Never Edit Your Own Book! Author Interview with Jessica Berg

What made you decide to write that first novel?
Ever since I can remember, I loved writing and sharing my stories with others. At first, they were little short stories I wrote in high school and shared with my mother (who, of course, loved them)! It wasn’t until I was in my early twenties that I considered writing for real.

How long did it take you to write your first book?
It took me close to two years to write my first book. Children and a full-time job put a hamper on writing hours, so I had to sneak an hour here or there to finish my vision.

How many rewrites did you do on it?
Honestly, I just did a rewrite on my first novel, A Place to Call Home! As I’ve grown in my writing craft, I wanted to tend to my book “baby,” so I went back and made some rewrites, extended the ending, and generally just gave her an overhaul.

Who helped you with the editing?
From the beginning, I had several people in my corner, helping me. The one mistake I made though, as this was my first book and I ignorantly thought that as an English teacher I could edit my own work, I did not hire an editor. This proved to be a mistake, and that is part of the reason I went back through and did hire an editor to look over my book. For any up and coming authors out there, please learn from my mistake and never edit your own work. It doesn’t work!

Who encouraged you along the way?
My family has been in my corner since day one. They encouraged me to keep going and write because I love it and it is who I am. My husband entertains our four kids so I can get some writing time, and he helps so much with creating social media posts and creating eye-catching ads.

Are you active with any writing critique groups?
No, I am not. I have a group of trusted beta readers.

You just published your second book. Was that easier or harder to write?
It was easier to write for several reasons. I not only grew in my writing craft, but the topic of my second novel is very near and dear to my heart. As a farm girl from the South Dakota prairie, I wanted to share my passion for the Dakotas and the hard-working men and women who make up the backbone of this country.

How did you go about finding an agent/publisher?
For Amber Waves of Grace, I queried dozens of agents and finally got one. However, she did nothing with my book for a year, and I had to make the difficult decision of ending my contract with her. After the allotted wait time, I started querying again (which is harder than actually writing a novel!) and got signed with Red Adept Publishing, a small publishing house.

Have you attended writing conferences?
I went to one conference a couple of years ago, and even though I did not get signed with an agent, I met several author friends who have been instrumental in my writing career as mentors and encouragers.

Tell me about your query process.
I sent out so many queries that I think I could wallpaper my house with them! Querying really is the hardest part about the writing process, but it is a necessary evil and one well worth it in the end when you hook an agent or publisher. There are good resources out there on how to write a good query. Before sending out queries, an author must educate herself/himself on the ins and outs of the process.

From the point you were offered a contract on that first book, how long did it take to get published?
I self-published my first book. My second book, Amber Waves of Grace, is the traditionally published one. For this one, it was about a year and a half. Traditional publishing is more like a marathon than a sprint, and as patience is not one of my virtues, this was a trying time. But, I am more than satisfied with the book and the attention and dedication the publishing team put to my novel.

What is the hardest part of writing for you? 

I think the hardest part of writing for me is seeing how it will all come together. I am such a “pantser” that I’ll get halfway through my writing and realize that point A doesn’t match up with point B. At that point, I have to go back and change things, which takes time. 

I wish I loved outlining, but sadly, I get too bored with it! With my murder-mystery novel though, which is contracted with Red Adept Publishing, I HAD to outline. That was a learning curve for me but well worth it in the end.

What does your editor remind you to do most often?

I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but I do know that when I get my line editing back it looks as if someone were murdered with all the red!

What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing?
The great reviews of my novels from people I don’t know. It’s one thing having your mom like your work, but a complete stranger? Now that’s something to keep the writing fire lit and roaring.

We have all experienced rejection. How have you learned to write past it?
I’m afraid I haven’t! Writing, like other art-centered work, is highly personal. When someone dislikes it or even rejects something that you have worked so hard on, it definitely stings. I have learned to decipher constructive feedback versus criticism, though, which I believe is a healthy start in writing past the rejection.

What has surprised or frustrated you the most in writing/publishing?
What surprised me the most is the power the reader has. An author can write a million books, but if readers do not leave reviews, the book will go nowhere. This ties in with the frustration question. As an author, I wish readers knew they have the power to make or break an author, and that taking five minutes to leave a review will have exponential results.

What do you know now about writing you wished you had known sooner?
To steal the quote, “If you build it, they will come,” the same things apply in writing. Just because you write it doesn’t mean readers will read it. Marketing, marketing, and more marketing. There are so many books out there. An author has to be vigilant with marketing and getting his/her book in front of readers. If I had realized this sooner, my career as an author would have blossomed much earlier. It is truly my only regret as an author.

What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give?
Write. Just write. Find a time each day to jot down something. It could be an idea; it could be an entire chapter. The important thing to remember is that if you write, you are an author! Way too many people feel guilty for calling themselves an author because they’ve only written one book, or they haven’t been published. Don’t succumb to this belief. As soon as you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, you are an author.

What is the next book coming out?

My next book, under contract with Red Adept Publishing, has the working title, Love and Murder: A Pemberley Manor Mystery.

