#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.

#217 Guns In School

I teach a college class in N. Texas.  Each spring we have a department meeting, and our 2015 meeting was yesterday.  We spent hours working through the agenda, as is usual for this sort of thing, and towards the end of the meeting, our Dean read the word "Concerns," which was printed at the bottom of the page next to the word "Questions." A teacher next to me raised his hand.

He said, "I've got concerns.  The Texas Legislature just passed a law allowing concealed handguns on campus, and now I'm nervous to even be in the classroom with students."

Most of us nodded.  A law that allows students to carry concealed handguns on campus is ludicrous.  Even for Texas.  A gun in the classroom?  Makes as much sense as hen shit on a pump handle.  But there was one teacher in the wings, one man with his hand raised halfway toward the ceiling.  Before the Dean, or anyone else, could speak, he said, "Well, they still have to have their concealed handgun license."

That one guy is the problem.  That attitude is the problem.  Having a license doesn't make it okay to carry a gun in the classroom.  Or anywhere else in public.  It just doesn't.  The constitution allows for citizens to be armed against a threat to home, family, and freedom.  None of these are threatened in school.  Yet, fights break out in school all the time.  Fights over boyfriends or girlfriends.  Skirmishes over a fender bender.  I once saw a fight over an errant frisbee that hit an innocent bystander in the head.  The boy thought it was thrown on purpose, and thus, a fight ensued.

I'm not in favor of fights, but I understand that they happen.  Students square off against each other over pride, jealousy, prejudice, and occasionally, over misthrown frisbees.  Adolescent emotions can cause lapses in judgement, and sometimes fights result.  But in these moments, rarely are students' lives in danger.  Throw in concealed handguns, and that changes.  Now everyone's life is in danger.

I've read articles on why this has been allowed to happen, and the only justification mentioned in favor of the law claims that carrying a weapon is a "God given right."  This makes no sense.  Guns didn't even exist when the bible was written.  Religion is too often used to justify violence.  And thanks to the Texas Legislature, now it's used to encourage it.

It's time for sensible people to speak out against this law.  I understand there is a vocal minority who LOVE guns.  But most of us agree that guns have no place in our schools and other public places.  I'm against guns anywhere.  But if we must have them because of the 2nd amendment, then let's keep them isolated to people's home (for protection) and for sport (hunting).  And when that one guy tentatively raises his hand and says, "Well, at least the students have a concealed license," we need to explain that isn't a good enough reason to put everyone else's life in danger.

Book Review: The Sham by Ellen Allen

A bit of luck led me to The Sham.  Searching through Twitter writers, I found Ellen Allen.  She posted a link to an article on writing book reviews, which I found especially helpful because I'm making it a priority to write more book reviews.  It must've been fate.  Or just dumb luck.

So here are my thoughts on The Sham:

• A murder and love story wrapped into one.  I'm not sure what genre this falls into because it has characteristics of Young Adult, New Adult, and Psychological Thriller.  I tend to like books better when they cross over genres, and The Sham does this.
• It is set in rural England, which I enjoyed.  Being from the states, I like the nuances of life in another country.  Most of these nuances come in the form of vocabulary (crisps instead of chips, mum instead of mom etc.), but there are fundamental attitude differences I found intriguing with the characters because of the difference in cultural upbringing.
• I'd describe the writing style as fresh and snarky.  The Sham is written from a 1st person perspective, which gives us insight into the attitude of the narrator.  Ellen Allen does a good job portraying the story through her main character Emily, who is a seventeen-year old girl with a seventeen-year old attitude.  The writing style is fast-paced, and the plot is driven forward primarily through the mysterious circumstances surrounding a handful of questionable characters who are involved, somehow, in a murderous plot.
• The characters are dynamic and strange.  Characterization occurs mainly through the interactions between the main players.  For the most part, I had a clear understanding of each character and the motivations that drove him/her.  A few peripheral characters confused me and I found myself re-reading passages in an attempt to better understand their behaviors.  This may be because it is a mystery, and so I read with particular attention to detail as I tried to figure out who was doing what.   I may have been over-analyzing, which caused my experience to bog down in parts.  But these occurrences didn't stop me from finishing the novel.
• The story builds to a climax that brings together all the characters, and all the mystery, into one place for a resolution that stays true to the components that make up the novel.  For a mystery to be successful, the crime must make sense as well as intrigue.  The Sham accomplishes this.

I don't read many psychological thrillers.  It isn't my preferred genre.  Despite that, I felt myself wanting to know more about the story and the characters, and ultimately it was that curiosity that kept me turning pages.

