C2E2

In Chicago this weekend making friends and influencing people. Hope that book I read about this works.

Quick Update

Bulletpoint Update

- Been short story writing. It's great until the last 500 words. Seems that's when the inspiration runs out.

- Snuck into World Fantasy Con. Had no credentials. Somehow got in.

- Started a new book. It shoved the other projects aside. Started today. 5,000 words down.

State of the Writer

I'm 34 now. I am grim on my birthday (Wednesday's child is full of woe). I reflect.

My Writing Year

A Monstrous War is in the best shape its ever been. I'm getting back into Firstsons as soon as I finish a short story that struck like lightning (if it comes you must obey it). I have 3-4 short stories sitting around, all lightning strikes (I'm a long form guy, so when a short story comes, it comes easy, riding on pure inspiration) I guess I should learn how to submit them and start with that.

I had a busy year. Between my query package (he both loves and hates the query package), several short stories, and my roadhouse fan fiction (love me some wade garret), I've also worked on some comic stuff and a 300 page SECRET PROJECT.

Yes, you heard me. 300 pages of something SECRET. I had a dream with the Penny Arcade guys, and in it and they were very impressed. Maybe it wasn't a dream, maybe it was whatever Deja vu is before it happens the second time*.

This Year:

Firstsons

J.B. v. O.D. Rum (more on this later)

Submit Short Stories

More Conferences

Mentor (I need a writing mentor, badly. I have no connections. This is where am BFA or MFA could have helped. How will to accomplish this? I don't know. Shove pages into the hands of someone I respect, I suppose.)

*Promnesia = Deja Vu. New word: Prenesia. Def: The pre-state of Deja Vu, where the groundwork for noting something no one cares about occurs. (From my twitter)

Writing vs. Writer

I've read about wanting to write vs. wanting to be a writer.

Me, I want to write more than I want to be a writer.

So what does that mean? Allow me to illustrate by telling a story.

In January of 2009, I went to the New York Comic Con. I had a still-cooling first draft of A Monstrous War in my hands and wanted to talk to some writers, editors, marketing people, and whoever else would talk to me about the industry. I wasn't going to pitch (This is not the place to pitch, and I wasn't ready anyway), I just wanted to get the lay of the land.

I spoke to an undisclosed editor, who told me point blank that this was not the time to try to sell a traditional fantasy novel. If I wanted to get published, undisclosed editor said, I should write urban fantasy. The only way traditional fantasy would be published, they said, was someone had to be in love with the book. I'm paraphrasing, but the gist was, an agent and editor had to be willing to put everything on the line to get it published.

I was told my book had better be a very special book if I had a chance.

Now, my first reaction was to say "Don't worry, it is." However, I just nodded and asked undisclosed editor how their weekend was going and wished them the best.

I could have went home, shelved A Monstrous War, and tried to write an urban fantasy novel. Actually, that's a lie -- I couldn't have done that. Because I didn't have an urban fantasy novel in my head that needed to be written.

If I wanted to be a writer more than I wanted to write, then I would have grinded one out, and maybe it would have cut the mustard in a hot market, but it wouldn't have had any spark or magic.

I want to write. I want to tell the stories I have in me that need to be told. I just don't have that mercenary quality. If someone asked me to write for an anthology, and I thought I had something worth it, I'd go for it. But if not, I'd have to pass.

Because of that, what I write is always going to have magic in it.

Orb Bestiary: the Blood Cardinal

The Damphel is also known as the Blood Cardinal. It is a small bird, weighing only 165 grams. Its plumage is the color of dried blood, but other areas of the bird, such its beak and feet, are a deep, fleshy pink.

The most interesting feature of the Damphel are the bony projections that extrude from its head, in the approximate location where a normal cardinal would have a feathered crown. These projections are a veiny pink, which appear to be tied to the cardinal’s nervous system and brain. This strange adaptation has been employed by those with knowledge of the beast for centuries.

If one can obtain a blood cardinal, and prick their finger upon the bone crown, an interesting reaction occurs. The cardinal will sit quietly for approximately 30 seconds, then take flight, leading the owner of the blood it bears to the thing they most desire.

Why this occurs is unknown. It is theorized that the blood is somehow absorbed by the cardinal’s bone crown and signals are sent to its avian brain. However, it has been noted the bone crown must pierce the skin; blood that has been exposed to open air will not activate its seeking mechanism.

