Drinking and Thinking...about Books

Last night we went out to dinner and I actually ordered a drink. Now, as much as I enjoy my adult beverages, I don't often order drinks when we're out for dinner. They tend to be over-priced...blah blah blah. But I'd finished a project yesterday and wanted to get something to celebrate. In the spirit of celebration, I perused the menu for something a little different and ordered a mojito--a drink that I enjoy but don't have very often.

For me, picking something like that is sort of like going into a bookstore and grabbing a book from a genre that I don't normally read but I've liked before. It makes the stories I do read there more special somehow. For instance, I read a lot of YA, but very little contemporary YA. The exception to that is Hannah Moskowitz. Love her work. I don't read much homosexual erotica either (yes, jumping from YA to erotica...it's what I do), but I decided to give it a chance and found that in certain ways I like it better than a lot of straight erotica (but odds are it'll still be a less common purchase). My mainstays in reading are what I normally write--speculative. Give me some weres and vamps or spaceships or clockworks or even elves and gnomes and I'm a happy girl (as long as it's well-written and a fun story). But in those other genres... I'm a lot more picky.

A friend once told me there's nothing like a really good mojito. He's right, but there's also nothing like a really bad one. And this went beyond bad. It was horrible. It tasted like really syrupy peppermint schnapps on the rocks--a big old glass of it. Nothing against peppermint schnapps, I mean, it's tasty in hot chocolate, but it's definitely not a mojito. I sent the drink back, but the peppermint taste was so strong that not even my cajun shrimp could cover it.

So, imagine buying a not-my-genre book and sitting down to read it and ending up with a similar experience. Since it's not a standard read for me, the book that leaves the horrid taste in my mouth that no amount of Kelley Armstrong and Richelle Mead with a Mark Henry chaser will kill, risks ruining the entire genre for me. That shit will make me pick my ass up and desert an entire section of the bookstore.

Now, one good thing is I've had a decent mojito. Hell, I've had a damn good mojito. I know they're out there, so other than making sure I never order one at that particular restaurant again, I'm not going to avoid mojitos at all cost, after all, I know they can be yummy. To be fair though, odds are I won't risk ordering one blindly. It'll take having had one at the place before (mmmm....Pickle Barrel...) or having a friend tell me the place makes good ones. Otherwise, I'm going to stick to what I normally drink.

The same is true with books. If I pick up a YA contemporary that turns my stomach (or melts my brain), I'm still going to buy the next Hannah Moskowitz book. A gay erotic romance with no character development or discernable plot? Meh. I know there are good ones out there, but I'll base that reading on recommendations from now on. This is, from my discussions with others, a pretty standard way of thinking. Beyond judging a book by its cover, readers often judge a genre based on the first book they read in that genre.

So every writer--traditional, digital, indie, I-don't-care-what-the-newest-label-is--needs to keep that in mind. That means the editing, plot, characterizations need to be the best you can make them. Your book could be the first one a reader picks up in that genre. It will be the book by which all others are judged. What kind of taste do you want to leave in the reader's mouth?

Have there been any books that you've read that would have turned you off to a genre if you didn't already know there were better books out there?

Seeing Red...and Blue...and Green...

While I was away at the beach, edits came in on a recent story. It's a short, so I figured it was no big deal and I'd be able to tackle them pretty quickly. Now, to give you some perspective, when I'm really on, I can edit a short in a day or two. Then I opened the file.

Holy highlights, Batman!

There was...a lot. And I knew without a doubt I needed more than a couple days of sneaking away from family time to get it done. Most editors who have worked with me (and talked to me while I was editing) know that I can tackle big issues pretty handily. Editor points out a problem, I slap my hand against my forehead, wonder how I could have been so stupid as to not see the problem, and I get to work on fixing it. It's the little things that give me fits. (I'm sure Gina remembers well when I was working on edits in Italy and had one sentence that I couldn't get right. She told me to skip it. I refused, and the answer came to me while trying to sleep on the flight home.) And almost everything I needed to fix in this story was a little thing.

My intense love for edits (yes, I'm weird) quickly turned into a lot of loud groaning about not wanting to do it. You see, I had this illusion that the more stories I had published, the easier edits would get because I'd have been learning to fix all those stupid things I did wrong. The fact is I appear to replace one stupid thing with something new. My "that" problem? Tackled. Gone. Over. (Believe me, it took a long time.) Now I have things that can't be solved with a simple "delete".

But you know what? I'm seeing the tail end of this round of edits now--I'll finish them today--and as much as I hate to say it, I think it was a good experience for me. First, it made me realize there will always be something in need of fixing. That's a really freeing thought. I'm going to screw up, so I just need to worry about writing. Second, I found that even some of the little things need to be fought for. A suggested change of wording to something that your character would never use., a turn of phrase that your betas all loved, intentional use of passive structure--all of those things can be important. The point of edits is to figure out when they're most important, because that's when you dig your heels in (which is hard to do when you haven't made a bunch of other suggested changes--makes you seem like a diva :P).

