Picture Book Author Interview - Samantha R. Vamos!

I'm deviating slightly from my Debuting Author Interview series, but before I get into that I want to let you know that I'm featured in an interview today as well. Go check out what Jen Daiker got out of me!

Samantha R. Vamos, a very talented picture book author, is joining us today to give a little insight of what publishing picture books has been like for her.

ES: Tell us a little about your books.  What inspired you to write them?

SV: My bilingual children’s picture book, Before You Were Here, Mi Amor (Viking, 2009, illustrated by Santiago Cohen) describes all the things that one family does to welcome a new child into the world.  The story evokes the warmth and community of la familia through the acts of each member – mother, father, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandmother, and grandfather, as well as the family puppy.  Spanish words are woven throughout the English text, and both the context and illustrations clarify the meaning of the Spanish words.  There is also a colorful glossary at the end of the book.

The inspiration for Before You Were Here, Mi Amor came from the first pregnancy of my younger sister.  My family was very excited about the first grandchild to come and everyone began thinking about things to do to prepare for the baby’s birth.  I recalled the anticipation I felt before my sister was born.  I often asked my mother when my sister would be here, and when she would be old enough to play with me.  With those thoughts and memories, I began writing.  My book is an outgrowth of that experience.  Of course, my nephew took a mere 9 months to be born and my book took almost 11 years!

In The Cazuela That The Farm Maiden Stirred (Charlesbridge Publishing, February 2011, illustrated by Rafael López), a “The House That Jack Built” styled cumulative tale, Spanish words, which are woven throughout the English text, repeat as the story builds.  Five different farm animals (goat, cow, duck, donkey, and chicken) and their farmer each contribute ingredients to a pot (the “cazuela”) stirred by the farm maiden.  Together, they create a surprise recipe.  A glossary with pronunciation and recipe are included.

I was making pancakes the morning that the idea for The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred popped into my head.  Missing two ingredients, I laughed, imagining borrowing a cup of milk from a cow.  A few minutes later, I put down my utensils and began writing.  I never finished the pancakes, but I did manage to write a first draft of my story!

ES: Have you always wanted to write? When did it become serious?

SV: My desire to write grew as I did and publishing my stories truly became a dream I held for many years.  I credit my mom with planting the idea.  She typed a story I “wrote” when I was three years old.  She neither corrected my grammar nor altered the words I selected.  It’s not exactly “publishable” material!  It did, however, help create a sense of pride and accomplishment.  For years, I felt proud about having created a story of my own.  Later, as an older child and teen, I occasionally wrote – a radio show script for a contest, poems (definitely not my strength!), plays (a play I wrote in high school was entered in a contest) and a short story that I used for a few college essays.  Publishing an article in The Washington Post while in high school was really the “Aha!” moment that hooked me on writing.  Later, writing a chapter book (I still revise it and hope to show it to my agent someday soon) during a college summer confirmed that becoming a writer would be a dream.  I became far more serious about writing after I became a lawyer.  I wrote and submitted manuscripts in my spare time.

ES: What pulled you to writing picture books verses Middle Grade or YA?

SV: I have always loved children’s picture books.  Long before I had a child, I found myself drawn to picture books.  I have a running (and lengthy) list of favorites that I think are exceptionally well done in terms of text and illustrations (for example, “One Hungry Monster,” “Dinner at the Panda Palace,” “Counting Crocodiles,” “Agent A to Agent Z,” “While Mama Had a Quick Little Chat” and so many more).  I was really inspired by some of these books.  I am a great fan of middle grade and young adult, but I tend to think in terms of picture book length and story arc.

ES: Do you illustrate as well? If not, what’s it like to work with another person on your book?

SV: I am certain that none of my manuscripts would evolve into published books if I was submitting illustrations to accompany them!  As for working with another person on my book, it’s incredibly exciting.  Receiving the illustrations – which typically arrive later in the process – is like receiving a present.  If I have not seen any prior illustrations,  I don’t know what to expect.  It’s really interesting to see how another person interprets your text.  With Before You Were Here, Mi Amor, I saw Santiago Cohen’s black and white line illustrations before seeing color versions so I had a sense of his style, design, and intention for the book.  I was wowed when I saw the vibrant colors.  With The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred, Susan Sherman, Charlesbridge’s Art Director, sent me three final pages of Rafael López’s work.  I had no idea Rafael was that far along and I was stunned by his work.  He paints on wood panels and you can see the grain.  His work is magical.  I feel really blessed with respect to both of my illustrators.  They are terrifically talented and both are remarkably humble.

ES: Can you walk us through what it looks like to publish a picture book? Is it the same process as novel? (i.e.: query, agent, sale, etc?)

SV: Sure.  First, I submit my manuscript to my agent (Jen Rofé of Andrea Brown Literary Agency).  She may have questions about the story and (even more likely) she will offer constructive criticism, both of which typically prompt some rewriting on my part.  When she’s happy with the condition of a manuscript, she moves forward with shopping it.  She generates a list of publishers and shares that with me. 

In terms of query, I’ve found that it’s really helpful for me to develop a concise description of each manuscript.  I work on that language with the expectation that I will use it for promotion purposes as well as for submission to my agent.  Jen may choose to use that language as part of her submission to editors.  Also, if I think there is a unique marketing aspect to the manuscript, I share that with Jen in case she finds that information useful in her pitch.

As responses from publishers come in, Jen shares those with me (and, of course, those replies can range from amazing to inspiring to downright depressing and everything in between – it’s so true that you have to have a thick skin in this business).  Thus far, in my experience, if the manuscript is moving in the right direction, the first sign is some indication that the manuscript is going to be discussed at either an acquisitions meeting, or with other members of a publishing house (for example, Marketing, Art, and/or the house’s publisher).  Once an offer has been made, Jen shares that news (a/k/a “the best news”) with me. 

ES: What are the time frames? (query to agent, agent to sale, sale to publication)

SV: Let’s see – query to agent is quick as Jen and I communicate by email (it’s so wonderful to avoid snail mail for this process). 

Time frame for agent to sale really varies depending on the editor and publishing house receiving the manuscript.  I had a manuscript out on submission last year that was with one house for over three months.  The editor wanted to buy it and had even figured out which illustrator to partner with, but ultimately, the publisher of the house declined.  It’s one of my all-time favorite manuscripts so I hope it finds a home. 

As for sale to publication, for Before You Were Here, Mi Amor, it was about three years.  For The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred, the time frame is approximately four years.  With my picture book contracts, I have received half of the advance upon contract execution, and the remaining half upon completion of the manuscript (to the editor’s satisfaction).  That’s only a small part of the ultimate time frame, however, because the illustrator’s schedule has to be taken into consideration.  Rafael López was busy (yet well worth the wait) when he agreed to illustrate my manuscript.  His paintings for “Book Fiesta” (Rayo/HarperCollins) by Pat Mora recently won the ALA’s 2010 Pura Belpré Illustrator Award.

ES: Are you working on anything new?

SV: I’m presently working on a manuscript I initially wrote twelve years ago.  It’s a novel and it’s my favorite story I’ve written.  Recently, I sent my agent a children’s manuscript I originally wrote fifteen years ago.  If I know anything about my writing, it’s that it needs time to marinate (so it’s important that I write a lot to continue to improve and have manuscripts on which to work). The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred is really thus far the only exception to my marinating rule – I wrote it and my agent had very few comments and then sold it not too long after.  

ES: What do you do when you’re not writing?

SV: I write when I can.  My favorite title in the world is “Mom.”  I love exploring the world with my son and through his eyes.  I enjoy reading, movies, and traveling.  I am planning to get back into skiing this winter as we live about 45 minutes from the mountains here in Washington and it’s an activity my family enjoys.  I’m a “True Blood” and “Weeds” fan.  I love shooting photos and I’m a dog nut. 

ES: Where do you see yourself in five years?

VS: Hmm.  I know this answer will sound mundane, but I truly hope that my family and I are settled into a great routine and are very happy and healthy.  We sold our home in Chicago, Illinois three years ago and moved to the Pacific Northwest.  We’ve moved around a bit and I’m ready to be settled – with a great dog, of course!  We have a mischievous cat that could use some animal companionship.  I have many dreams for the future.  Without boring you, I’ll say that one great dream is that my novel will have been published and a great success, and I’m writing and publishing my work.

Thanks so much for the interview, Elle. It was fun and I’m grateful for the opportunity.

Why Do You Put A Book Down? (Or Don’t?)

