The Masquerade Crew

The Brave Author — syndicated post from @JeanNicole19

2012-08-03T22:55:00.000-05:00

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The following is syndicated from the blog of JeanNicole Rivers and is posted here with permission.

The brave author is not afraid to allow their characters to speak their minds regardless of how bigoted, prejudice, psychopathic, sadistic or self-righteous that mind is in the moment. I am not a brave author, not yet. Our most beloved characters are always the strongest characters. Some are strong with good and love and some are strong with bad and hate and any variety of concepts and emotions in between, nonetheless they are strong. The brave author is not afraid of letting his character call people n*gg*rs or fatties or any other long list of derogatory names that we hear bestowed upon a particular group of people. The brave author is not afraid of allowing her characters to trample the name of God or partake in heinous activity that the average person would shun outright and completely. I am not a brave author.

Brave authors are important because they are not afraid to show us the world through the eyes of people who are different from ourselves, even through the eyes of those we don’t want to see it through sometimes. We must see the world with the view of those we dislike, hate or even despise because the more perspective we have, the closer we are to truth, whether we end up liking the truth or not. Soon people will get tired of hearing what a particular author has to say, but they will never get tired of reading your words if they are the words of the characters. A book is not a puppet show, it is not different characters speaking the words, beliefs and thoughts of the writer, that is boring and that is futile. A book is a séance; it is the character speaking through the author who acts only as a medium.

I silence my characters sometimes, like an all knowing mother silencing a free child that is apt to do nothing more harmful than speak his/her mind. I silence my characters sometimes because I don’t want them to hurt anyone or be too offensive and this is wrong, it is something that I am learning and something that I am changing. Becoming an author is a journey, not a destination. I silence my characters not only because I don’t want them to hurt anyone too badly or be too offensive, but because I don’t want to either. I don’t want readers to look at me and wonder if those less than savory thoughts and feelings are mine, but as an author, I must be selfless and take that chance. If I place my hand over the mouths of my characters, I do my readers no justice.

Don’t silence your characters, do not attempt to control them; they are alive and free. Just the same as you can’t control the living, walking, breathing people that you encounter in your life every day, you can’t control your characters either and when you try it ends the same way that it would in real life, boring and/or worse, disastrous.

I am not a brave author, not yet.

How to Conquer Your E-mail (I’ve Done It) — syndicated post from @beajumarang

2012-08-02T21:32:00.001-05:00

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The following is syndicated from Writing Off the Rails and is posted here with permission.

Yes, this is the glory of my GMail inbox. There’s no mail, it takes up no space and I’m free to focus on real tasks instead of e-mail inertia.

Let me start with this. When I say conquer e-mail, I mean reduce it to zero at the end of each day. I have no interest in anything less, which means no partial deletions, or letting you keep five e-mails just because you’re sentimental. My idea of e-mail conquest simply isn’t like that. For me, conquering e-mail means leaving you free to focus on the next day’s tasks, doing so with a clean slate each time.

That said, if you’re brave enough to read on, I salute you for retaking control of your overloaded life. Go on below for the steps, and good luck!

1. Set aside an hour or two and begin the purge.

Save the excuses about how you’ll need that e-mail from a month ago, or the fact that your filled inbox makes you feel important. Ask yourself instead, when was the last time that month-old mail actually mattered? Also, why are you still keeping that unread newsletter from three months ago? You’ve survived this long not reading it, so what’s holding you back now?

The simple answer? Nothing.

So what are you gonna do? Delete the goddamn things.

Yes, delete them. Be unmerciful and delete every single e-mail that doesn’t really matter anymore. And get real, alright? Remove the useless ones that have no hope of mattering again, and cut your inbox to the mail about the most recent tasks you really have to be working on.

2. Now move the tasks where they should be. No, that isn’t your e-mail inbox, dummy. Move them to a calendar or a to-do list.

By this time, you’re already crying over the loss of the e-mails which were so sentimental to you. Good news is, your inbox now has real breathing space. With this next step, we’re going to clear the lungs completely.

First off, what you do is open the most recent e-mails with tasks on them, along with a to-do list application. Personally, I use Week Plan, which has a really simple interface and takes almost no time to understand and perfect. You just type in your tasks for the each day of the week, press the Enter key and click them again once done.

Once you’re done filling in the to-do list, delete the associated e-mails and clean your inbox up even more.

3. Okay, professional tasks now updated, time to turn to personal mail.

Even if your tasks have now been moved from your cluttered inbox to the proper place, I’m guessing there are still a few stragglers holding on for dear life. You probably held off on deleting them because of their sentimental value, or maybe because of who sent them. Even so, it’s still not an excuse to keep stuff in your inbox.

The simple solution is this – just reply to these personal ones if you haven’t done that yet. If you want to do something else like print the e-mails, go ahead.

Once you’ve replied, printed or saved the content as you wish, drop the e-mails. It’s that easy.

4. Praise the heavens, your inbox is finally empty!

If you’re anything like the common netizen, you’ve probably been resisting every single idea I’ve presented in this post. Chances are, it’s been difficult for you to accept that e-mail isn’t meant to stockpiled. If not that, you’re probably one of the few who actually recognize that they’re in a state of e-mail and informational overload.

That said, congratulate yourself. You now have a coordinated to-do list, a zero-mail inbox and none of the low morale others get each time their electronic clutter greets them.

That in itself is a liberating fact, freeing you to be more productive and in control of your life. With each new day that comes, you’ll only have to deal with those that come in, deleting them as you process each. That’s way more productive than having to scour your archives for things that still need your attention.

5. Don’t forget maintenance!

If you keep this up everyday, diligently updating your to-do list, replying as necessary and deleting what needs to go, you’ll soon see that e-mail isn’t your controller. Maybe for the first time in a long time, you’ll remember what e-mail actually is. It’s just another tool in today’s expansive digital arsenal.

Okay, now over to you. What are your tips for conquering e-mail? I’d love to know. Also, if you’ve done the things in this post, please do share your results in the comments!

Q&A: Robert James Russell, Author of ‘Sea of Trees’ — syndicated from @mayamae

2012-07-30T04:32:00.000-05:00

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Robert James Russell
Author of Sea of Trees

The following is syndicated from Cellar Door Lit Rants & Reviews and is posted here with permission. Follow the blogger on Twitter: @mayamae

Robert James Russell, author of Sea of Trees, a novella I recently read, loved and reviewed, has allowed me to happily pick his brain just a little. In a Q&A, he shared his research methods as well as his inspiration for the story.

Q: What inspired you to write Sea of Trees?

RJR: I actually happened upon an article about Aokigahara on chance and was just immediately taken with it. Imagine it: this beautiful, twisted, lava-rock-infused landscape that’s just supernaturally quiet all the time, where people go to kill themselves. Macabre, yes, but also haunting—I couldn’t get the images out of my mind. So I did a bunch of research, knowing I wanted to write something about it, and the story sort of came out of all of that.

Q: This story is heavily based in Japanese culture. How did you become so familiar with it?

RJR: I’ve been interested in Japanese culture for a long time—partially because it’s so removed from the Midwest culture I’ve grown up with, and also because of the dichotomy of old vs. new that Japan plays with more than any other culture in the world (I think, anyway). Broadly, the Japanese are so technologically advanced, but still adhere to many fascinating (and old) rituals in everyday life.

Q: Have you ever visited the Aokigahara Forest? If so, can you describe what it was like to visit such a place of sadness?

RJR: I’ve been to Tokyo once (briefly), but not the forest—I unfortunately didn’t hear about it until well after my trip (I do hope to go in the next year, though). However, I do love the outdoors, and spend as much free time as I can hiking and walking through woods near my home, so I learned as much as I could about Aokigahara (including watching some unsettling documentaries about it), took walks through my own woods, and just imagined a similar place…but with all the death and despair of Aokigahara, the eerie calm of everything.

Q: Were the stories of those who fell within the forest purely fiction, or had you done some research on people who had taken their lives within the trees?

RJR: Most of the suicides—as well as the characters/stories—are completely fictional; however, a few were based on real-life incidents that happened in Japan (none of which took place in Aokigahara, though). I did research on suicides for a while when I was first brainstorming, and came across some interesting stories that sort of set the scene in my mind. Aokigahara is the personification of loneliness and isolation, so it made sense to me that since these people had committed to wanting to end their lives, they would come to a place like this to do it. Also, when doing my research, I read about various bodies, notes left behind that were found by volunteers and family, and that was some inspiration as well for the vignettes.

Q: What are you hoping people take away from this?

RJR: I’m not trying to make excuses for suicide, or claim to have any answers, or, really, do anything other than just explore it as a fact of life. Something that happens…regularly. Personally, I think the relationships in the book are more important than the suicides, the interconnectedness of the characters and their families, friends and lovers, and how every single character loses that with someone (or multiple people) in their own way. To me the story is really how they deal with this loss, how they feel disconnected from everyone. Suicide is obviously an extreme way of dealing with this, but it’s a way to highlight, I think, the breakdown of communication between people. And how important it is.

Q: Do you have any new stories in the works for publication?

RJR: I’m currently looking for representation/a publisher for a novel (fingers crossed), and also working on a new one—I hope to get the first draft done by the end of this summer. I like to stay busy.

Bio: Robert James Russell is the co-founding editor of Midwestern Gothic. His work has appeared in The Collagist, Joyland, Thunderclap! Magazine, Red River Review, LITSNACK, Greatest Lakes Review, and The Legendary, among others. Sea of Trees is his first novel. Find him online at www.robertjamesrussell.com.

Sea of Trees by Robert James Russell—syndicated post from @mayamae

2012-07-29T21:16:00.000-05:00

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The following is syndicated from Cellar Door Lit Rants & Reviews and is posted here with permission. Follow the blogger on Twitter: @mayamae

At the start of the story, American college student Bill and his Japanese girlfriend Junko have ventured into the Japanese forest Aokigahara, which lies at the northwest base of Mount Fuji. But this isn’t any ordinary forest. Amidst the silence of the trees, people go to end their lives, leaving behind notes, belongings and their sorrows.

