Did I spell Potpourri right? I don't think I did, it looks really weird, but then again Potpourri is a really weird word anyway, and I don't think it's even English. Surely no one expects me to spell non-english words correctly. Heck I still can't spell "resautaunt" or "buisness" so Potpourri is out of the question.
So, I was on Good Things Utah last week. So fun, so exciting. They asked if I wanted to take my sunglasses off, I'm still trying to figure out why they mentioned it. Do my sunglasses make me look fat? Anyway, the people at GTU were so nice and it was really exciting to be there.
On the set, they have four camera's pointed at you the whole time. To know which camera they are using at any given moment there's a guy that stands behind it. Underneath each camera lens is a small black and white TV screen that shows you what the camera is filming. The hosts are obviously used to this and don't let it distract them, but I kept trying to watch those screens. Really, to give women worried about their sunglasses making them look fat an opportunity to see themselves my not be a wise choice. and the table was too short to comfortably cross my legs, so the wood was cutting into my knee under the table, but for some reason I knew I HAD to cross my legs--don't know why. Anyway, it was lots of fun, and here's the video clip if anyone wants to count how many times I tried to look at the camera or swallowed. Josi on GTU
The day after the GTU show, I came to California to see my sister and her new baby. AND, I drove California freeways to get here! I know! Look at how grown up I am. Granted I do have a navigation system, but I haven't had even one panic attach or hives epidemic. I must be some kind of genius among Utah drivers. So, I'm here and catching up on e-mail and I got the link to an article written by a good friend Alison Palmer. It hit on so many things I've been feeling, have felt all my life in one way or another and it got me reflecting on just how important it is to trust our abilities and trust the Lord. I highly recommend you check it out. I might have it painted on my bedroom wall for all those times I lay in bed and think "What is wrong with me? Why can't I do A, B, C, or D like she does?" It reminds me that Satan will use anything to bring us down, if Crack and infidelity won't do it, he'll use our own attempts to improve ourselves, or the talents we're still trying to grow, to keep us from keeping our feet from moving in the right direction. That's why, like Alison says, we have to keep our vision internal and focused on the Savior. What a great, great, article it was. Here's the link Desert Saints
So, I hope you are all having a wonderful day. I'm off to San Fransisco and later the CHEESCAKE FACTORY--yes, I'm screaming that.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Thursday, May 31, 2007
What is RSS?
No, it's not Relief Society Sisters or Robb's Sweaty Sneakers. It doesn't even stand for Roaches Successfully Slaughtered or Raunchy Spider Spit--what RSS stands for, in web lingo, is Rich Site Summary (by one definition) and what it does, is just that, summarizes the Rich text of the website. Another type of feed is called Atom, which is the one on my blog which means it must be the best. But, what does RSS or Atom mean to you?
Do you have certain blogs, podcasts or headlines--even classified ads--that you check often? Typically, to check if there's been new activity on these kinds of sites, you have to log onto the website and see it for yourself. If, however, the site offers RSS or Atom and you subscribe to this, you will get an active title for the website underneath your toolbar and when you right click on it, you get a list of all the activity--up to about 20 items.
I currently have four RSS in my toolbar--Writer's in Heels (the planet I occupy with my fellow alien writers), Six LDS Writers and a Frog Blog, LDSpublisher blog (She'd Atom like me), KSL.com poultry classified ads, and KSL.com pet equipment. I'm in the market for Top Flight netting and a large DogLoo doghouse and I can look at the new ads placed whenever I want, without ever leaving the website I'm currently logged onto. When I see a title I want more info on, I simply click on that link and go directly to the page with the info I'm looking for. Because I live in a small town with sllllllllllllloooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww internet service, it is a huge benefit to see if new blogs have been posted without having to wait for the blog to load itself.
RSS feeds buttons are usually an orange or blue rectangle with RSS on them, by clicking on the button it will take you to a subscription page. If you agree, it adds it to your tool bar immediately. Atom feeds are usually located at the very bottom of a blog page and doesn't look like a button at all, but looks like a regular link. Click on it and you'll go through the same process of subscription. I like the RSS feed better than the Atom, as the Atom has a tendency to scramble the posts so that they aren't shown in the right order. I'm working on getting RSS on my blog--stay tuned.
I'm sure many of you already know all about this stuff, but for me it's like getting a college degree to stumble onto something all by myself and IF you knew about it, why didn't you tell me?
So, those of you that have subscribed to other feeds--which ones do you have?
Do you have certain blogs, podcasts or headlines--even classified ads--that you check often? Typically, to check if there's been new activity on these kinds of sites, you have to log onto the website and see it for yourself. If, however, the site offers RSS or Atom and you subscribe to this, you will get an active title for the website underneath your toolbar and when you right click on it, you get a list of all the activity--up to about 20 items.
I currently have four RSS in my toolbar--Writer's in Heels (the planet I occupy with my fellow alien writers), Six LDS Writers and a Frog Blog, LDSpublisher blog (She'd Atom like me), KSL.com poultry classified ads, and KSL.com pet equipment. I'm in the market for Top Flight netting and a large DogLoo doghouse and I can look at the new ads placed whenever I want, without ever leaving the website I'm currently logged onto. When I see a title I want more info on, I simply click on that link and go directly to the page with the info I'm looking for. Because I live in a small town with sllllllllllllloooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww internet service, it is a huge benefit to see if new blogs have been posted without having to wait for the blog to load itself.
RSS feeds buttons are usually an orange or blue rectangle with RSS on them, by clicking on the button it will take you to a subscription page. If you agree, it adds it to your tool bar immediately. Atom feeds are usually located at the very bottom of a blog page and doesn't look like a button at all, but looks like a regular link. Click on it and you'll go through the same process of subscription. I like the RSS feed better than the Atom, as the Atom has a tendency to scramble the posts so that they aren't shown in the right order. I'm working on getting RSS on my blog--stay tuned.
I'm sure many of you already know all about this stuff, but for me it's like getting a college degree to stumble onto something all by myself and IF you knew about it, why didn't you tell me?
So, those of you that have subscribed to other feeds--which ones do you have?
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Pay Day!
The most common question I get after 'How do you find the time?' and 'Why do you write?' is 'How much do you make?'. Some people think it's rude to ask about money, whatever, if you have any specific questions, go ahead and ask. Let's face it, all of us write for the money, at least in part. So, here's a breakdown of how it comes to you.
ADVANCE-- A pre-payment of expected royalties. Obviously, this is great--you get paid when the publisher accepts your book, sweet! It's also a sign of the publishers expectations, they expect to make MUCH more than whatever your advance is which means the pressure's on. If your book doesn't sell enough for you to have earned your advance, you'll be expected to pay it back and you will likely never publish with that publisher again. In the LDS market, advances are rare.
ROYALTIES--This is the standard payment method. It is a percentage of the book price but will vary from one publisher to another. Typically, a traditional publisher will pay 12%, 10% or 8% and it will either be retail or wholesale. All of these factors make a big different. For example if your contract outlines that you receive 10% wholesale and your book's wholesale price is $10 (wholesale equals about 60% of the retail price) then you make $1 a book. It doesn't seem THAT different than if you made 12%, but if you sell 1000 books, the difference is $200 in royalties. If instead you made 8% of retail $16.66 (note to self, do math before you write blog) that's $1.33 per book and $330 dollars more if you sold 1000 books. Keep in mind that the royalty will change in regards to any promotional prices of the books. For instance some publishers have a lower royalty on books sold in the first ninety days, other's will sell at a discount to some buyers and if you make 10% on wholesale, and the wholesale price to a specific buyer is only $6 instead of $10, you'll make 60 cents instead of your dollar. I once showed on my statement that my publisher had sold 200 copies of one of my older books for about $2 each. Since I was paid 10% on wholesale I made about $12.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE--If you receive royalty payments the schedule will vary from one publisher to another. Some pay monthly, some pay quarterly, bi-annually, annually or even every two years for some books. My first five books were published by a publisher that pays every month, but six months in arrears, so I get paid in May for books sold in October and multiple titles are paid in one check. If any of my titles are returned in that same month, it's subtracted out of my royalty. If my royalties are not more than $50, I don't get a check that month and won't get one until the months add up to more than $50.
My two most recent books are paid twice a year based on sales for the first half of the year and the second half of the year. If my book comes out in May (which both have) sometime in August I get paid for the sales between release and June 30, then come February, I get paid for sales between July 1 and December 31.
For me, I get smaller checks every month, and larger checks twice a year--in time to pay off Christmas and summer vacation. However, it was only a year ago that I was breaking even with my editing, paper, ink, conferences, promotion, and postage expenses. For the first six years of my career I had a hobby that paid for itself, and maybe a pair of shoes now and then.
When you get your contract, be sure to study the terms of royalties so you know what to expect. I know several authors read this blog, if you have anything to add/correct please leave it in the comment trail
Have a lovely
ADVANCE-- A pre-payment of expected royalties. Obviously, this is great--you get paid when the publisher accepts your book, sweet! It's also a sign of the publishers expectations, they expect to make MUCH more than whatever your advance is which means the pressure's on. If your book doesn't sell enough for you to have earned your advance, you'll be expected to pay it back and you will likely never publish with that publisher again. In the LDS market, advances are rare.
ROYALTIES--This is the standard payment method. It is a percentage of the book price but will vary from one publisher to another. Typically, a traditional publisher will pay 12%, 10% or 8% and it will either be retail or wholesale. All of these factors make a big different. For example if your contract outlines that you receive 10% wholesale and your book's wholesale price is $10 (wholesale equals about 60% of the retail price) then you make $1 a book. It doesn't seem THAT different than if you made 12%, but if you sell 1000 books, the difference is $200 in royalties. If instead you made 8% of retail $16.66 (note to self, do math before you write blog) that's $1.33 per book and $330 dollars more if you sold 1000 books. Keep in mind that the royalty will change in regards to any promotional prices of the books. For instance some publishers have a lower royalty on books sold in the first ninety days, other's will sell at a discount to some buyers and if you make 10% on wholesale, and the wholesale price to a specific buyer is only $6 instead of $10, you'll make 60 cents instead of your dollar. I once showed on my statement that my publisher had sold 200 copies of one of my older books for about $2 each. Since I was paid 10% on wholesale I made about $12.
PAYMENT SCHEDULE--If you receive royalty payments the schedule will vary from one publisher to another. Some pay monthly, some pay quarterly, bi-annually, annually or even every two years for some books. My first five books were published by a publisher that pays every month, but six months in arrears, so I get paid in May for books sold in October and multiple titles are paid in one check. If any of my titles are returned in that same month, it's subtracted out of my royalty. If my royalties are not more than $50, I don't get a check that month and won't get one until the months add up to more than $50.
My two most recent books are paid twice a year based on sales for the first half of the year and the second half of the year. If my book comes out in May (which both have) sometime in August I get paid for the sales between release and June 30, then come February, I get paid for sales between July 1 and December 31.
For me, I get smaller checks every month, and larger checks twice a year--in time to pay off Christmas and summer vacation. However, it was only a year ago that I was breaking even with my editing, paper, ink, conferences, promotion, and postage expenses. For the first six years of my career I had a hobby that paid for itself, and maybe a pair of shoes now and then.
When you get your contract, be sure to study the terms of royalties so you know what to expect. I know several authors read this blog, if you have anything to add/correct please leave it in the comment trail
Have a lovely
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Studio Audience Anyone?
So, I'm going to be on Good Things Utah June 1st. And no, they don't know me very well--what's your point?
So anyway, I've never been on TV before--at least not when my face wasn't blurred out... but no one can prove that was me--and the actual appearance is far enough away that I'm still excited about it. I might throw up for the three days before I go on, but heck, what's a little vomit when I get to be on Good Things Utah!
AND, though I can't tell you all the details (without killing you, and please don't make me do that cause my temple recommend is up for renewal) there might just be a little sumpin sumpin given away to all members of the studio audience that day . . . What? You didn't know Good Things Utah had a studio audience? You're in luck, cause they do! What's that . . . you've always wanted to be in a studio audience? And . . . did I hear you say you'd do ANYTHING to get free stuff?
Well, good thing I've got the info for you (get it, Good Thing...Good Things Utah--ha ha). Who loves ya, baby?
And if you can't make it to the audience, I'll forgive you cause I'm just that kind of girl and you can catch the show on Channel 4 between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m.
_______________________________________
(from the Good Things Utah website)
If you're interested in attending a live broadcast of Good Things Utah, email us at gtuaudience@abc4.com - and please include the following information:
You'll receive email confirmation as soon as possible prior to your studio visit.
Good Things Utah airs live each weekday from 10AM to 11AM from the ABC 4 Studio in Salt Lake City. Guests in our live audience must arrive at 9:30AM and will need to remain seated through the entire broadcast. Seats in our studio audience are limited, so reserve your seat today and join in the fun!
The studio audience is open to adults and children who are 8-years of age and older.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Opening Night & Salt Lake Signing
Last week is over...can I hear an Amen! My signings were wonderful--Glory Hallelujah!
A hundred bazillion thank yous to everyone that came out to either the opening night or the Salt Lake signing. I couldn't tell you before how badly I HATE signings, but I HATE them. They are miserable necessary evils that keep me awake at night. So getting to see old friends, new fans, and life long cheerleaders makes it possible for me to do them. Above is a photo from my Opening Night party, to which many people came. Pictured here is Eric Swedin (the killing of Greybird, CFI), Janet Jensen (The Booklover's Cook book, Putnam) and Carole Thayne (Question of Trust and False Pretenses, Covenant) which were a few of the people that came out. Much thanks to Janet who actually had batteries in her camera :-) It's nice to have friends that are prepared.
Anyway, it really was a great week and I so appreciate the wonderful support. I hope those of you that have the book are enjoying it--though I'm totally open to suggestions, really. And thanks again for making my book's debut truly an event!
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Beer Run
I never thought it would come to this, but I was wrong. The fact is that I needed a beer. Well, my goat actually needed it, poor hop is . . . constipated, and beer is the best mend for such a problem as that. But it is easier said than done ,since Hop is only a year old, he doesn't make any money, and he doesn't even drive. So it was up to me; i.e. responsible party.
