Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Friday, April 13, 2012

"I Do Not Read Ebooks"...Ouch!

I’m always sad when people tell me in no uncertain terms, “I do not read e-books!” I understand the passion and can even sympathize with those who love the smell, the look, the colorful covers, the generous margins that call for marginalia and my greatest loss, page numbers, all the familiars that come with print books.

I also empathize with those speedy readers whose thumbs wear out pressing the side buttons to advance to another page. Then there’s the annoying factor of recharging or connection loss. Once, my Kindle wouldn’t allow me to browse. On another occasion my “click to buy” option took three days to appear on my Home page.

Still, e-books are here and despite glitches are incredibly convenient while book stores are closing as we speak. First we experienced the demise of independent book stores followed by Borders in the U.S. and Waterstones in Europe. Barnes and Nobles still exists where I live, but their print sales are disappointing while their e-book sales have made more than a few authors gasp before cheering.

When people tell me they refuse to read e-books, I’m reminded of the movie, “The Artist.” The poor man is stuck in the role of silent film star while the world moves on to “talkies.” Our hero loses his wife, his home, his reputation and nearly his life until a woman who embraced the inevitable steps in to help him out. I wonder if radio enthusiasts lambasted television, or vinyl record fans refused to purchase cds.

Personally, I love my flip phone, but I recognize that it must go in favor of a device that combines a computer, the Internet and both video and movie cameras. The contract expense is what stops me, that and the knowledge that my learning curve may cause missed information and lost calls while I’m familiarizing myself with new technology.

I’m no stranger to technology. Computers are used in my classroom and in the computer lab. Thanks to the Saddleback Valley Unified School District’s commitment to technology, I have a Smart Board and an Ipad. My 35 students were also recently outfitted with Ipods. They, I might add, are learning the ropes much more quickly than I. I’m still confused about apps, free and not so free, and wondering how moving from step one to two and so on seems to come so naturally to people under the age of 22 while I continue to struggle. I persevere because I remember the early computer days, how difficult they were and how simple managing a laptop is today.

E-readers are without exception the easiest form of technology available and maybe the cheapest. Using an e-reader does not exclude anyone from purchasing print books while they last. They won’t last long. Book stores will eventually be obsolete. Libraries, in an effort to curb the incredible expense of maintaining print books will eventually offer only e-books and it will happen overnight, as quickly as video stores disappeared from our planet, as easily as people turned from newspapers to online reports. Without an e-reader, readers will be limited to those writers who occupy the top 8 slots in grocery stores and in airports.

Yes, I’m sad. I love books, real books. But I’m a reader and on a cold, rainy night, I still want to turn on my reading lamp, curl up by the fire and read. Even if it isn’t a real book, the words and the story are the same and isn’t that what it’s really about?

That said, NELL is just out in print and e-book format as is THE RECKONING and TUESDAY's CHILD.

WITCH WOMAN remains an e-book.

Slain,

Jeanette

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

NELL - Gorgeous cover - coming April 2012

The Road to Here Guest Post

http://squirrelqueen2.blogspot.com/2012/02/meet-author-jeanette-baker.html

Friday, February 17, 2012

Pump up Your Books Blog Post

Pump Up Your Book Chats with Jeanette Baker

Author Interviews, Featured — By Tracee Gleichner on February 9, 2012 at 2:45 pm

Hello there! If you are new here, you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates on this topic.

