Why Write What You Know Works For Me

A recent email round robin discussion about an upcoming book project had several authors proposing using Seattle as a backdrop for superhero fantastical adventures.  I loved the idea.

Green Arrow once battled on top of our Metro buses -- and I'm sorry that the current Arrow doesn't have Ollie running Sherwood Florist here. Several TV shows filmed in Vancouver, BC, claimed that their supernatural shennigans took place in the shadow of the Space Needle or even on its roof. My friend Phoebe's Mudflat and Sunspinner series are set in local neighborhoods.  And there's a lot more if you go looking.

But since several of the authors on the recent email lived outside the Northwest, I felt compelled to tell them why Seattle seems a natural for magical mystic/superhero center. Our police department already has protocols on the books on how to deal with costumed crusaders. Our recent super-polite version of rioting while disguised in blue-and-green shows our heroic potential or at least our lawful good tendencies when confronted by crosswalks.

Just last week, we discovered mammoth beasties underground.Which inspired a local preschool to hang out the sign "Woolly Be My Valentine."

In short, there's always a bunch of story ideas to found around here. Maybe that's why there are so many writers hogging seats at my favorite coffee shop. Maybe that's why my stories, even those set in times and places far from here, never quite lose that Seattle quirkiness.

How Do You See Your Hero?

As a writer, I have a very clear vision in my head of how my heroes and heroines look. Which is not always necessarily what shows up on the cover of the book. Or how a reader describes one of my characters to me.

That's okay with me. I like drawing a picture with words that others fill free to color in.

Perhaps it is because I'm book collector too. I know that people's visions of heroes change with generations. A favorite example is John Carter of Mars. For me, he was first that dude on the cover of the Ace paperbacks that I discovered in my aunt's basement. Then I found those Science Fiction Book Club editions with Frank Frazetta's view of the hero. But as I've collected both older and new editions over the years, I found many different versions of Edgar Rice Burroughs' John and his more famous Tarzan.

You can see several different artistic interpretations of John Carter and Tarzan on my Pinterest Board -- as well as a picture of one actor that I'd love to see in a ERB movie. Also you'll find a few books in my collection featured on the cover of John Carter, Tarzan, and Friends at Amazon.com.  Enjoy! 

Journey to the world of The Awakened

Out just in time for the holidays, The Awakened collects a number of fantasy authors to tackle the question of "what would you do if you woke with special powers one day?" In this world, which also is being developed into a role-playing game, that may mean being able to talk to the animals...or at least one particular animal.

Hal Greenberg created the world, sent out the maps, and recruited a great crew of authors to create new tales with tails.

As a child who read every single one of the Doctor Dolittle books (and loved the movie, because who wouldn't want to travel in a Giant Pink Snail?), I sent a very quick "yes" via pigeon post ... or possibly email ... to this invitation.

As I've mentioned earlier, my tale "Birdie" drew its inspiration from the wildlife that I see on a regular basis: the birds that make their home in the big city. Adventures can happen anywhere, even on rooftops. Enjoy!

Don't tell people that their time is worthless

Before I became a published author and even after, I worked as a journalist, a publicist, a publisher, and a bookstore manager.

Which means that I've been pitched by other authors for a variety of marketing requests:  set up a signing in a bookstore, write an article, provide them with posts on a large social media network that I managed, or other similar promotions for new titles.

All of these pitches invariably started with "This won't cost you anything."

I would respond, nicely, "Well, it always costs staff time, mine or someone else's at [insert current company of employment here] at the very least."

Most of the time, the response was:  "Exactly. It's free for you and will help me sell more books, which are really, really good by the way. If I sell [x amount], then I will [publicize your website, donate to your cause, pay you something]."

Because I like authors and I like books, I would try this gentle response: "So you're asking me [and my company] to provide you with marketing for your books in return for a future [payment, donation, goodwill].  Instead of a promise that you'll maybe do something in the future, are you willing to sign a contract stating that you will [provide publicity, bring x number of people in the store, write an article to our specifications, spend your time on this]?"

At this point the author tells me how much their time is worth so they can't be expected to do any work before the event as well as other reasons that they can't sign an actual contract that would hold them to fulfilling any promise made.

To which my final suggestion has evolved into "Well, send me a press release.  I'll try to find a place to publish it."  I will too. It might just be a tweet on my personal account or it might go into something larger. It's as much as I can do with my "free" time. A few follow up but lots never do.

Now I should emphasize that these conversations always take place with strangers. People who don't know me at all but feel confident in telling me that my time is not worth as much as their time.  They may be right (about their time being more valuable because they are writing the one true book that will solve all problems everywhere) ... but I have found over the years that telling somebody that they are worthless is not a great way to get them to do you a favor.

If you're calling to pitch a bookstore, a blogger, or anyone else, try the pitch on yourself and friends first.  Ask if it seems like you're demanding a service or requesting a favor (there's a difference).  See if you can show how you can help the bookstore, the blogger, or other achieve their goals (which may not be selling your books) by partnering with you.  It helps if you demonstrate some knowledge of what they do as well as talk up what you have done.

Write, publish, have fun with your books, be successful. That is my wish for all authors. Hope these  tips help.

#SFWApro

Falling in love at the Seattle Antiquarian Bookfair

Once a year, the Seattle Antiquarian Bookfair rolls into town and my credit card starts to smoke in anticipation.

Luckily, I run into so many friends in the aisles that my shopping time is limited by chatter about books ... the kind where you really do want to stroke the covers and turn the pages slowly. The grand, beautifully illustrated volumes of the early 20th century are available from many wonderful dealers. It's a bit like being let into Ali Baba's cave. 

Every year, I find one or two special volumes that do have to go home with me. This year it was An Argosy of Fables, a very large and heavy book profusely illustrated by Paul Bransom and published in 1921.

My excuse for this one is that these fables will eventually find themselves rewritten into new fantasies and fantastic adventures. After all, who wouldn't be inspired by this trio? 

Throw me a hook, Ishmael

"The first time I submitted a story," he recalls, "a girl in the class said, 'Don't you think it's kind of cheap to open with a sentence that makes the reader want to keep reading?' I just stared at her and thought, 'Man, Herman Melville would have a tough time here.'" Daniel Woodrell, author, in a Wall Street Journal interview

Like many, I've been reeled into a story by the dry, cool prose of Woodrell in Winter's Bone and his other dark crime novels set in the Ozarks.

But the incident that he recounted to the WSJ interviewer illustrates another classic lesson of the writing life. What played well in your English class or critique group may not be right for readers.

Readers want to be hooked into a story.  That's why Melville's opening line "Call me Ishmael" has been luring them into a philosophical tale of whaling and revenge for a couple of centuries. 

That's why, no matter how wonderful and complex  your fantasy or science fiction world is, you can't start out with a ten pages or even one page of a dry as dust explanation to set up the action that will happen later...after the reader has dropped your book and gone onto something else.

You have to set the hook.  Bait it with something juicy.  Reel them in. Connect with them on a gut level. Don't let your English class or your critique group talk you into being obscure for the sake of artful artifice.

Experiment with your opening lines. Test them out on readers.  Ask if the first sentence makes them want to read the second.

Oh, and if somebody says "Isn't kind of cheap to open with a sentence that makes the reader want to keep reading?" you can answer right back, "No. That's expensive. It takes time, trouble, and much polishing to create a gem like that."

#SFWApro