Because of this power the Damphel is used by investigators, treasure hunters, and thieves. It is also used by those whose loved ones have disappeared or been kidnapped. Young romantics often use the blood cardinal to attempt to find love, but beware: if your motives are impure, and you seek carnal desire, it will simply take you to the most likely candidate.

A lord with a Damphel as a totem will be seen as a seeker of things, and person of great desire and passion. They will also be seen as a possessive person, with many wants and needs. They may be thought of as quick to change their hearts, or uncertain, as the Damphel is needed to guide them. Of course, if the holder of the totem engages in a life of service, this perception changes, as they often help others seek what they want most.

The Damphel was the totem of Saint Raphael Christholm, Valadin and head of King Thane I’s Quests and Crusades division. Christholm was a famed seeker of lost artifacts, and secured many treasures for his King, most famously recovering the King’s amulet after it was stolen by “Lord” Herne in AA 4137.

The Boyscout Approach

My first writing conference was very successful. I attribute this to being prepared.

- I had a finished book, synopsis, and query.

- I knew my book and could describe it in 25 words.

- I had business cards. This is a must.

- I dressed the part. Actually, I overdressed a bit. Still, I looked professional.

- I did my research. I knew who would be there, who I needed to talk to, and even if I didn't need to talk to them, I familiarized myself with their work, so if I ran across them I could strike up a conversation.

- I was passionate about my book. I think that really showed.

- I put myself out there. I made an effort to walk up and talk to people. I wanted to get on their radar. This isn't so hard for me (I love talk, and I am interested in hearing people talk, a.k.a. be a sponge), but even if you aren't outgoing you have to do your best. Volunteering to introduce speakers was well worth it.


Writers at all stages of their careers are at these conferences. Some want to learn how to get started, some want to get motivated, some are just curious, and some (this is me) are there to find an agent and publisher. Whatever your goal is, be prepared for it. I went into Pennwriter's determined to suck every ounce of worth out of it and it really paid off.

Conventions are good for you: 2

Pennwriter's was a well designed conference, and I can't recommend it enough. I'm going to focus on aspects and people instead of timeline. Today, let's talk about C.J. Lyons.

C.J. writes medical thrillers (my description of her work, not hers), a genre I don't read whatsoever. However, she was running a pitch clinic first thing Friday morning (see how smart Pennwriter's is, they put this where it did the most good) and I was keen to attend.

I have to say, C.J. is great. She knows her stuff, has incredible energy, and is genuinely concerned about other writers. She made a fan out of me.

Her session on pitching was invaluable. I went to the conference prepared (an entry for another time, fair reader), but she helped me sharpen my pitch and will let you know what is working and what is not. I am sure a lot of new writer's look at classes and wonder if they are worth it or not. Hers are.

After her talk, we had a chance to pitch our book in front of the class (a hundred people? more? I'm not good with counting crowds), and I took it.

It was a wise decision.

One: I got valuable practice. Two: It put me on everyone's radar. People came up to me, commented on my pitch, offered advice, etc. It was a great icebreaker.

I heard a lot of "I don't usually read those kind of books, but yours sounds interesting" from people, which was a boost, because I wrote A Monstrous War with a mind on accessibility. I want to bring new readers into the genre.

I got off to a great start, and I owe it to C.J. Lyons. Thanks, C.J.

Moving Day

I've moved my blog to a place where it will be easier to find, and unpacked all my old entries. Have a peek at them, and I'll see you soon.

Conventions are good for you

Rather than give you a run down of my weekend, let's talk people, starting with David Pomerico of Del Rey Spectra.

He gave a panel on the state of the publishing industry, what was in demand, what they looked for in new authors, etc., then opened it for questions, which sparked a debate over internet platforms. David maintained that a wannabe writer should have an internet presence, and that readers should be able to google their name and find them online.

This made total sense to me: as a writer, you have to promote yourself, and you have to be out there. Also, the guy works at a big time publisher and he was telling those present how to make yourself more attractive to publishers.

However, a few people in attendance took up issue with this. They didn't want to have to go through all the time and effort to build a platform. At one point, a woman asked what they (the publishers) wanted: the authors to be writing or blogging?

David handled the heat very well, answering their questions while explaining himself, and man, did I want to chime in, but I didn't want to add fuel to the fire or start a discussion. I was there to be a sponge, not argue. But what I wanted to say was:

BOTH.

They want you to write and be out there, promoting yourself. They want to know you have the tools to get your book out there, and that you want to connect with readers. They want to know you want to be part of the process.

Hell, I want that too. I want people reading my books, its why I want to be published. Second to that is the idea of making money doing it, and as a newcomer, let's face it: I'm not going to be there for a while, if ever.

I can't write for eight hours a day (unless I am on tear) anyway. After 2,000 (or around 6,000 on second drafts) I start to slow down a bit. That usually runs around three to four hours. Blogging and website stuff is a cooldown while I make notes and chart the path for tomorrow.

In the end, to quote Stephen King quoting someone else: The Book is the Boss.

If you have a good book, that has some sort of audience, you'll get published. I really do believe that.

But if you want people to read it, you should do everything you can to make it happen, up to and including shoving the book in their hands.

Back to David Pomerico. I spoke with David several times during the weekend and was encouraged by him. He knows his stuff and he loves books. That's what you want in an editor. He offered to talk about my book more than once, and genuinely wanted to help writers. He's got a good feel for stories, and improved my first few pages dramatically with a few comments.

It's important to remember that editors aren't the enemy. They love books and they want to read and work on good ones.


P.S. On getting home, I immediately learned how to submit my site to search engines. The process takes around two minutes to do and six weeks to take effect

Conventions

Let's get right into it.

I finished the first book, and had no idea how to go forward. My query letter and synopsis weren't good and I knew it. I also had no writing mentor, group, etc. So I decided to go to a conference. I chose Pennwriter's based on which editors/agents were going to be there, and I was not disappointed. In the meantime I worked on other projects (secret for now, sorry) and went through A Monstrous War sentence by sentence.

I learned a lot and finally got some pages in the right hands.

I want to keep things shorter, in order to update more often, so next time a little about David Pomerico of Del Rey Spectra, who in about 10 minutes vastly improved my first few pages.

Everything ! (But the Book)

So, I have begun looking for an agent. Getting published is an exhausting process, designed to weed out the serious wannabees from the sorta wannabees. A lot goes into selling a book (and yourself). Besides the actual complete and worth-it novel, you need to write a query letter, a synopsis, and a chapter by chapter synopsis.

Each takes time and practice to craft.

First there is a query letter. It contains some specifics about the book (genre, number of words), and then a few catchy paragraphs - what you'd read on the back of a book. This is the writing equivalent to approaching a girl at a bar. You don't have much time to get her interested, and saying the wrong thing means instant rejection.

Then comes the synopsis. A synopsis is an ugly, cliff's notes version of a book. I've just written a 400+ page novel, and now I have to condense it into one page and still make it sound interesting.

In one page, I have to describe thecharacters, their story arcs, the plot, and the ending in such a wayit makes a person want to read it. This was not easy. Every word matters. I stared atsentences over and over again, shifting and replacing words andreading them out loud to see how they sounded.

Its tough, because my style involves using foreshadowing and mystery, and I stress character development. These things take time to unfold. For any of the work to have gravity, you have to go on the journey.*

Next is a chapter-by-chapter synopsis. You get one paragraph for each chapter. Ever try to explain an awesome movie to someone? You know that awkward moment that happens while you're explaining it and getting a blank stare back? Then you realize you're ruining it, maybe making the person not want to see it now, which is the opposite of what you wanted? Yeah, that's how a chapter-by-chapter synopsis is.

And if you screw any of the above up, the agent or publisher will reject you without ever actually reading the book. Now, this is not their fault, they get dozen of these every day, they can't read every wannabee's book. It's just frustrating knowing you have a great book but not being able to get the right people to read it.

Query letter, synopsis, chapter-by-chapter synopsis. And we're still not done. Next is the research. Now you have to look into agents. This is the person who is your advocate. As a writer, they represent you and sell your book to the publishers. It has to be someone you think would be a good fit for you and your work, as well as someone you think can sell your book. And they actually have to be looking for new, unproven authors. Then you have to tailor the above materials to that agent's sensibilities - whatever you think those may be.

In the process of becoming a published author, writing the book has been the easiest part.


* Where that asterisk is, that's one page, the length of a synopsis.

Using a Framework

So, people wonder how you manage to write a book-length story. Perhaps they've given it a try themselves, and when they're done, they have around fifty pages. What's the trick to having enough material? How do you know what comes next? How to you prevent the ending from coming too soon?

Well, there is no trick, but having a framework helps. By that, I mean a structure to help you get from point A to point B to point C and so on. A lot of stories move through time (spending a year in a new place) or through space(traveling cross-country), giving the author a base to plan the story around. Let's find some popular examples.


Harry Potter and the School Year

J.K. Rowling uses the school year calendar to frame Harry Potter. She goes from the first day of school to Halloween to Christmas (dodging Easter—she handles religion well in those books by never addressing it) to final exams. She fills it in with a sports season. This gave a young author a nice structure to fit her story into.

As a side note, she necessarily abandons it in the last book, and as a result people thought the book meandered a bit. The pace of it seemed off. Rowling stated she's most proud of that last book, and I understand why. It must have been a challenge to abandon the structure she'd used for her first six books.


J.R.R. Tolkien, Map Master Supreme

Now Tolkien was different. He had a whole world ready to draw upon. This is pure conjecture, but I suspect he simply traced the path his characters would take and that dictated what they would encounter. A lot of his chapters encapsulate a location. There is a chapter for the Prancing Pony Inn, Helm's Deep, etc.

It's also an excellent way to show off your settings, giving the reader a tour of your world. I admit, I use this one a bit. It's really helpful having a fully designed world at my fingertips. Having to build it as I wrote would have been daunting.

Ender's Game: the Repeating Framework

Ender goes to Battleschool; he's new and has to prove himself. He does and earns respect. Ender becomes a commander; he's new and has to prove himself. He does and earns respect. Ender is sent to command school. Everything is new, and he has to prove himself. He does and...

The framework here is introducing the character into a new environment, having him master it, and then going on to another new environment.


A Series of Unfortunate Events, a Series of Settings

The kids go to a new area and they meet their new guardian. Count Olaf shows up in disguise and causes problems, forcing the kids to move on a robbing them of any allies. I've only read the first three of these, so don't come after me if it eventually changed.

---

These works have a few things in common:

- They are all early works by new authors. I think each found a framework that helped them chart apath and fill out their stories.

- They are all great books. Having a framework doesn't mean a book will be bad. It's just a structure for the story and characters.


T.V. shows follow the same frame work all the time, House and Scooby Doo being prime examples. Don't ask me why Scooby Doo came to mind. Movie sequels often follow the framework of the first film, but I think that's an attempt to safely emulate the first film's success, basically giving the audience the same movie.


So my suggestion would be to choose either time or space and establish the starting and ending point. Move your characters and story through it. Knowing what comes next can help when deciding what happens next.

A Book Down

After 350 days, my first novel is in the can. The first draft took eight weeks of intense writing. I realize now that was the easy part. Its there-writes that are the real grind, going through line by line, taking out what doesn't need to be there and cleaning it up. Each re-write took as long as the first draft, and you have to sit the draft and let it cool down in your mind. That time is essential. I didn't realize how important it was to get distance from the book.

My last draft was my forth draft, and I was still finding errors and plain bad writing. And I had two good proof readers besides myself going through it. In the end, I read the whole thing, one sentence at a time, out loud, and that helped a lot.

I'm excited to get back to the first draft of the second one. I miss drafting. I used to think of it as"real writing", but really its creating. Its all real writing, but that first draft is the funnest part.

I'm back to chronicling my day to day writing, as well as doing my best to give everyone an honest look at the submission process for a first time writer, which is bound to be brutal.

There are two roads: straight to a publisher and trying to get an agent. I plan to submit to one publisher at a time while shopping agents. For those of you who don't know, its a rejection filled process. Writers tend to have fragile egos, and the rejection tends to make people quit trying.

In the end, its about belief. I have to believe that the book is good and not give up. This is the sort of thing that no one can do for you - you have to find it in yourself. Its not anyone else's dream, its yours.

Polishing

Yes, I know. But I'm back now. Don't be mad, baby.

So, I've been polishing A Monstrous War. Its shiny.

What comes next is querying and submitting samples. I am not going to lie, I'm scared. I guess this is where a lot of new authors wash out. They have the product but are afraid of the rejection.

I'm feeling that.

There are a lot of excuses. Its a bad time in the market. Its a worse time for traditional fantasy. Saturn is obscuring Uranus, etc.

But the truth is I'm just plain scared. I know I have a good book. Now I have to get the right people to look at it.

Another Lap

Hello again, it's been a while. Did you change your hair? It looks nice.

