Yesterday afternoon I celebrated the release of Tomato Slices, a brand new anthology of stories, articles, poems etc. that features my fairy tale “The Tomato Quest”, in front of East Side Story bookstore in East Nashville right in the middle of their yearly Tomato Arts Festival. So, it seems an appropriate time to share some more thoughts about the craft and business of short stories. If you missed the last article that focused on the craft and business of short stories from the writer's point of view, you'll find it below this one. Today I am featuring the editor/publisher point of view on story collections. I have interviewed three people who have done these jobs on books featuring stories of mine: Kay Iscah of Amoeba Ink, publisher of Tomato Slices, Robert Krog, editor of A Tall Ship, A Star and Plunder for Dark Oak Press, and Nancy Schumacher of Melange Books (and its imprint Satin Romance Books), publisher of Second Chance for Love. Each of these people has vastly different experience with publishing and editing. Schumaker runs a publishing company with three imprints. Over the past four years, she has published 30 short story collections in addition to all of the novels her company produces. Robert Krog began editing short story collections when he approached Dark Oak Press with an idea for a pirate anthology. He now has edited several books. Kay Iscah is an indie author, and Tomato Slices is her first attempt at editing and publishing an anthology. Both the ideas for Tomato Slices and A Tall Ship… were inspired by local events. “I once had the bright idea that a publisher I knew and worked with should do an anthology of pirate stories to hawk at conventions, especially the Pirate Fair that used to take place here in Memphis,” explained Krog. Iscah told me, “Nashville is home to the Tomato Arts Fest which celebrates art themed around tomatoes. I thought it was a shame that literature wasn't one of the arts featured. I was in talks with another author about possibly publishing one of his stories. I asked if he had a tomato story. When he immediately said yes, it seemed like a sign to go forward.” All three editors shared the ups and downs of receiving submissions. What turned them off on a short story? Nancy Schumacher: “A story that reads rushed with multiple typos on each page. Many authors rush to submit a story after a first draft when at the minimum, they should edit it at least 3 times. Also, if a story doesn’t make sense, it’s a real turn off.” Krog offers (with a touch of humor): “I discovered quickly that most of what I had been told by editors was true. Writers submitting to anthologies are often a terrible subspecies of functionally illiterate troglodytes not fit to be published. This is a bit of an exaggeration, and I have been and will again be a submitter of stories, so I know how easy it is to forget a crucial piece of guidelines. I’ve probably been the troglodyte to some else’s long-suffering editor. However, it seems that writers often don’t read the guidelines beyond a cursory glance and don’t follow them if they do. As an editor, I’ve learned that many writers need to clean up their grammar and check dictionaries more often. I feel honor bound to give stories a chance and read all submissions to the end, however onerous the process may be.” I admire that dedication. Personally, I don’t think I could read through a whole story that had numerous flaws. Iscah had close to 250 submissions to read though and found that: “Failure to follow directions was a big one. The tomato not being essential to the story or poem was another. Some of it was subjective, as any art selection is. We had two editors making selections, so if either of us gave a thumbs-down the piece was out. We rejected a lot of pieces that had the start of good ideas but lacked a certain level of polish. Since we had a fairly tight window for editing, we had to focus on pieces that were finished and did not require major editing. It's a lot easier to fix a few typos than major plot holes. “A last reason was how the stories and poems fit together,” Iscah continued. “We did want variety, but there were a few pieces that, while perfectly fine on their own, would have been jarring to the overall tone.” I can attest to that last statement. My original submission to Tomato Slices was rejected because she said (and rightly so) that it looked like I just stuck tomatoes into an already existing story. Also, she already had a story with a similar theme. Iscah liked my writing style, however, and suggested I try a fantasy story because they were light on those entries. I came up with a fairy tale for her that she later accepted. The consensus here seems to be that authors should follow guidelines closely and clean up their stories before they submit. Do not rush your submission. These concepts seem fairly obvious, and I wonder why so many authors fail to do these simple things. Well, if these are the turn-offs, what do the editors look for in selecting a story? Schumacher has a no-nonsense answer: “Clean manuscript – free of as many typos and errors as possible. Story premise: is it fresh, interesting, riveting, humorous? Character point of view used correctly.” Krog claims that he loves great opening lines. “Other things that catch my eye or my imagination are solid plots that don’t project their punches, philosophical insights, great characters, and really good twists on themes. Most anthologies are based on a theme these days. A writer who can take that theme and shine a new light on it yet stay true to it with a solid story is going to get published.” Iscah also commented on the importance of the theme: “We wanted to create a multi-genre anthology that reflected the eclectic nature of the festival and our own love of variety. So we were looking for inventive and significant uses of the tomato as well as overall quality, and since we had a short turnaround time, we wanted pieces that didn't need a significant amount of editing.” Making anthologies thematic is helpful for finding niche audiences for the books. However, all of these editors confess that short story collections aren’t as successful as novels. As an author, I know they aren’t terribly profitable. In my experience over the years, I’ve been paid a small stipend, just in contributor copies, or am splitting the royalties with the other authors. When there are 25 authors in a book, we’re talking a fraction of a cent per book sold – so not really getting paid at all. The only time I’ve edited a collection was L.A.’s Best Sketch Comedy, where I collected scenes written by fresh new Los Angeles comedians. The publisher was paying me a royalty, so I gave the authors a flat fee up front for their work. It was generous because I felt bad paying them anything less. Unfortunately, although the book is still in print and sells a few copies a year, I still haven’t earned back what I paid them. So, why publish short story collections? What’s the benefit? Nancy Schumacher answered, “It gives new authors an opportunity to be published.” For her part, “It’s exciting to ‘discover’ new, wonderful voices.” She says that the Melange Books multi-author story collections don’t sell as well as the single-author novels, but it’s a great way to get published and start building a name. Similarly, Krog wrote, “Anthologies are harder to sell. Novels are the books of choice for most readers of fiction. I suppose that could be a kind laziness on the part of readers. They like the familiar in a book, I suppose, and don’t like switching gears. A good, eye-catching cover helps, as does an unusual and interesting theme, or latching onto something currently a fad in other media such as movies.” He also point out that, “The market for anthologies is not like the market for novels. It’s a smaller market, and the tastes of the readers tend to fluctuate. The readers of anthologies are looking to read something that can be set down without guilt and picked up on a whim. Novels take commitment. It’s far worse to be disappointed by a novel than it is by a short story. The great thing about an anthology is that it has a lot of variety… if one story is bad, the next might be good, and the reader doesn’t have to feel that his money was wasted.” The idea that authors may discover your other works thanks to a short story is the idea behind a fantasy anthology to which I recently submitted. This group plans to put together a book of short stories to offer for free so our “fans” will get the book and discover all the other authors in it. I hope it works, and I hope one of my two stories submitted gets chosen. Fingers crossed. Finally, I asked the editors if they have plans for upcoming anthologies. Iscah said Amoeba Ink doesn’t have anything planned right now. Krog claims to be working on some ideas. Schumacher shared about Melange Books: We are actually seeking one more story for an anthology called Food and Romance Go Together and several stories for To Love a Scotsman. Go to this url to read the requirements.
