Chart Watching

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He looked at the chart but he look in vain

Heavy cloud but no rain

– Sting, Heavy Cloud No Rain, Ten Summoners Tales

Originally, this was a post about publishing.Ā  Iā€™ve been singing this song for the better part of a month feeling that it related to my efforts in self-publishing. Having the ability to have live updated sales results is not really as fun as it sounds. Or at least itā€™s not good for ongoing peace of mind. The world of publishing has changed. Now every author must do the work that previously was performed by publishing houses ā€“ namely, marketing. And the secret thing about marketing that every marketing professional would prefer you not know, is that you can never quite tell whatā€™s going to work. So with every fresh effort, I flip back to the chart to see if thereā€™s rain or not. Some sprinkles, some gushers, some droughts ā€“ and that is the way of the writing life now.Ā  But thereā€™s more to that song, and the rest of the lyrics are more applicable to the real world right now than they are to any personal concerns I have about my writing and sales.

Turned on the weather man just after the news

I needed sweet rain to wash away my blues

He looked at the chart but he look in vain

Heavy cloud but no rain

Much of the state of Washington, my state, is on fire. This song isnā€™t much of a metaphor; itā€™s what weā€™re all doing. Weā€™re literally out of firefighters and the ones that are on the line are working days in a row with little to no sleep. Firefighters from Australian and New Zealand arrived on Monday to help and we couldnā€™t be happier to see them. We literally need all the help we can get.

There is a line of mountains between the fires and my house and still the sky is frequently a hazy yellow from smoke. Yesterday, I could look at the sun directly because there was so much smog that it was only a burning circle of orange in the sky.

Sometimes my state feels culturally divided by that chain of mountains, but this fire has turned us all into obsessed weather forecast watchers. My facebook feed is filled with pictures of rain ā€“ a virtual rain dance for our home and our friends. Weather forecasting has taken a giant step forward due to computing speeds and modeling, but Washington is still one of the toughest places to forecast. All the data in the world canā€™t entirely predict if rain is going to fall. We all watch the chart, but so far, heavy cloud, no rain.

So, if youā€™re a praying person, pray for some rain. If youā€™re a donating person, you can view this article from local reporter Jesse Jones, for where to send donations.Ā Washington thanks you.

Dear Brain…

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Originally published on The Stiletto Gang 07.22.15

Dear Brain,

While I appreciate your many efforts and strong creative solutions, I would very much appreciate it if you could focus on the problems at hand. Thanks so much.

Sincerely,

Self

 

I have a writing calendar that tells me what Iā€™m supposed to be working on. Outlining, editing, actually writing, itā€™s all scheduled out. Since the release of High-Caliber Concealer, third book in the Carrie Mae Mystery series is right around the corner (November 17!), that means I should be busy working on draft one of book 4 ā€“ Glossed Cause. That also means that last month I should have finished an outline of said fourth book. Do you know what I have not completed? Yes, thatā€™s right ā€“ the outline. I had completedĀ  about 75% it and stopped becauseā€¦ Well, I donā€™t hate it, but I donā€™t love it either. And then last week I realized what was wrong with it. Not that I know how to fix it, but at least I know why Iā€™m not excited about it. So Iā€™ve been twiddling my thumbs, enjoying the summer, pretending that I have all the time in the world, and hoping that inspiration would hit.

Then last night it did hit. I woke up with a fantastic idea.

For a different book.

I came up with a great idea for the sequel to my recent release ā€“ An Unseen Current. I even have a great name for it, which practically never happens. Itā€™s really, really exciting and not at all what I need. But if Iā€™ve learned anything about creativity itā€™s that if you fight it sometimes it stops all together. What do you think? Should I work on this new idea for a bit and see if inspiration strikes for Glossed Cause or should I set the new idea aside and focus, focus, focus

That Editing… So Hot Right now

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It’s that time again. The editing time. Ā The time when I get back all the stupidy stupidy line edits and have to go through and approve them. That’s the worst part. Ā I have to approve them. Ā OK, I don’t absolutely HAVE to, but the truth is about 8 out of every 10 line edits are the correct decision. Of the other two, one is probably a matter of preference and the other is absolutely right the way it was the first time. Why don’t you understand my genius you piddling moron who is merely paid to sift through the words and divine my sheer awesomeness?

It’s possible that the last sentence there was a bit of an overstatement.

But my secret internal Mugatu doesn’t think it was.

Mugatu, for those who haven’t watched the hilariously improbable Zoolander, is the fashion designerKungFuNuns / evil genius, played by Will Ferrell, who is attempting kill the prime minister of Malaysia by brainwashing male model Derek Zoolander. Many writers, myself included, seem to yo-yo between the states of modesty (I write pretty well), ego (I’m a genius!!), and self-hatred (why would anyone read the crap I produce?). I picture modesty as the quiet saintly type ā€“ a Buddhist nun (who secretly knows Peter Lorre2kung fu) and self-hatred as the goggly-eyed guy from the Maltese Falcon who says the worst things in the sweetest voice.

And nowhere are those states of being more quickly cycled through than the editing rounds. Each tweak of the text from the editor is like some sort of judgement from on high that can send me off into a Mugatu-esque rage or goggly-eyed shame spiral. Ā It’s up the the Kung Fu nun to bring balance and harmony. Although, admittedly sometimes the nun needs a little help from a glass of wine and a jog around the block.

Mystery Novel Seeks New Home

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Originally published atĀ The Stiletto Gang on 04.22.15

As the release date for my newest mystery (An UnseenCurrent) approaches (April 28thā€“ ahhhhhhh!!!) I find myself once again pondering the cruel irony of nature that crafts writers to be introspective sorts and then pits them against a task to which they are monumentally unsuited.Ā  That is to say: marketing. The woman hours spent lovingly crafting characters, settings, and events leaves the writer more than a little in love with their own book. To then have it heartlessly thrust into the public where some reviewer will crassly thumb through it and declare it to be passable is like being gently stabbed with needles by someone who doesnā€™t really care about your problems.Ā  We all want to be bestselling authors.Ā  I mean, who doesnā€™t want to be RichardCastle? (I really am ruggedly handsome!)Ā  But in all honesty, I think most writers would rather have their books treasured and loved than consumed like soda and disposed of.

I remember the first time I saw one of my auntā€™s books at Half-Price Books. My aunt,Linda Nichols, writes beautiful Christian fiction with snappy plots and characters you want to hug. I had not yet, published any books and I personally thought that seeing her books on the shelf of a used bookstore was cool.Ā  But Linda did not think it was cool ā€“ there was wincing and the sad look of ā€œohh, I wish I didnā€™t know that.ā€Ā  Someone sold her book down the river ā€“ the heathens, the Philistines! The bastards with not enough shelf space!Ā  After I had been published I realized her pain.Ā  How could someone not love my book?! Why would anyone give my book away?Ā  My books are awesome.Ā  All right, yes, I recognize the shelf space issue is a real thing ā€“ even libraries donā€™t have ALL the books.Ā  But as each baby book flies out into the world, forgive me if I hope that it will find at least one home where it will be treasured.

And on that note ā€“ who wants a free digital copy of An Unseen Current?Ā  Itā€™s looking for an awesome home (and someone who will leave a review).Ā  Leave a comment here or on Facebook to be entered to win.Ā  Iā€™ll draw names on Friday morning.

The Story Starts Here

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Originally published atĀ The Stiletto Gang on 03.25.15

One of the most common question a writer gets asked is “Where do your ideas come from?”

Once my brother made me lay on his floor so he could tape outlines of me all over his bedroom carpet as though his room had been the site of a mass murder; we found it was surprisingly difficult to get just the right pose so that all the limbs were showing and you didn’t just have weird potato shaped outlines. (Yes, I know that was an odd transition, but I’ll circle back I promise.) When was 12, I told my Dad I had a stove box to make a Halloween costume out of he got out the black and white spray paint and turned my best friend and I intoĀ Two Fools in Pair-o-Dice; our heads came out the one dots – naturally. My mom’s friend once had eye surgery and had a rather large bandage, so my mom painted on an eye over the bandage and added a great set of false lashes. Why did we do these things? Honestly, the question never occurred to us. Had you asked at the time we probably would have said, “Why not?” My family has a culture of creativity and odd projects from passing thoughts are the norm not the exception. And as is often the case with cultures, I didn’t think to question it until someone from a different culture asked, “So why don’t you put mayo on fries?”Ā Ā Or in the case of my writing, “How do you come up with your ideas?”

