F is for Farland

David Farland (aka David Wolverton) has been around for a while. He's taught some of the greatest writers of our day and is constantly engaged in teaching more. He's the perfect example of a life-long career writer, from his win 25 years ago in Writers of the Future to his most recent book, the young-adult fantasy, NIGHTINGALE. (Where you'll find my name in the acknowledgments!)

I've never been able to travel to one of his awesome workshops (though I know those who have and they rave), but I've been able to sit at his feet at several other lectures and classes. He knows his stuff, folks. From the most basic composition questions to what books and marketing will be like in the future, he's got the experience and the flexibility to survive long after wimpy writers fall by the wayside. If you can possibly get to his upcoming Superstars of Writing seminar (with enough of his bestseller friends to make anyone drool), it's coming up fast on April 30-May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

I can't talk about David, though, without mentioning his brother, Jim. Jim has been helping David for years. Jim sends out the Daily Kick (which you really should subscribe to) and, in 2010, came up with the idea to start up an online community of writer's groups, to help those without a group find one. Pure Genius.

I live in a small city. There are a few writers around here, but not enough to form a great let's-get-together pool. For over a year, I tried to get a writer's group going, if only for the motivation. Didn't work out. So I joined David Farland's Writer's Groups with rejoicing as soon as the first forum opened up.

David and Jim are also responsible for letting me host David Farland's Authors' Advisory. That's a podcast where I, along with my cohost, Mike, interview awesome authors on a conference call that anyone can join in on. I've been a total slacker for a few months in setting up guests but I love love LOVE talking to authors about writing. Plus, it's the perfect excuse to approach them at conferences! :)

In short, I owe a lot of my little place in our writing community to David Farland and his brother Jim. Without them, I'd probably still be struggling with motivation and trying to find a writer's group that fits my needs. I can't express how thankful I am to them both.

Which writers have impacted your writing / life / career?

How NOT to Write a Query 2

I'm still busy trying to fix my own query, so, until I get tired of it, I'm going to continue this feature. Mostly because it was fun last time. :)

Here's how the game is played: I take an excellent book blurb for a book I love that has demonstrably good sales (so it WORKS), and I see how badly I can screw it up. Sort of reverse-engineering it back to the drivel that it might have started out as, if the author had been a noob like me.

Today's book is in honor of my next Authors' Advisory guest: Jessica Day George. (She'll be talking about Retelling Fairy Tales, if you wanna come join us. Wednesday night. 8:45 EST. Just saying.) I love soo many of her books, but her newest is my favorite. Here's the real blurb:

Tuesdays at Castle Glower are Princess Celie's favorite days. That's because on Tuesdays the castle adds a new room, a turret, or sometimes even an entire wing. No one ever knows what the castle will do next, and no one-other than Celie, that is-takes the time to map out the new additions. But when King and Queen Glower are ambushed and their fate is unknown, it's up to Celie, with her secret knowledge of the castle's never-ending twists and turns, to protect their home and save their kingdom. This delightful book from a fan- and bookseller-favorite kicks off a brand-new series sure to become a modern classic.

Sounds awesome, yes? It is. Magic castles rock.

So, this is how it could all have gone terribly wrong (again--don't do this with your own query):

Celie's brother is training to be the next king--and the castle she lives in likes him enough to move his rooms right next to the throne room. Her sister is regal and efficient, just like their mother, the queen. The castle likes her, too, and gives her lavish rooms to live in. But the castle likes Celie the best. It gives her ramps to slide down and turrets to hide in. All of which comes in handy when Celie's parents go to pick up her oldest brother from wizard school and don't make it home. As the Counsel moves to set up a regency and control the royal children and as foreign powers close in, the castle will have to help Celie protect her siblings and keep her country safe... until her parents come home.

Can you help me spot the flaws? Leave them in the comments: What did I do wrong, here?

In other news, it seems I'm not completely useless when I'm not writing a query, since my first page is a semi-finalist in Brenda Drake's Can We Guess Your Character's Age blogfest/contest! Yay!

UPDATE: I won first place!!!!

I'm a PODCASTER!

I know it will come as a shock, but this isn't my only blog. I also maintain David Farland's Authors' Advisory Conference Calls blog. There are other members of the team, and we've asked for tech advice from several other techies, but I'm the closest thing we have to in-house "tech support."

I know, I know. Laugh it up. Do you need a Kleenex?

So, anyway, we've wanted to provide the calls as a podcast for a long time, now. Callers have asked for it. All the other cool writing advice sites have podcasting. Wouldn't want to be different, right?

What's wrong with us? I just could not figure out how. I've researched it many a time and ended up confused, with a headache, and really no closer to the goal than I was before. It needed to be free, since we have no budget. It needed to be easy, since, well, let's face it: the internet really got going as I was starting college. My formative years were all pre-internet. I get along okay with most things, but computer genius I am not.

So finally, on my latest foray into the wild world of Let's-See-If-I-Can-Figure-This-Out... I DID IT!!!

Turns out, Blogger now works really well with Feedburner. Even provides a link to Feedburner in the help screen... and Feedburner is easy enough for a non-techie 30-something to use!!

And so, for all of you who have longed to have Authors's Advisory on your ITunes or other podcast players, head on over to the Authors' Advisory site and try it out.

Arrows not included

Then, after you've done that, please let me know if it worked for you, if you had any issues... and if you know how to fix those issues.

Thanks to all of you who have given me advice on this perplexing problem. Little by little, my brain finally figured out what you were talking about. Mostly.

The "Dreaded" Synopsis

See? Like this!

Have you ever written one of those synopsis thangs? Totally easy, right? I mean, it's not like you've never written a book report--we all had to write hundreds in school. Right? Now just write one on your book. And leave out all the boring parts. And the subplots. And anything that doesn't drive the main story toward the climax and conclusion. Oh, and make sure it's interesting and reflects the tone and voice of the story. And that it doesn't leave out any important parts, 'cause it really needs to make sense, too. And be about two pages long. Or less.

Cake.

Right.

Okay, so synopses are of the devil. Almost everyone agrees.

