Jill Baguchinsky’s MAMMOTH is positive body image plus girls in science for the win!

As a Science teacher and self-proclaimed #STEMgirl, I loved this book, but as a woman I loved it even more. 

MAMMOTH follows Natalie Page as she embarks on a summer internship in Texas at an archaeological dig. As a Science teacher and self-proclaimed #STEMgirl, I loved this book, but as a woman I loved it even more. Natalie is so many beautiful things. She is a woman in science. She is an artist who is constantly modifying her own clothing on the fly. She is a confident writer/blogger, and she soaks up all her aunt’s advice about being “awesome” just by being her. Natalie is fat, beautiful, and proud.

But being awesome isn’t always as easy as it sounds. Natalie struggles with fitting in among rich intern students when she’s attending the dig on a scholarship and must  find her inner boldness when someone takes credit for one of her discoveries. In addition, she has to contend with a jealous co-intern and a confusing romantic relationship. But the thing I may love most about Natalie is she navigates these trials sometimes messily. She is real and relatable and simultaneously “awesome.”

This book truly has something for everyone.  I read this book in July, and I cannot get it out of my mind. It’s empowering, and full of fun, action and SCIENCE! And, the best part of all is it’s out now!

Gaming, writing for fun, and other seemingly useless activities.

I’ve always heard, when you don’t know what to write, just write something. But this ideal goes against my very nature. See, I’m the type of person that needs to see results for the things I do. If I am going to put hours, days, months into a writing project, I want it to be something I can submit when I’m done. If I’m going to paint something, it’s going to be something I’m going to sell or use as a sample for one of the painting classes I teach.

Me, teaching a painting class with my business, The Easy Easel

In other words, I’m into functional art. It needs to have a purpose. I’ve never been the type of person who sits down to do something just for fun. My husband, however understands well the art of leisure. He is a gamer. I’ve never seen the purpose in it. Hours of effort and emotion poured into something that didn’t result in a product. Or so I thought. Sometimes the product of effort is not tangible, yet it’s just as valuable.

My husband and brother-n-laws started playing #Fortnite recently. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a video game where you and your partners– who are communicating remotely via headset– are dropped out of the sky from a floating party bus onto an island where an encroaching storm is constantly making your boarders smaller and bringing you closer to your enemies, which are also live players. The purpose is to be the last on the island to survive. My husband and his brothers coaxed me and their wives to play “just once,” and I caved.

Me and my sis-n-laws playing Fortnite

It turns out, we didn’t suck! In fact, I had a great time, and it resulted in some quality time with my sis-n-laws that I drew from during the week. The plot arc in the game was inspiring as well. There was an actual product to doing something that wasn’t “productive.” It wasn’t something I could put my hands on. It wasn’t a word count. But there was something to show for it.

 

My first, first place win in duo mode!

I started playing this game right around the time I was finishing up a manuscript that I sent my agent. It was the second new MS I’d sent her since going on submission, and it wasn’t great. Immediately, after realizing this, I had that rush of rage that accompanies “wasting my time,” and I started to get really down about it. But then I took a few days, thought about some things that she suggested, and along came a new idea. One of those ideas that effortlessly flows from your fingers. And guess what. Elements from the two other manuscripts started inspiring characters. Experiences in those other manuscripts became tools in my tool belt and the story felt so much more authentic. It was like I was trying for the past several months to take a screw out with a butter knife and someone had just handed me a Phillips screwdriver. Those hours, those days, those weeks were not a waste. There is a product for time spent working on our craft without the direct result of a finished piece of work. There is a benefit for doing things just for the sake of enjoying them. Though, if I’m honest, just saying those words still makes something inside me cringe; I’m going to try to make myself believe them more often.

My Very Biased YA picks for 2018

From great turmoil comes great writing. 2018 is going to be living proof of that. Some legendary YA is about to enter the world this year, and I’ve been dying to celebrate the YA book babies of some of the people I’ve connected with at one point or another during my writing journey. So here it goes. 2018’s WHO TO READ LIST by a very biased reviewer with acutely impeccable taste in YA literature. That’s me.

Dear Rachel Maddow

 by Adrienne Kisner

coming June 5th

This emotion-packed YA by my writing group buddy and literary phenom Adrienne Kisner features a troubled teen named Brynn Harper who idolizes Rachel Maddow and drafts emails to her as an outlet when everything around her seems to be falling apart. Brynn’s correspondences help her find her voice and stand up to the people in her life that want to shame her rather than see her potential as a leader.

