Category Archives: Literature

March 20, 2014 · 8:04 am

Karaoke Noveling

Goodness knows I have read my share of badly written books over the last three years. There is no way to describe the agony of seeing a perfectly good novel devoured by excessive descriptions and overblown characters whose moves and emotions are described to the last detail.

So I don’t.

Instead I focus on the really awesome books I have enjoyed, many of twhich will never be best sellers because they are just one drop in an ocean of books. But that too will change, I think.

Right now, there is this sort of Karaoke Culture going in regard to writing genre-novels. It’s an “anything you can do, I can do better” sort of philosophy, and while it’s not necessarily terrible, it’s flooding the market with less than stellar works by people who really only have one book in them, and not a great one at that. At some point, this flood of indies will peak and then level out and those who are in it for the long haul will gain better visibility.

In actuality, every indie author is a Karaoke Star–at first we begin as amateurs who dream big, standing up in front of a crowd and putting our talents (or lack thereof) on the line. We find out that the more you drink, the better we sound, and when you applaud our efforts, it only encourages us.

Some of us become so encouraged, we quit our day jobs and go pro–to our families’ shock and horror.

Regardless of how badly written a book is, the author had passion for it, and just like the guy who mutilated “Billie Jean” with all his drunken heart in the Karaoke Bar the other night, the author did their best against huge odds.

I have some hard-earned advice for new authors, those of you who want to leave the ranks of the Karaoke novelists. If you are really serious about your work, get your work professionally edited. Yes, it will cost you, but that experience will enable you to put a book out there that you can be proud of, one that will stand up to any put out by the big publishers.

You might wonder what prompted this little rant–I have just spent the week looking through five reasonably priced, beautifully covered indie books–only to discover they were poorly formatted, rife with newbie errors–beginning the book with a big info dump (been there done that)–thick, lush descriptions of “creamy blue eyes” (pardon, must barf now)–and threads to nowhere, obviously intended to entice the reader to get the sequel, which is now on my “No way in hell” list. My response? “If you went to the trouble to find expensive art for the cover, you could have had the freaking mess professionally edited. Don’t tell me your friends edited it for you, because the way it looks now, your best chums aren’t doing you any favors.”

Indies–aren’t you glad I only review the books I like? I don’t want to be known for being a bitch, which is what I feel like when I read some of these travesties. You see–I have been there. I started out that way and I didn’t get it either. But experience is a real teacher, and more than anything, I love this craft, and want to be the best I can be at it, whether I sell a book or not.

Thus, after grousing and yelling for two days this week, I decided to reread an old favorite, and will be blogging on my review blog about a book that was published in 1997. I have read it twice, and each time I am swept away by it. Tomorrow, I will be talking about it on Best in Fantasy. My posts go up by 8:00 in the morning US west coast Pacific time. If you are curious as to what book I am talking about, stop by tomorrow!

EDIT:

Review of “Fall of Angels” by L.E. Modesitt Jr.

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Filed under Adventure, Books, Fantasy, Humor, Literature, Publishing, Romance, Uncategorized, writer, writing

Tagged as adventure, battles, books, fantasy, fiction, humor, Karaoke, literature, writing

March 16, 2014 · 8:59 am

The Wayward Plot

If you happen to be a character in a fantasy tale maps are awesome indicators of what direction you should probably point your horse, whenever you are off on a nice vacation in Hell. However, the wise hero also carries a calendar, and perhaps a pocket watch, since even the most absurd quests have a finite date of completion.

I’m not sure what would have happened if Frodo and Sam hadn’t arrived at the volcano in time to scorch Sauron’s plans, so to speak–and what if Gollum had not gotten the memo? Who would have leapt into the lava?

“…After you, Samwise, old buddy, old friend….”

“…Ah….no Mr. Frodo…. Please, you go first….”

SO, even though maps and calendars as created by frail, elderly authors are NOT finite, and nothing is exact or engraved in stone, the wise author uses both when constructing the tale. Sure in the end you don’t use exact dates, nor do you use exact miles–if you do, you won’t get it right and your editor will pick it to bits.

Remember, in fantasy, time and distance are mushy, but it really helps to have some idea of when all the important bits are supposed to come together.

