Category Archives: Quotes

How Marketing Can Smother the Creative Muse

Foxglove - Guenette photo

Not to be overly dramatic, but attention to a successful marketing strategy can quickly edge out every other thing in a writer’s life. For those without an iron will for the juggling of competing demands, to say nothing of boundless energy, I offer a few words of caution and few more of encouragement.

Dangerous waters sign - google imagesFirst the caution – we all like the bad news first, right? Hang in there with me, though. This bad news isn’t as bad as the sign to the left might suggest. Until a writer comes up with that successful formula for selling his or her books, the whirlpool of marketing sucks one down again and again. I have found, with my third promotion, a glimmer of hope that there is a way to ride the power at the edge of that whirlpool rather than being pulled down by the undertows and sneaker waves.

I’m talking about being able to market and write. After publishing four novels, I am familiar with the writing process and once I get going, I’m confident of how things roll along – writing, rewriting, editing, formatting, publishing. Up until recently, marketing has been an abyss of failure that I periodically threw money down because I had to do something. But as to having any recipe for sustaining and dealing with significant selling – I didn’t have a clue. Okay, maybe that is harsh. I had a mantra I repeated to myself – if you write it, they will come. Seemed a bit pie in the sky but it kept me going while I produced a three book series and a stand alone novel! I also made a commitment to giving my books time to succeed – I was in this for the long haul, writing books I believed in.

Turns out this little quote is true:

Content builds relationships. Relationships are built on trust. Trust drives revenue – Andrew Davis

Along came my success with a BookBub promotion in late March and two moderately successful promotions to keep the ball rolling since then – one in mid-May (Free Kindle Books and Tips) and another just completed (Freebooksy and E-Reader News Today).

The time consuming charting and the compulsive checking of my sales and KENP page reads is definitely passing – somewhat like the way the symptoms of a bad cold let go their grip. In time, I predict I will do what has to been done for marketing and then let the stats take care of themselves. They will, you know – even if I’m not watching.

Encouragement sign - Google imageNow for the encouragement! If you have a series of books to promote, setting the first book in the series free and promoting it to a large number of people works. It costs money to do this but, in my case, the money has been well spent. Think of the words of Henry Ford. “Stopping advertising to save money is like stopping your watch to save time.”

After my three promotions, Disappearing in Plain Sight has been downloaded onto 40,000 Kindles or reading devices with the Kindle app. Those kind of numbers make a difference for the halo effect of subsequent sales in the series; they matter for reviews – Disappearing in Plain Sight went from a modest 33 reviews on Amazon.com to 93; and those number help build an email list of involved readers who really want to know when the next book is coming out.

To immerse myself in a successful marketing campaign and sustain it long enough to get used to the process, is an effort akin to producing the first draft of a novel. And believe me, each endeavour has its own rewards. I never wrote the Crater Lake books because I thought it would make me rich. At the same time, I never wanted to go in the financial hole and have to subsidize my efforts from money hard earned elsewhere.

Though this emphasis on marketing may have wafted the smothering blanket over my creative muse for a period, she is pushing through and as I find the balance, I feel the voices of the Crater Lake characters clamouring for attention. They definitely have way more story to tell and expect me to get on with that telling.

Pink Daises - Guenette photo

Down in the Gutter with Marketing

Osar Wilde quote on San Fransciso street

For the last six months, I’ve been part of a small group of authors who gather together via email to discuss book marketing strategies, toss ideas around and in general, support one another’s efforts where and when we can. The organization is loose, the group diverse in terms of location, background, gender, writing genre and point of view. We don’t seek consensus. Instead, we bring the fruits of our experiences to the table and individual members make up their own minds on what to take or leave.

I recently floated a question to the group: What are the ethics and/or etiquette around claiming best seller status. Does getting to #2 in the Amazon Top 100 Free books make me an Amazon Bestseller? How about getting to #1 in a genre category in Free and then hanging in the Top 10 for about 48 hours of that same category after my book went back on the paid list. Is it bad etiquette to drop the word Amazon and just say Bestselling author? Does one have to make it on to a paid list to legitimately claim a bestseller status? And if so, at what point and for how long – Top 10, Top 100, for one hour or one day? What about author ranking? I was in the Top 100 for a day after a promotion. Does that qualify?

