Book Review: Anathema by Megg Jensen

Anathema intrigued me because it's in the same Genre as my Exchange Day series.  It was available for free on Amazon, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  Following is my review.

• Setting: Anathema is set in a fictitious world that combines attributes of a medieval time period with that of a fantasy world where slaves enjoy special powers.  The world is unique, complete with its own history and culture.  Jensen does well to keep the story moving forward and not get bogged down in the descriptions/histories ala Lord of the Rings.  While I'm not a fanatic of overly descriptive writing, I feel Jensen could have immersed us in her world better.
• Character Development:  Anathema centers on one character, a slave girl named Reychel, who escapes captivity on her birthday and experiences the outside world for the first time in her life.  Reychel is the picture of innocence in a world on the verge of all out revolution.  I've seen reviews criticizing the one-dimensionality of Reychel, but I'm fine with her development as the story's main character.  She's a young girl who's lived a sheltered life in a room with no windows, so it makes sense that she would be under-developed.  That being said, Jensen left other key characters flat, namely the villains.  Villains are essential for action/adventure novels that span volumes, and I would've liked to see more from the villains in Anathema.
• Writing Style:  Anathema is written in first person from Reychel's perspective.  This works well to introduce us to a world that Reychel is experiencing for the first time.  The straight-forward style keeps us moving forward through a unique and interesting story.  I've read other reviews criticizing the writing as disjointed and rushed at times.  I can see this.  However, this book is designed more for casual readers looking for an interesting story versus a studious reader looking to expand his or her relationship with the world.  If you check this one out, approach it lightly and seek to have fun with it.
• Book 1 of a series: This novel introduces us to a completely new world, and does so without burdening us with over-description.  The story stands alone, but ends in such a way that you will be interested to keep reading.  This one is worth exploring, especially for a younger audience, and if you like the world, then you can venture on to the other installments in the series.

Authors Helping Authors

I've been writing for more than 10 years.  I've published three novels, 2 in my Exchange Day series and 1 stand alone novel called The Elephant Keyhole.  I have three more novels at various points in the writing process, and hope to have my next one, Book 3 in the Exchange Day series, out by the end of September.  I'm telling you this to demonstrate that I've been working hard writing novels, and I'm finishing projects.  That's good for a writer, right?

Well, it isn't good enough.

It's not enough for writers to write.  That's only one part of the job.  Writers must also figure out how to get their work in front of readers.  There are entire blogs dedicated to helping writers market their work using Twitter and Facebook, buying ads, blogger interviews, cowriting with other authors, and so on.  These things are important, and the more a writer gets out there, the better chance that writer's work will get discovered.

But my message today is this.  Writers need to help each other.  I've spent the last several months reading books and posting reviews on this blog.  I believe every book has an audience, and I want to do what I can to help.  I think every author should feel this way.  I think every author should review every book he or she reads on their blog.  If any writer out there reads and reviews my book, I would do the same for that writer.  It's the least I can do.  Reviews are very important.  So come on, writers, let's help each other out and write reviews for the books we read!

And on that note, expect my next review to be posted shortly.  

Book Review: Message From A Bluejay By Faye Rapoport DesPres

I can't remember how I found this book.  But the important thing is I found it.  It was one of the best pieces of writing I've had the pleasure of reading in a long time.  As a writer, I enjoy finding fun stories (similar to my own) that make me feel connected to the literary world, that somehow justifies my placement among other writers.  Message From A Bluejay didn't do this for me.  Instead, Faye Rapoport DesPres's exquisite work demonstrates to me how much more attention my writing needs.

• Genre: I write action/adventure novels, and thus usually read action/adventure novels.  I stepped out of my inner circle and ventured into nonfiction.  I'm SO glad I did.  Message From A Blue Jay is a memoir cataloguing real events, poignant moments of solitude and reflection, spanning a lifetime, from a car ride with her father to a middle-aged concert with her husband (A Boston concert! Fun fact: Boston's first album was the first ever CD I bought.)  This is a nonfiction work that studies key moments in one person's life, an ordinary person who struggles with confidence, love, illness, and who searches for meaning in a world riddled with solitude and pain. 
• Writing Style: The story is told in a series of essays written throughout DesPres's life.  The essays describe singular moments, independent struggles, that when read individually mark one particular time in the author's life, but when taken together, encapsulate the troubled soul of a woman longing for something that's been missing.  Each essay stands alone.  Stories within a much larger and sadder story.  I related to DesPres's essays in a real way.  Perhaps this is because I've experienced many of her themes and felt the same pains she explores in her writing.  
• Voice:  For me, a memoir is only as strong as the voice telling the story.  No matter the story, the writer must connect with his or her readers.  We must care for the storyteller.  We must feel close to her.  Faye Rapoport DesPres accomplishes this.  I fell in love with her in her writing.  I wanted to reach out to her and let her know she isn't alone, that there are others in the world going through similar struggles.  Her honest and sincere prose allowed me to connect with her in a real way, and I came away from the novel feeling like I'd experienced the struggles she detailed.

Memoirs aren't for everyone.  Some readers prefer forgetting the pain in the world.  Message From A Blue Jay may not be for those readers.  But I love this novel.  I'm astonished by the writing.  It brought me closer to my humanity and helped me understand my own struggle a little bit better.  And somehow I hope the quality of this work rubbed off on me and improved me as writer. You should definitely check it out.

Author Interview: Charley Daveler

I've been fortunate enough to digitally meet Charley Daveler, a writer currently residing in the great state of Wyoming.  Daveler's vast experience writing includes novels, plays, short stories, and comics spanning nearly a decade.  She's a busy woman, so you can imagine how happy it made me to spend some time with her.  Thanks, Charley, for taking the time to answer these questions.  And for more information about what she's working on, visit her website at www.charleydaveler.com.

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1. As a young writer, you already have extensive experience in several mediums including: plays, comics, short stories, and novels.  Of these different forms, which one do you naturally gravitate toward and hope to build your career around?

I’d say I prefer novel writing, but I think I’m much better at plays. I naturally think in dialogues, seeing both sides of what’s going on, and having arguments with myself all day. Dialogue comes quickly for me.

