Video Pick for Writers: My Baby Loves A Bunch of Authors

Waiting for Michael Connelly

by Paula Tutman

Even as an EMMY winning journalist, prepping to interview Michael Connelly for a live event was the biggest assignment I've had so far, both as a broadcast journalist and an author.

If I was taller than 61 inches, Author, Michael Connelly (The Lincoln Lawyer, The Fifth Witness, Reversal, heck there are more than two dozen novels and short stories) would still be a giant to me. 

  

He's the guy you think you want to be when you realize you want to grow up to be an author.  That is until you meet him and then you know he's the guy you want to be when you decide you want to grow up to be an author.  With more than 43 million books in print, the license to write anything he wishes because it's going to be a guaranteed bestseller, and throngs of adoring  fans around the world waiting for whatever he writes next, Connelly can pretty much behave anyway he wishes.  And at the event I participated in with the West Bloomfield Library's "Everybody's Reading" program, April 14, 2011, what Michael Connelly chose to be was kind, gracious, accommodating and completely selfless in a live interview I conducted in front of a packed Berman Theatre at the Jewish Community Center.

  

When I was asked to conduct the interview  by Mary Killian, Adult Services Coordinator of the

West Bloomfield Township Library, I was honored.  But while I knew who Michael Connelly was and had even walked passed him at the Bouchercon Writer's convention in 2009, I had never read any of his books. 

  

Readers of my DEADLINE! series had often written me to say that Connelly and I write about some of the same kind of things.  Well, we both were steeled in the roots of  police reporting, so I didn't think it would be unusual to write about similar stuff.  But I hadn't managed to read any of his novels until a month before we met.  And then I gorged myself.  I went on a Michael Connelly diet--starting with Angel's Flight.  I loved it.  It was exactly the kind of stuff I write about and love to read.  The ending was so shocking to me, for a long moment I forgot it was fiction and reacted as though I were reading a newspaper article.  I had to remind myself several times, "this is a novel, it's not real."  I then read the Lincoln Lawyer, knowing that's what everyone would be talking about with the release of the movie starring Matthew McConaughey.  It was great, too.  Of course I saw the movie and liked the book better.  I then went back to the early writing.  I purchased the t

rilogy of Connelly's first three books--the Harry Bosch series.  Black Echo was his first book and so that's where I met the beginnings of the deep, brooding, damaged, Harry Bosch.

  

Getting ready for an interview like this also means doing research.  Reading what others are saying about the author, and what Michael Connelly is saying about himself.  His website was the best 'quick' resource because you know you can trust the facts.  I then scoured the internet for interviews, reviews and comments.

  

I asked my author buddies what they wanted to know about him.  What were the questions everyone else hadn't asked.  Andrew Peterson, (First To Kill and Forced to Kill on Audible.com) was my classmate in 2009.  We were both Debut Authors for International Thriller Writers.  He's a pretty good touchstone who seems to know the pulse of everything going on in the world of writing and authors.  He suggested I ask Connelly about his charitable interests and his selfless willingness to go to conferences and seminars even though he doesn't have to.   Kristen Weber, the editor of my new novel, Local Noose, got an unexpected phone call, as well.  She knows writing and she knows authors.  So I quizzed her, too. 

  

A group of librarians sent me nearly 30 questions and I went through their list, edited many of the questions and added my own.  I took out questions that I had seen more than three times in print--and instead went for fresher less mowed over grass.   And then I went out and talked to readers who know him and have loved him for years.  I wanted to know what they wanted to know.

  

But most of all, I didn't want the interview to be one of those stiff, stodgy sit-downs where the interviewer wants to be noticed as much as the main attraction.  I didn't need to show how smart I am, how pithy I am, how important I am.  All I needed to do was showcase Michael Connelly, make sure he's happy and having fun, first, and then make sure the audience is having just as much fun by feeling like they're really getting to know the guy they've felt like they've known for two decades. 

  

My biggest preparation was deciding on my own approach. 

  

I'm a laugher and a giggler, so when I met him before the event for a dinner gathering, I told him that I'm a pretty casual gal and I like to keep things loose.  I asked him if there was anything in particular he wanted to talk about and anything he didn't.  He said, everything was on the table.   We discussed his books, the new movie, a little about his family and we talked about being journalists.  He was gracious and asked me about myself and even made me feel better about my own writing process--I tend to be a really fast writer--he said he thought that was probably a good thing, not a bad thing.  His publicist, Heather was there, too.  She and I chatted about his schedule, our children and the venue.  I didn't grill them, or push them.  I just talked to them and everyone around them.  I felt the temperature of the room.  I gauged his exhaustion level, because I knew what his schedule had been that day and this was his last event of the evening and last of the tour.  All

 of this was important information as I continued to prepare right up until the last moment.