http://www.melange-books.com/subs.html She often uses authors already published under the Melange Books umbrella, but this is a good way for new authors to break in with them. The company is brainstorming for an anthology for the Fire and Ice Young Adult Books imprint. I’m pretty excited about that prospect. I hope you’ve enjoyed this post about short stories. I have excerpts from my stories from the three anthologies featured in this article on my website. Please pop over and take a look. Second Chance for Love is currently discounted on Kindle (but not for much longer), so don’t miss that good deal. I’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment. Short stories occupy most of my thoughts these days. Earlier this year my short story “The Ticket to Her Heart” was published in the romance anthology Second Chance for Love. In two weeks my fairy tale “The Tomato Quest” will be published in an anthology of stories, articles, and recipes called Tomato Slices. I have joined a fun group of indie fantasy authors called Fellowship of Fantasy, and they are putting together an anthology of fantasy stories around the theme of mythical creatures. I’ve spent the past two weeks writing a short story for possible inclusion in that book. It has to go through a judging process, so it’s not a guarantee. I have my fingers crossed, though. On top of all of that, if you read my last post, I’ve been still trying to figure out how to get people to read my stand-alone novella Passing Notes and wondering if I should write more stories to go with it and make it an anthology. In June I was asked to speak on a panel about short fiction at Hypericon, a convention for speculative fiction. It was a lot of fun to share the microphone with other fantasy/scifi writers who are published in short fiction and talk about the nature of short fiction and why we like to write it. I believe that short stories, whether 2,000 words or 15,000 are more direct than novels. They usually center around one character and one moment in time (or a very short time period) with no subplots. They are sometimes abstract, but they do follow an arc from beginning to end. If there is no end, it is a scene not a story. I’ll be honest, I consider myself a novelist, and short stories are difficult for me to write. I’m just too wordy and tend to overwrite. In my college writing class I always wrote a minimum of 15 page stories when we were asked to keep them around eight. One of my stories was 32 pages, and I didn’t even turn it in. I just started over with something new. (That long story, btw, was the first of my romantic fairy tales “Voice of Desire” which I have up at Wattpad.) When I first began writing, I wrote short stories for fun. An idea would come to me and I’d jot it down. I wrote a lot of songs and poems back then too. My writing career began with getting short stories published in magazines like Children’s Digest, Ladybug, Story Friends, Funny Times, and I had two in Chicken Soup for the Soul books among other places. I eventually started selling books and now I don’t work on short stories unless I come across a specific call for them from a publisher or contest. I really do like the challenge of writing to a theme and deadline. Sometimes the stories work and sell, and sometimes they get put in my “I’ll come back to that someday” file on my computer. I recently read a blog post by another author about how she makes more money with her short stories than with her novels. She didn’t say why, unfortunately, and I would have loved that information. I have not seen much income from short stories. My biggest paychecks were from the Chicken Soup books, but in a lot of cases I was rewarded with free copies or $20. I have a few stories in books that pay royalties, but I have my doubts that I’ll ever see a dime from that as the money has to be split between all the authors (one of the books has 25 authors). And, frankly, I don’t see the short story collections winging their way off to Kindles on a regular basis. So, why write short stories? What’s the point? What do authors get out of it? Why do publishers bother with them? What are we all trying to achieve here? To answer this, I interviewed several published authors of short stories and the editors of three of the collections featuring my stories. I got so much wonderful stuff from them it won’t all fit in one blog post. So, I’m breaking it up into two parts. Today, I will include some thoughts from the author perspective and next week I’ll feature the editing side of things. Katy Jones has had 13 short stories published over the years. She writes primarily children’s and fantasy. Her story “Tam and the Giantess” won first place in an international competition and was printed in a collection called Fusion, and she has stories in the anthologies aMUSEing and Limelight. She says she used to write more short stories, but now prefers novels. “The stories I want to tell take too many words!” When she does write she crafts them “only if I have a clear I idea of the characters and the single story I want to tell.” She believes that “there is an art to writing short stories, which is quite different than writing a novella or a novel. When I first began 30 years ago, I tried to cram too much into each story.” Why does she like writing short stories? “The satisfaction of completing a project and seeing it in print, it's validation as a writer. And the extra money doesn't hurt, especially if the story is picked up by another market and you get check(s) for reprints.” Which prompted to me to ask if she found selling short stories to be profitable for her. “Not as much as it used to be when more people read magazines,” Jones confessed. “The story I've made the most for was one about a Navajo girl in Highlights for Children because it had so many reprints. ($250 when I first sold it and about $2,000 in reprint royalties).” Frank Luke writes supernatural fiction and has had 12 stories published. “The Other Cemetery” appears in Supernatural Colorado. His three Shylocke Avery stories were in the Cross and Cosmos Year 1 Anthology. “The Strong Survive” appeared in the Cross and the Cosmos e-zine. Then he self-published “The Buick Eight” to Amazon. It's the first part of the Joshua's Pawn Shop series. The companion set of short stories, Seven Deadly Tales, is out and hit #35 on Amazon's Christian Fantasy list one day. He prefers writing short stories to novels “because of the challenge of staying tightly focused and on target. There is no room to wander if you have a point.” Luke likes to follow calls from publishers, but he writes a lot from inspiration too. “The most recent two have been for calls to anthologies. When I read the first listing, I thought, ‘Yeah, I'd love to write another medieval fantasy’ and planned to sit out the other to focus on the two Joshua's stories that need to be finished. Then that muse began to whisper in my ear, and I said, ‘Oh, that's too good to pass up!’ Now, I'm 6,000 words into a story that combines Lou's Bar & Grill with Joshua's Pawn Shop and throws a genre I've never written in on top of the mix. It'll be either a huge flop or a huge win.” As for making a profit as a short story writer? “In my experience, with so many deals available, people shy away from paying $0.99 for a short story. Making the story free gives it some downloads, but the benefit there is more exposure. People read it and go look for your longer works. It's the same benefit of being in an anthology. Collecting related stories together into one book is the only way I've made money from them.” His tip for marketing short stories: “Group promos have worked best for me. Getting listed with other authors who are sending out blasts to their readers has helped my books more than anything. That's how "Seven Deadly Tales," made it first to #55 then to #35 in Christian Fantasy.” Robert Krog is both an author and editor. I’ll share more from him as an editor next week, but today he’ll wear his author hat. “My first work, The Stone Maiden and Other Tales, was first published in 2010. I started getting short fiction into anthologies the year after that and found myself reading them more and more. I think I have stories out in thirteen different anthologies at present, with four or five more coming out in the next few months or so, and it has been a great experience.” Krog is also going to be published in Tomato Slices with me and is both editor and contributor to A Tall Ship, a Star, and Plunder, which he claims is his favorite of the collections featuring his work. ( Find more of