Magical Musings

I’m South African, and under the laws of SA, comparitive and desparaging advertising is illegal. So no one can use their advertising money to belittle a competitor, only to promote their own product. This goes for politics, too.

So imagine my surprise when I was driving along in my new home, Perth, Australia, and hear a radio advert by one political party ripping another party’s policies to shreds. My jaw literally dropped. But this was so new and interesting to me, I listened very carefully every time I heard an ad which was an attack, and I came up with a few interesting thoughts.

If I was one of the people being attacked, I’d make sure I listened very well to the attack ad. Because they only have 30 seconds odd to rip into you, and it makes sense they’re going to go for the weakest points. Maybe the people being attacked don’t think they’re being attacked on a valid point, but if there is even the slightest doubt, what a great way to hone in on your iffy areas. Your competitors are summarizing your weak points for you!

I can see from this how the ‘American Idol’ style of reading an author’s first few pages and having industry professionals comment on it with paint stripping honesty has its fans. There can’t be a faster way for your weak points to be made apparent to you. But it can be a bit too much pain and suffering. It is public, it is subjective. But wow, it’s a fast solution.

I’m not a fan of negative commenting. I don’t like snarky-ness for the amusement of others at someone else’s expense, but straight-forward, honest opinions I’ll take any day. As long as I keep in mind that it is only an OPINION and the person has no agenda other than honest gut reaction, I’ll be up for it any day of the week.

What about you? Do you have an opinion on this?

I recently switched genres, a big one, from women’s fiction to a paranormal novella. It felt right when I was writing women’s fiction, but it felt great writing the novella, breezing through it, and now taking more time with the next drafts. Another writer once told me I should stick to one thing. Why? When I’m published, maybe, but even then I see writers going from genre to genre. I think it keeps the spark inside us alive.

Barbara Samuel, aka Ruth Wind, blogged on Writer Unboxed few weeks ago about writing different books in different genres — from category to medievals to women’s fiction — under different names. Now she’s adding another name and another genre, “magic realism,” under the name Barbara O’Neal.

She’s not alone. Erica Orloff writes dark paranormals, women’s fiction, chick lit, young adult, and probably a few more genres. Karin Tabke started with her sizzling Hot Cops books, and has since dabbled in paranormal, veered off into passionate Medieval Knights, and I happen to know she’s also co-written a mystery.

I could mention many writers who branch out, including Nora Roberts and Jayne Ann Krentz, but this blog was inspired by a local newspaper columnist, Joanne Weintraub. After 24 years at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, she’s leaving to start a career as a freelance writer. According to this article, her freelance column “will trace connections between and among books and movies, pop songs and commercials, YouTube videos and e-mail jokes.”

She says, “I’ll try to pay attention to things that often fall between the cracks of conventional arts and entertainment coverage: advertising slogans, Facebook friending, spam filters, user reviews on IMDB, wish lists on Amazon, obsessive blogging, the etiquette of e-mail.”

Now that’s major gear switching! It made me think of Zoe Winters and her plans to make her name in publishing by giving away free novellas and podcasts. A change is coming to publishing and Zoe might be in the forefront. I hope there will always be print books, ones we can hold and turn pages. Even Zoe has said she prefers print books over e-books. But e-books and podcasts will grow more popular. New venues will probably open up too. Maybe someone is drawing up plans for of one right now.

Weintraub, who was the newspaper’s TV critic since 1994, writes that when she started, the three main networks hogged the center ring of TV and “cable was something of a sideshow.” Not anymore. Weintraub says now we’re more likely to turn to cable for the most provocative shows and best dramatic series “while the networks survive on the likes of “American Idol” and “Deal or No Deal.”

I’m not quite ready to jump on the podcast train with Zoe, but I’ll be clapping and cheering on the sidelines, yelling , “Go, Zoe, go!” I hope she succeeds wildly. In the meantime, I’ll write the stories that excite me and not worry about their genre.

What about you? What genres do you write or are thinking of writing? And are you ready to hop on Zoe’s train?

That’s one of my favorite sayings. About a year ago I sent Michelle a plaque that read “Aim for the Moon. Even if you miss, you’re among the Stars”. How appropriate is that when it comes to writing? When a person makes the conscious decision to make writing their career, they have absolutely no idea how difficult it really is. The time spent at the typewriter and/or keyboard, the sacrifices you have to make with your family and friends, the heartache of receiving those first dozen … or two dozen, oh, hell … probably three dozen … rejection letters.

I truly believe that writers must have masochistic tendencies to continue on this course. We sweat blood over every word we write, agonize when we send our babies out into the cold, cruel world of publication, and are crushed when someone doesn’t realize that we’re the next best selling author. You have to have a thick hide to endure this rollercoaster of emotions.