Bill’s reason for traveling to this silent graveyard is only slightly less macabre. The couple may not have hiked into Aokigahara for the purpose of committing suicide, but they are on a search for some sort of sign or remnant from Junko’s sister Izumi, who disappeared within the forest a year prior. As they make their way further into the maze of trees, Junko becomes increasingly single-minded in her search for clues, ignoring Bill’s warnings that they should head back. Soon enough, light starts to fade into night.

Vivid descriptions set the scene for this haunting trek, but it’s the relationship between Bill and Junko that is perhaps the most compelling. It is obvious that Bill loves her, from her beautiful eyes to her khaki shorts and bulky hiking boots. But as the journey wears on, their relationship becomes increasingly strained. What is Junko hiding in the backpack she so desperately clings to? Does Bill really know her? The answer is no, of course not. Six months isn’t long enough to truly know someone. Sometimes a lifetime isn’t enough.

While the story primarily follows Bill and Junko’s dark journey, each alternating chapter tells the tale of others who also said goodbye within the canopy of leaves. The profound and tangible nature of each vignette left me with a sense of loss, driving me to question cultural differences, as well the similarities.

My intellectual breath was taken away by the spell that Russell created in his debut novel. He has a beautiful literary mind, one that I was happily able to pick for a Q&A, which I will be posting shortly. I believe great things will come from him in the future. Until then, read Sea of Trees, a stunning work of art. I promise you won’t be disappointed. Found for $12.99 in paperback at Amazon; and for $6.99 on the Kindle.

Don't Let Your First Line Be Your Last — syndicated post from @MichelleGriep

2012-07-23T21:32:00.002-05:00

The following is syndicated from the blog Writing Off The Leash and is posted here with permission.

I teach a high school creative writing class plus I'm still in the midst of judging contest entries. Because of this, my senses are heightened toward first sentences. You know, like when you buy a lime green Fiat and then suddenly notice lime green Fiats on every street and in each parking lot? Yeah. That.

I can honestly say from recent experience...there's NOTHING worse than a first sentence turn-off.

Here are some horrendous examples. Before your undies bunch, innocence will be maintained. I'm making these up based on stinkers I've read, not using actual excerpts.

Once there was a girl.

Really? Of course there was a girl. Newsflash: girls have been around for centuries. Who cares?

Takeaway value: avoid stating the obvious.

The sky billowed with activated-charcoal colored clouds, matching the thick, heavy, depressed feeling that weighed like an anvil on Jane's soul.

After I stopped wondering what the difference was between activated charcoal and regular charcoal, then I had to re-read the line. The second time through, I wondered which word I'd have used to describe how she felt, because thick, heavy, and depressed infer the same thing. The third time, a cartoon bubble popped up in my head and I saw an anvil land on Jane like a scene from Wile E. Coyote & the Roadrunner...probably not a picture the writer intended to invoke.

Takeaway value: sprinkle in description like salt--too much makes it unpalatable

Detective Simpkin stopped dead in his tracks, avoiding part of a severed body lying on the sidewalk.

Which part? A leg? A ribcage? And most importantly, was the head still attached? Okay, so the thoughts running through my head might be a bit more graphic than yours, but didn't you stop and wonder what part of the body he saw? It's always a bad idea to pull the reader out of the story for a long period of time. I won't even mention the cliche, though I suppose that counts as mentioning it, eh?

Takeaway value: Don't get rid of too much description, some is needed

Now that we've looked at some humdingers (and if you'd like to see more, here's a fun website), there's a single question that begs to be asked.

What makes a great first line?

Unfortunately, there's not one magic formula I can impart. Different ingredients can mix up a winner. Here are some items to consider putting on your stunning first line shopping list.

A dash of the shock factor.

"It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen."

What?! Clocks don't strike thirteen. Yeah, makes me want to read on, and you can in George Orwell's 1984.

A heaping of controversy.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

There's a whole lot of feminists who would take issue with this. In fact, it kind of makes every man cringe on the inside just a little. And if you can't name the book this winner comes from, you really ought to buy it here.

A box of questions.

"Call me Ishmael."

Just the name implies so many emotions, that I'm immediately sucked in to finding out why someone would want to identify with that figure. And if you're wondering, check out Moby-Dick.

A serving of foreshadowing.

"A screaming comes across the sky."

Yikes. That can't be good. What the heck is it and do I need to duck? Find out in Gravity's Rainbow.

A can of familiarity.

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

Trust me. Everyone thinks they come from an unhappy family and that their situation is unique. Every reader on the planet will relate to this line, taken from Tolstoy's Anna Karenina.

Those are just a few. You can read the top 100 first lines here.

First lines are important. It's where you'll make or break the deal with your readers. Don't get all bent ouf of shape on your first draft of your manuscript, but when you think you're ready to send it out, take the time BEFORE you send it to really spit shine those crucial first words.

After all, you don't want to end up on the worst-in-history first line list, do you?

Love: Capitalism’s Best Seller — syndicated post from @moha_doha

2012-07-22T05:01:00.002-05:00

The following is syndicated from Mohana's Blog and is posted here with permission.

We hear songs, watch movies, and yes, read books about that most elusive of emotions: love. No matter if your culture practices arranged marriages (Indian/Arab) or not (the west). No matter if your parents are divorced (fell out of love) or not. No matter if you are married (harder to stay in love?) or not. I could tell you how at one point in human history marriage was thought of a business transaction, a way to consolidate wealth within families or across countries. Or that modern society has not eased up on women to have a man (and a baby or two) in order to think we have it all. You’re smart. You know these schemes around the world’s most sought after prize — finding one’s soul mate.

Love is at the core of contemporary culture. Despite your best efforts, there’s no way to avoid it. From Bollywood to Hollywood the themes are the ones passed to us by the Bard himself, William Shakespeare. Star crossed lovers; repudiated love; timid love; the plot lines are as familiar as the headlines for celebrity breakups. Were, for example, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes ever in love? Or was it a career furthering scheme drafted in the cold light of day between agents? What will happen to Suri Curise, the tiny fashion maven?

Those are questions for a very different story than the one I wrote inspired by the dreams, wishes, and desires of young people living in Qatar.

Love Comes Later is my second novel, a meditation on how non-western people of this generation will find happiness. I’m excited to say the book is now available for purchase on Amazon.com.

As a writer I’m not immune to the questions of the commercial love machine. After all romance readers account for a large portion of book sales year round. Romance writers are like country singers; they come out with albums on a yearly basis and their fans make them best sellers. I’m not sure if I’m going to become what’s called a genre writer and stick only to romance from now on. This story, of three protagonists, Abdulla, Hind, and Sangita, came to me as a love triangle.

I can tell you that based on the five books I’ve released this year, the novel is the one everyone gets excited about. Short stories and essays may get a passing look, but a novel still seems to inspire more wonder and likelihood of risk on a new author. This new project will help me further test my hypothesis… or you can share your thoughts on my theory and enlighten me.

If you like your romance more visual than textual, then have a look at the book’s YouTube trailer. As always, writers need readers, so please take a second and let me know what you think!

3 Reading Myths Debunked — syndicated post from @JeanNicole19

2012-07-19T04:30:00.000-05:00

The following is syndicated from the blog of JeanNicole Rivers and is posted here with permission.

1. Never judge a book by its cover.

Of course you should judge a book by its cover. If the author didn’t put much thought, time or creativity into the cover you can probably expect as much from the book itself. The front cover art of a book is important, it is usually the only graphic that you get for a particular work and it is the foundation on which you base your imaginings for all of the physical details in the story, therefore the author better make sure it’s good.

2. Always finish a book you start.

For the most part, I still believe that this is a virtuous concept, one that I try to implement in my reading routine, however if I am a quarter of the way through a novel, miserable and want to slice my wrists rather than open it again, then I give up. Back in college I had all of the time in the world and if I didn’t much care for a book I was reading, I kept going because I thought that I couldn’t be sure how I felt about the book until I read it to the end, but that’s just crap. Life is too short to waste time reading stuff you don’t like. As I have grown older, I have grown more savvy and intuitive about life, love and people, I have developed a gift of knowing whether or not I like a person within the first 10 minutes of meeting them, I have developed the same gift for books; you should too.

3. Self-published books are crappy and not a good read.

This is not true and I am not saying that just because I self-published my novel, Black Water Tales: The Secret Keepers, though that’s a hell of a good reason. Some of the most talented people and original works are turned down by major publishing companies’ everyday simply because they don’t fit particular trends and money making formulas that are popular. If there aren’t any vampires or skinny people telling you how to be skinny or something similar companies don’t want to publish you, but true artists don’t follow trends. With technology burning through our culture faster than the speed of light, the days of huge publishing companies, record labels, etc will become extinct, the market will be niched down and smaller companies will emerge, but independent artists will continue to rise. Many authors self publish, not because it would be impossible for them get published with a bigger or more moderately sized company, but because…who needs ‘em?

About JeanNicole

Syndicated from her website

I was born in the tiny, but lovable town of Centralia, IL which has a two screen movie theatre, one high school and still celebrates May Fete, so I had no choice, but to develop a fantastic imagination. Since childhood I have been writing everything from short stories to songs, but I have always aspired to compose a novel. Black Water Tales: The Secret Keepers is my first novel and the first book in what will be a series of thriller novels.

Philosophy was my study in college and I received a Bachelor of Arts in the subject from Florida International University. Writing is one of my most favored artistic pursuits, but my love for the arts does not stop there, I am also a vocalist and actress and participate in local theater in Houston Texas.

Follow her on Twitter: @JeanNicole19
Check out her blog: HERE

Writing Myths Debunked — syndicated post from @JeanNicole19

2012-07-18T11:57:00.000-05:00

The following is syndicated from the blog of JeanNicole Rivers and is posted here with permission.

1. Never begin a story in a dream.

Why not? What better place to start a story? Dreams are the imagination’s playground and we should never shut them down, not even in our writing. Dreams are where some of my best stories begin and usually I don’t even know that I am there until I wake up. Allow art to imitate life, but if you begin your story in a dream, make it big and limitless and most importantly make it have a point, even if it is not immediately understandable. Start your story in a dream; just don’t make the reader regret that you did.

2. Don’t do something that has been a done a million times.

Why not? Hasn’t everything been done a million times? There is no such thing as an original plot anymore, it has all been done, but it is not about what you do, it is how you do it. Don’t drive yourself crazy feeling like you have to come up with a completely original plot line; I hate to be a dream-squasher, but it probably won’t happen, but that does not mean that you are not a brilliant and worthy writer. Allow your creativity and originality to shine through with the way that you make things happen and the perspective from which they are seen.