I listened in as he spoke to others.  I listened to what they were curious about and how he answered their questions, all the while doing mental calculations about how to best conduct the live interview that was now only about two hours away.

  

I excused myself from dinner early and went to the Berman Theatre for a quick walk through.  I wanted to talk to the stage manager and the sound people to find out the mic situation.  I suggested they have a wireless mic available so that when I felt like the program needed a boost, I could dive into the audience for their questions. 

  

And then it was show time! 

  

As Michael and I waited in the wings, listening to our introductions, he mentioned that he always likes to take pictures of his audiences.  I suggested he do it before we sat down for the interview.  "It'll be a good ice-breaker," I said.  "It will make people laugh and feel like they're one with you."

  

He did and it worked.  We were off.

  

It would have been easy to just plop down into the cushy chairs as soon as we got on stage to get down to the business of THE INTERVIEW.  But instead we both stood for a moment.  He took his pictures of the audience, we joked a little and then we sat down casually, appearing more like old friends in a living room with five-hundred of our closest friends.

  

My first question, "Seen any good movies lately?"

He laughed.  The audience laughed.  The ice broke around us and the auditorium immediately warmed up.

  

It was a full hour and a half of back and forth, laughter and listening to a really great author talk about his work, his process, his past.  He even gave some interesting heads-up about his upcoming projects.  He talked about his private office where he writes and the Lazy Boy he reclines in to work his magic.  He only uses a computer, never long hand.  He keeps a notepad to jot down impressions he's sure he'll never forget, at the moment--but knows he always will.  His work is still edited.  He has relative freedom to choose his topics.  He's loyal to his publisher, Little, Brown and has a quiet but potent sense of humor.  He spoke of his daughter who's just beginning to read his work.  He revealed he isn't a crazy-man when he writes.  He talked about the people he's met along the way who've ended up in his novels years later. 

  

Listening to him answer my questions and those from the audience, I noticed that his spoken words are as delicious as his written words.  I mentioned it out loud.  The audience agreed with applause.

  

With mic in hand, I always approached audience members by asking them their name, and putting my arm around their shoulder--not only because it brings them into the group, but because I like people and I like touch.  It's sort of emotion-jacking and I get to feel their tension, excitement and mood.  All of that dictates my banter with them, too.

  

At the close of the show, I thanked Michael Connelly, thanked the audience and reminded them to keep their conversations brief as they got their books signed, so that everyone would be able to spend a moment with the author.  He was willing to sign whatever you brought to him--and not just a hastily scribbled name to seal the sale, but a personal note.  He's a man who respects his readers with his time and his talent.

  

And in the end I knew it was a successful program and I had done my job well.  Not only because Mary Killian was doing a jig and gave me a huge hug--but as Michael Connelly signed books behind me at the afterglow, people approached me and asked me about Michael Connelly, not Paula Tutman.

Job done.

An EMMY winning high profile reporter in Detroit, Paula Tutman is also the author of DEADLINE! and DEADLINE!! Second Block.  

Some of Paula’s career highlights include producing a documentary on opera composer, the late Gian Carlo Menotti, as well as pitching, producing, writing and narrating an acclaimed half hour special on Autism. When it comes to news, Paula literally “gets it.” 


Paula's also quite active within her community. She's a frequent speaker on the lecture circuit in the Metro Detroit area, as well as the founder of a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Children's ToothFairy Foundation, which funds programs to get dental care to uninsured children.

It's Not About The Odds

by Adrienne Kress

Originally posted January 5, 2010. Many thanks to Adrienne for allowing us to repost. Something so relevant is never outdated! 

Yup another resolution post. Everyone's writing these. Everyone's making them. Why not jump on the bandwagon? I like the music they're playing and it's being pulled by horsies.

So, here's mine:

Stop comparing myself to others.

