Stevie!

I was going to write an intense post on how to save the world or dolphins or my neighbors down the street from self-destruction due to their immense love of all things Tea Party, but I knew you'd never forgive me if I didn't share pics from the Stevie Nicks concert instead. So...

Enjoy!

(And, don't worry. Next time I'll write about saving the world, dolphins, neighbors, etc.)

Here was the set list:

Portland in 3 photos

Three photos of my recent trip to Portland.

The apartment building in NW Portland where I lived for 6 months one summer long ago.

Pudding River? I kept looking for Cool Whip mountain nearby, to no avail.

Burgerville's blackberry milkshake. "Have one. Claim amnesia. Have another.". It was better than I remembered. I only had one.

Who and What Inspires You?

First of all, I want to thank the awesome and talented, and beautiful Gretchen Stelter for gracing my blog this week. If you missed her wisdom regarding all things editing, you can read it here. I'm privileged to be working with her on final edits for my novel. Gretchen's suggestions are spot on, and her enthusiasm for the project and for helping writers reach their potential is inspiring.

This got me thinking. Who has inspired me along my creative path?

Early on, we artists copy or imitate those we admire most, or at least we try to. With practice, we branch out and develop our own style and way of expressing ourselves.

As a kid, I imitated Carole King. Her album Tapestry was the first album I bought with my saved up allowance of fifty cents per week. Let me backtrack: At the age of six, I started writing songs on a 100 year old, upright Chickering piano in our basement on Long Island. I'd sit and play for hours, always by ear, not knowing how to read a note. My mom offered me lessons, but I wasn't interested. Like Frank Sinatra, I did it "my way," enjoying the process of creating for creation's sake.

Back to Ms. King. After weeks of studying the lyrics on Tapestry and doing my best to copy every inflection in her soulful voice, I was inspired to write a song called, "What You Need Is Some Love In Your Heart." I was ten years old, and thought it was SO intense. Here's a sample of the lyrics:

"You make me happy every time that you smile and say, "Hi" to me... You make me happy every time that you smile and say, "Hi" to me... Then the day fades, and I see that what you need is some love in your heart, what you need is some love in your heart..."

I know, pure genius.

My next musical inspiration was, and still is, Stevie Nicks. I'll be seeing her (again!) Friday night, and am looking forward to my third row seats. Carole King taught me SINGING 101, but my master classes came from Stevie. Everyone who knows me knows Stevie is a huge part of my musical story.

Speaking of stories, as a writer, my earliest inspirations were Roald Dahl, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth; and Herman Raucher, Summer of '42. I read those books until the words faded and the pages became soft and worn from being turned so many times.

As an adult, I love writers who make me laugh. Susan Isaacs, Ellen Degeneres, and Chelsea Handler are a few of my favorites. In fact, I love comedy in all its forms; books, film, TV, and stand-up. To me, there are few things in life greater than laughter.

In addition to music, writing, and comedy, my family, friends, fellow writers, editor, and awesome agent inspire me in ways I could never properly express. (Thank you times infinity...)

What inspires you? Who inspires you? What have you learned from that inspiration? How do you hope to inspire others? Inquiring minds want to know.

Jean Dieker

I received bad news last week. My friend Annette's mother passed away. Having recently gone through similar circumstances with my uncle, I know a lot of what she is going through. I gave her an "Anything you need" blanket offer of assistance. She asked me to put together a video collage of her mother for the memorial service.

I'm sharing it here.

Before Jean passed away, I took a moment and sent her a note to thank her for one of my best friends, her daughter Annette.

I wanted to take a moment and thank you. Thank you for welcoming me into your life way back when I first met Annette and I am certain you thought I was completely crazy. I remember spending a whole week at your house one Spring Break when you got the final confirmation that I was indeed crazy. Annette and I had our schedule: Get up at noon, have breakfast, go shopping, come home and have a nap, get up at 8 get ready to go out, party until 2 am, then argue over whether or not to stop at the AM/PM for horrible food on our way home (on the way out, I would make her promise to not stop, on the way home I would plead with her to ignore the sober me and PLEASE STOP. Lucky for me, she was still the sober driver). Next day, repeat. You were a good sport having us around. You didn’t scold us and you always offered to feed us.

