NaNoWriMo Starts Today - Without Me

National Novel Writing Month starts today, thousands of folk all over the world, banding together in the common goal of writing a complete novel in one month's time. 

Professionals (Lynn Viehl, for example) and hobbyists alike, joining together in NaNoWriMo's joys and sorrows.  To meet the 50,000 word count goal, you need to write 1700 words a day, every day, on your project.  Some will fail at the starting gate, others will falter somewhere along the way, and the furious few will skate across the finish line on November 30th with some kind of finished product. 

My hat is off to all of them.  Good luck! My prayers go with you. 

Me?  I'm not doing it.  And today, as I've got tons of writing projects on the runway and it's the official first day of NaNoWriMo, boy am I glad.  Glad, glad, happy, happy.  Yea.

Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich - I Read It, and Boy I'm Disappointed

Janet Evanovich is one of my favorite authors, has been for years.  I read about Stephanie Plum with delight, listen to the audiobooks and chuckle, and always await the publication of the next in the Plum series with great anticipation.

Well, maybe that excitement has wained somewhat since nothing seems to evolve with Stephanie and the gang.  Stephanie never chooses between Joe and Ranger.  Lula can be counted on for tight spandex and a new diet or two every book, and there's always the car that's gonna explode.  Then, the Plum Spooky series started appearing in between the number books, and I had hope.

I thought that maybe Janet E. was getting tired of writing the same old storyline, and maybe this paranormal humor test run would do her well.  Kinda like a rock and roll star who gets sick and tired of singing the same old hit song time and again, despite how much the fans demand to hear it.  Surely Rod Stewart has had enough of Maggie Mae?

Diesel would solve everything.  His new series -- debuting as Wicked Appetite this Fall -- would show how Janet Evonovich had jumped into a new pool of characters, new exciting plotlines, fresh jokes.  Oh, I was so ready for this and I thought ... assumed ... she was too.

I was wrong.

Wicked Appetite was a major disappointment for me. It's a poor imitation of the 123 series, and even then not the best of those books (which were the first few, by the way).   Lizzie is too much like Stephanie Plum, the bakery and surrounding neighborhood too much akin to the Trenton neighborhood, and the only thing that I was truly happily surprised to see:  Cluck in a Bucket never appeared. Thank Goodness. 

Same old fart jokes, Carl the Monkey shooting the bird, and the significant amount of white space on the pages had me checking to see if I had a Large Print book by mistake.  (I didn't.)  I didn't estimate a word count, but it's obviously pushing the edge of the envelope here to get the required number of pages of sellable product here. 

Janet, Janet, Janet.  You've got such talent and you've got people out here who love you.  Stop this.  You're disrespecting yourself to the point of being self-destructive here, in an obvious sellout to the Publishing Dollar.  Which, cruelly, will be disappearing soon enough -- I'm not buying anymore of your formula books and I'm reading all over the web where lots of other disappointed readers won't be either.

Maybe falling sales will send the message that all the Amazon one star comments haven't.

Writing Dialogue - More Authors to Study Who Are Masters of Dialogue: Sue Grafton

Couple of years ago (wow, I've been blogging here for awhile now!), I wrote about my search for authors who have mastered the art of writing great conversation.  Dialogue. 

I admit it -- setting, plot, characters: they're all with their hurdles.  Dialogue downright intimidates me. 

So, imagine my surprise when I'm reading Sue Grafton's latest, U is for Undertow, and realize just how much of the story is (you guessed it) dialogue.  Great stuff, too.  I surf around on Grafton as a writer, seeking to learn more about her writing - besides the ABC series, I've read all of them just like you. 

Voila.  Grafton worked in Hollywood, writing screenplays before she decided to write mysteries as a way to escape the Hollywood system.  Good for her, great for us.

So, in addition to those authors that I listed in September 2008 as authors who have mastered the art of writing dialogue, I must add Sue Grafton.  Wow, she's great at it. 

(And Sue Grafton's got a really cool web site to explore, too, if you're interested.)

