Considering the "What ifs" in Creating a Novel: Author Interview with Marissa Shrock

What made you decide to write a YA dystopian novel that has a Christian theme?
I teach middle school English. One day while grading persuasive essays, I discovered many of my students held passionate pro-life views. I asked myself, What if a society required teenage girls to have abortions simply because they're underage? Would all of the girls comply? From there I created a society that would support such a law, and a dystopian society seemed the most logical choice.

How many rewrites did you do on it? Who helped you with the editing?
I did about four rewrites and four rounds of edits. I hired Dr. Dennis E. Hensley to do editing. Of course, the publisher did editorial work as well.

I love your initial line on your book blurb… If inalienable rights begin with life itself, will Vivica have the courage to defend them, no matter what it takes? That’s a pretty heady subject to cover. What made you choose it?
As a writer, I always think about the story first and how I can entertain the reader. But I find it impossible to separate my Biblical worldview from my stories. I also believe we're blessed to live in a country founded upon important principles that allow us to have freedom. These principles must be preserved and defended.

The story of this girl in a society that was forcing abortions on teenagers just wouldn't go away, and I knew it was a chance to shed a different light on this controversial issue, so I tackled it.


Have other books been started and stopped along the way?
I started one about ten years ago before I really decided to get serious and learn the craft of writing.

You’ve really made a commitment to your writing through Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild with their Apprentice, Journeyman, and Craftsman courses. What made you continue through all the courses?
When I started taking the courses and learning to write, I felt for the first time that I was doing something I loved and was passionate about. I'd always been a voracious reader, so I think learning to write was the next step. Reading was certainly excellent preparation!

Most Christian publishers will not review unsolicited manuscripts from new writers unless they come from the Guild or similar sources. Did you pitch any agents?
I pitched to two agents, and the second one accepted me as a client. My agent pitched to one publisher, and they took it.

How do you write? Did you do an outline first? Did you do individual character development before doing the full plot?
I write organically and discover the story as I write. This means I must do several rewrites to make sure the story escalates properly.

What type of publicity do you do to promote your book? What has worked best for you in generating sales?
This is my first book, and since it was just released, I'm learning what helps to generate sales. I use social media, I'm working on building my email newsletter subscription list, and I'm planning a Facebook party in a few weeks to celebrate/promote my book.

What do you know now about writing/publishing now that you wished you had known sooner?I wish I'd started learning more about marketing and promotion sooner than I did.

Is this a stand alone book or are you planning a sequel or prequel for any of your characters?
Right now I'm planning to write two sequels. I left the door open for a sequel in the first book, and readers are already telling me they want one.

What is the best advice you’ve been given about writing or that you’ve learned that you would like to pass along?
I believe it is important for each of us to find God's will for our lives, follow it, and not worry about comparing ourselves to other writers.

That's all for today's interview. If you'd like to learn more about Marissa's writing or buy her book, here's the best way to do that:
                                                              Marissa Shrock - Young Adult Fiction

World Domination in a Fun Way - Author Interview with Jolene Stockman

My interview today is with Jolene Stockman who is an award winning writer, speaker, and an staffer for Girlfriend Magazine Australia. She is a Master of Neuro Linguistic Programming, and one of the youngest in the world to achieve the Distinguished Toastmaster Award. Jolene lives in New Zealand and I get to interview her here about her first book.




Your first book, Total Blueprint for World Domination might make people wonder if you are some power-crazed megalomaniac. Tell my readers what this book is really about.

Total Blueprint for World Domination takes you from this very moment to your greatest dream. It supports you in designing your dream world – the perfect world for you, and shows you the steps to make it happen!

What makes you an expert to write a life-planning book for teens?

I began writing the book as a teen, and as I hit challenges on the way to my perfect world I became even more certain that the book would make a difference. Everyone deserves to have a voice in their head saying, “Everything is possible!” I went on to tackle shyness to start my own business and overcome my fear of speaking.

What were your writing credits prior to writing this book?