his stories on his website : http://krogfiction.yolasite.com/) Why does he write short stories? “Short stories are supposed to explore a single idea. Novels are supposed to go further, deeper, and broader. I like to read and write both, though I do not yet have a published novel. Novels are a lot more work for man with a full time job, a wife, and three young children. I’m nearly there though. The level of satisfaction that goes with finishing a novel will be, I expect, much greater than that of finishing a short story for the first time. Mind you, I have no intention of giving up on short stories. Is there a benefit to writing and publishing short stories? “I advise writers to submit short stories for various reasons. It’s easier to get a short story out than it is to get a novel out. A reader who likes a short story is likely to look for more work by the same author, such as a novel. Having short fiction out may be a way to reach an audience otherwise inaccessible. Writing short fiction is an exercise in discipline. Keeping one’s story to a certain word count may mean that the story will have little fluff in it. It can be an exercise in discipline.” Overall what I am getting from these authors and my own experience is that writing short stories is great exercise for improving your craft as a writer. On the career end, however, it is a way to earn some publishing credits and name recognition. There are plenty of paying markets still, although the magazine market has shrunk a lot in recent years. And hey, if you’re writing short stories just for fun, make sure you keep them. You never know when they’ll fit the theme of a publisher’s call. The books mentioned by Katy Jones, Frank Luke, and Robert Krog are available at Amazon. Click on the pictures to find them. Next week, I’ll have Robert Krog back to share about being an editor of short story collections, along with Nancy Schumaker from Melange Books, and Kay Iscah of Amoeba Ink. Please feel free to leave a comment below about your experience with short stories. I'd love to know about it. Oh, and one last thing! Second Chance for Love is currently part of a Goodreads giveaway (through August 5th). Make sure you sign up! This summer, the lovely women who run Fire and Ice Young Adult Books and I decided to try a little experiment with my book Passing Notes by lowering the price (again) and then making it free for a short while. Because I have a weird desire to write frankly about all the successes and foibles of my writing career on this blog, I want to share with you how that experiment went. To begin with, I am part of a group on Facebook full of Indie authors (mostly self-published) who are very open about sharing their promotion ideas. Overwhelmingly, they (and pretty much every indie-pub’d author I’ve met) do very well with having the first book of their series permanently free. It hooks in readers, and those readers go on to purchase the rest of the books. Some try offering their work free for a short while and then go back up to 99 cents for a bit before returning to full price, which is never more than $5.00. I have three YA books out. Two are part of a series and the third is a novella. I asked the group and lots of other people in the biz if it would be better to make Cry of the Sea (the first of the Juniper Sawfeather Novels) free with the hopes of getting people interested in purchasing Whisper of the Woods, the sequel, or would it be better to give away my little novella, Passing Notes, as a sample of my writing and simply discount the other books for a bit. Overwhelmingly, the response was to give Passing Notes away. People would love it and go on to purchase my other work. I am not self-published, though, so I can’t change the prices of my books willy-nilly. I have to ask for that favor, knowing that my publishers have to be willing to not make any money either. Well, Passing Notes hasn’t exactly been flying off the digital book shelves, so we agreed to try it. At the very least, it would get the book some attention. First, we lowered the price at Kindle to 99 cents and free everywhere else. Then we waited for Amazon to get on board and “price match” to free, because they don’t get any money for free books either. For that first half month, at the lowered price (literally $1.00 lower than it was before), it sold 5 copies at Amazon. *I will point out here that I don’t have data as to how many units were downloaded from Smashwords, Nook, or iTunes during this time. Finally, mid-June, Passing Notes went free. It immediately rose to the top ten of its category “90-minute Young Adult Fiction – Free”. I had a couple free and two paid promotions that weekend. (And I was soooooooo thankful the price dropped in time. I was very anxious about it, actually.) The promotions really helped, especially the one from Fussy Librarian on June 18th. The couple days that followed had my biggest downloads of over 300 units in a day and brought Passing Notes up to #1 Bestseller in its category. It stayed within the top 12 for the remainder of the time it was free, but it never got higher than 5 again even with the extra promos I did with smaller companies. I had to promote the deal regularly on my own social media pages. So I didn’t get too boring, I made a lot of different fliers about it. You’re seeing some of them in this post. Come July, it was time to start charging again. I did a last chance flier that I posted everywhere, and I got a lot of last minute hits. Like before, it took Amazon a minute to change the price. We only went back up to 99 cents, and we probably should keep it there. The experiment was to find out a couple things: 1. If the book was free, would people want it? The answer was yes. On Kindle alone we “sold” 1,095 copies of Passing Notes over that 3-week period. It’s not a runaway success, but I’m happy with it. 2. If the book was free, would it lead to sales of my other books? The answer was no. I didn’t see any uptick at all in sales of Cry of the Sea, Whisper of the Woods, or the new romance anthology Second Chance for Love, even though all of those books have been discounted all summer. 3. If the book was free, would I get more reviews? The answer was a marginal yes. I did get three new reviews on Amazon and two on Goodreads. I expect I’ll receive more as people get around to reading it. I got about 50 or more people added to the story’s Goodreads “to-read” list. On top of that, I had a few nice mentions on Facebook from people telling me that they liked it or recommended it for someone they knew. 4. If the book was free for a short while, would the momentum continue after the book was not free anymore but only cost a dollar? The answer is no. “Free” is the allure. Some people clearly only want free books, and they are not interested in paying for them. I think this is also why this giveaway didn’t lead to sales of my other titles. The vast majority of people who downloaded Passing Notes were probably not interested in paying for any books – ever. If you don’t mind reading indie and self-published books, you can read very happily for a very long time without ever having to pay a dime. It doesn’t bother me. It’s not unlike people who only get their books from libraries. The only difference for authors is that at least that copy was sold to that library at one point. What to do now? Well, my publisher and I talked about some new ideas for Passing Notes. Perhaps a change to the cover design? Perhaps a revision to make the story longer? I like it the way it is, and my reviewers do too, so this is a tough one for me. My other idea is to add a couple more paranormal novellas to make it a bigger book. It’s an on-going trial and error to see what might catch the eyes of potential readers. In the meantime, all of my books published under the Melange Books umbrella are discounted for the summer. I don’t know that the sale will last into August, so if you are at all interested in reading any of my books for cheap, this is the time. And if all of these fliers about Passing Notes didn’t tell you enough about the book, you can learn more, read an excerpt, see some reviews, and find buy links here: www.dgdriver.com/passing-notes.html I welcome your comments, your ideas, and your stories below. Last July I posted three articles called "Shy Girl at the Con (parts 1, 2,and 3)" about my experiences at three back-to-back events. Two of them were speculative fiction conventions where I was an invited speaker, and the third was a Young Adult writing conference where I was simply an attendee. They weren't the most