Whomping Up the Creative Machine

Before his book got pulled from the stores, Jonah Lehrer had some interesting things to say about Creativity in Imagine: How Creativity Works. (Turned out Lehrer had gotten a little too creative himself and made up a Bob Dylan quote or two, which is too bad because Lehrer has great things to say even through his own mouth, without bothering to put words in other people's mouths. And now I hear they've yanked another favorite of mine, his How We Decide. Crumb.)

In my Goodreads book review, I boiled down the creativity jumpstarts to the following list:

1. Move to a big city where you are compelled to mingle constantly with people you know and don't know;

2. Talk about your problems and blocks and puzzlers with people outside your field;

3. Do some drugs;

4. Practice letting yourself be uncensored;

5. Expose your ideas to criticism and integrate possible solutions;

6. Fail a lot, in order to find success.

How am I, as a writer, doing, according to this checklist?

1. Move to a big city where you are compelled to mingle constantly with people you know and don't know. Bellevue, Washington, has a population of nearly 125,000, but I don't by any means "mingle constantly with people I know and don't know." At least this Saturday I'll be speaking at the Seattle University Search for Meaning Book Festival on "Prayer and Prejudice: the Validity of Faith in Jane Austen," so I'll be forced to mingle with the four perfect strangers who come to my talk, plus the tech guy who'll be advancing my PowerPoint slides. PARTIAL FAIL.

2. Talk about your problems and blocks and puzzlers with people outside your field. I don't think any non-writer wants to hear about my writer's block. In fact, I doubt many writers want to hear about it. Hence my confessional blog posts. FAIL.

3. Do some drugs. Do ibuprofen and a few cough drops count? FAIL.

4. Practice letting yourself be uncensored. That would be called my daily life, though I am having to rein in some snarky comments as my oldest becomes more and more of a teenager. PARTIAL SUCCESS.

5. Expose your ideas to criticism and integrate possible solutions. Anyone who's put anything out there for public comment practices #5. I've gotten some glowing, encouraging responses to my writing and some vicious critiques. I suppose one possible solution is to quit writing, but another is for the dislikers to avoid my books in future. PARTIAL SUCCESS.

6. Fail a lot, in order to find success. One reader (also a writer) told me, "I can't wait to read the book I know you can write." Uh...I think the ones I already put out are going to be kinda par for the course. But if they were failures in her book, I aim to keep trying. PARTIAL SUCCESS.

But Mr. Lehrer's advice aside, I'm happy to report the creative juices are dribbling out again, thanks to two other factors.

1. A reader scheduled a book club for Mourning Becomes Cassandra. I'd spoken at her church's MOPS group last year, and she actually took the time to find my book and read! Hurray! Such a motivator. And,

2. Some accounts I follow on Twitter introduced me to the Pulp-O-Mizer, a fabulous free website that can suck down all kinds of creative time. Check out the pulp fiction cover I made for MBC! I think I love it even more than the original, so of course I had to buy a mug and notebook...

Awesome, am I right?

Not only did I make three pulp fiction book covers (MBC, The Littlest Doubts, and my Work-in-Progress), but making the cover for my WIP made me want to get cracking on it again. I started Chapter 9 today, and I think I've written 3000 words in the past week. Not overly shabby! It could be the freedom to tell myself, as with the classics of pulp fiction, "I write to entertain."

A Hurricane Hit My Writing Life -- Literally

Whoa. Hello again, dear friends and readers! I sat down at my computer today for the first time in ten days and marveled at how large everything was. After squinting at emails and Facebook and Twitter on my phone (quickly, to conserve precious battery power) for so long, a keyboard and 15" screen are positively luxurious.

Yes, our family vacation to Washington, D.C., and New York City metamorphosed right at the end into something more along the lines of Cormac McCarthy's The Road, thanks to Hurricane Sandy--no electricity, no water (for a day), no heat, no transportation--but fortunately we didn't have to eat my youngest (although her brother kept threatening her with it). We are safe at home, with continued prayers for those in New York and New Jersey who can't just fly away from such conditions.

Give me your poor, your tired--basically anyone in New York or New Jersey...

While almost zip happened on the writing front (I'm going to have a long, hard think to remember what my current WIP is), lots was going on on the book and reading fronts.

For starters, I read somewhere that authors should provide reading bonuses and freebies on their websites. Like fan fiction of their own books. Deleted scenes, additional scenes, updates on what's happening with characters now. While I have a couple chapters of an abandoned middle-grade book that feature Cass and Daniel of Mourning Becomes Cassandra, I've yet to post them. But in the meantime, lovely Meredith Esparza of Austenesque Reviews so enjoyed The Beresfords that she and I collaborated on an interview featuring Frannie and her four stepcousins. Great fun, and if you read and comment before November 3, you can win a Kindle or paper copy. (I know, I know, short notice--but see Hurricane Sandy excuse above.) I loved getting inside the Beresfords' heads once again.

Frannie also got considered by Laura Hartness, aka the Calico Critic. I appreciate all book reviews, and positive reviews send me over the moon, but what was more unusual about Calico Critic's review was that it treated on the Christian-y aspects of the book. Great to have her thoughtful consideration.

After our hotel (and most of lower Manhattan) lost power, and during the hurricane itself, I had plenty of time to sit in the hallway, where there was still generator-powered light, and read read read. If you've already read The Beresfords (or if Austenesque Reviews and Calico Critic don't do it for you), you might try Melanie Benjamin's The Aviator's Wife.

I'm a big Melanie Benjamin fan, having enjoyed The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb and having really, really enjoyed Alice I Have Been. So when I saw this galley available, I ran, not walked, to get my electronic hands on it. Benjamin's specialty, for those unfamiliar with her work, is getting inside the heads of intriguing historical people. In this case she chooses Anne Morrow Lindbergh, author, pilot and wife of Charles Lindbergh, whose Spirit of St. Louis famous airplane I just saw again at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Benjamin even talks about when the Smithsonian takes the plane and has the couple visit it later! As always, Benjamin writes poignantly and lyrically. This time about a marriage that begins with a most exciting and dreamy courtship and then plummets most solidly to earth in a difficult marriage. The hero Charles Lindbergh, a creature of the public's creation and worshipped by the young Anne, becomes an unbearable burden to the man Charles Lindbergh and to his family. Hounded by the press, staggering under expectations no one can live up to, they survive--barely. When their firstborn son is taken, the man splinters apart from the hero and neither recovers.

I thought Benjamin did a great job helping me understand why people like the Lindberghs might have been charmed by early Nazi Germany, but I did wonder if, in trying to salvage her heroine, she might have thrown Charles under the bus. Anne Morrow Lindbergh as presented by Benjamin pretty much distances herself from Charles Lindbergh's more controversial beliefs and actions from the get-go. When she appears to go along with them, she does so from an inability to stand up to him. But Benjamin also demonstrates how, despite his control issues and coldness, Charles Lindbergh compelled Anne into becoming more than she might have been, left to herself.

Fascinating, sad, thought-provoking--I would have had a hard time putting this one down even if I hadn't been trapped in a hotel hallway, trying to stay close to the only source of light and heat! 4 of 5 stars.

For My Shyer Readers (Help me out?)

Be one of Frannie's champions?

Recently we were polling new members at our summer swim club about how they heard about us and why they joined. The overwhelming reply: the pool was recommended by friends. All the fancy schmancy marketing in the world can't begin to touch word-of-mouth.

As a self-published author, all marketing is up to me and I'm learning as I go, but I've discovered the wonders of word-of-mouth apply even more in the world of books. Especially in the world of books. My readers fall into a few buckets:

1. Those who read and are willing to post a review in a public forum (usually Amazon or a blog mention). This, sadly for me, is the smallest contingent (2%?). (You know who you are, and I kiss you.) I had no idea public writing struck fear to the hearts of many. Public speaking, yes, but public writing?
   
   
2. Those who read and will give it a star-rating on Goodreads. No review, but a rating. I appreciate it, since at least their friends see it, and it adds to the ratings data. Again, this constitutes a handful of people (1%?).
   
   
3. Those who stop me in passing or shoot me a quick email/text to tell me they liked the book. Don't get me wrong. I am deeply appreciative, and it always makes my day, but marketingwise it doesn't go any further. (20% or more?)
   
   
4. The silent others. Granted, if they hated the book, it's probably best they keep silent. Or, I suppose, they never read it, in which case I really can't count them as readers. Hmm... (75% of the pie)

I came across an interesting re-post this morning that inspired me to take keyboard in hand and type this post for you because it had lovely suggestions for my shyer readers. If you enjoyed The Beresfords or Everliving or Mourning Becomes Cassandra or The Littlest Doubts or Mia and the Magic Cupcakes, would you consider letting someone else know?

• Post a link to the book on your Facebook page. Don't have to say much--just something like, "Need a summer read? I liked this one!" (One minute option.)
  
  
• Tweet about the book! (30 second option) Whenever I read something I would give 4 stars or higher, I tweet about it and do a Goodreads rating and post.
  
  
• Pin a copy of the book cover on your Pinterest page. Confession: I don't do Pinterest, but I'm guessing this would be another 30-second operation.
  
  
• Lend your copy out to someone you think might enjoy it. I don't mind. Maybe that person will love writing a public review. :) (No time at all!)
  
  
• Suggest it for your book club. I love to visit. Depending on your book club, this might be quick and painless to do, or you might have to prepare an oral report and be ready to do battle.
  
  
• Give a copy as a gift. Guess what all my kids' teachers are getting in a couple weeks? Uh-huh. They got Mia and the Magic Cupcakes for Christmas, so it's The Beresfords for spring.
  
  
• Invite friends to my next bookstore signing and go out for a meal/drink afterward. I'll be at University Book Store Bellevue on Wednesday, July 18, at 6:30. Walking distance to Zeek's Pizza, Black Bottle, and countless other fun places.

If you have other quick and easy and painless ideas to help me out, be sure to mention them in the comments. I so appreciate you all!

10 Awesome Things about Visiting Book Clubs

Told you reading together was exciting.

My heartfelt thanks go out to Mary's book club for reading Everliving and hosting me yesterday, and for Marylou's book club choosing Everliving as its inaugural read last week! What an honor!

I've got to say, talking to readers is my absolute favoritest thing about being a writer--it's much more fun, in fact, than doing the actual writing. In honor of my readers, therefore, I present this list of Awesomest Things about Being with Them:

10. Foot soaks. Seriously. Last night was the first time I ever got my hands pink-grapefruit-sugared and my feet soaked and scrubbed with walnut-shell something-or-other while we sat and talked about my book. May it not be the last time, because it was awesome. Thanks, Kristina, for that special treat.