Can you give me a short synopsis?

Eat a crumpet. Check. Say “bloody hell” in an English pub. Check. Solve three homicides and fall in love. Not on the list, but when England dishes up bloody murder, even an American girl knows it’s time to channel her inner Agatha Christie.

American, Eliza Darcy, braves a transatlantic flight to England to partake in a Darcy/Bennet family reunion for one reason: to resolve the decades-long estrangement fracturing the bond between her father and uncle, Fitzwilliam Darcy the 7th. Eliza immerses herself in the world of the vast estate of her ancestors, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy.

After a dead body surfaces in the courtyard fountain, murder and mayhem sabotage afternoon teas and flirting with her British heartthrob, Heath Tilney. The Anglophilic mystery fangirl has every intention of keeping her snoot out of official coppers’ business, but when clues to the murder begin to merge with her investigation into her family’s rift, her inner sleuth self-activates.

With the help of her batty great aunt and Heath, Eliza works to untangle the web of lies and secrets. As corpses start to pile up faster than the clues, Eliza fears the estate’s family graveyard will swallow another body: hers.

Sounds intriguing! If you’d like to buy this book or others of Jessica’s, here are some links to get you started.

https://www.jessicabergbooks.com
https://www.facebook.com/jessicabergb...
https://www.instagram.com/jessicaberg...
https://www.amazon.com/Amber-Waves-Gr...
https://www.amazon.com/Place-Call-Hom...

Write to Have Something to Revise: Author Interview with Lisa Robinson.

What I despise about movies or TV shows that have main characters who are writers is how they make it look so easy. The character meets someone who works for one of the big publishing houses who automatically picks up their manuscript and the newbie writer gets a big fat advance or immediately becomes a best-selling author.

For those of us in the writing trenches, we know this isn’t true for 99% of the time. My interview today is with an author who personifies what being a writer is all about. So, read on for the true story of getting published.

I read your blog which noted you have had over 100 rejections on your submissions. What kept you going? Most writers would have thrown in the towel! Or decided to self-pub. 

So many things kept me going: my passion for writing and getting published; my critique group who encouraged me and told me to not to quit; watching other writers persevere and ultimately cross the publishing threshold; multiple near-misses made me aware that I was getting close; also, somewhere along the way I read that it takes about 100 rejections before one gets close to getting published.

I took that as a challenge: keep working on my craft and submitting and one of these days I'll get there. The closer I got to 100, the more I felt that I was close to getting published. (And it turned out to be true!) 

How did you finally get your agent?

After much research into agents who represented both novels and picture books, I approached my agent, Alyssa Eisner Henkin, through the usual online querying process; however, in addition to several submission-ready manuscripts, I also had an offer in hand from my Two Lions editor, Marilyn Brigham, for my picture book, Pippa's Night Parade. I made the connection with Marilyn that resulted in this offer through the RUCCL conference (Rutgers University Council on Children's Literature), which I highly recommend.

Alyssa read my YA novel manuscript as well as a picture book biography and offered to represent my work. Alyssa's been a wonderful agent and subsequently sold three additional manuscripts.

And what are those other books? 

I have another fiction picture book coming out with Two Lions this year: Pirates Don't Go To Kindergarten. And two nonfiction books are coming out with Schwartz and Wade/Random House in 2020: Madame Saqui, Revolutionary Rope Dancer and Were I Not a Girl, The Inspiring Story Of Dr. James Barry. 

Tell me about the process of having your manuscripts accepted and published.

In general, the submissions process seems to take 3-6 months and I understand that that's fairly standard. With regard to the publishing process, both of my editors have promptly sent me editorial suggestions and we've gone back and forth three to five times with edits that have been thorough and thoughtful but not overly extensive. My agent is also responsive and thoughtful in guiding me.

My publisher, Two Lions, involved me with the illustrator choice, asking me what kind of style I preferred, whereas Random House did not loop me into the process at all (and yet, in spite of those differences, I'm delighted with all the illustrator choices).

Do you or your publishers write the book blurb on the back cover?

Both publishers wrote the book blurb but ran it by me to make sure I was okay with it. My debut book, Pirates Don't Go To Kindergarten, is coming out this month so that's the only book for which I can comment on the marketing process; I've been very pleased so far -- it's part of the Amazon First Reads program and they've also organized a blog tour. 

Your blog also notes you’ve written dozens of fiction picture books and several nonfiction picture books. Are any of these under consideration with a publisher? 

I have a new YA novel we'll be sending out in the fall.  Two of my nonfiction picture book manuscripts are out on submission right now. 

What is the hardest part of writing for you? Starting?

Writing a first draft is the hardest part! What appears on the page is never as good as what's in my mind and that's dispiriting. What keeps me going is the reminder that it's all about revision, revision, revision. And you have to have something to revise! 

What’s the best encouragement you’ve had in your writing? 

It's so important to find a writing community that nurtures and sustains you. My writing community cheers me on when things are going well and encourages and consoles me during times of disappointment and difficulty; this is essential and I'm happy to do the same for my writing friends in return. 