3. Your main character must be likeable.

Why? Is everyone in the world likeable? No! How many times have I heard this and who came up with this rule? I know several people who are not likeable but still have a worthy story to tell. People who are not likeable have a particular history that has determined their character and usually that history is pretty interesting and a story people would like to read. We don’t have to like your character we just have to understand him; why he is the way that he is and why he does the things that he does. Once we understand him, we will relate to him and tolerate him just so that we may know him and learn from his life.

About JeanNicole

Dare to be an Indie Author?

2012-07-17T08:06:00.000-05:00

The following is syndicated from Laxmi Hariharan's site, Young Adult: Old Soul, and is posted here with permission.

“So are you going to self-pub?” I asked a friend who has spent years polishing her manuscript, collecting rejection slips and looking out for that long awaited email which asks for the entire novel. “I don’t know, how do you know when you should, and what happens if I were to do so only to have an agent interested in my work?” To go Indie or not, that is the question. A hotly debated issue which has kept many a writer—with a burning need to be read—up many nights. My take: If Indie movies are accepted, why not Indie books? Rob Kroese, author of the self-published, bestselling Mercury Falls and its sequel, Mercury Rises has a great analogy: he likens the league of published authors to an elite night club, with gatekeepers, who decide who gets in and who does not. It struck a chord with me. So I have put together my own quiz, to help you determine whether you should give Indie Publishing a go or not. Please answer “yes” or “no” to each of the following questions.

1. Are you waiting to be discovered or somewhere along the way have you discovered yourself?

2. Do you write to be read?

3. Is your novel unclassifiable? It spans so many genres that you know you will have lost traditional agents within the first line of the pitch, for your writing and you cannot be pigeon-holed. My book The Destiny of Shaitan is YA epic fantasy inspired by Indian mythology, for example

4. Are you an entrepreneur, at heart? Do you normally jump in and think of the consequences later. Are you pragmatic about failure—enough to pick yourself up and move on swiftly to the next?

5. Do you like to experiment, and cannot resist a challenge? Do you thrive under pressure, and when the odds are stacked against you?

6. Are you impatient, probably a control freak? In fact, you want to control your own destiny, so keep checking in with the stars to find out what’s going to happen in your life, so you can steer it along the way you want.

7. Are you a technophile? Do you secretly indulge your inner geek? On a practical level are you at least on Facebook and twitter?

8. Are you social and love debating with tweet-friends around the world? Really, you adore your virtual home and obsess over getting your gravatar just right!

9. Do you have the courage of conviction, the doggedness of determination? Is the power of persistence strong within you?

10. Perhaps, like me you had a near death experience, and realized that life is too short. You just have to get your voice out there for tomorrow you may be too late.

If you said yes to at least eight of the above ten, then I believe the force is strong in you. You may be among the fortunate few able to take a punt on yourself. But wait! Before you press that enter button and send the words skimming out over the electronic waves, pause. Have you been true to yourself in your text—really? If you are still standing upright, then there is more to tell. Go back, revisit, revise, rewrite, until hand on heart, you can say you have stripped yourself bare. When you have died a few deaths getting the novel to that place where exhaustion weeps in the arms of elation, then, you know you have nothing more to say. Now you have one last thing to do. Make sure your baby is perfect—every infinitesimal millimetre brushed to its Sunday best—for once it is out there you will be reborn, as your Author Avatar. People will actually read you. Many will love your prose; some will hate it and tell you so. Can you deal with that too? If the answer is still yes, then what are you waiting for?

About Laxmi Hariharan

(In the author’s words)

I am a writer, technophile & dare I say, a futurist, with a penchant for chai and growing eye-catching flowers. Wanderlust drove me out of my home country India to travel across Asia, and I lived in Singapore and Hong Kong before coming home to London. My writing is inspired by Indian mythology; I draw from the stories my grandmother narrated to me as a child. It is in acknowledging my roots that I found my voice. I would love to hear from you:

Twitter: @laxmi

Website: HERE.

Follow her eclectic music: HERE

Facebook: HERE

Pinterest: HERE

If you like my writing and would like to be profiled in my Readers Avatar Series then please email me at laxmihariharan@yahoo.com.

Praise for The Destiny of Shaitan

“A delicious blend of gods and humans, sacred and profane; an enlightening spiritual journey entertainingly disguised as Sci-Fi. It will take you on a gripping ride, catapulting you into a world that gives you more than a glimpse of your own power and potential." –Pippa Merivale, Author of Rescued by Angels & Harps of Gold, pioneer Colour Therapy, Founder Metatronic Healing System.

"The Destiny of Shaitan is mind-blowing, dark, humorous, and clever. It took me on a powerful journey inwards, which was a surprise, as I'm not generally drawn to Sci-Fi or Fantasy. " –Sonia Ducie Dip.CSN.AIN, Numerologist, Author of eleven Numerology books.

"How refreshing it is to read Laxmi Hariharan's coming of age drama partially set in a post-apocalyptic Mumbai. A must read!!"—Cary Rajinder Sawhney, Creative & Executive Director, London Indian Film Festival

Don’t Fear the Reaper — Michelle Muto, @MichWritesBooks

2012-07-16T13:46:00.002-05:00

The following is syndicated from the blog Cellar Door Lit Rants & Reviews and is posted here with permission.

I recently read an article that noted how vital it is to hook your reader within the first few pages. Well, I would have to say “Don’t Fear the Reaper” does just that starting with Keely Morrison’s suicide and reawakening into the afterlife.

Unable to cope after her twin sister’s murder, Keely decides one night to end her pain and join her sister on the other side. What she finds, however, is a smart ass demon, a kind-hearted reaper and regret. While the novel is not altogether without lightness and humor, the opening scene was heart wrenching. I felt her parent’s pain; I felt Keely’s horror over her discarded life. I was sad, distressed, disgusted, empathetic, and obviously, totally involved.

The novel continues to follow Keely and her two companions as they navigate Purgatory in search of her sister, Jordan, and a solution to Keely’s potential future in Hell. Since suicide is a sin against the soul, she is automatically barred from Heaven. Meanwhile, Keely has to fight the temptation to take revenge on her sister’s killer, or her fate will most definitely be sealed.

This was a well-written, poignant read. Keely in particular exhibits the self-centeredness of teendom, mixed with awareness. Her regret at ending her life is thought provoking. Don’t we all wonder why suicide victims do it? And if the soul goes on as it does in Muto’s novel, what if we take all our pain with us? Without giving anything away, Keely’s ultimate fate sets it up so that a sequel could be pretty cool. But the story also stands perfectly well on its own. I say read it. Amidst all the vampires and angels, a book about the afterlife is refreshing. Found for as low as $9.99 in paperback at Amazon. The Kindle edition is $2.99.

About Cellar Door Lit Rants & Reviews

In her own words

I once read that “cellar door” was one of the most beautiful phrases in the English language. It stuck in my brain so much that it became an inspiration for names and ideas in the book I’m writing. So when I decided to write a book review blog, it could only have one name.

Cellar Door Lit Rants & Reviews is here for the book lover, the collector of words. I don’t target any one genre, although I read a lot of fantasy/fiction. I am simply a book worm and would-be novelist who decided one day it was time to start a book review blog. It is here that you can find my views on books I read, lit-related rants and a glimpse into the world I’m creating for other readers like me.

–Katrina M. Randall

Follow Katrina on Twitter: @MayaMae
Check out the blog: Cellar Door Lit Rants & Reviews

Follow Michelle Muto on Twitter: @MichWritesBooks

Is it too late for print?

2012-07-13T09:11:00.000-05:00

The following (except for the pic) is syndicated from the blog Never burn your apron and is posted here with permission.

Will I be too late?

This question haunts me as I struggle to create time so that I can work on my novel — to finally finish. It has been seven years since the original seed of an idea started to grow in my imagination, slowly being transferred from my head onto paper. And even as the finish line grows closer, I nervously type in a race to beat the progression of technology. Will I be too late? By the time I’m done will I be banished to an e-reader existence? Will all the book stores be barred as print grows less relevant?

I know that this worry is probably a bit premature. Although as more consumers buy e-readers they also buy more ebooks (at a much cheaper price), books are not disappearing quite yet. And hell, I don’t even know if I’ll get published. But the thing is, I love books. I don’t just love reading stories from them, I love the feel of them, the history, the whole concept. I can flip to the last page easily if I want and sneak a glance at the ending, or read the blurb on the back of the book as many times as I want. With a book in my hand, I’m me. And in my vision, which includes getting my book published, there is a space on my bookshelves designated for my very own work of written art, or so I hope. So I am irrationally anxious to complete my novel before time runs out and books are relegated to the true lovers and collectors.

I once refused to even touch an e-reader, afraid that if I succumbed it would mean one less person supporting printed books. But with so many self-published authors publishing to e-readers, I felt it wasn’t fair to the authors, nor to myself; I could be missing out on something truly worthy. So my new policy is I only read e-books if they haven’t been published to print.

But I still worry irrationally about the viability of print and so continue to work toward that perfect story ending. And I’m hoping by December my rough draft will finally be complete. On that day, I will feel so much closer to seeing my dream realized and beating the imminent digitization of literature.

About Katrina M. Randall and Never burn your apron

In her own words

Never burn your apron is a smattering of random writings by me. I am currently working on writing my first novel, but in my down time I like to use my life as a means to creatively flex my mind. It’s also a change of pace for me as my novel is Fantasy/Fiction, while these essays are clips from life experiences merged with the freedom that fiction brings. I just like to be well-rounded.

Follow her on Twitter: @MayaMae

Aspire And Inspire—Meet Deena Schoenfeldt Of Ebook Builders (syndicated post from @KitaraLeMur)

2012-07-11T08:01:00.000-05:00

The following is syndicated from Janet Wrenn's Blog and is posted here with permission.

Welcome to the inaugural interview in my new blog series called Aspire and Inspire. My very first interview is with the extremely talented and funny Deena Schoenfeldt. She is the director of the digital division of The Book Connection, known as eBook Builders.

Do you prefer Geek or Nerd?

