Persia Walker's Blog, page 5

A Blog Tweet

Yes, I've gone what ... eight days without blogging? Grrr ...

But no, no! I am not going there.

I am so refusing to give in to blogger's guilt.

Instead, I'm going to pound out 1,000 words to my even more neglected manuscript.

Then I'll get back to you.

Maybe!

:-)

Traditional v. Self-Publishing: A Suggested Partnership

How long will this dumb debate go on? Independent publishing is here to stay. Accept it graciously and move on. Start seeing independent publishing for all the possibilities it offers -- and by that I do not mean a plethora of unedited, unreadable, indigestible books. I do mean a mature partnership between publishers and authors, one very different from the decidedly imbalanced adult-child relationship we now have.

As many of you know, I've been self-published, traditionally published, and indepe

The Mt. Morris Park Brownstone Tour

Had a lovely day touring brownstones in Harlem. The Mt Morris Park neighborhood association sets up tours every year in June. Homeowners in the area open their homes to the curious. Some in pristine historic condition. Others totally modernized. Wanted very much to see the brownstone wherein James VanDerZee had his studio. It's been gut renovated. Beautiful inside, but nothing of VanDerZee but framed prints of his photographs on the walls. Still, it was great, seeing friends in Central Harlem.

Using Social Media to Bring Your Characters to Life

I admit it. I was (probably still am) behind the times. I was always one of those folks who noticed something waaaay after the rest of the world has done so. If you're one of those people who are fast and with it, then you can skip the rest of this entry. But if you're like me, a little slow on the uptake, then read on.

Most of you are aware of how useful it can be for writers to have a presence on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, and Squidoo, among others, to spread news about their books and reach their readers. But do you just how much fun it can be to use these sites to explore and develop your characters -- to, in a sense, bring them to life?

For months, I played with the idea of giving my detective, 1920s society reporter Lanie Price, a blog of her own. I started one, but didn't get very far, simply because of time constraints. I still think it's a good idea to give her an online diary, though, and might resume it one day.

Meanwhile, I plan to set up a Squidoo lens on her. I've already done a lens on Harlem Redux and one on its main character, David McKay. I'm almost finished with the one on Darkness and the Devil Behind Me. As soon as it's done, I'll do a page on Lanie and link them.

It was a lot of fun revisiting Harlem Redux and David. I decided to put up the pages after having a telephone visit with a book club in Atlanta, In the Company of Women -- Atlanta-Style! They had so many questions and I had so much information to give them. Why not put it all down? I started work on the lens and it began to grow. Now, it's as though I have my own Wikipedia page on David and his story. Only it's better than a Wiki because it has graphics, it was fun, and it's my own.

If you visit the lens for Harlem Redux, you'll see that I discuss its themes, characters and plotlines. The lens for David brings together all the information that's spread throughout the book into one place. Eventually, I'll add to that stock, building his character online. People unfamiliar with my work can find the lens and get to know David as I know him. Meanwhile, I'm inwardly aglow. It's as though I spent the afternoon visiting a wonderful and dearly missed friend, one whose story interests me still.

Authors can use sites such as the ones named above to build a scrapbook for their characters, a digital repository of information about a character's history, hopes, fears, appearance, liaisons, etc. Squidoo and Tumblr present marvelous opportunities to organize thoughts about your characters, and create wonderful platforms to introduce them to the world. Sites such as Blogger, Wordpress, etc., provide a chance to have a character muse aloud, or to tell their story in their own words, maybe even as it's unfolding before them.

Give your characters a voice. Showcase them beautifully. They'll thank you for it.


Get more on Persia Walker at SimonandSchuster.com

Small Stuff

Worked at my temporary day job today -- don't ask. Updated my listing at Scribd.com. Twittered a bit. Right now, am listening to Michael Cader's hyper, somewhat disorganized, but nonetheless fascinating speech at BookExpoAmerica. It seems to focus more on non-fiction. But some of his comments relate to fiction, also. One thing it conveys is the panic in the publishing world today. Worth listening to just for that.

The Shopping List Theory of Outlining

So last night, I did a bit more fine-tuning of the outline of a new book. This will be the first time I've ever outlined a story so thoroughly. Until now, I've been of the jump-right-in kind of writer. But this time, I've stumbled into a different approach. Now, I'm hoping that the time invested now will result in a closerapproximation to a finished manuscript later.

I began the outlining somewhat accidentally. Just a few notes about this and that. You know the kind. You jot it down just so you w

Using Social Media to Bring Your Characters to Life

I admit it. I was (probably still am) behind the times. I was always one of those folks who noticed something waaaay after the rest of the world has done so. If you're one of those people who are fast and with it, then you can skip the rest of this entry. But if you're like me, a little slow on the uptake, then read on.

Most of you are aware of how useful it can be for writers to have a presence on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, and Squidoo, among others, to spread news about their books an

Ballad of Emmett Till Wins Edgar Award

[image error] Chicago playwright Ifa Bayeza won the prestigious Edgar Award during yesterday's ceremony in New York for her work The Ballad of Emmett Till.

Bayeza, already a prize-winning author, said she was "thrilled" at receiving the Edgar, which is awarded by the Mystery Writers of America.

Her play stems from the August 1955 murder of Till, a 14-year-old Chicago youth who was brutalized during a trip to Mississippi. He had whistled at a white woman at a grocery store where he and some friends had purchase

Advice for Writers "Just Starting Out"

As part of a recent book store appearance at Rowan University, a student reporter for the campus newspaper interviewed me. Most of the questions were run-of-the-mill and the young reporter seemed to be taking all of my answers as run-of-the-mill, too.That is, until he asked me what advice I'd give to writers who were "just starting out."

"Acting lessons."
 
His scribbling came to a halt. His eyebrows shot up and his jaw dropped open. "Acting lessons?"

"Yup," I nodded. "Acting lessons."

Acting lessons

Jeans or a Jacket: Paperback or Hardcover?

[image error] Envisioning the future, as I sometimes do, I was wondering whether my next book should come out in hardcover or as a paperback original. Normally, authors don't have a choice. The publisher makes the decision. However, writers can and do express preferences. In the best situations, those preferences are given consideration.

When my agent was vetting Harlem Redux, she came back with two offers, one from Simon & Schuster and one from Random House. The advances were virtually the same. The differenc