So, another book bites the dust. Last week I put down The Road because the setting turned me off. I started reading Doctor’s Daughter and put it down at the 8th chapter. I lost interest.
I’ve made it no secret that I believe writers should read. This is for reasons I mentioned here. But I’m adding to the list of reasons.
Reading a lot helps me get in the mind of agents. And as a result, I begin to understand why agents turn down books, what’s publishable and what’s not. Don’t get me wrong, I realize most of agenting decisions involve personal taste, and I can’t get into every agents head. I also understand that almost everything that has been published was probably turned down at one point or another.
But there is something to be said that reading allows me see when a book loses its oomph. It helps me understand why agents ask for a partial or a full and pass on the project. And hopefully, it will help me write a publishable novel.
Most book ideas are recycled right? Some are poor imitations of classics and others poor imitations of poor imitations. It’s our job as writers to put a new spin on existing ideas. So our success as writers is based on how well we can dress up stolen ideas. Well, not quite, but sort of.
The Boston Globe writes the following synposis of Misha Defonseca’s memoir Misha: A Memoire of the Holocaust Years: “6-year-old Misha is rescued at school in 1941 when her parents are arrested and deported. She is spirited away to the De Wael family and given a new name, Monique. Unhappy with her host family, she runs away in hopes of finding her parents. Over the next four years she wanders alone across Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Romania, Yugoslavia, across the Adriatic Sea by boat to Italy, then through Italy across the Alps to France and back to Belgium. Along the way, she is sheltered by packs of wolves, kills a German soldier, witnesses an eastbound freight train full of Jews, wanders into the Warsaw Ghetto, and escapes.”
Isn’t that an intriguing story? Gives one goosebumps just reading about it. Well, guess what. The memoir is false. Defonsceca isn’t even Jewish!
It seems that there is no end to what people will do to garener attention. This story has upset me on many levels. Of course, as a writer and someone who wishes to write a memoir at some point, I’m afraid memoirs will start losing credibilty. And then as a human being, I’m just disgusted by the fact that she pretends to be Jewish and was in Brussels during wartime. Read the full story here.
You know, we all have a story to tell, but our stories aren’t always meant to be read by the public. Defonsceca should have published her book as a work of fiction. The other alternative was to keep her story all to herself.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m new to fiction writing, but am an avid reader. There are at least six writers I know that never read or read so little that it hardly qualifies as reading. I find that interesting - wannabe novelists who don’t read but expect (wants) the public to read their published books.
Some of them claim they don’t have time to read. Um, yes you do. You just decide to do other things with your time. Some claim they hate to read. What? You hate to read and you want others to invest their time and money in your book. Shameful. Really. It is.
There’s one thing I’ve noticed between readers and nonreaders who write. Readers are better storytellers and nonreaders have the mechanics of writing down (This is a general observation I’ve made as a beta and WIP reader).
Last week I realized that I have three works in progress – Mija, The Devil’s Playground, and Thirty Days to Justice. I started fiction writing in August and can’t help but notice how much I have written. Each story is in a different phase. The draft that is closest to completion is Thirty Days to Justice. As I write Mija, my mind is racing on how I can rewrite portions of Thirty Days.
Thirty Days falls into the commercial fiction category. I never thought that I would try my hand at writing commercial fiction. I’m not sure how I feel about that yet.
Click HERE for more information on Mija
Click HERE for more information on The Devil’s Playground
Click HERE for more information on Thirty Days to Justice
Have you ever played a practical joke on anyone? If so, what did you do and who was your victim?
This is exactly how it went down. One night Bunny and I were bored. To alleviate the boredom, I suggested we drive through town and collect furniture that people outside of their homes. Once the furniture was collected, we dumped it all on our friend Debbie’s driveway. We then created signs that read “Garage Sale at (and we included her address).”The next morning, Debbie finds the furniture in her driveway and is obviously not very happy. While she was talking with her husband about who could have done this, people from the neighborhood began to arrive for the garage sale.
Because the joke was so perfectly planned, she knew I had something to do with it. So she took it all in stride. She sold what she could and left the rest for garbage pick up.
Soup
What do your salt and peppershakers look like?
My salt and pepper shakers come in little packets. Each are found at the bottom of my takeout bag.
Salad
Where is the next place you plan to visit (on vacation or business)?
Depends. California for business, unless my friend my Philly decides to get married on that weekend.
Main Course
What kind of lotion or cream do you use to keep your hands from getting too dry?
I don’t use lotion on my hands.
Dessert
Make up a dessert, tell us its ingredients, and give it a name.
Instead of making one up, here’s a real dessert recipe.
Coconut Spice Ice cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups coconut cream
1 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2cup heavy cream
1/2 cup coconut (finely shredded)
1/4 cup coconut flavor Puerto Rican Rum (Capt. Morgan Parrot Bay)
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix sugar, 2 cups of coconut cream, add the sweetened condensed milk, heavy cream, shredded coconut, coconut flavor Puerto Rican rum add in the nutmeg and vanilla and cinnamon. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Freeze garnish with sprinkle of almonds mint leaf and stick of cinnamon.
Aaron over at Copious Notes blogged about the number of rejections John Grisham received before he landed an agent. This got me thinking about other authors and their journey. I found this website. It provides a list of successful authors and the number of rejections they received.
The quote that stood out for me was Judy Blume. Just about every girl loves Judy Blume. I was no exception. Here’s what Blume how to say regarding the number of rejections she received over a two-year span.: “I would go to sleep at night feeling that I’d never be published. But I’d wake up in the morning convinced I would be. Each time I sent a story or book off to a publisher, I would sit down and begin something new. I was learning more with each effort. I was determined. Determination and hard work are as important as talent.”
I relate to Blume’s quote because I’m convinced my books will find a home with a traditional publisher. This isn’t because I’m the best writer, with the best of ideas. I’m far from that. Believe me. In part, I believe my outlook is closely tied to the fact I run a business. For the past ten years I’ve heard “no” more times than I can count. In fact, every morning there is a “no” in my inbox. That’s how I start my day. With rejection. But no matter how many “nos” I receive, there are enough “yeses” in the mix that I can earn a living.
The word “no” doesn’t scare me. It doesn’t humble me. It doesn’t faze me.
Click HERE for more random thoughts about my writing