And there's kind of an interesting story behind coming to this conclusion. It has been something I've been thinking about for a while (and um maybe have been told a few times by others), but what made it finally click was the following:

Before the holidays many agents, as has almost become tradition, posted their stats for the year. How many queries they got, how many full manuscripts they requested, how many clients they signed. Here, for example, are some of the lovely Kristin Nelson's stats -
15 books sold

6 number of new clients (Kristin & Sara combined)

38,000 estimated number of queries read and responded to (and yes, that is up from last year)

55 full manuscripts requested (down from last year)

These stats I think are always interesting as a glimpse into the world of publishing. And yup. The numbers do paint a pretty intimidating picture.

How do I know they are so intimidating?

Because for the two weeks of holiday that followed the agent round up posts, writers on various forums spent hours upon hours analysing what the stats meant. Some were depressed by the odds, others invigorated, many many were overwhelmed. And then there was me.

I couldn't have cared less.

Well yes you would say that Adrienne, you have an agent, you've been published.

But, lest we forget, I didn't always, and I'm still trying to get other stuff published out there and still trying my hand at this insanity that is acting - where the numbers I imagine are ten times more terrifying.

I know the odds my friends, but again . . .

I couldn't care less.

Why?

Because they don't matter.

There is luck in the arts. Yup. Totally. You need to find the right person who likes the same stuff as you do, the market has to be just perfect for the kind of book you've written. And I will always maintain that the crazy successes (Harry Potter etc) get the crazy success because of good timing, not a good story (I think good storytelling would have still resulted in books that were published and had a following, but the degree of success of those kinds of books, in my mind, is not about talent - oh, btw, I think Rowling rocks, not trying a diss here).

But despite all the luck, publishing still isn't a lottery. It isn't. I've written about that before. There are very solid steps you can take that will get you published. You need to learn the craft, read a lot of books, write a lot of words. You need to then write a killer book, edit said book, have others look at the book, perfect the book. You need to write a fab query, submit to the correct agents/publishers. You need to be professional. You need to also not give up if the first book doesn't get you where you want it to. Perseverance is just as important as talent in this business. If not, arguably, more important.

And because publishing truly isn't a lottery, you can't look at the agent stats, or any stats, as meaning anything to you.

Yes, for Kristin, she signed 6 new clients out of 38 000 queries. But this doesn't lead to the conclusion that 6 authors get agented out of 38 000 queries. It means that this year, there were 6 authors who suited what Kristen was looking for, could write more than competently, and who in turn accepted her offer (she has blogged about writers turning her down in favour for other agents). It doesn't mean that there weren't authors out of the 38 000 queries who didn't sign with other agents.

Nor does it mean that if you submit your book to agents chances are they will reject it.

Basically the key point to all of this is: all books are not created equal.

When you buy a lottery ticket you have as much of a chance as the person who bought it just before you of winning that cash. You are equal.

When you submit your manuscript you have no idea how it compares to the thousands of other manuscripts that are submitted to that same agent. Chances are it is better than some, hopefully not worse than too many others. But I bet, if you're reading this blog as a hopeful as yet unpublished author doing some research, you are probably writing something better than 90% of the submitted works out there.

But let me do a little quiz just to make sure:

1. Can you write in coherent sentences, with proper spelling and grammar?

2. Do you do your research which agent is best for you to submit your work to?

3. Did you learn/or are planning to learn what a query letter is and how to construct one?

4. Are you professional and thoughtful?

If you answered yes to these questions, congrats! You are now in the top 10% of submissions.

Yes. You read that right. The lion's share of submissions sent agents are pure crap. Crap. Would you like to know how crap? Please read this lovely post by The Rejectionist. Warning it's a bit blunt, and meant to be cynically funny, please take the attitude as one as being a little over the top.

Here's another very famous post called Slushkiller over at Making Light (to which I've linked in the past). Scroll down to find a much more comprehensive quiz than the one I just made.

So, fine, Adrienne, fine. We get it. So we aren't competing against 38 000 queries for 6 slots. We are competing against 3 800 queries for 6 slots. Awesome.

No. No you're not. First of all, there aren't 6 slots. You have no idea how many new clients an agent is going to take on in a year. Guess what? Neither does the agent. They don't have a quota to fill. They are taking on new clients because they want to represent their work. This means they could take on no clients even. Hmm . . . that might not be that inspiring . . .

