From Jacket: Colin Byrne is a pickpocket, an artist, and an occasional consultant for the police. He’s also an ex-felon, an initiate into the feral, unspoken magic that only prisoners know: how to vanish, how to tell fortunes, how to steal souls. Now the man who put him in prison wants him to return to Railburg State Correctional Facility to help investigate a case.

I honestly didn’t know what to expect with this book. I have enjoyed other works of the author and have been reading his blog for years now, so I knew that I’d enjoy his storytelling and style, I just didn’t know how much.

I think the thing that surprised me was the magical realism. As much as I enjoy that genre, I very rarely seek it out, so I didn’t go looking for it when I picked up this book. It was a lovely surprise. As was the shock that the book really came to life the moment the bars clanged shut with Colin “Suicide” Byrne on the inside...again.

Don’t get me wrong, the brief moments of domestic bliss between Colin, Joseph (the cop who put Colin away years before and who showed him a life worth living after being rehabilitated) and Joseph’s wife Analise in the beginning was touching and beautifully rendered. All the more so when they became the thing that Colin clings to while battling demons both old and new in the joint.

Starbuck does an amazing job of showing life behind bars with its gangs and seedy underbelly without weighing it down with unrelated stereotypes just for effect. In addition he also introduced a whole new group of prisoners, the special select, like Byrne and his friends, who have powers that they collectively refer to as “mojo.” In so doing, he gives us a sense of family that I was pleasantly surprised about. In fact, my only criticism of this book (and it’s one that I have about a lot of shorter novels) is that I really wanted to know much more about this family. But that could just be me and my fascination, bordering on obsession, with secondary characters.

For example, I would read an entire book about Noel, the tattoo artist, post-Aryan with an intriguing past only alluded to in the book. So much angst and untold story in that guy and in his relationship with Colin!

In other words, I completely, unequivocally recommend this book to anyone who loves stories that stick with you and work their magic into your subconscious for a long time after.

Available at Lulu as eBook, Paperback or for a free(!!!) ePub.

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I’m asking this not only because I’m too lazy/broke to go and procure a Writer’s Market or other type book, but also because I’d rather have real people who I can interact with and question further their opinions than just a bunch of random lists of way too many places with no real sense of pros vs. cons of each.

So, a quandary for all you writer/novelist types: What organizations, groups, guilds and the like are you a member of? Why? What do you look for in this sorts of shenanigans? What are some pros/cons and what should be avoided?

I have no opinions yet, so all suggestions, opinions and information will be much appreciated.
Thanks.

You can comment here or on my Facebook page.

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As I like to have my toes in as many social waters as possible, this post can also be found on DreamWidth. You can comment here or there...or not at all if you want to make me cry.

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“Books aren’t written, they’re rewritten. It is one of the hardest things to accept." Michael Crichton

Got my first round of edits. \o/

I’m not going to lie. They were painful to look at. So many stupid mistakes, so many embarrassing typos and repetitions, so many major rewrites to do and so very many plot holes needing to be filled.

I sort of want to send flowers to my editor as an apology for having to trudge through it--is that allowed? Also, more importantly, for taking this book on despite all of that; for seeing what it could be through all the tremendous amount of shit and for trusting me to getting it there.

Believe me, these were not my first thoughts. My first thoughts were pretty much to burrow down in the fetal position in the deepest, darkest hole and never, ever see the light of day again. Thankfully, after three days, that melodrama passed. Instead, I came up with a plan.

I found that the blinding panic every time I looked at it was due to the LARGE picture of everything that needed work and how impossible it seemed and how was I even allowed to operate a pen and paper? So, I decided to break it up into manageable, and hopefully less terrifying pieces.

”People who go on to be writers are those who can forgive themselves the horror of the first draft.” Alain de Botton

My first run through--which I’m almost done with--was simply to tackle the typos, spelling mistakes, grammar and repetitions. It’s a mostly mindless task that involves a lot of “Accept and Move to Next” over and over. The main goal of this stage (besides the obvious of cleaning up the text) was to relax me and give me time to contemplate the larger issues. It has also given me time to tone down the self-loathing. I can happily report that it was a complete success. I have even stopped adding “Dumbass” to all of the notes. Such as, “Commas don’t work that way, dumbass” or, “Hey dumbass, people don’t ‘smile the smile’ or ‘laugh the laugh’ they smile and they laugh. STOP IT!”

My second run through will be devoted to dialogue. My editor kindly reminded me that I am neither John Steinbeck or William Faulkner and not EVERY single character needs to talk with ya’s and gonna’s. The third run through will be filling plot holes and dealing with timeline issues and then finally I will tie up loose ends and make sure it all still flows.