I don’t see either one as derogatory anymore, but my favorite is the moniker Mark Rice gave me, which has started to stick with my twitter-friends: “Super-nerd”. He’s biased, thinks that everything I do is the absolute best, but I still like it the best of all “geeky” nicknames.

How did you get into the ebook coding business?

My mother has been in the printing/publishing industry for over 40 years. I have always helped her while also pursuing personal career goals away from the “family” business. About a year ago she had 3 clients who were adamant about doing ebooks along with the print runs, so she asked me to figure out the best way to fulfill her clients’ wishes and do it for her. I did the research – starting with Smashwords Style Guide - but that didn’t address all the formatting issues that The Book Connection’s non-fiction clients required. So I spent three days immersed in HTML to find the right way to do things with the formatting challenges. That is how the Digital Division of The Book Connection – EbookBuilders – was born.

Chocolate or Vanilla?

Is coffee or mocha a choice?

What sets your business apart from other ebook developers?

First and foremost, I am a voracious reader. I know what irritates readers of ebooks enough to make them give up reading a file. Nothing irritates me as much as looking at an ebook that is jacked all out of whack (unless you count the ones that haven’t been edited, but have instead been rushed out in an attempt to cash in on the digital boom). Since I started doing format-intensive ebooks (non-fiction, biographies, cookbooks, photo-packed books, etc.) there isn’t much that I haven’t faced or can’t figure out. Of course, Kindle’s inability to handle numbered lists is a pet peeve of mine.

Formatting in HTML then converting the file myself leads to fewer glitches in the finished book than trusting e-retailers’ “conversion” modules to do the conversion. Plus, I add a fully functional icon-linked author page, author photos, along with chapter-end and scene-change images that most formatters don’t try. I do the formatting and conversion then send it to the client for uploading, or in some cases upload to the client’s account myself.

What formats do you code?

If you are asking how, that’s HTML. If you are asking what kind of files I produce, the answer’s mobi (Kindle) and epub (Nook & everyone else). I can do a Word file for Smashwords but I try to stay as far away from them as possible. To me, doing the formatting in Word is too much work for lackluster results.

I think that everyone who has ever enjoyed reading as much as I do considers writing their own book. Unfortunately, I think mine would evolve into an autobiography and then I would be in serious trouble. I don’t relish spending years in court for telling the truth and naming names.

You've seen this business grow over the last several years. Do you think ebooks will be the death of the paperback completely?

I don’t think that digital versions will ever completely overthrow printed books. There are still too many instances where people want printed books. I have a beautiful Marilyn Monroe coffee-table book, which in ebook format would lose its appeal. Besides, you will always have some die-hard printed book fans that will refuse to go digital, and I can’t blame them. Right now, the ease of digitally publishing is causing a boom, allowing more people to bring their works to the public without the worries of vanity presses or outrageous expenses.

Can you format picture books?

Yes, I can. Recently, I finished and uploaded a pyramid ebook with 322 color images, charts and photos for Dr. Semir “Sam” Osmanagich – the discoverer of the Bosnian Pyramids. We are not “in” fixed format ebooks as of yet, but I believe those will be done by The Book Connection soon. Fixed format is good for graphic novels and children’s books.

How do you feel about kilts?

As the love of my life is Scottish author Mark Rice, who has been known to wear a kilt, I would have to say that I am a fan of them! But then again he could be wearing a burlap bag and I would be a fan of that as well. I guess I could ask how you feel about them too, as your other half wears one frequently.

(Why yes, yes he does and I love it!)

What are some of your favorite genres to read?

I have always been an avid reader of historical romance, but not the ones that depend on the male hero riding to the rescue. I also enjoy futuristic mysteries (i.e. J. D. Robb’s In Death series) and comical fiction (like Janet Evanovich’s Plum series) and even some YA. Recently, I was introduced to Rock Fiction – Metallic Dreams by Mark Rice – and found it terrific. I tell everyone to read it because I think his writing style is wonderful, very descriptive and funny.

Is there one format that is harder than another to code?

Cookbooks – hands down. Tables are a pain in the tookus to format: they have some funny issues and require a lot of code for such a small amount of space. The premise behind all other coding is simple and easy to understand.

When you're not nose deep in code, what does a nice cowgirl like you do for fun?

I would like to say I have a life of leisure but that would be a big fat lie. I am working from the time I get up to the time I fall into bed. Of course there are breaks where I have to run the kiddos all over town or run errands, but I am usually on the phone or brain-storming then. My fun comes from spending time with Mark. We work together and help each other. Some people might not understand that working with the person you love can be fun, but it is for us. We both have an off-beat sense of humor and are mutually supportive; to me, that is the most important thing. It doesn’t matter if we are talking literature, coding, or writing, it’s always fun – the highlight of my days.

How long does the process take from start to finish?

I finished my son’s 12K-word short story collection in 45 minutes; a 75K-word novel took me about 10 hours total, including final corrections. “A Blended Bouquet” by Writers Inc, a book of Scottish prose and poetry, took about 7 hours total. As a rule, fiction is quickly formatted and converted, while non-fiction and biographies tend to be more time-consuming.

Do you have a favorite author?

Mark Rice, no doubt about it. I love his novels, short stories and poetry. He is a multi-faceted talent – a true triple threat. His writing is so descriptive and his dialogue is believable. I keep telling him he should branch into audiobooks so that his readers can experience his writing the way I do.

How do you balance a home life with kids and a home based business that keeps you up all hours of the night?

Balance? I am supposed to be balanced? Crap, I knew I was forgetting something. Seriously, being a single parent and trying to get a business off the ground is hard. I am lucky enough that my children are spaced in age – 18 years, 10 years and 2 years. The two older boys help tremendously with their baby sister. They understand that there are times when Mom’s weekends are booked solid with ebook promotions and coding, but I try to work it so that I have one day of just kid-time. Then we watch a movie as a family every night in my office. I might still be working but we are all together.

Did you always want to be a super coding nerd or was there something else you wanted to be when you grew up?

This will shock, but I always wanted to be a lawyer or go into politics – until I realized that when I argue passionately I drop lots of f-bombs (I drop lots of those regardless) and that there is no common sense in the government. I can’t stand stupidity and so couldn’t be part of a government largely composed of morally bankrupt individuals who – if integrity were dynamite – couldn’t blow their noses. Don’t get me started on the whole situation. I am vocal about how screwed up the world has become.

Thank you Deena for being my guinea pig and allowing me to pick your brain in the process. Best of luck to you with your business!

For more information or to get in contact with Deena Schoenfeldt about having your book digitally converted please visit her website.

Planet-hopping might not be so silly — syndicated post from @GretavdR

2012-07-07T02:20:00.001-05:00

The following is syndicated from Greta van der Rol's blog and is posted here with permission. Minor changes to the post were done by the author.

My science fiction books include a certain amount of planet-hopping. Now, I know that there will be some sneering and lip-curling over this. But don’t be in too much of a hurry to point a derisive finger.

Come with me on a cosmic journey. We’ll start here, on dear old Mother Earth, the only planet we know a huge amount about. Journey back in time, four hundred years… The world was beginning to open up. Intrepid explorers travelled to the other side of the Earth in search of trade and riches. Dutch merchant ships sailed from Amsterdam to what is now Jakarta in Indonesia to trade in spices. At the turn of the 17th century, they sailed down the west coast of Africa, re-provisioned at Table Bay and then set off past Madagascar and across the Indian Ocean up to Java. Makes sense, really, if you look at the journey on a map; down to the tip of Africa, then up at an angle to Indonesia. The journey took a year, sometimes as much as eighteen months if the winds were poor or the storms struck hard.

Then in 1610 Henrik Brouwer did something completely counter-intuitive and sailed south from Table Bay. Makes no sense, does it? Well, yes it does. The Earth is not a 2D Mercator’s projection on a tabletop, it’s a spheroid. The distance around the equator is greater than the distance around the lines we call ‘latitude’ to the north and south. Brouwer took advantage of that fact to shorten the distance he had to travel east and had the bonus of the reliable winds of the ‘roaring forties’ to push his ships along. All he had to do was remember to turn left when he reached the longitude for the Sunda Strait, sail up the coast of Western Australia and he was home. Taking this route shortened the journey by two thousand miles and more than halved the duration. The route was not without its dangers – as you’ll find in my book ‘To Die a Dry Death’ – but that’s another story.

Over the years, sea travel became faster and more reliable. Steam and then diesel replaced sail. When my family migrated to Australia from Amsterdam the sea journey took about a month. Apart from the improved mode of transport, the ship also avoided the long journey around the Cape of Good Hope by going through a short cut – the Suez Canal.

Eventually, the obstacles forced upon us by oceans and continents were removed, too, with the advent of air travel. These days you can get on a jet at Schiphol in Amsterdam and get off twenty four hours laterat Perth International Airport. With airliners like the beautiful and now-departed Concord, you could do the journey in half the time. So in four hundred years we have shortened a journey that took about a year – let’s say 350 days – to one that routinely takes 1 day or (with the right aircraft) an awful lot less. Wow.

Still with me? Trust me, it’s all relevant to space travel. Imagine what reaction a person would have received if, in 1600, she’d said that in four hundred years, we’d be able to travel from Amsterdam to that southern continent we didn’t know anything about, in less than a day.

Yes, but that’s just the Earth, I hear you say. We’re talking inter-stellar distances. For Pete’s sake, the nearest star system from ours is over 4 light years away. Very true. We have no way of spanning these vast distances in anybody’s lifetime. Regardless, the notion of ‘hyperspace’ in science fiction to allow for the possibility of space travel has been around for a long time. I don’t think I ever saw an explanation of hyperspace – just that the ship entered another dimension, if you will, travelling externally to our normal, 3D + time. But hey ho; never let the facts get in the way of a good story. The Grand Master, Isaac Asimov, did rather a lot of planet-hopping. Have a look at his ‘Foundation’ series. Many of the more modern writers like Jack McDevitt and Elizabeth Moon have FTL (faster than light) travel but show it as still a very time-consuming business with journeys taking weeks or months..

I don’t believe that restriction is cast in concrete. Even McDevitt in his book ‘A Talent for War’ postulated a quantum drive, where a ship moves from one place to another instantaneously. We don’t hear so much about worm holes these days, but they would also allow for an instantaneous transfer.

