Friday Cat Blogging With Bonus Garden Blogging

I am not in the sun and I blame you



Sun, ahhh!



I was happy in the sun, but now I must ask: What is your bidding my master?*



Sun! x 3



Iz my blanket, go 'way!



And: Go spring!



* I know that's not natural for cats, but Nutmeg's a little odd.

SFNovelists Interviews Dave Williams

The launch interview for Dave's latest, BURNING SKIES, is up now on SFnovelists, featuring him and his cat being cross-examined.

MythOS!

IT'S OUT!



*commences running around like a cranially-deprived chicken*

Launch Interview

The first chapter of MythOS can be sampled online: Chapter 1. Or if you want to buy the book now it’s available both on paper and electronically: Kindle, Mobipocket, Indiebound.org, Barnes and Noble, Borders, Amazon

WisCon Synopsis Link

For those of you who are stopping by from the WisCon synopsis panel, here's that link:

Joshua Palmatier's Plot Synopsis Project wherein a bunch of us put up synopses of books that went on to sell. Oh, and here's the link to my WebMage Plot, and another set to a series of post I wrote on the subject a while back: Pitching and Synopses parts 1, 2, and 3. Plus, what a synopsis should do

"You must become the wolverine, Logan."

It hurt when they put the adamantium in.

Avulsion fractures in the ring and middle fingers. This is slowing me down a lot; for those of you looking for me in Madison, I won't arrive till Saturday afternoon at the earliest.

A Bunch Of Authors

Moxy Fruvous - My Baby Loves a Bunch of Authors



I love this song, and it seems long past time it should show up here.

Ooh, and a live version:



More generally, Moxy Fruvous is a hell of band. Here's the song that initially got me hooked, King of Spain:

Two Things of Note

First, I'm going to be starting a "so how do you get into this writing thing, anyway," series over my Tate blog. I may cross-post here from time to time, but the first one is up and it's called: "Getting Started the Tate Hallaway Way." I suspect many of those who are faithful readers of our blog here are well beyond what I'm going to chat about with this series, but it seemed apropos, so what the hey.

Second, while at a reading at the Eye of Horus on Saturday night, a woman in the audience handed me a copy of HER book. Turns out, she was Corrine Kenner the author of Tarot for Writers, which looks like a fun book for anyone interested in tarot who'd like to, as the back copy suggests, "kick start their writing." Mock if you wish, but, as far as I'm concerned, anything that helps the creative process is a good and wonderful thing. And the tarot, with its symbolic images, is an awesome tool to consider. The book is full of writing exercises and ideas, and I highly recommend it.

Online "Reading"

If anyone's interested in hearing me read the first chapter of Dead If I Do, you can catch it on the podcst of Vampires, Witches & Geeks here: Tate Hallaway Reads (Out Loud!)

WisCon

Hey, it just occurred to me that I'm going to be at a con this weekend and people might want to be able to find me. Here's my schedule:


Fri 9:00 - 10:15PM
Does Google Find The Real You?
Although a variety of social media tools permit you to make online spaces which feel personal, the result is visible to millions. If you’re online, you’re creating an online reputation. We’ll discuss "online reputation management" that ensures your future employers, colleagues, friends, and self are finding the real you. Don’t forget to Google your name before you come with your ideas! Bill "whump" Humphries. Talks-with-wind, Heather Lindsley, Kelly McCullough, Heidi Waterhouse

Sun 10:00 - 11:15AM
Synopsis: a Necessary Evil?
Do we really need them? Why? Is there an easy or at least less painful way to write one? Get tips from people whose next sale may depend on how good their synopsis is.Participants: Sylvia Kelso. Kelly McCullough, Caroline Stevermer

Sun 2:30 - 3:45PM
Consistency vs. Variety
Many writers long to stretch their writing muscles, working in different universes and broadening their scope and depth. Publishers and some elements of the reading public seem to prefer consistency: they like a writer who turns out a series, sometimes effectively the same book over and over again. How does a writer balance their own creative need for variety with the consumers' desire for consistency? Participants: Monica Valentinelli. Lori Devoti, Liz L. Gorinsky, Kelly McCullough

Mon 11:30AM - 12:45PM
The SignOut
Participants: John Joseph Adams, Barth Anderson, Eleanor A. Arnason, Melodie Bolt, F. J. Bergmann, Alex Bledsoe, Suzy Charnas, Richard J. Chwedyk, Lori Devoti, Moondancer Drake, L. Timmel Duchamp, Carol F. Emshwiller, Eileen Gunn, Anne Harris, Deborah Lynn Jacobs, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Sylvia Kelso, Ellen Klages, Naomi Kritzer, Ellen Kushner, Ann Leckie, David D. Levine, Kimberley Long-Ewing, Kelly McCullough, Sarah Monette, Nancy Jane Moore, Pat Murphy, Larissa N. Niec, Nnedi Nkemdili Okorafor, Jennifer Pelland, Sarah B. Prineas, Mary Robinette, Margaret Ronald, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Geoff Ryman, Fred Schepartz, David J. Schwartz, Ekaterina G. Sedia, Nisi Shawl, Delia Sherman, Kristine Smith, Jennifer K. Stevenson, Caroline Stevermer, Kathryn Sullivan, Catherynne M. Valente, Monica Valentinelli, Joan D. Vinge, Morven Westfield, Laurel Winter, Phoebe Wray, Patricia C Wrede, Doselle Young, Janine Ellen Young

Self Promotion

First of all, thanks to Kelly for all the cat pictures; and I hope we are going to get a Wisconsin Dells report.

I agree with everything Kelly says about sell-promotion. Every once in a while I read a story about someone who loads his or her van with a zillion copies of a self-published book such as The Best of Norwegian Humor, and then drives through the Upper Midwest pitching the book at Lutheran church dinners and actually ends with a modest best seller.

Doesn't happen often. I have never personally seen self-promotion work. Most of the writers I know who've tried it decide it's too much hard work for too little result -- as Kelly points out.

Does anything help a writing career? Going to cons, possibly. It doesn't hurt to meet editors and agents, though you should be careful about when and where you pitch your work. It doesn't hurt to meet people who review for Locus and Publisher's Weekly. It certainly doesn't hurt to meet other writers.

There is a lot of information to be gained from other people in the field. And I find cons a lot of fun, through I limit the number for financial reasons and because they take too much time and energy.

Nowadays, there are email lists, Facebook, LiveJournal and maybe blogs, though I have questions about blogging, except on group blogs such as this one. It's a lot of work for an audience that may be very small.

The above isn't promoting a specific book. It's networking and learning. Once in a while the contacts you make may prove really useful. An agent or editor and reviewer will take a look at something you wrote, because he or she knows and likes you -- and because you did not back him or her into a corner with a pitch.

After you have work published, cons can be a good way to meet people who like your work. It is always nice to be told that something you wrote is wonderful. Having a web presence also means fans can find you, and sometimes editors.

It's fun to print up postcards or bookmarks and hand them out, as long as you can afford the cost and as long as you realize that you aren't going to get a lot of sales from bookmarks. Do it to celebrate a book. Wow! I finished it, and it's out!

I don't like readings or book signing, though I will do them if asked. Even when I have a recent book, I find almost no one wants my autograph. Book signing are fun when you are with other authors and can talk to them. This is especially true if the authors next to you are not especially popular, so there isn't a long line of fans interfering with the conversation.

I'm not especially comfortable reading out loud. Once in a while I get a wonderful response from someone, which makes the reading worthwhile.

I do like panels and push to get on them, though not as eagerly as I used to. There are too many topics that come up over and over; and sometimes the people who do con programming -- who are all volunteers -- are a hassle to deal with, either because of inexperience or rigidity.

I think paneling has helped me overcome a pretty serious case of stage fight, and that is nice. When I began going to cons in the 1970s, I was really shy. I had to train myself to speak in public. My friend Patrick used to sit in the audience and tell me afterward what I had done wrong.

I guess -- looking over this list -- my message is, do things because you enjoy doing them. Realize they are not going to turn your book into a best seller or do more than increase sales by a handful of books.

And as Kelly says, write.

Friday Cat Blogging

Black cat on a near black background. Or: Eyes.



Basket cat says: "go-way!"



Big head? Moi?



If I were bigger, I'd eat you. You know that, right?



Why yes, I am a sun worshipper. How did you guess?

Prosposals, Done!

I finally finished the proposals for the next three Garnet Lacey books last night. And after my partner checks the last one over to make sure it's not full of stupid and/or tons of typos, I'll sent them off.

A lot of writers like to complain about getting stuck in the "never-ending series." But, as I said in a recent podcast, I'd be happy to be writing DEAD & RETIRED fifty years from now. As I was fiddling around with the potential plot skeletons of these next few books, I was struck by the fact that what I like about series writing is getting to bring up little tiny details, half-forgotten in previous titles, and exploit and mine the bejeezus out of them. But I also love TV shows that have continuing story arcs (as opposed to "monster of the week") and comic book cross-overs and never-ending story lines.

When I was a kid (and, uhm, even now when I'm falling asleep at night,) these are the kinds of stories I tell myself. The ones that continue ad infinitum with reoccurring characters and complex interwoven plot threads that span decades. In fact, when I was first starting out writing, the hardest part of writing for me was figuring out how to get to THE END and not leaving all those loose threads hanging.

Though you still have to complete whatever "problem statement" you proposed in your beginning sentence/paragraph, series writing allows for a few hanging bits. Your wrapping has to be tight, but there can be hints of things unresolved.

For me, that's what makes it fun. Though I realized that by chance I've kind of written a "this could be a series ender" kind of finale into Garnet Lacey #8, and I'll have to be clear with my agent that's it's not my intention to be done with that one.