But not this girl:

Becca "Synopses aren't scary" Stumpf

Becca Stumpf works for The Prospect Agency, which requires one of the most elaborate initial-query packages out there... including a synopsis. Becca is one of the nicest people you could ever meet, and she assures me that synopses aren't scary. That they aren't just an elaborate torture device used by agents to see how much authors will endure as they complete impossible tasks to prove themselves worthy of representation. That they can be useful. And an important part of a complete query package.

And she's going to explain all that (along with giving tips on the rest of the query package) on an Authors' Advisory Conference Call next week, on Wednesday, September 28th, starting at 8:45 PM EST. There's such a wealth of information out there on how to write a good query, but not so much on how to write a good synopsis. Becca's going to help us fix that.

Right now, I'm building my outline of questions to ask her. Wanna help? I have tons of questions, but I'm still new to this synopsis-writing thing, so I'd appreciate some questions from those of you who have done more than me. Or who are new like me and can help add the obvious questions.

What parts of writing a synopsis do you just not get? What do you find the hardest to muddle through? Ever hear advice you thought was questionable? What else do you want to know about synopses?

Then be sure to call in next week and raise your hand to ask Becca questions yourself. Should be a very informative hour.

Why I love Janette Rallison

I've blogged before about the benefits of dark themes in YA. I truly believe that dark stuff can teach us something about life and how to survive it intact.

But what if we're not in the mood to learn about darkness, no matter how beneficial? What if we prefer lighter fare? What if we just want to feel good?

Enter Janette Rallison (and others like her). Janette deals with tough issues--don't mistake me here. Her books (her 18th comes out this October) deal with addiction, death, and betrayal--but always with a light-hearted spin. They make me laugh, they make me cry, and they make me feel good about life.

Oh, and they're always romantic. :) That's very important. Especially since Romance, Romance is the topic of Janette's Authors' Advisory Conference Call tomorrow night. She's going to tell us how to create a romantic story line--whether it's the main story or a subplot--and what the important elements of such a story line are.

As a special bonus, Janette has volunteered to give away two of her books as part of her conference call! I'm not going to tell you more right now--details will be discussed on the call. Call in, ask questions, and WIN!

"Which of Janette's fabulous books can I win?" I'm glad you asked.

How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend is about Giovanna, who has a really cool boyfriend Jesse... who agrees to support the mayor's son in his student body president campaign against her twin brother. Of COURSE she has to dump him, right? Ever hear of loyalty? Only, being Jesse's ex-girlfriend isn't as fun as the alternative. But how do you get your boyfriend back in the middle of a down-and-dirty election when you're on opposite sides of the war?

My Fair Godmother is about a normal girl. With normal problems. In the normal world. Who makes a normal wish for a princely prom date. Only she happens to be assigned a very ABnormal godmother-in-training for three of her wish-fulfillment needs. She signs a contract without reading it (gasp!!), ends up as a series of fractured fairy-tale princesses, and dooms the boy she likes to the middle ages until he can figure out how to become a prince. Fer reals. In a plan that involves dragon-slaying. This is the first in an ongoing series about the exploits of Chrysanthemum Everstar, who only scored a "fair" on her fairy godmother test. I've read the first two and eagerly await more.

You want to win them, don't you? Call in tomorrow night, starting with an informal Q&A at 8:45 EDT, to find out how. See the Authors' Advisory site for details.

Get Yer Queries Ready!

I've posted about queries before but, let's face it, I'm no expert. Let's look at the stats:

Books written: 1
Books ready for querying: .8
Query Drafts so far: 8
Queries sent to agents: 0
Successful queries: 0

See? I've read some stuff, but I really don't have the experience to back up my ramblings.

Which is why I'm joining Deanna Barnhart's Gearin' Up To Get An Agent Blogfest. It's lasting the whole month of July, with a different exercise each week to make sure I'm ready to send the query out. Since I REALLY want to be querying by the end of July (we'll see how fast this next edit goes), this is perfect timing for me.

Even more perfect? Elana Johnson's Authors' Advisory call is coming up this Thursday!! [Go to the Author's Advisory site Thursday at 8:45 EDT (or now) for complete call-in details.] Many of you sent in your queries, those queries have been forwarded to Elana, and she's going to break them down for us while talking about how to write a query that will make the agents drool! Since we didn't get the maximum number of queries, I submitted mine, too, and I'm excited to watch Elana tear it apart!

It's gonna be great! Make sure you call in! Come 15 minutes early to ask Elana all about her debut novel, POSSESSION.

Business is Personal (Except when it's not)

When most authors set out to write a book, they don't consider all the ramifications of what they're about to do. Sitting in the privacy of your own home and clickety-clacking away on your computer keyboard can be fun, fulfilling, and fancy-free. Writing a whole book, editing that book, getting readers to crit the book, all this is good clean fun.

Until you decide you want to publish it.

Suddenly, you find that your book is no longer just your baby, your darling, a slice of your soul. It's a product. You are not just a writer, you're a salesman, a producer of said product, and a variably-valuable commodity to a (very often) large corporation which is driven by one thing. What is this one thing you ask? Love of art? No. A drive to reach the masses of readers with entertainment that will also teach them something valuable? Uh, no.

Publishing companies, like any other kind of company, are driven by money. While many, many individuals within those companies are a part of the publishing world because they love the art of creation, the entertainment and learning that can come from reading, and even authors themselves, their paychecks are filled with money, too. If there is no money, they don't get paid. If they don't get paid, they still have to eat, and they might find they have to go get a more practical job.

Hence the need for YOUR book to make money, if you want anyone to have the chance to appreciate its value as art. And here's the secret newbie authors like to forget: making money is about more than how cool your story is.

If you're anything like me, you started out writing thinking that you'd write, edit, edit some more, and then BAM! Your book is on the shelves. You might go on a fun tour, where everyone loves you, but other than that, someone else will worry about all the details, until it's time to cast the movie, whereupon, of course, you'd have full veto power.

Yeah, wrong.

Once you send your book out to become someone else's PRODUCT, a whole new world of business opens up. Suddenly you need to worry about pleasing your editor, parsing out foreign rights, ebook rights, movie rights, and all other rights to your baby. There are decisions to be made about marketing (not all by you), tours, self-promotion, and how much your publisher will help with all of the above. Then, once your book sells, you might be shocked to learn that you don't get a check every two weeks. And that the game changes a bit when you start hitting bestseller lists.