I refer to my version of hyperspace as ‘shift space’. I’ve done that deliberately because in my universe the ships use the geometry of extra dimensions to get around. Ships ‘shift’ to another dimension for the duration of a journey. It’s pretty much accepted that our 3D notion of the universe is just a perception, that there are many other dimensions we are not equipped to see. Such an understanding certainly helps to explain the apparent complexities of quantum physics and the anomalous behaviour of sub-atomic particles. Way back in the 1980’s Carl Sagan in his wonderful TV series ‘Cosmos’ showed us a tesseract (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesseract), a four-dimensional object portrayed as best we could in a 3D world. To understand what you’re looking at, think about a standard, 2D drawing of a cube. According to mathematics, there are many, many more than four dimensions out there, not to mention parallel universes. The biggest limitation imposed upon us in reaching a real understanding of things like this is that we are constrained by our own world view and our ability to perceive. As far back as 1884 E.A. Abbott in his book ‘Flatland’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland) described the problems of seeing three dimensions in a 2D world. We are faced with the same thing, on a 3D scale, if we attempt to visualise four, five or six dimensions. Or many, many more.

However, I can give you some sort of idea of where I’m coming from. Take a piece of A4 paper. Let’s label two diagonally opposite corners as A and B. Starting from B, we can reach A by going straight up one side then along the top to A. Hang on, you say, wouldn’t you just go across the diagonal, thereby reducing the distance and time taken? Sure you would. Now curl the paper over into a cylinder. All you have to do to get from B to A is move along a straight line. The length of the line will depend on how you make the roll (short edges together or long edges together).

Now take point A in one hand and point B in the other and bring them together so they meet. Getting from B to A in this instance is like walking from one room into another.

That’s my notion of ‘shift drive’. I have included some duration in the journey in my books because I found it useful. Don’t ask me how the shift drive (the engine that makes it possible to take advantage of the geometry) works. I’m speculating a fusion drive to do something or other. When I work it out, I’ll let you know.

About Greta

Greta van der Rol loves writing science fiction with a large dollop of good old, healthy romance. She lives not far from the coast in Queensland, Australia and enjoys photography and cooking when she isn't bent over the computer. She has a degree in history and a background in building information systems, both of which go a long way toward helping her in her writing endeavours.

Her Website: HERE
Twitter: @GretavdR
Facebook: HERE

Publishing Perils – Interview with James D. Macdonald — Syndicated post from @mythicscribes

2012-07-06T02:48:00.000-05:00

The following is syndicated from Mythic Scribes and is posted here with permission.

James D. Macdonald is the award-winning author of over forty fantasy and science fiction novels, including his most recent work, Lincoln's Sword. I recently chatted with Jim about his frequent collaborations with co-author Debra Doyle, as well as his work in educating writers about publishing scams.

You’ve had a pretty amazing career as a fantasy author. Can you tell us how you got started in the genre?

I got started in the genre by reading an awful lot of fantasy when I was young. Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser, the Chronicles of Prydain, pretty much every word that Robert E. Howard ever wrote, Tolkien, and endless others. My father had been reading and collecting science fiction since the ‘thirties, so we had the house filled with fantasy and science fiction.

So, fast forward a few years. I was a young sailor, with a girlfriend in Philadelphia, a bookish young lady. We wrote letters to one another all the time. Often, those letters included bits of fantasy story titled “Yet another scene.” It was sort-of medieval gritty with romantic undercurrents. Nothing coherent, just scenes.

Fast forward a few more years. I was married to that young lady, I was still a sailor, but we (Doyle, for it was she) and I had written and published one short story (a werewolf story, “Bad Blood,” which is currently available in e-book format). We wrote two young-adult science fiction novels under a group pseudonym. Then the nice folks who had packaged that YA SF series (Planet Builders, by “Robyn Tallis,” if anyone remembers it–pitched as “Sweet Valley High in Space”) asked if we would like to write a middle-grades fantasy series. “By golly,” we said. “We could do that,” and pulled out all the scenes from Yet Another Scene. This became the Circle of Magic series. With that, we were on our way.

You’ve collaborated with Debra Doyle on over forty novels. Tell us about how your collaboration works.

The way we divide the writing is like this: I write a “strong outline” (what anyone else might call a first draft), which generally comes to around 3/4 of the length of the finished book. I sketch out scenes, dialog, and descriptions, although often the dialog will read “Doyle does this part.”

Debra takes this, and goes through and re-writes the book, though when she comes to action scenes she often writes “Macdonald does this part.” And so we pass the drafts back and forth, writing and re-writing, and adding (or subtracting, or moving) scenes as seems good to us. I tend to edit on hardcopy; Doyle usually edits on-screen. Sometimes we act out scenes in our kitchen. Sometimes we gossip about our characters’ personal lives. (Once, our elder daughter, walking in on such a conversation, asked, “Is this someone I know, or is it someone from one of your books again?”)

When we’re at a place where we’re both happy with the book, we go through, page by page, marking up that physical page, handing it off to the other person, marking it up, handing it back, until we’re both happy with it. Then we take the next physical page and repeat the process.

In the final analysis, I get final cut on what happens, Doyle gets final cut on how we say it. That is, I have the plot, she has the words.

You’ve also written books on your own. How different is the process when writing by yourself, as opposed to working with a partner.

I find writing with a partner much easier. Doyle does all the hard parts. (If you ask Doyle, she’ll tell you that I do all the hard parts. It works for us: The rocks in my head match the holes in hers….)

When I write on my own I find that I write much shorter than when I write with Doyle. I’m also far too telegraphic. In editing, my editor keeps asking me to “explain more” and not to clip the ending, but rather to play it out.

When I’m writing on my own, I also tend to write scenes out-of-order, as they occur to me, rather than telling a coherent story. That makes the process of second-drafting more interesting, as I have to play jigsaw puzzle with the bits.

To read the second part of this interview, see this post.

Thanks to Mystic Scribes

Check out their website HERE.

Part 2 of the interview with James D. Macdonald — Syndicated post.

2012-07-06T01:55:00.000-05:00

The following is syndicated from Mythic Scribes and is posted here with permission. To read the first part of this interview, see this post.

One of the things that you’re known for is creating “Yog’s Law.” Can you tell us what that is?

Yog’s Law is simply this: Money flows toward the author.

It’s a tripwire defense against scams, of which the literary world is brimming. The only thing you have to tell a writer is “I love your story,” and he will think you’re the finest person in the world, filled with good sense, a friend, a mentor, a god! So, Scammer: “I love your story. Give me all your money.” Writer: “Sure, here you go!”

Few people in legitimate publishing know much about the demimonde of literary scams. That’s because they don’t impinge on the world of real publishing much. The agents don’t submit books, the publishers don’t print books, the bookstores don’t stock those non-existent (or, only theoretically-existent) books, reviewers don’t review those theoretically-existent books, and readers don’t read them. But the writers have pumped in enough cash, each, to buy a decent used car. All of which goes to supporting some sleazy people in the lifestyle to which most of us would like to become accustomed. (One of them, currently being investigated by the Florida Attorney General, in business for around a decade with no evidence of being able to sell books to anyone but their own authors, boasts that he owns a yacht.)

What led you to develop Yog’s Law?

Here’s how I got into it: An article appeared in my local paper of the “Local Man Writes Book” variety. Getting one of those articles in a small-town newspaper isn’t a big trick, or particularly hard to do. (A whole bunch of vanity presses use those kinds of clips to prove that they’re legitimate, even though the same paper would also print “Local Man Accepted to Community College.”) The paper came out, and I got a phone call.

The person calling was a writer who lived a few towns south of me, who wanted to know how much it cost me to print my books. I was still a new writer myself at the time, but the question shocked me. I didn’t pay to be published, I didn’t know anyone who did, and the idea that someone would pay to be published seemed just weird. Imagine an innocent newly-wed just discovering that hookers exist.

Turns out that this fellow had paid thousands of dollars to Commonwealth Books. He’d mortgaged his house to pay to publish his book.

You have to understand that Commonwealth was a complete fraud. There was no way he was going to earn back his money from sales because not only didn’t they have any distribution, there weren’t any, and never would be any, physical books to sell.

Anyway, that radicalized me. Here was a guy who believed in his book so strongly that he literally bet the farm on it, and he was going to lose his house.

Yog’s Law was the result: It’s simple, it’s easy to remember, and it covers most cases. Yog’s Law doesn’t say anything about how fast the money moves, or how much of it there’ll be. It only talks about the direction of money flow. It doesn’t say that writers don’t have to pay for groceries, or for paper, or postage, or for magazine subscriptions. It only says that writers don’t pay to be published. And they don’t. Not then, and not now. Not if they want to find readers.

There are only two sources of money in publishing: The readers, and the writers. If money is coming from the readers, that’s real publishing. If it’s coming from the writers that’s somewhere between a very bad idea and an out-and-out fraud.

Since then we’ve seen the scammers go to great lengths to disguise themselves to avoid tripping it (e.g. requiring that authors get an “evaluation” (for a fee) from an “independent third party” (who just happens to be the same scammer at the a different address)), and lately we’ve seen the vanity presses and scammers launch direct attacks on Yog’s Law, but it still holds firm, and it’s as true today as it was when I first devised it.

Has the situation changed much since then? Are writers more aware of literary scams, or has the problem gotten worse?

The situation hasn’t changed in some ways; there are still a ton of vanity presses and scam agents out there. Newbie writers…there’s a never-ending supply of them, folks who have spent years writing their books, then fifteen seconds looking for a publisher (they Google on “book publisher” and send their book to the first place that pops up). What has changed is this: There’s now a huge supply of brand-new agents and publishers, folks who woke up last Wednesday and decided that they want to be agents or publishers. The low cost of email, and the low cost of electronic publication, make it possible for them to look good from out front. They have no intention of scamming anyone, they don’t charge fees, their hearts are filled with great plans — and they fail miserably, taking writers down with them in the flaming wreck of their businesses.

