One Week Until Realm Makers!

In exactly one week I'll be heading up to Villanova University in Philadelphia for the Realm Makers writers conference. My experience last year was phenomenal, and it looks like this year will be even better. I know I've posted snippets here before about Realm Makers, so I'm going to keep this short and sweet.

I'm excited about the conference because:

• Tosca Lee is the Keynote Speaker. If you haven't read her fiction, you're missing out! (I really am hoping I don't make a fan-girl fool of myself when I meet her...)

• The writing sessions look to be very interesting again this year, and there are even more of them this time! The official schedule hasn't been posted, but since I'm faculty I've gotten wind of some cool topics, including...

• The sessions I'm teaching! I'll be teaching about writing for the YA market as a session on my own. I'm teaming up with Andrew Winch from Splickety Magazine to teach a session on science in fantasy writing. And I'll be participating on a panel about magic in fiction with several other authors. 

• There will be a costume dinner again this year. Last year I dressed as River Song from Doctor Who. This year, I decided to go British again, but fantasy instead of sci-fi. If all goes as planned I'll look something like this:

Yep, Professor Trelawney from Harry Potter. I've even got the crystal ball :). I will, of course, post pictures when I get back, and ya'll can tell me if I pulled it off!

I can't believe this is all one week away!!!

Can You Hear Me Now? Realm Makers Blog Radio Interview on Red River Radio

I have done my very first ever blog radio interview! Yep, on Red River Radio, along with a few other Realm Makers guests, including the keynote speaker and amazing author Tosca Lee, and author and former owner of Marcher Lord Press Jeff Gerke. (Me, interviewed right after them! I was so nervous!)

Check out the archive HERE. You really ought to listen to the whole thing, but if you're short on time and just want to check out my part, it starts right around 45:37.

Wow.

And for more info on Realm Makers, which is coming in JUST THREE WEEKS, visit the official Realm Makers website.

PS--I mention a blog post during the interview. It was a guest post on Mike Duran's blog, and if you'd like to read it click HERE.

And, to finish with a "kick"....Finding Angel was part of a photo shoot done by Jeanie Hunt of Shutterbug Photography in Newport, TN. I thought this was really fun:

No, that's not my boot :P. 

Book Review: Jinx by Sage Blackwood

Because it's been waaaaaayyyyyy too long since I've blogged, and I seriously just have not had much to say. My life has been busy-busy with homeschooling and holidays and birthdays. So, I'm sharing this short review about a book I loved, and am now reading the sequel:

(My review as posted on Goodreads.)

This is MG fiction. Fun, well-written, fast-pasted without skimping on story and character development. The writing voice really captured me as well. Told with a fairy tale flavor, it had me smiling in so many places. There are dark bits, of course, as any good fairy tale has, but they're not told in gruesome detail.

The story world has a lot of familiar tropes--witches, wizards, werewolves, etc.--but all handled in unique ways. The magic system is really cool, as are Jinx's particular abilities. I totally connected to Jinx and LOVED Simon the wizard--and the way the author shows the good and bad in all the characters impressed me.

Love the cover art, too!

Goodreads link HERE. 

As I mentioned, I'm reading the sequel, Jinx's Magic.

If your looking for good middle grade fantasy, seriously, get this series. 

Marketing--What Do You Mean by That?

Marketing has been on my mind a lot lately, not in the least because I posted on Facebook about my aversion to it and was immediately jumped on lectured by two authors who feel very strongly about marketing. I ended up pulling my post because of the context and the fact that I didn't want to have a face-off on my FB wall. The reason I'm sharing, though, is because it is this incident that got my thoughts going regarding this blog post.

Marketing. It's starting to make me think of the quote we all know from The Princess Bride: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."


:D

OK, I am by no means a marketing expert. I'm barely a marketing amateur. But I'm an observer, and I've noticed that the definition of the word has grown by leaps and bounds in the world of authors. It now includes everything from our blogs and Facebook pages, to book signings and school visits, to press releases and newspaper interviews, to bookmarks and free online samples... There's also advertising and getting professional reviews. I'd even lump paying for bookstore shelf space (and Amazon newsletter space) in there, and cover art and title choice...and a whole slew of other things.

My point being: When an indie author is asked questions like, "When you hear the word 'marketing,' how does that make you feel?" as was asked on the Realm Makers Facebook page yesterday, the answer tends to be something along the lines of, "Like I've got a freight train heading straight at me." Each one of the cars of the train is filled with those things I mentioned in the above paragraph.

