The Nuts and Bolts

First things first, thanks to everyone who purchased Second Olympus during my birthday sale!  I hope everyone loves it (or at least doesn't want to throw tomatoes at me). Once again, I beg,implore,grovel at your feet to PLEASE post reviews to places like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  The number of reviews a book has (doesn't matter if they're good, bad, or indifferent) dictates which books get picked up by the system for things like "If you liked this book, you might also like THIS one!" which can bring me to new readers.  The general rumor is that 50-ish reviews is the golden spot for being included in the system algorithms, and you'll note that not a single one of my books has that many reviews on Amazon.  Love an author?  Leave a review.

Secondly, A Line in the Sand, better known as JJD5, is now available for preorder!  Ebook only, of course, because preordering the print copy isn't something that's available at this time.  The release date is currently January 23rd (bonus points if anyone can guess why), so I'll try to have the print copy released prior to that, so that we can all hopefully be reading on the release date.

Kindle
Nook
Kobo
iTunes

Now, you might be saying "But why is there no cover art?  We want a cover!"  Well, yes, so do I.  Very very much, in fact.  But, things have to go in a certain order when designing a cover, so I'll gladly bore you with excessive details.

Pick up the book nearest to you.  Look at the spine.  Most likely, the cover of the book has a front piece, a back piece, and a spine piece.  Well, the front and back covers will always be the dimensions you designate.  For example, my self-pubbed JJD covers will be 5x8.  The spine dimensions, however, are determined by how thick the book is.  More pages = thicker book = wider spine.  Everything has to fit just so to line up with the edges of the book.  So, you can't begin designing a print book cover without knowing how many pages your book has, first.

Look!  Visual aids!

So where does that leave me?  Well, last night I finished making editing notes on JJD5. Some were handwritten new paragraphs, others were things like "Awkward sentence", or "re-order" or "WTF?".  My next step is to start typing all those changes into the actual Word doc that is my manuscript.   Once that's done, I can copy/paste the document into a template that will become my print book file.  I have to decide all about the front-of-the-book material, and if I want to include pages at the back from any of my other books, that sort of thing.  Only when that is ALL done, and I can get a final page count, do I then request my cover from my cover artist.

I'm hoping to have the edits all done by the 16th at the VERY latest.  That was the deadline I gave myself, and getting it done sooner would make me do a happy dance.  I'll probably spend a couple of days (or three, or four) getting the print copy formatted and prepped, and then I'll email about the cover.  I'm pushing the time limit to get everything set for a January 23rd release date (all final files have to be uploaded by January 13th at the very latest), but I'm way behind where I wanted to be originally anyway, and I hate to drag it out any longer.

In the meantime, while we wait, I give you my Christmas Groot.

The Home Stretch

First of all, I wanted to note that I got a lot of emails from a bunch of you during the time that I was transitioning jobs, and you were all wishing me good luck and other awesome stuff. I wanted to thank you all, even though I didn’t reply to all the emails, ‘cause they really made my day.

And since you were all so interested… Yes, the New Job is going great. I really like it there, and the environment is (so far) so much healthier than where I was before. Now, all work places have their issues, and I’m sure I’ll figure out the ones that pertain to the New Job eventually, but for right now, I’m just basking in the novel idea that I’m not ANGRY all the time. It’s wonderful.

So, that brings me to my Other Job, which is writing.

My status on JJD4 is thus: Right now, I have edited it to the best of my (and my betas’) ability. I have also given myself a crash course in both ebook formatting, and formatting for CreateSpace (Yes, this means that there WILL be a print copy of JJD4 available. More on that in a minute.). The formatting process is not nearly as confusing as I feared, and I’m actually feeling pretty damn proud of myself. I’m trying so hard to make sure that you, the Reader, get a quality product.
So what happens next? Once I get the final formatting done (ie: number of pages set in stone for the print copy), I will be sending this to my cover artist. Then, I’m subject to her schedule. I don’t know what that timeline will look like, but I’m hoping to have things to her by this weekend. (Y’know, barring alien abduction or other natural disasters) She, however, is a really awesome artist, and I will assume much in demand. I gotta wait my turn just like everybody else, but I think it’s going to be worth it.

Once I have the cover art from her, I can start to get things ready for public consumption. The FIRST thing I want to do is order myself a few proof copies of the print version, just to make sure that it’s not horrendous.

What this means for you, if you are a book reviewer: I have decided that I will be using those proof copies as ARCs, for those reviewers who would rather have it in print than ebook. IF this is you, Mr. or Ms. Reviewer, please let me know ahead of time at kari.stewart21@gmail.com so that I can try to make sure I have enough. I may not be able to accommodate all requests, but I’m going to give it a valiant effort. (I also realize that my ARC vs. release date schedule may be too tight for some reviewers to actually read the book/post a review prior to release. This is OKAY! I’m more interested in getting it reviewed at all, than the timing.)

If you are NOT a book reviewer, I will also probably work up some giveaways pre-release date, so do not despair.

And speaking of release dates. I’ve been saying all along “Summer 2014”. Still hoping that’s going to work, don’t see a decent reason why it shouldn’t. Like I said earlier, I’ll know more once I can do my part and get everything to my cover artist that she needs. That said, I will say that I’m going to shoot for an EXTREMELY TENTATIVE (note the use of extreme caps, there) release date of July 8th. This will be subject to change, if required. (and mostly, I picked that date because I already have that week off from the Real Job, and it seemed fortuitous.)

Now, the process of getting books, both print and e-version, out and available for purchase is not an instantaneous “Push the button, Max” kind of process. I will actually probably start navigating that maze a week or two BEFORE my actual release date. This means that on some platforms, you may see the book available earlier, and on some platforms, it may get there later. I can’t control when retailers update their systems. However, we will plan on at least celebrating the release on July 8th, pending necessary adjustments. I’ll keep you all posted.

Wow, this was a lot of info. I think part of the reason I needed to write this post was to just get it all out of my head so I have room for other stuff!

Which brings us to the last and final tidbit of info, a reward for all of you who actually read this entire post and didn’t do a TL;DR. (Yes, I totally just pulled a Marvel and put the good stuff after the credits)

The title of Jesse James Dawson #4 is going to be A SNAKE IN THE GRASS.

Tell all your friends.

The Giant Gaping Hole in My Head

Yesterday was a momentous day for me.  First off, Peacemaker released, and if you haven’t downloaded it yet, why not?  You’re going to make Ernst cry.

Why do you want to make the jackalope cry??  What kind of monster are you?

Second, I finally finished JJD4.  It’s not really a first draft. It’s more what I call an ugly draft.  I’ll mess with it for a few more days, and then I’ll probably send it out to my Beta Slaves this weekend.  (If this means you, brace yourselves, it’s incoming).  While they’ve got it, I’ll probably be pricing some editing services, as well as cover artists, to try and find some folk that I can work with (and can afford).  I’m desperately wanting to do this one without running a Kickstarter, so financial stuff has to be considered.  What this ultimately means is that we’re still a few months out from you, my awesome readers, being able to see it, but it’s closer!  It’s so much closer.  I’m still shooting for this summer, at some point.  I’ll keep you posted.

However, finishing a book always puts me in a weird mood for a few days, and I thought I’d blog about it. (As one does about such things.)  I actually wanted to do this post when I finished writing The Musicbox Girl, but couldn’t wrap my head around everything that I wanted to say before the feeling just faded away and I kinda lost what I’d wanted to do.  So, you get it now, hopefully while all my thinks are still freshly thunk.

Completing a novel feels great.  Heck, for me, completing a grocery list feels pretty damn life affirming.  Anyone who has ever tried to write anything knows that there is a satisfaction to coming up with a coherent beginning, middle and end, no matter if you’re writing a novel, a short story, or a dirty limerick.  (Love me some dirty limericks)  You have done SOMEthing.

