tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78174389410230066882024-03-13T16:48:41.478-05:00ADR3NALIN3ADR3NALIN3 is the brainchild of a group of authors who write the dark side of teen fiction. Jordan Danehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03350761658156085280noreply@blogger.comBlogger416125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-76860484669778447732014-03-20T13:38:00.002-05:002014-03-20T13:38:36.607-05:00The End<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">The two words every writer has mixed feelings about - <em>The End</em>. It's hard for a writer to say good-bye to the world he/she created, yet there is an excited anticipation for where things will go next. It's in that spirit we end our blog posts here at ADR3NALIN3. Demands tipped the scale on our workloads and deadlines until we had to cry, <em>"UNCLE!"</em></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">We will keep our posts online since we get traffic every day to the many topics and conversations we have posted here over the last several years. Thanks to all the authors who contributed to this blog and for the readers who followed it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><em>Best of luck to every one in 2014!</em></strong></span>Jordan Danehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03350761658156085280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-6459907159733399152014-02-28T01:00:00.000-06:002014-02-28T01:00:05.806-06:00Big Picture vs. Little Details<div class="Publishwithline">
<a href="http://www.sechintower.com/">Sechin Tower</a></div>
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<a href="https://twitter.com/SechinTower">@SechinTower</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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First, you should know that I’m extremely easy going in
almost every way. I’m not a picky eater, I’m happy with whatever temperature
you like on the thermostat, and I enjoy movies for what they are. (If it’s a
smart movie, I enjoy its smartness. If it’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sharknado</i>,
I switch off my cerebrum and just enjoy the airborne sharks).<o:p></o:p></div>
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But in my current stage of writing, I obsess over every
little detail. I fuss over miniscule plot points and little character traits.
I’ve even been known to spend 20 minutes deliberating about the perfect punctuation
to deliver a joke or accelerate the action. Sometimes, I’ll sketch a diagram of
a gizmo that my characters have invented, just so I can understand what it
looks like or how someone would interface with the control panel. Go ahead:
call me crazy. I’m used to it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thing is, this is only one phase of writing. I’m not always
like this, only when I shift the mental gears into “nitty gritty.” Right now,
I’m in the final stages of revising <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Non-Zombie Apocalypse</i> (the long-awaited sequel to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Science Institute</i>), and hence my attention is directed to the
microscopic. My editor, the very talented and patient Jane Kenealy,
courageously returned after editing my first book to help me trim almost 5,000
unnecessary words from the new manuscript—words I can now save for later books
and short stories (combating the “info dump” is a topic for another post). I
obsess about her edits, too, as I wonder how little changes might shift the
balance of character, suspense, humor, and pacing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If I had the opportunity, I might be pleased to work strictly
on big picture stuff—plot, character, and world. But that’s a different phase. Right
now, if I have a big idea, I need to jot it down in a notebook and get back to
the main project or else I’ll never finish anything. On the other hand, when
I’m in the “big picture” phase, spending time spell-checking and grammar-policing
scares off my ideas before they can get safely to the keyboard.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://adr3nalin3.blogspot.com/2014/02/rx-for-writers-block.html">Stephen
Wallenfel’s prescriptions for writer’s block</a> got me thinking about why I
don’t seem to suffer from blocks. I have certainly experienced writer’s block in
the past, but it’s been a decade since it’s afflicted me. Why? I don’t know.
Maybe I’m just lucky. Maybe I don’t have enough time to write so the ideas
build up inside of me until I get the chance to blast them out onto a page. Or
maybe it’s because what some people consider writer’s block is what I consider to
be a distinct and important phase of writing. To the outside world I might look
like I’m staring off into space, but really my brain is on fire with plans and
possibilities.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have a question for all you other writers, amateur and
pros alike: do you find your writing has distinct phases? Do you have the
luxury of working on a project one phase at a time, or do you need/prefer to
mix up detail work with big-picture work?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Be good, and
dream crazy dreams,<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sechin Tower
is a teacher, a table-top game designer, and the author of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mad Science Institute</i>. You can read more about him and his books on
<a href="http://www.sechintower.com/">SechinTower.com</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/madscienceinstitute">Facebook</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/SechinTower">Twitter</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Sechin Towerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705634396099150916noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-76846608891195806662014-02-26T01:00:00.000-06:002014-02-26T01:00:03.380-06:00Myth Matters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oUiE0wYSoEI/UwQzwTyR_CI/AAAAAAAAAUk/D3gQf_CmXFs/s1600/ghost+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oUiE0wYSoEI/UwQzwTyR_CI/AAAAAAAAAUk/D3gQf_CmXFs/s1600/ghost+2.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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A few weeks ago I spent a day with 5<sup>th</sup> graders
talking about story structure and writing. My writing <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>partner and I started with a skit. I pretended
I didn’t want my picture taken. He tried to take it several times and every
time I’d complain, turn away or try to grab the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we asked the students why I might not
want my photo taken. At first their answers were predictable. You’re shy, you
don’t want to be on Facebook, you don’t like the way you look. But when we told
them we were writing a ghost story suddenly they had permission to wander into
a wilder landscape. What if when he looked at the photo, I had no face?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if that was the case, what might it mean?</div>
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<br /></div>
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As they brainstormed, I thought of stories of aliens,
invisible people, masked faces and even the urban legend of the Slender
Man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It wasn’t long until I was
wandering into the territory of myth. Webster defines myth as “a story that was
told in an ancient culture to explain a practice, belief, or natural
occurrence” or “<span class="ssens">a person or thing having only an imaginary or
unverifiable existence.” But in reality it is so much more. Myth adds subtext
to a story. It leads the reader into primal woods where others have traveled
before. The writer and reader join a conversation that has been whispered for
centuries: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>where did we come from, where
are we going, is the world a safe place.</span></div>
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<span class="ssens">How do we know when we’ve entered the
territory of myth? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I like author </span>Robin
McKinley's definition. </div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But myth, to some
extent, is where you find it; and you know when you've found it by the way it
goes right through you -- like the first heavenly, shocking mouthful of ice
cream on a hot day, or falling in love. <i>Whew. Zowie. </i>I always want my
stories to be cracking good stories; but I always hope that for some readers
there's a resonant depth to them too.” </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what does myth whisper? Too much for one post. I’ve made
a list of some of things I’ve learned from writers like Neil Gaiman, Susan Cooper,
Jane Yolen, Lewis and Tolkien: </div>
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<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The inside is often so much larger than the
outside</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>Like Bilbo Baggins, we are all more than meets
the eye</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>There is no easy way out of the maze</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>We can fight dragons and win</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The world isn’t tame</li>
</ul>
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>The things we fear are often the wrong things</li>
</ul>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast">
“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going
out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's
no knowing where you might be swept off to.” <b>What truths have you learned from myth?</b></div>
</div>
Maureen McQuerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07875437661944977609noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-12564927875894102014-02-24T00:00:00.000-06:002014-02-24T00:00:02.091-06:00Getting the Word Out: The Taylor Swift Equation<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">A couple months ago, <i><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/29/arts/the-meanings-of-the-selfie.html?_r=0">James Franco wrote a fantastic piece for The New York Times on selfies</a>,</i> those self-generated glam shots you can post of, yes, yourself doing whatever and in which you think someone might be interested. It's only a dyslexic step away from Twitter, come to think of it, only completely visual. Read Franco's article all the way through; this is one smart guy. Above all, he's an entertainer and understands the draw of--and our fascination with--celebrity. If you remember nothing else of what he says (and granted, we're talking about a celebrity who understands image and how to generate the illusion of intimacy), this is your take-home: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;"><i>"In this age of too much information at a click of a button, the power to attract viewers amid the sea of things to read and watch is power indeed. It’s what the movie studios want for their products, it’s what professional writers want for their work, it’s what newspapers want — hell, it’s what everyone wants: attention. <b>Attention is power. </b>And if you are someone people are interested in, then the selfie provides something very powerful, from the most privileged perspective possible." </i>(emphasis mine)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">Successful entertainers understand the value of attention and how to grab it. You want an example of someone who's a master? Taylor Swift. I kid you not. Maybe four months before Franco's piece came out--or it might have been longer--I recall listening to an NPR piece on social media and Twitter, and the reporter singled out Swift as someone who really understood how to use social media effectively. She specifically mentioned that Swift was excellent at mixing in the private moment to further a public agenda. The example she gave was Swift tweeting something like, <i>oh, making sugar cookies because I'm so happy my latest single was just released. </i>(I'm paraphrasing here.) And Swift is <i>very </i>good at this; <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/466294/kelly-osbourne-and-taylor-swift-bake-chocolate-peppermint-cookies-see-the-delicious-pics"><i>take a look at this photo montage of her and Kelly Osborne making chocolate peppermint cookies. </i></a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">Now the reporter suggested that Swift is comfortable with this because she grew up with it. Maybe . . . but in this publicity arms race--and it is an arms race; all of us are constantly upgrading and scrambling after the next best thing, which writers have doing since Dickens single-handedly started the celebrity-author tour and authors before him gave lectures to drum up publicity for their other works--I'd suggest that Swift, like Madonna and other consummate entertainers, understand the value of the attention-grab. Do these people blog? Not only your life. Swift tweets; she knows the people she wants to reach only want/need that much. What she and other entertainers like her do is trade on image, understanding that their <i>image </i>is what fans want because it furthers the sense of pseudo-intimacy: a carefully scripted, ostensibly "private" moment.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">For a while now, I've been talking about marketing, the value of certain venues, etc. Boil it down to its essentials, and what I've been talking about is grabbing attention for you and your work. (An important distinction: grabbing attention for <i>you </i>is not necessarily the same as snatching this for your <i>work</i> just as different platforms draw the attention of different audiences.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;"><i><a href="http://kriswrites.com/2014/02/19/the-business-rusch-social-media-discoverability-part-10/">In her business blog this past Thursday, Kris Rusch talks about the usefulness of social media; as always, she's spot on</a>. </i>Although I'd suggest that <i>everything </i>on the Internet is potentially a social media site, and that includes your blog. The folks who might stroll by are not necessarily the same people who will admire a Sunday cake or pictures of your cats. So, again, we're talking developing your idea of a target audience and which venue best gets whatever you want your message to be across. (I also disagree, just a tad, with Rusch's points about teens and Facebook. Yes, it's true that the majority of <i>American</i> teens don't find you on Facebook, and <i><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/teens-leaving-facebook/story?id=20739310">there's some data to suggest that teens are ditching Facebook for other social media sites, specifically Instagram, Snapchat,</a></i> and--in my experience--Tumblr. But that doesn't apply to all teens. Specifically, all those kids I met overseas a couple years back found and have stuck with me through Facebook, on which we routinely interact.) </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px;">Yet what Rusch describes in terms of publisher expectations has been my experience, too. Now, neither publisher has ever told me how many times I must blog or tweet or Facebook or whatever, but I was told I had to mount a website, get on Twitter and Facebook, and "join the conversation." For the longest time, I had zero idea of what that meant. I </span></span><i style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 26px;">thought</i><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px;"> it meant figuring out key websites--you know, the ones that might have bearing on what I was doing--and then jumping in with comments. (Remember I mentioned in an earlier post how bloggers look at blogrolls to see who you're following, and (for some of them) if you're following the right people? So that's what I was doing: trying to follow the "right" people the same way a new kid tries to figure out who's with the popular crowd. It's actually all rather sophomoric. Anyway, I did that for a while, but I couldn't see the utility, plus it took a lot of time and, frankly, a ton of those sites catered to books in the wrong age and </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="line-height: 26px;">demographic. I certainly didn't see that I was adding anything to the conversation, and we all remember high school, right? The more you wanted to hang with the popular girls, the harder they made it for you. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">Then I wised up and realized: the idea was that </span><i style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: xx-large; line-height: 26px;">I </i><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">should be the one getting the conversation going, not some random voice chiming in about whom no one else gave a damn. (People may still not give a damn, but I can live with that.) I would have to become an entertainer of sorts, someone who could walk into a crowded room, get the ball rolling, and start to turn eyes my way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">Oh . . . is <i>that </i>all?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">Look, not everyone can do this. Most of us don't have the gazillion assistants standing by to take that perfect Taylor Swift glam shot (or Franco's compositional sense). Some of us are shy. I, for one, have zero ability to vamp for the camera.</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Iq_dyA6wbJA/UwlNMkpUV5I/AAAAAAAAAsI/evOvqXofBls/s1600/20140216_121140.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Iq_dyA6wbJA/UwlNMkpUV5I/AAAAAAAAAsI/evOvqXofBls/s1600/20140216_121140.