Now that I've struggled through all the itty-bitty detailed changes, I can say I still love doing edits. I'm hoping when I do my read-through before hitting send later today, I'll be able to smile and say the changes made the story stronger. Because that's the point of all the moaning, groaning, hand-wringing, cursing, and throwing of things--to make it better.

In the meantime, I'll repaint the target on my office wall for the next round of throwing thi...er edits.

Putting in the Work

So, a few weeks ago, I was getting a story ready to submit. I told my editor that she'd have it as soon as I'd finished with revisions. At that moment, it was out with my wonderful betas for a read-through so I could fix any glaring issues before I sent it in. She said (paraphrased), "You don't revise until after I edit it."


Then, at a totally separate time, I was talking to a fellow author (who shall remain unnamed) about one of her shorter works. She basically said that she didn't put as much time into it since it was just supposed to be a quickie--a break from her novels.


Needless to say, I was...confused.

You see, I have a process I go through before I send anything in for publication. I write. I revise. Maybe twice. For longer pieces, I might post part in my online writing group and wait for critiques (to revise again). I send to my betas. I wait for their comments. I revise. Then, if the revisions were big, I send it back to them to make sure it's solid. If not, I revise again. Then...sometime after that, I send it in.

I do this for my novel-length stories. I do this for my novellas. I do this for my short stories. Hell, if I'm worried about it, I do something similar for my flash fiction before I post it on the blog. I cannot imagine sending my rough drafts to my editors. Even thinking about it has me breaking out in a cold sweat right now. You see, as much as I love my editors and think they're awesome, I want as many eyes as I can reasonably get on my manuscript before it goes out. And I feel that way about all my stories; I don't differentiate by length (though, I will say that just because they are longer and therefore have more room for "issues", novel-length stories tend to go through more revisions than shorts).

Based on similar comments from both an editor and another author, however, I'm starting to think I might be in the minority with regard to these habits. I know in digital publishing, output is important. If you can't churn out stories fast enough, you can be forgotten as new authors pop up. But the idea of putting anything out there that is less than the best I can make it bothers me...a lot. This isn't to say that other people don't write crazy-good first drafts with no inconsistencies or weak spots or grammar issues because I'm sure some people do, but I'm not at the point yet where I can delude myself into thinking I'm one of them.

So, if you've been waiting on Badlands 2 or the next Blood Kissed story, consider this my apology for the delay. I want to get those stories to you. I just don't want to cut corners to do it, and for me it would be cutting corners (believe me, my betas are phenomenal and not at all afraid to tell me when I suck). Please forgive the delay, and hopefully I can work on that whole prolific thing in the meantime.

Are You an Author or a Writer?

Before I became published, I had business cards that said "author" on them. Some other aspiring authors were really bothered by that. After all, I hadn't sold anything. I had a tiny freak-out moment, but I got over it pretty quickly. I mean, what was I going to do? Hide my business cards?

To be honest, there's a lot of talk (old and new) on the internet about the difference between being a writer and being an author. It's something I've looked at way too much. With RT rapidly approaching and things hitting crunch time, I've had a sudden moment of clarity. One of those moments when had I been thinking about it, I might have understood the meaning of life. Silly me was thinking about being an author instead, but I'll take what I can get.

Here's the thing, everyone who writes is a writer. Unless you haven't started writing there is no such thing as an "aspiring writer". I suppose those could be the "I've been thinking about writing a book" people, but the minute they sit down and get to it, they graduate to writer. But most people who question the writer/author thing are past that stage. Most of them have stories under their belt, whether shorts, novels or something in between. So what should they call themselves?

This is where things get a little trickier. Of course they are still writers--writers write. Here's my opinion on the matter. Once you start doing the legwork and submitting, you've "graduated" to "aspiring author". Notice there's a big difference between "aspiring writer" and "aspiring author". The first is someone thinking about/trying to write. The second is someone trying to move ahead to that elusive "author" title.

If it was tricky before, it's a mess now. So, you've submitted, you've been accepted and signed with an agent or a publisher...you're an author, right? Uh...not so fast.

