Alexandra Sokoloff

It's June! Is your book written yet?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Jun 2021 15:19:00 +0000

Happy first official day of summer! (I say this so often, but I'm saying it again. How did it get to be June?)

June 1, 2021—and I just finished another, nearly final! draft of Book 1 of my new Golden Gate series.

Always a bit of a miracle, finishing a book. And this one is pretty epic. I should definitely be out celebrating. But it's a miracle I've come to expect, because I've made it happen often enough that there's no reason NOT to believe I'll do it again, and again, and again.

That's lucky, I know. A lot of people would love to write books, but never get there.

As an author, I tend to think, Well, not everyone's cut out to be a writer. Sometimes I even think, Why would you be a writer if you could do anything else?

It's such a weird thing to do! It's not that easy to sit in a chair (or in bed!) for eight or ten hours a day and give your whole consciousness over to a story. It's both numbingly static and a constant, relentless expenditure of energy. And it takes such a long, long time.

But there is nothing more satisfying as finishing. Bringing your characters and their world to life not only for yourself, but for anyone who picks up the book. It's just magical.

And as a writing teacher, it always gnaws at me. What keeps people who have perfectly great ideas from getting to a finished, published book? And the lifelong career that hopefully comes after that?

I meet so many people who I would have thought were a slam dunk for publication, and year after year I hear from them or about them one way or another and—still no book.

So I'm asking. Is your book written yet?

Why not?

Seriously. Why not?

Most spiritual teachers I know would say— You know why. You always know.

So name it.

- Is time? The kids? Your spouse? Your job? Your health? Are you not even writing 15 minutes a day, or even 5?

- Is it fear? Do you not want to find out that you can't do this thing that you so want to do?

- Are you stuck? Do you have half a book, a quarter, or even a full draft—but have no idea where to go next?

- Or have you already written a book, or several, that you know are not good enough? Are you worried you'll spend six long months pouring your heart into another book, only to find once again that you can't sell it?

- Are you thinking that you'll have to learn this whole scary self-publishing thing on top of having to write the book to begin with and it's just too exhausting for words?

I really am asking, because I really think you should ask yourself. If your book isn't written, why not?

Asking the question is always the first step to fixing it.

- Alex

Need help? Online workshop now open!

Turn your screenplay into a novel

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Apr 2021 11:24:00 +0000

Ten easy steps for screenwriters to turn that unproduced script into a novel

This topic has come up in several places lately so I thought I’d re-post this article I wrote, previously published in Written By, the journal of the WGAW, as How To Become A Novelist In Your Spare Time.)

1. I bet you have that unproduced script that you’ve always secretly thought would make a great novel. Pull that out and let yourself remember everything you loved about it. If it’s been sold or optioned in the past, consult with your lawyer and the guild Contracts Department to make sure you have the unencumbered right to write a novel.

2. Now, take that script, and format it as a Word Document, double-spaced. Look at that! You have 80 (rough) pages of a novel already!

3. Now, start at page one and start adding words, images, descriptions – all that stuff that we have to compress and combine and edit and shorthand when we’re writing a script. When I was writing my scripts The Harrowing and The Priceinto books I really did think of the process as directing onto the page (Cast it, production design it, light it, score it, edit it…). You will be shocked at how quickly in this process you will find the point of view and the voice of your narrator or point-of-view character – which is truly the most fun part of writing a novel. You’ve read a million books, haven’t you? The fact is you actually know how to do this already.

4. Work on the novel every day. Even if it’s only five stolen minutes at a time. Commit to it and your creative mind will realize you’re serious and work overtime to make it happen.

5. Start to familiarize yourself with the publishing industry through the vast number of internet resources available to you. Join an author's organization in your genre: International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, Horror Writers Association, Mystery Writers of America, Romance Writers of America, or at least look at their websites for resource links.

6. Find a great critique group or a critique buddy. It’s a sad fact that overworked and underpaid editors don’t edit much any more, and many expect authors to get intensive editing notes from critique groups or beta readers.

7. Read your work aloud. Your entire book. To yourself or others. There is no better way to catch errors and awkwardnesses, and polish the flow and pacing of a novel, than reading aloud.

8. When the book is wonderful and amazing, the best you can make it, use your film agent to help you get a literary agent. That’s your fastest route in. But also, literary agents are far more accessible than film agents; they actually go to writing conferences specifically to meet aspiring authors and hear pitches.

