Shark attack!

Excuse me, I know you're being attacked by a shark, but could you please tell us how it feels? This novel covers it all, struck by lightning, drug addicted, suicidal, choking to death on a cheeseburger...

My first thought when picking up this book: Is this a book by those who have submitted to Query Shark?

Why I'm reading this: I was out NaNoWriMo shopping yesterday, buying raffle prizes with those little bits of credit left on random gift cards in my purse. One of them happened to be for Barnes and Noble. After my last post of hitting the bargain table, I had to go. A deal was calling my name, I could feel it!

This little gem of a book leapt into my hands. My original thought was that it would make a great guide to adding sensory details to writing for situations that the writer had not personally been in. My second thought was to read it myself first. Then I remembered to breathe, all that thinking was making me lightheaded.

Is it good? It's amusing. Each situation is told by the person who survived it. The entries are short, a few pages at most, so it makes for quick reading, or the perfect book to bring to the dog park--where I also do a good deal of my reading--because I can frequently break away from the story to keep an eye on my dog.

Almost better than the description of how it feels in each situation, is the voice of each individual person. In some cases it's driving me nuts, such as the entry where everyone, including the kids, is referred to as a 'guy'. There are these guys and this little guy and I'm a big guy. I can't help but assign a Brooklyn accent to this... guy. So its not only giving me some sensory input, but its an interesting study in voice. With the entries as short as they are, it makes the different phrasings and word choices easy to spot and compare.

And now you'll have to excuse me, I'm dying to know what it feels like to choke to death on a cheeseburger. But wait, that would mean the guy died. How does he tell us how it feels? Guess I'll have to read to find out, huh?

The ebook debate hits home

Sad news, one of our two local indie bookstores is going out of business as of this week. And so the debate heard everywhere these days has come home to me.

We have three bookstores in town:

A small, corner store that's been around longer than me, has a horrible little website, doesn't have much selection but has aquired lots of regulars over the years. They seem to be doing fine. This place supplied my weekly book fix throughout childhood. I spent a lot of my allowance here.

Barnes & Nobel moved in a few years ago. They have a Starbucks, a writers group, children's reading time, and of course, a huge selection. They are always busy. I hold my NaNoWriMo meetings here. I love their bargain book section - I'm much more likely to try a new author if I find their novel on sale. If I really like it, I will come back and buy more books at full price.

The sadly closing bookstore that's only been open for seven years. They have an awesome children's area with live animals (No, not dead ones... I mean as opposed to stuffed animals... and no, I don't mean taxidermy. Sheesh.) and toys and books. They have a good selection for a small store. They had summer reading programs for kids. They get authors in for book signings. I met Jacqueline Carey here. But... I never bought a book here, the other two stores are more convienently located for me.

The owner cited the growing market for ebooks as one of the main reasons for declining sales. Is it truly that or is it the economy? I like a book in my hands. I don't have an ereader (yet). When I have the time to sit down and crack open a new book, it's places where I probably wouldn't bring an ereader anyway: the beach and the tub. I love to read. But I'm not buying near as many books as I used to, because I don't have the cash to spend like I used to. Not to mention, the subconscious urging everywhere to 'go green'.

There are a select few authors whose releases will make me scrape up the money to go buy a hardcover because I can't wait for paperback. Otherwise, horrible to admit, I know, I am inclined to shop at my local used book store. Reusing. See, I'm being green. And the books are more affordable for beach and tub reading where they are likely to get wet and sandy.

Ebooks are pretty darn afforable too, and like the bargain book section and B & N, I am more inclined to try new authors. I've read a few on my laptop and that works fine for me. Not to mention, this is also a green option so I feel I'm doing a good thing.

When I bring up ebooks to those who have not had any contact with them, all they know is what the newspaper tells them: ebooks are closing bookstores. Is that the case? I don't think so. People who have the money, like the feel of a book on their hand or to display on their shelves and/or aren't comfortable shopping online will be at the bookstore. There is still a need for them, and hell, I need an inspirational place to hold my NaNo meetings. The part of me who looks at the checkbook balance, has the desire to eat books for breakfast and seeks to quiet that little green voice in her head, likes ebooks.

How about you?

A new old project

Nekar perches on the edge of my desk. He squints at the monitor and then glares at me. "Just what do you think you're working on?"

Whoa boy. I knew I'd get busted. I just didn't think it would be so soon. "A new old project."

"What the does that mean? It doesn't look like anything Trust related."

"It's not."

He gets up and comes closer, peering at the words floating before him. "Who the hell is Sahmara?"

"A character you don't know from a novel I wrote years ago that I've wanted to get back to revising. I needed a Trust break."

"Look." He stands in front of my monitor, making a right nuisance of himself by blocking the paragraph I'm working on. "We've all noticed the lack of incoming characters around here lately. Marin is still missing. The discarded adverbs are all sorted. Ms. Wildstar and Xander are off making moon eyes at each other. Zsmed made a move on Delilah and hasn't come running back to my corner yet. Everyone else is sitting around, reading their cut scenes and growing restless."
"Hey, I let you all keep your names for now."