Agenting and publishing are not entry-level positions. Yet we have folks who have no idea what they’re doing, creating ghastly contracts (because they’ve never seen a real publishing contract in their lives). The authors who submit books to them might know more about publishing than the publishers. The amateur (but well-meaning) agents, and the publishers, have no idea what makes a commercial manuscript, they don’t know how to edit, they can’t figure out how to market or promote a book. Their sales are the same (or worse) than the authors could do on their own through self-publishing (and those numbers are, typically, dismal). The eager would-be agents have no contacts among publishers; they are no more able to submit a work to a major house than the author would be on his or her own.

How can new writers quickly identify whether or not they are dealing with a legitimate agent or publisher?

Here’s how to tell a real agent from a would-be agent: A real agent has sold books that you’ve heard of.

A real publisher has distribution–that is, you can find them for sale in the usual places that sell books– and non-trivial sales.

Newbie writers are just as vulnerable as ever, and from the author’s point of view, there’s nothing to choose between a well-meaning incompetent and a hard-eyed fraudster: Neither one will be able to sell the author’s book, both will soak up the author’s time and passion.

The scammer will cost more, in terms of dollars, but it’s often easier to break away from a scammer. The amateur may have gotten the author to sign an all-rights-for-the-term-of-copyright contract before deciding, a year later, that it’s all too hard and disappearing, leaving a book that the author can never legally sell for his or her entire life (plus seventy years).

Doesn’t self-publishing violate Yog’s Law?

No, it doesn’t.

First, we aren’t talking about vanity publishing — that’s where the author pays some publisher to take his or her book, and gets a fraction of the income back afterwards. (If you already paid the full freight for publishing the work, why are they keeping 85% of the income, too?)

Tate, Dorrance, Vantage, AuthorHouse, PublishAmerica, Strategic, endless others — they range from being very bad ideas to open scams. If you’re paying to be published, you should get 100% of the income back, not a royalty.

But on to self-publishing. Self-publishing is one of the subdivisions of commercial publishing.

You have to divide yourself into two parts: You-the-author and you-the-publisher. You the author pay nothing. You look at you-the-publisher and ask, “Is this guy the best publisher in the world for my book? Why?” If the reason is, “He’s the only one in the world who will take my book,” that’s not the right answer.

Now, on to you-the-publisher. As publisher, you look at the work that you-the-author submitted, and ask yourself, as any publisher would, “Can I publish this work profitably? Is there an audience? Is it good?” You acquire the book, then you pay for everything: Editing, copyediting, typesetting (or formatting for electronic publishing), artwork, promotion, marketing — the whole deal. Either do it yourself or hire it out to freelancers. You also set a royalty to pay you-the-author. If you can’t see your way to putting 15% of the cover price of every copy sold into an account labeled “Retirement” or something — you need to re-evaluate what you’re doing. Money is still flowing toward the author, even if it’s only from one pocket to another in the same pair of pants.

As a publisher you can lose money. Maybe even a lot. (The best way to become a millionaire by being a publisher is to start as a multi-millionaire.) No one ever said that publishing is an expense-free business, and you’ll be going head-to-head against experienced professionals. If that’s the way you want to roll, go for it.

There’s a lot of interest in e-publishing right now. Do you foresee this trend becoming the dominant form of publishing? If so, what will the consequences be for writers?

No, I don’t see it becoming the dominant form of publishing, thouigh I do see it becoming an important segment of publishing. E-publishing disenfranchises anyone who doesn’t have an e-reader, which is (and will probably remain) almost everyone in the world. As to the consequences for writers, you could have written a headline any time in the last couple of centuries that read, “Big changes in publishing: Authors to be adversely affected.” Writing has always been such a marginal occupation that writers have had to fine-tune their survival strategies just to make it by. Any change will break those strategies, so until a new equilibrium exists a lot of people will be scrambling.

What advice do you have for new authors who are hoping to make writing their career? In this day and age, how possible is this?

My best advice is to read a lot and write a lot. That’s how to get good. To make it a career, send your best material to the highest paid/highest prestige markets first. Start at the top and work down. You may still wind up at the bottom if you follow that strategy, but if you start at the bottom you’ll never work your way up. The best advice on how to have a successful career I ever heard was from Neil Gaiman: “Never publish anything bad.”

What that works out to in practical terms is, if you have a work that isn’t good enough, don’t self-publish it. It still won’t be good enough. Folks who read it and are disappointed will remember your name, and not in a good way.

As to making a career of writing, it’s as possible as it’s ever been. Which is to say, darned difficult. People have always wanted, and always will want, information and entertainment. The ability to teach, and the ability to tell lies so well that people want to hear those lies, however, is rare. Rare things can always be traded for money, whether it’s a Babe Ruth rookie baseball card, or a good short story. The trick is getting the buyer and the seller together. That’s distribution, and distribution is what makes the difference between real publishers and a not-so-real publisher.

Finally, can you tell us a little about what you are working on currently?

I’m working on a novel involving Emergency Medical Services in a world with supernatural beings. For normal humans, if you have an impaled object, you don’t remove it in the field. If you have a vampire with an impaled object, however, you have to remove it as soon as possible. So, this book answers the question, What happens when werewolves dial 9-1-1?

To learn more about James D. Macdonald and Debra Doyle, visit their site, Madhouse Manor. Their most recent novel, Lincoln's Sword, is available in print and electronic versions wherever books are sold.

Thanks to Mystic Scribes

Check out their website HERE.

Revenge of the Neglected Muse — Syndicated Post from @WodkeHawkinson

2012-07-05T11:22:00.000-05:00

The following is syndicated from the blog Find a Good Book to Read and is posted here with permission.

A woman comes home after shopping, puts her toddler down for a nap, and then stretches out on the bed for a short rest. She wakes up to find a strange man in her bedroom, staring at her….

Then my muse gets up and walks out. “Hey!” I call. “Where are you going? Get back here, right now!”

“Nope.” He lifts his chin and looks away. “I’m done here.”

“But we’re at a critical part of the book.” I sound a bit whiny. “You can’t leave now.”

“Can and will,” he replies with a sneer. “Remember last night when you were sleeping, oh so soundly, and I nudged you?”

My mind scrambles to recall. Oh yes, I was in the middle of a great dream. Everything was cozy; my bed was warm. “Maybe.”

“Well, you didn’t have time for me then, did you?” He is petulant.

“I was ASLEEP!”

“So? Maybe I want to sleep now.”

“There’s no need for sarcasm.” I’m trying to be the adult here. “Let’s just work together until we get to the end of this scene. What do you say?”

“Not interested.” He looks out the window, ignoring my distress.

“Why are you being this way?” I moan, hands still poised over the keyboard.

“Why? You conveniently forgot about last Tuesday? In the car?” He rolls his eyes. “I was inspired! I gave you a real plum. A gem of an idea. But did you take it? No.”

“I WAS DRIVING!”

“Always some excuse. That’s the way it is with you. Other writers pull over and jot things in a notebook. Or they have a mini-recorder. But noooo, not you. You expect me to just wait around until you’re finished doing this or that.” He heads for the door.

“You want me to wreck my car on your account?” I scratch my head, and then return my hands hopefully to their position above the keyboard. I am poised, ready, just in case he changes his mind.

“You’re being melodramatic.” He places his hand on the knob, turns it. “I’m tired of being a slave to your schedule. You know, it’s a nice day out there. Think I’ll go for a long, long walk.”

“Now? You pick now to go for a walk? What about my character? She’s just found a freaking weirdo in her bedroom! I know he’s evil. I know his intent is diabolical. I know her child is asleep in the next room….or is she? Wait! Did he hurt the little girl? Is he going to hurt my character? How will she get out of this jam? Will she get out of it? HELP ME!” My hands have dropped to my side. I turn to implore my muse, put on my most pathetic puppy dog eyes.

“Forget it.” He yanks the door open and then he’s gone. And I’m left with nothing.

I sigh. Ok, great. Now what?

A sense of defeat descends on me like a cloud. I open a different document and start working on character sketches while my muse is out, God knows where, pouting. Or goofing off. Or worse yet, inspiring some other writer. He’s been known to cheat on me before, or at least I suspect the occasional infidelity. He’s probably over at some other writer’s house right now, schmoozing up to him or her. Whispering in another’s ear. Prodding another mind with his sweet and seductive what-ifs.

Well, he can go suck eggs. I can do this without him. Who needs him? Two hours later, still staring at the mostly empty page, cursor blinking at me, mocking me, I have to admit he has me over a barrel. I get up from the desk and look for something else to do, something totally unrelated to writing.

I just hope he’s not drunk when he finally comes home.

More From Wodke Hawkinson

Their Blog: Find a Good Book to Read
Their Website: HERE
PJ's Website: HERE
Karen's Website: HERE
Facebook: HERE

The Calm Before a Storm — syndicated post from @JamesWymore

2012-07-02T23:50:00.000-05:00

The following is syndicated from the blog of James Wymore and is posted here with permission.

I have never had writer’s block in my life. At this moment I have five books that I want to write. (If somebody were to publish one of the books in my resume I would be more than happy to move one of those sequels to the front of the cue.) In the meantime I decided to write the cross-genre story next. But I’m dragging my feet. I guess what I would say is that I’m in a lull.

I think this lull comes from being too obsessive. Once I start a book, I tend to plow forward like a train. After I finish the back-ground work (which I am doing more and more of with each book) it takes me an hour to write the first page. Then a few hours to finish the first chapter. With each passing chapter I build up momentum until I finally come to a screeching halt at the end. But it’s so much work to get that train moving… and I keep adding more and more cars on with each book I write. So I’m just sitting around, inspecting the track and the dials, enjoying the calm before the storm.

I think I’ll go write a short story.

About James Wymore

James Wymore studied chaos in college. Unable to make that profitable, he became a teacher where he could always be surrounded by the thing he loved. When he isn’t cackling maniacally at the keyboard, James enjoys all types of games where he continues to try and subdue the randomness of life.

Follow James on Twitter: @JamesWymore

His Resume

One Cog
8,000 words - Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest, 3^rd Place (2012)
One Cog
9,300 words – Writers of the Future, Honorable Mention (2011)

Publications:
Restitution
13,400 words – Zharmae Press Anthology (February, 2013)
Sheriff Anderson’s Steam Deputies
7,000 words - Science Fiction Trails #8 (September, 2012)
The Dark Glass
2,100 words - Jake’s Monthly, Alternate History Anthology (July 2012)

Comics:
Parting Shots
Online and in print – Nameless Magazine, Premiere Issue (June 2012)

Got Beta Readers?