By the time the book was complete I was a qualified technical writer and scriptwriter working in the industry, although it was a slush-pile query and book proposal that ultimately landed me my agent.

How do you motivate teens to focus on their long term future as opposed to their friends and the current trends?

I think one of the tricks to balancing long and short term goals is to find ways to blend them. The more you can connect your current world to your future one, the more passionate you can be about creating the world you want.

What is your writing designation for Girlfriend Magazine?

For Girlfriend Magazine, I take the tips and tricks from my book and advise on subjects like career planning and motivation. While I do think everything is possible at any age – there’s a special kind of oomph and power to being a teenager!

Your bio says you are a “Master of Neuro Linguistic Programming,” What exactly does that mean?

Neuro Linguistic Programming is the study of communication and human behaviour, how we interpret language to design our lives. I love learning about how brain works and how we can use it to make our world more fun and effective!

You’ve now also written a second book which is YA fiction entitled, The Jelly Bean Crisis. Is the book more on the serious side or a fun read?

After working with me on my first book, my former agent (Jessica Regel, JVNLA) suggested I jump into writing YA. It was a big change for me (and a huge learning curve!) but I had a lot of support – and inspiration! The Jelly Bean Crisis follows a driven teen who gives up her perfect life to try and uncover her passion. It’s a fun, contemporary read – but hopefully it sets off some sparks for readers in their own lives!

Do you feel more comfortable writing fiction or non-fiction?

My comfort zone is non-fiction (my day job is writing educational and training materials), so non-fiction is much faster for me. But there is definitely something magical about fiction, something creative and connected and AWESOME! I really love being able to bounce between writing styles, it means I’m always coming into projects fresh.

Did you self-edit or hire someone else?

Being an editor myself I tend to self-edit fairly viciously, and I also get several professional editing rounds before a book goes out. When I’m reading, typos and mistakes really throw me, so I want to avoid that experience as much as I can for my readers. Fresh eyes (especially professional ones!) are always good.

Once you wrote the book how did you go about looking for a publisher and or agent?

I already had an agent when I wrote The Jelly Bean Crisis, so I was lucky enough to be able to pitch the idea and outline first, and to have a good deal of support. Once I decided to go independent, it was still an incredible amount of work – but the delicious-buzzing kind that comes with doing what you love.

What has frustrated you the most in the publishing process?

Some of the most frustrating aspects of publishing are also the coolest – particularly the fact that I have so little control. I can’t control what people read, what they like, or what they say. Luckily, I can always control the work that I do, and my own responses to the world – so I try to focus on that! 

What have you found the most rewarding – outside of seeing your book in print?

Ooh, easily the best-most-exciting, oprah-cry-inducing, heart-poundingly-awesome part of this journey for me, is when I hear from readers. I have cried more over readers than I ever did over rejections (and yay for that!).

What surprised you the most about the publishing process?

In the last few years, the whole process has gone from glacially slow to super fast. I am constantly surprised at the evolution. Writers and readers have so much more power and responsibility now. It’s intimidating, but really, really exciting, too! 

What has been the most productive promotion that you’ve had with marketing your book?
I’ve been lucky enough to connect with some amazing (read: smart, gorgeous, savvy, sweet, hard working) book bloggers and reviewers. Book bloggers are the powerhouses of book promotion now.

And you know what I love about that? I love that it’s so organic. Book bloggers build their reputations on honesty and hard work – and often they do it simply because they love it. So, if they enjoy a book and share their feelings, it means so much more to readers than an ad or even a giveaway.  

Writing seminars are always telling us about building a marketing platform. What have you learned from using social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others?
In what can be quite an isolating career, social media sites offer us both an unprecedented opportunity to connect with readers and other writers, and (duh!) a phenomenal time-sucker. Social media is just like real life: be yourself, be true to your word, and be kind. I’m still figuring out how to balance everything time-wise, but zipping around the world through satellites and cables? Yep, still pretty magic to me!

