Working Titlez

by Krissy Hawkins
Author Maralys Wills recently chatted with Gregory Kompes, the man responsible for “The Fabulist Flash, A Newsletter for Writers”, to partake in some Q&A. Read some of the author’s revelations below – from discovering one’s writing style to self-marketing tips and of course, the most important lesson for writers – perseverance.

When did you ‘know’ you were a writer?
Long before I sold my first article, (about our sons’ adventures in hang gliding), I saw myself as a writer. As I collected 129 rejection slips for poems, essays, stories, and first-hand accounts, I wondered how many rejection slips it would take to sell something. In my mind it was always “when,” never “if.” Still, writing for money altered my title. Now I was an author. Before, I’d been a mother with a typewriter.

How would you describe your style of writing?
Straightforward. Vivid. Full of scenes and vignettes. Often humorous. A story-teller’s quest for the unusual, the humorous, the dramatic, the ironic. But securely anchored in the real world.

What is your writing process?
Except for publicity chores (which are all too time-consuming), I write whenever I can find the time. Sometimes I push things away to “make” time. When I’m deeply involved in a project, I let ordinary “living” go by the board. Laundry, shopping, cooking—they all wait. I have no schedule. Every stolen hour in front of the computer becomes my “schedule.”

What was your path to publication?
No special path. At first I simply sent things out (129 things), until United Airlines Mainliner magazine “bit.” From then on, every published book was achieved a different way. I was agented for my first nine books, yet for five of them the sale would not have occurred except for something I did myself. Even with an agent, you have to be part of the process.

What is your favorite self-marketing idea?
Speeches. There is no second choice. I have searched high and low for something that works as well as giving speeches, but have yet to find it.

8. What are the biggest surprises you’ve encountered as a writer?
Read the whole interview here.

Spell it right!

The number of manuscripts I’ve seen — and even printed books — with this common misspelling is staggering.

Sometimes they’re long. Sometimes they’re short. But they’re always written by someone other than the author — preferably that someone is SOMEONE.

Someone well-known. Foreword writers can be an expert or authority in field that is the subject of the book or a celebrity who enjoys a relationship with the author or a passion for the book’s topic or purpose.

First Lady of Nevada, Dawn Gibbons, wrote a gracious foreword for 100 Years in the Nevada Governor’s Mansion. Siegfried and Roy were naturals to ask to pen a foreword for our book on the history of the legendary Stardust. Former governor Kenny Guinn was honored to write a foreword for civil rights activist Bob Bailey’s memoir and we tapped former Governor Mike Huckabee to write the foreword for Bayou Country about southeast Arkansas. Boxing champ George Foreman contributed the foreword for Fight Town. One of my personal favorites was visiting composer John Williams at his Los Angeles film studio bungalow to discuss his foreword for More Than a Parade, our pictorial history of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid provided the foreword for Silent Heroes of the Cold War. I would say that these and other luminaries have unfailingly been honored to be asked and very helpful and interested in the process.

Give some thought to who you know, or who you know who might know the person you wish to approach. If you have a noble cause or a subject close to their hearts, many famous folks will listen to your pitch to write a foreword. Don’t be shy — it can’t hurt to ask.

Once an agreement has been reached to provide a foreword, you should offer to send your manuscript for their review. At this point, you can gingerly feel out your SOMEONE as to their intention to write the foreword themselves, or if they prefer to have the author or editor write for their review and approval. Yes, that happens.

Can your SOMEONE be NO ONE? Sure. While your publisher is looking for any and all advantages to help sell your book — and the credibility or star power from a famous expert or celebrity may help — forewords can be written by anyone. A foreword’s purpose is to give the reader some perspective on the subject and/or the author before they delve into the text. Nor do all books require a foreword.

But if you have one, spell it right!

What happens when a parent’s perfectly normal day turns into every parent’s worst nightmare?

For the Smith family, life was good. John, most known to R-J readers as Nevada’s best-read newspaper columnist, and wife Tricia, were the parents of a beautiful little girl, Amelia, then eight-years-old.

