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Genre Confusion

5/1/2015

Contemplating marketing, writing, and all the madness it entails...

Genre Confusion. It’s like gender confusion but without the cool clothes and support groups.Some of you out there on the magical interweb may have noticed a few threads linking me, EJ Bouinatchova, and a mysterious flower-faced lady with the unlikely name of Eve. A Floriste. See, when I started putting my writerly aspirations on the internet I was faced with a conundrum: do I market where I came from or where I am going to? I had taken a wee bit of a direction change in my writing. What had I written? A bizarre, contemporary memoir about sexuality, violence, and madness. What did I want to write? The same stuff I love to read: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Mystery, Horror. Yeah, that’s a weird mix.

I know one author that’s bridged this fiction/nonfiction gap successfully: Tony Bourdain. So, if I was mega famous and had millions of dollars and fans and TV shows, I think I’d just say WTF and write what I want, marketing be damned. But no, I sure ain’t him. Many writer’s resources that I read said that “Author Branding” was important. People have to understand what you’re about; send a simple message, don’t hit ‘em with too much at once.

After pondering this for a while, I decided I’d have to split my identity. So I now maintain two not-entirely separate social media and marketing profiles. You know what? It’s kind of fun! They’re both me. They just focus on different aspects of me. Then the worst thing happened. Someone wanted to publish me. (OK, it’s not really the worst thing, more like the “Holy Crap I’m so excited I could plotz!” kind of thing). So the question became, which “me” are they publishing?

My publisher’s head spun around a bit as I explained my situation. His feeling? “Just be yourself. You’re cool. F**k the marketing.” WHAAATT? How can I be me, when there’s so much me to be?(Ooh, that’s good, I’m gonna tweet that). But I thought about it, and said, you know what? What the hell. He’s right. We finally settled that I’d keep the separate profiles for a sort of first-look marketing approach, but not try to hide the fact that they are, in fact, one person. So there it is. I am a giant nerd who loves all things SF/F, and I have also been a crazed, hypersexual florist struggling not to self-destruct. Say, that sounds like it’d make an interesting book. Oh wait, look, it DID make an interesting book: Go check out the self-published, rough version of my twisted memoir, get ‘em while they’re cheap! Fresh Cut will be republished as a real, professionally edited book in June, by the amazing folks over at Open Books.

Reposted from previous site. Original comment:

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The Dark Side: Part 2

2/14/2015

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Well, look at that, it’s Valentine’s Day – a day that should fill all right-thinking people with shuddering horror, and the perfect day to continue my musings on the Darkness of the Human Soul.

Why is horror is so enticing, so arousing? It seems like sex and death, desire and fear, are closely linked. Is it an affirmation of life to follow up a really good scare with a really good shag? I don’t know. Enough pop psychology, I can really only speak from my own experience.

The depths of my subconscious have always been filled with outlandish romantic imagery. As a child I had a recurring dream of going up into an attic and finding a living skeleton. He would dance with me and I knew he was my one true love. As a teen I dreamed I was Pinhead’s girlfriend. He was very gentlemanly. I don’t know how we kissed, so don’t ask. He may have been asexual. It was still awesome. As an adult it follows that the dreams developed darker and more explicit scenarios, but you’ll have to pay to read about those. Suffice to say it’s all rather fascinating and makes for great writing fodder.

Not that I’m holding myself up as the example of the typical human psyche; that would be a bit alarming. But I do think that everyone has a dark streak. Why not celebrate it? (And I don’t mean in the grey silk tie kind of way). On this day of overblown, farcical, commercialized love, celebrate the right way: Watch Hellraiser. Snap the heads off some roses. Eat your chocolates from the tip of a sharp knife. Embrace the Darkness.

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The Dark Side: Part 1

10/31/2014

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It's Halloween, and I'm all fired up for spooky books, movies, and TV! Utterly enamored with American Horror Story: Freak Show. How can you not be? And Supernatural, of course. I just love Demon Dean. (Minor spoiler for those of you who may be some seasons behind. Sorry). Here's a quick shout-out to some recent favorite Indie horror authors, too:

Karina Halle : Read Experiment in Terror, a great classic X-Files-esque horror series with distinctive characters. And a lot of sex.
Brian Harmon: Read Rushed and the Temple of the Blind series for some fantastic dreamlike, psychosexual, delving-into-the-subconscious adventure tales.
Jack Connor: Read Nightmare City and his other steampunk stuff. Wonderful. Two words: Clockwork zombies!
Dylan J. Morgan: Read pretty much anything! The Dead Lands is great sci-fi/horror and his vampire/werewolf stuff it spectacularly brutal.
Kenneth W. Harmon: Read his real-life experience uncovering the mystery of a ghost that haunted his family. I have only been able to read excerpts so far, but I love it! An ex-cop, his writing is hard-boiled and straightforward.

This time of year always makes me contemplate our fascination with darkness. Does it make us feel braver to face horrors? Luckier than the poor victims who meet such cruel ends? Is it cathartic to flirt with the darkness within? Wickedly satisfied to indulge a fantasy of violence and power? Perhaps all of these things. Whatever, the reasons, I'm not arguing. I love it all. Happy Halloween!

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Derailed

8/31/2014

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Writers! What do you do when that most horrible thing occurs and you just stop writing? It's not writer's block as far as I can tell. I always understood writer's block to be when you sit down at the keyboard and nothing comes out. That's not what's going on here. The ideas are there. Even the desire is there. What's not there is the energy level, motivation, and concentration. This is gonna be a tough fix.

I sort of know how it happened. Whatever my creative project, I have two speeds: full steam ahead and dead stop. I know this about myself. So when I charged into my first draft on May 1st, I was all flash and fury. I also work best with a deadline, or to use a buzzword, a "timebox." So I gave myself a pretty specific time frame of 5-6 weeks and I wrote like my fingers were on fire.

Then it came time to revise. Which I was cool with. Didn't think I'd have much to do. 'Cause, you know, brilliant. (Little bit of ego here, you think?) Figured I'd get some beta reader opinions, slap on some polish, proofread, and publish. But the worst thing happened - someone hated my first draft. Hated my whole writing process in fact, and broke my tender little heart. "You can't write that fast and you should never share a first draft" was said. "Writing is a slow, methodical, and solitary process and you should always walk away from a drafted piece for at least three months." "WHAAAATTT??!?!" said I. "I don't have that kind of time! Must keep rolling, must stay motivated, plus I'm on a timeline!!"

Suffice to say, chaos and bad feelings ensued. I heard a couple more writers echo the "walk away for a while" thing, and I threw a big old baby fit. I walked away. And what was supposed to be a two week break turned into a six week break. And then an eight week break. My characters, who had been clamoring for attention in my head, piped down and went to sleep. Life got in the way, and all the things that had been threatening to take over my time and energy won out.

Now, I can't entirely blame my one beta reader. Everyone's got an opinion; it's my own fault if I wasn't able to take it with a grain of salt. And I can't say that I could have avoided all the compelling life interruptions that came up - I knew they were on the horizon and they were just as soul sucking as I thought they'd be. Still... There are some things I could have done better.

1). Listened to my instincts: I could have started working on part two of my book while letting part one rest. I didn't have to walk away entirely.
2). Gotten my arrogance in check: I should have been more realistic about the perfection level of my first draft. Got my own hopes up too high and set myself up for a fall.
3). Had a thicker skin: I need to be ready for criticism and figure out how to integrate it without shutting down. If I want to work on a timeline there's no room for freak-outs.

Not that it's all bad. In that time I did figure out the revisions I want to do and managed to take the good with the bad on the one significantly dissenting opinion. Also took the time to make some long-overdue fixes on my published work. I even had the amazing opportunity to get a partial revision from a pro editor, and dang, was it useful! Getting the focus back to continue the revisions is extremely difficult and my original timeline is probably not salvageable, but I can be flexible.

I have some solutions in mind. I need to figure out if my real problem is mental fatigue from all the life issues - if that's the case I can solve the problem by careful time management and scheduling. When I start chipping away methodically I'll feel better and my brainpower will start to recharge. However, if the problem is some kind of mental block about the book I'll need to play psychoanalyst on myself and figure out why I'm avoiding writing. Do I somehow feel this work isn't ready to see the light of day? Do I really want to be focusing on supporting my published work? Am I worried I'll be neglecting my family if I dive into another heavy writing bout? I may need to do some soul searching and answer these questions for myself because these issues are much harder to overcome than simple fatigue.

A message of hope for the writers out there: Just when I thought my characters had abandoned me due to neglect, they came back to me in a dream. I know I can find the way back in, I just have to keep the story going in my mind even if I can't get it on the page right now. It's never too late, and as long as I stay hopeful and keep looking for a fix, I'll find it. It may feel like it's now or never, but there's always time. Wish me luck, and all the best to the rest of you brave literary souls out there!