About Jeanette Baker

Jeanette Baker is the award-winning author of fifteen novels, published by Pocket, Kensington and Mira Books, many of them set in the lush countryside of historical and contemporary Ireland where she lives and writes during the summer months. Her ancestors, the O’Flahertys, hail from Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands located off the coast of Galway. She takes great pride in the prayer posted by the English over the ancient city gates, ‘From the wrath of the O’Flahertys, may the good Lord deliver us.’
Lauded as an author who has created a niche in the world of the time-travel paranormal, Jeanette’s previous stories have all taken place in Scotland and Ireland. Convinced that America has its own mystical elements, she set WITCH WOMAN in Salem, Massachusetts.
Jeanette graduated from the University of California at Irvine and holds a Masters Degree in Education. For the remainder of the year, she teaches in Southern California, reads constantly, attempts to navigate the confusing world of Facebook and, more recently e-publishing, concocts creations from interesting cook books and enjoys the company of friends and her grown children. She is the RITA award-winning author of the paranormal NELL.
You can visit Jeanette’s website at jeanettebaker.com

The Interview

Thank you for this interview, Jeanette. Do you remember writing stories as a child or did the writing bug come later? Do you remember your first published piece?
A: You’re welcome. I don’t remember doing much writing at all as a child. Today, there is much more emphasis placed upon writing than there was when I was young. My first recollection that writing could be fun, satisfying and powerful was in my high school journalism class. I wrote a short fictional piece that was, according to the teacher, superior to the others turned in. My first published piece was a newspaper article where I compared a teacher’s first day of school to a soldier on the front lines, humorous of course.
What do you consider as the most frustrating side of becoming a published author and what has been the most rewarding?
A: Frustrating: lack of control over covers, marketing and print runs, books staying on bookstore shelves for a brief 3 months, bookstores closing, men shying away from reading women authors.
Rewarding: Seeing my words in print and my books for sale in bookstores, airports and online, wonderful reviews, appreciative readers, fans, the pleasure of writing a spot on scene.
Are you married or single and how do you combine the writing life with home life? Do you have support?
A: Technically, I’m a widow. My late husband died 6 years ago after a brief and difficult illness. Unbelievably, and unexpectedly, I fell in love again and am now engaged to be married in May. Who would have thought?
In addition to being the author of 17 novels, I am a 6th grade teacher. It’s wonderful to have a steady paycheck and it comes in handy for paying the bills, braces on the kid’s teeth as well as the hope of a secure pension. I’m my own support, financially, but I also have two adult children who have been with me through joy and sorrow every step of the way. My son is beginning medical school in the fall and my daughter, recently married last September, lives nearby. My fiancé is a wonderful man who reads all my books.
What do you like to do for fun when you’re not writing? Where do you like to vacation? Can you tell us briefly about this?
A: Traveling and cooking are my favorite things to do. I love perusing recipe books and creatingsomething delicious. Next on the list, would be meeting a friend for breakfast. I live in Co. Kerry, Ireland during the summer months. My family is Irish and my fiancé has a home there. I do most of my writing in the summer. It’s cool and misty, the tea kettle is always on and the scenery is spectacular. Most of my novels are set in Ireland. Castles dot the hillsides and history calls from around every bend.
If you could be anywhere in the world for one hour right now, where would that place be and why?
A: If I can include a slight blip in time, I would go back 30 years to my parent’s house, specifically their dining room table during the dinner hour. I would revel in their conversation, their affection for each other and their children, and their thoughtful and enlightened conversation. I miss them very much.
Who is your biggest fan?
A: My best friend’s husband, an ex-English teacher and closet writer.
Where’s your favorite place to write at home?
A: My colorful family room, near the fireplace, seated on my tartan plaid couch, legs curled beneath me and my laptop on my lap.
Do you have any pets?
A: I am currently without pets.
Tell us a secret no one else knows.
A: I’m a registered Democrat in Orange County, California. My family calls this living behind the Orange Curtain.
What’s on your to do list today?
A: Teaching compare/contrast essays to my 6th graders and, later, trying out a beef stew recipe from Cooking Light Magazine that features Guinness stout. After that, I’ll fill out the financial aid application for my son’s first year at Pritzker Medical School, University of Chicago.
Now I’ve got a couple of fun questions for you. If Tom Hanks, in the movie Cast Away, unearthed a copy of your book, how would that help him find a way off the island?
A: Tom would become familiar with the spells of Wicca, merge his spirit with the flora and fauna of his island, send his “help” message through fire and water, across earth and air and, soon, rescuers would flock to him.
You have a chance to appear on the hit talent show for authors, American Book Idol, with judges Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, Kara Dioguardi and the newest addition, Ellen DeGeneres, to determine whether your book will make it to Hollywood and become a big screenplay where you’d make millions of dollars. What would impress them more – your book cover, an excerpt or your author photo – and why?
A: My goodness! I can truly say I’ve never had anyone ask a question like this before. I’m going to choose the excerpt, mostly because the people you’ve selected are impressed by talent, not the wrapper and Witch Woman’s cover, gorgeous as it is, is just a cover for the real treat within. So is my photo. You probably know that most authors go all out for their photos, even the casual relaxed photos of men and women leaning against a fence or sitting on the porch. My author photos are beautifully posed, touched up and carefully chosen, but still just a cover for me, the person within.
You just got word that your book has received the 2010 NY Times Bestselling Book Award and you have to attend the ceremony to give an acceptance speech. Anyone who’s anyone will be there and it’s your shot for stardom. What would you say and who would you thank?
A: NY Times Bestselling Book Award – I wish. I would thank my mother, always my mother, for forbidding me to read during the day if the sun was shining outside. I credit her completely because I spent most of my life doing exactly the opposite of what she told me to do. Without her I wouldn’t have become the voracious reader and writer that I am. May she rest in peace.
I understand that you are touring with Pump Up Your Book Promotion in February 2012 via a virtual book tour. Can you tell us all why you chose a virtual book tour to promote your book online?
A: Times have changed and continue to change dramatically. Online promotion is one of the positives. Getting the word out about my books from the comfort of my own home is a wonderful way to advertise. I’m an introvert. Blogs specifically dedicated to writers and readers have made promotion and interaction with readers a pleasure for me.
Thank you for this interview, Jeanette. Good luck on your virtual book tour!
A: You’re very welcome. Thanks for featuring me on your blog. Your questions were thought-provoking and fun. This interview took me longer than most, I really had to think, but I had fun.