Even in this modern world of the GPS and Atomic Clocks, each individual traveler arrives at their destination at a different time and by a different route. Take my family: My husband and I will have the family dinner scheduled for 1:00 on the given holiday, but family members will arrive at varying times up to 3:00, all from the same general area of the north, and all of them funneled down I-5.

So when you are constructing your story, the calendar helps keep you on track, so that an event that takes 2 months for the main character also takes that length of time for the supporting characters.

For my books set in Neveyah, I invented a 13 month lunar calendar, and labeled the months with names drawn from astrology. I named the days of the week using norse gods (don’t ask me why–it was years ago, and I was writing the basic outline of TOWER OF BONES as the walk-though for an old-school RPG that never got built.) Since the book was not originally graphed out as a book, there are flaws inherent in this that I am dealing with to this day!

But those flaws are creating some awesome plot opportunities in Valley of Sorrows, the final book in the TOWER OF BONES series. I just have to make sure I use the calendar to mesh events in the first half of the book with the events in FORBIDDEN ROAD, because John Farmer and Garran Andressson absolutely must be in Braden when Edwin, Friedr, and Zan arrive.

The second half of the book is pretty much structured, but the first half is giving me fits. As Alison DeLuca, author of the steampunk Crown Phoenix Series frequently says, it’s like birthing a cement hippo. Still, it is beginning to come together.

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Tagged as adventure, Art, battles, books, cartography, fantasy, fiction, Frodo and Samwise, humor, literature, lunar calendar, mythology, Steampunk

March 12, 2014 · 6:54 am

Wringing inspiration from a stone

Writing is sometimes a bit of a struggle. Some days you just have to force it, and if you get a thousand words, you’ve scored! It isn’t that I have lost my fire for this tale–on the contrary–I love these characters and their story incredibly. I’m just at a spot where I am not sure how to proceed.

I’m building up to an important moment in the tale. I know what has to happen. I know who must be there and what they will do–I just can’t set the scene in my head. Gradually, one conversation at a time, it is taking shape.

When I see it in my head it is one thing. When I see it on the screen, it’s another. Pulling this out of my head is worse than cleaning the refrigerator.

It’s amazing, the stuff that you find.

So–I’ve come up with a plan. I made the plan so that I would have something to do when I was not writing what I was trying to write. Making plans is really a good diversionary tactic for when you are avoiding doing something that you should be doing.

Like writing.

So I work on business until my head hurts. Then I write a little. Then I do some things around the house but not too much–I don’t want my husband to think I’ve turned into a domestic diva or something. And then I write a little more.

Then I blog.

Then I write a little. Then I read, which is a lot more fun than any of the above.

Then I get my behind back in the chair and force myself to write, even though I know whatever falls out of my head won’t remain in the book in this incarnation. It will be filtered through me, the betas and then the editors, so the point is to just get that idea out there onto the paper.

Why is it so stinking hard?.

It’s like having to work on Saturday, and hoping that when you get home your spouse or the kids will have done the dishes.

You know the house will be trashed, and the darlings will be starving despite the mountain of cereal bowls in the sink–and you know it will be your job to rush around like a freak solving the problem.

But when it’s done, and the first draft of your manuscript is finished, it’s so worth the effort.

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Tagged as adventure, Art, battles, books, fantasy, fiction, humor, literature, writing

March 10, 2014 · 8:44 am

Spanking L. E. Modesitt Jr.

I’m just going to say at the outset, I love L. E. Modesitt Jr. and his work. But my very FAVORITE series of books has a huge failing–the MAPS SUCK! In Fall of Angels, The Chaos Balance, Magii of Cyador and Scion of Cyador, and all of which take place BEFORE the world of Recluce is dramatically altered, the main characters are traveling all over the continent to places that DON’T EXIST on the maps provided in the front of the books! (I’d add another exclamation point or two, but it would look like I’m hyperventilating.) (Gasp.)

However, I do understand how such a thing happens. Being an indie, I am responsible for providing some sort of mappy-thing in the front of my own books and that is where it actually gets a bit dicey.

The thing is–maps, unless they are drawn by satellite GPS, are inherently WRONG in regard to actual distances and such. All they can do is provide a general idea of where the cartographer thought things were.