awesome experiences for me, and I wrote that I was unsure whether I would go back again. Well, a year passed and I decided to brave two of them again and pass on one. I let Libertycon in Chattanooga go because, while it was a very well organized event, it actually cost money to attend (as a charity donation) not to mention gas to drive back and forth or a hotel if I wanted to stay down there. Being that I didn't sell a single book last year, I didn't think it was worth it. I didn't sell anything at Hypericon last year either, the other spec fic con I "spoke" at. I was really unhappy with the way I was treated at that event and didn't plan on attending this year. They put my name on the list and website before I told them no. When I approached the woman in charge about it, she promised me it would be at a better venue and better organized. I agreed to participate, but I limited my availability to only Saturday. At first it was because I was planning to do a local musical, but I wound up not trying out for it (because I was too busy writing). I never told her I was available on Friday or Sunday (Father's Day), and therefore she put me on only one panel. It was still organized at the last minute, but at least this year it was a subject that applied to me. I guested with 5 other authors about writing short fiction. Having had 3 short stories in anthologies recently and about to work on a new one, I was happy to talk about this subject. The panel was a lot of fun even if only three people were in the audience listening. Author Robert Krog, who edited A Tall Ship, A Star, and Plunder (the pirate anthology featuring my story "The Jamaican Dragon") was on the panel too, and it was very nice to meet him. Like last year, I was told I would have a guest author signing time, and it was supposed to be right after the panel. The other authors had papers with their assigned times. I did not. So, I mosied over to the signing tables, found an empty spot and set up for an hour anyway. Sadly, the guest author signing tables were in the lobby of the hotel, far from the ballrooms where the convention was being held. So none of us got any traffic at all. I sold one book to the very nice author next to me who had the most amazing flaming red and magenta hair. After I was done with my fake signing, I left. I saw absolutely no reason to stay at the very quiet convention where it appeared the only people there were the speakers. There were some cosplay people milling about, and I suspected they were just waiting for the contests later in the day. Big waste of time for me, and I definitely won't be back next year. Four days later I was back at the same hotel for Utopia, the YA conference. Last year I went as an attendee and went to the panel discussions. I was a little disillusioned by it all. Over the year, though, I stayed connected to the social page for the event on Facebook, and it got me all hyped up about going again. I plopped down the money and bought myself an exhibitor table. It was way too much to spend, and I knew I wouldn't get it back. Still, I figured I'd sell a few books and still have access to the panels and keynote speeches if I wanted to attend them. I tried to be active on the social media about the event, liking and commenting on posts, occasionally posting something myself, and following people on Twitter and stuff. I tried dying my hair blue so I'd look more fun and approachable, but it didn't show up. I made a vow to be sociable and talk to people, maybe even start conversations. I spent evenings making mermaid tail bookmarks by hand to be my memorable (and hopefully keepable) swag for the event, thinking that handing those out to people would help start interaction. All of that helped. People seemed mildly familiar with my name and face. I smiled the whole time and said hi to everyone. The bookmarks were a hit, and they enticed a few people to come close to the table. (Most people kind of walk down the center of the aisles, trying hard not to engage so they won’t feel like they have to buy). The two authors I really like that didn't recognize me last year, hugged me and chatted with me this year. Brenda Hiatt even remembered the name of one of my books without being prompted. That was cool. A couple bloggers that have reviewed my books came and said hello. One of them is Doris Orman (of Dowie's Place), who is a champion of Utopia and helped make me feel welcomed by saying hi frequently, posting this picture of her with me, and commenting on my posts. I was kind of thrilled to see a picture of me in the morning slide show on Friday morning. Ultimately, though, my impressions of the event from last year remained the same. The bulk of the event is not about the exhibition room or the panels about writing and selling books. What the attendees are there for are the parties in the evenings and the lunches out. The place emptied out completely from 1:00-2:00 both days as everyone, including vendors, went to lunch. One author across the way from us was never at her table - she was out socializing the whole time. All the social media was about the karaoke event, the games, the award show and the dance party. If you weren't there for the social part of the event, there really wasn't much point in going. I live in Nashville, and although I am a singer I don't even go to Karaoke with my friends here in town (and I have a dear friend who runs a regular Karaoke show). As an extreme introvert and homebody, I couldn't drum up the energy or motivation to go back downtown Saturday evening to the award show or the dance afterward and didn't know exactly how I'd explain going to my husband. "Hey honey, I want to go to a party with a bunch of women I don't know. Whatcha think?" He'd think I'd been replaced by an alien. I sold 2 copies of Cry of the Sea. That's it. The lady next to me on the right sold several copies of her picture book, which was unexpected for a YA event. The ladies to the left of me (who were possibly shy-er than me) sold about 10 of their book, which impressed me for a brand new self-published title that they confessed didn’t even have a genre (nor did that have any swag or fancy display). I didn't get too bummed out about it, because I didn't see anyone except the well-known authors sell lots of books. It also appeared that the romance/sexier novels were selling the best - especially the ones where hunky cover models came for photo opps. As there weren't a lot of actual teenagers there, that kind of made sense. And that was the thing that kind of frustrated me the most. I had been led to understand that the exhibition room was open to the public, but I didn't see any non-conference people there. Plus, what teenager can make it to downtown Nashville on a Thursday or Friday morning? Their parents work during that time. I thought there should have been one more day of bookselling on Saturday. I mean, the Barnes and Noble room was open on Saturday. I also, being local, never saw or heard one single bit of advertising to the general public that this event was going on. Frankly, it's really hard to sell books to a crowd full of authors who are also there to sell books. I didn't buy any. I'd already spent enough just to be there. In the end, the only thing having the table was good for was that it forced me to talk to people, when as an attendee the year before I didn’t talk to anyone at all. A couple of the panels and keynote speeches I went to were good. One was odd, simply because it was done by an erotic romance novelist. While I don't have a problem with erotic romance novelists, I did wonder why a keynote address for a Young Adult conference would be someone who doesn't write Young Adult. What made the event worth it was the keynote panel on Saturday morning. A group of best-selling authors answered questions and spoke about their personal struggles with self-esteem, highs and lows of being authors, writing time conflicts, and other personal issues related to writing. I’d never been to a session like that before, and it made me feel less broken and daunted by this whole writing gig to know that even the successful authors feel doubt , fear, and dismay. While I didn’t go home from this event with the same "high" other Utopians expressed in their posts, I did feel a little more connected to the writing world than before. We'll see where life takes me over the next year to determine whether or not I'll drum up the courage for this event again. Feel free to leave a comment if you like. Next time I'll be writing about my little experiment of putting my novella Passing