9. Food and wine. Local book clubs put out a nice spread. Cake, cheese trays, chocolates, wine.

8. Coming out from under my rock. Writing books consists of hours and hours parked on my aunt Fanny, staring at my computer screen and thinking, "How many times have I used that word in this chapter? Why is it so danged hard to tell a story? Is this ever going to see the light of day? Am I wasting my life? Yes. But am I really wasting it? Like, wasting it worse than other people waste theirs?" Since writing is such a lonely slog, it's a luau-and-a-half to get together with other human beings and just be social.

7. (Related to #8...) Company and laughter. People who read books are thrilling. They're people of ideas and imagination and interest. Books become springboards to talking about life and the larger world. Virtual book clubs will do, when nothing else is available, but it's hard to beat face-to-face sharing and debate.

6. (Speaking of debate...) Learning about other books readers loved/hated and why. As a book club member myself, I always want to know what everyone is reading. What they've enjoyed, what they've despised. Last night we had lively discussions of Margaret Atwood, Nicholas Sparks, Barbara Kingsolver, and whether or not So-and-So sucks or is the best thing since the invention of the alphabet. I always jot down a few titles and authors to check out later.

5. Expanding my horizons. Who can list the bizarre things I've learned from visiting book clubs? Kirkland politics, Awful Movies That Are Best Seen Drunk, names of obscure actors, idiosyncratic reading habits, and which women in my circle of acquaintance still have the good fortune to be hit on in bars. You can't make this stuff up! I was even given permission to use one of these pick-up lines in a future work. Priceless.

4. Growing a thicker skin. Yes, in the past week I have heard my character Ben referred to as "skinny," (physically) "flimsy," and --God help me-- "whiny." Reminds me of when readers called James (in Mourning Becomes Cassandra) "boring." A reader urged me never to use the word "fricking" again, and I have made a solemn vow to obey. Another criticized Daphne in Everliving as more of a phantasm than a ghost and said ghosts should not behave as phantasms or vice versa. Dear reader, it will never. happen. again. I can survive these assaults and more because I appreciate that, if those same readers then tell me they enjoyed the book, I know it's for real, and they're not trying to butter me up!

3. Becoming a better writer. Hey, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. It would be impossible to write in a way that didn't trigger anyone's pet peeves, but I'd love to avoid avoidable ones, especially when they come from the dedicated fan base. ;) Plus, you would not believe how many people ask me about my Cougar Cruise book, which is sitting in a drawer in cyber space. It may have to evolve, but I think I better write it at some point.

2. Discovering things you hadn't thought of. Just for example, one reader last night likened Ben's story being warped by Carson Keller to Daphne's experience, having the truth of her story get lost in all the imaginings and re-tellings. Nice parallelism! Wish I'd thought of it. Another pointed out that Come On Inn owner Joyce never got the closure of learning where "the truth" intersected with her ghost Albert's story. Yet another wanted backstory and more closure on Gladys. What exactly did she discover in that Napa State Hospital? Good question.

1. Seeing your characters and story come to life for others. Hands down, this is the most wonderful part of visiting book clubs. To listen to readers discuss, argue, care about, question, grieve, and celebrate the people you've brought to life and with whom you spent so much solitary time. Total validation. I may be wasting my time and yours as well, but isn't it fun to waste it together? And when you waste time together, does it then become not a waste of time (see #7)?

One more time: thank you, readers. Thanks for your support, your interest, and your emotional investment in these stories! And if I haven't come to your book club yet, what are we waiting for?

Necking and Other Book Cover Trends

I know, I know. I'm in the middle of my Things-I-Learned-Self-Publishing List. And I will indeed finish that. Consider this a commercial break.

A friend advised me to avoid featuring a woman's neck on my latest cover, if only because everyone's doing it. Consider the following:

and then,

and

and

and

There are more, but you get the idea. It must be a similar thing to how we all name our children the same thing at the same time. I must know at least ten Christina/Christine/Kristine/Kristinas in my immediate circle. Run into the nursery at church and shout "Isabella" or "Emily" and all the girls will look up. Except for the ones named Lily and Ava. Try and count the men you know born in the 1980s names Josh or Justin. The human race just gets brainwaves.

When the no-neck friend saw my cover for Everliving, she was still worried about the neck:

After all, it wasn't the main focus, but it was still there.

"It's covered up," I said.

"Mmmm..." she responded, in that I'm-not-at-all-convinced tone.

It was bad enough that I gave my book a one-word title--SOOO trendy. Twilight, Starcrossed, Shiver, Bump, and my sixth-grader's fave new series, which opens with Fallen, continues in Torment, and is due out this summer with Passion. (Oddly enough, the opposite is also trendy: elaborate, non-intuitive, multi-word titles. Think of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, and the gold medalist in the event, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.) But, hey--I've written a paranormal romance of sorts (i.e., super trendy), so I might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb.

On a parting note, Cass's legs from Mourning Becomes Cassandra crop up from time to time. Here's the latest for your viewing pleasure:

I would say those were Daniel's legs, but the guy is dressed way more like Riley from Free Universe...

10 Things I've Learned from Self-Publishing, Part One

This June I'll be bringing out my fourth self-published book Everliving, which, in these days of low bars, makes me something of an expert. Google "self-publishing" and you'll receive thousands of results, many of them useful, but here are my particular learnings:

1. Self-publishing printed books and self-publishing ebooks are two entirely different things. This doesn't sound like much of a Eureka moment, but it was for me. I began with printing up 250 copies of my debut novel Mourning Becomes Cassandra and then proceeded to twist friends' arms--er--I mean invite friends to come to launch parties. I put up the Kindle edition rather as an afterthought, priced it outrageously at $9.95 (it's now $2.99), and forgot about it. In the end I've printed up 1000 copies of MBC and only have 15 or so left in the garage, but it's the Kindle (and Nook) editions that are still going strong.
   
