366 and counting . . .

November 19 is the big day—in 2013!

Yes, in precisely one year, Whisper Falls releases. It seems so far away. I want it to be here already.

Of course, it's not like I'm lying around waiting. I have more edits to make. Two more books to complete. Facts to research. Readers to meet. Swag to design. ARCs to sign.

And, naturally, there's my life outside of writing. I have two daughters to (s)mother. A house to ignore. A geeky job to perform. A spouse to adore.

Yeah, maybe that year will fly by...

Be Not Afraid

Sunday was a spectacular day in many ways.

1. North Carolina had another gorgeous autumn day. (Have I ever mentioned how much I love my adopted state?)
2. It was Veterans Day. People told me thank you for my service to the nation (and I, in turn, thanked those who gave the far-greater sacrifice of service during wartime.)
3. I attended my first author's event.

I'm about to make a confession, and it's a statement that my introverted little soul never thought I would say: I loved my first author's event! Two hours flew past (at least for me.) After I gave a reading of the first chapter of Whisper Falls, the discussion started. And the questions flowed. We talked books, the craft of writing, historical research, the publishing business, social media...

I learned so much from this wonderful group of young women and their moms. (For the YA writers reading this post, get thee to a book club. You will get way more than you give.)  I asked the group if I could interview them, and they graciously consented. Read on and I promise that you too will benefit from their collective wisdom¹.

Q: What do you like least about the current YA fiction market?
A:

• There is too much sameness. Bookstores have entire sections of Paranormal Romance.  We're seeing too many Twilight knock-offs.
• The storylines just seem too young.  A lot of today's books are better suited to the middle grade age group than high school readers.

Q: What makes a YA book appealing to you? What would you wish to see more of?
A:

• When writing a character, allow him/her to be:
  • more real
  • both good and bad
  • multi-dimensional and flawed
• We want stories with:
  • more complex plots
  • higher quality, especially in execution
  • better writing in general (style, voice, sentence structure, literary devices, vocabulary, etc)

Q: How much slang is okay? How much cursing?
A:

• Only use slang in dialog.  Leave it out when we're inside the character's head.
• With cursing, it really doesn't matter.  It's fine either way.  But—if you do use curse words—don't let them be gratuitous. It has to flow naturally from the characters' personalities and the situations they find themselves in².
• FYI... we spell out everything in our texts now.  We might be a little easy on the capitalization, but everything else is usually correct.

Q: What topics can authors address in YA fiction?
A:

• Avoid anything too cliched. We've seen plenty of books on typical teen issues.
• Give us more about relationships.  Romantic relationships are still fine, but there are other kinds too. We have relationships with our parents, friends, siblings, grandparents, and teachers.  Explore those.
• It would be great to have more characters who struggle to find their purpose in life.  Why am I here? Where should I go next and how do I get there?  Write books about the process of self-discovery.

Q: What advice would you give to aspiring YA authors?
A:

• Don't try to follow a pattern too much. Don't copy what's already on the market.  If you do, you're missing the point. You have your own good qualities, your own voice, your own unique way of executing a story.  That's the book we want to read.
• Don't cater to the least common denominator. Don't dumb down the book. We like well-written stories. We like good sentence structure and vocabulary. We want complexity.
• Let the characters be real. Let them make mistakes and suffer the consequences.
• Don't be predictable. We don't want to see the plot twists a mile away.  But don't just insert yourself into the story and make things happen either. Surprise us in the right way.

Q: What makes you want to pick up a book in a bookstore?
A:

• The Cover [the girls said in unison]
• [laughter]
• [silence]

Q: Anything else besides the cover?

A: Back blurbs, although not everyone reads them.  Some readers don't want to have too big of a hint in advance.


Q: Tell me more about what you like in cover art.
A:

• It has to be cool.
• It needs a great font.
• We like photographs better than artwork, but it has to be good quality photography.

Q: What types of social media do you use most?
A:

• Twitter, for conversations
• Pinterest
• Tumblr, a little
• But Facebook? Not so much.  FB seems to be fading away.

Q: How do you find out about books?
A:

• Word of mouth is the best way.  We get recommendations from our friends and our moms.
• goodreads.com
• booklists from teachers³
• teenink.com
• magazines
• Once we like an author, we'll research more books by that author on amazon.com or the author's website.

Wow. Are you not blown away by their wisdom? I'm so glad I asked them for this interview.  The girls⁴, like their answers, were smart, profound, fun, and inspiring.  I enjoyed this visit so much that I'll just have to beg, borrow, and steal my way into other such opportunities.

America, you have nothing to fear. The next generation is amazing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
¹ The answers to interview questions include actual quotes from the book club members. The teens answered more than the mothers, but Moms are represented in there too.
² The adults agreed with the teens on this issue, which is good since my characters (especially the hero) curse.  I think it is organic to his personality, though.
³ There was a Language Arts teacher at the book club meeting. She told me that her booklists tend to contain classics. She said that it's hard to find well-written books in the current market that she can recommend. That, YA authors, is a sobering statement. Just sayin...
⁴Thanks to Ellie, Claire, Laura, Melanie, and Michelle for inviting me!

A Dog's Tale

My co-worker Ed is visually impaired. He has a seeing-eye dog who has his own blog.

Willie-the-seeing-eye-dog Blog has been in existence for about six months and has had two postings.  Willie and his ghost-writer Ed have been too busy to give it the attention it needs.

Ed has asked me to take over the responsibility of ghost-writing for Willie.  After all, I'm a writer. How hard could it be to switch from writing fictional characters to channeling a live dog?

I've said yes to writing the blog.  But the request reminded me of a simple truth about artists that might not be intuitive. Our abilities tend to be limited to specific genres and forms.  Consider dance. A dancer who has trained in hip-hop for years will not be able to pick up a role in classical ballet overnight.  While hip-hop and ballet are both forms of dance, the style, mood, and required skills can be very different. This holds true for writing. Just because I'm good at novel-length fiction, it isn't a certainty that I will be good at short stories, poetry, or ghost-writing for a non-verbal creature.

But I'm going to give it a shot.  If you check Willie's blog periodically, you may see the ghost of Elizabeth there.

A Sense of Belonging + A Cookbook

I belong to many writers' groups, some small and some large.  Not only do they help me learn the business, they also support me in this bloodsport also known as publishing.  Really—if I had to do this biz alone, I'd feel like a freak.

This weekend, I'm heading to the mountains with four other writer-friends (I'll call them NaMoFiBer) for our biannual writing retreat. I have a goal of 12,000 words (approx. 50 pages).  A girl can hope.

I'm also a member of several other organizations for writers, primarily learning from them online.

The Society of Children's Bookwriters and Illustrators (SCBWI) focuses on the publication of children's literature¹.  I'm a member because I write Young Adult² and want to write Middle Grade³. (Waves to Capital Eyes Critique Group.)

Romance Writers of America (RWA) is an international organization for writers of romantic fiction.  Since my novels always feature a romantic subplot, I belong to RWA as well as several of its local chapters: YARWA (Young Adult RWA) and HCRW (Heart of Carolina Romance Writers).

Finally, there are my much-beloved cyber-sisters in the Ruby-Slippered Sisterhood.  We found each other through RWA's Golden Heart Contest in 2009. Ruby Sisters live across all corners of the globe (USA, Brazil, and Australia, to name three.)  We've bonded so tightly that it's hard for me to remember sometimes that I've never met most of them in person.

And here is where I interject the cookbook.  The Rubies have jointly contributed to a group blog since Sept 2009, and now we have a group cookbook.

The cookbook is free. You can download it as an e-book from the typical places for downloading free books; check our website for details.

All of the recipes are featured (or suggested) in our novels.  In addition to the recipes, you'll find our book covers as well as excerpts from our books.  And, yes, there are a recipe and an excerpt from Whisper Falls.  So download and enjoy!  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

¹ In the publishing biz, children's literature covers all ages from birth to 18 years old. SCBWI promotes the careers of writers and illustrators of picture books, early readers, chapter books, middle grade, and young adult. They include fiction and non-fiction.  

² Young Adult, as an age group, is a bit hard to define. But generally, YA literature is targeted for 13- to 18-year-old readers. Because YA fiction has earned a reputation for high quality, there is large crossover appeal with adults.

³ Middle Grade, as an age group, typically includes readers between the ages of 8 and 12.

The First Appearance

A mother/daughter book club has invited me to visit their next meeting.

My first reaction was yes! 

Then logic took over.  Whisper Falls doesn't release for another year.  The book club knows that--right?

Yes, they knew. And, yes, they want me anyway.

I'm so excited.  I love to talk about writing and the publishing process.  Commercial fiction is a tough business. Breaking-in can be crazy-difficult. Aspiring authors write for years, pouring their hearts-and-souls into their stories.  Yet there is no guarantee that they will sell.  In fact, less than one percent of manuscripts will ever be bought and published!

It gets worse. For the magic few who get one of those elusive publishing contracts, the money is usually mediocre. Only a handful of authors will earn enough to quit their day jobs.

