Writing as a Team and Solo: Author Interview with Janet Bly

Today's interview is with longtime writer Janet Chester Bly who has written numerous books both alone and with her husband. Their writing runs the gamut from Christian devotions to Western Romance and self-help books. They've long been in the spotlight as writers and speakers. Now writing on her own after the recent death of her husband, she's still inspiring and helping others in their craft and giving readers some delightful books to review. 

 

 I am in awe at the number of books you’ve written and how you easily move from non-fiction

to fiction styles. When did you publish your first book?
My late hubby Stephen’s first book was an inspirational Christian life theme entitled, Radical Discipleship, 1982. That came about because I so desired to have a book proposal to take to the next writer’s conference I attended. I wanted an excuse to make an appointment with an editor, to practice having that experience, but I didn’t have a book length project of my own yet. We worked together to prepare a package from some classes he taught to college students from the Book of Mark. What a surprise, more like a shock, when two different major publishing houses (Moody and Tyndale) expressed interest. That book has been out of print a while, but in the past few weeks I’ve started a re-release as the Following Jesus Series eBooklets. The Way-Paver Society, The Pallet Carriers Union, and Get Ready! Get Set! are the first three available.

Encouraged by his success and getting the idea from a comment made by an editor during a meal at that same conference, we began working together on devotionals for kids and teens. Soon after we co-authored Questions I’d Like To Ask and Devotions With a Difference (later reissued as Winners and Losers)

After that came our books on family life, which grew out of Stephen’s speaking ministry for Family Living Conferences sponsored by Moody Bible Institute.

At what time did you think you could make a career in writing?
Stephen was serving as a pastor in a good-sized church in southern California when we a number of writing contracts came our way. Truly, one spring we signed for twelve kids and adult novels (grouped in series). What a stress to fit all the duties and ministries into a workable schedule. We determined we needed to either cut back on the writing or move somewhere with less responsibility. After much prayer and searching over several years, we settled in a small town in north-central Idaho. Slower pace. Cheaper lifestyle. Less pressure church ministry. That was in 1988.

How do you keep the writing fresh and contemporary after so many books?
I do try to keep notebooks with me at all times. I’m constantly writing down snippets of scenes and thoughts that catch my attention. However, all of that process was so much easier when we worked as a team. Stephen exuded creativity and ideas. He was a prolific thinker with a very active imagination. I so miss his input. Though a bit of that rubbed off on me, the project output will be much slower from now on. My mind does buzz all the time, stays dialed to alert. But my rhythm and output’s on a different speed and wave length.

Since you wrote as a team, how did you divide up the duties?
We approached each project a bit different. First, we’d brainstorm the outline and topics, or characters, setting, and plot. That would take a couple weeks or so. Then, with the nonfiction, we divvied up the topics or chapters. Pretty simple to split apart and then meld together. On fiction, we’d both develop character sketches and name ideas. We’d come to an agreement eventually on what would work best. But Stephen was definitely the best at coming up with incredible names. And plot twists. He kept us going.

Sometimes Stephen would do what we called his “rush flush” of rough draft scenes, writing as fast as he could. I would edit, adapt, and add descriptors of various types. Other times, we’d each try a scene and either combine the parts or delete one and include the other.

You’ve done a number of series from contemporary times to the old west. How do you go about writing a series?
My new novel, my first adult solo attempt, was a first book that had too many plot lines to keep it to a stand-alone. I had so much more material left that it just begged to be a series. The first one, Wind in the Wires, a Trails of Reba Cahill adventure, was released several months ago. I plan to start working on Book 2 about May 1st with a planned late Fall release. I’ve got a box full of a jumble of ideas that need major crafting to come to life in an organized, captivating story world. My working title at the moment is From the Prairie to the Ocean. Not catchy enough yet, but it helps me focus on the movement of the main characters.

