Moving On

Posted on November 2, 2015 ·
Image from Flickr by wonderlane

Image from Flickr by wonderlane

October has come and gone, my favorite month of the year. We had more trick-or-treaters than ever before, many of them teenagers, which was fun—they always scream the loudest when our jumping spider leaps from behind the hibiscus tree, and I don’t have to worry about them bursting into tears afterward.

I stayed quiet on this blog throughout October, but it was a month of deep reflection that led to two important decisions in my life—one I can share with you now and one I can’t, although I hope to soon.

Two weeks ago I turned in notice for my “day job” working part-time as a nurse; I’ve been moving in a different direction for some time now. Technically I’m still employed on a pool basis, meaning I can pick up shifts if I need to, and I’ll continue helping out with the end-of-month paperwork that I’ve always enjoyed. Still, the decision to resign my scheduled position feels momentous; I’d worked there for over eleven years.

My last day on the floor was yesterday and my co-workers were amazing, bringing donuts, ordering pizza, and shoving cupcakes in my face. Literally. Several of them wanted to know if I had another job, and I told them that for the next six months my job title is “full-time student.”

If that sounds indulgent, it’s not—believe me. This return to college has been incredibly fulfilling but also more difficult than I ever imagined. From personal issues that had me reeling in June to ridiculously ill-timed computer issues this fall, I’ve overcome some wild challenges and feel both overwhelmed and proud. It’s hard to believe in four weeks I’ll be one semester away from graduation.

In addition to school, I’ve been writing and editing like crazy, and submitting widely. On November 14 I’ll be reading a new essay at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, and I hope you can make it. The event starts at 2 p.m., it’s free, and several other writers will be sharing their work. It would be wonderful to see you there.

Also, in case you missed it, author Scott Keen interviewed me for his blog a few weeks ago and asked some great questions, including one about my current project What Was Never There; you can read the interview here.

Finally, good luck to my fellow writers participating in National Novel Writing Month! Of course I’m in, what’s one more project, right? After the last six months, I feel like I can take on anything.

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The Key to Getting Through Rejections

Posted on September 18, 2015 ·
Image from Flickr by Brenda Clarke

Image from Flickr by Brenda Clarke

This morning after dropping the kids off at school, I headed to Xtreme Bean Coffee Co., determined to catch up on the one class I’ve fallen behind in (one out of five—not bad, right?). I ducked into the dimly-lit vault (the building was formerly a bank) and planted myself in a corner, vowing that after I checked my email—just this once!—I’d focus only on reading my assigned short stories and scribbling annotations on a legal pad.

Good thing I checked my email. The instructor had sent out a notice postponing the due date for the assignment by one week. And I needed that, because what I really wanted to do today was write a blog post.

Most of you who follow me here are writers, and writers never get tired of talking about one thing—rejection. I’ve written about it before, and how rejections usually don’t bother me. But yesterday I received one that bothered me a lot, and I want to tell you why so you don’t make the same mistakes I made.

The first mistake was letting my number of pending submissions dwindle down to one. Don’t do this. It’s important to keep multiple submissions going so that you don’t pin all your hopes on one single response. There have been times when I’ve received acceptances for stories that I’d nearly forgotten were out there because I had so many circulating, and that’s a nice feeling.

My other mistake was believing that a long response time meant something. Twice I’ve had stories take longer than usual to come back, and when they did it was with personalized notes from editors encouraging me to send more, and admitting that it had taken so long because the work had been carefully considered (although ultimately turned down).

In the case of yesterday’s rejection, it took nine months to arrive, and having previously submitted to this magazine I knew they were pretty good about sticking to their ideal turn-around time of three months. So at about the half-year mark I started envisioning my little story being passed up the chain of editors, all the way to the top, and my hopes climbed too.

But sometimes the reason for a longer than usual response time is simply this: the editors are buried beneath their slush piles. When that happens it’s very likely that all you’re going to get after nine months or even a year of waiting is a form rejection. Which is what I got yesterday.

