Weekend Update: Congratulations to my Friends!

A long, long time ago, I started poking around the internet, looking for writing stuff: places that could help me improve as a writer, places that would give me information on where I could publisher--err, try to publish--the couple of short stories I had sweated out, and what to do about the ideas that were starting to develop in me, the things that seemed to want to become...novels. The long-dormant dream of being a writer had awakened, though I suppose it had never really gone away entirely.

Of course, the web is a big place and there's something for everyone here. No matter what your obsession, you can find it, and I found plenty of 'official' sites, like Absolute Write and NaNoWriMo and Writer's Digest, and I dove into those to help me learn. And I found the less 'official': the blogs. There are thousands of blogs out there, and of particular interest to me were the ones belonging to people who were like me: people who were writing with a dream in mind, the dream to become published authors. I followed some, and then decided to do my own blog, and some of us have been traveling on this rocky path together for more than three years already--it's hard to believe it's been that long. We've cheered for each other and commiserated with each other, we've come to know each other in that curious way that we know anyone on the web.

I am happy to say that three of my oldest friends from the blog world (well, let's change that, as they're not particularly old--three of the people I go back with the longest) have scored big time at the eFestival of Words Virtual Book Fair this weekend! Carrie Butler, Lisa Regan and Nancy Thompson each took home awards, and each of them were here almost from the beginning. Congratulations on your well-deserved success, ladies, and I wish you continued success!

"Sticky" Books

My friend, Nancy S. Thompson, challenged me on Facebook the other day. The challenge? Name ten books that have stayed with me through the years, without overthinking.

Of course, I'm not big on doing this sort of thing on Facebook. To me, Facebook is  best used for posting funny pictures, and sitting back and making witty comments on other people's posts. Also, I am big on overthinking, so to the blog it goes. Here's my list, which will not make it to ten. These are in no particular order, except maybe the first one:

1. Salem's Lot, Stephen King. I read this when I was about ten years old, a critical time in my life when I was stepping into that nether world between 'kid' and 'teen'. It didn't exactly make me say "I want to be a writer when I grow up!" but it was part of the fuel that burned so brightly when my sixth grade teacher struck a particular spark a few months later. King in general has been a huge influence on me, and this was the one that started it for me. It's still my favorite vampire book.

2. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving. This one may actually be my favorite book of all-time, and I'm not good at picking favorites of anything! It's definitely my favorite Irving book. It's a great story full of unique characters, and Irving hadn't quite gotten so hung up on delivering lectures in literature yet. The book is thought-provoking, frequently funny, and still makes me tear up. There, I admitted it.

3. Ever Since Darwin, Stephen Jay Gould. I first 'discovered' Gould while leafing through Natural History magazines at a summer job. When the new issues would come in, the first thing I went to was Gould's column, This View of Life. Gould was a brilliant scientist who wrote about science, evolution, Darwin, and life. He did this in a way that was intelligent without being pretentious, and never talked down to his audience. Gould's essays could seem to wander off topic, yet he always wrote with a point, and those things that seemed to have nothing to do with the topic at hand always made sense in the end. He was a writer I very much admired, and very much wanted to be like.

4. Arctic Dreams, Barry Lopez. Someone loaned me this book many years ago and I loved it so much, I had to buy it myself. This is a beautifully-written account of an inhospitable (for many of us) world, an excellent account of its people and its wildlife, and how land and climate shapes life. This is the sort of writing I aspire to, but, sadly, don't reach.

5. Hamlet, William Shakespeare. It's got everything you want in literature--Great language! Humor! Treachery! Revenge! Hamlet is one of the most maddening characters in literature--you want to grab him by his tunic and slap him around and yell, "Stop dithering and get on with it already!"  You want to run him through for what he does to the hapless Ophelia, not to mention the ill-fated Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Yet that maddening element of his personality--his inability to make up his mind when face with a huge decision--is what makes him relatable. After all, killing a king is not something you should rush into. Sadly, his desire to be certain leads to a pretty big body count of (mostly) innocent victims. My favorite Shakespeare.

OK, I'm done, well short of ten, but that's okay. Now, I had considered trying to turn this into a meme or whatever, but I'm too lazy for that, and I don't want to burden anyone by tagging them. So I'll ask: How about you? What books have stuck with you through the years? Feel free to list them below, or make your own post (and link it in the comments). Have a great weekend, all!

Who Are We Trying to Reach?

On Wednesday, my friend Nancy Thompson made her monthly Insecure Writers Support Group post. She's published now, but admitted to feeling a bit of a letdown. Part of it, I'm sure, is the physical reaction to the go-go-go that was her blog tour and the high of being able to go to Amazon and Barnes & Noble and say, "Look, that's me!" At some point, you're just going to run out of steam. But she was also noting how hard it is to connect with readers. Nancy noted that, while writing The Mistaken, she connected with writers, which is great, but she goes on to say:

I didn’t take the proper time to make more connections, the kind I should’ve made in order to help sell my book.  Writers make great friends and give wonderful support and advice, but, for the most part, they're not really buyers.  Readers are buyers

We'll say it again, because it's important: Readers are buyers.