#216 The Zoom Lens - A Brief Look At Your Writing

There are many ways to look at improving your writing.  Here's an overview on approaching your craft, no matter what your skill level.  I like to break down the writing process by looking at it through a zoom lens.  Following are the different views:

200mm (Full Zoom) - The sentence (aka syntax):
Syntax refers to the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences.  Another way to look at this, is the use of words as tools to communicate a simple idea.  Many aspiring writers, and non-writers, feel syntax is the key to writing.  They might argue that talented writers would be masters of syntax, born with a gift for words, a clear understanding of grammar, and thoughts that can express themselves cleanly and eloquently.  I've not met a creative writing class that deals with syntax, which is why most assume it's a gift.

But there are ways to exercise syntax.

• First and foremost is to write.  The more you write, the easier it becomes to use words to convey a message.  Practice makes perfect, duh.  
• A writer can also learn from books.  There are hundreds of writing books.  Many address grammar and style.  These books can be helpful and inspirational, but still, the reality is that a writer must put into practice the principles they may learn from such a book.  
• And finally, the only other way to improve craft is to read writers who have mastered it.  Going classic is fine.  There are certainly things you can learn from Hemingway, Capote, and Salinger.  But consider reading contemporary as well.  There are hundreds of great writers, maybe even thousands, that are putting out books right now.  You can learn from each and every one of them.

80mm - The Chapter or Short Story:

If syntax is understanding the tools, then writing a short story is like building a piece of furniture.  You need to know enough for structural integrity.  You can learn this by writing something small.  A short story or chapter.  It needs to be complete, must be able to stand on its own.  You can also learn the subtleties and elaborations that make your piece of furniture look exquisite.  A carved exterior or stained shelves that give the piece a rustic look.

Writing a scene is different from syntax.  The words and phrases must string together to develop characters and conflict.  A scene embraces mood and pacing.  There must be a clear beginning, middle, and end.  Syntax can move a person about a room, or describe a storm rolling in from the ocean.  A short story tells the significance of this person or this storm.  What does this person do?  What conflicts does this storm present?  To write an effective story, there must be a build up of events.  Descriptions take a reader to a particular place, or describes a unique situation.  And in the end, a reader feels fulfilled, for he or she started someplace and ended up somewhere else.

Similar to syntax, the best way to improve The Chapter or Short Story is through writing.  Write scenes.  Any scenes.  Write a dinner scene or a chase scene.  Write a scene about two guys playing pool when suddenly, one of them farts so ferociously that he ruins his underpants.  I've seen fewer books that discuss writing scenes and short stories.  I think practice is the essence here.  But, one thing you can do is look at how masters write a scene.  Instead of reading Tolstoy's entire works, consider reading one of his dinner scenes.  What does a James Joyce billiards scene look like?

28 mm - The Book:

The widest lens I look through for this post is The Book.  Books are comprised of a series of scenes, of chapters, that fit together to tell a larger story.  No matter how many sentences you write, or short stories for that matter, nothing can prepare you or teach you how to write a novel.  The art of putting together sentences and organizing chapters, so that you can tell a complete and coherent story that is both legible and compelling, is worlds apart from syntax and short stories.  If a short story is like a piece of furniture, then a book is like a house.  There's so much more to think about.  All aspects of the short story are amplified.  Pace, mood, characterization, conflict, and resolution become more important, because a reader has agreed to invest considerable time with your project, and it must stand, intrigue and ultimately impress if you wish the reader to share the experience with other readers.

I've been writing novels exclusively now for nearly a year and a half, and so, do NOT consider myself a master worthy of teaching someone else how to complete a novel.  But I wouldn't start writing a novel without a healthy understanding of syntax and experience writing scenes and short stories.  Learning the tools and learning how to use them on a small scale is the best way to prepare for the daunting journey that is writing a novel.

There is no formula to write a successful novel.  It takes practice.  If you are an aspiring writer and wish to learn the craft, to develop the tools necessary to tell a complex story, then I recommend you begin with the zoom lens all the way out.  Learn syntax.  Understand good sentence structure and practice good grammar.  Write short stories.  Develop characters in one or two scenes.  Start small.  And soon after you'll be ready to open the lens all the way out and start writing your novel.

Book Review: Trapped In Time By Bree Wolf

I stumbled upon Trapped In Time, by Bree Wolf, accidentally one day while snooping through the endless wonder that is Twitter.  I can't say exactly how I found this book, only that I discovered it just a few days after it was published, and so decided to give it a chance.  Following are my thoughts:

• Ever since Back To The Future blew my mind in 1985 (I was 8 years old), I've been fascinated with time travel stories.  Trapped In Time qualifies; it deals with shifts in time as the character experiences life in a nonlinear way. However, this story focuses more on the close relationships within the main character's life, including a mysterious character that drops in and out of the narrative, rather than on the paradoxes and interesting situations that arise from time travel.  This is not a bad thing.  I'd just like to make it clear the story is more based on characters than sci-fi aspect of time travel.

