In Which the Ninja Cap’n tells you Why Critique Partners Rock!!

Alex J. Cavanaugh has been amazing blog-friend since April last year, when I met him as one of the hosts of the A To Z Challenge. We’re co-hosts this year  and his warm, friendly presence has been a big source of support for me and the entire team.

He’s now coming out with a new book—CassaFire, the sequel to his first book, CassaStar. Today’s he is a guest on this blog, telling us all about critique partners and his experience with them…visit him and leave a comment during his book tour for a chance to win CassaFire, CassaStar, and a CassaFire tote bag and mug.

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Critique partners are important. Maybe not as vital as air, but to a writer, they are definitely in the top ten.

For CassaStar, I had two test readers. They weren’t writers, just readers who enjoyed science fiction. They provided some great feedback, but neither could offer detailed writing tips. (Although one is still my go-to guy for dialogue.)

After completing revisions on my second book, I knew I needed more. (I was really feeling the pressure to make CassaFire better.) I put out a call for help on my blog and eventually selected Rusty, Jeffrey, and Anne. Trust me, it was the best writing decision I ever made. Now I have three critique partners who rock!

What are the advantages? Your critique partners see mistakes you don’t. They notice repetitions of words and phrases. They catch when something seems out of place or awkward. They come to the manuscript fresh, so they don’t read what you meant, only what you wrote. And they’ll be able to suggest how to fix the problems since they are writers as well.

If you’ve never sent work to a critique partner, there is always a sense of fear. What if he hates it? What if I suck? What if he rips it to shreds? Rest assured, if you selected a good critique partner, you’ll be all right. Yes, you could end up with a bad partner. (That’s when you say thanks and find someone else!) But critiques are rarely harsh or demeaning. The comment are meant to make your manuscript better. And you’ll often discover strengths you never knew you possessed.

My three critique partners were awesome and added so much to the quality of my writing. I considered every suggestion and never felt threatened or angry with the comments. Besides, how could one be angry when you see a comment like this:

  “We’ll have to play when you’re not rusty then.” – “Hey! That’s my name! Woo hoo! I’m in your book.”

Now, go find yourself a critique partner or two!

And if you already have critique partners, let me know why they rock. The Ninja Captain wants to know…

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CassaFire

by Alex J. Cavanaugh

CassaStar was just the beginning…

The Vindicarn War is a distant memory and Byron’s days of piloting Cosbolt fighters are over. He has kept the promise he made to his fallen mentor and friend – to probe space on an exploration vessel. Shuttle work is dull, but it’s a free and solitary existence. The senior officer is content with his life aboard the Rennather.

The detection of alien ruins sends the exploration ship to the distant planet of Tgren. If their scientists can decipher the language, they can unlock the secrets of this device. Is it a key to the Tgren’s civilization or a weapon of unimaginable power? Tensions mount as their new allies are suspicious of the Cassan’s technology and strange mental abilities.

To complicate matters, the Tgrens are showing signs of mental powers themselves; the strongest of which belongs to a pilot named Athee, a woman whose skills rival Byron’s unique abilities. Forced to train her mind and further develop her flying aptitude, he finds his patience strained. Add a reluctant friendship with a young scientist, and he feels invaded on every level. All Byron wanted was his privacy…

Available now!

Science fiction – space opera/adventure

Print ISBN 978-0-9827139-4-5, $15.95, 6×9 Trade paperback, 240 pages

EBook ISBN 978-0-9827139-6-9, $4.99, available in all formats

CassaFire is the sequel to Cavanaugh’s first book, CassaStar, an Amazon Top Ten Best Seller:

“…calls to mind the youthful focus of Robert Heinlein’s early military sf, as well as the excitement of space opera epitomized by the many Star Wars novels. Fast-paced military action and a youthful protagonist make this a good choice for both young adult and adult fans of space wars.” – Library Journal

Visit the author’s site at http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com/

Barnes and Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/cassafire-alex-j-cavanaugh/1034742568

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/CassaFire-Alex-J-Cavanaugh/dp/0982713940/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1329417150&sr=1-1

Amazon Kindle – http://www.amazon.com/CassaFire-ebook/dp/B007A2TSNG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1329663355&sr=1-1

 

When Was the Last Time You Spent a Day at the Library?