As a tool, I draw my own maps, when I am writing the tale so I will have some idea of where the heck they are going, but I am not a cartographer. All maps drawn by me are only a picture of where one town might lay in relationship to another, a general idea of things.

Being an avid map checker, it frustrates me when there is no way to see what the author is talking about when he takes his characters from one place to another. I’m not asking for accuracy here, just a general scribble on the back of a napkin would be awesome–some indication of the direction and the lay of the land, such as mountains, forests and harbors.

BUT FOR THE LOVE OF TOLSTOY DON’T PUT MAPS IN THE FRONT OF THE BOOK THAT HAVE NO RELATIONSHIP TO THE TALE.

L.E. Modesitt Jr. has a new Cyador book coming out in May, Cyador’s Heirs, and I have already preordered it. I can hardly wait–it’s almost like waiting for Harry Potter! Oh, mighty publishing giant who prints these wondrous creations PLEASE — make the bloody maps pertain to the actual book! Don’t make me stop this car!

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Tagged as adventure, cartography, Do you like my Tolstoy Tattoo, Don't make me stop this car, Fall of Angels, fantasy, fiction, humor, L.E. Modesitt Jr., main characters, Map making, maps, Modesitt Jr., Tolstoy, writing

March 4, 2014 · 8:25 am

Hyphen help us–

You thought hell was getting that manuscript written and ready for submission. You thought the rest was going to be easy.

Oh, no, my friend.

True hell is discovered in the editing process of your manuscript. This is when you realize that (among other failings) your knowledge of how hyphenated words really work is somewhat lacking.

Oh sure, everyone agrees that a compound word is a combination of two or more words that function as a single unit of meaning. Most of us even know that there are two types of compounds: those written as single words, with no hyphenation and which are called “closed compounds”– such as the word “bedspread,” AND the “hyphenated compounds,” such as “jack-in-the-box” and “self-worth.”

But there is a third group, and they are the bane of my life–those mysterious, ephemeral denizens of the deepest corner of writer’s hell, called open compounds. These seemingly innocent instruments of torture are written as separate words–the nouns “school bus” and “decision making,” for example.

But how do I tell if it’s one word, two words or a hyphenated word?

1. Do not use a hyphen unless it serves a purpose. If a compound adjective cannot be misread or, as with many psychological terms, its meaning is established, a hyphen is not necessary.

For example:

covert learning techniques, health care reform, day treatment program, sex role differences, grade point average

2. Do use one in a temporary compound that is used as an adjective before a noun, use a hyphen if the term can be misread or if the term expresses a single thought:

For example:

“the children resided in two parent homes” means that two homes served as residences, whereas if the children resided in “two-parent homes,” they each would live in a household headed by two parents. In that case, a properly placed hyphen helps the reader understand the intended meaning.

3. We also use hyphens for compound words that fall into these catagories:

a. the base word is capitalized: pro-African

b. numbers: post-1910, twenty-two

c. an abbreviation: pre-ABNA manuscript

d. more than one word: non-achievement-oriented students

d. All “self-” compounds whether they are adjectives or nouns such as self-report, self-esteem, self-paced.

4. We hyphenate words that could be misunderstood when there are diverse meanings if they’re unhyphenated:

re-pair (to pair again) as opposed to repair (to mend)

re-form (to form again) as opposed to reform (to improve)

5. We hyphenate words in which the prefix ends and the base word begins with the same vowel:

meta–analysis, anti–intellectual

But really, unless you are a technical writer, how often are we going to use these terms? Hence, the confusion when we DO use them.

Getting it write online dot com says, “One way to decide if a hyphen is necessary is to see if the phrase might be ambiguous without it. For example, “large-print paper” might be unclear written as “large print paper” because the reader might combine “print” and “paper” as a single idea rather than combining “large” and “print.” Another such example is “English-language learners.” Without the hyphen, a reader might think we are talking about English people who are learning any language rather than people who are learners of the English language.”

Write most words formed with prefixes and suffixes as one word with NO hyphen.

