Changes

Fall’s in the air in New York City, a season of change. It heralded the end of my nine-day vacation in Barbados. It was great to reunite with family members living there and reconnect with others from the UK. We had an impromptu, mini family reunion. Not only did I come back with sunburn (still have the peeling skin on my forehead and cheeks to prove it), I also gained a perspective on how much things have changed over the years.


My arrival occurred long after the sugar cane harvest, so it wasn’t a surprise to see bare fields, while driving around the island. Still, I’m not accustomed to the amount of land, which was once used for sugar cane cultivation that instead supports golf courses and new housing developments. Sugar cane was once Barbados’ lifeblood and now that seems to be dwindling away. As both of my mom’s sisters say, all the good Bajan sugar is now shipped to the European Union, leaving little to none for the people who once endured backbreaking labor during the harvest season. Being a history buff who has fond memories of living in Barbados, I get a little nostalgic for the way things were, when sugar cane was grown less than a stone’s throw away from the house I grew up in. The memory of the sweet juices dripping down my hand hasn’t faded. Times are different now because of the influx of tourism. Barbados has long been a tourist mecca, for Britons especially, but I wonder how the older generation feels about the changes the industry has brought to their country. Perhaps they don’t care, if it means more foreign exchange is available. If my grandparents were alive today, I don’t think they’d recognize the island where they raised eleven kids in a small house on the south coast.

Something else of a sinister nature happened while I was on vacation. When I was a child in Barbados, some odd-twenty years ago, personal safety at home or in the workplace was hardly ever a concern. Now my aunts are locking their doors from strangers passing by, doors that used to remained unlocked until at least 10 or 11pm while we kids played outside. Then last Friday, a vicious murder of six women took place, when two men threw a Molotov cocktail at the lone entrance of a clothing store they had just robbed. The six women trapped inside died from smoke inhalation and burns. The women were between the ages of 18 and 24. When I ask my youngest aunt, “What is this island coming to?” she just shakes her head, and says, “Girl, you don’t know Barbados.” I think she’s right.

Today, my perspective on my island birthplace is a little bittersweet. A paradise it remains, but one where those my New York street smarts might come in handy in the future. And, while I know change comes eventually, sometimes it's a little sad to see.

Book Trailer - On Falcon's Wings: Part One

Taking a break

No, I don't actually fish - but I am going to a nice island where other people do lots of fishing. It's vacation time, and I can't wait.

What are my plans, now that I actually have some free time for the first time in months? I plan to do Absolutely Nothing! Well, nothing that is work or writing, editing or reviewing related, that is. But I will enjoy a few fun activities: the beach, hanging out with family, sightseeing. I've also got the reading list for the plane all set: I'll start with The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell and coming back, I should be on Genghis: Bones of the Hill by Conn Iggulden, both of which I've been looking forward to reading for some time.

Be back in September. Have a great Labor Day.

Paid to Publish? Now, Pay for Reviews

Victoria Strauss at Writer Beware just tweeted about The New PW Select: A Quarterly Service for the Self-Published, which will begin listing self-published books and review those "most deserving of a critical assessment," starting in September. Authors must pay a listing fee of $149, which includes a six-month subscription to the digital edition of Publishers' weekly.

I almost snorted Diet Dr. Pepper out of my nose when I read this article, and that is just not fun! Soda in your nose actually stings, much like the article and that processing fee. One hundred and forty-nine US dollars. Really? Really really?

"But Lisa," I can hear you saying, "You've paid to publish. You said so on this blog. Why does another fee bother you?" Well, since I'm sure you're asking, I'll explain. I'm an indie publisher, not a self-publisher, by my definition. If I were truly a self-publisher, I would have my own espresso book machine at the ready, churning out books all day, or at the very least, I'd be in Kinko's every night running copies. Since I have a life beyond writing and publishing, I don't own the mechanism whereby my book is printed and shipped out to anyone who orders it. Amazon's Createspace does. So, it is perfectly reasonable for me to pay Createspace for the service of making my book available. How else would anyone read it? Someone has to print it and that sure won't be me, as I don't have the time or skill.

The $149 fee to pay someone to list a book with the potential for a review is entirely something else. Note that PW "maintains our right to review what we deemed worthy," and that the processing fee is for the brief listing - not a charge for the review. I can only assume this means any piss-poor, self-published book will be listed, but likely will not garner a review from the editors. At least, that is my hope. Yet, that would mean a writer has paid $149 to have PW print their name, book title etc. in a list of the potentially hundreds of self-pubbed books, so that possible readers can become passively aware of the book. Something that a good web presence, like a website, blog, Facebook, Goodreads, Shelfari, and Twitter, can already help a writer accomplish. For free.

I hate to pass hasty judgment, but I will. Sorry. First I must ask, what is about those of us who go the non-traditional route that some people just assume we're willing to pay for anything? I suppose the blame lies in the stigma that's still associated with self-publishing. I am aware of a few other outlets already charging fees of this sort, but I won't list them here because their approach disgusts me. Instead, I'll just get on with the process of requesting reviews from legitimate sources, like those who won't charge me for their opinion.

I'm drawing the line in the sand, folks. While I will pay to be published, I won't pay for an opinion of my work, but I'm sure others have and will continue to do so. For those people, I leave you with the sage advice of Victoria Strauss: writer beware.

Book giveaway: Win a free copy of On Falcon's Wings

Win a free copy of On Falcon's Wings, Lisa Yarde's debut novel, of a love torn apart by the events at Hastings in 1066. Visit the Historical Novel Review blogspot (http://historicalnovelreview.blogspot.com/) August 21-22, 2010 and leave your comment to win a signed copy. Canadian and U.S. residents only.

Book Trailer: “Aww, do I have to do it!?”

The other day, I found out that I have something in common with best-selling author Jonathan Franzen. No, we haven’t both decided to skip out on inclusion in Oprah’s book club. Unlike him, this is me going,“Oprah, darling, I’m ready and available. Let’s talk book club. Call me. Anytime. I mean it. Call me.”

Instead, I found out that Franzen, like me, isn’t too fond of authors creating promotional videos. Don’t get me wrong: I love many of the videos and book trailers I’ve seen on author websites and Amazon.com. A few of my friends have blogged about working on their book trailers. You can see the results here, here and here. All lovely and very stirring, but when it comes to doing one of my own? Ugh. I’ll let Franzen sum it up as only he can: "This might be a good place for me to register my profound discomfort at having to make videos like this …." If you want to see the rest of his comments in his author video, go here.

Franzen’s point is delicious irony, but in using the very medium he hates to get his point across, he has reached an almost inescapable issue for authors of fiction. We cannot connect with readers only through the written word. No, that’s just too simple. Now, we need author videos and...book...trailers. Sigh. Groan.

I've gone kicking, screaming and whining into the production of a book trailer for On Falcon's Wings. It was the choice of doing it or spending more time avoiding it while thinking of doing it. For too long, I've reasoned my time was better spent creating fan videos for one of my favorite cable shows, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. No, I'm not kidding. It is so much fun!!!! We all know I should be taking my time and what I've learned from Windows Movie Maker and applying it to a book trailer. Right? Right.

Now, I've spent most of the evening listening to samples of royalty free music, trying to create the right mood. I've narrowed down to choices that are intense, mysterious, somber, and / or uplifting. That leaves only about twenty or so odd samples to sift through. The visuals are trickier. It's hard to find the image of a medieval couple that's exactly right.  Wish me luck, but I won't promise I'll be showing off this trailer any time soon. I suspect this will be a work in progress for a bit.

Creating Emotion on the Page

When I first started submitting Sultana to critique groups, one of the biggest criticisms I had from my writing partners was that there wasn't enough emotion on the page. Everyone griped that my main characters were stiff and wooden because they didn't express much of what was going on inside of them, i.e., I was doing a poor job of expressing their feelings on the page. I must have fixed this problem of mine because as the story progressed to its bittersweet end, my critique partners became very admiring and told me how they cried while reading certain scenes, which was exactly what I was aiming for.

I think at the beginning of my writing, I shied away from having my characters express too much emotions because I worried they would be sentimental or clichéd, like the pounding heart full of fear and misty, watering eyes. Also, there was latent fear of delving deep into particular characters' feelings. Let's face it: emotions are often messy and scary. Have you ever seen someone completely blow their top over something that made them angry or just curl up in a ball over a painful loss? I have and it's not a pretty sight. Yet, these events are scenes that many of us can relate to and the job of a good writer is to convey all that emotional drama on the page.

The best learning experience, however, is the writer's own. This week, I lost a dear uncle after his long battle with leukemia. He was crazy; he was funny, always guaranteed to make you laugh, even when you didn't want to smile. I was blessed with the chance to see him, and despite his obvious pain, got a smile and laugh from him before the end. In the aftermath, as I sat with my aunt and her family, I think we all realized the gaping hole my uncle’s absence would leave in our lives, one that was once filled with laughter. Last night, I tuned into all my feelings to write a scene of my WIP, Rule of Love, where one of my main characters receives news of the death of her close friend. Halfway through it, I was bawling, easing some of my own sadness. Even if this first draft never makes it to the final version, the experience was just what I needed to tap into the emotions I want to convey.

Historical Novel Review presents The Crown in the Heather: Win a free copy - August 9

Your Worst Critic

As I send On Falcon's Wings out for reviews, I realize that anything others will never be as harsh as the comments from my worst critic: me.