However, we’re also dreamers, believers and loaded with determination …or is that self-delusion? In any event, we got off our ass and wrote that book. (Actually, that’s an oxymoron. We got on our ass and wrote that book. ) We did something that a huge percentage of this population hasn’t. That in itself is an impressive accomplishment.

So, maybe that first book won’t sell … not the end of the world. We all seem to have a book that we have hidden under the bed, saved in the computer or tucked away on the shelf. That’s practice. With each subsequent book we write, we get better and better. We learn our craft, attend conferences, make the necessary contacts. We have a dream and a goal.

So, go ahead. Aim for the Moon. Doesn’t matter if you miss — you’ll be among the stars.

We are so pleased to invite Amy Atwell back as a guest blogger to Magical Musings. Amy Atwell has pursued publication for eight years with moments of success buoying her through the months of rejections. Following the death of her mother in 2005, Amy beached her writing for a long time. But with the support and unwavering belief of her writing goals groups, she waded back into the writing waters in 2007. In the past nine months, she’s been named a finalist in 14 contests, including the prestigious Golden Heart® contest sponsored by Romance Writers of America®. More importantly, she’s rediscovered her love of writing by rehabbing her first completed manuscript, launching a new work in progress, and signing with her dream agent.

By: Jeaniene Frost
ISBN: 978-0-06-124509-1
Publisher: Avon

Well, my last time around doing reviews, I did Jeaniene Frost’s first book “Halfway to the Grave”. This time around, I’m doing “One Foot in the Grave”. Can you tell how impressed I am with this author?

Well, the saga continues with Cat Crawfield vanishing from Bones’ life. She literally vanished without a trace, courtesy of the U.S. Government who set up a special unit aimed at ridding the world of rogue vampires. Cat was invited (i.e. blackmailed) to head this unit and handpick her men. However, she cannot forget the lover she left behind. When she’s targeted for assassination, her best bet is teaming up with the vampire who taught her everything she knew about fighting rogues.

Yes, Bones finds her and the sparks fly when he and Cat are reunited. Turns out he’s pretty much the only man she can trust as attempts are made on her life. Together they have to locate the people responsible for putting a contract out on Cat, win the trust of her unit and deal with Cat’s mother who freaks out every time Bones is in the vicinity.

Then to top it off, Bones manages to locate the man who had raped her mother and left her pregnant with Cat. It isn’t a Hallmark moment reunion.

I cannot wait for Jeaniene’s next book, which is due out in December of this year. All in all, I enjoyed this book even more than “Halfway to the Grave”. There is a love scene in this book that even after a couple of months is memorable and totally hawt. In fact, despite the tottering pile of books I have waiting to be read, I’m tempted to crack Jeaniene’s first two books again and enjoy them all over again.

~Challenge~
Requirement for full use of one’s abilities.

This is a picture of Dara Torres. I really had no clue who this woman was, only that I was watching the Olympics and her name and age popped up at the bottom of the screen. Okay, that got my attention; 41 and a part of the women’s swim team. I couldn’t look away from the competition. This woman was amazing! So, I did a little research and found out she basically retired from the Olympic competitions in 1992 at the ripe old age of 25. Why? Obviously she/they assumed her best was behind her. To get a sense of the word challenge, this woman battled bulima, divorced twice, and received 5 knee surgeries. And I’m sure those are just the facts in the spotlight. Dora is a part of this year’s Olympics, and has managed to receive 10 medals during her career, swimming with five Olympic teams. She’ll be competing for her 11th today, so good luck Dara! She’s the oldest swim medalist in History, the previous person to hold this esteemed honor was in 1908, and a 38 year-old man.

Suffice it to say, age is just a number gals! I relish that, and swim in the knowledge daily. We can do and accomplish whatever we want in life…it’s our choice. While training for this one, Dara focused on her end goal. Whether we relate to the Olympic games or not, writing is a personal challenge. There’s a process, a goal in sight, and the drive to get us there.

While Dara excercises her muscles daily, we use the creative ones. I know when I’m on-game, and not. I know when I’m rusty, and it takes longer to reach the zone. It’s our choice how much time we spend reaching our goals.

At this point, all I can say is bravo, Dara! Thank you for leading the way, and giving us all something to think about. On a note, she now has an 18 month-old daughter, and was one of the first non-models to appear in the swimsuit sport’s illustrated years ago. She’s toned, lean, and focused.

Many people are facing serious challenges whether job-related, family, personal, etc. Through challenges we grow, and in the process give others hope. Whether it’s publishing related, or something else we are the ones who set our goals and focus. We can float, swim, or sink. Personally, I’d like to swim, float when I need to, and swim some more till I reach the finish line.

Can you think of a writing challenge you won recently? Or maybe someone you know made it across the finish line recently? Let’s celebrate some wins today. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be about writing, let’s talk some victories!

