Finding Your Place of Power

Spring is here. For those not here in the Pacific Northwest, it may even be well-neigh summery.  It's rainy as all get out here. Apropos of nothing, I want to share that we've got goslings in the yard (Canada Bruce finally got lucky). They are the sweetest, fuzziest, poopiest little smudges you ever saw. So, there's that.

Things have been so busy lately that I need every drop of mojo I can get my type-y little fingers on. Nothing fills the mojo-cup (that's a thing, I think) like your personal place/s of power. A moment of fresh air and sunset sky fills me up faster than a day of deep breathing under the florescent lights. I thought I'd share my places - just to get you thinking about yours. Hang on to them people.  Mine are: my bedroom, preferably with candles, the hillside by the lake with sky wind, woods or ocean pretty much anywhere and the sweat lodge when I can get there.

Power places don't have to be actual places, though. I've noticed that I get a big jump from the scent of wood smoke - cedar and sandalwood, especially and from sage smudge and rain. Then there's writing and music. Writing a killer scene, a new character or the harmonies of a song coming together with my home girls are positive feedback loops. It's like touching god for a second. Not BEING god, mind you, but just, you know, shaking hands - giving the universe a head nod on the way past. I love this. Can I just say that again - I LOVE this. This is the joie de vivre that the French are always putting butter on. I love butter so that works for me. Oh, Thai food. Thai food is also my power place.When we know what gives us power and fills us up, we can create because we have something to create with.

Other fill-er-ups include enjoying the creative endeavors of others. My new favorite book is The Peculiar, by Stefan Bachmann. I'll be reviewing that soon, so keep an eye on my "Reading" tab if you're interested. On the subject of writers as readers - check out this fantastic post by Scott Walker Perkins:  http://www.pagestotype.com/2013/05/readers-make-best-writers.html?showComment=1369242595760 

By way of updates, I did Pitch Madness via Twitter last week and got requests for both The Unusual Odyssey of Michael Pacer and for Moira Black and the Faerie Bargain. Who knew that twitter could be so fun and effective? Oh. Right. Everybody. I'm also watching Query Kombat like a conjoined twin as I'm currently neck and neck on the duel brackets with Zombie Barber (Brainwashed!). It's anyone's game. It's been such fantastic fun  to check out the many (many) talented story-tellers. You can read the pitches and first pages for Round 1 by scrolling down the right had side at www.michelle4laughs.blogspot.com Be warned - addictive! I'm reserving a section of bookshelf specifically for published books/authors that I've visited through these contests. I'm betting it won't take long to fill up.

Last, but not least, in the midst of editing various other projects, I've at long last returned to my WIP - Thoughts Are Things.  It's a YA dystopian steampunk tale and that's all I'm saying for now.  It was withering on the vine for a while after Michael and Ana set up shop in my brain, but Vlella and Tanis were making secret in-roads the whole time and have now had a bloodless coup. My power places are full of night skies and Red Bird (Akai Tori) Radio at the moment. You've been warned.

What to do when your friends succeed

 Writing is like having a child - painful, difficult, rewarding and awe-inspiring. It is both tediously mundane and spectacularly spiritual. But no matter how many times you hear that being a writer is a lifestyle choice, like having a child, you can’t really understand it until you live it. 

Luckily, although writing is a solitary process – again like birth, there are plenty of things that we can understand and share with one another as writing community, like how to cope with the success of people around you, for example.

It’s something I’ve heard lots of authors, published and unpublished, talk about – that three-book deal that such and such got or, the film rights for X or the critique or agent contract or, or, or…. Everyone in the writing world has to deal with these issues at some point and, more than likely, deal with them a lot in the course of our careers. Bottom line – humans are monkeys.  We’re generally in everyone’s monkey business and looking for a leg up to some better vantage point on the tree of life. So, before I get too far off-topic, here’s my top 10 list of ways to cope when your friend gets a deal (or whatever) and you don’t.

1) Celebrate! Seriously, how tough is it to break into the publishing business/get a fantastic deal? This is your friend. You want them to succeed. Buy that guy/gal a margarita.
                               

2) Celebrate some more! First of all, you probably need the margarita.  Secondly, you supported and maybe even helped this person succeed.  Their success is your success, even if the spotlight isn’t on you.

3) Remember that everything about the publishing business – every book and every deal, goes through subjective filters. Timing is everything and objectivity in art, music and literature is not an option. There are amazing books that could have won Pulitzers that will never see the light of day for one reason or another. There are books of utter trash that millions consume like manna.

4) Don’t harsh on yourself. If you’re one of those belligerent or self-deprecating artists – knock it off, at least for today. When you beat yourself up, you can count on the crowd joining in at some point – it’s that monkey thing we do. Be nice.

5) Don’t be tempted to harsh on your now successful friend. Cause that’s lame. Sing their praises, even if you have to do it with a margarita in your hand. Their success reflects on you. You are in the presence of greatness and, since you’re their friend, you probably knew that already, right?

6)Write something. The only surefire way to fail is to quit. Persist.     

                                                

7) Read something – especially something that you already love.  Remember why you chose this work.

8) Get some exercise. Really. Get off your tucas and away from the laptop. Go outside. Breathe.     

9) Be brave. Call a spade a spade. Sometimes telling someone that the dark maggot of envy is writhing in your gut is as good as plucking that sucker right on out and throwing it in the fire. Life is too short for feeding the things that hold you back. Starve the bastards out.

10) Believe. If people around you are succeeding, you can bet that you’re on to something.  The ley-lines of success are likely swinging in your direction.  This is the beast you want to feed. Be open to new opportunities and possibilities. Try something new. Go outside your comfort zone. Give your time and energy to someone new and less experienced than yourself.

In conclusion, let it go, keep on keeping on, it’s all good, get ‘er done, move it, move it, dare to dream. Get the picture? See you in the stratosphere.

Reflections on Pitching, Pitch Writing and the People Who Pitch

So, you may have noticed that I've been doing a little pitching lately. I think, but haven't confirmed, that this may be the official season for pitching - that darkest part of Winter and earliest part of Spring, when the wind is whipping around and all the agents haven't yet left for the Bologna Book Festival. 

Well, I didn't win anything in the two pitch contests that I entered (Write On Con and Pitch Madness), however, I know that my pitch has benefited from all the rounds of reading and editing because I've gotten manuscript requests on the new book - The Unusual Odyssey of Michael Pacer.  Woot! I've also begun another edit.  Why?  Because you learn a lot about your book by trying to cram the main plot line and character into 35 words, or 250 words or 350 words.  Throw in a passel of readers, experienced in the art of critique and you find some interesting opportunities, gaps and misunderstandings.  

Meeting new writing and critiquing pals can be a fantastic resource and a great way to build a mutually supportive community to review one another's work and cheer each other on.  Choosing to be a writer is choosing a state of mind and a way of life. It helps to have friends and colleagues who understand what that choice means and who have their own experiences with the triumphs and frustrations along the road.

Pitch Madness!

No sooner did I push the send button on my Write On Con pitch, when the twitterverse began lighting up with news of the inestimable Brenda Drake's next extravaganza - Pitch Madness: http://brenleedrake.blogspot.com/  I had one slender day between learning about #PitMad and submitting my 35 word log line and the first 250 words (to the nearest sentence) of The Unusual Odyssey of Michael Pacer.  Panic. Mayhem. 

And now, I'm watching twitter like a conjoined twin, unable to tear myself away.  There are three rounds.  First authors must get through an intimidating (super-friendly) swath of slush zombies.  Thank you slush zombies - your penchant for eating brains, I mean books, is Legend. In fact, I want to thank all and sundry with zero tongue-in-cheek for their mighty efforts and red-rimmed eyes. Next up will be the book bloggers and published authors, may they be both excitable and kind. 

Then, as I understand it, the pitches still standing move to the finals - a high-stakes game of agent darts.  If my agent is somewhere amongst them, may I say, um, I hope you, whoever you are, knock it out of the park - or some other dart related win language.We won't know who made the finals until March 26th - so, as I tweeted to Brenda Drake, that gives everyone time to go out for chocolate and a much needed margarita. Slainte!


