What's Right For You

Ah, writer friends... I'm so lucky to have gotten to know so many of you over the last few years, through both Blogger and Twitter. I've read lots of your books, and those I haven't read are on my To-Read list. And you know what I've learned? (Besides that you're all lovely people and can write fabulous books?) You're all different. And that's good.

This past week, I was pondering the big question of, "Which publishing route is best for me?" and was satisfied with the conclusion that there really is no right way to publish. Just ways that are better or worse for you, personally.

Then I thought about ALLLL the books I've read in the past several years. And a lot of them challenge the typical way of thinking:

- I've read books published by Big Publishers that were INCREDIBLE! But... I also read books by Big Publishers that were really lame. (None of my writer friends' books were lame - don't worry.)

- I've read Self-Published books that could have had better editing. But... I also read some AMAZING, BREATHTAKING Self-Published* books, some of which are now my absolute favorites! (*I know I'm doing a lot of needless capitalizing in this post. It's just for fun.)

- I've read books published by Small Presses that were "pretty good, but not as good as books by a Big Publisher", as someone might expect. But... just like with everything, there were also SUPER AWESOME WONDERFUL Small Press books, and some not-so-great ones. (I've been researching small presses for years now, and made a point to read a lot of books published by them.)

Other examples:

- I've been told by friends with Agents that you neeeed one. They are valuable and crucial and just all around wonderful. And I love agents and can totally respect that. But... I also know a few people who were unhappy with their (former) agents, or who decided not to get an agent and are still doing fabulously.

- I've heard of -- and seen -- self-published books that didn't sell well. "You don't have a publisher to do all the marketing for you." All that stuff. But... 1) I've also heard stories of books published by Big Publishers that just couldn't attract readers, and 2) have seen with my own eyes Self-Published books that made the bestsellers' lists!

- Not to be all "self-publishing is the best way to go", because conversely, I've heard writers say that they're very content with the way their publishers have handled their cover art, formatting, etc. and even having all the control in the world (with self-publishing) wouldn't have gotten them such a wonderful result.

I know I'm getting long-winded, so let me finish with this: There's no "right" or "wrong" way to publish, as a whole. Just what's right for you. (Personally? All three options are still on the table for me!) I'd like to think the writing world is becoming more open-minded, but there will still be people who won't buy self-published books because they're not 'real' books or people who won't publish traditionally because they were rejected and so ALL agents and editors are meanies!

I mean, come on guys. The world is changing. Let's keep an open mind.

Thoughts? Anything to add? Anything you've come across that has challenged the typical mindset of publishing?

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Birthday Thoughts

Today I'm another year older, and I have some time on my hands, since my birthday falls on a Monday this year and Monday birthdays are kind of awkward.

I just thought I'd reflect on the things that have changed in the past year.

Health Changes:

I reached my sickest point right before last year's birthday. So, this past year has been all about recovering from that. All in all, I'd say I made a few steps forward in the general "getting well" area. I changed doctors, twice. I finally found someone who really gets my migraines and pays attention to how I respond to treatments, instead of just throwing pills at me.

I finally have hope. Although my doctor did say that I will be chronically ill the rest of my life, she does think she can significantly reduce the number of migraine attacks I get, to the point that I'll be able to work a day job again. Fingers crossed!

Writing Changes:

In a broad sense, I learned that even when you think something is as polished as it can be, it still needs work. This applies to every manuscript I've worked on since last June.

I learned, from a rejected full request, that my old manuscript (we'll call it MS #5) had weaknesses AND strengths that I wasn't aware of. I'm so grateful for the detailed feedback I received. I shelved MS #5, but kept in mind what worked and what didn't.

I wrote, edited, and had MS #9 critiqued a bunch of times. I thought it was good to go. Nope, it still needed work. So I revised and revised. Meanwhile, my recently finished MS #11 is in the roughest of rough drafts, and I'm completely aware of how much work will need to go into this one.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I thought my crappy drafts were fantastic. I just... missed a lot of things. Critique partners are gold, and I realize I like having a lot of them (at least 4) to really see all angles of my manuscripts.

Overall:

I think the big picture message here is that I can't see everything from where I am right now. On last year's birthday, I wouldn't have been able to predict everything I learned this year. But time and hard work (writing and revising, as well as trying medical treatment after treatment) might help me get where I want to be.

Sorry for the long post, friends. Hoping it makes up for hardly being around lately. I'll be visiting blogs this week, but feel free to drop a comment to remind me to check yours out.

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The Monster Under My Bed

Last night, there was a monster under my bed. Actually, it was a large centipede.

(I know not all of my followers have house centipedes in their region. Please, I encourage you, take the time to Google them. Now imagine one is under your bed.)

The centipede had been on the ceiling, but dropped to the floor, raced across the room (to the amusement of the cat, who, by the way, is FIRED from bug-catching duties), and ultimately hid under my bed. We have boxes and junk under the bed. There was no way we'd find it.

So I slept on the couch last night. And by slept, I mean tossed and turned and thought about centipedes.

Prior to discovering the monster that scuttled under my bed, I'd been dealing with another fear of mine: the fear of moving forward with my manuscript that's now ready to submit to agents or publishers. (I'm still enchanted by the idea of [legitimate] small presses - and I'm even flirting with the idea of self-publishing. I've always rooted for the little guy. So... I haven't decided which path I'm taking.)

It's all the fears you'd expect. Fear of rejection. Fear of making it, but my manuscript is actually NOT good enough, so I regret submitting it. Fear of wishing I'd taken another publishing route, whichever ones I don't take.

With the help of one of my CPs, (the brilliant and always encouraging Linda Jackson), I'm gathering the courage to submit my manuscript. And the courage to believe that after all the hard work I put into it, it might be somewhat good. But just like my fear of centipedes, it's a gradual process.

Well, I might never be over my fear of centipedes. But ranting about them in this blog post helps diffuse the anxiety, at the very least.

Writers, what are your fears? Do you have fears related to submitting? Receiving reviews? Exchanging critiques?

Anyone else terrified of bugs with a hundred legs?

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What Is (And Isn't) New

Ah, looks like it's blogging time again, friends. I know, I take lengthy and unpredictable breaks here and there. I thought I'd write a "catch up" post, to let y'all know what's been going on, and then in the comments, I'd like to hear what's new with you.

What's New:

- As you can tell, I'm not doing the A to Z Challenge this year. Boo. I had a blast with it last year, between the challenge of coming up with posts and the excitement of meeting all new friends and reading their letter posts. I've been around to a few A to Z participants this month, and I like what I'm reading.

- I've finished the fourth draft of my latest MS, after incorporating suggestions from 4 critique partners. Now I'm getting ready to send it to 2 more readers (I really want to make sure the plot is working) and then around June/July... it's GO time!

- This is a topic for a longer blog post, but I've decided to submit exclusively to small presses. It's not a last resort; I'm skipping querying agents entirely. I've taken the past several months to reconsider what I want as a writer, not what's expected of me or what's drilled into my head via the blogging hive mind, and publishing with a small press seems to be a great fit for me. But more on that in another post, friends.

What's Not New:

- I'm still chronically ill, but you could have guessed that by the "chronically" part. I've been doing my best to balance productivity and rest -- making sure I don't over-do it, but still managing to cross off a few things on my To-Do list each day.

- I suck at blogging. (Yup, that's definitely not new.) But I'm doing my best to keep up with you guys, especially those who link blog posts on Twitter. I'll try to be around this week to visit and return comments. I appreciate when you guys stop by - it makes my day.

What's new -- or not new -- with you?

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Simple Fixes

Happy spring! I think... (I'm still wearing more layers than I should be right now, so I'm not sure this is spring OR happy.)

What I do know is, it's the season for lots of writing and revising. Well, it is for me, though from what I've read of my followers' tweets and blog posts, it sounds like many of you are spending much time in The Cave, too.

The thing about dwelling in The Cave is that sometimes I feel like I'm never going to see the light of day again. I'm finding myself stuck on one petty thing after another. Sometimes it's an enormous plot issue (like that entire chapter I need to rewrite) or just a matter of, "I need to get from THIS scene to THAT one, but I don't know how to transition."

Whatever the problem is, I can't let it keep me in the dark for so long. I'm trying to keep in mind that some of the issues that have stumped me the longest have ended up being resolved by the simplest fixes.