Last week Sandy Shin blogged about what keeps her reading a book. I thought about that, and for me it’s much easier to pinpoint what makes me or tempts me to put a book down. Here are some things that are a turn off for me:

1)    Protag doing stupid thing to propel plot. I think kids are pretty smart overall, so when they make a decision that’s obvious to everyone they are putting themselves in danger, and usually doing it alone, I find that irritating.

2)    When the author’s world view is spouted off through the mouth of the main character. This shows up when MC is musing about something (usually political) that has nothing to do with what is actually happening in the story. You’re engaged in the characters and the story, when all of a sudden the author shows up in the book.

3)    Dragging out scenes and withholding action for the purpose of saving “stuff” for the next book in the series, but obviously needing to keep the word count up.

4)    Overt sexuality that’s not pertinent to the story or the character. This is my own personal pet peeve (and I know there are many opinions on this and that’s fine), but I don’t like it when teen sex is portrayed without any kind of consequence, whether emotional, physical, relational or spiritual.

Now for what keeps me turning pages:

            1) An inciting incident with an interesting main character who does things, not waiting around for things to happen to her/him.

2)    Tension/conflict—internal and external.

3)    Romance, at least a little and a love triangle always keeps things interesting.

4)    A surprise twist I didn’t predict—an avoidance of common plot devices.

5)    A satisfying ending.

How about you? Is there something that just kills it for you in a book, and alternately, just keeps you turning the pages?

Where Are The Teen Readers?

The great thing about being part of a writer social network community is that we get to talk about writing with people who get it. We become friends and we love to support each other no matter where we are at in the journey. It’s great that we can read each others books and blog, Facebook and Tweet about how wonderful we all are.

We count as book readers and book buyers, but I can’t help but notice that we, for the most part, are not teens. Not part of the audience that we write for.

Joelle Anthony tweeted about this phenom recently.

A month after pub, almost every email I get about my book is from an adult. And I'm getting lots, but where are the kids? Is this normal?

I emailed her about this, if she got any response on this question. She hadn’t, but she had some interesting insights I’ll share here. (I told her I was writing a blog about this topic when I contacted her.)

I think, with children's especially, you have to go through the adult gateways first. Librarians and teachers, for the most part. And indie bookstores and booksellers after that. I have done a lot of targeted marketing to librarians and bookstores (direct mailings) and I think it will pay off (but who knows?). I have been getting a lot of great librarian reviews, which I find very heartening. I think that unless you have a best selling series, the first book probably takes a bit of time to get into the hands of kids. At least, that's what I'm hoping! 
For example, a Victoria private school has added my book to their summer reading list, which in turn means at least one book store that sells a lot to their students has agreed to order in more copies so they're available.


I find this really intriguing.

So here’s the question: Is there more we can do to get our books into the hands of teen book buyers? Any thoughts?

Debut Author interview with Denise Jaden!

Today I'm welcoming Denise Jaden, good friend and debuting author of LOSING FAITH, out this fall with Simon Pulse.  Some of us are privileged to have a friend who is a few steps ahead on the journey to publication.  I've learned so much from watching and following her experience and she has been very generous with sharing all her new found knowledge with me. (so, Thanks, Denise!)

ES: Can you tell us a little about your book, LOSING FAITH?

DJ: LOSING FAITH is about a sixteen year old girl named Brie, who loses her sister Faith in a tragic fall from a cliff. In the midst of mourning, Brie realizes that Faith held some pretty big secrets, and there may be more to Faith’s final night, and death, than what everyone believes.

ES: You've recently returned from Book Expo of America in New York. Can you tell us your top two highlights of that conference and why they were special to you?

DJ: Well, I’d have to say the BOOKS! I returned with around 80 advance copies of awesome books coming out this summer and fall. The whole experience was amazing, really, but one other main highlight of my trip was attending a Simon Pulse cocktail party, where I was able to get to know the awesome editorial staff and many of their authors. While chatting with Elizabeth Scott, she mentioned she has my book on her bedside table at home (insert huge squee!!)

ES: On the topic of conferences, do you think they are important for writers to attend over all?  Just while looking for an agent or do you think it's beneficial to go even after a book deal?