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">So what this means is that, regardless of which media you choose, you have to understand what's required to get the most <i>out </i>of it. If you want to do selfies, then you might follow Franco's lead, carefully titrating the personal and non-personal, for example. (It also helps if you don't hate the way you take pictures; I have a supremely goofy smile.) In other words, you have to give some serious thought about how to make the media work <i>for </i>you instead of you struggling to figure out what the media's for--or worse, working <i>against </i>it.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">Take Twitter. I forget who said that it's a place where writers can connect with other writers . . . and I've certainly never thought of it that way for myself, but I have noticed that the most popular folks do what Rusch also points out: the best tweets are funny. Author Maureen Johnson knows how to do this; she also does things I wouldn't dream of because they're just not in my nature. For example, I remember a tweet a couple years back of her newly painted toenails. Me, I have ugly feet. (Frankly, I think that anyone who looks at her own feet and doesn't laugh . . . I'd never dream of posting a picture of my toenails. Opossums, sure. Cats and cakes and orchids? No sweat. But my toes?) It works for Johnson, though, because she knows how to work it--<i>and she's having fun</i>. Or she's appearing to, which is all that matters. <i>Appearances </i>are all that matter when it comes to the truly ephemeral nature of most social media. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">Rusch makes this point, too; if you're going to do social media, for God's sake, have some fun while you're at it. Yes, yes, it's marketing; it's work . . . but it is also your chance to let your hair down a little. My co-blogger Jordan Dane tweets bon mots as she watches <i>Sleepy Hollow.</i> Me, I'd miss half the show while trying to keep my tweets pithy and sweet--although, lately, I'm not above getting all snarkazoid about <i>House of Games</i>. Of course, that show is something I can watch when I've got time, so I don't have to multi-task. I have a publisher-friend who gathers up all her Facebook buddies to watch <i>American Idol </i>together. I once had the experience of FBing during a Packer playoff game; it was totally random and thoroughly fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 26px;"><i>Random </i>is the key there, too. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 26px;">Think about this: a post to Snapchat disappears within ten </span><i style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 26px;">seconds</i><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 26px;">--and t</span><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 26px;">eens love this site. So you're talking about grabbing teens with the attention span of gnats. Which means humor works. The outrageous works, and the shocking. It also means that snagging anyone's attention is thoroughly random . . . at least in that venue and maybe in them all.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">Paying attention to audience is also important. The teens who adore Snapchat--and given my experience of them, I'd say that would be most--are <i>not </i>going to come to your blog to read what you have to say. They're just not; they don't care. For them, your blog/website is the gateway; they will come to <i>find </i>you so they can get a conversation <i>they care about </i>started.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">Read that again: teens and most fans will come to your blog in order to talk to you about what <i>they </i>care about. They are not coming to your blog to talk about what <i>you </i>care about--at least, not initially. (That can happen. It certainly has for me. I've had some wonderful interactions with kids over environmental issues, for example, and after posts on Facebook, I would add.) But I know these same kids are not spending the time to really read anything I say (especially when they ask questions that I've written whole long blogs about) . . . but that's okay. I've come to accept that, for teens and most young adult fans, my website is a place for them to find out how to talk to me. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 26px;">And that's just fine. I can live with that. What I have to decide is something we all must: how many platforms; what content for which; and how much time we really want to give this. Marketing/grabbing attention/vying for power is time-consuming. You can trick yourself into thinking that it is work, and as valuable as, say, a finished short story or novel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia, times new roman, times, serif;"><span style="line-height: 26px;">But blogging is not work. Flitting around various social media platforms is not work. Writing is work. Producing that book is your work. </span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 26px;">Without your books, you're just another person who's always wanted to be a writer. You could be anybody and everyone. You have to make people care about your books, and in order for that to happen, you have to write them. Call it the Taylor Swift equation, if you want, but bear in mind that t</span><span style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; line-height: 26px;">he only reason a gazillion eyes care about Taylor Swift's cookies is because she's Taylor Swift. Without her songs, Taylor Swift is nobody but another lady in an apron.</span></span></div>
Ilsahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08547422320007180924noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-52226010995922225322014-02-21T01:00:00.000-06:002014-02-21T01:00:00.551-06:00Crazy is the New Black<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.jordandane.com/" target="_blank">Jordan Dane</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><a href="http://www.twitter.com/JordanDane" target="_blank">@JordanDane</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-62j4WHvNRvk/UwaJnNNPbaI/AAAAAAAAC7k/7fv_ZOfuSOY/s1600/20140219_191603_resized.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-62j4WHvNRvk/UwaJnNNPbaI/AAAAAAAAC7k/7fv_ZOfuSOY/s1600/20140219_191603_resized.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I'll admit that I've gone a little cra-cray over <strong>Fox's Sleepy Hollow</strong>. Yes, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2070427/" target="_blank">Tom Mison</a> is the real reason I watch the show. There I said it, but the insane way the creators have put together such an inventive twist on Washington Irving's short stories (The Headless Horseman & Rip Van Winkle), thrown in the Bible's Revelations, added a spicy mix of conspiracy theory & history surrounding George Washington and the revolutionary war, and topped it off with demons and witches--makes my writer juices flow. It's like they had a dartboard and write about whatever they hit. I call it painting yourself in the corner and trying to figure your way out. The wilder, the better the challenge. I've been dying to try a book using this method and here the notion has unfolded in a TV show. The way season 1 ended, the finale was monster. It's hard to imagine what will come in season 2, but I will be in the front row and live tweeting every episode.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><strong>Anyone else a fan of Sleepy Hollow?</strong></span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WHKJDRDjeBE/UwaJavJ9dKI/AAAAAAAAC7c/m3vmUIslfGk/s1600/Hannibal+Antlers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WHKJDRDjeBE/UwaJavJ9dKI/AAAAAAAAC7c/m3vmUIslfGk/s1600/Hannibal+Antlers.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Another show that has its season 2 premiere coming Feb 28th is <strong>Hannibal on NBC</strong>. Crazy man Bryan Fuller has taken Thomas Harris's Red Dragon and reinvented what happens between profiler Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter. Fuller asked a great writer question: What if Will met Hannibal before he knew the man was the most prolific serial killer the world had ever known? Then make Hannibal his therapist. That is bent and twisted. If you haven't caught season 1, do yourself a favor and try it. It is graphically violent. So fair warning, but the mental mind games of Hannibal will blow you away. Season 2 is Will fighting back and Hannibal will regret how much he's taught Will about being a master manipulator and sadistic killer. This show may not be for anyone who is squeamish or prone to nightmares, but it puts me in my happy place. Weird, I know. I love Hugh Dancy in this role. He's such a strong actor and Mads Mikkelson as Hannibal is a perfect pairing. Mads has completely owned the iconic role that Anthony Hopkins used to dominate. Move over, Sir Anthony.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">These shows (and a few more) have stirred my creative imaginings as a writer. They remind me that a writer is only limited by his or her own imagination. Staying the course and picking a safe book plot won't allow you to stand out in a crowd. To take the risk of pushing the envelope on what you write can be unnerving, but the upside can be ENORMOUS--and it's just so much damned fun.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">There are other shows that have twisted storylines with the creators' wild imaginings. <strong>Please share some of your favorites and tell me why you like them. Do we have any Game of Thrones lovers out there? Fantasy supreme.</strong></span></div>
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<br />Jordan Danehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03350761658156085280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-19678273025657239232014-02-19T00:30:00.000-06:002014-02-19T00:30:04.234-06:00Rx for Writer's Block<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w3pQ4LOw_xE/UwQy-TdkiWI/AAAAAAAAAEE/eWlrXifC_A0/s1600/prescription.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w3pQ4LOw_xE/UwQy-TdkiWI/AAAAAAAAAEE/eWlrXifC_A0/s1600/prescription.jpg" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">’ve been doing some research
on writer’s block because I seem to be suffering from a bout of it at the
moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The web is teeming with
suggestions of how to get unblocked and start writing again.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many, in fact, that it made me wonder if
this is the subject writers write about when they’re stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The solutions ranged from step away and do
something else, to chain yourself to the chair and write your way over, under,
around or through it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my
favorites was from a site (</span><a href="http://flavorwire.com/343207/13-famous-writers-on-overcoming-writers-block/"><span style="color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri;">flavorwire.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">)
that quoted twelve famous authors and how they dealt with blockage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three of my favorite authors were cited:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hemmingway, Steinbeck and Bradbury.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the twelve, Orson Scott Card had the
answer that agreed most with my own personal diagnosis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><em>“Writer’s block is my unconscious mind telling me that something I’ve just written is either unbelievable or unimportant to me, and I solve it by going back and reinventing some part of what I’ve already written so that when I write it again, it is believable and interesting to me. Then I can go on.” </em></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Or more concisely stated: if
you don’t like the solution, change the problem.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">While doing this research (translation:
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not writing</i>) it occurred to me that,
in keeping with the traditions of western medicine, we should treat the
symptoms rather than the disease.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
talking hard drugs, the kind that writers would use—but someone needs to invent
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To help speed the process along, I
took the liberty of identifying five common states of writer’s block along with
the drug that could be prescribed to treat them.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Diagnosis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Distractitus<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Description:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too
many outside distractions (aka life) pulling you away from and out of your
work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rx:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><strong><u>Distractin<o:p></o:p></u></strong></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dosage:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2-3 hrs of
uninterrupted silence taken aurally every 24 hours.</span><br />
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Diagnosis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Focal Dislocation<o:p></o:p></span></u></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Description:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Too
much going on in your story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t
focus on the characters and their internal motivation because the A, B and C
plots keeps getting in the way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rx:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><strong><u>Focacyllin</u></strong></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dosage:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2 pills
dissolved in snappy dialogue but not to exceed more than two characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cannot be combined with flashbacks.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Diagnosis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Inertial Character Estrangement (ICE)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Description:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You’re trying to move from point A to point B, but your characters
haven’t done or said anything meaningful in so long, you’re wondering if they
still have a pulse.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rx:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><strong>locomotorpsychocycline</strong></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dosage:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3 mml
injection directly into protagonist (or antagonist) whichever is least cooperative.
</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Diagnosis: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>MetaDataSurplexia<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Description:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
confidence you had that you possessed the skills required to write your story in
the first place is either suppressed or simply gone leading to hours (days, weeks
or months) of research and story analysis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Frequently misdiagnosed as Analysis Paralysis)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rx:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><strong><u>Cerebelladumpacodone</u></strong></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dosage:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>24 hr IV
drip, reducing data feed until confidence returns and writing flows freely.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Diagnosis:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Creative Collapse Syndrome<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Description:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your
creative well is tapped out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hose
that used to feed the garden of your imagination has gone from a steady steam
to a slow, sludge-like ooze.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rx:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><strong><u>Createanoxitonin</u></strong></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Dosage:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unrestricted topical application of life, friends, family and laughter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Continue liberal doses in stress-free preferably
beach oriented environment until creativity flows and words return to the page
with little or no discomfort.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So there’s my trip around writer’s block along with a few
recommended prescriptions to treat a common problem infecting writers dating
back to the first time a caveman (or cavewoman) stood frozen, stick in hand,
unable to remember what possessed him to start painting on the wall in the
first place.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What do you do when faced with blockages of your own? </span></div>
Stephen Wallenfelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17684083345763038357noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-55850644519316783492014-02-14T01:00:00.000-06:002014-02-14T01:00:04.905-06:00Love and Words<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.sechintower.com/">Sechin Tower</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://twitter.com/SechinTower">@SechinTower</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Happy Valentine’s Day!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Or, for those of you who object to an arbitrary holiday
fabricated by a corporation for the purpose of selling cardstock at ridiculous profit
margins, I wish you a dour Singles Awareness Day (SAD). Yeah, Valentine’s Day
is way more fun, so let’s go with that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In celebration of February 14<sup>th</sup>, I had my writing
students perform an amusing little exercise that ended with a lot of laughter.