That perfect and perfectly normal life was shattered with the terrifying diagnosis of a brain tumor. Little Amelia was whisked to specialists in Phoenix on an medical flight for life-saving emergency surgery. Then the worst-day-in-their-life got worse yet with the news the tumor was cancerous. The next days, months, years were dizzying rounds of doctors and hospitals, chemotherapy and radiation, recoveries and replapses.

As the Smith family went through this terrible ordeal, John pondered the old adage — write what you know. Should he write about Amelia’s health crisis? In the ensuing five years, John did write about his brave and stalwart daughter as she endured the relentless pain and suffering that comes with modern medical treatments for cancer.

AMELIA’S LONG JOURNEY will debut at the Vegas Valley Book Festival. John will present the keynote address, “The Challenge of Writing What You Know” this Saturday at the Flamingo branch of the Clark County Library. John and Amelia will sign books together.

Amelia’s favorite childhood cancer charities will benefit from sales of the book. They include:

• Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Foundation of Nevada
• Make-A-Wish Foundation
• Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation
• St. Baldrick’s Foundation

The book acknowldeges the crucial supportive role these charities provide to the families of children with cancer.

When: Saturday, November 7, 7:00 PM
Where: Clark County Library Theater, 1401 E. Flamingo
Web: www.ameliaslongjourney.com

Writing is a solitary endeavor, and save for some tweaking by an editor, the storyline and characters are the author’s own. The author is in charge of what happens when, what each character does, says, and even looks like. So how did seven of the region’s best authors, all tremendously accomplished in their own right, deal with having to share?

John L. Smith said, “In school I often got into trouble for failing to work well with others, so I wasn’t optimistic that I could cooperate on a story with six  writers. Collaborating on a writing project was pretty new for me. But it was intriguing to participate in a collective creative writing project. And I think the story works.”

RESTLESS CITY will debut at this year’s Vegas Valley Book Festival. A signature project of the festival organizers, editor Geoff Schumacher invited seven of the area’s best-known authors to each write a sequential chapter in a yet-untitled book. The only provisions were it had to be set in Las Vegas, be fiction, and each chapter was limited to 3,000 to 4,000 words. Oh, and they’d have a short couple of weeks to write their chapter.

H. Lee Barnes. John Irsfeld, Brian Rouff, Leah Bailly, John L. Smith, Constance Ford and Vu Tran were game for this admittedly experimental project. Barnes set a high standard with the first chapter, and introduced his colleagues to a story we’ve come to label Vegas Noir. By the time John Irsfeld added his contribution, the title RESTLESS CITY was coined by editor Geoff Schumacher.

The concept of a serial novel was recently a bestseller in THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT by thriller-master Jeffery Deaver and a team of likewise bestselling mystery and suspense writers. I read THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT with great curiousity, wondering if I could sense the different voices from chapter to chapter. Yes, I could.

As I can in RESTLESS CITY. But not in a negative way. It is more of an undercurrent that something has shifted as the story moves on. Too, there was a greater anticipation as to where the story would go next as each new author took the reins.

According to author Brian Rouff, RESTLESS CITY required him to “step up my game”. Rouff said “Chapter three was a great opportunity because I got to delve into back story. John Irsfeld gave me a lot to work with. In turn, I finished my chapter with an old-fashioned cliffhanger for the next author. I hope the readers had as much fun as I did.”

THE CHOPIN MANUSCRIPT was such a success, that Deaver and his colleagues have produced THE COPPER BRACELET. Deaver was fascinted to “see how a group of authors with vastly varied writing styles and approaches to creativity produced such a cohesive thriller with a relentlessly fast-paced narrative”.

Vu Tran, the final chapter author said, “Writing the last chapter and trying to tie up everyone else’s plot and character threads was in turns a unique, infuriating, and fun experience. Complementing and resolving other people’s ideas was even more difficult than I thought it would be, but I ultimately found it very satisfying and educational.”

RESTLESS CITY is available at www.RestlessCity.com and will be available on Amazon and in local bookstores shortly. Both a print and eBook formats are being published. The book will debut at the Vegas Valley Book Festival with a reading by final author Vu Tran on Saturday, November 7 at 4:00 PM at the Historic Fifth Street School (on Fourth Street). Authors will be available to sign books.