But, really, I don't know anything about all that. I'm new. I haven't even started querying yet.

Fortunately, the awesome, stupendous, hilarious, and quite experienced NYT Bestselling Author Gail Carriger is coming to help answer all our most pressing questions about The Business of Writing. I love Gail's books (go read them RIGHT NOW if you haven't yet) and it was the thrill of my Twitter life when she started following me a few months ago. Naturally, I immediately DM'd her to see if she'd be interested in doing a conference call for Authors' Advisory. (Oh, how I love having that excuse to talk to authors!) She agreed and the time is almost here!

It's tomorrow, actually: June 1, 2011 at 9:00 PM EDT. Go to the Authors' Advisory blog for details on how to call in. She's planning to arrive fifteen minutes early for some pre-call general Q&A (for all the supernatural steampunk questions you've been dying to ask), and then she'll tell us everything she wishes she'd known about business when she was starting out. Don't miss it!

Rapturous Raptureless

See? Lawyers can be raptured, too.

I've been having tons of fun this weekend following the rapture countdown online. So much fun that I planned a great post for Saturday, where I'd announce that, since I'd finally finished my second edit, I was now ready for the rapture, should it have to happen. I worked diligently all week on my edit, frantically scanning my writer's group's crits, fixing poorly worded sentences, showing where I had originally told, and adding far too many words to the book as a whole.

On Saturday, I delayed posting, planning to finish right up, and write the blog post right at rapture time. Or soon thereafter. Or sometime.

Around midnight, [no one I knew had disappeared and] I realized that I needed to rewrite a huge swath of my ending (again). Remember my post about anticlimax? Yeah, well, suffice to say the bad guys at the end of my book gave up and went away. Had to fix that. Took some time.

Anyway, after working feverishly all day today (it's not "work" if it's fun and I'm not getting paid, so I can do it on Sunday) I can now finally announce that I'M FINISHED!!

Not, like FINISHED, finished, but finished with this edit. The blasted thing is ready for my beta readers.

After I read over my new ending tomorrow to make sure it makes sense, that is.

If all goes well, and the betas like it, I hope to be querying in a couple of months. That could change. Has before.

Still, I'm going to take credit for postponing doomsday. There was NO WAY anyone was going anywhere before I finished this edit!


It's also good that I postponed this (ahem) post because I get to include an announcement of my very first writing contest honorable mention! Yay! It was a pitch-and-first-250 contest judged by Gina Panettieri (follow her here), President of Talcott Notch Literary Service. Out of approximately 88 entries, there were 4 winners and 4 honorable mentions. You can read my submission here. If you want to, that is.

Also honorably mentioned is my friend Chersti Nieveen. (The fact that her name is listed before mine on the Honorable Mention list means absolutely nothing.) Her submission is part of the story she brought to LDStorymakers 2010. As was mine--we worked on them together at our boot camp table with the awesome Aprilynne Pike. I love what a small world we have here.

We both win a $5 B&N certificate, which is SO COOL! Congrats, Chersi!


A Reminder:
Elana Johnson is willing to help us with our query letters on an Authors' Advisory call. Using fer-reals query letters supplied by fer-reals people. People like YOU! So far I've only received 11, which is rather astonishing to me. Who doesn't want their query letter fixed by a master like Elana?

At least I'll be able to slip my own into the pile without feeling guilty.

If you want yours included, see here for full details.

About Betas

My editing is getting close to the end. Well, a week or so away (if the world doesn't end, first). I've fixed the beginning (a few times), the end (a few more times), and now I'm going through the middle. (Why is it that the beginning and the end need so much more work than the middle? There's so much more to the middle!)

Beta-Readers should have pretty fins.

Once I've finished polishing all the flaws my wonderful writer's group found... and the ones I found myself, while going through their crits... I'm sending it out to beta readers. Some of you have already volunteered (so excited!) and I have a slew of non-writer family and friends and people-who-just-met-me-and-were-foolish-enough-to-mention-they-like-to-read lined up. I'll be handing out questions to help focus the reviews, and then will have a few weeks to breathe... which I'll probably spend reading through it again, fixing more problems.

So anyone have any advice on beta readers? How many should I have? Is more better? I'm hoping this will be my last round of revisions before querying, but if there are major issues that pop up, there might be more--should I hold some in reserve for the next round?

I'm keeping the post short today, so I can have more time for editing (Ummm. Editing.) Before I go, though, a reminder: Elana Johnson will be critiquing queries on her Authors' Advisory call on June 23rd. We're collecting queries for her to review until June 1, after which she'll be too busy reviewing them to collect any more. See this post for details.

My Day With Aprilynne Pike

Over the past few years, I've met tons of awesome writers. Some on Authors' Advisory, some at conferences, and some just online. Authors are amazing people and universally fascinating (at least to me).

Only one (so far) has let me hang out with her for a whole day (well, half-a-day). Only one has let me shadow her to a school visit and a library lecture and a book signing. Only one has come to dinner at my house. Only one has let me play with her adorable baby and meet her so-cool mother.

Only one is Aprilynne Pike, #1 NYT Bestselling author of WINGS, SPELLS, and ILLUSIONS, and, most recently, new inductee to the NYT Bestselling Series list.

My friend. (I'm sure she called me that at least once.) :D

You want to touch me now, don't you?

I first met Aprilynne at LDStorymakers 2010, where I was thrilled to see she was my bootcamp instructor. When we ran out of time in our group, Aprilynne graciously met with me during the main conference to give me her notes on my writing sample--and they were SOOO good! She has amazing instincts for what works and what doesn't, and made a beautiful bloodbath of my pages.

When I started hosting Authors' Advisory, Aprilynne was one of the first authors I asked to be a guest, though her call was delayed for several months to coincide with the release of ILLUSIONS and to not conflict with the birth of her baby. Her call, predictably, was sooo informative, and full of her own unique humor. I loved reconnecting with her on the phone.

