Guest Post About My Publishing Journey on Operation Awesome
When my friend and author of Deadwood (Pugalicious Press, September 2012), Kell Andrews invited me to do a guest post on the group blog Operation Awesome, I knew it was time to share my publication story. Stop by and find out how I decided to self-publish some books and sign a deal with Sourcebooks for others.
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Line Edits, the Horrors of Microsoft Word, and More Good News (Really)!
Soon after getting the news that Sourcebooks wanted to publish my novel, Wonder Light and its sequel, I heard from my editor, Aubrey again. Would it be possible to get the first part of Wonder Light polished right away? Sourcebooks was having a Launch Meeting in less than two weeks.
The Launch Meeting only happens twice a year, and its purpose is to introduce upcoming projects to the whole Sourcebooks team—all the editorial, marketing, sales, and design people. Oh my! Aubrey felt it was important for the team to get a feel for the mood of the book as well as my writing.
I’d secretly worried that Wonder Light‘s misty, mysterious, often tense mood would get lost in some preconceived notion of unicorn fluff, and I was so glad Aubrey was working to make sure everyone got to know my main character, Twig, and the wonder and mystery of Lonehorn Island. But . . . all those people reading it? So soon?
“Sure!” I told Aubrey. “I can do that!”
And then I raided my kids’ stale Easter candy and braced myself for the worst—editorial notes. Which I had to use Microsoft Word in order to see. Yes, dear friends. I used Microsoft Word. For probably the fifth time in my entire life. Quickly I scanned the notes, trying to get the most painful part over with—except that Aubrey’s notes weren’t painful. In fact, they were helpful. Downright uplifting. I almost forgot to be miserable about using Word . . . at least until a few hours into making changes, when I was ready to scream at all the red underlines and annoying bubbles produced by Word’s Track Changes. And why is it that the same font is so much harder to read in Word than any other word processing program?
Ahem.
But it was all worth it because . . . yesterday Aubrey e-mailed me after the Launch Meeting with exciting news. Wonder Light is going to be released not just in paperback, but in hardcover, with an illustrated jacket!
Hallelujah! I’m beyond thrilled, and so thankful for Amazing Editor Aubrey and Sourcebooks’ faith in my writing.
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A Bittersweet Week
On the Thursday before Easter, after writing and revising and querying seven novels, I accepted my first offer of publication. What a perfect Easter gift for me! The knowledge that my book, Wonder Light—about a heartbroken little girl who finds not only a baby unicorn in need of her care, but a new life she never imagined she’d have—will soon be in the hands of young readers.
But the next morning, just as I arrived at the ball field for my kids’ homeschool baseball group, I got a phone call from my Dad. My maternal grandmother, Dorothy had passed away. Just a few words, and my joy turned to sadness. I watched my kids running around the field in the sunshine, and didn’t know what to feel. Grandma Dorothy had been doing so well. Just days before, she’d had a rare visit with all five of her children, who’d flown from all over the country to San Diego to see her. One last trip “up fools’ hill” for Grandma and her kids, who have a special knack for laughing themselves silly together.
That Good Friday evening I drew unicorns on Easter eggs with my kids, and thought of Grandma Dorothy, living out the truth of Easter. Victorious over death.
While Grandma Dorothy may be tending the gardens of paradise, her Oakdale, California garden is also very much alive in my memory. To me, as a little girl, Grandma’s yard was a magical world, every available inch overflowing with flowers, vines, and fruit.
In the in front yard, a path was flanked with dahlias the size of dinner plates, and the front porch shaded with a tangle of branches bursting with ripening grapefruit.
In the back, strawberry beds were planted all along the fence, and I played under the plum tree and the grape arbor and plucked berries from the raspberry patch. But my favorite treat was Grandma Dorothy’s sweet, white-golden treasure trove of nectarines.
Grandma Dorothy would come to visit my family while we were stationed at Fort Ord, California, bringing brown paper bags full of her garden’s bounty. Sometimes pecans or persimmons. Those were good, but always, as I lugged bags from her car and into our kitchen, I sniffed that brown paper and hoped to detect the muffled sugariness of white nectarines.
Those white nectarines inspired a poem, which I shared on this blog last year. I posted “White Nectarines,” written so many years ago, in part because I’d been thinking about how short life was. Too short not to share even a little poem about nectarines with the world.
So here it is, this time as a tribute to Grandma Dorothy, whose garden fed my heart and my imagination, and whose passing into new life reminded me of the real gift of Easter.
White Nectarines
by Robyn Russell
Brown Bag
Full and round with
White nectarines
smells of
Ripeness and paper;
My fingers find them
Smooth;
My mouth knows
They’re sweet.
Rumple, crinkle, bite
Again
And again
And I
Am full and round with
White nectarines
And still
So many,
Many more to
Eat!
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My Unicorn Books . . . Coming in 2013 from Sourcebooks!
So . . . on Monday I was at judo practice supposedly practicing a new turn-over with my friend Jenna, but really joking about husbands and their crazy ideas. I noted that my husband has a way of following through with his crazy ideas—like starting our judo club, for example.
“Just think,” Jenna said, “If he’d never done that, you’d probably be writing about unicorns or something!”