My job became two jobs the last few weeks. It's tough to work double time, then try to write. I just didn't have the energy for it without constant stream of liquid sugar flowing into my gullet. I had to give up soda. I hit that point of unhealthy where it affected my energy levels and everything was harder. Thankfully, I can still work out when mentally exhausted.

The good news is that I got the manuscript of A Monstrous War back from my brother, who painstakingly performed the copy editing. I am now making the final changes, and hope to be querying agents and publishers this time next week.

It's good. I don't know what else to say. I wrote a book and it's good. Maybe this is what fatherhood is like.

Male vs. Female Fantasy

In the fantasy genre, a divide exists. Fantasy stories are ether for boys or girls (usually depending on who the protagonist is). I've been looking closely at what agents and publishers are looking for (not that it matters, I'm going to tell the stories that I have in me. I'm not a mercenary and I'm not sure I could ever be). There are a lot of requests for strong female characters.

From what I've read, there are more female than male fantasy readers, and they want different things from their books. Mostly because they are interested in different characters.

Neil Gaiman talked about this in Sandman: A Game of You.

Little boys have fantasies in which they are smarter, or faster, or able to fly...Little girls, on the other hand, have different fantasies. Their parents are not their parents. Their lives are not their lives. They are princesses...from distant lands.

I would say I write more for boys. Not intentionally, but I write the stories I would have loved to read as a younger guy (and still would). So, my potential audience is shrinking. That's okay. I believe in me.

Interestingly, even though fantasy novels for females are more popular, male fantasy is what they make into movies. I don't read Laurel K. Hamilton, but I know she is rather popular with the ladies. IFC is making an Anita Blake show, and the press release said it was geared for males 19-32. Uh. What?

36,000

Another tough week. Work really piled on and I spent too many days laying around in a zombified state. I didn't even read much this week, much less play video games or watch t.v. Where did I find the time to write a book six months ago? It wasn't this hard last time. I don't do anything but work and write.

Of course, last time I mainlined mountain dew and stuffed my face full of kit-kat bars. I'm trying not to do that again, but I have to admit I write better on a sugar high. Maybe I need to decide if I want to be a muscular wage-slave or a fat, toothless writer.

It's not much of a decision, really. The books would outlive me even if I ran five miles a day and ate only spinach.

All in all, the second book is going really well. There have been some challenging sections, but so far it blows the first one away.

Oh, I bought a phone that has msword on it. I can write anywhere now, just very slowly and with a lot of typos. I wonder if I have unusually large thumbs. I wrote 450 words last night sitting in a bar. I need a different type of phone or more practice. My fingers can't keep up with my mind.

32,000

I almost never listen to music when I write, and if I do it's always something specific - a song I that matches the scene. But I felt like it today and thought I'd give it a try. If it hurt my writing, I could always turn it off. I borrowed my buddy's ipod and learned two things:

My friend has pretty decent taste in music and I need an ipod.

It cut down on the distractions. The words came easy and fast. When I got up I was so pumped I could have flipped over a car.

Writing Thought:

The good days are the ones that make you believe in yourself. Remember days like today.

30,000

I had a bleh week. I don't like excuses, so let's just say I got very little done. It was a mix of poor health, lots of work, and being a bit stuck on how I wanted to move forward with the second book.

So instead, I worked on my query letter and continued research into literary agents and publishing. I've never written a query before, and there is an art to it. It's essential, so I'm crafting it carefully. There is a lot to do, if you want to do these things right and make it.

Writing is lonely sometimes. But it's my dream, not anyone else's.

Writing Thought:

Not every chapter is a home run - they can't all hold big moments. Sometimes you have to down shift gears and start building things up again.

Inventing Checkers

One upon a time, two giants were playing chess. They were rather aggravated by the game. None of the pieces moved the same way and some of them made no sense. Surely, a knight could topple a castle, and a pawn may slay a queen (most queen-slayers have been pawns, actually). And anyone could kill a king - it's generally how one became a king. It was the bishops that drove them crazy. They hadn't known many bishops, but how in Urd's gizzard were they able to kill a knight?

Perhaps it was some sort of political statement. Giants are not fond of political statements.

(I won't even get into the issue of the chess board. Everyone knows giants only see one color, that color being red, so it just looked like a big square to them.)

Finally, in their anger, they pounded their huge hands down onto the board and flattened all the pieces. When they looked down, they were all the same. They all had the same potential. They moved the same and killed the same, and any one of them could become a king.

And no, that is not a political statement.