Is Stephen King Overrated?

My mother wouldn't let me anywhere near Stephen King's novels when I was a kid. Of course, that didn't stop me from reading them. Cujo was the first book of his that caught my attention because I thought the idea of people being terrorized by a demon-possessed dog sounded cool. Granted, Cujo is not King's best work.

But, to be frank, I never thought any of his work was that great. Even as a teen I got to a point where I couldn’t figure out why his books were so popular, and I thought, “You know what, I don't like these books. Why am I reading this?" From Carrie to It to Pet Sematary to Thinner, I thought King’s books were boring, wordy, unscary, and forgettable.

But that's not my beef with him. There are plenty of awful writers out there, and I just don’t bother reading them. But with King it’s different.

You see, he wasn’t all the rage when he first started writing. Throughout the early parts of his career, King was dogged by critics who called him out for his genre-specific, “popular” literary stylings, even as he was selling millions of books annually.

In the early 80s, The Toronto Globe called his novel Carrie "a clumsy experiment." The Los Angeles Times called Cujo "Paws" instead of "Jaws," saying, ‘[the book] doesn't work." In 1983, the same year that Christine and Pet Sematary were published, an essay in the Times suggested it was a slog for reviewers to read King's work, saying they would rather just have a beer with him than read his books. In 1986, the Times said, "Where did Stephen King, the most experienced crown prince of darkness, go wrong with It? Almost everywhere."

In 2003, King won the National Book Foundation’s award for distinguished contribution, and Boston.com writer and Yale professor Harold Bloom let the world know that giving King the award was wrong. He said it was “another low in the shocking process of dumbing down our cultural life.”

A recent article in The Huffington Post said King can’t write. The author, Michael Conniff, an instructor and writer himself, said Stephen King’s broad-stroke descriptions are actually hurting his work.

In an article in Salon, Dwight Allen from the LA Review of Books asked why is Stephen King so beloved? Allen dissected a bunch of his books and came to the conclusion that King is overrated as a writer and as a storyteller. He argued that sales do not translate to excellent writing, and questioned some publications that wrote glowing reviews of King's body of work.

So why is he so popular?

I think King’s saving grace was Hollywood. His books, though poorly written, were edgy, and edgy is always what catches the attention of Hollywood. Once movie makers started turning his books into feature films the Stephen King bandwagon really took off. Remember those two-night Stephen King television "events"—It, The Langoliers, Storm of the Century? When those mini series became trendy people assumed some literary masterpiece had landed on earth and they started they eating his books by the trough full.

And then King's popularity began to overshadow his shortcomings as a writer.

When King published the seventh volume of his Dark Tower series, The Washington Post gave it a gushing review, saying it was “a humane, visionary epic and a true magnum opus.” The New York Times listed his JFK assassination novel 11/22/63 one of "The 10 Best Books" of the year.

Ultimately, I don’t think the quality of King’s work stands up. In fact, I think it’s downright awful. For a guy who has taught English for much of his career, who had given lectures and written books about the importance of story, he spends a good deal of time drowning his stories in words.

But what do I know? King has sold over 350 million books so he is obviously doing something right. Readers have voted with their wallets, and they have crowned King… king. I’m glad that a fellow author has found success, I just wish it could be for the quality of his work and not because he won a popularity contest.

What do you think? Is Stephen King overrated?

How To Effectively Kill Your Facebook Posts

What Facebook knows about us is scary.

I was recently talking to a couple of friends who were surprised by the way Facebook ads almost always seem to have something to do with their recent Google searches or browsing history. I explained that it's because Facebook tracks our every move because they're in the government's pocket and someday the government will use that information against its citizens to eliminate undesirables so they can create a utopian society that takes our children and forces them to compete in rigged death matches for the glory of their district.

I'm not freaking out here. The Hunger Games is seriously prophetic stuff, man!

But I digress.

Okay, it might not all be so cloak and dagger, but there's no question that Facebook is the "big brother" of our time. And it all has to do with some very cleverly written and ever-changing algorithms.

What is an algorithm?

An algorithm is a computer program designed to run a sequence of calculations to acquire and tabulate specific data. An algorithm can be programmed to figure out how many users named Craig stalk your Facebook page, or how many users aged 25 read your blog.

In some cases an algorithm can even be programmed to make decisions.

FOR EXAMPLE:
Facebook's algorithm is designed to red flag posts containing words like "free" and "giveaway." This is because the algorithm assumes those key words have something to do with a business. If it assumes you're trying to make money, Mark Zuckerberg wants in. The job of the algorithm is to find those posts and restrict them unless the user decides to pay Facebook to boost the post's reach.

Most of us already know that Facebook only shows what we post to about 10% of our friends and followers. This algorithm was implemented a couple years ago, and it's a change that pissed off—and continues to piss off—almost every single Facebook user. I mean, what's the point of having every member of my family "friend" me on Facebook if the algorithm is going to show only 10% of them what I post?

When you look at it from Facebook's point of view, however, it makes a lot of sense.

Let's say Facebook is the boss of a large department store and we are the employees. Every day the employees come in and sell their own homemade products. The boss isn't going to like having his store used so other people can make money unless he gets a cut. That's exactly what the CEOs at Facebook decided. There came a point where so many people were using Facebook for their business—and making good money at it!—that Facebook came up with an algorithm to restrict interaction with user posts unless posters paid money to increase engagement.

But, like any good boss, Facebook's algorithm can work with you if you try.

Before I go any further...

How the heck do I know this stuff?

Facebook is a large part of my job. Aside from using it for personal reasons and to promote my novels, I also manage several Facebook accounts for businesses and non-profits. Over the years I've read a lot of blogs and listened to a lot of seminars by business professionals, photographers, experts in the field of social media, and others about the dos and don'ts of Facebook. This is just a bunch of stuff I've picked up along the way.

I don't claim to have it all figured out, and some of this information might change in a few months too because Facebook is continually updating and changing its algorithms.

In the least I hope this information helps make you aware of how the social media "program" works.

Making Mr. Algorithm your friend.

You want to know what really kills a Facebook post?

Inconsistency.

One of the worst social media blunders an author can make is to post twice a day for a week and then drop off the map. Once your Facebook page has gone a few days or longer without you logging in and interacting in some way its algorithm decides you're not very interesting. Suddenly you become like a lover trying to win back your ex and you've got to work hard to convince Mr. Algorithm that your posts are worth distributing again.

