Wednesday Interview: Arlene Blakely

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eBooks, interviews, New Adult, post-apocalyptic, self-published authors

New Adult keeps growing, and there is proof to that with self-published author Arlene Blakely releasing two books – the chick lit/light urban fantasy Illegal Media, and the post-apocalyptic anthology Doom Days – that could easily fit into the developing category. Here she is talking about her work and the future of New Adult!

Megan Cashman: What inspired you to be a writer and what made you decide to publish?

Arlene Blakely: I’ve always been a writer. As a little kid I made story books, and in middle school my best friend and I worked together on our own “How To” book. I wrote a column for the local paper in high school, and I published a short story in a magazine in college. Years later, I wrote a play that a friend of mine turned into a short film, and I won a short story contest which got me published in a journal. 

So deciding to publish wasn’t really a decision. Once I finished Illegal Magic, I contacted agents, and received positive feedback from several of them. Unfortunately, while quite a few agents liked the book, none of them lurrrved it.

Eventually, I realized that I had three choices: give up on my book, substantially revise it, or publish it myself. I wasn’t willing to give up and I didn’t want to revise anymore. So I said, “What the heck” and took the indie-publishing route.

Megan Cashman: What inspired the Doom Days anthology?

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Arlene Blakely: When I moved back to North Carolina after spending 8 years on the west coast, one of the first things I did was start a writers’ group. The group really gelled into something remarkable: a perfect combination of support, critique, and accountability.

I’d been playing with the idea of a story set in a post-apocalyptic world for a while, but I couldn’t seem to find my way inside it. Then I got to thinking about the old Thieves’ World books that I used to read as a kid. The Thieves’ World anthologies had a common setting and shared characters, but the stories were written by different authors.

I approached the other writers in my critique group, and pitched the concept of creating a similar kind of anthology, set in a post-apocalyptic world. They thought it was a good idea, and before long we’d created a world with a back story and characters and conflict.

Megan Cashman: Your books, Illegal Magic and Charmless, seem to be different from most other urban fantasy novels because of their “chick lit” twist. What was the idea behind them?

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Arlene Blakely: I’ve always been drawn to stories that combine romance, mystery, humor, and some element that makes the reader willing to suspend disbelief. Done well, that combination results in the Myth series or Looking for Alaska or the Dresden books or Veronica Mars or anything by Jennifer Crusie or Joss Whedon. None of these examples are exactly “chick lit” – even Crusie’s novels are more romance or paranormal romance than chick lit – but all of them contain the same elements that make chick lit fun to read.

My writing is heavily influenced by my taste in reading (and TV shows). Because I’ve seen how potent it can be to “mix and match” elements from different genres, I don’t think it’s necessary – or desirable – to isolate romance or mystery or humor or magic. Blended together they make a story stronger and more compelling. I guess that’s why I feel comfortable grafting chick lit to urban fantasy.

Megan Cashman: Do you hope those two books to attract chick lit readers who don’t read urban fantasy, and vice versa?

Arlene Blakely: I hope people will enjoy reading my work. If it appeals to readers who usually gravitate toward urban fantasy or chick lit, that’s cool with me. For what it’s worth, I think we spend too much time categorizing books into separate genres. There are amazing writers in every genre – and it’s worth exploring broadly to ferret them out.

Megan Cashman: NA/New Adult is gaining more attention these days from readers and the book publishing world. Some say the category is pointless and will fade away. Do you think that is true?

Arlene Blakely: Stories about people on the brink of adulthood have been popular for a long time, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Regardless of whether we apply the NA label, I find it hard to imagine that people will stop wanting to read about characters in their early 20s.

Megan Cashman: What is your advice to anyone who aspires to write books?

Arlene Blakely: First and foremost, WRITE! I’m a really slow writer, so I know how hard it can be to finish a book. But getting words on paper is at least 75% of the challenge. It feels wonderful to complete a project!

I also suggest reading. Not only will you stay up-to-date on what’s being published, you’ll also be able to analyze the technique of writers you admire. Pay attention to what works for other writers, and you’ll be able to incorporate it into your own work. I’m always surprised when I meet writers who claim to read very little contemporary fiction. If you’re writing fantasy for today’s market, but the last fantasy novel you read was The Return of the King, that’s a problem.

Finally, I highly recommend joining a writing group. Getting feedback on a regular basis is super motivating, and it’s great to have other writers to share ideas with. You can find a variety of writing groups on meetup.com, including my group, Writers’ Cramp. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, start your own!

Find out more about Arlene Blakely at these places:

Website: http://overskooled.yolasite.com/
Doom Days site: http://doomdays.com/

Barnes & Noble Announces Store Closings

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B&N, Barnes & Noble, brick and mortar stores, business, eBooks, end of books, eReaders, future of books, Nook

You probably heard the news today. That dreadful news many writers knew would happen sooner or later, but probably hoped to some degree that it would never happen.