DJ: I don’t know if “important” is the word I would use, but life-giving? Yes. Writing is such a solitary art, and for me it’s necessary to hang out with other authors at least a couple of times a year. All the writing conferences I’ve been to have been useful in so many ways that I don’t think I’ll ever stop attending them. Workshops seem to be more useful at some conferences than others, but networking with other authors and publishing people – that has never been a disappointment.

ES: You're a Canadian writer living in Canada yet the setting for Losing Faith is in America and you
pursued American agent and publishing, can you tell us why? (This is a question of debate for Canadian writers).

DJ: I’ve always been internally drawn to writing stories set in small town America, but even if I wasn’t, I think I would have pursued publishing through the U.S. From what I’ve heard, it is much more difficult to break in within Canada, and there is  less variety (and abundance) in publishers and agents.

ES: The nitty gritty we all love: time from query to agent, agent to sale, sale to publication?

DJ: For LOSING FAITH (I had queried two other books unsuccessfully prior) I began querying in July, 2008 (quit to revise after getting some great feedback at a conference in October) Queried again in November and had offers of representations later that month. So I guess four months from query to agent.

My agent did a line edit for me over Christmas and we sent LOSING FAITH out on submission in mid-January. We had an offer by early March. So a little less than two months from agent to sale.

I sold in March of 2009 and will see my book on shelves in September, 2010, so about a year and a half from sale to publication.
 
ES: What do you like to do when you're not writing.

DJ: I’m also a professional Polynesian dancer and love performing with my dance troupe when I have the time. I homeschool my son as well, and don’t have time for too much else.



Thanks for joining us Denise! We'll be hearing lots more about you and your terrific book in the future!

Observations From My Experiment with Structure and Contest Winner!

And the winner is COURTNEY BARR! Courtney, email me your shipping address and I’ll get Amazon to send you the book of your choice. (ellestraussbooks  @ gmail dot com)

A while ago, see here, I blogged about doing an experiment with structure while writing my latest wip.  To recap, the structure as taken from Janice Hardy’s blog is such:

60k words

24 chapters

2500 words/cht

Opening-Chapter 1

Act I End – cht 4

Mid Point Reversal – cht 12

Act 2 end – cht 16

Act 3 end – cht 19

Climax starts cht 20

Opening:

A little of normal like with the problem thrown in.

Act I end:

First major problem throws wrench into protag’s plans and forces her to act outside of comfort zone.

Mid Point Reversal:

Unexpected event that send story sideways.

Act 2 end:

Protag’s actions have her to a point where she can’t back down, but she needs to sacrifice something to continue.

Act 3 end:

Protag acts in ways to bring her into direct conflict with antag—it’s do or die, all or nothing time.

Climax starts:

Show down with antag.

Did it work for me? Sort of. I found it really helped me to make a plan and to identify early on what my plot points were and especially what the mid point reversal should be. Actually, even thinking to put a mid point reversal in it at all is a big bonus and helped the book immensely.

I found I couldn’t keep to the chapter word count or the chapter totals as dictated by the structure, but I’m fine with that. The whole thing is a guide to help get the first draft down, not a set of hard and fast rules.

Would I recommend other writers try it? Absolutely. In fact, I’m pulling out an old wip from the tombs to see if I can breath new life into it, and I’m planning to use this structure guide to help me get started. Sometimes that’s just what you need, something to get you started.

How about you, do you have a method to your madness, something that helps you get started? Or are you a panster through and through?

Last Day for Contest Entry- Win the Book of Your Choice!

Don't forget to enter my contest for reaching 150 followers. All you have to do is tell me what book you want in the comments. SPELLS is up for grabs, too. See my side bar for details.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Author Shout Out—Vicki Grant

It’s been a while since I posted an Author Shout Out, and after reading NOT SUITABLE FOR FAMILY VIEWING by Vicki Grant, I figured it was time.

Back blurb:

If your life were a TV show, would you even get a speaking part?

Robin has everything a girl could want. Thanks to her-mother—the internationally beloved talk show host Mimi Schwartz—Robin’s got the money, the means and the connections to make even her wildest dreams come true.

Why, the, does she choose to sit alone in a dark room watching endless reruns of You, You and Mimi?

Don’t ask Robin. She doesn’t know—at least, not until a bizarre discovery propels her to ditch her pampered New York life for a deserted Nova Scotian fishing village. There, she stumble upon love, the truth of her own background—and the shocking secret that helped make her mother a star.

