Austin Aslan's Blog, page 8

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The Islands at the End of the World



by Austin Aslan

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Today’s office.

Today’s office, brought to you by Great Smokey Mountains National Park

My very first blog interview

When you have a sec, head on over to ChristineyReads and check out my first published author interview. Let me know what you think. -Austin

 

 

 

My 1st trip to NY as an author (Reposted from Fallfourteeners.com)

(Note: This is re-posted from its original published location over at Fallfourteeners.com.)

I hope you’ll forgive me. This blog post is a bit of an indulgence on my part, as it may only be remotely interesting to me; I’m setting out to chronicle nothing more and nothing less than a series of office visits. I don’t think my experience below is any more exciting or more special than any person’s first day on their dream job. It was a wonderful set of moments for me, though—the physical manifestation of a life-long dream come true. My only hope here is that it speaks to that special dream in all of us, and that it inspires us to believe that we can accomplish anything that we put our minds to.

I’m the son of a small town firefighter and truck driver from a rather remote part of mountainous central Arizona. It’s hard to properly put into perspective the jump from my very modest and myopic childhood to last July when I met with my literary agent at the bar of the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. To bridge that gap, I’m going to have to rely on the sensibilities of your own experience or aspirations in escaping the orbit of your parents and the pull of your small town. Otherwise I’ll end up with a novel instead of a blog post. But I trust that most readers can appreciate the yawning vastness between those two different chapters in my life.

This is really a testament to the reality that the publishing industry remains a rare and precious commodity in this world: a completely blind arbiter. In the realm of telling stories for a living, I’m fairly convinced that getting into television or movies requires you to have a parent or another close family member already in the business. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule, but the rule is pretty steadfast these days. I would argue that it’s very much the opposite in book publishing. When my agent and later my editor signed me, they had no Earthly idea who my parents were, where I came from, what color I was, what stocks I invested in, what my religious beliefs were, who I dated, whether I was married or single, how many family members I had in the industry. None. They looked only at the words I had written down, and their judgments were focused like a laser beam only on that.

Looking back, one of the greatest insights of my life was long ago identifying writing as a possible way to escape my destiny. I know you know what I’m talking about. Writing is cheap. It costs NOTHING to put pencil to paper and go. A little more to get a computer, but that’s not a hard and fast obstacle. What other creative pursuit can you engage in with the potential of making a career out of it without spending a dime? Perhaps the question is slightly hyperbolic, but do you get what I’m saying? For the cost of a Number Two pencil and a notebook I can stop the globe spinning. I can blow up buildings. I can create and destroy entire lives, entire solar systems. I can make people cry and laugh and beg for more. It’s simply astounding. And I trusted the industry to notice me for my craft and nothing else. It worked! I’m living proof that it worked and that it can work for you, too.

This dream didn’t come true overnight. I worked hard at it for ten years over the course of six novels and other writing experimentation. It was painful and lonely much of the time, wanting to be an author so badly but not yet having the skill to pull it off. It took hard work and dedication and a psychotic level of belief in myself. But I did eventually make it work. I finally made it in the door. I got that call from a literary agent, and then that call from a publishing house. And then I found myself schmoozing in the lounges of historic New York hotels and talking shop with award-winning editors on the 9th floor of the Random House building! So fun to realize that dream, and to confirm how nice and human everyone is behind the fortress walls of the publishing industry. I hope you’ll enjoy my little romp down memory lane, here. For me, at least, it represents nothing less than the power of dreaming.

Meeting my agent/agency’s director, Holly McGhee of Pippin Properties, in the lobby bar of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel. She represents so many luminaries in children’s book publishing, I don’t even know where to begin. Letting her buy me a Singapore Sling is a good way to start! (Night time, dim lighting, stupid iPhone…sorry for the quality.)

A view from my room at the Waldorf. Okay, okay, this is the 19th floor Silver Light Ballroom, but the entire City was mine at that point, so same difference.

Behold. Random House.

 Me and my daughter in the lobby of Random House. I gave the security guy at the lobby desk my name and they let my family onto the elevator. They let me in Random House! How Random is that?!

 Just chilling at my editor’s desk with my wife and daughter with a gorgeous view of New York sprawling out below and around us.

My fam meeting with my editor/publisher Wendy Lamb and assistant editor Dana Carey.

Talking book cover ideas with my book designer, Alison Impey. I can never express to her how impressed I am with the design that she came up with!

One last pic. This is my daughter, in heaven–I mean, the reading room of Pippin Headquarters. They made the mistake of letting her pick out some books and ARCs she wanted to take home with her. She picked so many that they had to ship her selection by ground! Amazing display of generosity from a great team.