Right after the call, she announced that she'd be including my town on her ILLUSIONS tour! I was so excited! I contacted her and volunteered to help, and ended up contacting our local library and high school, and putting up flyers about her B&N signing. Can you imagine the thrill as I called people and said "I was talking to Aprilynne Pike...." :) (The school thought I was her publicist.) :D

On the big day, Aprilynne let me shadow her (you know, since I want to do this sort of thing when I grow up). She, her mother, and her daughter picked me up at my house and we went to the high school, where she thoroughly entertained 80 students with a fun exercise on plot and characterization. She'd select a student, have everyone decide who they were, what their power was (since she writes fantasy), and eventually collected enough characters for a mock battle. She effortlessly discussed story structure and conflict, answered lots of great questions, and was finally interviewed by the school newspaper.

After the school presentation, we headed over to the library, where she lectured a small group of librarians, patrons, and a carload of fans who drove (bearing gifts) two hours to see her. She talked about her path to publication--and the many pitfalls she experienced along the way. It was fascinating, and I loved how she didn't let setbacks stop her. She kept writing, kept trying, and eventually made #1 on the NYT Bestseller list.

After the library, it was off to my house, where my wonderful hubby fixed us a venison steak dinner. Aprilynne and I discovered that we have TONS in common, and she gave me advice on my query letter--improving it immensely.

During the book signing at B&N, I played with her baby (continuing my day-long baby-playing campaign) while she greeted her fans (including my boss... who hadn't seen me at work that day...). We had more time to chat, and she ended the night by signing a bunch of their stock. I bought me a personalized copy of ILLUSIONS, and mostly just reveled in the coolness that is Aprilynne.

I had tons of fun, y'all. Not only because Aprilynne is awesomeness itself, but because I learned SO MUCH about how to be a professional author. It looks like tons of fun, frankly, and I can't wait to try it myself.

Thanks, Aprilynne!

[No Longer] Calling for Queries (Elana, not me)

I can't wait, so I'm announcing this a few days earlier than I said I would.

Drum roll please....

Elana Johnson, author of POSSESSION and FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL, will be doing a conference call for Farland's Authors' Advisory on June 23, 2011. Her topic will be Query Letters, a topic she has not only written the book on, but has also presented on at writer's conferences. Are you excited yet?

Starting today, I am collecting queries for Elana to critique live on the call. She wants them early so that she'll have enough time to review them beforehand. If you've ever wondered (like I have) whether your query is all it can be, this is a chance you won't want to pass up. Elana is brilliant and she tells it like it is (I've heard rumors that she made someone cry once...)--and don't we all want to hear the truth before we send it to agents? Of course we do.

So here's the rules:

1. We'll be accepting queries through June 1, or until we have 50 queries, whichever comes first.
2. One query per person.
3. For the purposes of this exercise, you can either pretend that Elana is an agent who represents your genre, or you can write it as if you are querying your dream agent (feel free to change the names). Don't skip that paragraph just because this is an exercise.
4. You can query for any book you're working on, whether it's ready for querying or not. For this to be as instructive as possible, however, you may wish to only send in a query for a project that at least has a first draft done. This is entirely up to you, however. We will not be requesting fulls. Or partials. Or offering representation.
5. Email your query to me at robinweekswriter at gee mail dot com or by pushing the Email Me link in the right sidebar.
6. Attach your query as a Word document to your email--do NOT put it in the body of your email, like you will when you actually query an agent. Do, however, put everything in the same format as you would for an emailed query--so don't worry about letterhead. If you have a question about page numbers, your query is too long.
7. In the subject line of your email, put "Query for Elana: [Title of your book]"
8. Please indicate if you'd rather we not use your real name on the call, but if you send in your query, understand that we will assume we have your permission to read some or all of it during the call. If you don't want it read on the call, don't send it in.

Feel free to download and review Elana's free e-book FROM THE QUERY TO THE CALL before sending in your query. Her advice will be so much more valuable once you've done all you can do on your own.

Please help spread the word on your blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, etc. No extra points, but we'd sure appreciate it. I'm going to keep Elana's picture in my right sidebar for as long as we are still accepting queries.

If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments. No one is required to follow anyone in order to participate.

Awards (for me) and the One I REALLY Want

If you're a writer, you know the importance of maintaining some healthy delusions. Odds say publishing a book is about as likely as winning the lottery? Pshaw. That doesn't apply to me! First book never sells? Stephenie Meyer's did! Why not mine? Most published writers can't support themselves (much less their families) on their writing? Well, some of them do! Why not me?

If we believed the odds, we'd never try.

I don't buy lottery tickets because the odds of winning are so minuscule that it's not worth my money--but I've spent thousands of hours creating my own, custom, lottery-ticket novel (no, it's not about lottery tickets). And I believe in it. I do. I think it's a winner.

This is my first full-length novel (though I wrote the first 5 chapters of a few others--do they count?), but I'm still going to query it. In a few more months, when I get it perfect. And I'm going to cross my fingers, send up a prayer, hit send... and then start refreshing my email inbox. Because, you never know, my dream agents might be so enchanted by it, they'll immediately want the full. And I wouldn't want them to wait more than five minutes before they get it, would I? Of course not.

I want to sell it for a lot of money. Because, see, I have this dream life in my head. Free of debt. Living in a house without threadbare carpet. On a ranch, where my husband can raise cows and my sons can ride horses. With an office just for me, where I can continue to write books people will love. Occasionally leaving to attend conferences and to go on tour. To England. To meet my father's family. Perhaps with a baby daughter (or two) in tow. Doesn't that sound good? Would you give that up just because the odds say it'll never happen?

So I say it's okay to dream. Hard cold reality doesn't have any place in my world. Even if this book doesn't sell, the next one will. Or the one after that. Because I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gol-darn it, people like me!

Don't believe me? I present Exhibits 1, 2, and 3:

From Anita


From Deirdra


From Jenny

I received these three awesome blog awards within the last week. See? I told you people like me! :) Anita and Deirdra custom-made theirs, which make them doubly awesome, but I have to like Anita's best because she only awarded hers to five people--and guess who was #1? ME! :D Are you jealous? 

Of course you are!

You know who I'm jealous of? I've mentioned her before (once or twice): Brodi Ashton. Brodi I-had-to-choose-between-five-awesome-agents Ashton. Brodi I-waited-24-hours-before-I-got-a-preemptive-three-novel-deal-on-my-debut Ashton. Brodi, who is awesome for reasons I can't even tell you about because I promised not to!!! (Yes, you want to be me. No, I can't tell you why.)

Brodi, who, this time last year, won the LDStorymakers First Chapter Contest.

I was in that contest, yo. I sat through the awards ceremony, watched some dude win first and third in my category, and then watched them announce Brodi's name as the Grand Prize winner. And she wasn't even there! Valynne had to go up and accept her laptop for her. I texted her, though. Yeah. Me. 'Cause I'd had dinner with her the night before, and had her cell number. (You want to touch me now, don't you?)

Anyway, I wasn't at all upset, because I'd already read the first page of Brodi's book and she totally deserved it, but it didn't stop me from rejoicing in the fact that she'd likely sell her book before the next contest and would therefore be ineligible for the 2011 contest. (Really, I'm just too good at this predicting stuff.)

So Wednesday, I'm driving down to Utah. Wednesday night, I'm pushing shiny buttons for another Farland's Authors' Advisory Conference Call--this time with Laura Ann Gilman, who's giving VERY timely advice on professionalism, including how to talk to editors (like at conferences and stuff), so you should totally call in with all your questions. Then, on Thursday, I'm picking up Susan Jensen at the airport and attending the Bootcamp at LDStorymakers, where the first fifteen pages of my book will be torn to bloody shreds (if all goes well).  Friday and Saturday are for the conference, where I will network, hob-nob, hand out business cards, meet cool writers, learn some stuff, and hunt down a few future guests for Authors' Advisory. Lunchtime Saturday, they announce the First Chapter Contest Winners. Not that I'm paying any attention to things like that.

So who's gonna be there? If you're going to be there, I'll tell you a secret: I get a text every time someone @'s me on Twitter. Just sayin'. My Twitter ID is @Robin_Weeks. Don't forget the space. I'd love to get together with you. Meet in person. You know, for meals. Really cool classes. (I sit at the front. Always. That's what elbows are FOR.) Or just for pal-ing around in the hall. I'm the one with the obnoxious rolling briefcase. If you trip over something, it's probably me.

Oh, and only the Blog on Fire Award requires me to pass it on. Since I love so many of your blogs, please let me know if you want it--I'll give it to the first five takers whose blogs are over in my blogroll on the left. :)

See you in a few days?

My Process (or, why I suck at outlines)

Once upon a time I decided to write a book. I'd taken some creative writing classes in college, and I'd read thousands of books, so I had the basic idea down. I got out my computer, opened to a fresh document, and started typing.

That project was a bust. I stopped, thought of a new idea and started writing again.

That project was only marginally better. It got trunked, too.

Then I got this GREAT idea. SOO much better than the others. I devised a magic system. I built characters, backstory, and genealogies. I started right at the beginning of the conflict and off I went. My MC cried 5 times in the first three chapters. She was a total wimp. Still, the basic idea still seemed workable, so I did some tinkering and kept writing. It was amusing. It was fun to write.

At the end of chapter 4, I had no idea where to go from there. I'd written myself into a corner and couldn't get out. Just what did I want this book to be about, anyway?

So I tried outlining. Epic. Fail. How the heck was I supposed to know what happened next before I saw what my characters did with the last disaster I threw their way? Fuggedabout the WHOLE PLOT. Outlining was clearly not for me.

Then I read this great book by Evan Marshall called The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing. I made it my bible, developed an elaborate spreadsheet (yay spreadsheets!) and was finally moving forward. If you haven't read it, I recommend it. Now, I didn't follow the whole Plan in detail (sorry Evan). I filled out the section sheets in my spreadsheet, but I didn't go through the whole book before writing the first word. My favorite part about the Plan was the system of benchmarks--you set several benchmarks and drive your characters toward them. It totally worked. Still, even with the major plot benchmarks, I could never actually plan more than 2-3 sections ahead of where I was. If I tried, I ended up changing most of them when my characters refused to do the ridiculous things I was requiring of them (you would, too).

So that's how I got through the first draft of my very first WIP, but I keep hearing about these outline things. So many people swear by them. I do love organization....

In steps Aprilynne Pike, #1 NYT Bestselling author of WINGS, SPELLS, and the upcoming ILLUSIONS. I first met Aprilynne at LDStorymakers 2010, where she served as my bootcamp instructor. (Oh, yeah. I'm cool.) She absolutely murdered my chapters with her red pen, gave me tons of great advice on how to tighten everything, and was generally invaluable. Also completely funny, down-to-earth, with a dry wit and wonderful imagination--which shows in her books.

Aprilynne will be joining me on David Farland's Authors' Advisory tomorrow night, Wednesday, April 13, 2011, at 9:00 PM EDT. She will be telling us how to Outline. (Also, we might try to pry some details on ILLUSIONS out of her....) Please bring your outlining questions (I know you have them) and join the call. See the Authors' Advisory blog for call-in details. Talk to you then!

Why David Farland is my hero

This time last year, I didn't have a writing group. I live in an area with few writers--and almost no genre writers (that I'm aware of). I knew intellectually that a group would be good, but had no idea how to start one. I tried to get a friend to be a two-person group with me, but, well, he was a bigger slacker than I was. Our group was a major failure.

Last April I attended LDStorymakers. In preparation, I researched the many authors who would be presenting at the conference, including David Farland. My research uncovered his Daily Kick, a regular email of writing and industry advice. Naturally, I signed up. (You should, too--it's awesome.)

At the conference, I got to introduce myself to David, and heard his advice on a couple of panels. He knows so much!

After the conference, I went home, determined to Finish. My. Book. But I still didn't have a group.

Round about September, the Daily Kick announced the opening of David Farland's Writer's Groups. Oh-ho! I said. Just what I need! And it was.

I now have the BEST writer's group ever, even though I've only met about half of them IRL. They give excellent advice, tear my work to shreds, and manage to be awfully encouraging all the while.

Also, through Farland's Writers' Groups, I've been given the incredible opportunity to interview bestselling, up-and-coming, and all-around-awesome authors through Farland's Authors' Advisory conference calls. I'm one of two hosts (with Mike Shaffer) and I'm having a blast. We are, to my knowledge (and there's a sad lot that I don't know) the only podcast that allows callers anywhere in the world to call in with their questions in a voice format.

