Brush up your Shakespeare

. So I’m wandering through town, and remember I have to write my blog. The problem is, the town is Stratford-Upon-Avon, and I – and my computer – live in London….

I was in Stratford to see the RSC perform Romeo and Juliet (wonderful btw – and look out for the young stars Anneika Rose and David Dawson- they are going to be huge). In the programme is an article about helping children discover Shakespeare. I remember learning Shakespeare at school – sitting still, reading out loud at the pace of the slowest reader in class, bored to tears. It was incomprehensible and dull. But then we had a school trip, to see Romeo and Juliet at the RSC (Sean Bean and Niamh Cusack) – and it was amazing. Those dull, complicated words came to life and became suffused with passion and drama and humour.

I know so many adults who won’t see Shakespeare because they think they won’t understand it. But you can’t read Shakespeare – you have to see it performed – and performed well. Ive read Hamlet, and seen it a few times too, and all I ever felt was an overwhelming desire to slap Hamlet round the back of the head and tell him to pull himself together. Then I saw David Tennant play Hamlet – and suddenly I saw Hamlet’s pain, I understood the clever vocal tricks of his madness, I sympathised with his dilemmas, and I cried when he died. The one brilliant performance had changed Hamlet for me.

When I read Shakespeare now, I don’t see words on a page. I see Annieka Rose’s Juliet showing David Dawson’s Romeo how NOT to ‘kiss by the book’ – and his stunned and delighted reaction. I see David Tennant’s Hamlet, a lost and lonely boy, still and alone on stage, discussing suicide quietly to himself. I see Harriet Walter’s Viola, laughing at Feste, I see Michael Maloney’s Henry, taking the crown from his dying father too soon, I see Roger Allam’s Brutus torn between friendship and duty.

I know this is a blog about writing, and I should talk about my own. But I wanted to share with you my love of Shakespeare, and urge you, if you have forgotten or ignored him, to rediscover him. His passionate, painful, funny, insightful words are on a stage somewhere, waiting to be spoken to you.

Giving thanks

Even though Aussies don’t celebrate Thanksgiving as a national holiday, today would be Thanksgiving if we did.  I like the idea of stopping to reflect and share what I feel grateful for.   My writing gratitude list is as follows:

* My blog sistas Christine and Michelle.  Thank you for helping me when I get stuck for topic ideas.  Thank you for understanding that I still struggle with the concept of time which causes my contribution to be late sometimes.  Most of all, thanks for turning up every week and sharing your knowledge and experience.

* Editors who care. I’m grateful that Honestly Woman magazine and Women In Crime Ink published my article about domestic homicide.   It’s not a warm or fuzzy topic but it’s one that really needs our attention. These two organizations took a positive step towards community awareness by publishing Dear John.

* Fiona Debarge. Fiona and I have been friends for a lifetime.  It didn’t occur to me while we were out clubbing and generally misbehaving (in our 20’s) that one day we’d grow up, get our lives together and co-author a book.  Thanks Fee for being your wonderful self and for all the amazing contributions you’ve made to Child’s Play.

* Family and friends.  I’d like to finish by acknowledging my friends and family who have been supportive and encouraging.  However, a special thanks goes to my mum Beryl Corrie.   To explain: I’d telephone mum, read her my submission.  She’d say it was wonderful, we’d chat and I’d hang up.  A short time later, after a micro-edit (i e. I’d change just a word or two) I’d call her back and re-read it and she’d say how much better it sounded.  She probably heard the first chapter of Plan B more than 25 times - she always laughed in the right places and told me how fantastic it was – thanks mum.

Focusing on gratitude feels good.  Why not make a list of a few things you’re grateful for?  It can be anything that has made your heart sing.  Share them with us in the comments section if you’d like, we’d love to hear them.

Writing Things I’m thankful for

Since Thanksgiving in the States happens THIS WEEK (am I the only one having trouble believing it’s happening already?), I thought I’d write about the things I have to celebrate.  Since I am not, by nature, a grateful type, it took some thinking, but I’ve got quite a list.