There was a time when authors had to "market" only in the sense of showing up for book events and meeting their fans. Blogging opened the door for connection online, as did Facebook and such, but now it's like, Oh, hey, since you're out there anyway, why don't you just.... And that's not really too bad.

Still, the big presses do way more. They are still setting up author events for the the authors (indies must book their own). They take care of landing those professional reviews (many of which indies have no chance of getting). They provide review copies for bloggers (as opposed to indies who have to provide those copies out of our own pockets). In other words, much of what the big presses do has nothing to do with author presence--it's behind the scenes.

The frustration I'm finding is that there are two sides to this issue, but they keep getting lumped together. And here is where that Princess Bride quote comes in.

Marketing in the personally-getting-in-front-of-readers sense is a totally different animal than the business side of marketing.

I am fine with the first. I like doing signings and author events. I like visiting with students at schools and meeting people at conventions. I was a teacher before taking up writing, so leading sessions at writers conferences and speaking at writers groups is something I actually enjoy.

It is the business end of it that makes me want to throw up. It's setting those events up, and trying to figure out how to increase my reach online, and studying social media numbers and SEO patterns and...and....

Blerck.

For other authors, it is the other way around. They are shy, introverted (I'm introverted but can go into extrovert mode when I put on my teacher hat) and they would rather focus on the behind-the-scenes stuff. Some of them are more business-minded and have no problem dealing with that end of things.

And yes...for some authors (a lot of them, actually) it's both that are problematic.

But my point is: The word "marketing" isn't so easy to define. It's meaning is different for different authors, depending on where their likes and dislikes, talents and weaknesses lie. It's meaning can also vary depending on how the author is published, and who the author's audience is. Yet most of us use it as this catch-all word, and therefore many discussions about marketing and its importance and what authors do/don't or can/can't do end up with everyone talking in circles around each other.

So--what does marketing mean to you?

My Writing Process Blog Hop

I've been invited to do another of those blog meme thingies, and I thought this one would be pretty fun. The focus is on an author's personal writing process. I was sent four questions to answer...

First, let me thank the author who invited me to participate in this: Jeff Chapman writes speculative fiction that falls somewhere in the fairy tale, fantasy, and ghost story genres. Find him at http://jeffchapmanwriter.blogspot.com/. You won't be sorry if check out his writing, I promise. 

And now, without further ado:

1) What am I working on?

Right now, I've been focusing mostly on a story that I think will finish at novella length (it's about 1900 words so far), but the way it's been growing (it was originally meant to be a very short story) it may end up full novel length.

The premise is this: A young girl comes to a very small town with her father, who happens to be a land developer starting construction of a bridge that will lead across a deep ravine into a heavily wooded area where he intends to build a retreat center. The problem: there is already a bridge in that area, a hundred-plus-year-old bridge, that the locals don't want to see disturbed...

...not because it means anything to them, but because they fear the wrath of the man who built it and then died three months later.

Yes, my first ghost story :).

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre?

This work in particular...I'd say because this book lies right on the edge of Middle Grade and Young Adult, the whole ghost story in a small town thing isn't a common trope. And I hope the angle I've taken makes it truly unique. (That part's a secret, though.)

In general,  my YA writing tends to be more focused on situations where paranormal/supernatural elements (including magic, like in my Toch Island books) are contrasted with viewing those things purely from a physical position. The main characters tend to be kids who are very scientific and logical, but also open to the ideas of things beyond the physical.

3) Why do I write what I do?

Probably because that (see question above) describes me so much. I am one of those "both sides of the brain" people. I'm equally strong in language and math. I'm artistic/creative and scientific/logical at the same time, all the time. I love the merging of ideas and realms. The idea of different dimensions residing in the same space, of a physical world a spiritual world being both separate and fully connected. It's all very interesting to me.

And I tend to write from a MG/YA/teen perspective because it comes naturally to me. I love reading MG/YA/teen fiction, and not because it's "easier" (see my recent guest blog post here on that topic), but rather because many of the constraints of adulthood are lifted in fiction for younger people, and you can explore the world, and beyond, with more openness.

4) How does your writing process work?

Who says it works? Hah!

Honestly, I don't have a set process. I tend to write with a little outlining--more like scribbling of ideas in a notebook and then sorting into a logical order--and a little seat-of-the-pants writing. I have no set time of day during which I write. Sometimes I'm most motivated first thing in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, sometimes late, late at night. Of course, a quiet house helps a lot, and that doesn't happen much these days.