Some fabulous person took pity on we, the pitchers, and suggested #PitMadScoop.  Here we can post a link to our pitches so we have something to rest our eyes on that's more than the hints and whispers of twitter's 140 characters. Here's mine.

Name: Gabrielle Kirouac Byrne
Title: THE UNUSUAL ODYSSEY OF MICHAEL PACER
Genre: MG Fantasy
Word Count: 49,000 

Pitch: 
Michael Pacer, hoping to change his family's fortunes, joins the treasure-seeking crew of a stolen Viking ship, led by incorrigible ex-Queen Anatolia Strongarm. He must overcome his fears and survive strange mythological monsters to succeed.

Excerpt:

Michael Pacer didn't know it yet, but he was about to have the most interesting day of his life so far. In just a few short minutes, Anatolia Strongarm would march down the stark grey hallway of Roosevelt Middle School and with a few brief words, change everything.

 At the moment, however, he was staring at a single sheet of thin pink paper that had gotten stuck in the zipper of his old canvas backpack. Removing it carefully, a familiar sense of dread settled across Michael’s shoulders. Sure enough, the word “DELINQUENT” across the top of the delicate page told him his mother had forgotten to pay the bills again. He hoped it wasn’t too late to pay it.  If the electricity gets shut off again I’ll never finish my history paper on time, he thought, hunching his shoulders.

He shoved the paper back into his backpack and dragged his fingers through his tangled copper-brown hair. Glancing behind him to check that no one was looking, he reached into the ratty front pocket of his bag and pulled out a pair of glasses. The frames were heavy black plastic and way too big for his face. Still, he put them on, closing his eyes and leaning his forehead against his locker. He took a deep breath and then another. His Dad had worn these glasses – the last time Michael saw him. The special order ones for his tour of duty hadn’t arrived in the mail yet. When he left, he’d handed Michael the glasses and asked him to hang on to them, asked him to keep them safe until he got back.

Write On Con Rocks...and Rolls (and Sometimes Gnashes Its Teeth)

You may have noticed the conspicuously large and colorful badges to the right.  One takes you to a very cool blog book review community review page – Bookalicious.  The other – Write On Con – will lead you to a *gasp* free online writer’s conference (which you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be attending) currently holding a pitch contest for completed middle grade and young adult books.

Now, I’m the first to admit that writing and pitch contests are variable, but this one is proving to be exceptional – and the contest hasn’t even started yet.  The reason is the forums.  People share their pitch and comment on other people’s pitches in a giant squirming critique extravaganza that seems to improve everyone’s work through some kind of mysterious osmotic process.  Okay, maybe it’s not osmosis.  I’m betting all the great advice being shared by writers, agents, book bloggers and publishing professionals has more than a little to do with the massively improved pitches across the forum board.  

Anyone who has written a book and then pitched it knows that the writing process for each is, in some fundamental way, strikingly different.  I’ll speak for myself.  Often when I’m writing, I’m fleshing out my characters, learning more and more details about them, about their lives, their relationships with the secondary and tertiary characters, and pushing the plot line out and out and out to the big finish.  In a pitch, with word limits around the 200 mark, I’m cutting secondary characters and sub –plots, sharing plot points with some, but not too much, detail and focusing in on what makes the protagonist special. I need to convey what drives them and above all, work to create an emotional connection in the pitch – all in 200 words. 

I want to draw your attention to two articles on the subject of conveying emotion in our writing.  The first is at www.writeoncon.com – an article by agent Peter Knapp in the Expert Boards.  He stresses the importance of getting that emotional connection into the pitch, beyond the quirky character flaws and foibles, beyond the setting and journey of the story.  Inside the pitch critique forums, many a plot-focused pitch immediately switched gears, my own included.