I am grateful for:

Editors because once you get through the acceptance part, they can really help you make your work better, which always makes you look good.  I’m especially grateful that neither of my editors are likely to see the title of this post which ends in a prepostion.

Blogs where I can vent my very strong opinions, and for blogmates, (Hi Narelle and Michelle) who put up with that.

A husband who willingly spends a full Saturday in the office helping me make up ARCS for promotion and children who are grown and can take care of themselves. (I promise to get the pies made before Thursday–and to keep your dad out of them.)

A writing community where people who know me only on-line, still remember me from other groups and other years, and still take the time to send me directions for things like ARCs (Thanks especially to Tara Manderino)
The blogging community and the ongoing dialogue about writing and craft that you can get 24-7. I am especially grateful for Georgie B and his insights and Everything Language and Grammar. Can you please, please, please do something in one syllable words on adverbs? I think my editors would thank you. I did read your post titled, Hope Against Hopefully. My problem is more on placement in the sentence.
I am grateful for mysteries to read, blogmates who are there for me, and that wordpress is free, because I think I would probably pay to do this and I can’t afford it! What are you grateful for?

A Christmas Story

. Now that my birthday is over, I’m going to think about Christmas. I love Christmas. I love every part of it, even the shopping. And one thing I really love about Christmas is the Christmas stories. I love them all, from The Little Match Girl to Christmas Carol, from Twas the Night Before Christmas to Anne Perry’s Christmas Series. They all give me a warm glow, and they all make me cry – in a happy way

Christmas stories, I feel, can be divided in three sorts. There’s the terrifying/spiritual – the Victorians loved to tell a good ghost story round the fire on Christmas eve – and there’s the stories of redemption and change, like Rudolph, or Christmas Carol (which also managed to be incredibly spooky, but then Charles Dickens was an absolute genius) and the fairy tale/legend – like The Little Match Girl. I’ve come up with a few rules to apply to your own Christmas story.

a) It should snow. It rarely snows at Christmas in my country anymore (and not ever in Narelle’s I believe) but it always does in the stories. The British tradition of Christmas was practically invented by Dickens, who lived through some very harsh winters as a boy (the Thames froze over – it was pretty much a mini ice-age) and put those snows into his books.

b) Someone bad/lonely/misanthropic/miserable should change. Scrooge becomes kind and philanthropic, Mariah Ellison becomes joyous and friendly, Runcorn falls in love… and so on. They need to discover a fundamental truth about themselves that changes them. Even Bridget Jones learns to accept herself before Mark Darcy falls in love with her (and I’m including Bridget because that starts and ends at Christmas – and I love the movie ….mmmmm …..Colin Firth fighting Hugh Grant)

c) If it is a ghost story, it should scare the living daylights out of you. Think Sleepy Hollow, The Woman in Black, Christmas Carol when he thinks he sees a ghostly coffin preceeding him on the stairs.

d) The main body of the action shoud take place on Christmas Eve.

e) Everything should be resolved by the time the bells ring out on Christmas morning. (Do the church bells ring out on Christmas morning in other countries? I presume they do, and as I live in London, where there’s a church every couple of miles, I can hear lots of them). The bells should always ring out, even if your action is the middle of the Gobi desert – gets those bells ringing!

This year I intend to try to write a Christmas story – following these rules. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

I usually ask for a book as one of my Christmas presents because that’s how i like to spend at least part of my Christmas holiday.

Christmas 2004 was no different, however my book choice surprised me (and as it turned out, all other attendees at our Christmas lunch). 

I’d tuned into the tail end of an interview with Aron Ralston some weeks before while I was stacking the dishwasher.  With the TV in the background and dirty dishes in the foreground, I vaguely heard the part of his story that talked about rock climbing, alone, in a remote area of Utah.  Then the part about being pinned in a crevasse by an 800lb boulder.  And although I’d tuned in a little more by the time he said he was trapped for six days, that wasn’t what really got my attention.  I actually stopped what I was doing and listened when the interview turned this corner:

Interviewer: “Aron, I have to ask, what was it like amputating your own arm?  I can’t imagine…”

Aron: ”It was exhilarating, euphoric even.”

