Steven E. Wedel's Blog, page 39

Thoughts on becoming a YA author, part 1

LiveJournal Tags: horror,young adult,writing,after obsession,publishing As we slowly approach the Sept. 13 release of After Obsession, the book co-written with the awesome Carrie Jones, I'm seeing an increase in hits to my Web site and am getting a few messages from new readers. This is great. Mostly.

I've looked forward to this, believing that readers who like After Obsession will want to read more of my books, so sales of my werewolf books will pick up. But I'm not so sure that's a good thing. Keep in mind that I was a teenager during the splatterpunk movement in horror. Shocking was good. Sex, violence, violent sex, sexy violence … that was the norm. And it carried over to the writing of Shara, which was originally finished in 1993. Shara, in wolf form, has sex with a wolf and I describe her being stuck on the the dogknot. That's just one scene. Murdered by Human Wolves has the rape scene, which really isn't that graphic; I'd compare it to the devil's copulation with Rosemary in Rosemary's Baby. Call to the Hunt has one werewolfy oral sex scene that was graphic enough The Oklahoman refused to review the book, calling it pornography (which it certainly is not). Of course, the worst of the bunch is my ghost story Seven Days in Benevolence, where I really tried to be as shocking and gross as possible. By the time I got to Ulrik I'd toned things down, at least in the sex department.

I've let my high school students read my werewolf books. Mostly seniors, some juniors, and these are kids I know and can warn and sometimes check with their parents. Nobody's been shocked. Nobody's complained, and most of the kids claim to like the books.

The other day I was contacted by a young reader with many questions about the writing process. She found me because of After Obsession. Well, she's only 14. This got me to thinking about crossover readers a little differently. I wouldn't have let my own 14-year-old daughter read my books (if she'd asked). Now, because of Carrie's huge following, there's a possibility that many other young readers may pick up my adult books and find that they are not … well, not for young adults.

Two months after Bloomsbury releases After Obsession, Bad Moon Books will release Amara's Prayer, a very sexual adult novel. By this I don't mean pornographic. The sex isn't there just to be there, and that's never been the case with me. But there is a lot of sex, and there's a fair amount of detail about the act because it's integral to the story. It isn't a book for the YA audience.

It's an interesting scenario. Since the adult books are from small presses, maybe very few of the After Obsession readers will notice them. Maybe parents who let their kids read paranormal young adult romances are okay with their kids reading about werewolves with dogknots. I don't know.

Maybe I'm being too uptight about the whole thing and it isn't even an issue.

Thoughts on becoming a YA author, part 1

As we slowly approach the Sept. 13 release of After Obsession, the book co-written with the awesome Carrie Jones, I'm seeing an increase in hits to my Web site and am getting a few messages from new readers. This is great. Mostly.

I've looked forward to this, believing that readers who like After Obsession will want to read more of my books, so sales of my werewolf books will pick up. But I'm not so sure that's a good thing. Keep in mind that I was a teenager during the splatterpunk movement i...

Soonercon 20: It’s a wrap!

LiveJournal Tags: soonercon,Conestoga,tim powers,pirates of the caribbean,sarah st. john,writing,conventions I usually get around to reviewing conventions earlier than this, but there are reasons for the delay. First, my wife has been off work for two weeks due to foot surgery. Second, I've been busy trying to get back into a writing state of mind now that school is out. And finally, I messed up my back at the convention and that's limited by time at the computer. I'll get to that part later.

First, a big thanks to Sarah Basore (aka Sarah St. John) for securing a table we shared outside the dealers' room. It's always more fun to share space with someone, and Sarah is a funny and intelligent lady, so that's even better. (Also a good writer, so read her books!)

Soonercon moved to the Sheraton Hotel in downtown OKC this year. Straight up, I didn't like the parking situation and I don't like driving downtown. I don't like paying to park, either. However, that aside, this location was infinitely better than where the con has been the past few years. Everything was pretty well contained so there was no running from panel to panel in different buildings like at the old hotel. And, the Sheraton is just a nicer, newer facility. I don't know the official numbers, but the convention seemed to be very well attended this year, and it got coverage on the evening news.

On Friday evening I was one of a handful of guests who had dinner with guest-of-honor Tim Powers, who wrote some little book that inspired a current film starring some guy named Johnny Depp. Tim proved to be very knowledgeable about a lot of literature and was a lot of fun to talk to and listen to.

At the first panel on Saturday morning I went to move a sound system-type thingy that was set up in the middle of the panel table. No biggie. I moved it to the end of the table, which seemed to impress some of the audience members, who then wanted a picture. So I picked it up again and acted like it was much heavier than it was. When I went to put it down, something twinged in my back and the rest of the con experience was colored by pain that has continued, though finally abated somewhat. Man, it sucks to get old! Anyway, the panels were fun and, until Sunday afternoon, very well attended. We had a discussion of Lovecraft's influence that probably could still be going on.