Second of all, and in my mind, most importantly, you aren't competing. You aren't. If you're competing against anyone it's yourself, but in a far more metaphorical way. To compete means there is a winner and a loser. Competing is what happens in acting. 100 actresses vying for one role. Only one person gets that part. End of. But anyone can get published - in theory. If you've written a quality book that suits the current market. Every book written by every author is different. Except if you've plagiarised. But that's wrong. Don't do it. You have agents who represent sometimes only one genre and yet have many clients. They can do that because there are enough differences between author voices, choices, characters etc. I mean look at the YA section these days, all urban fantasy romance, but look at all the different choices within that. All these authors co-exist. And sure some do better than others. But who knows, maybe ten years down the road, the roles will be reversed.

Agents want good books. Books that speak to them by authors they think they can work with for several years. The only numbers that matter to you are your numbers. How many rejections are you getting, are you getting requests for partials and fulls? Those matter because you can tell if there's something wrong with your query or manuscript. But what do those other numbers matter to you? In the end. What do they matter?

Nothing. The only thing I can think of is to point out just how many people want this and that we have to make sure our stuff is as awesome as possible. But. Were you not already working really hard on your novel? Were you not already making sure that everything in your query was so crystal clear so you won't alienate a potential business partner? Were you not intending on being thoughtful and professional?

Anyway.

Back to me.

After all my trying to comfort others that the stats don't matter, that we need not compete with our fellow authors, I realised that I spend far too much of my life comparing myself to others ironically. I felt like a hypocrite. And I want to change. My career is my own. And that author I'm comparing myself to has her own journey to travel. She's taking care of herself, why shouldn't I take care of me? (btw, I just used "she" so I wouldn't have to get all messed up with the "they" thing, I'm not talking about anyone in particular in case an investigation ensues post reading this)

And I hope this resolution resonates with some of you. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the lives of others, I mean, isn't that the essence of Twitter? We need to remember that we are different, and we know what works best for us, and that might not be what works best for someone else. We might want what others have, but who's to say we won't get it, in our own way. And then in turn have others comparing their lives to ours.

It's time to strip away the excess. It's too much energy taking on board everyone else's life as well. So I'll focus on the people I care about, and I'll focus on me. But the rest? It's time to let go.

It's not about the odds. It's about what I can do so they don't matter.

Adrienne Kress is a Toronto born actor and author who loves to play make-believe.  She also loves hot chocolate.  And cheese.  And her cat Atticus. 

She is the author of two MG books: Alex and the Ironic Gentleman and Timothy and the Dragon's Gate (Weinstein Books) as well as a theatre graduate of the University of Toronto and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts in the UK.  Published around the world, Alex was featured in the New York Post as a "Post Potter Pick", as well as on the CBS Early Show. It won the Heart of Hawick Children's Book Award in the UK and was nominated for the Red Cedar. The sequel, Timothy, was nominated for the Audie and Manitoba Young Readers Choice Awards, and was recently optioned for film.  She's also contributed to two anthologies out this Spring:  Corsets & Clockwork (YA Steampunk Romance short story anthology, Running Press Kids), and The Girl Who Was On Fire (an essay anthology analysing the Hunger Games series - SmartPop).

Her debut YA, The Friday Society (Dial), comes out in the fall of 2012.

Writing (and Critiquing) Like an American Idol

by Kathy Calarco


American Idol's newest season is the best group of talent yet with new judges and new mentors. Every time I watch I can't stop comparing this season to my writing world.


Case in point: The new panel of judges. Out with the old with the exception of Randy Jackson, this season's addition of Jennifer Lopez and Stephen (pant) Tyler is nothing short of a brilliant move on the producers' part. These judges offer criticism in a non-degrading way proving the true meaning of constructive. They speak with fortification, their words improving the talent and making the contestants feel worthy of the prize.


Although I truly enjoyed Simon Cowell, his harsh criticisms were unnecessary and non-productive. Telling a contestant that they're next gig is on a cruise ship removed the contestant's drive to thrive. And although Paula and DioGuardi Who kept poisonous remarks to themselves, they didn't say the things that would make the contestants feel like they were winners. "Oh, that was really nice," isn't the same as saying, "I'd buy a front row ticket to your concert," because, really, who cares if Paula or DioGuardi Who sit front row center, but hearing Jennifer Lopez say it is like Mark Ruffalo asking me to spend the weekend at his estate in the Catskills (if he has one, if I were single and twenty years...make that ten years younger).


This year Idol added Jimmy Iovine and Will. I. Am. as mentors. Love these guys because they keep it real while showing the contestants ways to improve. Like the judges, they empower the talent with spot-on advice. They are mentors with hefty credentials backing up their claims. If the talent disagrees with advice, the mentors respect it without discrediting it.