I've never paid much attention to Utah's liquor laws, and yet now I am forced to wonder. Can I buy just one can of beer or do I have to buy a six pack? In Arizona I happen to know you can't buy beer before noon on Sundays, do they have laws like that in Utah? If I try and buy my beer at 9:00 am I going to be told to come back later. Talk about embarrassing. And then, I've seen signs that say "If you're lucky enough to look younger than 35 we'll need to see your ID", well I BETTER look younger than 35, since I'm not quite 33, but I recently plastered my small town with posters about my newly released LDS book. Would someone look at my license, look at me, look at my beer and make the correlation? With that fear in mind I decided to go to the liquor store, I figured that was my best bet on not running into anyone I know. But they don't open until 11:00 and I pick up my daughter at 11:00 so that won't work. I'm a fairly open minded person, but I'm not taking my 5 year old to the liquor store. Do they even allow kids inside?
So I went to Chevron. I bought a HUGE can, I didn't know they made them that big, and I decided to go with Budweiser rather than Miller or Coors because I like their super bowl commercials the best--but I did feel guilty that my $2 was supporting Anheuser Busch. They might buy a screw for their barley pots with my money! The clerk was pregnant which made me feel even worse, though I don't know why, and she did ask for ID. I'm afraid my hands were shaking as I took it out of my purse, which probably made her think I was in the middle of TDs. She looked at me, looked at the beer, looked at the ID, and asked if I wanted a bag.
"Oh, yes, please most definitely."
And I wonder, what am I afraid of? Why do I care? If someone sees me, I just tell them it's for my goats and my neighbors will understand, right?
Right!
Right?
Right! And yet I hid it from my kids and once Spongebob had them sufficiently distracted, I snuck out to put the beer in the goats dish. Guess what? Apparently they are Miller goats, not Bud goats. And in their opinion it neither tastes great or is less filling. They would have nothing to do with it. So a funnel and a water bottle later I had 24 oz of beer on my counter and decided that hiding it would not work since I needed help wrestling Mr. sick goat and forcing the beer down the throat. So I explained the need for the beer to the kids, and I let them all smell it in hopes that they would be so grossed out that when the day came they were tempted, they would remember the goat-beer and think again. I also explained why Hop needed the beer and that grossed them out even more. They are convinced beer gives you diarrhea, but again, that might work in my favor.
So, after all this, my 13 year old and I wrestled the beer down the goat's throat, well mostly, we both got a good dose on our pants and shoes. Can't wait until my daughter wears that jacket to young women's. However, it worked. You'll be glad to know that he is regular once again. Beer runs indeed!
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Happy May (newletter sent to e-mail list)
And thus, it is May. The busiest month of the year for me. Between promotion of Sheep's_Clothing, dance competitions, recitals, spring cleaning, school plays, gardening, weeding, raising a new batch of chicks, community things, and end of school year stuff I'm wondering how December gets such a bad rap. However, we shall prevail!
Anyone on my snail mail list should have received a postcard about my Opening Night party and/or Salt Lake signing. If you live in Cache Valley, it will be delayed a little longer as I figure out a signing I'll be doing up there sometime this month--so look for a postcard next week.
The Opening Night party is going to be awesome, I hope some of you are planning to attend. I have had wonderful door prize donations from Scentiments Lotions, Idle Isle Candies, Lavender House boutique, Pampered Chef, Paradise Pottery and a Book Lover’s gift basket. There will also be yummy treats, and we'll have a Maddox gift certificate drawing for those that purchase the book that night. The event is this Thursday, May 10 5:30-7:30 at Reflections of Utah Bookstore, 47 N. Main in Brigham City Utah.
However, I did plan a Salt Lake signing because so many of you are in Utah or Salt Lake counties and the drive is just so much. It will be Saturday May 12, 2:00-3:30 at the Fort Union Deseret Book.
If none of these signings work for you, the book is also for sale at www.deseretbook.com at 20% off and should be on store shelves beginning this week. As I’ve said before, this book is very different from my others so I’m anxious to hear any feedback you may have. I need to know if this is a direction I should pursue and the only way I know that is to hear it from you guys. Believe me, I can take the constructive criticism, and of course I LOVE the compliments.
Thanks for all the great support, happy reading!
*If you would like to join my mailing list, please send an e-mail to kilpack@gmail.com
Anyone on my snail mail list should have received a postcard about my Opening Night party and/or Salt Lake signing. If you live in Cache Valley, it will be delayed a little longer as I figure out a signing I'll be doing up there sometime this month--so look for a postcard next week.
The Opening Night party is going to be awesome, I hope some of you are planning to attend. I have had wonderful door prize donations from Scentiments Lotions, Idle Isle Candies, Lavender House boutique, Pampered Chef, Paradise Pottery and a Book Lover’s gift basket. There will also be yummy treats, and we'll have a Maddox gift certificate drawing for those that purchase the book that night. The event is this Thursday, May 10 5:30-7:30 at Reflections of Utah Bookstore, 47 N. Main in Brigham City Utah.
However, I did plan a Salt Lake signing because so many of you are in Utah or Salt Lake counties and the drive is just so much. It will be Saturday May 12, 2:00-3:30 at the Fort Union Deseret Book.
If none of these signings work for you, the book is also for sale at www.deseretbook.com at 20% off and should be on store shelves beginning this week. As I’ve said before, this book is very different from my others so I’m anxious to hear any feedback you may have. I need to know if this is a direction I should pursue and the only way I know that is to hear it from you guys. Believe me, I can take the constructive criticism, and of course I LOVE the compliments.
Thanks for all the great support, happy reading!
*If you would like to join my mailing list, please send an e-mail to kilpack@gmail.com
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
In Memory of Linda Whiting
About two years ago, a friend and fellow LDStorymaker announced to our group that she had breast cancer. Linda Shelly Whiting was an amazing woman. She had stuttered all her life, a problem that made communication difficult. But rather than stay on the sidelines she took public speaking courses, she forced herself to become a wonderful presenter, despite the stumbling of her words. She never made apologies or accepted sympathy for what was a burden, it simply was what it was and she persevered. She was a devoted wife, mother of six children, a passionate family historian, and a voracious reader and writer. She wrote a book about the life of David W. Patton, the first martyr of the early church. She always said she knew it wouldn't sell thousands of copies, but felt driven to make it available to history buffs like herself because Patton did not have any posterity to chronicle his accomplishments for him. I admired her zeal and tried to take her example to heart with my own writing--it's not about the money.
When she was first diagnosed she did all the chemo, all the treatments, even though she was told it would likely only give her five years. She wanted those five years very much. She was working on a book about Arizona History, a book she'd been researching for ten years. She was anxious to see her children all settled and doing well, she was heartbroken at the idea of leaving her husband as their retirement years had just begun. She fought hard, and her cancer went into remission. We were all relieved, if anyone deserved those five years, it was Linda.
Sadly it was a few months later that the cancer returned, this time with a vengeance. when she announced to our group that she would not be seeking treatments, knowing it would only extend her life by months and unwilling to spend her final time sick and miserable, she shared the sentiment that she was excited for death, to meet all the people she had done genealogy for, to be reunited with loved ones gone. She said she had no fear of it at all, she was at peace with herself, with the life she'd lived and the legacy she left behind. Her regret, was leaving her sweetheart and children, she was mindful of the role she played in their lives and knew that her death would make things so difficult for them. As her body failed her, this was what caused her the greatest pain. I had never known someone well enough to 'see' the preparation and it was an awesome experience in every sense of the word. When she died it was a sad occasion, and yet I couldn't help imagining the scene as thousands of souls waited to thank her for the life she lived in their behalf. Though she left a legacy in this life, she ventured into a different kind of legacy when she crossed the veil and started a new leg of her journey.
Today, her son--Roger Whiting, a talented illustrator--sent out an e-mail to many of her friends informing them that he had fulfilled a promise he'd made to his mother to publish a book of her poetry. I was thrilled to have such an opportunity and bought my copy immediately. I've never read her poems, but I knew Linda and I have no doubt this will be a book I will treasure. The book is titled My Wilderness and other Poems and is available through Amazon.com.
Linda was bold, fearless, and remarkably strong woman. More than once she stunned me with her blunt statements of right and wrong, accepting no middle ground when it came to accepting the words of the prophet or living a righteous life. There was no tip toeing and though it stung at times, I admired her so much for being who she was and not making any apologies for it. I was glad to be reminded of some of the lessons today and hope that one day I can have that kind of dignity and excitement for the next phase of life. I'm so glad that her words live on.
Monday, April 30, 2007
No Blog for you!
Today I, put up 20 posters for my opening night part, sent out 250 postcards, and mailed off 8 books. I wrote two chapters, ran two miles and I smell like a zoo because I didn't have time to shower before running kids to a community play practice that will completely overwhelm the rest of my week. I still need to finish the laundry (we're out of underwear) get started on the new goat pen, and clean the my husband's weight room that has housed my two new chicks for a month and smells almost as bad as I do.
So, even though I had a great blog planned around having finally finished 100 pages on my current book, but I'm not doing it. Instead, you can read my synopsis blog at www.writingonthewallblog.blogspot.com
I'll see you in a few days. Pray for me....
So, even though I had a great blog planned around having finally finished 100 pages on my current book, but I'm not doing it. Instead, you can read my synopsis blog at www.writingonthewallblog.blogspot.com
I'll see you in a few days. Pray for me....
Thursday, April 26, 2007
First Review of Sheep's_Clothing
So, when you write a book you get a certain number of free copies (this will be stated in your contract). Well, they might not be free, really, their payed for with your blood-sweat-tears-and many a hot dog dinner during the writing process. But they feel free cause you don't have to charge em to your visa. These books are called Author Copies.
Anyhoo, so I got my Author Copies on Monday. Score! And immediately I signed copies earned by those that also put their blood-sweat-tears and hot dog dinners into helping me out. My first copy is signed to my hubby who by far sacrifices the very most for everything I write, then I signed copies to Julie Wright, Bob & Shirley Bahlmann, Heather Moore & Tristi Pinkston--awesome freinds that edited for me and weren't afraid to tell me when parts of the story sucked. BJ Rowley did my final line edit and Crystal Liechty helped me pry off that rock I'd been living under and set up a page on Myspace. Then my Mama and my Mama-in-law get free copies because of that whole child birth thing they did awhile back.
I've now given away half my author copies (with six more slated for people helping with my Opening Night, more on that later), and on Monday my 13 year old daughter saw the books and asked if she could read one. For the next two days that's exactly what she did, finishing last night around 10:30 (I let her stay up cause I'm such a nice mom). I asked her to write me a review before she took off to school this morning--the first review of the actual bound book. And here's what she had to say:
I really like this book because the characters were easy to related to and I was able to understand their feelings really well. The book kept me thinking of the possibilities of the next page every second and I could hardly put it down.
So, there you have it. Out of the mouths of babes...
Anyhoo, so I got my Author Copies on Monday. Score! And immediately I signed copies earned by those that also put their blood-sweat-tears and hot dog dinners into helping me out. My first copy is signed to my hubby who by far sacrifices the very most for everything I write, then I signed copies to Julie Wright, Bob & Shirley Bahlmann, Heather Moore & Tristi Pinkston--awesome freinds that edited for me and weren't afraid to tell me when parts of the story sucked. BJ Rowley did my final line edit and Crystal Liechty helped me pry off that rock I'd been living under and set up a page on Myspace. Then my Mama and my Mama-in-law get free copies because of that whole child birth thing they did awhile back.
I've now given away half my author copies (with six more slated for people helping with my Opening Night, more on that later), and on Monday my 13 year old daughter saw the books and asked if she could read one. For the next two days that's exactly what she did, finishing last night around 10:30 (I let her stay up cause I'm such a nice mom). I asked her to write me a review before she took off to school this morning--the first review of the actual bound book. And here's what she had to say:
I really like this book because the characters were easy to related to and I was able to understand their feelings really well. The book kept me thinking of the possibilities of the next page every second and I could hardly put it down.
So, there you have it. Out of the mouths of babes...
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Toastmaster
Yesterday I participated in a career fair for my daughters school. Because kids that age (12/13) are so visual I organized my notes into a power point. One of the the items I listed on "If you want to be a writer, you should..." was public speaking. I pointed it out because a) it's true and b) I had no idea it was true until a few books into my career.
As I've said many times, I approached writing with the assumption that within a few years I would have a cabin to write at. I'd disappear for days at a time and just write while gazing over meadows. My family wouldn't mind because I was a WRITER, my neighbors would think it was cool, not weird, and when people made comments I would say something incredibly profound that would change their tune in a heartbeat! As I've also said, this did not come to pass.
Instead I found out that there was a WHOLE lot more to this writing. There is also promotion, understanding contracts, negotiating contracts, knowing the market, knowing your audience, tax issues, etc. And, there is public speaking, something I have dreaded most of my life. I would not try out for concert choir in high-school because I'd have to sing a solo for the audition, I did not do debate or drama because the idea of talking in front of people terrified me. When I had to oral reports I stumbled over my words, turned red, and spent the next eighteen days beating myself with what I should have done better. When I spoke in church I was literally shaking--truly, the bishop bric would comment on my legs shaking like jelly--and my chest, neck and face would burn and be red to the extent that I could see my family trying not to laugh. It was awful and I was not good at it. I learned to wear long skirts so the shaking wasn't as noticeable and always wear a turtleneck--even in July. When I was asked to do my first few presentations as a writer I cried all the way home, embarrassed at my lack of skill.
However, things have changed and I've improved. I don't know that I consider myself a great public speaker, but I'm pleased with most of my presentations these days. As I've improved, my confidence has grown and it's become an essential part of my career. I do presentations to writing, church, school and book groups. I talk to fast, but I've learned to keep my voice low (people prefer a lower pitch to listen too), to make eye contact and to try and be funny. Some of this I learned simply by listening to other speakers and being determined to do better, but about a year ago I made a very good decision that helped me immensely.
Toastmasters. If, like me, you don't' know what toastmasters is, let me explain. It's an international group dedicated to helping it's members improve in confidence and specifically in public speeches. There are clubs everywhere, and I do mean everywhere--there are 12 within 20 miles of my home. I was only a member for six months, which isn't very long, and I hope one day to go back. However, even though my membership was short, what I learned was endless. I have no doubt that I'm a better presenter than I was before I started. I see speeches differently, I hold myself different, I prepare my presentations different and I don't shake or turn red like I used to because I'm more confident of myself than I ever was before. I'm much more aware of my audience and how to read them. Not only does Toastmasters allow you to prepare and presents speeches, they also train you to talk off the top of your head, how to use different elements of public speaking such as gestures, humor, timing, writing notes, stance, and other professional details. It was truly a fount of knowledge that I will always be grateful for. It's also a wonderful networking opportunity, as you will be surrounding yourself with people of similar goal and desire.
