I am pleased to be able to announce that my next publishing project is in the pipeline. A collection of my short stories, with the working title of SOUL SCREAMS, will be released as an e-book and POD version, with a scheduled publication date of February 2012.
I'm working with a new e-publisher for this project, but their editor I know well and have worked with in the past, and I have every faith in them. The anthology will contain previously published short stories, as well as some unpublished ones. They are all horror-themed, but much of my earlier work dealt with psychological horror rather than supernatural horror, and characters in very dark places. It's not going to be an uplifting read, put it that way. Unlike my novels, my short stories rarely end happily.
I am not able to say much more about this project at this time, but I am very excited about working on it. I will release more information soon, so be sure to watch this space!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Ready for NaNoWriMo?
Remember that definition of insanity? The one about doing the same thing over and expecting a different result?
Welcome to my relationship with NaNoWriMo. Every year around this time, I promise myself I will prep in October and write a well-developed first draft in November. After all, planning is everything, right?
Also recall what they say about the plans of mice and men?
Yet I hope each year will be different. This year I'm planning to write my vampire Victorian paranormal. Not that I'm anywhere near finished with my research. This is going to be a manuscript with a lot of notes.
If you're doing NaNo this year, good luck and happy writing! I look forward to meeting you. :-)
Welcome to my relationship with NaNoWriMo. Every year around this time, I promise myself I will prep in October and write a well-developed first draft in November. After all, planning is everything, right?
Also recall what they say about the plans of mice and men?
Yet I hope each year will be different. This year I'm planning to write my vampire Victorian paranormal. Not that I'm anywhere near finished with my research. This is going to be a manuscript with a lot of notes.
If you're doing NaNo this year, good luck and happy writing! I look forward to meeting you. :-)
Friday, September 9, 2011
First Novel Lesson
I wanted to be a writer for many years before I actually was a writer. I knew I wanted to tell stories but I didn't know any of the things I needed to know. At least I was self-aware enough to know I didn't know. ;) I took a creative writing class at a nearby university but all I learned from that experience was that the professor hated the publishing business and was bitter about the stack of rejections he had for his literary masterpiece. My short stories had the whiff of genre fiction so he never had much to say to me.
A few years later I felt on the verge of giving up. I had a manuscript I'd been struggling with for a long time but it was going nowhere. Ultimately I put it away. I didn't give up writing, though. I had a few ideas about a very different type of story than the one I'd been working on unsuccessfully for years. About a year later I had my first finished novel, a Young Adult paranormal that came in at a hundred thousand words.
What did I learn from the experience? Nothing about point of view, that's for sure. The thing was full of head-hopping. Didn't learn tight plotting either. The story meandered around like a wayward puppy with a bad case of "ooh shiny let's go over there! ooh shiny what about this over here?" It was littered with adverbs and egregious comma abuse and no telling how many other grammar offences. What I did learn was invaluable: I learned I could finish something.
There comes a point in every manuscript, sometimes several times, when it feels like it will never be finished. It will feel as if the story is falling apart and that it would be a merciful death to delete the document. When that happens, especially when it happens more than once, you will hate your book. You will hate it with the fire of a thousand suns and a whole lot of other overworked metaphors. You will want that book to DIE.
Unless you are insanely lucky, this will happen with every book. The way I deal with it is to think back on that first book and the lesson it taught me - that I can finish. Whether I get a second wind or a grudging determination from that thought, it helps me to fight my through to the finish line on the current book.
It doesn't matter how bad that first book sucks or that no one will ever read it. What matters is that you did it, you finished it, and you can carry that knowledge through every book you write, through every dark period in the writing that makes you want to give up and switch to fan fiction. This is why I think National Novel Writing Month can be a great experience, even if the novel you have at the end of the month stinks so bad you hide it away in the darkest corner of your hard drive. That breakthrough experience of reaching THE END is one of the most valuable lessons a writer will ever learn. Whether it takes you a month or a year, it's a lesson you have to learn if you're serious about writing.
A few years later I felt on the verge of giving up. I had a manuscript I'd been struggling with for a long time but it was going nowhere. Ultimately I put it away. I didn't give up writing, though. I had a few ideas about a very different type of story than the one I'd been working on unsuccessfully for years. About a year later I had my first finished novel, a Young Adult paranormal that came in at a hundred thousand words.
