To Preach or Not to Preach

Writer William Stong and his group of writers, the Phoenix Hall Writers, asked me a fantastic question: is there room for writers to send messages to readers via stories?

The answer should be easy, right? Take a look at the group's blog for Nov. 20 and let me know what you think.

Should American Authors Try to Get Published Elsewhere?

I had the pleasure of talking with not one, but four groups of writers last week. They include a critique group that meets in San Jose, CA, while in the Fresno area I met with the Yosemite Romance Writers, those attending my book club presentation at the Kingsburg Library, and an eclectic audience of writers attending my mini character development workshop at the Sunnyside Library.

At every event I attend, I ask writers to send questions I can then answer here for everyone's benefit, because if I don't have the answer, I'm sure someone else out there will. So here's an excellent question by Leah:

I write cozy mysteries and there is no market for them in the U.S. I'm been thinking about England, but I don't know the stystem over there. Do you have any idea where I could get info?

I'll challenge Leah on the first part of her question. Mysteries are the second leading genre in books sold in the U.S. behind romance. The cozy mystery is a subgenre defined by Stephen Rogers on Writing-World.com as "a mystery which includes a bloodless crime and contains very little violence, sex, or coarse language. By the end of the story, the criminal is punished and order is restored to the community."

When I searched the cozy mystery market, I found:

• Macmillan has a website dedicated to cozy mysteries.

• The Cozy Mystery List lists slues of new titles.

• The Cozy Mystery List Blog lists about 15 cozy mystery titles that will be published in December alone.

Judging by what I've found, the cozy mystery market in the U.S. is not dead, but simply going through the same downturn as other genres due do to the present economy and state of the publishing industry, as seems to be the case as suggested by the title of an upcoming panel discussion titled "How to Get Tales of Murder and Mayhem Published in a Deadly Market" on Feb. 23 in New York City (hosted by the Mystery Writers of America New York Chapter)

So what's an American cozy mystery writer to do? Go overseas?

I'm all for long-shots and encouraging people to try what they want. But I have to pass along what my former agent said when, after she'd made the 18 or so attempts to sell my book, The Wind Thief, to a large publisher, I asked her what the chances were of getting the book published in another country.

After a moment of shocked silence, she said (more or less), "That's crazy!" Publishers in those countries are busy trying to publish and find readers for authors from those countries. Why would I even think they had time for a foreign author?

So what I'd encourage Leah to do is write back and offer any information she's found about why she thinks the cozy mystery market is dead in America.

Then I'd encourage her to take the best possible path to publication, which is to create the best manuscript possible and do her research regarding agents and publishing houses before sending off her query letters.

What say you, Leah? How about anyone else?

Guest Bloggers, Awake!

If you have a book, writing award or other important news to share, consider tapping into the hearts and minds of other writers and readers via those good souls like Becky Levine, who offer writers the opportunity to guest blog on her blog.

She invited me to participate in an online interview (posted Nov. 3, 2009), which is now on her blog, Moving Forward on the Writing Path, where she actively shares the trail with others on the writing journey.

Ms. Levine is a freelance manuscript editor and the author of the forthcoming The Writing & Critique Group Survival Guide: How to Make Revisions, Self-Edit, and Give and Receive Feedback, which will be published by Writers Digest Books in January 2010.

You can bet I'll be happy to help her promote her work when the time comes — and happy to help the other authors who have allowed me to guest blog, too, or who otherwise aided me — given that's how success in today's book world works: after the publisher's resources and time have been exhausted, we writers help one another.

Happy writing!

One Concrete Detail Can Set a Story's Theme

Only the Eyes Are Mine by Usha Alexander


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Sita, an Indian girl and the main character in Usha Alexander’s Only the Eyes are Mine, is married at about age 10. After three or years or so, she experiences her first menses and goes to live with her husband and his family, where she learns the art of weaving from her mother-in-law, whom Sita soon surpasses in ability.

That weaving is a perfect metaphor for a book in which the characters entwine so seamlessly as the story flows from Sita as an old woman caring for her brother’s family in America and her younger life in India. The story contains marvelous details about life in India, yet by depicting the small, but crucial changes within familial life, conveys that while cultures might be different, the themes throughout humanity are universal.

I’m not usually a fan of stories with multiple points of view, but Ms. Alexander draws all of Sita’s family members and other characters together quickly then adds them in and lets them go — a little here, a little there, according to the necessity of their color and texture — while depicting a tapestry of life ruled by duty. This duty to propriety and tradition at all costs all but destroys life after life until slowly, Sita and her brother and his two grown children find their freedom and happiness.

This is an excellent book for anyone who enjoys being close to the tangled, pained hearts of characters without having their journeys ruined by sentimentality.

Happy writing!

View all my reviews >>

Poetry Transcending Cliche

shana linda~pretty pretty by Nanette Rayman-Rivera


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read poetry in the way I view modern art, not with a mind full of rules established by The Poetry Elite, but rather for an eye toward what moves me. Even if I don’t understand the meaning of the poem, I consider it a marvelous success if the words leave me with a unique twist on the world: an image, impression or emotion so strong I can almost taste it.

Such is the case with the poems of Nanette Rayman Rivera in shana linda ~ pretty pretty. Throughout the 31 poems there drifted the scent of flowers, though not in a pretty, wallpaper or commercial bouquet way. Rather, the feel was of wildflowers growing in impossible places: the cracks in sidewalks, the perimeter of warehouses, the beaches of the tourist trade.

This despite the fact Ms. Rivera’s poetry covers the major obstacles in her life; trauma that is, unfortunately, too common and too commonly portrayed in clichéd ways. She writes about an emotionally-distant mother and of being raped and falling into homelessness.

Normally those subjects deter me, not because I’m unsympathetic, but because for many poets and writers, especially those newer to the craft, such crises take precedent over the art of the words. The telling too often takes on a bitter, pitying cast filled with common sensory descriptions, such as the smell of urine and the grime of clothes and the cold stares of passers-by.

Ms. Rivera don’t sink into that mundane, self-indulgent realm. Instead, the words and phrases touch the ground lightly, then leap away, the joy of living always present. Even when devastation looms, the joy — the play and sound and rhythm of the words — shines through a unique prism:

(From I saw him)

around the crook of the cape
thousands of Iceland Poppies, pistil
whipping, fizzing
the brewing water
with bubbly calyx, some matrix
ceremony for the ogler

View all my reviews >>

Happy writing!

Book Cover Art

While perusing the books of friends on GoodReads.com, I was arrested by the cover of J. Michael Wahlgren's chapbook, Chariots of Flame (Maverick Duck Press). I asked him who'd done the artwork, and he said British artist Brian Pike, whose art is displayed at the top of this post.

Although I helped my editor at Alondra Press, an independent publisher, develop the concept for my novel's cover — a photo of the Sahara Desert where The Wind Thief begins — it wasn't until I saw Mr. Wahlgren's book that I realized this is the advice all of us authors could use: be on the lookout for eye-catching design concepts that capture the tone of the books we're working to publish.

This is particularly true for the small press publishing experience where authors are an integral part of the process and work closely with publishers from manuscript editing to printing. Often these companies don't have much of a design budget and so appreciate cost-effective suggestions from their authors.

Since my epiphany, I've started collecting the names and URLs of artists whose art I admire. Then if and when the day comes when their art fits the book I'm writing, I can suggest their work to my publisher. Even if I never get that opportunity, a keener focus on the art world will allow me to indulge my love of art while spreading the word about artists who, like us authors, can almost always use the promotion.

Here are a few of the artists on my list (their art is displayed in the order of their names):

• Lacey Bryant (Trees)

• Julie Bilyeu (Thumb)

• Janet Snell, who along with her sister, Cheryl, run an independent press called Scattered Light (Couple With Trapdoor)









Happy writing!

Launch Your Book With a Party

When you finally get your book published, throw yourself a party. Don't think, The book is not going to sell a million copies so it's not that big of a thing. Don't say, I could spend the money in a better way. Don't assume, No one will really understand what this means to me, anyway.

Make a list of your favorite people; set a date, time and place; make, bake or buy some treats; then when the time comes, relax and admit to yourself this really is a big, big deal and for most of us, the culmination of a long, long journey that resulted in making the world a tad better.

While I don't always follow my own advice, I did for my recently-released novel, THE WIND THIEF, for which I just held a book launch/spoken word night at Kaleid Gallery in downtown San Jose.

I did read an excerpt from the book, but what made the night exceptional were the other artists who agreed to share their work. Among the performers were:

• poet Kyle Sullivan (poetry read by Sara Aurich)

• musician Adrian Emberley

• writers Alan Tracey and Dennis Sides performing Alan's short story

• musician Kent Sandvik

• poetry slam due Jen G. and David Perez, who comprise The Pincushion Orchestra

A big thanks goes to Michael Carter for the photos below. Feel free to view the whole slideshow.

Happy writing!