2. To sell a printed self-published book, you need a platform. I'm the Hillary Clinton of self-publishing. Meaning, if not for my husband, I would probably not be in the position I am today. The hubbie pastors a fairly large church, and many dear people in the congregation bought my first book out of curiosity and affection. Some of them felt, when my second novel The Littlest Doubts came around, that they had done their duty with the first book and could go back to reading C. S. Lewis, but enough of them actually enjoyed my writing to pony up for another round.
   
3. To sell any kind of book, you need a professionally-designed cover. Don't skimp on this one. Even if you have a very large extended family whose lives you saved from certain destruction and who Owe You Big Time, if you want them to do more than buy one copy for the Goodwill pile, make it look like a real book. Make it look like a book they could read in public or have sitting out around the house or recommend to a friend without apologies (e.g., "Really, I know the cover is kind of lame, but it's a pretty good read"). While one big bonus of e-readers is that, if you devour trashy novels with naked torsos on the cover, no one is ever going to know, it's still the tiny thumbnail of a cover image that makes people stop and investigate in the first place. You could have the best hook, the best copy, and the best endorsements from famous people, but if the cover is a dog it's all for naught.
   
4. To sell a printed self-published book, the independent local bookstores are your friends. Yes, many of your readers will only order off Amazon, but push local bookstores at every opportunity. These are the wonderful people who will accept a review copy of your book, consider holding an author event, recommend you to local groups for speaking gigs, display your book prominently, and let you distribute bookmarks and such. Since I volunteered myself and was graciously accepted by University Book Store Bellevue, I've gone on to do seven other bookstore events, some successful, some piddly, all worthwhile.
   
5. If you are shy and hate pushing yourself on people, better stick with self-publishing ebooks. For printed books, the best marketing efforts are person-to-person: throwing parties, speaking at book festivals, forcing your way into bookstores, inviting yourself to book clubs. Marketing Kindle books or other ebooks, however, can just about all be done sitting at your computer. I enjoy both--hence my books appearing in both formats, with the exception of my children's picture book Mia and the Magic Cupcakes.

Stay tuned for Part Two of this post, including the answer to the question, "How much money can you expect to make?"

Daniel Darko

Hard-to-find pic of the guy with his clothes on

In my ongoing book-club-crashing adventures I met with several firsts last night:

1. The first time I got to visit a book club in a downtown Bellevue high-rise. What a view! Eddie Bauer sign and Lincoln Square, you never looked so good. (Thank you, Wanda, for hosting.) Some future character of mine may need to enjoy digs like these.
   
   
2. For the how-would-you-cast-it question, handsome Mario Lopez got his first nomination as Daniel. I'd never heard of him, but the man could make a career of doing naked-torso-shots for books such as this one (btw, this Unbroken is not the one I loved and went on and on about, though, not having read this one, it might be a wondrous story in its own right). In the same vein, Amy Adams got her first nod as Cass, as did Katie Holmes. For stars such as these, this news would probably be right up there with an Academy Award.
   
   
3. Wanda's was the first book club I encountered that chose its reads by font size. "Very big print with not many pages at Christmas, and then really small print and long for summer." Absolutely brilliant. Mourning Becomes Cassandra was judged to have just the right print size and margins, and I was advised not to shrink the font and squeeze the margins on my next book just to save a few bucks. (Ahem--not that such a thought had occurred to me and I was bringing it up and polling them or anything...)
   
   
4. They were the first book club to ask me to do a reading!  And, lastly,
   
   
5. They were the first book club to attempt using my credit-card reader app to buy books. (It totally failed.) My apologies again, and I realized when I got home that I should have just sent the books home with you and had you mail me a check later. Duh. Sorry again. Seriously, just give University Book Store a call and they'll ship it to you for free, plus--bonus--I think all their copies are signed. (Toll Free: 1.888.335.7323)

As I told the ladies last night, visiting with readers is hands-down my favorite part of all this book-writing business--besides writing the things. If all my readers are so pleasant, warm, funny, and well-read, this must clearly be something to do with me, right? Right. I'm going with it.

In Which I Google Tab Hunter

The man himself

Greetings and gratitude go out to the Bridle Trails book club which hosted Cass and me this past Saturday. Nothing says you're-going-to-have-a-great-time like getting in the car of the woman who invited you and having her say, "Oh, by the way, two of the women who will be there have been longtime counselors for Planned Parenthood."

I'm happy to report that, ***SPOILER ALERT!*** despite my protagonist's pro-life leanings, I was still welcomed warmly by these ladies "of a certain age." If you're not sure what age that is, let me set a scene:

Woman #1: How do you like the tea, Woman #2?

Woman #2: Actually, I don't like it. There's something in it that's bitter and gives it a flavor I don't like.

Woman #1: (smiling at me) You can see, at our age we just tell it like it is. (To Woman #2) That must be the gunpowder.

Later on, when we discussed whom they would cast in the leading characters' roles, we had a book club first. Mr. Tab Hunter was nominated to play Daniel. If you are ignorant of this actor's accomplishments as I was, I've learned his biggest claim to fame was the role of Joe Hardy in the film version of Damn Yankees. (FYI, 5th Avenue Theatre is putting the play on next season, because, what Lola wants...) The movie came out in 1958, and if Tab's handsomeness was sticking in this woman's mind five decades later, I can only say he must have been hot stuff.