You and your husband welcomed me to your extended family when I was able to come to the Anniversary/Birthday/family reunion party in your back yard on your 49th wedding anniversary. Finally I got to meet all the relatives and friends that shaped my friend Annette and I must tell you, I wasn’t disappointed. I think that was the visit we went to the Elk’s Club to go dancing as well.

I had such a good time, I came back for your 50th! I remember various people telling me what I great friend I was being for Annette to come back and help her with decorations and setting up the function room for your party. I will repeat here what I told people that day, “I am as good a friend to Annette as she is to me. She is amazing and there is no way I wouldn’t be here for her or for her family. If you think I’m amazing, you should know how amazing Annette is.”

And that is another thing I wanted to tell you, thank you for Annette. I’ve known her for over 25 years and am so impressed with her. From the “party in the trunk girl”, to the “woman with her Masters” she never ceases to amaze me. Just as she followed me through the thorny rose bushes in Washington Park (and has the scars to prove it), I will follow her wherever she takes me as well. She is an amazing woman and that is a tribute to you.

I will be in Portland for a couple of days to support my friend, and pay my respects to her mother.

When things like this happen I always turn to Lyle and say, "Did you call your mother this week? When are we going to see our parents?" And so I pass that along to you. Call the people that matter to you. Make the effort to see them. You won't regret it.

Q&A with Editor Gretchen Stelter

I'm thrilled to introduce the brilliant and talented editor Gretchen Stelter to my blog today. She has agreed to answer some of my burning editorial questions, and I greatly appreciate her honesty and insights.

So, without further ado, heeeere's Gretchen!

1) So, Gretchen, you work as an editor. Please tell us exactly what that means, and a bit about your background, particularly in regards to the literary world.

Well, I work with authors and their agents and publishers, which could mean anything from developmentally editing early drafts with individual authors to copyediting their manuscripts before the type is set all the way to proofreading book pages just months before publication. It depends on where your book is, where you are in the process, and what you need from me.

I began editing in grad school, while attending the University of Queensland, in Brisbane, Australia, where I also trained in writing and editing UK, AUS, and US English. I finished my degree after I transferred to the publishing program at Portland State University and worked for Ooligan Press, which taught me more specifically about book editing and writing. Before I’d finished grad school, I met Bernadette Baker-Baughman, and began working with her as an agent. We worked together as co-owners of Baker’s Mark Literary Agency, LLC, for five years before I started editing and writing fulltime. Over the years, I’ve worked on books in nearly every genre, as well as countless book proposals and queries.

2) What made you decide to go from Literary Agent to Editor?

To be an agent, you have to be a bulldog. Bulldogs are formidable if you are ever involved with one in a tussle. They grab hold and don’t let go, and the literary types are no different; this is why you hire them to pitch your book. I am not a bulldog. I am a bookworm. I knew for a while that selling wasn’t my strength, which is why I was the Editorial Director at the agency for a year before leaving. I can see the holes in the plot and put my finger right on what’s wrong with the dialogue, and that’s what I needed to be doing all the time; that is clearly where my strengths are. So in the end, it was really less of a decision and more of a natural evolution. It was supposed to happen.

3) What services does your business provide?

Henry Covey, my editing partner at Cogitate, and I basically run the gamut of anything that has to do with words. We ghostwrite, developmentally edit, copyedit, proofread, and write reader’s reports. Over the years, we’ve edited book proposals, published books, academic papers, legal contracts, business plans, and reports for the Department of Justice. We’ve also ghostwritten published books, press releases, bios for band websites, and a lot more. Seriously, if it has to do with words and you are wondering who could help you with it, that’s probably us.

4) Do you only work with agented or published writers?

That is a resounding no. I’ve worked with authors at every stage of publication, from before the query or agent stage all the way to international bestsellers whose works I proofread and copyedit for reprint. I do work with agented writers and have been hired either by a publisher or author after a publishing contract is in place, but I also work with authors trying to get agents, and I help write pitches, synopses, etc., in pursuit of that. Working with unagented authors is also in line with what I did at Baker’s Mark for five years: getting the unpublished author published. And there’s nothing lovelier that starting out with a writer at that level, helping her or him find an agent, and then being first in line when the book hits shelves.

5) At what point should a writer consider working with an editor?

I help take a manuscript to the next level. If you’re getting a lot of partial requests and no one is requesting the full, it’s time to ask for an editor’s eye, because your concept is good, your query is good, but something isn’t sparking when people start to read it. Manuscripts are authors’ babies, and sometimes it’s easy to get a bit too dear with them, which means it’s easy to get comfortable and not truly push yourself as hard as you can or take the chances that your manuscript needs. Athletes have trainers to push them; authors have editors. (This is also why every agent I know will roll their eyes when someone says, “But my family/wife/co-worker/best friend read it and loved it.” Well, these people—although vital to the writing process in other respects—probably aren’t going to be the ones behind you at the gym screaming, “Do one more!” They like you. They don’t want to be negative or an ass. And, let’s not forget: It’s most likely not their day job.) So if a manuscript is stagnating in any way, it’s time to hire an editor.

In my opinion, however, a writer should start working with an editor as soon as possible and this isn’t me trying to promote what editors do. I say this because it’s not going to be your choice whether you work with an editor or not if you are traditionally published (no self-publishing, POD, etc.). If you are published, you will have an editor, end of story. The more you get used to working with someone on that level, the better off you are. You may be in for a rude awakening even if you get to an agent and are thinking, “Whew, I have an agent offer to represent me. Now I’m done with this manuscript.” The agent may ask for changes, and if not, your publisher is going to. No ifs about it. Let me repeat: Your publisher will ask for changes to your manuscript.

Now, if you start arguing with me that Stephanie Meyer’s publisher didn’t with her last book (which may just be a rumor) or look at Ayn Rand, then I’ll concede the point, because let’s be honest, people with track records (READ: sales records) are not going to be edited as heavily, but most authors are going to have some input from their publishers their first few times around, if not every time around. I say, dive in and figure out what it’s like.

On a draft-level, I would say that, at the very least, you want to consider working with an editor before you take it to query, because you may be a brilliant writer who has no concept of what a comma splice is or how to use commas at all, and you’ll want to hire someone to at least do the mechanical stuff to perfect your manuscript. Yes, people will get representation without this sometimes, but more often than not, if it looks like you don’t know the mechanics of writing, most agents won’t mess with it. And really, you wouldn’t send a résumé out with tons of typos, so putting your best foot forward just makes sense.

6) What can a writer expect from working w/you?

Of course, the specifics depend on every project, but in general, you can be sure that I will have a knowledge of the genre you write and it will inform my feedback. When given the choice, I often opt for sitting in my apartment with a book after hours of editing instead of venturing out among the other 3-dimensionals, and I read pretty fast—which to be honest, is an understatement; I can read very fast—so I have read a lot in the genres I work in and I can normally work relatively quickly on your project.

A writer can normally expect me to start with a reader’s report, which takes me two to three weeks and will give the writer the broad strokes of what needs to be revised, or I’ll start with a sample edit, if we’re jumping into developmental or copyediting. I like to be sure not only that my expertise is going to work with the project but also that the writer and I have similar sensibilities and will be able to work well together. You can also be sure that I will have worked in that genre, otherwise I’ll discuss moving the project to Henry’s schedule and referring you to him.

I’d like to think you might enjoy it too. I really love my job, and I become friends with a lot of the writers I work with, so hopefully you can expect to actually have fun while we’re at it.

7) Are there any books you've worked on that we may have heard of?

Editorially, I’ve worked on some amazing published work. A smattering of titles that I worked on at different stages and that fall under many different genres but have all been (or will be) published are:

The Truth About Beauty by Kat James (Beyond Words/Atria 2007)

Cosmos Incorporated by Maurice Dantec (Del Rey 2008)

Choose Them Wisely by Mike Dooley (Beyond Words/Atria 2009)

Never After by Dan Elconin (this was while I was at Baker’s Mark, as he is represented by BMLA, but while I represented I did also do editorial work with Dan and his editor at Simon & Schuster—Simon Pulse 2009)

Loving Mr. Darcy
Romancing Mr. Darcy both by Sharon Lathan (Sourcebooks Landmark 2009, 2010)

Beautiful People
Farm Fatale
Bad Heir Day all by Wendy Holden (Sourcebooks Landmark 2010)

An Offer You Can’t Refuse (2009)
Miranda’s Big Mistake (2009)
Millie’s Fling (2009)
Perfect Timing (2009)
Rumor Has It (2010)
Take A Chance on Me (2010) all by Jill Mansell (Sourcebooks Landmark)

Amelia O’Donohue Is SO Not a Virgin by Helen FitzGerald, (Sourcebooks Fire, Nov. 2010)

Real Mermaids Don’t Wear Toe Rings by Helene Boudreau, Dec., 2010 (Sourcebooks Jabberwocky)

I also recently started work on the US versions of children’s books inspired by Bindi Irwin, Steve Irwin’s daughter, and her life at Australia Zoo—previously published in Australia and coming out here next year.

8) What advice can you give to writers working on their first novel?

1) Read your genre. You don’t want to read so much that you can’t get trends and other popular writers’ voices out of your head, but you need to know what’s going on in your own genre.

2) In my best Burgess Meredith voice, the Micky Goldmill in me says, “Kill your darlings. All of them.” (Or maybe it’s the Faulkner in me, since it’s his quote, but I couldn’t resist channeling Rocky’s trainer here.)

3) You don’t have to give your reader as much back story as you think. Cut to the chase and get to the action; don’t describe things you don’t need to. For instance, if you know that your character’s favorite color is blue, that’s great. You should know that about your character, but unless this little tidbit somehow matters to the plot, you seriously don’t need to tell your reader this.

4) Constantly consider beginning your work, or even just your chapters, in medias res.

9) What about writers who have written at least one novel and are actively looking for agent representation?

If you’re reading your genre, you know what books are popular and which books you can accurately compare yours to. From there, do the research; figure out who represented and sold those books and see what their guidelines are and if they are open for queries. Then concentrate on crafting a query that gives the most important details: the pitch for one book (you can pitch a series, but try not to list three different books that aren’t connected in any way in one query), your background, why you think you’d work well with this agent. Don’t go in uninformed. As an agent, I constantly received queries that praised a book I sold and how that was why the writer was pitching me. Unfortunately, more often than not the book was not something I sold or wasn’t even out yet. You wouldn’t apply for a job that you had absolutely no skills for, so don’t pitch an agent that has absolutely no connection to your type of work.

10) Is there anything else you'd like to add?

I just want to say thank you, to Debbie and to all the readers interested in knowing my responses.

And I'd like say, thank you, Gretchen, for shedding light on the process of editing and the role of an editor. MUCH APPRECIATED!

The new s'more

The new s'more is made with a graham cracker outer shell, a roasted marshmallow (or two) and in place of a chocolate square you put a Reese's peanut butter cup. DELICIOUS!

All Alone is All We Are...

Yesterday, Ethan pulled out of the driveway and into a new life. His car was jam-packed with electric and acoustic guitars, clothing, cleaning supplies, new bedding, lamps, toiletries, and two TV sets (a big one for the living room and a small one for his bedroom). A brownie pan with the remains of a cake I baked for him perched precariously on the passenger seat. His destination? College at Penn State in Altoona, PA, about a 3.5 hour drive away.

Kurt Cobain's lyrics from, "All Apologies" is on a continuous tape-loop in my mind: All alone is all we are. I've never lived alone before. Ever. I'm on Page One of an entirely new chapter in my life.

While saying goodbye, cruel tears stung my eyes. I felt short of breath and felt a strange emptiness in the pit of my stomach.

He's my baby, the youngest of two boys, and the first to "go way to college." He's also my rock; the person I've relied on most over these last four, painful months.

I feel like a part of me is gone; cut off, never to be found again. I know he'll thrive and become enriched by the educational and social experiences that await, and this fills me with joy and a special pride only a mom can feel. But, there's also an indescribable sadness - similar to when he first went to kindergarten - but deeper; so much deeper.

I love you, Ethan, with all my heart. I wish you great success as you move forward in pursuit of your dreams. Have fun, learn, build new friendships, and take advantage of the many opportunities you'll encounter. (And of course, always be careful!) Thank you for all you've given me. There is no way I can ever repay you.

And, to Chuck: thanks for being my partner in raising our two amazing kids. In a million ways, I could never have done it without you.

IN OTHER NEWS...
Ever wonder when and why you should utilize the services of an editor? The brilliant and beautiful Gretchen Stelter of Cogitate Studios will be sharing her expertise on this very subject on Monday's post. Be sure to check it out. Not only will you not be disappointed (love those double negatives!), but I promise you'll be positively blown away!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go have a good cry...