Agent Induced Terror

    Terror is a part of any new creative endeavor. Creation is about exploration which always begins with incomplete information. So, you kind of know the destination you’d like to reach. You’ve read and heard rumors of others who have beached there, but the map is blurry and there are definitely dragons drawn along its edges.

     I completed The Sun God’s Heir in 2007 and attended my first conference, The Algonkian Workshop,  in New York City. I was afraid and anxious, but not yet terrified. You see, real terror requires some basic awareness, and at that time, I was dumb and happy. So I was nervous, but really didn’t have anything to lose, since this novel thing was still on the pipe dream end of the spectrum.

The conference went well, I learned a few things, and Tom Colgan, an executive editor at Penguin USA, requested a full. That’s the complete manuscript, an all too rare occurrence. Since not that many people had their books requested, I was floating. “Hey, this isn’t so hard.” At that time, the manuscript was an unedited one hundred and forty thousand word beast. Although he did not propel me to fame and fortune, I am still grateful to Mr. Colgan for the gracious way he treated my inexperience. He even read the book again, a year or so later, when I was sure I had it. I didn’t.

    The next year, still hopeful, but anxious, I revisited New York City, attending the Backspace Writers Conference at the Radisson Martinique. The hotel was a little too expensive, so I think I stayed at the Comfort Inn down the street. Now, I knew just enough to be terrified. I put my name tag on and claimed a seat in a large conference room. I had done some research, and knew that the agents I would meet were the real deal. They still are.

    The concept was excellent. There would be two workshops on each of the two days. One in the morning and one in the afternoon, each hosted by two different agents, eight total for the two days. The morning workshop dealt with the novel’s first two pages, and the afternoon one with the all important query letter.

    On that first day I joined nine other aspiring authors at four conference tables set in a rectangular shape with the two agents seated on one side and the ten of us around the other three. In front of the agents was a stack of paper twenty pages high. The first two pages from each of our novels, the lure laboriously tied to catch the interest of an agent, a publisher, and an unending stream of readers, looked unimpressive as a short stack of paper. Given the overwhelming attention demands of the twenty-first century, even two pages worth of someone’s time was a lot to ask.

Jeff Kleinman of the Folio Literary Agency was paired with another gentleman. Jeff Kleinman was the first agent I submitted my work to after pouring through the 2008 Writers Market, a weight lifting tome if ever there was. I knew enough to be actually shaking. Of the other agent, try as I might, I can’t call more than a blur to mind. I remember a whispered comment mentioning Stephen King’s agent, but I think it may have been A.S. King.

Jeff Kleinman picked up the first two pages. To this day, I am still grateful that they didn’t belong to me. They represented the hopes and creative effort of the pale young man seated opposite from me. The rules of this particular workshop stated that the agents would read the pages as if pulling them from the slush pile (unrequested submissions) at their office, and react as they would on a busy workday.

     No pressure in that. He read for about ten seconds and then put the pages down. White silence around the table. The first paragraph or something in it had caused him to put the pages, and the author’s hopes down. At least there wasn’t a real trash can. He passed them to the other agent who read a little longer, and then put the pages down. They then explained why this effort had no chance of surviving the slush pile. All this work only to drown in ten seconds. Ah, terror.

   He finally picked up my pages. I don’t think Jeff Kleinman is a sadist. I really don’t. Looked on with some  years cushion, I think he was trying to give us a taste of reality. Fantasy is a wonder within the pages of a story, but not truly useful in the market. Does one no good to pretend a piece of fruit is ripe. That he seemed to take a certain glee in our terror is up for others to decide. He said my name to ascertain my location. I raised my hand. He looked over the sheet.

“Ah, The Sun God’s Hair.”

“No,” I squeaked. I have a fairly deep voice, and am accustomed to talking, so what came out was a surprise. I cleared my throat and said, “The Sun God’s Heir.”

“The Sun God’s Hair,” he said again, with just the hint of a smile.

http://www.bluntmoms.com/open-letter-to-strangers-who-are-horrified-by-my-herd-of-daughters/

    Smile went right by me. “No, The Sun God’s Heir.”  By this time in my novel writing career, I had devoted a couple of  years and a good amount of time, energy and money. I hadn’t really thought in terms of plan B, so I had front loaded all the elements of fear of failure. I don’t think I even responded to his second mispronunciation of my gorgeous title. I just sat there, waiting.  I think he then said, “Whatever.”, but I can’t be sure of anything from that point. I do remember his reading through both pages, which was momentarily encouraging. He then verbally cut them to pieces and placed the pages along with my hopes in the trash. Of the ten of us, I think maybe one survived the trash.