The people asking don’t mean anything by the question, they are genuinely interested. The problem is that at any given time I’m vacillating between two of my personalities, Helpful Instructor Bethany and Diva Artiste Bethany. Helpful Instructor is usually nice, but Diva Artiste is kind of… well, I won’t use the B-word as we are in a family friendly forum, but you get the idea, and sometimes it’s a struggle to rein Diva Wench back in. Helpful Instructor realizes that the questioner was not raised in a culture of creativity and they are asking for help understanding the creative process. Diva Artiste imperiously demands how anyone cannot have ideas. Ideas are literally littered on the sidewalk, in the newspaper, on the radio, sleeting through the universe like a tiny meteorite looking for a receptive brain (Terry Pratchett, you are missed) and all you really have to do to have an idea is make your brain receptive. It’s easy to do – read blogs by creative people (thanks), buy creative people presents (ok, maybe not really on that one, but I like books, you know, just in case), try new things. But the number one tip that Helpful Instructor or Diva Artiste both agree on, is to ask “What if?”

Any topic can work. Earlier this week there was aĀ news storyĀ about a man who ran from the police and got stuck in mud.Ā Ā What if you had been that man – up to your knees in river mud, unable to move, sinking slowly? What would you do?

What if I… What if you… What if they… The story starts there and you can decide the ending – just answer the question.

Genre Bending

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Originally posted on The Stiletto Gang Blog 03.11.15.

I read Marjorie Brodyā€™s post yesterday “Passion Knows NoGenreā€ with interest. Marjorie was discussing that she hates being tied to one particular genre, but that the general industry wisdom is to do exactly that ā€“ stick to one thing! I love Marjorieā€™s rebellious flare, but the topic also tied into something Iā€™ve been pondering for awhile: pen names and branding.

As a graphic designer with over a decade of industry experience I have referred to myself periodically as a ā€œbranding expertā€. Branding is about capturing the concrete and implied qualities of a company or person in their visual, advertising, and on-line representations. Branding seems trivial to some, but as human beings we do it ALL the time. Only most sociologists call it ā€œstereotypingā€. Humans seem to prefer to have a short little label to stick on people. We donā€™t really like being forced to confront the broad spectrum of human reality ā€“ it takes too long and weā€™ve got better things to do with our time. What I do as a graphic designer is try to lodge the preferred stereotype in a consumers mind before they apply their (usually not as complementary) own.

Which is why I donā€™t usually tell my graphic design clients that Iā€™m a writer.Ā  It confuses my brand.Ā  I can see the thought bubble form: If she writes, then she canā€™t really be a graphic designer; everyone knows you canā€™t have TWO talents.Ā  Fortunately, the writer brand is equivalent with ā€œpoorā€ so when I tell writer friends that I also do graphic design they just nod.Ā  But industry wisdom has the same ā€œdoes not computeā€ problem with genre.Ā  ā€œBut she writes Mystery, she canā€™t also write (fill in the blank).ā€

And up until now the only way to write something different was to use a pen name. But with the online world being what it is and withĀ lawyers being blabbermouths, keeping a pen name identity a secret is hard to do.Ā  The other problem is that as writers have become more and more responsible for their own publicity they realize that itā€™s hard enough getting recognition for one name, let alone building buzz for an entirely new, second name.
Which is why I find the development of the new style of pen name so interesting.Ā  ā€œWrting asā€ has become the marketers new favorite phrase. Such as: Laura Spinella writing asĀ L.J. WilsonĀ pens Ruby Ink! (Iā€™m half way through my advance copy and itā€™s a fantastic, saucy romp of a book ā€“Ā pick it up on March 31!)Ā  ā€œWriting asā€ is now code for ā€œIā€™m not writing in the same genre, so be prepared for something different.ā€Ā  And I couldnā€™t be happier about it. At last writers have found a way to break out of the genre trap! Perhaps in a few years Pen Names will be the new industry wisdom. Weā€™ll just have to see which pen name Marjorie chooses.