(My students are now sworn to secrecy about it because if anyone finds out that
we have fun in my class it would ruin my rep.) I got this exercise from a very
distinguished colleague, and it goes like this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Write a love poem
which includes the following words: Sludge, Penguin, Search Warrant, Pancreas,
Textbook, Byproduct, Garlic, Banana Slug, Memo, Boredom, Recycling Bin,
Porcupine.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of the responses were hilarious, although I’m not sure
Hallmark would want to make a card out of any of them. Still, a few budding poets
managed to turn the words into something that actually sounded nice. Here’s one
clever example:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>You
could read me like a text book<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i> Since the day I said “Hello,”<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>We’re
a byproduct of love<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i> Didn’t you get the memo?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>Babe,
you’re like a porcupine<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i>You pierced right through my heart,<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>I’m
as sure that I love you<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i>As I am that they sell garlic at K-Mart.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>Your
love is a wall<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i>I wish only to break through<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>If
beauty were a crime<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i>They’d have a search warrant out for you.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>You’ve
got me all goopy inside<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i>Like a pile of warm sludge.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>You
try to push me away <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i>But, girl, you know I won’t budge<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>Got
me feelin’ like a penguin<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i>But this ain’t happy feet<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in;">
<i>You’re
everything in my life<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i>You’re the reason my heart beats.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay, not exactly a love sonnet by Sir Phillip Sydney, but I’d
wager it’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever read that included the word “Sludge.”
Too bad he didn’t have time to write a verse about recycling bin.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Despite the goofiness, this exercise contains an important
lesson about writing. If it had been a poetry class, I might have added
requirements to follow a certain meter or structure, but, even more essentially,
this illustrates the power of words to create an impression. The right word can
make your readers feel like they’re right there, seeing and feeling what you’re
describing. One single wrong word (such as “penguin” or “banana slug”) can send
them into a tailspin of disbelief. This student did a great job of forcefully romanticizing
the un-romantic words, but you can see how hard he needed to work to tap dance
around the inherent connotations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like Mark Twain said: “the difference between the almost
right word and the right word is really a large matter—‘tis the difference
between the lighting bug and the lighting.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’d add that the different between the right word and the
absolutely wrong word is funny. Take a malapropism for example: “that orchard
hires migraine workers.” Or Dan Quayle’s famous line: “Republicans understand
the importance of bondage between a mother and child.” Or what a student of
mine once actually said: “My uncle has prostitute cancer.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You writers out there know what I’m getting at. A single key
word can make or break an entire description. Do any of you have a favorite example of <i>the right word</i> that created the
lighting? Or the wrong word that sent the whole house of cards toppling to the
floor? I’d love to hear your picks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Be good, and
dream crazy dreams,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
--Sechin</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Sechin Tower
is a teacher, a table-top game designer, and the author of Mad Science Institute. You can read more about him and his books on
<a href="http://www.sechintower.com/">SechinTower.com</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/madscienceinstitute">Facebook</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/SechinTower">Twitter</a>.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
Sechin Towerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705634396099150916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-17664764845468435202014-02-12T01:00:00.000-06:002014-02-12T01:00:07.446-06:00Off Balance and Full of Surprises<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The forecast really wasn’t so bad. The mountain pass
had slush in places, but was mostly clear, and no snow was forecast until we
would be safely across. That prediction held true until we reached the other
side. The east slopes of the Cascade Range caught us by surprise. On two smaller
passes, snow was falling heavily. The wind swept in with vengeance reducing
visibility to a few feet. We kept creeping forward on that snow and ice coated pavement.
My inclination, if I had been driving, was to stop on the side of the road, sob
for a while, and wait for spring. But I wasn’t driving. We kept going. Pulling
off the road, turning, changing direction, were all hazards. Sometimes there
are no stopping places.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps some of you think you know where this post
is going. But I’m not going to quote El Doctrow’s famous line “Writing is like
driving at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but
you can make the whole trip that way.” Instead I’m taking a different
direction. I’m thinking about the unpredictability of life. And how we’re
caught off guard. In the last two weeks, one author friend became a grandpa for
the first time, another had a parent die and a third is dealing with an adult
child’s romantic break up. Good news and bad, playing havoc with our writing schedules.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As writers we know the engine that drives tension is
that balance between hope and fear we create for the readers. It’s also the
balance in which we live our lives. More often than not, we’re tipping to one
side or the other. Off balance. Trying to find tracks to follow in the snow. We’re
pulled out of our stories. Our characters slip down ravines and we have to haul
them back. I used to wait for balance to be restored, for the winds to stop and
visibility to increase. In the last few years, I’ve discovered that may not
happen predictably. I’ve become more of a stop, drop and roll kind of writer,
squeezing in moments on the page between life’s surprises. And it’s made me
wonder if this isn’t our natural state of being, off balance. And our task is
to get that tension on the page.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And while I finished this post, look what arrived at my door!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Paperback Peculiars! </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CI_0cWMl9oo/UvrZidYaXzI/AAAAAAAAAT0/Qu3FD0Wbgvs/s1600/Peculiars+PB-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CI_0cWMl9oo/UvrZidYaXzI/AAAAAAAAAT0/Qu3FD0Wbgvs/s1600/Peculiars+PB-5.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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Maureen McQuerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07875437661944977609noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-8914917085796477942014-02-10T00:00:00.000-06:002014-02-10T10:04:26.965-06:00Getting the Word Out: Your Blog and You<a href="http://www.ilsajbick.com/?p=2553"><em>After my blog last week about paid reviews in which I looked at Clarion Reviews and San Francisco Book Review</em></a>, I'd intended to go on to other venues in which you might be able to get your book reviewed. It's worth looking at the blog from last week, however, because the CEO from San Francisco Book Review weighed in on my post. Take a couple moments to read her comments and my response--and pay attention to what I focused on, i.e., that a consumer wants and needs certain information in order to make a decision about whether to go with a particular service or not.<br />
<br />
Her comments got me to thinking, too. No, not about my job as an investigative journalist: I don't even pretend to that. But what I am and continue to be, first and foremost, is a customer, and in that case, a potential consumer for the services the <em>SFBR </em>would like to offer.<br />
<br />
Readers are consumers/customers, too. So it stands to reason that when a reader comes to your blog, she's looking for information. She's coming there as a consumer/customer. The question is, what kind of information is that reader looking for? <br />
<br />
I'll be honest: I think that books direct readers to blogs, not that blogs direct readers to your books (unless there's a specific post about you as part of a blog tour). Blogs can help readers find your other books, but the reason that any reader bothers to Google your name is because she's read your book and is interested in knowing more about you. <br />
<br />
Not convinced? Want to test this out? Easy. Look at the number of entries I've had for the <em>MONSTERS </em>audiobook giveaway, one that has relied solely upon Facebook, Twitter, and traffic to my blog; and then go look at the Goodreads giveaway for <em>WHITE SPACE</em>. There's no comparison. I've had a very small number of entries for the <em>MONSTERS </em>Rafflecopter giveaway. Yet, for <em>WHITE SPACE</em> on Goodreads . . . there are over 2400 entries--and that's because people have a reason to be on Goodreads. Goodreads is a community. By contrast, there is no community organized about Ilsa J. Bick.<br />
<br />
So it's clear that my blog--just me and my vanilla random thoughts--doesn't generate much traffic. Yes, I have fans, and yeah, I get a fair number of comments and fan mail. But it's not <em>me </em>that makes people come to the blog. What makes them come there, if they come at all, is that I've written a book they like.<br />
<br />
So when they come to the blog, what should they find? What is it that you want your blog to reflect about you and your work? Is there some hook you can use to keep a random consumer--someone who's read one of your books and decided to look you up--coming back?<br />
<br />
Remember, I said that the Internet is nothing but a vast marketing tool. Blogs and every aspect of social media is/are marketing tools. <em><a href="http://kriswrites.com/2014/02/05/the-business-rusch-more-passive-marketing-discoverability-part-8/">In her blog last week</a></em>, Kris Rusch mentioned a few things the standard blog ought to provide a consumer in terms of basic information about you and your work, past and current. Take a few minutes to read her blog; it's well worth your time, although I'm not sure that I agree that your blog needs to be genre specific. For me and most people I know, a blog needs to be clean and easy to navigate. I used to have a different theme for my blog, one that I thought was very spooky and kind of cool. But I also found that that particular theme got to be too cluttered, busy and difficult to read. At the time, I'd been influenced by other folks' blogs--no, I won't tell you who--that had all kinds of bells and whistles. I mean, navigating their blogs was like playing a video game. Roll over this, something would happen; click this, something else would blow up. All very nifty. But also very pricey--and not easily transferrable to things like iPads and iPhones, which don't use Flash (and something I discovered to my chagrin after shelling out a fair amount of cash for an animated sequence for <em>ASHES</em> that relied on Flash. All that money for nothing.).<br />
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So, recently, I switched, going for a blog format that I think is clean and easy on the eyes. Is it as spooky and creepazoid as I would like? No, but it's easy to navigate; you can find out all you want to find out about me (or, as much as I'll let you find out) and you can also read about my upcoming releases and where to find them. That's really all the information that a blog needs to provide the average consumer. <br />
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But once you've enticed a consumer to your blog--to that bit of advertising about you--do you want to keep them coming back? If so, what can or do you offer? Some writers give out free fiction; others just post their opinions about this, that, or the other; some folks talk about what recipe they're trying out that week. <br />
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Or . . . are you targeting different consumers? That is, if someone loved your book, will they keep coming back to your blog if you talk about writing? Or cats? Or what cake you baked that week? Do you capture a different audience on Mondays--when you post a picture of your latest cake, for example (actually, Sundays are when I usually post mine--and on Facebook and Twitter because I don't think people stroll by my blog then, but I <em>know </em>they're on the other platforms)--and yet another on a different day when you offer advice on writing? Or share your latest needlepoint pattern? Or your Charger's new paint job?<br />
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There are some fans who read a book and then want to know all about you, and so they're the ones who will happily read a post about yak tea on Monday and your car's new paint job on Wednesday. There are others--and I would say that they form the majority--who only come to find you because something you wrote touched them in some way. They happen by your site and drop a line . . . but they don't keep coming back.<br />
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Except . . . don't we want them to keep coming back?<br />
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So that then begs the question, the very same one I had for <em>SFBR</em>'s CEO: if I want to use a certain service, I need to understand the target audience.<br />
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It's the same for us as writers. Who's your blog for? Who's your target audience? Who do you want to engage--and are those people you engage on, say, Monday, the <em>same </em>folks you engage on Thursday? My guess is that you can't please everyone, and people cherry-pick. As I've said before, I happen by a particular blog every week on the day that I know there will be information I think might be useful. But that's all. But if I were to offer, say, a free story on a certain day and do it reliably . . . would that increase my traffic? Chances are good that, eventually, it would--and if a reader's read enough free fiction, he or she just might want to pony up to buy an actual novel.<br />
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I'm not suggesting that all we writers need to or can do that, but I think that a writer who provides an array of content--say, a story one day a week, advice another, a recipe a third--is one who understands a diversified market.<br />