But the part that gets to me, every single time, is this profound sense of loss I feel.  Suddenly, all of the scenes and lines and people that I’ve been living with in my head for months are gone.  You have no idea how long some of the things you read have been percolating in my gray matter (multiple years, in some cases).  And once it’s on paper, once it’s brought to life, it’s just…gone.  I have a giant, novel-shaped hole in my brain. 

Part of me has to wonder if this is what it’ll feel like when kiddo grows up and moves out of the house.  You spend all this time, tending and nurturing something, and then suddenly it has a life of its own, and it doesn’t need you anymore.  Yeah, that’s the way it’s supposed to be, and you’re happy, but for at least a little bit, you’re also suddenly lonely.  There’s a genuine feeling of mourning.

Now, this giant gaping hole won’t last forever.  I think of it like a foot print in wet soil.  Slowly, the water seeps back in and fills up the emptiness.  Already, I can feel my plans and plots for my MBG revision seeping in there.  Soon, the hole in my brain will be taken up with that novel, and once I finish revising that, then another novel will seep its way in.  And another after that, and another, ad infinitum.  (Hopefully)

So the loneliness and loss don’t last very long, especially if I’ve got other projects loudly demanding attention.  But for just a few days, finishing a novel is a bittersweet victory.  So long, Jesse & Axel and the rest of you crazy kooks.  I’ll see you again in a few months.

Because I like to tease you...

Several things going on right now.

First off, I got the chapters of The Musicbox Girl delivered to my amazing agent last week.  She hasn't had time to read them over yet, but I hope when she does that they're all she imagined them to be. (Prior to this, she'd only seen my notes on the idea, which are admittedly rambling and disjointed.  Seriously, someday, I'll post some of my notes files on novels for you guys to see, and you will marvel at how I ever managed to make it into something coherent.)

Second off, I was supposed to switch to working on JJD4 this week, but so far I've only managed to finalize what I think the title is going to be.  Letting it percolate in my brain a bit, and when I'm sure, I may go ahead and commission the cover art, so that I could debut that at the RT Convention in May.  Thinking, maybe having some bookmarks or something to give away with the new cover on it.  (would probably do some kind of giveaway here too, for those of you who can't come to RT obviously)  If any of y'all have any ideas in that area about swag you'd like to have, let me know!  I'm new to this end of the authoring.

Third off, there's been some other movement on other things this past week.  Can't tell you anything, because officially, nothing has happened yet.  But I've made some crucial decisions, and I'm really feeling pretty good about them.  Can't wait until I can fill you all in on the details.

Back to JJD4:  I had said previously that I had about 7K words done on it, but as I started reading back through things, I realized that what I have as the current chapter 1 just isn't going to work.  My first chapters are always flashbacks of some kind, and while the one I was writing is good, and pertinent, it's just not going to work out.  I think I'll finish it anyway, and probably post it as a freebie closer to time to release JJD4.  Just something to whet the appetite.

So, that knocks me back down to about 5K words.  Not a big blow, but less than I'd had.  Real life keeps interfering with my writing time, so this week has largely been a bust.  I'll have to make it up as I go.  Still want this done by May 1 (new revised deadline), before RT.  That's the point where I'll have to start figuring out paying for editing, etc.

I will say, the self-publishing concept still really intimidates me, but I think it's going to be like so many other things in life.  Once I get through it, it's going to be way better than I'd feared, and I'll never understand why I was so anxious about it in the first place.

To-Do List

To-Do List

I haven’t written anything substantial in…oh…probably a year.  Probably since I turned Wolf in way back in August of ’11.  I’ve done revisions, I’ve done edits, I’ve dribbled and drabbled here and there, but I haven’t sat down to actually write anything new.  Mostly because I have been so torn up over whether the series would be continued, and then knowing that it wouldn’t, and… Bleh.  Mental anguish takes a toll on the creative process.

However.  It is now time for me to get off my ass.  So, with that as my goal, here is the list of things I would like to accomplish, in no particular order or priority.

