2011 Most Favoritest Posts

Some posts this year resonated with readers (that's you!) more than others. Here's the year's most "favoritest" posts (yes, it's a word!).



Creativity - How Does It Die?
Emotional Structure
Validation
The Secret Ingredient: Confidence
Hiding Stuff in Broad Daylight
Ten Things I Believe
Taking the Road Less Traveled
Taking The Road Less Traveled Redux
Four (Nasty) Lies We Tell Ourselves About Writing
Investing in Your Writing Career, or Why I Decided to Self-Publish Open Minds
Writers Must Write First
Internet Indie Book Fair

I sense a common theme, do you? :)

I haven't included the post from my launch day for Open Minds, because the support of the blogosphere that day blows everything else out of the park! Thank you to every one of my blogger friends for making 2011 a magical year ... I look forward to an even better 2012 with you!

p.s. Don't forget to stop back on January 2nd, for another Internet Indie Book Fair! (The previous Book Fair is still a great place to browse for new e-books.) We'll have some great new books to load up on that Kindle, Nook, or iPad you got for Christmas!

p.p.s. Have a kid or teen looking for free or low-priced ebooks for that new e-reader? Check out Pixel of Ink - Young Edition for sortable lists of recent deals on ebooks (mostly self-pub but some traditional pub books on sale as well).

Embracing Change

My small-pub-sister Cherie Colyer is launching her book Embrace today. Here's the blurb:

Madison is familiar enough with change, and she hates everything about it. Change took her long-term boyfriend away from her. It caused one of her friends to suddenly hate her. It’s responsible for the death of a local along with a host of other mysterious happenings. But when Madison meets a hot new guy, she thinks her luck is about to improve. 

Madison is instantly drawn to the handsome and intriguing Isaac Addington. She quickly realizes he’s a guy harboring a secret, but she’s willing to risk the unknown to be with him. Her world really spins out of control, however, when her best friend becomes delusional, seeing things that aren’t there and desperately trying to escape their evil. When the doctors can’t find the answers, Madison seeks her own. 

Nothing can prepare her for what she is about to discover. 

Add Embrace to your Goodreads TBR or buy it in paperback from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Omnific Publishing, and in ebook from Amazon and Omnific Publishing.

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In Cherie's book, her protagonist struggles with embracing change. In a year that's been nothing but change in the publishing industry, it seems like a fitting topic to close the year.

The Many Paths
Over the course of the year, I've seen writer friends switch from pursuing traditional publication to self-publishing their first (or second or third) novels (yay Indelibles!). I've known writers that stopped querying agents and submitted to small publishers (Cherie is one, releasing Embrace through Omnific Publishing). Other writer-friends have stuck with traditional publishing and landed agents and book contracts in 2011 (yay Terry Lynn Johnson, Adam Heine, and Joshua McCune!). Still others are fence straddlers (that's me!) pursuing multiple paths at once.

Embracing change is scary.

Self-Publishing Route
For writers taking the road less traveled along the self-pub route, it can be frightening to deviate from the "established" path, especially if the dream of a big advance from a large publisher has been a long cherished one. The bold will go forth into self-publishing because it makes logical business sense, but for the less confident, it can feel like quitting without trying hard enough. One thing that encouraged me to take the leap was the resounding chorus coming from the other side of the publishing point. There were many, many self-publishers that were extremely happy with their choice, whose main regret was that they waited so long to take the leap. As someone who is on the "other side" now, I can heartily say the same thing. Do I regret self-publishing? Not a bit. Every day, I'm happier I chose to leap when I did: people are reading (and enjoying!) my work, I'm building a fan base that extends beyond my awesome writer friends, and I have a measure of control over my writing career that eluded me before. This was the right choice for the Mindjack Trilogy and my career at this point. At the same time, I don't regret going through a small publisher for my first novel, and I'm still pursuing traditional/big publishing for my middle grade series (because those are the right choices for those books).

Small Publisher Route
For many writers, the small publisher route wasn't the "dream" they had as a child, but is the reality they are increasingly choosing as an adult. For a long time, I had to stop the small voice (evil, as Adam Heine calls it) inside that told me this wasn't a "real" publisher because it hadn't been around for 100 years. This evil voice completely baffled my husband, who said, "They're willing to bet money that you'll make money for them with your writing." Ah, yes. This is a business, not a fairy tale! Strange, how often those are confused with one another. But this helped me put it in perspective and embrace my small publisher as an innovator in a tradition-bound field. Once I realized that, I found the small publisher route actually fit my personality quite well. While some writers with small publishers are increasingly opting for the self-publishing route (myself, Talli Roland), my friends who have chosen small publishers continue to find that to be the right path for them. I think small publishers are wonderful about embracing the desire to launch writers in their careers, which is part of what makes them a great place to start.

Big/Traditional Publishing Route
I haven't landed an agent or big publisher book contract (yet), but I have queried (extensively) and had some significant first-hand experience with agents and editors, as well as lots of second-hand experience through traditionally-published friends. Just because a writer chooses to pursue traditional publishing doesn't mean they escape the need to embrace change.  Lately, with the rise of self-publishing, writers choosing to stay the course with traditional publishing have been on the defensive, feeling like they have to justify their choice. This is something that self-publishers and small-publishers have had to do all along, so it's an interesting turn in such a short period of time (less than 6 months ago, I wasn't seeing any of this). Self-publishing affects trad-pubbed authors as well - the industry is roiling, agents are fighting for their livelihood, editors under even more pressure to prove the "viability" of a writer before taking a chance on them. The stakes and expectations are higher for debut traditional novelists, and even those with novels already out. Elana Johnson spoke eloquently about how even after traditional publishing (or maybe especially then) that her definition of "success" all comes back to the writing. To me, this is key: the thing that rules, that has to rule, at all times along the journey is the writing. It is the creation of content that is most important, with the path to publication simply a means to an end.

To me, embracing change means embracing the writer.

No matter what path we follow, we writers are much more similar than we are different. Writers pitted against each other, judging each other for the path they choose or the level of "success" they achieve - who does that serve? Not writers, of that much I am certain. Writers are an amazingly supportive bunch ... when they're not judging another writer. We are our better selves when we're banding together to support and help promote one another. This is why groups like the Elevensies (trad-pub), the Apocalypsies (small and large pub), and the Indelibles (self-pub, official launch coming soon) are so important. I've seen this grouping of writers for support happen at my small publisher as well. I think it's a natural (and wonderful!) tendency for writers to band together and help each other out.  These groups provide a safe haven of support and an avenue to celebrate each other's successes.

When it comes right down to it, we are all simply writers. Published or unpublished, traditional or indie, bestseller or midlister - at the beginning of every day we are moving forward with our writing. The journey (hopefully) is a life-long one filled with friends and a love for the craft.

I wish everyone on the journey a joyful holiday season! I'll be taking a break to eat Christmas cookies, wrap presents, and catch up on my TBR pile, but I'll be back in the New Year with another Internet Book Fair. If you get a Kindle or Nook or iPad under your Christmas tree, be sure to stop back then to browse for some new, great reads!
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Also: Don't forget to stop by and support Cherie as she launches her debut novel! Cherie's giving away an e-copy of Embrace as well as five hemp bracelets, so hop around the party posts and leave a comment (or three!) to enter:

Embrace Launch Party Posts!

Jennifer DeLucy Blog: Writing Embrace - From Idea to Release

Kym's Quips: The Research Behind to Story  

Once Upon A *Spark*: Mythology Behind Madison's World

Nicki Elson's Not-So-Deep Thoughts: Bring on the Romance 

Jennifer Lane Books Blog: Facing Change     

Kim Winters, Kat's Eye Journal          

Carole, the life of fiction 

Mina Burrows, books for paranormal & mystic minds

Joseph Rinaldo, Read Rinaldo

Angela Brown, in a Pursuit of Publishness

Debra Anastasia, Tell me a Story

Colleen Wagner, London Relocation    

           

Prizes: To celebrate the release of her debut novel, Cherie is giving away an eCopy of EMBRACE and 5-Embrace Hemp Bracelets today. There are three ways to win:

1) Leave a comment here or at any of the Party Posts.

2) Tweet about the Virtual Party or any of the Party Posts with tag #EMBRACEnovels

Example: 

Nothing could have prepared her for what she’s about to discover. #EMBRACEnovels @CherieColyer #YA avail NOW www.cheriecolyer.blogspot.com

Example: 

Celebrate the launch of EMBRACE by @CherieColyer #EMBRACEnovels #paranormal #YA avail NOW www.cheriecolyer.blogspot.com

3) Facebook (tag Cherie Colyer, author) about the Virtual Party.

Example: 

Celebrate the launch of teen paranormal thriller/romance novel EMBRACE by Cherie Colyer, author and enter for a chance to win Embrace prizes! http://www.cheriecolyer.blogspot.com

Do all three and you will have three times the chances to win! Leave a comment at each stop of the tour for a chance to win the Grand Prize.
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The E-Book Overlords ... Are Us

I've followed Nathan Bransford's blog for a couple years now, and one thing I love is the occasional "pulse taking" polls that he conducts. Totally unscientific, yet sample size is large, so there is something to these numbers. And they're showing that the ebook revolution we've been talking about for the last year is a very real thing (from Nate B's blog):

The percentage of people who said you'd have to pry paper books out of their cold dead hands:

     2007: 49%
   2008: 45%
2009: 37%
2010: 30%
2011: 25%

The percentage of people who welcome their coming e-book overlords:

2007: 7% (!)
2008: 11%
2009: 19%
2010: 32%
                                                          2011: 47% 

There's been a joke for some time about the coming E-book Overlords, but it turns out the E-book Overlords are US. WE are the ones buying the ebooks, changing our minds about ereaders once we have them in our hands, rushing out to by Kindles by the millions per week.

Why?

Because ebooks are cheaper (sometimes, and sometimes not), faster (instant gratification!), and in many ways have a real advantage over paper books (disadvantages too, but the massive adoption is evidence of a net WIN in that war). Note, this advantage is for READERS, although there are many advantages for writers as well. In fact, with traditional publishers keeping their ebook prices high, they are actually increasing the exposure of self-published authors by ceding the low-priced ebook market to them. Over the last year, this has given rise to the self-publishing revolution (which has been getting lots of press lately), with self-published titles climbing the bestseller charts as readers chose this lower-priced option.

Across the board, it is the advantage to READERS that has driven the change.

The thing about REAL change is that it isn't just self-sustaining (especially where technology is concerned). It is self-accelerating.

"I love my new Kindle, but now I can't get an autograph from my favorite author!"
Answer: Kindlegraph

"My Nook is great, but I could never give it to my kids. I'm too afraid they'd drop it."
Answer: $99 Nook Simple

"But I do all my reading in the bathtub!"
Answer: Waterproof ereader and science of shriveling

And then there's the things you didn't know you needed until someone else has it. A month ago, I realized that I could gift e-books on Amazon! Right next to the "buy" link was a "give as gift" link - all I had to do was click that, provide an email address for the receiver, and off my e-book present went! Talk about last-minute shopping! And without the tarnish of just giving a gift card (I have a love/hate relationship with gift cards).

But I don't have a Kindle. My whole family (grandmas, grandpas, cousins, nieces, kids) - they all have Nooks. Why? Because I was an early adopter and if they got Nooks, they could LendMe ebooks. This value-add was enough to convert them to the Nook family. But Barnes&Noble sadly trails after Amazon in many e-book areas, and gifting was one of them. I went to my local B&N and complained to the poor Nook salesman, who looked beleaguered until I finally gave up. Then, just as I was about to despair for this Christmas (and perhaps not coincidentally after I'd already bought my paperbook gifts), Nook suddenly has e-book gifting capability!

The rate of change has been astounding, but when something offers a real improvement, there's always someone out there tweaking it, making it better, fixing the problems before you have time to get a good head of steam to complain about them. If only this were true of things like the Department of Motor Vehicles and the United States Space Program! Ah, but those are government programs, not the Wild West of the free market. (And I digress...)

Free market. Creative Destruction. Free flow of information. These are the things that allow innovation to occur, and I believe we should embrace rather than fear it. Tommorrow, in my final post of 2011, I'll talk about embracing this change and how to move forward into a brighter 2012.

How Worldbuilding Can Make or Break Your Story

I don't usually review movies, and this isn't so much a review as a cautionary tale about how the most brilliant idea can be destroyed by a lack of good worldbuilding and attention to detail. I'm talking, of course, about the movie In Time.

Brilliant idea, here's the blurb:
In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, having the means to buy your way out of the situation is a shot at immortal youth. Here, Will Salas finds himself accused of murder and on the run with a hostage - a connection that becomes an important part of the way against the system.

Actually, the problems start right there. This is how the blurb should have been:
In a future where people stop aging at 25, but are engineered to live only one more year, buying time is buying a chance to live another day. When Will Salas is given a century of unexpected life, he has a chance at immortal youth ... if he can keep from being murdered for his time. But the system never planned on Will discovering where all that time came from ... or where it shouldn't go.


Or something like that.

This movie has a brilliant concept, but it falls down in telling us (instead of showing) all the important morals of the story and robbing us of tidbits of worldbuilding (is that gorgeous woman his wife, daughter, or mother? There's no way to tell, because everyone is 25) by delivering them in ham-handed ways ("Are you wondering if she's my wife or my mother? She's my daughter!" Ugh.). There were many anachronistic details that pulled the viewer out of the context of the story with a wry commentary on "oh how clever we are that we thought of this."

Taking the above example of immortal youth, if the world truly is filled with beautiful 25 year olds and it's impossible to distinguish relationships by visual cues, then either 1) the society would have made those relationships irrelevant or 2) the society would have evolved some kind of marker to distinguish people. Maybe this is only a problem for the rich/long-lived, so people from the time-ghetto wouldn't have the problem of having adult mothers around to be confused with adult daughters. But amongst the time-rich, social markers would surely have evolved. They could be extreme or subtle, but they would be there, especially if living a long life is a sign of time-wealth. Maybe the women would wear extra earrings, or maybe both sexes would have a tiny tattoo hash to "mark time" they've been on the planet. This could be revealed in cool ways - a faux embarrassment covering the marks or a tantalizing reveal of them. Our confused protagonist could ask about them, or the protective antagonist could admonish his daughter for flaunting her two hash marks.

It could be anything, but ruining that awesome worldbuilding tidbit with some telling dialogue missed the chance make the world deeper and more cool. And keep the viewer/reader firmly entrenched in the story.

In Time didn't trust its viewers to understand all the nuances of this brilliant future dystopian world, and I can understand the temptation to explain, to make sure that the audience "gets" the point. But having a brilliant concept requires some brilliant execution, to deliver on the promise of that premise. In Time didn't live up to that promise, but I still recommend that you see it. Look for the missed chances to show rather than tell how the world works, for trite explanations or anachronistic "time" jokes.

Then go forth and make sure you aren't doing this in your storytelling. Your readers will thank you! (And your brilliant concept will shine even brighter.)


p.s. All of this is my critique, my take on the craft of storytelling in this movie. It's important to note that I STILL enjoyed the movie. What's more, my husband REALLY enjoyed it, not so much bothered by the details of the worldbuilding. (It's all subjective: see my post about the Art of Writing)




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REMINDER

I'm giving away a $10 Barnes&Noble Giftcard, but the giveaway ends Tuesday December 20th!

To enter, just post a picture of the cover of Open Minds on my Facebook Page (or email it to me and I'll post it for you). Ebook or paperback doesn't matter. Creativity is always nice!

The Art of Writing

I have no art education, couldn't tell a Matisse from a Van Gogh, but I know what I like. I am a "reader" in the art world.

I believe that art is a tremendously personal experience. Someone once told me that the only thing I needed to know about art was how it made me feel. Being a logical Vulcan-type engineer at the time, this was a tantalizing idea - that art wasn't just for art majors, but that it was something meant to touch everyone differently.

My father was an ardent amateur photographer and Ansel Adams afficiando. My childhood home was littered with black and white pictures of nature. This was just my dad's thing to do, and I didn't think much of it. Not until I was given permission to feel something about art, did I truly appreciate the importance of it.

Art museums are wonderful and I enjoy the amazing masterpieces that are curated there. But no matter what the little notecard next to painting said about the tremendous importance of the art or the artist, I always used my personal experience as my final arbiter of the art itself. Did it resonate with me? What emotion did it tug out from the cloistered emotional chambers of my heart? (I talk this way now, being a writer; not so much then.) Personally (because all art is personal), I found much modern art to be ridiculous, even offensive (which are emotions, although not good ones). Then along would come a piece that would shoot right into my soul.

Mind you, I couldn't explain why (lacking that art degree). But I was just as likely to find that emotional connection with canvases strewn around a folding table at our local art fair, or in student art hung in our local bagel shop, as at the Chicago Museum of Modern Art. Sometimes, the skillfulness of the craft would be enough to arrest me, transfixed in front of a piece. But more often, it was the emotional connection that would scribe the art into my head, making it unforgettable.

This post isn't actually about art. It's about writing, and what the democratization of self-publishing means for writing as an art.

There are people that fear this democratization, thinking that they will be overwhelmed by the unwashed masses of writers who will upload their literary equivalent of a Velvet Elvis.

There's talk of wading through the "slush pile" of self-published works and how awful this will be for "readers" (the people saying this are usually writers who are also readers). There's also disparagement of self-published writers, no matter their level of success, the presumption being that their works weren't "good enough" for traditional publishing, so therefore their success must be due to marketing (as if the success of any book isn't dependent on marketing).

But whether I visit a local art fair in my hometown or the Chicago Museum of Art, I have to wade through art that doesn't speak to me to find the one that does. I don't think any less of the artists in either case. I don't look down on the student artists in the bagel shop who are brave and bold enough to put  their work out where anyone can see. I don't think the vendors at art fairs or the artist who sells a few works out of his basement studio are any less artists than the people curated by the MOMA, just because they haven't sold as much or haven't been critically acclaimed by the "gatekeepers" of the art world. I don't think of them as doing a disservice to the world by displaying their wares.

Quite the contrary.

The world would be a sad place without this expression of creativity for everyone to see, if the only art that was deemed "acceptable" for public consumption was the art curated in museums. Even the curators freely admit there is far more worthwhile art than they could ever display. Now, with the advent of the internet, virtual art fairs connect the artist and patron more easily than ever before. I've purchased art on Ebay from an artist I've never met, because his paintings reminded me of the beautiful Colorado landscape I left behind when I moved to Illinois. I'm still on the mailing list for a NY artist because one painting she made of Mozart as a boy spoke to me (I lost it in an auction, which still makes me cry).

The rise of e-readers has enabled writers to connect directly with readers in a way not really possible before. This e-distribution channel not only disperses novel-length works, but there's a resurgence of novellas, short stories, and anthologies. These forms didn't sell in sufficient quantities for NY publishers to print and distribute, but now the floodgates are open - to experimentation, to serious authors, to children publishing their first works to share with their friends as well as long-time closeted writers who are just now daring to share their stories with the world.

There's a richness to the very idea of it that I'm just beginning to appreciate.

Of course, the analogy is not perfect - you can assess art more quickly than a book (although this is what reviews are for). Much of the art that hangs in museums has passed the test of centuries of time, whereas lots of books "curated" by traditional publishing are released primarily for their ability to make money (think Snookie). But I think art is a close cousin to writing, and perhaps commercial art is writing's half-sister. This makes the different perspectives on the two media instructive (at least to me).

Also: this isn't an apologia for all self-published works. Some will be badly edited, slapped together and released before they are ready, just as there are paintings that are raw and unpolished that will be displayed at the local art fair. But, IMHO, the good of having stories written and shared (art created and displayed) far outweighs the fact that all of it will not be to my taste. Because this is (at least part of) why human beings write, why we paint, why we draw - to share that creation with the world.

I'm not an ideologue when it comes to self-publishing vs. traditional publishing. I think the route you choose should fit your goals as an artist/writer and the work itself. But I am passionate about this: I believe the democratizing force of digital distribution is a good thing for creativity and for the human spirit.

Meet D. Robert Pease, Author of Noah Zarc

E-books and self-publishing are upending the publishing world. Don't take my word for it - Friday's WSJ article sums it up nicely. With Kindles sales increasing four-fold on Black Friday this year, I've seen estimates of the 8 million Kindles currently in use jumping to 25 million after Christmas (Amazon doesn't release its numbers). With $79 Kindles and $99 Nooks, it's not hard to imagine a lot of these showing up under the Christmas tree in a couple weeks.

What will the impact of all these e-readers be? I expect more e-books of every kind to be sold, but in particular, I'm predicting (Danger, Will Robinson!) that there will be a shift in the demographic of e-book owners with the more affordable price. In particular, I expect more young people to receive these readers as a gift from grandparents who would rather buy a reading device than another gaming device.

What will this mean for middle grade authors, like my guest Dale Pease? I hope that it means many happy sales, and I think that it will ... eventually. Whether this Christmas or the next (3 years at the outside - yikes! more predictions!), the middle grade e-book market will eventually take off, and self-publishing middle grade authors like Anita Laydon Miller, Simon Haynes, PHC Marchesi, and D. Robert Pease will be ready with multiple books out to capture some marketshare.

(Note to JK Rowling: We love you. Please get Pottermore out soon.)

Dale is blog-touring his middle grade science fiction novel Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, and I'm happy to be the stop today. You can see all the information about Dale's book and tour at the bottom, but first Dale kindly answered my questions about writing and publishing a middle grade novel during today's self-publishing revolution.

Me: What inspired you to write Noah Zarc?

Dale: The original idea came from a discussion I had with a friend of mine. The name Noah Zarc was thrown out (I suspect it was from him). We talked about making a game, or an animated series on it. But none of those things went anywhere. A few years later I got to thinking it'd be a cool idea for a book. There was just something about this idea of a futuristic take on the old Noah's Ark story that wouldn't let go of me. The more I got into it, the more I fell in love with the idea of taking old Biblical stories and casting them in a new light. I have another one in the works based on the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors. But, and I hope I make this clear, I didn't want to write "Religious" stories. I don't know why, but most of the time they come off as preachy, and who likes to be preached at? I just think these are such great stories of the roles people play in the bigger picture of history that they can lead to fantastic new adventures too.

Me: I love this fresh take on biblical stories! Right now, twisted fairy tales are hot, and I think the mood is right for re-examining powerful stories from the past. I love that you've made this your focus with your writing! Before you started writing, you spent many years as a designer, doing art for a living. Can you tell us a little about your background? How do you feel your art/design background influences your writing?

Dale: I'm a visual person. I learn visually. I sense the world around me most keenly through sight. So that is exactly how I approach writing. I "see" the characters, and the world in my head. Sometimes I'll sketch out things. Sometimes I'll scour stock photo sites for just the write image of my characters. All to help me see better. But there's also another aspect of my background that comes into play. I am a graphic or "commercial" designer. I don't have a passion for fine art like other artists do. Don't get me wrong, I love to go to museums and drink in the beauty, but my favorite artists are those who tell stories with their art; Norman Rockwell for example. And, this is a big one, I believe in making a living at my art. GASP! This was a huge debate at the art school I attended. The conflict between art for art's sake, and art to make a living. How this translates into my writing is simple. I write stories that kids and adults have fun reading. I don't claim to be a literary master, creating "art". I think there is a place for beautiful prose and writing that is just exquisite, but you probably won't find that in my books. I just love a good, fast-paced story.

Me: I really enjoy the intersection of art and writing, and I love your take on pictures being story! As I mentioned in the preamble above, e-readers are definitely on the rise, but the middle grade e-book market hasn’t quite arrived yet. Do you think that will change this Christmas, with cheaper Kindles and the impending arrival of Pottermore (JK Rowling’s e-experiment)? Did that have an influence on your decision to self-publish Noah Zarc?

Dale: This is an area I am still learning about. It is quite a wakeup call to see authors all around me selling books in far greater quantities, simply because they write for an older audience. It is not that I'm jealous (ok, maybe a little) it is that I'm realizing the market may not be there yet for middle grade authors. I have found that when I really connect with my audience, they are much more likely to buy a paperback version than an eBook version. Do I think this will change? Absolutely. As parents pass eBook readers down to their kids, and as prices on eReaders continue to plummet I'm convinced the middle grade market will grow. I've heard a few people in the industry saying that the MG market is the next wave to hit. So I am pretty optimistic at this point.

Me: I'm hopeful for you! And I do think it's an advantage to be early in the game, although it may not seem that way now. Many of the current very-successful authors in self-pub are the ones who had multiple books out when the wave of e-readers started to hit. So tell us about the sequel to Noah Zarc. What are your plans for future books?

Dale: I am about 90% through the first draft of Noah Zarc: Cataclysm. It is a book that maybe gets a little darker than Mammoth Trouble, but readers will still have fun following the exploits of our hero. Noah goes on a quest through time to discover what caused the Great Cataclysm that wiped out every living thing on Earth, and wonders if there's anything he can do to stop it from happening in the first place. Along the way he begins to think his worst fear might come true as he starts to discover maybe by going back in time he actually caused the Cataclysm himself.

There is a third novel in the series planned. But I can't say much more than that now. And as mentioned above, I am working on another story, tentatively titled Joey Cola and the Stoat of Many Colors, about a second-to-youngest son of a huge family with twelve brothers in New York City who discovers a hidden "dream-world" where an ancient order of warriors has been fighting a reincarnated Pharaoh for over 3,000 years. I am super excited about this one and can't wait to get it out to readers.

Me: Ok, can I just say how much I love that time-travel twist for Cataclysm? And I'm beyond excited about Joey Cola. I can see that being HUGE as a YA story, and a re-imagined biblical story at that! #coolness Now that you've got some self-pub experience under your belt, what advice do you have for writers considering self-publishing?

Dale: Be realistic. They say it is a one in a million shot to make a living at publishing a book traditionally, and about the same if you self-publish. The only difference being you have more control over your success or failure if you do it yourself. But with great power comes great responsibility! You must approach it like a business. Your product has to be the best it can possibly be. Get lots of beta readers. Hire an editor (this is non-negotiable) and not just a proof editor. You need to hire someone who can help you shape the overall story into the best story possible. Someone who will look at overall plot. Characterization issues. World building, etc... You want someone who says, why is this chapter here? I think it should be cut. Or you really need to add much more detail about this character's motivation. I went through almost six months of this kind of work with an editor. It was well worth it. Also another non-negotiable, unless you are a professional designer, is to hire a cover artist. This is the second most important thing (after writing and editing a great book). Don't skimp. Finally, be prepared to spend a ton of time marketing. I never dreamed I would spend as much time as I have. It has basically become another full-time job for me. Hopefully it will lessen over time, but I've been at this for four months now, and it is still taking up a sizable chunk of my day.

Would I do it again! Absolutely. Just meeting all the great people and hearing some awesome stories, has been worth it. I'm not quitting my day job anytime soon, but I still think there is a possibility I will some day. So keep dreaming. And keep writing.

Thank you so much, Dale, for sharing your insights with us! (Full disclosure: Dale is my cover designer and he rocks it! Definitely seek out a professional like Dale for your cover work!) You can see my review of Dale's book or check out all the details below:

OVERVIEW
Noah lives for piloting spaceships through time, dodging killer robots and saving Earth's animals from extinction.

Life couldn't be better.

But the twelve-year-old time traveler learns it could be a whole lot worse. His mom is kidnapped and taken to Mars; his dad is stranded in the Ice Age; and Noah is attacked at every turn by a foe bent on destroying Earth... for the second time.

Get your copy today by visiting Amazon.com (available in paperback or as an eBook) or the online retailer of your choice (more links below).

CASH PRIZES
Guess what? You could win a $50 Amazon gift card as part of this special blog tour. That’s right! Just leave a comment below saying something about the post you just read, and you’ll be entered into the raffle.

GIVEAWAY
Win 1 of 5 copies of the paperback version of Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble by entering the giveaway on GoodReads.

THE AUTHOR
D. Robert Pease has been interested in creating worlds since childhood. From building in the sandbox behind his house, to drawing fantastical worlds with paper and pencil, there has hardly been a time he hasn't been off on some adventure in his mind, to the dismay of parents and teachers alike. Also, since the moment he could read, books have consumed vast swaths of his life. From The Mouse and the Motorcycle, to The Lord of the Rings, worlds just beyond reality have called to him like Homer's Sirens. It's not surprising then he chose to write stories of his own. Each filled with worlds just beyond reach, but close enough we can all catch a glimpse of ourselves in the characters.

Discover ways to connect with the author by visiting his site at www.drobertpease.com

BOOK TRAILER



THANK YOU! for visiting. And don't forget to comment below for that chance to win the $50 Amazon gift card. And of course head on over to your favorite online book store and buy a copy of Noah Zarc: Mammoth Trouble, for you or for the kids in your life.

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Getting Sideways and Someone Else's Fairytale Released Today

Looking to stock up some reading material for the holidays? (I've been cramming my nook full of new titles in anticipation of some reading time, once my current draft is finished.) Two Indie friends have books releasing today:


Fellow Indelibles author Lisa Nowak is releasing her contemporary boy-POV novel Getting Sideways, the sequel to Running Wide Open. It's a great gift for NASCAR and racing fans (yes, Amazon and B&N now BOTH support gifting of e-books).

Running Wide Open $0.99 on Amazon and Barnes&Noble
Cody Everett has a temper as hot as the flashpoint of racing fuel, and it's landed him at his uncle's trailer, a last-chance home before military school. But how can he take the guy seriously when he calls himself Race, eats Twinkies for breakfast, and pals around with rednecks who drive in circles every Saturday night?

What Cody doesn't expect is for the arrangement to work. Or for Race to become the friend and mentor he's been looking for all his life. But just as Cody begins to settle in and get a handle on his supercharged temper, a crisis sends his life spinning out of control. Everything he's come to care about is threatened, and he has to choose between falling back on his old, familiar anger or stepping up to prove his loyalty to the only person he's ever dared to trust.

Getting Sideways $3.99 on Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Getting shipped off to live with his uncle Race was the best thing that ever happened to fifteen-year-old Cody. Then a wreck at the speedway nearly ruined everything. Cody's making every effort to get his life back on track—writing for the school paper, searching for the perfect girlfriend, and counting the days until he gets his drivers' license-but there's no escaping the nightmares that haunt him. 

A chance to build his own car seems like the perfect distraction. Until Cody realizes he'll have to live up to Race's legendary status. But that's the least of his worries, considering he doesn't have his dad's permission. All he has to do is the impossible: keep Race from discovering his lie until he can convince his dad that racing's safe. 

Yeah, sure. That'll be easy.

If you're looking for something more girlish and fun, fellow Scribbler's Cove member E.M. Tippets has just released her chick-lit novel Someone Else's Fairytale.

Someone Else's Fairytale $0.99 on Amazon and Barnes&Noble, FREE on Smashwords

Jason Vanderholt, the hottest actor in Hollywood, falls for everygirl, Chloe Winters, who hasn't even seen most of his movies. It's any woman's fairytale, except for Chloe's. The last thing she wants is media attention. Although she's slain her own dragons, there's always the possibility they might come back to haunt her.





Happy Reading!

Gifts for Geeks

I'm a geek (of the science and Star Trek varieties). My husband is a geek (of the engineering and model rocket flavor). We've spawned three miniature geeks (small, medium, and large).

Even though I now consider myself a WORD NERD, we still have a lot of geek gifts of Christmases-past in our house, including barometric pressure gages, enough rocketry explosives in the basement to alarm an ATF official, and a museum worthy collection of computers, computer parts, and electronics of unknown origin.

If you're feeling generous towards your geek beloved, you could invest in a Zombie Proof House. If you're being silly you could write a love letter entirely in Elvish. But if you seriously need a gift for the geek in your life, try one of these:

A Big Old Hunk of Gallium

From Robert Turner (along with a bunch of other cool stuff), this block of gallium will melt in your hand, not in your mouth:

Gallium is a silvery metal with atomic number 31. It’s used in semiconductors and LEDs, but the cool thing about it is its melting point, which is only about 85 degrees Fahrenheit. If you hold a solid gallium crystal in your hand, your body heat will cause it to slowly melt into a silvery metallic puddle. Pour it into a dish, and it freezes back into a solid. While you probably shouldn’t lick your fingers after playing with it, gallium isn’t toxic and won’t make you crazy like mercury does. And if you get tired of it, you can melt it onto glass and make yourself a mirror.

Han Solo Carbonite Ice Cube Tray

Oh, c'mon, you know you want this! From our friends at Think Geek: "Crystal clear, not scruffy looking." :) Also useful for CHOCOLATE! Enuf said.








Tesla Party Package
Includes mini-tesla plasma ball (USB powered) and a Tesla vs. Edison throw-down t-shirt. But the best is Electronic Gadgets for the Evil Genius by Bob Iannini (not recommended for anyone with a large stockpile of rocketry explosives in their basement).

Accio Big Bang Theory!

If your geek is of the Hogwarts loving flavor, you can't miss with a wand that acts like a remote control (see page 9).  If I could only get it to clean the kitchen, like Mrs. Weasley does.






R2, Could You Save That?

If your geek is of the Star Wars persuasion, an R2D2 USB drive is flat awesome. I wish I could get one with that little electrical arm attachment just to zap anyone who thinks about taking my flash drive (this happens more than you might think in my house. I'm looking at you Worm Burner).







Retro Gamer Alert

This desktop arcade game is iPad + Atari = Geeksplosion. AND it has a controller. Just in case you get tired of playing Angry Birds.









Geek Humor XKCD style

For serious brainiac, spit-out-your-tea humor, you can't beat XKCD comics. BONUS: you'll gain some profound insights into the geek brain, for better (and worse).








If none of these fit your geek gift recipient, try Think Geek - they even have a whole category for Geek Kids (personally I think all kids are born geeks; it's just that the world beats it out of them).

Happy Weekend (and shopping)!

UPDATE:
Holy Dark City, Batman!

For the gaming geeks out there, courtesy of Eliza of Girls PWN, I bring you the Dark Knight in Batman: Arkham City. I know nothing of gaming (seriously, Atari and Angry Birds are the limits of my gaming universe), but anything with The Batman is FTW. Thanks Eliza!

Holiday Gifts for Writers

Have a writer on your Christmas list? Or are your family and friends always wondering what to get you, besides secluded time to write and a new notebook (paper or electronic)?

Here's some ideas to put on your list or pass along for your favorite writerly friends.

Moleskin Covers for Your iPad!

From Roger Parker's post on Best Gifts for Authors, these iPad covers have paper and digital together. Some may think this is an unholy marriage, but I squeed when I saw this. Now, I just need an iPad to go with it.



World's Coolest Teapot
From White Lion Teas, this delightful teapot depicts novels from Dickens to Carroll to Orwell. I own this little gem, and it's just as cool as it looks. Only serves about 2 cups, but that's okay. Writers tend to drink alone. #sad






Hand Crafted Coolness
Etsy is a gold mine of cool, unique, hand-crafted gifts. These earrings are handmade by ALikelyStory and practically shout WORD NERD. I wants.







These book earrings are handmade by earringsbysusan (not me, another more talented Susan), and are a little more subtle in their bookishness, so probably suited for librarian friends and book lovers as well as writers.





These ampersand earrings, on the other hand, are back to shouting WORD NERD as well as TYPOGRAPHY GEEK. They are handmade by Fabrication Unlimited and I would totally wear these and be proud.

Custom crafted tennis shoes! These are handmade by ElianaG and this is a picture of the ones I had made for my mother-in-law for her birthday. It has the logo for the High School where she works and a picture of my three boys, all the things she loves. Put your creativity to work and make a unique gift for a special person.

These handcrafted journals by makingthishome are very cool looking. I'm coveting one of these, even as I still adore my moleskin notebooks that I tote everywhere.

If you want to combine the Writer and Christmas themes, you could go for one of these miniature book-themed Christmas Ornaments - that really open! How darn cute is that? Handcrafted by AmbJewelry.

If you're all about sporting your WORDNERDiness on a shirt, there are lots to choose from. Zazzle has a great collection, and these are just a few that caught my eye.

And Tesla WAS robbed. Don't make me come over there and prove it.

Speaking of Tesla, stop back tomorrow for GIFTS FOR GEEKS! If you're like me, either you are one, or you have one (or several) in your life.

Guest Post: Christmas in a Foreign Land by Talli Roland

Fellow author Talli Roland, with two previously small-press published novels, is taking the leap into self-publishing with her latest release, Build A Man. Talli's previous releases have been fun-filled, creative events that made me in awe of her (and furiously taking notes). This round is no exception as she has created an online poll for people to vote on features to create their idea partner:

I'll have a selection of eyes, mouths, lips to choose from ... for both men and women. At the end of the day, I'll assemble the 'ideal' man and woman and do the big reveal.

Too. Much. Fun!

Before you hop over and join the fun, please check out this delightful guest post from Talli. One of the things I'm enjoying most about having a book "out there" is connecting with readers and bloggers "across the pond." Being an avowed anglophile, this just tickles my fancy ...

Christmas in a Foreign Land by Talli Roland

Can you really consider London, UK, a foreign land? Well, yes. The fact that it’s so close to the Canadian culture I grew up with – yet intrinsically different – makes any difference stand out even more. I’ve been here for almost eight years, and I’m still adjusting to the peculiarities of a British Christmas.

Let’s begin with the Christmas tree. Standing all of four feet (if you’re lucky) with intermittent branches, you can expect to pay the princely sum of anything from thirty to sixty pounds. Yes, POUNDS! With strangely thick, waxy needles that shower the floor at the hint of a draft, to me it looks like foliage from a different planet.

But hey, Christmas is about more than the tree. Thankfully, you can get over your shock by scoffing mince pies. I held out on these little delights for quite some time, very confused by the ‘mince’ moniker. But no worries: here, ‘mince’ refers to the sweet date and sultana filling inside the flaky pastry treats. You can choose from a frosted top, cognac infused . . . the list goes on!

One tradition I definitely don’t partake in is Christmas cake. Although recipes vary, it’s usually a fruit-type cake with marzipan frosting. The last Sunday before Advent is known as Stir Up Sunday in the UK, a time when Christmas cake is made. And, if you really want to make your dinner jolly, you ‘feed’ the cake brandy until Christmas Day. I’ve tried this dessert several times, and despite the alcohol hit, it just ain’t for me.

The sheer abundance of mulled wine during the holidays makes up for any pudding disappointment. From supermarkets to corner shops, shelves are laden with the spicy delight. Gently heated in a saucepan, there’s nothing better than coming in from a cold, damp London winter to a wonderfully warming drink.

Ah, Christmas . . .

Talli Roland has three loves in her life: chick lit, coffee and wine. Born and raised in Canada, Talli now lives in London, where she savours the great cultural life (coffee and wine). Her debut novel, The Hating Game, was an Amazon Top 100 bestseller and shortlisted for Best Romantic Read at the UK’s Festival of Romance, and her second, Watching Willow Watts, was selected as a 2011 Amazon Customer Favourite. Build A Man is her latest release. Talli blogs here and can be found on Twitter here.

Slave to the rich, rude and deluded, cosmetic surgery receptionist Serenity Holland longs for the day she's a high-flying tabloid reporter. Unfortunately, every pitch she sends out disappears like her clients' liposuctioned fat, never to be seen again. Then she meets Jeremy Ritchie -- the hang-dog man determined to be Britain's Most Eligible Bachelor by making himself over from head to toe and everything in between -- giving Serenity a story no editor could resist. 

With London's biggest tabloid on board and her very own column tracking Jeremy's progress from dud to dude, Serenity is determined to be a success, even going undercover to gain intimate access to Jeremy's life. But when Jeremy's surgery goes drastically wrong and Serenity is ordered to cover all the car-crash goriness, she must decide how far she really will go for her dream job.

Build a Man by Talli Roland on sale at Amazon or add to your Goodreads.


Don't forget to check out the party!