First blog review of The Islands at the End of the World

Just a quick post directing you to check out the first official blog review of ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Review by YA Guy Joshua Bellin over at Pub Hub Blog. Check it out! Permalink: http://www.publishing-hub.com/2014/02/review-austin-aslans-islands-at-end-of.html

My ARCs have arrived!

This is one of those milestones as a writer when I just can’t help but do a little dance. My first Advance Reader Copies showed up at my door today! I opened the box and there it was: my book! My novel! A stack of them. Something I wrote. Bound. With covers. Shipped from Random House. And my name is on them! I’ve worked really hard for this moment. I have to say, the satisfaction runs very deep. But I won’t bore you with any more of my elation. I know, I know, you get it already. I just want to add that I feel very fortunate and blessed. I’m a lucky, lucky bastard. I owe a lot of thanks to many, many people for the pleasure of arriving at this moment, and I know it. I’m so grateful.

A little about ARCs: Advance Reader Copies are the first manifestation of a book that a publisher produces in order to get the manuscript out to people for review. I’ve been given a few copies of mine, but mostly the publisher is sending it out to critics and certain other relevant places. They’re rough cuts, still. The covers are flimsy and the printing is done cheaply. But it still gives reviewers and targeted audiences a chance to envision a manuscript as an actual book, and allows interested parties a convenient way to review the material (reading manuscripts several hundred pages long as Word docs on 8 1/2 x 11 sheets gets old really fast). ARCs often still have mistakes within them, and there is still time for the author and the publisher to tweak content and fix lingering typos, etc., before the novel actually goes to press. That’s the short of it. I’m sure you get the idea. It’ll still be several months before I get to see the final, hardcover version of the book that will be for sale at bookstores. From this point forward though, the story feels like it has finally left my mind and become something…real. I’m so thrilled!

FallFourteeners.com: Journey alongside 14 Fall ’14 debut authors

I’m very excited to have FALLen in with this amazing group of highly talented, driven authors who all have debut YA novels launching this FALL. Please visit us at www.FALLFourteeners.com. Be sure to sign up for our raffle of a FREE KINDLE PAPERWEIGHT! (Contest ends Feb 20, 2014 so don’t wait!) Then kick back and enjoy all the content that will FALL your way. While you’re at it, explore the bios and books of each of these authors and show us your support by following us on Twitter and shelving our books on your Goodreads “To Read” shelves. (Might as well pre-order the books at your favorite booksellers, while you’re at it!) We love the support. There’s nothing like a good bit of early buzz to help launch a debut novel high into the sky!

Thanks so much for your time and effort and I have no doubt you’ll enjoy the ridealong and learn a lot, too. I know I will!

www.fallfourteeners.com

PS. Did I mention the FREE KINDLE PAPERWEIGHT GIVEAWAY?

‘The Islands at the End of the World’ book cover reveal!

I’m excited to reveal the draft book cover for “The Islands at the End of the World” today! We’re still working on a few tweaks, such as finalizing the tag line (the final draft may not have a tag line at all, or it may be replaced with an author blurb), but it’s thrilling to finally be able to share my excitement with the world. Watching my book come to life with an actual cover has been one of the most thrilling aspects of the publishing process. It helps that this eye-catching cover design by Random House’s Alison Impey is completely amazing and awesome! A good cover is extremely important to a book’s success, and I believe this cover will play well on bookshelves everywhere.

But that’s just my opinion. Please, share with me what you think…

When do you celebrate finishing a novel?

If you’ve written a book, you know the moment: the last page is nigh. Perhaps you’ve known the last line all along, and you’re working feverishly toward it. Maybe you have no idea how the book will end but you sense it’s coming up soon…

I’ve written that last word in a novel seven times now. It’s a glorious moment.

But wait. A week later, you’re revising. The last word changes. The last chapter moves to the prologue. Everything after page 130 is axed. Major rewrite in progress!

And then your wife or husband disagrees with the content of chapter twelve. You rewrite it or move it to the end—this is the new ending! Why didn’t you think of that originally!

Your agent or editor calls. Great book, Austin, but let’s talk about that ending. Not so sure about it. Have you thought about giant spiders attacking out of nowhere? That would be cool.

Okay, you dial your editor back, but she had some good points about that last line. They did that in over 100 1960’s pulp fiction classics. It has to go or you’ll be laughed out of the business.

And then your opening sucks, now that you think about it. You awake from a dream with a completely awesome new idea for how to set the scene…

Argh! It never ends! The rewrites continue and continue and continue and continue and…Okay, you get the point.

When does a book end? When do you celebrate the birth of your literary baby?

This is actually not an easy question to answer.

But it’s important! Because that bottle of fine wine is waiting. Your ritual awaits you…

I’d like to confess something. I’m calling it. Time of arrival: 11:19pm, November 24, 2013. (Tonight. Right now.) That’s the moment my sequel to ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD was born. It’s called THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD, and it is officially here, folks.