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Anyway, I'd be interested in hearing from other writers out there, and bloggers, too: do you even think of a target audience? If you do, do you think in terms of <em>different </em>audiences and different platforms for those audiences?Ilsahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08547422320007180924noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-1919657168864148662014-02-07T01:00:00.000-06:002014-02-07T01:00:10.962-06:00Five Key Ingredients to Nurture a Story<a href="http://www.jordandane.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;">JordanDane</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.twitter.com/JordanDane" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">@JordanDane</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I’ve read and heard various posts/discussions on where story ideas come, but for me it starts with one foundational notion—maintaining a fertile active mind. An author’s mind should be a rich soil cultivated for the seed of a story. Many elements can inspire and pique the interest of the author, but it takes a keen sense of storytelling for the seed to germinate into a story the writer wishes to tell. The author must be willing to commit to the project because it will take blood, sweat, and tears to complete the harvest and finish the book.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Five Key Ingredients to Nurture a Story</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">1.) Cultivate Fertile Ground</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">An author’s mind must be open to many things, much like a scientist is inquisitive about the world. I’ve found that passing judgment is a barrier to creativity. (What do you think?) Often research nurtures leaps that bound from one topic to the next until something resonates with the writer and the germination of a book idea begins. The “what if” question is a great place to start. Even if an idea or research topic doesn’t seem likely for one story, that research or notion may work for another book. Stay open to possibility. Sometimes it takes several ideas to make a story. Only the author writing the book will know when the combination is “write.”</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">2.) Stay Thirsty, my Friends</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Yes, I’m borrowing the words of “the most interesting man in the world” because the notion fits. An author’s mind must be fluid and should be a sponge for ideas and inspiration. A writer’s constant thirst allows a story to take root and grow. The thirst sustains the writer over a career, but it also enhances his or her quality of life by filling the mind with a passion for learning new things. Flexing the mental muscle keeps the author young, don’t you think? Maybe learning new things allows an author's brain to fend off age like the movie, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">3.) Heap on the Fertilizer</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Yes, I’m going there. Compost and B.S. It takes a willingness to heap on the bull to push the envelope on what’s being published. Writers can look for trends to write and jump on an already established “band wagon,” but I believe every author has the duty to shove on the edge of the creative envelope. Make projects fun. A writer should be willing to write slightly out of their comfort zone to test their skill. It’s a challenge that can stir greater passion and a sense of accomplishment when the work is done. The story should drive the creativity, even if it takes the book and the author to a new place. If an author writes the type of book they want to read, with a good grasp of author craft, I believe they are the marketplace. Others will want to read the book too. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">4.) Know When to Harvest</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">At some point an author will have to finish those interminable revisions and get on with it. Hiding out in revision hell too long stifles creativity. That never-ending book will become more of an albatross. Get your proposals out and do it in stages while you start something new to keep your mind distracted while waiting. Keep writing and finish what you start. Don’t walk away from writing a book because you lost interest or faith in the project. You will learn more from working out the problem than abandoning a book because that problem could turn out to be a chronic and recurring issue in need of a fix.</span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">5.) Have Patience in Taking Your Crop to Market</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Don’t rush the process. Hone your craft and put the time in to make your manuscript flourish. I see too many people rush to self-publishing. bypassing publishers and agents. (I’m in support of self-publishing, so please don’t read into my intent.) Some authors avoid the marketplace (selling a book to a publisher or seeking an agent) because they either don’t know how to do it or they wish to avoid getting that pesky pile of rejection letters. No one likes rejection, but it does build character and cultivates thick rhino skin, which comes in handy even after you’re published. Understanding the marketplace builds on your knowledge of the industry. Sometimes testing your worth in the market will give you much needed feedback. Avoid flying a charter helicopter over NYC and dropping query letters in a blanket snow fall. Be more selective and test a query letter. If it doesn’t provide a nibble or two, try something else and tweak your proposal until you get that “better” form of rejection or a sale. </span><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">What say you, Writers? </span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">1.) What triggers a story in you? </span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">2.) What projects are you cultivating this year and where are you in the process of harvesting your crop? </span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">3.) How do you keep the writing fun?</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;">For readers: Do you keep your mind open to new types of books? Do you read outside your comfort zone?</span></strong></div>
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<a href="http://www.jordandane.com/YA/crystal-fire.php" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt="http://www.jordandane.com/YA/crystal-fire.php" border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EZEgV0yNTsY/UvKSn1DDETI/AAAAAAAAC6A/_TC7tDx71qg/s1600/Crystal-Fire-9780373210930+OPT+200.jpg" height="200" title="crystal fire" width="130" /></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;"><strong> The latest release from <a href="http://www.jordandane.com/" target="_blank">Jordan Dane</a> - <a href="http://www.jordandane.com/YA/crystal-fire.php" target="_blank">Crystal Fire</a> (Harlequin Teen, Dec 2013) The Hunted series.</strong></span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: small;"><em>While Gabriel Stewart trains his army of teen psychics to stop Alexander Reese--the obsessed leader of the Believers--the fanatical church becomes more bent on the annihilation of all Indigo and Crystal children. A storm is brewing on the streets of LA.</em></span></span></strong></div>
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</span></strong><br />Jordan Danehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03350761658156085280noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-27366754111294866512014-02-05T00:30:00.000-06:002014-02-05T06:11:57.226-06:00Basic Story StewI love to write and I love to cook. So I cooked up this little recipe on writing.<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">BASIC STORY STEW</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ingredients<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 small to medium conflict</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2 1/2 cups plot</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 protagonist (flawed) with goal and secret</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 bitter antagonist</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">8 oz. creativity (drained, juice reserved)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 tsp. inciting incident</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 cup pure tension peeled and seeded</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">4 plot twists (divided)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">3 tbsp. risk</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 sweet resolution</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1 sprig hope</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">season to taste with complications, obstacles, misc.
characters</span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Directions<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Drop protagonist into conflict.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add antagonist, inciting incident and cook on
HIGH until boiling, reduce to simmer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
separate bowl combine 1 plot twist, complications, obstacles, risk, misc.
characters and creative juices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wisk
until thoroughly blended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add to plot,
gradually fold in tension.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Skim off fat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Remove 1 tbsp. creative juices--set aside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add second plot twist, stir until steaming and
plot thickens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add third plot twist, increase
heat to MED.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When ingredients reach a steady
boil, add remaining plot twist, increase heat to HIGH, cook until liquid reduces
and secret is revealed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Add resolution.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stir vigorously while the goal sweetens and
the protagonist becomes fragrant with success.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remove antagonist and discard.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Serve over paper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Drizzle with remaining creative juices.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Garnish with sprig of hope.</span>Stephen Wallenfelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17684083345763038357noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-1385124537919501282014-02-04T20:01:00.002-06:002014-02-04T20:01:20.793-06:00WARNING. THIS POST IS FOR THE GEEKY AT HEART.<br />
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Fangirling.<br />
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I am fairly certain that wasn't what J. K. Rowling was talking about when she wrote that scene, but it is an incredibly accurate description of falling for a new fandom. Or re-discovering one I already love. <br />
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I love books, I fall between the pages and swim between the lines, drinking in as much as I can of new worlds and magic that can only be found in the aged pages of books.<br />
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My floor is overflowing with books, comics and journals as I try to frantically find more space on my bookshelf. Normal people would probably stop buying books at this point... But I work in a bookstore and they are my drug.<br />
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My fandoms have grown from, "Oh yeah, I like that." to "ASHDAISHFD" I can't even talk about how much I love that.<br />
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Doctor Who.<br />
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Merlin.<br />
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Loki. (He gets his own fandom because I love him so very much.)<br />
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Harry Potter.<br />
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LOTR.<br />
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Star Trek.<br />
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Chronicles of Narnia.<br />
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Game of Thrones. (Have I mentioned I am Daenerys? Cause I totally am.... )<br />
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Hannibal.<br />
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Grimm.<br />
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Charmed.<br />
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer.<br />
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<br />My heart is being pulled in so many different beautiful directions, and yet I am always oh so willing to dive into a new adventure with new characters. I love connecting to new friends, and discovering new things about books and myself through the words penned down by talented authors.<br />
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I sometimes can't even speak because these fandoms have taught me so much.<br />
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Some people might laugh, or think this is silly. But I literally grew up watching and reading most of these incredible stories. And I always had something to go to, not only for escapism, but as teachers. I learned valuable lessons on morals and to never give up on my dreams.<br />
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These stories helped shape who I am, and are continuing to do so as I fall in love with them over and over again as the years go by. (Uhh, what does Hannibal say bout me then...? )I always see something new, or understand something that I didn't before and like a light going off in my head and in my heart I am living in this exciting world of a million possibilities.<br />
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I like fantasy because it teaches us to never give up, on ourselves or on others. It teaches us to be patient, to be kind, to always smile even though you don't really want to. It teaches us that you have to work for the things you want in life and that even though tragedy may strike, there is always going to be a rainstorm before a rainbow and you can make it out on top.<br />
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As I am going through the editing process of my book, I am letting old friends take my by the hand and pull my head first into their worlds. Showing me that no matter how much time passes, or things change, there is always going to be a place for me by their side.<br />
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I hope everyone is staying warm in this chilly weather!<br />
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I m going to go watch Game of Thrones and drink hot cider!<br />
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LLAP my friends.<br />
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<br />Lexi <3 <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16824973570436618879noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-729340407653819742014-02-03T12:07:00.001-06:002014-02-03T12:08:04.284-06:00That Time AgainBy <a href="http://danharing.com/" style="color: red;" target="_blank">Dan Haring</a> <br />
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What's that you say? It's been 2014 for over a month? Already? Whoops. Well, better late than never, I guess. The last month has been a super busy one. We're down to the very last few shots on Rio 2, which comes out in April. It should be a good time, and if your kids liked the first one, they'll love this one too!<br />
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I've also been doing crazy lots of freelance graphic design-type stuff, so I really haven't had much time for writing. But I'm working on a MG graphic novel synopsis and am excited to get going on that. Hopefully the rest of 2014 will be as good as the first month has been. But for now, a few goals:<br />
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Read more, but don't ignore the kids to do so.<br />
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Put the phone down. Look around more.<br />
<br />
Draw and write.<br />
<br />
Enjoy every day.<br />
<br />
I think that's about it. So far I'm doing all right. Hope you are too!
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-11521990838481181222014-01-31T01:00:00.000-06:002014-01-31T01:00:04.537-06:00Start with a Bang, End with a Bigger Bang<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.sechintower.com/">Sechin Tower</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://twitter.com/SechinTower">@SechinTower</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Sometimes my writing students ask how to end their stories.
I give them my best piece of writing advice: start with an explosion and end
with a bigger explosion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I know it sounds a bit facetious, especially because the
“explosion” part only works with certain genres (although, in my humble
opinion, many romance novels could only be improved by the addition of a
fireball or two). Even so, there’s a kernel of truth in the “explosion
sandwich” writing model, because it shows that the ending (whether it contains
an actual “kablooey” or not) should be connected to the beginning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2D_hrIFa5s/Uum_DhrcoVI/AAAAAAAAALk/-s02oQuhFgI/s1600/US_Navy_020712-N-5471P-010_EOD_teams_detonate_expired_ordnance_in_the_Kuwaiti_desert.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n2D_hrIFa5s/Uum_DhrcoVI/AAAAAAAAALk/-s02oQuhFgI/s1600/US_Navy_020712-N-5471P-010_EOD_teams_detonate_expired_ordnance_in_the_Kuwaiti_desert.jpg" height="228" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The key is to set up some kind of question in the beginning
so that you can resolve it at the end. For example: how will we stop the mad
bomber? Does anyone know where he’ll strike next? And why is this unmarked
package ticking?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If (for some strange reason) you prefer literature with less
collateral damage, you could do the same thing without explosions. Will your
main character ever learn to love? How much will the mother sacrifice for her
family? Where will this average Joe draw the line? Once you have the question,
you know the answer is the end, and the end is the answer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nobody knows this better than Disney. Watch any of their
classic animated movies and within the first five minutes or so you’ll see the
princess singing about her heart’s true desire. To find love. To explore an
unknown land. To use home-made robots to save the world from an evil
scientist’s doomsday machine. Okay, maybe that last one is less Disney and more
<a href="http://www.sechintower.com/?page_id=751">Mad Science Institute</a>,
but the basic pattern is the same, and the audience is always left asking
whether— and how— the princess will ever achieve her dream.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c_ZTAPcpvb8/Uum_LdJ6oUI/AAAAAAAAALs/k-SZKu5qzjA/s1600/Disney-Princess-Kida-disney-princess-30168400-2560-1117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c_ZTAPcpvb8/Uum_LdJ6oUI/AAAAAAAAALs/k-SZKu5qzjA/s1600/Disney-Princess-Kida-disney-princess-30168400-2560-1117.jpg" height="139" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you know how you want your story to end, set it up that
way from the beginning. If you know how you want your story to begin, think
about what question you’re asking and what difficult decisions it will force
your characters to make. The key is not just to ask a question, but to ask <i>a question with no clear answer</i>. That’s
a Kobayshi Maru, to you Trekkers. Whatever you call it, your readers will keep
turning those pages as long as they can’t see how things can possibly be
resolved.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, you shouldn’t give your characters an easy path
from the beginning of the story to the end. If it’s the story about falling
into a hole, don’t throw a ladder in there with them. Make them claw their way
out, inch by inch. Make them fall back in, break an ankle, and end up worse off
than when they started. In order to get out, they’re going to have to sacrifice
something important to them, or grow in some way, or learn to live in the hole.
