Stumbling Towards Publication

Went to New York City ... and DC ..., and the one thing I didn't expect was no internet connection.  Had access to computers but the signal was too weak to use where I could sit without my hip throwing a tantrum.  So, no blog.  Sorry.  Didn't even get much of a look at my emails ... so I didn't know what was happening with the WolfSinger cover art.

WolfSinger Publications has sent "Taking Vengeance" to an artist for a cover art!  It's enough to warm the cockles of a pessimist's heart.  I'm working with her now.  She has drafted an okay picture, but my Half-Elven are much darker than Tolkien's elves.  She drew Mariah as a "sweet young thing" ... which she definitely isn't.  [From the prequel partials, I doubt if she was a "sweet young thing" when a child.]  I'll be getting back to the artist today, once we finalized the last details of my nursing-home friend's funeral.

Also, the contract is in process for the trailer.  I've got to sign and send money.  I've read several comments lately on blogs and in forums that writing is much more expensive than it used to be.  I can remember when I only spent money on paper, postage, envelopes and miscellaneous.  

Now?   Having a computer is just the starters.  Where do the trailers, websites, editing, and marketing campaigns ... figure in your writing?  My hat's off to any reader who has landed a traditional publisher for their book.  {Of course, I don't wear hats.  Not since Vatican II and before that, I wore a mantilla.} 

Also, "Dark Solstice" came in at 76,500 words.  Probably, another reason it won't sell.  It's too short.  Novella, anyone?  --  I should have never removed the redundancies and passives and incomplete revisions.  Nothing like shooting yourself in the foot.

Trivia:

Last year sometime, I wrote  a review of The Ghosts of Crutchfield Hall, and gave the book to a step-grandkid after he said he like to read about ghosts.  He ignored the book.  

Two weeks ago, his non-reading, school-hating sister devoured the book.  When she started talking about Sophia doing this, and Sophia doing that, it took her mother a day to realize the kid, who doesn't read, had finished the book.  She immediately launched into Wind in the Willows, which she thinks is the funniest book ever.  --  Can this be an argument for giving free books to kids just to have them sitting on a shelf and accessible?       

Starting a New Series

The Read ...

My "cockles" were nicely warmed by the opening of Yasmine Galenorn's new series about the Indigo Court of vampiric fae -- Night Myst.  Frankly, I'm a little tired of her D'Artigo sisters.  [I'd still read them, but the competition for my time is too great at the moment.]  

The book set up might be considered a cliche -- a roaming family member (Cicely) being called home because of a death.  When Cicely returns home, she's discovers she's inherited the position of head witch in the town, and all hell's breaking  out.  Yeah, it gets off the blocks fast and keeps racing from one disaster to another.

That said, watching Galenorn set up the coming books in the series is a writing lesson in itself.  The end of the book leaves the reader anticipating several threads:

--Cecily inheriting responsibility for the safety of humans and witches in the town threatened by the Indigo Court, 

--The MC lover a captive of the Indigo Court queen, 

--A battle between two tribes of fae, one of which was supposedly destroyed by the Indigo Court,

--Not only can Cicely talk to a wind elemental by can turn into an owl which is the enemy of the queen of the Indigo Court,
--The Indigo Court of Vampiric fae out to destroy the Red Court of normal vampires, which are wickedly delicious and self-centered, the poster-people for unreliable allies. 
-- Cicely discovers her father is a fae from yet a different tribe, and

--There's a reincarnation thing going on.

 

Oh, there are some mild sex scenes and reserve partners in the wings to complicate future plots.

 

That's just what I remember from the top of my head.  I'll close my comments by thanking Galenorn for not sanitizing her vampires.

Media Buzz ...

Promoting Your Book:  The web has been busy catching my interest.  Maybe one of the most important posts I've read lately comes from Eric at Pimp My Novel -- an author's 12 Step Program.  Yay!  A nice step-by-step list of things you need to do to promote your books -- even if you hit the big time since publishers are publicizing less and less. 

I'm sort of stuck on #5 ... I skipped the agent bit on the list when I sold Taking Vengeance to WolfSinger Publications.  Laughed at the party suggestion.  I just went comatose when I got the email saying WolfSinger had accepted the novelette.  [Remember, this is super small time even if it's occupying enormous amounts of my time.]