Prefixes: Afterglow, extracurricular, multiphase, socioeconomic

Sufixes: Arachnophobia, wavelike, angiogram

Hooray for Merriam-Webster! One can also look the word up in an online dictionary, to see the various different ways it can be combined. Just go to:

http://www.merriam-webster.com

Now the real point of all this is that no matter how much I know when I am editing for another author, I always manage to screw up my own work amazingly well–it’s like my finger has a twitch that absolutely MUST add a hyphen! (Or a semi-colon, but that’s another post.)

Curses on the hyphen!

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Tagged as adventure, battles, books, Do you like my Tolstoy Tattoo, fantasy, fiction, humor, literature, the correct use of the hyphen, To hyphenate or not, writing

March 1, 2014 · 7:43 am

Words as Swords

Grammar is such a pain. We all speak naturally in a dialect that is indicative of where we live, and there are certain peculiarities that will emerge in our scribbles.

*doh*

I was raised by a set of parents who adored words. Long words, short words, rhyming words– my siblings and I learned words at a young age and we know how to use them and in what context.

Of course, many of the words I was taught were unique to my family, apparently, but words were important and they were celebrated.

Periodically Dad would “lose his words” and what came out of his mouth at that point we were not to repeat….

I have this wealth of words in my head, and yet when I get to cruising on a tale, I inadvertently use the same words rather frequently, as if my head is stuck in a rut.

Words have power. Words can build nations and words can tear them down. “When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

William Shakespeare adored words too, and is credited with inventing over 1700 of the words we use today. He did this by changing nouns into verbs, and connecting words together that had never been used before. Some of these words include ‘bedroom’ and ‘courtship.’

Words can win a persons love, and words can destroy a relationship forever. “Where love is great, the littlest doubts are fear….”

To have the chance to wallow in words all day long, and get paid for it is more than amazing, it is what I always dreamed of. I live for words, to write them, to read them — to play with them. I get to quote Shakespeare! “Cry ‘havoc,’ and let slip the dogs of war….”

Long words, short words, life is built around words.

“Without the which we are pictures, or mere beasts…..”

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Tagged as adventure, battles, books, fantasy, fiction, humor, knights, literature, William Shakespeare, Words, writing

February 26, 2014 · 9:25 am

Fantasy–It’s a Mystery

My favorite books to read are, of course, fantasy. But I love mysteries too, and guess what? The best fantasy books involve a deep mystery.

In the best fantasy tales, at the outset quests are undertaken to achieve a goal against terrible odds, and the basis of that goal could be an object with a mysterious history, or it could be to kill a despot with immense power, the source of which is–a mystery.

And then, once the heroes are made aware of the whereabouts of the object (or person) they seek, the mystery deepens. Obstructions appear in their path, things that both block and enlighten them as they overcome them. With each small victory they learn something new, some random thing that might ultimately be the final clue to removing the source of power from the evil dude’s grasp, thus ending his reign of terror.

During the process of this, the heroes grow as people. Where they were comfortable in their secure, middle-class existence, or naive but worldly street-urchins, the experience of solving the mystery and enduring the hardships to arrive at the final scene changes them, some for the better, and some–maybe not.

This also happens in a great murder mystery, or a gripping political thriller. In writing classes and groups this is called the story arc, but in my opinion, it’s just the basis of good story. For authors just starting out, StoryStarter.com has a great page.

Along the way, the questers may encounter things that don’t appear in the real world we currently live in, and for me that’s part of the fun.

I grew up in a very rural area, surrounded by deep woods. We left Seattle and moved there when I was nine. Beyond the perimeter of our property lay terrifying things–bears, wildcats–things a nine-year old city-girl has no idea of how to deal with.

Daily, my sister and I walked up a 1/4 mile long dirt driveway through the forest to the school bus. A large hill was in the center, and for the first year I lived there, I hated the place more than anything. I hated the school, I hated the bus, I hated my parents for destroying my life.

Sometimes our father would have to drive us to school, if bears were in the horse pasture that bordered our property. We would drive past, and he would point out the wonders and explain that with a mother bear and her cub in the horse pasture, we had to be very careful that morning. “They’re rare, and we’re fortunate to be able to see them once in a while. It’s just the mother will see you as a danger to her cub, so no bus for you today.”

All I knew was the woods were full of danger, and my parents apparently didn’t care, because they made me walk through them daily. I did walk through them and gradually, as summer vacation loomed, I began to see the possibilities of living in a lake-house, where there was no restriction on how many days you swam.

