The Carpe Annum Interviews Year End Round Up

We declared 2013 Carpe Annum—Seize the Year! It was our way of encouraging you as an artist/writer to find your own path, listen to your inner iconoclast, and to be set free to explore your true writer/reader/human self. We invited a handful of writers and other publishing industry folks on the blog throughout the year to talk about writing, not writing, publishing, not publishing, and everything that goes on in between.

We’re thrilled to have them all back today, visiting from all over North America. It’s a bit squishy in here (next time, we’re booking a larger space!), but no one minds. Let’s eavesdrop on the conversation:

Bonnie Grove: One more seat for Don Pape, please. Could we have Lesley and Tosca scooch together? Thanks. Mind Arthur Slade’s feet. He has enormous feet. Pizza’s here! Christa Allan, could you tip the delivery person? Everyone here? Great. Let’s get started. Are books dead?

Don Pape (Publisher): We have seen through digital a real devaluing of intellectual property. Once we would buy a project with a reasonable advance and sell it for $15 in the hopes of recouping your investment. Now that consumer is wanting that same property – nah they demand – at $2.99 or heavens, free! 

Nicci Jordan Hubert (freelance editor) I suggest that although the medium may change, the relationship between authors and readers will never change. There is no “end of books.” Books will live forever, of course, whether they’re read on paper, an iPhone screen, futuristic computer-glasses, or perhaps some kind of cool osmosis process.

Bonnie Grove: With publishing changing daily, how does great fiction happen? How does the great stuff get out there into the hands of readers?

Don Pape (Publisher): Nothing changes – a Really Great story!! Whether it is historical, contemporary – a really great story well told, amazing fully developed characters. And please, not another “in the tradition of Left Behind” or “Gresham-like” – let’s be original please!!

Chris Fabry: I can have a great publishing plan, a brand people recognize, and all the “right” industry choices made, but if I don’t have a good story, I don’t have anything.

Julie Cantrell: Characters. For me…it’s all about the characters. And I do consider the setting a character. 

Nicci Jordan Hubert: If you really want to be a successful writer, there are no short cuts. Okay, if you’re related to a celebrity, you’ll have an easier time getting published, but for the rest of you… There is only one path to becoming a good writer: Reading lots of good books. Studying the craft of writing. Practicing writing a lot. Self-editing ruthlessly. And seeking out honest feedback.

Bonnie Grove: Feedback. Okay writers, dish about feedback. There’s all kinds, the helpful feedback you can get while working on a novel (and unhelpful), and then there’s the painful feedback that comes after the book releases.

Tosca Lee:  You know, I remember my first one-star review. My heart started thudding. I felt anxious, defensive, and mortified. But my anxiety has ebbed with time. A few months ago I saw a one-star review that said Demon was "written with the deftness and wit of an inebriated three year old." And I remember thinking, "Who would give alcohol to a three year-old??"

Arthur Slade: I was more concerned about reviews at the start of my career and would take them more personally. But now, with the advent of Amazon and Goodreads, I actually get a kick out of the bad reviews. Sometimes they can be quite creative (my favourite had a line that went something like “I had to drink a Coke while I was reading Dust in order to stay awake”). The only time I am frustrated by reviews is when they say something that is truly false about the book. Oh, plus my mom always says the books are good.

Bonnie Grove: How does a writer move past bad reviews/feedback? Especially in this day of Amazon and Goodreads. Everyone is a critic.

Chris Fabry: I no longer see my stories as for some mass audience out there. Each story is for an individual reader. And each story is for me.

Julie Cantrell: “Whatever you do, don’t waste your scholarship to study writing. You’ll be lucky if you ever publish a greeting card.” –  My 12^th Grade English Teacher . It took me ten years to get her voice out of my head. I didn’t write a thing for an entire decade because I was foolish enough to believe what she said as truth.