     I write about terror, because the emotion is useful and temporary. On January 18th, I am releasing The Sun God’s Heir: Return, book one in the trilogy and looking forward to being called an instant success. The book will be published by The Piscataqua Press Riverrun Select imprint. Truth is, no matter what, I’m proud of what I’ve created, and in a funny way, I’m grateful to Mr. Kleinman for the reality check. We live in terrifying times. Terror is temporary, while heart and persistence are ongoing. Creating something is harder than its opposite, but infinitely more rewarding.

But I Don't Have a Story!

Like any writer, I was asked, “How did you find your story. I don’t have any stories.” I think the last statement is false. Some years ago, I became a registered hypnotherapist and from a small office in a doctor’s building I saw clients for seven years. Visualization is helpful and powerful. I would often hear, “I can’t visualize.” “Really,” I would answer. “Ok, try this. Visualize an umbrella.” Go ahead.

Is it open or closed?

We all have stories. We are stories. Are the stories always exciting? Nope, but then, neither are all novels, no matter how hard the author tries to keep the tension alive. There is a flow to a life same as to a good novel. Lives are informed by choices. So are novels. What keeps folks from starting a story is just that, the beginning. Consider your life as a story. Your parents gave you the story prompt, you were born. Did you know the path the story would take then? Do you now know the end? Nope.

Sometimes the story prompt brings with it the whole cloth, beginning, middle, and end. I think that’s probably rare. More often, we get just the beginning. So how do I get the rest of the story? By writing it down. The act of writing is a command. If patient and persistent, it will open a creative door, a magical door, behind which are an infinity of choices and characters. In truth, one of my greatest pleasures as a writer is reading the story as it comes through me.


Years ago as a songwriter, I learned to appreciate the flow of creative ideation.  A melody would show up, making its presence known through my fingers onto the keys of the piano. Was I thinking, I’ll just push down on that note along with that one and that one and see what happens? No way. I couldn’t think that fast. I just played and let my subconscious do the walking. When a melody that pleased me showed up, I was grateful. I think gratitude is part of the formula. Expectation comes first, then patience, and then discrimination. Ah, there’s the rub.


How do I discriminate between a good idea, a fascinating character, and ones that fall into the mediocre club? You didn’t think this was going to be a free lunch did you? Read. Then read some more. People your unconscious with characters, with heroes, and heroines who echo your deepest desires. Once you’ve done that, and maybe you already have in a past life, then begin to write. Start with “What if…?.”

Patience. Might not get a story beginning on the first day. Maybe not on the fourth. But there is no way your subconscious will not bequeath to you an idea filled with enough energy to begin writing, if you don’t take no for an answer.

Nanowrimo, the acronym for national novel writing month, will begin in a week or so. My first novel, Return, The Sun God’s Heir trilogy, Book 1 will come out January 18th, 2017. Next week, I’ll tell how Nanowrimo jump started my writing and how it can do the same for you.

RE: Six Things Writers Can Learn From Harley-Davidson...

REPOST FROM : Sharon Ledwith 

Six Things Writers Can Learn from Harley-Davidson…

Harley-Davidson logo

Brand building. It’s the backbone of any company or person. It’s how consumers identify with you. Know you. Want you. Need you. What does this have to do with Harley-Davidson? Plenty.

Recently, hubby and I watched a three-part movie about how the Harley-Davidson company was born on the Discovery channel. Boy did I learn a lot about running a business and branding just by watching that movie! The story focused on three partners: William (Bill) Harley (the engineer/creator), Arthur Davidson (the salesman/marketer), and Walter Davidson (the risk-taker, promoter). Together, these entrepreneurs gave the world of motorcycling an experience that felt like ‘an explosion between your legs’. Bill Harley’s words, not mine! LOL!

Here are six things I learned from Harley-Davidson…

Create buzz. To build excitement and promote their product (think about this in terms of your book/books) Harley-Davidson sponsored a racing team named ‘The Wrecking Crew’ whose seat-in-their-pants racing style got the press the company needed to get on the map and stimulate sales. Okay, writers don’t need a Wrecking Crew. But what about a Street Team, or a legion of super fans waiting in the wings for your next book? Use your website, blog or email list to create the buzz your book(s) need to get them flying off the shelves.

1907 Harley-Davidson

Find your tribe. Arthur Davidson worked hard to generate sales. He started bike clubs, opened free beer tents at events to loyal customers, and had special offers/incentives to returning buyers. He was a trail-blazer of social media one hundred years before social media was even born. He engaged first, then sold. That’s what writers should be doing on social media—connect and engage with their target market first. If they trust you enough, they’ll ask about your book.