I'm a dedicated reader of a number of blogs, a regular participant in the Absolute Write forums, and one thing that comes up all the time is the notion of 'rules'. You know them well: Don't use adverbs. Don't use passive voice. Show, don't tell. Write what you know. The rules have a place, but they cause a lot of problems for new writers who see these rules broken all the time by established authors. And the confusion is compounded when New Writer posts a two sentence excerpt on a forum because they're confused about grammar, and they get an answer that says something like, "Grammatically, you're fine, but I'd be concerned because that sentence is all telling." They then get lectured by four or five people for telling when they should be showing. I hate those kinds of answers because they ignore context, and they ignore the fact that sometimes, it's just plain best to tell.

Now there's a new rule, a rule that is heavily-pushed by industry insiders: "you must have presence." 'Presence' in this case refers at the very least to a website, though preference is given for interactive social media. Like the 'Show, don't tell,' and 'Don't use passive voice' rules, a lot of new writers are taking this to heart, and the result is a lot of blogs out there like…well, like this one, and a lot of writers despairing over what it means.

The problem is that new writers almost invariably blog about writing. There's nothing at all wrong with this. It's a good way to help process and channel the sometimes maddening things we go through, and it's a great way to meet people and to learn and be inspired. I've gained so much from reading your blogs and interacting with you, and from forcing myself to write something meaningful twice a week. Best of all, I can say there are some real friendships that have formed through this effort, and I don't make friends easily.

But Nancy is right. Blogs like hers and mine attract like-minded people, and those like-minded people are mostly fellow aspiring writers. And as Nancy says, writers are not buyers. Yes, when I am published, some of you will buy my books (now we're getting ambitious: it's not enough that I'm saying 'when', I'm assuming multiple books – dream big, or go home!). Many of you will promote it on your blogs and participate in blog tours and interviews and, like ripples on a pond, word will spread of my fantastic contributions to literature – to other writers. Getting the word out to the general reading public is another story.

So, how do we do that? Lisa Regan made a great point in the comments section of Nancy's post: "it's hard to connect with readers when you have nothing out for them to read." What reader (meaning the generic reader, as opposed to the aspiring writer reader) is going to visit this blog? There's no reason for them to come here because I have nothing published, they don't know me from Adam. And if I did somehow find a way to attract them here, well what's there for them to see? A wanna-be writer whining about how he's stuck in the middle of his manuscript, or recounting a crazy dream that relates to how anxious he is about sharing his work. Who really wants to read that? Other writers who are in the same or similar boat, that's who. When I'm published, I would need a different sort of presence, I think, for the benefit of reader readers who are interested in me.

There's a lot of energy being expended on the internet by writers trying to establish presence. My feeling, the longer I'm involved in this, is relax. Blog if you want. Tweet, Facebook, whatever. But don't break your back on any of them on the assumption that it's going to help get you an agent or a publication deal, or that it's going to sell you a lot of books when you do get your deal. Because chances are, you'll be trying to sell yourself to yourself. 

What do you all think? Am I nuts for saying this? Or is there some other way to really connect with and build a readership before you've been published? I really want to know.

Have a great weekend!

Author Interview: Nancy S. Thompson

Today I have the pleasure of a Doubting Writer first: an honest-to-God Author Interview! Nancy S. Thompson officially made the jump from 'aspiring writer' to 'published author' last week when her thriller, TheMistaken (Sapphire Star Publishing), hit the streets. 

"Obsessed with revenge following the violent death of his pregnant wife, Tyler Karras pledges the woman who killed her to sex-traffickers in San Francisco’s Russian Mafia.  In exchange, they’ll finally let his brother leave the business for good—with his debt wiped clean and his heart still beating.  But when Tyler mistakenly targets the wrong woman, he’s forced to protect his own victim from the very enemy he's unleashed, and the Russians are holding his brother as leverage to force Ty to complete their deal.  Caught in a no-win situation, Ty must find a way to save himself, his brother, and the woman, but with the Russian Mafia, even two out of three makes for very long odds. "

A gifted writer, Nancy has been a regular reader and a valuable commenter here for a long time. The Mistaken is 'a good story well told.' It's tight, fast-paced and exciting, and Nancy puts her characters through hell. In addition to her skill as a writer, Nancy is a great reader, with an excellent eye. Her insightful comments and critiques have helped me improve greatly. Best of all, over the past year we've gone from being just blogging buddies to actual friends, and have shared the blessing/curse of sending a child off to college, but now I'm trampling on the interview. Here we go, please welcome Nancy S. Thompson!