Finish A Night of Fire and Ash:  This book is actually about 3 chapters from being complete.  It was actually my Nano project clear back in ’09 (dear gods, really that far back?) and if The Editor is considering publishing it, she’s gonna want an ending.  They like endings.  But even if I just take what I have now and tack the last three chapters on the end, it’s going to end up way shorter on word count than I’m happy with.  So in addition to finishing it, it needs a complete revision.  Recently, I did a revision on the first three chapters, and I’m really happy with that.  I just need to continue from that point, and then jump into the last three chapters when I get there.  Estimated completion date:  Ideally, I’d like this done by the end of the year, so that I can jump into Book 4 of JJD at that point.

Write Book 4 of JJD:  I currently have about 7K words written on this.  If I start my concerted efforts on January 1, I would need to write approximately 24K words a month to finish it by my self-assigned deadline of April 1^st and a word count of 80K.  That’s 6K words a week, or 857 words a day on a 7-day writing week.  (for a 5-day writing week, ‘cause I like weekends just like anybody, it works out to 1,200 words a day)  Barring any unexpected divergences (ie: stopping to do revisions on a sold book), this should be an easily accomplished task.  Estimated completion date:  April 1^st.

Speak at the RT Convention:  Toward the beginning of May, the RT convention will be here in KC, and I’m slotted to speak on a panel.  I will also be signing books at the huge book signing thingy that they do, and I’m really, really looking forward to it.  It’ll be my first con!  Feel free to locate me and ask my opinion on local barbecue.  Since I imagine that JJD 4 will still be with beta readers at this point, it’ll be a good chance for me to stop, catch my breath, and make more concrete plans for the rest of the year.

Choose a brand new project:  Like I said, I haven’t written anything in over a year.  Nothing I would consider “new”.  So one thing I’d like to do this coming year is to get started on creating something new.  My main potentials are probably a sequel to NoFA, or a sequel to Peacemaker, or maybe, just MAYBE, I might actually go back to The Pugilist and the Alchemist.  A good friend has been helping me hash out the details of that one over the last year, and I finally feel like I’m in a place where I could actually write it.  Estimated completion date:  No idea.  Mostly, I want to do this to at least get me started on creating again.  Whether I complete it this year is up for grabs, especially since at some point, JJD 5 will have to become a priority (and taking into consideration that I may have other books under contract by then)

Get JJD 4 published:   Still not sure what I’m going to do here, precisely.  The way things are going, I’m leaning more toward putting an ebook out first, and then trying to get a paperback in the works a little later.  A lot of it’s going to depend on money, and whether or not I’m brave enough to try the whole Kickstarter thing.  Estimated completion date:  Um…not sure.  But, theoretically, if I can get the type of editing I want on it, and get a good cover created, let’s shoot for the end of 2013.  Don’t hold me to that, folks, I’m just kinda throwing out wishes here.

When you look at it all laid out like that, 2013 looks like a pretty damn busy year.  You have to keep in mind that I’ll be doing all this at the same time that I work a 40-hour week, with an hour of commute time, and then cook/clean/do all the things required to raise a pre-teen daughter.  Oh, and I gotta fit sleep in somewhere.

I can do it.  I’ve done it before.  I just gotta get off my ass.

The Measure of Success

First off, let me say how much I truly appreciate the messages of support I’ve received in the last few days.    I truly feel better now than I have in the months since I found out the news.    It’s good to know that there are people who care enough about Jesse to keep following him.

I also find it very interesting how many people have said “That’s okay, I don’t buy print books anyway!”  It ties directly into something I’ve been pondering for a while, and that’s the idea that (for a writer) the measure of success has changed in recent years.  I mean, real recent.  Like, over the last three.

We can all agree that hitting the NYT Bestseller list is a sign of success.  But for most authors, their successes are measured in much smaller increments.  Just getting an agent, for example, or that first book deal.  There’s validation in that, and confirmation that yes, you really don’t suck.

From the time I was a child, the idea of a successful author for me was someone whose books were in bookstores and libraries.  I saw them every time I went into a store, and I always mentally marked the place on the shelf where my name would go. (Had to move down a bit, once I got married and my name changed.)  Those were the people who were REAL authors.  They weren’t like Great Aunt Matilda who paid that company a ton of money to print her rambling diatribe against garden gnomes and their hedonistic ways.