Yes, this season of Idol reminds me of both the great and horrible critiques I've received on my writing path. There was a spell when I'd submit my work to various Romance Writers of America contests. Not a romance writer, I felt the format allowed me a view of how my work was received. This is where I learned to develop a thick skin, even though some contest judges utilized the Simon Cowell version of criticism, using demeaning words that stalled my muse. A veil of defeat floated over my pen, at times making it a struggle to drag it across the paper. So similar to how Simon Cowell's caustic criticism doused the talent of American Idol.


Luckily for me, the day came when I realized that my work had no place in Romance Writers of America. I needed room to flex my writing muscle, which entailed figuring out who I was as a writer, similar to Idol's judges querying contestants on if they know who they want to be as singers. The problem was that I had no idea where to wander. And because the Universe works in subtle ways, after several unsuccessful attempts by doctors to reattach a chronically detaching retina, I decided to enroll in college.


A strange path to take, fellow students young enough to be my children, it's where my muse got her opportunity to shake out the feathers and stretch. Thank heaven for the registrar who put me in the school's Honors English course, a place that helped me realize my true writing potential. My English Literature professor became my mentor. His manner of teaching illuminated; never did he force his opinion, rather he suggested better ways of enhancing my voice. He was the Jimmy Iovine of my college life.


Over the course of the last three years my path crossed with a very talented editor/author, Erica Orloff, the most influential mentor to date. She graciously offered to read a piece I had struggled with. As she called it, she gave it an "unvarnished edit." I called it the "yin-yang" edit. A careful eye for talent, she also has a careful eye for the unnecessary. She'd point out the brilliant and then comment on the "mehs" of my manuscript, but in such a way that opened my eyes and made me want to do better.


Certainly we can disagree with criticism, but if offered from the heart and soul of true craftsmen such as Jimmy Iovine, Will. I. Am and Erica Orloff, it's all about growing the talent and never about subduing the creative muse. And every time I watch American Idol, it reminds me of my writing experience; I find myself comparing Idol's judges and mentors with my English Lit. professor and the incomparable Erica O.


Talent grows so long as one keeps an open mind to suggestions and constructive criticism; to ignore a great mentor is to reject the wild blue yonder. Aim high or you'll never know where your talent will take you. I'm glad I kept my eye wide-open, as well as my ears.

Kathy Calarco maintains the belief that it’s never too late in life for anything. Having returned to school at age 53, she’s currently studying for a degree in Liberal Arts with a focus on Humanities and English Literature. She writes contemporary literature and poetry, and maintains two blogs, Writeful Mumblings and Five Minute Sprint.

The Problem with Middles by author Eliza Graham

Midway this way of life we're bound upon,

I woke to find myself in a dark wood,

Where the right road was wholly lost and gone.

 Dante, translated by Dorothy L Sayers.

by Eliza Graham

Middles can be hard. When I start a novel the writing process has the freshness of a holiday trip: new characters, a sense of an untrodden path that could take me anywhere. I have an outline but it doesn’t bind me too strongly to a particular route. I hurl myself into the first twenty or thirty thousand words. This is easy! If I keep writing two thousand words a day I’ll have a rough first draft in no time at all.  There are some little niggles to sort out but there’s still plenty of time.

It grows harder. The springy turf on the original footpath turns to clay that binds itself to my writing boots, threatening to unbalance me. Moving forward even half a chapter takes so much out of me I almost have to lie down in a darkened room afterwards. I distract myself by bouncing from one website to another, skim-reading articles that don’t really interest me at all.

I really should turn off the wireless connection on the laptop. Or just write freehand in notepad, as I sometimes do on holidays. Sometimes this seems to free up my subconscious.

I know I should do these things, but I’m in a deep woods and I can’t seem to move at all.

This is the seventh novel I’ve written. I should be past this. Panic grabs me, making it hard for me to even open the file.   The characters who seemed to propel themselves forward feel clunky, their words leaden. I place them into what I think are intriguing and dramatic scenes and they respond by suggesting that everyone should sit down and have some coffee.

I respond by burying myself in research. I need to know about 1930s German domestic life for this work in progress, so I’ve been watching Heimat, the long (very long) German film. We’re now past the point where the domestic details have any relevance to my book but I’m still watching, telling myself that there might be something else I can scoop up from the film, and, anyway, Edgar Reitz is a master storyteller so I’m learning by watching. And it’s good for my German and as I now have two books published in Germany and sometimes use the language when dealing with the publisher, that’s worthwhile.