Last week, my friend Anita had a great blog post, Writers Are Mad. Apparently, there is scientific proof for this in that those who are creative have similar brain structures to people who have schizophrenia. Who knew? Well, I for one am happier upon hearing this news, as it's brought me a step closer to understanding the madness within. Nice to know that when I tell people I have a voice inside my head, I may not be so far off the mark.

Stop shaking your head like I'm crazy. I ain't crazy. You know what I'm talking about. It's that little voice inside your head that nags at you to do certain things sometimes, usually things you don't want to do, but you really should do? On the other hand, which I think is even worse, it loves to berate you when you do something and you do it completely wrong - sound familiar? Well, my inner voice comes with a little bit too much sarcasm and a great deal of perfectionism, that’s absolutely over the top. It is a ruthless, tireless and frankly, tiresome taskmaster, and God help me when I make a mistake! I literally never hear the end of it.

Honestly, sometimes I wish that little inner voice would just SHUT. UP. Why must it nag me in the middle of the night with "Hey! I know exactly how to do that last chapter. Get your lazy butt up! Let's write or revise!" So what, if I need to get a good night's rest before work the next day? Inner critic wants to write. Just when I think a paragraph or chapter is perfect, here comes that voice inside my head again. "You know it's not good enough. That's total crap! You know you can make that sentence / paragraph / chapter better, so get off your ass and do it." Damn. Why can't it just be happy with the first couple of drafts of a story or just go away altogether? Seriously, I'm getting real sick of my inner critic working me overtime.

Your Author Website

Today, I got an unexpected surprise, courtesy of Tripod. I've used Tripod for a few years to host my author website. It's web-based site building that's easy to navigate and understand, especially for someone like me who has minimal experience with HTML. Lately, some great features with Webon integration have been added to improve content for site builders. In a recent newsletter, my site was nominated as one of four "...very strong examples of what you can do with Webon."

Nice. I put a lot of energy and effort into my website because I know it is important tool in building a readership and promoting a career as a writer. I've learned many valuable lessons in developing my own website, but two stand out: even unpublished authors should have a website and your website should always be up to date. Even before I self-published On Falcon's Wings, I kept my website going. It helped me build an interest in my work among visitors to the site. When the book was available, I already had a list of people whom I knew might be interested in reading it. Also, I kept the site updated with current projects, links to writers' groups, etc. An active site with fresh content promotes your writing, regardless of whether it's available now or still a work in progress. 

Don't have an author website? Time to get one.

Opinions Are Like…

Oh, you know the rest, don't pretend.

During my usual weekend chat on Skype with dear friends Anita and Mirella, we started talking about book reviews. I told my friends that, in true masochistic fashion, I wanted to request a review of On Falcon's Wings from The Self Publishing Review blog. Here's a bit on how it works: 

"You send me a copy of your self-published book, and I'll read it. If I like it I'll review it here, and will be generous with my praise.
 
What's the catch? I'm an editor, and expect published books to be polished. I'm going to count all the errors I find in spelling, punctuation and grammar and when I reach fifteen I'm going to stop reading. I'll work my way through up to five pages of boring prose or bad writing before I give up. And I'll list on this blog every single book I'm sent, including the books I've not completed, along with how far I got through each one."

Sounds like fun! I figure, what do I have to lose? It's just one opinion, right?

Except, authors live and breathe for others' opinions! We need constant validation from our friends, readers and reviewers, some confirmation that we're not just wasting our time. Lacking those opinions, we wallow in misery, or maybe that's just me. When I told Anita I'd sold some copies of my book on Kindle, but hadn't seen any reviews, I could hear the sigh of exasperation coming all the way from England. Yes, Anita, I know that you're too much of a darling to tell me to get over myself. Point taken.

I regularly contribute to Historical Novel Reviews, which Mirella started two-three years ago. The blog has grown to include several contributors. Guess what we review? If you said, all historical, all the time, you are right. I tend to snap up browbeat the other contributors until they back off all the books with medieval settings. My review of Gemi's Crown in the Heather is up next month. Want to see what else is on my list?

(Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth is missing, but that's because I downloaded it to Kindle for Blackberry)

My summer reading is all set.

After I've read each book, I post a review on the HNR blog and others sites, like Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads. I have to make a confession, though. As much as I love reviewing books, and hope for criticism of my own work, the opinions of others don't influence the books I read. Hypocritical, isn't it? I'm happy to share my opinion of other author's books, want opinions on mine, but ignore those same opinions when I choose books to read. Oh well, I never said I was a very logical person.

When I browse online or in a bookstore, my purchases reflect my mood. Something about the cover, the blurb, or the first few pages has hooked me and made me want to read more. I rarely read a book just because someone recommends it. After all, it's just an opinion.

What are your thoughts on book reviews? Do they influence you? Do you rely on the opinions of friends versus other readers and books reviewers? Why or why not? How often has your assessment of a book differed from its recommendation?

Happy reading!