Notes free for the month of June. So please come back. (Last I checked, it's still free, but my publisher has set it to go back to 99 cents. It could happen any time, so head over to Kindle now and get your copy.) I haven't featured an author on the blog in a while, and I apologize for that. I truly love highlighting cool and interesting books. So, when author Missy Sheldrake asked if I'd be interested in being part of her blog tour for her new fantasy novel, I jumped on the opportunity. I'm glad I did, because the book (and the whole series) look beautiful and engaging. Here is a guest post by her about her series and what she is striving to accomplish as a fantasy author. Missy: I’m excited to announce that the third book in the Keepers of the Wellsprings series, Call of Brindelier, is now available on Amazon! If you haven’t read the previous books yet, read on for a super-quick crash course. When I started writing this series, I really wanted to tell a story that was rich with fantasy, but not overly dark or mired with war and violence. I wanted to show the light side of fantasy: the cheerful, magical, uplifting side which I always drink up whenever it emerges in a story, and which always seems to be so fleeting in fantasy tales. I wanted to tell a story that would capture the hearts of young and old alike. Don’t get me wrong, my books aren’t void of conflict and evil. They tell of uncomfortable moments. There is violence and wickedness, but it’s those moments in my stories which are the fleeting ones. In the pages of my books, you will find fairies, Mages, Paladins, Elves, Dreamwalkers, Princes and Princesses, and even dragons. You’ll travel through a world rich with magic and wonder. In Call of Kythshire, you’ll learn all about Cerion, a seaside kingdom which has celebrated peace for over a century. You’ll meet His Majesty’s Elite, a guild that is the right hand adventuring team of King Tirnon Plethore, and you’ll join Azi Hammerfel, a young squire who has grown up within the guild’s halls, through disappointments and triumphs. By her side is Rian, her childhood friend, an Apprentice of the Mage Academy. You’ll meet Flit, a fairy from Kythshire, who is as tricky as any fairy you might imagine, but has a depth of character and a sense of purpose uncommon for a typical fairy. You’ll see her world unfold, and feel the evil threat of Sorcery that looms, waiting to destroy it. You’ll learn a little about the Wellsprings, but not too much, for their existence and workings are a well-protected secret. (Click here to read an excerpt from Call of Kythshire.) In Call of Sunteri, you’ll meet the strong-willed slave boy, Tib, who makes his first appearance as he escapes from the grips of Sorcery in the desert continent of Sunteri. He has help crossing the vast oceans to reach Cerion, but he doesn’t realize it at first. A mysterious being speaks to his mind, controlling his thoughts and making suggestions to ensure his own survival. In the meantime, Azi has been given the task of escorting the Prince of Cerion and his wife-with-child to the lakeside Kordelya Castle as the prince faces suspicion and ridicule after the events of Call of Kythshire. But a darker force emerges from the Dreaming, whose wicked intent is to use any means necessary to escape its prison and claim the magic of the Wellsprings for his own. In this book, you’ll see the devastating effects of the overuse of magic, and what it does to the Wellsprings and the creatures who thrive around them. (Click here to read an excerpt from Call of Sunteri.) In Call of Brindelier, a dark force looms, more powerful and destructive than any threat Azi and her guild have yet faced. You’ll follow Celli, a scrappy street fighter, as she is enticed into the grips of a powerful Sorcerer. You’ll watch Tib come into his own as he sneaks through the streets of Cerion, uncovering the darkness while also working on a mysterious project. You’ll follow Azi on a quest set by Princess Margary to find proof of Brindelier, a city in the clouds which is the key to all of the Wellsprings in the Known Lands. But Margy is not the only one interested in Brindelier. A dark force has been gathering, poised to claim it for their own. Control over the Wellsprings hangs in the balance. (Click here to read an excerpt from Call of Brindelier.) This series is appropriate for all ages, but I recommend 13 and up due to some violent themes. There is no sex, swearing, or excessively graphic violence in the Keepers of the Wellsprings. Throughout the series, you’ll encounter daring sword fights, violent magical moments, and a few quick deaths. Call of Brindelier, the third book in the Keepers of the Wellsprings series, is now available on Amazon. This weekend, I’m offering book one of the series, Call of Kythshire, for free, and book two, Call of Sunteri, for just 99 cents. Click here to download your ebooks while they’re on sale! About the Author: Missy Sheldrake is an author/illustrator who has been conjuring images of fairies in one form or another since she was very young. The wind in the trees and the rich scent of forest earth are her most treasured sources of inspiration, and on most mornings you will find her wandering the wooded paths, dreaming of the next adventure she hopes to put to the page. Missy was born in Connecticut and attended Western Connecticut State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Art with a concentration in painting and illustration. Even then, in her free time, she was writing. She moved to Northern Virginia several years ago and lives there now, on the outskirts of Washington D.C., with her true love and their son. She published her first novel, Call of Kythshire, in March of 2015 and intends to keep writing as long as the fairies allow it. Follow her at: www.missysheldrake.com Blog Amazon Author Page Please feel free to leave a comment for Missy below and enjoy the rest of the blog and website. It's been a month since I first experimented with putting a flash fiction story on my blog. I promised to do one a month, so here I go again. This story stems from when I used to work at a private special education school in West L. A.. We had this tiny campus, and it was down the street from a community park. For P.E. we would often walk the kids down to the park and let them play there. It was generally safe, although it was Los Angeles, so you know, we tried to be extra aware of our surroundings. For several days in a row this older man began showing up every day while we were there, and he made little wire puzzles. A few of the kids managed to sneak over and get a couple. Well, a parent found out, and I'm sure you can imagine how that went. Needless to say, I always wondered if the man and his puzzles actually formed any real threat. I have several versions of this story, because I never could quite figure out how to end it. I think I like this super short version best. I hope you enjoy this little, creepy story too. The Puzzle Maker by D. G. Driver My children told me about this guy who gave away puzzles in the park where their teachers took them to play for recess sometimes. Naturally, I wanted to meet him for myself and see what he was all about, so I headed over there after I dropped my kids off at school. I spotted the puzzle maker right away. He was sitting where the kids said he would be, at the picnic table in the park. When I approached, he offered me one of his puzzles by holding it out to me but not with words. I took it, saying “Gracias” to him. He smiled. I sat next to him and tried to figure out how to untangle the puzzle, wishing that I could speak Spanish so I could learn more about him. Watching him bend the wires with his set of pliers, I couldn’t imagine him being anything but this sweet, darling man. He was probably someone’s grandfather. Retired. Had nothing to do all day. So, he came to the park and made puzzles. Gave them to kids. Simple story. Nice guy. I summed him up so completely in my head as I sat beside him that I honestly felt we had just finished a long conversation together. In some way we had become friends. Getting up to head back to my car, I accidentally squeezed the puzzle in my hand against the tabletop. A sharp prick to my palm caused me to fling my hand open and drop the puzzle into the grass. I swore under my breath and brought the beading wound up to my mouth. Just before I sucked the drop of blood away, I heard a noise from the puzzle maker. I glanced over at him to find that he was watching me. Watching me and chuckling. He pointed his finger at me like he’d just