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Wrong to Write?

6/21/2014

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I've been in a rousing debate recently with another writer about the writing process. He's got what I think of as the Typical Writer Personality: He prefers a process that is slow, careful, methodical, painstaking, and deeply private. He never shares work until it has been through multiple revisions, and he doesn't see the point in self publishing (to put it mildly).

Me, on the other hand, I think I display an Abnormal Writer Temperament: I write and share compulsively. When I finish a 20 or 30 page segment I must run it by a trusted friend for a reality check, or I feel practically unable to continue. What if it stinks? Is heading in the wrong direction? Is setting the wrong tone? What if it's just plain boring? I desperately need feedback and reinforcement and I absolutely can't work in a vacuum. I love the self-publishing model because I can get my stuff out into the world and get a real idea of the reception.

It's not that I can't be thorough, but I write quickly and compulsively. I do revise, sure, but first I just want to get it out n paper. And I expect it to be good. I feel like if I can't get something about 75% right on the first draft then I should just scrap it and move on. Or not move on. Maybe just throw my hands in the air and go back to bookkeeping.

In short, I'm impatient, volatile, emotional, hypersensitive, and deeply vulnerable to criticism. Does this make me the worst candidate ever for a writing career, or what?

Maybe the problem is that I never wanted to be a writer. I did plenty of writing in my school years, even won some awards and scholarships. But the creative pursuit I chose for most of my life was performing arts. Now that makes sense with my temperament. But it wasn't what I wanted to spend my whole life doing, and it sure doesn't fit into my life now.

So what do I do? I feel the compulsion to write; the stories and characters are burning in the back of my brain. But I have very limited time and tolerance. Is there room in the writing process for someone like me? Can I develop some kind of hybrid method that will fit my personality and also produce good results?

I'll tell you what, If I can survive revising and publishing my first full-length work of fiction, then maybe the reading public can decide. In the meantime, I'd love to hear the thoughts of other writers on this subject: Is there such thing as the proper temperament for a writer, and what do we do if we don't have it? Comment, email, or tweet to me!

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To Write or Not to Write?

6/6/2014

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This excellent author, Mima, lovingly roped me into this blogging chain letter. I figured what the hell, a good excuse for me to finally start up a blog on my very own site. Et voila, here we are.

The Questions:

What am I currently working on? A fantasy novel, to be released on Kindle in three separate novellas that will each end on maddening cliffhangers, because yes, I love my readers that much. I do promise to write incredibly quickly, if that's any consolation. Part one should be out this July.

How does my work differ from others of its genre? My current work is not really high fantasy. No swords and sorcery, more knives and knavery. It takes place in an ostensibly non-magical world where ordinary people have to find exceptional bravery to face the terrors that threaten their lands. I'm going to try and subtly tweak as many fantasy conventions as I can: my characters are not perfectly heroic, and everything's not going to turn out just as they plan.

Why do I write what I do? I just love fantasy, sci-fi, mystery and horror. I grew up reading comics, Tolkein, Frank Herbert, Stephen King... These things have shaped my inner fantasy world for as long as I can remember. I love facing the darkness and finding the extraordinary in the mundane.

How does my writing process work? I have very little time in my day to write, so the stories tend to spool themselves up in my head. Then they unwind themselves in frenetic bursts during the brief moments my fingers can hit the keyboard. In between times, I do take a few minutes to outline and plan, for pacing and continuity purposes. And the rest of the time, I just listen as the characters chatter away in my head. If I go too long without writing they start talking really loudly, and I think that can get dangerous.

To continue the chain I nominate: Matthew O' Connell and Andy Peloquin.

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"The Reluctant Blogger"

Very much of two minds about this blogging thing, in case you hadn't noticed. But there's so much wonderful geekery to share! Posting here about sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and more.

Genre Confusion

Contemplating marketing, writing, and all the madness it entails...

The Dark Side: Part 2

The Dark Side: Part 1

Derailed

Wrong to Write?

To Write or Not to Write?

"The Reluctant Blogger"

Archives

Categories

Genre Confusion

Contemplating marketing, writing, and all the madness it entails...

The Dark Side: Part 2

The Dark Side: Part 1﻿

Derailed﻿

Wrong to Write?

To Write or Not to Write?

"The Reluctant Blogger"

Archives

Categories

The Dark Side: Part 1

Derailed