We have all been frustrated by writing rejections. Yet you said one particularly devastating rejection turned out to be for the best. Could you give me the details? 

To preserve confidentiality, I'd prefer not to give specific details. However, I can say that the rejection cut me loose from a connection that wasn't the best for me, but I didn't realize that until much later. 

What has surprised you the most in writing/publishing?

What surprised me a lot (but shouldn't!) is the wild subjectivity of this industry. My agent can send out a manuscript and one editor will love it and praise it and another editor will clearly think it's boring or unmarketable.

What frustrated you the most? 

It’s the glacial pace of the process. I've learned that the best antidote to that frustration is to keep on working on new projects. 
What do you know now about writing you wished you had known sooner?

There's a lot of joy but a lot of disappointment, frustration, and self-doubt. 

What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give? 

Bill Lychack, one of the faculty in my MFA program, told a group of students one day: "If you can stop writing, just do it. Really, stop it if you can."

I took that to mean he was recognizing that for many of us writing is a compulsion, something we have to do, that we need in order for us to live our lives fully. But it's also an arduous and frustrating and doubt-filled process that one should avoid if one doesn't have this compulsion. It may seem odd but I found this comforting since I'm one of those people who just has to keep writing, in spite of how hard it is at times.

What is the next book coming out? Can you give me a short synopsis? 

Pippa's Night Parade is about a creative little girl whose imagination gets a little out of control and results in her having trouble with monsters (coming out of her storybooks!) at bedtime. Luckily, she's able to use her wits and that same imagination to take charge of her fears and tame the monsters. 

That’s all for today’s interview. If you would like to learn more about Lisa and how and where to buy her books, you can go to her website: https://author-lisa-robinson.com 

It's All About Making Contacts: Author Interview with Lea Geller

Most everyone thinks they can write a novel. What made you decide to write one? 

I began writing for public consumption by blogging. In my blog, www.thisisthecornerwepeein.com, I shared publicly the parenting stories all my friends were urging me to “write down.” As a mom of five kids relatively close in age, I felt like each week brought a new misadventure or mishap. Once I started sharing them, I was surprised by how many people wrote and thanked me — and I heard a lot of “I’m glad to know it’s not just me.”  

I did this for a few years (and still do) and one day, a reader reached out and asked me if I had ever thought about writing a novel because a friend of hers was teaching a novel workshop at Sarah Lawrence. The class was actually a romance novel class, and I knew one thing for sure: I did not have a romance novel in me (at least not at the time). The instructor assured me that a novel is a novel and I’d learn all the basics I’d need for any genre. She was right. I walked into the class and started working on the book. 

What inspired your story?

The story was inspired by some of the women I’d met when I lived in Santa Monica years ago — at the time I began having children. They were women married to much older, wealthier men, and I’d always wondered what their marriages would look like in ten years’ time.  

It was also inspired by my sons when they were in middle school. The house was full of them and their friends and I remember sitting where they would not see me, but I could listen to them talk about how little their teachers liked them, how little they thought their parents liked them, and how little they liked themselves. Middle school is a fascinating time for me as a parent and this book was partially borne from those experiences. 

Okay, that needs some clarification. How do Santa Monica trophy wives and insecure MG kids fit into the same book? Could you give my readers a short blurb about how they merge together in the book?

The two are not a normal mix, but I started with the boys and asked myself -- people don't really like middle school boys... who else don't they like? who would be a good foil? I think that's I fell upon the fallen trophy wife idea. Also, they are both underestimated, and at times misjudged... the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a good fit.

And it seems like the idea worked with your publisher as well. Tell me about your publisher, Lake Union, which is Amazon Publishing’s “Book Club” Fiction imprint. What exactly does a “book club publisher” mean?

That’s a great question. I think it means you write a book that people — often women — want to sit around and discuss. It’s a pretty wide genre, when it’s put like that — because virtually anything can be book club fodder. But I think books about women, in particular, are front and center. 

How did that connection come together? 

I actually sold to Lake Union without an agent, early on in the process. I had sent a draft out to agents and through a friend got it in front of Amazon Publishing.

When they made me an offer, I jumped! The pros and cons of Amazon Publishing are pretty well known to authors — you may not see your books in all stores, but as an Amazon author, there are certain benefits/promotions. So far, I have been really happy. 

Is Lake Union a hybrid or a traditional publisher? What marketing do they expect you to do?

They function as a traditional publisher in terms of buying your book and setting you up with an editor, cover artist, and marketing team. Then they distribute your book online and in some stores. A few months after they bought the book, I began the editing process with them. As with any publisher, as a new author, I am responsible for a good amount of my own publicity - both in terms of social media and promoting myself at events. 

How long did it take you to write your book?

It took me a year to write, and a year to take apart and rewrite! 

Who encouraged you along the way?

My novel workshop, my teachers, my blog readers and my family. My kids were calling me a novelist when I only had a rough draft in hand. It’s hard not to be encouraged by that! 

How many rewrites did you do on it? Who helped you with the editing?