Which is okay. The key is not to wait.

In case you missed it, my short YA piece “We Never Get to Talk Anymore” was published last month in YARN, a fantastic magazine publishing literature about young adults, and also by young adults. Check it out and let me know what you think!

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Celebrating Today

Posted on July 29, 2015 ·
Image from Flickr by Will Clayton

Image from Flickr by Will Clayton

I love secrets. And birthdays. And new beginnings. So today’s kind of perfect.

Today I turn 40, and I’m so excited about this decade of my life. In my 20s I became a mother, the most important thing that’s ever happened to me. In my 30s I had a wedding, another baby, and became a published author. Life has been good to me, but I have dreams left to chase, like

  • earning my English degree. Today I am two semesters away from graduating from ASU, having returned this summer to complete my bachelor’s degree. I should graduate in the spring.
  • publishing more books. Today I collected my first winner’s badge from NaNoWriMo, having “camped” out this month—in secret ;)—to write my third book. In April, I wrote my second book, which I’ll be revising next month.
  • changing careers. Today I go to work for a job I started when I was 29; I’ve loved working there and will probably continue for a few more years, but in my heart I know I’m meant for a career in writing, editing, or teaching.

There’s so much more to look forward to as well: seeing my children graduate from high school (!!!), reading hundreds of new books, and blowing out the candles on many more birthday cakes.

But for now, I’ll just celebrate today.

Camp-Winner-2015-Web-Banner

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Now You See Me

Posted on July 24, 2015 ·
Photo from Flickr by 4nitsirk

Photo from Flickr by 4nitsirk

First drafts are not meant to be read. They are clumsy and embarrassing, filled with trite dialogue and bumbling prose, riddled with clichés.

I’m working on a first draft now. It’s terrible, I promise. You will never, ever see it. If the book happens to get published and you should happen to read it, it will look completely different from the current version because that’s how this writing thing works. That’s why writers love our editors, and why the art of writing is in revision. That’s why a first draft is not meant to be read, and if it is, the writer should never be judged by it.

Especially the first draft of a first novel.

I can’t share with you any portion of my debut novel’s early drafts because my contract doesn’t allow for that, but here are the beginning and ending paragraphs of an essay called “Memorial Day.” It was published in Literary Mama in 2012, years after I began working on it. These paragraphs were the most difficult; I’m including the final versions–which I’m proud of–followed by earlier versions, which are at best boring and at worst embarrassingly bad.

Final draft: My son was born on Memorial Day, a day of muted celebrations, reserved to honor loss. It was a fitting end to a difficult pregnancy. I spent most of it wrapped in a cocoon with my four year old, binding myself to her with fine threads of guilt. Where would love for this baby come from, if not cut from Abbey’s share? How hard would she fall, when the center of her world shifted? Would my daughter’s first broken heart be ascribed to her own mother?

Rough draft: My son was born at the end of May, and his arrival into the world marked a period of fulfillment and loss. It was a tough pregnancy. I spent most of it wrapped in a cocoon with my first child, savoring each moment with her as I prepared to become a mother of two. I worried about Abbey. For five years she had been my whole world. Now that world would have to accommodate another child. Would I love him as much? Would Abbey feel betrayed? How can a mother divide her love equally between two babies?

Final draft: Finally, I washed his hair. My hand cradled his soft skull, marveling at its fragility, memorizing its shape. I swaddled him in a warm towel, then pressed him to my chest. “Gabriel,” I whispered, but my throat locked against the words. I’m sorry it took me so long. I was too overcome with relief at the familiar guilt that bound me to motherhood once more.

Rough draft: Finally, I washed his hair. My hand cradled his soft little skull, marveling at its fragility, memorizing its beautiful shape. I lifted him and wrapped him in a warm towel, then pressed him to my chest. Knowing at that moment that a mother’s love was drawn from a limitless expanse; like time, it was immeasurable and boundless. “Gabriel,” I whispered, feeling tears of guilt and relief. The guilt felt pretty good.  It meant I truly felt like my son’s mother.