It strikes me that I’m not only midway in a novel but, at 47, I’m somewhere midway in my life. The old youthful certainties have gone. I used to think that I could always pick up freelance writing or editing work if I needed. The recession has disabused me of that one. Clients stop ringing. They’ve lost jobs themselves. New work is harder to find.   

My children are older, not really little any more and more complicated in their needs and demands. Parents and in-laws are older and need help. We spend more time on the telephone enquiring about blood tests and doctors’ appointments. I still have my roadmap for my life but it’s looking less relevant now. I need to get on with this novel. The sooner it’s written the sooner it can be (hopefully) sold.

‘You’re having problems because there isn’t enough conflict in your novel,’ a writing friend tells me. I look at the last chapters I’ve worked on and think he’s on to something. ‘And you need to throw in a surprise,’ the friend suggests. ‘You’re writing safe, like someone who wants to please their agent and publisher. Write the book the way you would if you didn’t give a damn. Shock yourself.’

At this stage in my book’s development the electric kettle not working would probably rank as a huge shock. I mean, how would they make all the coffee?

I look at my outline again to remind myself what I told my agent this book was about. Ah yes. I see there was another character who was supposed to enter at this point. Fifth business, I think, remembering Robertson Davies: the person who turns everything upside down. I resist the temptation to reread all my Robertson Davies novels as ‘research’. Could this proposed new character cause havoc? It might be fun to make her upset everything. Is one of the characters perhaps more interesting than I have allowed her to be? Is she, in fact, a she at all?

It might be an idea to make this middle writing more fun. Writing used to be something I did because I enjoyed it. Middle age itself can sometimes be not as fun as I’d like. I ask the Haute Flash Contessa, the alter ego of author Danielle Schaaf for some advice. Danielle created the HFC (as the Contessa graciously allows us to abbreviate her) as an escape mechanism. The Haute Flash Contessa is a middle-age woman who cavorts through life with a laundry-be-damned attitude – and a huge glass of wine.

The HFC and I are separated by the Atlantic as she lives in Houston and I live near Oxford, England, but I feel her eyeing me across a full wine glass as I ask for advice about my book and my duty-bound middle-aged life. ‘Speak softly and carry a big corkscrew,’ she says.

I go away and think about it. Softly. That’s how I need to approach the middle of this book. Relax. Let my sub-conscious help. What’s the corkscrew in my writer’s armory? I think of the outline again, of the notebook I keep with ideas for books. These are the points I write down fearing they’re not quite strong enough to make it into the book itself but things that shouldn’t be lost: half flashes of dialogue and scenes, notes about the feel and smell of places I visit. My notebook might open up this book again and propel me out of the forest.