“Hang on,” I thought as I stopped in my tracks and bounded onto the lounge room, “I must’ve heard that wrong” .  Amputate + own arm = euphoria?  No, no, no amputate + own anything = total nightmare.

The interview ended soon after that and the cover of Aron’s book flashed up on the screen.  I sat wondering what could’ve transpired to make amputating your own arm seem an appealing (never mind euphoric) proposition.   I’m intrigued by people who have a different take on the world and let’s face it, I love a good survival story.  I did wonder how interesting the book would be given that he was stuck alone in a crevasse for six days which meant that there would be no scene changes, very little dialogue and few (if any) other characters. 

So knowing little else about Aron Ralston or his story I put his book on my Christmas list. 

It was an absolute gem.  Couldn’t put it down and still think about it today.  May I suggest that if you decide to buy the book, buy a Do Not Disturb sign.  You’ll need it.

 

 

Promotion: A Whole ‘Nother Thing

Since I now have a tentative publishing date for Safe House, my second mystery to come out in print, I’m gearing up for promotion–and finding that the whole ball game has changed since the first book, Safe Beginnings came out.
First off, learning how to promote after the solitary act of writing requires a whole different mindset. You have to be available on so many fronts when you promote. Bigger publishers put the book out for review and maybe (if you’re lucky) get you an ad somewhere. My publisher is small so it’s all on me. I have to decide if I will make the advanced readers copies (Help!) that I send out for review myself or if I will go to Lulu and have them made (Anybody got an opinion?). I have to keep track of deadlines. Who requires the book four to five months before publication–or no review? Who will take it after publication?
I’ve already had a mystery website or two contact me about getting a page on their sites for advertising. I have to pay for that from my own pocket of course. Just as it’s up to me to get a website, maintain it, have a presence on mystery related groups like yahoo’s mystery most cozy and on mystery forums like Crimespace and to blog regularly enough to keep my name in some search engine somewhere. And should I do a blog tour? What about chats?
This is apart from lining up booksignings and discussions in the real world and having a life and a job and a family. Like most writers, I knew all of this going in. But I wanted to write anyway.
But this world of promotion and push is a long way from the world of creativity and craft that we usually talk about here. Is writing too commercial now? Could you write if no one ever read it? Or is that just defeating the purpose?

From Canadian Author Savannah Chase on the Challenges of Being an International Author

Some of you may not know but I’m a romance and erotica author living in Canada . You are probably wondering why does that matter? Well it does matter a huge amount when it comes to promoting yourself and your work. When I first started to write I had no idea all the stuff that goes into promotion. All the different things that authors do to get out there, from magazines, to promotional items, and conferences. None of that stuff was something I had heard about. I figured that there were companies that did that for authors. Boy was I wrong.

Unless you pay someone to promote you and your books you’re the one that does the bulk of things. I learned all about promoting and all the hard work that has to be put into it. I started to discover all the different ways authors go about to get their work noticed. The big thing was magazine ads and promotional items. Those can range from pens, key chains, postcards, bookmarks, stickers, shirts, and the list goes on and on an on.

So how does that affect me since I live in Canada? Well let me tell you. One company that I have been using from the start is Vista Print. They have locations all over the world and even though I live in Canada I order my items from the U.S since I can get free stuff and it comes out cheaper. The bad side to that is I have to pay a VAT fee. What’s a VAT fee? Well it is basically a border fee. So whatever I pay for my order I have to pay that again as a border fee. You are probably thinking, wouldn’t it be cheaper then to order from the Canadian site? For me it wouldn’t be. I still end up saving money. I always take the longest shipping which is cheaper so that saves me even more. It’s a great deal that will get me the bang for their buck.

When it comes to promotion in magazines those can run a hefty price from $200 to over $1300 dollars. Yes I know that is a lot, and when you’re starting out that’s the kind of money most authors don’t have. Authors have to budget so that they can use their money wisely without losing out. Another way authors promote themselves is by attending conferences. Those are primarily held in the United States.  When you live outside the U.S it costs a lot to fly to the location of the event, and when the Canadian dollar is low it ends up costing and arm and a leg. Yes I know if it is driving distance authors will make the effort to drive, but for some that is not an option.  As a Canadian author I have tried to utilize the different available methods of promotion here in Canada. But what about the rest of the world? You have to get your name and your books out there and this means promoting in any way, shape, and form.

So you see each author is affected differently when it comes to promotion. An author is not just a writer, they have many jobs to do that most people don’t think about. But when you love what you do you work hard and go the extra mile to bring something special into the lives of your readers.

**************

BOOK INFO

Bid For Love available at Lyrical Press

Buy link http://www.lyricalpress.com/bid_for_love.html

Cassie Exline, US Author on the challenges of being an International Author

Being from the U.S., the difference in language, or I mean the spelling of certain words is a hoot. For example: adding that extra “u” or “s” instead of a “z”, which is the British way, can be confusing after reviewing their story. Not too long ago it was pointed out to me, by an editor, that I’d spelled a word in my story the British way and I had no idea I’d done it.

If that’s not enough, the different meaning of words can make for a lively discussion and a lot of laughs. Having an editor from another country is interesting. More than once, I’ve read a comment and had no idea what it meant. It’s been a great learning experience and makes me more understanding of others.  Also makes me work harder to make my writing clearer for everyone to read.

For me my biggest obstacle or problem is-Time Zones. Makes for a dicey problem when getting to the different publishing house loop chats on time. It’s been difficult working with editors or timing chats because of a different zone, whether here in the states or authors in a different country.

Right now, I’m training with an editor and she’s not around when I’m online. So it’s email and play the waiting game. Takes longer to get the work done, especially when I have questions and can’t move on until she helps me.

Of course being friends with Marc, I’ve learned UK time. I know he’s around until 12 noon my time (Eastern) and then he’s gone. So if I need to ask him anything, my deadline is noon. Fortunately, most loops seem geared to eastern time, but we do hit the glitch with some of the house members who get the zones confused. Chats set for daytime hours prove difficult. Since I have a full time job, that doesn’t often work for me and I miss opportunities to support as well as promote to get new readers.

With Savannah being in Canada, our time matches. So it’s easy to keep in contact with her. The only problem might be that I’m an early bird and she’s a night owl. Nothing we can’t overcome.

Time zones are a must to understand in order to keep in contact with other authors so we can to hit the promotion trail-on time.  No one wants to show up to the party late or too early. It’s been quite a learning experience doing the loops.

~

Cassie Exline

Tree of Buried Secrets, recently named Book of the Week, is a contemporary romance and available at Lyrical Press.

http://www.onceuponabookstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3_25&products_id=56

Coming Together: With Pride is an anthology, featuring my story, Fire & Ice, and available at Phaze in ebook or print format.

http://www.cassieexline.com

http://ww.myspace.com/cassieexline

http://cassieexline.blogspot.com

http://cassieexline.wordpress.com

http://twitter.com/cassieexline

The Importance of Being Idle

. I was thinking about Narelle’s post about scheduling creativity. I was thinking of those writers that recommend forcing yourself to write every day, even if you don’t feel like it.

And then I read a book called How To Be Idle (highly recommended!) and I learnt how in pre-Industrial Revolution times, people worked at home, and worked just long enough to earn what they needed – and only that. They worked to their own schedule, and arranged their time to suit themselves. And then the Industrial Revolution came, and people had to work to others schedules, to suit other people’s times – and their leisure time was stripped away, because that was time they could spend working for their boss.

And as this continued, we all started to believe all those work-ethic ideals – such as ‘early to bed early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’ and ‘the devil makes work for idle hands’.

But of course, the writers and poets escaped this. They seemed to spend all their time drifting about lakes and fields just idling. But in time, the work ethic drifted in here too and writing, instead of being an inspirational act, done only at the right time and place, became just as much a job as standing on an assembly line in a factory, referred to as ‘work’ not art, scheduled for set hours, not when the time was right.

But if Blake had written by the hour, could he have produced his wonderful visions? If Wordsworth had worked to a schedule, when would he have seen those daffodils?

When I force myself to write, I produce tired, dull dross. My words are staid and awkward, my phrasing clumsy, my dialogue cliched, and I end up throwing my pen down in disgust. But if I allow myself to idle, somewhere in the back of my mind, my story grows and changes and forms, until it is ready – and only then, when it’s announced itself to me, do I write – and I produce something I can be a little bit proud of.

So – which is better – a work-like schedule of dull, repetitive prose forced unwilling out of you, or lovely lost moments of idleness building up to a perfect piece of writing?

I know which I would choose.

Guest Post: Brit Author Marc Nobbs talks about the Challenges of being an International Author

As you may know, the world is in the midst of a deep financial crisis. Banks are failing the world over, share prices are tumbling. And the UK currency, Sterling, is falling against the Dollar and the Euro.

It’s the manner that it’s plummeted against the Dollar that interests me because, as a Brit who is published by a US based publisher, I get my royalties paid in Dollars.

For a long, long time now, the British Pound has been at around $2 to the pound, which is great if you’re jetting off to Florida for your summer holidays, but not so good if you’re exporting your goods or services there.

For example, both Jaguar and Land Rover (although owned by Ford until very recently) set the price of their cars in Sterling, so when the Dollar is weak, the cars cost more in the US. On the bright side, when the Pound falls, the price of the cars in the US should fall too (So hopefully they’ll sell more).

So I’m one of the few Brits that is happy to see Sterling at around $1.70 instead of $2. That’s because the cost of my books, such as Charlotte’s Secret and Lost & Found are set in dollars and, as I said, my royalties are paid in Dollars.

So that cheque for $50 is now worth £5 more than it was at the start of the year. And if Sterling keeps falling, it’ll be worth even more. Think of all the extra chocolate I could buy.

Of course, I’m still at a disadvantage. That cheque my publisher sent me not only took longer to get to me than to my publisher’s US based authors, but it was drawn on a US bank. And unfortunately, my UK bank (well, technically they’re a Building Society but let’s not split hairs) is going to charge me to cash it. As it happens, the charge is about £5.

I remember once I sold three ‘Flash’ (500 words long) stories to a website at a rate of $5 each (or 1cent per word). They sent me a cheque for $15. The exchange rate at the time made it worth about £7.50. So after the £5 charge to cash it, I was left with £2 (or $4). That’s about 0.16 pence (or 0.32 cents) per word.

Does your brain hurt yet? Mine does. All I can say is, Thank God for PayPal.

I can’t even begin to count how much PayPal has saved me over the past couple of years. PayPal doesn’t charge me for changing my money from Dollars to Pounds. So that’s a saving of £5 (or 5 big bars of Dairy Milk) each time I get paid – which soon adds up I can tell you.

Such are the trials of being an international author. And I haven’t even mentioned the differences between the two languages. I tell you, don’t get me started on the need for the letter ‘u’. Or the uselessness of the letter ‘z’. I could go on for hours. Ask Cassie, she knows.

–

Marc Nobbs
REC Nominated Author of Contemporary Erotic Romance
Turning Romance on its head

Nominated for Best Author of Contemporary Erotic Romance
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Romance_erotica_connection/surveys?id=12835841

Nominated for Best Female Charater in a Contemporary Erotic Romance
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Romance_erotica_connection/surveys?id=12835851

Charlotte’s Secret, A Contemporary Erotic Romance
Available Now from Phaze Books
http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=Charlotte%27s+Secret/exact_match=exact

Lost & Found, A Contemporary Erotic Romance
Available Now from Phaze Books
http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=Lost+and+Found/exact_match=exact

http://www.marcnobbs.com
http://www.myspace.com/marcnobbs
http://marcnobbs.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/marcnobbs