Boo, RWA!

  I know this won’t mean much to you not involved in the romance novel genre, but I have to vent! The company I work for, AuthorSolutions, recently struck a deal with Harlequin for a new imprint, “Harlequin Horizons,” which will allow romance authors to get editing, self-publish, and have a new venue for their books. How exciting!

But, of course, Romance Writers of America, promptly kicked out Harlequin. How unfair to kick out a whole publishing house because of one imprint. I’ve found RWA to be very frustrating and short-sighted–one reason I let my membership lapse. For example, they’ve tried, for years, to squelch erotic romance, but they haven’t been successful. It remains a lucrative and well-loved genre for many publishers, authors, and readers. 

Why does RWA try to marginalize certain members? One of their big agendas is to make the general public “respect” romance novels. It’s complete hooey and a waste of time. Readers either like the genre, or they don’t. No amount of posturing about it being great literature will change anybody’s mind.

Here’s hoping the members of RWA raise a stink about this. It’s time for RWA to get with the times, and be inclusive and forward-looking.

NaNoWriMo

   Friend Yvonne and I are joining NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) this year. You write a 50,000-word novel during the month of November, with NO editing. I’m thinking it will be fun to get some fast and furious writing done. The mind-set is “exuberant imperfection.” Here’s the link:

http://www.nanowrimo.org

There’s also a book about it, No Plot, No Problem, by the founder, Chris Baty.

Anybody else up to the challenge?

The Importance of Punctuation

   Someone sent me this item today.  Enjoy!   :)

Dear John:

 I want a man who knows what love is all about. You are generous, kind, thoughtful. People who are not like you admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me for other men. I yearn for you. I have no feelings whatsoever when we’re apart. I can be forever happy–will you let me be yours?

Gloria

Dear John:

 I want a man who knows what love is. All about you are generous, kind, thoughtful people who are not like you. Admit to being useless and inferior. You have ruined me. For other men, I yearn. For you, I have no feelings whatsoever. When we’re apart, I can be forever happy. Will you let me be?

Yours,

 Gloria

Editing: Find a Feeling

  This is really a post about editing AND writing. I’m a great fan of literary agent Donald Maass (Pictured here. Cute, isn’t he?). He’s written several “how-to-write” books that provide specific, real things you can do to improve your writing. In the latest issue of Writer’s Digest, he came through again with his article “Fire Up Your Fiction.” In it, he says:

“Many fiction manuscripts feel lackluster. What is missing when a manuscript hugs the wall and refuses to dance? Originality is not the key. It can’t be–otherwise every new vampire novel would be dead on arrival. The issue, then, is not whether a story has a cool new premise. When a manuscript succeeds, it is invariably fired by inspiration. Passion comes through on the page.” 

Ah, yes.  I think back to my ill-fated attempt to write a vampire novel. Heck, they were selling, weren’t they? But I felt no passion for this subject. I just don’t get what is so sexy about vampires. When I recently re-read the first three chapters I’d written on that manuscript, I found they … well … they sucked.

I remember my excitement when writing it. I didn’t give a hoot about the vampires, but I had a passion for the setting of Whitby, England. This was the quaint little fishing village where Bram Stoker’s vampire departed England for America. I could just picture Stoker sitting on a bench overlooking the water and writing Dracula. So, predicably, the parts of those chapters that came alive were about Whitby.

This leads me to think: in choosing what to write next, what am I passionate about right now? It can’t be ideas that grabbed me five years ago, because feelings change and their time has passed. It can’t be ideas that are guaranteed to sell, like the “amnesia” plot of many romance novels, because they just make me yawn. It can’t be a clone of a best-selling novel, because I’ll read another one tomorrow and lose interest in this one.

The master, Dwight Swain, also wrote about this in his book, Techniques of the Selling Writer. He said, “First, find a feeling.”

Sooooo, what right now makes me feel fury? Futility? Betrayal? Hope? Joy? Arousal? Shame? Grief? Pride? Self-loathing? Security? That’s what I need to be writing about.

Editing: A Cast of Thousands

  In the editing work I do, I am struck by how often different authors make the exact same mistakes. So I’m going to start blogging about these errors–partly to remind myself and partly to warn other writers.