Their choice shows character, and character is what drives the story.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If it were one of my characters in that hole, they would
most likely concoct some kind of improvised explosive and launch themselves,
rocket like, into the sky… before landing in an even deeper hole. Hey, look at
that—another story that starts and ends with an explosion. Maybe I need a
psychiatrist.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Be good, and dream crazy dreams.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dY7tZ6j8f88/UYxmJ4IvMbI/AAAAAAAAAE8/B3nfk1__dZo/s1600/author.pic.2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dY7tZ6j8f88/UYxmJ4IvMbI/AAAAAAAAAE8/B3nfk1__dZo/s1600/author.pic.2.jpg" height="200" width="195" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sechin Tower
is a teacher, a table-top game designer, and the author of <i>Mad Science Institute</i>. You can read more about him and his books on
<a href="http://www.sechintower.com/">SechinTower.com</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/madscienceinstitute">Facebook</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/SechinTower">Twitter</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<o:p>
</o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Sechin Towerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705634396099150916noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-36837377266201350542014-01-30T08:46:00.000-06:002014-01-30T08:46:28.189-06:00Live Long and ProsperIt's how Mr. Spock says goodbye...and how I am saying goodbye, too!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1.cdnds.net/13/15/618x482/movies-star-trek-spock-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i1.cdnds.net/13/15/618x482/movies-star-trek-spock-4.jpg" height="249" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I've had a blast here on the ADR3NALIN3 blog, but all good things must end. Thank you all so much for your warm welcome and your awesomeness. May you all live long and prosper.<br />
<br />
*****<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.pjhoover.com/images/pj_hoover_head_shot_233_300.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" class="alignleft" height="200" src="http://www.pjhoover.com/images/pj_hoover_head_shot_233_300.jpg" style="border: 0px none; margin: 5px;" width="155" /></a>
<br />
P. J. Hoover is the author of the dystopia/mythology YA
book, SOLSTICE (Tor Teen, June 2013), the upcoming Egyptian mythology MG
book, TUT (Tor Children’s, September 2014), and the middle-grade SFF
series, THE FORGOTTEN WORLDS BOOKS (CBAY, 2008-2010). You can read more
about her and her books on P. J.’s <a href="http://www.pjhoover.com/index.php">website</a> or <a href="http://pjhoover.blogspot.com/">blog</a>.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-42127161641856203492014-01-29T01:00:00.000-06:002014-01-29T01:00:01.645-06:00The Subtext of Details<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UuKoltWWG70/UugkMVKH01I/AAAAAAAAATE/NTBZBwO_-WE/s1600/barbed_wire_fields.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UuKoltWWG70/UugkMVKH01I/AAAAAAAAATE/NTBZBwO_-WE/s1600/barbed_wire_fields.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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At the edge of the meadow is a fence. It has been standing a
long time, so long that every post leans, often at a different angle. Between
the posts barbed wire stretches and in a few places sags. When you get close
enough, you can see remnants: a strand of hair, frayed string, a small piece of red cloth
caught in the barbs. The details of what has passed by or what the wind has
blown in held in place for us to examine.</div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been thinking
about the subtext of details. How the small things our characters pay attention
to and point out to the reader can say more than the keenest dialogue. They happen
below the text.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
According to Wikipedia “Subtext is content underneath the
spoken dialogue. Under dialogue, there can be conflict, anger, competition, pride,
showing off, or other implicit ideas and emotions. Subtext is the unspoken
thoughts and motives of characters—what they really think and believe.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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But subtext is also carefully selected details that make the
particular universal. They focus as subtext because they are seen through our
characters eyes and without the advantage of dialogue let us in on their
thoughts.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Ralph Fletcher in <i>What a Writer Needs</i> offers wise advice. “Don’t
write about senility or a man losing his ability to take care of himself. Write
about lost belt loops.” How we can choose just the right detail to show what our
character thinks and believes at that point in time without the character
telling us? </div>
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<br /></div>
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In the wonderful and bleak Winter’s Bone, Ree Dolly thinks about
the last time she saw her father. “Walnuts were thumping to the ground in the night
like stalking footsteps of some large thing that never quite came into view…”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suppose two co- workers are arguing, a snarky
"he said/ she said" kind of fight, and all the while he keeps glancing at the
ticket stubs on her desk, the ones she saved from her big weekend date. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you could imagine the details of your scene caught in
those barbs, what would they be? What would the things your character notices
be shouting or whispering to the reader?</div>
</div>
Maureen McQuerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07875437661944977609noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-18416107710916265142014-01-28T00:00:00.000-06:002014-01-28T00:00:05.750-06:00Inspiring: An Art Form In ItselfWriting is a recent (by recent, I mean no more than two-three years tops..) love of mine, but it is a strong one nonetheless. Before writing, it was photography. It was awful, my photography skills. I tried very hard, and I thought I loved it very much, but I was very bad at it. Though unaware of my lack for a creative eye, I did and still do admire and appreciate the art of photography. History seems to be commonly understood through writing; textbooks, novels, autobiographies.<br />
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Now that I think about it, photos appear to capture not just history, but they evoke ideas and creativity and opinions. Photos inspire people, photos make them remember the exceptional and the tragic. I never thought of writing as an art; when I realized that, I was amazed. Dumbfounded, really. But when I look at certain pictures, the words that come to mind, they way they weave into sentences, that's when I see the real beauty in writing.<br />
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This right here if a photo of what many believe to be the Loch Ness monster, taken sometime during the 1930s. Recognize it? Thought so. This photo of a legend has created not only a following of believers, but countless books and films have been created due to the influence of this one photo. One photo, whether it is the truth or a farce, has changed people and those changed people continue to change others. It is all one big cycle that is fueled by fiction books, stuffed Nessie plushes, and novelty shoppes that encompass all of the Loch, so people the world over are aware that there may or may not be a mysterious creature dwelling on the bottom of a lake somewhere in Ireland. Cool, huh?</div>
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On a darker side, this is a photo from the dropping of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, Japan during World War II. The US was the first to use nuclear warfare, and this was the first time in 1945. I am not exactly sure of what scenes resonate in other peoples' minds, but I do certainly have a few in my mind.. The individuals who I have never met, nor am I sure they ever existed, flash through my head. I think of the people it saved, the lives of American soldiers, and possibly the rest of the world if power fell into the wrong hands. Then the people that died due to the explosion begin to flood my thoughts, all the people who had no idea it was coming.. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x_ripDxQSLg/UucJHMnkkYI/AAAAAAAAAOE/5D3GnWxviMM/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x_ripDxQSLg/UucJHMnkkYI/AAAAAAAAAOE/5D3GnWxviMM/s1600/Unknown.jpeg" /></a></div>
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Check this one out, it's happy. Yay for happy. People like to recreate this picture with their significant other because it is a classic symbol of love. A navy man kissing his lovely lady, how romantic. Gross, but the majority of the population is very much for public displays of affection. This and photos like it lets one get in touch with their soft side, if they have one. It's just a picture you say? Well, I bet you are just like me with my lack of understanding for the need of human contact, so it is completely fine for you to think so. </div>
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The written word now seemed to be the most influential form of art, in my opinion. But I also believe that photography and paintings-drawing and the like, come in a close second. These pieces of art were not made to merely hang on a wall or sit in a library. They must be taken in completely by those who see the aspects that are below the surface. Those people who think and see and do. And 'those people' create others like them, believers out of the close-minded. Art is not the creations by man, but the feelings and affects of those creations on the world around them.</div>
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What inspires you, dear reader? Is it photos of people taking photos? How about paintings of the sky with intricate colors and swirls? Your family and dear friends? Well, whatever provokes the cogs to turn within your mind, I hope it never ceases to yield beautiful thoughts to tug at your imagination. </div>
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"There are some awful things in the world, it’s true, but there are also some great books. When I grow up I would like to write something that someone could read sitting on a bench on a day that isn’t all that warm and they could sit reading it and totally forget where they were or what time it was so that they were more inside the book than inside their own head." --Among Others by Jo Walton</div>
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Have a lovely Tuesday. (:</div>
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-12898781139253266842014-01-27T00:00:00.000-06:002014-01-27T09:00:24.903-06:00Getting the Word Out: Reviews: PW Select<span style="color: #999999;">As part of my ongoing obsession with getting the word out—and </span><a href="http://www.ilsajbick.com/?p=2527"><em><span style="color: red;">following up on last week’s post about Kirkus’s paid review service</span></em></a><span style="color: #999999;">—this week we’ll take a look at <i>Publishers Weekly</i>’s monthly supplement dedicated solely to the self-pubbing industry, <i><a href="http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/diy/index.html?goback=%2Egde_1515307_member_218909225#%21"><span style="color: red;">PW Select</span></a>, </i>that debuted in September, 2010.<i> </i> The supplement promises "interviews with authors, book announcements and listings, news, features, analysis, book reviews, and more." Like <em>Kirkus Indie,</em> <em>PW </em>suggests that:
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<em>"PW Select is a great way to help your book stand out in a crowded market. When you sign up to participate in PW Select, you’ll be reaching Publishers Weekly’s readership of book and film agents, booksellers, editors, distributors, librarians, book reviewers, and national and international media--just the kind of people who can take a book and make it a bestseller. We’ve helped launch a few writing careers already. Maybe you’re next."</em>
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And maybe you would be. After all, they state that their mission is to find those "undiscovered gems" that every author hopes her work just might be. So, obviously, when the biggest trade mag in the country—about 17,000 subscribers (or roughly three times Kirkus’s reach)—supports reviews of indie-published works, this could be a very big deal, right? </span><br />
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Well . . . it depends.
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Unlike <i>Kirkus Indie</i>, where a flat fee of $425 guarantees you a review, <i>PW</i> doesn’t make that guarantee at all. Your book <em>might </em>get a review, and while the odds aren't astronomical, your chances are about 20-25%.
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So then, what does $149 buy you? (I’m sorry, but you just gotta laugh when you see a price like that, as if <i>PW</i>’s taken a cue from Amazon. Like, wow, what a bargain. While we’re talking about money, though, I should mention that <i>PW </i>offers the same service <i>plus Vook </i>for $199. This is for folks who have a manuscript or print book that's not been published in ebook form; that additional $50 gets you access to Vook—a NY-based publisher of e-books, book apps and interactive e-books—and its e-publishing platform: </span><br />
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<i>"Vook has created a special package for PW Select + customers entitling them to the creation of one e-book (including an ISBN number) using the Vook platform. There are no subsequent fees for publication or ongoing subscriptions. If you decide to distribute your e-book through Vook (which offers one-click publication to iBooks, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble), you will not pay any fee to Vook, and Vook details the revenue splits of each e-book store <a href="http://vook.com/distribution/"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a>. You can also download your completed e-book file and distribute it yourself."</i>
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So maybe not such a bad deal if your book's still in manuscript form and this is your first rodeo.
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But, for simplicity’s sake, let’s say you’re just going with a vanilla-<i>PW Select. </i>Here’s what you’re guaranteed: your book, whether physical or digital, will be listed in the supplement (which is bound into that month's regular issue) and on <i>PW’s </i>website. That boils down to the barest of nitty-gritty details: title, author, publisher, price, number of pages, ISBNs, and a very brief blurb (which you actually provide them). You will also receive a six-month digital subscription to the full <em>PW </em>website and a complimentary copy of the supplement in which your listing appears. And, of course, you buy yourself a lottery ticket and hope they pick your number for a review. They're happy to take your money regardless, and you can't blame them. It's a tough biz, and it's not as if their circulation numbers are going up (they've actually dropped by several thousand over the last few years). If <em>PW Select </em>gets, say, roughly 200 sub-pubbed books per month? Even after paying for the 25% of books that are reviewed—say, about $25 a pop—that's still about $30,000 in revenue for them. Not exactly chump change, and if you're the one who's doing all the legwork (the blurb, etc.), then that means more in their pocket, period.
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So before we even get around to whether or not a <i>PW </i>review might help you, let's be clear on what you're really buying: an ad. A teeny-tiny ad. </span><span style="color: red;"> </span><a href="http://www.msauret.com/pw-select-book-listing-another-waste-of-money/"><em><span style="color: red;">A snippet listing that may not even feature the cover you were so nicely invited to attach and which might not be even properly proofed (as happened to this writer). </span></em></a><span style="color: #999999;"> A very small ad in a supplement that’s only seen by folks with a regular print subscription, and only found online if you decide to go looking for it.
