There are too many books in the world!
I do enjoy reading books besides just m/m fiction. But I haven't been doing much of that lately, that's for sure. There's a new book called "Bones of Summer" by Anne Brooke from Dreamspinner that I want to read, and Josh Lanyon's new one, and I'm trying to catch up on the huge backlist of staples of the genre that I haven't read yet...I wish I could read while sleeping.
I hope to have a new Web story up by the end of the month. Come July, I am having surgery in the middle of the month and I'm hoping to have some good writing time on the sequel during my six weeks of leave from work, as well as another m/m book I've begun that isn't connected to "Zero."
Mmm. Hungry. Think I'll have a burger.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Pride in Cinci
Last Saturday I attended the Cincinnati Pride festival as part of the contingent from Dreamspinner Press, which also included fellow authors Ariel Tachna and Nicki Bennett. It was a beautiful day and everyone was in a great mood. I wore my big patchwork hippie dress. I've never been quiet so exposed in my life, I don't think.
We sold some books and gave out a lot of promo CDs, which had two free short stories on them along with chapter-length excerpts of all the novels. I think that's a fantastic idea!
We talked to a lot of people. Men, women, young, old. As usual, we ran into people who were shocked (shocked!) that straight women might want to write about gay men. I don't know why it's so strange to people, honestly. But I'll tell you, people were a lot more interested when they found out we were authors who'd written some of these books!
I really wish I were doing a table in Columbus for our Pride, which is this weekend. I mistakenly thought that if I were there on my own, I'd only have my book there, which would look kinda pathetic. But my lovely publisher would have sent me boxes of other people's books for the table, and a nice cloth with the name on it, and all that stuff. I could totally have done it. Sigh. Oh well, next year.
I've been reading some great m/m novels lately. I really need to get Josh Lanyon's new one, "Somebody Killed His Editor." I still haven't read all the Adrien English books...I've been sort of rationing them out so I won't be so bereft when they're done.
We sold some books and gave out a lot of promo CDs, which had two free short stories on them along with chapter-length excerpts of all the novels. I think that's a fantastic idea!
We talked to a lot of people. Men, women, young, old. As usual, we ran into people who were shocked (shocked!) that straight women might want to write about gay men. I don't know why it's so strange to people, honestly. But I'll tell you, people were a lot more interested when they found out we were authors who'd written some of these books!
I really wish I were doing a table in Columbus for our Pride, which is this weekend. I mistakenly thought that if I were there on my own, I'd only have my book there, which would look kinda pathetic. But my lovely publisher would have sent me boxes of other people's books for the table, and a nice cloth with the name on it, and all that stuff. I could totally have done it. Sigh. Oh well, next year.
I've been reading some great m/m novels lately. I really need to get Josh Lanyon's new one, "Somebody Killed His Editor." I still haven't read all the Adrien English books...I've been sort of rationing them out so I won't be so bereft when they're done.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Do you hear what I hear?
Last night I participated in a Pride event at my local GLBT community center. They've got a lot of events all month, including our citywide Pride festival in two weeks. Last night was the opening of an art show (which included three paintings by my cover artist, Paul Richmond) that included a theater performance and two readings, one by yours truly.
Choosing an excerpt to read is a little tricky. I don't want to read any of the naughtier bits, despite Paul's frequent exhortations that I do so. I always want to include as much dialogue as I can, because it's easy to read and has a more natural rhythm than descriptions. The other issue is that I write in so much of the characters' internal thoughts, and that's difficult to convey aloud. It's done with italics in print, but aloud you have to somehow distinguish it from spoken dialogue or just straight narration. So I wanted an excerpt that didn't include as much of the internal-monologue stuff. I ended up going with the second half of chapter 3, which is probably Jack and D's first real conversation, in the car on the way to Quartzsite, then their visit to D's bunker for ammo and money, then the wrap-up scene in the motel where Jack figures out that D was in the military.
The reading went over very well. I got a lot of very flattering praise from the audience members. Actually doing the reading was sheer hell, though. It was a beautiful day yesterday but in the upstairs meeting space where the reading was held, it was beastly hot. To add insult to injury, they had theatrical stagelights aimed at me, which upped the temperature by about twenty degrees. By the time I was finished, I was dripping.