Another good way to kill your Facebook posts is to be like that one-sided conversationalist at a cocktail party. Don't get onto social media just to talk about yourself. Nobody likes that guy. You need to click on other people's posts, or comment, or like, and/or share their stuff. This tells Facebook's algorithm that you're an engaged participant. The more you engage the more others will engage with you and the more attention your posts will receive. That's why it's called "social" media.

If you have trouble posting consistently there are a number of online programs that can help you schedule posts on a regular basis such as Hootsuite and MeetEdgar. If you're an author with a Facebook business page (also called a "Like Page") you can even use Facebook's built-in scheduling feature to plan your posts days, weeks, and even months in advance. (Unfortunately this feature is not available for standard Facebook accounts, but anyone can start a "Like Page" if they wish.)

And before you ask, no, there is no data to support the idea that using third party programs to do your posting limits your chances of engagement. As far as I know Facebook's algorithm doesn't care who does the posting, so long as it is on your behalf.

How else can I kill my posts?

Authors like to be perfectionists. It's what makes us so imperfect. It's also why we have the hardest time resisting correcting a post if we publish it with an error. But that's a surefire way to get Facebook's algorithm to red flag your post as redundant. Once that happens even fewer than the already paltry 10% will see your post, if any.

If you really need to make a correction then post it in the comments. You can always upload a corrected version of the post later, but wait an hour or so. Posting the same thing too soon can also raise a red flag. Remember, Mr. Algorithm doesn't like redundancy.

Indies need to support other indies.

The best thing us indie authors can do is partner up with other indies. Make a pact with each other that whenever someone posts something everyone will go and like, comment, or share the post. This will immediately convince Facebook's algorithm that the post is interesting. For every reaction the post gets, the algorithm unveils it to more people. You could even get your friends and family in on this too!

Does all of this sound like more work than it's worth? It's really not. All it takes is five or ten minutes a day of hitting up your friends, family, and favorite Facebook pages and liking and commenting on a few things. Be engaging by getting engaged.

Author Interview: John L. Monk

"Just ask yourself how many times in your life you've been forced to go to the emergency room. ... Even without the skills of our forebears, human life is delicate and nature is brutal."

—JOHN L. MONK

I came across John L. Monk's "Kick" while searching for something to read on a flight to Hawai'i in January 2015. John's intriguing story, sharp prose, and clever wit hooked me from the get-go and I've been a fan ever since.

Buy Hell's Children

His latest book, "Hell's Children," just hit the market. Though a departure from his usual genre it's a great read, and John's distinctive style isn't lost. The story revolves around a group of teenagers who find themselves the sole survivors of a sickness that has wiped out everyone over the age of sixteen. This story of survival pits society's "cabbages," teens who can only thrive in a coddling environment, against the "weeds," those tough-as-nails kids willing to do what it takes to survive.

To celebrate the release of his new book—and partly because I'm just plain nosy—I asked John for an interview, which he generously provided.

C.W. Ok, first of all, if the scenario in Hell’s Children actually happened, would John L. Monk be a cabbage or a weed?

J.L.M. Hah, I first conceived the whole "cabbages and weeds" view of the world by reading the autobiography of Ben Franklin and thinking, "Wow, he ran away at fourteen to start a business. Can you imagine the pampered, texting, video game-playing kids these days doing anything so gutsy, so ambitious?" I thought about the hard life Ben and the early Americans lived and how they could do so incredibly much: build a house from the raw materials at hand, feed themselves off the land, make their own clothing, birth a nation. Amazing stuff.

And to answer your question, I'd totally be a cabbage. I don't know how to do any of that stuff. Sure, I can fish, kill some poor deer or something and try to eat it. But to write the book, I spent a lot of time on Youtube figuring stuff out, reading articles online, that kind of thing. In a post-apoc situation, the Internet goes away. Danger lurks everywhere. Just ask yourself how many times in your life you've been forced to go to the emergency room. I can count six or seven times, all of them potentially life threatening. Even without the skills of our forebears, human life is delicate and nature is brutal.

The character Jack is unique. His survivalist parents taught him lots of stuff that’s lost on kids today. Is this how you were raised? If not, how did you devise Jack’s upbringing? Did you watch a lot of “Doomsday Preppers?”

Me raised like that? Heck no. I was raised by Jack Tripper and Andy Griffith and Whatchu-talkin'-bout-Willis. I watched a lot of TV. Ok, not entirely true—I went fishing a lot, ran out in the woods looking for snakes, shot guns while visiting my great grandparents in West Virginia, but that was about as grizzled as it got. My education was limited to whatever I could scrape from school and still get a passing grade. Mostly, I read fantasy and science fiction. That, at least, gave me some perspective on the level of my ignorance. To counteract that, I suppose that's why I got a degree in Anthropology. I learned a lot from that—how to think about people and understand why they do things. Empathy has been my biggest strength as a writer.

Oh, and about "Doomsday Preppers"—that show really bugs me. I love seeing all the preppers, what they do, all the ideas and stuff. But then along comes the stupid Nat Geo know-it-all at the end telling us (the audience) just how implausible the various doomsday scenarios are. And the arguments they use are pretty indefensible—provided there's no one around to defend against them, in which case they get to "win" or whatever. So I stopped watching it.

I couldn't agree more. The so-called "reality TV" is all about making fun of people. There's very little "real" about any of it.

If you want good survival stuff, go listen to podcasts like "The Survivalist Prepper Podcast" or "The Survival Podcast," or check out forums like "survivalistboards.com." The TV stuff is heavily-edited, exploitative, and unfair.

Your book explores some pretty dark aspects of humanity, and what teenagers of today might become in a world without electricity, supermarkets, and adult supervision. What sort of experiences have you had, or what research did you do, to capture all of that so vividly?

To be honest, I still remember what it was like in high school, on the playground, on the baseball team when the coach wasn't looking. Kids can be vicious, cruel, and shockingly stupid. And the ones that aren't are victims to the ones that are. Just look at some of the more famous "bullying" videos on YouTube and you'll see. But for a handy camera at the right time, those stories would never have seen the light of day. As for research, every day on Facebook turns up story after story of boys or girls beating up some old person for "disrespecting" them (if a reason is given at all). The research is all around us, it's abhorrent, and it's just getting worse.