Writing can be a lonely endeavor. My colleague and Stephens Press author Steven Kalas (Human Matters) once said, when asked how he finds the motivation to write, “You just have to put your butt in the chair and start writing.” He’s right. Once you push yourself to start, the words usually start to flow.

Because writing is so solitary, authors can let self-doubt creep into their minds, making that “butt in the seat” technique all the harder. What’s an aspiring author to do?

Writers groups.

I have long sung the praises of writers groups and pushed and prodded authors to join them. Groups may be general inviting writers of both fiction and non-fiction of all genres to participate. Others may specialize in romance, sci-fi, mystery etc. Some are organized for seniors or young writers.   Writers groups usually have instructive programs, workshops, conferences, and importantly, offer support, feedback, and networking for writers at all levels of their craft. Many have sub-groups called critique groups. “Crit” groups are a few people, maybe 5 or 6, who meet regularly to review each other’s progress and to “critique” each other’s writing.

One such group is the Southern Nevada chapter of Sisters in Crime. The national Sisters in Crime organization has been around for years. Many famous mystery writers are members and got their initial support and encouragement from a Sisters in Crime chapter.

The public is invited to attend an upcoming meeting that sounds like great fun. Actors Russell Jeff Feher and Scottie Hawkins Scott will play out scenes from famous mysteries.   Oh, and I’m pretty sure brothers are welcome at  Sisters in Crime!

Our book designer, Sue Campbell, and yours truly have both been invited to be on faculty for the bi-annual East of Eden Writers Conference for 2010. Held in Steinbeck Country of Salinas, California, this is one of the premier conferences in the country, attracts hundreds of writers and a really top-notch faculty. The conference is sponsored by the South Bay chapter of the 100-year-old California Writers Club.  So honored!!

As attendees of my workshops and programs know, I heartily endorse writers conferences as one of the best ways for authors to learn the ropes about the publishing biz, meet fellow writers, learn tons about the craft of writing, and make important connections. How often do you get the chance to sit next to a literary agent at lunch? Conferences are held all over the world (I’m still waiting for an faculty invite to a conference in say, New Zealand or Iceland) and www.shawguides.com is a great resource for checking them out. Closer to home, the Las Vegas Writers Conference is held every April, and features a fine line-up of presenters.

The days flip past, faster and faster. (Image by flowers&machinery CC)

August came and went in a blur, and with it, my first anniversary as a blogger. Keeping my intended audience in mind — authors, our own authors, other publisher’s authors, wannabe authors — I’ve posted on a wide variety of book-related subjects. Everything from agents to book design, editing, marketing, and lots of tips. News, of course, about Stephens Press authors, books, awards, events and publicity. A few personal stories too, like learning to read, my first typewriter, collecting old books and the joys of presenting the first copy of a book to a new author. Blogsite #1, www.CarolynHayesUber.com morphed into blogsite #2, www.WorkingTitlez.com. Both having many of the same posts, but CHU includes more personal items while WT is more business-oriented. I love WordPress because it allows you to create “pages” so I’m building a repository of downloadable reports, interviews and papers that are useful to writers. If you know of someone who’d benefit from news and advice about the publishing world, please refer them. The easiest is to click on the Subscribe By Email link on the right, which will put each new post in your mail box. Q&A articles are popular, so questions from my readers are welcome.

Back by popular demand, we’re reprising our Nuts & Bolts Workshop for Authors.

Saturday, from 1:00 – 5:30 PM, we’ll cover publishing basics from submissions to industry trends, followed by manuscript polishing and what to expect from the editing process.

Sunday, from 1:00 – 5:30 PM, we’ll present a new workshop, specifically for memoir writers.

Presenters include Author and Writing Teacher Maralys Wills, Book Editor Jami Carpenter and Publisher Carolyn Hayes Uber. This is the perfect opportunity to get the lay of the land and ask questions. Location: Clark County Library on East Flamingo in the Main Theater.