Even as a child, I knew that real authors had publishers and editors, and losers self-published.  And those people who only had writing available on the internet?  Hobbyists at best.  They didn’t have physical books, they were just playing around.

But fast-forward thirty*coughcough* years, and here we are.

Ebooks are becoming more popular every single year.  I can measure the spread of them just by looking at my sales figures.  And self-published books are hitting the NYT Bestseller list.  It’s no longer absolutely necessary (provided that you have the time, skill, and funds) for all literary works to go through major publishers.

What does it all MEAN???

Well, there are smarter people than I who have been batting this one around for years.  What does the advent of ebooks mean for big publishers?  What does the rise in quality self-published works mean for the industry in general?  I think every possible outcome has been kicked around and talked to death, and the fact is, no one knows the answer yet.  We’re all kinda stuck in this big whirlwind of change, and it remains to be seen what part of Oz it’s going to spit us out in. 

I do think, however, that authors will need to reevaluate what they consider “successful.”  Does having a physical book on the shelf mean as much, when many bookstores no longer care a large assortment of stock?  Will print run sizes be important, when ebooks are taking up the bulk of your sales? 

I know that it’s been hard for me to wrap my mind around it.  I’m old-school, apparently.  The thought of “ebook first, print maybe” seemed like a step backwards at first, and I had to sit myself down and point out some facts to myself.

Self, I says to myself, you’re looking at this the wrong way.  The entire industry is now rushing to catch up to a demand that technology created, and you may actually be in on the first wave of something new and totally awesome!

Do I think big publishers will ever go by the wayside altogether?  Of course not.  Personally, I LIKE having a publisher. I like having an amazing editor, and someone to take care of the cover design, and all that tricksy formatting and such.  Every moment they do that is a moment I can be doing something else, like writing, or talking about writing, or thinking about writing.  Or playing video games.  I admit it, I do that sometimes too.  I know diddly about cover art design (it’s more than just taking a pretty picture, folks) or ebook formatting, or…well, I know diddly about a lot of stuff.  That’s why you guys might very well be getting a crayon stick-figure for a cover on the next JJD book.  (I wouldn’t really do that. I think.)

But I think that physical books on shelves and monster print runs will no longer be the measure of how successful an author is.  Instead, we might get to measure it by how many readers truly loved the books, and I think it should probably have been that way all along. 

In which case, I’m pretty damn successful, because there are a TON of you who love Jesse.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

So.

Been needing to write up this blog post for some time, and kept putting it off.  Partly because I didn’t want it to overshadow Wolf’s release, and mostly because… Well, once you write it, it’s true.  I think Doctor Who said something like that.  Reading it makes it a fixed point in time.

A lot of you have been asking about the future of the JJD series (mostly involving statements like “You can’t leave him like that!!!”)  Even my own grandmother called me up the other night to tell me that exact thing.  Some of you, I’ve even lied to your face when you asked, because it wasn’t a discussion I was able to have at that moment.  (I’m truly sorry about that)  I’ve known about this for several months, you see.

Well, the sad news is, Roc has decided that my sales aren’t good enough to continue publishing the series.  They’re not even good enough to consider a digital-only option.  So, the JJD series with Roc is ended.

I’m disappointed, naturally, but I also feel like I’ve let a lot of people down.  There are a ton of fans who have become so invested in Jesse and Axel and the rest of the weirdos that I love so much.  Part of me knows that sales are what sales are, and there’s a limited amount I can do about it.  The other part keeps wondering what I could have done better, sooner, to get the word out, to get more people to buy.

Every day, it seems, I hear from someone who had never heard of Jesse before, and I keep thinking, dang, if you’d have heard of it two years ago when the first one came out, maybe I wouldn’t be in this position.  Maybe…what if… mighta could.  Y’know how it is.

But.

Two other pieces of news for you on the subject. 