2012-07-02T04:17:00.000-05:00

The following is syndicated from the blog Help Me Self Publish and is posted here with permission.

I have a dear friend who is getting ready to publish her first novel, and I am one of her Beta Readers.

I have been a Beta Tester for a Beta Launch or Beta Version, but a Beta Reader for a novel? What a novel idea - I love it!

If you are ready to self publish, right before you hire an editor, you might seriously want to consider finding some Beta Readers of your manuscript to ensure the best possible success of your hard work. Before you simply go ask Aunt Martha to read your book, and give her your pile of college-ruled, lined paper filled with your one-of-a-kind, handwritten brilliance, here are some things that might make the experience actually worth your (and your Beta Readers') time:

Choose your Beta Readers carefully - Unless the aforementioned Aunt Martha is a professional copy editor, and can do double duty as editor and Beta Reader, you might want to find five to seven other people who love to read and/or write the type of book you have written. If your audience is primarily one gender, your Beta Readers should be also. Remember, you are asking these people to provide constructive feedback on your baby - make sure you feel their comments will possibly improve your book.

Provide a format that is both easy and functional for your Beta Readers - I received an Adobe Acrobat version of Clare's book, which allowed me to add my comments by using sticky notes and the like. Joanna Penn, on the other hand, printed a version of her first novel and provided it to her Beta Readers for hand written notes. Whichever you choose, think of the ease of use for your Beta Readers, and be prepared to read your book many times with many comments.

Give clear instructions and a deadline for your Beta Readers - You are looking for usable feedback, so provide usable instructions. Ask your readers to read as if they themselves bought the book. Have them look for plot/timeline confusion, character concerns, "speed bumps" that make the reader stop and question, factual errors, tone or voice confusion - any comments repeated by two or more Beta Readers tell you that a rewrite of that section is probably wise.

Be prepared and have a plan for another red pen markup of your perfect baby - Many of us writer-types wed ourselves to passages, dialogue or scenes, and if those are questioned, we fight for our darling tidbits. If only one person questions one of your wedded verses, maybe they just didn't get it, but if two or more people question it...kill it! Which is more important...the success of your novel, or that one brilliant verse?

It is common practice for serious self publishing novelists to ask for feedback before the final stage of publication. Joanna Penn, Self Published Author of two Best-Selling thriller novels and voice of The Creative Penn says Beta Readers are essential to successful publishing. Find Beta Readers and use them wisely; you will be happy you did.

Have you used Beta Readers prior to self publishing? How would you characterize the experience - Successful? Painful? Please share ~

Where to Find Mary Kathryn Johnson

Donate a Book Sweepstakes: Lesson in a Facebook App

2012-06-29T01:17:00.000-05:00

The Donate a Book Sweepstakes ends 08/31/12 or when 1,000 books are sold.

The following is syndicated from the blog New Author Publishing and is reposted here with permission.

As part of a promotion from Vocus.com, I am using a 14 day trial app to promote a sweepstakes on my Facebook Fan page. It is a relatively simple promotion which is two part: gain buyers for my book, “Be Still,” and donate a book to the high school library of the winner’s choice.

Simple enough, right?

All a person has to do is visit my Facebook Fan Page at Facebook.com/TaniaLRamosBooks, then click the button marked sweepstakes which looks like this:

Click the link and you will be prompted to “Like” my fan page then asked to fill out a simple contact form: name, email, U.S. high school library of choice, and have you read the rules. The contact form is used strictly to notify a person that he/she has won and will not be used for any other reasons or sold, ever.

For each 100 of my books, “Be Still,” by Tania L Ramos (yes, there are books with this title by other authors so I have to be very specific) are purchased either in softcover or hardcover or a combination of both through Amazon.com only, one winner will be selected from those who have entered and a, “Be Still,” book will be donated to their U.S. high school of choice. I will donate up to ten books or end on 08/31/12, whichever comes first. At this time I can not track a Kindle purchase, so Kindle purchases will not qualify toward sales, unless a time comes that I can track sales in a timely and accurate manner. See the rules for official details.

This sweepstakes is part of a promotion to sell books and to see how effective a Facebook Sweepstakes app is. I will not judge this app based solely by direct sales, but also by how many shares were sent out and how many entries are received. I do this in order to write an educated review on the use and purchase of this app technology which will either be posted in July or December for my readers to view. I have tried several applications and several websites to gain recognition for my book, but this is the first Facebook app I am testing.

Please feel free to share this page. You may participate in the sweepstakes even if you live outside of the United States, by either stating a U.S. high school or having one chosen for you by proxy of a second name selected who has named a U.S. high school, at which point both parties will be named as donors. Good luck. Spread the news. And donate a book to a high school.

About the author

Hello world, my name is Tania L Ramos and I’m an aspiring writer, which doesn’t pay the bills, and I’m a registered nurse, which does pay the bills. I’ve been writing since Ms. Ruben’s creative writing class in nineth grade over twenty years ago. Once I was exposed, I fell in love. My lifelong dream was always to be a writer, but I figured it was the same as saying, “I’m ging to be a movie star when i grow up.” I put my dream on the backburner and went to my second choice, medicine, well the medical field. I was an EMT-B for almost a decade in Los Angeles, then went on the get my nursing license in San Bernardino County.

Find her on Twitter: @tanialramos
Website for the novel Be Still: HERE

3 Things I Learned from a Publishing Contract

2012-06-28T09:58:00.001-05:00

The following is syndicated from the blog Help Me Self Publish and is posted here with permission.

Okay, I have a friend (no really, it's not me) who self published her book a few years back before it was all the rage, and then got picked up by Barnes & Noble

At the time, I had just started writing my book, Say Bump and Take a Left. How I Birthed a Baby and a Business After a Huge Bump in the Road, and I was imagining all the wonderful success that awaited me: my pick of Agents offering Publishers who fight over the right to publish my manuscript through a six figure advance bidding war...

Now a word from our Reality...

My friend started emailing me asking for my opinion on "the new book cover the publishers are using". Frankly, I liked her cover better, and was confused as to why B&N wanted to change it. Didn't they choose her book because it already had success with a brand? Why would they throw that away? And that was just the beginning as my friend emailed often with changes being made to her book (along with her disappointment). But, at least she had her advance, and the publishers would be taking over the marketing, distribution and sales, right?

WRONG!

She still markets her book, even today, and she still distributes and sells the version of her book she already self published and printed in bulk (prior to the advent of POD), because, of course she isn't going to just throw them away!

Lessons:

3. You accept that advance and sign your name on the dotted line, and you lose all control!
2. You are still totally responsible for marketing your own book (aka sales)!
1. Who's baby is this anyway?

I thought, "This won't happen to me...(eyes glazed over slipping back into the pick of agents, 6 figure bidding war dream) they will love my book just as I've written it!) So, I finished my book, and started sending out query letters.

And more query letters...

And more query letters...

Sound familiar?

I was despondent. I really, really didn't want to learn another profession all over again - I did that with MommyLoves - and I readily and gladly told everyone so when they suggested self publishing. Oh, how bitter my words tasted. If I really wanted my book to go out into the world proclaiming my little, '2 broken legs while 8 months pregnant' life lessons, I was going to have to self publish.

Enter stage left, big sigh, and dig in...

I did it...Had a wonderful friend (who also happened to be a professional copy editor) edit my manuscript...Made changes, and edited again...Made more changes, including the title, and had a cover created with one of my own pictures...Learned how to format for all online readers. I self published, and never looked back.

Back to the Number One Lesson I learned above ~ It's My Baby!

Three months ago, I had an amazing experience with one of my readers. A gentleman who read my book, contacted me to tell me how profoundly my words had touched him and his wife. He thanked me, tearfully, for writing my experiences, and said that he and his wife were rearranging their life goals to have one of them stay home with their infant son and raise him, rather than working to pay a nanny to do so.

I cannot express how touched I was by the knowledge that my words had so greatly impacted another life - three lives, actually. I wonder, would the impact be the same had a publisher taken control of my baby and sent it out into the world with their message?

Who will determine the message your baby tells the world?

Where to Find Mary Kathryn Johnson

The Secrets Behind Buried Dialogue — syndicated post from @LynnetteLabelle

2012-06-26T09:20:00.001-05:00

The following is syndicated from Lynnette Labelle's blog with permission.

Buried or hidden dialogue, both terms mean the same thing, but what is that exactly? Buried dialogue happens when you bury the dialogue between the narratives. The paragraph will look like this: narrative, dialogue, narrative. Still don’t know what I mean? Don’t worry. Some examples are coming up. Keep reading.

As a freelance editor, I can say very few unpublished writers realize what buried dialogue can do to their story, especially its pace, but this is something even published authors, including indie authors, should understand.

While buried dialogue isn’t a technical term nor is there a rule that says you can’t use it, editors often suggest you eliminate as much of it as possible. There are two basic reasons behind this.

1) Buried dialogue slows the pace.
2) Dialogue can lose its oomph when squished between two narratives.

Let’s look at some examples, so you can see what I mean.

Example 1:

With Buried Dialogue:

Toni opened the door. “What are you doing here?” She crossed her arms, determined to show him she meant business. “I told you to stay away.” Why was he there anyway? Didn’t he know what was good for him?

Without Buried Dialogue:

Toni opened the door.

“What are you doing here?” She crossed her arms, determined to show him she meant business. “I told you to stay away.”

Why was he there anyway? Didn’t he know what was good for him?

Example 2:

With Buried Dialogue:

Marnie wrapped a ringlet of her hair around her finger. Maybe she could convince him yet. “Surely, there must be something I could help you with.” She batted her eyelashes and puckered her lips. Swaying her hips, she circled around him. If there was one thing she knew about men, they couldn’t resist a good tease.

Without Buried Dialogue 1:

Marnie wrapped a ringlet of her hair around her finger. Maybe she could convince him yet. “Surely, there must be something I could help you with.”

She batted her eyelashes and puckered her lips. Swaying her hips, she circled around him. If there was one thing she knew about men, they couldn’t resist a good tease.

Without Buried Dialogue 2:

Marnie wrapped a ringlet of her hair around her finger. Maybe she could convince him yet.

