Proofing

One would think that, after editing, re-editing, proofing, and re-proofing, that a book would be perfect, ready to go, error free.

Not so.

I got the proof for One Too Many Blows To The Head on Monday.  It was thrilling to see it in print.  However, despite the fluttering of my heart when I looked at it and flipped through its pages–pages laced with the heavenly smell of printer’s ink–I knew I had to push past the honeymoon phase and get to readin’.

As I opened it and read the first paragraph I realized one thing . . . I was really getting tired of proofreading. After all, writing is the fun part. Writing is what makes my heart sing. Writing is what I do. Proofreading is like washing dishes or vacuuming. It’s a job to me.

But read it I did.

And I found errors. Nothing embarrassing, like changing a character’s name halfway through the book, but errors in punctuation or spacing that were noticeable to me and would certainly be noticeable to a reader.

So another proof has to be ordered.

Am I disappointed? Sure I am. But not as much as I would be if Eric and I had let it go to press with all the errors inside.

I constantly remind myself that I shouldn’t let impatience govern my decisions . . . and that is so important in the writing world. Patience is what gets a good copy. Patience is what gives you time to start marketing and pushing forward. Patience is what it’s all about, man. Well, and writing something worth reading.

So here I sit, impatiently (despite my self-chastising) awaiting my next proof and reminding myself that it too will need to be read and approved by both Eric and me before it goes to press.  My fingers are drumming but I tell myself this is what it is to be a writer . . . it is to learn to love your art enough to get it right . . . no matter how long it takes.

Groan.

Bitternest by Alan Draven

Bitternest

Bitternest has been out awhile now. How are you feeling about it? Do you find it hard to promote this book while working on so many other projects?

Bitternest has done beyond my expectations in terms of reviews, and the acceptance from readers has been tremendous. I’ve developed a loyal fan base with this book and I am extremely thankful for it. It has been a long and hard journey. The first couple of months were brutal and I didn’t see many sales. Then as reviews kept appearing and the more I promoted the book, things started to pick up. The pricing of the book has always been an issue—at $19.95, it’s been a major hurdle in my promotional efforts. I’ve had countless readers tell me they can’t afford to pay that much for a book and I completely understand, especially when it’s a first time author you’ve never heard of. Unfortunately, I have no control over pricing and even fought to get my publisher to lower the retail price. This is why I wanted to make sure that Sinister Landscapes would be affordable for everyone. I think my future books will really help boost the sales of Bitternest as new readers will discover me and seek my first novel.

As far as ongoing promotion is concerned, I seldom promote Bitternest these days. It’s been out for a year and three months. After a year, I decided to move on and focus on my current writings and editing Sinister Landscapes. I still have some ads scheduled to appear in magazines before the end of the summer and word of mouth has been generating some good sales. I’ll also be bringing a bunch of copies of Bitternest with me to signings this fall while I promote Sinister Landscapes. This will be new for me; I’ve never done signings before. This will be my first time going out there with the book and shaking hands with readers. I’m excited and scared at the same time. I’m more of a recluse when it comes to my craft and getting myself out there on the Internet is no problem for me. But doing signings and readings in front of a crowd is another story. It took all this time for me to feel confident and comfortable enough to do this. Also, since I couldn’t give the proper discount to bookstores in order for them to carry Bitternest (another serious obstacle), it wasn’t easy to get in there. Sinister Landscapes will open new markets and will be much more accessible to both readers and retailers.

Tell us about Sinister Landscapes, your up and coming anthology. What inspired you to undertake such a big project?

I’ve wanted to put together an anthology for as long as I’ve been writing. I had to make sure I knew my craft well enough before I undertook the task of editing other writers’s stories. This spring I was in a good place. I had short stories appearing left and right online and in print, I’d developed good relationships with many writers with whom I wanted to work with, I was in command of my craft, and I had a great idea for a theme for an anthology. So I went ahead and came up with some guidelines and posted them for the world to see.

