Interviews
Today’s guest is Larry Brooks, whose blog–Storyfix.com–was recently named along with Writer Unboxed as one of the top ten blogs for writers by Write to Done. Larry isn’t only a blogger extraordinaire; he’s an author who’s released a new book on the craft of fiction a few short weeks ago called The Six Core Competencies of Successful Writing. The book–published by Writers Digest Books–soared to the top spot on Amazon in the Fiction Writing Reference category, and remains in the top four books in that category.
As curious about the book as we are? Here’s a little Q&A with the author.
Q: Why do we need another “how-to” writing book, and how does yours fit in with the others?
LB: I think the authors in the top spots at Amazon are successful because they’ve managed to capture a new way of thinking about storytelling rather than rehashing the old 101-level stuff. When writers find something new, their creative juices get recharged. Hope is resurrected, and that sells books.
Story Engineering fits in because it offers a totally fresh and empowering way to think about, visualize, plan and execute your stories, and in a way that’s clear and accessible. It’s steroids for writers, in a field in which polite conversation may or may not get you where you want to go.
Q: You’ve become known as an evangelist for outlining. Is this an accurate perception?
Read More
“He murdered his first duchess with his own hands, they say,” the Ferrarese hairdressing-woman whispered as she braided a string of pearls into my hair. “She was so young, so beautiful.”
And I, Barbara of Austria, neither young nor beautiful, would be the duke’s second duchess before the pale December sun set. What did the woman expect me to do, shriek and fall down in a faint?
The above excerpt comes from the opening lines of one of the most lush and conflict-dense books I’ve read in the past year. They are penned by debut author Elizabeth Loupas in her historical novel, The Second Duchess, which will be released March 1 by Penguin/NAL. Initial reviews have been uniformly positive.
Because I know I can always use advice about structuring conflict, and I assume some of you are the same, I’ve asked Elizabeth to join us for a brief Q and A.
To set the stage, here’s a portion of the book’s backcover copy:
In a city-state known for magnificence, where love affairs and conspiracies play out amidst brilliant painters, poets and musicians, the powerful and ambitious Alfonso d’Este, duke of Ferrara, takes a new bride. Half of Europe is certain he murdered his first wife, Lucrezia, luminous child of the Medici. But no one dares accuse him, and no one has proof – least of all his second duchess, the far less beautiful but delightfully clever Barbara of Austria.
At first determined to ignore the rumors about her new husband, Barbara embraces the pleasures of the Ferrarese court. Yet…to save her own life, Barbara has no choice but to risk the duke’s terrifying displeasure and discover the truth of Lucrezia’s death – or she will share her fate.
Jan: Elizabeth, thank you for being here. It strikes me that certain locations and periods have heightened potential for generating external and internal conflicts. Do you agree?
Elizabeth: Thank you for inviting me, Jan! Conflict is a pretty basic human condition and can arise anywhere and anytime, of course, but I agree with you that some places and times can have heightened potential for conflict. Change is the key, I think — when the world is changing rapidly or unexpectedly, conflict results. And external conflicts by their very nature produce internal conflicts in the people who experience them.
Beyond creating external conflict at the macro level, you have plenty of it at the familial and personal levels. Sibling rivalry, husband-wife power dynamics, gossip, ambition… Do you have tips on how to ensure a character’s world remains very uncomfortable?
Read MoreI love WWII-era sagas, so when Therese suggested I interview Kristina McMorris, I jumped on it. McMorris’ debut novel LETTERS FROM HOME is set in 1944 in the Chicago homefront and follows the lives of three women as they negotiate love, loss, and the social changes happening for women during the war era. Can you say literary catnip? Of course you can. I couldn’t put it down.
A former child television star and public relations professional, Kristina began LETTERS FROM HOME innocently enough when she stumbled across her grandparents’ war era correspondance while compiling a self-published cookbook of her grandmother’s wartime recipies. The letters became the basis for her novel, LETTERS FROM HOME. The book sold to Kensington, and is quickly garnering rave reviews and global rights sales based on its commercial appeal and potential. The condensed book club rights have been sold to Reader’s Digest, and the film rights are represented by the prestigious Creative Artists Agency of Los Angeles. Better still, a portion of sales proceeds will benefit United Through Reading®, a nonprofit organization that video records deployed U.S. military personnel reading bedtime stories for their children.
If you like sweeping sagas, heartbreak and history, all served with a healthy dollop of romance, this book will keep you up at nights, guaranteed. The fact that this novel is her first is extremely impressive.
Please enjoy part one of our two part interview with Kristina McMorris.
Q. You’ve been in the writing industry for a long time, as an entertainer and public relations professional. Have you always had the itch to write fiction? When did you decide to take the leap and write a novel?
KM: Quite honestly, when I started writing LETTERS FROM HOME, I was barely a fiction reader let alone an aspiring author. Only after discovering a collection of love letters that my late grandfather sent to my grandmother during World War II did it occur to me to actually pen a novel. That’s when I learned the couple had gone on merely two dates before exchanging vows, as their relationship had developed almost entirely through letters.
And I started wonder: How well can you really know someone through letters alone? What if those written messages weren’t entirely truthful?
As a movie buff, I soon imagined a film set during WWII, about a GI falling in love with a girl through letters, unaware that the girl he’s writing to isn’t the one replying. For some crazy reason, crafting a book sounded a lot easier than creating a screenplay. Fortunately, by the time I realized what I had gotten myself into—and how little I knew about, well, anything in the literary realm—it was too late to turn back!
Read MoreIf you’re joining us today, this is Part 2 of my interview with author Kim Richardson. She’s sharing the knowledge gained in writing her memoir, The Unbreakable Child, which recounts how she survived both a decade of abuse at the hands of — and a successful lawsuit against — the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth.
If you missed it, Part 1 features one of the most arduous struggles to publication I’ve yet encountered. Today’s interview will focus on life after publication.
My own feelings about Kim’s book are captured in this review:
“The Unbreakable Child is an act of courage, a book that insists on the primacy of justice, no matter how long the delay. Kim Michele Richardson, an author determined to give traumatic memories a rightful meaning, is one indestructible woman.” —Jason Berry, author, Vows of Silence
Jan: I’m fascinated by how an author’s writing life has a relationship to their greater place in the world. Your activism hasn’t been limited to helping survivors of clerical abuse. Can you say more?
Kim: My family and I have always found a way to reach out and get involved in our community. We love working for Habitat for Humanity. And many years ago, I founded a reading club for elementary students which quickly grew and morphed into a learning club focusing on culture and social understanding and growth. I’ve implemented and designed successful programs to help homeless shelters — programs which were purposely blueprinted to teach students about servicing — giving back to their communities. And on any given day, I’m working with and am available to victims and survivors of any type of abuse. It is a wonderful catharsis to minimize one’s own problems when you’re able to reach out to another and give unconditionally.
Some might think that both the topicality and sensational subject matter in your memoir would guarantee you a place in the spotlight. However, I know you to be tireless in your efforts at promotion. Can you tell our readers what you’ve done, and which measures you’ve found to be the most helpful?
Read More
These days, getting and staying published requires a larger skill-set than understanding point of view, plot and character. Rather, most would say it requires grit, determination and tolerance for life in the public eye. When I look for models of writers who possess those traits, I think of Kim Michele Richardson, author of The Unbreakable Child.
Kim is a survivor of child abuse. In 2004 she entered the office of William F. McMurry and embarked on a lawsuit against the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth at the St. Thomas St. Vincent Orphanage in Kentucky. Though it took years, she and forty-four other plaintiffs triumphed. They received the first-ever monetary settlement paid by Roman Catholic nuns in the United States to victims of institutional abuse in an orphanage.