Note the clichés and sentimentality in those early versions. “Savoring each moment.” “She had been my whole world.” “Drawn from a limitless expanse.” “Memorizing its beautiful shape.” Ugh, right?

That’s okay. In a first draft a writer is just getting the ideas down and if she stops to think I can’t put that on paper, it’s cheesy and sounds ridiculous, then she loses the moment, the idea. Going over it later, she plucks out the cheesy phrases, or her editor does. And then they work together and keep refining, out of respect not only for the craft of writing, but respect for you. The reader.

So if you should happen to read a first draft of something, like a beloved classic novel, and you feel shocked and perhaps betrayed that the writing is common and trite and not the brilliance you thought came naturally to the author, think instead how hard she worked, maybe for years, to bring you the version she knew you deserved.

Good writing’s not supposed to be easy.

 

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What I Wish I’d Known about Publishing a Book

Posted on June 10, 2015 ·
Image from Flickr by Stacey Green

Image from Flickr by Stacey Green

Today marks the one-year anniversary of The Fourth Wall’s release, and boy have I learned a lot about marketing in that year. While I still feel incredibly lucky to have had a book published, I know I’ve made mistakes trying to get that book into readers’ hands. Here are some things, if given the chance, that I’d do different:

I’d focus my early efforts on getting book reviews. By early April I had an ISBN, a Goodreads page, a cover, a title, and a release date, which is all I needed to send requests to book reviewers. But I didn’t know that—I thought I needed the ARCs (advance review copies) on hand before even asking for reviews. So I waited until I had them, which was mid-May, less than a month before my publication date, and I quickly learned that wasn’t enough time for the many reviewers who only review books before they are published.

I’d make a much bigger push for preorders. I’m terribly insecure about Facebook posts blasting news about my book, so I basically gave myself an allowance of one post per news item. For example, when I received my bookmarks, I posted one picture. When I received my actual books, I posted one picture. Determined not to aggravate my friends or set myself up for ridicule, I stuck with this rule even when The Fourth Wall went on sale for preorders. And one post was not enough.

I’d hire a publicist. Seriously. Even to just help me put together a media kit and make that initial push for interviews and speaking engagements, until I’d built my confidence. I spent countless hours wringing my hands over how to put together a press kit and how and where to send it out and did it ever happen? No. I felt paralyzed by all of the choices and overwhelmed by all I didn’t know, and I’m convinced that a publicist would have been worth hiring to guide me through that.

While there’s a lot I could have done better, here are the things I did right:

The book launch party. Of course, I can’t take all the credit for this—most of it goes to Changing Hands Bookstore and the many friends and family who made the launch party a success. Bookstore events can go either way; it’s difficult to predict whether fifty people will show up, or only five (kind of like your kid’s birthday party). I told myself that if it was only five, I’d make the best of it, but the turnout was great and it was truly a magical evening.

The blog tour. Yes, they’re worth it. I think a third of my reviews are direct results of the blog tour, and The Fourth Wall got a lot of exposure with those fourteen blog posts. Also, writing posts on lucid dreaming and answering dozens of interview questions about themes, characters, and inspirations renewed my excitement for the book itself—not the publishing of it or the marketing behind it, but the ideas and dreams that inspired me to write it in the first place.

I always said yes. Although I couldn’t quite find the courage to seek out speaking opportunities, I never turned down any offer that came my way. When Phoenix New Times asked for an in-person interview, I said yes. When my son’s teacher asked me to come and speak to a class of second graders about being an author, I said yes. And when the activities director at the skilled nursing facility where I work asked me to come speak to the residents about The Fourth Wall, I said yes.

That event/signing took place yesterday by the way, and the host, Gayle, was so gracious and asked such wonderfully unique questions that I didn’t even get a chance to feel nervous. Plus, she served cake.