Tell us something about yourself we WON'T learn from reading your 'About Me' page.

Well, I just spent the last 2 years working very hard to get my son ready for college.  That included advocating a tough curriculum, SAT prep, college fairs and tours, filling out online applications, composing engaging essays, and scholarship applications.  It was a long, difficult process, but it paid off.  Not only did he get accepted to 14 universities, he was also offered and accepted several scholarships to his first choice school.  Plus they gave him 2 years of college credit, so he’ll graduate in May 2014, saving him time and me a great deal of tuition money.  My son is my proudest accomplishment.

That's an exhausting process, I know from experience. Great news, though, that he'll go from freshman to senior in basically one year!

I love origins stories. Tell us about the origins of The Mistaken. How did it come about?

Before The Mistaken, I’d never written anything in my life, and I’d never aspired to, either.  But for some odd reason, I had this idea pop into my head one sunny spring afternoon.  I was cruising around in my little convertible when a new song I’d recently downloaded—Thirty Seconds To Mars’ Hurricane—started to play.  Two lines in the chorus intrigued me:  "Tell me, would you kill to save a life.  Would you kill to prove you’re right?"  It made me wonder, what could drive a decent, law-abiding man to commit a violent crime, and could he ever be the man he once was?  Then than darn muse, who I’d never met before, started whispering in my ear and wouldn’t shut up until I started writing it all down. 

Ah, the power of music!

I'm also a sucker for process. Describe your writing routine, if you have any. Are you a morning writer, evening? Anytime?

I love to write anytime of the day.  If I can, I’ll start in the morning and write until it’s time for bed.  Unfortunately, my husband does need some tending to, so I have to take breaks to prepare dinner and eat and shower, and all that.  But often, I forget.  That’s how absorbed I get with my writing.  Drives my husband nuts!

For me, there's usually a certain time period that has to pass between inspiration—the moment where an idea first strikes—and work time. Quite often that involves a degree of synthesis between two or more ideas, and sometimes it involves actively thinking over something. When you had your first burst of inspiration for The Mistaken, did you go home right away and start writing, or did you have to give it some more time? How long?

There wasn’t much time at all between inspiration and actively writing—maybe a few days.  I started jotting down a very extensive outline while I watched TV in the evenings.  That outline proved to be a great roadmap, from which I rarely strayed.

Which seems to answer my next question: Plotter or Wingman. Err, Wingwoman?

That’s a tough question.  I’ve always thought I was a plotter, hence the outline.  But when I really think about it, that outline was really more like a first, handwritten draft, sans dialogue and setting.  All the story elements were already there, the plot and characters.  I just had to expand to go from about 100 handwritten pages to 380 typed ones.

Sounds like a plotter to me. But, the more I read of other people's process, the more I think it's just a matter of degree.

When I first had my inspiration for Parallel Lives, it was going to be a very different story. During a very early writing session, I had an 'Ah, hah!' moment that changed everything about it. Did you have any moments like that while writing The Mistaken? Has the story changed much from your initial vision?

Actually, no, I always had this one particular story to tell, and I stuck with it from outline to finished draft.  There was one part, a dream sequence, I chose to leave out, but all in all, the story never changed.  Of course, as I began working with critique partners, the story evolved to include more detail, more layers to the plot, but essentially, it always remained the same.

The story emerged slowly over four weeks.  As that blasted muse dictated in my ear, I wrote furiously, trying to keep up with her.  But I will say, she started telling me the story in the wrong place.  I revised it later on, so it all began with an exciting turn of events which sets everything else off.  But besides adding more layers to my characters and one minor element to the plot, nothing else really changed from the first word to publication.

We often hear about 'saggy middles' and writers who get 10, 20, 30,000 words into a book and then get lost and discouraged. Did you ever hit a point during the writing of The Mistaken where you thought about throwing in the towel and giving up? What kept you going?

Perhaps it was the rookie in me, but no, I never got discouraged.  I simply sat down, day after day, from morning ‘til evening, for about two months, until the story was done.  I never got blocked because I had that outline.  You see, I never wrote The Mistaken with the idea I would pursue publication.  It wasn’t until I was finished that I thought I might have something good on my hands.  I will say this though: I do fear that roadblock on my second novel.  I’m almost finished with the outline, but I’m not quite there yet.  Hopefully, it will see me through like the first one did. 

Ah, a second novel -- so what's next for Nancy S. Thompson? Do you see yourself continuing in the same genre, or changing things up?

