Tag: Art

Moving Toward the Mountain

I’ve been thinking about goals lately and about what I want out of my writing career. I’ll tell you that, personally, I know quite a few writers. I count many as friends. Some of them you’ve never heard of, and some of them I’m fairly positive you have. Most of these people are working at different levels in their career. Writing their first book. Writing their twentieth. Looking for an agent. Looking for a film deal. Looking for the internal fortitude to take the next step, whatever that may be.

Wherever we are, we’re all working and creating and taking the same journey, though in completely different ways. We’re all working toward our personal goals.

I’ve talked here before about Neil Gaiman’s exceptional commencement address to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Honestly, if you are a creative person of any kind, you need to watch or read it here. In that speech, Gaiman talked about how he saw his goals as a writer.

“Something that worked for me was imagining that where I wanted to be – an author, primarily of fiction, making good books, making good comics and supporting myself through my words – was a mountain. A distant mountain. My goal.”

I don’t think that you need to write down a detailed list of what you want to accomplish as a writer or an artist. You certainly may if that is what motivates you, but if you’re like me, you may not have specific goals, only general ones:

  • I want to tell stories.
  • I want to write better every day.
  • I want to be able to pay my rent and buy groceries.
  • I don’t want to be bored.

Being a writer is my mountain. My goal. And as I continue on in this very busy, very noisy world, I have to ask myself, “How I am going to get there?”

“And I knew that as long as I kept walking towards the mountain I would be all right. And when I truly was not sure what to do, I could stop, and think about whether it was taking me towards or away from the mountain.”

Is the next step you’re considering going to take you closer to your personal mountain? Or further? It’s very easy to be distracted. There are personal and family obligations that are not optional. But there are many, many social or professional obligations that are. How much time to you spend reading blogs? How much time do you spend on social networks? How much time do you spend studying about writing when you could be actually writing?

“I said no to editorial jobs on magazines, proper jobs that would have paid proper money because I knew that, attractive though they were, for me they would have been walking away from the mountain. And if those job offers had come along earlier I might have taken them, because they still would have been closer to the mountain than I was at the time.”

See, for a long time, I spent many hours a day trolling through the internet, reading excellent blogs or journals, finding those writers who had been on this publishing journey before me. I was learning. I was gleaning the information from this source and that experience. I had a list of sites that I checked, some of them daily, so that I could keep up with current publishing news. At that point in my journey, those things moved me toward my mountain.

Then, I published my first book. And most of those sites told me that I needed to maintain this blog presence or build that audience or promote in that community. And I did some of that. And those efforts (with varying success) moved me closer to the mountain.

So, I published my second book. (And it was no less nerve-wracking than the first.) And then I published my third and my fourth and my fifth. And through those months, I learned that, when things got too distracting, too overwhelming, or simply too complicated, I turned back to advice I heard from this man when I first started my journey: Focus on writing the next thing.

Because writing more will always lead me closer to the mountain. Though I took a degree in English, I never studied creative writing formally. Like Gaiman, “I learned to write by writing.” So how do I get better? I write more. And I keep writing.

Soon, I found that I wasn’t reading as many blogs or websites or journals because… they were no longer moving me toward my mountain. In my own body of work, I struggle with the idea of going back and re-editing my first book, A Hidden Fire. There are things about it that I know could be improved and, as an independent author, I could update the file easily. It’s tempting for my own ego, but I’m not sure whether it moves me toward the mountain or is just a distraction. (I’m still debating this, by the way, so feel free to weigh in with your comments.)

In conclusion, ask yourself today: Are the steps I’m taking in my journey moving me closer to that mountain? Or are they a side trip? A distraction? And don’t be afraid to say yes, but I’m going to do it anyway. Some people prefer a more meandering path, and that’s your prerogative. If you’re smart and observant, you’ll learn things either way.

But don’t stray for too long. Keep moving toward your personal mountain. Keep working. Keep learning. Mostly, keep writing or creating. Gaiman said it better than me:

“And now go, and make interesting mistakes, make amazing mistakes, make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for your being here. Make good art.”

“Tell your story walking”

“tell a lie sometimes, tell the truth

when it suits you, and when you’ve lost your way

tell a story.”

I’ve been thinking a lot about storytelling lately. Not just writing. Storytelling. Humans have been telling stories as long as we’ve been able to talk. We wrote them on walls. We drew them in sand and dust. It’s part of how our brains work, a vital part of the human situation which I’ve talked about in the past. Stories inform. Transmit vital knowledge, morality, and cultural tradition. We tell them. We write them. We sing them. We draw them.

In a very real sense, all art is a story. “A picture is worth a thousand words.” What about a sculpture? A symphony? It’s all part of the ongoing conversation that we take part in as members of the human race.

Why am I talking about this? I think, because of my move and other big changes in my life, I’m struggling with how to tell my stories now. When everything in your life has been upended, you need to find a new normal. A new way of doing things. Make new patterns. Tell new stories.

A friend linked me to Neil Gaiman’s wonderful commencement address at Philidelphia’s University of Art last week. Here’s what the storyteller had to say:

“When things get tough, this is what you should do: Make good art. I’m serious. Husband runs off with a politician — make good art. Leg crushed and then eaten by a mutated boa constrictor — make good art. IRS on your trail — make good art. Cat exploded — make good art. Someone on the Internet thinks what you’re doing is stupid or evil or it’s all been done before — make good art.”

Make good art. Tell good stories. Tell them in new ways you haven’t tried before. Tell them even when you don’t really feel like it. Because there is a beauty even in the attempt.

And if you’re the amazing songwriter, Deb Talan (what? you’ve never heard of Deb Talan? Get thee to iTunes!) tell your story in a song.

Tell Your Story Walking

Tell it to the judge, man.

Tell it to your motherless reflection.

In a sock and one shoe

after the great defection

he said, “tell a lie sometimes, tell the truth

when it suits you, and when you’ve lost your way

tell a story.”

Tell your story, tell it, tell it.

Tell your story to anyone who’ll listen.

Tell your story, don’t stop talking

just tell your story walking.

Listing through Carol Gardens

on the way to Cobble Hill

I stopped by a psychic’s dusty, wilted windowsill.

Forgot what she told me, mostly

but I remember one thing she said

“You may slip and call some lousy fuck your friend

but in the end you’ll come out even

then, tell your story.”

And it’s a sorry, frightful thing

when you want to cry, but you can’t keep from laughing.

Outside the church that’s so quiet it dares you to shout

you put a hand to your mouth to stop the rain.

You do a St. Vitus dance, to the sky you raise your voice.

This is your chance, you have no choice

you tell your story.

Publishing News and a Fantastic Fundraiser! (with prizes, people)

Oak trees at my grandmother's house in Napa

Ah, Life, you never bore me.

Wanted to post today about a few things on different fronts.

WRITING: Well, people, I’ll be honest. I haven’t been able to write much lately, which makes me sad and irritable, as my family will probably attest. Between finish editing on The Genius and the Muse, more editing for A Fall of Water, the fourth Elementals book, and moving back to Central California unexpectedly (which is a Good Thing, but has been rather complicated), writing on new projects has been almost non-existent. I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things next month. Until then, my focus is on…

PUBLISHING: Yay! Finally, for those who have been waiting, the release date for The Genius and the Muse will be May 2nd, which is just around the corner. In fact, it’s just a week from today! You can read the very first advanced review for the book over at Twimom101 Book Blog here.

As for A Fall of Water, it is still slated for an early June release, and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on that. A new teaser just posted today over on ElementalMysteries.com, so if you’re a fan of the series, you can read that here.

MOST IMPORTANT NEWS: I, along with a BUNCH of other authors, am taking part in a fundraiser for a family who has been hit pretty hard in the last few months. The Evans family has had more than their share of surprises, so I’m joining authors like Jamie McGuire, E.L. James (yes, THAT E.L. James!), Tracey Garvis-Gaves, Kristen Ashley, and so many others in donating signed copies of our books for the mother of all prize packages. For every $10 donated, you are entered to win around FIFTY signed copies from these authors and many others (including me!). Check out author Colleen Hoover’s post about the Evan’s family and the fundraiser here. Spread the news. Tweet it. Facebook it. Spread it on the Kindle boards and other forums. This family can really use the help and this prize pack is beyond amazing.

Hope the rest of your week is great!

Thanks for reading,

Elizabeth

A part in “The Conversation”

I hold that it is none of my business what people think of me. 

-Ashley Judd

(Many thanks to the lovely Shea MacLeod for her post “The Conversation” this morning, which led to the inspiration for this blog post.)

This is the old avi I used when I first started blogging. I like this picture of myself. I don’t know why. I’m not wearing any fancy clothes. I don’t think I even have any makeup on. It was taken by the camera on my laptop one night when I finally decided to put a face to my online presence. I snapped the pic, tweaked it so you didn’t notice my messy kitchen so much, then put it up for the world.

Looking at that picture now, I think I like it because it captures a lot of my personality. I’m not a stunning classical beauty; I never have been, and I never will be. I could list all the physical attributes I don’t like, but that seems needlessly narcissistic. Why on earth should you be interested in that? I could also list a lot of the things that I like about my appearance, but that would be just as pointless. To tell the truth, the cultivation of my outer beauty has never been a personal quest for me. People can have their own opinions about that. I’m opting out.

That said, The Conversation about women’s bodies and appearance, the hypersexualization of all aspects of our personhood, and the relentless focus on our outer appearance as an indicator of our worth is something that must be talked about. It must be talked about because I heard a ten-year-old girl I love talk about dieting so she wasn’t so fat. It must be talked about because my sisters have to sift through reams of overly mature clothing for my lovely and vibrant young nieces. It must be talked about, because I am a woman and a mother, and I don’t want my son to grow up in a world where it is acceptable to measure women (or anyone, really) by one standard of impossible, synthetic, media-ascribed beauty.

It is not acceptable.

My new book, which comes out in May, has a lot to say about beauty, because it is set in the art world. I find it fascinating to look at beauty from an artist’s perspective. It’s often very different than what the mass media portrays. Here’s a quote from one of the characters in the novel:

“I have no interest in taking a picture of the same nose sculpted by the same surgeon on five different actresses.   It’s boring and more than a little insulting, if you think about it.   Like they know better than we do what beauty is.”

Do they know better? The Conversation needs to occur so that real beauty, in all its variations and intricacies, can be celebrated. Beauty matters. But beauty—real beauty—is far more complex than a picture. It is has far more depth, and breadth, and longevity than morning talk shows or magazines would have you believe.

So take a look at the op-ed by actress, Ashley Judd, that started The Conversation for me:

“The Conversation about women’s bodies exists largely outside of us, while it is also directed at (and marketed to) us, and used to define and control us. The Conversation about women happens everywhere, publicly and privately. We are described and detailed, our faces and bodies analyzed and picked apart, our worth ascertained and ascribed based on the reduction of personhood to simple physical objectification. Our voices, our personhood, our potential, and our accomplishments are regularly minimized and muted.”

Read the rest HERE. Then, as Shea said in her post, if you think that this conversation is worth having, spread the message yourself.

Thanks for reading,

Elizabeth

Not just a pretty face

The past few weeks I’ve been brushing up and doing final edits on the contemporary romance that I once published here on the blog. I’m aiming for publication on The Genius and the Muse (formerly Tracing Shadows) around the end of next month. At least, that’s the plan. This is my first dip in the Contemporary Romance pool, so I’ve been doing cover research, looking at the lists, checking out marketing and blogs, and it’s made me question something: Will romance readers “buy” a hero who doesn’t fit conventional standards of male beauty?

See, The Genius and the Muse is a parallel love story. There are two couples and one of the heroes is, to be frank, not all that handsome by romance novel standards. (Notice, I didn’t say he wasn’t attractive. Attraction is far more subjective.) He’s pretty rough. He’s a welder/sculptor, so he has burns and scars. He’s not all that tall. He definitely doesn’t shave regularly. Story short, he’s not going to be in any Abercrombie ads, readers.

We talk a lot about standards of beauty for women, and how books can challenge those in ways that movies or television can’t because it’s a non-visual medium. And as a reader, I can fall for a mental picture I create more easily than an actor on the screen. But still, it’s rare to find heroes in romance who aren’t described as devastatingly good-looking or at least, ruggedly handsome.

In my first books, the Elemental Mysteries, my hero is very good looking. In fact, his male beauty is part of his history and a fairly significant plot point. In this story, it was just as significant to Javi’s character development for him to not be conventionally handsome. But let’s be frank, the vast majority of romance readers are female! And who doesn’t like picturing a handsome hero, right?

So, this leads me to my questions today. As a reader, can you enjoy a story where the hero or heroine doesn’t fit the conventionally attractive mold? As a writer, do you shy away from creating characters who are not beautiful because they might not be as attractive to readers? While reading isn’t a visual medium, those mental pictures can be pretty vivid. And let’s be honest, you don’t see a lot of average looking people on the cover of romance novels. (You also don’t see many faces, there seem to be a lot of muscular torsos out there. Interesting.) But obviously, looks do count!

Let me know what you think in the comments. No judgement. Be honest! After all, it’s understandable to want to delve into an imaginary world of attractive people when daily life is a grind, and you haven’t put on make-up for the day (or week). I do the same thing, people!

Hope you have an amazing weekend, and I should have more news about the book posted on the blog next week.

Thanks for reading!

Elizabeth

The Book of the Future: E-books killed the paperback star?

I’ve said in the past that I think the development and broad adoption of e-books is going to be great for bibliophiles; I’m sure many people would disagree with that, but I do have my reasons for saying so.

Now, to be clear, a bibliophile is defined as “a person who collects or has great love of books.” So, we’re not just talking about the stories they contain, but the objects themselves. My dad loves thrillers. He’ll listen to tons of them on audiobook while driving (he drives a lot for work) but he’s not attached to the physical copies themselves. I love books. Having them. Collecting them. Getting rid of them is physically painful for me. (Especially if I end up dropping a box on my foot. Ouch.) I am a bibliophile.

So, why am I so enthusiastic about e-books?

In the face of electronic books dominating the market for genre fiction and, eventually, all forms of fiction, I do predict that the mass market paperback will phase out. Not tomorrow. Not five years from now. But eventually, the reasons for having mass market paperbacks (economy and portability) will be better served by e-readers. For many people, including me, they already do.

But why is it a good time for bibliophiles?

As the mass market paperback is phased out, I think traditional publishers are going to be putting more focus on creating books that offer more than just the stories inside. Paper books will become more creative in their form, offer a more interactive experience, and become something that bibliophiles want to collect, not just tuck into a crowded shelf. I see three types of book that will become more commonplace and more attractive to book lovers in the future.

1. Special Editions. When Cemetery Dance Publications published their 25th anniversary Deluxe Limited Edition of Stephen King’s It, it sold out in less than 30 hours. (I believe the gift edition is still available, though, for you King fans.) It had a hefty price tag. It also had high-quality paper, deluxe bindings and  endpapers, color and black and white artwork and a new afterward by King. Fantastic! Collectible. And for the buyers who nabbed a copy, worth every penny. This is the kind of book that you simply can’t experience (and wouldn’t want to) in electronic format. Look for more publishers to be catering to this market to a greater and lesser degree. Continue reading “The Book of the Future: E-books killed the paperback star?”

The Christmas Vacation Post

A Hunter Family Christmas! (just kidding, I would never hold a goat)

So, my husband woke up this morning and announced that Christmas vacation started today. This may seem presumptuous, but since we live in a strange self-employed/artist/writer/home-schooling/LEGO addict commune-type household, these kind of formalities are generally met with blinks of confusion.

See, our family spends a lot of time together. While you’d think that being self-employed and working from home would mean we worked less because we don’t have long commutes and can make our own hours, what actually seems to happen is we work all the time.

“Are you still editing? It’s two am.”

“I’ll sleep in tomorrow.”

“Okay, I have a photo shoot at eight. I’ll be sure to give the boy coffee before I go.”

“I hate you.”

But, since both of us like our work, it’s not all bad. And since we homeschool our kid (which works for us, but I readily admit is not for everyone) we tend to turn almost everything into a learning opportunity.

“Mom, have you seen this LEGO piece?”

“I see it here, now what shape is this?”

“It’s an octagon, Mom.”

“And why do we call it an octagon?”

“Honey, just give him the LEGO piece.”

“He has to learn his Latin roots sometime!”

In short, our family has become kind of weird, but it’s a weird that works for us. We also tend to have various and sundry visitors drifting through. Right now, we have some older friends, a retired couple, visiting from Idaho for a few months and my best friend is coming on Saturday to spend Christmas with us. My father-in-law and my husband often work together, so he’s always kind of around, which our son loves; he’s very close to his grandpa.

So with work schedules being what we make them, an official Christmas vacation announcement was probably kind of necessary. Why am I telling you? No reason, really, I’m just kind of rambling. But I won’t be posting here for a week or so. I hope you’re able to visit friends, family, or whoever makes you happy and content this holiday season. Enjoy too many baked goods. Wear an ugly sweater (unless you live in the Southern Hemisphere). Tell your husband/wife/significant other you bought them a goat for Christmas and sent it to a family in Namibia. Knit a hat. Drink a glass of good whiskey.

I’ll be around. I’ll probably be online some while I’m crocheting/knitting/baking over the next week or so. Bestie got the Small Boy Ninjabread men cookie cutters last Christmas.

Oh, yeah, those are definitely going to happen.

Have a wonderful holiday season!

And, as always, thanks for reading,

Elizabeth

Reading/Watching/Listening: Christmas Edition

by Schlurcher

Okay, I’ll admit it, if there’s any season that gets me sentimental and traditional, it’s Christmas. Starting around Thanksgiving, I bake. I crochet. I drive around looking at Christmas lights with my son. I wear tweed if at all possible. Basically, the Christmas season brings out my latent British roots (which are very latent.)

And I am, to say the very least, a traditionalist. You will never see a pink Christmas tree at my house. The colors are green, red, and gold. There will be garlands. There will not be a palm tree with lights. (Even though I live in Southern California.) I like my music classical and my films period.

So, here’s my Reading/Watching/Listening: Christmas edition:

Reading: Elf on a Shelf Now, apparently, this crazy little guy has been around for a while, but this is the first year I’ve heard of him. In our house, he’s named Shrinky, and he often skips a night flying up to the North Pole (because I am lazy and forgetful, but I blame it on Shrinky). My son loves him, and the book is really quite cute; we’ve read it many times. If you want some seriously imaginative ideas about doing a photoshoot with your elf, check out lilblueboo.com. (Some people have far better imaginations than I do. At least when it comes to elves.) And for the NotSafeForKids version of elf ideas, you must check this out. Because twisted humor is twisted. And awesome.

Watching: Little Women (1994) I absolutely loved this adaptation of one of my favorite childhood books. I even liked Winona Ryder as Jo (and I haven’t liked her in much since Heathers.) This movie isn’t strictly a Christmas movie, but the soundtrack is part of the Christmas season at my house, and the beginning happens at Christmas. It’s a really lovely family movie with good performances, Christmas themes that actually involve something other than Santa, and great music. Plus, Gabriel Byrne as Professor Bhaer. Win. Continue reading “Reading/Watching/Listening: Christmas Edition”

Is Writing Faster Better?

Photo by Malene Thyssen

Just posted a new column about writing:

For some reason (possibly having to do with the end of NaNoWriMo), I’ve been seeing a lot on writing blogs about the subject of writing fast. The Atlantic published a fantastic slideshow of Writing Advice from History’s Fastest, Most Prolific Authors, that Seastarr08 linked on twitter. Rachel Aaron posted a really interesting piece on practical ways she went from 2,000 to 10,000 words a day. Lots of writers are posting about their successes and failures in their own NaNo challenge.

But I want to talk about speed.

I’m probably considered a pretty fast writer since I wrote the majority of my first book over the course of a few months, and it racks up over 100K in word count. By my best estimates, in the past year, I’ve written 675,000 words. About half of that was fan fiction, and the other half was original.

I’m going to call myself a pretty fast writer. (Not really fast. Trust me, there are people who write way faster than me.) Is that all finished, publishing-quality work in that time? No, absolutely not, so keep that in mind. We’re talking about sheer numbers, but it’s a worthwhile discussion to have.

Is writing faster better?