Now, maybe some people <i>do </i>go looking. As I said, <i>PW</i>’s reach is much greater than <i>Kirkus</i>’s. Publishers read the magazine, and so do agents, and anyone in self-pub wanting to promote their book in <i>PW </i>is aiming for those folks. (I don’t know about librarians so much; my <i>n </i>of two suggests they’ll pay attention to their own trade magazines, <i>Library Journal </i>and <i>School Library Journal</i>, and other librarians before <i>PW</i>.) I know film people at least trawl the website because I’ve been cold-contacted a couple of times from film industry folks after a <i>PW</i> review or interview. </span><br />
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There’s no question that people pay attention to the magazine and its website. The issue is whether these same people pay attention to a listing—without a review—in <i>PW Select</i>. (This is all independent on whether any of the feature articles are worthwhile or helpful. I'll be honest; I looked at a few. By and large, they were fairly generic and no worse or better than anything you'll find in something like <em>Romance Writers Report</em>, a magazine I happen to like. Some were more worthwhile than others; for example, there was a nice listing of some this year's book fairs and conferences (both in the U.S. and aboard), a few of which are geared toward indie authors. But the majority of these articles were nothing you couldn't find on your own and on any number of blogs, just by executing a few searches.) </span><br />
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Anyway, back to that crap shoot of a review . . . let’s put it this way: if you’re hoping to interest an agent with a <em>listing</em> in <i>PW Select</i> . . . good luck. Agents are busy, busy people who already get a gazillion submissions. Unless you happen to write just an absolutely stunning blurb—and presuming an agent makes it a habit to scan the listings—the chances an agent will get in touch are probably diminishingly small. Ditto a publisher. Film people . . . who knows? I kind of doubt it, and I'll bet librarians don't even bother. (If a librarian out there does, let me know. Seriously. I was very surprised to find an indie-published book in a system library not long ago, but I've no way of knowing just how it found its way into the system to begin with. It's the only book of its kind I've seen, too. So I am curious.)
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So, really, the best outcome for anyone who invests a buck shy of $150 is to win that crap shoot and get an actual review.
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Now, go do a web search on this, and predictably, writers’ experiences with the program haven’t been that great. Most are simply listed, and that’s it. As for the reviews, these seem to be a mixed bag. Many point up the scathing nature of the reviews, as</span><span style="color: red;"> </span><a href="http://www.chicagonow.com/a-city-mom/2012/04/publishers-weekly-seems-to-relish-scathing-reviews-of-self-published-books/"><em><span style="color: red;">this author does</span></em></a><span style="color: #999999;">, but I found at least one guy who got a very nice review and planned to use that for queries. (I want to echo that this is a <i>very </i>sound strategy. Let's put it this way: a favorable <em>PW </em>review can't hurt, and I'm still convinced that a very nice <i>PW </i>review of the book that became <i>Draw the Dark</i>, which made it to the semifinals of the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, made editors sit up and take the book I happened to marketing at the time—<em>The Sin-Eater's Confession—</em>much more seriously. Not only had my book made it down to the final 100, it had also gotten that great review.) </span><br />
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Nevertheless, the majority of <em>Select </em>reviews <i>are </i>negative, although if you’ve written a children’s or YA book, you stand a better chance at a positive review. (</span><a href="http://heydeadguy.typepad.com/heydeadguy/2012/02/some-thoughts-about-self-publishing.html"><em><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="color: red;">One writer did a nice breakdown you can read here of the January 2, 2012 supplement</span>.</span></em></a><span style="color: #999999;"> I do completely disagree, however, about his assessment that the majority of regular <i>PW </i>reviews are positive and generally negative only if you’re an established author who’s somehow disappointed with your latest outing. My personal experience says otherwise.)
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Nowhere did I find a single person who had anything to say about the supplement's other articles and offerings--which I think means that folks are largely indifferent to the rest of the supplement's content. They aren't forking over money for a pricey six-month digital subscription or nifty how-to articles. What they want is a shot at that review.
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I also wasn’t able to find much about authors’ experiences with Vook through <i>PW Select </i>one way or the other—anyone out there ever done that?—</span><a href="http://www.ashlylorenzana.com/vook-publishing-review/"><em><span style="color: red;">although I did find one blogger who hired them to convert a compilation of her blogs and seemed to be a pretty satisfied customer</span></em></a><span style="color: #999999;">. Note, too, that she paid substantially more ($550), but she had nothing bad to say about them, and this might be a matter of getting what you pay for.
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The skinny? As with <i>Kirkus Indie</i>, I can’t tell you if it’s worth $150 for a one-in-five shot at a <i>PW </i>review. Unlike <em>Kirkie Indie,</em> if <em>PW Select </em>does skewer your book, you don't have the option of killing the review. On the other hand . . . welcome to the real world. </span><br />
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Is <i>PW </i>more influential than <i>Kirkus</i>? Well . . . its circulation numbers would certainly suggest so. While a simple listing is likely to get you nowhere, a review just might, especially if you can find a favorable pull quote or two to throw into that query letter you’d like to shoot to an editor or agent. Even better, if the review <i>is </i>favorable, there’s a chance (slim) that the review might make it into <em>PW </em>directly.
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So . . . if we were talking about me? I admit: I’d roll the dice and go for it, simply because I doubt that most people who really count are reading the supplement to begin with. So the chances of anyone running across a terrible review are small. But if you get a nice one, grab that pull quote and run with it. Worth a shot.
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Next week, more on paid review services.</span><span style="color: black;"> </span>Ilsahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08547422320007180924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-2321437546103123522014-01-24T01:00:00.000-06:002014-01-24T01:00:02.331-06:00Key Elements to Writing an Effective Synopsis<a href="http://www.jordandane.com/"></a><br />
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<a href="http://www.jordandane.com/"><span style="color: red;">Jordan Dane</span></a></h3>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He's flummoxed because these aren't his hands.</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I don’t know of any author who hasn’t been </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flummox"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">flummoxed</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> by
the task of writing a first synopsis. Do they get any easier to write? Not for
me. Each story idea presents a unique essence that must be distilled into a
short brief. Some authors sell books on proposal (with or without a writing
sample), or they use the synopsis to be an initial outline of the story idea (a
guide post), or an effective synopsis brief can be a part of a solid query
letter or made into a quick pitch to an editor or agent. However you use a synopsis,
I thought I’d share what has worked for me. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Key Elements to Writing an Effective Synopsis</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">1.) The Basics - Generally a synopsis is 5-7 pages long, double spaced
with one-inch margins. Be sure to include your contact information on the first
page and I would recommend adding a header on every page (in case an editor or
agent drops your proposal and the pages get out of order). My headers have my
name, title of the book, genre, word count, and page number (on far right). I
often have a tag line that I list at the top, before the synopsis brief. If you
are represented by an agent, I would list that near your contact information. A
professional presentation will make you stand out in a slush pile.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2.) Writing a synopsis shouldn’t be about defining the rules of the game.
It should be about why you’d want to PLAY it. Give the editor or agent or reader
a sense of your voice and the color of the world you will build. Think of a
synopsis as a lure, an enticement for them to want more. Rules are boring. Tell
me why the game will be </span><i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">really</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> good, or fun or scary.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">3.) Whether there is quirky humor or a dark suspenseful undertone to your
book, the synopsis should reflect these elements and not merely be a detailed
“who does what where.” If your synopsis is boring, chances are any editor or
agent will think your book will be lackluster, too. Give them something shiny
to grab at.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">4.) Pitch your book with a high-level synopsis brief at the top of your
proposal. This pitch should read like a TV log line – a condensed 1-3 sentences
about the main elements of your story – character highpoints, conflict, emotion,
what’s at stake. No need for specific character names that will only be a
distraction to what your book is about. If you get this short pitch right
(sometimes called the “elevator pitch”), you can embed it into a query letter
or use it on your website for a short teaser. An editor can use this short
descriptive pitch of your book to her house and the committee that decides
which book to buy.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">EXAMPLE:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">[Part of this pitch is omitted for confidentiality. I REALLY wish I could
share it, but I can’t.]</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A depressed and aging widow gets a second wind when she pays a young
handyman for services rendered on her unusual Bucket List, in an uncommon
“coming of age” story.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">5.) After the synopsis brief or the pitch, it’s time to introduce your
characters. The first time a new name appears in your synopsis, capitalize
their full name to highlight who the players will be. A writing sample will
introduce your character to the editor or agent in a different way, but I
recommend a brief summary of why each of your main characters have earned
their right to be a star in your story. Highlight who they are, what they want,
and why they can’t have it. What will their struggle be? What’s at stake for
them? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">EXAMPLE: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">LILLIAN OVERSTREET has flipped the channel on her rerun life and given
up. She’s convinced nothing exciting will ever happen to her. Her husband’s
dead, her only daughter treats her like a doormat, and old age is creeping up
on her like bad granny panties and has made her invisible. Her only reason to
leave the house is her bowling team of widows – The Ball Busters. She’s mired
in a chronic case of depression that has seeped into every aspect of her
existence, until her daughter GRACE OVERSTREET-THORNDYKE hires “eye candy” to
do the renovation of the family home. [This is only the basic set up and does
not include the conflict, black moment, and ending highlights.]</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">6.) Not every aspect of your plot needs to be spelled out, ad nauseam. If
there are five main suspects or key secondary characters, give the highlights
of who they are and why they earned the right to be in your book and why they
could be a game changer. This works for other genres, not just crime fiction.
If there are characters who stand in the way of your hero/heroine, showcase who
they are and why they are an obstacle.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">EXAMPLES (Secondary Characters with sense of color/humor):</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">VINNIE DELVECCHIO is the only widower on the Ball Busters team. In the
small town of Why, Texas, he runs a Deli where Lillian gets her meat.
He’s opinionated and brash with a foul mouth. He teases the ladies at the
bowling alley by saying, “If you gals ever need someone to slip you the
sausage, you come to DelVecchio for quality meat.” Even though his mind is
constantly in the gutter, Vinnie knows how to roll a strike, has his own
bowling shoes and a hefty pair of designer balls, but he’s only on a “team of
broads” for the view. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">CANDACE and VICTORIA WINDGATE are twin sisters Lillian has known since
high school. The sisters kept their maiden name after both their husbands died
in the same mysterious boating accident. No one in town knows how the Windgate
twins earned their financial independence or how much money they have, but
rumors never run out of steam in Why, Texas. Neither of the sisters can bowl
worth a damn. They only come to ‘<i>Why Bowl – Family Center & Tanning
Spa</i>’ for the cheese fries and beer.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">7.) The major plot movements should be highlighted so an editor or agent
will know your story has meat to the bone. I like to use a 3-Act screenplay
method and have posted about it on another blog - The Kill Zone - at this </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://killzoneauthors.blogspot.com/2012/03/authors-bucket-list-on-plot-structure.html#.UoZVrNnnb-c"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="color: red;">LINK</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> - I use a big “W” to remind me of the turning points to include in my
synopsis. (Michael Hauge’s “Writing Screenplays That Sell” was the reference
book that sparked my interest in structure and it has helped me draft my
proposals.) The highpoints should show the stakes ramping up and the key
turning points in the plot as well as the black moment when all seems lost. If
there are twists in the plot (especially surprises), showcase those too.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Key Questions for a 3-Act '”W” structure:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Act 1 - How does your book start?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Act 1 - What is the point of no return for your character(s)?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Act 1 - What key plot twist will propel your story into the escalation
mode of Act 2?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Act 2 - How will you up the stakes?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Act 2 - What is the black moment when all seems lost for your character(s)
and how will your character(s) turn it around?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Act 3 - Do I have a plot twist for my readers? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Act 3 - How will your story end and how will you tie up the pieces?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">8.) The ending should be spelled out. Editors and agents don’t like
surprises and want to know how you intend to tie things up. If you are writing
a romance, the ending is very important so the editor or agent gets a feel for
your take on a romantic full circle. I’ve sold books without full disclosure of
who the bad guy is, but generally you should “tell all.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Even if you are an indie author and may never have written a synopsis or
included one in a proposal to an editor or agent, it can be a good exercise to
understand the essence of your book. A good synopsis will get you thinking
about how to create an effective jacket cover description to entice the reader.