played some great joke on me. No, I thought. He can’t be vindictive. I won’t believe it. I can’t believe it. This was just an accident, and he finds it funny. At the same time, however, he darted to the ground to retrieve the puzzle that had injured me. He tucked it into his jacket pocket and winked before walking away. I ran then. To the public restroom, where I rinsed my hand with lots of water. Was it an accident? Did he do it on purpose? If so, why? Was he trying to make me sick or was it just a practical joke? What kind of person was he? The two famous stranger slogans flashed in my head like conflicting neon advertisements. “Don’t talk to strangers!” “Strangers are just friends we haven’t met yet!” Which was he? A danger? Or just a nice guy with a weird sense of humor? It was a puzzle I couldn’t solve. When I came out of the bathroom the man was gone. His spot under the elms taken over by a picnicking family. All I could think was, “How many of these puzzles are in my children’s backpacks?” I had to get to their school, and confiscate them before they got hurt too. But I couldn’t get there. I collapsed to the ground. As the world turned black, I heard the puzzle man laughing again. I hope you enjoyed that. If you did, feel free to poke around my website and see if there's anything else I've written you might enjoy. I have more free stories, including a spooky/campy one about werewolf babies at Wattpad, and I have some fun YA contemporary fantasy books. Feel free to leave a comment. A week ago, April 26th, Satin Romance Books released a brand new, sweet romance anthology called Second Chance for Love. It features seven stories about single parents finding love again, and I'm proud to be among the authors. I thought I'd introduce the authors of this book to you by having them answer a couple questions. In the order pictured below: JT Adeline, Daisy White, Tara Fox Hall, Nancy Pennick, Katie Stephens (with her husband), Caroline Andrus (who was also our cover designer), and me. Oh! One more thing. Second Chance for Love is always free for Kindle Unlimited, but it will be free to Kindle users all Mother's Day weekend!!! Yep! It's true! May 7th-9th. So please get a copy, and in return for the favor, leave us a nice review. Question 1: What inspired you to write your story for Second Chance for Love? JT Adeline: Have you ever seen the commercial for Wounded Warrior with the veteran whose body shakes uncontrollably? He was the inspiration for my story, "Unexpected Match Maker". He chose to fight for our country and certainly didn’t choose to be forever injured. I wanted to have a veteran, whose face was disfigured while being in the war against Afghanistan, to have a second chance at love. And who better to bring love back but a twelve-year-old girl, who is not afraid of him, and shows him a new outlook on life. Daisy White: I lived in Plymouth, Devon for a couple of years and always wanted to write a story set around the Moors and the people who live there. Horses were a big part of my life for a long time too, so a storyline suggested itself pretty easily. "For the Love of a Horse" Tara Fox Hall: I wrote in a few real-life things, like the garnet earrings, the running someone over with a sled, and the sadness of getting a pileup of bad news in a single day. I wanted a sweet love story with a HEA, and the perfect guy, who would forgive the woman he loved her mistakes. "A Love for Michelle" Nancy Pennick: I had thought about writing a story from a mother/daughter perspective that never came to be. As authors, we know how that can happen! So when the call came for Second Chance for Love, I used that idea as a springboard to my short story, "The Perfect Beginning". And as always, I borrowed a little something from real life and tweaked the situation to fit the story. Katie Stephens: Two years ago, I used 31 prompts for Story A Day in May. One of those prompts, Every Other Weekend (a duet sung by Reba McEntire and Kenny Chesney) really struck home, because I remember those days. Luckily, I found the right man the second time around who loved my children like his own, but I always wondered what happened to the two people in the song. And so the story was born. "The Price of Silence" Caroline Andrus: To be honest, I almost didn't write a story for this anthology. I didn't have a clear idea of what I wanted to write, I didn't have any ideas of what would make a good story. Once I'd given up on the idea of writing a story to submit, I was in the shower and the idea just POPPED into my head. A woman catches her husband with the nanny (ripped from the tabloid headlines, right?) and is in a bind. She can't bring herself to trust another nanny, so... enter the Manny. From there the details started to form. The dirty-lying-cheating-soon-to-be-ex husband is a male model (named Derek in honor of the Ben Stiller character Derek Zoolander) and the woman scorned is a celebrity photographer. Me: I wrote the first 2,000 words of this story as a "try-out" for a ghostwriting gig I did a few years ago. I was hired, but I wrote an entirely different series of romance novellas. I had this story-start sitting on my computer, and when I saw the listing for Second Chance for Love, I decided to finish it and find out what happened to Dalton after he gives the ticket to poor Emily. (BTW, go here to read a snippet of "The Ticket to Her Heart"). Question 2: If you had a second chance to do something, what would it be? JT: This question was harder to answer than I thought it would be. I thought to pick something basic, but if it were something so simple would I really want to change it? The one thing I would like a second chance at is to be with my grandma until the day she left this world. I chose this because she suffered from dementia at the end of her life. It was difficult for me to continue to see her when she no longer knew who I was, but when she stopped eating and became nothing but a shell, I couldn’t go anymore. I didn’t like seeing her this way, my grandma who was always a little plump, who always smiled and loved to laugh. Daisy: Two lives! Tara: I wouldn't do anything differently in my life. I just hope I can say that at the very end, too. :) Nancy: I lost my dad when I was in college. So if I had a second chance to do something, it would be to spend a day with him. On the lighter side, I make it all the way to majorette semi-finals in high school. Groups of four girls tried out together and my baton was knocked from my hand by the girl next to me. I had to chase it as the others continued on. Devastated by what happened I didn’t do anything and wasn’t surprised I didn’t make the next callback. I wish I had been strong enough and not so shy to ask for another chance. Or maybe that was my chance, I’ll never know. Katie: There are way too many things I think about doing differently in my life after the fact, but then I remember I wouldn’t be where I am right now if I accepted a re-do. It’s easy to think: “If I knew then what I know now and could do it all again ....” In that case, I’d want prior knowledge on the perfect way to raise two incredibly wonderful and totally opposite children. They keep telling me they’re fine, but Mom will always worry. Caroline: This is a tricky question. There are a lot of things I could change if I had a do-over to make my life easier or different, but I don't think I ever would because then I wouldn't have the life I have now. Every experience has made me the person I am today. Sure my life would have been easier if I'd waited a few year to have kids instead of giving birth at the ripe age of 22, but then I wouldn't have my oldest daughter. So ultimately, I wouldn't change a thing. Me: There are a vast number of things I wish I could do again: people I wish I'd spoken to, auditions I wish I'd gone to, calls I should have made. But I think the "wish I hads" are a bit different than "second chances", so maybe I'll elaborate more about that in another blog post. Like Katie, I did get my lucky second chance for love, finding a wonderful man to be my second husband. I still have time, I think, to have a second chance to have a better relationship with my brothers and my step-daughters, and that is something I'd really like to improve. Question 3: What is something else you've had published? (click on the pictures to learn more about each book at Amazon) As for me, D. G. Driver, well, you can poke around my website (since you're here) and learn about my YA fantasy novels Cry of the Sea, Whisper of the Woods, and my romance/ghost story novella Passing Notes.