But Kim didn’t stop there. She wrote a memoir — one which bears a near-perfect score on its Amazon page and a starred review from Booklist. The latter said the following: “Richardson’s candid accounts are chilling, and the strength she shows — with a very supportive husband at her side — is inspiring. Remarkably, she did not abandon the Church and in fact sends her children to Catholic schools. Hers is a beautifully told story about strength and an enduring faith that can lead but one place: to forgiveness.”
Although you need to understand the basis of her book to understand why I’m asking Kim the questions below, our interview focus is not about religious or political issues. Writer Unboxed seeks to empower the fiction writer. Kim has unique experiences that I believe speak to that mission statement.
Jan: Welcome, Kim! We’re glad to have you here.
Kim: Thank you and your readers for having me!
Kim, why did you begin to write The Unbreakable Child?
Read More
If you missed part 1 of my interview with Jane Friedman, click HERE, then come back. Jane, the former publisher of Writer’s Digest (F+W Media) and continuing contributing editor for Writer’s Digest, is now a visiting assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati, teaching in the e-media department of the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). When she isn’t here, appearing as a monthly contributor at Writer Unboxed, she can be found on her own fab blog, There Are No Rules, where she writes about the future of writing and publishing.
Please enjoy part 2 of my interview with one of the wisest minds in the industry, Jane Friedman.
Interview with Jane Friedman, Part 2
TW: Let’s talk value of all different forms of social media, specifically Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. What does each offer that is unique? Are any underrated? Overrated? Should all be utilized?
JF: Writers don’t have to use all these sites or tools; it just depends on where your audience is, and how readers are most receptive to interacting with you, or receiving updates. That changes depending on the audience’s age, geography, interests, etc. It will also change as technology and culture changes.
I’ll take this opportunity to point out that I think e-mail newsletters/signups are highly underrated, and all kinds of writers should be building a list. (And by this I mean a permission-based list that grows over time.) It’s one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal.
LinkedIn feels less useful for fiction writers, but more valuable for freelancers, due to the professional slant of the site, where a lot of experts congregate.
Twitter is helpful for writers first as a learning tool (since so many professionals in publishing use it), but whether it’s helpful for platform building and marketing depends on whether a particular demographic is active on Twitter.
Facebook is tough to comment on. I wrote a long post about Facebook that sums up my views. The conventional wisdom is that no one fans you on Facebook unless they’ve already read your books; I think this is true for the most part.
But that doesn’t mean Facebook isn’t useful for grassroots book marketing; it’s great for engagement and rallying your devoted fan base to spread the word. Facebook should offer you the first round of most passionate people (e.g., family, friends) who want to help you. And Facebook is the No. 1 site in the world for visits—more than Google! Why wouldn’t you use such a powerful tool? (But do NOT use it to shill or push notifications/events to people with whom you have no relationship!)
TW: Is it important for an author to hone an online image, or should all of this be as easy as showing up and responding naturally to others?
Read MoreJane Friedman isn’t just a Writer Unboxed contributor whose posts frequently receive mega-hits and comments. She’s a visiting assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati in the e-media department of the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), the former publisher of Writer’s Digest (F+W Media), and a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest.
In short, Jane understands the business of writing. She sees where publishing has been and where it’s headed, and she understands what writers want and need to thrive. She has true authority and a rare breadth of publishing knowledge we’re only too happy to showcase here.
We’re thrilled she’s with us today for part 1 of a two part Q&A. Enjoy!
Interview with Jane Friedman, Part 1
TW: You recently left your position at F+W Media, where you served as the publisher for Writer’s Digest, and accepted a new full-time job with the University of Cincinnati as an assistant professor in the e-media department of the College-Conservatory of Music. Can you speak to this change, and how what you’re doing now is in concert with what you’ve done in the past? Will you remain involved with Writer’s Digest?
JF: One of the most fulfilling aspects of my job at Writer’s Digest was teaching, or helping writers grow and succeed. My professorship allows me to focus more on that—I teach writing to e-media majors, covering many mediums—plus I can now spend more time discussing and researching the future of writing and media.
