IWSG: February 2018

Here we are again, joining together as writers to help each other through shared tears, woes, and victory cheers with our monthly IWSG posting. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this group and all the administrators who help make it such an amazing group. Find the entire list of participants here.

The optional question of the day is:
What do you love most about the genre you write the most often in?

I write romance and fantasy. Though I've published more books as a romance writer, my true love is writing fantasy. The thing I love most about writing and reading fantasy is the wide-open scope of where the story can go. World-building is fun as a writer and fascinating as a reader. There are endless ideas on creating a magic system. Villains can be anything. The possibilities are endless.

This past weekend we had an awesome writers' meeting. Lots of good things happened. A few promotional opportunities were presented. A presentation from a local group that presents workshops gave us a mini-lesson on story premise. The group of instructors have put together a series of lessons that will take a novice writer from story idea to a completed novel. They call their workshop A Novel Idea. It's pretty great with all highly successful authors doing the teaching.

I also signed up for a three online classes my group is sponsoring over the next six months. I'm really excited to take advantage of what I might learn.

My publisher is trying a few twists to get some of my older titles more attention. I'll tell you more about that later, especially if it works.

I also created a profile on Library Thing. Not sure if I have any idea what I'm doing there. I can't keep Goodreads up-to-date so of course, I added something else to keep track of. Anyway, be my friend on Library Thing if you're there.

A: A to Z Blogging Challenge

For my 2016 A to Z Challenge, I’m sharing three facts for each letter. The genres I write and love to read are mostly science fiction and high or epic fantasy. In fantasy, there is often magic associated with crystals or metals. They also used herbs both for medicine and for magical spells. Each day I will post a short description of an herb or a mineral you might find in medieval or fantasy writings. For the record, most of the herbal remedies I’ve investigated are not recommended by the FDA. Many are actually poisonous and dangerous. As tribute to my second love, I will post a scientific fact that may deal with physics, biology or health science. And because another name for a writer is wordsmith, each day I’ll share a strange word that I would probably never use in my writing, but that amuse me in some way. So enjoy my trio of quick facts.

Anise: used for flavoring and also for treating coughs.

Argon: an inert noble gas used in shielding for industry uses, fluorescent lights and document preservation.

Agathokakological: composed of good and evil, like most people.

Don't forget to visit the IWSG site where we'll be posting a writer's resource for every letter of the challenge.

"Comment is free, but facts are sacred." C.P. Scott

IWSG: Marching Onward

It's the first Wednesday of the month and time for IWSG blog hop. This brain child of Alex J. Cavanaugh, this monthly fest is a chance to share encouragement with other writers or ask for some propping up for yourself. Please join this growing group by checking out the others participating today or chiming in on the Facebook page.

Today, I'm also guesting at Sharon Ledwith's blog, I came. I saw. I wrote. Sharon is one of my fellow Musa authors. Even though our publisher closed their doors less than a week ago, Sharon has already found a new publisher for her books. She's that kind of 'keeping on swimming' person. I'll be talking about how to build your blog audience, most of which I learned from people participating in IWSG.

If you stopped in here on Monday, you read the news that both publishers who had contracted my epic fantasy series have closed their doors. It was a double-whammy smack for February. I had a pity party for myself for about three days. (No one else showed up to the party even though it had wine.) Then I went to work searching for a new home for my two series. Not every publisher will take on reissues and some don't want fantasy. The epic fantasy market is a strange one. A few 'big' names do really, really well while newer writers have trouble being found. Check out the local bookstore where George RR Martin's books take up two shelves of space.

It could be worse. Back at the start of my writing career, a publisher who had two of my romances under contract declared bankruptcy. My rights were tied up in court for months with no assurance I would get them back. I learned then that those bankruptcy clauses in contracts don't really mean anything. At least this time, my publishers cared about their authors enough to do it right.

But I'm going forward with the belief that I will find a new home for those series and the motivation to finish the third and final book in the one series. There are so many avenues available to writers these days. I won't give up on them. And my romance career as Susan Kelley is still going strong. So while I wait for answers to my queries, I'll be working on the next book for my romance publisher.