I loved this book. It is funny, heartwarming and clever. Robin is likeable in her brashness and self-effacing way, and a character that really grows on you as she peels back the layers of who she is and where she’s from. The love interest Levi (also the name of my sonJ) is the kind of guy who brings the best out of her, and a guy you just can’t help but like (and sort of crush on). Mixed in is the quest to unravel a family secret, which is paced well and surprising.

Vicki Grant is also the author of many other books for kids--several are award winning and nominated, plus she’s a fellow Canuck.

So, for writing a great YA book and making me laugh out loud—here’s to you, Vicki Grant!

Debut Author interview with Robin Mellom!

 So happy to have Robin Mellom today for this interview series. But first, don't forget to check out my contest for a chance to win a BOOK OF YOUR CHOICE. See my sidebar for details.


ES:  I’ve heard your book, DITCHED, is The Hangover for teens. For those of us who haven’t seen the move The Hangover, can you share a bit more?

RM: So the thought of describing the plot of The Hangover just makes me giggle. Tee-hee! I can do this... In the movie, some guys go to Las Vegas for a raging bachelor party and they wake up the next morning with absolutely no memory of what happened the night before. The rest of the movie is spent piecing together what happened so they can find the groom (they lost him somehow!) and it involves an incident with Mike Tyson. After I had written DITCHED, my husband and I rented The Hangover and I was like, “Oh my gosh, I think I just wrote the teen version of that!” In my book, a girl wakes up in a ditch the morning after her prom with no memory of what happened. She walks down the road toward the 7-Eleven and her memories start to flood in. She ends up befriending the cashier at the 7-Eleven and telling her the story of how she ended up in that ditch. The story alternates between the past (the night before) and the present (in the 7-Eleven). So it’s a little different. And also, there’s no Mike Tyson scene, but that totally would have rocked.

ES: How long did it take you to write it?

RM: About 5-6 months.

ES: Who is your agent and how did you find her?

RM: Jill Corcoran of The Herman Agency. I met her at the LA SCBWI conference--before she was an agent--and I knew she had a great personality. When she put out her announcement of what she was looking for (funny stuff) two writing friends immediately emailed me and said, “You HAVE to submit to her!” I’m glad I did—she loved a middle grade book of mine and signed me within about 2 weeks.

ES: According to your blog, (and PM) you got a two book deal? Since DITCHED isn’t a series book, can you tell us how that works?

RM: Somewhere during the rounds of meetings at Disney-Hyperion…editorial meetings, acquisitions meetings, sales & marketing meetings (it takes a lot of meetings to get a book sold!)…the editor asked if I had any other ideas percolating. I pitched a couple of ideas and one of those they loved, so they bought it, too! Woohoo! I’m about half way through the first draft of this second book. (I ADORE it and can’t wait until I can give details!)

ES: You also mention on your blog that you had to wait a couple months before you could announce your deal—how was that for you?

RM: Like I was secretly pregnant and could only drink water when everyone was handing me wine. I wanted to spill the news so bad! So those two months were kinda excruciating. It was particularly hard to blog during that time. I’m sure my posts were stilted—what the heck did I talk about!? But it was sooo worth the wait…seeing the announcement in Publisher’s Marketplace made it all feel VERY real.

ES: So the nitty gritty that all aspiring authors want to know: time from query to agent? Agent to sale? Sale to publication?

RM: I will preface this by saying that Jill is my second agent. I’ve written four other middle grade novels and have gone through rounds of meetings, got close several times (even did some revisions for publishing houses) but nada. So this whole process has taken, you know…years. When I first started out, my husband and I agreed to give myself five years to pursue this dream of getting published.
Luckily he kept giving me one-year extensions because it took eight.

ES: Okay, give us the nitty gritty:
RS: Query to agent: Two weeks
Agent to sale: A year (we subbed two other projects before I wrote this one)
Sale to publication: Just under two years…which is code for forever?  (Nah…I’m hoping it will sneak up on me and I’ll wonder how the time passed so quickly. Um, right?)

ES: What kinds of things do you like to do when you’re not writing?

RM: You mean I can not write? Huh. *scratches head*

No, for real, I love hanging with my family and going hiking and kayaking—we live on a bay.  I’m also obsessed with GLEE and what Anderson Cooper is wearing (he wears the cutest shirts when he’s on assignment).

ES: Have you read any good books lately?

Yes! BEFORE I FALL by Lauren Oliver (for my serious side) and A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL by Kristin Walker (for my lighter side). Loved ‘em both!








Thanks, Robin! So great to get to know you better.

Project (Insert Name Here)

On a recent post by Jennifer Daiker, she talked about Project Jen—a plan to be proactive in making her life more what she wants it to be.

I thought about this afterward and wondered what would a Project Elle look like?  Is there anything I can do to make my life more enriching and fulfilling?

Obviously, writing is a big part of who I am and a pursuit that has definitely enriched life. And of course, achieving my hopes of publication and writing success would make it even more so.

But is there more?  What happens if I don’t accomplish that dream? Is there more to my life than this? (I’m not counting my roles as mother, wife, daughter, friend---it’s a given that these are important and a priority. I’m talking about me as an individual without those titles and responsibilities).

I came up with a couple things.

Dear Hubby and I spend a lot of time in Europe and every year as time goes on that amount will grow until we are there up to seven or eight months of each year. We will be dividing our time between Dresden, Germany, where DH keeps busy as a singer/songwriter/performing artist (www.normstrauss.com) and Brasov, Romania. Even though I’ve lived in Germany and travel there often I still CANNOT speak German. My brain just doesn’t seem to work that way.

In Romania we have the opportunity to work with a Christian/Humanitarian Non-Governmental Organization called Hope For the Nations. (www.hftn.ro) DH efforts will revolve around music and Romanian musicians, but my question is what would I do? We work with friends who live there, and I would assist in their mercy efforts—providing food/clothes/medical, but is there something I could give based on my own gifts?

I’m a writer. I know the English language. That’s it! I’ll teach English as a second language.

So here is what Project Elle looks like so far:

1)    Study German (anyone have a Rosetta Stone German language program they want to sell?)

2)    Complete an online Teaching English as a second language course.

3)    Keep writing, blogging, and hoping!

4)    I’m a person of faith, so I want to continue to feed my spirit by reading the Bible and praying.

5)    I’m going to add fun and fitness in the form of hiking, biking and maybe kayaking.

So, does this inspire you to start your own Project (Insert Name Here)?  What would that look like for you?

Debut Author interview with Joelle Anthony!

I've had this interview sitting on my computer for a few weeks--Sorry everyone, especially you Joelle, for the delay.  Also, don't forget to inter my contest for A BOOK OF YOUR CHOICE!

RESTORING HARMONY just released a few days ago--how has your life changed
since then?
The biggest change is being in the truck. On our little island, we walk or ride our bikes almost everywhere we go, but for the last week, I’ve been on a book tour and I think I’ve spent more time in the truck in these few days than I have in the last year. It feels very strange.

As far as the book itself being out, the biggest change is now anyone can read it. Before, my audience was limited to whoever could get their hands on an ARC. Now, if you want to read RH, you can just buy it. I’m getting emails from people I don’t know telling me they’ve read it and it takes me a minute to realize how they got it…oh, yeah…it’s in stores. How surreal!

Can you tell us a bit about your book?
I think you can pretty much read the promo copy all over, so I’ll tell you how I see it. Restoring Harmony is a family story about determination, love, and hard work. There’s a road trip and an adventure, and I’ve thrown in a mysterious stranger and a bunch of fiddle music to liven it up.

Now for stuff writers are really curious about--how long did it take you to
write the book? From query to agent? From agent to sale? From sale to
publication?

You forgot to include all the millions of revisions in your question! From concept to actual publication was about five years, but there were many drafts (the first hardly resembles the final), and also I had an agent for seven months before realizing we weren’t a great match and so I had to move on and find a new agent. To give you a better idea of how long it takes me to write a book, actual writing time for a solid draft of my second novel was about 4-6 months, but we still have to edit it. This one took longer because I had a lot to learn.

I signed with my agent in March 2008 and did a revision for him before he sent it out in July to editors. It sold in September 2008, and came out in May 2010. Things seem to take forever, but time marches on and even though you think it will never happen, eventually your book does come out.

How did you find your agent?

