Sharon Joss's Blog, page 7

Signs of Spring

Sharon Joss Writes

January and February have always been pretty tough months for me. The novelty of winter has passed. The post-holiday slump and lack of sunshine usually start getting to me by around mid-February. Then, just about the time I hit the bottom of my grump grove, like this week, the daffodils start blooming.

There are places in this world, like in the Ukraine, where wild daffodils (narcissi) still bloom in abundance. Narcissus has been lauded by poets throughout the world; it has been cultivated and improved since ancient times; there are narcissus societies and narcissus feasts (in Austria, for example, and in Switzerland). In Great Britain, the narcissus revered with almost as much fervor as the tulip in Holland — it is a national symbol in Wales. In China, one of the traditional names for the narcissus was “the fairy of the water.” Oriental wisdom says that the narcissus is “bread for the soul.”  In medieval times in western Europe, narcissi were used in making love potions–its fragrance was believed to inspire love of beauty and bring peace of heart.

To me, daffodils, in all their colors and variety, are the unmistakable harbinger of spring. In other words, nature’s way of telling me to put on my Chaka Kahn CDs and lighten up.

Tell me something GOOD.

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Chinese New Year 2016: Year of the Monkey

Sharon Joss Writes

Today begins the celebration of Chinese New Year, a fifteen-day celebration of early spring. Chinese New Year is a traditional time for families, community,  and togetherness. Wherever they are, people come home to celebrate the previous year of hard work, have a good rest, and to wish for a lucky and prosperous coming year with their families. This festival has also evolved to celebrate the start of a new business year and wishing for profits and success in various vocations. Chinese people believe that a good start to the year will lead to a lucky year.

A Nian

According to legend, the Chinese New Year celebration began with a mythical beast called the Nian, a beast who lived either under the sea or beneath the mountains. The Nian would eat villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, villagers put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food, it wouldn’t attack any more people.

One day, a god visited one of the villagers and told him to put red paper and firecrackers on his house. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the color red. When the New Year was about to come, every villager dressed in red clothes, hung red lanterns, and placed red scrolls on their doors and windows. Firecrackers were set off to frighten away the Nian.

From that day on, the Nian never came to the village again

In case you haven’t heard, this year is the year of the monkey–Fire Monkey, to be exact. “Monkeys” (according to those who take Chinese astrology seriously) are particularly careful about their health, love lives, career, and investments in Monkey years.

As Chinese people believe that the year’s start affects the whole year, and there are many superstitions and taboos for the Spring Festival season. Among the taboos:

No cleaning on the first two days of the festival
No washing hair on the first day
No asking for a loan
No crying. The cry of a child is believed to bring bad luck to the family, so the young are placated fastidiously.

I was surprised to learn that wearing red underwear is very popular during the festival. The color red is believed to ward off bad luck and misfortune.

So don’t forget to wear your lucky undies…

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A Book Signing in Salem: The Four Sparks

Sharon Joss Writes

The four Sparks, L to R: Me, Kim May, Dayle Dermatis, Leslie Claire Walker

I had a book signing today. I drove town to the Reader’s Guide (an indie bookstore) in Salem for a  book signing. The Fiction River anthology,  Sparks, edited by the fabulous Rebecca Moesta, won’t be published until March, but fellow authors of the anthology, Kim May, Dayle Dermatis, and Leslie Claire Walker and I all greeted readers, and signed copies of Sparks, as well as another Fiction River anthology, Alchemy & Steam.

Elements of a Good Book Signing

Kim, who works has worked at Readers Guide for eighteen years and set the signing up for us did everything right.

She contacted us nearly two months in advance to save the date
She had us send her our author photos and bios, which she used to design the awesome-looking announcement poster
She made sure the books were there on the date of the signing.
She set up our signing table right at the front of the store
She did a great job on publicity, setting up an event on Facebook, and encouraged all of us to use social media to get the word out, which we all did.

And it worked. We sold out of the Sparks anthology, and sold about half of the copies of Alchemy & Steam.  Most of the people who made a purchase knew Kim or were frequent customers of the bookstore, and came in specifically for the book signing. And I think it was more than the delicious cookies Dayle and Leslie brought that lured some of our future fans over to our table–we were having so much fun, people came over to investigate and walked away with a signed copy.