"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it." John Irving

"Nature, time and patience are the three great physicians." Bulgarian proverb

Also, don't forget that tomorrow from 1pm to 2pm and 8pm to 9pm, there is a chat going on about the A to Z Challenge on Twitter. Use these #'s.
#AZchat
#atozchallenge
Hope to see you there with questions, ideas or just an introduction.

Do you know any publishers who take on reissues? Are you familiar with Sharon? Care to share any horror stories of your own about publishers closing? Do you agree with the above quotes?

Always a Writer

I had my first romance novel published by New Concepts Publishing almost six years ago. I had two children in middle school and two in high school. I was coaching field hockey and all my children were playing sports year round. Did I mention I was teaching full time also? I still don’t know where I found the time to write and edit that first book.

 Since that first book, I’ve had six more romances published and three epic fantasy novels. In the course of the next few months, I will have two more fantasy novels published and a new romance novel. My youngest two children are now in college and my responsibilities at home are much, much less than they were during the hectic times that first book came out.

 If someone had asked me six years ago what my career was I would have said I was a high school teacher. I’ll be retiring in June. Will I then answer that question as ‘a retired school teacher?’ Almost every writer I know also works at a ‘day’ job. Is that their career? Many of us love our day job, but is it our career? Teaching is one of my careers, but not the first one in my heart.

 Too many writers, me included, think of that day job as our career instead of calling ourselves writers. We’re writers all the time. How do you know you’re a writer?

 *You find those strange quirks in your relatives are perfect personality traits for one of the characters in your novel.

 *You watch the news and wonder how you can fit the depravities of your fellow man into the current antagonist you’re creating.

 *At a friend’s party you’re introduced to a new, lovely Chablis and figure out a way to work it into an intimate scene between your hero and heroine.

 *You’re flipping through a magazine in the dentist’s waiting room and come across a hot guy in a cologne advertisement. Looking around to make sure no one is watching, you stealthily tear out the page and put it in your pocket. You tack it up near your desk so you can refer to it as you create the hero of your next book.

 *Some posts a picture of a classic 1890’s wedding dress. You save the picture so you can describe the dress as the one your heroine wears on her wedding day.

 *You watch hours of the History channel as they describe medieval warfare or ancient superstitions. Oh, and those angels and demons segments or how about the specials on making bread in a stone oven or ancient cooking techniques over an open fire?

 *The patch of woods behind your house take on a sinister air. And is that large hawk actually a real raptor or something else? Is it watching your family?

 Writers see possible plot twists, interesting characters, and descriptive scenery everywhere. Being a writer isn’t a hobby one works on like a weekend warrior. The job is everyone and all the time. Ideas, plans and even the word we want to use in a scene, come to us at all times. In the middle of dinner, while watching a TV show, while negotiating traffic and often during those hours on the day job.

 My challenge to you and myself is to announce bravely to the world that we are writers. We’re writers all the time not only when we sit down at the keyboard. Even when I’m teaching those rowdy teenagers, I’m a writer. When I’m throwing together dinner for my husband and me, I’m a writer. Writing is a job that never takes a rest. Even we when say we’re taking a break, our typing muscles are the only thing resting. The next time someone asks what you do, tell them you’re a writer who also works at another job.

Can you add to the list of how you know you’re a writer? Do your fellow workers at the day job know you’re a writer? Even tear one of those ads out of a magazine?

Beneath the Mountain Available Now!

Beneath the Mountain, Book #3 of The Futhark Chronicles, is available for sale on Kindle. At only $2.99, it's a real steal for nearly 400 pages of epic fantasy.