Look outside of the box. Always looking for ways to market his motorcycles, Arthur Davidson approached the U.S. Postal Service and convinced them to trade their bicycles for Harley-Davidsons. He followed through with the Fire and Police Departments and eventually won them over. When the three partners met with the military during WW1, Arthur suggested that they send mechanics (for FREE) to teach the soldiers how to fix their motorbikes in case they broke down while they were overseas. This strategy worked, and they shared the contract 50/50 with Indian Motorcycle, the number one motorcycle company at the time. BTW—Indian went bankrupt in 1953. Writers need to look outside the box too. There’s plenty of opportunity around, even if you have to offer your first book (or a short story) for free.

Focus on those little extras. Walter Davidson recognize the allure of the motorcycle look and culture, so he launched a campaign to sell Harley-Davidson accessories and clothing which remains a major part of the company’s success to this day. Writers can open a ‘store page’ on their website (you have a website, right?) and sell items that are connected to their books, like T-shirts, coffee mugs or water bottles imprinted with their book cover, or even jewelry.

Re-brand or face-lift when the unexpected happens. The stock market crash of 1929 hit Harley-Davidson hard. There was no disposable income, and barely any sales. Bill Harley decided to give his motorcycles a much needed face-lift during the Depression. He redesigned their block-letter logo, and added a stylized eagle. The company also started offering their motorbikes in an array of different color schemes too. So when book sales are down, this gives writers an opportunity to redesign their book covers, or pull books off the virtual shelves and re-edit them. After all, Harley-Davidson built their company on a quality product, so shouldn’t you?

Continue to develop. By the late 1930s, Bill Harley developed a new model that ended up being a breakthrough for the company. Sales soared with this bigger, badder, and more powerful machine. By the time WW2 began, Harley-Davidson had gained the respect of the military, and were asked to ship over 90,000 military-style motorbikes overseas to be used by the Allies. When the war ended, people returned to motorcycle riding with a deep respect and trust for the Harley-Davidson brand. So, while you may have one or more books out there for sale, it’s best to work on the next one, and continue to develop your brand and author platform. You never know. Your next book may be your ‘breakthrough’ book!

Is there a company out there that you’ve learned some tricks and techniques from to help build your writing career? How are you building your brand? Please leave a comment and share what you’ve learned. Cheers for reading my blog, I truly appreciate it! 

http://sharonledwith.blogspot.ca/

Rogue Wave

What is so attractive about surfing a fifty foot rogue wave?

Why are some of us fear junkies? What is it about hanging from a cliff a thousand feet from the ground, that demands a lifetime of the same?

fear

’fir/

noun

1. an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something is dangerous, likely to cause pain, or a threat.

I caught the end of an NPR story about surfers who chase rogue waves. Rogue waves are large and spontaneous surface waves that have probably been at cause for innumerable ship disappearances throughout history.

The woman who was being interviewed was probably Susan Casey, editor-in-chief of O, the Oprah magazine, who has written a book about rogue waves entitled The Wave, but I’ve been unable to locate and re-listen to that same article. The interviewer asked if she had ever surfed waves as big as the ones they were speaking about. The interviewee replied that she had surfed a forty foot wave. The NPR reporter then asked if she was afraid. Her comment, which I’m sorry I can’t reproduce verbatim, was very thought provoking.

First, let me lay out how these huge waves are surfed. They’re too big for a surfer to enter in the normal way by paddling. Laird Hamilton is credited with inventing a technique that allows the surfer to enter these huge walls of water. They use a jet ski to tow the surfer who holds on to a tow rope much as a water skier might until he or she is upon the slope of the wave. Imagine standing atop an eight story building just prior to sliding down its face.

Of the excitement of surfing one of these monsters, Laird says, “It’s the moment where you totally relinquish any true control over what you’re doing. There’s no place really in life that does it quite like that.”

Laird’s statement focuses on the fear/excitement of the moment, but I wonder if the real joy comes not from the fear or the successful challenge of the fear, but rather from a different kind of exaltation.

When asked if she was afraid, the woman being interviewed on NPR paused and replied that in that moment, you don’t feel fear, you can’t. To successfully surf the wave, there is no time to entertain fear. It occurs to me that this must be the ‘zone’ that Olympic athletes describe. Being and not acting. Fear exists only in the past and the future, not in the present. The unfortunate truth is that we spend little time in the present. The moment fear presents itself, we’re either in the past or the future. Rogue wave surfers experience the present moment in all its brief glory. I wonder if that fear-free instant isn’t the real bliss as apposed to the excitement/fear anticipation before, or the satisfaction, after having successfully challenged death or injury.

Perhaps our fascination with watching each other attempt threatening things is not the “I’m glad that’s not me,” but rather a nostalgic memory of our own moments of fear free bliss. I wonder.

Reblog: Author Emily Benet

Is it a girl? Is it a boy? Is it a book? -Said no midwife ever
Reblog From Author Emily Benet 

Your book is your baby!""Getting your book published is like giving birth!"

I've never given birth but I'm guessing these statements are a bit far fetched. Writing a book is a lot of work but at least it doesn't cry. The only person crying is you because it's taking so long.  

Your book doesn't give you mastitis. At the most it gives you a headache. Possibly a bit of repetitive strain injury. If you prefer vintage methods and are using pen and paper, there's the danger of paper cuts.

Your book does not poo. Although that doesn't mean it isn't crap. The first draft will definitely stink, even though it took you the best part of nine months to create. Ten years if you've had a stab at 'literary fiction*'.(*Literary fiction is the one where not much happens, but it makes you cry because it's so beautiful and profound. Although you might also be crying because you've just finished reading 400 pages and you don't know what's happened.)

You don't feel unconditional love for your book. If you look too closely, you still see bits you could improve. I don't think you give birth and immediately think, Not bad! But I could have made its ears a bit rounder!  

The biggest difference I guess is, after you give birth you don't usually want to sell your baby, whereas every author wants to sell their freshly born book. The fact that this is actually quite difficult leads to what I'm calling Post Publication Blues. The post natal depression of the book publishing experience.  

There are so many posts on dealing with rejections from agents and publishers, but not so much advice for the writers who have managed to get books published, and still feel they have a long way to go until they 'make it'. How do you keep your morale up when it feels like you're getting nowhere fast?

Well, I've just opened Eckhart Tolle's book Stillness Speaks and read this: "Doing one thing at a time", is how one Zen Master defined the essence of Zen. Doing one thing at a time means to be total in what you do, to give it your complete attention. This is surrendered action - empowered action.

I think this translates as TAKE IT ONE STEP AT A TIME. This probably applies to babies and books. 


http://emilybenet.blogspot.com/2015/10/is-it-girl-is-it-boy-is-it-book-said-no.html

Able To Leap Tall Buildings In A Single Bound

   Ever since my sixth grade teacher Mrs. Walker offered me a taste of Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion, I have been addicted to story. With every book I pick up, I send gratitude to Mrs. Walker. More than once, the paperback in my back pocket has saved my sanity. So, what three books have influenced me most? My book acquisitions (not counting Kindle) line three walls in shelves often two deep.  

   I’m looking at my books. Why the hell do I have so many books? Forgive the digression. I think the acquisitions began also when I was in the sixth grade. I encountered a problem giving the books back. When I liked a story, I wanted it to remain with me, not only in my head, but in my hand. That urge and the way libraries are set up came into conflict. I had no intention of stealing a book, I just found great procrastination in returning it. As I recall, (memory is always suspect) the sixth grade librarian was not happy with me. Books weren’t expensive, and I had started working a few years later so…

    For now, I’ll go with Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Earthsea Trilogy.  If you’re interested in Fantasy, you’ll have read it. If you think you might be, I would recommend it. I won’t spoil it by giving a review here. I won’t even pretend that I fully understand Mrs. Le Guin’s theme. The theme I took from these books has to do with power, its uses, and limitations. 

    Every child wants to be a super hero in some way. To have the power to gainsay a parent’s ‘no’, or the ability to leap tall buildings, that’s what imagination is all about. As I began to read history, I kept an eye out for those actors who, if not able to leap tall buildings, had the power to command the lives of people in large swaths of the world. As a child I was convinced that the ability to leap tall buildings would make me happy. Even though I haven’t yet accomplished that feat, my read on others who metaphorically have doesn’t fill me with confidence on the ‘happy’ part. 

   In The Earthsea Trilogy, Ged learns the ways of power and how the law of unintended consequences restricts its use in direct proportion to the power acquired. Contrary to popular opinion, I do not think the exercise of power leads to happiness or security. The thought is counterintuitive, but history seems to back me up.  

   The Sun God’s Heir is about a young seventeenth century Frenchman who is challenged by an ancient enemy from his past. His three-thousand-year-old past. In this lifetime he is nineteen when this story begins. An historical fantasy, The Return, book one in The Sun God’s Heir trilogy will be out this summer. 

Email me and I’ll let you know when. elliottbkr@gmail.com