If you don't have a writer's group, check out the groups at David Farland's Writer's Groups. If you enjoy attending writing conventions (or if you've never attended before, or if you can't attend as much as you like), check out the advice on Farland's Authors' Advisory. (Last week I interviewed Dan Wells!)

This week, on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 9:00 PM EDT, David Farland, himself, will return and will talk to us about How to Sell Your Novel. Mike is interviewing him, but I'll be there, pushing shiny buttons. :) If you have ever had a question about how to sell a novel (and who hasn't?), bring it with you and ask the master. We take caller questions throughout the calls, so don't be shy!

Complete call-in intructions are at the top of the Farland's Authors' Advisory blog.

How to Build a Better Villain

If you haven't yet read Dan Wells's books I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, MR. MONSTER, and I DON'T WANT TO KILL YOU--repent! (Okay, so I haven't read the last one--it isn't technically out in the US yet.) Not only are they spine-tingly fun, but they manage to accomplish the impossible: they make you love characters you would normally run screaming from.
In my day-job, I work closely with many of these "unlovable" types. These folks are often defined in society by the worst thing they've ever done. They cease to be husbands, mothers, brothers, and daughters, and become instead "rapists," "dealers," "robbers," and "murderers." Once that label is applied, it can be very, very difficult to convince ordinary citizens that there is still good in them. That their one (or two, or a dozen) horrible acts didn't eradicate the good people they can still become--and, often, still are. (Much like my chronic laziness, snap judgments, and occasional holier-than-thou complexes don't make me a horrible person.)

One of the hardest labels to overcome is that of "sociopath." Hardly anyone can come up with anything good to say about someone diagnosed as a sociopath. We think of them as knife-wielding bush-hiders, as suave serial rapists, and as slick salesmen who will take our grandmothers' fortunes with a wink and a smile and suffer nary a pang of conscience. They are as foreign to our experience as all our messy emotions are to them.

Until now.

In I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER, John Wayne Cleaver, the protagonist of Dan Wells' books, is a diagnosed sociopath who is, inconveniently, named after two serial killers and a murder weapon (his father's name is Sam). He's also fifteen, lives in a mortuary with his mother, the mortician, knows everything there is to know about serial killers... and has decided NOT to become one. He has an elaborate system of rules in place to keep himself from following his more disturbing instincts (like "no stalking people"). He's bright enough to have seen his destiny and to have designed a way to thwart it. He is intelligent, humorous, and as loving as a sociopath can be (more than you'd expect, not enough to satisfy his mother).

Then, as in all good stories with this sort of set-up, a serial killer starts killing people in John's town. John decides that, as the ultimate serial killer profiler, he has the best chance of anyone at catching the killer unscathed. He's right... and wrong. To catch the killer, John must break his own rules (like "no stalking people") and consequently grapples with the monster inside himself, who likes being out of his box.The killer's identity (discovered rather shockingly about halfway through the novel) is a surprise not just because of what he is, or who he is, but because, like all good villains, he is the perfect foil for the hero. Who is, as I've mentioned, a sociopath.

Most shocking (which is saying something about a book that opens with a graphic account of a particularly messy embalming) is how utterly lovable the killer is. The killer, in fact, understands love, compassion, and devotion much, much more than John ever will. This operates to make the reader not quite sure who to root for--and creates an ending that has a sad sort of triumph.

I've been crushing on John Cleaver since April of last year, when, out of all the books at the LDS Storymakers conference I wanted, I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER was the one I decided I couldn't live without. I was SOOO right.

Dan Wells accomplished what so many authors try--and fail--to do: he created a fully-rounded antagonist. An antagonist whose admittedly evil actions were nevertheless understandable. An antagonist who could have been the hero of a different sort of story--a hero whose actions we might have regretted, but whose goal we can't help but support.

How did he do that? I'm pleased to announce that I will be interviewing Dan tomorrow night for David Farland's Authors' Advisory Conference Calls. Our topic will be (you guessed it): Monsters, Sociopaths, and Other Sympathetic Characters. For a full hour, we will pick his brain on how we can make our villains slightly less stereotypically (read: boringly) villainous. How we can remember--and help our readers remember--that our villains are also sons and daughters, parents and siblings, friends and neighbors. Please join us, bring your questions, and learn about writing villains from the master. Full call-in instructions are on the Authors' Advisory blog.

Update: Dan's call was awesome (no surprise) and the recording is now available here.

On Emergency Rooms, Revisions, and Balance

In the last two months, my nearest-and-dearest have visited various emergency rooms (or the equivalent) 10 times:

1. My 9-year-old son lacerated and compression-fractured his toe, requiring stitches and a walking boot.
2. My 3-year old nephew broke his arm, requiring a cast.
3. The same nephew broke the same arm again, this time in the growth plate, requiring surgery.
4. The same nephew's brother fell during Nephew 1's doctor's appointment and broke his face, possibly requiring surgery on his nose.
5. My husband's father's mother had heart issues and spent the night in the hospital, prompting family-wide panic.
6. Same grandma back in hospital a few days later after putting too much energy into putting her affairs in order and not enough into resting.
7. My mother-in-law tore her knee up skiing--ligaments traumatized.
8. Nephew 1&2's mother tore her knee up, tearing ligaments.
9. My sister had an ectopic pregnancy, requiring surgery.
10. Same sister now has pneumonia, requiring an overnight hospital stay.

Apparently, bad things don't just come in threes.

Meanwhile, my own life seems charmed--I personally keep dodging disaster. (Yeah, got me some nice wood to knock on right here....) I did a 180 on the freeway in Salt Lake on my way home, ended up stopped in the fast lane, pointing the wrong way, and drove away moments later, completely unscathed. All the cars behind me managed to miss me--even the truck with the snow plow on the front. I got to moderate at LTUE, talk to more authors for Authors' Advisory, and I spend all my free time quite seflishly pounding away at my book, reading the books of those I'll interview soon, and getting to know the other wonderful writers of the World Wide Web.