Tyler Johnson Was Here

by Jay Coles

coming March 20th

Oh man, this one. First, can we just talk about this cover? This YA by Jay Coles, a talented writer who signed and went out on submission with Dystel Gooderich & Bourret at about the same time I did, is a stunning and relevant piece about a boy named Tyler whose brother goes missing after a police raid on a party they attended. Tyler learns through a series of events that his brother was shot by police, and watches his mother unravel as he mourns. It’s a book about the real meaning of freedom and justice, and you need to read it.

Adib Khorram

Darius the Great is Not Okay

Cover art coming soon. 

Coming fall 2018

I’m thrilled about this one. I was connected with Adib through my good friend Rena Olsen author of THE GIRL BEFORE and WITH YOU ALWAYS coming in August, and through Midwest Writers Workshop, a great yearly conference held in Munci, Indiana. I fell in love with the main character the minute I read the description on Adib’s twitter feed. DARIUS THE GREAT IS NOT OKAY is about a 15-year-old, “tea-obsessed, clinically depressed, half-Iranian, Star Trek nerd whose sense of self is transformed after his first trip to Iran.” You had me at tea-obsessed. You had me at tea-obsessed. I CANNOT wait to get my hands on this one.

A Touch of Gold

Book by Annie Sullivan

Coming August 14

Annie is another Twitter acquaintance turned IRL acquaintance thanks to Midwest Writers. And she is as sparkling in person as the cover of her debut.  A TOUCH OF GOLD, is the little-known tale of the daughter King Midas turned to gold. If you’re a sucker for retellings like CINDER and THE WRATH OF DAWN, A TOUCH OF GOLD is going to make you so, so, so happy.

Miranda Asebedo

The Deepest Roots

Cover art coming soon

September 2018

Twitter is a magical place where you can meet the people that share your dreams. Miranda is one of those people, and I was SO thrilled when she announced her book deal for THE DEEPEST ROOTS. This book sounds so deliciously creepy! It’s about Cottonwood Hollow where girls have been born with various special abilities for the past century and three girls with similar abilities who discover that the truth behind Cottonwood Hollow has been under their feet the whole time.

There you have it friends: my YA list, for now. I’m so excited to celebrate these authors. I know they have put pieces of their soul into these works. I understand the passion felt for these projects. And it brings me such joy to watch their journeys unfold.

Things are different now, and things are the same.

I remember thinking that when I got an agent magic would take over my world. Words would roll out of my fingers like ocean waves. Revisions would feel like a casual stroll rather than a marathon. People would line up at my door to read my beautiful, beautiful words.

Let me be clear. It HAS been magical. And words DO come. And on occasion, people do like to read the tales I spin. But mostly… mostly, writing now is like writing then.

Hard. Beautiful. Gut-wrenching. Satisfying. Revealing.

Hard

It’s still hard writing, post-agent. But sometimes for different reasons. I never had writers block before getting an agent. Never. Hate me if you will, but usually I had a hundred stories lined up in my head, waiting for a little attention. There is a mind switch that happens when you start writing for another reason. Revisions start to take priority, and you don’t let your mind wander as often, because you know it’s only a matter of time before you have to revisit that last story either for an R&R or to polish it up for submission. Sometimes the creative whiplash that occurs from jumping from world to world too often is just too much, so you just don’t write between stints of waiting on feedback on revisions. I’m not saying this is a good thing. I’m just saying it happens.

Beautiful 

It’s still beautiful. Though I don’t get to create freely as often anymore, those moments when the story is taking shape and the characters are speaking… well, you know how it feels. It’s the first gaze into your newborn’s eyes. It’s a dive off the top of a roller coaster. It’s a plunge into icy water. It’s exhilarating and just plain beautiful. Thank goodness, that still happens.

Gut-wrenching

You still have to wait, post-agent. And waiting can be so hard. Waiting while you know someone is reading your work. Waiting while you wonder if you sent your very best, if you could have sweat a little harder, bled a little more to make it better. Waiting, hoping, praying for good news. Yes, even after getting an agent, writing is still gut-wrenching.

Satisfying

There’s nothing, before or after getting an agent, that is more deeply gratifying than typing those two final words: The. End. It doesn’t matter how many times you do it, it just satisfies this deep, deep part of you that no one else but another writer understands. For me, editing can be almost as satisfying. It feels like clay taking shape under my fingers. The features come into view, start looking back at me with these life-like eyes, and I stare back at them and go, “Holy something… I made that!”