I am always thrilled to say it was a cold query and my agent pulled me out of the slush. Not because being pulled out of the slush is an amazing feat, but because so many people don’t believe it’s possible and I’m proof that it is. In fact, almost everyone I know was pulled from the slush.

I did choose to query Michael Bourret on purpose though, not randomly. When I was looking for an agent, I noticed he had recently made quite a few sales to Delacorte. Early in my career, Delacorte had shown an interest in one of my novels I’d entered in their first novel contest. It had come to nothing, but I thought if Michael sold to Delacorte, and Delacorte liked my writing, perhaps we were a good match. I included one sentence about this in my query so he’d know he wasn’t selected randomly. I think if you can make a connection like this in a query, it does get an agent’s attention.

Many people who visit my blog are Canadians. As a Canadian myself (I'm
actually dual citizen with the US, but have lived most of my life in Canada)
I'm hesitant to actually write a book based in Canada or with a Canadian
protagonist--I think many Canadian writers feel the same way if they plan to
pitch their book to American agents and editors. Did you feel any of that
yourself, and did you find resistance from American publishers, ie wanting
to reset your book in the US? Or did it work because part of your story is
set in Oregon?

When I wrote Restoring Harmony I was still living in the U.S. We only moved to Canada about two and a half years ago. The only resistance I remember to having a Canadian main character was my agent saying he wished it would work so it was all set in the US because he thought the book might come across anti-American. Canada fares better after the Collapse than the U.S., but I pointed out that it’s really only small islands like Molly’s that are doing well. The big cities in Canada aren’t that much better than in the U.S. In the end, we agreed it had to be the way I wrote it and before it went out on submission, I worked hard to even out the good and bad things about both countries and their people. My publisher never said a word about it either way, so I must’ve reached the balance we were looking for.

My next book is set in Portland, Oregon, which is where I was born and raised. I chose to set it there because it’s what I’m familiar with and feel comfortable writing about. I think it would be hard for me to set a book in Canada if the character goes to high school, because I know very little about how they work up here. I’m afraid, even with my excellent teen beta readers, things might not feel authentic. I don’t know what my publisher would think about a book set here. It’s an interesting question though.

*Sorry that's a long question*

Do you have a blog?
I do have a blog that I’ve been keeping up for about three years. It’s on my website and I generally blog three times a week, with the Wednesday post being an interview with another author. I am about to reduce my blogging to once a week for the summer so I have more time to go to the beach! I also blog at The Debutante Ball (www.thedebutanteball.com) on Fridays.

Are you working on anything new?
I’ve just handed in my second book, and I think we will start editing it in the next few months. It’s called The Right & the Real and is about a girl whose father gets involved in a religious cult and when she won’t join with him, he disowns her and kicks her out onto the street. It’s a bit of an adventure, but like Restoring Harmony, it’s mostly a family story.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I’m more of a where do I see myself in five minutes type of person. My husband and I try very hard to live in the moment. I’m not as good as it as I’d like to be, but I’m not too bad at it either. In general, I hope we’re growing more of our own food, still living on our wonderful island, and that I’m writing, and he’s playing lots of music. Not that different from right now, really.

Thanks for having me!

Contest Confession and Other News

I want to celebrate reaching 150 Blogger followers and visitors to my blog, and what better way to do that then to have a contest? But here’s the thing, there are a lot of great contests going on out in the Blogosphere right now, especially with all those BEA ARCs floating around…I mean, how can I compete with that. Seriously?

This has caused me a bit of consternation.

Here’s what I’ve come up with: I have a glossy copy of SPELLS, by Aprilynne Pike to offer as a give away for those of you still dying to know what happens after WINGS.

Or:

I will order and ship for you a book of YOUR CHOICE from Amazon. Any book you’ve been dying to read or want to pre-order.

To enter, just let me know what book you want in the comments.

Because contests are a way to spread the word about your blog site, I would love for you to tweet about it or FB it. Just let me know in the comments and I’ll add an extra entry for each blurb. You don’t have to provide proof; I’ll take your word for it!

Contest ends June 18. I’ll use random.org to choose the winners. Open worldwide.

Okay, onto other news:  Tomorrow I’ll be posting the Debuting Author Interview with Joelle Anthony, YA author of RESTORING HARMONY, so stay tuned for that.