At the Library

Some of the best times in my life have been spent at a library. It was the one place I could find silence, the freedom to take out umpteen books, and leave them on the table after skimming through a few pages, forget about the world outside and the state of my life in it.

I still run to libraries when I need my space—and yesterday I did just that. After a work-related meeting I decided to spend the entire afternoon and evening at the Singapore National library, at its big central division, which is home to one of the most diverse collections I’ve seen in a library so far.

I felt a little guilty, sitting at the reference section (I needed to look through one book, but nothing serious), working on my fiction while intermittently browsing through random books—maybe I was taking up the space that someone doing genuine research needed. I sat there long enough–till the time I realized all other seats were taken up, and then vacated mine—hoping an eager research scholar would take it up!

I walked out for a meal, came back, and headed to the lending section…deciding that some of the blocks in the story I was writing came from a lack of research. I needed to know a few facts before I could get on with my narration. I love the that this library lets you search its catalog on your phone—the catalog is on a free library wi-fi network. Having picked up the books I needed I went in search of a chair and found one at the far end, surrounded by about 20 other chairs in different clusters.

To say that the first book I picked up was an absorbing read would be to insult it–it talks about a hugely successful individual coping with multiple personality disorder–each of the 13 individual personalities inside him has a chapter in his/her voice. I finished it in the 8 hours I sat at the library, without much movement, and only the occasional glance around me.

It is this morning, when I look back on the evening that I remember what I saw in those glances, but did not register at the time: an old man sleeping, open-mouthed, behind a newspaper, a middle-aged-gap-toothed woman in a cheong-sam sitting with a book on feng-shui while fitting her small body cross-legged on a chair—apparently meditating,  a young man in office attire with a laptop bag and headphones, dozing behind a book titled Sex after Fifty, a pair of schoolkids snogging behind one of the bookshelves (I thought the library had cameras and frowned on such activity, but apparently not), a woman of indeterminate age in heavy make-up sitting with a shoe magazine, periodically receiving low-beeping calls and repeating/ writing down dates and times in a breathy falsetto, while a hearing impaired young couple to my right kept up a sprightly conversation full of excited gesturing.

With all those images returning to me, I feel less guilty about hogging a seat I didn’t really need. Not because other people did it too, with lot less serious preoccupations than mine—but because watching this pantomime of unabashed humanity in a country known for its lifestyle governed by rules, that too at a strait-laced place like a library, was not only a treat for a writer like me, but could also be safely termed ‘research’.

When was the last time you spent a day at the library? How much of that time did you spend people-watching?

 

 

Writers, How Do You Advertise Your Book?

The Golden Sky

For the months of November and December, Daily (w)rite is being taken over by some talented writers who will dole out advice on writing, publishing and marketing.

Today, Elisa Hirsch talks to you about advertising your book, which is now part of a writer’s job, whether self-published or published traditionally.

So, take it away, Elisa!

How to Advertise Your Book

    Advertising is a huge part of being a successful writer.  Once, when I had a booming sewing business, I had someone ask me, “What are the most important aspects of advertising?”

     I thought for a moment.  “Well, utilizing the internet helps.  Then I’d say, consistency and reciprocity.  But most of all, I think you need to know your audience.”  Of course that doesn’t encompass everything, but those are very important aspects that I would like to write about today.

    In sewing, as long as I listed a new outfit each week and interacted with customers, I was sure people would come back to see my items and spread the word about my products.  I found my audience and joined groups where mothers loved handmade clothes.  I did that for two years straight, and my company became the fifth largest kids’ custom clothing business on ebay.

    The same is true with writing.  

    If you blog, write consistently.  Make it something interesting, whether it’s a snippet about your day, or how things are going with your writing.  When someone comments, go visit them.  Not only will you make friends, but you might end up finding great resources (such as goodreads groups, book blogs and bloggy moms) as well.

    The other things I mentioned are that you need to utilize the internet and know your audience.  