I know we're all busy, I know that one more thing is more like ONE MORE FREAKING THING, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! but consider this an important aspect of your career. Even if you only give it six months, it will be worth the investment. Look up your local club and attend a meeting--you can do that without signing up, and see what Toastmasters might be able to offer you.
As I've said many times, I approached writing with the assumption that within a few years I would have a cabin to write at. I'd disappear for days at a time and just write while gazing over meadows. My family wouldn't mind because I was a WRITER, my neighbors would think it was cool, not weird, and when people made comments I would say something incredibly profound that would change their tune in a heartbeat! As I've also said, this did not come to pass.
Instead I found out that there was a WHOLE lot more to this writing. There is also promotion, understanding contracts, negotiating contracts, knowing the market, knowing your audience, tax issues, etc. And, there is public speaking, something I have dreaded most of my life. I would not try out for concert choir in high-school because I'd have to sing a solo for the audition, I did not do debate or drama because the idea of talking in front of people terrified me. When I had to oral reports I stumbled over my words, turned red, and spent the next eighteen days beating myself with what I should have done better. When I spoke in church I was literally shaking--truly, the bishop bric would comment on my legs shaking like jelly--and my chest, neck and face would burn and be red to the extent that I could see my family trying not to laugh. It was awful and I was not good at it. I learned to wear long skirts so the shaking wasn't as noticeable and always wear a turtleneck--even in July. When I was asked to do my first few presentations as a writer I cried all the way home, embarrassed at my lack of skill.
However, things have changed and I've improved. I don't know that I consider myself a great public speaker, but I'm pleased with most of my presentations these days. As I've improved, my confidence has grown and it's become an essential part of my career. I do presentations to writing, church, school and book groups. I talk to fast, but I've learned to keep my voice low (people prefer a lower pitch to listen too), to make eye contact and to try and be funny. Some of this I learned simply by listening to other speakers and being determined to do better, but about a year ago I made a very good decision that helped me immensely.
Toastmasters. If, like me, you don't' know what toastmasters is, let me explain. It's an international group dedicated to helping it's members improve in confidence and specifically in public speeches. There are clubs everywhere, and I do mean everywhere--there are 12 within 20 miles of my home. I was only a member for six months, which isn't very long, and I hope one day to go back. However, even though my membership was short, what I learned was endless. I have no doubt that I'm a better presenter than I was before I started. I see speeches differently, I hold myself different, I prepare my presentations different and I don't shake or turn red like I used to because I'm more confident of myself than I ever was before. I'm much more aware of my audience and how to read them. Not only does Toastmasters allow you to prepare and presents speeches, they also train you to talk off the top of your head, how to use different elements of public speaking such as gestures, humor, timing, writing notes, stance, and other professional details. It was truly a fount of knowledge that I will always be grateful for. It's also a wonderful networking opportunity, as you will be surrounding yourself with people of similar goal and desire.
I know we're all busy, I know that one more thing is more like ONE MORE FREAKING THING, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! but consider this an important aspect of your career. Even if you only give it six months, it will be worth the investment. Look up your local club and attend a meeting--you can do that without signing up, and see what Toastmasters might be able to offer you.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Pager or Wordy?
Most writers track either word count or pages as they. They often say “I’ll write three pages a day”—these people I call pagers. Or a wordy will say— “I’ll hit two thousand words this week”.
I have always been a pager, the reason being that a 12 point New Times Roman font double spaced 300 page manuscript will be within about a dozen pages of a 300 page novel. Since I write 300 page novels, I know exactly how long to make my manuscript. Now, it’s not an exact science. If your publisher chooses a smaller type for the book, or if you have blank pages in between chapters, obviously, that’s going to be different. But typically it’s a pretty good gauge of things. However, this pager has hit a snag and been thrown into the dismal abyss of having to…gulp…change!.
I got a Mac laptop a few months ago and I love it, but despite my specific instructions to the salesman that I did not want a machine with quirks, he sold it to me anyway. The quirk that is currently making my eye twitch is that it’s stopped recording pages when I’m in “Normal” view. I can go to “Page Layout” or “Print layout” and it shows me how many pages I have, but I prefer to type in “normal” view and I’m stuck at 55 pages despite the 3,000 words I wrote last week.
So I am forced against my will to be a wordy and ya know what…it’s kinda cool. Now 50 pages is a nice round number, but likely 10 of those pages aren’t full pages because I ended a chapter, hence it’s kinda cheating. With word count it is what it is and if my goal is, say 80,000 words then I know exactly how close I am to that goal. So yesterday I determined I was going to get to 20,000 words and as I’m typing I’m watching the word count grow. I liked that…and yet I still miss my pages. It might take some time to get used to all this.
So, I’m curious—what do other writers do? Are you a Wordy or a Pager?
I have always been a pager, the reason being that a 12 point New Times Roman font double spaced 300 page manuscript will be within about a dozen pages of a 300 page novel. Since I write 300 page novels, I know exactly how long to make my manuscript. Now, it’s not an exact science. If your publisher chooses a smaller type for the book, or if you have blank pages in between chapters, obviously, that’s going to be different. But typically it’s a pretty good gauge of things. However, this pager has hit a snag and been thrown into the dismal abyss of having to…gulp…change!.
I got a Mac laptop a few months ago and I love it, but despite my specific instructions to the salesman that I did not want a machine with quirks, he sold it to me anyway. The quirk that is currently making my eye twitch is that it’s stopped recording pages when I’m in “Normal” view. I can go to “Page Layout” or “Print layout” and it shows me how many pages I have, but I prefer to type in “normal” view and I’m stuck at 55 pages despite the 3,000 words I wrote last week.
So I am forced against my will to be a wordy and ya know what…it’s kinda cool. Now 50 pages is a nice round number, but likely 10 of those pages aren’t full pages because I ended a chapter, hence it’s kinda cheating. With word count it is what it is and if my goal is, say 80,000 words then I know exactly how close I am to that goal. So yesterday I determined I was going to get to 20,000 words and as I’m typing I’m watching the word count grow. I liked that…and yet I still miss my pages. It might take some time to get used to all this.
So, I’m curious—what do other writers do? Are you a Wordy or a Pager?
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Welcome to the Island!
Before panic ensues let me assure you that this island is NOTHING like The Beach, The Cay, Lord of the Flies, or Lost. In fact there is nary a polar bear or eel in sight.
In fact, it' s not much of an island at all, rather it's actually called a planet, or in geek terms, it's a Feed Aggregator--not an alligator, silly--AGGREGATOR. What that means is it's a one stop shop for a specific collection of blogs. And who is on this island? Well, I'm glad you asked.
Annette Lyon--this was her brain child and her hubby's honey-do. Three cheers for Rob Lyon! She's a great writer, a fab editor and if she doesn't share her chocolate we'll lock her in the hatch and make her push the buttons until she starts seeing horses. Everyone knows the horses didn't get here until the Spaniards brought them.
Tristi Pinkston--What's an island or planet or feed aggregator without a Haloed Harley Hoochimama? Not, to mention she can build bombs out of coconuts thanks to all the research she's done for her wartime fiction novels.
Lu Ann Brobst Staheli--Editor extraordinaire--Teacher extraordinaire--Writer extraordinaire--looks great in stilettos and makes great sushi. "The kitty like the fishy!"
Heather Moore--She's kind of like the Brother of Jared of our party except that her name is easier to say. She wrote a novel based on 16 versus of the BOM, I mean, who in their right mind wouldn't take her along?
Julie Wright--Quite frankly I wouldn't dare be on an island without my Julie. She'll keep us all from killing ourselves by the sheer joy she finds in everything. "Hey everybody, I made us matching Mouseketeer hats out of clam shells--I love this place! Let's sell some on eBay."
Janette Rallison--She always knows the right shoes to where and whether than shirt goes with those earrings and she's nationally published. We're not worthy! we're not worthy! We'd be lost without her (she brought the GPS).
Me--I'm there because...I...uh...yeah. Let's just say that I live by the theory that you are who you hang out with. And I'm hangin!
Precision Editing Group--several of us are also editors for PEG, who recently launched their own daily blog on editing tips.
Okay, so I've explained it and you're still confused. Think of it this way--Instead of checking out 8 individual blogs, you look up one, see what's been added and choose accordingly. There are no comment trails, but you can click on the link and be routed back to the original blog.
So check it out yourself www.writersinheels.com
If you have any questions, let me know. I've got my "Planets for Dummies" ready to go!
In fact, it' s not much of an island at all, rather it's actually called a planet, or in geek terms, it's a Feed Aggregator--not an alligator, silly--AGGREGATOR. What that means is it's a one stop shop for a specific collection of blogs. And who is on this island? Well, I'm glad you asked.
Annette Lyon--this was her brain child and her hubby's honey-do. Three cheers for Rob Lyon! She's a great writer, a fab editor and if she doesn't share her chocolate we'll lock her in the hatch and make her push the buttons until she starts seeing horses. Everyone knows the horses didn't get here until the Spaniards brought them.
Tristi Pinkston--What's an island or planet or feed aggregator without a Haloed Harley Hoochimama? Not, to mention she can build bombs out of coconuts thanks to all the research she's done for her wartime fiction novels.
Lu Ann Brobst Staheli--Editor extraordinaire--Teacher extraordinaire--Writer extraordinaire--looks great in stilettos and makes great sushi. "The kitty like the fishy!"
Heather Moore--She's kind of like the Brother of Jared of our party except that her name is easier to say. She wrote a novel based on 16 versus of the BOM, I mean, who in their right mind wouldn't take her along?
Julie Wright--Quite frankly I wouldn't dare be on an island without my Julie. She'll keep us all from killing ourselves by the sheer joy she finds in everything. "Hey everybody, I made us matching Mouseketeer hats out of clam shells--I love this place! Let's sell some on eBay."
Janette Rallison--She always knows the right shoes to where and whether than shirt goes with those earrings and she's nationally published. We're not worthy! we're not worthy! We'd be lost without her (she brought the GPS).
Me--I'm there because...I...uh...yeah. Let's just say that I live by the theory that you are who you hang out with. And I'm hangin!
Precision Editing Group--several of us are also editors for PEG, who recently launched their own daily blog on editing tips.
Okay, so I've explained it and you're still confused. Think of it this way--Instead of checking out 8 individual blogs, you look up one, see what's been added and choose accordingly. There are no comment trails, but you can click on the link and be routed back to the original blog.
So check it out yourself www.writersinheels.com
If you have any questions, let me know. I've got my "Planets for Dummies" ready to go!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Politics, Priestcraft & Purple Pansies
As a general rule I don't discuss politics except with my husband and a few select people that don't make me pine for the squishy cucumber at the bottom of my crisper. Over the last day or two there has been a flurry of discussion in regards to what to me sounds like politics of LDS film. One guy telling another guy he's horrible, the other guy saying the first guy wasn't just horrible but his mama was horrible too. If you want to read up on the current LDS film debate, Jeff Savage did a great job of pointing it out on the frog blog. Read up and get your fill.
In 2 Nephi 26:29 it reads:
"...for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world: but they seek not the welfare of zion."
I mean this as no insult to anyone. I am also not passing any judgement, only pointing out that anyone who creates Art based on matters of religion needs to tread carefully. I think there is a real threat to us when our creativity--career--and testimony all end up on the same plate. It's very difficult for one thing to not influence the other, hard for us not to think "I'm using the gifts God gave me, and anyone that doesn't see that is a sinner".
I'm not immune to this. I write what I consider an edgier type of LDS fiction than many writers in this market. I confront matters of LDS culture that I personally find squishy-cucumber and it's too much for some people. I know, because they e-mail me and tell me so :-). When I get these e-mails I immediately wonder what is wrong with THEM. Why don't they appreciate ME? What kind of mote is in there eye that they don't recognize truth when they see it? On the same vein I get frustrated when I can't find the time I need to write such brilliance. Shouldn't my children be less demanding? Isn't hot dogs four nights in a row okay since I need to change the world with my next book? Go make yourself a freaking kay-sa-dila! (spelled wrong on purpose. Gosh!) Thoughts like this have created a tug of war within myself over why I do this and what I expect to come of it.
Do I want to be rich and famous? I can't answer that with a no and be considered truly honest, and yet I'm embarrassed to admit it because I know where my treasure ought to be. Do I want to change people's lives? I can't answer that with a yes and not feel pompous. And without those two things, why else do I do this? Truly I'm not sure. I love to write and feel my Father in Heaven gave me gifts that I've developed into talents that allow me to do so--so why aren't my novels just lined up on my own bookshelves bound in a trapper keeper? If all I wanted to do was write, why bother with publishing which then puts me in the wanting-to-be-rich-and-famous-and-change-people's-lives club.
Again, I have no difinative (I know I'm spelling this wrong but spell check won't help me and wants me to say innovative) answer. But I read Chris Heimerdinger's article today and there was a line that stood out to me. In his article he said "...if LDS filmmakers are going to succeed, they cannot forget that their first priority is entertainment. First and foremost, a movie must thrill, surprise, enchant and keep people on the edge of their seats."
THIS resonated with me and brought me back into a more comfortable chair. Yes, I want my books to be a good influence, and yes I'd like to pay for my kids braces with royalties instead of shoe money, but the very first job of an LDS writer, filmmaker, playwright is to entertain--in my opinion. If an LDS artist pursues their own gift and leaves out the entertainment quality of their work, then they are just preaching. And preaching for temporal gain is defined as priestcraft. Don't do it! As you write, as you delve into issues of religion and culture put a sign above your computer that says "I am an entertainer". Not only do I believe this will keep us on the right track, it will also hopefully keep us from getting our testimony tangled up with our financial goals. I started reading LDS fiction because I wanted characters I could better relate to, and being part of that for other readers is a good thing, right? I hope so because it's about the purest motive I can find within myself.
I wish Dutcher the best, I will miss his films. I hope he finds the happiness and peace we all deserve in this life. Though I don't know him personally, I have followed his career with interest and people that do know him personally speak very highly of him and his family.
