I am in the middle of a Sookie Stackhouse book at the moment. It's the first one in the series I've read in about a year. I am actually enjoying it. I didn't like the last one I read. I was in the middle of reading this book the other day when Sookie made a comment that surprised me and made me think long and hard about something.
She said that she was on the heavier side of what was considered an acceptable weight (a size 8) and that her friend Arlene had said once that she thought anything about a size 8 was disgusting. Now as a curvy girl currently bouncing between a size 12 and a size 16 (Yes. You heard me right) this made me feel like crap about myself.
I thought to myself "Is this what the author really thinks?" and "Is it right for the author to have her characters say something that fatophobic?" and then I realized that just because Sookie made that comment does not mean it is the view of the author.
I've talked about this topic in university. People need to understand that a character in a book is a different person from the author writing the book. In my first year of university we talked about a passage we read in a book and discussed if the author might be racist for how they portrayed a black character. Most people thought the author probably was. This irritated me. Its wrong to make assumptions like that. I've written some deeply flawed characters. My characters are NOT an extension of me. I am the thing that brings them to life but they really do develop on their own. I have no control over it. If a character of mine turns out to be a racist that doesn't mean I am. People need to remember that.
So once I remembered about that class I took in university I was all right with that line of dialogue in the Sookie Stackhouse book. I did not agree with Sookie's opinion about what was an acceptable weight. It did make me feel bad about myself. Imagine reading a book though filled with politically correct characters. How boring! How tame! Characters should be flawed. They should sometimes say stupid, cringe worthy things. I know I do all the time! It makes them more realistic because it shows that they are not perfect. Sometimes I can be unintentionally racist or say something so dumb that it will have my partner in hysterics. I said something so stupid to him the other week he laughed at me for about ten minutes!
Writers should not be afraid to have their character's say bad things. And I, as a reader, should not take them so much to heart. They are, after all, just characters in a book.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
I'm getting married next week!!
Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I'm getting married next week!! I've been having a bit of break from writing because of that. I haven't done any work on the rewrites of Deep Embrace for over a week. I'm feeling the itch to return to work which is a good thing. Hopefully, after the wedding, I'll be able to finish the rewrites of Deep Embrace in one big go! Sometimes I've found its good to have a break from writing. It recharges the batteries and reignites my creative spark. I find myself wanting, even needing to do it, instead of forcing myself to sit down and face that dreaded blank screen!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Publish America wants you to like them
Remember a month or so ago when I blogged about Publish America offering to send unpublished manuscripts to JK Rowling and get her to critique them for a small fee? Not surprisingly, a shit storm erupted, because it was a pack o' lies people! Publish America did NOT promise to give anything to JK Rowling! They said that JK Rowling was from Edinburgh (known fact people) and that if she went to the Edinburh book festival there might be a chance that she might meet the people from Publish America and might agree to look at the books. See! They didn't promise anything! They suggest. They hint. They wink their eyes. But they never, ever, promise a thing.
Every now and again I go on their facebook page to see what sort of evil schemes they might be plotting and how many more deluded souls they have managed to hoodwink. Publish America must be slightly worried about their image because they ran a contest on their facebook page urging people to write in and say how much they love Publish America! the winner gets a $100 cheque in the mail!
I still do not understand why ANYONE would ever go with this publisher. All you have to do is a simple google search and you will get dozens of results screaming "THIS PUBLISHER IS A SCAM!!" I mean, Jesus, how much more of a red flag do you need? It's like the old saying goes...if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, then its a freaking duck people!! Do your research. Do not listen to PA's poor attempts to show how much people like them (look! look! this person says we're awesome. It must be true) and go and talk to someone who knows the business.
Every now and again I go on their facebook page to see what sort of evil schemes they might be plotting and how many more deluded souls they have managed to hoodwink. Publish America must be slightly worried about their image because they ran a contest on their facebook page urging people to write in and say how much they love Publish America! the winner gets a $100 cheque in the mail!
I still do not understand why ANYONE would ever go with this publisher. All you have to do is a simple google search and you will get dozens of results screaming "THIS PUBLISHER IS A SCAM!!" I mean, Jesus, how much more of a red flag do you need? It's like the old saying goes...if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, then its a freaking duck people!! Do your research. Do not listen to PA's poor attempts to show how much people like them (look! look! this person says we're awesome. It must be true) and go and talk to someone who knows the business.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Are bookcases going out of fashion?
IKEA has said that it is going to make its BILLY bookcase come with deeper shelves because it thinks that more people are using them for things like ornaments and photo frames instead of well...books.
Is the printed book slowly dying out? Will there come a time when shops no longer sell bookcases? I am a bit of an IKEA whore. I have dragged my poor, loving boyfriend to that store so many times. I have 2 large bookcases, 1 display cabinet, 1 lamp and 1 small bookcase. Yeeeahhh...I have alot. In my defense I actually use mine for books except for my display cabinet which is mostly for my Sailor Moon figurine and manga collection (Hey everyone needs a hobby).