We must be psycho. Really. It takes years of practice to write that first marketable book. A tiny percentage of us succeed in selling.  The lucky ones make very little money. And our success is entirely dependent on the good opinions of people we'll never meet.

Why do we do this again?  

I know why. The book club reminds me.  It's all about the readers.  Meeting them fuels my enthusiasm. I can't wait to infect others with my love for the characters in my stories.  I can't wait to hear what these teens like (and don't like) to read. And I'm aware that the next JK Rowling could be sitting in that room. What I say to the girls in the book club might inspire one of them to write the next Little Women or The King of Attolia.
 
Even though the meeting is in November, I'm getting prepared. My publisher has given me permission to read an excerpt from Whisper Falls.  There is swag to collect.  It's time to learn how to be better at my new job.

Writing the Jacket Copy

For most book buyers, there is a specific process we follow when deciding whether to buy a book.

• First, we look at the book cover--both the title and art
• If the cover interests us enough, we flip over to the back and read the jacket copy.  (For hardcovers, you find the jacket copy on the inside cover.) 

I helped to write the jacket copy for Whisper Falls.  I expected it to be hard, and I was right. There is so much to achieve in approximately one hundred words.

Obviously, we want to intrigue the reader enough that they want to read the story. We have to touch on the book's setting, identify the main characters, and hint at the struggle they are facing. But we can't reveal any plot twists.

I had a really hard time with that last part.  It took three tries for me to hint without revealing.  (Thanks to my cousin Llewellyn for helping with Try III. That version did the trick.)

Lastly, I read it out loud to ensure it flowed smoothly and then sent it off to Spencer Hill for their approval.

Here is the final version of the jacket copy for Whisper Falls.

While training for a mountain bike race, high-school senior Mark Lewis spots a mysterious girl dressed in odd clothing, standing behind a waterfall in the woods near his North Carolina home. When she comments on the strange machine that he rides, he suspects something isn't right. When Susanna claims to be an indentured servant from 1796, he wonders if she's crazy. Yet he feels compelled to find out more.

[The first paragraph gives the setting(s), background on the two main characters, and enough detail to identify the genre/subgenre of the book.]

Mark enters a 'long-distance' relationship with Susanna through the shimmering--and temperamental--barrier of Whisper Falls. Curious about her world, Mark combs through history to learn about the brutal life she's trapped in. But knowledge can be dangerous. Soon he must choose between the risk of changing history or dooming the girl he can't stop thinking about to a lifetime of misery.

[The second provides insight into the struggle in the story that the protagonist will be battling.  I hint at the problem without revealing any major plot points.]

I hadn't seen the cover art when I drafted the jacket copy, but I love how much they "match".

Getting the History Right

It takes a lot of effort to get the history right in historical fiction.

The author has to think about everything that a person experiences.  Food, clothing, housing, technology, and transportation are visible parts of life that change over time.  But there are plenty of aspects that are not so visible--such as political, moral, and religious beliefs. Sleeping, hygiene, and health behaviors. Attitudes toward marriage, children, work, humor and recreation, social class, education, ethnic groups, and women.

The research for Whisper Falls began six years ago when I visited Tryon Palace in New Bern.  (I love that place.  I've been back two times since, each time focusing on a different aspect of colonial life.)  The docents were extremely knowledgeable and happy to share what they knew.

When I asked about servants, one of the docents/reenactors told me that little is known about the servant class.  Most servants didn't know how to write, and the ones who did would've had a hard time affording ink and paper.  Bottom line: a writer can interpret what it might have been like and it would be hard to dispute.

Cool.  The pressure was reduced somewhat. But, still, servants worked for wealthy people--so I had to learn about both.  My research efforts included:

• Visits to the NC State Archives, NC History Museum, Mount Vernon Estate and Grist Mill, Tryon Palace, Carlyle House, Monticello, Bennett Place, Joel Lane House, and Claude Moore Colonial Farm
• Reading letters, journals, inventories, cookbooks, and newspapers from the period
• Reviewing historical blogs, scholarly works, old maps, and history tomes
• Exchanging email with experts (such as a grist mill association)
• Attending workshops on history; attending a colonial fashion show (where I was able to view up-close-and-personal some 18th century undergarments)
• Preparing 18th century recipes (tasting mandatory)

I also read historical fiction that targeted the same period, although this is a tricky thing to count on.  There is no guarantee that the history is correct.

All these efforts may seem like overkill--but I don't mind.  I love the research.  It's just pure fun for me.