About Witch Woman

The first time Maggie McBride set foot in contemporary Salem, Massachusetts she was two years old, completely alone and stark naked. Now, thirty years later, a clairvoyant with a gift for profiling kidnappers, she is back to fulfill a personal quest. Armed with an ancient spinning wheel inherited from Annie McBride, her adoptive mother, she intends to solve the mystery of her sudden, unexpected appearance in The Old Burying Point Cemetery. Her only clue is the recurring dream of a woman from another time, a woman with a spinning wheel, an unusual whistle, and the same genetic mutation Maggie has, one brown eye, the other blue. As Maggie’s spinning improves, her ability to visit the past strengthens and she finds herself being drawn into a world that existed four centuries before, a terrifying world she would have inhabited except for the courage and magick of one woman.
Abigail-1692
In the meeting room, Inquisitors advance upon Abigail March and her child, Margaret She marshals her powers and channels the forces of nature. The world shifts and blackens. A strange roaring obliterates all sound and the air is thick with smoke. Bystanders are painfully seared, unable to move or breathe. Eventually, the air clears. But Abigail has been only partially successful. Three-year-old Margaret has disappeared through a time portal. For years Abigail searches to recall it. One night as the earth passed between the moon and sun, she is able to slip through the window, but the small community of Salem is no longer recognizable. Abigail turns to her powers and her spinning, sending out her summons to the universe, mindful of her shrinking time table, the enemies who followed her and the narrowing portal that will lead her home.

