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This panel addressed many of the aspects of Trade Publishing.

Panelist: Liz L. Gorinsky (editor), Dorothy Hearst (Current novelist and former editor), Sharyn November (editor), Eddie Schneider (agent), Carolyn Stevermer (author and editorial assistant)

The watch word among all of these publishing professionals is professionalism. Authors need to treat submissions of any sort as a business venture. Do your research. Make sure the agent and editors you approach represent or publish the kind of book you have. Make sure that you are finished with your book. Make sure that it is the best it can be.

While some editors and publishers continue to take direct submissions, in today’s market, an agent is the more preferred method for reaching a publisher. Doors are open there that are not open when you are soliciting for yourself.

Make sure that you follow the guidelines for formatting. Get Word, even for Mac. Use the software everyone uses.

Don’t give people a reason to reject you. Don’t be gimicky. You don’t want to seem crazy.

Continue reading “Wiscon Day 3: The Nuts and Bolts of Trade Publishing”

Now Patsy Walker, she’s got the best story ever.

Patsy’s mom made her daughter’s life into a Gidget-like comic book, the romantic adventures of her daughter. Patsy didn’t have too much interest in this “girl” comic, but enjoyed the super-hero adventures that her mother’s colleagues turned out. Patsy married childhood friend and comic book sweetheart Buzz Baxter. Because of one of Buzz’s security jobs (Buzz is military), Patsy meets the former X-men the Beast and discovers his secret ID.

After her marriage ends, Patsy decides that maybe a super hero can help her get super powers, so she puts pressure on the Beast to help her be a super heroine. During an investigation of Brand Industries, Patsy finds the suit of the former super heroine the Cat, and puts it on, thinking that the suit gives her super ability. It doesn’t. It’s all Patsy, but she finally has the abilities she’s looking for.

Continue reading “Your Feminist Avengers Post 4: Hell-Cat”

What do you mean 4 posts in one day is extreme?

I can only offer up that I didn’t have time over the weekend to do any posting. Not that I was incredibly busy. It was a pleasant weekend. My computer, however, was incredibly busy getting imports and updates. I am pleased to say that after about $600 worth of hard drive, new software, and a computer guy house call (All hail Brent, patron saint of computer guys!), Super-Kuma-San, my MacAir is back from the dead.

So, that cost about half the cost of a new computer. Still a savings. Glad it’s over though. Feels like I’d lost an arm for a while.

***

I will industriously try to finish the last two feminist Avengers Posts, and the last two Wiscon posts I have to wrap up the experience before I go off to Taos Toolbox next Sunday. I’ll also post any of the 4 Writing Process Interviews I have out at the moment which might come home before I go. What can I say? I got a little carried away.

I’ll be in Taos for two weeks learning how to write more better. I’ll try to check in from there as I can. I mean, they have Internet up there. But I’m supposed to be transforming from an ugly duckling to a swan, and I think that takes some work, so I might be busy.

***

At any rate, stay tuned. You get at least four more posts before Saturday.

If you didn’t see me around much Day 2, it’s because I took a nap. That’s right. Tired writer was tired. I also had an abbreviated party round Friday night. I’m sure it was because of all the awesome information I had been absorbing at panels.

But a couple of things did happen during the day that paint me to be social. I met up with Julia Rios for breakfast. Before she arrived, I had an excellent conversation with Ellen Klages whom I had complimented for her book The Green Glass Sea. We had a talk about her writing process, since she was journaling at her table. She was kind enough to let me send her some questions about that.

Julia and I caught up on lots of things. Honestly, I was lucky enough to have breakfast with Julia twice, and if you know Julia, you know what excellent company she is. My understanding was that she and her husband Moss were taking a few days away from the Internet. Because you know, everyone, that there is an out-of-doors?

Yolanda, Caroline, Charlotte and I went out for yak meatballs (yup, there’s a phrase you don’t get in every blog entry.) That was good. Four brilliant women. Brilliant conversation. All to the good.

Dinner was very low key. Dan, Lisa, Yolanda and I went to the pizza place that has the world’s best macaroni pizza(!) which I did not have, but I did have this awesome burrito pizza (New York Style, beans, cheese, sour cream, all yum!). On the whole, a nice, drowsy day.

***

Sunday. You guessed it. More panels, for which I will do write ups. I had forgotten my killer Mad Men dress at home for the Dessert Salon. Bryon on the home end and Lisa tried to get it overnighted to me, but there was FedEx fail due to the holiday, so I resolved to wear my white Donna Reed ensemble which I had just bought for day wear. Bought some books.