The other thing about reading aloud is that there's nothing that exposes all the flaws and little missteps in one's writing than hearing it spoken. The thing about reading is that your eyes skip over things. You don't notice everything when you're reading because your brain fills in the gist of sentences and you don't take in and digest every single word and syllable. When you hear text spoken, on the other hand, you hear every single word. I found myself making small adjustments as I read. I do read my writing aloud to myself as I polish and edit, for exactly this reason, but nothing's ever perfect. I found myself cursing my own folly in giving Jack a three-syllable last name, as I ended up pronouncing it over and over again.
Regardless, it was a great night, and I hope more good things will come of it.
Choosing an excerpt to read is a little tricky. I don't want to read any of the naughtier bits, despite Paul's frequent exhortations that I do so. I always want to include as much dialogue as I can, because it's easy to read and has a more natural rhythm than descriptions. The other issue is that I write in so much of the characters' internal thoughts, and that's difficult to convey aloud. It's done with italics in print, but aloud you have to somehow distinguish it from spoken dialogue or just straight narration. So I wanted an excerpt that didn't include as much of the internal-monologue stuff. I ended up going with the second half of chapter 3, which is probably Jack and D's first real conversation, in the car on the way to Quartzsite, then their visit to D's bunker for ammo and money, then the wrap-up scene in the motel where Jack figures out that D was in the military.
The reading went over very well. I got a lot of very flattering praise from the audience members. Actually doing the reading was sheer hell, though. It was a beautiful day yesterday but in the upstairs meeting space where the reading was held, it was beastly hot. To add insult to injury, they had theatrical stagelights aimed at me, which upped the temperature by about twenty degrees. By the time I was finished, I was dripping.
The other thing about reading aloud is that there's nothing that exposes all the flaws and little missteps in one's writing than hearing it spoken. The thing about reading is that your eyes skip over things. You don't notice everything when you're reading because your brain fills in the gist of sentences and you don't take in and digest every single word and syllable. When you hear text spoken, on the other hand, you hear every single word. I found myself making small adjustments as I read. I do read my writing aloud to myself as I polish and edit, for exactly this reason, but nothing's ever perfect. I found myself cursing my own folly in giving Jack a three-syllable last name, as I ended up pronouncing it over and over again.
Regardless, it was a great night, and I hope more good things will come of it.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Pushing it like it's crack, yo
OMG. So back when the book came out I sent in a copy to the San Francisco Book Festival, a kind of book competition for independent publishers. I got word yesterday that it took runner-up in its category! Yay! The only thing is...I'm looking at the list of winners and there's a wildly differing number of Honorable Mentions in each category. Fiction has like twelve. Some categories don't have any. I strongly suspect that they named a winner and a runner-up, and then any other book that was entered got an Honorable Mention. Which means that in my category, there were only four entries.
But I don't care. I'll take it. I'll also be entering the New York Book Festival this month.
In the meantime I'm working on my Amazon.com addiction. Addiction to refreshing my sales rank, that is. I'm looking into some kind of a twelve-step program. But it looks like the book has reached some kind of self-propelling critical mass. At the start, it was at #200K, then at #300K, then it'd come up to #80K, and such. The highest I've seen it is #13K, which meant #6 in the Gay Fiction bestsellers. But the last week or so it never falls below #100K, and mostly bounces around between #15K and #60K, keeping it on the bestsellers most of the time. To me this means there's people buying it fairly regularly, every time the rank bumps up, and the more it stays on that bestseller list the more people will see it.
I'm also becoming really glad to be with Dreamspinner. Based on what I see and what I'm hearing from readers, DSP is getting a real reputation among m/m readers for publishing good quality books that are about more than the steamy mansex (not that there's anything wrong with that). I think the strong reviews and sales for recent releases like Sean Kennedy's "Tigers and Devils" and Isabelle Rowan's "A Note in the Margin" have really done a lot for the label's cache. I'd like to think I helped a little, too.
More reviews coming in, all of them very strong. I'm collecting them here. I'm also kind of amazed at the reader reviews...5.00 average over 6 reviews on Amazon, and 5.00 average out of a whopping 10 reviews on Goodreads.
So now...I have to think about more writing. I'm writing the sequel. I've started a focus group of beta readers who'll be reading as I write. I've got a new Web story half done. I have a half-formed idea for a non-Zero-related novel as well, we'll see if that goes anywhere.
I may need oxygen here pretty soon. Oh, and I might be going to MediaWest in a few weeks.
I need a nap.
But I don't care. I'll take it. I'll also be entering the New York Book Festival this month.
In the meantime I'm working on my Amazon.com addiction. Addiction to refreshing my sales rank, that is. I'm looking into some kind of a twelve-step program. But it looks like the book has reached some kind of self-propelling critical mass. At the start, it was at #200K, then at #300K, then it'd come up to #80K, and such. The highest I've seen it is #13K, which meant #6 in the Gay Fiction bestsellers. But the last week or so it never falls below #100K, and mostly bounces around between #15K and #60K, keeping it on the bestsellers most of the time. To me this means there's people buying it fairly regularly, every time the rank bumps up, and the more it stays on that bestseller list the more people will see it.
I'm also becoming really glad to be with Dreamspinner. Based on what I see and what I'm hearing from readers, DSP is getting a real reputation among m/m readers for publishing good quality books that are about more than the steamy mansex (not that there's anything wrong with that). I think the strong reviews and sales for recent releases like Sean Kennedy's "Tigers and Devils" and Isabelle Rowan's "A Note in the Margin" have really done a lot for the label's cache. I'd like to think I helped a little, too.
More reviews coming in, all of them very strong. I'm collecting them here. I'm also kind of amazed at the reader reviews...5.00 average over 6 reviews on Amazon, and 5.00 average out of a whopping 10 reviews on Goodreads.
So now...I have to think about more writing. I'm writing the sequel. I've started a focus group of beta readers who'll be reading as I write. I've got a new Web story half done. I have a half-formed idea for a non-Zero-related novel as well, we'll see if that goes anywhere.
I may need oxygen here pretty soon. Oh, and I might be going to MediaWest in a few weeks.
I need a nap.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Stranger than fiction
So this is what it's like to be a real live published author.
*looks around*
Yeah, it isn't much different. Except for the obsessive stalking of my Amazon sales rank.
It's strange to think that people all over the world could be (and likely are, at least a few of them are) holding my book in their hands and reading it for the first time, having reactions to it, liking it or hating it, staying up late to read it (a few have told me they did), rooting for Jack and D, maybe getting emotional. Some are tossing it aside without a second thought upon finishing, some are going online and talking about it, some are writing me emails, some are joining my mailing list.
It's quite something to have put something into the world that other people react to, you know? It's not my first time doing that, but this is the first time it's been...I don't know, official.
Just looking at the book itself, for me, is strange. It's...real. It's something I wrote, and it's a real live book with a bar code and a copyright page. It's weird to read the pages horizontally, with a new page to the side instead of below, as I've been reading this book on computer screens over the entire course of its creation.
It's a trip, man.
*looks around*
Yeah, it isn't much different. Except for the obsessive stalking of my Amazon sales rank.
It's strange to think that people all over the world could be (and likely are, at least a few of them are) holding my book in their hands and reading it for the first time, having reactions to it, liking it or hating it, staying up late to read it (a few have told me they did), rooting for Jack and D, maybe getting emotional. Some are tossing it aside without a second thought upon finishing, some are going online and talking about it, some are writing me emails, some are joining my mailing list.
It's quite something to have put something into the world that other people react to, you know? It's not my first time doing that, but this is the first time it's been...I don't know, official.
Just looking at the book itself, for me, is strange. It's...real. It's something I wrote, and it's a real live book with a bar code and a copyright page. It's weird to read the pages horizontally, with a new page to the side instead of below, as I've been reading this book on computer screens over the entire course of its creation.
It's a trip, man.
Friday, April 10, 2009
It was inevitable.
I don't know how much I'll be using it, but I now have a Facebook profile.
Jane Seville on Facebook
I mean it isn't as if I don't already have a blog, a website, and this mailing list. But you have to have a Facebook, or you just don't exist!
Oh, that's right. I don't actually exist. But I might as well! See, I have a Facebook!
*hugs the Facebook*
It's all part of the Queen of All Internet thing I have going here. Blitz-style attack! Hit em on all sides!
Jane Seville on Facebook
I mean it isn't as if I don't already have a blog, a website, and this mailing list. But you have to have a Facebook, or you just don't exist!
Oh, that's right. I don't actually exist. But I might as well! See, I have a Facebook!
*hugs the Facebook*
It's all part of the Queen of All Internet thing I have going here. Blitz-style attack! Hit em on all sides!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