I want to keep writing these. The deeper I probe Garnet's life, the more wacky it is. Kinda like real life. And that's cool.

Proposals, My Take

Like Kelly (with whom I seem lately to be having a strange parallel existence,) I've been working on proposals this week.

I've always enjoyed writing proposals, actually. I think that synopses are most difficult when you're faced with the new writers' challenge of having to distill an already written novel into something snappy and marketable to send along with that first agent/editor package. I've been very lucky in that my first agent did that for me, and I've only rarely had to try to do that condensing, painful synopses/chapter outlining thing.

I'm not at the "these are easy" stage yet, though.

Book proposals are critical to my career. Right now, those nine to twelve pages is what I sell. Again with the lucky, but again only RARELY am I required to write sample chapters. The proposal is all the editor has to judge whether or not the publisher is going to spend thousands of dollars on the next book(s).

So they have to be good.

I love the puzzle that proposals present me, though. How do I convey the whole story in a relatively short and snappy manner? How do I give the editor the impression of tone and voice without resorting to cheesy trickery? What are the emotional highlights of the book that I want to demonstrate? What's the theme (or, as Kelly and I sometimes refer to it as: "the problem statement")? What's the cleverest way I can present my character and his/her issues?

It's daunting. But, as Kelly notes, it can be one of those challenges that has its fun side.

I don't know if Kelly is done with his, but I'm still working through the last of three proposals/synopses. I have to figure out how to get the hero and heroine back together now, and what the heck my subplot is going to be... I'll probably be at this until the end of the week. Especially since I always have my partner double-check my punctuation, spelling, and... er, plot.

Self Promotion, The Eternal Argument

Back when WebMage came out, I wrote a post on how I felt about self promotion. It generated exactly one response: Lyda saying she'd like to hear my take on it three years forward. It's not quite three years on yet, but it's getting close and I'm still pretty much where I was then. I blogged about it today at SFNovelists.

Friday Cat Blogging

The author attempting to work



Has you seen my legs?



Kitty sandwich



Up periscope...dive! Dive!

Author Websites

So, I've got a book out at the end of the month and I'm realizing I really need to update my webpage. Things I need to do include putting up sample chapters and previously published stories linked to a separate page for fiction samples, linking the recommended reading list to buy pages, a bibliography update, and an aknowledements page that thanks all the folks who need thankage. I've already got a bio, book links, contact form, and a (seriously incomplete) set of research links. I'm considering putting in a wordpress or other blog and reposting all of my bloggage from all over, so that I have it in one place and I'd have a personal blog. But I'm not wholly sold on that yet. What else do I need? Anybody got any suggestions or comments?

An "All About Me" Moment

Tate asked me to remind you all that her newest release "DEAD IF I DO" is offically available in stores as of yesterday, May 5, 2009. If you'd like to hear Tate chat about writing, vampires and the newest book, check out a podcast she did at "Vampires, Witches and Geeks," Interview with author Tate Hallaway. Or read the Monsters & Critic's review.

Book Proposals...I'm getting to kind of like them

So, I've been working on the proposal for a successor series to the WebMage books. The funny thing is that somewhere along the line, writing book proposals went from being an awful task to kind of fun.

Because of where I am in my career, I no longer have to have a completed book to synopsize, and it's much easier to plump a cool idea out into a book outline then it is to condense a novel done into one. That helps...a lot. It also doesn't hurt that I've been working on the screen porch on a lounger surrounded by cats and a beautiful Wisconsin spring. But the most important change is that I've done this enough (way more than 20 times) and read enough successful proposals (30-50) that I no longer worry about the mechanics. It's just another form of the story/play that is what I love most about my job as a novelist. I feel like I am finally becoming truly comfortable in my skin about all of the aspects of being an author.

Of course, that doesn't mean that I will continue to have a career under this name, because that's entirely dependent on book sales, and I have very little control on that front beyond writing the best book I can every time, which I would do anyway, just for me. But that's just how the business works. I guess the point of the post is simply this:

It gets better.

Every one of those writing tasks that seem daunting now, eventually gets easier and less painful. Keep practicing, keep growing, keep sending stuff out, and some day, when you're not expecting it, the tasks that seemed impossible once might even have become fun.

Monday WIP

Me, I'm in Valparasio, Indiana at the "Blackbird Cafe" (free wifi!) and trying to complete the proposals for Tate's next Garnet Lacey novels and starting to get excited for tomorrow's release of her book DEAD IF I DO.

What are you up to?

Friday Cat Blogging

Flat-cat medley

Series Closed

The final WebMage book is officially delivered one month ahead of schedule. It's a weird old feeling.

Smart Things

David Levine on the time investment in a novel.

Via Justine Larbalestier: Jenny Bent on the differences between being a fresh new agent and being an experienced one.

Via Jay Lake: Jeremiah Tolbert on getting started in SF.