MANY - too many to keep track of. I worked with a teacher of mine at Sarah Lawrence who read and commented on many drafts of the book. 

What has surprised you the most in writing/publishing?

I’ve been surprised by the incredible online community of women’s fiction writers and readers. It turns out that the loneliest profession isn’t so lonely after all.

What frustrated you the most? 

I think all writers are frustrated by things they hear along the way. I’ll never forget a call I had with an agent who told me that women’s fiction was dead. Most of the book-buyers I know are women and they all love to read stories by and about other women… 

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

If the scene adds nothing to your story, cut it - even if it’s hysterical.

What is the best writing advice you’ve received or could give?

Nora Ephron: Everything is copy. (Your life is material, even if you don’t directly write about it.) 

Any other points about writing you would like to add?

I know a lot of people who say they’d write if they could find the time. I said that, too. At the end of the day though, the time is there to be found. It can be done, and if you’ve been waiting a long time to do it (as I had), it’s surprisingly liberating to sit down and start. 

That’s all for today’s interview. If you’d like to learn more about Lea’s writing and buy a book, here are some ways to do that.

www.leageller.com

www.thisisthecornerwepeein.com

Encouraging Young Readers: An Interview with Pepper Springfield

What was your inspiration for your first book? 

One night, several years ago, one phrase popped into my head: “Bob the slob.” That was it.  I had been thinking about how I wanted to create funny, entertaining books with relatable characters for kids who aren’t necessarily great readers. I wanted the books to be written in rhyme and be easy to read so kids who struggle with reading could feel successful.  And, because adults (teachers, librarians, parents and grandparents) are gatekeepers of children’s books—I wanted to create a series that grown-ups would also want to pick up from the shelf and have fun sharing with children.

Bob the slob is definitely relatable. Where did you go from there?

Little by little, I built a world around that one phrase—“Bob the slob”— and created a story about a family of slobs named Bob and a family of super neat characters all named Tweet. (Except that the youngest member of each family is not like the others.)  Encouraged by a flamboyant character named Mo the two families independently—and unwittingly—both move to Bonefish Street—and end up living across the street from each other.  It’s a real “Hatfield vs. McCoy” moment.

I had no idea where that one phrase—“Bob the slob”— was going to take me or how hard it was going to be to get there. I just got to the point where I couldn’t stop thinking about “Bob the slob” so I finally sat down and started to write to see where it would lead. 

Did you originally have the idea of writing a series? Or did the Bobs and Tweets (your book characters) just take over?

Yes! I knew I wanted to write a series because I know that once kids get hooked on a book they are hungry for more stories about those characters.  But I certainly didn’t know—and still don’t—where those characters want to go in their next book so they are definitely driving the bus.

Was there any particular author you read that made you think:  “I could write like that.”?

I am inspired by great children’s (and adult!) book creators whose characters and series feel timeless and continue to captivate readers across many decades.  There are many, many authors I admire and strive to emulate in different ways, but some of my favorites who have created series with lasting appeal to a wide and diverse population of readers are: Dr. Seuss, Dav Pilkey, Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume, Mary Pope Osborne, Jerry Pallotta, and Jeff Kinney.  It is no small feat to ignite kids’ interest in reading and reach millions of kids and their families year after year—and these authors have all done that.

I make many school visits each year and talk to hundreds of kids about books and reading.  Kids have a lot going on in their lives and reading can take a back seat, particularly when kids struggle with fluency or can’t find anything they are interested in.

So I saw a hole to be filled. I was looking for the next book for kids who had outgrown early readers such as Frog and Toad and were ready for more complex plots but couldn’t handle longer chapter books.  I really wanted to find books that would help stop kids from dropping out of reading because they weren’t having enough fun—or feeling good enough about themselves—doing it.  Eventually, I came to realize that I could try to create these books myself

How long did it take you to write your first book? 

It took me five years from that first phrase “Bob the slob” and the first concept of Bobs and Tweets to the final published book. If you search through my laptop you will find hundreds of false starts!

How many rewrites did you do on it? 

When I started writing in earnest I had to print everything out to be able to re-read and re-write so I also have bunches of tote bags stuffed with printed drafts and revisions.  (By now, I have trained my brain to work on my digital drafts and I don’t need to print everything out.)

I was also very disorganized.  I think I was so self-conscious about trying to be a writer that I didn’t allow myself to develop a real system for tracking my latest drafts. So I often started rewriting everything from scratch. It took me a really long time to accept the fact that I actually was writing a book, give myself permission to come up with a process that worked for me, and act like a real writer.

But for me, the writing is all in the rewriting.  Sometimes, when my writing isn’t going well, I will force myself to get something—any nonsense—down, just so I will have something to revise from.  I hear writers talk about the process of rewriting but I didn’t fully understand what they meant until I sat down to write myself. Ideas do not come out of my head perfectly formed.  I need to get them down in words and then start shaping and reshaping and reshaping some more.

 Were you active with any writing critique groups?  