Available Now at Kindle

Beneath the Mountains continues the battle in the kingdom of Futhark. Marshal Cage Stone and his brother, King Jonared have pushed the demons out of the city of Futhark and regained the throne from the usurper. But they both know the peace is fragile and the demon solution is only temporary. Cage picks up the first hints of the evil power behind the plagues of illnesses and violence spreading throughout the city and into the countryside. He races to capture the demon lord before Keeper Sabelline Shelton embarks on a desperate mission to forever close off the opening to the underworld beneath the mountains towering over the city. Sabelline and Cage both believe going beneath the mountain will be a trip of no return.

The first book of this series, The Keepers of Sulbreth, Book #1, is now available everywhere for only .99 and the second book, Beyond the Gate, Book #2, is now only $1.99. 

There is one more book in this epic fantasy series, tentatively titled, The Heir of Futhark, is already completed in a rough draft. I'll be polishing it and getting it ready for my friend and editor, Gina. Since we're both teachers, the school year will slow us down a little. And I can't release a book without giving credit to my artist, Gayle Bower.

In a shameless bid for some free promotion, I hope some of my blogger friends will mention my new release.  Thanks for reading my blurb.

Is your TBR shelf full? I'm slowly working my shelf of paper books down, but I have a bunch on my eReader. I'll catch up on those during my lunch time at school and while riding bike as I rehab after my knee surgery.

Epic or Not

I love epic fantasy.  I first read LOTR in ninth grade.  There's weren't many other choices back in those days but some great authors have stepped up to the plate. When I decided to turn my hand to writing, I wanted to write fantasy.  But the only writers' group I was aware of in the area was a branch of RWA, Romance Writers of America.  I went to a few meetings, joined, attended a conference, and wrote some romance novels.

Since then I've been sold manuscripts to two different romance publishers and have seven romance novels on the market. I'm proud of them and they're doing okay out here under my pen name, Susan Kelley.  But I still love epic fantasy best.

But every time I talked to an agent or an editor, or read what they were looking for, they all said 'no epic fantasy.'  'It won't sell.' 'There's no market for it.' 

Then LOTR hit the big screen and I knew the tide had turned back to my favorite.  I sold my first fantasy novel to a mid-sized publisher and dreamed of Peter Jackson making it into a movie. I'll pause here for laughter.  My publisher contracted three novels and published the first two before deciding they were turning their interests to zombies and self-help nonfiction.  I took my rights back and went the self pub route since it's very difficult to sell a novel that has already been published to a new publisher.  My dreams withered.

Then HBO came out with their epic fantasy series, The Game of Thrones.  I had read and loved the books, couldn't wait to see it, and they didn't disappoint.  But it revitalized my dreams.  I'm trying to sell my second epic fantasy series to a publisher.  I'm looking at smaller presses this round, hoping for a relationship where a publisher will work with me to build my career as well as their business rather than blindside me like the last one did.

While researching what publishers I should submit to, I noticed EDGE science fiction and fantasy publishers said in their 'want to see' list, NO EPIC FANTASY. 

So is epic fantasy a vital part of the market or must a tiny niche? Will readers every tire of werewolves and vampires and return to caring about an epic battle of good versus evil to save the world?

T: Trilogy or More

T:  If you've visited me before, you know I write epic fantasy.  Epic fantasy and many other types of fantasy, usually means a multi-book series.  Science fiction often is delivered in a series of novels set in the same world and involving the same characters.  Mystery, romance, suspense and other genres tend to come in series also.  And why not?

If a reader falls in love with the world and the mythology created, they'll come back again and again to the adventures and intrigues the author composes. But how long will the reader return? At what point does the series drag on too long?  It depends.

The author must keep the storyline from getting repetitive. TV series face the same challenge. Is there a bad guy of the week or of the novel? Many mystery series are like that.  Is the new criminal, the new threat to world peace, interesting with new quirks and higher stakes? If there is a continuing story arc, does each novel move it forward? Are more and more questions asked and are some old mysteries solved and explained? Is the tension rising from novel to novel?

I used to think all fantasy series were best if kept to a trilogy.  Perhaps Tolkien taught me that.  Then I started reading authors like Robert Jordan and Terry Goodkind who spin their epic fantasy out over more than a dozen books.  Some of the books in each series were better than others, but I intend to keep reading them as long as they keep going.  So three is no longer a magic number in my opinion.