Barnes & Noble announced that a third of its stores will close during the next decade. That means of the 689 current stores it has now, about 200 will close. That sounds like a lot. Frighteningly a lot, even if the number isn’t that big. It does beat out the way Borders closed down in a rapid pace in 2011, due to financial difficulties, but it still sounds ominous.

When I first heard whispers about B&N closing some of its stores, my first thought was, “Oh no! No more books! Where am I going to browse lazily during a free day? Where can I go to write, surrounded by coffee and bookshelves?” I spent a lot of time at my local B&N writing my book. Being in its small cafe area felt great because having so many books filling your view inspired me to one day be an author myself. Even though I chose to self-publish my novel as an eBook, being at B&N while writing felt motivating.

But am I a hypocrite to feel sad that my favorite writing place and store is closing due to readers preferring eBooks? After all, releasing an eBook myself and not a POD book was really me encouraging the use of eBooks rather than an actual book.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

But why did I do that? Besides choosing to self-publish, I chose to release my book on Kindle and Smashwords because it was easy – both with time and finance. I would’ve invested into printing copies of my book to give to stores where I live – but the last indie store lost it’s lease and Barnes & Noble’s regulations for self-published books were kind of tight. So, I stuck with the eBook.

Am I to blame for the decline of paper-and-cover books? Of course not. I would never had released my novel as an eBook if there weren’t so many book lovers buying them. It’s kind of a two-sided issue: many of us like to hold and smell an actual book, but find eReaders so convenient. Even authors who prefer selling their work as traditional books admit to downloading books onto their eReaders for the speed and to read while traveling.

It is like we are own worst enemies. We want book stores to stick around forever, but yet we fuel the digital age by reading eBooks. We like the atmosphere of a bookstore, but the speed of downloading a book is more proof of society’s poor attention span as of late.

I think the decline of bookstores and actual books has more to do with human nature than technology itself. Technology is not the monster, perhaps we are.

And also, another culprit is online shopping. How many of us order books through Amazon? I’ve done it, when I wanted a book that wasn’t easy to find – plus, I just so happen to have a coupon.

I hope my local B&N stays around for a long while. It is the only bookstore left where I live. The local Target has a book section, but that means nothing in comparison to a bookstore. There’s a couple of second-hand bookstores where you can sell your old books, but they are small and are a hike from where I live.

Also, where will I go to write my books? I do go to Starbucks and Panera, but sometimes I need a change of scenery and I go to B&N to its Starbucks. It is not easy getting a spot, or even an outlet for my laptop, but the atmosphere is worth it. Being surrounded by the works of the authors who came before me is inspiring.

I wonder how future writers will be inspired if bookstores become obsolete? I guess glancing at their eReaders may help them move along.

 

Latest News on “The Dark Proposal”

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eBooks, Indie books, Kindle, NA, New Adult, paranormal, self-published books, Smashwords, urban fantasy, vampire books, vampire novels, vampire trilogies, vampires

Here is the latest updates on my novel, The Dark Proposal.

First off, it is finally available on Smashwords! I was free to upload it on that site on December 12th, after my time with KDP Select was over, but life got in the way. But it is finally there to be downloaded to Nook, Kobo, Apple and all the other eReaders. It’s only $2.99 and offers a 15% sample!

Also, you may have noticed a slight change to the information regarding The Dark Proposal on Goodreads and Amazon. Originally, I referred to this book as the first in The Claire McCormick Trilogy – but all the while, I wasn’t comfortable with that name. I always thought The End of Eternity would be better, but also thought it might give away how the trilogy turns out. I even considered that title for the third and final book, but I don’t think that can be done.

That’s the thing about doing trilogies or a series – the name has to represent all the books involved, of course. And having the collection share the same name as the final book doesn’t make much sense. The Twilight Saga got it’s name from the first book of the series – that is why it’s not called The Breaking Dawn Saga.

I don’t know, I just planned that the final book will be called The End of Eternity, and in my mind it still works. But I also have ideas for what that book can be called. Yeah, I know what you are thinking – I should’ve figured this all out before I ever published The Dark Proposal. Believe me, I’m banging my head against the top of a table right now.

It was just that I knew calling my trilogy The Claire McCormick Trilogy did not work, because that implies the books are all about Claire and her life. While she is the main character of the trilogy, it is not all about her; the vampires are just as important. So The End of Eternity works, it sounds better, and I don’t cringe when I see the other name on Goodreads or Amazon.

I’m sure I’ll come up with a good title for Book #3. Right now, I am certain Book #2 will be called Blood Ties. It definitely works, and I’m thinking about posting the opening scene someday to get all of you excited for the follow-up to The Dark Proposal!

But until then, let me work on it and I’ll keep you posted on how the writing is going 🙂

Telling a Story and Cutting to the Chase

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how to write a book, Slumdog Millionaire, story quirks, storytelling, the writing process, writers, writing

“If the real world were a book, it would never find a publisher. Overlong, detailed to the point of distraction-and ultimately, without a major resolution.” — Jasper Fforde

I found the above quote on Goodreads, and I find it so true and so amusing.

 

Isn’t it funny that when we are reading a book, we tend to think, “gee, what were the odds of that happening?”

 

Or, “Man, that was quick!”

 

Or, “Wow, how convenient that that happened!”

 

In other words, there are events in a book that seem to happen too easily, or a necessary character who so conveniently appears at the right moment. Or what would take a long time to occur in real life seems to happen in a few pages.

 

I agree that it seems silly when you step back and look at the story with a more critical eye, but like that Jasper Fforde quote explains, it makes sense. If books were to portray life exactly as it is, they would be very long and very boring. The story will be drawn out and drag until what needs to happen happens. If that were the case, no one would do any reading.

 

So it is important for novels to cut to the chase, so to speak, or else writers would lose their readers, more so these days especially. When I was writing my book, The Dark Proposal, I originally had Claire’s relationship with Daniel develop at a pace more common with real-life couple. But a member of my writer’s group pointed out that because people today have short attention spans, I needed to make the relationship develop quicker.

 

So I did. I made the two characters become a couple much sooner than I planned. I think it was good advice that I took because it is true what the person said. And besides, my book is not about how Claire and Daniel became an item; it is about how Claire deals with the horror of Daniel forcing her to choose to become a vampire. There was no room to focus on the early stages of their relationship.

 

But it is funny how writers use short cuts in their stories and make certain situations happen almost by a miracle. Heck, it even happens in TV shows and movies. Remember the Oscar winning film, Slumdog Millionaire? Even though I really like the movie, I find it amusingly odd how Jamal was able to find his true love Latika so easily in Mumbai, a city of 20 million. He was even able to quickly track down his brother from a database that probably had the contact information of everyone in India – and that is over 1 billion people!

 

Silly and even absurd as it sounds, it works for the story. Writers have to make it easy for things to happen so the true point of the story remains the focus. Dwelling on the more realistic speed of relationships developing or finding people ruins the story, and audiences will lose interest. It is a fact, no matter how often audiences will say, “what were the chances of that happening?”

 

The trick, I believe, is not too make it too obvious. Don’t make such moments so forced and certainly don’t make it happen too often. But don’t worry if you realize a scene or character is too convenient for the story. You’ll be making the novel more easier to read for your audience and they won’t get bored. If there were an author out there who knew the secret to avoid all too convenient moments, I suggest we all hunt that person down so we’ll know his or her secrets! LOL!

 

 

Are Pen Names Necessary?

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authors, Internet, marketing, nom de plume, pen names, Pseudonyms, writers

It is well known that many authors use nom des plumes, or pen names, when they publish their books. Mark Twain is one of the more famous cases, as his real name was Samuel Clemens. The romance novelist Nora Robertson is also the crime novelist J.D. Robb (BTW, neither name is really hers!). And Alisa Zinov’yevna Rosenbaum is better known as Ayn Rand. 

Authors use pen name for many reasons. They want to use a more catchy name for marketing purposes or they want some privacy. Some female writers, like J.K. Rowling, take names that sound more masculine in order to appeal to a certain audience. Or, the writers want to publish in different, yet conflicting genres. For example, one author may already have a line of crime thrillers books out, but may also want to write historical fiction. In that case, a pseudonym would be needed so his or her thriller fans won’t be baffled to see their favorite author start writing for a totally different genre, and so the historical fiction readers wouldn’t be turned off when they learn an interesting book was written by someone who writes edgy material.

To sum it all up, it is all about marketing.

But in this Information Age and where anyone could Google a name and find out about any particular person, is it possible for any author to maintain a dual identity?

I think it will be very tough to do so. Before the Internet, it was easy for a writer to keep their true name a secret – that is, if they revealed it themselves, as Anne Rice did when she admitted being the erotica novelist, Anne Roquelaure, many years ago.

But now, it may not be so simple, especially if one writes different genres. Thanks to Amazon and Goodreads, it is easy for word to get around that romance novelist Jane Doe also writes sci-fi books as Mary Smith. The Internet is like wild fire; it is so easy for whispers to get out. Plus, if an author uses a photo in order for his or her readers to put a face to the name – which is quite imperative for an author – it will be easy to put two and two together.

So is the pen name dead? Maybe yes, maybe no. I think a less known author will find it easier to use a pen name and conceal their true identity than a more famous one. But as I said, word gets around quick online, so it won’t be so easy for anyone to maintain total privacy.

So if pseudonyms are useless these days, how will an author go about writing in different genres? Will readers be willing to be more tolerant of their favorite authors spreading out and trying different ways to express themselves and tell a story? Will backlashes be commonplace in those situations?

Honestly, I think readers actually more open minded than that. We all read multiple genres, just like no one listen to one type of music.

It will just be interesting to see what the marketing of authors will be like in this new age.