I chose a gothic theme because we rarely see gothic anthologies nowadays on the shelves in bookstores. I miss them dearly and my love of the horror genre comes directly from gothic horror. Robert Louis Stevenson’s Jekyll and Hyde is one of my favorite books of all time and M.R. James’s ghost stories are still unmatched when it comes to a good ghost story, in my opinion. Movies also played a big part in this; I have many fond memories of watching the old Hammer horror films with Chris Lee and Peter Cushing and all those Poe adaptations that Roger Corman directed starring Vincent Price. I wanted to recapture some of that magic and these memories in this book and I think we’ve succeeded in creating a diverse anthology with echoes of the old gothic ghost stories and we’ve put a spin on them for the readers who like their horror to be more up-to-date.

After editing such a large body of work, do you find you have a taste for editing/publishing, or do you prefer the writing aspect of the craft?

I’ve really developed a taste for editing and I love the publishing process (even though the formatting part gave me many headaches). When you put a book together from A to Z, from cover to cover, when the end result exceeds your expectations (something that rarely happens in my case), you can’t help but be proud of what you’ve accomplished. I had a great time going through the submissions and commenting and doing revisions with the authors. Coming up with the cover was a challenge and I’m thrilled with the finished product; this is a book that I think we can all be proud of.

My writing has taken a backseat these past months and I will play catch up for the rest of the summer until the release of Sinister Landscapes. I wrote half a dozen short stories while I was editing and am now a little over halfway through my second novella. I’ll be starting my third novel (I’m currently seeking a publisher for my second novel) sometime in August, so I’m looking forward to that. I miss working on longer works which is where I feel more in my element. I’m a novelist first and foremost, but editing and publishing is a close second after this wonderful experience. I’ll have guidelines up again April 1^st 2009 for next year’s anthology.

And speaking of publishing, tell us about your new publishing company. How did this come about and what are your plans with it?

I wanted Sinister Landscapes to have the widest distribution possible and thus was born Pixie Dust Press. Many anthologies are released these days through Lulu and most of the time, they’re only available through Lulu. While there’s nothing wrong with that, I wanted to be a bit more daring and put out a book that would be available everywhere online and try to get it in brick and mortar stores as well. I would do a small book tour with everything that it entails: signings, readings, interviews, and a massive viral campaign which is currently underway. One of the goals of my small press and these anthologies is to give us independent writers more exposure. A reader might buy the book for two or three writers and discover a handful of writers they’ll like in the process. They might wind up picking up a new author’s books and our collective fan base will expand considerably that way. This project is all about working together; egos should be checked at the door, because we’re all equal in this book. It isn’t my book, it’s our book. This is what Pixie Dust Press stands for—independent writers united. I just make sure that everyone comes together and that it all fits like a perfect jigsaw puzzle. There’s also the combined force of eighteen or so writers to promote the book which gives this project even more impact.

Themed short story anthologies will become a staple of Pixie Dust Press. For the first anthology, the contributors received a PDF of the book and a hefty discount if they wanted to purchase copies. Next year I will find a way to pay them a monetary compensation for their stories. I’m hoping to be able to increase the pay to a professional rate eventually. And starting in 2010, I want to release two books a year; the short story anthology in the fall and a novella collection in the spring. This would be an invitation-only collection where I would invite three writers to each write a novella following a theme. This would be a royalty-paying publication and an excellent opportunity for writers to showcase their storytelling talents. I want to make sure I have some strong foundations before attempting anything bigger such as venturing into publishing novels and releasing more than two books a year. I leave the door open to all kinds of possibilities, but it’s also a question of time. My writing will always come first and I will not publish a book if I don’t have the time to promote it properly. It’s also very time-consuming to read submissions, edit stories, and do the layout of a book. With a goal of writing two novels a year and releasing two books a year through Pixie Dust Press, I think I have my work cut out for me.

I’m curious about the short stories you’ve been writing. Give us the low down.

In January of this year, Amazon.com published my story The Bypassed Mind as part of their Amazon Shorts program. I often get asked if I only write horror; the answer is no and this is the proof. This is a time travel story and it is more of a romantic suspense. It’s the first story I wrote after I decided to take a shot at writing for a living. It has now since become a personal favorite. It can be purchased on Amazon.com as a PDF file for only $0.49: here.

In April, the popular anthology series Darkened Horizons published my story The Errand in their fourth volume It’s the story of a man goes through a forest to run an errand and on his way back he will find his life changed forever. The book can be purchased through Lulu: here.