Have you ever read a book series you thought went on too long? Do you enjoy reading series or do you prefer stand alone novels?

E: Envy

E:  Thou shalt not envy.  I think one of the things that comes with maturity is the learned behavior of not wasting energy on useless emotions.  Envy, jealousy is an uglier word for it, is one of the most useless of time drains. 

I wish my blog had a thousand followers. I know bloggers who have that many readers but I also know they reached that summit by hard work.  I try to learn from them. 

I met my first critique partner at my very first writing conference.  Since then, she's become a very successful multi-published author.  She's very successful and if often now asked to be on author panels at writer conferences similar to that one we met at as newbies.  I'm very happy for her and buy all her books.

Another friend of mine writes fantasy though his is darker than mine.  He has a great agent and a contract for multiple books with a publisher I would love to work with.  His writing is great.  I read his book and try to learn what works in them and how I can improve my own fantasy novels. 

It's important not to worry about the competition except to use them to learn from.  Concentrate on the page in front of you, the one you're writing.  Don't concern yourself with what you perceive as lucky breaks coming to others and skipping over you.  Envy is a wasted emotion and can only bring down your own enthusiasm.

Do you fight envy? Have you had someone act jealous of your position or your success?

Changes

I was wondering what I should blog about today and while my mind remained blank, my gaze fell upon my keeper shelf. I'm lucky enough to have build in book shelves in the room I've taken for my writing office.  Most of the books on my keeper shelf are hard backs of various genres.  My focus on writing is mostly on fantasy though I still have some romance novels working.  My keeper shelf is filled with fantasy novels.  I noticed the shelves have become disorganized, mostly because my eldest son is constantly taking down a few of the books and reading them and then putting them back carelessly.  But the top shelf is till neatly in order. Why?

from FB

I realized the books on the top shelf haven't moved much in the last year or more.  Why? Because I haven't reread them and now I realize I probably never will.  They are hard-backed books which means they cost a bit.  I couldn't wait for them to come out in mass market and all of them had been purchased before I had my ereader.  I sat up late into the night reading some of them and now I can't remember why I so eagerly anticipated their release.  They're well-written books by successful authors but I have no current desire to read them again. It's my taste that has changed. 

New authors have won my heart. I can't wait for Brandon Sanderson's next novel.  Brent Weeks has earned his way onto my keeper shelf. I've really enjoyed Paul Hoffman's dark fantasy series.  Peter V. Brett had been keeping me impatiently waiting for his next book.  In the past year I've passed up new books by authors I've followed with unwavering devotion in years gone by.  They haven't changed the quality of their writing but I've abandoned them. Why?

I think there are two reasons. The first might be that they still write the same type of stories as they always have.  For some of them, their books have started to sound too similar with plots barely reworked from their previous books.  Perhaps they've had a recurring character who seems to make the same mistakes or encounters the same challenges as in the past.  They're just not new enough and I feel cheated or bored.

A second reason might be my desire to read new authors and discover what voices and plots are currently popular with the fantasy audience.  Many of the stories I've sought out recently have darker plots as good battles evil.  Some have magic used in ways I've never considered.  I'm amazed at the creativity and imagination of some of these writers.  Brandon Sanderson amazes me with the scope of the tales he weaves, his world creation so intricate and full of depth I beyond envious of his talent.

So some of my reading habits have changed.  Have you stopped reading a favorite author and why? For what reasons? What draws you to a new writer and then keeps you as a fan? 

The World As Our Characters Know It

One of the really fun parts of starting a new fantasy series as a writer is creating the world the story will take place in.  Some created worlds are so different from ours the world is a story unto itself.  Brandon Sanderson is a good one for creating settings that are more than just background noise for his characters.  In the first three books of his Mistborn series, the world is a gloomy place on the verge of total annihilation.  Only as the reader gets toward the end of the novel, does one come to understand that the reasons behind the harsh conditions of that world and what it will mean to the beloved characters struggling to survive.  Sanderson's novel, The Way of Kings, is another great example of a world very alien to ours and I know as that series progresses, the physical and political aspects introduced in the first novel will slowly start to make sense and become like another character in the books.