 

Hourglass Memories

  This is a great time to be a writer.  You have free advertising at your fingertips–take advantage of it.  For example, my novel “The Golden Sky” is about my little boy who passed away because of birth defects.  I know my main audience is families who have lost loved ones.  I’ve been able to join online support groups and find people who need reading material to help them through hard times.

    I’ve also researched google keywords to find out what titles I need to use in order to bring the right crowds to my blog.  Key phrases such as “infant loss,” “grief counseling,” “what happens when we die,” have been very helpful for bringing the right people to my blog.

    Several months ago, I worked on a children’s book with a friend.  She needed exposure, and I found out that “Rapunzel and Tangled” were popular search terms.  Since that would pull in the right audience, and I knew she was consistent, I helped her write a blog using those words in the title and the post.  She went from getting 300 hits a day to 1000 hits just from those key words.  

    So, on top of knowing your audience, being consistent and reciprocal, try using your resources, and find out the importance of keywords.

    Remember that the internet is your friend!  If you use it the right way, you can pull in quite a crowd.  Good luck.
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Elisa Hirsch, Author

Elisa spends most of her time taking care of four rambunctious kids who are better than green eggs and ham.  They’re pretty darn fun, but despite that, after she had kids, her boobs shrunk, she lost hair, but gained a greater sense of humor!
When she’s not scavenging through the vents, which her son (the Zombie Elf) thinks are the best place to hide things, she’s sewing, playing her violin, or writing.

• Blog: The Crazy Life of a Writing Mom
• Twitter: @ECwrites

Do You Want to Write Books for Children?

Chris Eboch: Writing for Children: The Eyes of Pharaoh

Writing books for kids is no child’s play. It requires a special skill-set to write books that will engage children as well as educate or entertain them. I’ve always been curious about writing for children, and today children’s author Chris Eboch shares some of the basics of writing for kids. Take it away, Chris!

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Damyanti asked me to talk about writing for children. That’s a big subject, butI’ll cover a couple of important points. Besides publishing a dozen children’s books myself, I’ve taught hundreds of students and critique thousands of manuscripts, so I’ll look at a few common misconceptions and mistakes.

Chris Eboch: Writing for Children: The Well of Sacrifice

Misconception: Children’s books are easier than other forms of writing.

Truth: Writing for children is in many ways harder than writing for grown-ups. In both cases, you have to have interesting and relatable characters, dramatic plots, and smooth writing. For children, you have to do everything in fewer words. Picture books are typically less than 1000 words, with less than 500 words preferred. Short stories are usually under 1200 words (under 800 for Highlights magazine), while stories for the younger children may be under 400 words. Even novels are shorter and the writing must be tight, to appeal to busy and restless readers. You also have to have an appropriate language level. Learning to write well for children can take years (though they can be fun years!).

Common Mistake: Writing a story with no conflict, a slice of life or something quiet.

Solution: Children’s stories need a strong conflict like every story does. The character should have a problem or a goal. For very young children, it can be a simple goal, like making a new friend or staying up late. For young adult novels, it can be as serious as dealing with abuse or addiction. But children’s stories need plot, and plot comes from conflict.

Common Mistake: Writing a story where the adult solves the problem – a parent, grandparent, teacher, fairy godmother, ghost, or some other creature steps into fix the situation or tell the child what to do.

Solution: The main character should solve his or her own problem. In some cases it’s all right to ask an adult for help or advice, but the child must control the story, make a final decision about what to do, and be responsible for the end result. Kids are inspired by reading about other children who tackle challenges and succeed. It’s not as satisfying if someone else steps in to fix things (or worse, scolds the child for misbehaving and tells them what they should have done instead). Avoid preaching!

Common Mistake: Writing for children without reading modern children’s stories.  (This gets back to that misconception that children’s books are easy to write. Or in some cases the writer is basing their stories on what they remember reading as a child, which may have been many decades ago.) This leads to an outdated tone, inappropriate language level, stories lacking interest for today’s kids, or formats totally inappropriate for the market (such as 3000 word picture books).