And, drum roll please, I finished my latest wip!! First draft and first round revisions in two and a half months. This may be normal for some writers, but it’s record breaking for me. It took me a year and a half to really finish CLOCKWISE, and five years for PLAYING WITH MATCHES.  I know for some writers, three months or less is normal. Rumor has it that Kiersten White finished PARANORMALACY in three weeks! And the sequel in three months. 

I have to say, I’m pretty happy to have it done. It’s now in the hands of my beta readers and Agent Awesome.

How about you? What is your normal?

Commenting Protocol (or the Sandbox Controversy)

There’s a little swirl going on in the blogosphere on what’s right and fair when it comes to commenting on blogs.   Yesterday I left the comment, shown in italics below, on a fellow blogger’s post, and it remains my position.

 I want to add that I do write knowing that others are reading and hoping I can offer them something helpful.

 I also want to point out that I do often visit people who visit me and I try to return comments, but only because it’s what I want to do, not because I feel I have to.

Don’t we have enough HAVE TO’s in our lives, without adding more? 

What does the word blog mean? It's short for web log, log being the important part. A log means a journal, a place where a person writes for themselves. Putting it on the web means you're allowing other people to take a peak, and leaving comments is an option, not a requirement. Replying to comments should also be an option, not a requirement.

When did blogging become so much about the reader?

It may sound selfish, but it's not if you remember the definition. I blog because I want to catalog my thoughts about my journey/process of publication and if others can learn from that, great. If they don't want to read it, that's fine too. It's recorded for future reference, mine or my kids, etc.

If I read your blog, I don't feel obligated to comment, unless I feel stirred to (like now, obviously). I'm a visitor to your personal journal and I'm honored that you give me opportunity to comment. I have no expectations (or rights) that you will respond back to my comments or feel obligated to visit my blog.

Mho

I usually scroll through my blog reader and read blogs that look interesting to me, based on subject, intrigue, etc, not based on who the blog belongs to. (Which makes a case for hooky blog openings, but that’s another post).  I comment because something tweaks me.  I hope that is why people comment when they read my blog and that they’re not just commenting because they feel they owe it to me for commenting on their blogs.

Is my personal value based on how many comments I have at the end of the day? Am I happy when I get more and sad when I get less? Am I the only one who sees this type of thinking as problematic? Should it really upset me if a blog poster comments on other people's comments and not mine? Or if I commented on their post and they didn't return the deed?

I don’t know. It’s starting to feel like the sandbox to me. What do you think?

Paralysed by Perfectionism

Some people have great ideas, they can see the whole plot in their head, know the characters inside and out, but for some reason, just can’t write to the end.

Why? Because they’re stuck on perfecting what they’ve already written.  DON’T DO THIS.  If you do, you will use up all your creative energy on editing and run out of steam before you’re done.

Plus, it will never be good enough and if you are trying to make it perfect, you will fail. And even if you do succeed on front end perfection, somewhere down the line you will make a creative call that will mean going back to change something at the beginning.

Only you won’t be able to, because you’ve already made it perfect!  So you are left with an agonizing choice—wreck the beginning to fix the middle/end or have a less than satisfying end, which will cause you to fail at reaching (so called) perfection.

Do you know how many times you are going to have to read and revise your wip? Count with me: Your first crappy draft (assuming you actually finish it), your first pass on revisions, then you send it to a trusted reader and make revisions based on her notes, then you send that to two or three more readers and make revisions on their notes as they come in. Then, if you’re fortunate, you send it to your agent and if she’s anything like mine, you get at least three passes of revisions. Then, if you’re really, really fortunate (and this is where I have to draw on the experience of others) you have around three passes with your editor, then you have copy edits and line edits, etc.

How many times will you be reading and revising your first draft?  Approximately twelve. That’s right, twelve and that’s a good case scenario. (I revised CLOCKWISE and PLAYING WITH MATCHES many more times than that, believe me.) Twelve times you’re going to read and change your wip-so how can your first draft possibly ever be perfect? It can’t.

So, just finish the damn thing.

How about you? Do you struggle with perfectionism? Still can’t get that first draft done?

Or, if you have finished, how many times have your revised it so far?

I’m finishing up my latest wip. With this one, I challenged myself to write it and finish it as quickly as possible.  In the near future I’ll blog about how this went and the results of my experiment with structure. Stay tuned. :)

PS: Contest details to come.