In June, my story Breaking and Entering appeared in the excellent NexGen Pulp Magazine’s June/July issue. This is what I consider to be my finest short story yet and it’s about a man who enters people’s homes just for the thrill of it until one day he makes a shocking discovery. It can be purchased in hard copy or electronic form here: http://www.nexgenpulp.com/Back_Issues.html

In July, the free e-zine SNM Horror Magazine published my story Hershell’s Motel, about a couple who spends the night at a strange motel in Bitternest. It can be read here until the end of August after which it will disappear: http://www.freewebs.com/snmhorrormag/julysnmissue2.htm

Next, I have a story in the afore-mentioned Sinister Landscapes, titled Beyond the Doomed Cave. This is a coming of age tale set in a churchyard. The gothic anthology will be available wherever books are sold in September. For all the details, visit my publisher page: http://www.alandraven.com/pixiedust.htm

Are there any that are your favorites?

The Bypassed Mind, which features Aldous Finch, a character from my novel Bitternest, has a fond place in my heart. This is a story that I find has aged well over the last two years. It also pays homage to Richard Matheson’s Bid Time Return (filmed as “Somewhere in Time”). There’s also Breaking and Entering, which I consider my best short story. As a writer, I constantly evolve and I get better at my craft and oftentimes stories that I wrote early on in my career tend to show their flaws over time. I’m particularly proud of these two tales.

Are there any characters you’ve created that you love? hate? Wish you’d never made?

I don’t think I hate any of the characters I’ve created … yet! Timothy Crane who is hinted at in my first novel takes center stage in my second novel, Fractured Time, as a powerful antagonist and one of the most evil men that has ever walked the earth. I think he’s more the type of character you love to hate than one you would hate because of what he does. He hasn’t done anything morally disgusting for the time being. My next novel, Alicia’s Last Stand, a revenge thriller, will have many characters that both readers and I will hate. It is filled with some of the most repugnant human beings I’ve ever encountered.

As far as characters that I love go, Aldous Finch, an old eccentric Englishman well versed in all things supernatural is a personal favorite. And to this day is the character my readers seem to love the most. I have received many e-mails and messages from fans who requested more of him. Terry Graves, the protagonist of my first novel who has also made appearances in short stories, is another that I really like and identify with. Ritchie Campbell, one of the supporting characters from my second novel, is another one I dearly love.

Do you ever feel bad about killing your characters?

Oh yes; I killed plenty of them in Bitternest and I tortured one in Fractured Time and it was hard at times to write these scenes. Kind of like watching someone you know suffer or losing an old friend. I always try to keep the twists coming and I never want readers to think that just because a character is one of the main protagonists of the book, they are safe from death’s grip. In my stories and books, anyone can die in the blink of an eye.

What advice do you have for writers, both published and aspiring?

Read as much as you can. Know the genre you write in well. Also read outside your genre. Write as often as you can, even if it’s only 500 words every two days. The more you’ll do it, the better you’ll get at it. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t make it as a writer. There is no surefire way to get published or to achieve success, but know that there are many ways to get there and in my opinion, none of them are wrong. Get your work out there any way you can; the important thing is to be read. Stay humble and always remember where you came from. Treat your readers with respect because they spend their hard-earned cash on your work. You owe it to them to write the best stories your mind can come up with. Always.

Any parting thoughts?

As an independent writer, I’d like to invite all book lovers and horror nuts to pick up a book from an independent author; it will be greatly appreciated. You’ll see that we write stories that come from the heart, and that we are passionate at what we do. A lot of the time, even more so than authors from the big NY houses. Visit me anytime at www.alandraven.com and if you have a MySpace page, send me an invite at http://www.myspace.com/alandraven

Warders of the Gate by Mark Murray

Last week, I interviewed a new talent in the fantasy writing field.  Mark Murray is experienced in short story writing and runs the e-zine Arcane Twilight.  Today’s post is a copy of his interview.

Tell us about Warders of the Gate. It’s part of a trilogy, correct?

Warders of the Gate is part of a planned trilogy, yes. With Warders of the Gate, I’ve set the stage for the war and introduced some main characters. The background to the warders is that elves have built four magical gateways from their world into the land of Rhillai. To keep the gates secure, the elves have magically altered humans into being able to shape-change into animals. These shape-changers are the warders for the gates and only they can open the gates.

Rhillai has nine duchies and two dwarven kingdoms. The duchies are ruled by a High King. But, the seat of the High King is vacant. Warders of the Gate sets up the war for someone to be High King. To make matters worse, a mage, Alisandra, has opened a gateway to another world to allow an evil army,
the Hylnan, to enter Rhillai. The second book, War of the Gates, deals with the alien Hylnan conquering everything in their path, five dukes uniting to take control of the other duchies and the gates because a one in five chance at High King is much better than one in nine, and lastly, there is one duke fleeing with her army to eventually join with a small band of dwarves, warders, and dragons. I have one strong female lead in Warders of the Gate with Alisandra, the mage behind letting the Hylnan through. And I have one strong female lead in War of the Gates with Duke Rachel Iorion.

But, the idea that I keep throughout the whole story is that no character is safe. Some will be killed.

In addition to novel writing, you are also an accomplished penner of short stories. Do you have a preference for writing short stories vs. novel length fiction?
I actually don’t have a preference right now. I continue to write both short stories and novels.
The hard part is finding the time to get them all done.

When you’re not writing, what do you read? I really love Robert B. Parker‘s writing. I’ve read all the Spenser novels at least twice and I’m trying to read the rest of the Jesse Stone series. I used to love to read fantasy, scifi, and horror, but now that I’m actually writing them, I find that I don’t read them as much. It’s weird. I used to go into bookstores and head straight for the fantasy/scifi section. Now, I tend to just roam around looking for something to pique my interest. And I read online forums that pertain to martial arts like aikido and kali/silat.

Let’s talk about craft a little bit. As a writer, do you prefer to tell your story in first person or third person…or does it depend on the work? Do you prefer single point of view or multiple point of view?

Um, yeah. I’m really bad about first/third person and single/multiple views. For me, it does depend on
the work or story. And after reading tons of books from unknown authors to bestsellers, I’ve seen all
kinds of variations. That tells me, in the end, that what matters isn’t the view but the story being told. If you can convey a great story in just first person, it’s still a great story. If you can convey a great story
using variations, it’s still a great story.

What are you working on now? Do you ever find yourself working on multiple projects?

I’m working on:
1. War of the Gates, the next book in the Rhillai series.
2. The second book to Power Play, no title yet. Power Play is mysecond written novel,
but it hasn’t been published yet.
3. A western novel, no title yet.
4. Short stories for DargonZine.

5. I have a horror novel started, but it is on hold right now because of the above projects. I have a scifi story in my head that’s been waiting years (probably ten or so) for me to sit down and type it out. So, yes, I work on multiple projects. I have stories floating around in my head that stay there until I type them out. And I don’t write with pen or pencil or typewriter. I’ve never been able to do that. I’m weird that way. I can only type them onto a computer.

Tell us about your web-zine Arcane Twilight. How did it come to be?
I was writing for DargonZine and wanted another outlet for stories. DargonZine is a great place to write, but it is a shared world and as such has boundaries. Stories are set within that shared world. If anyone ever wants some great experience with writing, including getting your stories critiqued by all other writers, then DargonZine is a great place to be. My writing improved dramatically because of DargonZine. So, yes, I plug it when I can because of the value. On the down side, if you want to write scifi or horror, you have to go
elsewhere. So, another writer, Carlo Samson, and I decided to start an E-Zine for fantasy, scifi, and horror stories. In fact, we’ve even showcased artwork. Arcane Twilight was started as a personal outlet for writing other stories and it grew from there. You mention you are working on several other projects, including
a western.

Do you find you prefer writing in one genre over another?
So far, not really. With fantasy, I don’t have as much research to do. With the western, I had quite a bit more but that’s because there are real events, real places, and real people in the setting. You just can’t make it all up like in fantasy. While I don’t have a preference, I am finding that other genres can have significantly more research time.

Do you still have a “day job?” or have you attained what all writers want…the ability to write full time?
It would be great to write full time, but alas, I’m still one of the majority that has a day job. I’m thankful that it’s mostly Monday-Friday though. I also have martial arts a minimum of four days a week and sometimes five. Toss in regular chores, family time, book signings, seminars, etc and I really could use more hours in the day.

Do you have any advice or words of encouragement for writers working toward getting published?
I’ve found two major things. The first is keep writing. I know it’s silly and it’s what a lot of other authors say, but it’s a basic truth. Most professional athletes practice insane hours of the day and week. Olympic level athletes go beyond that. Top tier musicians live and breathe their work. Why should writers be any different?
Enter contests, write for fun, join a writing group, submit pieces for publication, take a writing class, etc. I sent a short story to Marion Zimmer Bradley long, long ago for her MZB Fantasy magazine. It was rejected, but MZB sent a handwritten note in the return letter. I had understood exactly what my story was about, but as a new writer, I didn’t let that come through in the story. Naturally, MZB hadn’t understood the story either, but her reply helped me to realize my errors. I kept writing and trying to get better, but had I not sent that in, then I might not have realized I had a big hole in my writing.

The second is don’t give up. Just because a publishing house has rejected your work doesn’t necessarily mean it is badly written or not worth publishing. Publishing houses are businesses and they look for specific trends to publish. Your piece might not fit that trend rather than it being horribly written.

Turning Left

Apollo likes to walk. We take him out with Rocky while Adrian stays at home. (Yes, our dogs are named for the Rocky movies.) Being a Doberman, with a splash of Black Lab thrown in just to keep us on our toes, Apollo isn’t satisfied with just “walking.” He thrusts his nose deep into the ground, snorting up anything that will fit into his blow-hole sized nostrils. And he’s not satisfied to walk leisurely. He wants to trot or run or anything really besides walk. There is always something more interesting just beyond the end of the leash.

How does he compensate for this restriction in mobility? He turns circles. He trots for five feet, sniffing and snorting, then turns a circle. To the right. Always to the right. Apollo can’t turn left…except for this one time, but I’ll get to that in a minute.

Rocky is an Akita with a splash of German Shepherd Dog thrown in for more dignity and a greater ability for condescension. He holds his head up regally, toenails elegantly clicking on the pavement in a perfect cadence, while his tedious companion slobbers and runs in circles, bounding from one dandelion patch to another…circling to the right, pacing, circling to the right, pacing…on and on and on.

But there was a day. One walk out of thousands, when my middle child and I were out walking the dogs…and I saw an Eastern Bluebird. Being from Nebraska, I don’t have much experience with the beautiful birds that flutter around our neighborhood here in Virginia…all different colors and songs….I’m not used to it. “Son, did you see that?” I asked, pointing. My son stood beside me, laughing. When he stopped, a grin plastered to his face, he said, “I know, Apollo just turned left.” Zoolander, eat your heart out!!

My dog turned left…and I missed it. I’ve watched diligently on every walk since then, waiting for him to repeat the act. But Apollo seems more comfortable turning right. It’s unnatural for him to do anything else.

So I find myself once again taking a lesson from this monster of a canine. Do I want to be the sort of writer that “can’t turn left?” Or do I want to do more? Be more? I’m in the second book of my Detective Baker series…and I’m happy with the way things are shaping up. But other stories…set in other times in other places…are tickling the back of my mind. And I find myself wanting to test the mysterious waters where these other ideas swim. I nursed the characters for The Deputy’s Widow for years, coddling them to maturity and, eventually, publication. Suddenly, that obsession isn’t there because I accomplished my goal. I’m published. And I’ll be published again with the sequel, provided my editor likes it. Trying something new doesn’t feel comfortable just yet. But, unlike my dog, I have higher brain function (sometimes) and I think I might give “turning left” a try. So I’ll keep watching Apollo, hoping he’ll overcome his multi-directional challengedness…and I’ll consider shooting off in a new direction myself on occasion.

Tater Mitts

Tater Mitts.

Insomnia is a fickle thing. At times I’ll go for months unmolested by thoughts refusing to stay below the surface as I sleep. At other times, the beast rears its ugly head and I spend the night awake, tossing and turning and worrying about things over which I have no control. As I age, alongside my husband of 16 years, I can’t help but notice he’s afflicted with this condition on occasion as well. And even more interesting than this, is the fact that, once in awhile, we are afflicted at the same time.

I’m not sure which is worse…lying awake in the middle of the night as the clocks tick in an endless cadence, marking time that passes too slowly…or awakening an hour or two before dawn, wondering if going back to sleep is even worth the trouble.

Gone are the days when four in the morning felt like the middle of the night. Now I think about walking the dog or writing a chapter or blogging or answering e-mail. I think of all the productive things I could be doing with my time besides sleeping.

Last week, as my husband and I suffered a case of co-dependent early morning insomnia, we stumbled downstairs and cranked up the satellite as the coffee pot percolated and the dogs found comfy places on the sofa—clearly, insomnia is never a problem for a dog—to go back to sleep.

Infomercials dominate the airwaves before dawn, taking advantage of bleary-eyed insomniacs with promises that “This product will make your life easier…or your money back.”

Well, I love my Swiffer, but I can’t exactly say its made my life easier.

But that was before I heard about Tater Mitts. Have you heard of the Tater Mitts? Have you reserved your pair yet? Tater Mitts are a handy pair of gloves with steel wool on the outside. Just put on the gloves, pick up a potato, squish it around in your hands and…PRESTO!! The potato is free of that filthy peel.

I’m so stupid. All these years I’ve been using a potato peeler which could have flown out of my hands at any given moment and lodged in my neighbor’s eye. It’s true. I’ve been endangering the whole world with my reckless method of peeling potatoes.

Wouldn’t it be nice for writers if the reading public was as gullible as the infomercial quacks believe the entire world to be? I could say “Read my book-it will change your life.” Or I could pay people to say “You won’t believe the amazing things this book can do for you.” Or how about, “I never knew my life was so empty until I read “The Deputy’s Widow””

Nah, come to think of it, I wouldn’t respect an ignorant reading audience. I prefer readers who say, “I would have done this differently.” Or “This part was good, but try this.”

Writers live in a world where their product has to stand alone. The purpose of fiction can be one of two things: to prove a point, or to entertain. I prefer to read fiction for entertainment and I try to write fiction that accomplishes the same. I can’t promise a reader a good book and then not deliver. Why? Because readers are smart. And they read to be entertained. And they write reviews.

The morning of the Tater Mitts infomercial was rare. Normally, I pick up a book when I can’t sleep. I pick up a book and let myself sink into its world…because a writer is someone who delivers. There are no money-back guarantees. There are no paid celebrities with overly tight faces telling me this book will change my life. There’s just a writer’s work…and I know a little something about that…the sweat, the agony, the pressure.

You can keep your Tater Mitts. I’ll use a potato peeler and read a good book, thank you very much.

Falling Out of Bed

Falling Out of Bed

When the house shakes at 3:00 in the morning my first thought, since I don’t live anywhere near a fault line, is “thunderstorm” or, since I live in redneck central, “the neighbors are shooting skeet in their backyard again.” I don’t believe I’ve ever thought to myself “Oh, dear. The dog has fallen out of bed.” And yet….

Sigh. And yet…it happened. The King of Our Beasts, the one hundred pounder, appropriately named Apollo, tumbled from our king sized bed, onto the floor. The house shook violently for a moment. When the aftershocks subsided, my husband sat up and said, “Did you hear something?”

Apollo was ok, too tired to do much of anything except moan a little at the disturbance before rolling over exactly where he landed and falling asleep.

“The dog fell,” I said. “And now he’s gone to sleep again.” I was leaning over the bed and looking at the great mound of black muscle spread eagled, feet up in the air, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth…snoring.

My husband smiled a little and lay down. “That is so him.”

And it is. It is so Apollo to fall out of bed in the middle of the night. But it is even more him to shrug off the interruption in his routine and make the best of the situation. If he can’t sleep in the bed, he’ll sleep on the floor…happily.

So what about me, the writer? If I can’t be a best seller, am I content for mid-list? If I can’t be mid-list, am I content with the simple honor of being published? If Arctic Wolf hadn’t signed me, would I have had the courage to self-publish?

Occasionally, I get frustrated. I feel like a failure. I want success; but in this new, unexplored territory, I don’t know how to measure it.

Today I find myself wondering how my dog measures it…I think success to him is having someplace where he can stretch out. And he stretches out no matter where he is. He is happy no matter what…even if he has fallen out of bed. The old saying, “Bloom where you are planted,” is his bumper sticker.

And so I sigh again today. It is humbling to take a lesson from a dog…especially one with no grace…and a tongue the size of Delaware. But as I look into those big, vacant, brown eyes, I can’t help but think that this creature is a good influence on me. But don’t tell anyone I said so.