Lesley Livingston: I was an actor for years before I was a writer. I’m so very used to criticism (good and bad) and rejection (yay auditions! Bleh.) that it all pretty much just rolls off my back by now. It’s not always easy and sometimes I read a review and mutter unkind things but the truth is, if you’re going to believe the good reviews, you’ve got to believe the bad ones, too. It’s just what you said—opinions. Once the book is out there, it’s no longer just yours. And everyone who reads it has the absolute right to there opinion of it. (No matter how wrong they are!! Ha!)

Chris Bohjalian: I don’t dare read the reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or BN.com. I used to. I wrote an essay once for the Washington Post about my old addiction to reading the way anonymous people would eviscerate my work. But now, in the interest of my mental health, I give the reviews as wide a berth as I can. They can really screw up a sunny day.

Tosca Lee: I think just realizing that readers’ responses are a reflection of where they’re at. It’s not about you. It’s about what resonates—or doesn’t—with them right now. For me, I know that any time I choose to get offended, I’m the one who suffers.

Bonnie Grove: What keeps you going on rough days? None of you have thrown in the towel, and you’ve all reached wonderful success as writers. Is it going according to plan?

Christa Allan: In the beginning of my writing life, my path reflected the opening of Genesis. It was without form and full of darkness. I doubt I knew a path existed or even cared. So delirious with joy over my first contract, I didn't think beyond it. Sort of like being more prepared for the wedding than the marriage, you know?

Chris Bohjalian: I was simply hoping to write a novel after (finally) selling a short story. I amassed 250 rejection slips before I sold a single word.

Arthur Slade: Long ago, a fellow writer said it’d take about ten years to get published. She was wrong. It took me twelve. 

Ariel Lawhon: The only things that matter right now, today, are the words on the page in front of me. That’s what I can control. And I will never find joy in this profession—much less write another book—if I can’t enjoy the actual process of writing. So I have to touch the story every day. Even if it’s just a word or two. The only way to stay sane is to write.

Bonnie Grove: Share a bit about your writing process.

Chris Fabry: Writing was the path to freedom. If I could write through this devastation, if I could allow the pain I was going through to inform the story, my readers would connect with the character on an even deeper level. And I would find a measure of solace in the process.

Christa Allan: My process: Hooray! NYT Bestseller idea, write reams of brain urp on yellow legal pads, write three chapters, call my BFF and scream, "I don't have a novel, and why the hell did I ever believe I was a writer?"; go back to legal pads, write to the middle, make charts and graphs and index cards while consuming coffee, Coke Zero, chocolate, popcorn, Mike&Ikes ; write, stop and make more notes and consume any combination or all of the above foods, write...continue until "The End." I doubt that process has a name or that I'll be able to turn it into a writing book.

Bonnie Grove: Advice to writers?

Christa Allan: If I didn't pursue my dream, regret would pursue me.

Julie Cantrell: I’m begging you… write as if no one will ever read it. That’s the only way you’ll find your true, original voice and feel free enough to reach the level of honesty readers really crave.

Lesley Livingston: That’s the whole thing with carpe-ing. The act of seizing is a willful act. You pretty much just have to do it. Write. You can’t edit a blank page. You can’t revise an empty screen. The lion’s share of writing is re-writing. Get the words down. Then put them in the right order. For me, it comes down to writing every day. As much or as little as I can, but every day. If I’m away from the story for a day, it takes me twice as long to get my head back into the game.

Ariel Lawhon: Everything changed for me when I realized that if I wanted to have this job—and I did, I still DO—then I had to sit down and write a novel. I knew that if anything were to come of this dream it would spring from a finished novel and nothing else.

Arthur Slade:  Don’t expect it all to happen overnight. It’s such a cliché, but write every day and always look for ways to improve your craft. Writing is like working out for a Triathlon. I’ve never done one, but they look hard and you have to train hard. Writing is the same. It takes training. And tea breaks.

Bonnie Grove: Thanks so much, everyone for sharing your wisdom with us this Carpe Annum year. Let’s all crowd in for a group picture! Mind Arthur Slade’s enormous feet.

If This Is What I Want As A Reader. . . A Novel Matters Roundtable

I'm trying to catch up on my TBR pile. I don't read long fiction while I'm writing a  novel because, inevitably, the novel I'm reading gets tangled up in the one I'm writing making for messy re-writes. This readathon happening at my house has made me realize that I've been living a double life. One as a reader, the other as a writer. What I look for in a novel and what I write (particularly in that lousy first draft) suffer disconnect. It's time to bridge the thinking gap and bring the reader and writer in me together!

If this is what I want as a reader: A story that introduces me to can't-look-away characters I fall in love with the moment I meet them,

 How come as a writer I: Piddle around with the opening of the story, adding all kinds of backstory, moody and unnecessary details about the weather, or long narratives from a god's-eye-view that don't bring the characters close?

Here's another one. If this is what I want as a reader: Complex novels that deal with human struggle on several levels at once.

How come as I writer I: Try to make myself think that a single problem should have a single answer? It's good for a novel to have a central question (theme), but it's yawnsville if I write as if the question has only one good answer.

Alright, ladies, 'fess up with your reader/writer disconnects. I'm not alone in this, am I?

Oh boy, Bonnie, I'm right there with you, but I'm asking the question a bit differently. As a reader, I don't pick up genre fiction. Yes, I read historical fiction, although I prefer near-history, but not historical romance. I'm most interested in a good story historical or not with complexity, like you, that challenges me to look at what I thought I knew differently. I do try to write those stories but never as well as I want to.

I'm ready to start my next project. All through the marketing of my present release, I've been frustrated with having to pigeonhole the story into a genre of two categories and seven keywords, so readers can find it. What I write doesn't fit the prescribed vocabulary of marketing. I'm so tempted to chuck it all and embrace a genre. But which one? Shouldn't I write what I read, even if I don't do it as well as I want to?

So, Bonnie, I'm definitely conflicted, and I'm at a crossroads. Please send chocolate.

Wow, this is more difficult than it sounds, but I'll give it a try.

If this is what I want as a reader:  Complex plots that are interwoven between compelling characters,

How come as a writer I: write novels with simpler plots, focusing on the problem of one major character? Answer: because complex plots are dang hard to pull off! I don't take the time to develop all, or most, of my characters to the same level. But when you think about it, each one has his or her own drama going on, his or her own catastrophe, his or her own long-fought-for success. Each character should have the potential of The Main Character, and yet I narrow the scope of my stories when it comes to the supporting cast. I know that about myself, but the problem is that I'm not good at juggling. Maybe with my new WIP I'll be more mindful of what's going on in the lives of my other characters and see how good I can become at weaving.

I love this exercise, Bonnie - thanks for bringing it up. So my question is: If what I want as a reader is characters who take my breath away (think Corrigan in Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann) - well, I do start with the character, and with practice, may yet write a Corrigan one day.

I'll start over, and better this time: If what I love best is a high wire act*, a lavish risk that achieves the spectacular when it succeeds (think The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak) then why do I take so few risks when I write? I'm working on becoming fearless.

Pray for me.

Okay, so I want exotic, mysterious, suspenseful, rich, multilayered characters and settings. I want people with secrets and secrets with landscape. I want the rug pulled out from underneath me at least twice and as I sit rubbing my bum, I want to tell myself I should have seen it coming. And then step on another rug without looking at it.

That's what I want. That's what I try to write. But I certainly don't do it up to my own expectations of the writings of others-- or of myself.

The Cruciformity of Storytelling- A Novel Matters Video

Video text:

Preachy. An explication the storyteller strives to avoid. But how to circumvent “preachiness” while simultaneously weaving a strong moral argument into the fabric of the story?

Katy wrote an article posted on our sister blog, She Reads entitled Eyes to See. In it she points to the storytellers need to consider broad and deep the life teaming around us in order to become arrested by things previously unknown or misunderstood. This, I think is an excellent first step: the action of willfully putting aside our own way of understanding the world in order to truly see the world as others do. Only when the storyteller confesses her blind ignorance can she begin to see the heart of the story she is trying to tell.

Out of this step come neat things begin to pour out of imagination. The storyteller finds a new hero. A broken one. Oh, not the pretty blonde with a winning smile and a broken heart. Not her. Rather, the storyteller whose eyes are open finds the outcast. The ignored. The powerless. The reviled. And in these dark places sees startling beauty. Not the need for redemption, instead she sees the tendrils of glory already present. The places where redemption has already broken in and found a miniscule toehold. Inside this dark-bright crawl space, the storyteller sees the hard nugget of true story.

Pouring from this step, comes the next, where the storyteller abandons her message in order to explore the message God has already written into the life of the beloved outcast. The story is no longer what the writer thinks it must be, but is transformed into the story that is the one the teller has no power over. The story that will not bend to an outside agenda—r egardless of how benevolent that agenda seems.

From here, the story populates with characters who swirl around the beloved outcast. Each of these characters, regardless of their role in the story’s structure, live out (model) a different aspect of the beloved outcast’s story. Together they fill out the complexities of their dark redemption-in-progress. They link together in surprising ways in order to demonstrate all the moral choices available. The storyteller does not pluck out those who embrace darkness, rather she seeks to understand the choice in order to bring its fullness to the page.

And, after this tapestry of character and story are in place and the story emerges, the teller sees herself staring back from the pages. She sees the plumbed depth of her own humanity, need, weakness, and desire. And having seen this, understands the story she will tell is one that makes room for everyone to find themselves. It is a story of inclusiveness and humanity. It is an act of love.

Being a Keeper

Today's post comes from Marybeth Whalen Director of She Reads. Novel Matters and She Reads have partnered to create a bridge between readers and writers in order to create a community built around the love for books. We encourage you to have a look at the She Reads site and join in the discussion! Here is some information about this wonderful organization.

She Reads exists to honor Christ by connecting readers with novels that:

• inspire through excellent writing
• explore deep issues of faith
• initiate change in the reader’s life

Each month, the She Reads book club will offer a current title as featured selections. Readers have vast differences in taste and for this reason diverse genres and authors will be chosen.

Why should I join She Reads?

Readers who join She Reads receive a number of benefits, including:

• Connection with other readers on the She Reads blog who are passionate about great fiction and uplifting stories.
• Information via the She Reads newsletter that will keep readers up to date on their favorite authors, and books, with a few surprises thrown in for fun.
• Reviews of newly released titles written by a variety of readers, writers, and industry professionals.
• Options to create a She Reads book club or bring an existing club under the She Reads umbrella.
• Relationships developed within the intimate setting of a regular book club meeting.
• Fun planned study guides with activities and interesting facts developed specifically for the She Reads book club.
• Online Community for those who can’t participate in a monthly meeting (or don’t live near an existing club), via the She Reads blog and Facebook group.
• Pre-selected novels they can trust and appreciate – an important aspect in today’s economy where every buying decision requires a second thought.
• Access to authors they love through print interviews, meet and greets, conference calls, etc. Each selected author will participate in two conference calls with the first 100 guests (per call) who sign up. This will be a free service and a chance for readers to have their questions answered by the authors themselves!
• Free books from time to time via contests, giveaways, and publisher promotions.

~

Of all the diversions of life, there is none so proper to fill up

its empty spaces as the reading of useful and entertaining authors.
~ Joseph Addison ~

There are books that we keep and books that we donate. What makes the difference? And why does it matter to us as writers?

I thought of this recently as I made my weekly visit to the library. I passed books on the shelf that I had read and loved and smiled at them like old friends. I watched a woman picked up a book that had been a favorite of mine and, on impulse, I recommended it to her. "That's a great one," I offered. "A good choice."

She looked at me with narrowed eyes as though trying to remember when she had asked my opinion. I grinned and continued with my search for a book that would inspire that same kind of passion in me. I did not look back to see if she took my advice and checked out the book I recommended.

As a writer, I want to write the books that people keep. Once I borrowed a copy of Gift From The Sea from a friend. I remember just as I was about to walk out with it my friend stopped me. "Hang on!" she said. "I want to write my name in it so I can be sure to get it back. This one's a book I want to keep." She paused. "It's special to me."

Isn't that every writer's longing? To write a book that readers want to keep, if for nothing else than to know it's there, to smile at it on their shelf? So what does a keeper look like? I thought of the books I have kept. In spite of my ever-shrinking shelf space they earned a permanent spot. These books are:

Moving. The book moved me emotionally. I connected with the plot, the premise, the outcome. I wanted to keep it because I wanted to preserve the connection.

Memorable Characters. I have spent time with these characters and loved them. When the book ends, I find myself wondering how they're doing. I wanted to keep the book because I wanted the characters close by.

Makes you think. Whether it's a surprise ending or a moral dilemma the character faced, the book kept me enthralled and made me ponder life from a different angle or made me dig deeper into some of my own beliefs. I wanted to keep it because it earned my respect.

Masterful writing. When I read the book I caught myself going back to re-read certain sentences or paragraphs because the writing was just that good. I wanted to keep the book because the writer created an amazing work.

Motivates me to be a better writer. When I closed the book I thought to myself, "I wish I had written that book... or thought of that premise... or created those plot twists, etc." Reading good writing inspires really good writing. I kept the book because I want good writing close at hand.

My co-director at She Reads, Ariel Allison Lawhon says, "The beautiful thing is that every writer can control the elements that make a book a keeper. We can't control marketing or promotion or cover design or even the title. But we can write really good books." The next time you are thinking about your novel, don't think about getting published or the brand or the title or anything else. Think instead about the books you have kept and how you can write a book that is a keeper.

Ariel and I thought we'd make a brief list of the books we consider keepers. We would love for you to share yours!

Ariel's list: Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Kathryn Stockett's The Help, Keeper Of The Bees by Jean Stratton Porter, anything by George MacDonald or C.S. Lewis, and all of the She Reads selections,

Marybeths' list: all the She Reads picks, Kathleen McCleary's House And Home, Prince Of Tides by Pat Conroy (the book that cemented my desire to be a writer), all of Lee Smith's titles, Susan Meissner's Blue Heart Blessed, Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos, The Pact by Jodi Picoult

Which books are on your Keeper List? What makes them stand out to you?

Round Table Discussion - Starting a New Novel

Ahh, the rush of new ideas. The inspiration flowing through your veins, the thrum of themes, the envisioning of new characters. Heady stuff.

Then comes the moment you must begin to think logically about your grand ideas. You fall from the clouds of inspiration and land on the road of logic. How can I make this work? Writing, it seems to me, is the marriage of excessive imagination and cold hard logic. Spinning dreams, then tacking their feet to the floor. Before I started my current work, my editor told me she wanted me to try outlining the novel. There are a great many complexities in my next book and outlining made sense. Now that I've finished outlining, I can see the merit in outlining for any kind of novel regardless of complexity. It helped me think about character and plot elements ahead of time that, left on my own, writing scenes and narratives, would have taken much longer to think about and develop. At first, I was nervous that outlining would "squelch my muse", cramp my style. But I got over that soon enough. I was the one outlining - so I was calling the shots, and deciding how it would work. I'll be outlining my next novel as well.

For me, each novel I've written (make that one complete one and two partial ones, including my WIP) has begun with an image rather than an outline or a plot. The plot has arisen out of the image. For Latter-day Cipher, the image was that of a woman lying dead on a forest floor, with the sunlight in sheets on her body and a secret inside her. For a book that's almost complete which is a prequel to Cipher, the image was a "disaster apron" used to get newborns out of a hospital nursery in an emergency. For my WIP the image is of a lithopedia.

Actually, I've been using and talking about "controlling images" for years in conjunction with writing non-fiction. It is a concept or image that, true to its name, controls the content of the chapter or section (or more rarely) the non-fiction book I'm writing. The structure of the actual written piece is dictated by the strength and nature of the image.

Am I weird? Does anyone else start this way?

Latayne, you're such a global thinker! For me, I get my ideas from...wherever, and I definitely need to nail them down. I'm not proud. I'll expand a concept from a podcast (as for Seeing Things), snatch my friend's royalty (she was the queen of Sleepy Eye, really), or noodle over my worst fears (all of my books).

And I'm very much an outliner. Here's a picture of my cumbersome method. Every column is a chapter. Each character has his or her very own color of sticky note (no sharing or I lose the pattern). I write what happens in each scene on a sticky note. As I place the notes, I'm mindful of rising antagonism and tension. The nice thing about the sticky notes is their flexibility. I can shuffle those puppies around until I like what I see. This works well for me because I'm so visual. I've never tried to travel with this method of outlining, for obvious reasons.


I think and stew over a book idea for a long time before I put anything on paper. I keep a notebook with me for ideas for plot points, settings, occupations, symbolism, motivations. I do research until the information starts repeating itself. Then I make a rough, loose outline and flesh it out more and more, each section impacting and expanding the next, until the story is told. At this point, I make Excel spreadsheets like family trees and a timeline, plugging in plot points, births, deaths, dates etc. to make sure that it is all logical. When I'm sure that I have all my facts straight and know where the story is going, I can relax and enjoy the freedom to be creative because I know the bones are solid and strong.

I don't want to give the wrong impression. I may have been one of those kids who always colored inside the lines, but the colors were out-of-the-box. I once made my third grade teacher angry for using vibrant pinks, turquoise and purples on a special fall leaf project that she chose for me to complete. Didn't I know leaves weren't that color, she demanded? Well, apparently not!


I'm getting some great ideas here. I like Patti's post-it board especially, being a visual person, too.

My muse is neurotic, driving me to outline obsessively, and then flying off in new directions, disregarding the spreadsheet I so carefully crafted - on excel, like Debbie. Still, I like having an idea of the big picture, and an outline helps me do that, even if I ignore it.

The advantage is that I can stop writing the outline if I get bogged down, knowing that by the time I get to that part of the book, everything will be different anyway.

But all the while I'm thinking, there has to be a better way. Maybe I'll get myself a poster board and some sticky notes. What's a flaming creative like me doing with a spreadsheet, anyway?

PS: No Latayne, you're brilliant.
~

Oh, man, it's confession time. I'm only admitting to this because it's how I've done it with each novel I've written, and I couldn't pretend I've done it any other way. So, here goes: I start a novel with a beginning and an end in mind, and only a vague idea of how I'm going to get from the first page to the last. What's more, I work out the plot points as I go along. Spontaneity is the name of the game. Outlining scares me more than writing the novel, and, Patti, much as I love you, your method would cause me to hyperventilate.

When they say there's no right or wrong way to write a novel, this probably isn't what they have in mind. I know, I'll never be asked to teach a workshop.

But there may be hope for me. My WIP is an experiment, because I'm using Jeff Gerke's How to Find Your Story this time around. It's a multi-page worksheet that helps you consider plot points, theme, characterization, and all the things that outlining does for you. But for someone like me, who hates even the thought of outlining, spreadsheeting or synopsizing, it holds my hand through the process, prompting me to nail down details at the outset, with the intent of making the writing more smooth and efficient, and eliminating loose ends, etc. etc. I like the fact that I can be as detailed (or not) as I want to be with each specific point, and I can skip points altogether if I so choose.

Patti's post on Friday really hit home with me. Because I'm fearful every time I start a new book. And I stay afraid until I get to the last page. And until someone reads and validates it. Maybe Jeff's worksheet will eliminate some of the fear -- but I doubt it. But if it makes the story more cohesive from the get-go, which it has, that's a good thing. And anything that makes this process easier, is extremely welcome.

So, authors, which of us do you most relate to? And, readers, have we blown our cover?