A complicated question and the group responses, as expected, ranged far and wide. A few members came down on the side of only paid lists being equated with best selling status. A best seller should, at a minimum, be based on selling. Good point. I went back and took a look at my screen captures for how Disappearing in Plain Sight had done during it’s BookBub extravaganza of free downloads. On one, a large headline read – Best Sellers in Literary Fiction – Sagas. Under that is my book at #1. It doesn’t say Best Non-Sellers due to being Free. Amazon isn’t distinguishing in the big print between paid or free – that comes beneath in a secondary header. Hmmm …. interesting.

Literary Fiction - Sagas - DPS

A member who had previous experience working in the traditional publishing field felt the entire concept of best selling, best seller, best selling author was bankrupt – overused and abused to the point of meaninglessness. Unless, of course, one attempted to claim a place on the New York Times Best Seller List. That you better be able to back up!

One blunt member of our group, wrote – The idea of a great author sitting in the gutter saying, “I didn’t sell many books but I kept my ethics as an author,” has about as much appeal to me as stepping in a dog turd. The premise of the subject is wrong! We’re flogging books and we’re flogging them cheap. We’re not sharing a cup of the tea with the local vicar. Get rid of the word ‘etiquette’ and replace it with ‘marketing’ and you would’ve never needed to ask the question.

When I got up from rolling around on the floor laughing, I read a few more responses. “In an age of distortion and mirage, the big lie seems to carry the day. Even in the dog-eat-dog world of fiction writers.” Another member agreed that best selling is a devalued currency that I could feel free to spend as I liked.

It would seem that I may go ahead and claim a spot on a meaningless list, or I may roll around in the gutter clinging tightly to my moral superiority or I may participate in the big lie and be a dog gobbling up my fellow authors.

On the other hand, I could simply play by the rules Amazon sets forth. My book sat at #1 of a Best Selling List and I don’t see why I wouldn’t mention that when it seems that to do so would be a wise marketing move.

What do you think. I’d love to widen this discussion. At best, we are in for some chuckles as we climb from the gutter to the meaningless and, dare I say, best selling heights.

Clematis 2016 - Guenette photo

Unshod–A book of Short Stories

Unshod twitter

“Short stories consume you faster. They’re connected to brevity. With the short story, you are up against mortality. I know how tough they are as a form, but they’re also a total joy.” – Ali Smith

A couple of months ago, I was invited to contribute a story to an anthology being put together by eight, talented women authors – Jan Morrill, Pamela Foster, Staci Troilo, Joan Hall, P.C. Zick, Michele Jones and Lorna Faith. I would be number nine. The theme was western stories. That stopped me in my tracks. What came to mind was the old west, gunfights and cowboys. I certainly had nothing along that line. Upon further inquiry, I discovered the organizers were looking for an out west theme – era open. West coast got me in the door and my short story Helplessness made the cut.

Here’s what the reader can look forward to in this book of short stories …

An anthology of traditional and contemporary western short stories where the characters are lain bare. Nine female authors pen western tales that you’ll want to retell around a campfire. These aren’t your granddaddy’s westerns. They’re the next generation’s, and they’re darn good.

  • Feel the pain of a young Japanese girl who comes home from an internment camp after World War II and learns it’s easier to go with the flow than to fight the current.
  • Struggle with an expectant mother on the cold winter prairie while she waits for her husband to come home from a hunting trip.
  • Journey with a young woman to the Four Corners as she tries to connect with her Navajo ancestors.
  • Try not to believe in the superstition of the blue moon—if one dies, three more will follow.
  • Know that one way or another, life will change inalterably that day.
  • Walk in the footsteps of an old cowpoke who thought he made the deal of a lifetime.
  • Suffer the torments of a young lady who wants desperately to marry but seems destined never to wed.
  • Walk the wild western paths and run from unimaginable dangers.
  • Choose between an unhappy life of luxury or a happy life of simplicity.

Unshod is free for your reading enjoyment through the following e-book vendors:

Amazon.com       Barnes & Noble      iTunes      Kobo      Inktera      Scribd  

I hope you’ll download this free book, enjoy the read and maybe even feel inclined to write a short review.

85. Helpless

(An original piece of art work drawn by Xiaonan Gao for my short story Helplessness when it appeared on StoryShack)

Tuesday Book Blog–The Patriot Joe Morton

Patriot Joe Morton cover

The Patriot Joe Morton by Michael DeVault

Genre: literary fiction – psychological; literary fiction – war

Amazon.com star rating – 8 reviews with an average rating of 4.6 – I have no idea why this book doesn’t have more reviews!