Then I will send it off, sigh a sigh of relief, maybe make a cocktail or three and wait for round two. *meep*

“The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time unlike, say, brain surgery." Robert Cormier

Yep. Still feeling editing anxieties. Now though, they have manifested themselves in a deep and horrifying panic about characters and getting back to the place I will need to get to if I'm going to be spending time with them and tinkering with them to make them better. This is not a new fear for me, especially for this particular story.

Getting nostalgic for my characters and their beginnings, I pulled out the very first draft, what Chuck Wendig would call the zero draft as it was written during NaNoWriMo way back in 2004 (holy shit!). Anyway, I found this little note that I wrote to my characters even back then:

Okay Tim, Nomi I have to tell you something and you’re not going to like it. I’m starting to come to the realization that you might have picked the wrong person to tell your story. I’m sorry, but I might not have the talent to pull it off as great as it should be. I will do my best, as always, but I must prepare you for the realization that my best might not be good enough.

So, from the beginning I worried about treating them right, doing justice to this amazing story I feel sometimes that they gave me responsibility to tell.

No pressure guys!

And true, I’m not as artsy-fartsy as I used to be and don’t give the power to the characters that I’ve created and blame/give credit to an arbitrary “muse” for my inspiration or writer’s block anymore (or as much as I had in the past). But still, these characters are special. It took me a long time to create them that way and an even longer time to work out their issues, foibles and bad behaviors, you know, the things that make them human.

In 2004 these characters lived so vibrantly and richly in my mind and for years after I called them up regularly to add to their story, to finish it and then to edit it. Now though, it’s been a very long time since they’ve been prevalent in my head space. I’m terrified that I won’t be able to bring them back to the forefront where they need to be.

Part of me wants to go and start tinkering now, while I wait for the editor to get my manuscript back to me, but another part thinks that would be a really bad idea. What if my editor’s suggestions don’t work with the changes I make independently or I wind up wanting to tell a completely different story? That would be BAD.

Or, and this could be even worse. What if while re-reading, I like them less, what if there are fundamental things wrong with them that I hadn’t seen those years when I loved them so very much that they were a part of my every thought? OH GOD! OH GOD!

*deep breaths*

Great, now I’ve talked myself into being terrified of even reading the story again. Believe me, that was not the purpose of this post. Not even close. Let’s move on.

So, what should I do?

Options:

Read it in random chunks. This will familiarize myself with the characters and their mannerisms and characteristics without stressing me about the plot and setting and all those other pesky bits that are a freak out for another post.

Rely on what I remember. I haven’t forgotten them of course, the goal is to bring them from my ever present subconscious to my immediate consciousness. So, if I take what is always there and actively think on them again, that would be a good step. Easy to do too, so that’s a plus.

Fanfic this shit. Hey, I’ve done it with other people’s characters that I love for fun and to tinker with aspects of my writing, so why not do it to my own? Take them and put them in new situations, tell bits of what happened before or after the actual story. Missing scenes? Sure, the book is full of them. Or, OR, since I’m really into crossovers right now, hmmm, maybe Naomi gets a certain letter from a certain school of Witchcraft and Wizardry? ♥

And finally:

Freak out some more. This will, of course, be happening whether I want it to or not. Maybe though, I can keep it to a minimum? Let’s hope. In the meantime, what do you do to get back into a character’s head?

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It's pulp fiction. Real pulp fiction, though, not like the movie. John Travolta is not in this book. Sorry.

That's how A.J. O'Connell describes her new novella "Beware the Hawk" on her website. I'm not suggesting I'm an expert of the genre as I can honestly say that I have read very few (if any) pulp fiction novels (wait, does Elmore Leonard count?) I'm just saying, even I know there are a few things that are absolutely essential:

Feisty Dames ✓ The protagonist of the story (who, lol, I didn't realize until writing this up, is nameless and when I figure out how O'Connell managed to do that so effortlessly I will gladly share it with you) is nothing if not feisty. Jaded, yes, but not so much so that she's unreachable and isn't constantly surprised and dismayed. You can feel shocked by her predicaments, because you sense that she is too, no matter how above it all she tries to portray herself.
Clandestine Meetings ✓ Protagonist and her Boston contact, Leo have a number of meetings in a seedy bar where things get more confused the more they're explained.
Code Words ✓ The title alone tells you this is true and yet it avoids being gimmicky.
Someone Overusing the Term "Sweetheart" ✓ Sooooo many sweethearts! But, hey, a pulp fiction book that takes place in Boston where it's not sweetheart, but "sweet-haht" is begging for this overuse.

If, like me, you are unfamiliar with the genre, I highly suggest you start here. It's a short, well written read that will have you wishing it was so much longer. Not in an unfinished way, but in a "I want to hang out with these characters for many, many more pages" way.