First, I have NO intention of leaving Jesse in this state.  I need three more books to finish up the series the way I want to.  I’ve already started writing book 4.  My intention is to look into self-publishing the last three, possibly funded with a Kickstarter project early next year.  I’m still researching all the details and such.  There would be quite a bit involved with publishing this book the way I want to see it published, and the way I think you all deserve to see it published.

So, since I have no official deadline, and no one to answer to, you guys are now my conscience.  My goal is to have Book 4 written (and titled) by April 1st (barring any unforeseen circumstances which I shall discuss below).  After that, I’ll need to really start putting things in motion regarding a Kickstarter project, rewards for contributors, that sort of thing.  (cover design, editing, ISBN numbers, the list goes on and on.) I’ve learned a lot in the last few months regarding all that goes into self-publishing things the right way, and it’s way harder than I ever realized.  Makes me appreciate all that my actual publisher does even more.

And speaking of, the next bit of news:

My editor at Roc still wants to work with me (and I still want to work with her, ‘cause she’s awesome and I love her).  So at the moment, she has both Peacemaker and a few chapters of A Night of Fire and Ash sitting on her desk.  We’re still in the discussion stage, not in the “official offer” stage, but I’m 90% sure you’ll be seeing a new series from me in the future.  Most likely, expect to see an ebook first, then if sales warrant, a print book later on.  The more I talk to other authors in my genre, the more this seems to be the norm.

(And frankly, seeing how my ebook sales have gone since the release of Wolf, I’m starting to understand why.  Ebooks are really becoming a thing!)  ((Yes, I know this makes me sound old.  Get off my lawn.))

Right now, I’m back at the “hurry up and wait” phase of the publishing game.  Authors spend way more time here than you folk know, even after they have an agent, and a contract under their belt.

What is a Beta?

((Cross-posted at The League))

Since I announced that I’d finished Book 3 a few weeks ago and turned it over to my betas, I’ve had several questions that I thought deserved bigger answers than Twitter or Facebook would allow. So here we go.

No, a beta reader is not an overly aggressive fish with a love of literature.



Nor is it a person who divines the future by reading the entrails of said overly aggressive fish. (though a part of me now wants to put such a person in a book of some kind)



And please realize that if you ask a dozen different writers what a beta reader is, you’re likely to get a dozen different answers. (And if you ask the Leaguers, not all of those answers will be safe for work.) So what follows is really just a small example of what my betas do for me.

First, I have what I call my Alpha-Betas. This is a grand total of two people who read every word almost as soon as I set it on the paper (computer). Their purpose is to help me during the writing process. They work me past sticky plot problems, murky character developments, and guide me when I take a completely wrong turn. One of them is a high school English teacher, and the other has a Masters of Information degree (I think here in the States, it would be a Master of Library Sciences, but his way sounds cooler) and has read more classical literature then I even knew existed. They bring a wealth of knowledge and writing skill to the table. They’re the ones who get to put up with me whining “It’s not working and I just don’t know whhhhhhhyyyyyy!”

Once I have the first draft completed, I then send the book off to my regular betas. They come from a zillion different backgrounds. They are a web designer, an IT consultant, a bouncer, a factory worker, a theology student, a doctor and half a dozen other authors in various genres. But they all have one thing in common. They are readers. Like me, they read anything they can get their hands on.

When I send them the book, I give them instructions. Usually saying things like “Chapter 16 sucks, but I don’t know why.” Or “I’m worried that the first three chapters are too slow.” And very often “Did you follow event XYZ okay? I’m not sure I was even making sense at that point.”

They read for flow, for pacing. They read for continuity. They read to find me the places where I just didn’t explain myself as well as I think I did. They read to locate the points where my characters just aren’t acting like themselves. They tell me what parts they want to know more about, and what parts just stuck out because they didn’t belong.

It’s not fun, beta reading. It’s actually hard work. The easy part would be to read the book like a book, getting lost in the story. It’s much more difficult to read and deliberately hold yourself out of it, searching for the chinks and flaws between the words. But they do it for me every time. In fact, this crop of beta readers has been with me through four books now. Some of them have even read pieces of more books than that. I ask them to read for me over and over again because I know that they take it seriously, and because I know what kind of feedback I will get from them. The things they tell me are important. Even if I don’t agree with it all, it always makes me think and that’s the key part. If one person finds something wrong, others will also find that same part, and I need to decide how to address that.