As a rule, Stephen began with a proposal for the editors of a series of books. If the first one did okay in the market within a month or two after its initial release, they allowed more to be published. Other times, he stayed with a one-book deal, especially if it was a bit different than his others, or very experimental like his contemporary mystery adventure, Paperback Writer. The whole story takes place by looking inside the convoluted, crazy levels of the mind of a fiction writer. The reader doesn’t always know what’s real and what was his fantasy being played out. Writers absolutely loved it and gave him rave reviews. Had mixed comments with regular fans that expected a good ole western or something similar.

Do you think there will always be print books? Or do you think it will all go digital?
Yes, I do believe there will always be print books. They’ll sure be on my bookshelves. Though I have a Kindle and appreciate the advantages, I still prefer reading (and marking) paper and hardbacks.

How do you feel the digital market has changed the publishing industry for the better or worse?
I’ve seen huge turnovers of earthquake movements in publishing in recent years since we started in the early ‘80s. From my viewpoint, It’s been a perfect storm of a number of elements. The crush of numbers of new writers that exploded on the scene. Limited bookshelf and publisher production space. The overall economy turndown. The phenomenon of large distributors such as Walmart and Costco purchasing big bundles of books and then returning them if they didn’t sell. Celebrities and folks with ready platforms whose books (often written by ghost writers) became bestsellers and left the lesser known in the dust.

In addition, the demand for writers to be represented by agents. Publishers being bought out by larger companies. Countless reputable publishing houses going bankrupt overnight. The slow turn around from total disdain of self-publishing to the proliferation of almost everybody doing it. For those who once were in mainstream publishing, and now producing their own books too, a new title emerged: Indie writers. Now, anyone can publish his or her own book. And almost everyone does. The problem is, the market’s inundated and not always with good quality. Hard to discern the junk from the quality productions at times.

Your works have been published in the both traditional and indie markets. Since you had a lot of experience with the traditional side, how did you adjust to putting out your own books?
There are pros and cons. It’s nice to have a quicker turnaround in release dates. And it’s great to know for sure I’m going to be published. However, the incredible amount of work (and expense) involved saps resources and becomes so overwhelming at times.

Every step of the process, from actual printing details to distribution and marketing outreach, is now up to me. Some of it’s enjoyable. Some of it’s excruciating to figure out and find the time and energy. Not in my comfort zone at all. There’s the constant need to push books when I’d rather just spend time writing. And I prefer getting to know potential readers as friends and not think of them as customers all the time.

What promotions have worked best for you in book sales?
The best book sales come from speaking engagements, especially longer interactions such as weekend events when you spend a lot of time with the participants. It's always been that way. Still is.

How do you make a book signing a success?
It’s always a challenge. Often hard to engage people who don’t know you or your works. I’ve had some good response when combined with a workshop. Provided interesting giveaways. Had signups for drawings along with perks for subscribing to newsletter. Discounted my book (if agreeable with bookstore). Assigned someone be your reach-out person, to greet people and and encourage folks to come to your table.

What is some of the best writing advice that you’ve received or could give?
As a writer, nothing that happens to you, or that involves people around you, is ever wasted. It can all be used somehow, some way.

Trust God’s timing with your whole heart. Even when you have seasons of not writing, when you perceive no outlets, or everyone around you seems to have much more success. Rely on His purpose in you and through you to come to full fruition. He has a plan for your ministry and message. It will happen.

Are there any other points about writing that you would like to add?
Never presume you have it made, that you’ve got nothing more to learn. Don’t just grind out your material. Find fresh ways to present it. Figure out another slant. Be in constant renewal, no matter your age or stage.

What new works do you have planned?
Some I've mentioned above. Right now I’m re-issuing some of my late hubby’s early books in adapted formats. The Following Jesus Series, for instance. I’m also bringing back into print as many of our juvenile novels (ages 8-14) as possible. As of now, I’ve completed for eBooks and paperback editions the Nathan T. Riggins Western Adventure series, fiction for boys. Hope to have at least 15 of them ready before I start on Book 2 of the Trails of Reba Cahill Series in May.