Last question: What are you working on now? JT: I am a multitasker, so currently I am working on seven different stories, one of them being the final book of the Dark as Night Trilogy. I’m working on so many because my mind doesn’t stop working, ever, and different storylines like to pop into my head whenever they feel like it. When I get stuck on one book, I move to another to keep my storylines moving forward. When I am really on a roll, it is wonderful to finish a story, and making it into a book for many to enjoy. Daisy: More short stories, and adult novel, and editing the sequel to Taming Tigers. Oh, and launching my new company My Perfect Pop-Up Shop! Tara: I've been working on a new series with Melange Books. The first book, A Good Year, will be out soon. I'm also putting together a book I plan to self-pub as a memorial to my father, who passed away the end of April. Nancy: I have a few projects going on at once. Second Chances, a New Adult book and follow-up to the YA Waiting for Dusk series, came out the same day as Second Chance at Love! And similar titles! This is a stand alone read, taking place three years later when Kate is almost twenty-one and living in New York City. Ever After will follow up next year, ending the series completely. I’ve stepped away from YA and NA to write a historical fiction novel about an Englishwoman sent to Scotland to marry a powerful laird’s son. That’s still in the works. Katie: My current project is a time travel romance novel for a box set with several other authors (including my heroine and editor, Aubrey Wynne, author extraordinaire and founder of The Editing Hall), releasing January 2017. I’ve always wondered how people would react out of their normal time period, so this is a fascinating research opportunity for me to pick the perfect point in history—or the future. Now to get the story line whittled down! Caroline: That's a loaded question! I've been working on a YA paranormal tentatively called 'Blood & Magic' since November 2013. It's with a few beta readers now before I delve into another round of edits. I love this story, it's about a vampire slayer named Kate who is plagued by strange dreams. Suddenly, she realizes everything she thought she knew about the world is wrong. I'm also working on the prequel to 'Blood & Magic', it's a New Adult novella called 'Catalyst.' This takes place in the same world and is about a witch named Vera and a vampire named Pierce who fall in love, despite it being completely taboo and a prophesy that could be about them. It's got a Romeo & Juliet feel to it, very strong on the romance whereas 'Blood & Magic' is pretty light. I've also got some ideas stewing around for a sequel to my my short story 'Running Late' mentioned in #3. This would be Paige and Will on their way to the alter. I foresee a lot of family drama in the wedding planning. And I'm hoping to start a YA mermaid novel soon because who doesn't love mermaids? Me: (Well, I love mermaids, obviously) And speaking of mermaids, I'm almost half-way through the 3rd book in the Juniper Sawfeather series. Yes, the mermaids are back in the story! I hope to finish that up early summer and still have enough time to get a story done for another Satin Books anthology before their deadline in August. I've got an idea, but it isn't firm yet. I also am pretty sure what novel I'll be starting after that. Stay tuned... I hope you enjoyed meeting all these ladies. Remember to pick up a copy of the book this weekend while it's free for Kindle! Or if you prefer print, you can get it here at Lulu. As always, I welcome your comments. When talking with a friend about my newest novel Whisper of the Woods with a month ago, she suggested, “You should do something with your book for Arbor Day.” It was a great suggestion, and one I wished I’d thought of myself, only Arbor Day had already been celebrated here in Nashville a couple weeks back. Undaunted, I went online and found out that National Arbor Day (for the U.S.) is April 29th. I already knew that Earth Day was on the 22nd. The math revealed that it was only a week between those dates, so I thought, “Hey! I’ll plan a little blog tour to celebrate both of my Juniper Sawfeather books and their environmental themes!” Planning a blog tour with less than a month to the dates isn’t easy, but I asked around and found some wonderful people to help me out. I have written posts for them, answered questions, and provided review copies. I even had one interview that had nothing to do with the tour posted online today, so I added it in as an extra. Hopefully, it will be an engaging week for those of you who follow along. To start off I thought I’d share a little bit about what I’ve learned about Earth Day and Arbor Day. Did you know that it was an oil spill that spurred Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin senator, to start Earth Day in 1970? Yep, a big, nasty oil spill of the coast of Santa Barbara, CA. He was so upset by it, that he used some of the enthusiasm of the young anti-war protestors at the time to start a day where people would stage events throughout the country to teach about environmentalism. On its first year, 20 million people participated in rallies from one side of the nation to the other. Amazing. And believe it or not, the whole thing was bipartisan – republicans and democrats, headed up by a Harvard professor named David Hayes, worked together to make it happen. In 1990, Hayes helped Earth Day go global. Arbor Day’s history reaches back almost one hundred years earlier. There weren’t many trees in Nebraska, and a man named J. Sterling Morton wanted a holiday to encourage people to go out and plant trees. It became official state holiday on April 22nd, 1874. Soon, other states adopted the holiday, and eventually it became a national holiday, officially celebrated on the last Friday of April each year. Many states hold their events earlier in the spring, though, because it’s better for planting. (Hence Tennessee doing theirs in early March.) So, to celebrate this environmental awareness week, I’m doing something special. Instead of asking my publisher to lower the price of my books for you, I’ve decided that for every copy of Cry of the Sea or Whisper of the Woods purchased between April 22nd and April 29th I will make a donation to Arbor Day Foundation, whose mission is to plant trees and help regrow forests. This is how it will work: I will give 50 cents for every ebook purchased and $1.00 for every print copy. So I know you purchased one, I need you to post a picture of your order on Twitter or Facebook and tag me like this (@DGDriverAuthor or D. G. Driver). I’m not self-published, so I won’t know you bought one if you don’t do this. Hopefully, at the end of the week I’ll have a little bit to give to them. Feel free to spread the word. If you’d like to skip the book buying part (because you already have my books, right?) and donate on your own go to https://www.arborday.org/ Follow me this week to seven different blogs for interviews, guest posts and new reviews! (Links will be added as they become live, and they will be orange) Come back here and check, or follow me on Twitter or Facebook for the updates each day. April 21st - A lovely surprise! Author Janet Balletta included Cry of the Sea on her Earth Day blog about great ocean reads and ways to prevent ocean pollution. April 22nd - Guest post celebrating the 1st year anniversary of author Nina Mansfield's blog Not Even Joking April 23rd - An interview at author Lela Markham's blog Aurorawatcherak April 24th - A review of Whisper of the Woods from Escaping Life's Craziness With Books "I'm definitely a fan of this Young Adult paranormal series and I love how the books have a unique environmental message." April 25th - A guest post titled "Writing When I Can" about balancing writing and research with a day job and a family at FranticMommy April 26th - A review of Cry of the Sea at Nebula Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books "The mermaids weren’t Disney princesses, they were sentient creatures of the ocean. Their plight, successfully, evoked the same empathy as that of whales or dolphins." - quote from the review. April 27th - An interview "A Visit with Multicultural Author D. G. Driver" at Mom Squad Central April 28th - A guest post about how to include a subject like environmentalism in a novel without being an "issue" book at Dowie's Place April 29th - A review of Cry of the Sea from Sheila Renfro's Read. Write. Revise. Then Go Sailing. http://sheilarenfro.blogspot.com/2016/04/cry-of-sea-by-dg-driver.html?spref=fb "I truly loved the this story. It was realistic in that you feel that 'it could happen'." Plus!!! Large excerpts from both books are being featured at Eco-Fiction, a website dedicated to finding great environmental themed fiction. Well, that’s about it. Enjoy the tour and feel free to poke around the website while you’re here. There are excerpts, review clips, and links for where to find Cry of the Sea, Whisper of the Woods, and my other books. Feel free to leave a comment.