If you’re an author, is there anything you wish you had done differently in terms of marketing?

 

 

 

 

 

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How Sweet the Silence

Posted on May 8, 2015 ·

I read something the other day about how we have a better chance at accomplishing goals when we keep them to ourselves.

That struck home, because the first time I wrote a book I didn’t tell anyone. Not my kids, not my husband—not until I had a completed first draft. Back then my youngest was three years old, so it’s not like anyone was asking, “What do you do all day?”

Since that novel was published, however, I’ve struggled to write the next one. I’ve started several, and if you follow me on social media, you’ve probably heard about them, because like most of us on social media I’ve fallen into the habit of publicly announcing my hopes and dreams almost from the moment they’re envisioned.

This doesn’t work for me.

Sometimes there was good reason my plans fell through. I joined National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November 2013 ready to pen my next novel. I told everyone. And then I got content edits back for The Fourth Wall, and spent the rest of the year knee-deep in edits.

The early months of 2014 were devoted to “preparing for launch”; I’d never been through the publishing process before and had a lot to learn. But by March I thought, Okay. I’ve done all I can do and now I’m just sitting here waiting for a publication date.

So I joined Camp NaNoWriMo on April 1, ready to pen my next novel. I told everyone. And on April 2—yes, really—I received the email with my publication date. Two months away.

Now—one year later—I’m going to tell you what all authors know and most don’t talk about for fear of sounding like ungrateful jerks: once you’re published, everything becomes harder. Your reasons for writing get lost and what you swore you wouldn’t care about—the numbers—becomes all you care about. And then it’s hard to keep going, because the numbers will break you.

I didn’t bother joining NaNoWriMo this last November. Instead, I read throughout the fall and then all winter long, and when people asked me what I was working on I usually told them the truth: nothing much.

But something happened recently, on April 1, to be exact. On that day I made a last-minute decision to join Camp NaNoWriMo, ready to pen my next novel. I told no one. And I ended the month with 30,000 words toward this new book.

So, what’s my book about? I’m not telling. 😉

Not yet.

What I’ve discovered is that keeping quiet about my works-in-progress has enormous benefits for me. For example, if I’d announced on April 1 that I was starting a novel, I may have been completely deflated three days later when I realized I wasn’t writing a novel at all, but a rather long short story. Still, no one knew my original plan; I could change it and write a book of short stories if I wanted. All that mattered was that I was writing again.

So that’s what I did. Last month, I quietly wrote a book of short stories.

I know. It’s impossible to get a short story collection published unless half have already appeared in The New Yorker, or you’re famous, or whatever.

But what if I didn’t know that? Like a scrappy pilot once said while navigating an asteroid field, “Never tell me the odds.”

Or what if all that really mattered was the sense of accomplishment that comes with creating something you can be proud of? That’s where I started, and finally that’s where I’ve returned.

I’m proud of these stories, I can’t wait to tell you about them, and sometime very soon—I promise—I will.

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Book Review: Scar of the Downers by Scott Keen

Posted on April 22, 2015 ·

ScarDowners_CVR_SML

I know. Gorgeous cover, right? The book is fabulous too.

Scar of the Downers is Scott Keen’s debut novel, and I received a copy in exchange for an honest review. Here is more information on the book–including where to buy it–and my five-star review. (The stars are there–you just can’t see them.)

Paperback: 274 pages
Genre: MG/YA Fantasy
Publisher: WiDo Publishing (March 10, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1937178635

Review: Crik and Jak are Downers, children branded with the mark of slavery and trapped in the oppressive city of Ungstah. Their master, Kilvar, owns a grungy shop where the boys are forced to work during the day selling stolen merchandise; in the evenings they scavenge for food. As long as they’re home by dusk they’re safe from the Ash Kings, phantom beings released each night from the smoky pit in the center of the city, beings that roam the streets in search of victims doomed to a searing, charred death.

In a village named Arined a devoted father, Talorc, sets out on a journey to avenge his son Andevin. The village blacksmith and his young apprentice join Talorc, and throughout their journey the reader learns the history and legends of Ungstah and the Ash Kings. The reader also learns that Talorc is not simply out to avenge his son, but to complete an important mission which will decide the fate, and maybe the freedom, of Crik and Jak.

I enjoyed this fantasy novel very much, particularly the uniqueness of it and the way Keen threads the history of his world throughout the story instead of condensing it in the first chapter. Crik is a likeable hero, scrappy and tough, a little too impulsive at times, a little too mistrustful at other times. He is, above all, dedicated to Jak and assumes full responsibility for the younger boy. Crik’s desire to protect Jak is both touching and sad—there is only so much he can do in the face of hunger, poverty, and the regular beatings from their cruel owner.

Another thing that stands out in Keen’s world is the depiction of poverty—the dirt, the lice, the caked fingernails, the grime-coated shop windows. I appreciated these details, and the overall sense of place. When you read about Ungstah, you feel like you’re there, slinking through its dirty alleys with Crik and Jak.

Fans of Middle-earth will recognize where Keen pays homage to Tolkien, especially in the adventures of Talorc. I really loved these scenes; there is such easy friendship and natural dialogue between the three men. And again, the slow unfolding of this world’s myths and legends was very well done.

Scar of the Downers is available in print and ebook at Amazon, and in print at Indie Bound, Books-a-Million, and Barnes & Noble.

About the Author:

Scott Keen grew up in Black River, NY, the youngest of three children. While in law school, he realized he didn’t want to be a lawyer. So he did the practical thing–he became a writer. Now, many years later with an MFA in script and screenwriting, he is married with four daughters, two of whom he homeschools. He blogs at http://www.scottkeenbooks.com.

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See all the stops on Scott Keen’s blog tour here.

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New Beginnings

Posted on April 2, 2015 ·
Image from Flickr by AmyLovesYah

Image from Flickr by AmyLovesYah

Gabriel’s teacher recently invited me to talk to her second grade class about being an author. She had read my novel and, having particularly liked the first pages, hoped I could frame a discussion around word choice and the importance of beginnings.

I had all sorts of thoughts about how this would go. At their age I’d already fallen in love with language and kept a notebook filled with favorite words. The meanings of words mattered, of course, but even more intriguing were the sounds they made.

And when the sounds matched the meanings, like in “chime” and “thick” and “secret”? Well, that was pure magic.

So I thought I’d talk to the kids about my notebook, the excitement of discovering new language, how I’d open the dictionary to a random page, scan the possibilities, sound out syllables and make crucial choices about which gems to inscribe in my little spiral notebook (the lines more blue than green, the margin line more pink than red).

This would lead to a discussion about word choice, because authors must not only love words but love them enough to choose them wisely.

Which would lead to a discussion about the importance of beginnings.

Good plan, right? But in the end none of that happened, because the kids led the discussion. All I had to do was read the first page of The Fourth Wall, and then the students responded with a flood of questions.

They asked me how I felt writing the book at sentence level, how long it took, when I knew I wanted to be an author, and so on. And then the teacher directed them to write their own beginning, a single paragraph, with an illustration. After maybe fifteen minutes, the kids began to share their work.

Their stories varied widely. Some had magic, some had monsters. Some were cliffhangers, some complete tales. Some had detail and others were straightforward and concise.

Gabriel’s story involved a machine—complete with levers and buttons and compartments that held some sort of mysterious dye.

One girl wrote in third person about a child who wondered what two mean girls, whom she described as friends, really thought of her. While reading aloud, she accidentally switched to first-person narration and abruptly stopped. She looked confused and went to erase something on her paper, murmuring to her teacher that she’d made a mistake. Her teacher said it sounded fine, and the girl quietly finished her story.