My next project is the sequel to The Mistaken.  Poor Tyler and Hannah are about to go through a whole new round of hell.  I’m about seventy-five percent done with the outline for that, and I really need to get back to it.  It was disrupted when my edits came in, then I had some family drama, followed by all the lead-up to my launch, and now I edit books for my publisher’s other authors, so that takes up a great deal of my time.  But come November, I am so ready to finish up and start the actual writing.  

I, for one, am looking forward to reading this! Thank you so much for you time, and best of luck with The Mistaken.

One final note, Nancy is having a giveaway. Everyone follower who comments on Nancy's blog over the next two weeks will be entered into a drawing for an ARC of The Mistaken and a bookmark.  Five runner-up winners will each receive an e-book copy.  Winners will be determined using Random.org and notified via email. And, finally, Nancy is also over at Carrie Butler's So, You're a Writer... today. Be sure to stop by there, too. Thanks for visiting, and enjoy The Mistaken.

Wow, Thanks for coming by and good luck!

The Same Old Ground

Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
Same old fears -- Roger Waters

By the time this day is over, I should be *finished* with Barton's Women. And of course, by *finished* I mean  I'm "in the time between this rewrite and the next." I stopped 18 pages short of the end yesterday, wrung out, unable to push on, right in the middle of a paragraph. There are still a couple of tweaks to make in the earlier part of the manuscript: a stronger opening paragraph, a new, short scene, already thought out, in the middle, nothing major, nothing that will take too long (fingers crossed). I might be able to edit and smooth those last 18 pages AND go back and do those fixes. And then I'll hand it over to my wife.

My wife tries not to pester, but she's curious, and every so often she'll say, "Are you finished yet?" My insistence on watching Revolution feeds her curiosity (and let me tell you, between Revolution and Breaking Bad, she is just hating on Giancarlo Esposito. She needs to watch some Bakersfield, P.D. to change her mind), and I've told her enough about the story to whet her appetite. She's been telling me lately that she knows what the story is about, but I think she's just pulling my leg. Unless she's been reading over my shoulder or breaking into my e-mails, which I doubt.

He can't be contained by the boundaries of this blog!

I've said this before, but giving my writing to my wife is harder than sending queries to agents or crit partners. My wife has not offered much in the way of deep criticism; she's said she likes it, she commented once or twice on some dark aspects of some things and gushed over something else, but she's never gone deep. I wonder if perhaps I've put up a sort of defensive posture that's kept her at a distance. It's a definite possibility.

The is a good time to hand Barton's Women over to her, aside from her curiosity and my need to be done with it (for now). The Catbird's Cross Country team is running in their conference championship tomorrow, which gives me the opportunity to be out of the house almost all day. It's much easier for me not to be around when she's reading my writing. I just can't be in the same room with her. When I gave her the full manuscript for Parallel Lives, I handed it over just before she walked out the door to spend a week with her brother and his new set of triplets.

I did put the pressure on. I told her yesterday that she'd be getting it soon. That was done partly because she's been bugging me for it, and partly because it forces me to finish. Once you tell someone you're doing something like, say, writing a book, you really have to deliver, don't you? I just hope she's still excited once she's done....

Have a great weekend, all. On Monday, I'll have Nancy S. Thompson here to talk about her brand new book, The Mistaken. See you then!

Trailer: The Mistaken

The 'O' side of my family is known for being late; it goes with the name. God willing, I will be late for my own funeral (if you're going to be late for anything, that's at least a good thing to be late for). And I'm a little late with this one, because the big release for Nancy S. Thompson's book trailer was last week. Still, it can't hurt to spread the love a little bit, can it? Here, in case you didn't see it last week, is the trailer for Nancy's thriller, The Mistaken, available October 18, 2012.




I am quite excited to see this book in print. I read an earlier version last January, and it's a thriller indeed, well-written, well-paced, and with a hero who finds himself in some seriously grey territory. Tyler Karras lands in Hell, then digs himself even deeper. It's a story that is both moving and grueling (and I mean that in a good way--thrillers are supposed to put you through the wringer right along with the characters, and Nancy delivers), skillfully done. Big congratulations to Nancy. And, maybe I'm not supposed to say anything, but I will have an interview with Nancy here on October 22! Be sure to stop by and meet the woman behind this fine book.

On a side note, we schlepped in to visit the Magpie yesterday and took her to see Finding Nemo 3-D. The film, as always, was a lot of fun. Disney and Pixar know what they're doing when it comes to film making and storytelling. Still, I'm not sure 3-D really enhanced the film all that much, and the rush to convert and re-release the back catalog in 3-D (coming this Christmas: Monsters, Inc. in 3-D!) smacks of being a quick grab for cash. Then again, Disney has a history of re-releasing classics in the theaters every few generations (I remember seeing Pinocchio and Lady and the Tramp in theaters as a child, and I'm NOT that old), so it's nothing new. It is nice for new audiences to see old classics in theaters, where films are really best enjoyed.