I personally think that there will come a time when the printed book will become like records. You will still be able to buy them...but in specialty shops only. They will become conversation pieces. Quirky little things. I think ebooks are the future. I love my IKEA bookcases (if I did not have them WHERE would I put all my picture frames and candles as well??) what I do not like about books is how much space they take up in my house. I seriously cannot buy another bookcase. I have no more space for them!
Maybe IKEA is onto something here? Maybe people aren't using bookcases for books anymore. Or at least that is where things are headed.
Is the printed book slowly dying out? Will there come a time when shops no longer sell bookcases? I am a bit of an IKEA whore. I have dragged my poor, loving boyfriend to that store so many times. I have 2 large bookcases, 1 display cabinet, 1 lamp and 1 small bookcase. Yeeeahhh...I have alot. In my defense I actually use mine for books except for my display cabinet which is mostly for my Sailor Moon figurine and manga collection (Hey everyone needs a hobby).
I personally think that there will come a time when the printed book will become like records. You will still be able to buy them...but in specialty shops only. They will become conversation pieces. Quirky little things. I think ebooks are the future. I love my IKEA bookcases (if I did not have them WHERE would I put all my picture frames and candles as well??) what I do not like about books is how much space they take up in my house. I seriously cannot buy another bookcase. I have no more space for them!
Maybe IKEA is onto something here? Maybe people aren't using bookcases for books anymore. Or at least that is where things are headed.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Why do I write?
I was talking to my friend on the phone the other day and started talking about what makes me want to write. When I was younger I was driven by the dream of becoming the next J.K Rowling (along with a gazillion other young writers with stars in their eyes)I wanted fame! I wanted money! I wanted to be able to write full time for a living and to be able to go into bookstores and find my books on the shelves.
When I got older I slowly realised that the chances of me being able to make even a decent living off writing were very slim. The chances of me ever reaching J.K Rowling popularity were even MORE slim. I stopped writing to try and be famous. It took time but eventually even the idea of qutting my job to be a full time writer stopped being appealing to me.
Why? Because I knew having all that time to write would probably kill my love of writing. Writing can be very boring sometimes. I will do it for hours and on most days do about 500 words. When I get bored I stop. I learnt a long time ago not to force myself to write. Other writers would call me lazy. I have tried pushing myself to write in the past. It stressed me out and made me get writer's block. You cannot force yourself to be creative. It has to come naturally. I believe the best way for that to happen is to make writing FUN.
And that means not doing it every second of every day. I have days off. I don't do it at night after work. I will maybe write a sentence and then have a 30 minute break. Yeah, it takes me forever to finish a project, so what? At least I finish my projects. Alot of writers don't. I don't care about writing speeds. I see alot of people on the net who proudly claim they can write a novel in a week. Good for them. I wonder how much of what they have written is any good?
Why do I write? For fun. If I don't write at all I am bored. If I write too much it gets boring. It's a delicate balance for me.
Will I ever be super successful? Probably not. Do I care? Yes and no. I want to continue to get published and I will promote what I do manage to get published like crazy. Will I ever be able to live off my writing? I doubt it. But that's okay. For reasons I do not know my brain requires me to do this. It needs this creative outlet. So as long as I continue to find this thing fun I will continue to write.
When I got older I slowly realised that the chances of me being able to make even a decent living off writing were very slim. The chances of me ever reaching J.K Rowling popularity were even MORE slim. I stopped writing to try and be famous. It took time but eventually even the idea of qutting my job to be a full time writer stopped being appealing to me.
Why? Because I knew having all that time to write would probably kill my love of writing. Writing can be very boring sometimes. I will do it for hours and on most days do about 500 words. When I get bored I stop. I learnt a long time ago not to force myself to write. Other writers would call me lazy. I have tried pushing myself to write in the past. It stressed me out and made me get writer's block. You cannot force yourself to be creative. It has to come naturally. I believe the best way for that to happen is to make writing FUN.
And that means not doing it every second of every day. I have days off. I don't do it at night after work. I will maybe write a sentence and then have a 30 minute break. Yeah, it takes me forever to finish a project, so what? At least I finish my projects. Alot of writers don't. I don't care about writing speeds. I see alot of people on the net who proudly claim they can write a novel in a week. Good for them. I wonder how much of what they have written is any good?
Why do I write? For fun. If I don't write at all I am bored. If I write too much it gets boring. It's a delicate balance for me.
Will I ever be super successful? Probably not. Do I care? Yes and no. I want to continue to get published and I will promote what I do manage to get published like crazy. Will I ever be able to live off my writing? I doubt it. But that's okay. For reasons I do not know my brain requires me to do this. It needs this creative outlet. So as long as I continue to find this thing fun I will continue to write.
I've started rewrites!
I finished the rough draft of Deep Embrace last week. It came in at 190 pages and just over 66,000 words long. Not bad! not bad at all! It's a perfect sized little novella. If it had just been a little bit longer I could've been able to market it as a tiny novel. In the past two weeks I have done so much work on it. I rewrote the beginning to include a prologue that shows Helios's kidnapping, wrote an epilogue, and decided to go back and add an extra chapter before the ending. After 12 months I am finally able to begin fixing the problems with Deep Embrace that have worried me for so long. It feels so great! I've started the rewrite of chapter one and it is SO much better than the stupid original version.
I start off in Scylla's cave from Scylla's point of view. Perse, the main character, does not enter until close to the end of chapter one. I've cut out ALOT of pointless description and backstory, which I didn't even realise was nothing but pointless fluff until a couple of days ago. It was a major palm head slap moment. You would think that after all these years of writing I would not be making the same stupid mistakes still, right?
The simple fact is beginnings are HARD. I never really know what I'm doing. I might have an idea of how to start. The image might be there. It's putting it into words that is the tricky bit. Usually, with most writers, we do not get into the real swing of things until one or two chapters in. I acutally read somewhere once to cut out the first chapter of a draft completely. Maybe even two. Cut those out and you will find your true beginning.
They're right too. I have cut out all of that pointless description and have found my true beginning which is with Scylla in her little cave. The rewrite of chapter one has been going so well (I'm barely on page two and I am almost near the point of revealing Perse's sisters!) I might actually be finished by next week. Then all I have to do is rewrite the beginning of chapter two and the beginnings of chapters three and four. The rest should be fine (there are 13 chapters in all).
I start off in Scylla's cave from Scylla's point of view. Perse, the main character, does not enter until close to the end of chapter one. I've cut out ALOT of pointless description and backstory, which I didn't even realise was nothing but pointless fluff until a couple of days ago. It was a major palm head slap moment. You would think that after all these years of writing I would not be making the same stupid mistakes still, right?
The simple fact is beginnings are HARD. I never really know what I'm doing. I might have an idea of how to start. The image might be there. It's putting it into words that is the tricky bit. Usually, with most writers, we do not get into the real swing of things until one or two chapters in. I acutally read somewhere once to cut out the first chapter of a draft completely. Maybe even two. Cut those out and you will find your true beginning.
They're right too. I have cut out all of that pointless description and have found my true beginning which is with Scylla in her little cave. The rewrite of chapter one has been going so well (I'm barely on page two and I am almost near the point of revealing Perse's sisters!) I might actually be finished by next week. Then all I have to do is rewrite the beginning of chapter two and the beginnings of chapters three and four. The rest should be fine (there are 13 chapters in all).
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Authors spamming authors
I joined LinkedIn a while back after the editor at my new publisher sent me a friend request. I was fascinated with the site for a little bit. I got all excited about it and thought it would help me meet people in publishing. I started getting friend requests from all sorts of people in publishing. It didn't take me long to realise that most of these people are just desperate for attention. I have started getting emails from people I know on LinkedIn begging me to buy their books, review their books, like their facebook page...etc..etc...
It is authors spamming authors basically. It makes me want to delete my LinkedIn account. Begging people to purchase your book is not a good way to market yourself as an author. Why? because it annoys people. It become spam. Rubbish. Your emails will begin to be deleted unread. If you want people to purchase your book you need to get yourself out there. Make a website. Get your book reviewed. Get yourself interviewed. Join an author's message board. Put up flyers at your local shops.
You have to make people WANT to read your books. You cannot force them. It is not how it is done. I hate marketing myself. In a perfect world I would have nothing to do with the marketing part of writing. I would just hand over a manuscript when it is done and then go home to start work on the next one. That is not how the world works though. As an author I have to make an effort to promote myself. I have to learn about marketing and business. What I should not be doing is crawling up to people on my knees and with my hands clenched together and shouting "PLEASE! PLEASE BUY MY BOOK!"
It is authors spamming authors basically. It makes me want to delete my LinkedIn account. Begging people to purchase your book is not a good way to market yourself as an author. Why? because it annoys people. It become spam. Rubbish. Your emails will begin to be deleted unread. If you want people to purchase your book you need to get yourself out there. Make a website. Get your book reviewed. Get yourself interviewed. Join an author's message board. Put up flyers at your local shops.
You have to make people WANT to read your books. You cannot force them. It is not how it is done. I hate marketing myself. In a perfect world I would have nothing to do with the marketing part of writing. I would just hand over a manuscript when it is done and then go home to start work on the next one. That is not how the world works though. As an author I have to make an effort to promote myself. I have to learn about marketing and business. What I should not be doing is crawling up to people on my knees and with my hands clenched together and shouting "PLEASE! PLEASE BUY MY BOOK!"
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