Hanging out with readers and other writers makes for a fun day. Many thanks to Reader’s Guide and Kim May for hosting such a fine and memorable book signing.

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2015 Awards – Eligible Fiction

Sharon Joss Writes

 

 

 

 

 

It’s January– time to offer up a list of my eligible fiction for consideration for the Hugo and Nebula awards. If you are eligible to vote in the Nebulas or Hugos, please consider my work. Awards are a great way for readers to communicate their enthusiasm for their favorite authors and stories each year. Personally, I look to the award nomination lists for recommendations of new authors to read. That was how I discovered last year’s The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison–it was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula, and won the Locus Award.  And it was the best book I read all year–I loved that book!

If you are interested in reading something for award consideration and you would like a free copy, please email me at sharonjoss DOT author AT gmail DOT com.

Short Stories published in 2015:

The Order of the Golden Grapefruit – Fiction River: Alchemy & Steam, WMG Publishing
The Ides of Nevah-Nevah – Galaxy’s Edge #16 (September), Arc Manor/Phoenix Pick

Novellas published in 2015:

Stars That Make Dark Heaven Light – Writers of the Future vol 31, Galaxy Press

(available to read for free here)

Novels published in 2015:

 

Steam Dogs – Aja Publishing

 

 

There are so many wonderful stories and books out there by amazing writers this year. I hope you’ll read widely and vote for your favorites!

Thank you.

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Slogging the Blog – Five Years

Sharon Joss Writes

I can hardly believe this blog turned five years old this month. It’s become such a part of me, I don’t even think about it.  It’s been fun, actually.  When I look back over the the last five years worth of posts, I can’t believe I had so much to say.  I’ve written more than 300 posts totaling more than 107,000 words.   Holy smokes, that’s a novel!

Most days the writing came easily, and I spent no more than an hour on each post.  StatCounter is the statistical blog tracking service I use. Since that first year, there’s been a gratifying growth trend in visitors, although I think I average out at about 50-70 unique visitors per day. I’m not nearly as prolific as Chuck Wendig or John Scalzi, but I blog at a pace that’s comfortable for me. I try to write one post a week, but there are times when I admit, the time flies by between posts, and 8 or 9 days can go by before I get a chance to put something up.

In 2013, I switched from Blogger to WordPress for my blog platform, and although WordPress suits my needs very well, I still miss the flexibility I had with Blogger.

Five Years of Statistics

Over the years, I’ve posted free fiction here somewhat regularly, but it didn’t really make that big of a blip in the visits, so now I only post free fiction here occasionally.  Right now, I’ve got Stars That Make Dark Heaven Light posted here for free.



I appreciate all the people who have stopped by for a visit, and even more those who have commented so positively and keep returning.  When I started this blog, I had no expectations that I would even last a year as a regular blogger.  I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to stick with it, but I think I can wear the blogger title proudly.  Five years later, I still love my blog.

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2015 Writing Income

Sharon Joss Writes

I’m going to take a cue from author Jim C. Hines and post my 2015 earnings income from my writing here. In part, because I really like the way he shows his earnings trend, and in part because I personally found it very reassuring and motivational.  He’s been tracking his income from nothing (in 2002) to a very successful level. And although Jim is a traditionally-published fantasy author, he has also begun indie publishing some of his own work.  Check out his Amazon author page here.

I also follow successful indie authors I know, like Anthea Sharp, Annie Bellet, JC Andrijeski and others, trying to emulate their success. All are USA Today best-selling authors. I’ve met these women, I admire their talent, and buy (and read) their books.

While I’m not a USA Today bestseller (yet!) or even paying all my bills with my writing, 2015 seems to mark the beginning of a positive upswing, which i’m hoping will be helpful to others.  By the way, none of these charts reflect the $5K winnings I received by winning the Writers of the Future Golden Pen Grand Prize.  Since that is a (large and) once-in-a-lifetime sort of thing, I didn’t want it to skew the data.