As an author of fantasy, there are lots of decisions to make.  A big one is how much different do you want your world to be from ours? Will gold and silver still be precious? What will the political system be? Will the sky be blue and the sun yellow? Are apple trees still apple trees?  It's fun, but also a challenge and that's without getting into how magic will work in the invented world.

In my Futhark series, Beyond the Gate and The Keepers of Sulbreth, some of the creations in the fantasy kingdom of Futhark are demon creatures.  I've pulled them from my imagination but made most of them similar to beasts we often fear as children.  Some are wolf-like but with bigger teeth.  Some run in packs and are like rats with poisonous bites.  Some fly and are similar to pterodactyls but all the demons have a taste for human blood and destruction. They're fun to write about.

Scifi authors have fun things to create too, though I would guess they have to follow some scientific rules.  But since none of us know what other worlds are like or what ships that zip from galaxy to galaxy will use as fuel, they can dig deep into their own imaginations for their stories also.

What author do you think creates exceptional or memorable worlds? Do you enjoy doing it as an author? Have you read a novel where the world differences bothered you?

Always the Bad Guy

I was watching a TV show recently, one of the cops and crooks things, and the good guys were trying to figure out who dunnit.  As soon as a clue led them to a state senator, I knew who the offender would be. It's always the politician.  It's so easy to paint just about any part of the government as someone looking out for their own personal interest instead of the welfare of the people they're sworn to serve.

It happens in books also. The leaders in the government are seldom portrayed as anything other than self-serving, arrogant and without ethics or morals.  This holds true in most genres of fiction, contemporary, fantasy, scifi or historical and perhaps especially dystopian. Why?

There's probably lots of answers to that but I think today's economical and political climate allows for the easy acceptance to the possible reality of our own government being the cause of all our misery. Corruption and greed make for some great conflicts in a novel.  In fantasy, a little magic is usually added to complicate the battle of good citizens versus bad rulers. 

So do you see the theme of the government as bad guys in lots and lots of novels and other entertainment media? Do you have a theory as to why it's so widely used as the conflict in fiction?

Writing From the Mind of the Other Planet

Are men from Mars? I've been married for decades and raised two stepsons and three boys of my own. I teach high school and interact with teenage boys all the time.  Do I believe men and women think differently? Do they see the world through a different lens? I bet everyone knows the answer to that, be they male or female.

From FB

So how do you write from the POV of the opposite sex? Carefully. All my books have scenes from the POV of male and female.  Am I making my men to 'metrosexual.' How's that blast from the past term? LOL.  In epic fantasy, the men need to be manly men. Does that mean he must not only be able to ride wild horses, slay dozens with his sword and eat red meat for six meals a day?  Must he be confused by a woman's tears, afraid of discussing his feelings, reluctant to get deeply involved? 

How can I get this 'man' brain thing correct? I listen. I watch. I laugh. Teenage males are really amusing as they swing like a pendulum between being boys and young men.  One minute they're trying to impress the girls and the next minute they're arguing about some video game with their buddies.  And adult guys tend to do the same thing except the topics change a bit.

I often wonder if I'm doing it right. The real test is if men enjoy reading my epic fantasy books. I've had some positive feedback from the male audience, so I hope I'm doing it okay. 

Do male writers worry about the same thing? Have you ever read a book where the author didn't hit the mark writing from the POV of the opposite sex?

I'm Going As Fast As I Can

If you're a fan of books written in series, you know the frustration of waiting for the next book to be released.  I read many different genres and there are many authors I eagerly await their next work of fine prose.  In mystery and suspense, I love, Preston and Childs, John Sandford, Lee Child, Elizabeth George and James Rollins.  Most of these writers produce a book about once per year. I can live with that.