What is the best advice you’ve received on writing? Or what is the best advice you could give other aspiring authors from your experience?
I love writer advice! Basically anything that says, “Do it, do it now!” is good advice. My advice? From my blog post... Being a writer is a dream. It’s a top-of-the-bucket list, thing-to-do-before-I-die, can’t-believe-I-get-to-see-it-on-a-bookshelf dream. You are doing something that people aspire to. Even when the blank page is taunting you. Even when the twenty-third rejection rolls in. Even when you’re squishing rewrites in with a million other things. You are part of something amazing. Feel that with all your heart. Know that it’s true no matter what. You are a writer.

If you'd like to learn more about Jolene and her writing, here are several options...

Website       Goodreads         Facebook      Amazon          Blog             Twitter  

How to Series: Writing for the YA Market by Guest Blogger, Beverly Stowe McClure

The young adult fiction market in the Milky Way Galaxy is booming today. From the Twilight series and movies to the Hunger Games novels and movies, and too many others to mention them all here, we’re surrounded by teens and other creatures of the night. So on the chance that you might be thinking of entering the world of ya literature, let’s take a look at what young adult novels are.

First, who is the young adult audience? All readers are different, so stating that a book is written for a certain age is only a guideline for parents and teachers. Children/teens vary in what they prefer to read and can understand at different ages. That said, young adult books are generally recommended for readers ages 12 to 18. There are books, however, for the younger end of the scale, children from 10 to 12, AKA as middle grade or tween fiction. Since children tend to skip over a scene they don’t understand and take from a story what’s important in their lives, younger readers may pass right over that stalking scene or the kissie, kissie romance and absorb the scenes they relate to. On the other hand, many readers will recognize when a character is being bullied or abused and perhaps be able to apply the story to themselves or someone they know. Each child will take whatever he/she is curious about or living with and apply it to their own life.

Second, what subjects and themes appeal to young adults? If you look through the titles of current novels and go back to even older books, you’ll find most every topic is covered: themes of identity, depression, suicide, drug abuse, family, bullying, etc. Teens want to read about friendship, love, family, divorce and just about anything that relates to their world. Even fantasy, science fiction, and dystopian novels contain these elements though they may take place in the future, past, or in another universe. Whether the friends are vampires or werewolves or other-worldly creatures, there is romance, friendship, enemies, and other elements that a teen may be struggling with and that will open a door for a solution to his/her problems.

Today, there seem to be few, if any, taboos in young adult literature. Young adult books deal with most everything, from suicide to abuse to violence to sex and language. I think the main thing is to be honest, to let the character tell the story in his own words, with his emotions and what he knows or hopes to learn.

Third, a big issue in teen literature is finding books that teen boys will read. So many of the popular young adult novels are written more for girls (and women who still feel like teens). You’ve heard it said that girls will read books with boys as the main character, but the reverse is seldom true. So think about boys for a minute. The ones in your family or those you know. I raised three sons and they still confuse me. Generally, boys don’t like the mushy stuff, even though they might enjoy kissing a girl, they’d feel weird reading about it. Most boys are action. They’re constantly on the move, doing something. So they need adventure and challenges. Even gross stuff appeals to them. There are many great “boy” books out there. Think of James Patterson, Rick Riordan, and Paolo Bacigalupi to name a few. There’s also Darby Karchut, a new author whose Griffin series about a guardian angel in training is sure to convince young males that reading is fun.

I planned to compare the sales of young adult literature with other books, but was totally lost when I started reading the statistics. So rather than go through percentages, numbers, and such, here are some sites for you to check if you’re interested in learning more:

http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/young-people-are-reading-more-than-you

http://productivewriters.com/2011/02/16/book-e-book-sales-data-united-states-2010/

http://paidcontent.org/2012/01/23/419-new-stats-kids-find-e-books-fun-and-cool-but-teens-are-still-reluctant/

Short link to the above: http://tinyurl.com/6vtxlob

Writing for teens is a challenge. Writing for teens is fun. So why not take a chance and see what you come up with. You never know.