I was paid (pro rates) for three stories I wrote this year–one of which was was my novella, Stars That Make Dark Heaven Light.  At six cents a word, the novella length really helped to boost my income.  And although it doesn’t look like much, that 5% revenue stream from my “Indie Published Titles” was largely earned in the last quarter of the year.

I believe 2016 will be even better.

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2015: The List and the Lessons

Sharon Joss Writes

I’ve made a pleasurable habit of reviewing the list of books I’ve read during the year and looking back over the biggest writing lessons I grokked along the way.

2015 was (for me) a year of people. Of networking with other authors who I never in my life would have imagined I would have met, much less shared a room with or gotten advice from.  Authors far more successful than I, who conduct themselves with grace and good humor and don’t seem to mind the slavering babble of an unknown neo-pro like me. And the distinctly odd experience of finally meeting so many other struggling writers face-to-face who I’ve only known on the internet, and the experience of feeling like we’re somehow more connected than people I’ve only known in the flesh. Perhaps it’s because they’re writers, and the bond is there because we’re all traveling the same road, but the feeling of family or tribe or whatever you want to call it, is real and cherished.

THE LIST:

Managed to read just 50 books this year. Less than I wanted, but no less rich in the enjoyment.

Favorite anthology:  This year. it was an older anthology that appealed to me most. Mojo: Conjure Stories,  edited by Nalo Hopkinson, which introduced me to some terrific new-to-me authors (Barth Anderson  and Jarla Tangh were standouts for me).  I loved the tone of this anthology–very lush and textured. Hard to find, but worth the search.

Favorite new (to me) authors: A delightful plethora of new-to-me author books came to me this year.  Katherine Addison’s The Goblin Emperor was by far my favorite read in 2015, and I recommended this book to just about anyone who would listen.  In his own, modest and quiet way, the main character, Maia, became a beloved and unforgettable character–and every bit a hero. Nominated for both the Hugo and the World Fantasy award, this book breaks many of the ‘rules’ of writing.  I absolutely adored this unique world and story, and dearly hope the author will continue with the storyline. The other new-to-me author this year was Paolo Bacigalupi. His world-building in The Windup Girl was a revelation, and absolutely believable on every level.  Loved the politics, the society and the unique and well-drwn characters, even as the world itself was harsh and brutal–and hit pretty close to home.  I absolutely believed in this version of the future, and found it disturbing and engrossing. And last, but not least, Andy Weir’s The Martian is simply my favorite hard science fiction novel.  Period. Yeah, it didn’t hurt that the movie was good too, but I flat loved the humanness of this story.  For me, hard-sci-fi is often a hard sell–the stories are more about the science than the characters, and Weir’s hero, Mark Watney is real and unforgettable. The story is so very plausible makes it hard to remember that it’s fiction.

Notable Classics: I am a long-time Tim Powers fan, but had not read The Drawing of the Dark until this year.  It is by far my favorite Powers novel, and one of my favorite novels of all time. I adored this retelling of the Fisher King legend through the eyes of a war-weary soldier-of-fortune-now-brewery-bouncer, Brian Duffy. I tell you, this world needs more books with alcoholic bouncers as the main character! Wonderful, wonderful storytelling. That I was able to meet the the author this year and get him to autograph my copy of the book makes it even more special to me.

Favorite Writing Book(s): Not exactly a book on craft, but Nick Stephenson’s Supercharge Your Kindle Sales did help me to understand categories and keywords much better. Not quite supercharged, but a measurable difference.

Favorite Books from Favorite Authors: Naomi Noviks’s Uprooted was an interesting change from her Temeraire series. I adore the Temeraire series, and I thought the characters in Uprooted lacked much of the emotional resonance I enjoy in her other books, but in terms of a fairy tale with teeth, this one satisfies. And Richard Kadrey’s The Getaway God, his sixth book in his enjoyable Sandman Slim series continued the adventures of the world’s greatest (or worst) anti-hero, James Stark with his usual hell-on-wheels abandon.

THE LESSONS:

Lesson 1: I learned to stop apologizing for mixing/mashing genres and coloring outside the genre lines.  Maybe this is one of the reasons why I’m not seeing much love from editors or agents. YES, it does make it difficult to design covers of branding when the story (or author) is not just one note. Last year, I wrote a lot of science fiction; this year, almost everything I wrote was fantasy. Maybe it’s a matter of craft–like I don’t yet know HOW to stick to one genre (and once I learn the trick, I’ll be best-seller). Or, maybe it’s just how I write and it’s one of the things that makes my stories interesting.  I don’t know for sure, but I’m done apologizing. For me, the choice to color outside genre boundaries is done to serve the story. The story is what it is.  It’s up to the reader to decide if it works or not.

Lesson 2. I learned that I CAN start a novel without knowing how it will end. For a rigid outliner like me, this is a pretty big deal. It’s a matter of trusting that the magic will show up before I get  to the last couple of chapters.  And dang, it does!

Lesson 3. I learned that YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY. There is no one thing that defines success for me. No single mentor or teacher or class or award or big-name author or marketing campaign who can make me successful. Letting go of the idea that success is NOT defined by one meeting with editor X or winning award Y or making the Z best-seller list was a big lesson for me. I sat down and defined my specific vision of success (and yes, the bingo chart helps a lot), by focusing on actions I control (most of which involve writing more novels).

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Advice: A Thermostat of Comparison

Sharon Joss Writes

The experts tell us not to compare our success against others. Good advice, yet where else are we nubies and neo-pros to go for the information we need to become successful? The very act of seeking to improve our craft invites self-comparison–which inevitably leads to feelings of inadequacy and indecision. Who should we listen to? Which advice is best? Which experts understand how to succeed in today’s rapidly-changing marketplace? Which mentors should we choose? Who can tell me what I need to do to become a successful writer?

The answer is (of course), it depends.

Three months ago, I moved from a freestanding 3-bedroom house in a rural/commercial area to a small (some would say tiny) 1-bedroom apartment in my favorite city.  The old place was spacious and comfortable, with a yard for the dog, and an attached garage. The new place (being so MUCH smaller) has none of those things, and required me to sell or give away almost all of my worldly possessions. Gone are the collections, antiques, photos, art, cookware, family heirlooms, jewelry (yes, I sold every bit of gold jewelry I own) and other items which I’ve amassed over the years and which have survived numerous cross-country moves. The apartment is 200 square feet smaller than advertised, and a week after I moved in, demolition began on the block across the street–5 days a week of jack-hammering which will culminate in 2 years with the building of a 200+ unit condominium complex. The old place was well-insulated and had a gas fireplace–perfect for chilly mornings.  The new place depends on the heat of my upstairs neighbors to maintain a comfortable temperature. I didn’t realize that until this week, when they left town for the holidays, and the overnight temperature in my apartment dropped to 63 degrees (even with my heater turned on all night).

And yet, I adore my new digs. The town is charming, people are oh so friendly. My concentration, creativity and writing productivity are better than at at other period since I started writing. My life is so much better for having made this move. And perhaps it’s all a synchronicity, but I’ve sold more books in the last 3 months than in the past 3 years combined.  I’ve never felt more optimistic about my future as a writer.  I’m getting warm.

Other people might not say so. Other (better) writers might look at my situation and say, this is a textbook example of what not to do. She should be doing x or y or z.  Get a job. Write in a different genre. Write more, faster, better. Yes, yes, and yes, that is all good advice.

I’m an avid fan of learning by example, and I pay attention to the writing and life lessons shared by more successful writers, each of whom struggled in their own way to achieve the level of success I’m aiming for.  Over time I’ve stopped following those who have become overly shrill with their rhetoric, particularly by those who perceive offense from commenters who mean none or belittle the actions of writers who are not drinking their particular brand of writing beverage. Writers who in practice present a ‘my way or the highway’ advice, even while espousing that there is no one way to be successful. That kind of attitude leaves me cold.