Anyway, I tend to get the first draft done, then focus on whatever self-editing I can do, then send it off to a trusted critique partner. Depending on what needs work, I may start on the edits immediately, or stave them off until I have better figured out how to tackle them. I've completed three novels so far (two of them published) and the process for all three varied drastically.

....So, there you go!

And check out those I chose as the next victims--er, I mean, some awesome authors who will be posting their "My Writing Process Blog Hop" posts in the next week or so:

Lelia Rose Foremnan : http://www.leliaroseforeman.blogspot.com/

Heather A. Titus: http://hatitus.wordpress.com/

Travis Perry: http://travissbigidea.blogspot.com/

Jill Domschot: http://jilldomschot.com/

Kessie Carroll: http://netraptor.org/blog/

Tina Yeager: http://tyeagerwrites.wordpress.com/

Rebecca P. Minor: http://www.rebeccapminor.com/

Dana Bell: http://danabellauthor.blogspot.com/

Melanie Gillon: (link to come)

Adam Graham: http://www.adamsweb.us/blog/

Lisa Godfrees: http://lisagodfrees.com/

Branch Out--Please!--But Don't Uproot Speculative Fiction (Or, My Take, Again, on Christian Spec-Fic)

This is a Banyan tree. It branches out, and drops roots
from those branches. Much the way spec-fic should be. 

I've belabored the idea of this blog post for days and days. It's a topic I feel really strongly about, but don't know how to post about it without, as a friend in whom I confided said, taking someone to task. I will try, very hard, to be as general as possible. There are people out there with real feelings and true kindness to whom my references would seem less than positive.

That said....

I read a lot. Most writers do. Some of us stick more closely to a preferred genre. Others branch out more. I probably spend most of my reading time in my preferred genre, but I do, in fact, branch out quite a bit as well.

I'm a Christian. I don't, however, read standard Christian fiction as a rule. I've tried reading mainstream Christian fiction several times, and with few exceptions I could practically feel the sweat on the preacher's brow and taste the sanitizer used to scrub the manuscript clean. I've also tried reading "popular" (and I use that term loosely) Christian spec-fic, and I find the same preachiness and the same taste in my mouth, albeit flavored with dragon. (There are exceptions--not many, but I name some of them below*.)

So, I read mostly secular fiction, with a few Christian spec-fic books thrown in, and most of those are published by small presses because small presses tend to have looser guidelines when it comes to creativity and content, and actually appreciate subtlety.

This is where things get sticky, but it's the heart of what this blog post is about.

You see, when I or some others I've seen open up discussions about our lack of enthusiasm for the current selection of Christian spec-fic, particularly more "popular" (there's that word again) books/series, we are told that we're not reading enough of it. We're told, "Hey, you want innovative and different, go try (insert author/book/series)."

The problem is that too often those exact books are ones we'd place in the camp with the books we're complaining about--or in some cases are the very books we have already put in that camp. Or, even if it's a decent read, it's one of the first of a genre to be represented among CBA fiction...but that same genre has already come and nearly gone in the secular market. The "originality" the CBA claims to have is just something I haven't been able to see--not after having tasted so much of what's outside that bubble.

Now, let me turn things on their head a bit.

The other side of the coin is that many writers seem to be going for (and agents/editors looking for) new/trendy/different simply for desire to either gain popularity or stand out among the crowd. Mish-mashes of genres can be very fun, especially if they are done well (Bid the Gods Arise by Robert Mullin is one I highly recommend**), but there needs to be roots kept in what makes a genre what it is.

In other words, some of the tropes of fantasy and sci-fi are tropes because they are the things that drag sf/f fans back to the genre again and again.

I can read about a kid discovering magic again and again and never get tired of it. Put a dragon on the cover of a book and I am all over it. Good old-fashioned quests, prophecies and Chosen Ones, telekinesis, alien encounters and evil emperors...Well, you get the picture. The important part is to put an original twist on those tropes. Give us something rooted in the genre, but freshen it up. Sure, we don't want stagnant stories, voices that all sound the same, characters that are rehashes of characters we've already read, but you can still keep a solid core to your work that appeals to the die-hards and branch out a bit at the same time.

Anyway, I hope this post has been read in the spirit in which it was meant. Not a bashing of the CBA, but as an illustration of what I've been saying for a long time: The CBA is what it is, and works quite well for that, but it is a bubble. It has limits and spec-fic, at this time, it outside those limits for the most part.

But I promised to offer some suggestions...

