of the myths, legend, lore and anthropology of Shadow, The Big Book of Bearflies, with the names he gave to the places he travelled to intact - largely owing to the fact that this map has discouraged muses from travelling for so long, that nobody has in fact revisited some of the more exotic locations (such as the shores of the Never Going to Cross it Ever Ocean) to find out why he named it thus, or if a more appropriate appendage could be found.

Happy travelling!

-Flower of the Great North Island Beyond the Night-Flickered Sea.

 

Grammar Goth editing tips #1: active vs passive voice

FUN fact: I reduced the word count in my current work in progress (Shadow Book 3: Shiny Things) by 10,000, simply by removing all instances of the word "was."

Let's take a look at the difference.

Passive:

She was throwing fairy dust at the vampires.

Active:

She threw fairy dust at the vampires.

See how it sharpens up the phrase? Here's an example of how I applied the principle to the first two paragraphs of Shiny Things while editing.

Passive:

Krysta Ishtar had been smiling for at least ten minutes. Her face hurt and the camera flashes made her squint. She looked sidelong at her publisher, who was also smiling fit to crack a facial muscle. “How much longer do I have to keep this up?” she asked through clenched teeth.

Jane Autumn was particularly good at speaking without moving her lips. “As long as you can. Your novel is the first thing to be published in five years that isn’t complete twaddle, dearie, so just keep smiling. Maybe you’ll even sell some copies.”

Active:

One camera flash stood between her fixed smile and a case of lockjaw. Just one. Krysta Ishtar looked sidelong at her publisher. “How much longer do I have to keep this up?”

Jane Autumn’s face powder cracked in three crooked lines around her bright smile. “As long as you can. Your novel is the first thing to be published in five years that isn’t complete twaddle, dearie, so just keep smiling. Maybe you’ll even sell some copies.”

I started by removing words and phrases like was and had been wherever I found them. As you can see, this is not just a matter of taking them out; most times you will need to restructure the entire sentence.

For example:

Krysta Ishtar had been smiling for at least ten minutes.

In this sentence I wanted to convey my protagonist's forced smile. This version gives her name and how long she's been smiling, which is fine, but the had been kind of drags down the sentence and frankly, makes it a bit boring.

However:

One camera flash stood between her fixed smile and a case of lockjaw.

This sentence gives neither a name nor a length of time, but that's fine. The time is not that important and the name can come later. What this sentence tells the reader is that there are cameras and a smile so fixed it may lead to an injury. Taking out the phrase had been made me find a way to focus in on the idea I wanted to express.

The practise of using active voice in your writing not only helps to tighten up your story, it helps you to clarify your ideas by making you find alternative ways to state them.

Happy writing!

 

 

Proofreading or Editing?

 

THERE is nothing quite so heady as the tumble of ideas, stories, characters and drama that spill onto the page when you write your first draft.

Your first draft, however, is just the beginning.

The first stage of the editing process is up to you, the author: typos, structural issues, inconsistencies in your characters, and little details that slipped by you in the first draft are all important. Does that character have blue eyes or green? What season are you in? Are all the subplots tied up to your satisfaction?

There are two important stages to the editing process once you decide it's time to hand your work over.

Editing:

A novel is a huge undertaking. The story that you have told is precious to you-and that's why it may be more difficult for you to identify structural issues, even after an initial two or three edits. This is when an editing service can help you to take a step back and get a fresh perspective. A professional edit will help you to identify weaknesses in the plot, unfinished business and inconsistent details. It will also identify issues such as passive voice, wordy sentence structure and basic spelling, grammar and punctuation issues. While all feedback on your novel is subjective-every reader is different-a professional edit will give you an impartial point of view.

Proofreading:

Proofreading is for a manuscript that is in its final stages of preparation for either indie publication or submission to a traditional publisher: you've smoothed out all your plot crinkles, you've tied up all your loose ends, you're happy with your story arc. All that remains is to make certain your writing is crisp and clean. This means proofing spelling, grammar, punctuation, and consistency-all that mechanical stuff, such as ensuring you have consistently used either American or British/Australian English, your dashes are in all the right places and your improper nouns are not capitalised. Some of this stuff might seem finicky, but that's what a proofreader is for-making sure the story flows from your page to the reader without any interruptions.

 

Shiny new blog!

 

The funky chicken.

 

How delightful - a shiny new blog to play with!

Welcome to my brand new site. Please, come in, take a look around, have a cup of coffee, see if there's anything you like. I fully intend for this blog to reflect the general state of my life - which is to say, it will flit from place to place, covering writing, editing and publishing tips, life in the country, ruminations on things dark and gothic, explorations into my fictional worlds and every now and again, stories about my chickens.

...Because it always comes back to the chickens. We call this one the funky chicken. (He's not a chicken at all, he's a guinea fowl who adopted us for the free food).