What did I learn from the experience? Nothing about point of view, that's for sure. The thing was full of head-hopping. Didn't learn tight plotting either. The story meandered around like a wayward puppy with a bad case of "ooh shiny let's go over there! ooh shiny what about this over here?" It was littered with adverbs and egregious comma abuse and no telling how many other grammar offences. What I did learn was invaluable: I learned I could finish something.
There comes a point in every manuscript, sometimes several times, when it feels like it will never be finished. It will feel as if the story is falling apart and that it would be a merciful death to delete the document. When that happens, especially when it happens more than once, you will hate your book. You will hate it with the fire of a thousand suns and a whole lot of other overworked metaphors. You will want that book to DIE.
Unless you are insanely lucky, this will happen with every book. The way I deal with it is to think back on that first book and the lesson it taught me - that I can finish. Whether I get a second wind or a grudging determination from that thought, it helps me to fight my through to the finish line on the current book.
It doesn't matter how bad that first book sucks or that no one will ever read it. What matters is that you did it, you finished it, and you can carry that knowledge through every book you write, through every dark period in the writing that makes you want to give up and switch to fan fiction. This is why I think National Novel Writing Month can be a great experience, even if the novel you have at the end of the month stinks so bad you hide it away in the darkest corner of your hard drive. That breakthrough experience of reaching THE END is one of the most valuable lessons a writer will ever learn. Whether it takes you a month or a year, it's a lesson you have to learn if you're serious about writing.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Does Crossing Genres Kill Your Career?
Whenever I see the latest book by any best-selling author, I am always struck by how similar the cover is to the last book, or the last half a dozen books by this person. It would appear that publishers like series. If a first book about a particular character does well, another book featuring the same character is much more likely to be published (and, more significantly, promoted).
For this reason, large publishing houses seem rather nervous when their best-selling authors decide they want to branch out and try something a little different. They seem convinced the fans won't go for this new idea. After all, readers want more of the same.
Or do they? What I'm not clear on is whether this is actually true, or if it's a myth perpetuated by the publishing industry. Do readers go for a writer's books because they are hoping for the same thing again, or because they like this person's writing style? Michael Marshall Smith had several excellent science fiction novels published. Then he wrote a series of crime thrillers which appear under the name Michael Marshall, presumably to avoid ONLY FORWARD being picked up by people expecting another gritty crime thriller. Though if they did, they might well enjoy it anyway - it's a fabulous book.
My second novel DEATH SCENE is a mystery novel, with no supernatural elements at all. But because my first novel SUFFER THE CHILDREN was horror, I have noticed that a lot of the e-book websites that are selling DEATH SCENE have categorised it as horror. I do worry about this sometimes. Am I killing my career by writing in two separate genres? Are people going to pick up DEATH SCENhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifE expecting supernatural beasties and be disappointed? Or are they going to pick up the second book because they enjoyed the first one, and want to see what else I've written?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Sonya Clark had a marvellous post on her blog recently about this topic. And after reading it I feel a lot better.
There are some people out there who only read crime, and some who will only read horror. The majority of people who read, however, read because they enjoy the stories. And they can be trusted to make their own judgement on what they read. If they find an author they like, they will likely explore all the genres that author writes in.
I may never be a best-selling writer. But if I find a handful of people who look forward to my next book, no matter what genre it is, then I feel I will have achieved something.
For this reason, large publishing houses seem rather nervous when their best-selling authors decide they want to branch out and try something a little different. They seem convinced the fans won't go for this new idea. After all, readers want more of the same.
Or do they? What I'm not clear on is whether this is actually true, or if it's a myth perpetuated by the publishing industry. Do readers go for a writer's books because they are hoping for the same thing again, or because they like this person's writing style? Michael Marshall Smith had several excellent science fiction novels published. Then he wrote a series of crime thrillers which appear under the name Michael Marshall, presumably to avoid ONLY FORWARD being picked up by people expecting another gritty crime thriller. Though if they did, they might well enjoy it anyway - it's a fabulous book.
My second novel DEATH SCENE is a mystery novel, with no supernatural elements at all. But because my first novel SUFFER THE CHILDREN was horror, I have noticed that a lot of the e-book websites that are selling DEATH SCENE have categorised it as horror. I do worry about this sometimes. Am I killing my career by writing in two separate genres? Are people going to pick up DEATH SCENhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifE expecting supernatural beasties and be disappointed? Or are they going to pick up the second book because they enjoyed the first one, and want to see what else I've written?http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Sonya Clark had a marvellous post on her blog recently about this topic. And after reading it I feel a lot better.