UPDATE:  I've finished U is for Undertow, and I think it's the best yet in Grafton's series.  If you're interested in my take on why U is worth the read (very), check out my review at Amazon. 

Journaling by Hand: I Like Writing Pen on Paper - Though I Do It Less and Less

When I was growing up, I had a callus on my left ring finger that lasted all the way through law school:  it was ugly, but somewhat of a badge of honor. I was left-handed, and held my pen a funny way because I'd taught myself to read and write long before I started school.  (There's an old news story on this in the Corpus Christi Caller-Times, but that's a different post for a different day.)

That callus meant I wrote - and wrote a lot.  I was proud of that ugly old thing.

Today, it's gone.  I type all the time now.  Sometimes, I dictate into a Dragon microphone (voice to text software is handy now and then).  I handwrite grocery lists, task lists, little notes to friends, an occasional letter.  Sign a card, leave a stickie on the door.  Not much handwriting going on over here.

So, I've decided to change.  I like writing by hand.  I like the pen, the paper, the time it takes to do it.  A friend who analyzes handwriting for forgeries recalled to me her long-ago study of handwriting analysis.  Personality appearing through handwriting. 

She told me that there are those who believe that people can change their attitudes and behaviors simply by changing how they write.  Amazing to think that a child could increase self-esteem by writing their signature bigger or that a depressed teen could brighten up by simply changing the slant of their words. 

Who knows if it's true or not - even my friend wasn't a true believer - but I suspect that our personalities do show themselves somewhat in how we write with pens, it's such a personal thing.  It has its own creative character, handwriting.

Tess Gerritsen and Elmore Leonard are two authors I know who handwrite their work.  Type it later, but first draft is brain to hand to pen to paper.  I like that.  Or I like the idea of that. 

Mr. Leonard actually writes on special paper pads made just for him.  That's so wonderful.  Unlined, yellow pads each with 63 sheets - you can see an image of them here, on his desk, and read his story of why he likes them in this NPR Interview. 

Dr. Gerritsen may not have special pads, but she has a separate desk for handwriting and another for her computer.  The handwriting desk is an old oak partner's desk -- you know the kind, with all that fabulous surface area inviting you to stack stuff to the rafters (look at the image for Gerritsen's map of Boston there, atop her books and things).   

Here's the thing. I am going to incorporate handwriting back into my daily life.  I'm going to journal by hand, maybe write a poem or two by hand, and who knows: start writing a story by hand.  Is there power in it?  Dunno - will I write more? will I become more prolific?  will my personality change? will I lose weight?  I'll let you know.

To make things even more fun, I've sent off for some disposable extra fine point Varsity Fountain pens (see the image above, they're less than three bucks apiece at Office Depot).  Very cool, can't wait till they arrive.

Update:  Got my Varsity Fountain pens, and I love them - if you're interested, read my review over at Amazon for the details on why they're great (IMHO). 

Scrivener for Windows is Coming! Scrivener Writing Software in Beta Available in Fall 2010

For several years now, Mac users had the ability to use Scrivener and Windows users were left to fret and be jealous, and organize their stuff as best they could. Until now!!!

Literature & Latte has officially announced on its web site that the Windows version of Scrivener will be available in November 2010 in its beta version (in time for NaNoWriMo) and the full-fledged, official version will be available in Winter 2011.


What is Scrivener?

It's an award-winning program for writers - providing online tools to help writers write. It's not an alternative to Word (which editors prefer - editing with their authors via Track Changes), but a way to organize and structure your work in process. For many, it is a beloved part of their routine (check out the New York Times review here).

How? Scrivener is a software package that (1) breaks down big documents into bits, so they are easier to manage, while also (2) giving you an outlining tool and (3) a corkboard, both for purposes of outlining your work -- and (4) enabling you to tag it with your research (images, PDFs) for crossreferencing. Once you've got the book written, or the thesis complete, Scrivener lets you pull it all together into a single file or document, which you can export into Word.