Bureaucratic Sillyness:  I start out my day reading the New York Times.  [Actually, it's skimming the NYT.  The old man reads it.]  A recent gem was an article on how print books help avoid the "summer slump" affecting so many low income school kids, all of whom can't afford to forgot what they learned the previous year.  Seems their heads retain more if they have books to read.  Also seems, it works best when the kids pick out their own books.

With school districts cutting summer programs right and left because their tax base has evaporated, research has revealed a cost-effective solution -- give the kids books they pick out for themselves, even if the subject is "frivolous".  Hey, that might even get boys reading.

Progress ...

The site for the Half-Elven of the Far Isles is now up and under construction.  If you're curious, you can visit the site ... or the blog.  Did you guess I've put my other projects on the back burner to start another edit of Dark Solstice -- in spite of coming down with something with a fever?

Trivia ...

Got my desk cleaned off again ... Does that mean I'll start revising Voices??????  Maybe next week.  I'm still cleaning stuff -- both computer and print -- up.   The changes in Dark Solstice are minor -- so maybe I can do both.

Series End or Just Shifting Gears?

The Read ...

Ilona Andrews' Magic Bleeds feels like the end of the series.  I clenched my teeth as I read it.  I liked the fast pace and development of the primary and secondary characters in their books and would hate to see the Kate Daniels' world end.  [Like, I'm green with envy ... especially after reading the scene where the hyena alpha tried to manipulate Daniels.]

What clues suggest the ending of the series?  Andrews ties up so many loose ends very little is left hanging.  The only hope in the book the team will continue writing the series is the suggestion of Daniels going freelance.

Since there are three more Kate Daniels books under contract, I can look forward to Kate's continued fights with Curren because the Daniels series is shifting gears to maintain freshness.  Even if they become a couple, I can't imagine them not fighting.  Their characters are too consistently drawn -- the super-protective male and a snarly, independent female, both intelligent.

How do I know about three more titles?  I checked the Andrews website for Kate Daniels series, of course.  You might check it out if you are thinking about site building.  It's one of cleanest, easy to follow sites I've seen.

Website building is whirling around in my mind thanks to WolfSinger Pubs.  I'm in the process of setting up a Half-Elven site, and the Ilona Andrews team has given me a great model.   Just hope Go Daddy's templates have something a computer idiot can manipulate.

Ta-Da for the Web Notes ...

Amazon's crowing about their Kindle sales.  Digital Book World  has a blog putting the hype in perspective.

I have problems with having one company controlling all the books I'm able to buy.  My e-reading device must allow my to buy books from any vendor ... now just the owner of the reader.

Hey, all you distopian writers ... how about a media mogul buying a corrupt Congress to write the laws so his company is the only one that can sell books?

Progress ...

Got my freebie story, set in the world of the Half-Elven [Cavern Between Worlds], more or less revised.  The old man only has to copy-edit the thing, I hope.  It's intended as bait to build a readership/fan base for the Half-Elven world [along with two other short stories].  Hopefully, I'll be able to sell more than a 100 copies of Taking Vengeance when it's published next year.  I'm still in the midst of studying how one does it ... but I'll try the best I can.  It'd be embarrassing if I only sold 20 copies.  [I can see my fiction career whirling down the drain.]

My head's spinning from the projects on the table.  Remember the guy on the Ed Sullivan show who spinned  a bunch of plates on top of dowls?  While musing while giving the cat his lap [aka outlining the next freebie story] I discovered I could remember some of the secondary/minor characters' names.

I'm concentrating my revision efforts on There Be Demons.  I'd rather drag my feet so I'll have an excuse not to query agents.   Maybe if I have the queries out, I won't be tempted to fiddle with the manuscript and can get on with revising Voices.  

Voices may be the most salable of the manuscripts I have endings on -- since it's more conventional.  Just a girl coping with talking to ghosts and bullies.  Mariah is a grandmother and an elf -- which should be a high fantasy quest but centers on a society coping with genetic drift in a small hybrid population.  Demons features a skewed pastiche of Catholic dogma which isn't all that complementary. 