When it was time to line up for the bell, kids kept sneaking over to talk to me. A blue-eyed towhead, who’d said the first page of my book scared her because she doesn’t like monsters, told me, “Now I want to be an author like you.”

Another girl, who is always outspoken and precocious, asked me boldly for the name of my publisher and their email address.

As you can imagine, my heart was pretty much soaring at this point. I loved hearing the kids’ stories and seeing their starry eyes and answering their surprising and sometimes adorable questions, all starting with “Miss Elizabeth?” I loved how my son held my hand firmly on the way out of the classroom. And I loved how, on the way to parent pick-up, one of the boys skipped up to me and asked me this last question of the day:

“Miss Elizabeth?”

“Yes?”

“Will you tie my shoe?”

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This Is Why We Write

Posted on March 19, 2015 ·
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Image from Flickr by creativecupcakes

On Tuesday I was treated to a presentation of The Fourth Wall by a group of 7th graders who chose the book for their quarterly language arts project.

That goes straight to the top of the list of amazing and utterly surreal moments in this author’s writing life, right up there with seeing my debut novel on bookshelves.

The kids were assigned individual and group projects; for the group project they decided to put on a talk show. One child was the talk show host, and in a series of interviews with “Marin,” “Frankie,” and “Tom,” he probed the characters with questions about each other that revealed individual strengths and weaknesses and gave insight into the plot.

Because the interviews were conducted before and after the novel’s resolution—separated by an amusing intermission—the audience could see how the characters changed and grew.

It was brilliant. The kids gave nothing away, focusing solely on the real-world aspects of the novel and leaving out the magical realism—which makes sense, as only one of these characters experiences it, and we all know Marin likes her secrets.

But Marin’s dream world is of course a vital part of the story, and the students represented this perfectly. They created a backdrop—a painting of the forest in Marin’s dreams—and displayed it on the wall behind our talk show host and his guests. So it is there all along—framing everything—yet none of the characters can see it.

Before staging the talk show, these 7th graders gave a brief overview of The Fourth Wall for the audience, including the title, tone, and theme. Their take on the theme? Letting go of the past so you can move forward.

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

A huge, heart-felt “Thank you” to Lisa Jones, 6th/7th grade Aspire Language Arts teacher at Connolly Middle School in Tempe, Arizona, and to her wonderful students, for reading my book and inviting me to watch Tuesday’s performance.

Also…thanks to everyone who came out to the Tucson Festival of Books! And a big welcome to my new subscribers. This was my first time participating in a book festival, and it was a blast. We sold a few books, handed out tons of bookmarks, and discovered organic cotton candy.

Really, that’s a thing.

Here are some pictures, and congrats to R.C. who won the giveaway for my husband’s hand-crafted feather earrings!

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Tucson Book Festival

 

Click here to purchase The Fourth Wall on Kindle

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Meet Me at the Festival

Posted on March 9, 2015 ·

Tucson Festival author pavilion logo

This Saturday is the perfect day for hanging out at a book festival.

Okay, ANY day is perfect for hanging out at a book festival, but I’ll be signing books at this one and I’d really love to see you. Here are the details; click the link for more information on the TFoB website:

What: Tucson Festival of Books
Where: University of Arizona Campus
When: March 14-15, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Cost: FREE

*I’ll be at the Children/Teen Author Pavilion on Saturday from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. with copies of The Fourth Wall. Also, with plenty of swag and other free stuff. Like candy.

Some of the amazing authors that will be presenting at the festival this year are Jacqueline Woodson, Joyce Carol Oates, Dave Barry, Katherine Paterson, and E. Lockhart. If that’s not exciting enough for you, there will also be churros, root beer floats, gelato popsicles, lemonade, kettle corn, and chili dogs. Something for everyone. 🙂

In other news, a short story of mine called “Four Mile Road” will be published soon in Black Heart Magazine. I’m super excited about that; this one is very special to me and I’m happy that it found a home. I can’t wait to share it with you.

See you on Saturday!

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