Post-apocalyptic fiction isn’t a genre you’ve explored before. What made you decide to tackle this subject?

I've always loved the genre. I've read about twenty "Death Lands" novels by James Axler, "One Second After," "Lucifer's Hammer," "Alas Babylon," "The Stand," "Z For Zachariah," and a bunch more I can't recall. I love The Walking Dead. It's interesting to me. And there's an audience for it. I'm a writer. I sit in a chair for hours at a time sweating over commas and stuff—it's a lot of work. And when I'm done writing something, I want it to be read. Writing in a popular genre that I personally enjoy is a great payoff for all that work.

But despite the personal benefit (money, ego-stroking), I also wanted to talk about "kids these days." The story is sort of a wake-up call. Go read Angela's Ashes. Frank McCourt used to watch the men of Limerick ride the coal wagon to the mines every day. He describes all the kids standing along the road watching them, dreaming of the day they could do the same. Can you imagine "kids these days" wanting to work in a coal mine? Any kid caught wanting such a thing would be seen as an aberration—a "chump" for wanting to do hard work like a grownup. Smart kids in school are called nerds, at best, and beaten up at worst. Not that there's a lot of kids getting smart in schools these days, but that's another discussion.

Post-apocalyptic novels are the rage these days. How were you influenced by other books in this genre, and how did you design “Hell’s Children” to stand apart?

Those books I mentioned were heavy influences. I would read them and think, "What would I do in this situation?" With my limited survival knowledge, I rarely had a good answer. So that's another great reason I chose children to survive the apocalypse, and it goes back to the whole "cabbages and weeds" thing: I'm simply not that smart. I think I have a lot of empathy, so I know how kids would behave—how humans would behave. But knowing how to survive on my own without the benefits of civilization requires research. And research is time consuming. If I write about kids undergoing a terrible calamity (like all the adults dying), suddenly I don't have so much research.

Smart move. And it makes your story feel all the more plausible.

Exactly. Like me, the kids don't know very much. Shoot an animal, cut off a piece and eat it? Makes perfect sense to the cabbages in the story. For Jack's character, I had to research how to field dress an animal, and what parts you'd consume if you wanted to survive (hint: the organs—that's where all the vitamins and minerals are). So writing about kids was a great way to focus on story and less on data. Motivations and cause and effect. That's what people read books for. Not data.

I’ve always admired your prose. It’s concise, it’s clever, and very direct. Tell us about your writing process. What does it look like? How do you best like to work? Do you have any weird quirks? Do you write naked?

Haha. No, I've never written while naked. Too many dangly bits to deal with.

And thank you for the compliment on my typing practice—I try my best. Well actually, that's not entirely true. I make a serious effort to write something good, I read it a bunch of times, changing as I go along, get it edited, read it again two to three more times, changing as I go (putting in new typos and stuff), then I publish it. Then very nice readers tell me quietly about the remaining typos, which freaks me out (I get embarrassed about that kind of thing) and I go put the fixes in and hope nobody notices.

You do that too? No way!

And I write direct prose because when I try to write flowery stuff it comes out contrived. Sometimes I turn a pretty little phrase here and there, and that's always great. I try to get maybe one good turn of phrase in per chapter. Something memorable, if possible. Usually it's something funny. But I don't dress up every page in purple prose. And I don't have any weird quirks that I know of. I suppose you could say I pants all my novels, but a lot of people do that. I macro-outline the general story I wanna write, whether that happens or not. I jot a few sentences at the top of each chapter saying where I would like it to go (again, whether that happens or not).

What does John L. Monk like to do when he's not writing?

Read, eat, take naps, go to the movies, go out to eat (the dining experience), drink whiskey and hang out with my wife, or hang out with friends. I like fishing, but only if it's convenient, and right now it isn't. Really, I get a lot of enjoyment from the indie writing community. I love corresponding with other authors, seeing what they're up to, hearing them on various podcasts. Great fun.

What sorts of things have you learned about yourself while writing?

I guess the biggest thing I've learned is that I can start a difficult project, finish it, and not screw it up too badly. Finishing a novel is a major thing. Lots of people have tried, but only a small percentage of the ones who tried ever managed it. I've finished five so far, and that's a real confidence builder.

What books are you reading right now? Any new indie authors we should check out?

At the moment, I'm reading "Mutation" by Nerys Wheatley. It's a cool book with a different take on zombies. I'm also re-reading "Turning Pro" by Steven Pressfield. If you're a writer, read it. Also read it if you're anything else—the stuff in that book applies to just about everyone.

Have we seen the end of Jack and the “Hell’s Children”?

I sure hope not. I'm hammering away naked right now trying to write the next one! I hope to get it out before September, because of Amazon's horrible 90-day cliff where they drop you off the radar. But I won't compromise quality for speed. Once the book is ready, I'll think up a series name (ugh), slap that on both covers, and get it out there. Hopefully sales stay strong throughout. There's nothing more motivating than steady sales of book one when you're trying to write book two.

I think Jack is a fascinating character with a lot of potential. I look forward to where you take the story from here.

Read more about John's work at john-l-monk.com. "Hell's Children" is available now on Amazon, and don't forget to check out John's other books, including "Kick," "Fool's Ride," "Hopper House," and "Thief's Odyssey."

Author Interview: J.C. Stockli

"I have always been the under dog wrapped up in a little blonde package with a sometimes overwhelming sense of imagination. In a lot of ways, I'm still that little girl scared of the dark."

—J.C. STOCKLI

Sometimes I read a book just for fun. Other times I read a book and study it. J.C. Stockli is one of those writers who actually had me taking notes. Her style is crisp and smart, and her most recent novel, The Nothingness, is a gritty paranormal mystery that grabs you by the jugular and doesn't let go.

Stockli's work was so intriguing that I messaged her and asked if I could interview her. She eagerly agreed, much to my delight!

C.W.: Your book is very dark with some frightening imagery and ideas. I've gotta to ask, what were you like as a child?

J.C. Stockli

J.C. *Laughing* I was a pretty normal kid, the younger of two siblings, two parents, a dog and cat. I had a wonderfully playful grandmother, a real quirky aunt, and some rascally cousins whom I loved to visit with when growing up. There was a lot of make-believe in my childhood. Yes, I had an imaginary friend and I'm still terrified of the boiler monster in my basement. I always had nightmares, but forced myself to get into horror movies to get over my fears. I had a neighbor who was obsessed with the Poltergeist franchise, and I'm sure she helped to foster my fears, but I learned to love them. I have always been the under dog wrapped up in a little blonde package with a sometimes overwhelming sense of imagination. In a lot of ways, I'm still that little girl scared of the dark.