I think this subject - the emotional richness of our characters and our stories - is one of those areas of writing craft that takes time to develop, to extend our descriptive skills into what is usually a place of quiet intimacy.   As I wrote The Unusual Odyssey of Michael Pacer, I took special care to focus on the emotional development – and communication of that development.  In many ways, the Eureka moment of extending that into the pitch was a natural progression.  One of the blogs I link to – www.writerunboxed.com  – is currently featuring a great article from Donald Maas on the subject of how to work towards a richer emotional character and story. 

And, if you’ve finished your middle grade or young adult novel, get your tucas over to Write On Con.  There are still a few days left to get feedback on your pitch.

My Thoughts on: Strange Stats, Kick-Ass Blogs & Books, Integrity, the Apocolypse, The Unusual Odyssey of Michael Pacer and Oooo, Look – A Chicken!

In the spirit of Spring’s happy return (she said, convincingly) I have embraced my tendency towards the multi-tasking.  Call it a bubbly endeavor to capture the manic energies of the season – the growing, the changing, the mud and joy.   

First of all, on the subject of strange, that is to say, unexpected statistics.  I want to give a shout out to the Ukraine!  This little powerhouse country can boast my second largest blog readership next to the U.S.   Thanks, Ukraine!  I’ve always loved the way you dance.  Keep reading.

 

Second – see I’m just gonna go down the list.  It’s my inner Virgo boss keeping me in line. Anyway, on to talking about the kick-ass blogs.  One I’ve already got a link to – over there on the right.  Jane Friedman’s Blog is a great source for writers trying to get published and really packed with information.  The other one I want to plug at the moment and which hasn’t been on my links – but is now, is Chuck Wendig’s blog, Terribleminds. It’s not for the kids or the easily offended.  You can bring your brain to Terribleminds and get a combination of interviews, reviews and opinion pieces from a guy who knows what he’s talking about – and knows how to deliver the message with the exact right amount of stabbing and f-bombs.  In other words, he’s funny – funny and true.  At least, I find him funny.  And I don’t know about you, but I need funny sometimes. 

What’s next?  Oh yeah, books.  I just read Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz.  It’s dark, Victorian, steampunk for edgy kids and I LOVE it.  I’m going to read it again.  Hell, I’m going to buy it.  There I said it.  I’ll be writing up a full review shortly and you’ll be able to find that under my Reading tab.  I just started Winterling by Sarah Prineas off my 2013 reading list.  That’s shaping up to be a winner too.  You begin to see where the bubbly joyful feelings are coming from, right?  I mean, two awesome books in a row! What are the chances?

On integrity – this is a deep one (again, she said convincingly).  I’ve been trying to find ways to deal with off-the-chart stress levels.  I’m a working Mom, with a stressful job in a tough economy trying to eke out a few good books.  Cue the violins, I know.  Point is – we all find ourselves in this place.  Waiting for change and doing what’s needed, but unable to hurry things along any faster, unwilling to compromise on what’s important to make that change happen faster – even though we crave it with every fiber of our being.  I came to a conclusion recently and it’s actually been pretty helpful – unlike some of my other conclusions which fall into the patently unhelpful category. 

 

My conclusion is that I just need to focus on being who I am at that moment and that in, you know, a year or a day or five years, this - whatever is stressing me out, isn’t even going to be on my radar anymore.  Do what is reasonable to make change. Be honest about who you are and what you want, whether you know what you want and whether you’re happy about the way something’s going.  Know that it’s going to change if you keep working at it – eventually. Chill. 

Where are we?  Oh yes, the apocalypse.  This circles back around to the topic of strange, that is to say, unexpected statistics.  When I look back at all my blog entries since I began, the one with the most hits, bar none, is the one with the title – A Plague Upon My House.  The entry is just a paragraph or two about what I’m working on and the fact that at the time (over a year ago) I had the flu.  Still – this entry gets a ton of hits.  So – if you were worried that the apocalypse readership would fall off after 2012, let me reassure you.  Nope.  Plague is still a hot keyword search.  Woot, plague!

Last, but absolutely not least, I’ve finished the full draft of the new book – The Unusual Odyssey of Michael Pacer.  I’m well into the editing which will continue over the next weeks and months.  Soon, very soon, it will be ready to submit. 