I was so self-conscious and so terrified about telling anyone I was writing a book that I didn’t know where to go for feedback.  In my day job, I am supposed to be an expert in children’s publishing and I really feared that if a book I wrote wasn’t well-received that I would be exposed as a fraud who didn’t know what she was doing.

I was too embarrassed to join a writer’s group.  I didn’t even tell my close friends and family that I was working on a book.  Eventually, I got enough courage to hire an independent editor to work with me and give me feedback long before I submitted to a publisher and then I started to get the helpful feedback I needed.  

Who encouraged you along the way?

Nobody encouraged me along the way because I didn’t let anyone know what I was doing.  I stood firmly in my own way. I was really my own worst obstacle.

Tell me about your experience in writing for Scholastic. How did it come about?

Initially, I didn’t expect Scholastic to publish Bobs and Tweets.  I really just got up enough nerve to ask a publisher friend in the Trade division what she thought of it. 

I found Kristy Caldwell—a brilliant illustrator—on the SCBWI website. Kristy didn’t know me and I didn’t have a deal for the book yet but she was brave and interested enough to meet with me and together we created a dummy of Meet the Bobs and Tweets.

I also wrote up a survey for kids to answer questions about the book and the characters.  I made some copies of the black and white dummy and sent it with the survey to a few teachers I know to share with kids in their classes.  I got incredible feedback from those 
surveys—the kids who read the dummy said they loved the story and the characters. 

What happened next?
I took the dummy and the survey results to my publisher friend at Scholastic to ask for advice and she said they would be interested in publishing it.

I was thrilled but also very nervous.  I work very hard to make sure my editor, Celia Lee, knows I am totally receptive to all editorial feedback.  I try to make myself very coachable.  I have so much to learn as a writer and I didn’t want my day job (President of Scholastic Book Clubs) to be intimidating in any way.

One note: I don’t think a snazzy presentation necessarily gets your book submission noticed but it was important for me to show my concept and provide some supporting materials for my idea. Even though the finished book doesn’t look anything like that original dummy, it --and the surveys from kids --did a lot to help me convey what I was trying to do.

What is the hardest part of writing for you? Starting? Creating a scene? Dialog? etc?

I am happy to be distracted by Facebook updates, texts from my kids, and flash sales of any kind (!), so it takes me a while to sit down and fully concentrate on writing without giving in to interruptions and fun distractions.

Even when I get rid of all the distractions I have days when I sit in front of my computer for hours and get nothing. And I find if it’s not coming, I will fall asleep.  That seems to be my stress reaction.  So I’ve learned to go with it: just put my head down for a few minutes, wake up, then get on with it.

In general, the hardest part of writing for me is keeping my main characters—Dean Bob and Lou Tweet—front and center and giving them agency.  I love to develop lots of interesting tangential plot lines and I also tend to focus on some of my adult characters (such as Mo, the self-appointed Mayor of Bonefish Street; Ms. Pat, the kids’ teacher, and Mark, the Bonefish Street Pool lifeguard) and have to keep pulling the main plot back to the kids.

Do you have a daily writing commitment? 

It does get tricky when I can’t get my writing to flow because I don’t have a regular schedule and I have a day job, so I constantly have to find scraps of time to write.  I plan my weekends carefully and try to make sure I block out at least a few hours to write.  I have learned, it comes out bit by bit.

Does rhyming come easily to you?

Rhyming is really hard.  I have to work to create very “tight rhymes” which will be read the same way, with the same cadence, by most readers.   I began asking my family to read the rhymes aloud to me as I wrote so I could hear pitfalls in the rhyming structure.

Of course, the only person forcing me to write in rhyme is…me! But the Bobs and Tweets books are designed to be easy to read and I think rhyming helps that so it’s worth the struggle.

We have all experienced rejection. Give me an example of one you’ve had, and how you learned to write past it.

Even though I experience all kinds of rejection in my corporate job every day, the fear of rejection for my writing held me back for years.  I was so terrified of rejection that I created a pseudonym—Pepper Springfield—and I didn’t tell anyone but one close friend and my immediate family that I was really Pepper. 

I was so afraid of being “outed” as a fraud. As I said, in my day job at Scholastic, I’m supposed to be an expert on children’s books—how could I hold my head up if my books weren’t bestsellers or didn’t inspire great reviews? In a way, I rejected myself so no one else would be able to.  I didn’t allow anyone to support and encourage me or my writing life.

Finally, I realized that people are not lying in wait, hoping that I will screw up.  And even if there are people who don’t love the Bobs and Tweets, there’s nothing I can do to change that!

Although this fear of rejection still holds me back to some degree, I know now a snarky review can be hurtful but it won’t kill me.  I need to promote my books unapologetically, because if I don’t love them publicly then I cannot expect readers to discover and love them too! My advice to myself is to just keep going and not let fear hold me back.

What is some of the best writing advice that you’ve received or could give?

It’s funny until I sat down to answer these questions, I never put into words how The Bobs and Tweets got started.  And I realize I was actually unknowingly following some great advice I heard Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, give during his Harvard commencement speech when I was there with my Dad for his 65th college reunion last month.