The same woman told me quite openly (see sample scene above) that she found the religion in the book "very off-putting," but that--thank the dear Lord--the humor compensated for it. This is a teeny bit like being told you're physically repulsive but have a great personality, but that certainly beats being physically repulsive and unpleasant to boot.

And don't tell me you don't learn anything when you invite me to your book club--we enjoyed a rousing discussion on the history of swearing and why "kids nowadays" are not a bit into the blasphemy-type swearing and more into f-bombs. Good stuff.

To round everything off, the kind hostess sent me home with fresh eggs from her chickens, including a bitty one from her bantam hen! Worth writing a book for any day.

Next up--another Mia and the Magic Cupcakes storytime special at University Book Store Mill Creek this Thursday (2/17) at 11:00 a.m. Hope to see some of you there, faithful readers!

The Henry Tilney Effect

Or, more accurately you could call it the Catherine Morland Effect. Consider this quote from Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey:

...Though Henry was now sincerely attached to her, though he felt and delighted in all the excellencies of her character and truly loved her society, I must confess that his affection originated in nothing better than gratitude, or in other words, that a persuasion of her partiality for him had been the only cause of giving her a serious thought.

Meaning--Henry Tilney only even noticed Catherine Morland because she was crazy about him first. Otherwise, he would have completely overlooked her! Now, I was already not a fan of Northanger Abbey, and this half-hearted affection finished me off. But, as always, Austen is right.

All it takes for us to love someone is for them to love us first. (God even uses this strategy. As the Apostle John puts it, "We love because he first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19).) All of which is to say, I have discovered in myself a deep and abiding affection for Mr. Stephen Windwalker of the popular Kindle Nation Daily blog. Why? Because Mr. Windwalker first loved me.

Full disclosure: I laid down cold hard cash to be featured on KND, so that's how he heard of Mourning Becomes Cassandra in the first place. I supplied the picture, the synopsis, and the editorial reviews. But what Mr. Windwalker added to that, if anything, was entirely up to him.

So, when I opened up the link and saw the preliminary hemming-and-hawing to the effect of, "Hey--I don't recommend the books, I just post them," I figured he wanted to distance himself from something that had religious overtones. Imagine my delight when he was just using such a preamble to say that, no, this time he was really getting behind a book! The pertinent quotes:

It's the real thing. There are no vampires, time-travelers, or interplanetary adventures, but there are real laughs and real tears throughout. And finally, this:  

We've had well over a hundred sponsoring authors at Kindle Nation these past few months, yet I can count on the fingers of one hand the authors about whom I have written to my contacts among publishing industry editors, acquisitions people, and literary agents. Christina Dudley will be the sixth, and I will be surprised, when you've downloaded Mourning Becomes Cassandra and read it, if you disagree. --S.W.

I am in love. Someone liking you first is irresistible. Henry Tilney, I understand you at last.

Colin and the Mary-Kates

Gratitude and air kisses going out this morning to Mary's Book Club (a.k.a. Kate's Book Club) in Kirkland, Washington. As with the "Widows" Book Group a few weeks back, these lovely ladies were inviting me back for the second time! You gotta love a group that will talk with you at great length about your first book and then be willing to give up one of the precious twelve slots to do your sequel. To make room for The Littlest Doubts, they doubled up for November because--hey--no one has anything else going on in November (???). How about Marlo Morgan's Mutant Message Down Under and Greg Grandin's Fordlandia for an odd pairing?

This outspoken book club was one of the first to host Mourning Becomes Cassandra, and when I say that talking to readers made me think about things I hadn't considered before, these are the readers I had in mind. Very insightful. Liz, so far, has been the first and only reader to pick up on a Pride and Prejudice-inspired plot development in TLD. (See? I don't just post pictures of Colin Firth for my health.) They argued about where the Palace was located and where Cass fell off her bike and whether firemen like people popping by. They wanted to know where Cass and Skandar got coffee, if I'd ever been to a video game convention, whether Cass acted out of judgment or fear. Mary had some observations and corrections to my hospital scene and offered her services in reading over medical scenes in the future. Invaluable. That makes one nurse, one pharmacist, and two lawyers in the stable. If anyone out there was also a turn-of-the-century redwood logger in California, please contact me. Not kidding.

Another pioneer of the evening was First Reader to Read the Sequel Without Reading MBC. This was a horror for me ranking up with all those Readers Who Read the Ending First coming out of the woodwork. I've only once read books out of order (Nicholas Sparks' At First Sight--still haven't read True Believer), and it gave me a queasy feeling, like I'd skipped a grade without actually learning my times tables. This is my personal problem, however, because the sequel-reader seemed perfectly at peace--just like all those ending-spoilers.

All in all, a lovely, lively meeting. There were even brownies, which I was secretly hoping for. And the Mary-Kates have invited me back for next year, to talk about whichever of my three current projects I manage to complete. Thanks, ladies. XOXO.

Ten-Finger Discount on THE LITTLEST DOUBTS

My high school boyfriend used to refer to shoplifting as the "five-finger discount." Which is not to say he was a thief, just that he must have had some friends who were. Oh, and he somehow was always giving me really nice gifts that I couldn't show anyone.

Anyhow, I wouldn't encourage any of you to employ the five-finger discount on my book, since I have to pony up to print them myself, besides which it's totally illegal, but I did want to offer you the possibility of a ten-finger discount. Yes! Put your ten fingers to a good use and I'll throw your name in a hat to get a free copy of THE LITTLEST DOUBTS next week!

No purchase necessary (if you read MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA at the library or borrowed a friend's copy) and Countless Ways to Win:

1. Write an Amazon review for MBC. It only takes a sec and can be as short as a sentence (and a star rating), and you can even use a pseudonym if you always wished and wished your parents had named you "Bunny Hatchet" or, say, "The New York Times." (Note: if you loathed MBC and would only give it a 2- or 1-star rating, then please refrain from posting a review. Although I am wondering, in that case, why you're reading this blog post or why you would be interested in a free copy of the probably-equally-loathsome-to-your-taste THE LITTLEST DOUBTS.)

2. Write a Goodreads or Shelfari review for MBC. You have to be a member of these sites to do so and use your actual user name, but otherwise the same rules apply.

3. Start or contribute to a discussion thread and mention MBC. You could start a discussion thread on Amazon or www.KindleBoards.com or Goodreads or any other book site. Or contribute to an ongoing discussion with a little, "Did I mention my favorite beach read from last summer? It's on sale on Kindle right now for $2.99 and the sequel comes out next week!!!"

4. Review MBC on your blog. Check this post, for example (scroll down to "The Cass Collection") or this one.

5. Throw a book party for friends and neighbors, or have your book club host me.

5. Strip down, use body paint to adorn yourself with a copy of my book covers, and streak through your town, getting yourself on the evening news. For this option I'm going to go ahead and say you get a free copy, flat out.

And the contest FAQ:
Can I enter more than once? Of course. Knock yourself out. Streak naked through two towns, if you like.

How will you know if I've done anything? Shoot me an email at christinadudley@gmail.com or put the link in the comments here.

What if I've already written you a review or done your book in my book club or streaked naked through town? Do I get credit? Yeah, baby!

How come I haven't received my book launch party evite yet? Check last week's post for dates and times. I might just need your email, or your email might have thrown the evite in the trash.

Why is the Kindle edition of MBC on sale for $2.99 but not the paperback? Because Amazon charges me an arm and a leg to sell there, and I have to pay shipping to them. If you want a discounted paperback, I'll have them at my launch parties.

Thanks for your help and good luck!

Stop Having All That Sex and Read This Post

Time to come clean.

A friend encouraged me (and her other writer friends) to enter Amazon's Breakthrough Novel Award Contest this year, and since it only required ten minutes to paste the copy from my MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA cover and upload Chapter One, I went ahead and entered. Given my subject matter (churchgoing woman puts life back together when she moves in with friends and starts mentoring an at-risk teenager), I didn't expect to win--not by a long shot--but I was also unprepared for being eliminated before the Quarterfinals. The "Amazon Expert Reviewers" narrowed the Fiction field from 1000 entries to 250, and MBC was not among them. Why? Who knew?

Some of the fog lifted today, however, when I received the summaries from my two luck-of-the-draw Expert Reviewers. Reviewer #1 was rubbed mightily the wrong way (this is copied and pasted, so don't blame me for the spelling and punctuation):

ABNA Expert Reviewer

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?

The despair of loosing one's husband and child to a horrific accident is well done and goes on just long enough for us to feel her depression and anguish.

What aspect needs the most work?

The religion/church aspect is a bit of a turn off. While it may appeal to the same type of reader as the three ladies, constantly referring to those other than themselves as 'black sheep' because they have sex and themselves as 'white sheep' because they don't implies there is something wrong with and adult, an over 30 adult, engaging in relations. A bit judgmental.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?

As the author stated, a bit like Sex in the City but without the sex. Far too many judgments about those who have a sex life. Many mentions of the three women's church ties is off putting and will turn off certain readers, while attracting those with similar feelings and bias. Polarizing characterization will limit sales.

 

 ***

The second reviewer was more positive (not difficult, considering) and actually wanted more details on Cass and her relation to church! I think reviewer #1 saw a lot more about sex in that chapter than I thought I put in, but, hey--I'm willing to believe that, in my subconscious, it's all sex all the time. Not to mention judging people for their sex lives because that's almost as fun as thinking about sex 24/7.

 

I'd write more about the contest, but thinking about y'all's sex lives and forming my negative opinions is a full-time job.

It's Got a Few Adverbs

Okay, so long time no post. I have been doing the absolute bare minimum in every area of my life, for the past few weeks, and I have no better excuse than that I have been finishing my second book. Finishing. As in, I am, as of this morning, done with the rough draft! Now the manuscript heads off to my critique group for gross- and fine-tuning. Shooting for another June release. Title still TBD, although I have a front-runner.

And, in case you haven't been following the dribs and drabs in this blog, the book is the --sigh--sequel. (Nathan Bransford's disparaging of sequels notwithstanding.). It picks up almost right where MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA left off, and there are old friends and new.

I must say practice helps. I think this one is better. Or at least better-written.

I still do some egregious things, according to Elmore Leonard and his list of writing no-nos. For example, I cannot break myself from using the occasional adverb modifying the word "said," she said apologetically. I also don't always use "said" as the sole verb marking dialogue, she pointed out. On the plus side, I don't tend to begin books with weather and several readers have complained that I am all too sparing with descriptions.

Hope you all like it. When I've got a cover designed I'll get a chapter up on Scribd for ya.

Dad-Blasted Youth

Last week was the Widows' Book Club group at church, and they graciously invited me to come talk about MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA. I don't imagine any of them read this blog, but if this turns out to be my final post, tell someone that I was bludgeoned to death by women wearing purple.

In most book clubs I've visited, we spend a lot of time talking about the writing process: how do I get my ideas? how do I find the time? how does (self-)publishing work? and so on. And those things were touched on this time, but one woman happened to be in attendance who belonged to the weekly Bible study I co-lead, and she steered the conversation toward the Eastside Academy students we host every several weeks. This in turn brought up two controversial subjects: Cussing and Today's Youth.

I spend a fair amount of time defending the cussing in the book, and you blog devotees know that I've blogged about it more than once. For certain demographics (read: the rather-churchy and Widows' Book Clubs), I do try to warn people ahead of time, but I hadn't gotten to this group. Sure enough, when it came to discussing the f-bombs, I could see one woman's eyebrows going up and up and up. Finally, she burst out with, "Now, I haven't read the book--" (nor will she now, I imagine) "--but I want to know why young people have such terrible mouths! We have such a beautiful language, and those words--!"

This, at least, was a new twist. Usually the cuss-scientious objectors object to me, the Christian, the pastor's wife, using such language. Thankfully I cannot be made to answer for Today's Youth, and I took refuge in a "Well, f--- me, that's kind of beyond the scope of this discussion" (kidding) (about the expletive). Other than recommending she avoid my book, movies PG-13 or higher, and THE SKINHEAD HAMLET, I had nothing more to advise.

So much for cussing. Next came the Youth. I had launched into a paraphrase of the speech delivered by Mark Henneman to the would-be mentors in the book, all about Youth needing adults in their lives and the wonders of being such an adult. Controversy #2. "Has anyone ever sat down with those kids," demanded Eyebrows, "and told them that, if they don't graduate high school, in a few years they'll be homeless?"

"Umm...actually, those kinds of discussions don't go over very well," I answered. "You know kids. It's why the smoking ads don't work--they never think it has anything to do with them." Heck, those kinds of discussions don't work on me. I know very well that never exercising and eating loads of sugar will one day turn me into a diabetic blob who suffers a massive heart attack when she tries to struggle up from her La-Z-Boy, but I think, in that case, I'd better enjoy all the lumping around and dessert I can get in the meantime.

Anyhow, nothing like a little blood-pumping excitement at book clubs. Eyebrows even said, "We'll see you again when you write your next book," and presumably she meant it invitingly, rather than so-I-can-rake-you-over-the-cultural-coals-again. We'll see--next book pimping stop is the Senior Adult Fellowship, which includes lunch and men!

Parkplace and Buying Independent

Many thanks to Parkplace Books in Kirkland for hosting Cass and me last night. Owners Rebecca and Mary were very gracious and welcoming, and Rebecca gave an inspiring speech about the value of buying even one book this Christmas NOT off Amazon, to support your local, independent retailer. If the publishing industry has been all gloom and doom this year, the independent bookstores have also been feeling the pain, and I'm glad, in my teeny-tiny way, to be helping them. If you're in Kirkland tonight (12/11), stop by the store for their holiday open house: wassail, wine, local authors!

It's been a highly educational year for me--one friend said yesterday that I remind her of one of those one-man-band guys, since I had to write, publish, launch, and market MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA all by my lonesome--but it's also been tremendous fun. Most self-published books apparently sell 75-100 copies on average (depending, I imagine, on the author's particular number of extended family members), so I'm thrilled to be topping 700, not including the 17 copies I somehow managed to lose when I dropped the inventory-management ball. It's not the NY Times Bestseller List, but it has managed to get me into the black--another unexplored territory for most self-published authors.

So many, many thanks to all my readers (which group apparently does not include the one agent who has sat on my full manuscript for 3+ months now).

Now if I can just get started on my long-delayed Christmas shopping!

Shut the Front Door

I know--I'm posting two days in a row. This is called procrastinating, because I'm supposed to be paying my bills on line and drumming up Bible study questions for next week. Before I get to that, I thought I'd blog on cussing.

Yesterday I was typing away on my as-yet-untitled sequel to MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA, which in itself was a procrastination tactic because I'm completely hung up on my YA novel and going nowhere fast. Anyhow, there is Joanie under my nimble fingers, and out of her mouth pops a cuss word. Now, as my readers know, I mostly confined the cussing in MBC to the non-churchgoing characters, but here was Joanie saying what she said. For a few minutes I considered options: (1) no cussing--but she was really ticked!; (2) saying indirectly, "Joanie let fly a frustrated expletive"--in my humble opinion I just think that leads the reader to substitute his favorite cuss word, in which case the synapse in his head fires no matter what; (3) just using the dinged word--I went with this; or (4) using what I did in (3), a euphemism.

Euphemisms happen to be my cussing style of choice with kids around. Euphemisms and my handy, but occasionally malfunctioning, personal mute button. (Aside: my oldest has gotten adept enough at reading my lips when I'm muted that I had a squirmy moment when we were watching the baseball playoffs, and one of the players had a lip-reading moment after striking out.) After saying "darn" in a sermon one week, my husband received an email reminding him that the euphemism is as bad as the cuss word in God's eyes--thank you, you sainted soul. If you happen to be reading this blog, please skip this post. Oh, and all my other posts. Oh, and probably my book, too.

In order for a euphemism to be effective as a substitute cuss word in times of frustration, it has to have a goodly number of syllables and feature satisfying consonants. Some of my personal go-to euphemisms include:

Admiral Chester T. Nimitz! (I found out his middle initial was actually "W," which prompted another euphemism.)