Revealing

Writing has always been revealing for me, but something about this stage of writing has caused the process to reveal more of my inner self than I could have imagined. Over the past year, writing has been so intensely introspective, a reflection of my values, my brokenness and my strength. I’ve dug deeper and looked harder than ever before. It’s been surprising. And it’s forced growth.

So yes, things have changed in the past year, and no, they haven’t. Writing is the same and it’s oh, so different. It’s still all the things I love and hate. And I wouldn’t change that for the world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like Roller Coasters? Then you’ll LOVE writing!

A friend of mine recently tweeted a GIF of a roller coaster, comparing it to the publishing experience. It was sort of perfect.

The experience is full of ups and downs, for sure. The best way to understand the full scope of this is to become a part of a writing community and listen as other writers share their hearts and emotions. I’ve done a lot of things for a living. I’ve cleaned houses, worked as a pharmacy tech, ran a daycare, worked in a hospital, taught in schools, worked in retail, taught painting classes. None of these fields of work affected me emotionally like writing does. Your words are your heart and soul. Your guts. Your very being. So the process of writing, or publishing can be both deeply gratifying and equally as distressing.

As artists, we are our own worst critiques and biggest fans. Teetering between these two roles is one of the most exhausting experiences I’ve had in my adult life. One minute, I’m like, “Daaaaaang, who wrote this? It’s gooooood.” And the next, I’m embarrassed for having sent it out into the world. But as I share my journey with others, I’ve found this is the norm for writers. And this isn’t the only internal battle we face. There are other elements in the roller coaster as well: the steep inclines and dips and upside down turns of publishing itself.

Publishing is all about waiting. And, waiting, I’ve found, is like that slow drag up to the peak of the coaster. For some of us, this portion of the journey is longer than others. And the longer it is, the more anticipation and anxiety that builds. Then there’s the matter of hitting the peak. There’s a number of ways we might react. We might take the go-dead-to-the-world, wake-me-up-when-it’s-over approach, or scream and freak out on the way down. Some of us actually enjoy the dive. While others are already thinking about the next peak before we even get to the valley. We’re asking ourselves, can I really do this again? And what happens after that? Another peak? Another valley? Can I live like this my whole life? Why did I ever get on this ride? 

The fact is, deep down, we really DO love the ride. We wouldn’t be satisfied with another life. If you’ve ever gone a long period of time without the elements of the roller coaster, you know, it’s pretty boring. There’s no reason to obsessively check your email. No news coming in. Nothing to create or promote. It’s true, this life isn’t for everyone. But for the roller coaster lovers, the rush is all a part of the journey.

Update for The Write Niche Writers Group

A Shuffle in the Schedule

For our first session tonight, we’ll be speaking to William Vaughn, author of two series in different genres. William has been gracious enough to speak to us on his success as a self published author with two series in different genres as well as technical writing.

WILLIAM VAUGHN

William Vaughn is a writer and has been for nearly forty years. More than a dozen of his technical books could be found in bookstores all over the world—but most of you haven’t read them unless you’re a student of data architectures. After retiring from programs and databases, he turned his creative talents to coming of age stories and time travel. His latest books include his three-book YA series The Seldith Chronicles, and his three-book NA series The Timkers. Yes, as with his first technical books, these are all independently published. Leveraging his eye for graphics design, he creates his own covers and internal layouts. As you might have guessed, he’s also a graphics artist, photographer and world traveler. He spends his days writing, when he can, mentoring when he can and travelling, dabbling with computers and watching film noir.

To see more about upcoming events for The Write Nice Writers Group CLICK HERE!

 

 

What goes around…

I’ve spent nights racking my brain for an original idea, knowing that it’s in there, deep, trapped like a dust bunny between synapsis.

And then it comes to me: that never-been-done-before original idea. And, with vigor, I share it with my husband or my bestest writing buddies, and they’re like, “Oh, cool. So, like the Hunger Games then? ” After a few defensive rounds of, you’re not getting it, and let me explain it one more time, I realize they’re right. It’s the same story, with different characters.