Book Description

When the good people of Cranston, Texas learn a hometown boy has been killed in Iraq, they set about mounting a proper memorial for their fallen hero. Yet nobody thinks to ask the boy’s reclusive father, Joe Morton, if such a service is wanted … or welcome. Crippled by grief and not one to make waves, Joe goes along with the plans of the townsfolk until he can bear no more. Finally, on the Fourth of July, he tells them just how he feels. But his sole act of independence brings unexpected and devastating consequences. The residents, and least of all Joe Morton, are wholly unprepared for what happens next: change and the outside world come to Cranston. First runner-up for the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society’s Gold Medal.

About the author

Author Michael DeVaultMichael DeVault was born in Mississippi and grew up in Louisiana and Arkansas, which gave him a strong grounding in the rich musical and literary traditions of the South. He worked as a journalist for more than twelve years, covering politics and the arts for local and regional publications while he also worked on his novels. A two-time finalist for the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society Gold Medal (Novel-in-Progress, 2002, Anything But Ordinary; Novella, 2008, The Patriot Joe Morton), Michael’s fiction draws on his youth to weave tapestries of intensely believable characters, finely honed plots, and imagery and symbolism inspired by the great southern writers, all wrapped into a package by clean, sharp prose.

 

five stars - google image

My Five Star Review

If you let it, this book will change the way you look at the world …

A good story allows the reader a peek inside a unique world. If we’re lucky, we come away from the reading understanding life in a deeper way. The Patriot Joe Morton is such a book. The novel illustrates the cost of making assumptions. Whether it is how to deal with grief, subtle and not so subtle forms of racism, or the true nature of patriotism – the reader is invited to examine his or her own assumptions right along with the inhabitants of Cranston, Texas.

The other major theme is change. Change is inevitable and even if nothing much has changed in what seems like forever, most people know in their gut it could happen. Even so, this reality is denied and most of us do everything we can to hold our little worlds in a type of stasis. Thus it is for the inhabitants of Cranston. Life goes along as it has always gone along – stopping at the Truck Stop Café for coffee, working the farm, strolling the main street of small town USA and seeing the same faces and places you’ve seen all your life. Then, like the theory of punctuated equilibrium, the winds of change start to blow and nothing is ever the same again.

There is an intimacy to Michael DeVault’s writing. The death of Joe Morton’s son is the catalyst for change. Joes’ grief is palpable. When he asks Cranston’s funeral director if he’ll be able to see his son’s body, Frederick Gruber, who has been the sole funeral provider in the small town for years – he’s seen Korea and worked through Vietnam, he’s buried grandmothers and infants but never “. . . had he so profoundly understood grief until that moment.”

Doris has worked at the Truck Stop Café since she left high school. She’s never been anywhere but Cranston. The days and years go by in such a cycle of repetitive motion – this is well emphasized by the way in which she continually walks the floor of the café, toting yet another full pot of coffee and refilling the cups of the same handful of people, over and over – she has convinced herself that she wants no more from life. Events serve to rattle her out of that illusion. “She paced the parking lot behind the Café, the merciless east Texas sun pressing down as she puffed away at a cigarette. She wanted to scream, to curse them all. First Casey’s funeral, now the fireworks. The whole year had left Doris wondering what these people had done with their brains.”

The anguish life-long Cranston resident, Harlan, feels, as change rips apart his small and ordered world, works its way under our collective skin. Harlan often goes off by himself to work out his thoughts and feelings. He decides to fix a fence at the back of his acreage. His neighbour four-wheels up for a chat and asks how much the wood cost.

Ted set out a long whistle. “That’s a lot of money to fix a fence.”

“Things cost what they cost.”

“You could have just left it open, you know?”

Harlan stopped driving the latest nail and looked up at Ted, perplexed. “And what? Leave a broken fence?”

“Why we need a fence? I aint got cows. Neither have you, last I checked.”

Harlan shrugged. “Fence is busted, you gotta fix it. It’s just what you do . . .”

In Harlan’s world that’s how simple it all is – a fence is busted, you gotta fix it, no place is better to be than Cranston, Texas so there’s no point leaving, Cranston is just right as it is and no one need bring the world to Cranston in the form of ‘foreigners’ or hi-wi or wi-hi or whatever the hell you want to call that internet thing. There’s one way to be a US patriot and there’s one way to live your life and Harlan’s going to tell you just exactly what that way is.

But Harlan is far from this one-dimensional and the beauty of DeVault’s writing is that we see this in all his characters. Harlan cares about people, he has a big heart, he’s generous to a fault with his time and money and when he can no longer run from change he accepts the defeat with grace.

The Patriot Joe Morton is a book with a message; but the reader always has a choice – take it or leave it – DeVault doesn’t push it down anyone’s throat. But understand this – read this book and you might be changed by the peek you’ve had at the the lives of everyday people in small-town America.

small town Texas 2 - google images

Creating a Wilderness Garden

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“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

For many years we created our woodland garden on a shoestring. That made extra special the plants that came to us through division, liberation or gift. To this day, I have a soft spot for the perennials that didn’t cost a cent.

There is the blanket of heather that springs from a number of plants gifted to Bruce years ago from a family who attended the Ecumenical Church in Port Alice. They had dug them out of their yard and offered them to anyone interested. We call it Church Heather and it is an incredibly hardy plant that spreads on a whim and sometimes blooms twice a year in wonderful shades of dark purple bleeding off to white.

Baby Bear in the Heather - Bruce Witzel photo

The Juene Landing periwinkle started with a small clump brought home during one of Bruce’s renovation jobs for Western Forest Products. It now thrives and spreads a gorgeous ground cover of glossy-green leaves and stunning little star-shaped blue flowers. Word of warning – this freebie could get to be too much of a good thing if a gardener isn’t careful.

Periwinkle - Bruce Witzel photo

We were fortunate to be gifted with a Monkey Tree seedling from Ronning’s Garden. This garden is a very special and isolated spot on the road to Cape Scott Provincial Park. Many thanks to Ron and Julia Moe for their rejuvenating care of this beautiful location.

Monkey Tree - Bruce Witzel photo

 

Tiger Lily - Guenette photoOur friends, Mike and Cheryl Reaume offered us one of many mature Japonicas they were digging out of their yard. We brought it north from Campbell River. The Japonica thrives through its varied stages of greens, reds (it is sometimes known as the fire bush and if you see one, you’ll understand why) and small white flowers. As an added bonus, the dirt around this plant contained a few Tiger Lily bulbs. We now have a multitude of bright orange offerings marching out from under the Japonica and multiplying each year.

Red Rhodos @ the Lake

The Kaleva Gardens rhododendron – a deep red variety – was liberated from the edges of a worksite during a renovation. It sits out near our apple tree on the more wind-exposed side of our place. But hearty must be its middle name because it is often the first of the rhodos to bloom and the last one to have a flower.

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The Desiree rhododendron, with its price spot in the back garden, now towers over my head. This was a gift from a special student when I left my job at Sunset School in Port McNeill. Every year it produces huge white blooms in joyful abundance. This year it has to be twelve feet across and equally as high.

Cotton Candy Rhodo - Guenette photo

The Hurling rhododendron came to us all the way from Winter Harbour. This little plant had a hard go of it last year when a black bear trod right on it. But enduring must be on this plants label. We simply tucked its bent and damaged stem back under the earth and this spring it looks healthy and ready to go. It’s cotton-candy, baby pink colour was the prize of this year’s collection.

Oh-oh – almost forgot the Byce rhododendron. It’s a gorgeous bright red offering – Vulcan variety!

Apple Blossoms - Guenette photo

You might notice a pattern with rhodos – they really love it here. We have a Cunningham’s Blush Pink variety that complements our apple tree to perfection – both coming into full bloom at the same time.

Lacy Hydrangea - Guenette photo (2)

Then there are the hydrangeas we’ve divided over the years from one special plant. I’m at a loss to remember where the first one came from. I’m sure it was from one of Bruce’s job sites.

Hummingbird in the Montbrecia

The Flostrand’s bulbs – Montbricea that seemed to take forever to bloom and then did so in what can only be described as majestic, humming-bird loving splendour. We also received a bunch of purple flag bulbs that have acclimatized in a wonderful way to our setting. Thanks to Maggie and Lyle for their generosity.

Irises - Guenette photo

Most recently, the Gurski Lilac and a cute little wishing well filled with ivy made their way to us. Too soon to even get photos of these gems. That will have to wait for another post.

Ivy stump - Bruce Witzel photo

And speaking of ivy, a chunk taken from Bruce’s dad’s place in Courtenay years ago – though his warnings were dire when it came to keeping it away from building foundations – has now covered a huge stump and needs continual trimming.

Chives in bloom - Guenette photo

Andrea’s chives, lemon balm and oregano – chunks of plants thick with dirt from her own garden and wrapped in garbage bags were passed on to me. We met at North Island College years ago – taking courses and enjoying each other’s company.

Bamboo on the cliff - Bruce Witzel photo

We liberated from Port Alice a large clump of bamboo though we were warned not to because it can become invasive – it is growing out on the cliff and I think the chances are slim that it will make its way grove-like to our door, but you never know. We ignore these warnings at our own risk.

Lamb's ear - Guenette photo

On a visit to Bruce’s sister Heather’s garden, we noticed a lovely plant – all silvery downy leaves and delicate pink flowers. She gave us a chunk with another of those dire warnings. I call it Lamb’s Ear and, as she warned, it is now everywhere!

The beauty of foxglove - Francis Guenette photo

There are the other weed-like offerings that we embraced as the bounty of the land only to discover that these prolific gems, starting out as innocent mergers, are well on their way to hostile take overs. Though I must say, they are still beautiful. Wild daises threaten to over run all our beds. Foxglove, so beautiful in bloom, has gone mad and must be constantly dug up and removed to the outer edges of our space.

This blog post is dedicated to the generous gardeners who offers bits of this or that from their own gardens for others to grow. It is also written in honour of gardeners who have an eye for rescuing or relocating or liberating those wonderfully free plants that end up creating beauty in new settings.

A liberation gardener - Guenette photo

The Negative Book Review and Appropriate Author Reactions

Rodan at Stanford - Bruce Witzel photo

I read something recently that made me chuckle. It was a how-to article about ways to preview an Amazon e-book before purchasing. The Look Inside feature was outlined as well as the option to download a preview before buying. The writer went on to explain that if a book was offered free, she simply downloaded it because what was there to lose. It’s free. She took umbrage at people who think they have a right to complain about not liking a free book. It’s free, people. Come on.

Free or otherwise, readers reserve the right to always have and sometimes, to even express that opinion in the form of a review.

From my close observation of writers … they fall into two groups. 1) Those who bleed copiously and visibly at any bad review and 2) Those who bleed copiously and secretly at any bad review. (Isaac Asimov)

What is the best way for an author to react to a negative book review?

With quiet respect. Obviously. Without a doubt, it is easier to be respectful and over the moon when it’s a stellar, five-star beauty of a review full of statements like – best book I’ve ever read. When the review is the one or two-star variety, naturally the author feels the sting. But, all the same, respect is due either way. Someone took time out of their busy life to download a book (free or otherwise), read and comment. That deserves respect.

Rodan at Stanford - Bruce Witzel photo (2)

I’ve dropped in on more than a few Facebook writer’s groups where the topic of bad reviews has come up. Some authors have a hard time dealing with their emotions around reviews that are far from positive. They want to argue the reviewer’s points and explain themselves. The bad reviews have the power to devastate them. Fellow authors often rush in with comments about how the review was clearly written by a troll. If someone has the nerve to point out that writer’s need thick skins when they put their work out into the world, that there is much to be learned from constructive criticism, the subsequent discussion lights up with anger over anyone having the nerve to take the discussion stream in such a direction.

All emotion aside, a genuine review – positive or negative – is one person’s reaction at one moment in time. Nothing more and nothing less. A rave review doesn’t make one a Pulitzer Prize winner any more than a one-star, scathing commentary makes one a hack.

Rodan at Stanford 2 - Bruce Witzel photo

Readers have pet peeves. I know I do and I’ve certainly seen from reviews of my own books, that others do. This is normal. Read the review, take the feedback that is useful and move on. But what of the trolls? I can hear the many Facebook writer’s groups screaming this question. A careful perusal of a book’s reviews will allow a reader (except in the most unusual of circumstances) to separate any obviously malicious reviews from the genuine ones. Readers aren’t dummies.

When it comes to reviews, I wonder if readers who are looking to access an honest opinion of a book are more often on the receiving end of trolls than authors are – in the form of faked five-star reviews authors obtain through less than legitimate means.

In my humble opinion, self-published authors need to learn to roll with the punches. As much as social media has provided opportunities to get our books noticed, it can also have a dark side. I’m not trying to deny that trolls are out there but I think the actuality of being targeted with a poor review written by a troll is far less likely than various groups would have us believe. We must take the social media good with the bad. And that goes for all our reviews!

Down through the ages, negative reviews have always been part and parcel of the artistic endeavour. We are simply coming of age, folks.

New Mexico - Guenette photo

DIY Book Formatting – A Cautionary Tale

Highway 40 bridge washout from 2013 Calgary floods - Bruce Witzel photo

This post has been sometime in the construction because I needed to see the end of the journey before I could share.

When I began formatting the softcover edition of Maelstrom, I had previous experience handling the task for The Light Never Lies (LNL) and Chasing Down the Night (CDN). It was a huge learning curve with LNL but I persevered and when it came time to do CDN, things went off with nary a hitch. I did not anticipate any problems with Maelstrom.

All I can say, in retrospect, is do not go cocky into that good night.

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For Maelstrom, I made one change. Instead of the floral wingding that acts as a separation marker between chapter sections in LNL and CDN, I wanted something different. The idea of a gate suited Maelstrom. This single change was to haunt me.

Using the same specifications employed or the other books (size, spacing and font), I formatted Maelstrom, loaded the finished PDF file up to CreateSpace and waited for approval. The electronic files looked great, so I ordered a proof.

When it arrived, I was surprised and disappointed to note that on certain pages, the type was washed out. I emailed CreateSpace, included photos and explained that I had only made the one change – those gates. Could this be the problem? Without answering the question of why, they promised another proof free of charge.

Bang head - Google image

You know that old adage – you can’t keep banging your head against the same wall and expect a different outcome? What happened next was something like that. Four free proof copies later and still no adequate response to my steadily lengthening emails about getting to the bottom of the problem of the washed out print.

 

It was clear that further email exchanges could not solve this problem. I got on the phone. A polite fellow informed me that CreateSpace cannot guarantee the font I had been using – Baskerville Old Face – at the size I was using – 10.5 pt. I was incredulous because I have used this font and this size on two other books and ordered boxes of said books without ever noticing any washed out print. But ours is not to question why. He suggested a switch to Georgia 10.5 pt. This formatting change added eighty pages to the finished book!

Concurrent with all the above printing issues, I had two trips to the city planned and holidays were fast approaching. Add in the keen desire to have the softcover out in time for Christmas sales and I’m sure you can see disaster lurking right over the horizon.

Northern Vancouver Island Storm Dec. 9, 2014 - bruce witzel

The longer book required that the cover be tweaked for a thicker spine. Amid the hustle and bustle and outright agony of the process, an earlier cover file was accidently chosen and duly tweaked. With so much attention being paid to the interior file, the cover got no proofing at all. We simply assumed it was fine because the cover was the one thing about all the proofs that had met with our complete approval. The new interior file was uploaded to CreateSpace and a proof copy was ordered.

The latest proof arrived right before Christmas and a quick glance told me Georgia font was the cat’s meow – clear, dark and easy to read. Go ahead and order fifty copies we decided. Did we proof the cover? No – why would we? The cover had never been the problem. Did we carefully go over each page of the interior? No – why would we? The only problem had been the washed out print and the new font had solved that nicely. Or at least, so it seemed upon first glance.

I’m sure you can guess what comes next. When I had time to really examine the book, my first discovery was two typos on the back cover in the book description. I thought my heart might stop beating. Seriously – I simply could not believe my eyes or get my breath. Next, a reader mentioned some odd gaps in the print. A careful perusal revealed no less than a dozen incidents where the print skipped down a line for no reason. Another reader wondered if something might be wrong with his eyes because, lo and behold, the print is slightly lighter on the pages with the gate wingdings. You are now invited to picture me bursting into tears.

Emma newborn - 2008

It was back to the drawing board, yet again. I wish I could say I went with a smile but I cannot. Georgia is a darker font and even though the pages with the gates are somewhat lighter compared to the ones without, the overall quality is acceptable. I decided to keep the gates. I had become quite attached.

The cover was corrected, the interior file totally proofed and both resubmitted for approval through CreateSpace. The online proof was carefully checked and a softcover ordered. It has arrived, to much fanfare. The cover is perfect and the print, even on pages with the gate wingding, is clear. Finally, I hold this book in my hands and let out a sigh of satisfaction.

Holding Maelstrom - Bruce Witzel photo              Maelstrom interior - Bruce Witzel photo

The lesson I have learned is this – format in haste, repent in leisure. Why the rush? No longer will I impose arbitrary deadlines on myself. If a book isn’t ready for Christmas sales one year, it will definitely be ready the next. And no events planned until the books are in hand. Making life less stressful is bound to result.

Footbridge - Bruce Witzel photo

Have you any formatting nightmares to share? Please wade in and we can all wail together. Misery does so love company.

A Guiding Metaphor for the Writing Process

Open crocus - Guenette photo

The one who, “… every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows that plan, carries a thread that will guide him [or her] through a labyrinth of the most busy life.” Victor Hugo

I have a million excuses for the fact that I am not making headway with my current work in progress – none of which I feel the need to waste your time with. What I’ve been thinking about on this fine, Daylight Savings Time morning, is how a guiding metaphor can hold one back or, in the spirit of this day, help one spring forward.

Consider the following piece from my writing notes of yesterday:

Do I have too much material or not enough? Definitely, more than enough! A trimming may be in order. Though I’ve been through these anxieties before, I’m almost overwhelmed by the number of threads that need to be woven together to make this book happen. It feels as though I’m in front of an empty loom with piles of coloured yarn all around my feet. I have to pick up the right thread at the right time and set the pattern. There’s all this fear that I will start out wrong and have to backtrack. It’s inevitable. And anyone who has ever done needlework of any kind knows – pulling something out is hard work.

Loom cartoon - google image

Rereading that section today, I find myself thinking that the loom metaphor is not particularly helpful. It seems, in fact, to be paralyzing.

A new visualization is a must. I’m trying this one on for size.

My writing process is like a free-form, patchwork quilt. I create a square and then another and another. At some point, I begin to lay them out to see how they might fit together and gradually, over time, a pattern emerges. As the design begins to come together, I’ll shuffle and rearrange my quilt squares over and over. Loose threads will be drawn through the pattern. Joining squares may be needed in various spots and the whole work might benefit from some type of border. I’ll have to decide on a special colour of thread to join it all together. The true design will only emerge as I go.

Quilt - google image

No guarantee this metaphor is going to push me over that painful divide from planning the book to actually writing the book but at least I am no longer pinned beneath an empty loom. And this quilt does seem to snap nicely in the spring breeze.

What about you? Does having a guiding metaphor for your writing process help you move forward?

A Moral Compass, Falling in Love and No Desire for a Different Ending

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I have made an art form of the interview – Orson Welles

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I love being invited to answer interview questions related to my writing. Recently, three unique questions came my way via a fellow writer.

What would you say to Izzy if you came across her in a coffee shop? Maybe that fancy cafe near the boardwalk featured in Chasing Down the Night with that great view of the harbour and all the boats.

Hands down, I would try to get her talking about her first husband, Caleb. He was the man who created the paradise at Crater Lake that Izzy inhabits. He is dead before the opening lines of Disappearing in Plain Sight and yet he has often been named as people’s favourite character. One reader went as far as to say that Caleb is the moral compass of the novel. Glimpses into Caleb’s personality and charisma saturate the entire Crater Lake Series. As the books add up and I move further from his death and into the lives of the people left behind, I will have to be more creative in my task of keeping him in the present narrative. Come on, Izzy. Help me out here.

Harbour shot - Guenette photo

Did you fall in love with any of your characters when you were writing the book?

Hmmm … since a little bit of me is in every single character, I was narcissistically in love with all of them. Differing personality traits appealed to me. I admired Lisa-Marie’s feistiness. Who wouldn’t fall for Justin’s good looks and code of honour? I fell madly in love with Beulah’s sharp wit and wry comments. My heart went out to Bethany for the cards life had dealt her. Liam’s strength and fragility wrenched my emotions every time I encountered him. And Izzy’s struggles with grief and professionalism buffeted me with the echoes of many stories I had heard over the years. As you can probably tell, these characters mattered to me. If, as an author, I am not emotionally committed to my characters, how can I expect the readers to care?

Grain - Bruce Witzel photo

Do you ever wish you’d ended the book differently?

Absolutely not – the ending of Disappearing in Plain Sight gives me great satisfaction. The novel never started out to be the first book in a series. It was simply a story I had to tell. When I try to field questions about where the characters or ideas came from, I’m at a loss to provide answers. What I do now is this – more than any other part of the book, the ending had the characters clamouring in my head to have the next chapters of their lives told. After three novels, those original characters are still at it with new additions making appearances and begging for attention.

The pensive writer - Bruce Witzel photo