Newt Gingrich! (G's are particularly satisfying.)

Kaiser Wilhelm! (With the "W" pronounced as a "V," in true German fashion.)

And a new favorite, courtesy of Leslie M., to be said in tones of incredulity: Shut the front door!

Sample conversation:
Husband: Honey, I got a 200% raise today.

Wife: Shut the front door!

Any favorite euphemisms you want to share?

The Eagle Has Landed

Yippee-kay-ay! Thanks to all you readers and friends out there who made my first legitimate book event in a legitimate location look legitimate! You are the best. I'm happy to report that MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA is now officially in the black, which means I can dig into the savings account to do this again in the future. Good news, since I have so many books I'm writing or dying to write.

The University Book Store staff in Bellevue was wonderful and even took a few extra stock copies at the end of the evening so I can spread like a virus up to the Mill Creek store. I'm no swine flu, but it's a start. I'm so in love with UBS right now that I am letting my Barnes & Noble membership lapse, thank you very much. (For you owners of a Chinook Book, you'll be happy to know there's a 20% off coupon for UBS in it.)

If you have any friends in Northern Latitudes, let me know, because UBS might want to do an event at their Mill Creek location. I can think of one sister-in-law, and one friend in Monroe, and one in Duvall. If they each bring a friend, that's six people. Let's not go nuts here, folks.

Read It or Not

The Read It or Not book club holds the longevity record hands-down, among book clubs I've been visiting. They've been meeting for sixteen years, although the newbie of the group has been attending a mere fourteen. They meet whenever they meet (the next time will be January 2010 (!) for Rudyard Kipling's KIM), so I felt flattered to make the docket so speedily.

My own book club tries to match the evening's food to the book's setting or themes, but the hostess of Read It or Not went one further: she served up the meal from the first Open House in MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA, down to the margaritas and Spanish rice! When another guest brought tabbouleh, Sara thought it only fitting, since that evening's meal also became a "global mishmash." After dinner we even played Charades around a set-up Scrabble board, in honor of all the game-playing in the book.

Sticking so closely to themes might rule some books out, in the future. They reminisced about the time they read William Manchester's A WORLD LIT ONLY BY FIRE, dining by candle light and eating only with their hands and one fork. (I didn't quite follow that, since that is how I generally eat--at least in terms of utensils. I also have that execrable habit--according to Oprah--of pushing food onto my fork with my finger, rather than using a knife.)

I wonder how Read It or Not would have handled David Benioff's CITY OF THIEVES, with its cannibalism and "library candy" (i.e., snacking on glue from book bindings). And it remains to be seen what we'll serve up for this month's BRAIN RULES. Sweetbreads, anyone? Seconds on the head cheese?

Riley

A couple nights ago I was invited to attend a very fun book club, full of lively, friendly women and good readers. Everyone had done their reading, and they all felt perfectly free to express their opinions of MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA, even in front of me. (Example: "I thought James was boring." (!!!!!)) Let me just say, if you're Ivan Doig, you may want to stay away from this candid club.

I get asked questions about writing the book, such as how I came up with various plot points or how I write, and I hope I'm not making up the answers, but I might be... Isn't it supposed to be true that, after telling a lie enough times, even you get confused as to whether or not it's true? (BTW, and forgive this disjointed post, just read a wonderful book in two days called PROVENANCE by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo. All about a con man who passes forgeries of modern art. Talk about a good liar!) But this group had a new one: "Which of the characters was your favorite?" I have blogged before on how all the characters, even the dislikeable ones, become dear to me, but it was fun to have a chance to mention Riley.

Riley, one of Cass's co-workers at Free Universe, appeared fully-formed out of nowhere, and he became a place to insert all my favorite nerdy bits, including allusions to my failed Jeopardy! bid, the Battlestar Galactica references, and an old joke from my husband's college ministry years ago. Riley first came on the scene in the chapter where he criticizes Cass's Antarctica work, but when I had to go back and flesh out the chapter where she lands the job, it was a joy to give him more air time.

When I cast the movie version in my head, Riley is always Jack Black. So if Jack Black's agent ever reads this blog, and Jack would like to make $50, please do call.

Power of Story

Yesterday a student from Eastside Academy spoke in church. Eastside Academy is the alternative high school for at-risk youth housed at First Presbyterian Church of Bellevue which inspired Camden School in MOURNING BECOMES CASSANDRA. You need to know that, whenever one of these students stands up to speak to our congregation, they get the rock star treatment: standing ovations, tears, cheering. All that's missing is the mosh pit and some underwear thrown on the stage.

 And it's all deserved! Whoever heard such great stories? Adversity like you wouldn't believe, and then, by the grace of God and with EA's help, the gradual, painful, effortful overcoming of adversity. Plenty of people twice and thrice their age haven't managed to get back on their feet and have in fact become quite comfy lying on the ground, completely rolled over by life.

Hearing such a testimony again just made me wish I'd gone into even greater depth with the whole Nadina business in MBC (although, dang it, the thing was already, as you know, the completely-unacceptable, hideously-unwieldy-first-novel length of 130,000 words).

If that aspect of the story interested you, do check out www.eastsideacademy.org for information on ways to volunteer at the school: mentoring as Cass did, volunteering in the classroom, donating to the Oct 24 auction, attending the auction, and so on. In our new church digs, EA now has capacity for 45 students, and they're already at 30-something, so they could use the extra help!