Liz De Jager

One of my favourite Caravaggio's

I don’t really have a heading for this post, except to say that today I feel incredibly inspired and I am slightly worried because it feels like I might implode or something if it doesn’t get out.

pleh!

It feels like the words are burning under my skin to get out.  But what, but what to give in to? Current WIP (which is still Vassilly’s Daughter ) or Nu-Pro™ (uh, random term I came up with this morning indicating a true random New Project or shiny) .

The Nu-Pro™ is a bit odd – came out of nowhere and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever thought of trying to write, although I love reading them.  I blame media presentations by Puffin and hanging around with other creative types after work for this new thing that’s tippy-tapping in my head.

I suspect the only way out may be…to give in to the impulse for a few days to see where it leads.

I’m not going to say much, except watch this!

kaz_mahoneyand I attended a talk last night held at Random House – it was hosted by Kids at Random House and also a group of kids called HeadSpace – actually, find a bit of promo for them below this cut and then continue reading some thoughts and ideas further on.

( Read more ) <– this will take you to the main LJ article

The young girl who moderated the talk asked the three authors – Keith Gray, Bali Rai and Anthony McGowan – a variety of really interesting questions. The authors were simply incredible – they joked, they chatted honestly and passionately about their writing, their careers and how they started out on the path they are on now.

Bali Rai was particularly engaging and funny. As the evening wound down, the authors all exorted those present, adults, kidults and younger folk to never give up on their writing, even if they receive rejection after rejection. Anthony mentioned that after he got tonnes of rejection notes on his novel Hellbent (which subsequently sold to Random House) he “became a woman” and wrote two well received light romance novels for women.

This made me think about focus and wanting it. Don’t give up. Rethink your position and maybe consider doing something else. Challenge yourself – walk away from your high fantasy concept novel and try your hand at that bit of literary fluff you have stuffed in your drawer. I personally love paranormal fantasy, urban fantasy, fantasy, horror, action adventure, thrillers and crime novels. I would give my eyeteeth to be able to write urban fantasy the way that Charles de Lint or Midori Snyder does. I would love to be the next Joe Hill. I would love to somehow rub against Paul Sussman to get some mojo to write an adult action adventure. But I know my parameters and I know what makes me feel safe. And that safety is maybe not always a good thing.

Which is why I broke out of that safety zone and wrote something I know very little of (and by doing a huge amount of research in a very short space of time and tapping friends and colleagues who knew about certain aspects of various things like guns and breaking and entering) I had a complete blast, wrote Good Guys in one giant expulsion after tinkering with an outline and that got me into an anthology with people like Jordan Summers and Shannon K Butcher.

And here I am, about to share a huge secret with you guys. I utterly and irrevocably have fallen in love with a particular publisher’s certain imprint and I would love the opportunity to write something for them.

I know, the mind boggles. What is Liz going to say NOW?

Little Black Dress Books. I know, people! Who would have thought it – but this little imprint with his go-get-em attitude and light romance novels, funky covers and dedicated writers, have really stolen my heart. I have fallen in love with them. They are my Mills & Boon. The contemporary settings, real characters and situations just make me love them even more. I have now read three of them, and I have just today received three more.

Maybe in the new year I trot out my Liz Muir pseudonym and write something for them! Even if it goes nowhere, it is practice! And we all know what practice gets us…yes, more practice!

I forget which hardman movie this is from but: never give up, never surrender, just get bigger guns and take ‘em all out!

Uhm, I’m now not sure that line works for writing but hey, you knowwhatimeanright?

I was chatting to someone I know quite recently.  He’s written a book, tried approaching various publishers, it didn’t work so he self-published it.  By all counts its a bit of an expose, a bit Dan Brown. He’s offered to give me a copy to read as he is keen for reviews.  On one hand I’m wondering if I should do it but on the other hand I don’t want to read it, dislike it, tell him that and then have bad relations with him, especially as I have to work with him, even if he lives and works on another continent entirely.

We were chatting about writing and getting published.

I asked him the following questions:

have you read other books in a similar genre?

have you read any “how to” books that will help you with plot/character etc.? 

have you bought yourself a copy of any of the books on the market/agents/publishers?

have you had anyone else read it for you, apart from you parents and close friends?

He answered “no” to all these questions.  My eyebrows climbed so high I think they scaled Mt. Everest.

Not reading / researching the genre you’ve just written your novel in?  He said to me “why should I read other people’s writing when I know mine is better?” This truly blew me away.  I asked him what he read in general for fun – non-fiction and biographies, he replied.  NOT the kind of thing that will help you write your action/adventure/thriller, I replied.  He looked unconcerned.

I took him aside and showed him Amazon and explained to him about his genre, which I love and devour in giant gulps if I can, and explained to him how the “if you liked xyz you may like abc” works and told him to get reading.  I gave him a list of my favourite authors in the genre to read and examine.  He has to know how it’s done.  How others have done it.  He has to realise he can’t just write by the seat of his pants.  There’s a reason why publishers have turned him down: he’s not done his research – be it reading books in the same genre; be it what those publishers currently publish or even trying to find a literary agent. 

When I asked him about the lack of literary agent he said he’s not prepared to pay someone else to run his career.  He wants to do it all. Which is fair enough but I had to show him various agent websites and have him read what exactly it is that they do.  He had no idea.

Again with the eyebrows.

No one else read the book.  He gave it to a journalist friend in Eastern Europe who really liked it and gave it a good review.  That is one person in a tiny country in the middle of nowhere and he is keen to trade on that and mentions it to everyone he speaks to about his book.  I really want to shake him and make him realise that this is not how things work. 

He admits that there is a lot that needs amending on the book, that it can probably be even better than it is now…but he just doesn’t have the time or the “feel” to do it right now.  So at the moment the book is in a variety of bookshops in South Africa.  Sitting there.  Waiting for someone to pick it up.  No marketing, no website, no talks, nothing.

How, in this day and age, can someone as intelligent as my colleague not get the picture? Or realise how much potential he’s just shot down the drain?

It really saddens me.  I gave him an entire LIST of websites to look at – for authors and editors and publishers and I’ve handed him my 2009 Writers and Illustrators guide.  The boy needs to wake up and smell the coffee. But then, what’s that old adage?  You can take a horse to water but you can’t make him drink, right?

I have been sitting on my good news for a teeny tiny while now and got the go-ahead to reveal this last night, so here you go:

I, Liz de Jager, get to be in an anthology with a bunch of absolutely awesome well established authors. 

The anthology is called:  The Mammoth Book of Special Ops Romance and my story “Good Guys” will appear alongside short stories by authors like Shannon K Butcher, Jordan Summers, Sydney Croft, Marliss Melton, Cheyenne McCray etc. 

I have written “Good Guys” under my pseudonym for writing adult fiction: Liz Muir.

The Mammoth Book of Special Ops Romance will be out March 2010, published by Robinson Publishing in the UK and Running Press in the US.

I’m still very enamoured with SCBWI.

Last night was the London social and there were quite a few of us.  What struck me most is the cameraderie and genuine enthusiasm of everyone present.  Some may be more or less talkative than others (naturally I was the very demure one – uhm, no, I wasn’t) and I got the chance to very briefly speak to Jackie who arranges the Professional series and you know what, I stand in awe.  She listed most of the talks she has lined up for 2010.  That is dedictation and forethought! I am a bit annoyed that I won’t be able to go the first one in January as Mark and I be winging our way to South Africa for a two week holiday on that exact day.  But I’ll make sure to set up the dates in my diary for the rest of the year.

What is even more exciting is that I’ve registered to attend the Winchester conference held later this month.  At the age of 36 this has made me feel incredibly grown up! Not only am I travelling on my own, I will be staying on my own.  Now this may seem a bit odd to others reading this but Mark and I have always been:  Mark and Liz, reviewers for MFB and we go around everywhere.  We are like a comedy act.  No.  Seriously. Cooler than Ant and Dec, I promise. 

Now I’m breaking away from the “Liz the reviewer” bit and am becoming “Liz the writer” and it’s very freaky.  A change in perception really – as previously I could see myself off as being on the outside, looking in.  I am used to looking at the publishing industry, authors and writers from the perspective of one who receives books / buys them / interviews publishers and authors as an interested party for the review blog.  But since I completed CURSE OF THE DJINN I have felt that I am now on the other side – and it’s genuinely a disconcerting and slightly scary perspective.

Now I’m reading author blogs for advice on writing, tips, suggestions and taking it in on a much more personal level.  Previously it was for interest’ sake, now its a lot more pertinent and dare I say it, personal and fun? I also find I ask more questions of writers for my own benefit when I interview them.  So maybe my margins have become a bit blurred!  But to be honest, it’s interesting and fun and I enjoy finding out more about the craft!

Together with a friend Sarah (esssjay on LiveJournal and twitter) we’ve come up with this crazymad idea of doing on our version of NaNoWriMo. 

In  NaNoWriMo you write 50,000 words for your novel.  That is a lot of words. We felt we wouldn’t be able to do it.  So we thought up IndyWriMo instead. 

And no, it doesn’t have anything to do with the Indianopolis races or with Indiana Jones (although, maybe you could if you really wanted to write a novel about Dr. Jones). 

IndyWriMo means:

• 30,000 words a month (as opposed to 50,000 with nanowrimo) – 1,000 words a day, every day
• IndyWriMo is an excellent way to finish that novel you’ve had sitting in your bottom drawer
• IndyWriMo is an excellent way to start that new novel you’ve been dithering about
• IndyWriMo isn’t just for November so you can continue IndyWriMo and perhaps challenge friends to help keep you motivated.

We created an official site for IndyWriMo at: www.indywrimo.blogspot.com – pop by to check it out and maybe join us?

So there I was merrily typing away on my gorgeous new iMac (called Mist) with its obscenely large screen, using the newly discovered Scrivener software when unexpectedly there strolled up a Fae war band into Vassilly’s Daughter.

Hang on! Hang on!

Where did they just come from?

I shouted this new happening out to Mark, who was upstairs, killing things online and just got an amused chuckle from him and a: “Okay, maybe you go with that instead.”

It called for a break. And research. And furious rethinking of the story I had in mind for Nika. 

It took me two days (I didn’t stop writing the sequence as they were busy posturing and giving Nika and her uncle some grief ) to come up with a viable and waterproof reason why these guys unexpectedly showed up.   The sneaky little elves, to paraphrase Gollum.

I love that they are now part of Nika’s story because it’s thrown up a whole new twist on events which I love and am more than just a bit scared of!  But it’s going to be fun.

4400 / 60000 words. 7% done!

I thought I’d keep track of Vassily’s Daughter on this main blog purely for my own benefit, of course!

We tried going to the MCM Film and Comic Expo at the Exel Centre today but once we got there, we were horrified to see the queue of around 3000 people inside the hall, waiting to buy tickets.  We hung around, wondering what to do.  But then decided that neither of us are keen to stand in line that long for tickets.  So instead we drove to Greenwich, had lunch and bought some housey things – we are totally rock n’ roll.

Tonight means more writing on Vassily’s Daughter.  And reading and maybe write a few reviews. And perhaps even some tv watching…but only maybe.

Good afternoon world.

So nice of you to drop by.

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