“Surely, there must be something I could help you with.” She batted her eyelashes and puckered her lips. Swaying her hips, she circled around him. If there was one thing she knew about men, they couldn’t resist a good tease.

Notice the difference between the “with” and “without” buried dialogue examples. The dialogue is lost in the narration and doesn’t have the effect it could have on its own. Also, if you look at the last example, you’ll see there can be more than one way to fix buried dialogue.

Come back Tuesday for The Secrets Behind Buried Dialogue Part 2, where we’ll look at the unofficial rules, so you’ll know how to avoid or correct this issue.

Do you ever use buried dialogue?

The second part of this series can be found on Lynnette Labelle's blog.

About Lynnette

Lynnette Labelle is a romantic suspense writer who injects a dark edge into romance. Considering her morbid curiosity about serial killers, it’s not surprising she’s able to get into the minds of psychopaths and portray her villains in a realistic manner. Yet, the interaction between her heroes and heroines tends to be light and flirty, allowing readers a chance to catch their breath.

Lynnette is a member of Romance Writers of America, RWA Online, Savvy Authors, Writers on Writing, and Editorial Freelancers Association. She lives in Minnesota with her husband, twin daughters, and pets. Despite her love for fictional blood and gore, she gets weak at the sight of real blood. And spiders give her the creeps!

Find her on Twitter: @LynnetteLabelle
Find her on Facebook: HERE

The Real Reason Writers Need To Read

2012-06-26T08:28:00.001-05:00

The following is syndicated from the blog Moody Writing with permission.

There’s a specific skill you gain from reading widely — not just the stuff you like — that is an essential tool to becoming a better writer.

Critiquers, beta readers, editors, they read your WIP and offer you advice and opinion and maybe even suggest solutions. But how do you know if they’re right?

And what about when different people offer you conflicting advice? Who’s right then?

What’s to say they’re not all talking a big pile of poo?

Chances are they aren’t a best-selling author, and even if they are, what works for them may not be right for you.

It's not that hard to sort out.

You will already have experienced an occasion when someone has suggested a critical opinion on your story, and inside your head you’ve gone... Ah, of course. Or a No way! Either of these responses are helpful.

Problem is, this might not happen very often. Usually all you get is... Hmm, maybe.

What you want is an increase in the occasions when you instantly know an idea is going to improve your story or not.

That would be helpful, right?

Only, the problem isn’t with the quality of the suggestion. It’s with you ability to appreciate what making that change will mean.

Any change, even a small one, will have ramifications for the whole story, but you won’t be able to gauge the usefulness of those changes if you can’t tell what they’re going to be. And the idea of writing it all up to see if it maybe works is a big risk to take.

If you’ve read broadly enough, when someone suggests a problem with your story, your brain will cross-reference it with all the stories in your head (without you being aware of it) and you will know what the reader means and what the implications are for your story.

Instantly.

It’s not an exact science, but you’ll have a pretty good idea. Good enough to make a call on whether it’s going to be worth pursuing.

And the more you read, the more genres and styles you open yourself up to, the easier it gets. Even reading books you don’t enjoy will still aid the growth of this ability. Reading the exact same sort of book over and over will not.

So, if you want to be a successful reader, read what you like. If you want to be a successful writer, read what you like, and what you don’t like. And read everything else, too.

If you found this post interesting, please give it a retweet. Cheers.

Why Librarians are Heroes (and Heroines)

2012-06-23T01:25:00.001-05:00

Librarians can be . . . sexy

The following is syndicated from Ilana Waters' Blog.

It’s here! The final version of my MS landed in my inbox from my editor (the wonderful Marcia Trahan) just yesterday. I am going over it one last time, and then it should be ready for e-book production. Now if only I can get myself to stop second-guessing every comma and semi-colon. At that point, you may actually be able to read my debut novel–The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt: Book I of Hartlandia–by summer’s end.

In this book, the main character (and hero) is a librarian. He crosses a kingdom, gets kidnapped several times, and even battles a tyrant in his quest for answers and justice. But librarians don’t really have to do any of those things to be heroes—or heroines. Here are some of the reason they already are:

They spread their love of books to people.
They put up with really annoying patrons (like me).
They help patrons find things they need—or didn’t know they needed.
They wrestle with budget cuts like Hercules wrestled with Antaeus.
They do the work of three or four librarians because of these cuts.
They are masters of organization.
They are very, very smart (see #6).
They have endless amounts of patience (see #2).
Some of them get up reeeally early in the morning. If that’s not heroic, I don’t know what is.
They double as teachers when they are school librarians (twice the awesome!).
They “shush” you even when they don’t want to. But it’s their job, and so they must.
They don’t get paid a lot, yet they continue to be fabulous at no extra charge.
Read #2 one more time

If you’re interested in seeing librarians flex their mental muscles, take a look at the Brainlair’s “Librarians vs. Teachers Summer Throwdown.” Find out who can read the most books during their all-too-short summer breaks. The throwdown only started two days ago, so if you want to get in on the action, there’s still time!

Was a librarian ever your hero or heroine? If so, tell me in the comments!

About Ilana

Ilana Waters is a freelance writer who lives in New Jersey. When not creating content for websites, she can be found working on novels and short stories—as well as nibbling string cheese. She once pet-sat an electric eel, and enjoys walking in circles around the park for no particular reason.

Her first book—The Adventures of Stanley Delacourt: Book I of Hartlandia—is a middle-grade fantasy. It will be available in the summer of 2012. She is currently writing Book II of the Hartlandia trilogy, due out in 2013.

Find Her Blog: HERE.
Find Her on Twitter: @ilanawaters

My query process could become an action movie

2012-06-20T11:10:00.001-05:00

The following is syndicated from Janet's Blog.

Incoming!!!!!!

*run, duck, roll, flip, dodge*

Shields up Captain!

Scotty get me the hell out of here!

Oh, sorry, where was I? Oh right, I was about to completely enlighten your life on the latest adventures in querying.

Well, my friends and family and complete strangers who happen to stumble upon my insane ramblings, the No's are piling in. Each one is like a shooting arrow aimed for my heart, or ass, depending on the timing of my duck and rolling.

I've changed up my query letter 4 times now. I've done an artistic version, a query from my character on my behalf (hey I thought that one was really clever), I've done business woman extraordinaire and straight to the point here it is on the table for you. Nothing seems to be penetrating the defenses of any Literary Agent's walls.

Most of them say be unique, stand out so we remember you, make us take notice! I do and you still shoot me down. WTF? I read everyone's submission guidelines and try to follow them to a T. Some like quirky make me take notice, others seem to want business professional only, etc. I don't send out copy cat letters, I take the time to make each one fit the requested guidelines. I've done the research, I've taken the time and yet the rejection flows like lava from an exploding volcano.

I know, I know. I'm not the only one who this happens to. In fact those that it doesn't happen to are few and far between. Still doesn't make me feel any better or bring me closer to being able to quit my day job so I can write full time.

Tis ok, chin up Rocky, we'll keep at it. I have my gloves on and am prepared to fight for my dream. Even if I end up just self-pubbing on Amazon, if the publishing world doesn't want me, maybe someday readers will.

Ok who wants to dive into a tub of ice cream with me and help me drown my sorrows?

About Janet

Janet is a wife to Michael, mother to Elissa and aspiring author to many. Originally from Cudahy, WI she moved to Houston, TX in October of 2000 for love. (1, 2, 3...Awwww) By day she slings medical insurance to the masses, by night she attempts to scribe the life, love and mystical encounters of the paranormal. When not entertaining family, clients or fans she can be found lost in the enchanted world of Renaissance Faires. Keep an eye out for her debut novel, Bound, coming soon.

Check out her blog: HERE.
Follow her on Twitter: @KitaraLeMur

Shouldn't a historian be able to tell a good story?

2012-06-17T09:44:00.001-05:00

The following is syndicated from Jack's Blog.

Bruce Catton

I DISCOVERED THE CIVIL WAR in 1958 while in the eleventh grade of high school at Towson, Maryland. I suspect that the schools there danced around the subject for fear of offending their constituencies. Generally, the city of Baltimore was largely populated with the descendants of German immigrants who had earned passage to America by fighting for the Union, and the children of African slaves who had fled north after being freed from plantations in the deep south. The Maryland countryside surrounding Baltimore was largely populated by the descendants of rebels. Remember, Maryland was a slave-owning plantation state until the war ended, home of Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglas, both born into slavery on Maryland plantations. Any teacher who dared broach the subject was bound to run afoul of someone's sensibilities.

I was well familiar with the Revolutionary War. We had studied it a great length. And, as someone who shared a birthday with George Washington, I was born to study him. However, as a sailor, most of my attention went to John Paul Jones and the naval engagements that ultimately decided the outcome of the Revolution. (Huh? Sorry, that's another story.)

Of course, when I discovered the Civil War, my attention went to the nautical side of it. I began with a nine-volume dissertation on The Naval Engagement of the Civil War. I made models of the Monitor and Virginia (no, not the Merrimack) to illustrate my class project about that famous battle.

One of my greatest surprises came when I discovered that the founding editor of my favorite magazine, American Heritage, Bruce Catton, was writing some of the best stories about the Civil War. Catton wasn't an academic historian. He was a journalist. He had grown up listening to aging veterans telling stories of the Civil War and that's how he wrote it, as a story. Too many (almost all) academics “teach” history. They make it a dull and tiresome thing full of dates and places and other mundane details that murder any interest a student might have. Fortunately, I am self-taught and my interest in history only grew, especially when it was nurtured by storytellers of Catton's caliber.

It's interesting to compare Catton's work with that of Jeff Shaara. Shaara also tells stories, vastly interesting stories, including several good ones about the Civil War. However, he used fiction to help illuminate the personalities while Catton limited himself to documented fact. I suppose that is what makes Catton's achievements so much more remarkable.

If you can read just three of Catton's twenty-one books, let me point you in the right direction: The Coming Fury, Gettysburg: The Final Fury, and A Stillness at Appomattox. Don't just read them to learn history. Read them for a good story.

The most recent issue of American Heritage, and sadly, possibly one of its last, contains a tribute to Bruce Catton, wherein they say, “Catton almost always wrote about the Civil War with a sense of the epic.” I can only add that it is a great shame that he never taught educators how to teach history properly, as a good story – our story.

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