As always, it was great seeing people who have come to be like extended family … Adrian, Sarah, Sherri, Joyce, the Wolf family, the Sinors, Jim Burke, Christophe, Dennis … Well, way too many to name. I hadn't seen most of them since early last summer, so it was a lot of fun to get together with them again, and I hope to see them all again real soon.

Soonercon 20: It's a wrap!

LiveJournal Tags: soonercon,Conestoga,tim powers,pirates of the caribbean,sarah st. john,writing,conventions

I usually get around to reviewing conventions earlier than this, but there are reasons for the delay. First, my wife has been off work for two weeks due to foot surgery. Second, I've been busy trying to get back into a writing state of mind now that school is out. And finally, I messed up my back at the convention and that's limited by time at the computer. I'll get to that part...

Win an ARC of AFTER OBSESSION

Do you want to be first among your friends to ready After Obsession by me and Carrie Jones? Of course you do! How can you do that? By entering this Goodreads contest to win an advance reader's copy of the novel!

Win an ARC of AFTER OBSESSION

Do you want to be first among your friends to ready After Obsession by me and Carrie Jones? Of course you do! How can you do that? By entering this Goodreads contest to win an advance reader's copy of the novel!

Tornado Day

I remember working for The Oklahoman newspaper on May 3, 1999, when the F5 tornado went through Moore. It was city council meeting night, and that's where I was, covering the meeting for the paper. For weeks afterward we did post-tornado stories. (In fact, I was kicked off my beat for a while so they could put a more experienced reporter on the hot spot.) Anyway, I did one story in which I was comparing that tornado outbreak to the movie Twister and the guy at the weather center at OU kept repeating that the movie was pure fiction and May 3 was an anomaly.

Turns out Twister might have been a harbinger. Since May 3, we have had several weather events that spawned multiple tornadoes across a huge area of the state. Today was one of those days.

We're all okay here. There was a tornado very close, but it died before tearing up Moore. However, there are multiple communities dealing with death, destruction, and one case in Piedmont where a toddler is missing while the rest of her family is in various hospitals. I can only hope the toddler will be found unharmed like the baby from Bridge Creek was back in '99.

I was watching through the front door as the storm moved in. We had a lot of hail. More than likely the vehicles are beat up some. Lots and lots of rain came. The weirdest thing was when the wind went from pounding us from the south to suddenly coming to a dead stop, then ripping just as hard from the north. I was sure I was about to hear the roar of a tornado then, but it never came.

My wife and kids rode out a tornado in this house in May 2003 while I tried desperately to get home from my job in downtown OKC. I sure hope that's something we never have to do again. We don't have a storm cellar or basement in this house.

In other news, tomorrow is the last day of school for the year. It's the last day for the class of 2011, the class I've sponsored for the past three years. It's going to seem really strange to have those kids gone. However, with all the testing and some issues I'm having with a staff member, I have to say I'll be glad when this year is over. I desperately need a break. The seven-period day with three preps and only one plan has been brutal.

My partner in crime, Carrie Jones, is at BEA promoting our After Obsession. If you're lucky enough to be around the expo you should drop in and say howdy to her.

Tornado Day

I remember working for The Oklahoman newspaper on May 3, 1999, when the F5 tornado went through Moore. It was city council meeting night, and that's where I was, covering the meeting for the paper. For weeks afterward we did post-tornado stories. (In fact, I was kicked off my beat for a while so they could put a more experienced reporter on the hot spot.) Anyway, I did one story in which I was comparing that tornado outbreak to the movie Twister and the guy at the weather center at OU kept...

After Obsession is a Big Book

LiveJournal Tags: bea,bloomsbury,book expo america,carrie jones,publishing,werewolf saga,werewolves,writing

After Obsession, the book I co-wrote with Carrie Jones, is an official Big Children's Book of BEA. Being a Big Book at Book Expo America is a major thing.

Have I mentioned you can pre-order the book at Amazon? What's that? You prefer Barnes & Noble? No problem!

Are you a member of Goodreads? You should be. It's a great place to keep track of what you've read and see what your friends are reading. Also, I'm going to be using a new promotional feature they have to give away my final ARC of After Obsession. You can learn more about that here, but I also encourage you to go to Goodreads and follow me there. You can also keep up with Carrie on Goodreads, where she is the 25th most followed author. Pretty cool, huh?

Just a few more weeks of school. It's been a rough year with way too much at-home work. I look forward to not having essays to grade so I can do a lot more writing. I have several projects I want to get finished before fall.

Also, I just want to mention that my past issues with Scrybe Press have been resolved. The Werewolf Saga books will continue to be in print for the foreseeable future. And yes, Nadia's Curse is one of the projects I hope to finish by fall.

After Obsession is a Big Book

LiveJournal Tags: bea,bloomsbury,book expo america,carrie jones,publishing,werewolf saga,werewolves,writing

After Obsession, the book I co-wrote with Carrie Jones, is an official Big Children's Book of BEA. Being a Big Book at Book Expo America is a major thing.

Have I mentioned you can pre-order the book at Amazon? What's that? You prefer Barnes & Noble? No problem!

Are you a member of Goodreads? You should be. It's a great place to keep track of what you've read and see what your friends...