There are some people out there who only read crime, and some who will only read horror. The majority of people who read, however, read because they enjoy the stories. And they can be trusted to make their own judgement on what they read. If they find an author they like, they will likely explore all the genres that author writes in.
I may never be a best-selling writer. But if I find a handful of people who look forward to my next book, no matter what genre it is, then I feel I will have achieved something.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
"Less Like Me"
A Dilbert comic has the titular character asking Dogbert for dating advice. Dogbert replies, "Try to be less like you."
As writers, we tend to project ourselves onto our characters. And why not? It's an indirect way to share our interests, likes, dislikes, etc., without (hopefully) being intrusive. Also, creating characters familiar with the same things we are allows us to remain in a comfort zone of sorts. No surprises.
But is Dogbert's advice something we should consider? I say "yes."
By forcing our characters to adapt to our standards, we're working within a limited range. Now if we apply the same traits to all our characters, well, you can see where the problem lies. The characters will most likely end up carbon copies of one another. If not for the characters' goals, we might not be able to tell them apart.
Am I guilty of doing this? Hell, yeah. It's a habit I'm trying to break. In my current WIP, I'm reworking my character charts, trying to make each character different and "less like me." My hero Zaphkiel tends to be analytical whereas his lover Caliel is more artistic minded. Actually, this dichotomy doesn't seem that strange to me because I can move back and forth between both thought processes with ease. Now Raziel is more mechanically minded and I can't hammer a nail without the threat of bodily injury.
Another way to create a character unlike you is to have him or her embody ideas or beliefs you may not agree with. This requires opening your mind and being receptive to new ideas. For example, you might cater to a Liberal point of view but have a character who chooses to see things from a Conservative viewpoint. Or a character who is Christian whereas another is atheist.
But whether you choose to people your books with characters who are just like you, somewhat like you, or not at all like you, keep in mind actions, beliefs, etc. have to fit that character's personality. You can't pick and choose traits arbitrarily. For one, character motivation won't make any sense.
What tips and tricks do you use to make your characters different? I'm working with Anne Olwin's character charts and sometimes I have to dig deep into my mind to answer some of the questions listed. :-)
As writers, we tend to project ourselves onto our characters. And why not? It's an indirect way to share our interests, likes, dislikes, etc., without (hopefully) being intrusive. Also, creating characters familiar with the same things we are allows us to remain in a comfort zone of sorts. No surprises.
But is Dogbert's advice something we should consider? I say "yes."
By forcing our characters to adapt to our standards, we're working within a limited range. Now if we apply the same traits to all our characters, well, you can see where the problem lies. The characters will most likely end up carbon copies of one another. If not for the characters' goals, we might not be able to tell them apart.
Am I guilty of doing this? Hell, yeah. It's a habit I'm trying to break. In my current WIP, I'm reworking my character charts, trying to make each character different and "less like me." My hero Zaphkiel tends to be analytical whereas his lover Caliel is more artistic minded. Actually, this dichotomy doesn't seem that strange to me because I can move back and forth between both thought processes with ease. Now Raziel is more mechanically minded and I can't hammer a nail without the threat of bodily injury.
Another way to create a character unlike you is to have him or her embody ideas or beliefs you may not agree with. This requires opening your mind and being receptive to new ideas. For example, you might cater to a Liberal point of view but have a character who chooses to see things from a Conservative viewpoint. Or a character who is Christian whereas another is atheist.
But whether you choose to people your books with characters who are just like you, somewhat like you, or not at all like you, keep in mind actions, beliefs, etc. have to fit that character's personality. You can't pick and choose traits arbitrarily. For one, character motivation won't make any sense.
What tips and tricks do you use to make your characters different? I'm working with Anne Olwin's character charts and sometimes I have to dig deep into my mind to answer some of the questions listed. :-)
Friday, September 2, 2011
Back to School Blowout
We're all Lyrical Press authors here so I thought I would share the news of a big weekend sale at the Lyrical Press store.
You can find links to all of our Lyrical Press books in the sidebar just by clicking on the book covers. It's a great time to feed your ereader!
Back to School Blowout!
With the wee ones trotting off to start a new school year, here at Lyrical Press we know this means reading time for the adults! As a reward for surviving summer, Lyrical Press is reducing the price of our entire catalog by 50% for the weekend.
Beginning Friday September 2nd and lasting throughout the weekend, all Lyrical titles will be 50% off list price.
Don't miss out on this incredible sale. It's the perfect way to discover your new favorite author.
You can find links to all of our Lyrical Press books in the sidebar just by clicking on the book covers. It's a great time to feed your ereader!
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