Often, I get people asking “Can I be your beta reader?” Most of these people ask because they’re super excited about my writing, and they just can’t wait to see what comes next! They want to help! And that’s awesome. It makes me feel good that there are people who are so in touch with my characters that they’d volunteer to work on a book instead of just enjoy it.

Most of the time, though, I turn them down. It’s not because I don’t like them, or because I don’t think they could do the job. But really, the crew I have is enough feedback for me at the moment. I get a variety of opinions and notes, ranging from plot progression to grammar and syntax, and they’ve never failed to point me in the right direction.

Occasionally, one of my betas drops out due to time constraints. (Contrary to my own belief, they have lives/jobs/writing deadlines of their own, and they can’t always drop everything to read through my drivel) In those cases, I will sometimes reach out and try to find a new reader. If that reader provides helpful feedback, then I’ll usually keep them on for the next one. But more often than not, I choose a new reader and then I never hear back from them. Sad, but true. Those are the ones who just want to read a book before it comes out, but they don’t want to do the work to help make it the best it could be.

So for those who would love to be a beta reader (not just for me, but for anyone), remember that it’s work, and that the writer is relying on you. Simply telling them “It’s great, I loved it!” – while wonderful for the ego – is actually not as helpful as one might think. We need to know the parts that aren’t great, and when a person is a super-fan, they have a hard time pointing those places out. (Which is why I don’t beta read for a certain author-friend of mine. Flat out told her, I’m too big a fan to be useful to you.)

Hope this clears up some of the questions people have about beta readers. (If it doesn’t, I obviously should have run it past my betas first.)

This author thing is hard!

Here we are folks! Two (count ‘em, TWO. Uno, dos.) months away from the release of A Devil in the Details!



I’ve hit that point where I should be banned from the internet. “Oh god, she has a better Amazon ranking than I do!” “How come he’s getting so many reviews?” “They hate me…they really hate me…” “ Google alerts is just teh ebul, ‘cause it just proves that NO one is talking about me!” Insert some wailing and flailing here, too.

I’m a hazard to myself and others.

See, running around promoting myself goes against some intrinsic part of my nature. It was drilled into me from a very young age, you do NOT brag on yourself. You are modest. You do not seek out compliments, and if they are offered, you gracefully accept and direct attention away from yourself.

Do you know how hard it is for me to run up to people and say “Hey, I wrote this book, lemme pimp it to you!”? And yet, that’s kinda what I need to do. I need to be able to approach people I don’t know and say “Hey, can I do a bit of promoting on your blog/in your bookstore/at your local garage sale?” Ok, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea.

It just feels so…wrong to me, even though I know it’s not, and it’s a customary (necessary) part of being an author.

Luckily, I have some truly awesome writing friends. (Stacia Kane, Jill Myles, Kelly Meding, to name a very, very few. Seriously people, go read their books. I’ll wait.) They talk me down, they tie the pretty white coat tight, they put me in a nice padded room, and if I’m good, there’s pudding on Sundays!

Over the next few months, I’ll be guest blogging in various places, most of which are still being arranged. So expect to see me popping up in strange places, rather like the BK King (and is that dude scary or what???).

Some of it will be my rambling thoughts on writing, some of it will be interviews, and there MAY just be a very interesting interview with one Jesse James Dawson, samurai demon-slayer extraordinaire.

Right now, one that I have scheduled for sure will be on my release day (July 6th! Yes, I DO have that tattooed on my butt, why do you ask?), at the blog of an amazingly lovely writer, Janice Hardy . Don’t wait for my post to be up there, though, go over there and explore right now! There’s neat stuff there. It’s shiny.

I’ll try to keep you posted as to where I might be appearing, and reminders when the dates of said appearances are looming large.

