1000

One thousand is a nice round number. Not as much as it used to be monetarily perhaps, but still, nothing to sneer at.

Today my blog passed 1000 hits. One of my publishers had urged me to write a blog and I did, never thinking anyone would read it. I realize some people are repeats, but I like that. I would hate to think someone stopped by once and never returned.

So yea! Thanks to you all for dropping by, to all who have written, and to all who have purchased my books. I know some writers write simply for the joy of the craft. I am not one of those. I do love to write, but I write for my readers.

The artwork is by one of my favorites, Amy Brown. This is her Believe diva. Thanks for believing in me.

Write What You Know….Maybe

“Write what you know” is one of the more common writer’s maxims. I think there’s some truth to that; penning tales about where you live, what you do, or things you’ve experienced gives a realism that is very evident in your words. And, it’s easier. I don’t have to check much when I write about the Midwest, psychology, or learning how to dance. Been there, done that.

But what about writing outside your experience? Well…science fiction and fantasy writers have done that for decades. The caveat, of course, is that these places aren’t real…at least, as yet they are not proven. And so created aliens can drink chortap and feast on whila bread to their green heart’s content.

Actual places are a different story.

The current book I’m writing takes place in Malaysia (hence the guide book I’m reading). It’s been an interesting journey. A while back I decided to write a novel about two women in one body. I’ve always been interested in the Hindu goddess Kali, who also has a duel aspect. And then I read an article about child slavery in Malaysia which horrified me. (I’m not targeting Malaysia. Slavery happens in many places, I just happened to read this article.)

And so all of those things combined and cooked. I resisted for awhile; I knew this would be a big project because there was so much I didn’t know. Needless to say I don’t have the experience of sharing my body with another soul, but I could create that…I don’t know anyone who would call me on mistakes. :-) However, although I know a bit about the Hindu religion, I’m no expert. I knew absolutely nothing about Malaysia. I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t even know exactly where it was, let alone anything about the food, the culture, the politics except some current sound bites about Tamil Tigers.

And here I am writing a book set mostly in Kuala Lumper and the surrounding jungles. Hard work? Yes. Every time I want to say something like “so and so met in a nearby coffee shop” I have to stop and do research. Do they have coffee shops? If so, what are they like? How do people greet one another? What do locals wear? And all of that for one small paragraph.

I like researching new places because I learn so much. Also, I think when something touches you the way that article did about children sold into slavery, I believe you have to go with it.

Maybe that writer’s rule should be write about what speaks to you, whether that is the tried and true or something more exotic. I love including the Midwest in my stories; it is my home and part of me. But the shivery excitement that comes from immersing myself into a foreign place is also wonderful.

The cool part about writing is you can do both. Writing can be as comfortable as an old shoe, or fling you out into the galaxy. What other profession does that?

Sigh. I love it.

I'm So Silly

And rather embarrassed. A reader wrote and said that while the directions to converting my Ebooks to Kindle were good, it was much easier to go to Fictionwise and purchase them Kindle-ready. SIGH. I forgot my books were there too.

It is much easier...and cheaper.

http://www.fictionwise.com/

To answer another question, my young adult books are my favorite. Also, if you purchase Symphony of Scent, if it feels like at the end there are more stories to be told you are correct...I have two more in that series that I decided not to sell to that publisher. Someday they will all be together again. :-)

Ebooks and The Kindle

When I sold my books I had several people say “let me know when you’ve sold a “real” book because I don’t read things electronically.” While that was a bit hurtful… Ebooks are very much “real” books and some might say the wave of the future… I understood. It is hard to read books on the computer and costly to print.

And then came the Kindle. Trouble is, my publishers didn’t sell via Amazon, so my novels could not be read on the Kindle.

Until now.

Amazon, in its infinite wisdom, now has the technology to enable you to do just that. So…if you’ve wanted to read one of my novels and the only thing holding you back was Kindle inadaptability, you can feel free to read one. Or two. Or all. :-) My publishers are all listed on my website. You buy the book there and then send to your Kindle.

Below are the directions. My husband, the computer geek, tried the Amazon ones and edited them to how they actually worked, including that there is a small fee (a couple of bucks) to send to the Kindle which they don’t tell you about even though the address contains the word "free."

I’m also going to put these directions on my website under the “FAQs”.

Wow. I’m actually becoming Gadget Girl.

How to Convert Ebooks to Kindle:

1.Open a new e-mail message in your e-mail client.

2.Check to make sure the "From" address you are using is on your Kindle approved e-mail address list (see Manage My Kindle on Amazon’s site).

3.Enter the desired Kindle e-mail address in the "To" field. Use the "name"@Kindle.com address for wireless delivery, or "name"@free.kindle.com for free delivery to the e-mail address associated with your Amazon.com account.

4.Attach your document or documents to the e-mail message. If you are sending multiple files, you can compress them into a .ZIP file.

5.Send the e-mail with attachments. A subject line is not needed.
a.Personal documents below 5 MB in officially supported file formats are typically delivered to the "name"@Kindle.com e-mail address within 5 minutes (per document). Personal documents above 5 MB may take longer.
b.Personal documents below 5 MB in officially supported file formats are typically ready for wireless auto-delivery to your Kindle within 5 minutes (per document), not including actual wireless download time, which will vary with file size. Personal documents above 5 MB may take longer.
c.Personal documents in other file formats (such as PDF files) may take longer.
d.Your e-mail provider may have additional limitations on file size.

Note: You must have your Kindle account set up for receiving emailed documents. This includes selecting a method of payment for received files.

Book Review

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan

I love fiction best, but I enjoy reading non fiction too. I’m not a big fan of biographies, unless it is someone very special to me. Most often my non fiction forays are of a scientific nature. Being a psychologist by schooling, I delve most often into the human based sciences, although I’m a sucker for anything Diane Ackerman has written. Anyway.

When I say I enjoy science books I do have a few qualifies. First and foremost, said book must be written in a way I can understand. I enjoy reading Stephen Hawkins, but sometimes he writes way over this reader’s head. My second stipulation is that the science writer can write; I want beautiful prose and gorgeous descriptive paragraphs just like I do in fiction. Third, the scientist must either be a scientist, or accurately research scientists and their work. Psychology uses the scientific method just like a chemist, and I know it when I see it. Fourth, although anyone who writes a book has an opinion, I neither want to be hit over the head, nor do I want to see just one side. Present all information, thank you very much, and let me decide.

And that’s exactly what Pollan does. He has an opinion. What his book says, if I had to boil it down to one sentence, is to be more mindful of what you eat. He doesn’t tell you what to eat, just that you might want to consider your nourishment a bit more. His research is sound. He presents his information on why you should care about what you put into your mouth in a compelling, simple, and thoughtful way. What he also does is describe the various places he visits with such clarity that I was alternately horrified and filled with wonder. He is that good of a writer.

I have another reason for choosing scientific books now and then; they inspire my fiction. Reading about the world in all of its complexities is, at the very least, thought provoking. A book written about how we eat, why we eat, what we eat, and how all of that is interwoven within the very fabric of our being has caused me to deeply ponder the cyclic nature of death and how we in the western world are so removed from it. Will that feed (pardon the pun) into my current novel about Kali, Hindu goddess of death and renewal?

You can bet on it.

No Time to Pout

After waiting more than the allotted time, the agent reading one of my novels didn't want it. Sigh.

I understand the process: if they liked the query then it's a good story idea, if they liked the first three chapters then you can write, if they want to read the whole book it means they are considering if they can sell it.

"Good" and "selling" are two different things.

I get this is a business thing, and not a right cross punch to my writing or my book. I also know it's an honor to have been read by this woman; she represents famous people.

I know all of that. But I was still bummed. For about an hour. Ok, really upset for an hour and pouty all evening. Next morning I resumed my agent search. I had another group of queries all ready to go. I’ve learned from past experience that a Bad News Plan is empowering.

So I’m back on track. Done sniveling. I understand what happened. Yet I still went down the “I’m no good” route and even descended, if only for a few minutes, into the "I quit mode.”

Why would I do that? I think it’s because I hadn’t thought of agents as working stiffs like the rest of us.

In my former life I was a corporate psychologist. I worked with a partner most of the time, usually they were male. This worked out rather nicely, because some clients have a gender preference. But there was more to it than that. Sometimes a client and I just didn’t click. Didn’t mean there was anything wrong with the client…or me. We just didn’t fit. My partner and I regularly “exchanged” people.

I knew right away if I could help someone. But just in case I was wrong, I met them more than once. Most of the time my first impression proved correct. By the end of my career I could usually tell if I could work with someone in about five minutes.

Longer than it takes, no doubt, for an agent to decide if he or she believes my book is sellable.

So why, after reading chapters, would an agent ask to read the whole thing? Can’t they tell immediately? I think they do know right away when something hits them as sellable. However, agents, like anyone else, need to have a stocked work queue. And like me seeing a client more than once just to make sure, a good agent needs to test instincts once in awhile.

So Ms. Agent is sent something a bit outside of what she thinks she might sell. She asks to read the entire manuscript and makes a few phone calls. No one she knows wants it.

Bottom line is, it doesn’t matter if she likes it. She has to sell it. And if she doesn’t know anyone who would buy it, then why in the world would she take it?

The key phrase here is no one she knows would probably buy it. Agents, like writers, specialize. They have to in today’s competitive market. But…just because she doesn’t know anyone who would buy it, doesn’t mean another agent wouldn’t.

She wasn’t the right agent for me. But there’s one out there. And um, now would be a good time for you to make yourself known, OK?

:-)

Book Review

Winter Moon was actually a triad of stories by C.E.Murphy, Mercedes Lackey, and Tanith Lee. As I started the first story by Lackey I couldn’t get interested. It seemed to drag. The second one by Lee also did and I was confused. I love Tanith Lee.

Then I realized what had happened. These stories had come on the heels of my Twilight immersion. Then I got it. They weren’t slow, just not at the heart stopping pace of Twilight.

So I settled in. In some ways all of these authors, especially Lee and Lackey, write in an old fashioned way. They preserve the feeling of high fantasy. You feel as if you’ve been dropped into a Dungeons and Dragons game. This is not a bad thing; the stories slowly draw themselves out like a fine skein of wool, inviting you to discover and enjoy the subtle colors and texture of the tale. The prose is rich and descriptive, the vocabulary beautiful. I didn’t feel as if I had to finish; I knew the stories would be waiting for me anytime I wanted to indulge.

And so I’ve come to realize that for me, both kinds of literature are “good” writing. The Twilight saga because I could think of nothing else while I was reading them. Tanith Lee and the others because of the exquisite language and storytelling. Something to consider. And to strive for.