One mistake I see all the time is the “Cast of Thousands”–the sheer overwhelming number of characters. Here’s an example from my latest editing job (names changed to protect the guilty). In this science fiction novel, the villain had an army of troops. In one chapter, all of the following minor characters had speaking parts of a sentence or two:

Neka, Ludacris, Asastar, Zuri, Sebastian, Killian, Talnam, Douglas, and Dougan

I had to keep a running list to remember them all, but it turned out to be just a distraction because the characters never appeared in the novel again. They were never properly introduced to the reader, and they were never developed into important characters. Just “wham, bang, thank you, ma’am” appearances and on to the next.

In that same novel, the heroine had not one, but TWO teachers: the brothers Bradley and Kevin Whitefield.

She had not one, but TWO best friends: Tiffany and Kathie.

Sure, it’s good to have minor characters in a novel, but what’s wrong with too many characters? First, it makes it impossible to keep track of what’s happening. It distracts from the plot. But the second and bigger problem: in focusing on minor walk-on characters, little room is left for focusing on/developing the main characters, their thoughts, and their emotions. Thus, the book feels “horizontal” and shallow, rather than “vertical” and deep. Know what I mean?

Why do authors do this so often? I think they’re trying to make the book “bigger” by adding more characters, but the result is just the opposite.

How to fix this problem? Cut the minor characters and focus on the main ones. Another way is to combine two minor characters into one. Couldn’t the heroine have just one teacher with the lessons of the two combined into one stronger character?

Trust me, the novel will be better for focusing and developing the main characters and cutting/combining the unimportant ones.

The Thirteenth Tale

Every year, my hometown has a program called “One Book/One Lincoln” where a committee chooses a book that everyone in town is supposed to read. Various discussion groups are held in libraries and other places. I’ve no wish to attend these tedious discussion groups, but this year, the program drew my attention to its pick, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. And I’m so glad it did!  It’s a marvelous book on so many levels.

Without giving away the plot, it’s a traditional Gothic, with shades of Jane Eyre and Rebecca. You know –family secrets from the past, an engulfing fire, a lonely brooding mansion, passionate characters, etc. I’ve always loved Gothics. In fact, when I was writing my own book, Gilded Splendor,  I thought I was writing a historical romance, until someone said, “This is a Gothic.” And I realized, “Oh!  Of course, it is!” So it’s only natural I’m relishing The Thirteenth Tale.

It’s also a book about being a reader, and the pleasures of getting lost in stories and books.

Diane Setterfield is a reclusive academic, and this is her first book, but it quickly climbed to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, making her an instant millionaire. What fun!

If you’re looking for a good read, pick up The Thirteenth Tale! It has kept me up reading into the late hours many a night.

Romance Novels on Cell Phones

  ON    

Now that I’m working with cell phones as well as writing, I’m starting to notice new things. The latest was an article about Harlequin publishing romance novels on cell phones!

Harlequin says: “We chunk down stories so you’re getting about 500 words per day. In Japan, a lot of authors actually write their stories on their mobile phones. In 2007, five of the top 10 bestselling books in Japan were written on a mobile phone.”  I don’t see how this is humanly possible, but whatever . . .

Harlequin urges all of us to get involved: “Embrace digital. There is fear of digital in publishing and in entertainment. It’s fear of the unknown. But digital is not going away. Burying your head in the sand is not a strategy. You need to embrace this and figure out how it can work for you.”

They also say that nowadays we’re always in “perpetual beta”:  “It’s the idea that nothing is ever a finished product. Technology is changing so quickly that you can call yourself finished but a technology will come along to make your site, your blog, or what have you, better. Even when you do have success, the speed at which technology changes means the success might not be sustainable for a decade like in the previous world. It can be a very short-term win. You have to move forward.”

Wow! Writing and publishing at the speed of light. And love-on-the-go!

  

The Curse of the Ram’s Head

  “He slammed the ram’s head on the desk. He gripped the horns in both hands. He was reading straight from Tim’s notes. He shouted out the phrase. Am I even pronouncing it correctly? He shouted it again. One more time. This is it. It’ll all be over after this, he believed with his entire heart and mind. He was completely convinced about the curse and the cure. He held onto the horns with all his might. He lifted his head and shouted the phrase one last time. The tempest was trying to drown him out but his deep voice carried above it all. The ram’s head arced pure red and he fell backwards and landed on Tim’s bed. He was blinded and then mercifully, he passed out. “

I’m proud to report that my nephew, Thomas Graham, in Winnipeg, Canada, is an up-and-coming author. He writes novels for young adults and publishes them on Lulu.com. His latest offering is a suspense story, The Curse of the Ram’s Head.

