Five on Friday: My Publishing Glass is Half Full
Business first. L.A. Mitchell, who probably shared a past life with me somewhere, awarded me a very sweet award, and I have to give a shout out to her for thinking of me. She has just finished editing hell, so head over to her blog and give her a virtual margarita or something.
Now, on to funsies, starting with happy Friday, and coming up on Sunday, happy March! I was going to do a post on “In like a lion, out like a lamb,” but that didn’t fit me. Almost everything I do is more on the lion side than the lamb, so it was a hard post to flesh out. So, in going back to a golden oldie of Five on Friday, a topic sprang to mind and I knew I had to go there.
In the past few months, the publishing world has undergone some changes, and many fingernails have been bitten and gallons of Pepto have been drunk.
Not by me.
Allow me to list at least five reasons why I’m optimistic not only about the publishing world, but my place in it.
1. I lurk on agent Kristin Nelson’s blog. Some months ago, I read about one of her debut authors, Jamie Ford. Jamie hit my radar not only because of his upcoming book, but because he currently lives in Montana. ‘Nuff said. Well, his book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet was released barely a month ago (January 27th) and it’s debuting at #30 on the NYT hardcover extended list, plus is hitting all kinds of indy lists. Needless to say, the current economy hasn’t stopped him, his publisher, booksellers or readers.
2. Read this from agent Janet Reid’s blog. (Thanks to Jenifer for the link.) Then read this from Kristin’s.
3. Jenny Cruise, Anne (Krissie) Stuart and Lani Diane Rich collaborated on a wonderful book called Dogs and Goddesses. (A basic lighthearted paranormal paperback romance.) It came out February 3rd and landed on both the USA Today (#88) and New York Times (#29) bestseller lists, coming in the next week at #24 on the NYT. Yes, I know some people think, “It’s Jenny Crusie. Of course it’s going to hit a bestseller list.” But it also means people are spending their scrimped and pinched dollars to buy books. That, my friends, is a whole lotta fabulous publishing news.
4. I have to be honest and list one of my reasons for being optimistic is Christopher Moore’s success. His most recent release, Fool, came out February 10th and is currently #4 on the NYT bestseller list. And just like Jenny, I know some people think, “It’s Christopher Moore. Of course he’s going to hit the bestseller list.” Well this is the man who started out in 1991, aka Long Before the Paranormal Craze, with a funny, wild book called Practical Demonkeeping. Followed by Coyote Blue, Bloodsucking Fiends (again, a vampire book Long Before the Paranormal Craze), Island of the Sequined Love Nun and the list goes on. Chris (I can call him that because we’re such close, personal friends, dontcha know…) found his voice, staked his flag on it, and look what it’s gotten him.
And, saving the best for last…
5. On my critique loop, one of our members recently sold her first (fiction) book. Is that amazing? Well, yes, it is to me, but here’s the rest of the story. She finaled in the Daphne Awards in 2005, getting an honorable mention. The editor judging the contest requested the full and it was sent to him in November, 2005. Fast forward to THREE YEARS LATER when he emailed my friend and asked her if it was still available. She said yes, he read it and called to make an offer the same day, PLUS he wants to see the sequel.
If that isn’t a glass half full story, I don’t know what is. Congrats, Barbara!
Soylent Green is Buffy
Some people play Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, a funny game because it’s true. I play Six Degrees of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, because I’m finding more and more that pretty much everything can be explained using Joss Whedon’s amazing Buffy-verse. (And, just for the record, this may eventually evolve into Six Degrees of Joss, but as we’ve only watched Firefly through once, have never watched Angel, and Dollhouse just started, it’s going to be a little bit before that evolution. Hang tight.)
Take, for example, Harry Potter. Yes, the Boy Who Lived. Allow me once again the writer’s curse of backstory.
I have discovered that when I’m writing a particular genre or style, I shouldn’t read those types of books, as they leak into my writing. The most startling example of this is when I was doing a first draft of my screwball paranormal, I re-read the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. One day as I was merrily typing along, I found my heroine saying “Damn skippy!” ala Lula, and thus the rule was created.
So, during my dark historical, I have studiously been avoiding any historical romances. I’ve read Heidi’s fabulous Tangled Up in Love, a few Jennifer Crusie’s, about half of the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher, Fancy Pants by Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and finally came to a point Monday night where I needed another book. Enter the perfect series to take me through the rest of my editing: Harry Potter. No way Wingardium Leviosa was going to make it into my gritty Victorian London, right?
So I’m reading book one (aka Sorcerer’s Stone) last night, and I get to the point where Harry has overheard Snape and Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest, and Harry is convinced Voldemort is alive and using Snape to get the Sorcerer’s Stone. Harry is now having nasty nightmares and his scar is hurting, but Ron and Hermione try and assure Harry that both he and the stone are safe, as Dumbledore is the only wizard Voldemort was ever afraid of and with both Harry and the stone firmly protected at Hogwarts, there is no cause to worry.
There’s a line in the book (which I’ll have to add here later, as I don’t have the book in front of me right now), that caused a little bell in me to ring. Harry, as The Boy Who Lived, is essentially alone in this battle, bearing a burden others can sympathize with, but have no way of knowing what it’s like. And that’s when it struck me.
Harry is Buffy.
The whole arc of Buffy, all seven delicious seasons, is about Buffy coming to understand, embrace, and ultimately share her power as a Slayer. But, throughout, she knows there are certain things that only she understands, certain things that only she can do. Harry’s struggle with that same knowledge—that only he understands what it would mean if Voldemort regained his former power and followers, that there are things that only Harry can do to stop him—made me realize how much like Buffy he was.
Taking it one step further:
So if Buffy = Harry, then
Willow and Xander = Ron and Hermione, and
Giles = Dumbledore
Getting kinda creepy, isn’t it?
Now, I know with a lot of this I’m talking out of my golden snitch, especially since I’ve recently watched Buffy through twice and it’s been at least 1½ years since I’ve read any of the Harry Potter books, but you have to admit there’s some merit to it. So, I’m throwing this out for discussion and as I read through the Harry Potter books, I may come back to this topic.
Then I’ll discuss how Buffy helped broker Nixon’s 1972 visit to China. Trust me—it’s all there.
Happy Valentine's Day
Given that I’m a romance writer, I’m a big believer in true love, romance, and especially, happily ever after. So to celebrate the day, I wanted to wish each and every one of you a very happy Valentine’s Day.
And here’s my small gift to you–a quote from one of my favorite movies, Moulin Rouge: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”
Amen.
Tuesday Ten: The Random Thoughts Edition
Hello and welcome to February! I know, I’m a little behind in my postings and such (and especially after I promised I wouldn’t be), but some days just get away from you, you know? And so without further gilding the lily and with no more ado, I give to you the Random Thoughts edition.
1. Wasn’t Heidi fabulous? I think my girl-love for her is more than obvious, but it’s nice to introduce her to new people. We’re still partying over at her blog, so please come play!
2. Some outstanding business—the lovely and gracious Marilyn awarded me this pretty Butterfly Award for my blog. Isn’t she the coolest? Thank you, Marilyn. I will display it with pride.
3. I decided if I were to ever write Sci Fi/Fantasy (adult, YA or both), my pseudonym would be Zanzibar Doom.
4. I would like to commend those of you (and you know who you are) who resisted the urge to go after Punxsutawney Phil when he predicted six more weeks of winter. Groundhogicide is just wrong.
5. The edits on BROKEN are going well, thank you. At times, I start hyperventilating at the thought of having to weave in all of the fabulous, juicy themes and extra threads and make it come out like I see it in my head, but then I look at something shiny and forget all about how I’ll be bleeding out of my ears come this spring.
6. Too many good TV shows coming on this spring. I’m already invested in Scrubs (and have been for years) and Lie To Me (I love Tim Roth), but now I have Joss’s new show, Dollhouse, with the amazing Eliza Dushku (premiering this Friday!), Nathan Fillion’s Castle and Ian McShane’s Kings. Don’t you people realize I have editing to do? Did you not read the ‘bleeding out of my ears’ part? Argh!
7. I am in the wrong line of work. I’m going to start doing this instead: 
8. I am blatantly stealing this from Barbara Ferrer’s blog, but it made tea shoot out of my nose, so I had to post it here. It is, as Yoplait would say, C’est Si Bon.
9. The girls are taking care of me. They’re sending up a very intriguing idea. Don’t know if it’s going to be the next book or not (that’s for them to decide), but I’m just loving what they’re thinking. Whatever I’ve been sending down to them to inspire such tales, I need to figure out what it is and keep doing it.
10. It struck me this week that this blog is helping me with my current agent search. I’m much more in tune with writers, agents and editors, and I find myself weeding through the list more quickly, as well as knowing who some of the writers are that these agents represent. (Plus, I know more about how they got there—the stories of The Submission and The Call.) Let’s hope it pays off.
Okay, there we are—ten random thoughts. I hope you were informed and entertained. Just to cover my bases, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Dean Martin jokes.
A grasshopper walks into a bar and orders a gin and tonic. The bartender says, “You know, we got a drink named after you.” The grasshopper says, “You’ve got a drink named Irving?”
Thank you, I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitress.
Pamela Cayne 