Writing a synopsis is always a challenge, even if you are good at it, because
it boils down your book into a teaser that you hope will lure a reader to buy
your book.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #f3f3f3; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 3; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times","serif"; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #f3f3f3;"><em>For the purpose of discussion, tell us what works for you in writing a
synopsis. (If you have any tips to add, please share them.) Or share what
challenges you’ve had. Let’s talk, people.</em></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">
</span></span></h3>
Jordan Danehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03350761658156085280noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-90519142015282715492014-01-22T02:00:00.000-06:002014-01-22T02:41:14.292-06:00Little Words - Big Ideas
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I remember as a kid buying those tiny sponge animals where
three or four would fit in the palm of my hand then I'd put them in a glass of
water and watch them grow and grow. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not
to "a magically monstrous size" as the packaging claimed, but
certainly into something big enough to fill the cup and be worthy of my dime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As someone navigating the minefield of novel writing, I'm
forever searching for the literary equivalent to those sponge animals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something that starts out small enough for me
to get my head around, then big enough after some soaking to convincingly fill
a 100k-word cup.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it so often goes
with searches, your quest for answers brings you full circle and the finding
happens right where you started.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Which brings me back to poetry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That's where my passion for writing began,
and that's what stirred the deeper creative chords in me last week when I
encountered this poem, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Little Details</i>,
by Stephen Dunn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While the entire poem
had me on an emotional wire, these words were particularly compelling:</span></div>
<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>My
brother is talking about his ice-maker</span></i><br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>because
a man can't talk about his lymphoma</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>and
chemo every minute of the day.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I read those twenty-two words and I see a novel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see three acts, an inciting incident, conflict,
character and change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see heroes and turning
points, plot twists, despair, redemption, hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Poetry captures and condenses the heartbeat of a moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It's like storytelling concentrate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So from now on, when you find yourself in
search of something to write about, seek out a warm chair in the sun, crack
open a book of poetry, and start adding water, one creative drip at a time.</span></div>
Stephen Wallenfelshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17684083345763038357noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-74173625057593799052014-01-17T01:00:00.000-06:002014-01-17T01:00:04.822-06:00When the Wolf Comes<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.sechintower.com/">Sechin Tower</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://twitter.com/SechinTower">@SechinTower</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Let me tell
you about my disastrous December. One of my uncles died after a long, painful
battle with cancer—the passing was a welcomed relief to him. Another uncle went
to the hospital with sepsis following a surgery. A sister lost her apartment
and had no place to go. My mother was scammed out of her entire life savings
and was almost evicted. Obediently following Murphy’s Law, my car had a minor
breakdown and my laundry machine burned out and filled the room with stinking
smoke. (These mechanical troubles were certainly not emotional blows, but my
bank account was already suffering after a month of disaster management.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It never
rains but it pours.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’m sure we've
all hit rough patches like that, where we wake up every morning wondering what fresh
calamity awaits us that day. Eventually, I found myself becoming philosophical
about the whole thing, and I took strength, as I often do, from literature and
books.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This time
around, I looked to Norse mythology. The Norse were a people who understood
hard times, and they believed that even their gods were doomed to suffer and
die. What’s more, their gods not only knew that they would eventually die but
also the exact manner of their horrible, violent end. The carnage truly begins
when Fenrir, the titanic wolf, appears in their hall to lead a pack of monsters
to slay Thor, Odin, and all the rest.<o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uYXFRb4wm8g/UtXyL53zeBI/AAAAAAAAALM/lXez5O5hDIw/s1600/512px-Odin_und_Fenriswolf_Freyr_und_Surt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="245" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uYXFRb4wm8g/UtXyL53zeBI/AAAAAAAAALM/lXez5O5hDIw/s400/512px-Odin_und_Fenriswolf_Freyr_und_Surt.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emil Doepler [PD US Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
For all their
pessimism about mortal existence in an uncaring universe, the ancient storytellers
did not advocate giving up. Rather than waste time bemoaning their fate, the
Norse gods prepare themselves by seeking loopholes in the prophecy, training to
respond to the conflict, and enjoying what they had while they had it. Even
though they knew they couldn't win, they were ready to fight hard.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
My own
troubled December was no Ragnarok—in fact, considering all the wonderful people
I still have in my life, it doesn't even qualify as a dress rehearsal. The wolf
has not yet come for me, but his distant howling still prompted me to question
a few of my assumptions. I realized that many of my priorities had been a
little out of whack. It made selecting a New Year’s resolution easy: I’m
resolved to remember that if something doesn't help my family/friends, my
fellow human beings, my health, or my writing, then it simply doesn't matter. <o:p></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VzFihxmK2qs/UtXzSg7BHKI/AAAAAAAAALY/-4qBf_Anu5I/s1600/512px-Gray_Wolf_Seney_NWR_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="254" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VzFihxmK2qs/UtXzSg7BHKI/AAAAAAAAALY/-4qBf_Anu5I/s320/512px-Gray_Wolf_Seney_NWR_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">By Seney Natural History Association (Female Gray Wolf) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of these
priorities, my gut tells me that the writing is the thing I neglected too much
during 2013. It wasn't because I procrastinated, but rather was because I
failed to fight hard enough to do what I believe I was put here to do. In 2014,
I’m going to take inspiration from the Norse and fight the good fight.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I can't change the rules of mortality, but it is my privilege to defy it, even if only
for a short time. Therefore, when the wolf comes, I’ll be waiting to hit him on
the nose with at least one new novel. That’s my resolution for this year.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Be good, and
dream crazy dreams,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Sechin Tower
is a teacher, a table-top game designer, and the author of Mad Science Institute. You can read more about him and his books on
<a href="http://www.sechintower.com/">SechinTower.com</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/madscienceinstitute">Facebook</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/SechinTower">Twitter</a>.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
Sechin Towerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12705634396099150916noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-60020957163164834622014-01-15T01:00:00.000-06:002014-01-15T01:00:07.784-06:00Literary DNA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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In Greek mythology a chimera is an animal that is part lion
and part goat. Myth has other hybrids too, think of centaurs, both horse and
man share the same DNA. Well, it appears that once again myth is a sign post to
a larger truth. </div>
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An article in last year’s <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientists-discover-childrens-cells-living-in-mothers-brain">Scientific American</a> (I know, I
know, I’m behind on my reading) explains how cells from a fetus can cross from
the placenta into the mother. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those
cells remain in the mother, becoming part of her DNA, for the rest of her life.
Apparently this is true even for babies who die before birth. The mother still
carries part of them. </div>
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So what does this have to do with writing, you ask? I’ve
been thinking about our literary DNA and the way we carry the many parts of
past inside us. Everyone does. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for
writers, their pasts become part of their literary DNA expressed in the themes
and voice of their works.</div>
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Hopefully writers don't write about the same event over and
over. It’s usually much more subtle. Events leave fingerprints. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And those fingerprints are left on the stories
we write. Think about themes: redemption, abandonment, the fragility of hope, how
to save a life. While characters and events change <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in each story, familiar themes run through them
like DNA. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why? Because they are drawn
from the same deep well. </div>
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Here’s an interesting fact about fetal cells found in the
mother. They can be healing. They can actively fight off disease. I write to
tell a story, but also to explore and wrestle with questions that I don’t have
answers for. I tackle those questions over and over. And in the writing I have glimpses
of truth, and I make connections and, at the best times, it is healing.</div>
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Maureen McQuerryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07875437661944977609noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-6531071377408148512014-01-14T00:00:00.000-06:002014-01-14T00:00:06.039-06:00Procrastination At Its FinestI REQUIRE ASSISTANCE.<br />
<br />
Not really, but I do need to bust this bad habit I have developed with old age. I continued to put off everything I had set my mind to do for four solid months in a row. I have yet to touch my underdeveloped and mistreated novel in progress, started and never finished fifteen scholarship applications because I cannot face the fact that I graduate next year, and I have yet to open a non-school related book. A monster is the definition of what I have become, and I am wondering if there are any other beasts I can converse with over this matter. My dearest authors and beloved writers; <i>how on earth do you stay motivated</i>?<br />
<br />
Well, a fire has officially been lit under my rear. I have recently been given an opportunity to possibly intern at a local newspaper, so I really need to kick it in gear. Plus, I have a darling mother who continually reminds me that "if you have a book published, I'm <i>sure </i>any college would <i>love </i>to pay for you to attend". Yes, I understand. Stop telling me. Please.<br />
<br />
Is there a secret to this whole "being a successful writer" thing? As in I should start meditating and making sacrifices to the gods of literature; because I would totally slay a raven to honor Poe or fight to save John Coffey for the sake of Stephen King, maybe even create a man out of spare parts or take a journey to the center of the Earth. Is my lack of triumph in finishing something because my name is lame? That would make more sense than anything else honestly.<br />
<br />
Or, I can blame school! Yes! That is the thing to do; blame the educational system for my troubles like a good student would do. I have been working awfully hard and all I have to show is a pathetic grade in Calculus and a thirty minute master piece in English. (What is that? Well, I'll have you know that I wrote a magnificent research paper in a little over half an hour. I received a perfect score on the AP grading scale. Horn tooting is over now...) Don't believe me? Check it out.<br />
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<br />
In all seriousness, I do not believe there is a secret. Immature and undisciplined, lacking the ability to create deadlines for myself. I do hope that trait begins to shine through in about a year or so... Either way, I have great respect for anyone how can finish writing anything at all. I barely finish my blog posts, and yet, I always manage to finish my pizza. In the near future, a way to combine writing and eating should be created. (No, restaurant reviewing is not what I am thinking of, but nice try.)<br />
<br />
This is my year of finishing. This year I shall finish what I have started; including my brain-child "The Pond", at least a few scholarships, and even finish a work out because I know that is most definitely needed. Jordan should hold me to this, just like my mother; I want the book finished and ready to take to San Antonio this summer to pitch it. If it is not ready, I am not allowed to go. And I am not going to miss an opportunity to see the lovely Jordan Dane so expect great things come.<br />
<br />
I hope everyone had a safe and pleasant holiday season, and if you did make a resolution or two, I hope you stick to 'em. (:<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-88995045952828717612014-01-13T00:00:00.000-06:002014-01-13T07:47:44.922-06:00Getting the Word Out: More Thoughts on Guest Posts & Blogger Etiquette/Responsibilities (and a bit on Loss Leaders)<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="color: #999999; font-size: large;">Okay, I’m going to make
this short and sweet today because I’m really crunching on a deadline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the weeks leading up to the New Year, I
was talking about discoverability and how to get the word out about your
books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On a week where I wasn’t set to
blog here, I did put up a post about blog tours; you can read about that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.ilsajbick.com/?p=2500"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a></i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What I’m going to do today is simply follow up on a few things I
mentioned in that post and a little something extra that came up in the interim.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">One comment that a
reader made was pretty interesting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is
a regular blogger, has hosted guest posts, done giveaways, and has published a slew of
reviews.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is, in fact, one of the
first bloggers I ever “met” and I hold her responsible, for better or worse,
for getting the ball rolling for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Draw the
Dark</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(She can deny it, but I know
people read her blog.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So when this
woman talks, I listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her take on
guests posts was fascinating: she felt they really weren’t all that useful for
her as a blogger and reviewer; that people headed to her blog because they
wanted to hear from and had developed an attachment to <em>her</em>, not because they
were all that excited or interested in whomever she might interview.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which was pretty intriguing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">Conversely, I also know
of a blogger whose readers <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">love </i>when
she does interviews—but that’s because her blog’s been set up that way from the
get-go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s very clear that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this </i>section of her blog is devoted to
interviews; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this </i>section to reviews; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this </i>section to her thoughts about books
in general; <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">this </i>section to her own
work . . . Getting the picture?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She’s a
blogger who’s diversified; the people who read her interviews are not the same
who might read her thoughts on the best middle grade horror books (as one
example).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">As a reader of a very
few blogs—there are only so many hours in my week—I can tell you, for a fact, that
I regularly go to one writer’s blog every week for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">one </i>post only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She has other
posts during the week; she gives away free fiction; but I’m not interested in
that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m interested in only one
particular area she chooses to blog about, and that’s the day I’ll drop by.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #999999; font-size: large;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">So I’m thinking that
both my reader’s comment and my own observations about blog content ring true:
people head to a blog for a reason; because it has some identity and/or some content they’re really
interested in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They do <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not </i>head to a blog because you, a writer
they may never have heard from, just happen to be posting . . . <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unless </i>it’s their practice to do so
already.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">See the distinction?</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">Anyway, all that
reinforced to me that guest posts really might not be the most efficient and effective use of
your time as a writer to get the word out. That was hammered home for
me just a day or two ago when I happened across a blog where I’d actually been invited to do a guest
post—for which I spent time I might have given to my work in progress or, say,
feeding my husband—that never appeared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Mind you, this is a post for which I was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">invited </i>and my publisher asked that I do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Come to find that the blogger put up a kind
of a blanket apology a week or so ago, talking about getting swamped, not having
been able to make the time, and so falling down on putting up the guest posts she’d
solicited authors to do.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">Now, I’m not an
ogre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t whip my husband (or, if I
do, he enjoys it).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t starve my
cats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m as human (and humane) as the next person,
and I really, really understand about getting behind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I have been working nonstop for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">months</i>,
every single damn day of the week, on the book whose deadline is coming up in .
