• Busy, busy, busy …

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    Spring is evidently the busy season because I’ve been absolutely slammed with stuff to do these last two weeks.

    I did a Q&A at a library; judged some student communication portfolios at a local college; went to hear another author speak at that same library; started e-mailing folks about potential ads for Spider’s Bite in February; finished up Quiver, my young adult fantasy; and started writing Blackberry Falls, my contemporary romance.

    Oh yeah, and I’ve got a big project at the day job to finish this week.

    Gah! Is it Friday yet? :rolleyes:

    Hope your week is a little calmer than mine!

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    A different point of view …

    On Saturday, I got the chance to hear novelist Stephen Hunter talk at the Bristol Public Library. Hunter writes action-adventure/thriller types books about a sniper named Bob Lee Swagger, among other colorful characters.

    I always like to go and hear authors talk just because everybody has different inspirations and different processes. It’s always good to listen to a different point of view. And Hunter was very funny, which always helps. I loved the way he described one of his books — as being full of meetings and gun fights. Who doesn’t love a good gun fight? 😉

    One of the most interesting things Hunter talked about were the skills that a writer needs. He talked about how writers need to be able to work with words, to avoid cliches, and to know what words will make a sentence sing — without putting too many words in it and having it fall flat. He also talked about how writers need to be able to see the big picture — how every scene falls in with the overall flow and the story arc(s) of the book.

    These are things that I’m thinking about more and more these days. Is a scene necessary? Does it advance the story the way that I want it to? Is crucial information revealed? Does it pack an emotional punch?

    I don’t necessarily think that every sentence in a book needs to be a great one. Because, let’s face it, that’s just not going to happen. If you want realistic dialogue, you’re going to have to write some ordinary sentences because that’s just how people talk – “Okay,” he said. “I’ll call her right now.” Not the most interesting sentence, but it is what someone might say in a given situation — and it does advance the action.

    But I do think that every overall scene needs to be important and advance the story. It’s kind of like juggling, I suppose. You start out with all these balls in the air, then, one by one, you decide which ones to keep in your act and which ones to throw away.

    Anyway, those are my deep thoughts for Monday. Enjoy the rest of your day!

  • Pretty covers, covers pretty …

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    So today, my editor asked me to send her a description of Gin Blanco, the main character in my new Elemental Assassin series. Along with descriptions of the Pork Pit, the barbecue restaurant where Gin works, and some other big art elements in the book.

    Why, you ask? Because it’s finally time for the artist to start working on the cover for Spider’s Bite, the first book in the series, coming in February 2010. Things are finally starting to happen, and the release date is creeping closer every day. Huzzah!

    I’m especially excited about this because this is the first time I’ve been asked for input on one of my book covers. With the Bigtime books, my editor just sent me the cover and that was pretty much the end of it. Cover done. I didn’t really get any input.

    Of course, I was thrilled with the first two cartoon covers for the Bigtime trade paperbacks. Although I have to say, I wasn’t crazy about the paperback covers for Karma Girl and Hot Mama. The one for Jinx was pretty cool. The others … not so much.

    So today, I sent my editor about five pages of descriptions along with some Web site links and other info for Spider’s Bite. Will my ideas and info be used on the cover? I don’t know. But hey, at least they asked.

    Of course, as soon as I get the cover, I’ll post it here on the blog, in my e-newsletter, and on the Web site. It will probably be a while, though. Maybe June or July. Anyway, I’m excited to see it, and I hope you guys are too! :ww:

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    Amazon and other fails …

    I don’t know if you’ve been following all the talk about Amazon deranking books, but Dear Author and Smart Bitches have some interesting commentary up, as usual, and lots of links to other sites. So go forth and read, if you want.

    Whenever I hear stories about something like this or even horror stories about authors behaving badly, I always wonder what people were thinking. Seriously. Did Amazon think no one was going to notice what they were doing? Did they think the authors and publishers affected wouldn’t complain?

    The same thing goes for authors behaving badly. Yeah, we all get bad reviews and snarky comments. But posting your own snarky comments and arguing with reviewers or telling your fans to attack them or whatever isn’t going to help you any.

    Because someone somewhere is going to find your comments and bad behavior on the World Wide Web and point them out. Other people will see this and blog about it. And then, it’s going to go viral and be everywhere. And then, you’re going to look like the dumbass you are.

    And it’s not just Amazon or authors or folks on the Internet. I work at a newspaper, and you wouldn’t believe the calls we get just for reporting the news. Seriously. I’ve gotten calls about everything from my poor grammar skills (one guy told me I needed to take an English class) to those who wonder why we put so much bad news in the paper. Um, well, because the economy’s in the crapper right now, and it’s hurting a lot of people.

    Sigh. Can’t we all just get along? :rolleyes: