Snooping on readers

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I always try to see the title of a book a stranger is engrossed in. Sometimes I've had to refrain from simply asking. And sometimes I've lurked, coming around from behind, so great is my urge to know.

Of course the ultimate "catch" would be to discover someone reading one of my books. Would I reveal myself? Would I be believed? This scenario has yet to be tested.

All this came to mind discovering the delightful blog, SeenReading.com. Torontonian Julie Wilson takes book lurking to a new dimension: she documents where the reader was sighted, what he or she looked like, was wearing etc., and what book was being read. She gets close enough to see what page the reader is on, and then goes to a bookstore, finds the book, and copies out a passage. (She got into a little trouble, doing this.)

And then she writes a fictional paragraph about this reader. Here's one example from March of this year:

When her son was young, he was a curious collector. In particular, he liked to take random Polaroid pictures, filing each one away for future consideration. One morning, she came across a dragonfly that had died on their back deck. Before she could remove it, her son had pushed past her, camera poised. He took the picture, pulling the tab and counting down. “I love the light of early dawn,” he said, kicking the dragonfly between the wooden slats.

What a writer! I understand that she is giving up this blog for another project. I hope she continues to post, even if only now and then. In any case, the archives are full of such treasures. Enjoy!

Where does your book club look for reading suggestions?

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I'm pleased to see Mistress of the Sun featured on the Readers' Circle site this summer. It looks like a good site for book clubs. It will be interesting to see if I'm contacted for a phone chat.

Now that the blog tour is over, the next task my VA (Virtual Assistant) has taken on is to reach out to book clubs. In this world of few print reviews and even fewer book stores, it's hard to know where book club members go for ideas. No doubt a lot is gleaned on-line: but where? The puzzle is to find the sites that might be key.

Researchers: what a (cheap) barcode scanner can do for you!

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I admit: I'm fairly stoked about this.

I've been looking for a barcode scanner so that I could load my library into Google Books, searchable from anywhere. (Yes!) However, I didn't want to spend $100. When I saw that LibraryThing sells a scanner for $15, I immediately ordered it.

It arrived today: a cute little CueCat. I plugged it into the USB port and tried to scan a barcode: no dice. Groan, I thought, yet another gadget that does not work. But then — ping! — it did, and now, for whatever reason, it scans easily ... to LibraryThing, but not to Google Books, however.

Back to square one. A quick Google search revealed a way to "de-claw" the Cat, making it so that it works with sites like Google Books. It looked way too complex to me, but I didn't want to buy an expensive scanner, and so I braved workbench, getting into the Cat's intricate innards, and succeeding in changing it so that it works with Google. And yes, I'm proud!

Immediately, and easily, I loaded ten of my books into My Library at Google Books. To test it out, I searched for an unusual name and it immediately came up, letting me know in which book that name was mentioned, and on which pages. I'm one happy camper.

Here's what you need:

The CueCat from LibraryThing.com: here.

How to use the CueCat: here.

Instructions on how to "de-claw" it: here. (A magnifying glass is helpful, as well an exacto knife. And a little patience!)

And, finally, how to scan your books into Google: here.

And yes, in spite of all this diversion, I am meeting my writing goals.

A pocket recorder saves the day

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I heard literary thriller writer Andrew Pyper give a reading and talk last week, in Eganville, as part of the annual Bonnechere Authors Festival there. I could relate to a lot of what Andrew said: that with each novel he writes, he puts more time into the outline before beginning (check), that he works first thing in the morning (check), that he doesn't emerge until his daily word-quota is met (check) (except that I break for a bowl of cereal at 500 words and then go back).

All authors litter their route with note pads and pencils: there's nothing more frustrating than having an idea and no place to record it. Andrew takes it one step further: he keeps a digital recording device, so that he can dictate ideas as they come, while driving, in the shower, etc.

I love tech gadgets, and so I bought a recorder — a dictation device is the proper name — for under $40. I plan mainly to keep it in the car, where it can be dangerous to write down thoughts ... and where thoughts so often come.

The recorder's first task was an unexpected one, however. I was finishing my chapter this morning (the third this week: right on schedule) when the word processing programme froze. I could see the page I had just written, but I had no option but to reboot and I knew I was going to loose it. So I got the recorder and dictated the passage. I then restarted the computer, played back the recording, typing it in anew. All was well.

It's the type of thing that reminds me how painful it can be to have work disappear. I wouldn't have lost much: I save, back up regularly, and, with every break I take, email the MS to myself. (Yes, paranoid.) However, loosing even a paragraph is painful — vomitous writing, Colette called it — and I'm relieved to have survived this morning's crash with only a scare.

Going into seclusion

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I've been hitting my targets — although Chapter 7, which must be finished on Sunday, is proving challenging. I'm pleased the way the story and the characters are blooming.

But writing makes me dumb in the world — "walking into chairs" is how Margaret Atwood once put it — yet the stuff of life keeps piling up and must be properly attended to. For this reason, I've just now decided to have my VA answer my fan mail for me (in her name, of course). Reading and answering letters from fans is a great joy, a task I'm passing on reluctantly. It's temporary, I reassure myself, until I emerge from this "the swamp."

Mythic Lit

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(At 59 pages ... !)

I saw Mistress of the Sun from the beginning as a fable, and I'm more and more inclined to give way to my urge to create something of a mythic atmosphere in my work, so I was struck by this quote from Alice Hoffman:

"I like to write about real people in mythic ways because I see them that way. The tradition of literature is magic, whether it's fairy tales or Kafka, Shakespeare or the Brontes, and the whole idea of realism is a new and not-so-interesting idea." — Alice Hoffman

That said, it has to feel real both to me and the reader. That's the challenge.

Writing spaces

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Because I'm fascinated with writers' spaces: NYT article on Roxanna Robinson's writing room.

(Posted from "the bunker"—my writing space in Ontario, which does have Internet, which I am simply unable, and unwilling, to do without.)

Indulgences

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While I do have to write 3 chapters a week to finish the first draft this summer, the "chapters" are short and will likely be combined, so it sounds like more than it is.

I aimed for 1200 words on Friday (see calendar record at left), and the scene flew away on me. Before noon, I clocked in at over 2000 ... which has me considering aiming for 2000 a day. But no, best to aim lower: 1500? I'll give that a go next week.

Today's Saturday, I'm on week-end rations: 500 words today, 100 tomorrow. The important thing is to keep the spoon stirring the pot, to keep the stew simmering.

I'm also including this photo of my aesthetic new files. I felt a little indulgent making an investment in yet more stationary supplies — I do, after all, have a closet full of stuff — but I wanted that "new supplies for the first day of school" feeling to launch the writing of my new book.

Tracy Chevalier re-paints her office a different color for each new book she writes, so I decided not to feel silly about buying new files.

(Note the neatly typed out labels, too.)

Staying on target

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I love how my system is working for me. When I begin in the morning, I record how many words I'm to write (1000). I record how many words are in the manuscript, and what word count I have to get to before I can call it a day.

Yesterday, when I hit a wall, I simply jumped over the wall and kept going. That night, it came to me, how that problem scene should play out. This morning I finished it. So far, I haven't missed a day.

This is messy, sloppy writing that will take quite a bit of research and revising to fill out, but I suspect the core is there. I'm pleased!

Frustration!

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I've been doing so well hitting my targets ... until this morning. I'm set to write 1000 words a day, which wasn't a problem yesterday — a snap! But today it's almost noon and I'm only at 280 (282, to be exact) and full of confusion. Which reminds me of something Carol Shields once said, that a good day is invariably followed by a bad one. Thank you for that little reminder, Carol: Would you have just kept on going? I think you would have. And I will.

How to set up a blog tour

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I've been asked about my Blog Tour twice in two days: How did it go? Who organized it (and how)? Who pays? So I thought I'd post about it here.

First of all, I'd say it went really, really well. A Blog Tour gets your book a lot of visibility and reviews.

I've never heard of a publisher organizing one, but it's possible. I've only heard of authors organizing a Blog Tour, and paying for the lion's share of it. There are Internet sites that will do this — TLC Book Tours (http://tlcbooktours.com/) is one — or you can do it yourself, or hire an assistant or publicist to help set it up. I hired an assistant — my "VA", or Virtual Assistant — but it was a lot of work, even then. My costs were low, under $500 for an extensive tour, but I think $2000 is more in range. (I'm no expert on this.)

The process, in a nutshell, is to contact suitable blogs, and ask if they would be interested in being part of the tour. If so, a book (or two) is sent to them: to give away in a lottery, review, and/or invite you to write a guest post or interview you. A schedule is made up, so — say — over the course of a month, the book is being featured two or three times a week.

The first thing to do is to make up a list of possible blogs. This takes a little research. My VA and I Google-searched for book blogs, and, in particular, looked for blogs that favored historical fiction. You need to look for "high-traffic" blogs, blogs that have a number of followers. I looked over the blogs other authors have included on their blog tours (just as others will do for my own). We found a wonderful Book Blogger group on ning.com (http://bookblogs.ning.com/) with a sub-group of bloggers devoted to historical fiction: bonanza!

Then the bloggers are approached, and if they are keen arrangements are made for a date and an understanding of what, exactly, will be done. Books need to be sent to them well in advance: my U.S. publisher took care of this, which was great. My VA took care of all the correspondence and scheduling.

My own feeling is that a review should be required (and ideally, as well, that the review be posted not only on the blog but on Amazon.com, other book sites and a link posted to social networking sites such as Twitter, etc.).

Book give-aways are also great: they create so much interest.

The interviews and guest posts entail a lot of writing, however, and of the two, interviews are less time-consuming (in my opinion). My feeling, at the time, was that a Blog Tour was every bit as consuming as a Book Tour coast-to-coast, but that's likely an exaggeration.

And then it's simply a matter of keeping on top of it: sending in your posts and/or interview answers on time, and then sending out follow-up thank-you letters. Book bloggers are amazing: they work hard for free, and deserve lots of applause.

If you Google "blog tour" you will find lots of guides.

For my tour, go to the Events page on my website and scroll down to "April/May Blog Tour links":

http://sandragulland-events.blogspot.com/

38 chapters in 17 weeks: can it be done?

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I've torn out all the pages in the weekly calendar that come before and after my writing period and numbered the weeks I've got: 17. I've 38 chapters to write in that time — roughly 2 1/4 chapters a week. Although my chapters tend to be short, that's a lot of ground to cover.

I'm starting off slowly, not expecting more than 100 words a day (and easily doubling that), but looking at this schedule now, I'll need to start pushing myself harder soon.

So I've two targets to keep in mind: the daily word count forward, as well as chapter completion. I'll start by putting date labels on my splendidly beautiful files, recalling as I do so that that every writing schedule I've ever made has proven to be laughably unrealistic. Perhaps this time it will be different? Truth is, I should aim for 3 chapters a week, knowing that there will be times when I only get through 2 — or even 1.

How to begin?

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Today is July 1, Canada Day, our first day back in our home in the north. My lovely "bunker" office is a mess, books piled everywhere, but yesterday I ignored important chores to set up a file system for The Next Novel. It's a work of art in itself! When I unpack the camera and the various cord-connectors, I'll share it here.

I've open beside me the little calendar I bought — a cheap little spiral bound — in which to record each day's writing. I begin today. That is the deal I've made with myself. But immediately, I'm waffling: it's a holiday, I'm still unpacked, I've tomato-work to do in my husband's garden. All this is true, BUT I could do the minimum, 100 words. At the very least. And so I will.

More from "Immediate Fiction"

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Jerry Cleaver, author of Immediate Fiction, notes emphatically that emotion defines a character:

Who does she love & hate?
How does she love & hate?

It's in this realm of emotion that I'm most withholding in my fiction. It has to be dragged out of me every time! This time, I'm going to try to overdo it, at least at the start.

This quote from Immediate Fiction is spot on:

If you go too far out with your story, you can always cut back. An old writing rule says: The best way to find out what's enough is to do too much.

I need to keep this in mind this summer while writing the first draft. No brakes!

On rewriting: did you know ... ?

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I was surprised to learn in Cleaver's Immediate Fiction that John Fowles, author of The Collector and The French Lieutenant's Woman, rewrote The Magus ten years after it had been published to great success. There are two versions of The Magus in print, apparently: an astonishing thing. The second version was a best-seller as well.

I can well understand thinking about how a story might have been written, but can't imagine going back, not after it has been published.

Want/obstacle/action

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Yesterday I finished the outline — or "blueprint" — of The End of Magic, working title of The Next Novel. Sixty pages! (Although there is lots of white space.) Twenty drafts! (Although many of these involved minor changes.)

Now it's time to move back to our country home and get to work. I've allowed myself four months to write the first draft.

One of the things I've enjoyed about our two-month stay in Toronto is use of the Toronto Public Library system. It's so easy to request a book on-line, so easy to pick it up. Jennifer Glossip, a wonderful fiction editor I've known for decades, shared with me the list of good books on fiction she gives out at workshops. A number of these titles were my favorites, as well, but several I hadn't heard of ... and so I've been having a look at some of them.

The one book that I gobbled up, covering it with post-it notes, was Immediate Fiction by Jerry Cleaver. It had an immediate impact on my outline. What do my characters want? What is the obstacle? What action results?

Want/obstacle/action ...

These need to be evident on every page.

What I love about reading a book like this is that it sets off ideas, sparking like mad. I'll be posting more about this book in days to come.

R.I.P. Readerville.com

Readerville.com has been an important on-line community for me for a very, very long time. It came as a shock to me when it folded. I've made lasting friendships there, so in that respect it lives on.

What also lives on is the wonderful Readerville Journal. It's invariable captivating. For example, an article noting a wonderful blog, How books got their titles (http://garydexter.blogspot.com/). Ever wonder why The Medium is the Massage isn't The Medium is the Message?

Massage? Shouldn’t that be ‘message’? Well, yes, it should. When the book came back from the typesetter there was a misprint in the title. According to his son Eric, McLuhan took one look at it and exclaimed, ‘Leave it alone! It's great, and right on target!’.

This is an amazing blog. The author, Gary Dexter, is quite a researcher. "Why not Catch 21?" How can one resist?

One of the things I loved about Readerville.com is that I learned so much: the same goes for Readerville Journal. Bravo!

101 Habits (last installment): On showing up at the office

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The most lasting "habit" I think I'll keep for myself from The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters has to do with how I think of my work.

At some point — I can't find the spot — one of the writers said that writing is scary, and that it helps temper the fear by thinking that you're doing it for money. I think there is something in that.

The other suggestion that I'm going to keep in mind is that when I finish the first draft of The Next Novel, I could work on another project. I could go back to puzzling over the plot of my abandoned novel on La Grande Mademoiselle, or develop any number of other stories that I would love to write. It's important to put a draft aside for a long period of time, but that doesn't mean everything comes to a halt.

Another screenwriter advised thinking of your writing as a corporation: you're expected to show up and get to work. These practical thoughts have stayed with me. Lately, I've been telling myself, "I had a good day at the office today." Or, "I have to get back to the office."

So: if I'm not here, it's because I'm at the office.

101 Habits (continued): on character

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On character:

"Another reason why scripts fail is that the lead character's need, motivation, or goal is often not clear. You have to know what they want, no matter what it is or how goofy it is. And if you don't care about what they want, you won't be emotionally invested in the character." [Amy Holden Jones, page 124]

This type of question always makes me wonder: what does my character want? I think she wants out of poverty, out of the incessant struggle for survival. I think she longs frivolity and impractical gew-gaws. I just now realized this.

On raising the stakes:

You want the stakes, as the hero perceives them, to be as high as possible. ... You want your characters to be at risk and have things of great importance to them to be at stake. [Michael Schiffer, page 135]

I immediately made a change to my outline after reading this.

The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, part II

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I've finished reading The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters: I got a lot out of it. I'd love to see such a book on highly successful novelists, but in spite of the differences between novelists and screenwriters, there is a lot to be learned here.

I love this quote on procrastinating:

"I know when I'm about to write when I become a neat freak and start rearranging the pens and pencils around ... " [Steven DeSouza, page 95]

There was quite a bit on outlining before writing, which supports the process I'm using now.

"I try to build the story as cleanly as I can, make sure the structure works, then I write it really badly, as fast as I can ... " [Akiva Goldsman, page 107]

This same scriptwriter also had this to say:

"Unfortunately, people believe that their first thing should be great. Writing is like anything else. You're not supposed to write a page and expect it to be good. You have to write a thousand bad pages to get to that one good page." [Akiva Goldsman, page 123]

I feel that with the first two (unpublished) novels I wrote I didn't understand that one, two or even three drafts were not enough. Often, beginning writers don't give themselves enough time.

"The reality is that in order to be good at it, it will probably take you as long as any other profession to master the craft." [Michael Schiffer, page 125]

More tomorrow ...

One book, two spots on bestseller list! The plot thickens.

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Iris, my editor and publisher, just emailed me that Mistress of the Sun was #1 on the Globe and Mail Historical Fiction list! She and Norma, the receptionist at HarperCollins Canada, "enjoyed the sight of it for several minutes," and then Norma pointed out that Under the Sun by Sandra Gulland was also on the list, further down. "We are mystified by this," Iris wrote, "an error on someone's part. But, you have to admit it's pretty nice to be in two places on one bestseller list."

I do indeed! I jokingly wrote back that if The Next Novel were titled Under the Sun it could be called a bestseller before it was even written, much less published.

Mothers and daughters at readings

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I had a reading in the beautiful rural Ontario town of Uxbridge yesterday afternoon, as part of the Blue Heron Books "Books & Brunch" reading series. Shelley Macbeth of the bookstore did an outstanding job (yay, Indies!). My on-stage interview after the reading by Susanna Kearsley was very enjoyable. Her questions were interesting — in large part, I think, because she's an historical author herself. (See her books here.)

I heard some wonderful stories from fans. One woman told me that her husband threatened divorce if she read another book by "that Josephine woman" (because she disappeared into the books). Another young woman told me her boyfriend had the same complaint. One woman said she reread Josephine once a month!

There were a number of mother/daughter couples in attendance. Below, Kathryn and Emma, Teri and Margaret, and Judy and Eleanor. (My apologies if I do not have the names in the right order.)



Kathryn (top left) had a full set of the hard-cover first editions of the Trilogy -- very hard to find now. She'd gone to some trouble to find them and had them beautifully protected in plastic covers. I love those first books, and I get quite emotional seeing them all in a set like that and so clearly dearly loved.

Character checks

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One thing I'm not very good at is giving thought to my characters before writing. They seem to evolve on the page. With every novel, I think: I should work up a character sketch, an interview, give some thought to these people. But every time I manage to neglect what I see as a chore.

Here's what one screenwriter does:

...before I start to write, I'll do a character check, ask myself whether I really know these people, what they love, what they hate, what they're afraid of, what they want, how they move through a room, what their voice are.
—from The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters

I really, really, really should do this.

The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters

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I'm liking this book more and more as it gets into the nuts and bolts of the writing life. Here is a quote I especially liked:

"Once I have an outline that goes all the way through, I'll start getting anxious and ready to start. But I try to delay the writing as long as I possibly can because the more you solve before you start writing, the easier it is to have that free and automatic writing experience ..." [Nicholas Kazan, page 53]

I'm a sucker for descriptions of working environments, and this one is the most ideal I've every heard of:

I have a zero-gravity chair, so I write completely relaxed in an almost horizontal position. My chair is position so that when I look out the window I can see down a canyon to the ocean. I write directly into a laptop computer that sits on a portable desk positioned perfectly over me. [Amy Holden Jones, page 58]

Heaven, eh?

What I've learned about giving readings

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I was pleased with how my reading went last night (a worthy and well-run charity event to benefit world literacy). I think I've evolved a good system over the years, which is:

I type everything out — even the introduction, the jokey asides, and the passages from the book I'm reading from. I break most all of it into sentences (no long blocks of paragraphs). I print it out in large (16 pt.), bold type.
I read it out loud several times over, editing out any difficult words that make me stumble, and revising the book passages as well.

When it's smooth, and clocks under the time allotted, I print it out and put it in a binder. I turn all the corners so that the pages turn easily. (This is important: having to lick a finger to turn a page would not be attractive on stage.) I underline or circle the words that still might catch me, words I'll need to approach with care.

On the day of the reading, I try to read it through three times (although this isn't always possible), and at least once in front of a mirror.

At the mike, after all this, I feel prepared. I don't have to fiddle with reading glasses because the type is large. I don't have to balance a book and fumble through the pages finding the passages. I don't have to squint to read my penciled-in edits. The binder falls flat, so it lies nicely on a podium, but I could hold it in my hands if needed.

The only problem is that often the big, black mike is positioned above the page and it's a little tricky to see the words. Juggling this makes me grateful for the time I spent in preparation.

One problem I foresee in the future is climbing and descending the sometimes rather steep (and often rickety) stairs, which of course never have railings. But that's long into the future. I will count myself fortunate to still be giving readings by the time that might be a problem.