My first love is fantasy and perhaps in no other genre do authors torture readers with long waits between books.  Patrick Rothfuss made us wait four years between the first book in Kingkiller Chronicles, The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fears.  I'm not sure how long I've waited for Terry Goodkind to come out with his next Sword of Truth book.  I couldn't even guess how long Brandon Sanderson will make us wait for the book following that ten-pounder, The Way of Kings.

I think a big question on fantasy readers' minds is how long it will take George Martin to write the next book in Fire and Ice series.  We waited six years for A Dance of Dragons.  The series if a very involved book with a huge world and a cast of thousands but six years?  I'm wondering if having his books made into an HBO series will inspire him to write faster.  Or, worse case scenario, might it slow him down? 

My fantasy books aren't as long as the big stars I mention as examples. Usually they're about 100,000 words rather than 2K.  It does take me about a year to complete one.  But I'm also working a full time job and raising a family.  Could I do better?  Probably if I let some things go, but as of right now, I'm working as fast as I can.

How long does it take you complete a book? What is the longest you've waited for the next book in a series? What book, besides your own, are you anticipating right now?

What Should Have Happened

It's that time of year when all the network TV shows are having their season finales.  This past week I've watched cliff hangers with heroines sprawled in a pool of their own blood and heroes taking the law into their own hands.   Some of the shows will have us wait all summer to know who lives and who dies.  Some of them have emotional tension being carried over to the next season.  One of my favorite shows, Justified, has left the hero pondering his professional career and his relationships with his pregnant ex-wife and fellow marshals.  Now I have to wait until next winter to see what happens there. 

But I often wonder when these important last episode of the season occurs on TV shows if I would have written it different.  I think 'this is what should have happened.'

The heroine bleeding from gun shot wound is a little cliche for me.  I like the ending better if she shots the bad guy but the circumstances are questionable.  We know she's not going to die but if its her professional life on the line it will make for some interesting drama as she tries to get out of trouble.

I loved the season ender Mentalist, but shouldn't Red John have been someone we know?  Shouldn't he have been visible in an earlier episode?  

Blue Bloods didn't let me down with the Regans handling the murder of their family member like the good cops they are.  And then the satisfying scene of the family dinner wrapped up a great freshman season.

I finished watching the Showtime series, The Tudors, a few weeks ago on DVD.  I wish they wouldn't have ended the series with Henry.  Of course, how many movies have been made about Elizabeth?

I also recently read The Count of Monte Cristo on my ereader.  I loved the movie with Jim Caviezel and especially the ending.  The book ended completely differently.  Though I really enjoyed the book, I liked what happened in the movie better.

I can't help but thing about the ending of my books and wonder if readers finish them and then ponder 'what should have happened.'  I write my romance books in series but each book is a complete story about a different set of lead characters.  Each ending is complete with the HEA.  On the other hand, my fantasy series in a continuation of an epic tale progressing from book to book.  Each ending has to satisfy the reader yet leave enough questions to convince them they must read the next book.  The ending is a fine line between what should have happened and what might happen in the next book. 

I've read books where I hated the ending, including some fantasy series of multiple books where I loved it until the last few chapters.  I hated that the tale didn't end the way I wanted it to end.  I could make a list of what should have happened.  I won't name them here because I don't like to do that to other authors or ruin a book for someone interested in reading it.

Can you think of some books you loved right up until the ending?  How about movies and TV shows that don't follow the tale you've imagined for the characters? 

Something Old, Something New...

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.  I guess we've all heard that old saying and perhaps we followed the superstition for our own weddings.  I was thinking how my writing has been influenced by JRR Tolkien.

Something old in my fantasies is a common theme in the fantasy genre.  An old war re-ignited after centuries.  An old enemy awakens to once more create havoc on a population unprepared to meet that which they thought defeated.   

The new comes in with the causes of the war, the uniqueness of the enemy, and the world I create in which the battles will take place.  The personal and physical problems my protagonists must overcome have to be different enough to catch the interest of fantasy readers who have indulged in all the classic series.