A wise man once said, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Yeah, that Solomon guy was the bomb. A lot of experts agree with old Solomon. They theorize that there are really only a handful of plots out there. The idea that we keep telling the same stories with new twists and different characters has been around for a while. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s human nature to want to read familiar stories. We like stories we can identify with. This doesn’t mean the story is filled with things we’ve experienced ourselves or events that remind us of someone else’s experiences. It just means that some element of the story is relatable, or is something we can connect with on some sort of empathetic level. Generally, we can find something to connect with in even the most far-fetched stories. We love to read things that make us go, “Me too!”

In my previous post, A FORMULA FOR A BEST SELLER?, I reference Vulture.com, a site that breaks basic plots into categories like impostors or forbidden love and then explains the plot devices within the story line. Using the works of  William Wallace Cook’s Plotto,  Christopher Booker’s The Basic Seven Plots, and Ronald B. Tobias’s 20 Master Plots, the claim is made that there are really only around eighty fictional plots out there. Other experts in literature claim there are as few as twenty. I suppose it depends on how broad or narrow a lens you’re viewing the plot from. I mean, something like the idea of survival could probably be identified in most stories. It’s interesting, however, to look through the list and see where the stories you’ve created fit.

Regardless of whether you think there are infinite plots or a handful of recycled ones, one thing can be certain. Themes do resurface, because humanity goes through cycles. It’s important to understand this as an author. Understanding plots can make us better, more effective writers and might even enable us to create stories that profoundly impact hearts.

Now, that’s a thought.

YOU USED TO BE SO AWESOME

Remember when you used to do random scavenger hunts for your coworkers? And remember when you used to have people over for movie nights and you used to make all these fun little finger foods. Oh! Oh! And remember how you decorated the break room to look like a tiki lounge that one time.

You used to be so awesome.

No one has actually said these things about me. I don’t think. But I’ve been thinking them lately. Like recently: I teach science at a tiny school district in the heart of the country. Once a quarter, each of the middle school teachers is responsible for decorating a bulletin board. This is what I came up with this quarter.

It’s cute, and clever, I’ll admit. But it doesn’t really meet the mark when I’m capable of this:

Superheroes in acrylic on un-stretched canvas. -by Margie Brimer

As I stood in the hallway, cradling my chin in my hand to ponder my sub-par bulletin board, I started to wonder. When did I stop being awesome? But this still small voice inside me started to speak, and in the hallway left in the eerie quietness that all public institutions bear when empty, I listened. And here’s what I heard: I’m still awesome. My awesomeness has just shifted. And it will continue to shift. There was a time when I was a rockin’ momma. I did crafts with my kids DAILY! We went to petting zoos and camping and carnivals and the zoo and museums. We had picnics and went to the park all the time. I don’t do that stuff with my kids any more. And in the process of beating myself up over it, I realized I don’t do that stuff any more because my kids are teenagers, and they don’t LIKE that stuff any more. So I have to evolve and shift my awesomeness elsewhere. Think of it as the awesomeness Cupid Shuffle.

There are seasons in our lives. Lysa Terkeurst embodies this concept so well with this quote: “Like a tree, a woman can’t carry the weight of two seasons simultaneously. In the violent struggle of trying, she’ll miss every bit of joy each season promises to bring.” -The Best Yes. We can’t bear the weight of the leaves of spring and the snow of winter simultaneously. Knowing this is freedom. Freedom from the self-imposed and sometimes others-imposed expectations for us to keep doing all the awesome things we’ve always done while taking on more awesomeness.

As I stood in that quiet hallway, I realized this: I am still awesome. While I haven’t recently hosted a literature festival for 500 students, or won a float contest in a parade, or redecorated the entire house again, I have a book on submission. I’m teaching some awesome kids and we’re doing the coolest projects. And I’m playing in a rocking worship band twice a week. That’s enough for right now.

I hope you can take joy in looking back on the seasons you’ve had the pleasure of taking part in, and you can bring yourself to let go of your leaves when it’s time to enter another season. Know this: You are awesome. You always have been, and you always will be.

 

But I don’t wanna write!

How is it that sometimes the very thing we love to do most, we just flat out don’t want to do. This seems impossible, like not wanting chocolate or ice cream. Like waking up one day and just saying, I don’t like coffee anymore. I’m just not going to drink a cup today. But it happens. Sometimes, we just don’t want to write.

Sometimes we just don’t want to write.

For a host of reasons, we find ourselves just not in the mood. The reasons can range from our mental state to our plot. Here are a few reasons that make it hard for me to write. Sometimes, a lot of times, when I face the problem, I just plain and simple choose not to write, but when I know I’m not going to have time in the future or I have a deadline, I have a few solutions I fall back on to solve the problem.