In addition to the subtle way that she avoids naming the main character and still makes us feel as if we know her almost intimately, the writer in me also admires and wants to know how O'Connell finds the exact perfect way with descriptions so that they not only tell us the physicality of a thing, but also a bit about the character who notices them without weighing us down with too many facts. It's a gift that's for sure.

Here are a few of my non-spoilery favorites that, thanks to Kindle being in every aspect of my life I can easily highlight on my reader and then cut and paste on my Kindle App for my PC (annotated and everything!!). ♥

It started as a tramp stamp but kind of took over. One of my roommates calls it a tramp stampede.

O'Connell, A.J. (2012-01-14). Beware The Hawk (Kindle Locations 334-335). Vagabondage Press LLC. Kindle Edition.

I turned my head to see three skinny girls wearing black tank tops and khakis. Danny picked all of them up in one gigantic hug and then dropped them. They fell on their feet, three Siamese cats, styled by Abercrombie & Fitch.

O'Connell, A.J. (2012-01-14). Beware The Hawk (Kindle Locations 355-356). Vagabondage Press LLC. Kindle Edition.

It's taking everything in me not to share every single example and every single witty sentence (of which there are many) that I have highlighted here. But I don't have the time (or copyright) for that. :)) Plus, you should probably read it for yourself and highlight your own favorites.

Link for information on ordering the e-novella

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As I like to have my toes in as many social waters as possible, this post can also be found on DreamWidth. You can comment here or there...or not at all if you want to make me cry.

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As I sit here and patiently wait for my first round of edits to come back from my editor, I thought I'd ramble on a bit here about the editor-writer relationship. Anything to help swallow the mounting panic as I try and remember that the life of a small press editor is chaotic and their time is stretched among many projects, not just tearing apart my book. Hopefully this time will be used to bolster my confidence that it's all going to be brilliant and not that the editor is spending a huge amount of time trying to sort out all the ways in which I suck.

( Breathe Tamela, breathe )

♥♥

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As I like to have my toes in as many social waters as possible, this post can also be found on DreamWidth. You can comment here or there...or not at all if you want to make me cry.

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Found this Gonna Try Motivational site on Twitter and thought I'd give it a try. This is my first goal.

For me, I'm putting it here to bully myself to get it down. For you, well, think of it as a warning. ♥

Stay tuned.

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As I like to have my toes in as many social waters as possible, this post can also be found on DreamWidth. You can comment here or there...or not at all if you want to make me cry.

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Augh! Why are summaries so hard?

So, now that people know that I have written, finished and am having a book published, after their "YAY! That's awesome!" is the question that stops me cold. "So, what's it about?"

Um...

Uh...

Well...

*blanks*

And it's not that I don't know what it's about, I just have a hard time gauging just how much the person asking really wants to know. You see, I've been to a lot of writers' events. I've seen people's eyes glaze over when they very innocently (and a bit n00bishly) ask, "What's it about?" and are then subjected to a 15 minute description of this person's book. I've seen that "Save Me" look so many times. I've given that "Save Me" look so many times. It's not that I didn't want to know and was only being polite (okay, sometimes that's EXACTLY what it is) but there's a difference between "What's it about?" and "Tell me every detail of your latest book, including what influenced it and if there will be sequels."

So, I find myself doing the opposite by giving too little information. I find I'm okay with this usually, but there have been times when people look at me with the "And then what?" look. This look is still preferable to the "Kill Me Now" look, but there has to be a happy medium.

The major problem as I see it, besides that I am overly sensitive to looks people give, is that it is much harder to swiftly articulate the summary of a character based story then a plot based story. Again, not implying that my story has no plot. It's sick with plot, but just not easily explained plot. It's all about the characters and how the plot effects them, defines them and ultimately changes them. That's the part that's hard to describe without glossing over or giving too much away.

So, I could really use your help. I will give you a few options of the answer to the question (hopefully without giving too much of the plot away) and you can tell me which one sounds adequate without glazing over your eyes and causing you to scan for the exits.

( Summaries )

Any of those work? A mix perhaps? Want more? Need more? Less?

What do you look for in a summary? What turns you off of a summary? More importantly, please feel free to share any secrets you have about writing them.

Please...

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As I like to have my toes in as many social waters as possible, this post can also be found on DreamWidth. You can comment here or there...or not at all if you want to make me cry.

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Man! It’s been over three weeks since I got the email and I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time with this post, with the sharing of this extraordinarily good news. It’s something I’ve imagined since I figured out that books were written by people, by mere humans, and that I wanted desperately to be one of them. But, here’s the thing. I never imagined this specific part. The sharing of this news.