In the meantime I’ll try the corkscrew. There’s a bottle chilling and it’s nearly six o’clock. It’s been a fortnight since I’ve looked at my novel. The school holidays have started now and, do you know what? I’m starting to itch to get back to the middle of that book and sort it out.

~~~~~ 

Eliza Graham is the British author of three novels, with a fourth, The History Room, to be published in spring 2012. She lives in a particularly muddy but pretty part of Oxfordshire and when she's not writing novels she works as a freelance editor. She lives with her husband, children and unruly terrier.

Eliza hangs out on Twitter @ElizaGraham and the Haute Flash Contessa has her own Facebook page, where friends are welcome to hang out at Wine O’Clock. Her blog can be found here.

Click here for links and information on all Eliza's novels.

The Benefits of Having a Critique Partner

(Used with permission from Debbie Ridpath Ohi at Inkygirl.com)

by L.J. Taylor

One of the reasons my blog readers haven’t heard much from me lately is that I’ve been spending every second of my free time (some of my friends are laughing at those last three  words) editing my romance novel manuscript. Last week, I finally got the first three chapters to the point where I felt I could send it to the head of my writers group, the Grammar Divas, and my readers for review and comment.

After editing a manuscript for so long, a writer can become what I call blind – unable to step back and see what needs to be done to make the manuscript better. That’s where having readers, a critique partner and/or a writers group you trust comes in handy.  Having other sets of eyes, from different perspectives, take a look at your work is invaluable to making your manuscript the best it can be.

There are many benefits to having a critique partner.  A critique partner - usually another writer - can look at your manuscript with an editor’s eye (an objective point of view) and lovingly point out the flaws both in your story and your writing. For example, they can point out areas where you may have repetitions of effect, pointless dialogue, dialogue that is too dense, characters that are too good to be true, or scenes that don’t move the story along.  They can also identify passages that need to be cut or modified.  These passages may be beautifully written and grammatically correct, but nonetheless need to be excised or modified in the interests of flow, plot, story or pace.  As painful as it may be to hear that your “baby” needs more work after all the time and effort you may have already put into it, your novel will turn out even better in the long run.

The benefits of being a member of a writers group are endless.  Some of them include making new friends, being able to discuss your work with other writers, the ability to meet new critique partners, being able to assist with editing other members’ manuscripts, and having buddies to write with both during events like Scriptfrenzy and Nanowrimo and throughout the year.  You can also share new ideas and information about writing contests, information and opportunities.

I want to thank the head of my writers group for taking the time to review and discuss my romance novel manuscript with me.  I also want to thank one of my readers for giving me some detailed insight (even if she did wake me up at 8:30a.m. on a Saturday morning to do it).  They both let know me what worked and what didn’t.  They also gave me some great ideas for making my story more compelling.  I know that my book will be that much better for it.

Originally posted April 25, 2010. This post was used with permission of the author.
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L.J. Taylor is a published poet, a practicing attorney, a novelist and a weight loss maven.  She also sings in a gospel choir and blogs about her adventures in her spare time.

How A Christian Publisher Found my Mainstream Manuscript by author Susan Schoenberger

My story of endless drafts and forty agents who said no before one said yes is probably pretty typical of anyone who gets a novel published these days. Where I may veer off the track is in selling my book to a Christian publisher when it wasn’t written specifically for that audience.

A Watershed Year, which was released in March, tells the story of a woman who loses her best friend to cancer, then decides to adopt a young boy from Russia as a way to staunch her grief. I started making some real progress toward publication by winning the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition in 2006, but it still took me a full year beyond that to find an agent.

After two rounds of submissions that both ended in rejection — and an ill-timed Hillary Swank movie that had a quasi-similar plot — my agent decided to submit the book to some small presses and give it one last try. Around the same time, my agent had lunch with an editor from Guideposts Books, which publishes mainly Christian fiction and non-fiction. The editor said the house was looking to increase its mainstream titles, and my agent told her about my manuscript. A few weeks later, Guideposts made me an offer.

My agent was thrilled to sell A Watershed Year, and I was just as thrilled to have a publisher, but I knew nothing about Guideposts except that it published a widely circulated Christian-themed magazine. 

I do know why Guideposts was interested in the manuscript. The protagonist of my novel is a professor who studies the lives of the saints and secretly believes they can be called upon to intercede in human affairs. She represents, in my mind, the ways that Americans tend to pile different religious beliefs on top of each other to create a soft landing spot in times of crisis. Though I didn’t write the book with a Christian reader in mind, my editor at Guideposts thought it would appeal to that audience as “inspirational” as well as to the mainstream readers they were trying to court. 

I asked my editor if I would I have to change the manuscript. The answer was yes, but not as radically as I had feared. I was asked to take out seven bad words that started with “F” and to tone down a very mild sex scene. I was also asked if a character who commits suicide could just die instead, but when I said no — it would have altered an essential story line — my editor understood. In the end, with some hard work, the changes actually improved the book.