I wish Merrill the best as well. I have boiled up my own vents and then in hindsight wished for a strong roll of duct tape. He has taken a great deal of flack for his films from Dutcher and others, movies I also enjoyed very much. I wish him the best as he picks his way through the aftermath of this. I don't know him personally either, but have heard only good things about him from people that do. We watched The Testaments on Easter Sunday and it will be a tradition from here on out.
And I am stoked for Passageway to Zarahemla to come out. I love Heimerdinger's books and I'm excited to see the movie come to fruition. He made another comment I liked: "I've been a storyteller my whole career, but I would be the first to confess that what I do is totally expendable. The LDS Church would progress just fine without LDS films or novels. No movie experience should ever compare with that of taking the sacrament. And no story will ever be more influential in changing someone's life than the efforts of a good-hearted bishop, a loving parent, a caring seminary teacher or a dedicated Scoutmaster."
So, for all us storytellers out there. Tell a story first. Chances are your own testimony will come through, but tell the story first. If we take this challenge, we will tell better stories, our readers will be entertained, and therefore they will come back of their own accord--not because they feel shamed into it, or feel the need to support US--and we will not have invested more than we can afford to lose in the outcome of our efforts (i.e. testimony). Honestly, what a relief it is to know it's not my job to convert anyone. That the weight of this gospel is not on the shoulders of my paperback novel. I leave that to you seminary teachers and scoutmasters :-)
As for purple pansies--my goats are currently free ranging because I haven't fixed the coop door and they have eaten all my flowers EXCEPT purple pansies. I have no idea why, but the idea intrigues me. What's wrong with purple pansies? They eat roses and lilies, and columbines, and tulips, even yellow and white and orange pansies but not purple pansies. Wierd huh? Weirder still, why didn't I fix the coop in time to save my spring flowers? I leave it all up to you to relate this to politics and Preist Craft. Good Luck (I couldn't do it)
In 2 Nephi 26:29 it reads:
"...for, behold, priestcrafts are that men preach and set themselves up for a light unto the world, that they may get gain and praise of the world: but they seek not the welfare of zion."
I mean this as no insult to anyone. I am also not passing any judgement, only pointing out that anyone who creates Art based on matters of religion needs to tread carefully. I think there is a real threat to us when our creativity--career--and testimony all end up on the same plate. It's very difficult for one thing to not influence the other, hard for us not to think "I'm using the gifts God gave me, and anyone that doesn't see that is a sinner".
I'm not immune to this. I write what I consider an edgier type of LDS fiction than many writers in this market. I confront matters of LDS culture that I personally find squishy-cucumber and it's too much for some people. I know, because they e-mail me and tell me so :-). When I get these e-mails I immediately wonder what is wrong with THEM. Why don't they appreciate ME? What kind of mote is in there eye that they don't recognize truth when they see it? On the same vein I get frustrated when I can't find the time I need to write such brilliance. Shouldn't my children be less demanding? Isn't hot dogs four nights in a row okay since I need to change the world with my next book? Go make yourself a freaking kay-sa-dila! (spelled wrong on purpose. Gosh!) Thoughts like this have created a tug of war within myself over why I do this and what I expect to come of it.
Do I want to be rich and famous? I can't answer that with a no and be considered truly honest, and yet I'm embarrassed to admit it because I know where my treasure ought to be. Do I want to change people's lives? I can't answer that with a yes and not feel pompous. And without those two things, why else do I do this? Truly I'm not sure. I love to write and feel my Father in Heaven gave me gifts that I've developed into talents that allow me to do so--so why aren't my novels just lined up on my own bookshelves bound in a trapper keeper? If all I wanted to do was write, why bother with publishing which then puts me in the wanting-to-be-rich-and-famous-and-change-people's-lives club.
Again, I have no difinative (I know I'm spelling this wrong but spell check won't help me and wants me to say innovative) answer. But I read Chris Heimerdinger's article today and there was a line that stood out to me. In his article he said "...if LDS filmmakers are going to succeed, they cannot forget that their first priority is entertainment. First and foremost, a movie must thrill, surprise, enchant and keep people on the edge of their seats."
THIS resonated with me and brought me back into a more comfortable chair. Yes, I want my books to be a good influence, and yes I'd like to pay for my kids braces with royalties instead of shoe money, but the very first job of an LDS writer, filmmaker, playwright is to entertain--in my opinion. If an LDS artist pursues their own gift and leaves out the entertainment quality of their work, then they are just preaching. And preaching for temporal gain is defined as priestcraft. Don't do it! As you write, as you delve into issues of religion and culture put a sign above your computer that says "I am an entertainer". Not only do I believe this will keep us on the right track, it will also hopefully keep us from getting our testimony tangled up with our financial goals. I started reading LDS fiction because I wanted characters I could better relate to, and being part of that for other readers is a good thing, right? I hope so because it's about the purest motive I can find within myself.
I wish Dutcher the best, I will miss his films. I hope he finds the happiness and peace we all deserve in this life. Though I don't know him personally, I have followed his career with interest and people that do know him personally speak very highly of him and his family.
I wish Merrill the best as well. I have boiled up my own vents and then in hindsight wished for a strong roll of duct tape. He has taken a great deal of flack for his films from Dutcher and others, movies I also enjoyed very much. I wish him the best as he picks his way through the aftermath of this. I don't know him personally either, but have heard only good things about him from people that do. We watched The Testaments on Easter Sunday and it will be a tradition from here on out.
And I am stoked for Passageway to Zarahemla to come out. I love Heimerdinger's books and I'm excited to see the movie come to fruition. He made another comment I liked: "I've been a storyteller my whole career, but I would be the first to confess that what I do is totally expendable. The LDS Church would progress just fine without LDS films or novels. No movie experience should ever compare with that of taking the sacrament. And no story will ever be more influential in changing someone's life than the efforts of a good-hearted bishop, a loving parent, a caring seminary teacher or a dedicated Scoutmaster."
So, for all us storytellers out there. Tell a story first. Chances are your own testimony will come through, but tell the story first. If we take this challenge, we will tell better stories, our readers will be entertained, and therefore they will come back of their own accord--not because they feel shamed into it, or feel the need to support US--and we will not have invested more than we can afford to lose in the outcome of our efforts (i.e. testimony). Honestly, what a relief it is to know it's not my job to convert anyone. That the weight of this gospel is not on the shoulders of my paperback novel. I leave that to you seminary teachers and scoutmasters :-)
As for purple pansies--my goats are currently free ranging because I haven't fixed the coop door and they have eaten all my flowers EXCEPT purple pansies. I have no idea why, but the idea intrigues me. What's wrong with purple pansies? They eat roses and lilies, and columbines, and tulips, even yellow and white and orange pansies but not purple pansies. Wierd huh? Weirder still, why didn't I fix the coop in time to save my spring flowers? I leave it all up to you to relate this to politics and Preist Craft. Good Luck (I couldn't do it)
Sunday, April 15, 2007
My history...
I was just tagged by Tristi Pinkston with this history game, very fun! After I'm done, I'll tag five more bloggers and may I say how glad I am to have been tagged so quickly—it means I still have people to choose from--bummer for the rest of you :-) Here we go:
1. Go to Wikipedia and type in your birth date only -without the year.
May 26
2. List 3 events that occurred that day:
1830 - The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later—Sad day with disasterous results, IMO
1992 - Charles Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Systems, Inc. was kidnapped at gunpoint from the Adobe parking lot in Mountain View, California for $650,000 and is held hostage in a rented house in Hollister, California. The FBI rescues him four days later. Would that not make a great book?
2004 - The New York Times publishes an admission of journalistic failings, claiming that its flawed reporting and lack of skeptism towards sources during the buildup to the 2003 war in Iraq helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. I remember this one.
3. List 2 important birthdays:
1907 - John Wayne, American actor (d. 1979)—I don’t think my mother knows this or I would be her favorite child!
1948 - Stevie Nicks, American songwriter—I love Fleetwood Mac so this one I’ve known for many years.
4. List 1 death:
My pet parakeet Zepplin when I was in the 7th grade. I’m a little offended Wikipedia didn’t have this reference.
And, no one I’ve ever heard of died on this day except for 1948 - Theodore Morell, Hitler's personal physician (b. 1886)
5. List a holiday or observance:
National Sorry Day in Australia, so whatever I did, I’m sorry mate.
Now I get to tag five other bloggers-Bwahahahahaha
Julie Wright
Katie Parker
Marsha
LDSpublisher (she can use the day she started her publishing house ☺
Rob Wells
1. Go to Wikipedia and type in your birth date only -without the year.
May 26
2. List 3 events that occurred that day:
1830 - The Indian Removal Act is passed by the U.S. Congress; it is signed into law by President Andrew Jackson two days later—Sad day with disasterous results, IMO
1992 - Charles Geschke, co-founder of Adobe Systems, Inc. was kidnapped at gunpoint from the Adobe parking lot in Mountain View, California for $650,000 and is held hostage in a rented house in Hollister, California. The FBI rescues him four days later. Would that not make a great book?
2004 - The New York Times publishes an admission of journalistic failings, claiming that its flawed reporting and lack of skeptism towards sources during the buildup to the 2003 war in Iraq helped promote the belief that Iraq possessed large stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. I remember this one.
3. List 2 important birthdays:
1907 - John Wayne, American actor (d. 1979)—I don’t think my mother knows this or I would be her favorite child!
1948 - Stevie Nicks, American songwriter—I love Fleetwood Mac so this one I’ve known for many years.
4. List 1 death:
My pet parakeet Zepplin when I was in the 7th grade. I’m a little offended Wikipedia didn’t have this reference.
And, no one I’ve ever heard of died on this day except for 1948 - Theodore Morell, Hitler's personal physician (b. 1886)
5. List a holiday or observance:
National Sorry Day in Australia, so whatever I did, I’m sorry mate.
Now I get to tag five other bloggers-Bwahahahahaha
Julie Wright
Katie Parker
Marsha
LDSpublisher (she can use the day she started her publishing house ☺
Rob Wells
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Quirky, Quirk, Quirk
Everyone talks about writers being eccentric and quirky, right? Well, I'm a writer and I'm not quirky. I'm a very very very very very very very normal individual.
So, knowing how normal I am, I don't know where those funky writers-are-weird rumors come from, hence I've developed the theory that it's just what un-creative people say. Kind of like those girls in high-school mom said only talked badly about people to make themselves feel better. However, I have to admit that I do know of some writers that are down right weird, but in the spirit of 'saying something nice' we'll use the word quirky. For example:
Julie Wright checks her word count every few paragraphs and hits save after EVERY sentence. She says she's a paranoid obsessive compulsive--do we want to raise an argument to that? She's also worn only one color of lipstick for the last ten years. AND, she's blown up a computer. She has a weird electrical thing going on and has a bit of a current running through her. She's always shocking people--not by what she says, but the shock you used to give when you'd shuffled your feed on the carpet. If she wears her hair down, it starts floating like when you put your hand on that electro-ball thing in science class. I kid you not.
Steven King "I have a glass of water or I have a cup of tea. I have my vitamin pill, I have my music; I have my same seat; and the papers are all arranged in the same places." And yes, he's the guy that wrote The Shining. "All work and no play makes Jack (ur, Steven) a dull boy."
Heather Moore (H.B. Moore from my pen name blog) will turn off the lights if she has a chunk of time to write, she's also been known to close her eyes and type. She didn't give me a reason for this but I wonder if it's like those times as a child when you would cover your eyes and think no one could see you. If only it were that easy...
Hans Christian Andersen put a sign next to his bed that read “I am not really dead.” And I have to wonder, was it the ugly duckling or Little Mermaid that knocked his rocker over?
Jeff Savage...oh where to start. For firsts, he LIKES Disneyland, secondly, he met his wife with a bag over his head. That explains a lot. And he didn't get back to me with his quirks so I think whatever his quirks are have to do with tomato soup and Peter, Paul, and Mary. He's welcome to correct me in the comments trail.
Annette Lyon, who has all kinds of education and credentials freezes when someone is looking over her shoulder. Doesn't matter who, she can't physically write if someone is reading as she goes. She also names rocks.
Charles Dickens walked twenty to thirty miles a day. He also placed objects on his desk in exactly the same position, always set his bed in north/south directions, and touched certain objects three times for luck--quite frankly, having read a little Dickens, this does not surprise me.
Rachel Nunes Always signs books in black or gold ink, never never never blue because she doesn't like the way it looks in books. She also has a nervous reaction to people that misuse lay/lie and she will correct you (I know this because I don't know the difference between lying on a test and laying under a bus:-) And whenver she's on TV, she wears red.
Stephanie Black is also a closet book whisperer. She whispers while she writes and her face begins to contort into her 'writer's face'. I wonder if this is like when the dog bares his teeth in order to get you to BACK OFF. I might need to look into this one.
Carole Thayne always wears socks when she writes. Warm feet, warm fingers perhaps.
And me? I told you, I don't have any. I'm a very very very very very very very normal person. Good thing too, someone's got to throw off the curve.
Are you a quirker? Or is it time to make good on the blackmail material you have on someone else? I'm all ears (or eyes since it's a blog and all)
(Portions of this blog gleaned from Judy Reeves)
So, knowing how normal I am, I don't know where those funky writers-are-weird rumors come from, hence I've developed the theory that it's just what un-creative people say. Kind of like those girls in high-school mom said only talked badly about people to make themselves feel better. However, I have to admit that I do know of some writers that are down right weird, but in the spirit of 'saying something nice' we'll use the word quirky. For example:
Julie Wright checks her word count every few paragraphs and hits save after EVERY sentence. She says she's a paranoid obsessive compulsive--do we want to raise an argument to that? She's also worn only one color of lipstick for the last ten years. AND, she's blown up a computer. She has a weird electrical thing going on and has a bit of a current running through her. She's always shocking people--not by what she says, but the shock you used to give when you'd shuffled your feed on the carpet. If she wears her hair down, it starts floating like when you put your hand on that electro-ball thing in science class. I kid you not.
Steven King "I have a glass of water or I have a cup of tea. I have my vitamin pill, I have my music; I have my same seat; and the papers are all arranged in the same places." And yes, he's the guy that wrote The Shining. "All work and no play makes Jack (ur, Steven) a dull boy."