And for the more mundane process of simply updating my status: Book 2 is with betas, and feedback is trickling in. Most of them are very enthusiastic, but are still finding places where I can tweak, and that makes me happy! Muse is with The Agent, hopefully I’ll hear something back on that within the month. And to keep my hands busy (‘cause idle hands are…idle), I’m working on finishing up the first draft of last year’s NaNo novel. I like it, I think it has great potential. I have about 2 1/3 chapters left to go on that one, and then I might wing it out to betas too, just for shiggles.

Show vs. Tell: The Voice Issue

Greater persons than I had a great idea the other day. As a result, several of us Purgatorians have decided to blog about this most interesting topic today, that being the epic Show vs. Tell debate.

Now, anyone who's even thought about writing has had this driven into their skulls. Show, don't tell! It's enough that even the sound of an "sh" can give a writer a nervous twitch.

And then someone will inevitably come along and say "But wait! Telling isn't always bad!" At which point, the writer will drop their computer out a seventh story window and go into advanced underwater basket weaving.

So, as a boon to all writer-kind, I am here to offer an example of just WHEN telling is ok.

When debating over a show vs. a tell, think, "What exactly is my voice?" No, not you great sopranos out there, whom I shall always envy. The voice of your writing. There may be moments when showing just doesn't fit!

Follow the bouncing ball for an example:

The tavern fell silent when the dark man entered. Gazes dropped to their drinks and conversations stilled as he passed. He took the seat in the farthest corner, and it seemed even the lights dimmed for his passing.

Sounds like a scary dude, right? Now, look at this same thing in a different voice:

It got real quiet when the dude walked into the room, and I could tell that he was a bad mamma jamma.

Not nearly as poetic, but depending on the book you're writing, it might be much more appropriate. The writing techniques you choose will vary greatly depending on your voice. Your epic fantasy about the farmboy saving the world will most likely sound very different than your urban fantasy about the hard-bitten, hard-drinking ex-satyr PI. (Hmm, not a bad idea if I do say so myself)

And, even as I write all this out, I have to insert the standard disclaimer: Your mileage may vary. If we had absolutes in this business, it'd be math.

Here are a few others who had thoughts on the subject, so have fun wandering through other minds today too!

Dee Garretson
Bryn Greenwood
Gretchen McNeil
Amy Bai
Wendy Cebula
Tracy Martin

JimStalk '09 Accomplished!

Jim Butcher has now been sufficiently stalked, and I have the pictures to prove it!

First off, with a pork chop warning for the AWers, here is Kasey trying valiantly to adjust my JimStalk '09 button (complete with glitter, thanks to Kasey).



(It should be noted that, despite my best intentions, I walked out of the house without my camera, and these are courtesy of Bryn and her friend Sarah. Hopefully, both she and Kasey will have more to offer once they can get home)

And second is the obligatory group shot, where my kiddo shamelessly jumped in front of the camera along with the rest of us. (the rest of us being me and Kasey, 'cause Bryn refused to pose for the vile soul-stealing camera)



And for those who were wondering, I DID indeed introduce myself to him with a minimum of babbling, and he mentioned that he,his wife and I need to do joint appearances when my book is out. He really did! I have witnesses!

A great time was had by all, and I can't wait for the Purgatorians to get together again, with or without stalking Jim Butcher as an excuse.

The Dreaded Photo Shoot

Ok, so one of the necessities of being an author is having an author photo. And since the most recent picture of me is about two years old, I found myself in need of new ones. And oh, did I mention how much I loathe having my picture taken? There is something about a camera that automatically turns me into some kind of mutant with lumps and bumps where I'm pretty sure there weren't any before.

But, I bit the bullet, braved the storm, etc. etc. And here's what we came up with that wasn't totally hideous. I'd love to hear everyone's opinion on them. (Unless your opinion is "Oh my god, what is that THING!" in which case you can keep it to yourself)

And I am aware that not all of these would work for a traditional author photo, but they were too cool to pass up. Apparently, vanity's name is...me!

1:


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4:


5: (and my personal favorite)


6: