Today I’ll be posting at the blog of my literary agent, Lucienne Diver.  Lucienne and I will be exchanging ideas on the relationship between authors and agents.  Our dialog will cover different ways in which agents can help further the careers or authors, and ways in which authors can make those efforts easier.  We’ll also be answering some questions as they come in during the course of the day.

So join us and be part of the conversation.  http://varkat.livejournal.com

 

We’re quickly getting into summer mode here in our household. The university had its graduation nearly two weeks ago, so Nancy is already into her summer research program. My older daughter (the newly minted teenager) is now done with her school and is officially an eighth grader (Yikes!), and my younger daughter finishes up next week.

All this means, of course, that the kids are going to be around more, which tends to make writing that much more difficult. I’ve finished the copy edits on THE HORSEMEN’S GAMBIT and am now back at work on the STILL untitled third book of Blood of the Southlands. I might need to have a web contest: “Name the third volume!” The winner gets his or her idea splashed across the jacket of my new book…. The first book was THE SORCERERS’ PLAGUE, then THE HORSEMEN’S GAMBIT. Right now I’m leaning toward THE AUTHOR’S NEMESIS, but I’m not sure my editor will go for that….

I’ve made good progress over the last few weeks, so I thought I’d post my second progress bar. Last time I was at 14% — 19,700 words or so. That was April 22, exactly a month ago.

I’ve made pretty good progress since then, especially if you consider that I’ve also had to travel to a con, copyedit a manuscript, and take down a photo exhibit. If I can continue to average 26,000 words a month, I’ll be done by the end of September. I can live with that; the book’s due November 1.

Today’s interviewee is Kelly McCullough, another of my friends at sfnovelists.com.  Kelly’s first novel in the WebMage series, WebMage, was released by Ace in 2006 to considerable critical praise. A second, Cybermancy, followed in 2007. His newest release, CodeSpell, will be out May 27th. And a fourth book, MythOS, is slated for late May ‘09. His short fiction has appeared in numerous venues including Weird Tales, Writers of the Future, and Tales of the Unanticipated. His illustrated collection, The Chronicles of the Wandering Star, is part of a National Science Foundation-funded middle school science curriculum, Interactions in Physical Science.  Enjoy!

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Today’s post, “The Copyedited Manuscript.” can be found at http://magicalwords.net/.  Visit the site and enjoy!

Today’s post, “What Kind of Jacket Art Do You Want on Your Book?”, can be found at www.sfnovelists.com.  Come visit the site.  Check out the post.  Enjoy!

Today I post another interview with one of my buddies from sfnovelists.com.  I met Jeri Smith-Ready at RavenCon less than a month ago and we hit it off immediately.  She has an evil sense of humor and is lots of fun at “Koffee-less” kaffeeklatches.  She also has lots of interesting things to say about writing, as this interview reveals.  Her newest book, Wicked Game, is out as of today (Congratulations, Jeri!) from Pocket Books.  So read the interview and then check out her book!

 

1) What was your inspiration for writing WICKED GAME?
A song, of course. Not the song “Wicked Game” by Chris Isaak—that came much later. Almost three years ago to the day, I was driving down the road flipping the dial and came to a classic rock station playing “Bad Company” by the band of the same name. I thought, Hmm, “Bad Company” would be a perfect title for a paranormal book with a shady main character.

By the time I reached my destination, I had a fully formed idea for vampire DJs who were psychologically and culturally ‘stuck’ in the era in which they were turned. I also knew the heroine would be “bad” in some way. (The punch line is that even though it all began with “Bad Company,” the publisher ultimately asked me to change the title.)

2) Who are your favorite authors and books now and when you were growing up?

I tend to read widely rather than deeply and rarely follow series for more than a book or two, regardless of how much I enjoy them. I’m the opposite of an addictive personality. I’m pretty sure I’d be the world’s first casual crack smoker.
I was completely different as a kid, of course. I read EVERYTHING, especially books by Marguerite Henry, Walter Farley, and Jim Kjelgaard, who each wrote continuing series about animals (and not talking animals, either—usually just plain old horses and dogs). I also loved the Trixie Belden mysteries. Trixie was like Nancy Drew, but with an actual personality. 
My all-time favorite book was DOGSBODY by Diana Wynne Jones. It combined my love of animals with my passions for astronomy and mythology. Because of that book, Sirius became my favorite star (not to mention my eventual choice in satellite radio).
My current favorite authors tend to write stand-alone novels or loosely connected series: Neil Gaiman, PC Cast, Charles de Lint, Christopher Moore, James Morrow, Caprice Crane, and John Irving, to name a few. They also tend to be funny.

3) What is it about fantasy/science fiction that attracts you?

To me, speculative fiction at its core is about what it means to be human. Often it does this by juxtaposing humans with other races or species (like elves or vampires or aliens), or by putting ordinary people in extraordinary settings. I also like the genre’s tendency to push the boundaries of humanity itself.

4) Why did you decide to make Ciara a con artist?

From the beginning I knew that the main character would have a shady past. Her current job is in sales and marketing (S&M, as she calls it), which is really just a legal form of con artistry. It sounds like a cheap joke, but the two pursuits both require an understanding of human nature and how to manipulate people’s emotions to make them cheerfully act against their own best interests. 
Ciara tries to save the radio station from corporate takeover by branding it as “WVMP: The Lifeblood of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” essentially hiding the vampires’ nature in plain sight. She disguises the truth as a marketing gimmick. I loved playing with notions of truth and lies, and I loved watching Ciara’s moral acrobatics in justifying her actions. Con artists are sociopaths with little notion of right and wrong; however, Ciara’s parents gave her a religious upbringing, which she’s rejected, but only on the intellectual level. She still feels guilt.
5) What (besides writing) do you do for fun?
I’m an avid pro football fan. It’s the only thing in my life that has nothing whatsoever to do with writing, and I guard my time with it like a starving dog with a bone. I also follow politics, but that’s not fun—more like a form of sado-masochistic torture.
6) What sort of research did you do to write WICKED GAME?
For the musical aspects, the research came by osmosis over the course of months and years. I’d think of a band and then run to Allmusic.com (and more recently Pandora.com) to learn all about them. Then I’d surf the links to understand the connections among that band and its forerunners and followers. 
And of course I read books. One of my favorites was THE ROCK SNOB’S DICTIONARY by David Kamp and Steven Daly. Entertaining, informative, and an incisive look inside the mind of the cooler-than-thou rock snob. 
To learn about radio stations, I interviewed DJs and had them ‘vet’ the manuscript when it was in near-final form, to make sure I didn’t have any major mistakes. A highlight of my life was getting a cover quote from Weasel, who used to DJ at the legendary Washington, DC, alternative station WHFS. He said that, disturbingly, he could relate very well to my characters. 
7) Shane McAllister (the 90s grunge DJ vamp) loves Nirvana. Is that your favorite band, too?
Yep, though I was only a casual fan during the band’s actual existence. I was sad but not devastated when Kurt Cobain died in 1995. However, as the years go by and I’ve learned to appreciate the band’s incredible talent, I grieve his loss more intensely. 

I suppose the creation of Shane is my small way of honoring Cobain’s life and work and the impact it’s had (and continues to have) on my psyche. I feel a spiritual kinship with them both and wonder if but for the grace of good fortune I’d be in as bad a shape as they were in their lives.

8)  What are you writing now?
I’m working on the second draft of WICKED GAME’s sequel, BAD TO THE BONE (May 2009). That’s due to my editor in a few days, which explains the bags under my eyes. And probably the hallucinations.
9) What does a typical writing day look like for you? How long do you write, that sort of thing? 
After three years of writing full-time, I’ve ceased to feel guilty for not writing first thing in the morning. My brain just isn’t wit-enabled before 10 or 11 am. 

10) What is easiest/hardest for you as a writer?

Dialogue is by far the easiest. Maybe it’s my theatre background, but my first drafts tend to consist of characters arguing in living rooms and coffee shops. I keep forgetting that novels have infinite budgets for location shoots.
First drafts are the hardest by far. It feels like sculpting air. Once I have a rough draft down, no matter how crap-adelic, I can work to make it better. But that initial creation of the story is torment.
11) This isn’t your first book; tell us a little bit about what else is out there?
I also have an epic fantasy series, the Aspect of Crow trilogy, which takes place in a world where everyone has magic bestowed by their Guardian Spirit animal. The first one, EYES OF CROW (Luna Books, 2006), won the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice award for Best Fantasy Novel. The second, VOICE OF CROW, came out last October (a favorite of mine because it was the Book That Almost Killed Me), and the trilogy will conclude this November with THE REAWAKENED.
I also have an older urban fantasy (REQUIEM FOR THE DEVIL, Grand Central Publishing, 2001). It takes place in modern day Washington, DC, and Lucifer masquerades as a political consultant. For the first time in his ten-billion-year existence, he falls in love. It changes everything.
12) What is the purpose of fantasy/science fiction, if any?
See answer to #3. I can’t be that earnest twice in one interview.

Jenna Black, another of my friends from www.sfnovelists.com has just released her latest book, HUNGERS OF THE HEART, a paranormal romance from Tor Books.  Jenna is a terrific writer and has lots of interesting stuff to say about the writing process and her approach to her craft.  Enjoy!

1)What was your inspiration for writing HUNGERS OF THE HEART?

Since the first book of the Guardians of the Night series, I’ve always known I would eventually write Drake’s book. Many of my readers have also impatiently been awaiting his book since they first “met” him in WATCHERS IN THE NIGHT. As excited as I was to write his story, though, it turned out to be very hard to do. One of the most attractive things about Drake in WATCHERS was his self-confidence, the sense that he was comfortable in his own skin. Confident, comfortable characters, however, don’t make for interesting protagonists, so I had to shake him up. I found myself strangely reluctant to do so. That was the first time I had to struggle to make myself be mean to one of my characters. Usually authorial cruelty comes easily to me, as my readers no doubt know!

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Tate Hallaway is the best selling alias of award-winning fantasy/science fiction author Lyda Morehouse.  I met Lyda at a WorldCon several years back — she moderated a panel I was on and did a wonderful job.  She’s got a great sense of humor and is an insightful and articulate student of the genre.  Our paths haven’t crossed since then, but she’s one of my sfnovelists buddies, and she has a new book coming out under Tate’s name.  Her new book, ROMANCING THE DEAD, will be released on May 6, 2008.
 
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Today’s post, “Career Restlessness,” can be found at http://magicalwords.net.  Check it out, and enjoy!

My First Progress Bar

April 22, 2008

So I got another 1,500 words today and I’m ready to begin charting my progess on this book (the third and final volume in my Blood of the Southlands trilogy) for all to see. My thanks to Karen Miller for the link that made possible what is for me a huge technological leap (how pathetic, I know).

Hey wow!!! It worked!

All right, 14% is not all that impressive. But I started just under three weeks ago, so I’m pleased.