I’m a poor abstract thinker and see ambiance, attitudes, and moods much better than I do visuals. Because, in a play, you can be very frank when it comes to concrete details. “Exit stage right.” I hate telling the reader something straightforward (because as a reader I like to figure things out), and so my most common complaint is people getting confused because I either didn’t describe enough or the point of a description isn’t immediately obvious.

Short stories are incredibly difficult and comics are fun, but take a long time, and it’s hard for me to sense the flow. (I have a 92 word-per-minute typing speed, and so can have a better sense of pacing when typing out text rather than trying to write a comic script of three lines per page.)

2. You’ve submitted work to various publications, including print and digital.  Have you considered indie publishing direct through Amazon and Barnes and Noble?  Why or why not?

Yes and no.

A few years ago I received a grant to produce a literary journal. I compiled local authors together and printed a book through Create Space. It made back its money, and I’ve been doing issues ever since.

The response was surprisingly wonderful, but I did get a lot of snobby attitudes. People tried to diminish the work by saying, “Oh, it’s self-published?” Well, no because it’s other people’s stories, but still, having done a majority of the work myself, I was very sensitive to this attitude.

I’ve also been a producer of plays for a very long time, and created a great deal of projects in which I had to do the majority, if not all, the work. It can be wonderful to have complete control in something, but the truth is, I’m over it. I much prefer to have someone else have to hire the artists, do the graphic design, and have other people to give me their opinions and advice. When I’m stuck with my ideas it can feel stagnant, even incestuous at times. Yet, no matter how much background checking you do, when hiring people it’s always kind of a crap shoot. I’ve worked with people with excellent resumes who’ve proved terrible, people with no experience who’ve been wonderful, and everywhere in between. It’s often unpredictable, which is why people in the arts tend to rehire the same people over and over—a merely adequate person who you know will come through is worth more than a master who might screw you over.

Combine those two things and self-publishing is by far the more difficult route. You have to produce a work of higher quality and polishing than a traditionally published book to be taken seriously, do the same amount of work a whole team with a lot more money than you does, and still get less credit and opportunities. Having to make all the decisions—even if that means deciding who to hire to make decisions—and then experiencing people feel they can criticize those decisions just because you’re self-published adds immensely to the stress of producing a book.

I will say that I do see it as an option in the future, but it’s on the backburner.

3. Are the illustrations as important as the writing as it pertains to producing a comic book?  Do you illustrate your own work?  If not, how did you find an artist to collaborate with?

I strongly believe a great illustrator or actor can make up for bad writing, and bad ones can destroy great master scripts. Get the right facial features and body language and anything can become intriguing or convincing. You hire a great artist and it doesn’t matter as much how crappy the writer is.

I prefer to collaborate when I can—I love working with other people and hate making decisions by myself—but the reality is it’s extraordinarily difficult to find dependable people. Even if you get someone and directly offer them a well-paying job in the field they believe they want to be working in, some people will still screw you. Without a word. Just leave you hanging, won’t answer your emails or their phones. Then they’ll still call you up for the next project asking if you’ll hire them, and then you find yourself getting yelled at for not trusting that “It’s different this time.”

Personally, I’ve been sketching for as long as I’ve been writing, but I have revamped the comic three times because I wasn’t satisfied with my drawing abilities. If I could choose, I’d rather have another artist, (or even just one to do the coloring, which takes the most time in a process) but how I would find one is another question. I will say that I know the facial expressions I intend better than anyone, and it is extremely useful for me to be able to portray them as I see them though.

4. At the end of a particularly tough writing day, one in which you feel you’ve not accomplished as much as you like, what do you do to cheer yourself up?  What do you do to bounce back the following day?

You can tell I’m stressed because I’ll make a bowl of fudge. Sometimes I won’t even eat it, which would drive my mother nuts, but it was the making of it that was relaxing.

I try to cut myself some slack though… I have rules like, “If my daily limit wasn’t met by midnight, then it doesn’t count.” That allows me to go to bed instead of getting upset I didn’t finish. Also, I try to not have an all or nothing mentality and give myself credit for any writing I’ve done. The less I write, the more upset I become and the harder it is to write later. I find a forgiving attitude is important to encourage progress later.

5. Tell me about your outlining process.  How much of a story do you know before you start writing?  How much freedom do you give your characters to change what you originally envisioned?

I constantly change and toy with my process, but usually I don’t know much before I start. I only am aware of a few things, but as I start working I begin to have more and more questions and the answers to those questions develop the story for me. When outlining, I don’t know what I don’t know, and it’s harder for me to be inspired and get organic ideas when I’m trying to expedite the plotline.

Please note I often have to do a lot of cutting and flushing out in the later drafts.

Sometimes I can get stuck on, “But this is the way it happened!” in the editing process, where I won’t want to put in a character who “wasn’t there,” or move them into a different location, or make a change that didn’t happen the way I originally envisioned it even if it makes just as sense and the scene benefits from the change.

6. How do you measure productivity?  Do you write a certain number of words per day?  Words per week?  Pages?  How diligently do you try to work ahead?

I aim for five pages a day. I like page count versus word count because the time it takes to achieve the same goal varies. (A page of dialogue is much quicker than a page of description.)

Because I’m the sort of person to feel like it’s never enough, I try to give myself credit when I meet my goal and not feel obligated to work ahead. The only time I do write extra is because I’m feeling inspired, or I know something’s coming up where I probably won’t get any writing done.

7. If you are at a dinner party and someone seems genuinely curious about you as a writer, which of your projects do you direct them to?  Which work offers a best first impression of you?

Stories of the Wyrd, my online serial, features the kinds of writing I want to be known for. The siblings Kaia and Rasmus have a good dynamic similar to that of Calvin and Hobbes, my favorite characters of all time. Kaia is highly intelligent with a great imagination and curiosity, but can be highly entitled and oblivious to the ridiculousness of the things she says. Rasmus is a better person, I would say—though I feel he is developing a philandering problem—who makes more of the moral decisions, but is willing to sit back and lets his sister make her mistakes, observing and making sarcastic commentary, but not trying to control her or protect her. (Until she really needs it.) They care about each other more than anything and save the other’s ass on multiple occasions, but they have a live and let live mentality I like.