Redroom Guest Post

5 Must Haves to Look for in a Publisher by Author Jeanette Baker

Blog Post by Tracee Gleichner - Feb.08.2012 - 7:38 am

5 “Must Haves” to Look for in a Publisher

Despite the surging sales of self-published eBooks and the potential success shown to writers by the Amanda Hockings of the world, (the woman who made millions self-publishing her eBooks and then contracted with St. Martin’s Press for a healthy royalty split) most authors prefer writing to advertising. Successful self-promotion requires enormous amounts of time, time we would rather spend creating than selling. Therefore, the subject of what to look for in publisher is, I think, an important one to consider. After much thought, two decades of writing for large publishing houses, and the launch of my first self-published eBook, WITCH WOMAN, I’ve narrowed the topic to the following 5 must haves in a publisher:
A reasonable reversion of rights clause which includes e-books

There will be a time, when you and your current publisher part ways. When this happens, and it will, the severing will be easier if you have the equivalent of a pre-nuptial agreement with that publisher which includes the ability for you, the author, to publish your books again, in print and electronically, either with a new publisher or on your own. A reasonable length of time is somewhere around the 5 year mark, particularly if your book has not been reissued. Because of surging eBook sales, publishers are becoming more and more reluctant to return these rights. Beware and make this clause a deal-breaker. The alternative is to effectively give away your ability to bring your books out again at a much higher royalty rate than offered by a traditional publisher.

Hands off foreign rights

Foreign rights, when kept by the author, can be amazingly lucrative. Midlist authors in the U.S. have reaped sales and gained celebrity status in Europe and Asia due to foreign publishers. Large publishers will deny an author her royalties on foreign sales until an advance is earned out. Don’t let them. Insist on keeping your foreign sales.

Cover approval

Covers are huge. They determine who picks up the book to read the back cover copy which leads to the sale. An author’s vision of the cover of her novel is rarely the same as the publisher’s art department. It’s difficult for a fledging author to insist on sending a cover back to the artist, but it isn’t difficult to send suggestions and ask for an approval clause up front in the contract. Most publishers request that an author send ideas, photos, even colors but, in the end, what drives sales is based on what previously worked for other books in your genre. If you would be terribly embarrassed to see a shirtless hero and half-dressed heroine on your cover, suggest that a cover approval clause be part of your contract.

Splitting royalty checks in house

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen to your royalty check if something happened to your agent, you’re not alone. In fact, if you’ve never had a conflict with your agent, changed agents or had an agent leave the business, the country or predecease you, you’re in the minority. Unless your agent has a trust in place for distributing funds, you may wait until probate is complete before receiving due royalties. Include a clause in your contract where royalties are split in house with your percentage coming directly to you. It’s a much cleaner arrangement.

An interactive, up-to-date marketing plan

The truth of the matter is, publishing houses budget very little for an author’s first book. There are no numbers, awards or reviews on past books to advertise and, with competing novels coming out in the same month, marketing departments push the tried and true, previous bestselling, award-winning authors. That doesn’t mean a first time author should be left high and dry. Self-promotion is expensive. A publisher should assign an author’s novel to a contact in the marketing department who furnishes an author with a sound plan that includes interviews, blog posts, reviews and a presence on the publisher’s website. Email and talk with this person fairly often during the pre-publishing period. Never assume they are handling everything without you.

Good luck and may your search be successful and your decisions wise.
Please visit me at: jeanettebaker.com
Facebook: Jeanette Baker – author
Amazon is offering WITCH WOMAN for .99 for the month of February
About Jeanette Baker
Black and white promo photo (2)

Keywords:

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Writing in California, Writing in Ireland - What's the Difference?

Check out www.masoncanyon.blogspot.com/ for my January 4th guest post.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Blue Nights

I finished Joan Didion’s new book, BLUE NIGHTS, reluctantly switching off my Kindle in the wee hours. Like Anne Rivers Siddons, Alice Hoffman and Anna Quindlen, Didion delivers the kind of prose that makes a reader stop, breathe deeply, and wait out the rush of emotion the author's words bring to the surface. In the case of BLUE NIGHTS it is pain, wrenching and emotional, the kind of pain that the death of a child brings.

