It is time for me to turn within and edit my manuscript once more (this time with my agent).
Revel in the colors of autumn and read a great book or two while I’m away.
See you in a few weeks.
– Karen
Guest Post: Susann Cokal
Another author joins me today as part of a week-long shout-out about the James River Writers Conference this coming October 17-19th in Richmond. Susann Cokal is also a member of our JRW organization. Her newest book, The Kingdom of Little Wounds, is set in the Scandinavian Renaissance. She’ll be a speaker at our conference and happily answered a couple questions about her writing process.
Do stories find you, or do you go in search of them?
I’m always in search of a story—or at least I let the gods of story know that I’m open. I think ideas find me because they know I’ll give them a loving home. Sometimes an agonized one, of course; writing is a series of ups and downs as I often doubt I’ll be able to match the ideal that first glimmered in my mind.
The idea for my latest novel, The Kingdom of Little Wounds, came to me about eighteen years ago. A sentence sprang up: “The children in the royal nursery were sick.” That was the tip of a big concept—the kingdom might easily dissolve into chaos if the king dies with no healthy heir. I’d already read for pleasure about Renaissance kings and queens and commoners; of course, I needed to do more specific research in order to write about Renaissance courts, seamstresses, slavery, food, fashion, astronomy, medicine, and so on.
I try to have a nice chat with each of my favorite ideas every day. I wrote two other novels before beginning The Kingdom. I didn’t know the third novel would take as many years as my first, but there’s no predicting the course of art. Especially when a lot of writing energy has to go to my job; I teach at VCU, so I’m commenting on fiction-in-progress every day. Time and confidence, the confidence that I can bring a project to the end—those precious entities come in spurts.
What has attending the JRW conference done for you?
At the JRW conference, the air crackles with energy. The conversations and panels breed a lot of ideas and hope. This year, like every year, I look forward to sharing encouragement and enthusiasm.
You can read a review of Susann’s book from the New York Times Book Review. Or visit her website for all things bookish.
Guest Post: Jon Sealy
As part of a week-long shout-out about the James River Writers Conference this coming October 17-19th in Richmond, I’m featuring two local authors here on my blog in one week. The first is Jon Sealy. A member of our JRW organization, Jon has not only released a dark, southern, debut novel called The Whisky Baron, he’ll also be speaking at the conference. I posed a few questions, and Jon happily answered.
How do you perform research for your writing?
I visit libraries to read books and magazines contemporary to my story. For the 1930s, the Sears & Roebuck catalog was helpful (a tip I stole from the writer Tom Franklin).
Do stories find you, or do you go in search of them?
Who knows where ideas come from? I have an old English major’s sensibility that books are made out of books, and that authors are as much in conversation with each other as they are with the reader. With that in mind, I’m always looking for a great book to read, which is a reminder of why it all matters and provides a constant measure of excellence.
Which other authors influenced your work?
In the spirit of “books are made from books,” I’d like to mention two under-read authors. The first is William Gay, who I think is the finest southern writer in recent decades. The second is Mark Powell, a fellow South Carolinian, whose new novel The Sheltering is a real tour de force.
What do you hope to share about your work at the conference?
I’m on a panel about southern literature, which should be interesting because I think southern literature has reached something of a dead end. Places are invented constructs that humans constantly reinvent, and I’m not sure the “South” really exists anymore. I could be wrong, so I’m curious to hear what my fellow panelists think.
Visit Jon Sealy on his website, or follow him for fun bits on Twitter.
You can find out more about the conference on my Facebook page, or on the conference website.
Guest Post: Mary Chris Escobar
Today, my fair readers, I am happy to introduce Mary Chris Escobar. A friend and author, Mary Chris and I frequently dish about books, writing and well… dishes. We discuss what we eat. Where we eat. We’ve even cooked together. She graciously drops by the blog today to offer her take on Books and Food:
BOOKS & FOOD by Mary Chris Escobar
My books make people hungry. Not metaphorically hungry as in, “I can’t wait to devour the next novel”; physically hungry as in, “She has an amazing ability to make ME hungry when her characters are enjoying nachos.” Really, that is an actual quote from a review. At least one review for each of my books indicates that it made the reader want to eat something.
The strange thing is, I have no idea how this happens. In all my stories there are scenes where food is mentioned, but not described with the sort of detail I would assume is required to make someone hungry. For example, here is a line about making lasagna from my most recent novel, How to be Alive: “My whole apartment smelled like tomatoes and garlic.” The scene continues with the characters catching up over dinner, but no additional details are given about the lasagna.
My characters frequently meet in restaurants or over home-cooked meals. It’s a natural place for conversation and connection. Perhaps my readers get hungry because they feel drawn into the scene and want to share food with the characters. Perhaps they are hungry when they sit down to read, and just don’t realize it until I mention nachos.
No matter the reason, it is the highest compliment for a writer to know that their words have affected the reader in some way. Therefore, I feel honored to know that I can make my readers’ stomachs growl.
(Just in case you want lasagna after reading this, here is one of my favorite recipes.)
Mary Chris writes women’s fiction. Her second novel, How to be Alive, came out in late June. She lives in Richmond, Virginia in a renovated parking garage with her husband, and you can find her just about anywhere with good coffee or craft beer. Find her at marychrisescobar.com. She also hangs out on Twitter @marychris_e
Query Tips
Having written and sent a query letter that was not only read by a few agents, but resulted in signing with one, a few authors have recently asked me about query letters. I followed these tips below. More than one agent asked to read more, so something in the method works. It was based on reading dozens of blogs and articles on the topics. I applied all this:
- Think of the query letter as four sections. Intro. The story. Books like it. Bio. (one page total max)
- Make it personal. Why do you want that one agent other than the fact they represent your genre?
- Make it clear what your character wants/will get if he succeeds, and what might prevent him from doing that. Leave the agent wanting to read more, too.
- Don’t include too many sub-character names (don’t give away the whole story).
- Always give book comparisons so the agent knows where you land on shelves.
- Be honest about your publishing career. Is it just beginning or do you have other books published? (They’ll instantly go to Google to search out your other books and find the truth.)
- Indicate if you plan to make a career of writing or if you plan to write only one book. (Yes, most of you will say career.)
- Don’t hesitate to add in humor or your personality, but keep it professional.
- Queries and sample pages are cut-and-pasted into an email. No attachments.
- If submission requirements ask for page count, give it. Otherwise, don’t sweat it.
Dancing into Research
I believe every great historical book set in the 18th century should have a dance scene. Dancing was socially expected, and it’s within those scenes a character’s character can be shown. I’m also a big believer in conducting first-hand research. So this week, accompanied by my very good-natured friend and writer Mary Chris Escobar, I attended an English Country Dance lesson.
Men lined up one side. Women across. Anyone who has seen this scene from Pride & Prejudice knows this line dance. I watched it and other period films to help write a scene in which my protagonist first dances with his love interest. However, now having spun down the line myself, I’ll make some adjustments.
First, dancers must maintain eye contact. How evocative if you fancy them. How torturous if you don’t. Dancing was also one of the few times men and woman would publicly hold hands. Some hands are strong. Supportive. Others are clammy. Wilting.
Words describing the moves are indicative of the social structure. When you let go of your partner and spin away to move down the line, it’s called “casting off.” If a man ends up on the woman’s side of the line (or vise versa), it’s called “improper.” When you cut through another couple, you are “crossing over.”
I used to think these dances looked easy, but I was literally flushed from all the spinning. And I was not in a corset and layers of silk, or partnered with Colin Firth. Oh, Miss Bennet, no wonder your cheeks hath such a rosy hue.
Authors, what have you done in the name of research?
If you’d like to find an English Country Dance group near you, a partial list of Country Dance Groups across the US can be found here. (Although my Richmond chapter is not on here.)
Two Words
There were a couple things that I was inspired to seek out in this life because of two legends.
Laughter: The ability to see the absurdity of life and laugh anyway.
Love: A connection with one other that was mesmerizingly ours.
Gratefully I found both.
Thank you and goodnight, Lauren and Robin.
Words
As I go forth into a writing career, I have decided to change up my blog a bit. Until now, it has been about Design, Photography and Writing–the three things I did somewhat equally with my time. Now, with my head either on the page, in a book, or in a library, Compositions will become about Writing, Reading and Research.
In the world of a writer these elements gather to create a composition. Readers and writers bring their own thoughts and expression to how stories are made, and research delves into how history shapes those perceptions. Here at Compositions I’ll share stories, writing tips and thoughts, and historic adventures. All at or around 250 words per post.
So as I begin again, let’s start with words. I recently watched this Ted Talk on What Makes a Word “Real”? It speaks to how/why words are added to our English language dictionaries and how our view of words has changed. Boy has it.
“Troll” was hanging out under bridges, warts and all. Now it means to “surf” the internet. Surf, not stream. “Streaming.” To have shows running on your computer while you eat Spam. Or delete spam. I say this with abandon. Although “abandon” in the 14th century meant to subdue. I’d say it sounds awful that so much has changed, but “awful” in the 13th century meant “inspiring wonder.”
What words have changed meaning for you? If you could add one word to the dictionary, what would it be?
Let That Banner Wave!
I have an agent!
About eight weeks ago I promised I would fly the Canadian flag and replace it with the US flag when I found an agent. I can scarcely believe it’s happened so quickly, but last week the joyous news came in. A call. Early morning. Area code 212. New York.
“Hi, this is Rebecca Gradinger with Fletcher and Company.” My ears thrummed. Once my composure returned I found Rebecca saying things all writers hope for. “I was reading it on the subway… I only got to page 100… I just had to call…”
However, it was not her praises that made me say yes. She was professional and warm. Thoughtful and engaging. She knows this business well, but she is also known for being nice. I said yes, because I feel like she is going to be someone to count on. With Rebecca and her assistant Jennifer in my corner, the next rounds are going to be less of a fight. More of a joy.
She’ll be here to help with editing, finding a publisher and more. Rebecca best describes the role of an agent in this post from Poets and Writers.
So, I have another enthusiastic partner in the building of my literary career. That’s only right for I did not get here alone. Freelance editors. Early readers. Researchers and historians. Other authors. Even finding Rebecca came with help. I was introduced by another historical fiction author, Kathleen Grissom (a Canadian). Rebecca (also Canadian) has been her trusted agent.
Isn’t that ironic? After six years writing about the American Revolution, among those helping me find a publisher are two other Canadians. So here is promise to them.
I will fly this American flag until we find a publisher, at which time that Canadian flag will go back out.
For now, let these stars and stripes wave! Carrying Independence and I have an agent.
. . . . . . . . .
Stay tuned for more posts about what comes next. How does a writer work with an agent? What is the process toward publication? I hope you’ll follow along. Sign up for the blog (in the right-hand column) and the tales will come right into your email.
A Dickens of an Agent Search
I have decided that querying agents is a lot like reading Dickens.
First, you must enter the process knowing it is going to take some time. Our book club read David Copperfield last year. 1019 pages! I hope I have the patience of my friend who read that whole thing on her iphone.
Second, there are pages and pages of characters. And you don’t get to know much about them in the beginning. I query agents based on what I can find in Google searches and in websites like QueryTracker and AgentQuery. I have to be prudent and savvy. A couple of weeks ago I chose poorly. The rejection from the agent’s assistant said readers already know “what really happened to the Constitution.” Yeah… uhm… my book is about the Declaration.
Third, Dicken’s dialogue is polite, even when things are going poorly. So are my rejection emails. “We wish you luck with finding a home for this intriguing work.” That’s so nice, but it leaves me feeling like Oliver Twist. “Please, Sir, I want some more.”
Lastly, (and I hope this is true), a darn good ending is coming. I read Great Expectations many years ago, slogging through that thing for weeks. The ending left me stunned. The anticipation, and the unexpected ending with one person showing great character, made me rethink and appreciate all the writing that had come before.
So on I will go. Happily. I will revel in this moment. For this is the best of times. It is the worst of times.