The Wyrd is a secondary, magical realm that has ever shifting boundaries. They live in a sort of industrial age, where the closer you come to the coast (where the Wyrd appears less often) the more technological based humanity is, but the further out you go, the more feudal the villages seem. It has a sort of steam punk feeling when they’re in civilization, but an old folklore tone when they get closer to the outskirts. It features magic, creatures, and demons in the way that I typically envision them (in some of my stories, the rules are different than how I feel magic “really” is), allows me to have fantastical technological items aside fairy tales, and the medium of serial shorts gives me leave to explore the characters in many different ways.

Mostly, because the two main characters are siblings, not lovers, the romances they can have in the stories are much less “soul mates” or “will they won’t they,” but can be basically anything I want. You don’t know who they’re going to end up with, so this gives me more freedom when playing around with love stories.


8. Where do you write the bulk of your novels?  Any chance you’d send me a picture of your workspace?

I write mostly at my desk. However, I find that switching up the location of my writing can help me become reinspired, so I will go to Starbucks and I liked my jobs where I was in an office pretty much only there to answer phones because I get more done in a workplace than I do at home. I also have a long commute (in Wyoming, everywhere is far from everywhere) and will write by talking into a voice recorder.

9. Can you read a novel without thinking about how you would have written it differently?  Name a classic novel that you would have ended differently.  How would you have ended it?

I try very hard not to do that. Reading was something that naturally became corrupted for me when I started writing. You can’t help it. I don’t necessarily rewrite them, but I do dissect them: “Why do I feel this way?” It diminishes some of the enjoyment of reading and the ability to be immersed. My main goal when reading is entertainment, and if I commit to being entertained over analyzing, I’m a faster reader.

Because I don’t really like going meta and I believe in the books—i.e. this really happened—I often can’t rewrite the events. But two stand out in my mind.

Pride and Prejudice’s is a very long book and the ending feels told and rushed for me. I wanted more of a climax, I suppose. This is my modern day sensibilities, but there was just something unsatisfying about the way it ended. Not that I would change the events—I wanted Darcy and Elizabeth to get together—but I might add in something more dramatic right before they do.

Then there’s Harry Potter (spoiler): While I learned to accept the many deaths in the series, I have never gotten over the death of one character. George Weasley has ruined for me all of the books. I have never been able to reread them since I’d finished and it’s because it always makes me grieve for him. Every time I see Fred and George together, I am no longer amused, but devastated. I would probably keep the series the same, but I would not let Fred or George die.

10. What one piece of advice would you offer a college student who has decided to devote his or her life to writing?

Okay. Because you said “college” student, I have very specific advice that pertains mainly to them: Your college professors are going to be the first people you experience who will compete with you even though they are meant to help you.

Colleges will often hire artists instead of teachers. The instructors you had prior usually decided to go straight into teaching. Public schools, which most of us American students experience, require more of an extensive academic resume than private colleges, and even the public universities can get around professionals not having degrees. In college, you are more likely to find writers who went out seeking to be a successful novelist, failed, and decided to teach to get a steady paycheck than you were to in high school.

Plus, everyone assumes high school students suck. There is definitely an empathetic disconnect between children and adults, making the issue of competition moot. Your high school writing teacher is so confident in you not being better than them—at least at this moment—they’re never going to act threatened.

But in college, you are now an adult working with people who might very well see themselves as failures. You will be exposed, probably for the first time, to an authority figure who actually wants you to fail.

Obviously not all professors are like that—I wouldn’t even say the majority—but there’s enough of them that if you are in college, I guarantee someone has either already said or will say that you are terrible and will never amount to anything.

Do not believe them. Watch them. The people who say this say this to everyone. Even their “golden” students… pay attention. It might look like they worship them, but there’s still ways they’re trying to demoralize them.

People who make it their “job” to tell others what they can and can’t do aren’t doing it because they’re experts. Every famous person has someone who went out of his way to demoralize them. Remember that statistically if you tell everyone they won’t succeed, you’re going to be correct 99% of the time. Most of your classmates won’t go on to be bestselling novelists. There’s little risk, and, more importantly, it makes them feel better about their crushed dreams. If they really knew what they were doing, they wouldn’t be so absolute in renouncing their students.

11. Who is the person you write for, the first person you wish to read your story the moment it’s finished?

That’s actually been a problem for me. When I write, I am trying to write the book I want to read, but can’t find. I know that my tastes are not that unique and there’s definitely a market, but I don’t know many people who are my target audience… mostly because I don’t know many people.

My sci-fi and fantasy readers tend to be males into the epic storylines (war, world domination, lots of people effected by huge problems), and not so much interpersonal relationships, and my romance readers tend to be into contemporary drama, not speculative or satirical worlds. I am, what I would call, the “Buffy” crowd, writing comedic characters in horrific and paranormal settings.

I do have people who could be in my audience, but they’re not always the best critics. Either they don’t like reading, they don’t have the time, they don’t have the experience (and write things like only like, “I love this!”), or, in a few cases, they’re Mormon.

This doesn’t mean I can’t get great feedback, it’s just I want to find someone who is the whole package. Good reader, good critic, and wants what I am going for.

My main reader is a good friend of mine who somewhat likes the kinds of books I’m writing (even though it’s not her favorite), who gives me a good dose of criticism, praise, doesn’t try to rewrite it for me, and focuses on big picture issues.

12. What is the one house chore you loathe doing?

There’s few things I mind doing if I don’t have to do it every day. And considering how well I keep my house, there’s not a lot I have to do that much. I would prefer not having to do the dishes, but if I have a dishwasher it’s not too bad. The amount of dishware I keep is directly related to how little I have to do the dishes.

13. What’s your favorite curse word?

Asshat. Or asshole. I’m not big on swearing, but “asshat” is the one word I’m not sure how to get around when teaching teenagers. There’s just not a PG way to label someone with the same amount of punch.

14. What one meal can you cook that should be showcased on a menu of a nice restaurant?

Singapore Sling. Some people might not consider it a meal, but I think if they had the option between that and being forced to eat anything I cooked, they’d be happy with a cocktail.

Seriously, I eat ramen noodles dry.

15. What is your cat’s name, and how often does he distract you from your writing?

His full name is Dimitri Bink, and he usually gets rambunctious at 11 a.m., 1 a.m., and when his food dish is empty, or if I’ve been gone all day. He’ll have his exceptions, but he schedules his hyperactivity.

16. Which work/author inspired you to progress from voracious reader to aspiring writer?

To be clear, I liked Eragon okay. I read it. I enjoyed it. But it wasn’t because of a passion for it that made me write; it was a competitive issue. I had decided that I was going to be the youngest author ever (unaware of how old the youngest author was) since third grade. It was in seventh where Eragon came out. The writer was a fifteen-year-old boy and I realized I had been slacking. I finished my first novel before I hit eighth.

17. What’s your favorite city in the world?  What’s the one city you most wish to visit?

To visit? Tokyo. I don’t think I’d want to live there… It would be hard to live in a country that doesn’t speak English as a writer whose books are most in English, and I hear that you’ll never really fit in. But I’ve always loved anime and was totally one of those nerds.

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Thanks, Charley, for visiting my blog!  I've enjoyed learning about you and look forward to exploring your serial Stories of the Wyrd.  And because I'm interested in seeing where other writers work, I've included a pic of your workspace, so fans can see where the bulk of your magic is created.

#223 Thinking Outside The Genre Box

A couple of months ago, while drinking at a bar with friends, a story idea hit me like a tidal wave.  I stopped down the entire discussion to speak my idea out loud so that I might commit it to some form of drunken memory.  Half the table thought my idea was amazing.  The other half thought it was ridiculous.  Full disclosure: the idea is both amazing and ridiculous in the same way that A Clockwork Orange is amazing and ridiculous.  I love it!

But here's the issue:  I've been writing action/adventure novels.  Fun stories.  Easy to read.  My new idea doesn't fit these descriptions.  My new idea is socially charged, clever, absurd with purpose, and this idea ends with a very clear, relevant message.  So this leads me to a question I have for you readers and writers.  Will stepping outside my genre box negatively affect me?  Will I be confusing readers?  Upsetting them?  Or is quality work beneficial no matter how different one novel may be from the others?

This question is currently plaguing me.  I don't know the right answer.  I look at other writers, like Stephen King and John Grisham, who've explored different genres throughout their careers.  But comparing me to writers like Stephen King or John Grisham is like comparing my niece's playschool soccer team to the US Women's team that just dominated the 2015 World Cup.  Side note: that was an AMAZING World Cup.  Anyway, I'm an indie writer.  I'm a newbie(ish).  Every decision I make could have drastic implications on my future.  And I don't have unlimited time and resources to chase every idea that hits me while I'm drinking wine.

So I need help.  I need perspective.  I haven't started writing on this new idea yet (I'm still working feverishly on Book 4 of my Exchange Day series), but it IS definitely an idea worth exploring.  Is it foolish to consider a story outside my genre box?  Or is any good idea worth writing, worth exposing my work to readers, even if those same readers might not appreciate the other novels I've written.

Please help!

Book Review: I Chose To Die (Siren Suicides Book 1) By Ksenia Anske

It came time for me to find another book to read.  I have various ways of finding books, as all readers do.  For this week's novel, I chose to revisit an author I discovered last year and liked.  Thus, insert Ksenia Anske's novel I Chose To Die (Siren Suicides Book 1).  I'd previously read another novel by Anske titled Rosehead (review to be found here.)  Now, let's discuss I Chose To Die:

• Setting: The story is set in modern day Seattle and takes place over the course of one day.  One crazy and eventful day.  Seattle is one of my favorite cities and is completely appropriate for this imaginative and somewhat sad story of a troubled teen coping with depression, isolation, and the tragic loss of her mother.
• Character Development:  Ailen Bright has struggled ever sense the death of her mother.  She's a confused young woman searching for a way out of her depression.  Anske drowns the story in her sadness and forces the reader to care about Ailen.  Without that empathy, a reader might encounter Aileen's seemingly hopeless situation and discontinue reading.  But Anske doesn't stop with her strong development of the novel's main character.  The relationships between Bright, her father, and her boyfriend become the foundation of the story, and Anske pays careful attention to how these relationships build to the climax in the final act of the book.
• Writing Style:  The poetic and quirky writing style of Siren Suicides is what sets it apart from other novels in this genre.  For me, it's the work's strongest aspect.  Writers should read this novel; if you pay attention, it may help improve your style and craft.  The story has two sides: the very real emotional struggles of Ailen Bright and the fantastical world beneath the water, where sirens satisfy their hunger by sucking the souls of unsuspecting humans.  Anske toggles between poetic sadness and playful quirkiness with complete control.  The world she creates is as imaginative as it is somber.  
• Climax: The story, for the most part, follows a linear path that begins in the morning and takes us on a journey that lasts the day.  As the day progresses, the tension builds and builds.  Each new scene leads to another confrontation in another area of Seattle, and throughout, I felt the wave that is the story getting bigger and bigger until it finally crashes to shore in the novel's climax.  And while the ending satisfies the story presented, it leaves the door open to other adventures within the same dark and imaginative world.
• Book 1 of a series: This novel definitely stands on its own, so don't avoid it simply because you don't feel like committing to multiple novels.  This one is worth reading, and if you learn you like the world, then you can venture on to the other installments in the series.

I like this novel.  It's darker than other works I've read by Ksenia Anske.  As always, she brings a playful energy to a serious situation.  She's not afraid to explore serious topics like depression and suicide.  She writes strong characters and adds mystery and fantasy to bring a unique perspective to themes that have been written about before.  And on top of all this, Anske offers it for free on Amazon.  So I see no reason not to check it out. 

#222 Hurt Feelings: A Look At Negative Reviews

As an indie writer, it's imperative that we get reviews.  Completely necessary.  Reviews help connect readers with your work.  Reviews prove to people that your book is worth the time needed to read it.  So we can all agree that reviews are good, right?

What about bad reviews?  Are those good?  Of course, our books are our children.  We don't want people speaking ill of our children.  Our words express our inner most thoughts and desires, and to have a stranger criticize that is to have them criticize our very souls.  A negative review can hurt.  Bad.  So, what can we do when we receive a negative review?  How can we address the pain and anguish that accompanies other people's judgements?  Well, let me tell you.

Nothing.

There isn't anything you can do about a negative review.  You shouldn't respond.  You shouldn't lash out.  You shouldn't try to explain why your book had too much description or that your verbose sentence structure was a stylistic choice because Faulkner is your favorite writer.  You don't need to explain that you ARE good, or that your story IS actually good.  All you can do is read the review and try to understand where it's coming from.  If you do this, if you take in their criticism with an open mind, you MIGHT actually hear what they are saying and you MIGHT actually improve your future projects.

For my first book Exchange Day, I heard a couple of people say there were too many characters.  I wanted to tell people that my project was an epic that would span 5 books and that I needed all my characters.  I wanted to point to Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, Star Wars and say, "They have a lot of characters too!"  But I didn't.  I didn't say anything.  I nodded my head and understood why they were saying it.  I had too many characters.  My readers were having problems keeping up.  Maybe my characters were not unique enough to stand out.  Maybe I introduced them all too quickly.  Maybe my story is boring and they were looking for a polite way to draw attention to it.  Either way, if there is something wrong with my story, I NEED to know.  It's the only way I can get better as a storyteller.  If there is something wrong with your story, you NEED to know.

I know criticism of your work can feel like a personal attack.  It isn't.  Unless someone is throwing their kindle at you.  Read all your reviews.  Especially the bad ones.  Read them carefully.  Understand them.  And then move on with your life.  Keep doing what you love, and everything else will sort itself out.

#221 Old Projects Versus New: A Random Surfer Analogy

Over the last 15 years, I've started a dozen writing projects that fizzled before they were finished.  Some were as short as 6 pages.  Others, as long as 600 pages.  For one reason or another (mostly work, lack of time, or dissatisfaction) I abandoned these projects and left them collecting dust on an old computer or hard drive.

Recently, I spoke with a writer friend of mine who asked me about the writer life.  We talked for more than an hour about what we were working on, and I was intrigued by the difference of our two approaches.  He had 4 or 5 older projects that he'd written and wished to revisit for potential publication, while I had 3 or 4 new ideas that I wished to start, but wasn't sure which one to explore first.

So I spent Wednesday night with a bottle of wine (actually two) reading through several old manuscripts to see if I might be making a mistake by exploring new projects.  I'm conflicted.  I had some ideas that intrigue me.  They seem solid to me and I already have a base of work done on them, so perhaps revisiting them might be like beginning a project on second base instead of standing in the on deck circle.  Seems smart, right?

Here's my issue.  Writing a novel is more like surfing a wave to me than scoring a run in baseball.  I sit on the board in the middle of the ocean and wait for the right one to lift me up and carry me back to shore.  Sometimes I see one I like, and I jump on.  I ride it as long as possible, but some projects throw me back into the ocean.  So I paddle back out and look for another one.  Sometimes, I find a good one, and I ride it gloriously into shore, and in the end, I have a finished project.

My stack of old manuscripts represent waves that threw me off my board.  I couldn't ride them all the way back.  To revisit these old projects is like trying to catch a wave that's already begun to break.  I already gave that wave a shot and fell.

Is this too much surfer analogy for one post?

What about you other writers?  How often do you revisit old projects?  When it comes time to start something new, do you gravitate toward new ideas, or do you explore old manuscripts for unfinished gems?

#220 A Lesson In Fashion. And Writing

A week ago, or so, a friend of mine invited me out for some day drinking at one of the hip, trendy bars.  The Texas heat hadn't settled in just yet, so I decided to go, to step away from my computer and my piles of chapters that I'd been revising and re-revising for weeks.  I ironed a shirt, which I hadn't done in months, slicked my hair back, and headed out of the house.

The patio teemed with young people drinking beers and laughing, girls sitting on boys laps, couples hovering over tables waiting for some place to sit down, and several others yelling at the TV.  This one guy fell down a few feet away from us and rolled into a wooden pole.  The entire patio cheered.  At some point in the conversation, a guy I'd just met points to me and says, "I don't mean to be rude, but do you have some sort of sweating problem?  I mean, how come you're wearing an undershirt.  I don't understand.  Who wears undershirts except people with sweating problems?"

I said, "Well, I definitely sweat, but that's not why I'm wearing an undershirt.  I've always worn an undershirt.  It feels inappropriate to me not to."

The guy shrugged and muttered something about how ridiculous that sounded, so I asked the rest of the table if I was truly ridiculous for wearing an undershirt.  The table agreed.  They'd all noticed and didn't want to be the one to say anything.  But they all wondered why in the world I would wear an undershirt, unless I had some kind of sweating problem.

That night, I called my friends and told them this story.  They each said they wore undershirts when they went out and that they feel inappropriate not wearing one.  So what's the deal?  Is it a generational thing?  Is it a geographic thing?   I grew up in Houston, but now live in Dallas.  I was born in the 70s, and the people we were out with were born in the 90s.  People coming from different places and times think differently about fashion, right?  Or was I always ridiculous?

This got me thinking about my writing.  Knowing and understanding your audience is key to being able to reach them with a message.  I'm currently writing a series geared toward a younger audience, yet clearly there is a disconnect between me and the youth of today.  Don't worry, my series is not about a bunch of kids running around inappropriately wearing undershirts.  But still, there's something disingenuous about writing books for a segment of the population about which I actually know very little.

I tell this story not because I have newly learned insight into the America's youth.  Instead, I'm telling this story as a warning to other writers.  Think about your audience before you start your next big project.  Who are you writing for?  What do you know about them?  You must understand who you are trying to reach, otherwise you are going to be the only person at the party wearing an undershirt and everyone will be staring at you, wondering if you are simply ridiculous or if you have a weird sweating problem.

Book Review: The Clay Lion by Amalie Jahn

I'd recently read 11/21/63 by Stephen King, and that led me to Time and Again by Jack Finney, as well as watching all the Back to the Future movies in one weekend.  After all that, I still wanted more time travel and so sought out books dealing with time.  I found Trapped In Time by Bree Wolf, which I read and reviewed.  And then I found The Clay Lion by Amalie Jahn.  I read it and enjoyed it thoroughly.  Following is my review:

• Setting: The story is set in a future where time travel is not only possible, but it's accessible by common, everyday people.  The story revolves around a loving family going through a tragedy,  and Brooke Wallace, the story's heroine, desires to change it.  When writing in a genre so specific as time travel, it's important to address the genre in a unique way, to bring something new to it.  Amalie Jahn succeeds in doing that with The Clay Lion.  I'll not go into it more so as not to spoil the story for you.  I will say this: with time travel, my suspension of disbelief is awfully flexible.  So I don't get bothered by the physics of it or the potential space/time conflicts that could arise within the story.  If you do, then you might not like this one.
• Character Development:  The story follows a typical American, suburban family, and relates to readers in a way that we can easily insert ourselves into the story and imagine what we would do to save a beloved family member.  Jahn does a good job of developing the relationships between these characters.  The family felt genuine, and their struggles together felt realistic.  This crosses the boundary into literary fiction, which makes the story that much better. 
• Writing Style:  Amalie Jahn writes in a friendly style that embodies the down to earth spirit of her characters.  She captures the sadness and hope of Brooke Wallace, and takes us seamlessly through her ups and downs as she fights to save her brother.  The style doesn't get in the way of the story, which moves quickly from chapter to chapter.
• Climax: The climax of The Clay Lion was a bit subdued, which actually fits the tone of the novel.  I thought the ending was one of the best aspects of the story.  I don't want to go into it so as not to upset expectations.  All I can say is that endings are important.  A writer must leave an impression on the reader, and Amalie Jahn does this with The Clay Lion.
• Book 1 of a series: This novel definitely stands on its own, so don't avoid it simply because you don't feel like committing to multiple novels.  This one is worth reading, and if you learn you like the world and the style Amalie Jahn presents, then you'll be able to find more novels in the series.

So the final word, check this novel out if your interested in a fairly confined story that centers around love, family, and of course, time travel.  

#219 Confidence and Writing

Life isn't easy.  Or as Wesley says in The Princess Bride, "Life is pain, Highness.  Anyone who says differently is selling something."  Circumstances in life can change quickly and can, and often do, affect a person's confidence.  As with most things, writing suffers greatly when a person's confidence is low.  So what are writers supposed to do when life happens?  Stop writing?

I've been struggling through my personal life these last few months and have seen how much it's affected my writing.  It's harder to motivate myself.  It's harder to concentrate.  I can't sustain as many hours writing at a time.  I get restless or distracted.  I actually have less I want to say.  And when I do hone in on something, I have trouble finding the right words.  All of these issues are devastating for writers.  But what's even more devastating, is when a writer stops writing.

I've been paying attention to my own struggle.  I've thought about how to regain confidence and how to get back into writing.  I can't say I've learned a magical secret.  There's no quick and easy solution to address something as complex as self-confidence.  Life will always be life.  But following are some things I've done to help get me back at my desk, because I still have stories to tell.

• Really, the only true way to address the problems in life, is to identify the specific problem that's plaguing you and tackle it head on.  If you are stressed about bills, that stress won't go away until you figure out how to pay those bills.  Or if you're having trouble concentrating because you're hungover too much, then you must address the drinking.  Or if you hate editing, and you've just finished your first draft, which is sitting on your coffee table mocking you.  Then, you must pick that manuscript up and start editing it.  There are thousands of stresses in life, and some of them you can affect by changing behavior.  So the first step is identifying what is causing the stress, or the loss of confidence.  Hopefully you'll find it's something YOUR behavior can change.  Once you identify it, change it.
• If you learn that your stress is not something you can change easily, or you're unable to understand why your confidence has suffered.  Or maybe you've had trouble with confidence for so long that there isn't one underlying cause that can be addressed.  This situation is much tougher, and it happens to be the situation in which I currently find myself.  So what do we do? Here are my thoughts:
• Take It One Day At A Time:  This is one of the biggest cliches in the world.  But it's important to remember when your confidence is low.  Don't take in the big picture.  Don't think about a lifetime spent alone, or how much it's gonna cost to repair your roof or how your child isn't coordinated enough to play your favorite sport like you'd always dreamed.  Don't think about all the bills you have to pay, plus the yard work and house work that need to eventually get done.  Don't stress over the 1000 page novel you've started writing, but you're only on page 37.  Just think about today.  What can I do today?  Make a list and pick one thing to do. That's it.  Nothing more.
• Write Something:  Everyday you must write something.  Anything.  Start a journal that works through the problems you're facing.  Write a short story about a beaver born with no front teeth, and the other beavers just laugh.  Write a blogpost on how much you like puppy videos, and list out your favorite ones.  Write a poem.  Sometimes when I'm having trouble and can't concentrate enough to do any of that, I'll open up a book written by one of the masters and just type it out.  There's something about transcribing the work of a master that helps the neurons in the brain start firing.
• Eat Regularly:  I know this sounds like a no-brainer, but when your confidence is down, changes in your eating patterns can affect your body's ability to stabilize.  I know that sometimes you don't feel like eating, or you don't feel like making food.  But it's important to figure this out.  No matter how annoying it is, just do it.  Eat at the same time every day.  Feed your body and your mind, and that will make a big difference.  This is also a great opportunity to change your diet.  If you don't feel like eating, but you're going to force yourself anyway, might as well force yourself to eat something healthy.  I've been cooking 4 chicken thighs in the oven and then will eat one for lunch everyday.  I break the chicken off the bone and put it on a salad, make a sandwich out of it, turn it into a BBQ chicken taco, or I'll eat it straight out of the oven with ranch-style beans and mac and cheese, which is one of the comfort meals I ate growing up, so it always cheers me up.  Figure out what works for you, and eat at the same time everyday.
• Take Walks:  This has helped me tremendously.  Over the last few months, I've not been able to sit at my desk as long as usual.  I found myself pacing around my house, turning on the TV, or worst yet, taking a nap.  TV and naps are the worst if you're dealing with confidence and motivation.  Don't do them.  The lack of production and stimulation drives you further into depression.  So I take walks.  Sometimes I walk so far away from my house that I get lost.  Sometimes I take my dog for a leisurely stroll around the park.  Sometimes I run.  The physical activity is good for the brain and is good for the heart.  We should be doing it anyway, but it helps when you're having problems with confidence especially.
• Schedule Things With Friends:  This has helped me more than I thought it would.  At first, I didn't feel like getting out or having to talk with friends.  But I learned that just having something on the schedule organizes the day in such a way that writing just happens.  So, if I know I have lunch with a friend, I don't mope in the mornings as much.  I feel like I have something coming up, so I must get some writing done before I go.  Or if I scheduled soccer with the guys that play in the park, I make sure my writing's done so that I won't be late.  Schedule anything.  Drinks.  A trip to the bookstore.  Watching your friend's kid play basketball.  Get out of the house, and do it consistently, and you'll see how it changes things for you in a positive way.

Life is a marathon.  So is writing.  There will be hiccups along the way.  The trick is to keep moving forward.  I'm still not done struggling and probably won't be for awhile.  But I have begun writing again.  In fact, my newest installment in the Exchange Day series will be to my editor within the next couple of weeks.  That's huge.  The things above have helped me work hard on it, and getting through the steps in my writing process has also increased my confidence.  I'm not where I need to be, but I'm getting words on the page.  And that's all us writers need to keep doing.

Book Review: Emergence: A Superhuman Detective Novella by Liberty Speidel

Stumbled upon Emergence: A Superhuman Detective Novella, written by Liberty Speidel and was intrigued by the blurb.  Plus, it's available on Kindle for free!  Free doesn't necessarily mean poor quality.  Especially in the indie world where writers are willing to put work out there for free so that they can find readers.  So, I thought I'd give it a chance.  If I didn't like it, I could just stop reading it.  No harm no foul.  Well, I read it, and I liked it.  Following are my thoughts:

• Setting: The story is set in future Kansas City.  Speidel adds futuristic flavor throughout the story without bogging the narrative down with too much description.  I think there's good balance between the description and the plot.  If you prefer a world intricately described ala Lord of the Rings, this one may not be for you.
• Character Development:  The characters are the strongest components to the story.  Speidel does a tremendous job introducing us to many characters in a short period of time in a way that I cared about them and understood the chemistry between each.  This is difficult enough to do when a writer has 250 pages to work with.  Speidel does it with fewer than 100.  If you like these characters like I did, you can continue reading the series, which I will.
• Writing Style:  Speidel writes in a straight-forward style driven by action and dialogue.  It's easy to read, and she does a good job keeping the story moving.  This is the type of novel where plot is more important than style.  Most readers who enjoy this genre will prefer how Speidel crafted the novel with story being more important than style.
• Climax: Because this book has a lot of components being juggled simultaneously, I'd say the climax was the only portion of the story to suffer.  Speidel writes a futuristic world that includes Supers, introduces us to a large cast of characters, and is ultimately setting up for a series worth of stories to be told through several novels.  She does a good job with all of this, but I'd say the climax of the crime in book 1 was less complicated because there were other components to the story to consider.  I don't want to give the wrong impression here.  It was NOT completely lacking.  The wave of the story broke quickly and efficiently, but left me somehow wanting more.
• Book 1 of a series: I knew going in that this was the first volume in a series.  It didn't deter me, and I'm glad I read it.  It's quick, smooth, and worthwhile.  I'm excited to see where Speidel takes it from here.  If you like superhuman stories, or crime detective novels, then this is one to consider.  And if you're lucky, you'll find it for free so you can see if it's a good fit.

Book Review: Tent City by Kelly Van Hull

Time came for me to read another book, and a friend of mine sent me an email consisting of several Kindle deals.  I examined the deals carefully and settled on Tent City because the description was similar in ways to my first novel Exchange Day.  So I got it and read it.  Following are my thoughts on Tent City by Kelly Van Hull:

• Setting: The story is set in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where Dani, the main character, lives in a hideaway campsite along with other teens who are escaping a nation-wide mandate to transfer all youths to safety camps.  I like stories in secluded areas.  I like seeing how people have to survive extenuating circumstances, especially when it's in the wild or in an apocalyptic environment.  I wouldn't categorize this as a survival story, but there is definitely a survival component consistent throughout the story that kept me engaged.  I would've liked a more thorough description of the city.  That includes a physical description of what it's like living in the woods with a bunch of teens, but I also wanted to see more of the logistics.  I must admit those aspects of survival stories intrigue me, and I wanted more there.  
• Character Development: Because the story is set in a secluded area, the relationships between the characters are key to driving the story and conflict forward.  Tent City does a good job portraying these interactions.  Most characters in this story are young, ala The Hunger Games.  It didn't bother me, but I wanted to include that here so prospective readers know what to expect.  I was slightly disappointed by the villain.  Kelly Van Hull does a good job building the infamy of General Burke, the story's chief villain.  But the scene where we actually meet him could have shown more wickedness.  Also, there's a love triangle that develops early on in the novel and is prevalent throughout.  I like the way this is handled.  It's different than most stories I've read where the lead character pines over the choice page after sappy page.  Tent City is much more subdued.
• Writing Style:  Kelly Van Hull writes in a straight-forward style that's easy to follow and keeps the story moving forward at a good pace.  Tent City is definitely on the milder end of the spectrum, so if you're looking for a thick, descriptive piece dripping with poetic comparisons, this one isn't for you.  
• Climax: The novel works through a series of minor conflicts, as opposed to building to one large conflict.  This kept everything moving quickly, and made for a lot of action, which I think is good for this genre.  
• Book 1 of a series: I knew going in that this was the first volume in a series, and so understood that there would be more story when I finished.  Tent City stands on its own, but the ending leaves you in a situation where you want to know more.  Some readers might not like this.  Others will love it. 

Book Review: The Cathari Treasure by Daniel Arthur Smith

I found this book by searching through my Twitter friends for a writer who recently published a book.  I read a handful of book blurbs and decided to give The Cathari Treasure a chance.  Following are my thoughts:

• Action packed novel that jumps right into the story on the first page.  Fast-paced writing style pushes the story forward.  The action sequences throughout are set up nicely and keep the reader turning pages. 

• Characters are defined by their actions.  Cameron Kincaid is an ex-Legionnaire, who fought covert missions for more than a decade before retiring and becoming a chef at his own restaurant.  The story takes place over a short period of time and is confined to a handful of situations, from which Cameron must escape.  The characterization is built upon his actions, and what he's able to do to help those under attack.  So, if you're looking for a character portrait, then this isn't for you.  But if you're looking for a couple of strong-armed, strong-willed, characters that are helping others through extremely dire circumstances, then you need to check out The Cathari Treasure.  I only had one issue with Characterization.  For a story like this, I prefer a strong villain.  Daniel Arthur Smith does a good job of hiding the true villain from us most of the journey.  But the payoff at the end lacked the strength and wickedness of a great villain.

• I found the setting of this book to be interesting because much of the story takes place in Canada, and that is a country I know little about.  Smith does a good job of tying in the history of the Cathari Treasure that began in France, and traveled to Canada, thus giving this story that takes place over a period of weeks a much grander feel.  

• The conflict builds to a grand confrontation that occurs in a grand cathedral.  The scene is developed well and builds to its ultimate climactic moment.  The prose was easy to read and flowed well throughout this part of the novel.  I liked it very much, but when it was over, I wanted a little more.  And I wanted more wickedness.  But the climax unfolds nicely and we coast into the resolution, and the eventual end of the story.  That's another thing I like about The Cathari Treasure.  There are more Cameron Kincaid novels, but this one holds its own as a self-contained story.

#218 Tossing The Knife

One day many years ago, my mom was chopping vegetables, and when she was done, she tossed the knife into the sink.  By some miracle of physics, the knife landed straight down like William Wallace's sword at the end of Braveheart, stabbing the metal and standing straight up.  She pulled the knife out.  The blade was ruined, chipped and bent so badly it wouldn't fit into its wooden block home sitting on top of the counter.  And the sink was ruined too.  For years, we lived with our largest pot sitting in the cabinet below, and when we noticed water seeping onto the kitchen floor we'd empty the pot into the sink and replace it in just the right spot to catch the next couple of week's worth of dripping water.  Replacing the pot was easier than fixing the sink.

I inherited this gene from my mom.  The gene that encourages you to toss a knife because those three steps to the sink are just too far to take.  It's the same gene that allows my sprinklers to be broken for more than a year, and I keep going outside to replace sprinkler heads, even though the real problem is with the water pressure.  The same gene had me go weeks without hearing things properly out of my left ear because of sinus pressure or blockage, or a combination of both.  My check-engine light is on, has been on for months, and the light fixture in my front room is wonky and will flicker on and off like an insane asylum in a crappy horror movie.  My center channel speaker buzzes when I want to watch a movie.  The G-string on my guitar cannot hold a proper tune, most likely because of some minor adjustment I am not qualified to make.

I tell this story because many people have this gene, and it affects, on some small level, many aspects of our lives.  But that's not a bad thing.  Not necessarily.  It can be frustrating, and it can lead to living life with a busted sprinkler system or a knife-sized hole in your sink.  But this gene only becomes truly harmful when it bleeds into the things we care about.  For me, that would be my writing.  My relationship with my wife.  And my pets (a puppy and two kitties).  Or my records.  My bottles of wine.  And that one tie I seem to wear to all formal occasions.

So, the moral of this useless story is this: don't toss the knife at something you care about.  Take those last three steps, otherwise you might be piercing something really important and that cannot be easily fixed.  Easy enough, right?  Duh...

Book Review: Andromeda (ANDROMEDA Series Vol 1) by Amy Bartelloni

My wife found Andromeda through a bookbub ad sent directly to her email.  The blurb described a post-apocalyptic story set in a world ravaged by disease, and since my first novel (Exchange Day) is set in a post-apocalyptic world, we thought it would be a good idea to get it for our Kindles.  Following are a few thoughts on the novel:

• The writing is clear and fast-paced.  The first chapter jumps right into the story, and doesn't stop until the book is finished.  I found it easy to read and completed it within a few short days.
• I knew going in that this was the first volume in a series (3 books total), and so understood that there would be more story when I finished.  Andromeda's story is relatively straightforward and could stand on its own with a clear end to the main conflict.  So, don't be turned off because this is book 1 in a series.  If you like the world and the characters within, you can move on to book 2.  If not, you won't feel let down or frustrated by a cliff-hanger at the end.
• I like stories set in a post-apocalyptic world.  Since this is a genre explored by many writers, I like to see new takes on the desolation and anarchy following a traumatic, world-wide tragedy.  Andromeda takes place only 10 years later, so it is long enough for things to be REALLY messed up, but not so long that people have forgotten what life was like before.  But they are on the verge of forgetting.  The conflicts centers around the disease and the power struggle that exists afterward.  The main players are searching for a cure, so there is this feeling that things could return to life pre-tragedy.
• Character development is achieved through action.  This novel is action packed, so it's only natural that the characters are defined by what they do.  
• There's one central conflict told primarily from two perspectives that drives the story.  The two perspectives give us added insight into the world, and ultimately give depth to the story. Bartelloni organizes the novel well around the central conflict and does a good job progressing the story to a climactic moment in the final act.  Like I said earlier, this story stands on its own and wraps up nicely.  And if you like it, you will be able to continue on in this world with her second book in the series called Orion's Curse.