Whatever concerns I had about signing with a Christian-oriented publisher were unfounded; in fact, the company has been unerringly supportive and understanding. When it comes down to it, I’m pretty comfortable with attracting both religious and non-religious readers. And as a writer, I know there’s nothing wrong with a little inspiration.

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Photo credit: Shana Sureck

Susan Schoenberger, a native of Newburgh, N.Y., graduated with honors from Dartmouth College in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in English literature.
Since college, Susan has been a writer, editor and copy editor at various newspapers, including The News and Observer, The Baltimore Sun and The Hartford Courant, and she now works as an editor for the website WestHartford.Patch.com. Her articles and essays have appeared in many publications, including the Courant’s Northeast magazine and Reader’s Digest, and one of her essays was included in the anthology Stories for a Woman’s Heart.

Susan began writing fiction seriously after attending the Wesleyan Writers Conference in 2001. Her short stories have appeared in Inkwell and the Village Rambler and one was a finalist in the New Millennium Writings contest. Her most recent publication, the story Crossroads, can be found on the website www.bartlebysnopes.com.
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If you liked this post you may also like: When A Nice Jewish Girl Reads A Contemporary Christian Novel

10 Tips for Launching A Book Without Losing Your Mind by author Randy Susan Meyers

Unmitigated panic. Unrelenting fear. Ulcer-inducing worry.

A year ago my book was launching and I should have been on cloud nine. I was realizing a life-long dream at a time when many my age popped Lipitor. I was edging close to a sedative habit.

Looking back to my novel debut last January, terror defined my anticipatory state-of-being. How would I bear bad reviews? (Weeping. Definitely weeping.) What if I got no reviews? (More weeping) What if no one came to my book launch party? What if there was a blizzard that night? What if the food ran out? What if I couldn't find a dress, the bookseller forgot to come, and I got truth-telling drunk?

Would I look fat in the pictures?

The hardest part was facing the unknown: What if I behaved badly? What if I made life-altering mistakes? I depended on books for knowledge and though there were many on my offering advice on writing, selling, promotion, grammar, and even the giving and taking of criticism, I've couldn't find Miss Manners guide to launching a book (which was desperately needed as the self-absorbed monsters in my head screamed me, me, me, like a collection of over-waxed beauty queens.

Finding no rule book, I turned to the policies carried by Moses and dribbled them with the good, bad, and clumsy I witnessed in myself and in others. Now, with the paperback, another me, me, me about to consume, I remind myself of my Writer's Commandments Upon the Occasion of Launching a Book:

1. You shall have no other gods before: Remember thy agent: she who brought you into this world. She who rescued you from the sucking sound of mud, dragging you by the strength of her strong motherly arms, and introduced you to your editor and publishing house. Consider her always in your decisions. Hide nothing.

2. Beware blasphemous words : Remember the flood of clients thy publicist is juggling. Swallow thy rage at not showing up in People, Entertainment, New York Times Book Review, Washington Post. Thy publicist must spread her love wide. Suck it up and stand in line as the grateful child thou must (pretend to) be. In other words, be careful to whom you complain.

3. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain: Never speak ill of thy publisher or editor, for it shows naught but crass ingratitude and will forever boomerang back. If thou spreadest evil on the Internet, thou are too stupid to deserve a second chance.

4. And on the seventh day, rest:Take a break or thine arm will turn to stone and thou shall spend any advance money on thine masseuse and ibuprofen.

5. Honor your father and your mother: Drink not of thine own Kool-Aid. Thine husbands, wives, children, and siblings have lives they consider as important as thine own life, and are the stars of their own show. Treat not your friends and family as your coterie. Do not expect them to read every word you write, unless you plan to admire every database they build, every car they fix, and every throat culture for which they swab.

6. You shall not murder: Thou shalt not kill thy friendships by expecting that thy book release is the equal of their baby's birth, or by forgetting their upcoming nuptials because of time spent Googling thyself, or trying make-up techniques for thy next author photo.

7. You shall not commit adultery: Thou must not imagine lying in the consciousness of another writer's agent, editor, or publicist, no matter how grandiose the descriptions used by fellow-authors in describing efforts made on their behalf; one must dance with the one that brought you at all times.

8. You shall not steal: Upon reading a brilliant tweet, retweet. Do not take that URL and claim as thine own.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor: Speak well of thy writer-friends. They are your writer sisters and brothers. Bringing thy friend down will not bring thee up.

10. You shall not covet your neighbor's: Thou shalt not compare the Amazon rankings of thy sisters and brothers with thyself, for in that lie only twisted guts.

And of course, there is Commandment 11: Never miss an opportunity to sneak in a bit of promotion: (The Murderer's Daughters, the story of sisters who witness their father murder their mother and struggle with the emotional aftermath for the next thirty years, will release in paperback on February 1.)

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Randy Susan Meyers is the author of The Murderer’s Daughters, released in January 2010 in hardcover by St. Martin's Press and in paperback February 2011. Her family drama is informed by her work with batterers and victims of domestic violence, as well her experience with youth impacted by street violence. The Los Angeles Times deemed the books, “A knock-out debut.” The Murderer’s Daughters was recently chosen the Target “Club Pick” for February/March.


The Murderer's Daughters is also available at independent booksellers, at Barnes and Noble and on Amazon. 


This post first appeared at Huffington Post and was reposted with permission of the author.