According to the Scrivener website, look for the beta to be available around October 25, 2010. The site promises free copies for those willing to work in beta, helping flush out the last few bugs in the system. Once it's finalized, Scrivener for Windows will cost $40 and it will work on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Also, if you have the guts and energy to have a validated 50,000 word count at NaNoWriMo this year, Scirvener will offered to you at half-price: Literature & Latte is promising a 50% discount coupon for its new Windows version as a NaNoWriMo incentive. Cool, right?

Check It Out For Yourself

The web site has a video (5 minutes of your time) that goes over the basics. For an example of how an award-winning, multipublished author uses Scrvener, check out Robin Lee Hatcher's description of her process here.

How I'm Going to Use Scriviner

I'm ghostwriting a book (again - I've got to stop doing this, and get my name out there!) that requires lots of intensive research, much of it dealing with the law -- statutes and cases from both federal and state sources. This, in addtion to news stories, various opinion pieces, etc. In other words, a nonfiction work that needs lots of supporting documentation.

I'm hoping that Scrivener is going to enable me to write the draft with the crossreferencing that's necessary for both footnoting as well as the index much more smoothly than Microsoft Word was going to provide. We'll see soon enough, right?

David Foster Wallace's Archive On View at UT's Harry Ransom Center (for Researchers)

David Foster Wallace's books and papers and notes and doodles and all that other stuff -- it's all there for everyone to eyeball at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin (my alma mater). 

However, the DFW archive is open only to researchers.  The rest of us have to make do with checking out the images that have been provided online -- and they've got lots of things to ponder. 

Like his reading list for his lower-level college class: he had them read Carrie by Stephen King; the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis; and Rock Star by Jackie Collins. among other works.  You know this makes Jackie Collins proud on so many levels, right? 

His handwritten notes are available in these books, as well as lots of papers - things like the first handwritten draft of Infinite Jest, etc.  Hard to read the felt-tip pen remains, but you're welcome to give it a go. 

Janet Evanovich's Wicked Appetite Is Out: is Diesel the new Stephanie Plum?

Published by St.MartinsPress
read an excerpt here.

I saw the new Janet Evanovich book prominently displayed in my local Barnes and Noble this week: Wicked Appetite appears to be selling well and lotsa folk seem to like it, too (at least one did in Roanoke, Virginia -- Amazon right now is showing as many giving it five stars as are giving it one star).

The star of the book?  Diesel, whom we have met in the Plum series already.  Apparently, Diesel is getting his own series with this debut and we can look forward to another 6 or 7 books here.  The twist?  It's got a paranormal vein -- Diesel is one of the "Unmentionables," a group of humans with special (magic!) abilities.

My take?  I love Janet Evanovich as a writer, she entertains me.  She makes me laugh, guaranteed.  And that's important -- laughter at the ready.  I'll read Wicked Appetite.  However, Mrs. E is also astute in following the marketplace. 

She's tipped her hat to Nascar fever with another series (Alex Barnaby).  She's also taken a stab at graphic novels.  And, we all know she began in romance and has seen her romance work reissued over the past few years. 

So, while I look forward to the Diesel series as a reader, I'm also pondering Diesel as a writer.  Humor and paranormal, meshing?  Where else is this happening, or is it?  Is this Janet E's taking note of the success of the Twilight series?  of Harry Potter?

(Which brings to mind the mash-ups, particularly the Austen ones, but that's a different post for a different day.)

UPDATE:  I read Wicked Appetite, and I was disappointed.  Read my review over at Amazon if you want to know why. 

Texas Book Festival 2010 - List of Authors

The Texas Book Festival is set for October 16 - 18, 2010, and the list of authors has been finalized and published online at the Festival website. 

Click on the name of an author in this list, and you'll be taken to an individual bio page, like this one for Meg Cabot. 

National Talk Like a Pirate Day - September 19, 2010

How time flies!  It doesn't seem like a full year has passed since last year's Talk Like a Pirate Day, does it? (For details, check out the holiday's International Official Web Site.)

For help in learning nuances - as well as some grammar rules and nifty vocabulary - in Talking Pirate (this is pretty funny), check this short video out on YouTube (thanks to Mental Floss for sharing it):



YARRRR!!!!!

Author Joe Konrath Sells 200 Books a Day on Amazon

Joe Konrath is getting lots of media coverage since MediaBistro.com picked up his blog post, where he reports that the sells 200 books/day at Amazon, compared to 100/month on iPad.

However, that is just one tidbit of all the juicy info that this experienced thriller writer has to share -- so don't stop with the MediaBistro blurb, go read his entire blog post.

J.B. Stanley Reveals Her Profits From Cozy Mysteries Series

Way of the Guilty will be
released August 31, 2010.

Jennifer (J.B.) Stanley writes more than one cozy mystery series -- the Flab Five Supper Club mystery series; the Molly Appleby Antiques & Collectibles Mysteries; and The Hope Street Church mystery series.

I have read more than one of both the Hope Street Church series and the Flab Five Supper Club, and I recommend them both -- if you're a cozy mystery lover, you'll enjoy these books.

Recently, at the group blog Cozy Chicks, J.B. Stanley did a lot of us a favor by actually discussing the money that she's making from her efforts.  For the details, check out her post.  The numbers aren't that high, folks. It's definitely a labor of love.

For example, Stanley reports her average advance is $3000, $5000, or $7500 per book, she gets an average of an additional $500 or $1000 for large print or foreign rights, and then she turns around and spends 50-75% of her advance on promoting the book.

For more information:
Janet Evanovich Splitting From St. Martin's Press
Mystery Writer Joe Konrath Talks Money
Highly Successful Authors Put Their Two Cents Worth on The Money Question

How They Do It: Ridley Pearson

Great interview with Ridley Pearson over at The Bill Thrill, the webzine maintained by ITW (International Thriller Writers).

While the author is being interviewed as he promotes his latest Walt Fleming novel, In Harm's Way, there's some good stuff in here for writers to glean and use. Particularly, his discussion of building character arcs (as opposed to plots) and his ease with using real life folk as the basis for his characters -- particularly his protagonists.

Janet Evanovich Splitting from St Martin's Press After 15 Years? Is this Smart? The Movie Sounds Like a Nightmare.

You know that Janet Evanovich is BIG with capital letters when Deadline Hollywood's Nikke Finke interrupts her coverage of the film industry to report on Evanovich's negotiations for publishing her next 4 books (presumably in the Stephanie Plum series, numbers 17 - 20). 

According to Deadline, Evanovich's son is acting as her agent, and St. Martin's Press (whom she has been with for the past 15 years) isn't going along with his offer of $50,000,000 for the next four books. 

Yes, folks, that is $12.5 million per book.  Deadline is reporting that St. Martin's Press isn't interested, and Janet's son/agent is approaching other publishing houses.  The comments to the Deadline coverage are interesting, and not too nice. 

What they don't mention is the fact that Janet E. may think those books are more than worthy of that sum, given that the series is about to hit the big screen in a big way.  And fans have been waiting years and years for this -- they've been debating who should play what character at Janet E's website for a long, long time. 

Stephanie Plum Movie Being Cast Now

Of course, the fact that they've finally decided to bring Stephanie Plum to the big screen after all these years should impact the book deal.  Assuming the movie is a hit, readership should expand to those who've never heard of the series before, right?  Check for details at IMDB. 

Katherine Heigl got the plum part (pun intended) of Stephanie, and today it was announced that Sherri Shephard will play Lula.  The announcement also reports that Shephard will play a dual role, two prostitutes with hearts of gold.  I'm assuming one is Lula.  Huh? 

Julie Ann Robertson is directing.  Check out her background -- she's cutting her film teeth on Stephanie Plum's movie debut.  Her background is in TV episodes.  Five of Grey's Anatomy.  Three of Weeds. 

Great. 

They've already cast most everyone else -- except Grandma Mazur.  Moretti will be played by Jason O'Mara; Ranger, by Daniel Sunjata.   Right, big names.... And the way that Janet E. reports on the casting, looks like she has zip to do with this production.  She appears to be learning things from the news media, just like you and me. 