Your book delves into some truly harrowing realities about the lives of addicts. Your depictions of their struggles are very real and heart-breaking. What sort of experiences have you had, or what research did you do, to capture all of that so vividly?

Understanding that I looooooove when endorphins flare, I know I have an addictive personality. If it feels good—I want more—period. To that end, I have never ventured beyond tobacco and alcohol because I've just never trusted myself. Sadly, I've seen others around me fall to much harsher substances. Addiction is non-discriminatory. It cripples even the strongest and wealthiest, and it can be a subtle threat. I think that's why I wanted to weave that into my story. What originally started off as a mere fantasy in my mind transformed into a fictitious platform with which I could depict how easy addiction can be. There's a stigma wrongly placed on substance abuse, and I wanted to address that.

Give us some insight into your main character, Evie. What should would-be readers know about her?

Evie is your everyday girl. She's flawed, makes mistakes, but is in fact human and has a good heart. I didn't want her to be pristine. She's insecure, doesn't realize her own worth. I've had a few reviews where people have questioned why she would have been dumb enough to do action A or B, but in reality isn't that the human condition? Don’t we always question why people do some of the things they do? Evie is just like you and me, trying to figure life out.

The Nothingness is the first book in a series you're planning correct?

Yes, the Addictions of the Eternal series.

So what sorts of places do you see Evie going to in the future—emotional, mental places?

Evie is going to run the gauntlet with her addictions. The Nothingness is only her first exposure to the drug. She's going to have others who try to shield her from it, but she's got to taste it (so to speak), experience the high for herself, succumb to it, and hopefully free herself from it. The series will carry her through the highs and lows of addiction and through said journey we'll all slowly exit reality and become immersed within the fantasy of the vampire world lurking in the shadows.

Vampires are definitely the rage these days. What drew you to write about them?

I have loved vampires since I was a kid. Who didn't love The Lost Boys? Honestly, the fact that they have become all the rage is sort of surreal for those of us who have been mystified by the supernatural our entire lives. Am I right?

So true! I've got to ask, are you a Twilight fan?

*Laughter* I read and enjoyed the books for the YA value they offer. They challenged the convention of what vampires could be, which I enjoyed... but they were too soft for me, as most YA tends to be.

Ok. We can be friends. *Laughter* So what made you decide to depict your vampires in such a gritty, realistic way?

I didn’t want superhuman powers or the traditional convention of what a vampire could be. I’ve seen other authors tackle this subject, and some challenge the norm, while others embrace it, masterfully—I wanted to challenge it. I have this firm belief that all legend must stem from somewhere. That said, the concept of a tangible origin suggested a more realistic existence than the aversion to sunlight or flying bats with no reflection. I'm not saying that I do not value the cross and garlic stuff, but that’s not real life... unless we’re going to talk about the medical conditions behind it all. I decided I wanted to stray away from tackling the scientific angle, that's been done quite well already, but what about the sociological evolution? Or perhaps the spiritual origin? We’ll see this exposed as the series progresses.

I really liked your approach to vampires in The Nothingness. I think in recent years my taste for vampire stuff has been tainted by their treatment in Hollywood and in books like Twilight, but I felt like you breathed new life into the genre for me. I can't wait to read what you come up with next!

Thanks!

Your prose has such a distinct style. It's very beautiful. Tell us about your writing process. What does it look like? How do you best like to work? Do you have any weird quirks?

This story stemmed from a nightmare that lingered. When an image is so vivid that I can live and breathe it, then it's easy to tell it. I take every experience from my day to day and make mental notes. What was that smell? What did it stir in me? I love silent exchanges of eye contact, so each time I find myself envisioning Lucca staring across the room, I try to tune it to how my body reacts. Music is a large influence, again monitoring how my body reacts to a rhythmic beat. I cannot write in silence, I need to choreograph the scene to the song. Actual writing is haphazard for me. If I have an idea, I get it out quick. I email notes to myself constantly, sometimes a full scene or dialogue. I email notes to myself throughout the day and jumble it all together when I get home and in front of the computer.

What does J.C. Stockli like to do when she's not writing?

Well, it sure isn't folding laundry! I have a beautiful family to keep me company, and thanks to e-books, I have a virtual library in the palm of my hand at all times.

What sorts of things have you learned about yourself while writing?

I’ve learned to push myself out of my comfort zone. Every writer is an introvert, and sharing is difficult. Especially being an indie author, I’ve had to suck in a deep breath and put myself out there, put my writing out there. This was a huge leap for me, but now I feel freer, liberated. It’s been a cathartic experience.

What books are you reading right now?

I just finished a fantastic adventure, Mabel Bunt And The Masked Monarchs, and I’m currently reading My Hood Your Barrio His Beat. I love meeting fellow indies and experiencing their work, working with them and doing book reviews and character interviews on my blog www.jcstockli.com. Writers can contact me if they want me to feature their work.

You're awesome! Thanks so much for entertaining my questions.

Book two in Stockli's series, The Saving, will be available next weekend, October 2. The Nothingness is available now in print and digital formats from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. In anticipation of The Saving, The Nothingness is on sale this weekend for $.99. If you go to her blog she's offering a sneak peek of the next novel!

J.C. Stockli is scheduled to be part of the first ever Virtual FantasyCon, which runs November 1 to 8. Presented by Flavour of Fantasy, FantasyCon will be held online in a Facebook Event with panel discussions via YouTube, a Scavenger Hunt, Giveaways, and a Cosplayer Costume Contest with a daily prize for the best selfie and costume and a grand prize.

To learn more about J.C. Stockli's work, visit her blog at www.jcstockli.com.

"Facing Your Fears" Wrap-Up

I once heard a great little maxim: "A writer is halfway done the moment he begins."

It's a true enough statement, but why is it true? Because for many writers overcoming fear is the biggest obstacle. Sometimes just beginning is what it takes to overcome the manacles of "maybe" and "might" and "what if." Sometimes all we have to do is start.

And then all we have to do is keep going.

We can study great writing. We can absorb good advice (like you're doing now. *wink, wink*). We can accumulate lists of dos and don’ts, but until we learn to keep on keeping on we're doing nothing except gathering information. Information, I'll add, that is useless until it's put into practice.