Examples:

A few WIPs ago, I had a scene where my MC was having a conversation with his mom, and they weren't getting along. She asked him something... but I couldn't figure out how he'd respond.

The solution? After spending too much time coming up with answers that didn't fit, I decided he shouldn't answer at all. I had him say nothing. And it worked!

More recently, I was working on the outline for my current WIP, and once I was about eight chapters in, I couldn't figure out what came next. I knew what the ending was going to be, but I didn't know how to get there.

Instead of trying to squeeze and force a weak storyline to get from point A to point B, I tapped my backspace key a bunch of times (this might be why that key is now broken), and I deleted the previous two chapters. So, those chapters weren't working? Simple: get rid of them. I wrote a new, more natural path to the climax of the book, and it's much better.

This may not be the case for every obstacle that has me puzzled, but it's encouraging to keep in mind that the solution might be simpler than we think.

Writers, how have you fixed plot holes, adjusted your storyline, taken care of scenes that don't work, etc? Has it been long and complicated, or have you found ways to see the simple solution?

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How In The World Can I Do This?

Surprise, surprise: I landed myself in the ER two weeks ago (right before a major trip out of town) and kicked everything writing-related to the side while I recovered.

Those of you who have been following along for a while know that I'm chronically ill. I have debilitating migraines that tend to come in waves. I can go several days feeling well, but then I have a string of can't-even-move days. It's unpredictable.

I know I talk about my health a lot, both on here and on Twitter, but the truth is that right now, the rest of my life is on pause while my body gets its act together. I quit my job a year ago. I write and edit and outline and beta read - but only on those good days. I visit with friends and family, but almost 50% the time, I end up canceling those plans due to illness.

So, I'm insane when I say that I want to do more with my time.

I can't even say with certainty that I'll get out of bed before ten tomorrow (migraine meds make me fatigued), or that what I'm having for lunch will stay down (I'm no stranger to frequent vomiting), but I want to add more items to my To-Do list? Really?

Blogging more frequently is one of those items. Every time I visit your blogs and catch up with you all, I realize how much I've missed participating in the blogging community. But besides blogging, I want to write more.

I've just started my latest MS, but I have many more ideas floating around. Not just Shiny New Ideas for fiction (but yes, those too), but ideas for different kinds of projects: nonfiction books and a new (non-writing) blog, for instance.

I'm crazy. How in the world would I ever be able to accomplish any of this?

I guess I just felt the need to update you all, to be honest with you and share what's really going on. I wish I had a truly creative, thought-provoking question to ask, but the closest I can come up with is: How do you do it? How do you manage so many things at once?

I'll be around to visit you guys today. Looking forward to catching up with you.

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Interview with author Christine Rains!

You guys are in for a treat today. I am happily hosting Christine Rains, author of the paranormal novella FEARLESS, which debuts tomorrow! If you know Christine and have heard of her book, you know how exciting this is. If you haven't, stay tuned -- you'll read all about it here!


Welcome, Christine!
It's great to have you here! Care to tell us a little about yourself?

Hi, Shelley! Thank you so much for having me. I'm a writer, blogger, and stay-at-home mom. I have one son, a clever and cute two-year-old who consumes most of my time. I'm a proud geek with an equally as geeky husband, and we live in a cozy house in southern Indiana.

It's always great to meet a fellow geek!

When did you first begin writing? Do you remember the first story you ever wrote?

From the moment I could talk, I've been telling stories. The first story I remember writing was when I was seven. It was about our neighbors, my brother, and I outrunning a tornado on our bikes. Everyone loved it so much, I wrote binders full of short stories about the neighborhood kids over the next eight years. I still have them all.

Wow, eight years of short stories? It's great that you still have them all. I bet they're fun to go back and reread!

You have a book coming out called FEARLESS. I love the cover, and the premise sounds fantastic! (Monsters from children's imaginations? I'm already hooked and I haven't even read it yet!) For those who haven't heard of it, can you summarize your book?

Thank you! Abby White kills the monsters spawned by children's imaginations, and the number of creatures is on the rise. She and her guide - a stuffed hippo named Tawa - are trying to discover why when Abby rescues a gorgeous wild fae from a pack of monsters. Tempting as it is to become distracted by him, Abby must solve this mystery before one of the monsters kills her.

Love it. I've posted the cover at the bottom of this post -- blog friends, be sure to check it out!