The Unusual Odyssey of Michael Pacer is a middle grade adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey.  It stars Michael Pacer, a tousled kid with a long list of troubles.  His dad died in Iraq.  His mom is depressed and keeps forgetting to pay the bills.  He needs sneakers – bad. But when an enigmatic stranger - Anatolia Strongarm - marches into the stark grey halls of his school and announces that she’s looking for a crew to help sail her stolen Viking-style ship in search of treasure and glory, things start to look up.  Is she for real?  Michael and his best friend Jane Yeoman decide to find out, only to discover that not only are Ana and her misfit crew telling the truth, they are leaving town – now.

But fortune and glory don’t come easy.  Together with Ana and her odd-ball crew, Michael will have to overcome a Cyclopian chef, outsmart a feathered witch at his own game, placate the Siren sisters and take his chances in the land of the dead.  Michael must let go of the past and learn what it means to lead or finding treasure will be the least of his worries.  Unless he can convince Ana to return home and become Queen in place of her shallow sister, Pansy, he’ll never get home again.

And, in case you thought I forgot – here’s the promised chicken.

I Have Opened It - My 2013 update

According to my favorite astrologer and predictor of things great and small, Rob Breszny, I am to declare that “I have opened it!” These were apparently the last enigmatic words of the poet, Lord Alfred Tennyson.  What IT might be remains to be seen however, and in these early days of 2013, I am willing to line up a number of potentials.  Could IT be: a can of worms, my heart, a new book, the proverbial (maybe even actual) door, a third eye, a window?

Despite the high level of uncertainty, I am declaring IT open, because as is so often the case with Mr. Breszny – his reports are uncannily in line with my feelings. He once predicted my trip to Bali on the day I bought my ticket. In the meantime, while I’m waiting around, scanning the horizon for IT and watching the golden winter sun glancing off the hoarfrost, I want to follow the example of some of my favorite authors with a little review and sharing of writing plans for 2013.

It’s been a rough winter with lots of transitions and hardships, not least of which is my father’s death just before Christmas.  But, now on the far side of the latest winter solstice and the Mayan apocalypse, I’m feeling warmer and more hopeful.  I’ve been writing a new middle grade fantasy adaptation of The Odyssey called The Adventures of Anatolia Strongarm, featuring the struggles and epiphanies of young Michael Pacer. It’s full of great characters I’m having fun getting to know.  Waiting in the wings, is my YA dystopian steampunk fantasy – Thoughts Are Things.  I’m looking forward to wrapping both up and submitting them at the PNWA conference in the summer if I can scrape up the funds.  I met some fantastic new writers at the last PNWA conference – The Lady Raconteurs – and getting to know them, and their writing, better is a highlight of 2012.

The full manuscript of Moira Black and the Faerie Bargain is still on submission with several editors and agents, so, there's that. 

You may have noticed that I re-vamped (so to speak) the blog some.  I’ve got some new writing blog links on the right – check them out.  The basics of what I’ve written and what I’m working on are now on the writing tab.  I’ve also added a reading tab, where I’ll share what I’m reading.  So far on my reading list for 2013:

The Westing Game – I’ve heard great things about this one.

The Humming Room – by Ellen Potter, whose writing I adore. Read The Kneebone Boy, if you haven't already!

Winterling – by Sarah Prineas (another amazing middle grade author).

The Cabinet of Earths – I was intrigued by the title

Sway – again, the title. You had me at hello.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children – This has been on my bookshelf for a while after my sister-in-law gave it to me, but now I’m going to read it.

Doll Bones– new book by Holly Black.  Need I say more?

The Night Circus – The blurb reminds me of a Ray Bradbury short story that I love.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There - Catherynne Valente (the woman is a freaking genius).

The Purple Emperor - the second book in the Faerie War Chronicle series by Herbie Brennan. I loved the first one, featuring an animal loving Faerie Prince.

Lots to look forward to in 2013!  I hope it's a wonderful, productive year of optimism fulfilled - for each of us.