 Addressing the graduates and alumni Zuckerberg said,  “Ideas don’t come out fully formed. They only become clear as you work on them. You just have to get started…The idea of a single eureka moment is a dangerous lie.”

When I first began the Bobs and Tweets series I only had one phrase “Bob the slob,” but as I kept working on it that phrase became two families, two best friends, a neighborhood, a community, and an entire world that I now love so much!

Are there any other points about writing that you would like to add?

Well, you have to tell a good story.  Otherwise, it’s just words. You have to have characters that people are rooting for.  Once you have that you can fill in the technical details but if you don’t have a good story, who cares?

I offer this from my perspective as Pepper Springfield, but also from my experience in my day job:  you need to step back and act like the intended reader of your own book. I get lots of submissions from writers and I wonder: would YOU really want to read this?  It might be an interesting concept but is it really an engaging read? Are you, the writer, interested in your own story? Because if you’re not, then no agent or publisher or editor or reader will be either!

I think I knew Bobs and Tweets was going to work because I would laugh out loud when I re-read the story. But when I read it back to myself I also have to be honest about the parts that are slow or overwritten.  I learned to pay attention to my own thought process.  Was I skipping over parts or reading them from a distance? If so, they weren’t connecting even to me and they had to be edited. Of course, that’s where editors come in.  If you can’t find one, use your friends or network and be open to their feedback.  You don’t have to take every idea everyone gives you but you do want to be approachable and listen. You can even learn a lot from bad feedback.

And I can’t say this enough: be prepared to cut! I cut at least 50% of what I write.  Just because I got it down on paper doesn’t mean it’s going to work as the book evolves. But often what I end up cutting makes room for something better and the result is a much stronger rhyme or scene. 

One more thing: writing and publishing are not the same thing.  There is an audience for everything written—even if the audience is only one person—the writer.  But publishing your book and trying to get others to read it is daunting.  On the one hand, these days, with social media and on-line booksellers, there are so many opportunities for you to connect your book to all kinds of possible audiences. But on the other hand, it takes a huge amount of time, energy, and attention to satisfy them all.

A book isn’t going to find a market without your help.  That’s why I had to stop hiding behind Pepper Springfield and get to work helping people discover my books.

My daughter helped push me to be a better “self-promoter.” She said, “Mom, people want to support you—they just need to know how!” So I finally sent an email to my friends and family and asked them to check out my book and they did and that momentum really encouraged me.

Do you have another book in the series? Can you give me a short synopsis?

I spent a lot of time building the world of Bonefish Street and the characters who live there and Kristy Caldwell spent years developing the characters visually so there is no way they are going to stay confined to two books!

We introduced the characters and their world in Meet the Bobs and Tweets. In book two, Perfecto Pet Show (pub date: 6/27/17) Lou and Dean along with their pets Chopper and Pretty Kitty perform in a Kid/Pet Talent Show. And I am excited to say I just got the go-ahead for Book Three—a Halloween title scheduled for Fall 2018.

Sounds like you have a full schedule ahead of you. If you would like to learn more about Pepper's current and upcoming books, here are some ways to do that. 

https://www.pepperspringfield.com/

https://twitter.com/peppertheauthor

https://www.instagram.com/pepperspringfield/

Publishers Weekly Article

The Guilt and Insecurity of Writing: Author Interview with Dianne J. Wilson

Today's interview is with a writer  from South Africa, so you'll probably notice some different word spellings, between the two of us - which is fun. I love that I can get in touch with writers around the world from my computer for a chat about writing. 

Prior to writing this novel, what sort of freelance writing did you do? 
As a freelancer, my favourite thing to write was humour pages (All About Cats, Threads & Crafts, Shape) though I also found a niche in writing real life stories. I got to interview and write up the adventures of some fabulously interesting people. For a time I also wrote those odd little quizzes in women’s magazines – you know, the kind us women find ourselves doing while waiting to see the doctor.

What made you decide to take the big step and write a novel? How long did it take you to write your first book? 
I started writing Shackles out of a deep desire to produce something more than ‘fluff’. It took me five years to write. Shocking, I know. Part of that was insecurity (can I do this?) part of it was guilt (can I justify stealing this time from my family?) and part of it was sheer cluelessness (what am I doing?). I can’t really say that I re-wrote it at all, I had a wonderful group of beta-readers, who are each English gurus in their own way. They took on the editing as well. It was a team effort in every sense of the word.

Are you active with any writing groups? Who encouraged you along the way?
At the time I wrote Shackles, I was flying solo. My encouragement came from my beta readers. I’d write a few chapters and send them off, give up on writing because I was obviously useless and fooling myself, then they’d come back to me with comments like ‘please hurry up, I want to know what happens to so-and-so’ and I’d be back on the horse.

I currently run a writing group, having such fun seeing people grow in their craft and slowly become more prolific.

Did you ever want to give up writing your first book?
Many times.