That first summer I discovered waterskiing, and my whole point of view about living all year round in a vacation-house was changed. Over the first few months I learned to love the deep woods around us, and to know and recognize the birds and animals who grudgingly endured our noisy, selfish presence.

This personal journey from ignorance to understanding the characters go through while solving the underlying mystery is one of the most important elements of a story. It is hard to know how a character will react to a given situation, and that is the best part of writing them.

Ross Kitson’s epic Darkness Rising series is one of my favorites, because the circumstances force the characters to evolve in unexpected ways. Jeffrey Getzin’s fabulous Prince of Bryonae and his novellas featuring D’Arbignal are also good examples of how circumstances shape characters.

I highly recommend both these indie authors, if you are looking for high quality indie fantasy.

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Tagged as Art, books, D'Arbignal, Darkness Rising, deep mystery, fantasy, fiction, humor, Jeffrey Getzin, literature, magic, mystery, Ross M. Kitson, writing

February 22, 2014 · 6:33 am

Name that Kid

A Facebook friend of mine whose given name is ‘Tad’ remarked that he had never liked his name, that he had always felt more like a Christopher. I can totally relate! I was stuck with a not-too-goofy first name, Connie, which I never really liked, but my middle name…. To this day I can’t spell it with out concentrating really hard: Lieuettice.

In a way I understand my mother’s dilemma. Good names are hard to think up! My friend, Irene, is always hammering at me to give my characters names that don’t all start with the same letters…which I wish I had thought about earlier on in the Tower of Bones series (doh).

So lately I’ve had to resort to my handy list of Saxon Names. Or my list of Popular Viking Baby Names. “Come here, BRÖKK, my fine, strapping hero…put on this armor and at least look like you want to go out and wrestle a dragon….you and DAGFINNR can pillage the village when you’re done.”

So, my dilemma in my current work in progress is that two of the female characters have names that begin with the same letter. When I began writing the series, I didn’t realize the second character would become so important in the story–and now, three books into the series, I CAN’T CHANGE HER NAME! (bangs head on desk.)

But, instead of sitting here, wailing “Why, why why?” I suppose I should just get on with writing the story.

Note to self: Always name your character names that begin with different letters–there are twenty-six letters in the English alphabet, for the love of Tolstoy…and if we get into the Elder Futhark we can use all those lovely runes….

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Tagged as adventure, Art, battles, Elder Futhark, humor, knights, literature, Names, Runes, Tad Williams, Vikings, writing

February 20, 2014 · 8:00 am

Midnight Blues

Two days ago I woke at 3:30 a.m. with the plot of a short-story in my head. People often ask me where I get the idea for some of the more obscure things I write, and I tell them I literally dream them up. They think I am kidding, but it’s true. Some of my best stories have arrived in the middle of the night–the real trick is to get up, go to the computer and write it down.

After all these years I have learned to do just that.

My husband is used to me getting out of bed and going to work at all hours of the night. How do you sleep when your head is a television? My imagination is killing me, and since I have my main bursts of energy during the strangest times of night, I get a lot done before noon. Anything after that could be a wash-out as I might be napping in an upright position, a corpse at the keyboard.

What I do is give the tale a working title, one that will be changed to a better title later. I write down the basic plot as I remember it, and the characters.

If I had any names in the idea I woke up with, I write them down, otherwise I give them temporary names. I give the environment it’s name and write down the feelings I had of the dream environment.

Then I note every thing else I can remember about it–sounds, tastes, smells–anything that might make the story more real.

In the final outline, most of these things will be boiled down, changed to make a cohesive tale, as my dreams tend to be quite random.

This is not to say that all my dreams are worth writing about–that is absolutely not the case, although they are often hilarious and sometimes confusing.

Some of my dreams are frightening, and make me go “hmmm….”

The point is, inspiration comes to us from the most random of places. Unfortunately, some of the best story ideas have come to me while driving, and that is a real stinker–there I am on the interstate, and the best plot idea I’ve ever had is fighting for my attention, demanding to be written down–which is definitely not an option at that point!