And I feel guilty. My 9-year-old had to hang out with the DVD player at the ski lodge last weekend because mommy was at a conference while everyone else was skiing. When my MIL busted her knee on that trip, another driver would have been awfully handy. My husband and sons visited his grandma the same weekend... without me. When we got news of my sister, Jerry asked if we needed to head down to be with her. I looked up from the computer and assured him all would be well, no reason to fuss. I sent her a few texts and spoke to her husband on the phone. I've let my husband handle the health updates on his own family. I'm a total slacker, family-wise.

You'd think, with all I'm ignoring to revise this monster, that I'd be farther along. Instead, I didn't revise at all last week (traveling will do that, I hear) and I've spent all this week working on ONE CHAPTER! It's a mildly important chapter, sure, but really? One? I finally laid it to rest last night and I'm moving on tonight, but if next month goes at all like this month has, revision-wise, I still won't have my second draft done by the end of March.

Which is really depressing.

So anyone have advice? How long does your family tolerate your absence while you hide in your writer's cave? How do you balance the duties of a wife, mother, sister, daughter, and granddaughter while still making forward progress on your writing career? Those of you who, like me, have a day-job as well--how do you balance the precious time you have left after you get home? How often does your bathroom get cleaned? (If you don't answer that, I won't either, deal?)

While writing the last paragraph above, my sons brought me their Shrek doll, which, untill recently, was stuffed with tiny white plastic beads. They want him fixed. I think I might take an hour to watch some TV, fix the doll before he completely bleeds out... and maybe even fold some laundry.

Then I'll feel guilty about not writing, instead. *sigh*

LTUE Top Ten

Life, the Universe, and Everything was just as fun as I thought it would be. I'll never be able to summarize all the cool things I did, but here's the highlights:

1.      I got to fetch James Dashner his water, and helped him connect his Macintosh to the overhead projector (press and hold F7, apparently) so he could show us the cover of The Death Cure. Then I helped persuade him to read three chapters (instead of two--he swore us to secrecy, but you're gonna love it. I can't wait until it's out!!!). I invited him to do an Authors' Advisory conference call and he... was noncommittal. Didn't say yes, didn't say no. If you know James, tell him he should do it! He has my card….

2.      I moderated three panels and NO ONE asked why the heck I was there! Rather, I find that my voice is famous. A few attendees approached me afterward (which was really confusing—why were they talking to me?) and said they recognized my voice from the calls. So cool! I hadn’t even mentioned Authors’ Advisory (probably should have, though…).

3.      When I approached J. Scott Savage to give him my card and invite him to do a call, he already knew who I was! Neither of us was sure if we’d met before, but we shook hands and proclaimed our happiness to know each other. He said he’d be happy to do a call sometime. *Squee!*

4.      I got to see a certain book cover (it wasn’t authorized to be shown around, so I won’t say whose) that made me squeal and jump up and down. Literally. I want that cover as a poster to hang on my wall. It’s gorgeous. Breathtaking. The cover alone will sell the book, and the book itself needs no such help!

5.      Howard Tayler’s wife Sandra says he’ll do a call, too, in a few months. I confess that I am a little intimidated by Howard—not sure why—but I still managed to approach him at dinner (he and Sandra obligingly sat down at the table right behind me). I was in the middle of my explanatory spiel when Sandra pipes in with “he’d love to do that.” :) Yes, Sandra is cool—it was great to meet her, too.

6.      Being a Gopher is cool. I got to carry a clipboard, flash a bright pink 5-minute warning sign, fetch and carry water, and march around importantly. I got to know the shortcuts to all the rooms. I had the perfect excuse to talk to the authors on each panel. We got to know the conference from back-stage, as it were—which has always been my favorite place in any production—and therefore had a much fuller experience than anyone else. (So there.) Donna Weaver and I were the only Gophers over 25, but I, for one, never felt the age gap. (I think I stopped maturing at 17, anyway.) I got to meet Toad the Gopher King, Jenna-of-The-Jenna-Award is now my Facebook friend, and we got to see four teenage girls fit inside one 5X t-shirt. Best moment? Someone said “and there was much rejoicing” and the whole room gave a half-hearted “yay.” Sigh. I’ve missed being in a group like that.

7.      Dinner with David Farland, his wife, his son, and a huge table of forum-mates. You know how, in situations like that, you always want to be the one sitting across from the super-duper cool people, but you never are? (Well, I never am, anyway.) Friday night, I was right across from Dave. He regaled us with some very scary predictions about the industry and some things we’ll want to watch out for about our digital rights, but it was still amazing. He also said he wants to do another call in a few weeks. Yay!

8.      Brodi Ashton, (who wore her red scarf and got teased by James Dashner for her popularity with the agents), Bree Despain (who was on too many awesome panels to count), Emily Wing Smith (why wasn’t she on panels?), Kimberly Reid (who I’d never met IRL before), and Sara Bolton (with her adorable brand-new baby) were there. All just as nice as ever.

9.      I discovered that Twitter is a great way to take notes in a conference—especially when you’ve forgotten to bring note paper and your laptop only has enough juice for two hours. Or when you've figured out that taking notes on Twitter is just plain cool. There were tons of people taking notes that way, BTW—check out the #LTUE hash tag on Twitter for a lot of great quotes.

10.  I got to live with and hang with Donna Weaver—who is a kindred spirit. She has children my age, but we found we agreed on almost everything. After reading her blog, I suspected that I’d like her—now I know. She’s awesome. She even let me read her copy of Anna and the French Kiss (in two very late nights--AMAZING book).

There were other highlights--and other authors who will be doing calls for Authors' Advisory, but I need to get back to the one thing I didn't do at all: WRITE! I'll never feel like I've earned a permanent place in this awesome community until I have the publication cred to back it up!

Who else was there? What was your favorite part?

Paying It Forward (I can't resist a good contest!)

Shelly over at Market My Words is running a Pay it Forward contest. If you want to join in, tomorrow is the last day. (Yes, I deliberately delayed my entry so I'd have less competition.) The winner will get her (okay, or his) personal referral to Shelly's own agent, Alyssa Eisner Henkin (Trident Media Group).

To enter, I have to reveal the person who has helped me in my writing or in my personal life. That's easy: Robyn Carr. I told the story of how I "met" Robyn on her recent Authors' Advisory conference call, but I didn't mention what a wonderful inspiration she is.