What made you decide to go the indie-publishing route? Did you pitch traditional publishers or agents? 
I didn’t want to self-publish for a few reasons, mostly because I wanted to grow in my skill. I felt that self-publishing would only get me as far as what I already know. Shackles brought me a number of form rejections (so good for the self esteem), but also a good few ‘helpful’ rejections. I could tell that the editor had:  1) actually read it, 2) found some merit in it.

One of these came from an editor at Pelican / Harbourlight. She detailed what she loved about the story, but also listed reasons why it wasn’t a good fit for them. I spent the next year writing Finding Mia to their specifications and sent it to them. The editor remembered me (I nearly fainted) and they accepted it for publication. So while Shackles didn’t land a contract, it got my hairy toe in the door. At that point I re-read it and still loved the characters and the story.

Why did you choose Smashwords for the first book?

 I decided to put it up on Smashwords as a freebie sample of my writing to give potential readers the chance to see if they like my work or not. I love Smashwords as there is no initial cost—having three daughters is expensive, there’s not much extra cash hanging around waiting to be spent. Smashwords only take a percentage of any sales you make. They walk you through the process step by step and you retain complete control over your work. I’ve loved dealing with them.

How long does it take you to write a book? How do you write? 
My first took me five years and I pantsed it all the way. I started with a theme, an opening scene and my two main characters. Every time I sat down to write, I had no clear idea where the story would go.

The second, I planned using note cards. I started knowing what I wanted my reader to feel when they closed the book after reading The End. I wrote the beginning on one card, the end(ish) on another, and slotted key scenes I knew needed to happen in between. As the novel grew, I added and rearranged my scenes/cards. I did do a character sketch for my two mains before starting. I tried to write without doing that and I was stumped as I didn’t know how they would think or react. After getting to know them, I could put them in a situation together and watch the fireworks as they got on with it. Much easier! The second novel took me a year.

Where are you now in your writing?
I’ve just completed my third, Affinity. It is the first in the YA Spirit Walker series. This one had me in a headlock for a long time as it is Christian fantasy and required me to world build. Wow. What a learning curve.

I’ve been converted to outlining, it is so much quicker and you avoid problems of wrapping up wild loose ends at the finish. Having said that, each book has a life of it’s own and will seldom willingly yield to my ever-so-careful planning. In Affinity, I had two characters fall for each other that I hadn’t planned. There was chemistry from the first time I put them in a room together. I was truly shocked. Fortunately, being fantasy, the romance lines are less clearly defined than in your typical romance novel so I let them go with it.

What are some of the more difficult aspects of writing a romantic suspense novel? 
Keeping it fresh and free from clichés is a challenge. I find all the rom-com movies I’ve ever seen pop to mind when I’m planning. Also avoiding the cheese factor in dialogue and interaction takes some mental gymnastics. There has only been one ditched novel. I liked the idea of it, but couldn’t fathom how to stretch it out to 80K words.

What do you know now about writing/publishing now that you wished you had known sooner?
I wish I had trusted myself more in the beginning and just got on with it. I waited to be invited to the party. I felt that getting a publishing contract would give me the ‘right to write’. Now I know – if it’s in you, let it out. Don’t wait until it’s ‘official’.

I also wish I hadn’t spent so much time whining about not having enough time to write. I have two jobs and three kids and if I took all the time I lost bewailing my lack of writing time, I could probably have written another three books. Now, I’ve rearranged my routine slightly, get up earlier and I can consistently get out 500 words a day. It’s not a lot, but I’ll take what I can get.

What type of publicity do you do to promote your book? What has worked best for you in generating sales?
This is a tricky one to answer as I feel I’m just starting out. Finding Mia released in June this year, I ran a month-long give away on Goodreads which generated interest regarding the book. Whether those ticked over into sales… my first royalty statement will tell. I’m taking the slow and steady approach, rather than trying to create a big bang of interest at this stage.

What other books do you have in the works?
Spirit Walker books 2 and 3, though I’m currently detouring with a quirky inspirational romance project that sideswiped me and won’t go away. The only way to make it leave me alone is to write it, it seems.

What is the best advice you’ve been given about writing or that you’ve learned that you would like to pass along?
Lose the hang-ups and just write. Get on with it. Bad writing can be edited, but there is nothing you can do for no writing.

Are there any other notes you’d like to add?
If a scary-big writing opportunity comes your way, and there is the slightest chance that you can do what they are asking of you – say YES. I’ve taken on some projects that I had no idea I’d actually be able to pull off. I’ve always managed and learnt a ton in the process.

That's it for today's interview. There's no excuse for not writing. Treat it as a 2nd job you have to do as a time clock check-in. As Dianne says, "Get on with it!"

If you'd like to learn more about Dianne's writing, here's some great ways to do that.
Website: www.diannejwilson.com
Twitter: @diannejwilson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/diannejwilsonauthor
My lovely writing community on FB – all writers welcome: https://www.facebook.com/groups/writeandberead/

Never Give up: Author Interview with Michele-Young-Stone

Most everyone thinks they can write a novel. When did you start writing your novel?
I started writing in second grade, but I didn’t realize that I was a novelist until I couldn’t keep any of my short stories under twenty-five pages. I had dreamed of being a published writer since second grade, and at age 32, after teaching high school English for seven years, I went back to college to study fiction-writing full time. I attended a three-year MFA program at VCU in Richmond, VA. I actually decided to return to school and pursue my dream after reading Wally Lamb’s novel, I Know This Much Is True. There was something in that book that spoke to me and told me that if I was ever going to be really serious and go after my dream, the time was then.