Joined in on the Codex Lunch, which is always a pleasure. Chatted with Anne, Ada, Vylar, Keffy, and met Sarah Frost for the first time. Found out Keffy had gone to school in Finland. Want to have an “I Read Giganatosaurus Before It Was Cool” t-shirt, and I do. In my head.

Lisa Cohen joined Dan, Lisa, Yo, and myself for dinner, and steered us toward tapas. She’s compiled a list of the goodies we had here. I could so totally do that again, soon. Tuna tartare, baybee. Mmmm…

Then there was the dessert salon. The Tapas crowd was joined by fellow Codexian Michael Underwood and Lisa Cohen’s partner Ian for some dessert and speeches. Yo and I closed the night with drinks until the bar shut down.

Expect a few panel reports from day 3 soon.

On this panel, authors discuss multiple stories in one universe, aka writing a series.

Panelists: Cassie Alexander, Alex Bledsoe, Dorothy Hearst, and Ellen Kushner

An initial grounding began the series. The authors introduced themselves and talked about writing series, including continuity.

Ellen mentioned that what every series writer needs is an obsessive fan to catalog whats happening in the series. Alex added that you can get those nasty fan letters telling you why what you did contradicts what you had done before.

In some ways, the preset rules can sometimes spark your creativity. It’s a constant challenge–giving your readers what they want that they are familiar with while keeping each story fresh.

There are several different approaches to writing a series. Alex mentioned he has one series that focuses on one character at a variety of ages. In another series, he tells the story from a different character’s POV for each book.

Ellen discussed writing her characters, and then looking at her characters through the eyes of others. What do they look like from the outside.

Other ways? The place can be the constant factor. So can the character. Minor characters in one book can become major ones in the next.

Cassie asked the authors if they felt hemmed in by the expectations publishers had for their series? The answer was mixed.

Cassie also asked if the book was sold as a series. The answer was no, but essentially a wise author leaves some area to explore as another story for a potential sequel.

How do you know when it is time to move on from a series? Working in the same world can be cool, but it can be daunting. Alex discussed the Spencer series, which is being written after the author’s death. He feels that the original books are the only ones in the series.

One of the authors said this about writing a series: “I feel less locked in than lucky. I spent my whole life trying to have my cake and eat it to…and I can.”

When people say they love a series, they are wanting the same crack in each book.

Continue reading “Wiscon Day 2: I Didn’t Mean to Write a Series”

I would like to like Moondragon better. However, if you look up the definition of entitled in the Marvel Universe, you will find Moondragon.

Moondragon is a human being who has achieved both physical and psychic perfection. You can do this too, if you train with outer space monks. Delusional, she believes she’s a god, and while she is influenced by the entity from which she takes her name, she’s a powerful metahuman with privilege issues.

As my friend Steve said, I talked about the Wasp’s costumes, but I didn’t object to Moondragon’s. Well, Steve, I do object to Moondragon’s 70’s costume. Like you said, this is very much accessory, and not costume.

Does this costume hearken back to a freer, more liberated time, or is Moondragon’s costume Marvel trying to equivocate that naked is cool? Well, all I gotta say is wherever you come down on opinions about the costume, I don’t think you can do much advanced martial arts in an outfit like this.

Fortunately, Moondragon’s outfits settle down a bit as she moves forward in time.

Moondragon dances on the edge of morality throughout her career at Marvel. Full of herself, she is a short-lived Avenger. She is often monitored by other heroes and heroines who don’t trust her, and they shouldn’t. Under the right circumstances, you could even see Moondragon as a villain rather than a hero. However the character is fully realized. She’s not a pleasant character, but she is a strong one. I’d rather not see Moondragon in a Marvel film.

As is evident from the title, this panel was about handling rejections.

Panelists: Cassie Alexander, S.N. Arly, Anne Leckie, Caroline Stevermer

The writers on the panel remind us that a rejection is not a condemnation of a work. For a story to be accepted, there are generally three factors:

The right editor at the right time looking at the right story.

The old chestnut of only worrying about what you could control, writing, and sending out the story, surfaced. Anne mentioned that she has a rule about not allowing a story to spend a night at her house.

Regardless of how prepared you are that rejection is part of the writing process, rejection by its very nature hurts. Many authors give up too soon. Don’t do that. An anecdote was related that one story had to go out 38 times before it hit the right editor at the right time.

In regard to longer manuscripts, it was suggested that yes came right away. If six months have passed in silent, it’s safe to assume no.

Harper “Fuckin” Lee got rejected all the time.

Cassie relates a rejection concerning her just published book. “Vampires are over.” Sometimes your moment of glory will come.

Sometimes you will be accepted at places where you have been previously rejected. Caroline relates that her agent rejected her ten years before she took her on.

One acceptance does not mean that the rejections will not continue.

Initially, writers can sometimes sell a story because they sound like someone else. However, they might have trouble selling in that same market because practice helps us individualize our styles, so you might have to try to sell somewhere else.

Continue reading “Wiscon Day 2: A Thousand Times No–Handling Rejections”

Here goes nothing.

Magneto married a woman named Magda, who, upon discovering he was the Mutant Master of Magnetism (TM), runs away from her husband into the mountains while she is pregnant with her two twins, a boy and a girl, and collapses in the mountains, conveniently on the door step of the High Evolutionary, who changes animals into bipedal human like beings as a hobby. Magda gives birth to Wanda and Pietro and dies. They are raised by their cow mama Bova, until it’s decided that Wungadore is no place for human children.

Wanda and Pietro go off to live the gypsy lifestyle. They demonstrate mutant powers, and are recruited ironically by their own father for the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Neither children nor father know of their relationships.

Magneto treats everyone in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants mean, thus giving credence to the word evil. Battles with the X-Men ensue, and neither twin feels good about being in a group that has evil in the title, but they stick anyway. But Magneto is kidnapped (along with the Toad) and Wanda and Pietro are suddenly free.

So, Wanda becomes Hawkeye’s friend, the Avengers are going through a rough patch, and Cap puts together a second generation of the Avengers team that’s sort of like an informal superhero probation squad. All of the ex-cons make good, saving the planet and stuff like that, and Wanda Maximoff becomes a super heroine.

With me so far?

Continue reading “Your Feminist Avengers Post 3: The Scarlet Witch”

Panelists: Gregory Rihn, Alex Bledsoe, Kater Cheek, Catherine Krahe, Elizabeth Bear

One liner: Writers and readers talk about what they like and don’t like regarding magical design.

The panel began with examples of magic systems that didn’t work for the panelists. Several authors were mentioned, among them J.K. Rowling, Mercedes Lackey, George Lucas, and Gary Gygax. A particularly entertaining moment was Alex Bledsoe’s description of the Force from mystic belief to scientific nanotech.

Kater was an advocate of magic needing to cost something. The panelists went back and forth on this. There was also some discussion on how magic affects the society around you, the relationships you have, and the consequences of magic in every society.

Kater preferred explanations of how a magical system worked. Cassie thought you could still have rational magic without explanation. Bear added that gaming magic has to be fair, but fictional magic does not.

Magic was broken down into several possible subsets:

Magic as a skill.
Magic as energy.
Magic from the gods.
Magic as technology.

Some discussion ensured about magic thwarting physics, or magic and the technological divide. An example was used of a match as technology not working in a magical world, and how that violated thermodynamics, which would then cause all sorts of trouble in the universe. The panelists had no problem mashing magic vresus technology.

Alex raised the issue of the role of the magician in the society. Cassie asked what is magic used for in the society. Kater pointed out that in some books magic isn’t the same in all parts of a country. Also, what do the gods get out of magic, if anything?

Some other vital questions:

Does magic slow the development of technology?
If you are learning magic, what are you not learning?
How does the introduction of a new magic change a society?
Is magic aristocratic or hierarchical? Who is magic for?

Suggestions of trying to make magic different from the stream or conduit paradigm were encouraged.

You gotta give Stan Lee credit for his progressive feminist writing. /sarcasm

Okay, so the Wasp did not have the most auspicious of beginnings. She was the socialite girlfriend of scientist Hank Pym, and the two of them were imported into the Avengers as a unit. Without Hank, you don’t really have an entry point for Jan.

However, like any good scientist boyfriend, Hank decided that what every rich girl wants is her own flying suit, shrinking ability, and wasp stingers. A lot of guys would just buy jewelry, but Jan became the Wasp. Let’s take a look at that early incarnation, shall we?

I don’t care what you might think. Antennae are cool.

Continue reading “Your Feminist Avengers Post 2: The Wasp”