. . hold on, let me check . . . three days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(Am I done?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have I been done for a week or so?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Am I taking a weed-whacker to the thing and checking for inconsistencies
even though I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know </i>I’ll be seeing
this book again at <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">least </i>three more
times?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes—but I’m a perfectionist this
way.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I’ve not cooked the best meals
from my family; there have been nights of grilled cheese and many Sundays I’ve not
baked a cake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve put off doing a lot
of things, like paying bills or seeing a movie, going out to dinner, going on vacation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been under virtual (self-imposed)
house arrest for months. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">I'm not complaining either. This
is my job. I have a contract and obligation I take seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-pagination: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>So
when somebody puts up a blog and then invites you, the writer, to do a guest
post, I think that every blogger has to understand: a writer takes time out from
her <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">job </i>to write something for free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That writer is providing content with the
good-faith expectation that those words will see the light of day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will that post necessarily generate a lot of
hits and more publicity for a book?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Probably not, unless it happens to being an extremely well-traveled, highly influential blog (I
talk about this in my earlier post and how you ought to weigh the pros and
cons), or one that’s universally recognized: say, something on Horn Book,
Kirkus, or Publisher’s Weekly. (HAH!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
wish . . .)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">But is it okay <em>not</em> to
honor the obligation to put up the guest post, especially when it really doesn’t
take all that much work to cut and paste?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To my mind, the answer is no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When I give my word that I will do something—for example, this blog—it’s
not okay not to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve taken on the obligation;
it’s a promise I’ve made, and promises . . . you gotta keep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(And, come on . . . we’re all busy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have things to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">I didn’t<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>have time </i>is really shorthand for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">This wasn’t a priority</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Simple as that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all the same number of hours in the day.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Barring something like illness, a death in
the family, or some catastrophe, then I must make time/find the hours to honor
that obligation. (Just as some of my fellow ADR3NALIN3ers do their blogs weeks
in advance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words . . . they
plan. What a concept.)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">In the case of a blogger
who solicits a guest post and then doesn’t put that up . . . so not cool.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A personal email to the writer who spent the
time to generate words for which she’s not getting paid is only polite.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not okay to solicit a piece and then
never put it up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is work and time
that I’ll never get back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is time I
took away from making a more elaborate meal for my husband, or seeing a movie. Or sleeping.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">Think about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">Something that has
nothing to do with blogs: I think we all know that giveaways are one venue for
getting the word out about a book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a
post about discoverability, Kris Rusch mentioned the idea of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://kriswrites.com/2013/12/04/the-business-rusch-the-fierce-urgency-of-now-discoverability-part-3/"><span style="color: red;">loss leaders</span></a></i>: that is, something sold at a loss to lead consumers to other products (as, for example, forgoing a profit
on the first book in a series sold for a deep discount). In many ways, this is one reason why writers participate in communities like <a href="http://www.wattpad.com/"><em><span style="color: red;">Wattpad</span></em></a>, where authors make out-of-prints books available
for free or post free chapters pf a work in progress (or finished work).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Until a few weeks ago, I had zero stats on this
because I’m traditionally published and so have no access to sales numbers
(better for my mental health, trust me on this).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, a few weeks ago, Audible decided to make
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ASHES </i>available as a daily deal. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Tickled me to pieces.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A week later, they followed up to let me know
how that had gone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #999999; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="color: #999999; font-size: large;">Let’s put it this way:
with the discount, the sales for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ASHES</i>
went up <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: red;">two-hundredfold</span></i> in a single
day from what it had been for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">an entire
week</i> prior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In addition, the bump in
sales continued for the week after the deal, with sales of the first book, even
back up at full price, going up <span style="color: red;">twenty-fold</span>.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="color: #999999; font-size: large;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">Wow. That . . . that makes you sit
up and pay attention.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #999999; font-size: large;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;">What this also suggests—actually,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">screams</i>—is that you need a very
efficient marketing arm to get the word out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m still not sure how an individual would do that in a way that’s
comparable to a company like Audible, unless it’s someone who’s built up a
following over a lot of years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect
that going through venues such as Goodreads or Amazon—I’m talking about people
going the indie route now—might generate the same bump in sales, provided that
the sale (or giveaway) remains in effect long enough.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Audible was able to achieve for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ASHES </i>what it did because it has the
resources for an email blast that reached a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ton
</i>of customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their reach is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">huge</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">By contrast, <em>my</em>
reach, as an individual, is teeny-tiny.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>For example, when I do a giveaway on Goodreads, I’ve learned that you
have to let it go about a month in order to generate hits (I count a goodly
amount of hits as upwards of a thousand).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is there a bump in sales afterward?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Beats me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know because I’m
not the publisher and don’t have access to those numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If and when I go indie, though—say, release <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">WHITE SPACE </i>as an e-book for overseas
distribution through Kobo and Amazon—then I’ll have some numbers . . . sort
of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is, I might be able to track
whether or not my sales improve because of a giveaway or price reduction.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: large;">Okay, that’s all I have
time for today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That deadline just hasn’t
disappeared, so it’s time to pet the cat, feed the husband (or vice versa) and
get back to work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
Ilsahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08547422320007180924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7817438941023006688.post-78382706802026584762014-01-10T01:00:00.001-06:002014-01-10T01:00:00.734-06:00Crane on a Plane<span style="font-size: medium;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vow06NaPrkw/Us2orgCqHoI/AAAAAAAAC4M/VX_w1PGEd5k/s1600/New-TV-Shows-Generating-Buzz-This-Fall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Vow06NaPrkw/Us2orgCqHoI/AAAAAAAAC4M/VX_w1PGEd5k/s1600/New-TV-Shows-Generating-Buzz-This-Fall.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">As many of you know, I am totally addicted to Fox’s new show <a href="http://www.fox.com/sleepy-hollow/" target="_blank">Sleepy Hollow</a>, staring British hottie <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2070427/" target="_blank">Tom Mison</a> and his strong female co-star, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2718512/" target="_blank">Nicole Beharie</a>. I’ve been a fan of Tom Mison since he stole every scene he was in on the feature film “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” with Emily Blunt and Ewan MacGregor. I could NOT take my eyes off him and was thrilled to see the creators of Sleepy Hollow got it right when they cast him in the pivotal and iconic role of Ichabod Crane.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">With critically acclaimed season 1 about to conclude, I am savoring every promo tidbit that’s coming up, including morsels on season 2. Don’t miss Tom on the LIVE! Kelly and Michael show on Monday, Jan 13th. I believe it is his first live talk show in the US as a leading man. I’ve got my DVR set because I know I will want to watch him over and over. The guy is charming and funny.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Check out my Pinterest Board of my favorite Tom Mison images </span><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/jordandane/tom-misonsleepy-hollow/" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">HERE</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">. Real gems!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">In a recent TV interview with </span><a href="http://www.myfoxny.com/video?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=9703831#.Uszq6V_vUcw.twitter"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Good Day NY</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">, Sleepy Hollow star </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/theorlandojones" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Orlando Jones</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> hinted at things to come in June when the show starts filming season 2 after the highly anticipated 2-hr finale that will air on Jan 20th. (Be sure to see another new episode “The Vessel” on Monday, Jan 13th.) For the second season, the cast will be filming in NY, Philly, and London. Yes, the fight to save the world from the apocalypse will force our intrepid biblical Revelations witnesses – Ichabod Crane and Lt. Abbie Mills - out of Sleepy Hollow. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">And you know what that means—CRANE ON A PLANE. Ichabod will be hitting the big city and will have to fly in a plane to get to London. Oh, Lord. Talk about a fish out of water. A target rich environment for Crane’s befuddlement and stubborn pride that has endeared him to a huge fan base.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I can picture Crane in the iconic Times Square in NYC, staring up at the skyscrapers in his period clothing, spellbound. Mostly I thought about all the Crane-isms for air travel. If you’re a fan of the show, I’m sure you can hear Crane and Abbie’s voices in your head, like I can. No one does moral outrage like our heroic rebel Ichabod Crane. Here are a few quick lines I’ve tweeted – my version of CRANE ON A PLANE:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong><em>Crane at the airport:</em></strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Crane: “Unhand me, sir. By what right…”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">TSA: “I said take off your boots. And you’re only allowed to carry on 3 ounces of liquid.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Crane: “This is an outrage. I pay for water, endure a 10% levy, now I must weigh it?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">TSA: “SECURITY!”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><em><strong>Thirty Minutes Later</strong></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Crane: “But it’s metal. You expect me to believe that ridiculous vessel can fly.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Abbie: “It’s a plane. It flies. Now get onboard.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Crane: “I’d rather face Moloch.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><em><strong>In his seat:</strong></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Crane: “I had better accommodations when I was buried for 250 years than I do here in 14B.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Abbie: “But you were dead.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">Crane: “A technicality.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">I love the </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/SleepyWriters" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">writers of Sleepy Hollow</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">. They carry off the delicate balance between ramping up the suspense and stakes, while adding the fun tongue-in-cheek humor that has become trademark of the show. Much of that humor is turned into gold in the deft hands of Tom Mison, who plays Ichabod Crane. Tom has great comedic timing and hilarious facial expressions that require no words at all. Sleepy Hollow is the perfect show for Tom to be introduced to the American public and the world. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><strong>He’s a hunky pistachio nut. One taste isn’t enough.</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-4N-l5o6oAw0/Us2kpPV1imI/AAAAAAAAC3k/we_eKwe16Wk/s1600-h/tumblr_mubl97U2yP1r571fno2_250%25255B2%25255D.gif"><img alt="tumblr_mubl97U2yP1r571fno2_250" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-ydKs_bjGit0/Us2krMdzl6I/AAAAAAAAC3s/nloSlSj8zvQ/tumblr_mubl97U2yP1r571fno2_250_thumb.gif?imgmax=800" height="147" style="display: inline;" title="tumblr_mubl97U2yP1r571fno2_250" width="240" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-c_XogjGSIFg/Us2ktYYkGuI/AAAAAAAAC30/lrvu4NpR-As/s1600-h/tumblr_mw4tdwUUMX1r3nwdio6_250%25255B2%25255D.gif"><img alt="tumblr_mw4tdwUUMX1r3nwdio6_250" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-mFtPv9I4wFk/Us2kvv_QKII/AAAAAAAAC38/DCqw4of3muA/tumblr_mw4tdwUUMX1r3nwdio6_250_thumb.gif?imgmax=800" height="194" style="display: inline;" title="tumblr_mw4tdwUUMX1r3nwdio6_250" width="240" /></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">On a side note, I hear during the hiatus, Tom Mison will be working on his American accent, to give him more opportunities as a leading man in the U.S. I sincerely hope he doesn’t lose his proper British one. His diction and pronunciation (enhanced from his years on stage and his dramatic training) make him a standout anywhere.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://youtu.be/vBFUUFh6rlo" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">LINK</span></a><span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;"> for video. Thanks to Ivet Lightwood for the great video.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><strong><em>Happy 2014, Sleepyheads!</em></strong></span>Jordan Danehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03350761658156085280noreply@blogger.com2