I don't write the same kind of fiction that Robyn writes, though I'm a huge fan of her work. Nevertheless, Robyn has taught me more about writing and the publishing industry in the years we've been exchanging emails than anyone else I can think of. I've asked her hundreds of questions and she has responded to each one--sometimes more than once! She's explained in detail the publication process, why you should get a publicist, how you get paid, and what it feels like to finally make the NYT Bestseller list.

She protests that she doesn't do enough for me to be labled my mentor but even though she can't critique my writing (she has no spare time for that, even if it wasn't unwise), she has constantly encouraged me for years now. She suggested that I look into writing YA, then told me my story idea sounded rather juvenile... and, after I explained it more, agreed that it just might work. Without her prodding, support, and approval, I'm not sure if I would have ever had the gumption to finish the thing. I can't wait for the day I can mail her her own signed copy. She'll have to read it then. :)

For the Record....

This sounds sort of strange, because I consider her to be a friend, and I hope she'll forgive me for being presumptuous (and oh-so-wierd)... but I want to BE Brodi Ashton. The girl isn't even officially published yet, but already I know great things are in store for her, and I want to go on the record by saying that I knew it first. Well, close to first. I think her husband and her writer's group must have suspected it before I even had a chance.

I'm dating my own fan-dom from April 16, 2010. I had been following her blog for months (I was among her first 100 followers, so nyah-nyah), and so was already in the habit of avidly stopping by three times a week. She'd given a few teaser lines of the book now called EVERNEATH back in November of 2009, but on April 16, 2010, she posted a longer teaser. I'm not at all ashamed to say that I was completely hooked. Not just hooked, but addicted. I literally read the teaser at least ten times and, every few months since, I stop back to get my fix. Go read it--but be warned: you'll want more, and you'll want it now, but you won't get it for another 18 months. CORRECTION: it turns out that "Winter of 2012" also encompasses January 2012. January 3rd, be exact. Which shall be known as The Frabjous Day.

Winter of 2012 can't come fast enough--I'm so SO eager to read the rest! It's not just the interesting premise or the skillful writing: in just that short clip, I could feel what it was like to go away for 100 years, come back 6 months later, be completely changed, and want nothing more than to not hurt (again) the guy I love... even knowing that hurting him was probably inevitable. Not a good feeling, friends--and that feeling has been festering, unresolved in my gut, for almost a year now. If I can achieve half that amount of emotion in twice the word count Brodi does it in, I'll know I'm doing well.

Brodi knows of my obsession and is handling it admirably. She and most of her awesome writer's group, The Six, allowed me and my college roomie, Susan Jensen, to go to dinner with them and hang out at the LDSSM conference last year, where Brodi very deservedly trounced me (and everyone else) in the First Chapter contest. (Had I known she had entered, I would have known I had no chance, rather than just suspecting it). She let me interview her writer's group for Authors' Advisory. She puts up with my not-at-all-infrequent attempts to trick her into sending me the unpublished-and-still-in-revisions manuscript, finally promising me an ARC, just to shut me up. (I'd say I won't hold her to that, but I haven't the strength.)

If you don't want to take my word for it, read what her agent wrote. Who wouldn't want an agent saying that about them?

Someday, when Brodi is widely known as the next Stephenie Meyer and is beating off legions of fans with a stick, I will be able to point out that I said it first. That should earn me a trip to the front of the signing line, methinks. Really, though, a little resolution would be awesome. Nikki and Jack need to figure out how to free her from the Everneath. They need to be free to love each other. Most importantly, I need to know how it all works out.

Hurry, 2012. Hurry, hurry.

How Twitter is Cooler than High School

I have recently discovered the joys of Twitter. I know, I know, it's been around for a while, but I've always assumed it was more of a time-waster than an actual, like, tool and stuff.  Well, I was right and wrong. Twitter is a time-waster. I can sit for hours watching it... but that's because of all the cool writerly people who are tweeting.

The other night I was fascinated by an interchange between Dan Wells (@johncleaver) and Howard Tayler (@HowardTayler)--they were done writing for the day and needed to blow off some steam. Being LDS, they didn't head to the bar: they scheduled an evening of board games and popcorn. Through Twitter. (Like they don't have each other's direct phone numbers? Ever hear of texting? Or, well, talking on the phone?) Entertainment at its finest, folks. In the midst of this, Aprilynne Pike (@AprilynnePike) did what I really wanted to do and popped in to say she wished she lived closer so she could join in the fun. Me too, me too!!

Last week, Shannon Hale (@haleshannon) noticed that Logan, Utah's libraries are constantly checking out her books, so she blogged about it, promising to visit them--and to drag two other locally popular authors--James Dashner (@jamesdashner) and Jessica Day George (@JessDayGeorge) along with her. Then she called James and Jessica out on Twitter--and soon had replies from both, promising to go. Am I the only one with a sudden desire to visit Logan later this year?

I'm new, like I said, so I'm not following very many people yet (88 right now), and even fewer are following me (18), but #therearesomanycoolpeoplethere!!! I got the thrill of my Twitter experience when Gail Carriger (@gailcarriger) started following me this week. ME! Gail Carriger! And she was completely gracious when I went all fangirl on her and even agreed to do a conference call for Farland's Authors' Advisory!!! (June 1st--read her books now, if you haven't: they're awesome!)

Watching all this fun, I can't help but feel a little like I'm in high school again (where I was far from popular), watching the cool kids hang out, plan fun parties and road trips, and generally flaunt their coolness. Oh, how I wanted to be included! I had my own friends and we had a good time, but, well, that looked like fun, too. Now, rather than just sitting back and dreaming about inclusion, I have an actual goal to become one of the cool kids. I want Shannon Hale to invite me to go on road trips with her. I want Dan Wells to issue an open invitation to his house for popcorn and board games (and the scones they've been tweeting so much about) the next time I'm in town. I want these awesome writers to know my name and to think of me as #oneofus.

Because I want to BE one of them. I want to be a bestselling YA fantasy author. There: I said it. AND I want to be friends with all the other cool authors--because, let's face it, they're really, really cool. How do I know? I stalk them on Twitter, of course... which encourages me to read their blogs... which encourages me to read their books... which only makes me want to know them more. Lather, rinse, repeat. See? Twitter works.

Now I'm going to get going on my editing so I can someday invite them all to my book launch party....