I am no longer allowed to drive with my laptop propped on the steering wheel, go figure. I have gotten off the highway and sat in a gas-station parking lot, jotting down the idea, on whatever is available. Once it is written down, I can go on my way, and concentrate on driving with no distractions.

Unfortunately, I seldom use my handwriting skills any more–the ease of communicating via the keyboard has eroded that all-important penmanship I once received high grades for. Four months later, when cleaning out the car, I will perhaps find a napkin covered in indecipherable chicken-scratches.

If I don’t toss it with the rest of the litter, which is the smart option, I will take it to my office (the infamous Room of Shame) and go over it with a magnifying glass, like Jean-François Champollion trying to decipher the Rosetta Stone.

Nine time out of ten I give up, frustrated; one more glorious idea gone forever, shot to hell in the world of the ephemeral.

Why is there never a translator of obscure texts around when you need one?

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Tagged as adventure, battles, Dreams, fantasy, fiction, Glorious ideas shot to hell, humor, literature, My head is a television, romance, writing

February 17, 2014 · 9:46 am

The Bitter Pill

One of the most confusing things about being an indie author is pricing your book. Quite honestly, if you price it too high–I probably won’t buy it unless you are my dear friend (don’t worry Tad Williams, I will sell my car to get your next book.)

For me, anything over $4.99 is too high, and $2.99 is the perfect spot. I love those $0.99 books too!

I am sorry, Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory–your publisher has priced you out of the ballpark for me–I read four to six books each week and will not be able to pre-order The House of Four Winds for my Kindle. In fact, at that price, I will have to wait until the paperback turns up at my local second-hand book store.

In a recent post discussing Hugh Howey‘s report, Author Earnings: the Report, on her excellent blog, The Militant Writer, Mary Walters boiled it down to manageable chunks and made a great many good points. One in particular is of great interest to those of us trying to choose a publishing path, and who may be wavering between going indie, or remaining on a traditional path. She writes:

Readers are not buying traditionally published e-books as frequently as they are indie published e-books, because indie-published books cost less. Therefore, traditionally published authors are getting read less often, and are making less money per book sold than indie authors are.

This is important news for traditionally published authors.

It is also important news for major publishers, who are going to lose their authors if they don’t smarten up.

We won’t go into the impact all this is having on good literature, but Howey believes that the data suggests that “even stellar manuscripts are better off self-published.”

Speaking as an author this is sad, because I am like everyone who writes a book, secretly hoping to get picked up by a big publisher. On so many levels that would be a great honor, to have my work recognized by an industry I have always respected. But when I look at this conundrum as a reasonable human being, no one wants to be tied the wheel and sold into eternal serfdom for the rest of their writing career. No one wants to be forced to write stale sequel after sequel, just because the first book rocked and now the series brand is a guaranteed sale for the publisher. Where is the joy of creativity in that?

This is where each author must make a key decision regarding what we will commit our energy to: Will we court the favor of an industry that has much to offer us, but expects to be paid in more than their pound of flesh? Or will we soldier on, trying to find that sweet-spot that Hugh Howey has found, and perhaps hit the big time through our own efforts?

I choose to follow in Mr. Howey’s footsteps. I haven’t been that successful yet, but what I earn is mine. I am the captain of my ship, and if I fail to navigate the shark-infested waters of publishing, at least I have given it my best effort. I will continue to price my books as reasonably as I can, and hope that with persistent efforts on my part, their sales will gain ground.

The harsh truth is that the big publishers are rushing to publish manuscripts by big name authors that are just as poorly edited and just as abysmally plotted as those in the $0.99 bin at Amazon.com. How many paperbacks have you bought, gotten halfway through them, and said, “This is s**t!”… ?

I would rather pay less than $12.99 for that privilege, thank you.

I find that traditionally published books are fraught with problems just as frequently as not, and it pisses me off, because the big publishers LOUDLY proclaim their quality is superior, when time has proven it is not necessarily so. This is why I go to the secondhand bookstore for the traditionally published books, and haunt the Kindle store, looking for the indies.

There is gold out there in those inexpensive Kindle books, and I am vindicated every time I read a true gem. This is why I blog about the books I love on my Best in Fantasy blog–an attempt to bring attention to the many amazing books that entertain me.