Grab On and Go For It! - An Interview with Rebecca Lamoreaux

Three-year-old Rebecca Lamoreaux wanted to be a writer.  Writing, at her young age, translated into etching circles into the margins of her books with crayon.  She loved dreaming up fantastic tales and then retelling them to others.  The magic of stories had clearly captured her heart.     

Her grade school teachers nurtured Rebecca’s love of storytelling.  When she was about seven years old, she was selected to participate in a special program for students who showed promise in writing.  Through this program, Rebecca remembers finishing her first story.  She has been writing ever since.  

Though she has dabbled in all kinds of genres, she mainly writes fantasy, romance, historical fiction, and magical realism.  Her historical romance novel, Lord Hyacinthe, is scheduled for publication through Pandamoon Publishing in April of 2014.  

Rebecca places high value on sharing within the writing community, but she did not always feel that way.  For years she viewed other writers as competition and feared her ideas might be stolen if she confided in the wrong person.  Her perspective changed when a friend contacted her in November of 2012 and invited her to join a group of authors on Facebook.  The Authors Think Tank group on Facebook became Rebecca’s first experience with a community of writers committed to helping other writers.  So impressed with groups such as the Author Think Tank, she sought out more writing communities.  Rebecca joined ANWA, American Night Writer’s Association, a network for women writers who are also affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  The best thing she did for her writing career was attending writer’s conferences.  After meeting other writers at an ANWA conference, Rebecca’s writing improved because of the influence of her growing writing community.  And when a publisher came across her novel during a contest on Twitter, a panicked Rebecca turned to her community to help tighten up her story and help her land her book deal.  

Rebecca’s advice to me, a floundering writer staring down self-publishing after turning down a book deal?  “Grab on and go for it!”

She knows what she’s talking about.

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Check out Rebecca’s blog out at http://rebeccalamoreaux-anauthorinprogress.blogspot.com, or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AuthorRebeccaLamoreaux

The Earth Bleeds Red by Jackson Baer

Please stop by Facebook to support fellow author Jackson Paul Baer as he reveals the cover to his novel, The Earth Bleeds Red, which debuts next month. The following image is his spiffy new cover and a little bit more about his book.

Scott and Jessie are a couple in love. Ashley, their only daughter, is 17-years old and has vanished; leaving behind nothing but a pool of blood. Her strange disappearance is quickly thought to be a homicide. Her cozy, northwest town is stunned when police find the body of another girl at the bottom of the Willamette River. The eerie signature found on the girl links to a monster dubbed the Hail Mary Killer. While Scott searches for Ashley, the FBI feels convinced that she is the killer’s latest victim.

In spite of three other bodies with the same distinct marking, no one prepared themselves for the discovery in southern Oregon. Local hikers stumble upon a car in the mountain brush and a tattooing needle with an evil history surfaces inside. A cabin appears nearby with another gruesome discovery. Scott finds some solace in his friendship with Father Henry as he and Jessie try to salvage their marriage and move on beyond the loss of Ashley. The FBI finally catches a break when they unearth the dark past of the Hail Mary Killer’s family. What emerged in his basement is more terrifying than anyone could have possibly imagined. What happens to the Miller family and Father Henry will shake your soul and keep you reading till the last page.

Questioning

Four months ago I sent an e-mail ending my business relationship with the publisher courting me.  It wasn't easy to say no to a sure thing.  Every day I wonder if I made the wrong choice.

My novel had a projected publish date of mid-October.  A month from now, a dream could have come true.  Maybe.

Their first round of novels were supposed to launch in July, but I am not sure if that happened.  I keep tabs on some other authors who have signed with this company because I'm anxious to see what happens.  For them, things seem to be moving forward and they are pleased with the process.

I still made the right decision, right?

Just kidding.  I know I did what I felt made the most sense at the time.  Still, I'm so ready for my novels to find an audience beyond my circle of family and friends.  That's something that requires patience, but, frankly, I skipped that line when virtues were being passed out.

Breathe in.  Breathe out.

Like Falling In Love

I'm currently in a holding pattern, waiting for beta-readers to finish up with my first book and get back to me with their comments.  Another writer confessed to me that the waiting period always makes her nervous.  It made me think.

As a writer, you spend thousands of hours pouring words onto a page or screen. Ideas are born, full of promise and excitement.  You grow and change with each character.  Together you encounter a full range of problems, from tiny bumps to impassable mountains.  When tears roll down their cheeks, your tears follow suit.  Heart in throat, you wait by their side as their last breath falls from still lips.  After 'The End', you discover that you've become someone richer in experience than the person you were before it all began.

To share that with others, especially others whose goal it is to point out your scars and imperfections, is frightening.  It is opening yourself--and your new friends--to attack, no matter how well-intentioned your attacker.  It is lowering your defenses in the hopes that the arrows will serve to build you up rather than fatally wound.  You make yourself vulnerable.  Vulnerability is unnatural for us.

In many ways, this feedback process is like falling in love.  It is delivering your beating heart on a platter and hoping it returns safely--that they love in return.  It is trusting that the other person has only the best intentions, only the purest motives.  It is the hope that they are skilled in architecture and demolish only what they must in order for us to rebuild stronger and more complete.

There is such great and awful responsibility in love and art.

Maybe you don't write and you find it difficult to relate to my illustration because of that.  That's okay.  I think it still applies to many of our passions, not only the crafting of sentences.  Do what you do with love, because of love.  Accept the help of others with love.  Extend your hand to others with truth and compassion.  

Making yourself vulnerable and opening your heart to others is scary.  Sometimes you'll bleed and wish you'd kept your shield tucked tight around your chest.  At other times, bringing others alongside you on the journey reveals unspeakable beauty.  The joy is nearly always worth the splinters along the way.

I Don't Ask For Much

You may notice that I've added a "Make a Donation" button off to the side of my blog here and on my author page in a galaxy far, far away.  It's not meant to offend anyone--because I know money is tight the world around.... but sometimes we don't have because we don't ask.  Or, more accurately, we don't have because no one knows there's a need in the first place.

This blog post and Amanda Palmer's TED talk inspired this blog post.  I'm too tired to do anything but borrow Amanda and Ksenia's work, but I am happy to have found both of them on the Interwebs tonight.

No pressure, folks.  Just putting it out there and seeing what happens.

xoxo!

My Life In One Photo

Except that lady.  I have no clue who that lady is.

(Thanks Tim!)

Fifty Shades Of Frustration

I am on Twitter.  I'm not too terribly proud of it.

My motives were good.  I wanted to connect with other writers so I could stop boring my friends and family who don't really give a hoot.  Twitter seemed a logical place, with people much like myself just a hashtag away.  Or so I thought.

By searching out and following random (and not-so-random) writers and publishers and editors, I found myself eyeball-deep in self-promotion and little else of value.  Tweets like these, by the thousands, sweep through my feed:

BUY MY BOOK FOR .99, TODAY ONLY #bythewayitsucks

Mona doesn't need dignity where she's going...  VAGUE BOOK TITLE #scrubyourbrainwithlysollater

#Write your #novel in five hours but.payme20bucksfirst.com !!!!

I nearly called it quits, deciding I'd failed in ferreting out real live people on Twitter.  The best I could tell, Twitter was one big, soulless PR/Advertising dumping ground for authors and booksellers alike.  Not at all the place where tormented artists were huddled together, whining about deadlines, writer's block, and plot holes.  Something happened late last week to change that, though.  An innocent question led me to small community of writers loosely tied to NaNoWriMo, and, finally, I found hope in the whole Twitter idea that I'd been scoffing at all this time.

Until last night.  Yes, I had four whole days of Twitter happiness, and then I discovered something so..... so....  I don't have the words to describe it.

I followed a particular female author, just because.  She's no one I'd heard of before, and I didn't remember her at all until something popped up on my newsfeed last night while I was watching the Oscars.  This woman was interacting with her followers (something rare amongst authors on Twitter, with the exception of the incomparable Neil Gaiman), and I took notice.  Authors/celebrities who take the time to talk to their fans impress me--it shows me they care...  about something, at least.  Her follower complained that her website had crashed, and the author explained it always did after she released a new book "teaser".  They began talking back and forth about how wonderful and quirky the books' main characters are.  Now, I had no idea who this lady was or what she writes, but I was intrigued.

I proceeded to download a free sample of one of her books from Amazon without reading the summary.  The sample netted me 10 or so pages to read and decide whether I am interested enough to buy the entire book.  At $10, I'm already fairly certain I'm NOT interested, but I wanted to see this quirky character everyone's in love with.

It took me about five pages before I realized that this series is completely hanging onto the coattails of Fifty Shades of Grey.  (Please don't ask me if I am into Fifty Shades of Grey unless you want to hear me go off on a day-long rant....  I just....  Yeah, don't ask me about it, that's all.)

So, whatever.  I get it.  Sex sells.  A lot.  Like major best-seller a lot.  That's not really my beef here, although it's really annoying.  I'm taking a deep breath and trying--but failing--to climb down off my soapbox.

This morning I checked my Twitter account and came across this author again.  At some point, she (or one of her followers) had shared something by an individual on Twitter pretending to be the main male character of her book series.  Not that weird--I'm assuming that most fictional characters have a Twitter account maintained by some fanatic.  Maybe someday even Liam or Claire will have their own Twitter accounts, too.

What disturbed me is that this fictional character was having fairly graphic Tweetsex (is that a term?  If not, it is now) with his followers.  I mean....  What???  Y'all have no shame.  I don't want to imagine any of you doing any of that with any of that, knowwhatI'msayin'?

I'm not against romance novels.  I like it when people fall in love, in real life or in a book's life.  I've been known to drown myself in chocolate chip cookies and a trashy novel when I can't be bothered with thinking.  Trashy novels don't require thinking.  But.... some of these books are topping the charts! And I don't want to believe it for a single second.

It's discouraging to know that this is what I am up against.  That most of the readers don't care what the plot is or how utterly unbelievable a character is as long as they are drrrrty birdies.  That I will likely never see the same level of success because my main character doesn't let him x her y with a z.  Depressing, really.

I'm not yet swearing off Twitter because luckily I did find a few quality individuals along the way, and a couple of them have helped quite a deal with my novel.  However, I guess I will have to learn to be more discerning of the complete strangers I pay attention to.  I suppose that's not a bad thing to apply to most areas of my life.

And even though it's disheartening to see, I'm not going to let the Fifty Shades of the literary world get me down.  A captivating story can be created without all of that, I'm sure of it.

#rantover #amiright?

She Should Be Ashamed.

Since deciding to pursue writing last year, I have been anxious to learn more about the practice of writing--the habits, struggles, and other odd things that make up this calling.  I enjoy reading other books now to see how authors describe characters and paint their worlds.  Lately I've been reading nearly as much as I've been writing, which I consider refueling and instruction.  As I was riding home from a family Christmas meal this evening, I began re-reading Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" on my Christmas present, my awesomely awesome Kindle Fire HD.

Tonight I found myself thinking specifically about Stephenie Meyer's writing process, so I did what anyone curious about any topic would do--I Googled it.  Turns out, she literally dreamed up the story for "Twilight" and wrote it down once she took care of her errands for the day.  The fact that it was a dream is probably the best explanation for the storyline:  Sparkly hot vampires and buff werewolves?  Nah....  Totally not a dream.

What I loved most was reading about her background.  Stephenie was a novice writer, with "Twilight", the first book of the series, being her first completed work.  She is a mother, and completed much of her writing at night when her kids were supposed to be in bed sleeping so there would be less interruptions.  That sounds vaguely familiar.

While reading about her process, I stumbled across a blog where the blogger was exploring how many writers completely dismiss or downright loathe Meyer's writing.  The one and only time I read the series (four years ago), I was merely a reader, totally unaware that I would be writing a young adult novel of my own not that far off in the future.  Reading back through the book again now that I've studied more on the art of writing, I find that I do still like her and the story--though I now find her a bit more wordy and repetitive.  Lots of words, that's the best way to make a 200-page novel 500 pages, I guess.

And, yes, I've already embraced the fact that the Twilight franchise is my guilty pleasure.  For sure, I know it's not the basis of good writing, but I always enjoy finding a book I can't put down... no matter what the reason.

Anyway, someone on the blog said, "McDonald's has sold tens of billions of hamburgers, but all those sales don't make them a gourmet meal or even a gourmet hamburger. It's the same with Meyer's writing. It's not art. Sure, art has a subjective component, but it also has objective components and Meyer didn't meet those....  I would NOT have wanted to be in Meyer's shoes. Oh, the money is nice, but one has to be able to hold one's head up about how he or she made that money, not that Meyer did anything illegal. Had I written the "Twilight" books, I'd be ashamed, not proud."

Ouch.

Critics are everywhere, and with any measure of success there will be haters.  I have been guilty of mentally picking apart others' novels (even though I still generally support the writers in question), but I try not to.  Writing is difficult and intensely intimate work.  Hearing that you should be ashamed of something that has consumed you for years, characters who have become close as family, locations that feel like home.... well, that has to hurt deep down to your core.

Do I have thick enough skin required for putting myself out there?  I fully intend to find out, but right now I am a swirl of self-doubt.

Farewell

I'm freshly-back from the last installment of the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part 2.  And I've got to say, I'm so conflicted.  Because so many have not yet seen the movie yet, I am not going to comment on specifics other than:  (a) why do I have to pick a "Team"?  I'm not that picky, and pretty much everyone on the cast is gorgeous; and (b) it was fan-flipping-tastic.  Now for a few random thoughts in no particular order....

I hate endings.  I want to grow old with these familiar friends.  Eventually Rob Pattinson will lose all of his hair and Taylor Lautner will pack on 80 pounds, so maybe it's better to remember them this way.  Still, I couldn't help feeling sad when the end credits rolled and the official good-byes (at least for now) were said.

When I'm feeling particularly low, I flip on New Moon, the second film in the saga.  I refer to it as my "comfort movie".  Some people have comfort food (okay, I have that, too) or a hideaway.  Me, I've got a somewhat-cheesy, totally depressing, co-dependent movie.  This goes back to a pivotal winter when this movie happened to be in the theaters.  Everything seemed to be changing, and the movie was so melancholy that it just fit.  I saw it eight times in the theater.  Maybe that's pathetic, but I am still here to tell the tale, and I am only a teensy bit more cynical about life in general.  So, well done, New Moon.

More than anything, it makes me long for a piece of what these literary series have done, and done so well:  Knitting together a community of dreamers.  When we are moved to dream, to imagine, we remember that we are surrounded by wonder.  Life is full of infinite possibilities, our own plot to advance and thicken.  I pray that someday I will stumble across the characters who will inspire others to create, to laugh, and to love.

Farewell, Twilight.  You weren't perfect, by any stretch of the word, but you reminded me that I still have stories left to tell.  I'm forever grateful.

Not Mine...

But amazing!  Enjoy!

Angie Smith - The Splendid Things