I was all set to do another post about my experiences as an author, and then I decided I didn't really feel like it. The post wasn't coming out well, and it wasn't very original. So, instead, I decided that once a month, beginning today, I'm going to try to post a flash fiction story. If you're not familiar with that term, it is a really, really short story. This is the absolute opposite of the way I usually write, so it'll be a fun challenge. This first story isn't new. I wrote it a number of years ago after I'd been hiking. There was a very sad tree along the hiking trail, and I felt like this was the story it was begging me to write. I'm doing a blog tour called "From Earth Day to Arbor Day" starting next Thursday to celebrate my environmental themed novels Cry of the Sea and Whisper of the Woods, so I thought this story might be a good lead in for that event. G. H. + L. F. by D. G. Driver Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. It has been my pleasure to provide a shady place for you two to picnic or just lie for a while. Sometimes I can’t help it, but I have always tried not to let anything drop on you. A good wind can’t be stopped. When it rains, I’ve made it up to you by blocking enough of the drizzle so you could huddle close together and stay fairly dry. You always kiss unashamedly in front of me, but I’ve never told you to stop. I wouldn’t, no matter how jealous or embarrassed I got. Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. That your love life memories include me makes me proud. I’m just wondering if maybe you could have used a camera. You know, taken a photograph. Or you could have drawn on a pad. A watercolor would have done me a great justice. You might have written a poem, a sonnet, a song. A plaque set in the ground would have been a suggestion of mine if you’d asked. Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. I just think it makes more sense that the tattoos be on your body not mine. The tip of your knife slices through my outer layer and makes me want to scream. You keep digging deeper and deeper to make sure I really feel it. To make sure the scar lasts forever. I’d give anything for you to stop. Please. Take some of my fruit, some leaves for your albums. I didn’t do anything to deserve this. Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. Others will see what you wrote, though, and they won’t care. They won’t know what the initials stand for. When you come back as an old married couple to look on your handiwork, you’ll see thirty other copycat hearts and names carved into me. All of those people, all of those knives, all of those scars to remind me of how much you two love each other. Yes, I’m glad to know that you’re in love. Still, with every fiber in my being, I pray that a lightning bolt will strike me so that I will never see another pair of lovers again. I hope you enjoyed that. If you did, poke around my website a little bit and see if anything else I've written might appeal to you. I'd love to hear from you, so leave a comment if you like the idea of me posting these short stories. Anger is everywhere. So is judgement. There is a mean-spirited political race going on right now. The Internet is full of people spouting off everything they hate about everything all the time. People are getting offended. And people are getting hurt. A month ago Facebook introduced the new "reactions" emoji choices that people could use instead of a simple "like" button. This gave people the opportunity to have a sad face when there was sad news. Some people were outraged that there was no "dislike" button, but Mark Zuckerberg came forward and declared that he would not add that button. Even though the outcry was that people didn't want to "like" bad news like when someone is sick, loses a job, or there is a death in the family, etc, he said, “We need to figure out the right way to do it so it ends up being a force for good, not a force for bad and demeaning the posts that people are putting out there.” I couldn't agree more. Giving a "dislike" button also gives people the power to say that they dislike your selfie, your daughter's recital video, your book cover, your hair, your joke, your opinion... In other words, it gives people the option to be mean. And that already exists. Look at YouTube. You can thumbs-down a video and break the heart of the poor girl's video of herself singing in her bathroom. Look at Goodreads or Amazon, where a person has the ability to give bad reviews by posting 1 star and callous words. My heart wonders why anyone would want to go on the Internet and tell the world what they don't like about something, but I suppose people have their reasons for feeling that their poor opinions are of value in some way. All the anger and sadness was getting me down. I decided I wanted to do something about it. I wanted to bring some light back into the world by sharing quotes by famous people about kindness. I call it the #kindnesscampaign. I'm making these cards myself and having lots of fun with it. Every day I post a new one on my Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages. I've even started a Pinterest page of them. In doing this, I've attracted some new followers on my pages, people who also have accounts about positive messages. Now my Instagram and Twitter feeds are full of wonderful, uplifting thoughts. It's so refreshing. But what does this have to do with writing or children's books? you are wondering. Get on topic, Donna! As a writer, I feel it is my duty to support other writers. Therefore if I don't care for a book I've read, I take a tip from Thumper from Bambi and if I "don't have somthin' nice to say, don't say nothin' at all." Although, I almost always find something kind to say, because I rarely pick up a book I wasn't interested in reading. I only give positive reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, or I don't leave a review. As far as the Kindness Campaign relating to children's and YA books? There's a simple reason why I love reading and writing them: they are about kind people. Think about it. The heroes of these books are good, well-meaning kids fighting against horrible, awful people and rising above it all. Think of Matilda dealing with her parents or the kids fighting their evil uncle in A Series of Unfortunate Events. What incredible role models they make. Sometimes the characters make mistakes or terrible decisions that hurt people along the way, but if it is a good book the main character comes around or learns a valuable lesson about it. Harry Potter's major struggles are obvious, but look at how he befriends the misfits at school instead of going with the obviously popular and powerful group of Slytherins - and this includes people like Luna, Neville and Hagrid. This is a theme seen in many children's books, isn't it? Also, you have Hermione standing up for the house elves who are basically slaves. I could go on and on. I wrote my own books long before I started the Kindness Campaign, obviously, but if I look at them, I can find the theme of goodness. Juniper Sawfeather, from Cry of the Sea, is a bit of a loner because of her activist parents, but she's true to her one good friend Haley even if Haley desires to be one of the popular kids. It is also her kind heart and sympathy that makes her not only care for the stranded mermaid creatures but to actually begin to understand one of them. "I'm sorry," I said to the mermaid, touching the glass softly. "We weren't fast enough."The mermaid looked into my eyes. She understood me. Maybe not my words so much, but she recognized the sincerity behind them... Instead of talking with words, the mermaid simply let out a squeaking noise similar to the sound of a dolphin. "Did she just make a sound?" Dr. Schneider asked. "Yes, " I said. "I think she was talking to me." The mermaid made that squeaking noise again, much more urgently this time. She was definitely trying to tell me something. I turned to Carter. "We should move the dead mermaids out of her sight," I said. "It's upsetting her to see them like that." My dad and Dr. Schneider stared at me like I was crazy. "Would you be okay to look at the dead bodies of your sisters while people poked at them and talked about them?" My dad scrunched up his face. "Come on, June. I agree she might be aware of her surroundings and trying to reach out to us, but I don't believe she thinks that clearly." I stared at him hard. "Imagine standing there and having to watch the autopsy of my dead body. How would you feel?" In my YA romance novella Passing Notes, Mark is also a genuinely kind guy. He's a bit of a misfit and not the brightest, but he takes good care of his grandmother and family. It's his pure adoration for Bethany that gets her to pay attention to him in the first place, before her friends and his poor skills at romance make her think twice. Lissy and Kat dropped their foreheads a touch and stared at me through their eyebrows like they were challenging me to stand up for myself. I wanted to, but what could I say? I knew I wasn't as smart as Bethany. I wasn't in her circle and probably didn't belong there even one little bit. I wasn't sure how much, if anything, Bethany had told her best friends about me, but I was certain those snobby girls didn't know what it was like that night after the Christmas party when Bethany and I talked and talked about all kinds of things. I'd put money on it that they didn't know about our long phone calls over vacation. Clearly, Bethany hadn't told them anything (or enough) about me and how I made her smile and feel happy. If she had, wouldn't they be on my side? So, if you're a writer of children's or YA fiction, think about your main character's motives? Is he or she a good person inside? How do you want to show that or help your character discover it? If you're a reader of children's or YA fiction, take a moment to think about your favorite characters and how being kind people made them win your love and support. If you like the idea of the Kindness Campaign and would like to see these happy quotes in your feed, please follow me. You are welcome to share the posts and use the hashtag. Let's get something positve out there in the world. As always, I welcome your comments (and please be kind). Learn more about the Juniper Sawfeather Novels Cry of the Sea and Whisper of the Woods, and my YA paranormal romance Passing Notes - reviews, excerpts, and where to get your copy. |
D. G. DriverAward-winning author of books for teen and tween readers. Learn more about her and her writing at www.dgdriver.com Archives
July 2023
Categories
All
|
Author D. G. Driver's
Write and Rewrite Blog
“There are no bad stories, just ones that haven’t found their right words yet.”
A blog mostly about the process of revision with occasional guest posts, book reviews, and posts related to my books.