Thank you all for inviting me to blog with you. This is pretty heady company for a newbie like me. Since I feel silly dispensing words of wisdom about Writing (with a capital W), I’ll just tell you about the path from “brilliant idea” to three-books-published-in-a-year (the newest is One Bad Apple, released last week).

Once upon a time, in a universe far, far away…oh, wait, that was Pennsylvania.

Anyway, in 2001 I had a bright idea. My daughter was approaching college age, and my husband and I had no idea how we planned to pay for that. Then a light bulb went on over my head: I know, I’ll write a book! And sell it! And that will pay for her college education!

Silly me. I was woefully ignorant about writing, but I was enthusiastic. In my blissful ignorance, I sat down and wrote a book. Of course, I had no idea how long a book was supposed to be, so I grabbed a paperback, counted the words on a page, and multiplied. I also didn’t know that I didn’t know (if you follow me) anything about plotting, character development, pacing–or much of anything else.

But I wrote a book anyway. And I finished it. So there I was with this stack of pages, and I had no idea what to do with it. A friend pointed out that one of our college classmates was now a Big Literary Agent in New York, so of course I wrote her, and she graciously offered to read my manuscript. I sent it. She hated it. Just to be sure, she gave it to a colleague to read, and he hated it too.

But I discovered two things: one, I have a high tolerance for rejection, something that proves very useful to any aspiring writer; and, two, I really, really liked writing. So I kept writing.

Then I landed what I thought was the perfect job, one that would even pay enough to cover my daughter’s college costs. It meant moving to Massachusetts, but heck, my husband had a job lined up there, and my daughter was going to go to college there, so I went a little early. I threw myself into the job and didn’t even think about writing, since I really, really wanted to make the job a success.

Zap. I got canned six months later, after a “personality clash” with my megalomaniac boss, who had exactly one way of doing everything: his. At the time I was house-sitting for another college roommate, in an upscale suburb of Boston, and it even came with a weekly cleaning woman. My family was still somewhere else, and I had no responsibilities. So what did I do? (Look, Virginia Woolf–I have a room of my own!) I sat down and wrote another book.

This one was a lot grittier. It was a suspense about a serial rapist in a small town. I named him after my recent boss, which felt really good. This book was longer, tougher, more complex, and I finished it in three months. I started submitting it to contests and got good feedback, and then I started submitting it to agents, and landed one. I thought I was on my way.

Wrong again. He was a lousy agent who did very little, and wouldn’t even answer emails most of the time. When he did, they were full of misspellings and grammar errors. Not a good sign.

It took me two years to make the decision to cut him loose, which isn’t easy to do when you’re an unknown writer. But I kept writing. And writing. By the time I finally signed with my current (wonderful! amazing!) agent, I had fifteen books on the shelf, gathering dust. And the one she signed me for wasn’t even written.

You see, she had rejected my last offering, a sort of paranormal cozy set in New England. But when she sent the rejection letter (in my carefully prepared SASE), the letter fell out, and all I received was an empty envelope without even a return address. However, I am a mystery writer, so I deduced from the New Jersey postmark who had sent it, and I emailed politely asking what the letter had said (nothing like having to ask for rejection). She emailed promptly, apologized, and said, yes, it was a rejection (you were expecting a Hallmark moment here?).

But! She liked my voice and my style, and she said Berkley Prime Crime was looking for someone to write a cozy mystery series about a glassblower in Tucson, and would I like to take a shot at it? Hmm…I had never blown glass, and I had never seen Tucson (both of which I admitted up front–both of which I have since remedied). However, I live near several outstanding glassblowers on Cape Cod, and I have a writing partner who lives in Tucson. Reality check: this is a MAJOR NEW YORK PUBLISHER who’s asking. I’m going to say no?

They sent the brief story outline; I sat down and wrote three chapters. My agent loved it, the editor loved it. Deal done, September 6, 2006, almost exactly five years since that original light-bulb moment. (BTW, my daughter was starting her senior year in college by then.)

But there’s more. As I threw myself into writing the first book of the Glassblowing Series, I said to my agent, hey, I can handle more than one book at a time. Bless her, she believed me, although I don’t know why. We resurrected that manuscript she had rejected, tweaked a few things, and she pitched it to the same editor at Berkley. Presto: the Orchard Mystery series was born in April 2007. Two three-book series contracted in less than a year–and I didn’t even realize how unusual that is for a completely unknown writer.

One of the high points of my career as a writer so far came at the 2007 New England Crime Bake, when my agent stood up and proclaimed me her success story of the year. I wasn’t sure whether to stand up and cheer or crawl under the table. Should I add that Lee Child was sitting at my table? (Hey, he sat down after I did, so that makes it mine, right?)

So, that’s the story: from that moment in 2001 to three books on the shelves by the end of 2008. It’s a wonderful feeling, and I am grateful to my agent, my editor, Berkley, and whatever gods and goddesses look out for struggling writers. I love what I’m doing (even the promotion parts). And if anyone wants my words of wisdom, they are: believe in yourself, and never give up.

