After a rousing five minutes of the three-year-old yelling Katy Perry's song Hot n' Cold in my ear (at least her version of it) and telling me my ears are quite soft (thanks Vyolette, you tenderized them beforehand) I began to think about how ideas are formed and subsequently rejected or embraced. One minute you're hot for it and the next, you've moved on to something prettier or easier or way more interesting.
I am blessed with rampant ADD. I am rarely at a loss for ideas but the flibbity gibbet in me can't settle on one for long and I litter my hard drive with half-baked ideas and aborted first chapters. As my good friend Aly would say, however, I nearly always round back to a good idea eventually and get my groove on until I finish. Some writers use notebooks to record the awesome things floating around in their mind, others a voice recorder. I rely on my children. Brilliant, eh? I tell them to "Never let mommy forget XXXXX." It's had, er, varying success. The Zombie Dating Guide was Syenna's baby and she made sure I kept to it throughout NaNo. Pocket Full of Posies fell onto Wynter's shoulders. Let's say it's one of those "back to it" projects. ;)
Do you choose a subject based on trends or what you're passionate about? Do you study the markets and see what's selling right now and cater to an established audience or hope to win them over with your unique slant on a subject?
How do you pick and choose your next project?
Gettin' down with yer bad self
Because I'm old like that, I have only just discovered Pandora Radio online. I can now torture my children to the Beatles and Green Day while they wiggle to Lady Gaga in the next room and tell me I'm a fogey. I need to work with them on their insults. Fogey? Really? I think I'm raising the Golden Girls sometimes.However, while I'm writing, I need the silence of death in order to concentrate. No easy task with five noisy kids and a husband who believes my one joy in life is making him a sandwich and listening to him burp (do they ever outgrow this?). Coffeeshops have banned me because of the aforementioned kids and a nasty incident involving a Macchiato. Who knew a boatload of caffeine and sugar would give a kid an adverse reaction? ;) Anywho, there are legions of writers that cannot emit an emotion without a plethora of songs they've lovingly downloaded onto their iPod. What's your soundtrack?
(Okay, I caught myself singing along to Daytripper just now. I couldn't figure out where the off-key note was coming from, thinking to myself Paul's hitting the booze again - then realized it was me. Maybe my kids have a point. )
Bonus joke:
How do you make Lady Gaga cry?
Poke-er face
Business cards for writers
After reading a great article by my friend, Jennifer Chait, on business cards for bloggers, it reminded me of the old box of cards I have stuck in my drawer. I have a holder in my purse, usually whipped out during the kids' sporting events for future playdates, but I have to be honest and say I rarely use them in a professional manner.Now I love my design, but would I pass this out at conferences? Perhaps because I'm odd like that but more likely I'd get a new set made. Next time it will be less panache and more business-like (zzzzzzzzzzzzzz).
What to include on your shiny new writer-type business card:
- Name (don't laugh, you'd be surprised how many want to slip in a pen name like "Stephen King." I tried that once, they told me I was too chesty for King but called me Stevie the rest of the night)
- Business name if applicable
- Website/blog
- Address/phone (thoughts on this?)
- Do you label yourself as a "writer" or "blogger" or just as "awesome"? Any label at all?
- Logo
- Leave plenty of white space for contacts to write notes on
- Speaking of which, while black can be a great way to have your card stand out from the rest, it's a RY@*($@ to write on
- Use a good quality cardstock. I know it's tempting to pull the tabbies off cheap cards from Staples - the ones that actually make it through your printer in one piece - but resist and support your locally-owned print shop (good karma, people)
- Okay, okay. Axe the giant clip art even though it's pretty. Fine. Whatever. Let's consider this my "learner" card ;)
- Please, by all that is good and kind in this world, do not include a headshot of yourself. Aside from creepy, it makes me think you're selling someone's fixer upper. Nooooooooo
Falling out of the funk
Today has been a humdinger. I'm ready to throw in the towel and pack up the family for a well-deserved vacay after a craptastic year - but we're stuck here in the ice in Virginia. So, to get my mind away from frigid temps and onto little fruity drinks with umbrellas in them, I'm telling the wee girls stories of malicious spirits and true love trapped on a faraway island under a gentle sun (because I burn like crazy). It helps them to relax and does even more for me; I'm no longer futzing about unmopped floors or self-imposed deadlines, I deserve to tell a story for the sake of rolling words on my tongue and painting the sky burnt orange if I feel like it.
Writing for publication can suck the fun right out of the process for me, the business side overshadows the urge to spill any secrets I've had locked inside (though I'm sure I'd make good money off of them, come to think of it). ;) What do you do when you're trapped in a funk?
Writing for publication can suck the fun right out of the process for me, the business side overshadows the urge to spill any secrets I've had locked inside (though I'm sure I'd make good money off of them, come to think of it). ;) What do you do when you're trapped in a funk?
Marketing your book - what works for you?
As my thoughts turn to agent queries, book proposals and marketing, the universe has thrown me a bone this week. I've been approached by some lovely people looking for advice on marketing, tweets leading me to query articles and now Nathan Bransford has posted on his blog about marketing.
Two things stuck with me the most:
Two things stuck with me the most:
- A literary agent had an eight-sentence query that knocked her socks off. It supplied everything she needed to know and cut through the fluff. That's my new goal for queries!
- Focus on what you can realistically do to market your book. Do what you're passionate about and have fun doing and the results will follow, be it social networking, lectures or book trailers.
Elmore Lenonard on Writing - NYT article
"Easy on the Adverbs, Exclamation Points and Especially Hooptedoodle"
Aside from "hooptedoodle" being my new favorite word, this article in the New York Times made me double-check for exclamation points and had me nodding at:- Never open a book with weather (zzzzzzzzzzzzzz)
- Avoid detailed descriptions of characters (heck ya, I seriously do not want to read about another woman checking out her "piquant freckles" in the mirror. Really? Piquant?)
- Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip (well, duh)
- Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said"
Review: A Working Writer's Daily Planner 2010
Like many writers, I have a thing for shiny new planners, dreams of organization and a complete lack of follow-through after March. No more, my friends! A gift from the lovely and talented Angie Mansfield will keep my bad thang on track - at least until June. A Working Writer's Daily Planner from Small Beer Press is a practical planner for those of us who are distracted by bright and shiny things (like facebook, admit it).Spiral bound, good quality paper to take the ink and chock-full of goodies such as writing exercises, paper dolls and workshop information (plus much more), it's already been marked up with deadlines and dog-eared. I look forward to having this by my side to schedule book signings for the Zombie Dating Guide in the future. ;)
Small Beer Press has it available for instant download as well as print plus a sample chapter to see if it fits your needs. What's not to love?
Free ebook: Author's Toolkit 2009
Writer Mama, Christina Katz, is sharing the Author's Toolkit 2009 on her site, written by her agent, Rita Rosenkranz of the Rita Rozenkranz Literary Agency. A great resource for new authors, it quickly touches on writing/editing your book plus tips on publicity and marketing. Go grab your copy!
The wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiind. It burns.
Okay, not so much since I'm inside but while trying to write it's getting a little disconcerting to hear things carried on the howl of the wind crashing against my window. I get it. It's windy. The skinny trees get a beatdown from the west and most of the windows in this big old house are leaky so I'm involved in the storm whether I like it or not with the faint breeze blowing my long hair as I pass by certain rooms.Here's the thing. Just now, as I'm editing a piece for Bombeck, I'm starting to hear things. Not "red rum" but whispers. I imagine I know what my friend, Barb Mallon the medium, goes through when she's doing readings for people and channeling the dead. It almost tickles the ear and you can't wait to hear the next faint sentence. I don't think I'm nutty (yet) but these woods have a tragic history and it wouldn't be the first time something wicked this way has come so close to my house.
You bet I'm taking notes. Zombies won't last forever. ;)
Egads! It's 2010.
*Looks around*
Yep, looks like 2009 is still hanging around begging for a cookie at my house. The Wii accouterments are scattered about the living room, the tree is looking more bedraggled than it did two weeks ago when it had all its needles (and it's a fake tree) and I have a few more writer-ly things to do before I can officially put this bad boy to bed: update freelance contacts, cull the weak and boring from my twitter lists (sorry, but time is money and I don't care what you smell like unless it's Daniel Craig fresh from the shower - in that case, describe like crazy. Very. Slowly.) and make copies of all contracts that have been hanging out on my desktop for months to file.
What have you done to move forward with a shiny new year?
Resolutions are for weinies but in case you're keeping score, I'll wing a few.
* but also the lovely A Working Writer's Daily Planner 2010: Your Year in Writing
to which I have already written in red ink - January 4th - Erma Bombeck Writing Competition. Bring it, 2010!
May 2010 be full of exciting prospects, good health and many many many sales!
*Why did "Porno Addiction Therapy" come up on the Amazon page under resources? Jenkies!
Yep, looks like 2009 is still hanging around begging for a cookie at my house. The Wii accouterments are scattered about the living room, the tree is looking more bedraggled than it did two weeks ago when it had all its needles (and it's a fake tree) and I have a few more writer-ly things to do before I can officially put this bad boy to bed: update freelance contacts, cull the weak and boring from my twitter lists (sorry, but time is money and I don't care what you smell like unless it's Daniel Craig fresh from the shower - in that case, describe like crazy. Very. Slowly.) and make copies of all contracts that have been hanging out on my desktop for months to file.
What have you done to move forward with a shiny new year?
Resolutions are for weinies but in case you're keeping score, I'll wing a few.
- Finish edits on the Zombie Dating Guide
- Find agent for aforementioned ZDG
- Awesome book contract for ZDG
- Drink myself silly celebrating the huge advance toward Zombiekind
- Finish Pocket Full of Posies before I die
- Finish at least one round of Jillian Michael's Wii fitness thingy before I die
* but also the lovely A Working Writer's Daily Planner 2010: Your Year in Writing to which I have already written in red ink - January 4th - Erma Bombeck Writing Competition. Bring it, 2010!May 2010 be full of exciting prospects, good health and many many many sales!
*Why did "Porno Addiction Therapy" come up on the Amazon page under resources? Jenkies!
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