Oh, I forgot Emma.  She's fairly conventional too but is able to see fae and travel to new Faery -- while coping with bullies .

Trivia ...

The raspberries are producing $5.00 bowls over and over again.  Glad they waited until we got back from the family trek.  

Oh, a heads-up.  I'm going to be blogging twice a week -- unless something drastic happens.  I've just got too much on my plate. 

Book Turn-Offs?

The Reads ...  A given.  Not every book you start to read -- even in your favorite genre -- will hold your interest.  While reading how to survive when the economy collapses, I kept taking books off the to-read pile and transferring them to the trade pile.  Two authors who got caught in the shift, Lori G. Armstrong and Anne Ursu, both popular and respected authors.

Why didn't I read them?

Lori G. Armstrong had lots of potentially interesting characters running around in the beginning of Blood Ties and an interesting premise.  Hey, I bought the book, after all.  The protagonist is a no-nonsense, take-the-bit-in-her-teeth kind of gal with some convoluted family issues which aren't the worse others in the cast of characters must face.  Still, I did no more than skim it.  My internal editor just wouldn't turn off, and the "red pen" got a little heavy.  

Anne Ursu's The Shadow Thieves, the first in her The Cronus Chronicles, didn't even get a skim.   This was a contribution from the NYC fantasy readers, and I was looking forward to reading a middle grade novel ... after putting Emma on the shelf.  I didn't get beyond page 7.  The telling voice just ... plain ... turned ... me ... off.

What kinds of things turn you off when you settle down, expecting a reality-suspending read?

Must admit that, Beka, Blood Hound finally came in.

Web Stuff ...

All  writers need support ... and northern Colorado writers of all levels and genres have the Northern Colorado Writers thanks to Kerrie Flanagan.  Members, like me, enjoy many benefits like coffees, classes, conferences with big-time agents/editors, a Yahoo group, newsletter ... and an informative blog.   M-F, five different writers offer helpful info and insights about writing.

Fridays are especially valuable for writer's without much time to scour the web.  Brooke Favero of "The Writing Bug" does the slogging for you.  This last week she included outstanding info on querying agents, building platforms, and improving your writing craft skills.  --  To tell the truth, she's always includes outstanding information from some of the best bloggers on the web.

And then, there's Facebook.  After a couple months of experimenting,I recently limited my Facebook page to family and real friends who I might even talk to once in awhile.  For the life of me, I couldn't comprehend how a my page would help me as a writer.  Maybe you wonder the same thing?  Well, Jessica Faust in her Bookends blog gives some pointers on how build a business platform on Facebook.  She uses one of her clients, Ellery Adams of A Killer Plot, as an example.  Check it out.

[For me, it came at an opportune time.]

Progress ...

The Voices, the Voices ... got new chapters tacked on them last week ... in spite of me having to write promotional material for Taking Vengeance.  I think my decision to just write 1,000 words a day -- no matter what kind of cr*p it is -- might work.  I knew I had to go back and add description as soon as I noticed I was staring at my end-of-chapter hook.  The chapter also has that unusual problem of "telling" rather than showing the action.

Then, there are the Demons, Gargoyles, and Britt ... have loads of changes to make, thank to my lovely beta reader.  [Now, if she'll only send me her chapters.  Hint.  Hint.]


I'm getting a down and busy view of the publishing world.  No more day-dreaming.  Have sent my contract, bio, and back cover copy to WolfSinger Publications.  [You might check them out at Amazon or Barns & Noble.] -- No, my teeny effort (We're talking 12,000 words.) won't be published until sometime in 2011.

A reality check on the odds of acceptance.  I'm assuming a couple hundred submissions were made last year.  I'm one of 11-2 contracts offered for 2011.  WolfSinger also publishes a couple e-magazines.  You can check the guidelines and contracts out.  Sorcerous Signals closed to submissions on June 15th.

Trivia ...

The robins were squawking up a storm yesterday morning.  I woke up to something chirring back at them.  I opened the blinds to the robins dive-bombing something with a bushy tail disappearing over the fence. --  I don't think robins like raccoons.  (Another good reason to keep the cats indoors, as if the hawks weren't enough.)