I’m still a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest, and blog at There Are No Rules on writing/publishing and the future of authorship. I think it’s important as a writing professor to stay engaged professionally and keep tabs on the marketplace. Otherwise you churn out graduates who can’t sell what they create, or who have a limited view on how to make an impact on the world. It’s not about craft alone. (Well, maybe for a talented few.)
TW: You run a great blog called There Are No Rules, which feels like the perfect way to describe this period in the history of publishing. How are the traditional roles of author, publisher, and even agent transitioning? Can anything be rightfully expected of anyone anymore? Are there truly no rules?
Read MoreDo you love fiction with fantasy elements, but despair of writing a novel which will capture an editor or agent’s attention? Have you grown weary of the traditional fare – what Smart Bitch Sarah Wendell refers to as “vamptired”? If you’ve thought of turning to other cultures for literary inspiration, but been nervous about navigating cross-cultural lines, today’s post might hold special appeal.
Joining me are Shveta Thakrar (left) and Cindy Pon. The former is currently deep in revisions on her YA manuscript which features apsaras, South Asian celestial dancers who live in the Hindu realm of Svargalok, and nagas, half-snake/half-human shape-shifters.
The latter is the author of Silver Phoenix: Beyond the Kingdom of Xia — a young adult fantasy inspired by ancient China which made Booklist’s Top Ten SF/Fantasy Books for Youth 2009. Recently, Silver Phoenix was a subject of controversy when its paperback and sequel covers were revealed; some felt they exemplified a publishing trend toward whitewashing. Cindy’s sequel, Fury of the Phoenix, will be released March 29, 2011.
In other words, my two guests know of what they speak. They helped me remove my unwittingly-colonial foot from my unwittingly-imperialist mouth during this interview’s composition. Perhaps they can do the same for you.
First, a quick disclaimer: Below, the terms “mythology” and “folklore” are used in the technical sense of “sacred stories” and “knowledge of the people,” not in the colloquial sense of “untruths.” Use of the terms is not intended to cast any aspersions on the credence or truth of the ideas and beliefs.
Jan: Ladies, you’re fresh from Sirens 2010 and a panel designed to empower cultural diversity in fantasy and paranormal fiction. Who were your co-panelists, and how did you find your reception?
Read MoreWe’re talking today with author Lisa Brackmann whose debut has been variously described as a novel of suspense, a political thriller, and an existential thriller.
Whatever you want to call it, PW said this of Rock Paper Tiger: “The China scenes are fast paced and strikingly atmospheric,” and “the book’s exotic setting and tough heroine will definitely appeal to fans of John Burdett and Stieg Larsson.” Booklist said it’s “a gritty and intriguing tale of terror that draws in the reader with each page; Brackmann is a new writer to watch.”
If you’re joining us for the first time, go ahead and read Part I. *nods encouragingly* We’ll wait.
Jan: Lisa, you’ve had a bittersweet month, what with Rock Paper Tiger landing in Amazon’s Top 10 Mysteries and Thrillers, then with loss of your agent, Nathan Bransford, to his new job at CNET. How will Nathan’s decision affect you?
Read MoreWU peeps, today I have the pleasure of interviewing debut author Lisa Brackmann , who I met and liked before I figured out she was famous. The reason for her reputation? She’d queried all of six agents before being plucked from Nathan Bransford’s slushpile. I know, huh? Impressive. Some people might hate her on principle. But before you go that route, have a look at her query letter and see for yourself why it worked.
After signing with Nathan and going through seven months of intensive revisions, Lisa sold her novel, Rock Paper Tiger, to Soho Press. Fast forward to today.
She’s been blurbed by Nicole Mones and received a starred review from Publishers Weekly. The New York Times reviewed Rock Paper Tiger — cough, once, cough — and observed it featured a “perfect spunky heroine” and that this “first time novel got off to a fast start and never let up.”
As of yesterday, Rock Paper Tiger occupies the #72 position in Amazon’s Best of 2010 and is solidly in their Top 10 Mystery and Thriller list.
Jan: Lisa, welcome to Writer Unboxed. Want to begin by summarizing the premise of your book?
Lisa: In “Rock Paper Tiger,” Ellie Cooper, a young American and accidental Iraq War vet, is adrift in Beijing, estranged from her husband and hanging out on the fringes of the contemporary Chinese art scene. When Ellie meets a Uighur dissident that her sort-of boyfriend, the artist Lao Zhang, has crashing at his place, Ellie finds herself entangled in a conspiracy involving various Chinese and American interests—in particular, a mysterious organization operating within a popular online game. As she tries to elude her pursuers, she’s haunted by memories of Iraq. Is what she did and saw there the cause of the mess she’s in now?
You’ve told the story elsewhere about why you chose to write Rock Paper Tiger but I think it bears repeating.
Read MoreToday I’m happy to bring you a “take ten” interview with author, martial artist, and long-time Writer Unboxed supporter and friend Lorna Suzuki. Lorna celebrates two book releases today, including the publication of the final novel in her nine-part Imago series, The Broken Covenant, and the first book in a new series entitled The Dream Merchant Saga: Book One, The Magic Crystal. I’m thrilled she’s with us today to tell us more about her life as a writer, what it means to be self-published, and how one stunning realization compelled her to write ten books–so far.
Lorna also has a special offer for WU readers–a chance to win one of seven ebooks. See the end of this interview for details. Enjoy!
TW: Tell us a little about your journey to becoming a storyteller.
LS: I’ve been writing non-fiction for years, but my foray into fiction seemed to be pre-destined by fate. When I turned 39, the age my mother was when she died, I began a journal for my daughter, Nia. I never had the opportunity to ask my mother about some of her views and life experiences as I was only nine when she passed away and I knew if something happened to me, none would be able to tell Nia about my experiences. This was especially true when it comes to venturing into the male dominated field of law enforcement and as a female martial artist in an all-male dojo at a time when society was not yet completely receptive to women in these arenas. Then one day, after teaching at a martial arts seminar, some of the ladies told me they never knew a woman could really fight until they saw me take on men much larger than myself. When I asked why, they said, “It’s in our culture, our upbringing and in the books we read.” A quick trip to a bookstore was revealing. Many of the books had the damsel-in-distress waiting to be rescued or the women had supernatural powers in order to defeat their opponents. Right away, I knew I wanted my daughter to read about women doing the rescuing, not being rescued. Also, I wanted her to read about a female with realistic qualities instead of admire a role model with powers no human, male or female could ever hope to acquire.
TW: Imago Book Seven: The Broken Covenant, the ninth and last novel in the Imago Fantasy series, releases today. What has defined this series for you? How has it evolved?
Read MoreLast week we interviewed successful literary agent Evan Marshall and his partner editor Martha Jewett on their unique software edition to Marshall’s bestselling guide to plotting novels, THE MARSHAL PLAN. This week, we asked Evan and Martha to talk a little bit about what they look for in strong submissions and where they think the commercial fiction market is heading.
Evan and Martha are also giving a few goodies to WU readers! Leave a comment in the post for your chance to win one of two copies of Evan’s forthcoming mystery novel, CITY IN SHADOW (available to residents of the U.S. and Canada only, please).
Also, in partnership with NaNoWriMo, they are offering a fantastic opportunity:
2 Grand Prizes:
Click HERE for the official rules and details on the submission. This is a fantastic opportunity to get a professional critique on your first chapters and synopsis from people who know the industry inside and out.
And now, enjoy part two of our two part interview with Evan Marshall and Martha Jewett.
Q: You both saw a lot of bad writing in your professions as literary agent and editor. What are some of the most common mistakes writers make? What made you immediately stop reading a manuscript?
A: Some of the worst mistakes fiction writers make are:
Read More