I haven't borrowed Tolkien's plots or stories, but certainly my fantasy novels follow the pattern of most epic fantasy novels as set down by the master.  Good versus evil in a battle for the world.  Hero stepping forward from the ranks of common men to save the day. 

Every epic fantasy has battles and deadly confrontations.  A good story jerks at the heart strings and hopefully brings a tear.  As an author, I make sure there is something blue in my novels or in other words, 'someone is going to die.'  

I figured out as I wrote this post that I am married to my writing.  The hours I spend on it certainly put some truth to that idea.

Do you have an old saying you can compare your writing to? Do you make sure there's something blue in your stories?

A Snail Trail

Last week I prepared my latest fantasy novel, First Dragon, for submission.  I polished my query pitch thanks to some help from my friends here.  I tweaked a few formatting issues.  So many publishers demand some little things be just so.  One wanted the entire manuscript.  Most wanted three chapters and a synopsis. I can handle that.  In an evening, I submitted to three fantasy publishers.  But two of the publishers I wanted to submit to took much longer.

I had to print out two hard copies of my query letter, synopsis and first three chapters.  One of the publishers strangely exact spacing on the title page as if they wouldn't be able to read it if my name and address were not a perfectly placed eight spaces from the top.  Neither of these publishers will return my partails even if I include a SASE.  They say on their website they just don't have time to go the post office to mail things back.  I would really like one of them to snap up my manuscript but I found myself becoming increasingly disgusted with the process as I wasted ink and paper to prepare the submissions. 

The thought running through my mind was, 'why in this day of internet ease do these publishers still not take electronic submissions?'  Why waste so much of my time and money?  Why fill their office space with packages? Why require their junior editors to tear open envelops and lug stacks around their offices or perhaps even take home?  Don't their people have laptops? IPads? Any electronic gizmo for their convenience of reading my prose?

I know my electronic submissions arrived within seconds of my submission.  What of the snail mail submissions?  First of all, we were inundated with two ice storms last week so it three days from the time I had the packages ready until I could make it to the post office.  Six dollars later, the postal worker tossed my big envelops into a bin with the rest of the outgoing mail.  Is it there yet? 

I doubt if it is.  One submission was going to Canada and the other New York.  If they decide they like my first three chapters, they'll email me and ask for more or tell me no thanks.  They can email me but I can't email them?  Now what if they do want to see the entire book?  Must I now stuff all four hundred double-spaced pages and take another trip to the local post office?  And all this adds up to time. 

A growing criticism of the big NY houses is how long it takes to take a book from acquisition to publication.  Add to it the time it takes to acquire it.  Even if one of these big publishers decide they want my book at some point, it is likely to be nearly three years from the time I first send it to them until I hold it in my hands.  Time.  And during that time the industry and technology are sprinting forward. 

What do you think?  Have you submitted anything by snail mail lately?  Do you think I wasted my six dollars? I have a list of small publishers I'm investigating.  I know many of you are published by independents.  Are you glad you went that route?

Do You Want Pickles With That?

I did a blog before on what you do when you get bogged down on your WIP.  Since then I've whittled down the suggestions and made some more specific and others more general.  So what should you do when the words won't go on the page?

#One: Step away for a littlet bit and work on another project.  Or even read a book by an author you would like to emulate.  See what they're doing right that you want to do also.

#Two Go back to the beginning and find why you were excited to start the project in the first place.  How did you let your interesting characters become dull?

#Three Check out your outline of the plot.  Was it thorough enough or are you stumbling because you left a hole in it.

#Four Read over what you wrote and take notes where the manuscript is weak and doesn't work.

#5 Just pound the keys and push through sometimes works.

#6  What I do when I get really stuck is add pickle.  Cause trouble for your characters, complicate the solution or make their current situation worse.

In my latest release, Beyond the Gate, I wanted my characters to discover this peaceful wonderful part of their world but peace can be boring in a fantasy book.  So I sent some demons to force the characters to not only defend themselves but come to some hard decisions in the aftermath.  A big pickle.

So what kind of pickle do you add to your story to keep the plot moving forward? What do you do when you get stuck or lose enthusiasm for a project?

Blog or Website

The lines have blurred between websites and blogs.  After much contemplation and seeking advice from friends and colleagues, today I did away with my website.   My blog will now serve the same purpose as my website but it will be more interactive and certainly updated more often.  I've already designed numerous pages offering all the information as my website did and I'll be adding more as I go.  I visited many blogs of authors who have already gone the blog only route.  Their success convinced me.
A big factor in my decision was the ease I find in updating my blog compared to my website.  The website updates always seemed like work.  Posting new articles and interviews on my blog is fun.  Meeting readers and authors through their visits to me and my stops at their blogs is great.  It's so easy to create links to other sites, to other pages in my blog, as well as inserting pictures and video.  So good bye website.
On a different note, today is the second day since Beyond the Gate was released in ebook.  My publisher put up a cool trailer at the top of their website for my book. 
How many of you keep both website and blogs?  How often do you update either of them?

Sticky, Stickier, Stuck

It happens to every writer. You get stuck on a scene. For some reason you can’t make it work. You type a few lines and then delete. I’m sure I’m not the only who has written the entire scene and then wiped it away and tried to start over. Sometimes I can’t get the mood right or I decide I need to try it from a different POV. Or the scene commits the sin of not moving the story forward.

Sometimes I can work through it by walking away from the keyboard for a little bit. I’ll walk around the block or even just out to get the mail. In the summer I might go outside and pull a few weeds, sweep out the garage or the deck. All mindless activities to let my mind linger on the scene problems and search for a solution.
Sometimes I get up and fix a cup of tea or warm up my coffee. In the evening I might pour a glass of wine and sip it while I stare at the cursor, demanding the words rise to the surface of my thoughts.
Another thing I do is put on some music or even some favorite movie I’ve watched tens of times before. I usually pick something that matches the scene giving me trouble.
When nothing else works I try to power through it. I write a noun, a verb and create a sentence. Then another sentence. Often this works for me more than anything else. I sit there until there are words in the document. If it ends up being terrible, I slash and burn it in the editing process.
What do you do when stuck on scene? Is there a particular type of scene that gives you more trouble than others?

If At First...

How do you judge your success as a writer? I believe most writers who consider themselves professional hope to achieve publication someday. But even then, by what yard stick do you measure your success?

Accolades from family, friends, colleagues and even strangers in various venues pump up the satisfaction level for me. My family and friends have always been quite supportive. My peers at the day job and my students offer their congratulations and often wonder that I write books. Real feel good moments.
I’ve interacted with people who believe you must be published by one of the large New York houses to be deemed a successful author. Statements of distain about small presses usually anger me rather than discourage me. But for those people, they feel a person isn’t really successful until they’ve signed a contract with one of the ‘Big Boys.’
Some would have success based on how much money an author pulls in from their writing. I know a few writers who’ve published multiple books with small presses as eBooks. They don’t make huge earnings on individual books but added together, the quantity of releases adds up to decent amounts of money earned by royalties. Are POD and eBooks an equal measure of success compared to a traditional book sold on the shelves of the large chain stores?
Has an author reached a goal of recognition when they’re asked to guest at a library or perhaps a conference? Does it take a TV or newspaper interview to know ‘you’re a big name?’ Must you hold a book signing and run a highly active blog with thousands of followers?
It’s difficult to stay at something if you continually feel like you’ve failed to achieve your objectives. I believe in goal setting but one should also know what it means when the particular goal is reached. When I sold my first fantasy novel and then the series, I didn’t believe my books would soon push Terry Goodkind off the shelf. ( I use Terry as an example since our names are close and our books are shelved near each other) But I did feel like I’d taken a first important step upward to the ultimate level of success I hope to achieve. I’m proud of the fantasy romances I have with small presses and appreciative of the money I receive from their continued sales.
How do you measure your successes? Is it a matter of money, number of books published, the type of publisher or the accolades you receive from various sources?