A child learns to ride a bike by riding a bike. There's no other way to teach them.

Likewise, a writer learns to write by writing. Sounds simple enough, right? Sure, unless fear is holding you back.

Over the past few (okay, many) weeks, I've examined some of the different aspects of a writer's fear—the fear of looking foolish, of being called out on our grammatical mistakes, of being boring, of being misunderstood or unliked, of failing, of not meeting our expectations—and, as I've said before, every single fear a writer can have stems from one commonality: they all MIGHT come true.

But we'll never know unless we begin.

Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony 
than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Your fear may be telling you that your words don't matter, but that is a lie. Your words do matter. Your story matters. Your story may only ever bless one single person, but until you write it and get it out there you'll never know.

If I had cancer and only three days left to live, and if I found myself sitting face-to-face with you, a writer paralyzed by fear, this is what I'd scream at you regardless of how many people thought me a lunatic:

• Don't be afraid to be you! Write what's in your heart. Who cares if the world thinks you're nuts. The universe has put this on you to write, so write it already!


• Don't get tied up in grammar and technical mistakes now. Yes, those things are important, but you'll get to them during the later editing stages. For now, just write!


• Don't try to be perfect, just write!


• Don't worry about failing. Everyone fails. It's how we learn, so just write!


• And, for the love of Christmas, just write, damn it!

So let your fingers fly across your keyboard today—or if you're really old school: the typewriter, or if you're really, really old school: the piece of paper. Whatever you've got, just have at it. Enough stalling, enough procrastinating, enough excuses, it's time to overcome fear and get to work.

Now, if you'll excuse me I need to go follow my own advice. :-)

Face Your Fears

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 10: Fearing Fear

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#10 Set Yourself Free Of Fearing Fear

I recently made a trip to Nashville. It was utter misery. Not that Nashville itself was miserable, the city is actually quite a lot of fun—and the sweet tea? Oooh, the sweet tea!—but repeated car trouble had left me stranded with no idea of when I could drive back home. How long am I going to be stuck here? What about my job? How do I get back home? How much is this going to cost? Oy vey!

Oh, and then I got in an accident with the rental car that I had to use in the meantime, but that's another story.

After a nightmare of a weekend I called the mechanic on Monday to see how my car was doing, terrified that I would get more bad news. I got more bad news—I was going to be stuck in Nashville for another three days. Well, at least my insurance was covering most of the problem.

I hung up the phone and, to my surprise... I felt fine. The news I received wasn't great, but it could've been worse. At least I knew what was going to happen.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that fear isn’t the problem—fearing fear is where we run into trouble.

Remember those famous words from Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inaugural address: "Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance."

FDR was essentially telling the American people that their fear was making things worse.

When we are able to exit the crazy mental loop of fear we’ll be in a better place to see clearly, aspire meaningfully, and stop tripping over our own self-defeating feet.

Beating a fear of fear doesn't mean all of our lofty goals are realized and our dreams come true. It simply means that when we're no longer fretting over the unknown we have more room to breathe, experiment, and evolve as writers when we’re not squeezed into those small and invented stories that have been dictated to us by fear.

Your life and your writing are both precious resources. Don’t waste a drop of either. Take charge of fear by not letting it control you. When you can finally start to see around the obstacle of fear you have a chance to step into your greatest potential.

The Rest of This Series

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 9: Be Logical

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#9 Dose Fear With Logic

As I've said before, our fear exists to keep us safe. When you're in a new city your fear helps you identify certain parts of town you may wish to avoid if you're out walking about all alone. Fear keeps you from getting too close to the edge of the Grand Canyon. Fear keeps you from swimming too far out into the ocean where dangerous currents or sharks could harm you.

Sometimes fear overreacts. Though it may have your best interests at heart, there are times when it just needs to be reasoned with.

For example, consider an inquiry process like this:

YOU:     Why have I been procrastinating so much lately?
FEAR:   Because you know if you finish your book you might find out it's bad. If you never finish it, you'll never have to hear the bad news. You'll be safer that way.
YOU:     Who is going to say my work is bad?
FEAR:   Critics. Other writers. Readers.
YOU:     Maybe. Maybe not.
FEAR:   Are you sure you want to take that chance?
YOU:     I'd rather get some feedback, good or bad, so I can improve myself as a writer. Besides, I have confidence in my work. I believe it's good.

Your fear will have to agree.

If you are feeling fear, you are likely perceiving danger. The harder you try to silence the fear, the louder it will get to try to protect you. Therefore, I propose that you lean into that fear, and really listen to what it wants you to know. Then reason with it. Reason with yourself. You'll find that fear sometimes doesn't have a leg to stand on.

The Rest of This Series

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 8: Hold Your Course

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#8 You Can't Steer A Still Ship

Ever kayak? I love kayaking. It's an interest that both my wife and I share. One thing you can't do in a kayak, or in any boat for that matter, is try to steer without moving. If you're just sitting there in a calm body of water and stick your paddle under the surface, nothing is going to happen. Without a current or forward momentum, you can't steer that kayak to go anywhere.

How does this translate to writing? Simple: writers with defined goals have a better chance of achieving them, and therefore give fear less of an opportunity to throw them off course.

If you have something more interesting to focus on than fear, it’s far less likely that fear will hog the spotlight of your attention. One way to hold your focus and build forward momentum is to clearly articulate for yourself why you’re working on a particular piece of writing, what motivates you to stay with it, and what the imagined end result will be.

For example, if you know that the article you're writing about famous women in history is going to teach you something that aligns with your core values, you have an intrinsic reward that's worth fighting for. If you work for a newspaper or magazine and understand that when you finish your articles you'll get a paycheck, you're more likely to invest yourself in what you're writing about. If you have a chapter by chapter outline of that novel, then you can see the end result and don't have to worry so much about running into hick-ups in the narrative.

When you have your eyes set on the next goal you create forward momentum. When fear creeps back in, it's easier to steer around it because your moving toward your goal.

The Rest of This Series

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 7: Do What Scares You

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#7 Do What Scares You

I was a very shy, anti-social teenager. I was nerdy. I was awkward. I was like red meat for playground bullies. When I grew up and took a job at a local newspaper I had a hard time coming out of my shell—making phone calls, interviewing people, walking up to police officers and politicians and striking up a conversation to "get the inside scoop." People terrified me, and, honestly, they still do. I much prefer to live in my little bubble.