I had this same glorious moment three weeks ago. But I swear it’s true now. I’ve sent it to my agent. It’s the version of the book that she’s going to read over Thanksgiving break. It’s official.

I’ve activated the ritual: A bottle of Frank Family Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay. I’ve had this very bottle of wine since the completion of novel two or three. It’s not too expensive (~$30). I’m not much of a white wine drinker, either. I infinitely prefer reds over whites. But this is my magic bottle. Always has been, always will be. I lived in Sacramento for 8 years. Very near Napa Valley. I went wine tasting there all the time. Frank Family’s buttery chardonnay, and the atmosphere of their old tasting room, sealed the deal for me.

Books, like people, are never finished. They can ALWAYS be improved upon. I’m looking forward to that moment when my first published novel is finally set it stone, like Han Solo being frozen in Carbonite. Believe me—I’ll blog about it. But until then, our novels are ALWAYS works in progress, as well they should be. It’s up to you to pick that moment when you want to celebrate having accomplished the birth of a novel. Maybe the skull fontanels haven’t quite formed yet. Or it’s having trouble breathing and the doctor has to take it into the next room for a moment. But there comes a time when you recognize it’s out. It’s ALIVE. Cut the cord. Throw some confetti. Pop the cork on that bottle of Frank Family chardonnay you’ve been waiting to drink.

Because, otherwise, that ambiguous moment will have come and gone.  You will have missed it. Poof. Suddenly your baby is out of diapers and riding a two-wheeler and you have no idea how time flew by so quickly.

Nothing is permanent. Especially a novel. Celebrate what you have when you know you have it. Don’t be afraid to re-celebrate if you have to. But there’s nothing like knowing—at least in that moment—when your labor of love has finally come to life.

After all, didn’t Han Solo eventually get unfrozen?

And then he killed Boba Fett and…

Shit. I meant for that Han Solo line to finish this blog post with a bang. Damn. And come to think of it, I really ought to move paragraph three to after paragraph five. And don’t forget to center justify the post when you pushlish it on wordpress…  Should I capitalize “Wordpress” or was that okay? Did I spell Boba Fett right? Ah, damn. Even this last silly paragraph which was trying to cleverly drive home the point has gone on too long, now. I should just erase it all and start ov…

How to write right…? Yeah, right.

There’s a wonderful article going around from The Atlantic in which the author brilliantly articulates the logic behind his writing method (The Case for Writing A Story Before Knowing How It Ends, by Andrew Dubus III). Definitely worth a read. It has reminded me of a shoot-from-the-hip essay I wrote recently to a group of fellow writers discussing the perils of authors prescribing to others, especially novice writers, methods for how to write. As I’ve shamefully neglected my blog as of late (deep in the throes of writing and revising my sequel to ISLANDS!) I thought I’d repost my thoughts for your consideration, with just a few alterations…

There is certainly no one right way to write a book, and there’s no one way for each of us to write. I have written six novels, now, and I’m working intensely even now on my seventh. I can honestly say that I haven’t written any two of them the same way. I’ve used colored note cards, no cards, written fast, and written slow. I’ve thought ahead, blazed ahead, written endings first, endings last. I’ve slogged forward when I didn’t want to write, and held back when I did want to write. I’ve rewritten in the middle of a draft, I’ve moved forward without ever looking back. I’ve shared first lines (for God’s sake) with anyone who will listen, and withheld entire completed manuscripts from my wife. I’ve outlined, I’ve kept a dream journal, I’ve forced daily quotas, I’ve rewarded myself for meeting milestones, or not. I’ve stuffed books in drawers for months, I’ve glued myself to a chair for weeks. I’ve used paper and pen, typewriters, computers. I’ve drank coffee, tea, beer, wine, whiskey while writing. I’ve written standing up, I’ve written in bed. I’ve killed my babies, I’ve carried golden calves to the hilltops. Passive voice has been used by me.

Once, I even handily used an adverb!

I’ve honestly used every strategy for writing that I’ve ever heard of, and I’ve broken every ‘rule’, and each method was correct at the time.

We can build myths about how we are supposed to write, and get stuck doing things a certain way without stopping to consider that other strategies may work, too. We must seek to avoid a very real danger: that novice writers will think particular strategies will get them further than others. This may be true for a given individual, but each writer has to feel out that path for him or herself. We risk closing those doors for the eager writer who doesn’t understand this.



There are a ton of different ways to plot, a ton of different tools. We should encourage folks to share out what works for them. More tools makes us more versatile. But we shouldn’t encourage folks to warn others about what doesn’t work, or what isn’t right.

Find what works for you at the time, and do it. But don’t limit yourself to only doing that, all the time. And never limit the creative process for others by suggesting that there are wrong ways to write.