Where Have All The Long Books Gone? Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Someone on my blog feed posted about a book they'd read recently and loved. I looked it up on Amazon and skimmed through the reviews, only to be very surprised by a comment someone left: "This dark and edgy superhero story was a long novel at 464 pages."

*blink*blink*

The novel in question is published as an urban fantasy. Traditionally, fantasy novels over the past couple decades have run about 500 pages in length; sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. But 460 pages is long? Huh?

I've been annoyed lately at the shortness of fantasy novels and paranormal romance. I don't always want a monster read, but a lot of the paranormal novels that run about 300 pages (or less) feel rushed and too short to me. I'm left wanting more. It's part of why I've been reading older historical romances and epic fantasies lately. It's especially annoying when the 300 page book is part of a series, and I have to wait 6-12 months to find out what happens next.

I think it's also part of why I adore J. R. Ward's novels so much. A lot of people complain about the subplots in her novels overwhelming the romance, but to me, it adds more "meat" to the story. And they're long. They're not books you sit down with and finish a couple hours later. (At least, not for me!)

I dunno. Sometimes, I'm in the mood for a short read, but it seems like almost everything that's published in urban fantasy and paranormal romance are 65-85k stories. I want more variety.

Anyone else frustrated by this?

Creativity vs. Editing Monday, February 26, 2007

Here's a question for you. Does it take more energy to create something new or edit something you've already written? Is editing a creative "right brain" process or a "left brain" process?

I find that it's a more creative process to edit than I previously believed. I was naive enough to think editing was about "fixing my mistakes". Au Contrare. It is about making the book better. That means that, not only do I have to create new ideas and new twists, but I also have to do it within the framework of the story.
Some editors make suggestions. Some make corrections. Some are all about the story and some are all about the grammar. Most editors are a combination of all of that. Their creativity is just as valuable as ours in some ways. They influence the final product. A good one will take a writers talent to the next level without changing their voice.

I have been so lucky. All of the editors I've had for my releases have been patient, creative, patient, encouraging and patient. I consider that my editor, Diana Carlile at The Wild Rose Press has also helped me improve my talent.

Could I ever be an editor? NO WAY. They manage to combine that necessary "left brain" attention to detail with the creativity from the "right brain" to bring a book to it's best state. Then, there's that whole "patient" thing.

So, here's to all those editors out there. The ones that "get" someone's work and gets behind it. The ones that catch the same mistake over and over and over and over again until they want to strangle the author. Here's to the editors that balance creativity and structure.

A good editor is gold.

I hate it when a plan falls through Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Several plans have fallen through for me in the past few days and I thought I should take this opportunity to stop and whine about it.

Plan 1: I wanted to finish writing a novella this weekend. Didn't happen. Why? Because My characters are horny buggers and decided sex was a stellar choice to go on and on with for a full chapter and land me in a place where at least another chapter (and probably more sex) will need to happen before I can wrap it up. Bugger.

Plan 2: I wanted to write all weekend and maybe push past the wicked sex-lurvin' character block. No such beast. Instead, I got to edit a bunch of others and run embarassing errands as featured on my blog.

Plan 3: I planned to have an awesome post for you today, and had the topic all decided, but then my day got crazy and I forgot what I was going to say and instead this is what you got.

Happy Wednesday!

How Many Is Too Many? Sunday, February 18, 2007

In my last post, I mentioned Mrs. Giggles. One of the things she mentioned last week was about the number of books an author will put out. Then, there was the whole discussion about different publishing houses.
I'm wondering, now that I have two more contracts, how many releases is too many? Personally, I get a little overwhelmed by the promotional chats and other requirements when I have releases close together. It's all part of the job and I enjoy it, but I can forget what I'm doing so easily.
How many books can one publish in a year without flooding the reader? I noticed that Nora Roberts had a sudden spurt and she's released four books in the last six months. That's too many for me and she's HUGE. How many books can a writer come out with and not annoy the reading public?
Discuss.

SoP Thursday, February 15, 2007

Who knew?

Tonight I'm watching CSI and one of them says they followed sop. Standard operating procedure.

I have to admit, that wasn't something I thought of when we were brainstorming the blogname. I've been wondering a lot lately, about standard blog-operating procedure. I canned my personal blog. It wasn't me. It wasn't interesting. It wasn't fun.

We've had a few rough weeks with SoP, too. Real life gets in the way of posting, and then...where are we? A blank page. So I'm hoping to shake things up. Make things operate a little less than the standard here.

Any suggestions? Thoughts on what you'd want to see in a blog? Cuz I'm not sure anymore.

Making Hard Choices Tuesday, February 13, 2007

The past month or so has been a wicked, wicked month. I've been in and out of doctor's offices, trying (and failing miserably) to promote two new e-books, and dealing with a lot of community and personal stress. I've had to take a look at certain things in my life very closely--and I've made some hard realizations and decisions. It wasn't easy to recognize that a dream of mine that I have loved and put a lot of energy and effort into these past few years has ended up detrimental to me.

I'd been beating my head against a brick wall for two years. That's bound to cause stress--and I can't handle stress these days without flaring my fibro and skyrocketing my blood pressure. So over the past month, I've been asking myself: "Is it really worth it to continue?"

It's possible things could turn around, but after two years, that's not a realistic expectation when it's dependent upon other people working together and paying it forward. Ultimately, I have to do what's right for me and my writing... so I walked away and left that dream for dead. It wasn't any easy choice to make, and part of me is still sad that it couldn't work. I guess you could call it a period of mourning.

Have any of you ever had to make a difficult choice that you knew, at heart, was the best thing? How did you deal with it?

Where The Heck Am I Going? Sunday, February 11, 2007

Mrs. Giggles had a blog post that created a little doubt in my feeble brain. (Not the X Files one. The one below it on Febuary 11th on sex in Erotic Romances). As some of you know, I write erotic romance under a pen name. Her comments about sex scenes got me thinking.

That's not always a good thing.

At the beginning of the year, I made some decisions. I marched in the direction of my dreams and now I'm wondering if I know what I'm doing.
I decided that I was going to go for quality, not quantity of published work.
I decided that I was aiming for an agent, then a print publisher that was RWA approved.
I decided that I wanted to have a career that was based in romantic suspense.

I'm having a crisis of faith at the moment. Do I know what direction my talent will really take me? Do I have enough talent to sustain a long term career? It feels a little different than the usual "Isuckitis" that afflicts me on occasion. It's more doubt, than "I suck".

I'd rather look at my work and say "I suck" than "meh". It's all unreasonable fear that keeps me stuck and drives my word count into the ground.

What's the solution?

Keep writing. There is no magic bullet for what is saleable or what the "right" decisions may be. Building a career isn't about skyrocketing to fame. It's BUILDING a career, block by block, release by release, word by word.

Tools that help keep me going. Critique partners, writing forums, workshops and all the other things that keep me at it are all at hand and using them require my willingness to admit I can't do it all the time.

Tell me I'm not alone. *crickets singing*. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

Suspense or action? Friday, February 09, 2007

Just a quickie post today, but I have to wonder:

Which would you rather read, suspense, or action?

Me, I'm all about suspense. Action sequences make me crazy, both to read and write. I can't picture who is hitting what where, and I generally skim to the end to 'who won', and go from there. But that's just me.

I'm all about headspace, and not knowing what's coming next, or how the characters are going to react, or which character is the penultimate badguy. But that's me :)

so, readers and writers, action or suspense?

What do you know about it? Wednesday, February 07, 2007

So, I was writing a scene the other day about my characters in a gun fight. People get shot; there's blood, death, bad mojo, etc.

One of the things I describe is the smell and feel of firing a gun. I know these things because my dad, grandad, uncle, and brother are military. Or they were. Don't ask me how family reunions are since they were ALL IN DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF THE ARMED FORCES. And they all think their branch is the best one and the other ones suck. You can picture how this goes down, but I digress.

Anyway, dad insisted I learn how to use a weapon. A handgun and a rifle and a shotgun. All in different calibers. So, I've shot a lot of guns. Not as many as all of the military people have, but more than average. I KNOW what it feels like to hold one, shoot one. How your body reacts to the force of of the gun's recoil.

What do other people do who don't know that? I wonder...

It's Time for another Good Idea, Bad Idea. Monday, February 05, 2007

Good Idea: Taking a break from a difficult manuscript.
Bad Idea: Taking a baseball bat to a difficult manuscript.

Good Idea: Backing up all your work on a portable hardrive or disk.
Bad Idea: Backing your work into a landfill.

Good Idea: Researching possible agents.
Bad Idea: Stalking them.

Today I'd like to talk about new ideas. I brainstormed with a my favorite two writer friends yesterday and tried to come up with some new ideas. What hasn't been done? Even with completely different settings and gadgets galore, common themes don't change. It's always a quest. Get the bad guy, get the talisman, get the answer, get the girl (or guy), get away..and so on. The journey changes location, distance and helps a character grow. Whether it's an internal journey or an epic quest across the sands of time, the goal remains the same. To change.
Every story I've ever read that made an impression on me began with a character believing, feeling, thinking one way and growing to become something different, better, stronger. Writing these changes can be so frustrating. Just like going through major changes aren't real comfortable for me, the characters in my stories aren't always too comfortable. Sometimes, getting the right twist in the journey, or black moment down on paper doesn't go well.
Change is inevitable. But getting that change to hop off the page and get an emotional response from a reader? Not so simple.

Good Idea: Falling in love.
Bad Idea: Falling in a well

Feel free to add your own versions of "Good Idea Bad Idea".

Nightmares and Dreamscapes...not just a book by Stephen King Thursday, February 01, 2007

I know, I shouldn't say bad things about blogger on one of their blogs, but could it be any pickier? This week has been a nightmare to get on. I'm here, though, with my usual rambly post.

Nightmares and Dreamscapes.

I'm one of those people who has always dreamed. Vividly. And I often remember my dreams. Vividly. Some of my best stories as a child came from those dreams and nightmares I didn't want to remember. Or ones I'd guided myself to dream, because reality so often sucked.

I have to say this still influences what I write...I like the ethereal feeling of things that happen in the 'half wake' stages of my brain. I like mixing the real and the imagined in weird mosaics so that what I write seems like it could happen, even if part of a reader's brain is well-aware it can't.

The weird thing is, since I started writing, my dreams have gotten less. Less vivid. Less often. Less memorable.

I'm curious to hear from other writers: do you dream?
And for readers, have you ever read a book that encapsulates that 'dreaming' kind of feel? Alice in Wonderland, for me, is close, but doesn't have the fuzzy edges a dream often has.