How did you come up with the idea of your first book?
My first novel, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors, in an early form, was my thesis. For four years, from 2004 to 2008, I tried to find a New York literary agent to represent my first book. I acquired hundreds of rejections. I actually queried every New York literary agent from A-Z in the 2004 edition of The Writer’s Market, and this was before you could submit electronically. Everything was done by snail mail.

After all those rejections, what kept you pushing forward?

Being a published novelist was my life's dream.  Every time I got a rejection, the only thing that made me feel better was to send out another query.  I refused to give up. 

What happened from there?

I had my son in 2005. I remember nursing him and holding him, trying to talk to agents on the phone, trying to find time to revise and ultimately rewrite the book. Having my son actually gave me a much larger perspective on my characters and craft. I realized that I had always seen things from the child’s perspective. With motherhood, I understood things in a brand new way, which led me to rewriting, and ultimately finding my agent, Michelle Brower.   

How did that all come together?
We had first spoken in 2005, but because she was new to the business, she couldn’t represent my book. In 2008, I was once again starting with "A" and querying agents in New York. I tried her again, and after reading my revision, she made some suggestions and told me that if I could make those changes and get it back to her within two weeks, she felt certain that she could find a home for it. On November 14, 2008, I had offers from Algonquin and Random House. It was very exciting.

Were there more rewrites before the final edit?
Yes, there were more rewrites after I found my editor, but there weren't "a lot".  I am now on book #3 and a pro at rewriting.  Everything is in service of the novel, of the story and the characters.    

How do you write? Did you do an outline first?
I wish that I could outline, but it’s not like that for me. I start with images and characters and I have to write and write and rewrite to find the story.

What type of publicity does your publisher expect you to do in promoting your book? What do they do on your behalf?
I’m expected to have a social media presence, to tweet and facebook. Also, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet other published writers, and we are all very supportive of one another. In particular, my first novel, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors came out around the time of Heidi Durrow’s novel, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, and I had the good fortune of doing two book events with her at Word Brooklyn.

Also, there were a lot of things I didn’t understand about the business of publishing, and writers, Sheri Reynolds and Therese Fowler, went out of their way to support me.

What did you learn in writing your first book that helped you in writing the second book and getting it published?
It’s not easy. It’s never easy. It takes faith and persistence and thick skin, which most writers, myself included, do not have. You have to constantly remind yourself, “I can do this. This is what I do. I write every day. I have faith that if I keep doing what I love, something magical will come of it.”

What do you know now about writing that you wished you had known sooner?
Don’t even bother sending your novel to anyone until it’s as perfect as you can get it.

You recently published your second novel, which takes place in Lithuania. I love the review note you received from the Library Journal "...a novel that's both fanciful and brutally realistic, soaring as it does between angelic beings and heartless dictators. From America to Lithuania, from past to present, this is a heart-wrenching tale..." What made you chose that setting for your story. What gave you the inspiration?
I knew a man from Lithuania when I was sixteen. He couldn’t go home. He’d had to flee his country during World War II, and for nearly fifty years he couldn’t return to his homeland. I became fascinated by the fact that Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia were trapped between two madmen, Hitler and Stalin. Was there a lesser evil? No, there wasn’t. I wanted to tell a story about WWII that hadn’t been told, about the faith of a beautiful country and her people and how they not only kept their customs through the Soviet occupation, but even prior to Stalin, they were a resilient people who were determined to keep their language, art, stories, and music alive. They still are. I have learned that to have the faith of a Lithuanian is to have perfect faith, which also relates to the quote that begins the novel. “The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” J. M. Barrie

Since are a number of references to the Beatles or their songs with this book, are you a big Beatles fan?
There are Beatles references in everything I write. I am a big fan, but in general, music informs my work. There is a theme of salvation through art, whether it be visual, written or musical in everything I write.

I read an excerpt from this book and it showed pictures as well. How were the pictures chosen?
Actually, my marketing representative chose those pictures and published that wonderful excerpt on my behalf. She is amazing.

What is the best advice you’ve been given about writing or that you’ve learned that you would like to pass along?
Never give up. Have faith. Be persistent. Go to the page with confidence and gusto. Write every day, even when you don’t feel like it.

Do you have any other works in the process?
I have a third novel, tentatively titled A Great American Novel, under contract with Simon and Schuster, and I am also working on a fourth novel, a historical piece following the American Revolution about the 60,000 British loyalists forced to leave the United States.

That's all for today's interview. If you would like to learn more about Michele's writing and upcoming books, here's some links to assist you.

www.micheleyoungstone.com
http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Michele-Young-Stone/84853882
https://www.facebook.com/michele.youngstonefanpage