This interview just touched on the many books Janet and Stephen have written. Hope you will take the time to review their website to get more details on each of the series and stand alone books.

Website: www.BlyBooks.com
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BlyBooks
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/janetchesterbly
Sign up for Almost Monthly Newsletter:
http://www.blybooks.com/contact/stephen-bly-books-newsletter/

Writing as a Team: An Interview with Betsy Duffey & Laurie Myers, The Writing Sisters

I'd like to introduce you to today's interview with a duo for a change -- Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers, The Writing Sisters. These two sisters were destined to write and began critiquing manuscripts at an early age for their mother, Betsy Byars. Some of her writing achievements include the National Book Award for Children's Fiction, Edgar Award and the prestigious Newbery medal.

It always helps to have the writing genes in you of an award winning writer. Still they had to make their own way in the writing world on their own skills. They went on to become authors of more than thirty-five children’s novels. Their first book for adults is  The Shepherd’s Song. Let's see what we can learn from them!

When did you get the idea that maybe you could become writers like your mom?
Even as children we considered ourselves writers. Seeing our mother write gave us a realistic idea about what it takes to be a writer. She would write for hours every day at a desk in the corner of her bedroom. We shared the joys and pains of writing even as children. 

We both started writing when our children began reading. We wrote the books that we wanted them to read. When those ideas began to come we knew what to do – write for hours a day! When you are raising children you are in their world and for us children’s books was a good fit. We had so much material to work with all around us.

Your bio seems to show the books started taking shape more as a second career. Why was there

a delay in starting?
The delay in starting was more an issue of time and maturity. We both had different careers in medicine first. We both married and had children. Then the desire to write came and the time to write was there.

You and your sister and mother have collaborated on multiple children’s’ books. How did you split up the work 3 ways?
Our first collaboration included our mother and the two of us. We worked individually on our chapters then met together, sitting around Mom’s kitchen table where we wrote the first and last chapters to tie the book together. This worked well for us and we did three more books the same way.

When our mother stopped writing we continued collaborating as sisters but adopted a different work strategy. We have a shared document system that we can both access on line. Now we can change and rewrite each other’s work. It helps that we both had years of experience working with editors and critique groups and having other people give input to our writing. 

Who has the final say of what goes into the book?
Our agreement is that we never go forward with a change or an idea unless we both agree. That makes the issue of who has final say a moot point.

Many non-writers think writing for children is easy, but it still needs a story arc like any other

book. Has any one book been more challenging than another?
Children are a pretty tough audience. They won’t continue reading a book unless they are rewarded with every word. The Shepherd’s Song was so different for us. We had never written a book with over 64 pages. We had never written a book with adult themes. But, writing for children honed our skills. So many things are the same. You need memorable characters, strong plot, tight writing. Adults like a good story too.

How do you keep the writing fresh and contemporary after so many books?
Each book brings a different character, setting and theme. The Shepherd’s Song was especially challenging in that it had twelve different characters, and settings. The research makes it interesting for us. We love exploring a new setting online and often visit the location we are writing about.

You’ve now switched styles and are writing adult novels. Why the change?
The change for us came with the idea, to write about Psalm 23. We both felt that we wanted to integrate our faith with our writing and first began to look at how to do that for children. We felt that God was leading us into something deeper and we were drawn to the Psalm. At the same time we couldn’t see it as a children’s book. 

Will you still write for children? Are there any other writing styles you’d like to try?
For us it is more about what ideas and inspiration comes. Right now we are continuing to write stories using scripture as a catalyst for change in the characters. Our next book focuses on the Lord’s Prayer. We have also written several devotional series and are always open to new things.

How do you write? Do you do an outline first? Do you do individual character development before doing the full plot? 