Sheila Connolly

One Bad Apple
Berkley Prime Crime, August 2008
ISBN 978-0425223048

Through a Glass, Deadly
Berkley Prime Crime, March 2008
ISBN 978-042522047

I attended a literary event today. The Australian author, Steven Carroll (The Art of the Engine Driver, The Gift of Speed, The Time We Have Taken), was interviewed as he is touring in the wake of winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

It was fascinating to hear him speak about his background and his long struggle to get published at all, and he mentioned that he only got a break because one reader at Harper Collins, who came in one Monday a month, happened to find his book in the slush pile and loved it.

But by far the most interesting was when he was asked what inspired him to become a writer at all, and his answer was listening to the Beatles. He said the first time he heard Please Please Me, the thrill, the electric shock of that song, started him on the road to becoming a writer. He wanted to replicate that feeling in others. Create something that powerful.

For me, it doesn’t come down to one particular song, one particular moment, but rather a string of such moments. Of hearing a song, or reading a book that electrified, feeling the shiver of emotion and excitement at the beauty and thrill of listening to or reading something wonderful.

Even now, so far down this path, as entwined in my life as writing is, a truly great book or song can renew my focus. Propel me faster down the road.

What is it that inspires you and renews and feeds that inspiration?

I mentioned in my personal blog that I worked out a way to make my villain feel real to the reader. My solution was to give him a horrible childhood. I don’t info dump, but I put in snippets of the villain’s past. More than I do for my hero/heroine. Knowing his background, the reader understands his actions. She sees he’s wounded clear down to his warped soul.

Blake Snyder talks about a character’s primal need in Save the Cat. The snippets of my villain’s background reveal the primal need that drives him to murder. (I love using primal needs for all my characters.)

I’m considering doing a mystery series combined with romance. (Can you tell I haven’t worked out the details?) So I’ll need villains. Non-cardboard villains. I have a note on my desk that says “Give the villain an illness.” I like that idea. Illnesses humanize a villain. So do insecurities. Faults. In most books, the villain is just nasty and mean. And greedy. Greed is big with killers. My villain is greedy, but I show the reason for the greed.

Another villain could be an ordinary person who does something heinous to protect or save a family member. The same reasons why an ordinary woman becomes a heroine. We know what we’d do to protect a loved one, so we would believe that. And if the family member in our book happens to be a witch or a werewolf, all the more fun. Everyone knows wolves run in packs.

I watch The Closer, and in the season opener, a teenaged boy was raping girls and getting away with it because his father is a top law enforcement official. When Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson questions the boy, the father sits in the room with him. The father calls Brenda “honey” and bullies his son and everyone else. Seeing this, I understood what warped the son, how he became someone who raped girls with seemingly no conscience. I was happy that he was going to prison, but I believed in his character.

Can you think of a way a villain was humanized in a book, TV show or movie? Have you done this in any of your books?

When I was at Nationals last week, I managed to catch a couple of workshops and/or lectures. One that I found really interesting was one given by Eileen Dreyer. It was a fascinating study of the different ways a man and a woman perceives things. I’d read a book awhile back that addressed this issue … and naturally I cannot find it anywhere, nor can I remember its name. So much for a helpful reference to recommend.

Anyway, beside the obvious differences in the way men and women have evolved over the millennium, I found it interesting from a writer’s points of view. Today’s romances often switch from the woman’s point of view to the man’s. You have to understand a man’s thinking in order to make the story believable. Unless, of course, your co-author happens to be male and you let him handle those points of view. However, not many writers have that luxury and have to muddle our way through the male point of view and hopefully do it right.

What I’m getting at is you cannot, as a woman, write a man’s point of view if you are thinking like a woman. Case in point was one evening during the conference in San Francisco, four friends and I were reading a book out loud and going into hysterics. I won’t mention the book, nor the author, because we weren’t very nice about our comments and opinions. The problem was that the first chapter was entirely in the male point of view, yet it read like a woman’s. I’m sorry but no guy is going to look at another guy and think about how his hair fell over his brow, or the color of his eyes. That’s a strictly female reaction and was immediately subject to our ridicule. Maybe it was reading the book out loud that brought home these glaring problems … I don’t know. I do know that it sounded all wrong.

I’ve read other authors who did the POV switch smoothly and with conviction. Jayne Ann Krentz, C.L. Wilson, Susan Grant … they all write in the male POV and do it well. Makes me wonder how successful I am when I write in the male POV. I think I do have an advantage in that I grew up with five brothers and was a self-proclaimed tom boy. It might give me a clue as to the working of the male mind.

What do you think? Does it make you nuts when a female author tries to write in the male POV and does it badly? Or do you accept it because it’s the way we, as women would think?