*A few large press Christian spec-fic books that have actually impressed me:

Tyger Tyger, In the Forests of the Night, When the Stars Throw Down Their Spears by Kersten Hamilton - in that order as it is a series. YA fantasy with goblins and Irish folklore!

Dragonkeepers Chronicles by Donita K. Paul- fantasy, allegory, and full of traditional fantasy tropes including dragons and wizards

The Gates of Heaven Series by CS Lakin - fantasy, fairytale - a "series" only in that the stories all take place in the same story world, but you can read them in any order. (My personal favorite is The Map Across Time.)

The Telling by Mike Duran - Supernatural suspense. Very dark. His other stuff is very good, too, but this is the best of them, imho.

Demon: A Memoir by Tosca Lee - she's brilliant.

**Some other self-pub and indie books I'd recommend:

Anna and the Dragon by Jill Domschot - literary fantasy and beautifully written.

Seabird by Sherry Thompson - traditional fantasy, YA, with a rich, unique story world.

The Duke's Handmaid by Caprice Hokstad - a truly unique fantasy world with some rather deep and hard-to-grapple-with themes.

Alpha Redemption by PA Baines - sci-fi with a unique voice and an unconventional story telling technique.

The Windrider Saga by Rebecca P. Minor- dragons and knights and elves and a great voice.

Winter (and Prophetess) by Keven Newsome - YA/NA with a Goth main character and lots of dark supernatural elements.

I Am Ocilla by Diane Graham - uses every fantasy trope out there and combines them into a totally unique story.

Mareritt by Krisi Keley - a private investigator helping some college girls dealing with demonic dreams. A unique voice and compelling characters.

I know I'm missing some, but that's a start! At least you can see what I mean about finding more interesting stories among indies in the Christian market.

(Disclaimer--four of the indie books I recommend here are published by Splashdown Books, who published my novels. However, I had no part of the production of Alpha Redemption. I edited Winter and I Am Ocilla. I did artwork for The Duke's Handmaid, but was not involved with it otherwise.)

Making a New Realm: My Thoughts on the Realm Makers Conference, 2014 Blog Hop

I've really been struggling lately with this labeling thing. The Christian this and Christian that. I am totally okay with what is commonly referred to as "sanitized" fiction/movies/music being available for people who like that. I don't care if they want their own aisles in the bookstores, or their own awards. What I'm starting to get sick of, though, is the idea that one must choose which box to be in. "Christian" or "secular"...with the implication that one is "clean" and the other "dirty."

There is so much clean, wholesome fiction out there that doesn't address Christianity or faith at all, and it kinda only gets a polite nod from "Christian fiction" advocates, a "nice try, but where is GOD??" Or, on the Christian side, if you do include God but also include a single bad word or some other no-no...or maybe you write all that weird speculative stuff...you may get told that your story is great, blah, blah, blah, but it won't have a chance of being published in the CBA.

There have been interminable debates among Christians for as long as I've been writing (about 7 years), and judging from those discussions the debates started long before I boarded the ship. While sometimes it feels as if we're talking in circles, gears spinning, at other times it seems that little by little the cogs of those gears are catching hold.

If nothing else, what it's done is draw attention to the issue...and drawn like-minded writers toward each other.

A great example of this is Realm Makers. I attended the first Realm Makers Conference last year (August 2013) and it was amazing. All of those writers, all Christians, all writing weird and dark--some cleaner, some with lots of CBA no-nos--coming together in one place and connecting.

I wrote a bit about that experience HERE shortly after the conference. Basically, it was amazing to realize that I'm part of a movement. Not that I've been welcomed into the fold of an already existing, fully-formed genre, but rather that I'm getting to experience a genre taking form and taking root.

That is exciting. That is what totally pumps me up about being involved in Realm Makers.

Don't get me wrong--I'm not saying others haven't played major rolls in carving the way for Christian speculative fiction. Oh, they have. Early writers of the genre, small presses that  have managed to find a measure of success. Even online forums have been around for several years that have allowed us to reach out to each other.

But Realm Makers is another huge step forward, and it has to do with that idea of not being forced into one box or the other. There are loads of writers conferences and sci-fi/fantasy cons. But they come in two flavors: Either purely secular, or overtly, primly, conservatively Christian.

Realm Makers is neither of those things. It seems to be its own animal right now, and that is what I love about it so much. It is, truly, Making its own Realm.

 So, intrigued? Check out the Realm Makers website for more info on the conference.

And head over to Becky Minor's blog to enter the RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY for chance to win a digital subscription to Havok magazine and a five page edit from Grace Bridges, the owner of Splashdown Books.