What do you do when bad things happen to good people? Especially when a family is tortured by a spooky curse from a ram’s head that the young son bought on vacation? This novel is fun to read. Suspenseful hooks at the end of each chapter keep you turning pages. I especially liked the trust built up between father and son.

You can buy this and other books by Thomas Graham at Lulu.com or download them for free.

Good going, Tom!

A Clean Sweep

  Beware–here’s comes a rant!

Many of you know that my job as an Editorial Services Associate at iUniverse came to an end recently. The company got sold and is moving from Nebraska to Bloomington, IN. It has been a horrific experience, but after all the pain and angst, I’m learning some valuable lessons. Sometimes that’s the only thing you can do from a painful experience–thank God for the lessons and move on. So I begin a new job next Monday.

One thing I couldn’t help noticing at iUniverse was the delusional quality of most of the authors. It was a self-publishing firm, so we got books that couldn’t be sold anywhere else. You just couldn’t help noticing how many authors sent in books they hadn’t even bothered to proofread–full of errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation. Most of the books were not interesting–they were about arcane, esoteric subjects like “my bout with cancer,” “my grandmother’s adventures in Poland,” or “how I found God.” The fiction was worse–rambling stories told off the cuff. Genre fantasies, romances, and mysteries with absolutely no idea of the conventions of those genres. You had to wonder if these authors had ever even read a book in their genres before.

And yet these authors all had such high hopes and dreams. They thought it was so easy. Their questions and comments would range from “How many copies will I be able to sell?” to  ”I think people in Hollywood will be interested in my book–make it into a movie!” When you tried to inject a note of reality, like “your book needs editing,” they didn’t have the money, it would take too long, or the editors wouldn’t understand the very special thing they were trying to say. The editors might try to *gasp* change their nonexistent style!

This made me look at my current writing groups–women I like, but who have been meeting literally for years but getting no writing done. Writers who talk about writing romance, but hardly read it, and won’t do what it takes to sell–that is, write seriously, give and get rigorous critiques, and mold their “books of the heart” to genre requirements. No one wants to face the fact that to make it in the romance field, a writer has to be able to turn out two books a year, come rain or come shine. And as soon as the last book is out, everybody will be putting the pressure on–”Yeah, real nice, but what are you doing lately?”

Wannabees also don’t want to face the fact that writing doesn’t pay well. Why should it, with so many people willing to write for free? It’s been said, and rightly so, “Lightning can strike, and you can make a fortune by writing fiction. But few can make a living at it.”

Of course, this brings us to me. I couldn’t help noticing that I’ve been doing the very same thing! Going to the meetings and talking a good game, all the while steeped in denial and delusion. No more!

I don’t WANT to turn out two romances a year. I can hardly bring myself to even read romance novels anymore, certainly not for pleasure. So I’m going to let some memberships lapse this year. I’m going to quit giving people false encouragement. I’m going to quit searching everyplace for THE SECRET that will make writing easier.

IF I write at all, it will be by myself, getting back to why I began writing in the first place–to have something interesting to think about. That was really why I began writing. But somewhere along the way, I got sucked up into the delusional wannabee frame of mind. And my denial ends here.

Hooray for Technology!

  I love movies where smart (usually wild-haired) techies zoom their fingers over computer keyboards and have all kinds of amazing things show up on big screens. Or they hack into databases to solve monumental problems. I’ll never be that good–not even close. But when I do learn something new, I’m always amazed at how technology helps perform tasks more quickly and efficiently.

Our latest innovation with Nebraska Romance Writers is new Yahoo groups. One allows us to upload our 2008 writing goals. We can see what everybody is trying to accomplish, what they’re working on, in order to encourage them. Our second new Yahoo group is for critique. We can upload manuscripts; then anybody who has the time or inclination can provide feedback and critique. We have Robin Rotham to thank for setting these up. Thanks, Robin!

Another innovation which I’ve learned to use at work is the “track changes” feature of Word. I always knew it was there–I just didn’t know what it was good for or how to use it. Lately, I’ve become quite proficient at critiquing and editing, tracking any changes along the way. It’s a whiz!

Next on my list–I’m taking an online course to learn about Styles and Templates in Word.

Do you use all these marvels of technology? I know–maybe some of you are thinking, “Well, duh!” Maybe I’m behind the times, but I’m learning! See my wild hair?