Solution: All writers need to read widely in their genre. That helps you understand the parameters of that genre and see what has already been done. You’ll also start to internalize the language and pacing of children’s books. Stories have changed over the last century, so it’s important to read recent books or magazines to understand both what children find interesting, and how modern stories are styled. Reading can also help you with market research if you pay attention to the publishers.

Damyanti also asked about tips for breaking in to the children’s market. The best advice I can give you is to take time to learn how to write well, and to understand the market, before you start submitting your work.

Take courses (the Institute of Children’s Literature offers a correspondence course through mail or e-mail, and you may be able to find a local community college course).

Attend workshops or conferences (SCBWI, The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, has regional groups around the country and the world, many offering annual conferences or retreats and more frequent small workshops or meetings).

Read books or magazines on writing (including mine for novelists, Advanced Plotting).

Join a critique group, sign up for a critique at a conference, and/or hire an editor to review your work. (SCBWI can be a resource for finding critique groups and also offers a list of freelance editors – or you can see my rates and recommendations.)

Basically, don’t rush things. Starting a new career takes time and education, so take the time to learn and enjoy the process. Have fun with the writing, and your readers are more likely to have fun with the reading.

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Chris Eboch: Books for Kids

Learn more about Chris and read excerpts of her work at www.chriseboch.com (for children’s books) or www.krisbock.com (for adult romantic suspense written under the name Kris Bock) or see her Amazon page. You can also read excerpts from Advance Plotting and get other writing craft advice on her blog.

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Through the months of November and December, some fab writers would take over Daily (w)rite. At least twice a week, this blog would host posts on writing, by writers.

I still have a few slots open for December, so I would welcome guest posts by writers who have something to say about the art, craft, and business of writing. Write me a mail at atozstories at gmail dot com to discuss this.

Writing About my Love Affair: Looking Back Three Years

E-books and Book Nostalgia

Three years ago, when I first started this blog, the post below was one of the many I wrote about reading. (Here’s the original post and the comments it received.)

Reading is such a big part of any writer’s life…today, from my Kindle-d  and Kindle-published self, I look back on the reader who knew nothing about e-books and wrote poems about the nostalgia of used books and the stories they tell us not just through the printed word.

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I’ve been writing about books every now and then, books I am reading, books I wish to read.

Back when I was a student, and sometimes did not know where the next meal would come from, I would still buy books. Books sold by weight on Indian pavements, because in those days in India they wasted nothing, and I could not afford shiny new books.

But now, when I can afford to buy any book I might possibly want, used books still call to me.

I tried to write about this love affair (in prose, mind you!) but I can’t help it, I think each books speaks to me in verse, in words which are garbled prayer and temptation,  so here goes (sigh, again, “a poem”!!!! Rick, you are laughing, aren’t you?)

Thumbed, dog-eared,
cover torn in places
names written, forgotten
crossed out, passed on.

I come with a tang
of lazy afternoons,
of mildewed bookshelves
falling apart,
of cheap colognes
on a young man
looking for a start,
of pungent desires
shakily denied,
salted airs in a
pickle factory where
I almost died,
of this dusty pavement
where I am to be sold
made into packets, bags,
my story untold.

Come pick me up
take me with you
and you shall know
of whispered confessions,
innuendos, half-written
poems, and shattered
dreams, as I talk
to you and you listen
with your eyes closed and
an open heart.

For my best secrets
were not printed
on my body
but written
into my soul
by all these years
I spent waiting,
waiting for you,
my love.

In which I navel-gaze and read, then repeat

Books, books!

The last few days, I’ve been reading. A lot. Which means, besides writing, which I consider my only daily intellectual activity that can’t be skipped, I don’t have time for much else.

So, I haven’t been blogging much. Here’s a list of stuff I’m doing —not that I expect you to be interested, but I like to navel-gaze sometimes, and this is,  after all, My blog –

1. I’m reading “Sun After Dark” by Pico Iyer. It is the single most spellbinding travel book I’ve read this year, and it is making me restless. I want to go places, and I don’t mean figuratively.