How did you get the idea for FEARLESS?

I had originally written the story for the 2012 A to Z Challenge. I wanted to write something that had a lot of action and that was just plain fun. There's a commercial for these stuffed animals with nightlights in them that my son adores. In the ad, it says it helps alleviate your child's fear of the dark and what they imagine might be in it. I then thought: what if what your child imagines to be in the dark becomes real? Who would help the children when their parents didn't believe them? That's how Abby was created. She's what the monsters fear.

Ah, one more reason to love the A to Z Challenge: a wonderful story was born from it! The more I learn about FEARLESS, the more I'm dying to read it!

How did you come to the decision to self-publish? As a writer interested in self-publishing one day, I'd love to hear all the gory details. Any advice to other writers who might self-publish?

It was a hard decision. There's such an allure to traditional publishing. I still would love to be published by one of the big presses and see my book on the shelf at a store. I'm also horrible with the business side of being a writer. Yet my life has changed a lot over the past five years. I became a mother, and I decided to stay at home with my son. We have a routine, but nothing is ever certain with a toddler. Some days I get time to write, and sometimes I don't get a minute to myself. I didn't want to sign on with a publisher and not be able to make their deadlines.

I decided it was best to go the self-publishing route because then I could make my own deadlines. It has allowed me to be much more flexible with my schedule and given complete control over how I want to present my work. It's a lot more work, but I'm very excited about how things are going. The writing community has been highly encouraging and supportive. I also have my friend and critique partner, Cherie Reich, to thank for helping me along the way. Her experience has been invaluable.

I admire that you're so in tune with what you need right now. Everyone's publishing path is different, just as everybody's lives are different. Good for you for pursuing your novella. (Also, critique partners are beyond amazing, aren't they? I don't know where I'd be without mine!)

What are your plans once FEARLESS debuts?

I'm planning a "What was your childhood monster?" blogfest. I've always loved participating in blogfests and connecting with various writers. Plus, this is something fun and easy for everyone, and it will help to promote FEARLESS.

Ah, that sounds fun! I'd have to think about what my childhood monster is. I was afraid of so many things as a kid... (I was a bit of a Chuckie Finster, for anybody who's watched the show Rugrats.)

Are you working on any other novels?

I have two other projects in the works. The first is a paranormal romance novel called WITCH'S FIRST RULE. I've been revising it for a while, but hopefully by the end of the year, I can start to query publishers. My second project is a series of six urban fantasy/paranormal romance novels in the same vein as FEARLESS. The series is called THE 13th FLOOR, and I hope to reveal more about it in a month or so.

Both of those sound exciting! (You're really good with titles, you know that?) Best of luck with your future projects!

Our last question is just for fun. Since I write Middle Grade, I'd love to know what your favorite book was as a kid/preteen... or if you didn't read at that age, do you have a favorite kids' book as an adult?

I was reading Stephen King by the time I was ten. (He still remains one of my biggest influences.) Yet before then, I loved a collection of Middle Grade horror books called Twilight. (Nothing at all like Stephenie Meyer's series!) They were like Goosebumps, but a little more mature. One that stands out in memory is VICIOUS CIRCLE by Imogen Howe. I also owned most of the Nancy Drew books.

As an adult, the Harry Potter books have become my all-time favorite series. I swear, there's real magic in those pages.

Whoa, reading Stephen King at age ten! That would've given me too many nightmares. But go you! I can see how he'd be a great influence. And I agree... there's nothing quite as magical as the Harry Potter series.

Thanks so much for joining us, Christine! It's been so nice having you here.

FEARLESS is out tomorrow, my friends! Here's the official blurb:

Abby White was seven years old when she killed the monster under her bed. Now she slays creatures spawned by the fertile imaginations of children, and the number of these nightmares are on the rise. Neither she nor her guide - a stuffed hippo named Tawa - know why.

When she rescues Demetrius from an iron prison, he pledges his life to protect hers until he can return the favor. She doesn't want the help. And how can she concentrate on her job when the gorgeous wild fae throws himself in front of her during every fight? No matter how tempting, she can't take the time to lose herself to him.

To save the children and all she loves, Abby must be truly Fearless.

Check out Christine's blog at http://christinerains-writer.blogspot.com/

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