• The characters in this story are quirky and young.  The story takes place within the 10 year period following college, the years of discovery that accompany one's first taste of independence.  Wolf does a good job of showing the angst of this time period, as her characters grapple with career, romance, and love, which are the novel's key themes.  I did feel that the characters could have been developed further.  I got a sense of the characters interactions with each other, but I didn't get a good sense of them as people outside those interactions.  This story relies less on character development, and more on the exploration of strange occurrences that happen to the main character.

• The writing style encourages a fast-paced reading experience.  Dialogue and simple, every day scenes drive the story forward.   Taking a step back, Wolf gets caught in a plot cycle--I think used to enhance the mystery--that causes the overall story to bog down in places.

• The story builds, like a wave, into one climactic scene that occurs in the last chapter, which is the best chapter in the book.  Wolf does a good job tying everything together and explaining the mysterious nuances she develops throughout.

Overall, I think this novel is for readers who prefer a fast-paced story with quirky, and oftentimes snarky, banter between the main characters.  There's one main conflict driving the story with one resolution.  This is not a complicated novel, and is definitely not steeped within the realm of science fiction, like one might expect from a time travel story.

#215 Blurb Crafting

After this week, I will have published 3 novels.  I feel comfortable with most parts of the writing process:  I have a wealth of ideas I'd be happy to explore.  I'm happy with my outlining process.  I have not had issues finding my voice or organizing the narrative.  I can stay on a writing schedule, ensuring that I get my pages down.  I have an editor I trust and a graphic designer who impresses me. But the one part of the process where I've yet to find confidence is Blurb Crafting.

Each novel has a description, a preview, meant to persuade potential readers to open the book.  Or perhaps to one-click buy it.  This is the blurb.  I've never liked blurbs or previews.  I don't like knowing anything about a story when I begin.  I prefer to let the story teller have complete freedom, free from any expectations I might've garnered from an overzealous preview.  But I know I'm in the minority here, and few people will buy a book without knowing something about it.

As a result, I've had trouble crafting a blurb for each of my 3 novels.  This is an area in which I MUST improve if I'm to sell books.

So I did a lot of research and a lot of blurb reading in preparation for writing the blurb to my upcoming book.  Here are key things I learned, which I think are vital to a successful blurb.

• The blurb must establish genre.  Many readers need to know what sort of book they are getting themselves into.  Readers are less concerned with the monetary investment, anywhere from $1-$15.  But they are concerned with the time investment.  Readers do not want to spend weeks reading a book that does not fit into a genre they typically like.  So the blurb must identify the genre so that it can find its proper readers.
• The blurb should hint at the style of the book.  Is it a quirky story with fun characters?  Or is it a dark story with serious characters.  Readers have moods too, and a blurb should reveal a book's mood so that a connection can be made.  It can be off-putting to a reader to be in a playful mood, only to open a serious book with a depressing agenda.
• Be succinct.  This is tough.  I once compared a blurb to explaining why someone married his/her spouse in only one sentence.  A book is a complex thing, and a blurb is meant to whittle it down into a short paragraph.  Though it's not easy, it's imperative to keep the blurb concise.  Some readers will be turned off of a long description, thus knocking your book from consideration before it's even had a chance.
• The blurb should introduce the main character.  We like books because we can relate to the characters.  Nothing will keep us turning pages like a character we care about.  So, let's meet this intriguing character.  As soon as possible.  First impressions are important, so make sure your character is dressed accordingly...
• Don't give away too much.  This is the biggest problem I have with film previews.  Too many previews reveal the major plot points, which can diminish the affect of the story.  When I was a kid, I remember seeing the preview for Jurassic Park.  It showed a storm, a dark forest, a footprint, and the roar of a T.Rex.  That was it.  And that was all that was needed to get me into a theater to see the movie.

I'm far from an expert Blurb Crafter.  I've toiled over the descriptions for my three novels, and I expect I'll toil over the rest of them as well.  The blurb is an essential piece to the puzzle and must be carefully crafted to draw readers in, to making them click that button that will download your novel to their e-readers.  

Book Review: Time and Again By Jack Finney

In the afterword to 11/22/63, Stephen King describes Time and Again as the great time-travel novel.  I enjoyed King's exploration into the Kennedy assassination and so decided to read and review Time and Again.  Following are some things to keep in mind if you should chose to read it.

• Finney's story, which was first published in 1970, follows an artist who had been hand selected by a secret government agency tasked with discovering, and eventually utilizing, time travel.  The book is filled with hand-drawn renderings of New York City and its people in the late 1800's, which I liked.  
• Finney's ornate style and realistic depiction of the events places this book into more of a literary genre than science fiction.  This is not a fast read.  I would say it's the opposite.  The story focuses on a slow, developed sensory experience of 1882 instead of being focused on the action of the story.  
• Finney has a good eye, and he does well to describe physical locations as well as his character's state of mind.  I can see how this might bother some readers who like stories to be faster paced.  Time and Again is not that kind of story, so beware.
• The setting of this book is unique for me.  I'd not read many books set in either the 1970s or the 1880s.
• I like Finney's characters.  He has a good villain, which I think is important, and his main characters are likable and realistic.
• The story does build to a worthy and interesting climax.  I prefer novels that are NOT predictable.  I don't require a massive twist, or anything, but I don't like guessing the key plot points along the way only to discover a formulaic story that's been written dozens of times before.  This novel is NOT predictable.  And the ending was worth it.

All in all, I say this book is worth reading, especially if you can enjoy a slow-moving plot.  If you prefer a page-turning, action-oriented story, then Time and Again may not be for you.

#214 Buddy White - A Sad Story

I've known Buddy since he was a kitten in Waco, TX.  He grew up bigger and more cross-eyed than his three sisters, and he had a nice, deep meow that reminded me of a weed eater being fired up.  This last weekend I visited Houston and stayed at The Whites.  He normally sits on the couch next to me, digging his sharp claws into my skin and leaving specks of white fur all over my clothes.  This time, however, he remained still on his pillow at the far end of the couch.

"He's not been eating," CW said.  "He hasn't even been drinking water, recently."

We spent a good portion of the evening with Buddy.  We administered his diabetes meds and we tested his sugar levels, which looked good.  We put him in front of his food bowl, but he wasn't interested in eating.  We set him in front of his water.  He sniffed it, gave it an apathetic lick, and then returned to his cushion by the couch.

The next day CW took Buddy to the vet and learned that he suffered from cancer and a failing liver.  The vet ran all possible tests and determined that nothing could be done to save his life, and that the painful end was imminent.  Buddy was an old cat and his time had come.

It was a sad weekend.  It's always sad when a family losses a loved one.  The reason I'm telling this story is because I learned something important.  CW and his wife went into the room with Buddy.  They held him tightly, said their goodbyes, and were with him in his final moments.  They faced their grief head on and showed their love for Buddy, regardless of how hard it was.  This may seem like common sense thinking, but there are some who may not know how important it is to be with them until the very end.

No one likes death.  No one wants to die, but we all do.  The important thing is that we are surrounded by those we love when it's our turn.

#213 Missing The Point

Earlier this year, a widely known indie writer named JA Konrath participated in a debate over the following statement:  Amazon is the reader's friend.  JA Konrath agreed with the statement, believing that Amazon has proven over years of consistent business practices that they seek to keep prices low and their customers happy.  Readers, in this instance, qualify as customers.  Scott Turow disagreed with the statement, offering the alternate view that too much power in one entity's hands will not be good for anyone, readers and writers alike.

I watched the debate.  If you haven't seen it, and you care about the changing landscape of literature, then I suggest you watch it as well.  Here is a link, that also includes JA Konrath's thoughts on the debate.

I don't wish to dive into the points of the debate, as Konrath and Turow did a good job of that already.  But I do wish to talk about a problem I've noticed in our political system that this debate exemplified.  The problem is this:  the way we discuss major issues (the debate format) allows us to quibble over the specific words used to frame the argument, instead of focusing on the point of the argument itself.  Turow exemplifies this with his first argument in this debate when he says that Amazon is a company whose first priorities are to make money for its shareholders.  Thus, it cannot be a "friend" to anyone but itself.  Since the debate was framed around the statement: Amazon is the reader's friend, I believe Turow wins this debate on this single technicality.  He is correct.  The fact that it is a company means it cannot be a friend to anything but the bottom line.  Everything else is secondary.

But that misses the point of this gathering.  Konrath and Turow were not getting together to discuss whether or not a business can also be a friend to a particular segment of the population.  The heart of the debate was supposed to focus on whether or not Kindle Direct Publishing is good for readers and ultimately for literature.  Because of Turow's lawyer-esque manipulation of the statement (which he has a right to do under the debate format), no real progress was made in the debate.

I do not fault Turow for this.  I am trying to shed light on the vehicle of discussion, not Turow's specific argument here.  Because I see this technique of focusing on how something is poorly worded is used to ignore the point of a particular discussion, and in the end, no progress is made.

#212 The Far Side of Writing

There's an old Far Side cartoon with retired cartoonists sitting on a porch reminiscing about the old days.  One cartoonist, with his arms spread wide open, says to the others, "I once drew a nose this big!"

I've always liked this cartoon, probably because I have a big nose that only a cartoonist could love.  Now that I'm a full-time writer, however, this particular cartoon has taken on a new meaning for me.  I devote much of my time to my craft and only some of my time on self promotion.  I spend NO time with other writers, sharing the burdens creativity, solitude, insecurity, and hours trapped inside my own head can create.  I follow several writers on Twitter and will spend time perusing their tweets.  I take comfort in their messages and enjoy the occasional line back and forth.  I like the online culture exercised by hundreds, even thousands, of indie and traditionally published writers.  But it isn't enough.

I've joined a writer's group in Dallas, but the focus of this group is writing.  Not the writer.  We spend our time critiquing and discussing publishing like Sunday morning bible class.  I still go occasionally, and I'm happy to discuss stories with other writers.

But I'd like something a bit different.  I'd like something more personal.  I'd like to get to know other writers and share in their experiences as I would want them to share in mine.  I want to drink wine or beer and discuss the writer life.  The act of writing is a solitary endeavor.  But it seems to me that writers like to live and experience things.  So I'd rather be out with writers experiencing life instead of cooped up in a room discussing the proper way to write a query letter or the importance of active verbs.

I've begun searching meetup.com for other writers interested in something similar, but have only found writing groups focused on critiquing.  I've not yet posted my own meetup group, and don't know that I will.  Writers are a tricky breed, the porcupine of humanity, and I'm not sure how to coax one out without risk of serious injury.

#211 Eyebrows On Fleek

I went to get a haircut today.  After she finished, she spun me around and studied my face closely.  She focused on my eyebrows and said, "Do I normally trim your eyebrows?"  I shook my head.  "Well, honey," she said, "I'd recommend you let me take care of these for you."

I'd never had someone tell me how unruly my eyebrows were.  Well, except for my wife, who tells me how unruly everything is.  This woman had no qualms with telling me exactly how she saw me.  There was no fake politeness.  There was no rose-colored glasses.  There was only me and the simple fact that my eyebrows needed to be trimmed.  She wasn't gonna let a little thing like politeness get in the way of improving the way I look.

This exact relationship should exist between a writer and an editor.  There should be no fake politeness.  No rose-colored glasses.  The editor must focus on the writing and feel free to communicate the blemishes without reserve.  Feelings should not factor into the equation.  All that matters is the brutal truth.  If you aren't getting that, then you need to adjust your relationship with your editor.  Or consider finding another one.

The revision process is not an easy one.  But it's an important one.  You want your writing to look as good as it possibly can.  You want someone to look at your eyebrows and tell you they're out of control.  That way, you can get them cut so that they'll look like this:

#210 Identity Revisited, Again

I've written posts on identity and selling yourself as a writer.  And still, I find myself struggling with the concepts in my own life.  I write pretty much every day and I've published (indie-style) two books.  I am close to completing my third and am vigorously working on my fourth.  I've been at it more than a year and will dedicate the remainder of 2015 to getting more books out.  There is no doubt that I'm a writer.  Except for one teensy detail.  I don't yet make enough money to support myself.

That is one important detail.

We recently went to Vietnam for a two-week vacation.  We met several people on our travels.  Every conversation included the question, "What do you do?"  My wife answered, "Attorney," which garnered a polite smile and a respectful nod of the head.  I answered, "I'm a writer."  This never failed to bring a surprised expression and the follow up question, "Really?"

YES, really!

I don't take offense to the skepticism...I really don't.  Here's the problem.  Doubt exists within the mind of every working author.  And not just within the minds of budding authors like myself.  This includes the moderately successful ones, and I'm convinced it includes the super successful ones as well.  It's tough enough to say the words, "I'm a writer."  Yet for some reason we're made to say them twice.

I'm not trying to complain or change how people respond to writers they meet, both at home and abroad.  I wish to help writers.  So here is my advice: take ownership of the work you do.  Be proud.  Only a small percentage of people can do what we do, just as only a small percentage of people can play professional basketball.  Be confident.  And when someone says, "Really?  You're a writer?"  Nod your head and direct them to your book so that your work finds a reader.  Ultimately, this will lead to you making enough money to support yourself.