But I actually love talking to people now. After six months at the newspaper making phone calls to complete strangers felt like second nature. I could walk up to anyone on the street and strike up a conversation with them. To this day I'm continually embarrassing my wife because I'll talk with anyone about anything.

My point is simple: It's worth it spending time doing the things that scare you because the more familiar you get with those things the less intimidating they will become.

Be smart about it, of course, and assess whether this thing you fear can do you harm. If the answer is yes, don't do it. Obviously. If the answer is no, then I invite you to make a point of doing that very thing as much as you can until you exhaust fear's charge around it.

This process will likely take time, but once you beat down that fear by wearing it thin you'll find yourself a more confident person.

The Rest of This Series

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#6 Retrain Your Bad Habits

Do you tend to write and rewrite an endless succession of drafts, unable to decide when a piece is finished? This is actually a common problem I hear from many writers. They often struggle to get any work done on other parts of their work because they're continually revising one particular chapter—usually chapter one.

Or maybe you're on the flip side of this problem and you hesitate even starting on a writing project because it feels too daunting, you haven't fleshed out the next chapter, or it just seems too difficult.

If you can relate to this, try setting some performance standards for yourself.

Give yourself a time limit. Say, for example, that you just keep revising and revising and revising chapter 2 of your awesome novel. Tell yourself that today you're only going to work on it for 10 minutes and then you're going to move onto chapter 3. If you're on the flip side of this problem and you can't even get started, give yourself 10 minutes to sit down and write. MAKE yourself do it. Whatever happens, happens, and then you can go procrastinate by watching TV or scrolling through Facebook. Just. Do it. Once your writing starts to come out you'll find your flow, but, like all good habits, it will take discipline and practice.

The point is to balance all the time you're wasting—be it procrastinating on a task or spending too much time on said task—with time spent on things that actually advance your goals.

I have a personal rule I try to follow when I'm working on a book: I won't create more than three drafts of a chapter before moving onto the next. Oh, I'll come back to those chapters when the book is finished and revise some more, but not until all the rest of the chapters have had the attention of three drafts. The point of this is so that I don't get in my own way.

Like any practice, the more you implement whatever standards you’ve set, the more reliable you will become. Experiment with your own ways to accept and move through your resistance.

The Rest of This Series

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 5: Navigating Hardships

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#5 Don’t Make Things Harder Than They Need To Be

Here's the truth about fear. It makes things hard. And if you’re used to approaching your writing life from a place of fear, you’re likely to believe that being a writer is really hard. You may even dread sitting down to write. Over time your subconscious is going to wake up to the belief that: writing = bad. And then you won't find yourself carving out time to write anymore.

Fear gets us all knotted up in such a way that we have to work twice as hard at writing, publishing, promoting and presenting just to overcome our own resistance. Such an attitude lands you shoulder-to-boulder, on an eternal uphill climb. This gets tiring fast.

When you find yourself working at a pace that feels unreasonable or exhausting, take a step back to consider whether or not fear is at play. Being driven to accomplish and succeed can be a very useful quality in the writing life. But your drive could also be the fear of failure in disguise.

Sometimes, just being still is all our writing lives need from us. I've even heard it said that the subconscious continues to work when we're asleep. I can attest to this. While working on Children of the Falls, the first book in the series ended up becoming so long that I split it in half. Suddenly I found myself in need of another title, and I struggled for days to come up with one. Then one night I dreamed of giving book 2 the title of book 1, and I woke that morning with a whole new title for book 1 sitting on my tongue.

So, take a break. Take a nap. Give your brain some rest and then come back. More will happen creatively.

Now imagine a writing life that isn't so hard, that's made a little easier because the creative juices flow a little more freely. Fear doesn't have any time to take hold because you're having too much fun! I’ll bet you could work faster and more efficiently—and even get better results—without fear weighing you down.

The Rest of This Series

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#4 Overpower Perfectionism

If you were to ask me if I'm a perfectionist, I'd have to say yes. It's one of those things that's like, "Once an addict, always an addict." Even though I'm living a life of recovery from perfectionism, it will always be a potential pitfall.

The conclusion I've reached after years of battling perfectionism is that perfectionism is not a helpmate. It's a hindrance. Though there is a side to perfectionism that can drive you to make something better, there is another side that just delays, and delays, and delays... and ultimately gets you nowhere.

Many of us have this idea that we’re meant to be perfect as writers. Instead, try thinking of your writing as akin to your fingerprints. They are what they are—unique patterns that exclusively represent you—not good or bad or better or worse than anyone else’s.

Instead of trying to perfect your writing, then, strive to get acquainted with this pattern and become more and more proficient at expressing it. There is no endpoint in this process, and we will never arrive at “perfect.” So why not give up the chase right now, and just enjoy the resonance and beauty of our humble, flawed writing as it is? As Leonard Cohen sings, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

Rather than “perfect” as an end goal, try setting your sights on “finished,” and see if that gives you a bit more appreciation for the light that seeps in.

The Rest of This Series

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

Face Your Fear And Fuel Your Writing Part 3: Shift Your Focus

Over the next ten weeks I'll be examining fear, mining from my own experience and from what I've witnessed in my peers. Hopefully this will hit some nerves (good nerves, though!) and help other writers navigate the waters of fear and find success.

#3 Ignore the Endgame... For Now

Fear almost always has to do with the unknown. What if they hate my poetry? What if my books don't sell? What if the publisher says I suck?

But if you KNEW your book was going to successful and loved, you'd run to the post office to mail your manuscript as soon as possible, and probably even pay the exorbitant price of overnight shipping. If you KNEW your parachute would open and that you would land on the ground totally unharmed, you might give skydiving a try. Right? (Hehehe...)

Fear tends to be focused on projected outcomes—which we cannot definitively know. So, why not use fear as a signal to turn your attention to your process instead? When you give your attention to following through on a goal, taking steps to improve your craft, researching places to submit, or reading that book on marketing, you are creating a forward motion that makes it harder for fear to hold you back.

You don't have to TOTALLY ignore the results you want. Obviously, there are long-term goals to consider here, but when the ultimate result becomes your focus it distracts from all that can be accomplished in the now, especially the creative stuff.

Now, you've got an unfinished something sitting somewhere don't you? Go attack it, dude!

The Rest of This Series

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear

The Dilemma Of My Ballooning Word Count

At roughly three quarters of the way through my first draft of Where Evil Abides, book one in my upcoming fantasy series Children of the Falls, I did a word count—169,000 words. Yikes!

On my bucket list of things to accomplish with this book, reaching 200,000 words was one of them, but with many chapters still to go I'm kind of in freak out mode right now because this book is sure to be much longer than that.

Do I forge ahead and hit 250,000 words? By contrast, the first Harry Potter book was about 77,000 words, with the longest book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 257,000 words. The first edition in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire was almost 298,000 words, with the sequels easily surpassing 300,000.

Staying on this path means continuing with an insane level of detail. On the other hand, I can strip it down, simplify the narrative, cut to the chase, and make a more streamlined story. Less immersive? Absolutely. Better? I don't know yet.

My aim at this point is to punch the last of these chapters and hand my manuscript off to a trusted friend who has agreed to give the story a once over.

Are Your Fellow Writers Today's Editors?

Long ago, in a galaxy of writers far, far away, where editors edited and agents agented, the world of publishing was very different.

Editing is just a small part of what editors actually do these days. If you're submitting your manuscript to a publisher, it's likely being looked over by an editor who is also acting as acquisitions chief, proof-reader, query letter reader, sample chapter checker-outer, and other respectable sounding roles.

The truth is, the world of publishing has changed. The cost of printing books has become expensive. More and more people are using e-readers, and fewer and fewer writers are seeking publishers, with many opting for self-publishing. Big publishing houses no longer have the time/money/resources/manpower to spend lots of time editing manuscripts, especially from unproven authors, which leaves editors looking for stuff that needs a minimal amount of work. They want books they can put on the market asap.

So how does a poor author get the much needed editing he or she deserves?

Increasingly, the advice on writing websites is: other writers. A number of critique websites have popped up over the years, providing authors with just the right perspective they need to polish their work. Granted their manuscripts may still have to pass through a professional editor, but a critique group can help them get their work to a point where an editor may actually take it seriously.

But no number of online critique groups should ever replace the work of a decent editor.

Still, online groups deliver rapid-fire feedback to help pinpoint a problem. The range of responses will sharpen your writing. Some “critters” specialize in grammar and syntax, while others may suggest ways to improve structure. You’ll receive advice on plot, pacing, suspense and characterization. Seasoned writers are usually generous with hints and tips that improve your piece.

Nothing in life is without its drawbacks and online crit groups are no exception. Quality feedback can be spotty. Don't assume that everyone who sounds authoritative knows what he or she is talking about.

Security is always a concern. Though the United States offers strong copyright protection, there's no way to stop someone from plagiarizing or attempting to market your work. On the other hand, crit groups can actually help stop plagiarism because by submitting your piece, you record proof that work went online at a specific time.

What's you take on using critique groups?

The Soul Crushing World Of A Writer

There's nothing more satisfying than closing my laptop and going to bed feeling like I just typed out a great chapter. On second thought, it was the BEST chapter! Maybe one of the best chapters I've ever written. It just flowed. You know? The prose was sublime. My keen writer instincts were firing on all cylinders. Yessir, can't wait to look that over again and be impressed with myself.

And there's nothing more disappointing and downright humbling than finally getting to re-read that chapter to realize it's not really that great. In fact, there's a typo. Oh, look, another typo. And spell check is... spell checking a lot. Where was I going with that sentence? Why did I think this paragraph was so great? This chapter is abysmal! Oh my lanta! I'm never going to finish this book. I hate myself!

Sigh.

I try not to do a lot of re-writing while I'm pounding out a first draft, but I always go back and re-read the last chapter I wrote at least once. And it's always a humbling experience. Haha!

It's an amazing little world we authors live in—an exciting, stimulating, soul-crushing world.

How NOT To Start Your Novel - Advice From Agents

We all want to start our stories strong and original, with hooks that leave readers just drooling. But we're not all as original as we'd like to think we are. And no one knows that better than literary agents. They sift through more prospective novels in a year than anyone else, and have more insight into what Chapter 1 story hooks are overused, cliched, dumb, and just plain don't work.

I recently found a list of quotes from literary agents at writerunboxed.com. It had me chuckling because, I must admit, I've been guilty of some of these!

Here's some of my favorite quotes.

On False Beginnings

“I don’t like it when the main character dies at the end of Chapter 1. Why did I just spend all this time with this character? I feel cheated.”
–Cricket Freeman, The August Agency

“I dislike opening scenes that you think are real, then the protagonist wakes up. It makes me feel cheated.”
–Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary

On Prologues

“Most agents hate prologues. Just make the first chapter relevant and well written.”
–Andrea Brown, Andrea Brown Literary Agency

“Prologues are usually a lazy way to give back-story chunks to the reader and can be handled with more finesse throughout the story. Damn the prologue, full speed ahead!”
–Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary

On Too Much Description

“The [adjective] [adjective] sun rose in the [adjective] [adjective] sky, shedding its [adjective] light across the [adjective] [adjective] [adjective] land.”
–Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary

“I dislike endless ‘laundry list’ character descriptions. For example: ‘She had eyes the color of a summer sky and long blonde hair that fell in ringlets past her shoulders. Her petite nose was the perfect size for her heart-shaped face. Her azure dress—with the empire waist and long, tight sleeves—sported tiny pearl buttons down the bodice. Ivory lace peeked out of the hem in front, blah, blah.’ Who cares! Work it into the story.”
–Laurie McLean, Foreword Literary

On Starting Slow

“Characters that are moving around doing little things, but essentially nothing. Washing dishes and thinking, staring out the window and thinking, tying shoes, thinking.”
–Dan Lazar, Writers House

“I don’t really like ‘first day of school’ beginnings, ‘from the beginning of time,’ or ‘once upon a time.’ Specifically, I dislike a Chapter 1 in which nothing happens.”
–Jessica Regel, Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency

On Fantasy Fiction

“Cliché openings in fantasy can include an opening scene set in a battle (and my peeve is that I don’t know any of the characters yet so why should I care about this battle) or with a pastoral scene where the protagonist is gathering herbs (I didn’t realize how common this is).”
–Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary

On Romance

“In romance, I can’t stand this scenario: A woman is awakened to find a strange man in her bedroom—and then automatically finds him attractive. I’m sorry, but if I awoke to a strange man in my bedroom, I’d be reaching for a weapon—not admiring the view.”
–Kristin Nelson, Nelson Literary Agency

On Christian Novels

“A rape scene in a Christian novel in the first chapter.”
–Chip MacGregor, MacGregor Literary

On Being Too Beautiful

“I don’t like descriptions of the characters where writers make them too perfect. Heroines (and heroes) who are described physically as being virtually unflawed come across as unrelatable and boring. No ‘flowing, wind-swept golden locks’; no ‘eyes as blue as the sky’; no ‘willowy, perfect figures.’”
–Laura Bradford, Bradford Literary Agency

On Too Much Backstory

“I’m turned off when a writer feels the need to fill in all the backstory before starting the story; a story that opens on the protagonist’s mental reflection of their situation is a red flag.”
–Stephany Evans, FinePrint Literary Management

“One of the biggest problems is the ‘information dump’ in the first few pages, where the author is trying to tell us everything we supposedly need to know to understand the story. Getting to know characters in a story is like getting to know people in real life. You find out their personality and details of their life over time.”
–Rachelle Gardner, Books & Such Literary

To read more, visit: http://writerunboxed.com/2013/04/22/april

Balance Your Moods With A Who Or Two

Few wives have the distinct privilege of being married to a writer, a guy who eagerly strikes up conversations with sentences like, "Did you know in the middle ages the church actually embraced prostitution as a rape deterrent?" A guy who comes home from work proclaiming, "I just thought of a great way to kill a guy: decapitation by piranha!"

My wife is one of those few. Yessir, she doesn't know how dull her life would be without me. I research a lot of bizarre things, ponder things that most people never consider, and mentally visit some dark places that most people would rather not go, all for the sake of my own entertainment.

It's not always a joy though. I find that my moods sometimes ebb and flow with the content I'm currently steeped in. I recently finished a weeks-long study on medieval torture. It's nothing I haven't researched before, but not to this extent. After a while the depictions of the various torture methods and the descriptions of those who endured them start to get to me. It's sad that human depravity once knew such lows.

I bring this up because it's become increasingly important for me to maintain a better mood. When I was single, letting the more depressing and the disgusting things of life get me down wasn't so much of a problem because there was no one around for me to influence. Now that I'm married I have to think about my wife and her emotional well-being.

As writers, I think it's important to make sure we balance our mood swings, especially if we have spouses and/or children. Your family doesn't deserve your sour disposition just because you spent too much time reading about animal abuse or death or child molestation or serial killers. Find something that brings a smile to your face and turn to it often.

My Prozac of choice? Animated movies. I don't have children yet, but I have a surprisingly large collection of animated movies ranging from Disney classics to modern favorites from Pixar and Blue Sky studios.

A personal favorite of mine? Horton Hears A Who. Dr. Seuss is awesome, and though the movie takes many liberties with his work—as movies often do—I find the energy of Jim Carrey as Horton and the stammering wackiness of Steve Carell as Mayor Who a fun, stress-relieving, bring-me-back-down-to-the-simple-things kind of experience. The music in that movie is a joy as well. The music seems too orchestral for such a simple story, but it's a companion to Horton's outrageous imagination that strikes a wonderfully playful chord. If you haven't indulged in this whacky animated adventure, put it on the list.

Why I Turned My Back On Big Publishers

Working with authors as often as I do, I find that many of them still haven't come to grips with the fact that the world of publishing has changed. Many publishers are finding it difficult to get on board with this as well. I work for a publisher, so I've seen this first hand.

The title of this post may give the impression that I am against publishers, which I am not. I applaud any author who finds success with a decent publisher these days, but the percentage of authors who find that success is becoming smaller and smaller because, like I said, publishing has changed.

My first novel was published when I was 17 years old, a medieval fantasy book for teens. It's not in print anymore so I have no reservations in saying that, well... it sucked. But it was my first experience with a publisher, and it wasn't a good one. Eight years later my second experience with a different publisher was better, but only because my marketing know-how had grown and my expectations were much more realistic. Still, the publisher was slow, not very communicative, and they didn't help my book at all apart from printing and design. I wrote a sequel to that second book and signed a contract with the same publisher. They sat on it for two years. The contract expired. I said, "Um, can I have my book back?" And we parted ways.

By this time, my disdain for publishers was growing.

Then Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series started becoming a cultural phenomenon. I had heard that the book was badly written, but I needed to see for myself just HOW bad it was. So I read it. Folks, it was more than bad. Ridiculous abusive relationship story aside, the narrative was bloated with some of the worst dialogue I've ever read, the biggest misuse of adjectives I've ever seen, and some absolutely embarrassing prose that left me shocked that any publisher would even consider printing this book. Moreover, this piece of so-called "literature" had millions of readers buzzing. How? Why? I mean... seriously? 

Twilight killed me zeal for writing for several years. That's how discouraged I was. And, honestly, I'm having a hard time not getting pissed off all over again with horribly written books like 50 Shades of Grey getting all the attention, but I've matured. Or maybe not. I don't know. That's beside the point.

To this day I am disheartened by the quality of books passing through mainstream publishers. There is no longer a focus on good writing, editing, or content. Publishers today are looking to fill a mold established by marketing executives who figure out what's popular, what will sell, who will buy it, and then search for the right manuscript to fill that prerequisite. Authors aren't picked by big publishing houses because they have amazing writing talent, they're picked because some secret focus group said so. It's all about the Benjamins, baby! 

On a recent 20-hour flight to Maui I had downloaded a bunch of free indie books to my Kindle for something to do on the plane. Most of them were pretty bad, but a few were, surprisingly, quite good. I mean really good! (I'll be posting reviews of some of these books in the future, so keep checking back.) These were books by writers who had taken the time to have their books professionally edited, proof-read, and designed. They had snazzy-looking covers and they were totally original, beautifully written, and unlike ANYTHING you'd find from a mainstream publisher.

These indie authors were onto something. They had latched onto the fact that the world of publishing isn't what it used to be. With so many writers elbowing for sales, and with print books becoming less and less in-demand, publishers aren't as willing to take risks on new and unknown authors. Thanks to Amazon's easy do-it-yourself publishing platform, authors now have more control of their work and retain more of their sales, but, unfortunately, that means they need to work harder and write more content in order to make substantial money. But the ones who do are the ones who thrive.