Heather Moore (H.B. Moore from my pen name blog) will turn off the lights if she has a chunk of time to write, she's also been known to close her eyes and type. She didn't give me a reason for this but I wonder if it's like those times as a child when you would cover your eyes and think no one could see you. If only it were that easy...
Hans Christian Andersen put a sign next to his bed that read “I am not really dead.” And I have to wonder, was it the ugly duckling or Little Mermaid that knocked his rocker over?
Jeff Savage...oh where to start. For firsts, he LIKES Disneyland, secondly, he met his wife with a bag over his head. That explains a lot. And he didn't get back to me with his quirks so I think whatever his quirks are have to do with tomato soup and Peter, Paul, and Mary. He's welcome to correct me in the comments trail.
Annette Lyon, who has all kinds of education and credentials freezes when someone is looking over her shoulder. Doesn't matter who, she can't physically write if someone is reading as she goes. She also names rocks.
Charles Dickens walked twenty to thirty miles a day. He also placed objects on his desk in exactly the same position, always set his bed in north/south directions, and touched certain objects three times for luck--quite frankly, having read a little Dickens, this does not surprise me.
Rachel Nunes Always signs books in black or gold ink, never never never blue because she doesn't like the way it looks in books. She also has a nervous reaction to people that misuse lay/lie and she will correct you (I know this because I don't know the difference between lying on a test and laying under a bus:-) And whenver she's on TV, she wears red.
Stephanie Black is also a closet book whisperer. She whispers while she writes and her face begins to contort into her 'writer's face'. I wonder if this is like when the dog bares his teeth in order to get you to BACK OFF. I might need to look into this one.
Carole Thayne always wears socks when she writes. Warm feet, warm fingers perhaps.
And me? I told you, I don't have any. I'm a very very very very very very very normal person. Good thing too, someone's got to throw off the curve.
Are you a quirker? Or is it time to make good on the blackmail material you have on someone else? I'm all ears (or eyes since it's a blog and all)
(Portions of this blog gleaned from Judy Reeves)
Monday, April 09, 2007
Pen Names
Back in the day when I felt sure being a published author meant scads of people calling my house at all hours of the night and the need for ten foot wrought iron fencing to protect my children's privacy, I decided that I needed a pen name.
It had to be something mysterious and easy to pronounce. I wanted it to sound smart and yet sassy, yet just like naming my children I wanted it to have meaning. Deep, sacred meaning. So, I thought and thought and decided that I wanted the name June Snow. This is actually my grandmother's name, it's one I was familiar with and since this woman died when my mother was still a teenager, it was very mysterious to me. I told my husband. "You don't want to use my name?" he said. I tried to console him by explaining how miserable the paparazzi would make our lives if I dared use my real name. He finally patted my shoulder and said he was okay. Then I told my father, "You won't use your husband's name but you won't even use my name?" I tried to explain my reasons to him as well but later that day I found him and my husband snickering. I asked what was so funny and they acted like they didn't know what I was talking about. Weird.
Fast forward a few months to when my book HAD been accepted and I told my publisher that I wanted a pen name. He said "Uh, why?" so I explained my romantic notions and he said. "Uh, not necessary. We want to sell books and the fact is that your real name will sell books when people recognize you as the lady they used to Visit Teach". Well, I hadn't thought about that and I didn't argue, but I did look into how to make my phone number an unlisted one should we get hounded.
Fast forward another seven years and I have no telephone call problems and no need for fencing. Now and then I get a "Hey, are you Josi Kilpack the author?" but that's usually in the small town I live in from people who saw the posters I put up myself. So why do some authors have pen names?
Janette Rallison writes YA for the national market. When she decided to write for the LDS market she didn't want to confuse her already established fans by having them run into religious stories. So she came up with a pen name to keep her books separate. It's not a secret--which is what I thought the whole point of a pen name was. She's very open about it and at the recent LDStorymaker conference she taught one class as Janette Rallison and one as Sierra St. James.
Dr. Suess was a pen name for Theodore Suess Giesel simply because Dr. Suess is much more fun and easier to say.
Mark Twain was really Samuel Longhorn Clemens--I don't know why, he just was.
Ninteenth century English Novelist George Eliot was really Mary Ann Evans--how many men would have read a woman's book back then?
My good friend writes under the name Carole Thayne, which is her maiden name. Her married name, Carole Warburton, was already taken by another LDS writer so she had to get creative.
Heather Moore writes the "Out of Jerusalem" series but her publisher suggested the pen name H.B. Moore, thinking it would broaden her audience and keep men from assuming her books were romances. And apparently it's worked since most people assume she's a man (including me until I was introduced to her). She is in fact very very female but people seem to stereotype women as not being scholarly enough for scriptural novels. Joke's on them.
Nora Roberts is known for her romance novels. When she decided to write futuristic suspense, she took on the pen name of J.D. Robb. Again, it's not a secret. But women that love Nora Roberts romances, won't pick up a futuristic suspense by mistake and feel let down. Similarly, forty two year old Blake Cartney hates romance novels and it's a cold day in Disneyland when he's gunna pick up a book by that blasted Nora Roberts. Now J.D. Robb, boy can he hanker on a good scheme.
And I bet you didn't know that Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki is really Natsume Kinnosuke--sly, very very sly.
So will I ever use a pen name? I might need one already. At a recent book signing a woman asked me what my books were about. I said "Well this one is a suspense, this one is more of a romance, and these ones are more family drama" and it gets me thinking, should I have different names for different books? Will Sue pick up a romance thinking it's a suspense and be disappointed? Will Lou-Lou be hungry for a romance and end up with a mystery? I don't know, and I guess it's too late anyway. In this market a 'brand name' is important. You want people to buy your book because they recognize your name, and I can only hope that they end up liking all the genres I write as much as I like writing them.
So, if you were going to have a pen name what would it be and why? I already told you mine, though lately I've thought Jezabell Pierce would have more of a kick.
It had to be something mysterious and easy to pronounce. I wanted it to sound smart and yet sassy, yet just like naming my children I wanted it to have meaning. Deep, sacred meaning. So, I thought and thought and decided that I wanted the name June Snow. This is actually my grandmother's name, it's one I was familiar with and since this woman died when my mother was still a teenager, it was very mysterious to me. I told my husband. "You don't want to use my name?" he said. I tried to console him by explaining how miserable the paparazzi would make our lives if I dared use my real name. He finally patted my shoulder and said he was okay. Then I told my father, "You won't use your husband's name but you won't even use my name?" I tried to explain my reasons to him as well but later that day I found him and my husband snickering. I asked what was so funny and they acted like they didn't know what I was talking about. Weird.
Fast forward a few months to when my book HAD been accepted and I told my publisher that I wanted a pen name. He said "Uh, why?" so I explained my romantic notions and he said. "Uh, not necessary. We want to sell books and the fact is that your real name will sell books when people recognize you as the lady they used to Visit Teach". Well, I hadn't thought about that and I didn't argue, but I did look into how to make my phone number an unlisted one should we get hounded.
Fast forward another seven years and I have no telephone call problems and no need for fencing. Now and then I get a "Hey, are you Josi Kilpack the author?" but that's usually in the small town I live in from people who saw the posters I put up myself. So why do some authors have pen names?
Janette Rallison writes YA for the national market. When she decided to write for the LDS market she didn't want to confuse her already established fans by having them run into religious stories. So she came up with a pen name to keep her books separate. It's not a secret--which is what I thought the whole point of a pen name was. She's very open about it and at the recent LDStorymaker conference she taught one class as Janette Rallison and one as Sierra St. James.
Dr. Suess was a pen name for Theodore Suess Giesel simply because Dr. Suess is much more fun and easier to say.
Mark Twain was really Samuel Longhorn Clemens--I don't know why, he just was.
Ninteenth century English Novelist George Eliot was really Mary Ann Evans--how many men would have read a woman's book back then?
My good friend writes under the name Carole Thayne, which is her maiden name. Her married name, Carole Warburton, was already taken by another LDS writer so she had to get creative.
Heather Moore writes the "Out of Jerusalem" series but her publisher suggested the pen name H.B. Moore, thinking it would broaden her audience and keep men from assuming her books were romances. And apparently it's worked since most people assume she's a man (including me until I was introduced to her). She is in fact very very female but people seem to stereotype women as not being scholarly enough for scriptural novels. Joke's on them.
Nora Roberts is known for her romance novels. When she decided to write futuristic suspense, she took on the pen name of J.D. Robb. Again, it's not a secret. But women that love Nora Roberts romances, won't pick up a futuristic suspense by mistake and feel let down. Similarly, forty two year old Blake Cartney hates romance novels and it's a cold day in Disneyland when he's gunna pick up a book by that blasted Nora Roberts. Now J.D. Robb, boy can he hanker on a good scheme.
And I bet you didn't know that Japanese novelist Natsume Soseki is really Natsume Kinnosuke--sly, very very sly.
So will I ever use a pen name? I might need one already. At a recent book signing a woman asked me what my books were about. I said "Well this one is a suspense, this one is more of a romance, and these ones are more family drama" and it gets me thinking, should I have different names for different books? Will Sue pick up a romance thinking it's a suspense and be disappointed? Will Lou-Lou be hungry for a romance and end up with a mystery? I don't know, and I guess it's too late anyway. In this market a 'brand name' is important. You want people to buy your book because they recognize your name, and I can only hope that they end up liking all the genres I write as much as I like writing them.
So, if you were going to have a pen name what would it be and why? I already told you mine, though lately I've thought Jezabell Pierce would have more of a kick.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Oops, I did it again...
So, my WIP is in time-out for bad behavior and with nothing better to do (other than the continual dishes, yardwork, personal hygene--yada, yada, yada) I'm pondering Themes. Not the "This book is about the pursuit of happiness despite decades of self-hatred" kind of themes, but the author kind of themes.
Like how Mary Higgins Clark always has pasta, wine, and cheese in her books, and how John Grisham's characters are always cynical men who if not single, wish they were. You know what I mean.
Since I'm an egotistical writer, that thought came back to my own themes. What do I tend to repeat within my books. I have seven novels, one will be out in 26 days, though who's counting, and one other is Star Struck which broke all of my molds and didn't sell, which makes me want to leave it out. So I'm leaving it out, because it's my book and my blog and I can do that kind of thing if I want to, and hence I'm only counting my six women's novel in this highly intellectual discussion.
I have a hospital visit in every book--except maybe Sheep's_Clothing, but it's implied and summarized later.
All of my women have long hair. Weird huh? I mean, I am partial to long hair on myself, but that's mostly because I have a neck like a giraffe (truly, I have one more vertebrae than most women between their skull and their collarbone--which also explains why I'm short waisted and have to have tapered shirts to prove I still have a waist)
All of my women and men are Caucasian. That's pretty typical for LDS fiction though, but it shouldn't be.
Most of my women are divorced. Now, my last two aren't--but Maddie in Unsung Lullaby thought about divorce and Kate, my Sheep's_Clothing woman, would never consider it--but they aren't romances either. So I have to wonder, do I believe that romance can't happen for single people, or do I find it cliche? OR, do I find divorce Romantic?
Strangely, only one of my male leads has ever been divorced (Allen in Earning Eternity)
All of my books take place at least in part in Salt Lake--big shocker there, another LDS fiction trend I've been sucked into through no fault of my own! Yes, I'm from Salt Lake.
All my male leads are educated white collar--I've had a psychiatrist, a teacher, an accountant, a developer, an investment banker--oh wait, Tally from Tempest Tossed isn't necessarily white collar, but he's independently wealthy.
All my women are average. Not too tall, not too short, not too heavy, not too thin--though Emma in To Have or To Hold is pretty thin. but still are all in the 'normal' range of things. I like that though and don't think I'll change it. Now Janet was a little super modelish in Tempest Tossed, but that was okay cause she was a pain and no one really liked her (Well, I did)
What I don't want to have happen to me, as I've seen happen to too many writers, is they get a certain amount of books come out and all their characters start sounding the same, or the storylines are copy-cats. I hate that. So, in order to combat it I need to write about a short haired, non-average-sized woman of ethnicity who hasn't been married, has no ties to Utah, never went to college, but that Mormon women can relate to. Hey, she sounds more like the average Mormon than any of the women I've written about before! I might be on to something.
If you've noticed any other themes in my books let me know, or if I need to look for some in your books, tell me that too so I don't feel so bad :-)
Like how Mary Higgins Clark always has pasta, wine, and cheese in her books, and how John Grisham's characters are always cynical men who if not single, wish they were. You know what I mean.
Since I'm an egotistical writer, that thought came back to my own themes. What do I tend to repeat within my books. I have seven novels, one will be out in 26 days, though who's counting, and one other is Star Struck which broke all of my molds and didn't sell, which makes me want to leave it out. So I'm leaving it out, because it's my book and my blog and I can do that kind of thing if I want to, and hence I'm only counting my six women's novel in this highly intellectual discussion.
I have a hospital visit in every book--except maybe Sheep's_Clothing, but it's implied and summarized later.
All of my women have long hair. Weird huh? I mean, I am partial to long hair on myself, but that's mostly because I have a neck like a giraffe (truly, I have one more vertebrae than most women between their skull and their collarbone--which also explains why I'm short waisted and have to have tapered shirts to prove I still have a waist)
All of my women and men are Caucasian. That's pretty typical for LDS fiction though, but it shouldn't be.
Most of my women are divorced. Now, my last two aren't--but Maddie in Unsung Lullaby thought about divorce and Kate, my Sheep's_Clothing woman, would never consider it--but they aren't romances either. So I have to wonder, do I believe that romance can't happen for single people, or do I find it cliche? OR, do I find divorce Romantic?
Strangely, only one of my male leads has ever been divorced (Allen in Earning Eternity)
All of my books take place at least in part in Salt Lake--big shocker there, another LDS fiction trend I've been sucked into through no fault of my own! Yes, I'm from Salt Lake.
All my male leads are educated white collar--I've had a psychiatrist, a teacher, an accountant, a developer, an investment banker--oh wait, Tally from Tempest Tossed isn't necessarily white collar, but he's independently wealthy.