Nekar glances at his nametag. "Thanks for that. However, I'm here to warn you that something is going to go down if you don't give us someone new to play with."

I run through the distant memory of the novel I'm working on. "I can't think of anyone from this novel that I need to cut. I wrote this one after the bloated nightmare of a novel that spawned all of you."

Nekar's shoulders droop.

"Are you pouting? You are!" That's hilarious, but I've already rubbed it in enough so I don't say that outloud. "What is this really about?"

He points down to the mountains of crumpled paper and the two couples blathering to each other like no one else exisits.

"What, you want me to cut a woman from this novel for you? Is that it?"

He turns to me, looking mortified. "No! You think I want to hang out in character purgatory forever? Gamnock got to go back into Trust. For goodness sake, if you won't give me anyone to fight, write me into this new novel! Get me out of here! I can't stand another day of listening to those moronic lovebirds!"

I rub my chin. "Interesting idea. I can't promise anything, but I'll keep your plea in mind."

"You do that." He climbs over the edge of my desk. "It might be a plea for now, but if you take too long, you might find it's become a threat."

No thanks, but thanks

Rejection. It's not a fun thing. Yet, it comes with the territory and we have to accept that it's not personal. It's not you. It's not me. It just is.

In light of a nice rejection I received two days ago, I'd like to thank the thoughtful, patient and utterly considerate editors out there who take a moment to add a helpful comment to the standard variations of "This isn't right for us, but thanks for considering our publication and we wish you the best of luck in placing your story" form letter.

This editor took the time to note a few typos that managed to get past me. While mortified I actually missed those typos even after reading the darned thing out loud to myself, at least now I can go onward in my search for a story home knowing that they are fixed. And so I thank you, dear editor, for taking your time to help the typo-challenged of us out here in submissionland.

Angela Ackerman, over at the Bookshelf Muse, did a wonderful post on rejection today. In light of saving me the time I'd planned use waxing on about the subject, I recommend checking it out.

When evil characters go bad

I'm happy to announce that Beatrice is dead. Overjoyed, in fact. I think I'm supposed to be feeling tragedy at the fact her life went so wrong, perhaps nodding at the injustice of her sheltered childhood and how it made her into such a horrible person. But no, I'm just smiling because she's finally dead and I can put the book down.

There came a time yesterday as I sat outside, enjoying the elusive perfect weather of mid-summer, with my dog happily at my feet and three young hawks chasing each other through the woods, when I nearly tossed the book into the unlit firepit. I read the few distasteful pages that killed any remote sense of redemption for wayward MC and closed the cover in disgust. Did I want to bother reading more about this horrible fictional person with no redeeming characteristics whatsoever? At that point, not really.

But the day was so lovely and peaceful and if I put the book down, I'd have no excuse to keep myself outside rather that endure the racket of my children reaquainting themselves with the X-box and television after my son's long electronic deprived week at camp. Toys were again scattered over my orderly floor, friends were visiting and my husband was busy drilling and grinding something in our workshop. No, it was far better to subject myself to quiet (other than the screeching of the hawks) and attempt to learn something from dispicable Beatrice.

Which means I didn't toss the book into the firepit. Instead I took a deep breath, opened the book, found my page and continued to read.

Beyond friday's post, here is what I learned.

- A MC has to have SOME redeeming quality or I want to see her fail. Please don't make me wait 600 pages to see her fail in two paragraphs of lackluster, I'm-ready-to-die action.

-When every other character in the novel can't stand your character, it isn't a good thing. It doesn't make her more evil or misunderstood. It just means they all see the logic and reason the MC missing.

- A MC who's motivation is the steadfast center of their life at the beginning of the novel shouldn't spend the rest of the novel contradicting their motivation in every bold way possible just to create conflict. It makes no sense and makes me want smack them upside the head and ask, "What the hell are you doing?" Deliberate self sabotage is not compelling

- If there is a direct conflict between the MC and another character, for goodness sake, act on it. The terror factor I praised in my previous post sputtered out shortly afterward. The words, "he's coming" only have so much effect when repeated for the next three hundred pages without anything actually happening.

- Do not point out the direct problem with the novel in dialogue. "It's like you wish things to happen and the gods just make it so." Yes, exactly. No one stands in the MC's way. Stuff just happens. Stupid stuff. Stuff that makes you look at the words again and just exclaim, "Why does no one at all question this? Why on earth would the MC even think of this course of action when there are twenty other far more logical options that never cross her mind?"

- Ruining other characters for the sake of it (because she's evil!!!), characters that would have helped the MC if only she had actually spoken to them in a logical manner, is just wasteful and makes me want to chuck the book into the firepit.

- Writing in first person with random moments of omniscent pov is disconcerting.

- A MC who knows they are evil but keeps being evil anyway, just cause, makes me want them to die horribly. Yes, this somewhat repeats my first point. Which is another point. Don't repeat everything in case I didn't catch the anvil the first time around. I got it. Thanks.

- Just because I enjoy some books by an author, doesn't mean I'll love them all.