Well, that’s not exactly true. I imagined just one thing. I imagined one of my mother’s phone calls/ emails/ conversations and I imagined her asking that question-- the one she’s been asking all these years, every since I left the University of Montana a few credits short of my journalism degree because I couldn’t stop making shit up-- “So, got your book published yet?”

Yes, I’ve imagined that many, many times. I imagined all the ways I’d say:

YES! YES I GOT MY BOOK PUBLISHED!!

I imagine if it was through email that there would be a lot of keysmash:

lsafjksda;lfjasd;lfj sdaasfkj asd;fasfjasd;ljfsda;fjsjfaslkj

If in conversation? Well, there would be a lot of high-pitched squealing and I imagine a far bit of Snoopy Dance:



She will say that she wants to hear all the details, so I will tell her about karma and luck and meeting the right people at the right time and how I never thought it actually worked like that, but how in my case, it totally did. I will tell her about the year it took me to write it and the writer's group I meet along the way and how they helped me shape the book and give it a life I never imagined.

She will not believe me, of course, but it is the truth that after spending years polishing it and more years sending it out to agent after agent, that it would be a woman I meet in that writer’s group, who saw this story in its infancy and through many, many drafts that would find me after all these years and ask me to submit it to the publishing house in which she is now an editor. She will not believe the serendipity of it, I barely believe it myself.

I will tell her all about my publisher Vagabondage Press, and will go into long and detailed explanations about the e-market and the where and whens of it. I will tell her about the marketing and publicity and how it terrifies me and that I hope I do everything right and avoid all of the mistakes. She doesn't know all the ways that publishing has changed and I will try and explain that as well. About how its not just about the story, the book anymore (though I wish it were, MAN do I wish it were) so I'll talk of platforms and social media and how an author is always on.

I will tell her about how, in all the excitement and just unimaginable joy I'm overcome with, that there is a lot of anxiety I'll be dealing with as well. How I only have this one chance to do it right. I will only be a “First Time Author” this one time. How much pressure I feel to make it count. And maybe here she'll tell me something, maybe she'll tell me what no one ever tells you; that there is a lot of terror that comes with having your dreams fulfilled.

That's how I imagine the conversation going. I imagine she will try to listen, try to comprehend, but I also know what her last question will be: "So, when are you going to be able to pay for me to travel around the world?"

Sadly the answer to that would be: "Never."

But, that is an imaginary Q & A for another time.

For now the TL;DR of this one breaks down to this:

Q So, got your book published yet?
A. YES! "From These Ashes" will be published late fall/early winter of 2012 through Vagabondage Press.

I'm sure I'll be talking about it a fair bit here. I hope that's okay with everyone. ♥ Until then, how about a bit more of the dance of glee!

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As I like to have my toes in as many social waters as possible, this post can also be found on DreamWidth. You can comment here or there...or not at all if you want to make me cry.

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♥ Story for originalbigbang is coming along pretty well. It's about 8,500 words so far and will definitely hit the 10k mark and beyond. I'm feeling even more confident since they have moved the deadline back a month. ♥ Not really ready to talk about the story itself yet. It still feels like a theme in need of story sometimes--which is rather odd for me. More on this later.

♠ Found a really interesting online site to get published. It's called Everyday Other Things and they are looking for contributors to do collaborations of art and story/poetry. From their website:

If you're interested in creating something for the site, send us an e-mail. In return, we'll send you an image to work with, and a three week deadline. You send us what you come up with, we'll post it on our website.

If you are a photographer/graphic designer or visual artist, send us an image and we will pass it along to one of our contributors.

I thought that sounded like fun and sent away for a picture. I don't know if this is allowed, but here is the picture I received. Pretty cool, huh? I have ~ideas~. ♥

♣ So, not sure how many of you know this, but the folks at NaNoWriMo have started a new thing this summer called "CampNano" which is basically the same premise as regular NaNo but taking place in the summer and also without a lot of the pesky structure and rules. For example. You can do it in July OR August. You can stretch the same project over both months. You could try and write 50k a month or stretch that over the two as well. Basically just WRITE dammit!

I heard about it on June 30th, I think, and so July was out for me. But, I think I'd like to sort of participate in August. I should have most of my OFBB story done. And I'm not going to commit to a huge undertaking like a novel--don't be ridiculous! That's what November is for! No, instead, I think I want to write fun stuff. Short little ditties.

That's where you come in. I want PROMPTS! Ideas! Inspiration! Anything you want to throw at me! I have found (like with the picture and the junetide) that I really like to write for other people, for other peoples' wants and specifications (whether or not the recip reads it or not). So by all means--PROMPT AWAY!

Ahhh, but of course, one caveat. There is no guarantee that your prompt will be chosen. Also, one more caveat: there is no guarantee that you will like what I do with your prompt.

STILL--PLEASE PROMPT ME!

Thank you!

♥