The book is about Didion’s daughter, Quintana Roo, who died at age 39 after battling a complexity of illnesses for two years. Adding to the author’s tragic circumstance is the loss of her husband, John Dunne, who died of a heart attack shortly after the collapse of their daughter.

Despite the subject matter, the book isn’t morose. It’s a revelation, a quick jolt of the familiar, bringing to mind an, “Oh, yes, I remember feeling like that.” It’s also the story of a family living a privileged life in the golden age of Hollywood, a working mother, a man in love with his wife, an adored child and a marriage that lasted a lifetime. Anecdotes of celebrity dinner parties, movie scripts and films are interspersed with flashbacks of family scenes and lovely words like, “What remained until now unfamiliar, what I recognize in the photographs but failed to see at the time they were taken, are the startling depths and shallows of her expressions, the quicksilver changes of mood.” What mother hasn’t seen long ago photos of her child and wondered how she could have missed what should have been obvious?

Chapter 1 opens with the explanation for the title, BLUE NIGHTS, something only recently pointed out to me, a native Californian accustomed to the quick drop of the sun into an even briefer twilight. “In certain latitudes there comes a span of time approaching and following the summer solstice, some weeks in all, when the twilights turn long and blue. This period of blue nights does not occur in subtropcial California, where I lived for much of the time I will be talking about here and where the end of daylight is fast and lost in the blaze of the dropping sun…To the English it was the gloaming, the glimmer, the glitter, the glisten, the glamour---carrying in its consonants the images of houses shuttering, gardens darkening, grass-lined rivers slipping through shadows…”

Writing doesn’t get much better. The book isn't for everyone. I highly recommend it.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Publishers' Weekly Review for IRISH LADY

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-4022-5592-2

Irish Lady

Jeanette Baker. Sourcebooks Casablanca, $12.99 trade paper (336p) ISBN 978-1-4022-5592-2

Description: http://www.publishersweekly.com/images/cached/INGRAM/978/140/225/9781402255922.jpg

Baker skillfully blends contemporary and historical romance with a dash of the supernatural in this large-scale tale, first published in 1998, of tumultuous romance during Northern Ireland’s Troubles. In the early 1980s, Meghann McCarthy left behind her impoverished Belfast Catholic neighborhood, torn by urban strife, and her charismatic lover, Michael Devlin, a passionate IRA soldier. Fifteen years later, she’s a leading legal mind in England and he’s accused of murdering a prominent British politician sympathetic to the Irish Republican cause. Meghann takes on Michael’s case, and as their old mutual attraction flares up again, she finds herself strangely dreaming of her ancestor Nuala O’Neill and Nuala’s great love, Rory O’Donnell, one of the 17th century’s last Irish holdouts against Elizabeth I. Baker carries off both complicated romantic plots with panache, but her real achievement lies in avoiding sentimental gushing while accurately depicting the atrocities visited on the Irish by Britain—and by themselves. (Jan.)

Reviewed on: 11/07/2011

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Ernest Hemingway, Florida and Digital Publishing

Florida is a beautiful state. This was my first visit, other than Orlando and Disney World many years ago. I'm a native Californian with the smugness that most of us have regarding the climate, lifestyle, recreational opportunities and, of course, our universities, among them Cal Tech and Stanford rated the best in the WORLD, not just among the best, but the best depending on which survey you read.

Until now I'd disregarded Florida believing it to be a poor second to the Golden State. I was wrong. Florida's fall/winter climate is better than California's. The air is a smogless, breezy warm without the slightest hint of chill. Sunsets are brilliant and long, followed by the kind of coppery pink dusk that I thought Hawaii would have and doesn't. Both the Atlantic and Gulf are calm and comfortable enough for swimming, even in October, and clear enough to watch schools of fish circle just out of reach. The sand is cool, sugar white and powdery, the seafood fresh and delicious, the people kind and welcoming, and then there's the pie. Nothing beats the key lime pie. I rarely turn down any kind of dessert, but the tart sweet cream of Florida's traditional state pie is out of this world. I know Florida has hurricanes and floods, but California has earthquakes and fires and, recently, our share of flooding as well. I'd never considered retiring in Florida or anywhere else other than California, but inexpensive real estate, warm nights and that key lime pie just might change my mind.

The Novelists' Inc. Conference was the reason for my visit. The focus was digital publishing. Until quite recently the organization of published authors frowned on digital publishing, but progress marches on and with the demise of print book stores, eBooks are clearly the wave of the future. Therefore, objections must be put aside. The numbers were clearly explained. Marketing and formatting, social networking and self-publishing were the catch words of the weekend. Industry professionals were eloquent, writers asked pointed questions. I learned a lot. Clearly, those savvy in advertising and promotion will reap the benefits of the self-publishing wave.

I'm still at the overwhelmed stage. Eventually, I expect to make sense of it all. I have a print publisher but I'm anxious to climb aboard the self-publishing bandwagon. It means I'll have to design covers, format text, upload to eBook sites, guest post, compose newsletters and create a fan email list. Interestingly enough, a Twitter or Facebook presence only rates 1.9% as far as bringing in sales, a poor showing compared to Barnes & Noble browsers at 25%, and word of mouth at 14%. (I'm not really sure what word of mouth is if it isn't Twitter and Facebook.)

The good news is self-published authors have control over when a book is published, cover art, marketing and royalties. The bad news is authors must pay for everything up front and hope to recoup their money, much like any other start up business. The other bad news is, what if a writer is good at writing but not so good at cover art and marketing? What if after all that publishing, searching for images, marketing, figuring out finances and working a day job, she falls into bed without a word written?

I visited Ernest Hemingway's Key West house this weekend. Ernest began writing at 6:00 am, fished all afternoon, drank at the local pub all evening and all night wrote impressions of the locals to include in his books. I wonder how he would have handled self-publishing and promotion. Like I said, I'm still at the overwhelmed stage.

Ernest Hemingway's Writing Room

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Business and Friendship...to mix or not to mix

This week I'm traveling to yet another writers' conference. But this time I'm not going for the purposes of selling a novel, promoting a novel, praying for an award or scouting for an agent. This time I'm going purely for information. Although there will be a few editors and agents, I won't be sitting in on their presentations. My focus will be the e-book publishers, authors and marketeers, in other words, the do-it-yourselfers who managed to climb out of the ashes of the print book decline and make a living.

It isn't easy making a living as a writer. The average income of a writer hovers somewhere around where it did 20 years ago, about $17,000 a year, not exactly the kind of salary that makes new college graduates line up for interviews. I did a little better than that in the days when advances were the norm and when I published regularly, one novel a year, occasionally, two. Naively, I assumed the golden years would last forever; I would continue to write books that merited good reviews and, in return, my publishers would accept everything I wrote, sign the contracts, and the checks, promote my books and ask for more.

That didn't happen. Publishing houses merged, editors were fired and authors, even those who had at some point in their careers achieved bestseller status, were released when their contracts came up for renewal. It happens to the best of us. Sales are everything. When publishers tighten their belts, shelf space is at a premium. An author is only as valuable as her last few books. Writing may be an art, but publishing is a business and unless an author wants to write without selling, she must embrace a new marketing plan. Hence, those of us who cherish our privacy like priceless jewels, who take deep breaths and give ourselves encouraging pep talks in front of the mirror before every social event, find that we must now not only write, edit and publish our books, we must develop an online presence in order to sell them as well.

I'm not enjoying that part at all. I do like Facebook. I enjoy keeping up with my friends, reading their congratulations in good times and their commiserations when times aren't quite so good. I love the photos, the recommendations, the recipes, the travel suggestions. But I don't love mentioning my books. Maybe it's because my late father once told me that business and friendships aren't a good mix. He was right about most things so I assume he was probably right about that, too. All of which is why I'm heading off to Florida for the Novelists' Inc. Conference to figure out a way to develop that online presence everyone keeps talking about, the one that will develop business relationships, sell my books and not presume upon my friends. No wonder I'm breathing deeply and talking to myself in front of the mirror.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Curling Up By the Fire

No one would ever call me a perfectionist. I’m more of a big-picture, good-enough kind of person, but my environment, both writing and living, has always been important to me. My personal space has changed over the course of my career, adapting with the changes in my family and my finances. At first, when my children were small, my “space” was a small computer table and steno chair in the family room. My children played games, watched television and invited friends to play while I created and typed away, oblivious to noise, music and, occasionally, minor wounds.

As my family grew and square footage increased through moves and room additions, I graduated to my own office complete with desk and chair, a comfortable couch and, the most wonderful of inventions, a laptop computer which allowed me to move between desk and couch as the mood struck. Over the years, I’ve done away with the desk and straight-backed chair, choosing to, at first, keep files in a cabinet and, eventually, in bookmarked pages on my computer. I’ve come full circle because, now that I’m an empty-nester, my office has returned to the family room. I sit in a very deep, comfortable chair, usually cross-legged but, sometimes, with my legs stretched out in front of me on an equally comfortable ottoman.

I love color and my space reflects it. My chair and ottoman are a deep garnet-red. A chest hand painted in gold, black and more red serves as a coffee table for my tea habit and the shelves of my bookcases are painted a dark, lacquered green. Even more than writing, reading is my passion. I surround myself with books, hundreds and hundreds of books, written by authors who inspire me, as well as photos of my family to remind me of my focus, and prints of Ireland and Scotland, the settings for my novels.

CATRIONA, my current release, is a story set in Scotland. CATRIONA began at the ruins of Stirling Castle. After exploring the grounds, I climbed the stairs to the watchtower where Margaret Tudor, daughter to Henry VII of England and James IV of Scotland, waited for her husband to return from the Battle of Flodden Moor. This was a particularly difficult time for her because her husband and father fought on opposing sides. I read in the small brochure handed out, when I turned over my nominal fee for visiting the castle, that Margaret had carved a poem into the stone wall. The poem is no longer legible and no one really knows what her thoughts were, but standing there with a death grip on the parapet because of the terrifying wind, I imagined what they might be.

Jamie Stewart was a handsome, charismatic king who spoke 8 languages, fathered 38 illegitimate children, founded universities and demanded that the nobility learn to read. History tells us the marriage was not a love match. I decided, for purposes of my novel, that it would be. Why not, I thought, create a woman, with ties to both England and Scotland, a woman with a shameful secret who needed Jamie’s protection for her own purposes? Why not pair her with her equal in intelligence, Jamie’s favorite, a powerful border lord, who’d helped him win the crown? Why not set the two of them amidst the intrigue of the Tudor and Stewart royal courts?

Then it was time to create the contemporary plot of my novel: enter Kate Sutherland, her descendent, an American born 400 years later, an educated woman searching for answers to the odd circumstances of her birth and her frightening ability to see what others could not. This part I dreamed up at home, curled up by the fire in my bright red chair, along with the others that followed. There are still, I hope, quite a few more to come.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Children Are Like Books

Once again it’s September and for many of us, September means the beginning of a new school year. A thought occurred to me as I mailed my latest endeavor, HANNIE RISING, to my literary agent in New York: books have a great deal in common with children.

Books and children require a great deal of effort to reach maturity, when the author/parent steps back and says, “That’s it. There’s no more I can do. From now on, you’re on your own. Parents have more difficulty reaching this point than authors and, probably, use different vocabulary, but that’s really the crux of it and, just like with books, the process happens in stages. I’ll skip the conception/plot idea which in both cases, for parents and authors, is quite pleasurable and, typically, not difficult, and begin with stage one.

Stage one begins at the onset of mandatory education: Kindergarten or, in the case of a novel, submission to agents/editors. This is where most of us learn, for the first time that our precious offspring/manuscripts are not perfect. In fact, their imperfections can be easily identified and must be worked on/edited. This usually involves, in both cases, homework, hands-on involvement including reading, writing, studying.