I stopped short. Jenna’s read my martial arts-inspired novels, and she was totally kidding. “I did write a book about unicorns,” I whispered, “and it’s going to acquisitions at Sourcebooks on Wednesday!”
Just like that, I spilled it, then swore her to secrecy.
But now I can shout to the world:
I have a two-book deal from Sourcebooks!
On Wednesday Afternoon, Editor Aubrey Poole called me with an offer for the manuscript I’d called Unicorns of Lonehorn Island, plus a follow-up book, and I’m thrilled to be working with her!
The first book is tentatively titled Wonder Light and will be out in paperback in Spring 2013! Yay! In bookstores and libraries! Woohoo!
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Writing Short Fiction for a Series—Publishing Short Stories, Novellas, and Novelettes
While I’m still pursuing trade publishing for some of my work, in 2011 I decided to start self-publishing some of my novels as e-books. Being new not only to self-publishing, but also to the world of e-books, there’ve been many surprises for me along the way. One of the unexpected bonuses is the ability to turn the little plot bunnies that spin off my series novels into published short stories, novellas, and novelettes.
I can’t tell you how much fun it is to know that the ideas that constantly twirl around my little writer brain can find their way to readers even if they aren’t suited for novel-length stories. Venture and his friends in particular have been pestering me for years to have more adventures, to tell me more about how they got to one place or another.
I’m hoping that my short fiction will not only be a fun read for fans of the Venture books, but a good way to introduce new readers to the series. Some readers who are reluctant to commit to buying and reading a novel may be willing to try something new in the form of a short, novella, or novelette.
Here are some things I’ve learned about writing and publishing shorts for a series.
- Don’t confuse a short story with a vignette. In other words, make sure your short has a plot!
- Make it clear that the work is short, both on the cover, and in the description. This helps prevent negative reviews complaining that the book was too short or wasn’t “a real book.”
- When deciding which shorts to write, listen to your readers. Do you get a lot of feedback about a certain supporting character? Is there a bit of backstory or a world-building element you get questions about? Explore the possibilities for building shorts around them.
So far I have two shorts written for my Venture series. With them, I aim to offer something different, something readers don’t get from the novels. For readers who wonder what Venture was like before he came to Twin Rivers, before he became a bondsman, I have Bonded, a short story prequel to the series. Readers get a peek at Venture’s elder brother, Justice’s point of view in this story, and best of all, they get to experience the moment Venture Delving meets the girl who changes everything for him—Jade Fieldstone.
And now, Boundless, a new novelette, is coming out on Amazon and BN.com on March 23.
Boundless takes place during some of the time that lapses in the novel, Venture Unleashed. I enjoyed exploring sixteen-year-old Venture’s development as a fighter in more detail, as well as his evolving friendships and the increasing tension between him and his master’s daughter, Jade.
I used to think of shorts as primarily literary stand-alones. I never thought I’d be writing them, but now, because of the new e-book market, the possibilities seem endless!
Are you a writer who’s published short fiction related to a series? Please share what you’ve learned in the comments. Or do you enjoy reading shorter fiction? Do you have a favorite series you’d like to see shorts from?
A Guest Post—by My Character, Venture Delving
Recently I agreed to do a guest post on author Danyelle Leafty’s blog—as Venture Delving, the main character in my YA crossover novels about a prize fighter, Venture Untamed and Venture Unleashed. Cool. But when Venture got wind of my plans, he stiffened up with resistance. He wasn’t certain what a blog was, but he was positive he wanted nothing to do with it.
“Come on,” I said. “People want to know more about you.”
Oops. That was the wrong way to persuade Venture Delving. I could see the eighteen-year-old Vent, from the end of Venture Unleashed, cross his arms and give me that look. The look that says, Are you crazy? You, of all people, ought to know that I have enough to worry about right now. And I couldn’t care less what people want to know.
I started to panic. If Venture Delving decided to put up a fight, I didn’t stand a chance. But I couldn’t give up. I explained to him that he’d be talking to people from a different world. He was unmoved. But then Venture’s thirteen-year-old self stepped forward, intrigued. He could say whatever he wanted? And no one could give him a thrashing for it? He shrugged as if it were no big deal, but there was a glint in his eye. Sure, he had a lot of things to say. He nudged his older self aside and started talking. And talking . . .
Come over and see what Venture has to say. He might even be provoked into answering some questions in the comments. But whatever you do, don’t laugh. He just found out his post is part of Danyelle’s “Character Hearts”—yes, hearts—theme, and he is in a foul mood.
Is Writing Your Life?
For those of us who write, there’s a constant struggle to find the balance between our writing goals and everything else in our lives. And sometimes there’s online peer pressure to keep doing more. This can be a good thing, of course! But have you ever heard other writers say, in all seriousness, “Writing is my life?”
I did a guest post today on why writing is NOT my life, at Mason Canyon’s Thoughts in Progress blog. Stop by and weigh in!
A New Post About Crushing Dreams, on the Venture Books Blog
Tonight I posted on the Venture Books blog about a time I realized I was being a dream crusher. Teachers, parents, and coaches, please stop by and share your experiences guiding others who dare to dream big.