Problem: A FUZZY HEAD

A fuzzy head. Get it?

When I can’t think clearly, it’s usually due to fatique. I have the most time to write after I get home from teaching middle school students all day. But after spending my day explaining the kinetic theory to kids who’d rather be playing Clash of Whozits and Snap-a-whating each other on their phones, my head can be a bit fuzzy. I don’t know about you, but I need a clear mind to write.

Solution: A nap and some coffee. Write outside. A nap. A shower. A nap.

Problem: A case of the I-stinks

Sometimes, I just get down on myself as a writer. It might be from reading my own first draft. It might be from reading a published work that is so phenominal that it makes me realize how pitiful my own work is. It might be from seeing so many other friends succeeding and feeling like I might not ever achieve that. Whatever the reason, this can make it hard to write.

Solution: Get out some of your favorite things you’ve written and read them again to remind yourself that you have written good things. Call a friend. A good friend and talk it out. Read something you love, written by someone else, and identify the things you do that are similar. Also, identify the things you could do that will improve your writing. Finally, identify that knowing that you CAN improve is a sign of a good writer.

Problem: A disconnect from your story

Sometimes I’m just not feeling it anymore. I’ve lost that lovin feeling, and it prevents me from wanting to keep writing.

Solution: Court your characters, get to know them again. Do character developing activities to get to know more about them. Sometimes I even change their names and appearances to help myself think of them from a different angle.

Problem: A better idea

Changes can feel insurmountable

Every once in a while, I’ll be about half way through my story and I’ll realize that there’s a better way of writing it. Starting over seems so insurmountable that it just makes me want to quit.

Solution: Sleep on the changes. If they still feel right later, then they are worth making. None of us want to put out less than our best work. Take a break. Work on something else and come back with the idea of tackling this as a new book. Tackle it in small chunks and reward yourself for meeting goals.

Do you have other solutions to these problems? Do you have other problems besides these that cause you to stop writing? Please share!

A Formula For Best Sellers?

I’m #blessed. No for real. Thanks to the lovely Natalie C. Parker, author of BEHOLD THE BONES, I’ve been connected with some lovely  FAN-STINKIN-NOMENAL (it’s a word now) authors who are in the same stage of agented writing as myself.


Novels by the wonderful Natalie C. Parker

This group of girls bonded almost instantly. We now refer to ourselves as the YAAMY Bears — it’s a yam thang — and find ourselves posting yam memes and GIFs at random. But best of all, we are sharing our journeys. This stage of writing can be awkward and lonely because you’re not sharing the same path with authors seeking representation anymore, but you’re not a published author either. Natalie has given us a tribe, shoulders to cry on, people to celebrate with, and I think I can speak for everyone in the group when I say…


All that being said, I found myself typing out this long message to the girls on one of our many forums at 2:30 in the morning. It’s been on my mind since then, so I thought I’d see what you thought. Is there a formula for a best seller?


I went to MidWest Writers this summer and attended a wonderful session on how to edit a best seller, and here’s what I took away from it:

The conference speaker talked about plot beats which, at the time, I knew nothing about. So, for those of you who were like me, beats are like the rhythm of a song. It’s steady, then it crescendos then it resolves. There is a common rhythm or set of beats found in nearly all the bestseller and blockbuster movies and the formula goes like this:

1. Slice of Life – This is where you start. You give the reader a sense of who the MC is, where they are from and what is meaningful to them. This can happen in the first few words. It can also occur over the course of a few pages. Giving your MC little obstacles to overcome (even big ones, though you don’t generally want to jump in with too much heart pounding action until the reader knows why they should care about the character) helps the reader to get a feel for how they react to things. Do they fume at traffic jams or are they chill? Do they cuss when they stub their toe? That kind of thing.

2. Inciting Incident – What is the thing that starts the sweater to unraveling (Oh Geez! Weezer’s sweater song is in my head now!) But IDENTIFY IT. Call it by name, for your own benefit. This helped me so much just to know what this was, because then I knew where it should fit in my MS.

3. Act 2 – Decision Time: This is when your MC has to make a decision about that Inciting Incident. Are they going to run away from home, get a divorce, find a new job? BUT in most best sellers, the FIRST response to that decision is no. No, I’m not going to do what I should, or what’s hard, or what makes sense. This helps build tension and sets pace! Then give it time and resolve it so your MC can be on his or her merry way with the plot.