All my women are average. Not too tall, not too short, not too heavy, not too thin--though Emma in To Have or To Hold is pretty thin. but still are all in the 'normal' range of things. I like that though and don't think I'll change it. Now Janet was a little super modelish in Tempest Tossed, but that was okay cause she was a pain and no one really liked her (Well, I did)
What I don't want to have happen to me, as I've seen happen to too many writers, is they get a certain amount of books come out and all their characters start sounding the same, or the storylines are copy-cats. I hate that. So, in order to combat it I need to write about a short haired, non-average-sized woman of ethnicity who hasn't been married, has no ties to Utah, never went to college, but that Mormon women can relate to. Hey, she sounds more like the average Mormon than any of the women I've written about before! I might be on to something.
If you've noticed any other themes in my books let me know, or if I need to look for some in your books, tell me that too so I don't feel so bad :-)
Friday, March 30, 2007
Mid-Newsletter Newsletter
Don't you just hate it when you're sitting at the computer, minding your own business and realize the pitter-patter of little feet in the hallway are not children, but goats?
Anyway, back to your semi-regularly scheduled mid-Newsletter Newsletter (and be sure the kids shut the back door ALL the way)...
______________________________________
The 4th annual LDStorymakers Writers' Conference is over, and I can breathe again. The apricot trees are blossoming, the words of my WIP are coming, my new batch of Bantam chicks are on order, I'm heading out for an anniversary overnighter with my sweetie tonight, and Soccer season doesn't start until next week. In a nutshell, life is good.
By way of sending a quick update on a few things (thank you to the newsletter recipients that followed the link :-) :
**Lady's night at Deseret Book is this Saturday (March 31) and if you've never been, boy, what an event! Scads of authors, drawings, FOOD--a complete lovefest of book-zealots like myself. Look up your closest DB and give it a try, it is a lot of fun. And if you happen to be in the proximity of the Layton Hills Mall, stop in and see me :-) You're welcome to bring in already-purchased books to have me sign and I'd love to see you. I'll be there from 6-8.
**Sheep's_Clothing isn't due to be out for a few more weeks but it is #125 on Deseret Book's website! If you're planning to buy from DB and would like to pre-order, follow this link and know that I'll love you forever!
http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4981433
**The Opening night party for Sheep's_Clothing will be on Thursday, May 10 (right before mother's day) at my local bookstore Reflections of Utah. I absolutely love these Opening Night Parties. There are doorprizes, refreshments, a grand prize drawing and great discounts. I'm currently getting my prize donations gathered and my promotional items organized, so stay tuned!
**In addition to the Opening Night Party, I'll be having Book-signings in Salt Lake and Logan sometime in May.
That's all for now, hopefully I'll see some of you in one place or another. Thanks again for all the support
Anyway, back to your semi-regularly scheduled mid-Newsletter Newsletter (and be sure the kids shut the back door ALL the way)...
______________________________________
The 4th annual LDStorymakers Writers' Conference is over, and I can breathe again. The apricot trees are blossoming, the words of my WIP are coming, my new batch of Bantam chicks are on order, I'm heading out for an anniversary overnighter with my sweetie tonight, and Soccer season doesn't start until next week. In a nutshell, life is good.
By way of sending a quick update on a few things (thank you to the newsletter recipients that followed the link :-) :
**Lady's night at Deseret Book is this Saturday (March 31) and if you've never been, boy, what an event! Scads of authors, drawings, FOOD--a complete lovefest of book-zealots like myself. Look up your closest DB and give it a try, it is a lot of fun. And if you happen to be in the proximity of the Layton Hills Mall, stop in and see me :-) You're welcome to bring in already-purchased books to have me sign and I'd love to see you. I'll be there from 6-8.
**Sheep's_Clothing isn't due to be out for a few more weeks but it is #125 on Deseret Book's website! If you're planning to buy from DB and would like to pre-order, follow this link and know that I'll love you forever!
http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4981433
**The Opening night party for Sheep's_Clothing will be on Thursday, May 10 (right before mother's day) at my local bookstore Reflections of Utah. I absolutely love these Opening Night Parties. There are doorprizes, refreshments, a grand prize drawing and great discounts. I'm currently getting my prize donations gathered and my promotional items organized, so stay tuned!
**In addition to the Opening Night Party, I'll be having Book-signings in Salt Lake and Logan sometime in May.
That's all for now, hopefully I'll see some of you in one place or another. Thanks again for all the support
Monday, March 26, 2007
The lady in Green
Saturday night at the LDStorymaker conference, I had forgotten to get the projector into the ballroom for Janette Rallison's closing presentation. So I ran into room 309 (i.e. Broiler) and on my way out a cute lady in a green shirt, black pants (capris I think) with blonde hair and a forgiving nature asked if I could sign a book she had purchased. Because of my inability to do two things at once I told her I'd do it in a few minutes and that I'd find her, then I flew out of that room like a bat out of a broiler so I could get everything set up on time.
WELL, it was about three hours later when back at my hotel that I remembered. So I scanned my brain (it didn't take very long) to try and remember if she'd found me, since I hadn't remembered on my own and therefore hadn't found her like I said I would. I'm pretty sure that I didn't ever get around to signing her book.
So, I need help. If anyone reading this blog knows who it is I'm talking about, could you have her contact me. kilpack@gmail.com so that I can attempt to right this wrong of mine.
Thanks much,
WELL, it was about three hours later when back at my hotel that I remembered. So I scanned my brain (it didn't take very long) to try and remember if she'd found me, since I hadn't remembered on my own and therefore hadn't found her like I said I would. I'm pretty sure that I didn't ever get around to signing her book.
So, I need help. If anyone reading this blog knows who it is I'm talking about, could you have her contact me. kilpack@gmail.com so that I can attempt to right this wrong of mine.
Thanks much,
Saturday, March 24, 2007
DONE!!
Well, the 2007 LDStorymakers writer's conference has been done for ...about 3 hours. I've been back in my hotel for...about one hour and I've got my latest novel open on my computer. and waiting patientlly while I take the time to blog this. I saw all of two presentations but I am more pumped than I've been for weeks. It was a great conference, I had a wonderful time and am renewed! What an amazing thing life can be, what a powerful influence is freindship and talents and a Father in Heaven that wants good things for us in this life. How grateful I am for a husband that supports me, for kids that forgive me, for people that make me laugh. Thanks to everyone that came, thanks to all the Storymakers that helped make this possible. I'm glad to look upon it and see good things there. I can't wait for next year.
Now, back to my book...
Now, back to my book...
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Inside Sessions
About six years ago I paid $99 to take an online course called “Inside Sessions”. I’d seen it advertised on TV and thought it sounded interesting. Whoever put it together did a video interview with several best selling national authors such as Ken Follett, Amy Tan, Tom Clancy, Sue Graphton and a few others. They asked them specific questions on different parts and points of writing, then cut the filmed interviews into topics. The course was split up into chapters, focusing on one topic and you got to hear the different authors way of doing things.
Absolutely fascinating stuff!
At the time I watched this I was struggling to figure out my career (the very term was hard to utter, even in my mind). I had one book out that had done poorly, I’d gotten out of my contract and had just had my second novel rejected by a different publisher. I knew I was missing something and was sure that there was some secret formula out there that I needed to discover. And I did, through Inside Sessions—the secret? There is no secret! There is no one way that works for every writer. In fact, I dare say that no two writers do everything exactly the same.
During this online video course, they talked about outlining—one thing I was very interested in at the time. In fact I had bought a book called “”The Marshall Plan” which outlines every detail of the book you want to write. You fill out forms for each scene within each chapter, you have very specific character roles, and essentially map out the entire book before you write a word of it. I was trying to do this, but kept making changes, thus having to go back and change the entire thing (250 pages in a 3 ring binder). I know other authors that like this formula, but it wasn’t working for me and I wondered WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME? But did you know that Tom Clancy never outlines at all? Ken Follett on the other hand outlines first by thirds, then chapter, then scene, then character within the scene, then dialogue by the character in the scene. He spends an entire year outlining in this kind of detail, each item of his outline put on a 3X5 card and taped to a wall in his office. Two amazing writers, two completely different ways of writing.
Rewrites—Sue Graphton goes through several—Tom Clancy, not ONE. Some of the authors answered with long explanations, showing that even they don’t do things the same for every book they write, and other’s were exact and followed the same process for every thing they wrote.
Editing—some revised AS THEY WENT, which I had been told in writing conferences was impossible. Other’s were so well planned and plotted they didn’t revise a thing once they finished.
Time—Tom Clancy writes a book in about four months. Ken Follett spends an entire year outlining and another year writing it.
Why they write—Amy Tan writes to educate the world on Chinese culture and take her people from the shadows and into mainstream understanding. Sue Graphton writes to entertain and because she loves a good mystery.
By the time I finished this program (I was on dialup and could watch about two minutes at a time so it took awhile) I felt better about my writing than I had since being naïve enough to think my first book (the one that didn’t sell well, remember) was going to change the world! I put the binder of my Marshall Plan manuscript away—in fact I put the entire story away (it later became Tempest Tossed). And I sat down and wrote a brand new story that had been in my head. The next day I went to where I’d written the day before and revised it before starting my ‘fresh’ writing of that day—it had always driven me mad to know there was a change I needed to make but I felt I couldn’t make it yet OR I’d start writing and later find out I’d been repeating myself. A few days later I cut out ten pages and thought I was going to have a stroke, but I’d changed my mind about that particular direction and like trying to find the right dress, I needed to try this one on for size.
So here I am six or so years later and I’m still trying to figure out my groove. I wrote Star Struck in 3 months, revised it twice and sent it in. Unsung Lullaby was a work in progress for five full years and I had nearly 500 pages in my ‘cuts’ folder and 292 in the finished draft. I currently have parts of six different novels on my computer, each one will hopefully become a book one day, but I’m only working on one. I have 230 pages of cuts and 83 pages of finished product. I’m avoiding my writing today because I know there are two scenes that have to go. Ouch.
The point is that every writer writes in their own way and that’s a GOOD thing. If you don’t write like me, congrats! I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, and yet, it’s what works for me. If you don’t write like Sue Graphton, no worries, neither does Amy Tan. I continue to learn so many great ideas from other writers I associate with and love to ask them about their specific tricks and tips but amid taking notes on what they do, I take comfort in knowing that I have my own trail to blaze and can build any kind of wagon to take me there.
So, the big question: what works for you?
(I did also learn you can buy Inside Sessions on video--but Amazon only had one and I just picked it up. Sorry--but if you bring me chocolate covered cinnamon bears I might let you borrow it)
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
102 LDS books
Recently I found a blog-tag of 100 books—I believe they were the best selling books of all time (Harry Potter came in far ahead of The Bible, FWIW). The bloggers then marked the books they’d read, the ones they’d never heard of and the ones they highly recommended. I thought “Wouldn’t it be fun to do that with LDS books?”
I have no way of knowing the best selling LDS books, so I did the next best thing. I chose nine other authors who are each very well read in this market (list at the bottom of this blog) to send me a list of their ten favorite LDS books of all time. Then I combined the results into this list—102 books recommended by 10 authors. And I’ve used the following key:
Bold=I read it
Highlighted=I’ve never heard of it
Italics= A favorite that stayed with me a long time
(I chose to only bold the ones I’ve read and highlight the ones I hadn’t heard of because so many of my friends are on this list and I can’t choose favorites--but some of you might be braver than me)
1) A Heartbeat Away—Rachel Ann Nunes
2) Almost Sisters—Nancy Anderson, Lael J. Littke
and Carroll H. Morris
3) Angels Don't Knock—Dan Yates
4) An Old Fashioned Romance—Marcia Lynn McClure
5) A Question of consequence—Gordon Ryan
6) Ariana: The Making of a Queen—Rachel Ann Nunes
7) As the Ward Turns—Joni Hilton
8) At the Journey’s End—Annette Lyon
9) Baptists at Our Barbecue—Robert Farrell Smith
10) Charlie—Jack Weyland
11) Charley’s Monument—Blaine M. Yorgason)
12) Chickens in the Headlights—Matthew Buckley (on my to-read list)
13) Children of the Promise, Vol 1: Rumors of War—
Dean Hughes
14) Children of the Promise, Vol 2: Since You Were Gone—
Dean Hughes
15) Come Armageddon—Anne Perry
16) Daughter of a King—Rachel Ann Nunes (picture book)
17) Dead on Arrival--Jeffrey Savage
18) Double Cross--Betsy Brannon Green
19) Dusty Britches—Marcia Lynn McClure
20) Emeralds and Espionage—Lynn Gardner
21) Escaping the Shadows—Lisa J. Peck
22) Fablehaven—Brandon Mull (My daughter raved)
23) False Pretenses—Carole Thayne
24) Faraway Child—Amy Maida Wadsworth
25) Fire of the Covenant—Gerald Lund
26) First Love and Forever—Anita Stansfield
27) Flowers of the Winds--Dorothy Keddington
28) Ghost of a Chance—Kerry Blair
29) Gustavia Browne—Alene Roberts
30) Jimmy Fincher Saga Vol. 4: War of the Black Curtain—
James Dashner (My daughter LOVED it)
31) House on the Hill—Annette Lyon
32) House of Secrets—Jeff Savage
33) House on the Sound—Marilyn Brown
34) In a Dry Land—Elizabeth Petty Bentley
35) Lifted Up—Guy Morgan Galli
36) Love Beyond Time—Nancy Campbell Allen
37) Mary & Elisabeth—S. Kent Brown (Non-fiction)
38) MaCady—Jennie Hansen
39) Molly Mormon—Tamara Norton
40) Mummy's the Word—Kerry Blair (on my list)
41) My Body Fell Off—BJ Rowley (my daughter and I both loved this book)
42) My Not So Fairy Tale Life—Julie Wright (Great read)
43) No Longer Strangers—Rachel Nunes
44) Nothing to Regret—Tristi Pinkston
45) On a Whim—Lisa McKendrick
46) On Second Thought—Robison Wells (laughed my head off)
47) On the Edge--Julie Coulter Bellon
48) One in Thine Hand—Gerald Lund
49) One Tattered Angel—Blaine M. Yorgason
50) Out of Jerusalem 1 (Of Goodly Parents)—H.B. Moore
51) Out of Jerusalem 2 (A Light in the Wilderness) —H. B. Moore (on my to-read list)
52) Out of Jerusalem 3 (Towards the Promised Land)—
H. B. Moore
53) The Peacegiver—James L. Ferrell (on my to-read list)
54) Pillar of Fire—David Woolley
55) Poison—Betsy Brannon Green
56) Prodigal Journey—Linda Paulson Adams (really liked this book)
57) Pursuit of Justice—Willard Boyd Gardner
58) Return to Red Castle—Dorothy Keddington
59) Race Against Time—Willard Boyd Gardner
60) Sarah—Orson Scott Card
61) Saints—Orson Scott Card
62) Sixteen in no time—BJ Rowley (my daughter and I loved this)
63) Spies, Lies and a Pair of Ties—Sheralyn Pratt
64) Standing on the Promises Vol 1: One More River to Cross
--Margaret Young and Darius Gray
65) Strength to Endure—Tristi Pinkston (Excellent read)
66) Surprising Marcus—Donald S. Smurthwaite (Surprised me—I loved it)
67) Tathea—Anne Perry
68) Tempest Tossed—Josi S. Kilpack
69) Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites—Chris Heimerdinger
70) The Alliance—Gerald Lund (on my to-read list)
71) The Book of Mormon—Nephi thru Moroni (non-fiction)
72) The Believer—Stephanie Black
73) The Coming of Elijiah—Arianne Cope (fascinating)
74) The Counterfiet—Robison Wells
75) The Emerald--Jennie Hansen
76) The First year—Crystal Liechty (Loved this—very fresh)
77) The Fragrance of Her Name—Marcia Lynn McClure
78) The Killing of Greybird—Eric Swedin
79) The Last Days, Vol. 1: The Gathering Storm—
Kenneth R. Tarr
80) The Last Promise—Richard Paul Evans
81) The Looking Glass—Richard Paul Evans
82) The Miracle of Miss Willie—Alma J. Yates
83) The single Heart—Melinda Jennings
84) The Visions of Ransom Lake—Marcia Lynn McClure
85) The Work and the Glory Vol 1—Gerald Lund
86) The Work and the Glory Vol 2—Gerald Lund
87) The Work and the Glory Vol 3—Gerald Lund
88) The Work and the Glory Vol 4—Gerald Lund
89) The Work and the Glory Vol 5—Gerald Lund
90) The Work and the Glory Vol 6—Gerald Lund
91) The Work and the Glory Vol 7—Gerald Lund
92) The Work and the Glory Vol 8—Gerald Lund
93) This Just In—Kerry Blair (on my to-read list)
94) Time Riders—Sierra St. James
95) Time Will Tell by Julie Coulter Bellon
96) To Echo the Past—Marcia Lynn McClure
97) To Have or To Hold—Josi S. Kilpack
98) Towers of Brierley, Anita Stansfield
99) Twelve Sisters—Leslie Hedley (Loved Loved this book)
100) Unsung Lullaby—Josi S. Kilpack
101) Wake Me When it’s over—Robison Wells
102) Winter Fire—Rachel Ann Nunes
Contributing authors: Tristi Pinkston, Julie Wright, Jeff Savage, Rachel Ann Nunes, Jewel Adams, Annette Lyon, Heather Moore, Stephanie Black,, Julie Bellon and Josi S. Kilpack
If you'd like to play, copy this onto your blog or into the comment section of this post. Be sure to tell me where you blog it so I can take a peek.
I have no way of knowing the best selling LDS books, so I did the next best thing. I chose nine other authors who are each very well read in this market (list at the bottom of this blog) to send me a list of their ten favorite LDS books of all time. Then I combined the results into this list—102 books recommended by 10 authors. And I’ve used the following key:
Bold=I read it
Highlighted=I’ve never heard of it
Italics= A favorite that stayed with me a long time
(I chose to only bold the ones I’ve read and highlight the ones I hadn’t heard of because so many of my friends are on this list and I can’t choose favorites--but some of you might be braver than me)
1) A Heartbeat Away—Rachel Ann Nunes
2) Almost Sisters—Nancy Anderson, Lael J. Littke
and Carroll H. Morris
3) Angels Don't Knock—Dan Yates
4) An Old Fashioned Romance—Marcia Lynn McClure
5) A Question of consequence—Gordon Ryan
6) Ariana: The Making of a Queen—Rachel Ann Nunes
7) As the Ward Turns—Joni Hilton
8) At the Journey’s End—Annette Lyon
9) Baptists at Our Barbecue—Robert Farrell Smith
10) Charlie—Jack Weyland
11) Charley’s Monument—Blaine M. Yorgason)
12) Chickens in the Headlights—Matthew Buckley (on my to-read list)
13) Children of the Promise, Vol 1: Rumors of War—
Dean Hughes
14) Children of the Promise, Vol 2: Since You Were Gone—
Dean Hughes
15) Come Armageddon—Anne Perry
16) Daughter of a King—Rachel Ann Nunes (picture book)
17) Dead on Arrival--Jeffrey Savage
18) Double Cross--Betsy Brannon Green
19) Dusty Britches—Marcia Lynn McClure
20) Emeralds and Espionage—Lynn Gardner
21) Escaping the Shadows—Lisa J. Peck
22) Fablehaven—Brandon Mull (My daughter raved)
23) False Pretenses—Carole Thayne
24) Faraway Child—Amy Maida Wadsworth
25) Fire of the Covenant—Gerald Lund
26) First Love and Forever—Anita Stansfield
27) Flowers of the Winds--Dorothy Keddington
28) Ghost of a Chance—Kerry Blair
29) Gustavia Browne—Alene Roberts
30) Jimmy Fincher Saga Vol. 4: War of the Black Curtain—
James Dashner (My daughter LOVED it)
31) House on the Hill—Annette Lyon
32) House of Secrets—Jeff Savage
33) House on the Sound—Marilyn Brown
34) In a Dry Land—Elizabeth Petty Bentley
35) Lifted Up—Guy Morgan Galli
36) Love Beyond Time—Nancy Campbell Allen
37) Mary & Elisabeth—S. Kent Brown (Non-fiction)
38) MaCady—Jennie Hansen
39) Molly Mormon—Tamara Norton
40) Mummy's the Word—Kerry Blair (on my list)
41) My Body Fell Off—BJ Rowley (my daughter and I both loved this book)
42) My Not So Fairy Tale Life—Julie Wright (Great read)
43) No Longer Strangers—Rachel Nunes
44) Nothing to Regret—Tristi Pinkston
45) On a Whim—Lisa McKendrick
46) On Second Thought—Robison Wells (laughed my head off)
47) On the Edge--Julie Coulter Bellon
48) One in Thine Hand—Gerald Lund
49) One Tattered Angel—Blaine M. Yorgason
50) Out of Jerusalem 1 (Of Goodly Parents)—H.B. Moore
51) Out of Jerusalem 2 (A Light in the Wilderness) —H. B. Moore (on my to-read list)
52) Out of Jerusalem 3 (Towards the Promised Land)—
H. B. Moore
53) The Peacegiver—James L. Ferrell (on my to-read list)
54) Pillar of Fire—David Woolley
55) Poison—Betsy Brannon Green
56) Prodigal Journey—Linda Paulson Adams (really liked this book)
57) Pursuit of Justice—Willard Boyd Gardner
58) Return to Red Castle—Dorothy Keddington
59) Race Against Time—Willard Boyd Gardner
60) Sarah—Orson Scott Card
61) Saints—Orson Scott Card
62) Sixteen in no time—BJ Rowley (my daughter and I loved this)
63) Spies, Lies and a Pair of Ties—Sheralyn Pratt
64) Standing on the Promises Vol 1: One More River to Cross
--Margaret Young and Darius Gray
65) Strength to Endure—Tristi Pinkston (Excellent read)
66) Surprising Marcus—Donald S. Smurthwaite (Surprised me—I loved it)
67) Tathea—Anne Perry
68) Tempest Tossed—Josi S. Kilpack
69) Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites—Chris Heimerdinger
70) The Alliance—Gerald Lund (on my to-read list)
71) The Book of Mormon—Nephi thru Moroni (non-fiction)
72) The Believer—Stephanie Black
73) The Coming of Elijiah—Arianne Cope (fascinating)
74) The Counterfiet—Robison Wells
75) The Emerald--Jennie Hansen
76) The First year—Crystal Liechty (Loved this—very fresh)
77) The Fragrance of Her Name—Marcia Lynn McClure
78) The Killing of Greybird—Eric Swedin
79) The Last Days, Vol. 1: The Gathering Storm—
Kenneth R. Tarr
80) The Last Promise—Richard Paul Evans
81) The Looking Glass—Richard Paul Evans
82) The Miracle of Miss Willie—Alma J. Yates
83) The single Heart—Melinda Jennings
84) The Visions of Ransom Lake—Marcia Lynn McClure
85) The Work and the Glory Vol 1—Gerald Lund
86) The Work and the Glory Vol 2—Gerald Lund
87) The Work and the Glory Vol 3—Gerald Lund
88) The Work and the Glory Vol 4—Gerald Lund
89) The Work and the Glory Vol 5—Gerald Lund
90) The Work and the Glory Vol 6—Gerald Lund
91) The Work and the Glory Vol 7—Gerald Lund
92) The Work and the Glory Vol 8—Gerald Lund
93) This Just In—Kerry Blair (on my to-read list)
94) Time Riders—Sierra St. James
95) Time Will Tell by Julie Coulter Bellon
96) To Echo the Past—Marcia Lynn McClure
97) To Have or To Hold—Josi S. Kilpack
98) Towers of Brierley, Anita Stansfield
99) Twelve Sisters—Leslie Hedley (Loved Loved this book)
100) Unsung Lullaby—Josi S. Kilpack
101) Wake Me When it’s over—Robison Wells
102) Winter Fire—Rachel Ann Nunes
Contributing authors: Tristi Pinkston, Julie Wright, Jeff Savage, Rachel Ann Nunes, Jewel Adams, Annette Lyon, Heather Moore, Stephanie Black,, Julie Bellon and Josi S. Kilpack
If you'd like to play, copy this onto your blog or into the comment section of this post. Be sure to tell me where you blog it so I can take a peek.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
What's in a name...game
I got this from Sariah S. Wilson on Six LDS Writers and a Frog blog
http://www.sixldswriters.blogspot.com/
Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
Your Name: Josi
1. Famous Athlete: John Stockton
2. 4 letter Word: Jump
3. Street Name: Josephine Rd. Medford, Massachusetts
4. Color: (Yikes!) Jungle green (Crayola 190-1992--the same years my husband was on his mission in the Phillipines Jungle)
5. Animal: Jaguar (and did you know you can tell the difference between a Jaguar and a leopard because jaguar spots have a light spot in the middle of the black and a leopard does not—just a little FYI)
6. Vehicle: Jetta
7. Tropical Location: Jamaica-mon
8. College Major: Jewish Studies
9. Junk Food: Junior Mints—preferably frozen
10. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Jingly earrings with things like Eiffel towers and killer whales hanging from them.
11. Boy Name: Jose (which I’ve been called many many times)
12. Girl Name: Jaquie
13. Movie Title: Just married
14. Occupation: Janitor (story of my life)
15. Flower: Jacobean Lily
16. Celebrity: Julie Roberts—I’ve been told I look JUST like her except that I’m shorter, and stockier, and blonde, and blue eyed
17. Magazine: JEZEBEL Magazine (your guide to upscale living in Atlanta and beyond)
18. U.S. City or State: Jackson, Missouri
19. Pro Sports Team: Jacksonville Jaguars (do we sense a theme here, hmmmm)
20. Something Found in a Kitchen: Junk drawer
21. Reason for Being Late: Just lazy
22. Something You Throw Away: Juicy lettuce
23. Things You Shout: “Just kidding, gosh, can’t you take a joke?” (notice two J words in there, double points!)
24. Cartoon Character: Jasmine from Aladdin
If you use this on your blog, leave me the link in my comments so I can check it out
http://www.sixldswriters.blogspot.com/
Rules: Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following...They MUST be real places, names, things...NOTHING made up! If you can't think of anything, skip it. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.
Your Name: Josi
1. Famous Athlete: John Stockton
2. 4 letter Word: Jump
3. Street Name: Josephine Rd. Medford, Massachusetts
4. Color: (Yikes!) Jungle green (Crayola 190-1992--the same years my husband was on his mission in the Phillipines Jungle)
5. Animal: Jaguar (and did you know you can tell the difference between a Jaguar and a leopard because jaguar spots have a light spot in the middle of the black and a leopard does not—just a little FYI)
6. Vehicle: Jetta
7. Tropical Location: Jamaica-mon
8. College Major: Jewish Studies
9. Junk Food: Junior Mints—preferably frozen
10. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Jingly earrings with things like Eiffel towers and killer whales hanging from them.
11. Boy Name: Jose (which I’ve been called many many times)
12. Girl Name: Jaquie
13. Movie Title: Just married
14. Occupation: Janitor (story of my life)
15. Flower: Jacobean Lily
16. Celebrity: Julie Roberts—I’ve been told I look JUST like her except that I’m shorter, and stockier, and blonde, and blue eyed
17. Magazine: JEZEBEL Magazine (your guide to upscale living in Atlanta and beyond)
18. U.S. City or State: Jackson, Missouri
19. Pro Sports Team: Jacksonville Jaguars (do we sense a theme here, hmmmm)
20. Something Found in a Kitchen: Junk drawer
21. Reason for Being Late: Just lazy
22. Something You Throw Away: Juicy lettuce
23. Things You Shout: “Just kidding, gosh, can’t you take a joke?” (notice two J words in there, double points!)
24. Cartoon Character: Jasmine from Aladdin
If you use this on your blog, leave me the link in my comments so I can check it out
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Conference Shnaunfrence?
I will say right up front that I love writer’s conferences. You are warned!
The first conference I attended was about a year after my first book was published. My book had not done too well, having sold a whopping 400 copies in that first year—far less than the 250,000 copies I had been counting on. The most common comment I’d received was that I didn’t know beans about grammar…but the story was good. Hardly what I was looking for. I was apparently not the brilliant writer I had thought myself to be. How IS that possible?
That first writer’s conference was hosted by Rachel Ann Nunes, Lisa Peck and Anita Stansfield and held in the basement of one of their homes. Myself and about fifteen other writers gathered together to glean some insights—and we got our money’s worth. It was the first time I’d ever met other writers, I ended up swapping manuscripts with one of the other attendees and learning how to get and give feedback because of it. I also learned the tricks these 3 women used in their own writing.
Since then I have attended League of Utah Writer’s Round-up, Association of Mormon Letters annual conference, and four years ago LDStorymakers posed the idea of doing our own writer’s conference. We were about 20 members strong at that time and had all learned so much from our association with one another that we thought it would be great to share that with even more people (and we needed money ☺)
So we looked around for a venue—hmmmm, hard to do when you don’t have any money, and found the Brown Theater in Springville. We taught our workshops surrounded by theater sets, everyone had to whisper in the halls because there was a lack of actual walls, and the two bathrooms were located in such a way that you had to walk through the workshops to get to them. Most of us that presented had never done a presentation in our lives. It was rough—and yet, it worked. The feedback we received was incredible, people loved the casualness of it, the networking yahoogroup we set up for the attendees was a hit—they even liked the food. The following year we had a little more money, but not enough to move anywhere else and we used the theatre again—hauling tables across the state and using chairs from one of our members storage bay so as to try and keep our attendee’s behinds from going to sleep. It went really well, again, and we were all a little better at it. I ran out of gas at midnight on I-15 though, my husband had to come rescue me but everything else was the bomb.
Last year we were able to have in a hotel, added a contest and Boot Camp. It was awesome—we had arrived! This year, I’m one of the co-queens and it is fabulous, if I do say so myself. We’re hosting at the Provo Library and very excited about it. Each year we have nearly doubled in the size of our attendees, and our presentations have more variety and because we have so many people that come back every year we've expanded to have both beginning and advanced level classes available.
However, despite my worship of writers' conferences, I hear some writers say that they're a waste of time because it’s just one more way in which they are NOT writing. They make a valid point--if all you do is go to a writer’s conference, you are wasting your time and money, but for me writer’s conferences are an incredible opportunity to learn about the craft of writing. I’ve been to enough that not every class interests me, so then I stay out in the halls with the other Riff Raff (all due respect to said Riff-Raff-Hall-loungers) and network—priceless!!
So, now that I’ve born my testimony, what do you think? I know that sounds loaded, but truly I'd like to hear people's opinions--and quite frankly I should have asked this ten months ago when we were planning the conference. Still, the info is valuable. Have writer’s conferences been helpful for you? What conferences are your favorite? Why? Do you think they are a waste of time? Why? I’m ready to hear all about it and take notes.
And with the LDStorymakers conference being only two weeks away, go to www.ldstorymakers.com for more information.
The first conference I attended was about a year after my first book was published. My book had not done too well, having sold a whopping 400 copies in that first year—far less than the 250,000 copies I had been counting on. The most common comment I’d received was that I didn’t know beans about grammar…but the story was good. Hardly what I was looking for. I was apparently not the brilliant writer I had thought myself to be. How IS that possible?
That first writer’s conference was hosted by Rachel Ann Nunes, Lisa Peck and Anita Stansfield and held in the basement of one of their homes. Myself and about fifteen other writers gathered together to glean some insights—and we got our money’s worth. It was the first time I’d ever met other writers, I ended up swapping manuscripts with one of the other attendees and learning how to get and give feedback because of it. I also learned the tricks these 3 women used in their own writing.
Since then I have attended League of Utah Writer’s Round-up, Association of Mormon Letters annual conference, and four years ago LDStorymakers posed the idea of doing our own writer’s conference. We were about 20 members strong at that time and had all learned so much from our association with one another that we thought it would be great to share that with even more people (and we needed money ☺)
So we looked around for a venue—hmmmm, hard to do when you don’t have any money, and found the Brown Theater in Springville. We taught our workshops surrounded by theater sets, everyone had to whisper in the halls because there was a lack of actual walls, and the two bathrooms were located in such a way that you had to walk through the workshops to get to them. Most of us that presented had never done a presentation in our lives. It was rough—and yet, it worked. The feedback we received was incredible, people loved the casualness of it, the networking yahoogroup we set up for the attendees was a hit—they even liked the food. The following year we had a little more money, but not enough to move anywhere else and we used the theatre again—hauling tables across the state and using chairs from one of our members storage bay so as to try and keep our attendee’s behinds from going to sleep. It went really well, again, and we were all a little better at it. I ran out of gas at midnight on I-15 though, my husband had to come rescue me but everything else was the bomb.
Last year we were able to have in a hotel, added a contest and Boot Camp. It was awesome—we had arrived! This year, I’m one of the co-queens and it is fabulous, if I do say so myself. We’re hosting at the Provo Library and very excited about it. Each year we have nearly doubled in the size of our attendees, and our presentations have more variety and because we have so many people that come back every year we've expanded to have both beginning and advanced level classes available.
However, despite my worship of writers' conferences, I hear some writers say that they're a waste of time because it’s just one more way in which they are NOT writing. They make a valid point--if all you do is go to a writer’s conference, you are wasting your time and money, but for me writer’s conferences are an incredible opportunity to learn about the craft of writing. I’ve been to enough that not every class interests me, so then I stay out in the halls with the other Riff Raff (all due respect to said Riff-Raff-Hall-loungers) and network—priceless!!
So, now that I’ve born my testimony, what do you think? I know that sounds loaded, but truly I'd like to hear people's opinions--and quite frankly I should have asked this ten months ago when we were planning the conference. Still, the info is valuable. Have writer’s conferences been helpful for you? What conferences are your favorite? Why? Do you think they are a waste of time? Why? I’m ready to hear all about it and take notes.
And with the LDStorymakers conference being only two weeks away, go to www.ldstorymakers.com for more information.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
What have You Read?
I got this from tristipinkston's blog www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com and thought I'd give it a go. Of course, once I pasted it here all my bolding disappeared so I get to start over with that part. Grumble, Grumble. If your interested in doing this on your blog, instructions follow my list.
1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) (I’m humiliated to admit I’ve never read it)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) **
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) (see #2)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) (see #2)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien) (see #2)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) (see #2)
9. OUTLANDER (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A FINE BALANCE (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling) (is this one out yet?)
17. FALL ON YOUR KNEES (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) (I don’t apologize for not reading this one, I just can’t get into Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) (see #2)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) (see #2)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) (Hated it—but I was 17)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. ATLAS SHRUGGED (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of Earth (Ken Follett) (started, didn’t finish)
37. THE POWER OF ONE(Bryce Courtenay)
38. I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. THE ALCHEMIST (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible **I highly reccomend this one :-)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) (see #2)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt) I hated this book
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) (started it, didn’t like where it was going, stopped0
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card) (see #2)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens) (see #2)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. THE HANDMAID'S TALE (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. THE FOUNTAINHEAD (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. FIFTH BUSINESS (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares) (see #2)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)(Didn't finish - I couldn't get into the language)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (Marquez) (sounds horrible)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. THE SUMMER TREE (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. THE DIVINERS Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White) (don’t love the story, but how do you go through life without reading it?)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)** (I recommend with reservations -- the writing is beautiful, the story is bleak. If you don't want bleak, don't read it.)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)**(Loved loved this book)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen) (see #2)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)** (found this story fascinating)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. THE STONE DIARIES (Carol Shields)
89. BLINDNESS (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) (Disturbing but beautifully written)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield) **(Enjoyed very much)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)
I’m a little bummed that movies don’t count. If they did I’d be considered well read ☺
To blog: copy the list and...
* Bold the ones you’ve read
* Italicize the ones you want to read
* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in
* Highlight those you haven't heard of (I'm going to put in capitals. I haven't figured out how to type in color yet!)
* Put a couple of astericks by the ones you recommend. (Rule added by Framed and Booked - I like it!)
1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) (I’m humiliated to admit I’ve never read it)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee) **
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell) (see #2)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien) (see #2)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien) (see #2)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) (see #2)
9. OUTLANDER (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A FINE BALANCE (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling) (is this one out yet?)
17. FALL ON YOUR KNEES (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte) (I don’t apologize for not reading this one, I just can’t get into Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien) (see #2)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams) (see #2)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) (Hated it—but I was 17)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. ATLAS SHRUGGED (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of Earth (Ken Follett) (started, didn’t finish)
37. THE POWER OF ONE(Bryce Courtenay)
38. I KNOW THIS MUCH IS TRUE (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. THE ALCHEMIST (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible **I highly reccomend this one :-)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy) (see #2)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt) I hated this book
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb) (started it, didn’t like where it was going, stopped0
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card) (see #2)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens) (see #2)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. THE HANDMAID'S TALE (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. THE FOUNTAINHEAD (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. FIFTH BUSINESS (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares) (see #2)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)(Didn't finish - I couldn't get into the language)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA (Marquez) (sounds horrible)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. THE SUMMER TREE (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. THE DIVINERS Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White) (don’t love the story, but how do you go through life without reading it?)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)** (I recommend with reservations -- the writing is beautiful, the story is bleak. If you don't want bleak, don't read it.)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)**(Loved loved this book)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen) (see #2)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)** (found this story fascinating)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. THE STONE DIARIES (Carol Shields)
89. BLINDNESS (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) (Disturbing but beautifully written)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield) **(Enjoyed very much)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)
I’m a little bummed that movies don’t count. If they did I’d be considered well read ☺
To blog: copy the list and...
* Bold the ones you’ve read
* Italicize the ones you want to read
* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in
* Highlight those you haven't heard of (I'm going to put in capitals. I haven't figured out how to type in color yet!)
* Put a couple of astericks by the ones you recommend. (Rule added by Framed and Booked - I like it!)
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Author pages take...three...for five...or eighteen
Lucky you and lucky me this is my last day. Fact is I don't have time for author pages, funny how that works, doesn't seem to be rocket science that if I don't have time to write I won't have time to blog either--but there is good news--I think the pages work.
Seriously, I wrote a short story last night in one sitting and fixed a few chapters in my book today. I've figured out a format that will work with my new book and I'm having that little burbling of excitment to find time to write again--dang have I missed it. But since I said I'd do a week I better do four days, right?
So here are my author pages for the day.
I realized today that I've been working on this book for 7 months, is that not sad? And yet, who cares so long as it turns out, right? I've been pondering the concept of 'one step at a time' over the last few months, when I find myself looking ahead and getting overwhemled by the "what if..." and "suppose that..." and I'm really trying hard to look at just one step at a time, one day at a time. It's not easy for me to do. I'm a planner, I like to know ahead of time mostly because I'm just arrogant enough to think I have a super power that allows me to control my future. Now in theory, that's true, since the future is really just a building up of all the things I do every day, but that's not a bullet proof theory. Crap's gunna happen anyway.
Then the other day on the LDStormakers yahoo group we discussed the concept of Grace, how we do all we can and the Lord does the rest. Now granted writing books isn't quite equal to Eternal Salvation, but I don't think the concept is too different. I look at the pages of cuts I have (198) and the pages of keeper stuff (61) and feel depressed and pessimistic, wondeirng how I could possibly write an entire novel when I'm trashing three times what I'm writing. But the fact is I can't write a whole book today--it would be impossible. But I can write a chapter, or fix a chapter, or cut a chapter--I can do something, can't I? Yesturday I did quite a lot of somethings and it felt great. Today I did a little something more and my book isn't finished but it's taking shape. I once told a freind that if she were told she had to date 200 guys before she met Mr.Right, (or Mr. Wright if you happen to be Julie Wright) woudln't she start asking guys out left and right? If I were told that it would take me a year and 300 cut pages before I'd get this book written, wouldn't I be doing anything I could to get those 300 pages out of the way? It's not hard to look at my own track record and see that the fact is I cut an average of 300 pages per book. I end up with a 300 page final draft and 300 pages of wordy garbage, but if that's what it takes for me, then cut away, right? And if I can't write an entire book today, why beat myself up about the little bit I do?
So that's where I'm at and I'm okay. Now next week I'll be making a list of ten things I like about myself to keep from drinking the Listerine, but for today I'm good and isn't that what it's about? I can't change yesturday and I have no influence over tomorrow other than having a good today so that's my plan.
Might you also take off the binoculars and look at today for just...one day.
Seriously, I wrote a short story last night in one sitting and fixed a few chapters in my book today. I've figured out a format that will work with my new book and I'm having that little burbling of excitment to find time to write again--dang have I missed it. But since I said I'd do a week I better do four days, right?
So here are my author pages for the day.
I realized today that I've been working on this book for 7 months, is that not sad? And yet, who cares so long as it turns out, right? I've been pondering the concept of 'one step at a time' over the last few months, when I find myself looking ahead and getting overwhemled by the "what if..." and "suppose that..." and I'm really trying hard to look at just one step at a time, one day at a time. It's not easy for me to do. I'm a planner, I like to know ahead of time mostly because I'm just arrogant enough to think I have a super power that allows me to control my future. Now in theory, that's true, since the future is really just a building up of all the things I do every day, but that's not a bullet proof theory. Crap's gunna happen anyway.
Then the other day on the LDStormakers yahoo group we discussed the concept of Grace, how we do all we can and the Lord does the rest. Now granted writing books isn't quite equal to Eternal Salvation, but I don't think the concept is too different. I look at the pages of cuts I have (198) and the pages of keeper stuff (61) and feel depressed and pessimistic, wondeirng how I could possibly write an entire novel when I'm trashing three times what I'm writing. But the fact is I can't write a whole book today--it would be impossible. But I can write a chapter, or fix a chapter, or cut a chapter--I can do something, can't I? Yesturday I did quite a lot of somethings and it felt great. Today I did a little something more and my book isn't finished but it's taking shape. I once told a freind that if she were told she had to date 200 guys before she met Mr.Right, (or Mr. Wright if you happen to be Julie Wright) woudln't she start asking guys out left and right? If I were told that it would take me a year and 300 cut pages before I'd get this book written, wouldn't I be doing anything I could to get those 300 pages out of the way? It's not hard to look at my own track record and see that the fact is I cut an average of 300 pages per book. I end up with a 300 page final draft and 300 pages of wordy garbage, but if that's what it takes for me, then cut away, right? And if I can't write an entire book today, why beat myself up about the little bit I do?
So that's where I'm at and I'm okay. Now next week I'll be making a list of ten things I like about myself to keep from drinking the Listerine, but for today I'm good and isn't that what it's about? I can't change yesturday and I have no influence over tomorrow other than having a good today so that's my plan.
Might you also take off the binoculars and look at today for just...one day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)