You see, I've realized that being an author means a lot of things. First up? Revisions. Whether your agent or editor, someone is going to ask you to revise, and only when they ask you to change something you don't want to let go do you earn author points. (No, there is not really a system of "author points" I'm just using it as a goofy little name.) Because one way or another, you have to step up and deal with that revision. You're either going to argue to keep what you wrote, or you're going to change it--maybe both. But you can't just gloss over it. It's no longer writing group or crit partners who you can ignore, now it's work. More author points? Dealing with bad or even mediocre reviews. There are a lot of ways to handle this, but you do have to handle it otherwise you turn into one of those people who rant on the review site and basically make everyone go O.O. It's work, you have to treat it as such, even if that means staying away from the watercooler (ie--not reading reviews). Lastly is the issue of promo. Authors must promo if they want to sell. Whether that means building a readership on your blog, or on Twitter, or on Facebook, or guest blogging all over the universe, or doing book tours and signings, you must promo. How willing you are to learn and adapt is part of that. Your blog isn't driving sales? Adapt. Try something new. Take offers. Take advice. It's your job to sell books, time to put in the work.

If you notice, I mentioned work a lot in the last paragraph. That's because being an author isn't just about writing books, that's just the first step. Writing can be a hobby. Being an author is a job. It's a career. And if you don't treat it like one--if you aren't willing to bust your ass and do the work, or worse you whine or make excuses--you're not an author.

And in the end, it isn't so much a question of what you are...it's a question of what you really want to be.

There are probably a lot more examples of things authors need to deal with that writers don't (based on my above explanation), these were just the top three that came to mind. I'm sure you have others. Hit me with them :)

NaNoWriMo Wrap-Up

So another NaNo has come and (almost) gone. If you are still working, get to it! *cracks whip* If you're done, congratulations. Honestly though, congrats to everyone who took on the challenge. Even if you didn't "win", I hope you still ended up with words. I "won" a couple days ago and I'm now trying to put the finishing touches on the draft since my editor really seems like she wants it...yesterday.

Here's the thing though. I'm not sending it to her yet.

The only person who has seen more than little snippets of this piece (those are available on the Blood Kissed Facebook page--I'd love it if you liked me there) is my incredibly awesome alpha-reader, Katee. She's been one of my betas since my second novel, and she gets me like no one else. This time she stepped up to the plate and has been reading Kiss of Death in it's most raw form so that once I'm done with the draft, I can revise with a plan in mind. Which means I can get it to the crazy people who are willing to speed-beta for me hopefully by the weekend. And then I can revise again next week and get it to my publisher.

Some of you are probably shaking your heads and saying, "OMG, is she nuts?" To which I answer, "Yes. Yes, I am." I wouldn't normally work like this. My usual course of action is to finish the draft, let it sit for a couple weeks, revise, then if I'm okay with it, send it to betas. As often as not though, I still don't think it's ready for them and I'll let it sit longer and revise again before sending to them. Then, with their feedback in hand, I revise again (maybe more than once). So normally, after the rough is done, it's a minimum of a month before I send it out to agents/editors. Did I mention minimum?

So while I am demonstrating that the usual way doesn't always work (crazy deadlines), my methods are still similar. I'm still doing revise, beta, revise before I send it out, because I don't want people in charge to see something that isn't the best I can make it (in the time allowed).

And you shouldn't either. I know I have readers here who aren't published yet. I know a zillion people did NaNo this year. And what I want to tell you is your stuff is not ready to send. The big-time authors I know who do NaNo don't send their NaNo drafts to their agents/editors, and none of us should either. Every manuscript needs some sort of real critique before it gets sent out, and every manuscript needs revision (beyond spell-check, though that's important too).

Every year agents complain about the amount of unpolished NaNo work they get every December/January. Don't be part of the problem. Revise it until it's shiny. Do your homework on agents and how to query. Do everything you can to make it as perfect as possible.

And for heavens sake, don't follow my example this year. Remember: I'm nuts.

Two Days and Twenty Questions

In less than forty-eight hours, NaNoWriMo 2010 begins. I have my file for Blood Kissed #3 ready to go with most (if not all) of the major players with character pages and folders of plot points I want to hit. Thing is I want to have this puppy done by mid-December at the latest and I'm estimating it at 75-80k. So...yeah. That means I need to write a minimum of 2k a day throughout November, preferably 2.5-3k. It's going to be a tough one, but I'm determined to give it my best effort. I want this, and I've been told people want this story.

I just hope they still want it when it's done LOL.

But in the meantime, I'm doing my best not to freak out about the numbers. I'm trying not to think about all the days my kids have off school in November, or the pre-holiday shopping, or the revisions that I know will be hitting my inbox during the month. Nope. I'm just focusing on the story and the new characters I'm dying to write. I still have a little bit of "casting" to do in order to appease the visual side of my nature, and I want to flesh out some sections of the plot more. But I can't wait to tell this story. So that's where my energy is at least for now. There will be time for panic later.

In the meantime, Ellen Keener interviewed me for her blog. Twenty questions, people! Please read the post so I don't think I spent all the time answering them in vain. K? Thanks.

Manuscript, Interrupted

One of the rules I live by as a writer is when one project is done, I start another one. Especially in e-publishing, authors are expected to be prolific, so there's no time to rest on one's laurels. That means after I signed my contracts, I got back to work.

When I was in Myrtle Beach, I started a new paranormal romance. For a while it went really well. Unfortunately, I was pantsing the story, and I reached about 10k and kind of stalled. Pantsing never has really worked for me though, and I proceeded to take a day and plot the rest of the story. Got back to work and cranked out about another 10-15k.

Then, about a week before I left for Toronto (yes, it's been a busy couple months for travel), I received the first round of edits for Badlands. Obviously, I dropped the new story to take care of edits. Then I left for Toronto. So I was away from the new story for about two weeks.

Once I got home, I tried to work on it again, but the momentum I'd had disappeared. I still made progress, but it was much slower going. I finally broke the 30k mark a few days before leaving on my next trip, and then the line edits on Badlands showed up in my inbox.

I knew once I stopped working on it so I could do edits, I'd be starting all over with regard to forward momentum. Considering I have a holiday story I need to get to as well, I finally made the decision to set aside the new manuscript until I'm back from this trip. Instead, I'm taking the week to focus on the line edits, some critiquing and the holiday story.

For those who are wondering, it's a Jocelyn holiday story, and part of the reason I'm willing to sideline other things for it is that people seem to like and want more of her story. This is me doing my best to give it to them. Hopefully the Powers that Be like it.

By the next post, I should be home, and hopefully that will mean Jocelyn's new story is done and I will get back to the sidelined manuscript until it's finished. But as long as the story is working at all, I won't quit on it. I hope it finds a home and that my fans and friends will get to see another side of my writing.

So what's derailed your writing lately?

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Super Saturday!

Apologies for the delay in getting this up, family stuff on the other side of the state kept me busy until now. There are a couple things going on today.

In publishing news, the first round of edits on Badlands is done. I finished the read-through and will be sending it sent to my editor momentarily. This is the point where I ask everyone to cross their fingers for me that she's happy with what I did.

Second, my friend, Mr. Romance Jamie Ungaro is in this competition for a role on Mad Men. It's a walk-on, but as a model and aspiring actor, it's a foot in the door. There's only a couple weeks left in the first round of voting, but if you could help him out and vote, that would be awesome. You can vote once a day until September 6, when it goes to other judges. Here's the link to vote for him: http://madmencastingcall.amctv.com/browse/detail/LE6QKM , and if you're interested in knowing more about Jamie, there are a couple recent interviews here and here

And finally, the moment some of you have been waiting for. Last night ended the launch party contest. There were a couple last minute entries, and I would like to thank everyone for entering. A special thanks to those of you that bought stories from Decadent (especially mine, since I'm greedy like that). We're a new company, and word of mouth is huge at this point, so if you read a story from a Decadent author and liked it, please spread the word. In fact, Amazon reviews and blog reviews will help us out a lot.

Oh, yeah, you want to know who won. After gathering comments and receipts, I listed all of them in the order they came in, then used random.org to pick our two lucky winners. First winner gets first dibs on the books, second winner gets the other.

The first number pulled belonged to… Jessica Peter! Jess, please toss me an email with your mailing address and your preference of books.

The second number belonged to… Bea! Please send me your mailing address.

Thanks again everyone!

Revision Hell?

After holding my breath waiting for edits to come on "Of Course I Try", they came Friday afternoon just a few hours before we were due to leave for vacation. Needless to say, I opened the file with my nerves strung more than a little tight. My kids were going nutty, and since it was a short, I really wanted to get the revisions done before we left.

I had three hours.

Eep.

But I opened the file and dove in. Here's what I learned from this first foray into working with an editor on revisions (keep in mind, this was a short story and I wasn't asked to make any story changes):

-       Do the easy stuff first. If they changed your punctuation or mention that it's (no I didn't do this, it's just an example) bated breath, not baited breath, those are easy things to accept or reject. Getting these things off the edge will dramatically decrease the amount of work staring you in the face.

-       Word repetition. In this particular story, there were a few of them done for effect, and I thought my uber-betas had caught the rest, but my editor, Kate, found a bunch more. She said I could leave them if I really wanted them, but I think I only left one. The rest were easy enough to tweak, and that slashed a bunch more work.

-       By this point, I was left with the bigger things. (Which in this case weren't huge. I mean it's only a short story.) Those got tackled one at a time.

-       Then I went back and gave it another read-through and filled in a couple places where I'd felt something was missing.

Done. That was it. Patient and methodical got me through the revisions in time to answer Kate's question about one thing I'd left that confused her and still leave on time for vacation.

I'm not delusional, really. I know that revisions won't always be this easy, but all things considered it wasn't a bad experience at all, even with the crazy time frame. In fact, even knowing the next one is a longer piece that will probably need more intensive work, I'm looking forward to my next editorial experience.

So, revision hell? Not so much.

Either that or it just brings out my demonic side and makes me feel right at home.