This was a source of tension for us when we first began to write together. Laurie is a plotter. Betsy a seat-of-the-pants writer. We had to find a balance between outlining and allowing the story to develop naturally. We like to use a storyboard – a large poster board where we can map out the story but still move things around. The process of working together required our surrender of the work to God. When we both let go of the control of the book we begin to work together and appreciate the skills and the wiring that God gave each of us.

 

Have you discovered some secret that has helped your process for writing? We have always been avid readers. We know books from reading books. A thought that has helped us is that writing is the creation of reading. When we get stuck we think if I were reading this book what would happen next. What would this character say? What would I want to read?

Do you use writing programs such as Scrivener?
We don’t use writing programs. Because we collaborate we write on an online document together.

Books that are Christian themed are growing in demand. Why do you think that is occurring?
People want to find meaning in their lives and are constantly disappointed by the world. Readers are drawn to stories of hope. The Shepherd’s Song strikes a chord with those who wonder if their life matters.

What is some of the best writing advice that you’ve received or could give?
Our mother was so wise. I was lamenting one time about a rejection and the realization that I had written a book that was not publishable. She told me that no writing is ever wasted and I’ve held onto that. Some things we write to learn the skill of writing. Some things we write and resurrect parts of the book years later. Some things we write to work out our own issues. Nothing is wasted.

Any last tips about writing that you would like to add?

Writing is a journey. We have watched our mother write for over seventy years through many ups and downs. We have each had our own journey with successes and failures. We can enjoy the process through the ups and downs.  

That's all for today's interview. I hope it helps you on your own writing journey. If you'd like to know more about Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers, here are some ways to do so.

www.WritingSisters.com        www.facebook.com/WritingSisters        The Shepherd’s Song

From Short Stories to Novels: An Interview with author, Jason Brannon

Let's talk about the beginning process. What was the first novel you wrote?  

The first novel I ever wrote was called Rusty Nails. The book was a supernatural detective novel in the vein of The Dresden Files and Simon R. Green’s Nightside series. At the time, I had been primarily writing short stories and wanted to stretch my abilities to see if I could write something novel-length.    

How long did it take you to write that book?  How many rewrites did you do on it? 

The book was a learning experience in a lot of ways and took me the better part of nine months to write.  The book went through several rewrites and several publishers. Given that it was the first novel I ever tried to tackle, I don’t consider it among my best work. However, I learned a lot of valuable lessons with that one, particularly regarding story continuity and the need to revise, revise, revise!  

In reviewing your books for sale on Amazon, I saw 13 titles for books published in the last two years. Were these books in process for several years? Or do you just not sleep at all and write constantly? 

I’ve been writing and selling fiction for almost twenty years. In that time, I’ve compiled quite a few books worth of material.  A lot of the titles listed at Amazon are reissues of books that were published in previous years.  At least five of those (the Crypto-Squad series co-written with Eric S. Brown) are novella collaborations.   

How many hours a day do you write?  

As for my daily ritual-typically, I try to get in a couple thousand words a day. Sometimes that takes an hour.  Sometimes, it takes a couple of hours. There are days when the words come easily, and there are days when it’s work. Obviously, I enjoy the days when the words just seem to flow.        

A number of those books are under 200 pages with one under 100 pages. Are people more

interested in buying the longer books or the shorter ones? 

With the popularity of eBooks I think people are gravitating toward shorter works.In this day and age where you can read a novel on any smartphone, books under 100 pages are often the way to go. It’s so easy now to open your phone app and read a few pages while sitting at the doctor’s office, standing in line at the bank, or when you only have a few minutes on break at work. Speaking as a reader, those shorter works are the kinds of books I gravitate toward, especially in eBook format.   

I also noted that some are out of print? What happened with those books?  

With regard to the out-of-print titles, some of those were published years ago and have remained in Amazon’s system.  Some had a limited print run and weren’t reprinted once the initial run sold out.                       

For your current book, The Maze:The Lost Labyrinth the Amazon blurb says, “A near death experience transports Jamie Burroughs into The Maze, a realm built by angels and demons and filled with traps and riddles for those haunted by their mistakes.” What drew you to writing this story?