Stage two for parents is junior high. For authors it is distribution. A certain amount of release is required by both parents and authors, “certain amount” being the qualifying words. At 12 and 13, children can shoulder a degree of responsibility; writing down assignments, asking questions, completing homework. However, they need supervision every bit as much as they did when they were in elementary school, for obvious reasons. Books, also, require some attention. They must be introduced or “marketed” to distributors who will, based on the interest engendered by sales representatives and authors, place said books in bookstores, airports, convenience stores, markets, etc. Both children and books are in serious trouble without careful monitoring during this stage of exposure.

Stage 3, for parents, is when a child leaves home for purposes of higher education, marriage or a job. This truly is the point where a parent should think, “This is it. I’m finished. I can do no more. You are my masterpiece. Go out into the world and be competent, compassionate, productive, honest and joyful but don’t forget us, your parents. Call, email and please visit. We’re here to emotionally, not financially, support you as needed. Many parents, me included, aren’t always confident that our finished products are where we hoped they would be at stage 3. Still, we no longer have the remotest shred of control, so we learn to recite the serenity prayer.

Books, also, must eventually stand alone, their authors finished with their stories, their prose printed for reviewers and readers, their merits critiqued and blogged about, their ratings published. But, like children, books shouldn’t be released altogether to languish on the shelves or in cyber space. Authors must support their books in the form of promotion. Books must be introduced to booksellers and readers. Although the creating part is finished, authors must tour, virtually or on the road, cultivating fans, acquiring mailing lists, hawking newsletters, gathering Facebook and Twitter fans, in the hope that their books will interest, inspire and bring joy.

I am a 6^th grade teacher. I’ve had many, many successful students and some not so. Most children begin the year chomping at the bit and flying out of the gate. Some need more time to settle in and pick up speed. A few never do. I worry about them. I wonder what I could have done differently.

I am also an author. I’ve had many successful books and some not so. Some have earned awards and bestseller status and, a few, have had too few copies sold, qualifying as flops. I wonder what I could have done differently.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

A Kindle is... just a Kindle

I like my Kindle…sort of. I like that I can download enough books to get me through every plane ride I will ever take. I like that, in just a few seconds, another book waits for me at the click of a button. I like that my Kindle is small, light-weight, non-bulky and that it fits easily into a purse or briefcase. I like that, for an additional charge, it comes with a made-to-order cover, complete with travel light. I like that it isn’t backlit so I can read in the yard in brilliant sunlight. For me, that’s about it. I’m keeping my Kindle. I’ve even written a book specifically for Kindle e-readers, WITCH WOMAN, but I don’t love my Kindle.

I do LOVE my books. I love the smell of paper. I love the page numbers in the corners. I love the colors of the covers and the teasers on the back. I love knowing I’ve read 126 pages and that I have 250 more to enjoy. I love metaphors so diamond-edged, so breath-stealing, so authentic that I simply must highlight the words and go back again and again to reread them. I love doodling my questions and comments in the margins and coming upon them later to relive the place where I was at the time. I love the books authors have personalized for me,…Dear Jeanette, etc. etc. My favorite signing was completely unexpected: Ray Bradbury in the last years of his life, had come to the opening of his play in a wheelchair. When I told him I was a fan he quizzed me on his works. I must have passed the test because, not only did he sign my program, he kissed me. Ray Bradbury kissed me and I have his wonderful, one-of-a-kind scrawl as a souvenir. I love going into bookstores and seeing my name on the spines of books I've written.

A Kindle reader will never replace my stash of books. I can do without a Kindle. I frequently delete the books I’ve downloaded. I have no idea where they end up. I have never thrown away a book. I lend my books and I donate them, but I never throw them away. I cannot do without a book, not now, not ever. I like my Kindle, but I love my books.