Thank you for your insight on writing for the YA market. If you would like to learn more about Beverly's writing, here is the link to her website and her blog.

Interview with PJ Hoover, author of the MG fantasy, Soltice

Today's interview is with P.J. Hoover who has been an avid fan of Greek mythology since the sixth grade after reading the book Mythology by Edith Hamilton. But she didn't do the immediate jump to writing. Her first career was as an electrical engineer designing computer chips. So let's see how the writing career evolved.

You’ve just released your first YA book after doing a MG Trilogy. Why the change in genre? Will you still be doing MG books? Is the trilogy the end for that set of characters or do they have more stories to tell?
The way I look at it, I’m 41 years old which means I have lots of time for writing ahead. I want to continue to write both YA and MG (and maybe an adult novel here or there). I want to write a spin-off series for my MG trilogy. I want to write a sequel to SOLSTICE. Is it bad that I want to do it all?

As for why the change in genre, SOLSTICE was always a mythology story, and for what I wanted to do with the myth and the romance, the age had to increase. It would have been totally inappropriate otherwise.

What drew you to write MG and YA books? Prior to writing these books what previous writing credits did you have?
As for why the MG and YA market, truly I just wanted to write science fiction and fantasy. But when my first story draft was finished, I learned it was in some category called MG. And I went from there. When it comes to previous writing credits, there were a couple poems I wrote in my youth.

In all seriousness, I never thought of myself as a writer. I was an engineer, and thus very math and science oriented. Writing came in the form of technical documents. But I read like crazy, so once I started writing, it fit my personality perfectly.

When did you decide that you could write full time and leave your job of being an electrical engineer?
It was in April of 2008. By then, my son was in elementary school, and my daughter was in preschool, so being able to spend more time with them after school and cart them around to activities was top priority. My husband was actually the one to suggest staying home to write, and once the idea was planted, I seized the opportunity.

You’re part of a blog group called the YA Indie Blog Carnival which over the summer did a weekly blog train. It says that it is for Independent authors are those who have chosen to publish their written works independently of a traditional publisher or agent. Yet your trilogy was published by a traditional publisher. It is only with this last book, Solstice, that you went to the independent e-book format. Why the change?
I think in today’s publishing world and in the future, authors will publish both traditionally and independently. The trick comes, I think, in weighing each manuscript and deciding what is right for it and making the decisions for the right reasons. With SOLSTICE, timing was the main concern. There were a few key YA mythology stories coming out in Spring 2011, and I wanted to hit that window.

Will the blog train return again next summer? How did it begin? Can others join in for next year if there is one?
It’s on, and it seems to be a continuing thing, and I love being a part of it! I was asked to join by Laura Elliott (author of WINNEMUCCA), and we have new authors joining each week.

Since you have written for both traditional publishers and as an independent publisher could you give me some of the pitfalls or frustrations that you wished you had been aware of in advance?
Honestly, there are a million things authors could do “wrong” at any given moment. I think the best thing is just moving forward, asking questions when you aren’t sure about something, and making mistakes and learning from them. Each author is going to have a different path to publication, and so many paths can be awesome.

Can you give me an example of an Aha moment in your writing when things just seemed to fall into place and you felt this is what you’re supposed to do?
Well, it certainly wasn’t after the first ten pages. I thought it would take forever to finish a novel. But once the pages started accumulating, it dawned on me that, as long as I wrote consistently, I could write books forever.

That's it for today's interview. Here's some final notes on her books. Her first novel for teens, Solstice, takes place in a Global Warming future and explores the parallel world of mythology beside our own. Her middle grade fantasy novels, The Emerald Tablet, The Navel of the World, and The Necropolis, chronicle the adventures of a boy who discovers he’s part of two feuding worlds hidden beneath the sea.

If you would like to learn more about her writing and buy her books go to http://www.pjhoover.com. You can also see her book trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkWezTGdTkg