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I wonder what you think.

Many of the writers I know are online less. Why? I have this crazy hypothesis that, like me, they are writing their little hearts out, sending out stories and working on novels. This takes up a fair amount of energy. For me, it’s the same energy that I use to put together some of these entries.

Also, I’m interested (read–hot to do) the things I’m writing now, and so I’d rather be putting those together than writing about life. I enjoy writing about searching for the work/life balance. Sharing my research is an easy way to solidify my research and helps me with the writing. AND the writing interviews are fun, but they are not labor intensive on this end.

Yes, I am lazy blogger. But in my author life, baybee, I’m on fire! And I’ve got to be. I’ve got about 4800 more hours to write before I become the Beatles. ;P

I wonder if my writing friends are having the same kind of focus shift. Well, it’s food for thought. Now, I have to do some editing. Instead of writing here.

On fire!

Isis is the mover and shaker of the Egyptian pantheon. She is one of the main antagonists and protagonists.

Early on, she poisons Ra, and while Ra is sick, she lets Ra know that she can cure him, but only if Ra gives her his true name. This means that Isis holds power over Ra, which is a handy thing.

Isis is an important character in the cycle of stories about her husband Osiris and his rivalry with their brother Set. Isis is responsible for finding all the pieces of Osiris and putting him back together long enough for her to engage his affections and conceive Horus. Isis and Horus hide from Set until Horus is old enough to challenge Set for the leadership of Egypt. We’ll come back to that in another entry.

Isis governs the province of magic, and she has longevity, being worshiped into Greco-Roman times. She is a mistress of manipulation, representing the mother and the spouse, literally the great woman behind every man.

Former Nebula nominee, literary leaning, and all around nice guy Jake Kerr talks about his writing process.

Tamago: Do you have a regular drafting process, or does your drafting process vary from book to book. Can you describe it to us generally, or at least for one project?

Jake: It varies. I’ve started from a structural idea (“Requiem in the Key of Prose”) and then moved onto actually creating a story around it, and I’ve started with a single image (A boy creating graffiti that could only be seen in whole from one perspective in “Perspective”) and then wrote the story around how that could mean something to someone, and I’ve plotted a story out from beginning to end (“The Old Equations”).

Generally speaking, I do start with an idea and then I work out all the details in my head. I don’t necessarily write the story in my head, but I ponder the actual story as a narrative–the central conflict, how the characters interact, and the overall theme. When I finally sit down to write, I have a very good idea where I’m going.

Tamago: Which part of writing–drafting, revising, critique from others–do you enjoy the most? Why? The least? Why?

Jake: This is a tough question, because I enjoy the entire journey but for different reasons for each. I like the experience of first writing something because, without fail, I’ll think of something new that will delight me in some way, whether it is a new twist that adds to the story or even a symbol that pops up at the end that ties the whole narrative in a bow. I also like the process of receiving critiques, because–also without fail–I’ll be informed of something stupid I did that is due entirely to my own blind spots. This can be anything from the overuse of a word to something that I think is clear being actually quite confusing. And, finally, I absolutely love to revise. I spend a great deal of time on practically every sentence, and shining and polishing the words for maximum effect is a wonderful experience.

Tamago: In general, how many drafts does it take before you are satisfied with a story or novel?

Jake: Probably around four or five minimum, but it can go significantly higher. I should note that if I receive five critiques I’ll go through the document five times, taking notes and making changes each time as I go through the critique. However, I consider the sum total one draft–the critique draft. I generally do a first draft, a structural second draft where I look for ways to put the story together more effectively, then a prose polishing draft. Then it is off to critique partners, and then I do the critique draft. After that it’s generally one or two more drafts, and I’m done.

Tamago: How do you know when something you’re writing isn’t working?

Jake: Sometimes after the very first draft. I’ll immediately recognize some obvious flaw that didn’t hit me until i wrote the piece. This is not uncommon. Usually, however, it’s after I get a piece of feedback that points out a major flaw that I missed. Sometimes the feedback is very frustrating in that I had a very specific intent in writing the story a certain way, and the effect doesn’t work. I recently wrote a story where the two characters share a consciousness, but the shared pov technique I used went right over the head of the editors. Another time I had a final draft of a novella, and some female readers told me that the very positive theme of the story was completely overwhelmed by the fact that one of the main characters was a young woman who was biologically engineered to be a sex slave. The misogyny in the piece, which was created by design and meant to deliver a positive message in the end, just came across as misogyny. So I trunked the piece, and it was the right thing to do. Sometimes a writer can’t ignore that a piece does not exist in a vacuum.

Continue reading “The Writing Process and Jake Kerr”

Thanks to Steve Buchheit for pointing me to Dr. Doyle’s Identity Crisis article. BTW, you should read Dr. Doyle if you’re not. It’s great writing stuff.

Steve says he now knows he’s a novelist. There are some people in my general acquaintance who fit this bill naturally. (I’m looking at you, Chris East!)

I know that there are people who can do both. I’m one of them, but I have a very hard time staying within the constraints of one episode. When I wrote, oh, lessee, “O-Taga-San” I could tell you how the mother and father met, why the grandfather ran away. Who cares? It’s not essential in the narrative, but I know it. Anyway, I really worked hard at staying on one track in that story.

When I wrote the werewolf novella, I have a whole huge back history for three of the main characters, where they come from and what they want. Who cares in the context of the novella? I didn’t work so hard, and things leaked in.

Well, it turns out that people read these things, and they say, hunh. What about this? Or this? I think we need more information. And suddenly I’m into a novel.

As I look over Dr. Doyle’s points, I see a lot that’s familiar. Subplots, digressions, lots of characters, consequences, expanse. Let’s just call this thing a spade. I’m a novelist.

Which I like. I admire all the short story writers of the world. But yeah. I’m cut from a different cloth.

And next writing session, I’m going to go back to plotting my 5 book, 4 generation, 90 year family saga. Book one. And I mean it. I really don’t care what happened to Carlo’s father. Book one! Only about the Klarions. Not the Borgias!

Oh, damn. I do care. 😀

Well, it hadn’t happened since 2007, so I suppose it was about time.

Yesterday, I stumbled into the wrong hummus. I’ve been working on my clean eating, and I had a glorious food week lined up. Fish. Strawberries. Hummus. More veggies than you can shake a stick at. Red wine. Yeah, it was gonna be good.

Yesterday, I ate the hummus and some celery. The hummus comes from a local restaurant, Oasis, and it was kind of spicy, but I eat hummus. I didn’t give it a second thought.

Almost immediately I had the kind of reflux attack that makes you think you’re having a heart attack. Jabbing chest pains, shortness of breath, tingling around your mouth and nose. I told myself I could manage, but it became clear that I could not manage. So I thought urgent care. They could give me what the docs call a gi cocktail (phenobarbitol, belladona, maalox, and a secret ingredient). Then I realized no urgent care would see me with any chest pains. They had to make sure I wasn’t having a, you know, heart attack. And while I was pretty sure I wasn’t, I didn’t want to bet the bank on it.

I picked up Bryon and off we went on our little 4 hour adventure to St. Luke’s emergency room. And yes, my heart is fine. Blood work, EKG, chest x-ray, all fine. But man, that was awful some awful reflux. The burn still lingers.

I’m giving the rest of that hummus away. Also, no more Blue Zone wine. They think that was in part responsible. I’m inclined to agree. I am going to blow the diet a bit until I’m healed up. While I’m trying to eat nutritiously, my esophagus is burned, and I have to eat what goes down. You know, bland stuff. Bread is really good. Soaks that acid right up. Oatmeal. Pudding. Ice cream. Veggies, happily, are pretty inert.

Not the ideal way to blow an evening and a lot of money, but you know, worth it from certain angles. Not many people get to say they’ve drunk belladonna.

I was expecting people when I arrived at the raptor center on Wednesday. But there was no one there. I let myself in, and discovered a few hawks and a turkey buzzard hanging out in cages in the infirmary, delicious dead mice waiting for a mid morning snack nearby. I wandered over to the door where a chart on the different types of raptors was kept.

A cartoon caught my eye. It was the silhouette of a turkey buzzard, head and beak, and the picture was printed twelve times. The sequence of text?

Hi! I’m a turkey buzzard!
—
—
To keep cool, I defecate all over my lower legs.
—
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When I’m upset, I projectile vomit.
—
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Aren’t I special?
—
—

That’s when I knew that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. People eventually arrived, and I was treated to a two-hour raptor lecture.

***

Those of you who have known me for any length of time know I like to research, well, everything. It might explain the PhD thing. It is also awesome when I get to do it in conjunction with writing. Since I’ve gotten serious, I’ve looked into the world of pro-wrestling, Hammer horror, large and small animal veterinary, Norway, Decorah, and…this time around…raptors.

Continue reading “The Raptor Center”

It’s been since Monday, hasn’t it? We had a snowstorm, and that threw everything off in terms of work, writing, home maintenance…well, here we are anyway.

This weekend was the local gaming convention, Gamicon, and Bryon and I were game auction lackeys, which basically meant we were the Vanna Whites who handed games off to the auctioneer in high hopes of selling some rare and some not so desirable items. Bryon also had a little art work done, and during our down times, I worked on plotting out the new novel. Bryon has given me a few very…Roman ideas.

***

This week looks much to be the same. I hope that we don’t have any school delays tomorrow, because I feel way behind at work. I have to get a few things done regarding some conversation parties and meeting the Viet Nam students I’ll be traveling with, I have to observe a couple of teachers, and I just plain need to get some things written up. All this time away from the office isn’t helping the cause.

The new novel is really capturing the imagination. I’ve been plotting, because I want to get a summary of the thing sent off to the nice folks who are already looking at my first chapter. I really love the gift of plotting. Thank you, Walter.

Coming up soon…I’ll have some interviews. I’ll finish the Blue Zones thing. Isis is coming up next on the research front. I want to do a couple of Vintage articles. Some movie reviews and book reviews. You know, the usual stuff. It seems to take a bit longer these days.

But the thing I really want to report on next is my visit to the Raptor Center at Kirkwood. You know one of the things I like best about writing? I get to learn so much new stuff for each project. I want to thank Jodean, Luke, and Jennifer for teaching me so much. And, I have to say, the most fascinating information I picked up was about the turkey buzzard. Yup, a teaser of coming attractions.

Stay safe, dry, and warm out there.

Today, I’m going to handle three of the power nine, bringing us up to five. To recap, we’ve already talked about knowing your purpose, and down shifting, numbers two and three respectively. The next three:

Number Six: Wine at Five
Number Seven: Right Tribe
Number Nine: Love Ones First

seem a bit interrelated.

Wine at Five? Research shows that having a glass of wine a day (2 for men) is good for you. I’ve been giving this a try, and I’ve been enjoying it. Mind you, I’m not much of a connosieur. I’ve been enjoying the wine from a local vineyard, Fireside, and I mostly go for sweet whites, but I know red packs more of a health punch, so I’m working on acquiring a taste. This is nice. It mellows me out without the xanax, which may be the point, and it’s a chance to sit back at the end of the day and relax. If you don’t like wine, the same benefit can be had by drinking a nice sparkling grape juice, in terms of antioxidants, which is what Bryon does.

Right Tribe. Are you hanging with your friends? Bryon and I recently realized we spend a lot of time by ourselves, so we are making an effort to have at least one social event a weekend with the people we care about, with allowances that sometimes we need time for ourselves. So far, we’ve been successful in setting something up five out of six weekends. This means I’m away from the computer more, and you’ve probably noticed. However, it does seem to be enjoyable to have human contact. For us, given our lack of family ties, this also ties into Loved Ones First, as our friends are kind of our family.

***

This means a couple of things about my writing life. I am going to be a bit more rigid in scheduling and sticking to particular times for writing (I’m great with scheduling, but sometimes I substitute times if I don’t feel like it and know I have time later in the week) and I also have to seek out that work/art/life balance that makes me a complete person (you know, see people? Eat right? Exercise? Write?).

I believe you can have it all. I was much busier than this when I was getting my PhD, and I did have it all. I just have to pay attention to how the puzzle fits together.

Another piece is the online piece. I’ll be here as much as I like, but I find that there seems to be a direct proportion to how involved I am with other projects, and how much I am here. Work seems to take care of itself. The wellspring of creativity that makes an interesting blog contrasts with the coolness of the novel I’m working on (personal coolness. For me, the writer.) In short, what am I obsessing on today? But this could be a good thing, because I’m producing more fiction, and moving toward publication.

Unless you like my blog, which makes it a less good thing.

So, after work, in which I’m going to finish this conversation partner thing and contact some students about Viet Nam, I’m going to go home, scoop my driveway yet again (oh! Florida, how I count the days until retirement!), and buckle down for another exciting writing session of Sweet (3) Poison as I move toward getting that first chapter ready for Glenwood Springs. Until about nine o’clock, when I’m cracking open a beautiful bottle of Blu.

Toodle and loo (lieu?), Internet.

That is one heck of a presumptuous title. Maybe I’ll start here, then.

We worry too much.

Yup. That feels better.

We worry too much. What I seem to be working on right now is worrying less. I didn’t realize how much concern I had over certain silly things until I started to take a look at it.

Here’s some examples that may sound familiar to you. Will I ever get this organized? Will I get all these papers checked? Why do I keep having these stupid little medical things? What if they aren’t stupid little medical things? Will someone like my new book, or will this effort be another wasted year? When am I going to find time to cook dinner?

You know, mostly paranoid, pathetic first world stuff. All of these questions are real concerns at some sort of level. It’s very unlikely that I have heart trouble instead of heart burn, but you know, I think of Ferrett and how lucky he was to go to the doc when he did. I never waste any writing time, because publication would be a nice outcome, but it’s not my sole goal. I only have the publishing thought when I get confused about status and what writing means to me. Work descends on me all the time. It’s a fact. It’s also job security. Completion is a myth from an earlier part of my life, and I can live with that ambiguity (God bless you, publishing industry, for teaching me about ambiguity.)

Many of the things I worry about are going to be there and there’s no real reason to worry about them. What if I spin them? Behold, Pollyanna time! Here is a different way of looking at something.

Look, I’ve done this many cool things at work this year. Think of what will happen when we do . It’ll be cool.

You know, your health problems aren’t major, and you manage risk with diet and exercise. You see your doctor. You do the best you can.

You know that the new book is better, and you care about your writing improving. You were going to write anyway, and you’re growing in your art. The point is to write, not to be published.

If you’re tired, you can go out to eat in a healthy way. You also know that once you get into the groove, you enjoy cooking.

Look at what I did, right there. I re-framed all that negativity into positivity. I will grant you, this is not possible all the time. If Jay Lake wants to be down about dying of cancer, he doesn’t deserve to be bright-sided. But with the minutia, I can do better, because all I’m doing is making my life harder to live if I don’t. It’s okay to be sad. But I’m sure I have very little to be sad, stressed, or worried about in reality.

And of course, now that I’ve laid this groundwork, let’s talk about how this applies to one of the biggest areas of rejection in my life, my writing.

Continue reading “Life and the Art of Living”

New Mexican and YA writer Lauren C. Teffeau is our next interview. Lauren lives pretty close to the location of Taos Toolbox, and we all benefited from her help and expertise.

Tamago: When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

Lauren: There was never an a-ha! moment where I just knew. Instead, I’d say there was a series of smaller moments that collected in my subconscious until writing became the only thing I wanted to do. And now that I’m in a position to do just that, I haven’t looked back.

Tamago: How would you describe your writing?

Lauren: I write primarily speculative fiction, with a preference for science fiction over fantasy (though I’ve done both). I also have a tendency to write younger protagonists, though not always. And usually my novel-length works have a bit of romance in addition to the other genre elements I’m exploring.

Tamago: How much research do you do for your work?

Lauren: It depends on the project. I have a background in social science, not hard science, so I often have to do research on whatever scientific topics I’m using in my stories. Graduate study and a brief stint in academia helped hone my research skills, so I’m very comfortable finding the information I need. It also helps that I love to learn—whether it’s seismology, how to kill a chicken, or carpet weaving techniques of the Ottoman Empire. I am still amazed at just how much there is to know in the world.

Tamago: What are you working on right now?

Lauren: Right now, I’m nearing the end of a draft of a young adult science fiction project with adventure and romance and terraforming and pirates. I’m having a lot of fun with it.

Tamago: How did you come to apply for Taos Toolbox?

Lauren: I applied to Taos Toolbox for a number of reasons, but primarily because I had reached a point in my writing journey where I wasn’t sure what came next. I’d been writing for a while, had a few modest short story sales, joined a critique group that I soon grew out of. I wanted to keep moving forward, and I hoped a workshop like Taos would help me do that. At the time I also didn’t have very many writer friends who wrote SF/F, and I wanted to change that.

Tamago: What advice would you give to someone attending their first writing workshop?

Lauren: Treat it as a professional endeavor. Be engaged with every aspect of the workshop. You’d be surprised by what you can learn just by listening to a critique of someone else’s work. I would also recommend you try to have a one-on-one conversation with each of your peers over the course of the workshop—these personal connections will serve you better than any lecture on how to punctuate dialogue ever could.

Tamago: What is your writing goal for 10 years down the line?

Lauren: I hope to be traditionally published. Everything else is gravy.

Tamago: Which writers do you feel your work is similar to?

Lauren: This is tough. I really don’t know. My writing style can vary quite a bit especially across my short stories, my novels less so. But I do try to write as sparely as possible. For me, simple efficiency in storytelling is more effective than beautifully written passages that have no movement. That said, beautiful writing and efficient writing don’t have to be mutually exclusive, and I try to incorporate both into my work.

Tamago: What is your dream project?

Lauren: Every novel I sit down to write is my dream project at the moment. I have two novels in the queue waiting to be written, one science fiction, one fantasy. The one has been in my head for a number of years now, but I found the world building too onerous to tackle when I first started writing. I hope I’m a braver and better writer now. The other was a happy result of a short story I wrote for an anthology call. And I’m looking forward to the time when I can expand it into a novel.

Tamago: Where can readers find more of your work?

Lauren: My story “Chicken Feet” from http://www.wilywriters.com/blog/ and my story “Daughters of Demeter” from Eternal Haunted Summer are both available online.

I blog about the writing life at The Blue Stocking Blog and you can find my full list of publications there as well.

Thanks so much for the interview, Cath!

***

Delighted, Lauren. Keep writing us stories!