When I find myself becoming stifled creatively because of that a certain author says I MUST do, then it’s not the right advice for me.  When the advice becomes a yardstick, instead of the results, I stop listening. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t post my word counts every day. If anyone could show me the correlation between posting my daily word counts and making the New York Times bestseller list, I’d probably think about it.  It may be good advice for someone else, but it’s not a yardstick that gets me where I want to go. I’ve learned to trust the feeling in my head that says yes, this, more of this, please!

That said, the writers I pay attention to these days (be they traditionally published or indie), are on the bestsellers lists now— Scalzi, Konrath, Wendig, Howey, Bellet, & others. I read heavily in the genres I write in, even though I color pretty heavily outside the genre boundaries. And I’ve recently discovered the Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast, a really helpful series of podcasts featuring successful writers on their way to bestseller-dom.

Neil Gaiman said something once that I’ve recently come to appreciate. Something about when faced with a decision about what to do about his career, he asked himself, is what I’m doing taking me closer to what I want?  Not what other people say are what I should be doing, but what is right for me?

Seems like pretty good advice to me.

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Happy Solstice – Writing Year 2015

Sharon Joss Writes

Here it is, the shortest day of the year. A time to celebrate the end of darkness and return of the light.  It’s the time of year I review my accomplishments against the goals I set for myself twelve months ago, and develop/revise my objectives, plans, and goals for the coming year.

I wrote 135K words this year–less than half as much as last year, and far short of the 340K goal I’d set for myself.  I finished two novels (STEAM DOGS and CHAOS KARMA versus none last year), but I’d planned to write five. And I only managed to write five short stories (I’d planned to write eight).  Although my actual productivity fell far short of my plans for the year, I would not call it a failure. The learning opportunities this year have been extraordinary. I experienced my first interviews & book signings, went to WoldCon, was an invited panelist for OryCon, and attended four week’s-worth of writer’s workshops, including two weeks at Taos Toolbox. Incredible.

I’m starting to see tangible evidence that I’m on my true path, and that my writing is improving. Winning the WOTF Golden Pen award and being named finalist for the Canopus Award for science fiction are part of it, but positive reader response is thrilling too.  I also had three of my stories published in pro markets this year:

“Stars That Make Dark Heaven Light” (Writers of the Future volume 31)
“The Order of the Golden Grapefruit”  (Fiction River, Alchemy & Steam)
“The Ides of Nevah-Nevah” (Galaxy’s Edge)

And then there’s also the element of good luck, which one can never plan on, but which is so delightful when it occurs: meeting wonderful new people and finding my ‘tribe’ of fellow writer peeps, getting my very own trading card, and being invited to write a story for a closed anthology.

My resolutions for 2016 are to finish at least 3 novels, a novella, and at least 6 short stories.  And to enchant and thrill readers by writing the best stories I possibly can, and then do it again and again.

And to see the new Star Wars movie.

Happy Solstice.

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Writing Weather – Let it Rain

Sharon Joss Writes

My blogging has fallen behind this month–almost a month since my last blog entry. This is the longest I’ve ever gone without writing a blog entry. I’m not making excuses, but I’ve been incredibly busy. I just completed my second novel of 2015 (my sixth novel overall!). Fortunately, the weather has been cooperating–rain is terrific writing weather.

In case you haven’t heard, Portland and the rest of Oregon has been pretty much deluged with water lately. While the all-time Portland rainfall record of +20 inches in a single month (set in December, 1882) isn’t in danger of being broken, we’ve already received more than 10 inches of rain this month, and are on track to smash the Portland Airport record of +13 inches (FYI, the Portland Airport didn’t exist in 1882). Average monthly rainfall for this area is 6.77 inches. Beautiful Multnomah Falls now has two falls instead of one.

I finally had to break down and get Rowan a raincoat.  With so much rain, her thick coat acts like a sponge and doesn’t have time to dry out between walks. And while I’m not a fan of owners who dress up their dogs, this sunny yellow raincoat is absolutely adorable on  her.  She wore it for the first time this morning, and after everyone made such a big fuss over her, I think she likes it.

Writing and walking the dog is pretty much my life these days. The weather folks are telling us to expect rain through at least Christmas Eve, but I don’t mind. Today, I start working on the new novel.  Let it rain.

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