9. Network in the genre community/ies that suit your book. Authors are mindblowingly supportive of up-and-coming authors, and there are Facebook and other groups where you can meet authors who can do worlds to help you, from passing your book on to their agent (really!) to providing you with those all-important blurbs for the cover.

10. Know that you can do this! There is nothing different about it but the medium – it’s all writing. At the very least, you owe it to yourself to try.

- Alexandra Sokoloff

Want more? There's more:

STEALING HOLLYWOOD ebook, $3.99
STEALING HOLLYWOOD print, $14.99

How to write a book or script using the Three-Act, Eight-Sequence structure of filmmaking, with ten full movie breakdowns and tons of movie examples.

WRITING LOVE ebook, $2.99

All the basics of Stealing Hollywood, but focused on the elements of romance and love stories, with ten full romantic movie breakdowns and tons of movie examples.

And if you prefer video lessons with personal feedback:

Write a Book in the New Year - online workshop

February Full Moon and Huntress Moon series sale, 99c!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 15:40:00 +0000

The last few nights I’ve been restless sleeping because of the incredibly bright waxing moon, full tonight.

The February full moon is called variously, by various Native tribes: Snow Moon, Wolf Moon, and Bitter Moon.

I took BITTER MOON as the name for the fourth book in the HUNTRESS MOON series - all six books currently on sale 99c each - and you can add RC Bray’s award-winning audio for just $3.99).

As you might guess by the cover, this book takes Roarke deep into the desert, following a sixteen-year old cold case that may be the key to Cara's bloody history. It's probably the most mystical of the books, unfolding on a dual time line, with the present and past intersecting as Roarke and fourteen-year old Cara both race to stop a sadistic serial predator.

There are new characters I think you'll love as much as I do, and you'll find out much more about Cara's past. And there are new settings! The California desert is possibly my favorite place on the planet, and for this one I'll be taking you to the magical Coachella Valley (yes, home to the Coachella music festival) and the wine country of Temecula.

I believe BITTER MOON is the best of the series, and a lot of reviewers agree.

Instead of trying to describe why on my own, I’ll leave it to Nancy Bilyeau, reviewing for ITW’s The Big Thrill:

In the fourth novel in the series, the action is suspenseful, the atmosphere eerie, the characters nuanced.

But BITTER MOON accomplishes a truly remarkable feat: It is both a prequel that explores the harrowing history and psychological development of Cara Lindstrom as it unfolded 16 years ago in a town in the California desert, and a present day narrative that follows FBI agent Matthew Roarke as he investigates her history—and finds himself on the trail of long-ago sadistic predator who wa never caught.

With a plot that swivels back and forth between alternating points of view, the two characters are literally in the same place but sixteen years apart in time, their arcs drawing closer and closer to a tense finish.

Sokoloff makes further choices that push the novel into fresh territory. What puts Roarke in moredanger is that he is not on the job as an FBI agent during BITTER MOON. At the end of the preceding novel, he was shaken and disturbed by what happened to Cara. Finding answers takes over his life; it’s personal. “I wanted him to stop being an agent,” Sokoloff says. “He was really hit hard. ”

As for the inspiration for Cara Lindstrom, she came from several sources. One influence was the atmosphere in California surrounding the murders committed by the Zodiac Killer, a serial killer who was never caught. Another is the true story Sokoloff read about a nine-year-old girl who was at a friend’s house the night a rapist/murderer struck, and the girl herself was attacked and left for dead.

“This is a girl who has seen pure evil,” Sokoloff says.

* I will add that the plot of BITTER MOON, and Cara’s entire back story, has much to do with another horrific California crime: the abduction, rape, and burning alive of a young high school girl.)

Another feature of the series is the melding of careful research into crime forensics with plot developments that could possibly be supernatural. On one page, a reader finds discussion of the latest technology in evidence rape kits; on another, there’s a suggestion of a shamanic vision.

“There are some readers who are absolutely convinced that there is nothing supernatural in the books, and others who are convinced that the books are supernatural,” says Sokoloff, laughing.

Full review/interview here: https://www.thebigthrill.org/2016/10/bitter-moon-by-alexandra-sokoloff/

Thanks, Nancy!!