2. I’m reading 7 other books too, and I have to return them to the library by 31st July.

3. Just as if I wasn’t doing enough reading, I’ve begun The Girl with the Pearl Ear ring in Italian.

4. I’m not cooking, happy instead to heat up stuff I cooked last week. (Don’t worry–it is all healthy and unspoilt–so far.)

5. I’m ignoring my pets, and forgot to feed my angelfish and Lalwant Singh yesterday.

6. I’m trying to draft a story and revise several, as well as finish the edits of A to Z stories of Life and Death, all without much success, because I keep going back to reading.

7. I’ve tried to go blog browsing, but for once find myself getting distracted From the internet. You guessed it. Books, again.

8. A friend asked me if I’ve been getting enough sleep. She’s right, I’m not. Yup, reading.

So, apologies all around if I haven’t visiting you guys often enough. It is so rare that I get this kind of focus (and time on my hands) to read, that I’m going all out. Every dictionary should have my pic under the word “crazy”, I know that, but folks, this is so much FUN!

See you on the other side (of my books), and in the meanwhile, Happy Blogging!

And for those who commented on my Angelfish post, here’s a slideshow of the parents with the babies. Unfortunately, none survived, but their short life kept my nose glued to the aquarium.

Angelfish Family!

Oscar and Lucinda

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

Just read this in Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey, and couldn’t help sharing it:

“He bent over his son and kissed the air above his forehead and then walked in tiptoe in that slightly exaggerated and silly way that men like Theophilus, normally gruff and bustling about their business adopt as a sort of dance to celebrate their most tender feelings.”

This kind of brief, but intensely effective characterisation belongs in a short story,  but I’m not complaining Peter Carey put it in a novel. I love Peter Carey, and can see why he won the Booker.

On with the reading. But first, dinner.

See you on the other side, world, once I’ve finished with Oscar and Lucinda!

Writing on Chick Lit

Is this Chick-lit?

I have recently been reading blogs, discussions and articles on what should and should not be called Chick Lit, whether the term has its uses, and if it is being mis-used by editors, publishers and readers.

Tina Jordan quotes Linda Holmes in Shelf Life:

“If you’re going to try to report on the fact that a couple of women who write books have tried to start a discussions of whether the mega-response to Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom is symptomatic of a too-narrow view of interesting fiction, it might be a good idea to stay away from the formless and dismissive term ‘chick lit’ in discussing them.”

To me, genres are something publishers use to classify books, and chick-lit, with the covers full of cartoons, of shoes, bags and women, is their idea of marketing humorous books by and on women. End of story.

Here’s an interesting take on the issue by a chick-lit fan who says:

“I don’t exclusively read chick-lit.  I don’t exclusively read YA.  I don’t exclusively read anything.  You clearly see where I stand on the matter.  I am a fan of chick-lit, don’t mind it being labeled as such, and certainly don’t think having “a female name is like an affliction.”

To me, I’ve read a few chick-lits when I needed a light read, and can vouch for the fact that almost all were witty and well-written. But yes, I would be upset if a fantasy, horror or literary work is labeled chick-lit merely because it happens to be a book related to women’s interests and has been written by a woman. Not because chick-lit  is lowly, but because the label is wrong.

What do you think?

Writing about Decisions, Craziness

The House of Spirits

Life has gone quite crazy lately, what with one thing or the other. While I try to return a semblance of order to things, books keep me company.

I talked about “The Constant Princess” by Philippa Gregory yesterday, and today I’ve decided to pick up Isabel Allende’s House of Spirits and give it a go whenever I have a break.

I’ve watched the movie, so I know the basic story, but I can’t resist the idea of Allende’s writing.

It is still dark out side as I write and is beginning to clear up little by little. A walk may just be what the doctor ordered.

What about you? How is/was your day? Week?

Reading, books, longing

Sometimes the only thing I want to do is curl up and read a book. I have dragged myself out of bed today. Twice.

Reading, reading, reading

Wish life were all about staying under the covers, book in hand, while someone whipped up healthy delicacies. A bite, a page, a little reading over again, listening to music, the hum of rain outside the window.

Instead, must work, clean, be nice. Arrrrrgh. Blog even. No, I did that because I had to drag myself out of reading, or I would be an irritated grump when I go out for the evening.