4. Establish Flaws – This is where we see that the MC maybe doesn’t have it all together and isn’t quite as perfect as we all thought she was. You don’t have to give everything away, but maybe we start seeing some weaknesses or some unlikable things here. This way we’ve given the reader a chance to fall in love with the MC before we show her butt. Sort of like in dating and marriage. LOL This is also a great place to trickle in clues if you are dealing with an unreliable character.

5. Fun and Games – This is where I struggle, because I write such dark stuff. I don’t know how this bubbly preacher’s kid turned Edgar Allan Poe but whatevs. (P.S. if you write humor PLEASE do a post on that!) Anywho, fun and games doesn’t have to be bubbly or even funny, but this is where your romance typically happens. Your MC discovers they are in love. Or, if there is no romance, some of the lighter things in the novel are happening here. This is all for build and pace. Your chugging up the hill of that roller coaster, about to give your readers that my-stomach-just-fell-into-my-shoes feeling.

6. Mid-Point – This is the middle of your story. I know, deep, right? Things are starting to pull together and come to a head.

7. Bad Guys Close In – This is where your MC is getting backed into a corner by some situation or protagonist. They’re feeling a little hopeless here.

8. All is Lost – Giving your MC a situation they can’t possibly get out of is a pretty big theme in best sellers. There’s no way this can end up good for anyone as far as the reader can tell.

9. Dark Night of Soul – Things are moving quickly now. Your character recognizes that without sacrificing, there is no way out of this situation. Or maybe they don’t recognize it, but the reader does. This takes on all forms. In Jerry MaGuire, his career is on the line, in Twilight (forgive me) it’s Edward or Jacob, or Renesmee, or herself or Edward. Your MC can linger here for a moment to help solidify for the reader the stakes that are at risk. Remember this takes on so many different forms. Your story may be man against nature, or man against community. It still fits.

10. Climax — This is where the volcano explodes. The battle scene, the escape, the divorce, the throw down. The ugly.

11. Closing Image – Here’s your resolution, and my favorite: Bookends. This is where you take a theme that you started the book with, and you end with it. You give your reader a sense of closure with a profound idea, a loose end or a phrase used earlier and trickled throughout the book. In Jerry MaGuire it was a phrase: You complete me. In Twilight it was the theme that Edward could never read Bella’s thoughts and then she allowed him to.

For Pacing: The speaker suggested asking a beta reader to put a note in every place they got pulled away from reading to do something else by anything other than an earthquake or medical emergency. Those are probably your places where the book lulls. She suggested giving the character a minor conflict in those areas that doesn’t muddle up the plot or add too many new elements to the theme. It can be something she is already dealing with that happens to raise it’s ugly head again.

Also another REALLY  interesting resource is the Plot Library. Apparently, there are only like a few plots out there since the beginning of time and every story can fit into one of these plot lines. I thought it was fun to look through them and see which one my book and my favorite books fit into!

Is there really a formula for a best seller? Who knows. Most will agree that, like any art form, there’s no right or wrong way to write a book. But, that being said, even as an artist, I need to know how shading works. I need to know that if I’m trying to paint realism, if that’s my goal, then if the sun is on the right side of an object, the shadows will only be on the left side. This is a guide. It helped me organize my writing and identify the pieces that WERE ALREADY THERE! I don’t necessarily use this until I’m in the editing process. I don’t hold to this formula while I’m writing. I use it to sort it out afterwards. Maybe organized writing is the key to a best seller, maybe it’s something else entirely, but identifying these spots in my writing helps ME better understand it. I hope you can get something out of this too.

No Writer is an Island

I was a little sheltered as a kid. Okay, I was a LOT sheltered as a kid. I was home schooled. I went to the theater for the first time at the age of fifteen, wasn’t allowed to go to sleep overs, use swimming pools, wear swimming suits or say fart. Pootie was an acceptable replacement, though. (POOTIE??? How is that any better? It’s not MOM! It’s not! Lol! Love you, Momma.) My entertainment was limited to black and white reruns of the Dick Van Dike show, Perry Mason and Lucile Ball. We were allowed to watch AMC, so the classics became my reality. In my head, I started talking in short burst like the main characters in those black and white detective shows and ending everything with, ya see? One of my favorite movies was NO MAN IS AN ISLAND, a 1962 war movie starring Jeffery Hunter.

The main character in the movie was an escaped POW being hunted. He was helped by many villagers as he made his way across the country to freedom. The point of the movie was that, though he was alone, he couldn’t have done it on his own. It’s the same for us.

No writer is an island.

 

Yes, you are unique.

Yes, you have worked hard.

And your work is entirely a product of your dedication and talent.

However, you could not, and cannot, do this on your own. As unique as you wish yourself to be, you are a piece of a puzzle.

You need other people. We all do. In the beginning process when we’re critiquing one another’s work. In the middle when we are supporting one another through the rejections. In the new beginnings when we find representation and pursue publication. And, contrary to popular belief, we need one another more than ever after publication. It’s the people on the street, on their laptops and cell phones and around water coolers that sell books. It’s other authors on the same path. These are the people we need. So how do we ask for help and rely on these people without being a burden?

There’s an old adage I learned during my sheltered upbringing:

Sow encouragement, time, energy and finances into someone else’s life and someone — maybe not the exact individual you helped, but someone — will sow into you.

So, while islands are lovely places (my latest thriller takes place primarily on an island so I’m partial), we have to reach out, for our own success, for the success of others, but mostly because that’s our purpose. Look around. Nothing on this planet is created to survive without being connected. How are we any different?

Who Am I? -Wisdom from Rena Olsen author of The Girl Before

Tomorrow my debut novel will be on the shelves in bookstores all over. As I type this, copies are winging their way across the country for those who pre-ordered, hopefully to be delivered on releas…

Source: Who Am I?

Getting the Call

There is nothing more surreal than a realized dream.

Nothing.

I’ve dreamed of so many little things: the day I get to change my Twitter bio to say “repped by _____”, or the moment I get to post the announcement, “Guess what everybody! I’ve signed with ____.” I wondered if the real moment would be as gut tinglingly thrilling as in my daydreams.

And it was.

In December of 2015, over Christmas break, I wrote my fifth book, and my first thriller. It gushed out of me, a lake from a leaking dam. It was different than anything I’d ever written. This main character had no traces of me in her. She was someone I didn’t know, someone I’d discovered, and gotten to know. I was scared of her and mesmerized by her, and felt for her.

Me and my new imaginary friend.

I didn’t want to query this book right away, which was out of character for me. I’m usually dying to get it out there when it’s done. Years of writing was finally starting to mature me though, so I waited. After taking my time to polish, I decided to start querying seriously in April, 2016. By May I had serious interest. I received phone calls from agents in June. Things were happening. For real. I couldn’t believe it. Not long after, I saw a pitch contest on Twitter. I hadn’t planned on entering it, but I make a habit of always having pitches in my back pocket, ready to go if needed. It was a busy day, and I didn’t have time to tweet all day, so I just put one tweet out.

One tweet.

It received attention from a few more agents that would later result in some wonderful conversations with real, beautiful, talented people. Offers of representation came in July. Was this really happening? Yes, in fact, it was. But a strange thing occurred. Something I didn’t expect. Something that sort of sucked a little bit of the joy out of the process for me. The decision. I didn’t realize how emotionally connected I would become to the people who showed interest in my manuscript. They were so encouraging and they believed in my work. They believed in me! They had ideas and visions for the future. My decision meant I would be ending those dreams for someone. I don’t know how agents make these kinds of stress-filled decisions on a daily basis. I’m in awe of what they do.

 After much consideration, many late night talks and drives with my other half, my husband and I made a decision. A beautiful decision. I would be represented by Sharon Pelletier of Dystel and Goderich Literary Management in New York.

I am thrilled about the journey ahead. I’ve done a lot of thinking about what made this book more successful than the others I’ve written. I hope that maybe some of my reflection will help other authors out there on the same journey. Here are the factors, beyond the fact that lots of reading and writing and time have grown me as a writer, that I believe helped this time around. Timing. I’ve always hated when other authors mention this, because it takes the control out of my hands. But sometimes it’s a right time/right place scenario that comes into play. Marketability. I love every single one of my stories, but I think the plot for this one is timely for the market, and that helps.  A concise pitch. For once, (thank you Jesus!) I was able to boil my whole book down to a single, hard hitting sentence. I believe, initially, this is what resulted in ten full requests right off the the bat. A good way to get your creative juices flowing in this direction is to look at the insides of book jackets to see how they describe their books. Apply it to your work, and let it inspire you! Waiting until it’s ready. Agents are always reading, always considering work. Getting yours out there faster doesn’t ensure you’ll get an agent. Good, polished writing will do that.  And finally, networking. If you’re not on social media like Twitter, you’re missing out on entire writing communities that can be very helpful to your work and connect you with wonderful people. Writers conferences, online contests, and Facebook writer’s groups are all ways you can hone your work. I told someone the other day who was just starting this journey to think of it like college. You put four to five, maybe more, good years of hard work in to learn a skill so you can do it well. Expect to do the same thing in writing, before you make it to the next level. Then you’re not setting yourself up for disappointment, and the journey can be quite thrilling. It has been for me, and I can’t wait for what’s ahead.

Come with me!!

 

 

 

 

 

Are Writers Control Freaks?

Control.

Is it why we write?

Think about it. The worlds we create are entirely at the mercy of our every whim. If we don’t like the way a character is shaping up, or the direction a story is going, we can change it. If the ending doesn’t suit our fancy, we can mold it until it does.

Even the process of writing is an act of control, down to our very methods. Whether we’re pansters or plotters, we usually do it the same way every time. No matter how disorganized it may seem to others, we each have our specific formula for creating that works for us.

So, does that mean writers are control freaks?

For a time, maybe. But that’s only because in a short while, after we’ve finished our creations — or when we choose to walk away from them because they’re never truly finished — we’ll give up that warm, fuzzy, comforting sense of control and exchange it for the cold, distant, angsty feeling of uncertainty.

We know, ultimately, it’s coming, that moment when we are going to have to let go, watch our creation fly from the nest, and wonder if, where ever it has landed, people will see the beauty and potential in it as we do. It’s a heart-shredding feeling. It’s an exciting feeling. I like to compare it to the beach, because…beaches.

Sending your work off is like going to the beach.

Putting our work into the hands of others is like walking off the shore and into the water. The waves of emotion are strong sometimes. Especially when things actually start happening. The possibility of our dream is within reach and the waves grow stronger, switching from excitement to dread and back again. I’ve found I can’t linger in this wake for too long or it will pull me under and own me. I’m learning it’s best to feel the power of the wave for a moment, then get back on the shore, and start building another sand castle. Though, despite what I’ve learned, I still put my toes back in the water, sometimes. Thankfully, I have friends on the beach that keep waving me back onto the shore. That was a really long metaphor, but you get the point.

Whether you’re on the shore or you just dove into the water, you know all too well the process is a mix of emotions. Which is precisely why we do it. Are we control freaks? Maybe, a little, but it’s only to balance out the experience. Because, after all, we are telling our own stories, and in the end, a well-balanced plot is what it’s all about.

Is Writing Success A Fluke?

“A fluke is one of the most abundant fish in the ocean. So if you go fishing often enough, your bound to catch a fluke at some point.” 

I’ve recently developed a love for The Office. I know. I’m a decade late, but better late than never, right? In one of the later episodes, Dunder Mifflin competes in a trivia night. To the surprise of everyone at the office, the not-so-bright Kevin scores the winning point and $1000.00 to help the company meet their quarterly goal.

Oh, Kevin.

And then he says something that blows my mind. He says, “Some people might say that tonight was just a fluke. But I want to leave you with this piece of trivia. A fluke is one of the most abundant fish in the ocean. So if you go fishing often enough, your bound to catch a fluke at some point.”

Flukes. Beautiful beasts, aren’t they.

So, what am I getting at here? Am I suggesting that publishing success is purely luck. That talent, and a good story, and skillful prose has nothing to do with getting the attention of agents, editors and publishers?

Uhhh…no.

There’s a certain amount of good fortune needed to get noticed. You need to catch the attention of the RIGHT agent, at the RIGHT time. Sometimes your story hits them on a personal level at just the right time in their lives. Maybe they have a craving for a Romance with robots or a Thriller with farmers, and at that very moment, your MS passes over their desk. But even then, if it isn’t skillfully written, if it hasn’t been combed over repeatedly and fine tuned, if it lacks depth and passion, well, you probably won’t be having fluke for dinner.

Writing is composed of writer guts — all of them, all the organs, just splayed out on paper, stress induced hernias from squeezing out all the passionate words, (this is getting really gross), the author’s soul, and Adamantium-reinforced determination.

So, this writing thing, it’s not up to luck. It’s not like playing the lottery. Yes, there’s a certain amount of right time/right place involved, but essentially, it comes down to honing your craft, getting better, the best you can make it, and trying. Over. And over. And over. Keep putting that line out there, and eventually, you’ll catch yourself a nice fluke.