According to her website, Janet Evanovich sold the movie rights to One for the Money back in 1993.  She's got no say-so or legal right to any decision here.  However, you'd think the movie folk would be smart enough to ask .....

What, she's not involved in the screenplay?  Nope. 

Liz Brixius is credited right now for writing it.  Not Janet E.  Who is Lix Brixius?  Ye Gads.  She wrote for Nurse Jackie, which she also executive produced.  That's it, Dear Reader.  Nurse Jackie, the TV show.  Her only other writing cred?  One episode of Insatiable. 

The location?  They're filming the movie in Pittsburgh, folks.  Not Trenton (setting for the books).  Not even in New Jersey, period. 

I'm adding all this to my prayer list.  I am not kidding. 

Betting on this Movie as a reason to leave St. Martin's Press?

I'm not sure about this film, and read that as I'm shocked and saddened by all this, and I'm wondering how many others share my concern.  I'm a big Evanovich fan and I'm beyond nervous.  I'm pretty angry right now. 

I'm wondering about Heigl playing an Italian from Jersey.  I'm wondering about a TV director and a TV writer being let loose on a storyline that I treasure. 

They better not screw this up.  Maybe I'll just never, ever, ever watch this thing.  Heigl?  With black hair?  Reallllly?????

I'd Stay with St. Martin's ....

And a bad movie could be a detriment to this franchise, maybe St. Martin's Press isn't optimistic about this film effort.  Lord knows it's look like they've got good reason to be.

Hope Janet doesn't get hurt in all this.  As well as Stephanie and the gang.

Mulholland Books - New Crime Imprint

Little, Brown has officially announced it's launching a new "suspense fiction" imprint with books hitting the stores in Spring 2011.

According to its new site, MulhollandBooks wants "to publish books you can't stop reading."

While Galley Cat is spreading the news that this is a "crime imprint," Mulholland defines it scope as " crime novels, thrillers, police procedurals, spy stories, even supernatural suspense." It's interesting to boot that they're already talking about an internet marketing focus, with "online community building" and "authentic connections between authors, readers, and publisher."

Hmmmm. Perhaps just as interesting as this imprint's debut is their plan to hit the ground running with a heavy web focus. Let's see what they do with that.....

Going by a very cool name, Mulholland is touting new works from Marcia Clark (of OJ Simpson trial fame - she was the prosecutor); Lawrence Block; and Charlie Huston. Within a year from its debut, Mulholland promises 24 books a year - that's 2 books a month, one hardback and one, paperback.

They've even got a cool little video on the new website: http://www.mulhollandbooks.com/. Very film noir. So far, so good, right?

"The Value of a Book" - CEO Panel Discussion from BookExpo America on Book TV Available Online

Today, there was a great panel discussion on CSPAN2's BookTV that's available in its entirety online at the BookTV site.  Brought together to discuss "the Value of a Book," some of the biggest in the publishing industry gathered together to talk about the future of books and book publishing.  Including author compensation.

There were talks about the Cloud.  There were talks about making books more enticing, and mention was made of the vellum used in the new Steve Martin novel that's coming out in the fall entitled An Object of Beauty.  We're to expect a very physically beautiful book here, according to the panel.  But will that help sell the contents? 

Scott Turow made a point that I've been thinking for years now: why did the ebook get introduced as a simultaneous product with the newly released hardback?  Readers expect paperbacks to follow months after the hardback, why not follow a similar path for the ebook?  Good question, I think.

Panel Members - Cream of the Crop

Brick and mortar bookstores were represented here, as well as agents, authors, publishers, etc.:

1. Jonathan Galassi - President, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2. Bob Miller - Group publisher, Workman Publishing and founder of Hyperion
3. Esther Newberg -  Executive Vice President, International Creative Management (literary agency)
4. Skip Prichard - President and CEO, Ingram Content Group Inc. ( book wholesaler)
5. David Shanks - CEO, Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
6. Oren Teicher - CEO, American Booksellers Association
7. Scott Turow - author, attorney, president of Author's Guild

Was a Consensus Reached?  No.

No definitive answers were found.  It was nice to hear what appeared to be genuine concern for paying writers what they're worth for the work that they do. 

Go listen.  It's fascinating and important, whether you're a reader or writer.

Magazines Sales Up in a Bad Economy - the "Notable Achievers" of 2010

Good Housekeeping, August 1928
Wikimedia Commons, public domain

Wooden Horse Magazine gives us all the heads up this morning with news that several magazines boosted their retail sales in a significant way during this bad economic period.  That's right: they've grown in retail sales and they're magazines.

Brings to mind Mark Twain's famous quote, "rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated."  I love magazines, and I take this as great news. 

For their efforts, they've been honored by the Harringtons in their New Single Copy industry newsletter as "Notable Achievers" by the company that monitors national magazine sales.

I wasn't surprised at Mother Earth News.  I was a bit surprised at Rider.  (For the full list, with links to the award winner's web sites, check out Wooden Horse.)

The New Single Copy, published by John Harrington (Harrington Associates, LLC) has a lot more detail on the subject of magazine sales if you're interested in learning more.  Harrington Associates manages the BIPAD system of tracking magazine sales -- that barcode on each issue you buy has a series of identification numbers within it which form the basis for the periodic tallies of magazine sales. 

Which means that the NSC awards are a big deal -- these are the people in the know about such things. 

Elmore Leonard Interview - How He Writes, and "Freaky Deaky" Comes to the Screen

Deadline Hollywood has a great interview with Elmore Leonard that's a must read. Most of the talk is about screenwriting, his books that went to film (and his thoughts on them), but at the end there's a great tidbit on how he writes.

10 to 6, every day.
Output is 3-4 handwritten pages. No word processor.
He takes his handwritten pages and types them up on his typewriter to get his draft.
Wow.

Book Trailer Award Finalists - The 2010 Moby Awards

Book trailers are here, and according to GalleyCat, literally hundreds were submitted for consideration in this year's Moby Awards.  Melville House has organized the first annual awards ceremony for book trailers - the Mobys - and on May 20, 2010, the winners will be announced in a very nice ceremony in New York City. 

Here are the finalists, and yes - that last award really is for the WORST book trailer of the year.

They're all available for viewing online at the Moby site:

Best Low Budget/Indie Book Trailer:

1. A Common Pornography by Kevin Sampsell
2. The Electric Church in One Minute by Jeff Somers
3. Extraordinary Renditions by Andrew Ervin
4. I am in the Air Right Now by Kathryn Regina
5. I Lego New York by Chistoph Niemann

Best Big Budget/Big House Book Trailer:

1. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
2. Blameless by Gail Carriger
3. Going West by Maurice Gee
4. High Before Homeroom by Maya Sloan
5. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: The Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith

Best Performance by in Author:

1. Gordon Lish in Collected Fictions
2. Dennis Cass in Head Case
3. Thomas Pynchon (voice of) in Inherent Vice
4. Daniel Handler in The Book vs. The Kindle, Round 10: A Seriously Unfortunate Event
5. Jeffrey Rotter in The Unknown Knowns

Best Cameo in a Book Trailer:

1. Jon Stewart in I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil…
2. Jonathan Safran Foer’s Grandmother in Eating Animals
3. He is Legend’s Schyler Croom in High Before Homeroom
4. Deepak Chopra in The Karma Club
5. Zach Galifinakis in Lowboy

Least Likely Trailer to Sell the Book:

1. Pocket Guide to Mischief by Bart King
2. Shark Hunting in Paradise Garden by Cameron Pierce
3. Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin
4. Sounds of Murder by Patricia Rockwell
5. True Confections by Katharine Weber

Update of the Google Book Search Settlement

While the Google Book Search litigation remains active, the pending settlement (see my November 2009 post on this topic, "Google Book Search Lives On as Google Revised Settlement with Authors, Publishers") still awaits judicial approval.  The first judge passed away; the second judge got promoted to an appellate bench; the new judge hasn't been named. 

The importance of this event to electronic publishing rights cannot be underestimated.  For a great source of background information here, check out the work of the New York Law School and its Public Index project, particularly their free downloadable synopsis.