The Maze was written because I had a desire to write something that was more than just a few scares on a page. I wanted to write something with a moral undercurrent that could function as both entertainment and as a life lesson. I hope that readers understand that there are multiple layers to this story and delve deep for meaning.   

What do you hope readers will take away from reading it?

The main point I hope to drive home with this story is that although many of us find ourselves trapped in a downward spiral, there are still chances for redemption. No situation is truly hopeless. So far my readers seem to be “getting” the story, and some comparisons describe the book as something C.S. Lewis and Edgar Allan Poe might have written in collaboration. Since I'm a fan of both writers, I consider that a huge compliment.      

I’m going to go under the assumption that many of your books have been published independently. When did you decide to do it on your own? 

I’ve sold books to traditional publishers and I’ve tried the independent route. Both had advantages and disadvantages. I’ve primarily used the independent route to reissue old books that were no longer under contract. However, many of my books like The Maze are contracted through a traditional publisher. At the moment, I currently have an agent, and that is the avenue I use to sell any new work. The only books I’ve ever felt truly comfortable publishing independently were books that had already gone through an editorial process.      

How do you write? Did you do an outline first? Do you do character bios? 

I’ve tried outlining books, and I always tend to stray from the outline. With that said, I generally start with an overarching idea for a novel and go from there. I always have a basic idea of how a book will end and maybe a few plot points along the way. From there, it's a matter of connecting the dots and figuring out how to get from point A to point B. As for character bios-I don't do anything as structured as writing down all of the aspects of a character's life and using that as the basis for their actions within a particular story. However, I usually have a good mental picture of what my character is like before starting.       

I also see that you co-wrote a number of books? Can you tell me how you got involved in that process? How do you write as a team? 

I’ve co-written the Crypto-Squad series with Eric S. Brown.  He and I have both been writing for quite a while and traveled in some of the same circles. I told him about an idea I had for a series of stories about a government sponsored team of cryptids who prevent the apocalypse, and he liked the idea. Eric wrote a series of novels about Bigfoot (Bigfoot War series), and I wrote a novel about a group of bloodthirsty monsters (The Cage) so joining forces seemed natural. We’ve written four entries in the series so far.   

Generally, one of us will come up with the basic story, write the first couple of chapters, and send it off to the other. Then, we bounce the story back and forth until it’s finished. It’s very much a project built on trust. We usually let each other have free reign and add whatever we think the story needs. So far it has worked really well.     

What type of publicity do you do to promote your book? What has worked best for you in generating sales? What has been a bust? 

Like most writers, I have a website and a blog. Word of mouth is probably one of the most effective ways to sell books. Amazon reviews help quite a bit with that. Amazon’s KDP program has been one of the most effective sales tools I’ve used in generating sales. I’ve also done a few radio interviews which seemed like a good idea on paper. However, that typically has provided the least return in terms of sales. Maybe that has to do with the fact that people are usually en route to someplace else when listening to the radio and not generally in a position to buy a book.  

What do you know now about writing/publishing now that you wished you had known sooner?   

I wish someone would have stressed to me the need for quality over quantity in the early days. In the beginning of my writing career, I focused on cranking out as much fiction as possible, submitting to as many magazines as possible, getting as many projects out there as I could. As a result, I think a lot of my early work suffered and could have been so much better had I invested a little more time on shaping each and every tale and not worrying about moving on to something new. 

What is the best advice you’ve been given about writing or that you’ve learned that you would like to pass along? 

Don’t chase trends. What’s hot today won’t be hot tomorrow. Write about what you love and what excites you. By the time you realize what’s popular and selling, the trend may have changed and you will be stuck with a manuscript that you can’t sell and aren’t passionate about.    

That's it for today's interview. It is has tweaked your interest, you can contact him either of these ways:  www.jasonbrannon.us, www.bulldog1006.wordpress.com