Okay. So as pretty much anyone reading this blog knows, I’m a full time writer. A neo-pro full time writer, which means that writing income is spotty at best. My wonderful husband pays the rent (and health insurance) but we live on the line between broke and poor in order for me to have the time to work on my craft and build my writing into a real career.
So now I have an amazing opportunity to pursue another learning experience that will help build my career: Clarion. Clarion is not free, however. I have to pay the workshop fee (no word yet on scholarship monies, I applied though, so hopefully I’ll hear something soon) and I have to get airfare to go to San Diego and home again six weeks later (airfare shouldn’t be too bad, since I live in PDX. I am fortunate not to be someone coming in from the East Coast or overseas). We’ve been saving some money, but if I have to pay the full Clarion tuition fee plus airfare, I’m doomed.
I won’t let doomed stop me. It’s a state I’m used to. But I will take (non-illegal!) suggestions for how to raise money quickly. Be as zany as you want. I’m willing to try anything that doesn’t break the law or compromise my personal health or safety (or anyone else’s, for that matter).
I also have some e-books for sale. Please consider getting one if it catches your interest or recommending them to others who might enjoy science fiction or fantasy. Here’s the link: http://overactive.wordpress.com/read-my-fiction/
So how about it, blog readers? What suggestions for making money quickly do you have for me? Bring it on in the comments. Let’s see if we can get to 101.
It used to be called Clarion East, but got moved to San Diego, so yeah, I’m going with Clarion SD for now (or UCSD? Maybe?). Anyway, I got accepted. I’m crazy excited. This is especially amusing considering my agony over whether to even apply or not and the fallout from that and then finally my decision to apply to Clarion SD.
Frankly, I didn’t think I’d get in. Not because my writing sucks (it doesn’t) but because “not sucking” is not enough. Hundreds if not more people apply each year and they only take 18. The math just wasn’t in my favor. But with the instructor list I couldn’t resist applying. I knew I’d kick myself if I didn’t try.
I tried. I succeeded. Crazy. I’m still reeling. For the first couple days I figured it was a mistake, they’d mixed me up with someone else. But that seems to have not been the case. It seems even in success the self-doubts that plague me still stick around, heh.
I don’t know about scholarship money yet. I’m only panicking a little. My husband and I talked it over and we’re going to do whatever we have to. I want this. This is the point in my career that Clarion will likely be of most value for me. I am big on continuing education and this is a huge opportunity to further my writing and my network of writer friends.
So yeah. I’m going to go dance or something and then go write like crazy because I need to sell some more stories. Meanwhile, if you want to help… I do have some e-books for sale. The links are in the “read my fiction” sidebar. Every penny helps and will go toward Clarion at this point. Thank you to those who have already bought (I crossed the 100 e-books sold mark at some point early this month) and to those while will in the future. It really does help.
Ok. Time to put on some Amanda Palmer and dance around a little. And then I’m going to work.
I keep staring at the blog, knowing I should post *something* new because it has been over a week. But what I really really really want to post about, I’m not allowed to talk about yet. This is one of the downsides to being a writer, I guess. Sometimes really cool things are going on and you just can’t say a word about it until you have someone else’s okay. Grr. So yeah, how’s that for a tease? I have pretty BIG news (at least, I think it is a pretty big thing) and I can’t share it. Yet. I will as soon as I can.
So… what to talk about? Mostly life lately has been finishing up Avarice (also known as the Law & Order with swordfights book 1) and outlining a few other projects (a series of eight romance novellas I’m writing). Hopefully, Avarice will be off to an editor and my first readers at the end of next week. This weekend I’m going to write my Q2 entry for WotF. Next weekend I’m going to write a steampunk short story to submit to the Mammoth Book of Steampunk and finish doing research for another project I probably shouldn’t talk about yet.
Because of that other thing I can’t talk about (the BIG thing), I’m probably going to rearrange my novel schedule for this year as well. And I’ve been looking into things like Kickstarter and debating doing a project for that and seeing if I could fund it that way. The Casimir trilogy might work for it, now that I’ve solved the POV issues in the first book and can write it in a way that makes sense. If it didn’t get funded I could always serialize it here on my blog and then do an ebook/POD version later. I think the trilogy has great potential, so we’ll see.
So yeah, crappy little update, sorry. I’ll be getting another interview or two up in the next few weeks. I’ll also post the new project schedule once I’ve got it hammered out. But hey, update!
I took the plunge fully now. My first full novel is available as an e-book (Amazon doesn’t have the buy button up yet for some reason, but that should fix itself in a day or two hopefully).
Description:
In an ancient Wales that never was…
The twin brothers Emyr and Idrys are cursed to live as hounds; Emyr by night, and Idrys by day. The twins believe they will be trapped this way forever until they meet the fierce and curious Áine, a changeling woman born with fey blood and gifts struggling to fit into a suspicious human world.
Áine unravels the fate of Emyr and his twin as all three of them fall in love. To free her lovers from the curse, she embarks on a journey to the realm of the fey where she confronts her own unique gifts and heritage. Ultimately, she must decide where her heart truly lies and what she’s willing to risk to get what she desires most.
The novel is only 4.95 and is available for Kindle , for Kindle: UK, Nook, and at Smashwords (and 50% off there until the 12th of March). The print version will be available soonish.
If anyone wants a review copy, please let me know! izanobu AT gmail. Thanks. This is exciting and scary all at once!
Gwen: I’m Gwendolyn Clare. I’ll write (and read!) any genre that falls under the speculative umbrella, though I tend to write short SF and long contemporary fantasy. I’m also a PhD candidate in biology, so I research and teach nonfictional science for my day job.
What’s your Race score?
Gwen: Right now, 12, which is low but I’m not stressing about it. After all, if a story is fattening up your race score, that means it isn’t selling anywhere. I do think it’s important to keep sending ’em back out until either they sell or you decide to trunk them for good — I’m just not a particularly numerically motivated writer, I suppose.
When did you “get serious” about being a writer?
Gwen: 2006. I took a year off after college and wasn’t doing much besides working part-time and writing grad school applications, so I had some room to breathe for the first time in a while. It gave me the chance to examine my priorities and figure out that I needed to put the spec fic back into my life.
What are your goals with your writing?
Gwen: Back when I started writing seriously, I would have said my main goal was to get a story published in one of the Big Three. Well… check! My story “Ashes on the Water” appeared in the Jan ’11 Asimov’s. My next big hurdle as a writer is to publish a novel, and I’m toiling away toward that goal now.
Where do you see your career in 5 years?
Gwen: Pretty much where it is right now, only more so. It would be nice to keep selling short stories and start selling novels, but I don’t intend to quit my day job anytime soon. If I did, I’d probably spend most of the time engaged in “cat-waxing” activities and not actually get that much more writing done. Luckily for me, writing is one of those careers that doesn’t have to be performed in the 9-5 timeslot.
Do you have a particular story or idea you are dying to write? Or, if you could write a tie-in to any established universe/franchise, what would it be?
Gwen: I’m not much for tie-ins, but I do have much love for www.shadowunit.org, the greatest fanfic-inspired collaborative project ever. I’m drawn to collaborative efforts in general, and particularly those that explore creative uses of different media. I’d love to write a graphic novel someday, for much the same reasons.
What are your hobbies outside writing?
Gwen: I practice martial arts more-or-less seriously, my current style being I Liq Chuan, a Chinese-Malaysian style of kung fu that’s very subtle and challenging. I’m a lapsed artist in plenty of other forms — modern dance, acting, pottery, painting, photography, folk music — but it’s impossible to keep up with all of them. I’m focusing my energy on writing and martial arts for now.
What’s your writing process like?
Gwen: Like a tortoise. I write maybe one or two pages a night before bed. Sometimes on weekends, I’ll go wild and write a whole five pages in one sitting. I pick away at stories, always slowly, often with difficulty. I don’t wait for inspiration; I think “the muse” is a metaphor writers use as an excuse to not write. Not writing is easy. I could not write any day of the week (and sometimes do). Putting words on the page is work — enjoyable work, yes, but definitely work.
What’s been toughest about your journey so far as a writer? How do you keep yourself going?
Gwen: The toughest part, I think, is coming to terms with the fact that those first couple novels probably aren’t going to sell, ever, period. It’s easy to trunk a short story because the investment is much less, but it’s hard to accept that your novel — a labor of love that cost you months of time and effort — may be just not up to snuff. That’s part of growing as a writer, though. Most writers have to fight their way through at least one crap novel before they figure out how to do it right. The important thing is to not let past failures shake your faith in the awesomeness of your current project, and that’s something I struggle with.
Any tips or tricks you’ve figured out for improving your writing?
Gwen: There’s a plethora of writing advice out there, so my tip is to only follow advice if it works for you. Everyone’s creative process is different. If a particular approach isn’t helping improve the quantity and quality of your finished products, toss it out the window. Take the topic of revision, for example: some writers swear by it, others swear against it, but the reality is that different stories require different amounts of revision to get where they need to be. Applying any one dogma to all situations not only runs the risk of failure, it will fail reliably at least part of the time.
Thanks to Gwendolyn for doing this interview. I’ll try not to hunt her down in her sleep for getting a spot in “Bewere the Night” (I had a story held for it (for 5 months!) and then rejected at the last minute, but I’m not bitter. Yet *grin*). Be sure to check out her Clarkesworld story, it’s pretty freakin’ awesome.
I started, deleted, started again, and didn’t finish a novel this month. But I’ve solved how to finish it and now need to start over one final time. This annoying process underlined how important having the right point of view in a book really is (the POV issues were what was stalling me out in the middle, thankfully I figured that out before giving up forever).
Words written this month: approximately 72,000
Words discarded/deleted this month: about 34,000 (this number will GO AWAY next month. Seriously going to stop doing that. Seriously)
Ebook earnings: 22.75 (just slightly less than last month, yay!)
For March, I’ve got two novels to go up as e-pub. I need to get on the POD/Createspace thing and learn how to do that and get print copies out. I’m also going to start the sequel to a book while working on the SF novel (now that POV issues are solved). I’m behind on the Write one/Sub one challenge, so I’m going to try to get seven or eight stories done this month as well to catch up. And I’d like to finish one of the romance novellas. I’m debating on waiting until all eight are done to start putting them up, but we’ll see. I might wait until I have three or four, then start putting them up every couple weeks.
Meanwhile, today I’m going to be approving copy edits and generally taking it easy. Just got back from an amazing week of workshops and really need a little brain break before I start writing for the week.
Yeah, I know. But I sell sporadically enough that any sale is worth a giant announcement, damnit. Because it’s been almost 6 months since my last sale to a magazine, so I was starting to tell myself it had all been a fluke etc…
Anyway, I sold a flash fiction story titled “Love at the Corner of Time and Space” to Daily Science Fiction. Which marks my fourth short story sale to a magazine and my second pro-rate sale. W00t!
On another note, I’ve written 3 pieces of flash fiction in my adult life, and sold 2 out of the 3. Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something…
To date this month, I’ve written just under 60,000 words. Most of that was on my SF novel project. However, nothing seemed to be coming together with the novel and I kept throwing out whole scenes and chapters and starting again and again trying to make the plot gel. I kept doing this until the fun was gone and all I could do is sit and write and then delete and try again and hate every second of it.
So I’m sort of quitting that novel for now. Not forever. Just for now. It’s a complex plot, more involved with more POVs and more threads than I’ve ever tried to write before. Which is a good thing, since I think it’s healthy to stretch my writing muscles and make myself deal with something I’m weaker on like complicated plotting. But beating myself up about it not coming together wasn’t helping anything.
It’s really hard for me to admit I need to take a step back from this project. I follow Heinlein’s Rules, after all. Rule 2 is “finish what you write”. When stepping away from this, I had to ask myself honestly if I wanted to put it down for now because that’s the healthy thing to do? Or am I just walking away because this is difficult? It’s one thing to set something down and let it percolate a little more. It’s another to start forming a habit of dropping a project the moment it gets rocky. I don’t want to form a habit of not finishing things, because nothing will kill a writing career faster than not finishing, except maybe not starting. (If I don’t start, I can’t finish, if I don’t finish, I can’t submit, if I don’t submit, I can’t sell…see?)
So I’m making a compromise with myself. I’m stepping back from this novel. I’m still going to keep up my writing streak and go for my necessary 3,000 words a day and a short story on weekends (the numbers I need to hit my annual goals). And I’m designating Mondays as the day to work on this novel (minimum one page/250 words). If I have to just write it scene by scene and take 40 weeks to finish, I’ll finish. Meanwhile, the rest of the days will be devoted to other projects that I feel more comfortable with. I figure that this is a good compromise. I’m not quitting this novel entirely, but I’m giving myself breathing room on it while hopefully continuing to develop my skills enough that the sort of complicated plot I want to construct here will become an easier thing for me. I’m tired of second guessing myself and deleting words and basically letting my critical voice eat away at me. I’m a better writer than that and I should know better.
So that’s what’s up with me right now. I’m turning to short stories while I get a couple of novels formatted for e-publishing and then I’ll be back to novel writing in March (working on a fantasy novel with a nice straightforward quest/romance plot and only one or two POVs, thank god).
I’ve fallen behind on the Write 1/Sub 1 challenge by 3 short stories, so I intend to catch up this week and next. Also next week I have two workshops back to back, so I think that will help recharge my batteries and be really interesting and amazing as always (but especially with the changes in the industry right now… being around multiple professional writers for an entire week is going to be very, very educational).
And we’re back! I’ve been letting blogging slide in the interests of finishing a novel (I’m about to mail query packages and would hate to get a full request and have to scramble, so getting this novel done is first priority). But now I have another neo-pro interview for you. Enjoy!
Brad R Torgersen Interview
Who are you? What’s your genre/history/etc?
Brad: Brad R. Torgersen, full-time nerd, part-time soldier, and night-time writer. I came into science fiction and fantasy through the usual routes: Star Wars and Star Trek, both on the screen and in novelizations. In my early teens I got into techno-thrillers, but eventually drifted over to original fantasy in the form of David Eddings and Stephen R. Donaldson, as well as original science fiction like the “Sten” books from Allan Cole and Chris Bunch. Ultimately, I read Larry Niven’s two omnibus volumes, “N-Space” and, “Playgrounds of the Mind,” at which point my whole fan paradigm got rickrolled. I came up for air and said, “I want to be like Larry Niven!!” That was in 1992.
What’s your Race score?
Brad: My Race score tends to hover in the teens, with occasional spikes into the 20s. My goal is to try and drive it up into the “pro-zone” that Dean Wesley Smith talks about: 80 points or higher, but it’s possible I may sell too often to get it that high or keep it there. Especially in the new universe of electronic self-publishing. I liked your article you did on that with Amanda McCarter by the way.
When did you “get serious” about being a writer?
Brad: I got “serious” in 1992… the first time. I’ve gotten “serious” several times since. The best and most recent period of “serious” began in 2007 when I went back to work on my short fiction and begin to deliberately attempt winning Writers of the Future. There were many stops and starts between 1992 and 2007, and if I had to advise anyone, I’d advise them to not be so herky-jerky about their effort, the way I was.
What are your goals with your writing?
Brad: To pay off my house, put at least $500,000 in the bank, and quit my day job. In that order. That might sound rather mercenary, but the truth is, part of what made me get “serious” in 1992 was that I realized Niven was getting paid to do what I’d been doing for free on the dial-up bulletin boards for a couple of years already: write science fiction (and occasionally fantasy) stories and books. Once I decided that merely writing for fun was not enough, I switched over to looking at it like a business prospect. Now that I am selling, the business aspect is very front-and-center for me, beyond simply finishing books or stories.
Where do you see your career in 5 years?
Brad: It’s tough to say because there is no single road to anywhere in this racket. Just because I’d like a thing to be true by 2016 doesn’t mean it will be. However, if past paths of Writers of the Future winners are any indicator, if I bust my tail and get numerous manuscripts written, in five years I should probably have some novels sold and/or published, additional short fiction sold and published, and be generally working as a new “mid-list” man in the genre. Not a bad place to be. Going beyond mid-list is almost entirely up to the market and audience taste. No way for me to guess how that may shake out. I could crash and burn, or wind up on the New York Times list. Or maybe be an e-publishing breakout success? It would be nice, but I can’t count any of those chickens yet. I don’t even have the eggs!
Do you have a particular story or idea you are dying to write? Or, if you could write a tie-in to any established universe/franchise, what would it be?
Brad: Back in 1992 I daydreamed of writing a 5-book supernovel series in the Star Trek universe, detailing the exploits of Captain Sulu and Captain Chekov. I’d written numerous chapters on a fanfiction along these lines. Now? Now, I’d love to dabble in Larry Niven’s universe via the Man-Kzin Wars, with Baen. And I am currently collaborating with award-winner Mike Resnick, which is a whole unexpected but very welcome bit of fun. As for original projects, I would very much like to write an original science fiction series with the audience penetration of “Ender’s Game” and those books, or perhaps a rigorous military fantasy series. My imagination goes all over the place and I know I can’t write it all. I just have to hope one of these projects, somewhere, connects with enough people to earn me a following and (hopefully) a decent amount of money.
What are your hobbies outside writing?
Brad: Hobbies? I have given up many of them over the years, to be a Dad and to get “serious” about writing. Now and then I find a video game I like, though I haven’t played anything more modern than the TRON 2.0 game (from 2004) or the MECHWARRIOR game from before that. Once upon a time I used to scratchbuild starship models from paper, glue and cardboard. That was a lot of fun. Again, just can’t seem to find the time for it these days. Maybe when I am a big famous published author guy? But then, Kevin J. Anderson doesn’t seem to have time for hobbies either. He he he.
*(Nobu sez: squee moment… Mechwarrior 4 is one of my all-time favorite games!)
What’s your writing process like?
Brad: I am still trying to form a process, actually. Left to my own devices I am a “burst” person, with periods of intense writing and then long troughs with little or no writing. This is my “hobbyist” writing habit on full display. Currently I am trying to teach myself to put down words every single day, whether I want to or not. I’ve arranged my schedule so that every night come hell or high water, I am doing one hour before bed. Whatever words I can cram onto the page. It’s not the most inspired way to go about it, but in truth, the stuff I write when not inspired and the stuff I write when totally inspired winds up reading more or less the same. Hat tip to Dean Smith on that truth, as you well know.
What’s been toughest about your journey so far as a writer? How do you keep yourself going?
Brad: The toughest part has been ignoring the odds and the self-doubt. The odds are terrible. Just awful. Anyone coming into commercial fiction because they think the odds are good is fooling themselves. The odds are putrid. Which is a big reason it’s always tough for me to keep my wordcount and morale up, even after breaking in. Having climbed one “mountain” there is a whole Himalayan range ahead of me. Do I really want to keep doing this?? Surely there are better and/or less crazy ways to make good money and have fun. But I long ago consigned myself to this goal: of becoming a successful, well-paid science fiction and fantasy writer. It’s been my deepest, most sought-after dream for almost 20 years. Turning away or giving up is simply not an option for me. So I slog on. Not because I am especially inspired, but because I feel like if I quit now, I will be failing myself and my family, and I simply can’t do that.
Any tips or tricks you’ve figured out for improving your writing?
Brad: Best “trick” I can offer anyone is to just read frequently, and perk up when you see something you like. Doesn’t matter if you think it’s what will sell. Ignore that impulse. When you read a story or a book, and you say to yourself, wow, I really, really liked that, PAY ATTENTION! Try to figure out what it was in the story or book that hit your “cookies” and made you like it. Examine these things and try to figure out how to apply them to your own stories. My novelette “Outbound” in the November 2010 issue of Analog Science Fiction & Fact was like that. I’d read a wonderful novelette called, “Arkfall” by Carolyn Ives Gilman, and I really sat up and tried to figure out what in that story worked so well for me. When I sat down and did “Outbound” I had “Arkfall” kind of simmering in the back of my brain, as both template and inspiration. Both stories are very different in specifics, but I think they have strong, shared themes. I think new writers could do well to examine their favorite work by their favorite authors, and without copying per se, try to pick apart what it is those authors are doing — the size and scale of the stories, the emotional impact, the types of conflict — and bring some of that to their own work.
And finally, got anything you want to pimp?
Brad: If I can pimp anything it would be my on-line project the Emancipated Worlds Saga. It’s a big space-opera war story that I’ll be doing all year, with an eye towards consolidation and e-publication to the Kindle and other platforms by the end of 2011. (Here’s a link to the Prologue)
Thanks for the interview Annie! This was a lot of fun!!
I have a near-future, hard science fiction novelette on sale now.
Ian and Jack Talley and the Prometheus Space Program set a record for the fastest manned flight to Jupiter. But the journey ended in disaster, crippling Jack and killing the rest of the team.
Ten years later, an eccentric multi-billionaire offers them all of his money, and a second chance, if they’ll fly him to Pluto. The Talley brothers reunite their team, ready to rekindle the dream of manned space flight. But self-doubts and technological issues both old and new appear, leaving the question open: are they making history? Or repeating it? And finding the answers could cost them far more than the Prometheus program.
Here’s the links to buy- (it’s only $1.99!) Kindle (which hilariously has a reversed cover image, that will be fixed soon), Nook, and pretty much all other formats.
