Stop to See Me on Your Blog Tour

Dawn Smith Books, a blog dedicated to writers and writing, has kindly named me as their official blog tour stop for the week! Visit the site to get all the details on the first two books in the Deck of Lies Series, Justice and The Tower. You'll find the blurbs, the reviews, the trailers and more.

Writing 101: Is It Further, or Farther?

The English language doesn't always make a whole lot of sense. The word "subtle" has an inexplicable b in the middle of it, "knife" is spelled with a k...and a single letter can totally change the meaning of a word. So when you're writing, are you getting farther along in your book -- or are you getting further along in your work? Maybe you're doing both, and either way you'd better know the difference.

Farther vs. Further

It's an epic word battle, and one I personally struggle with every single time. No matter what I'm writing, the minute I want to use further or farther, I'm forced to stop what I'm doing and look up the differences between them. It's just one little vowel, but it makes a big difference if you end up using the wrong one. In fact, it changes what you're writing entirely.

Writing 101: Writing Reviews

In the indie community, writing reviews isn't a courtesy -- it's pretty much expected. Indies know how hard it is for other indies to get reviews (or readers at all), and there are lots of different groups, review swaps and deals happening all over the indie book community at any given time. Because of the helpful spirit, the tit-for-tat review deals and the strong desire among indies to get more and more reviews, writing reviews is something a great many indie writers have to face. So if you're going to do it, make sure you know what the hell you're doing. How much do you know about writing reviews?

 Reading, Writing

Many writers are also readers, because to practice the craft you've got to love it. Reading someone else's work is the only thing that keeps me sane at times...and other times, it's enough to drive me insane. That's because reading within the indie community isn't the same as dipping into the mainstream fiction pool. There are a lot of undiscovered gems to be found in the indie book community, but there are a lot of duds, too.

When one of those duds happens to be a book that you're committed to reviewing, things can get a little dicey. What if your review is part of a swap arrangement, and contingent upon getting a review for your own book? What if your review is for a friend's book? What if you've got to review it, and the book sucks?

Reviewing

It's enough to make anyone panic, but you don't have to. If you have a formula to follow and a certain set of reviewer morals to stick with, you will never go wrong. You may get sassed by an indie writer or two, but you won't be wrong -- and at the end of the review, you can smile to yourself and know you've done the right thing.

• Read the book. 

If you're committed to doing the review, you've got to finish it no matter how bad it is. And we've all been there. At some point, every voracious reader has pushed themselves to finish a book they didn't really want to finish. It's like exercising, or cleaning the house -- just get it done, and then it's done. But while you're reading, make sure you look for any and all strong points the author has displayed. This can be a real challenge, but if you read hard enough you're sure to find something likable in the work -- strong imagery, creative plot lines, interesting characters, setting. You may even find merit in an author's research skills alone. The worse a book is, the harder you have to look to find something redeeming. Trust me, you'll need it later.

• Decide objectively. 

Once you've gotten all the way to "The End," sit back and be objective. Forget about the fact that you've got to write a review for your blog, or Amazon, or wherever. Forget about the indie author behind the book you've just read. Think like a reader, be honest with yourself, and ask yourself how high you would honestly rate this book if no one else ever has to know. You can hardly tell other people what you think about a book if you haven't got it sorted in your own mind. 

• Review. 

You cannot, under any circumstances (swap or no swap) write a false review publicly for any book for any reason -- not even if you do it under a fictitious name that has nothing to do with your pen name -- and I'm going to tell you why: integrity. Even if you are writing those reviews under a false name, the person you're review-swapping with knows who you are. Other indies and other readers could easily begin to recognize the review name you use, and they're going to peg you for a liar the first time they read a book with very few redeeming qualities that you've rated at 4 or 5 stars. And what happens then?

Then, they sure as heck won't want to read the book you've written. If you're posting false or overly embellished reviews on your blog, the more discerning readers aren't going to be interested in any other post on your blog. 

What I'm taking a long time to write is that you've got to be honest -- both for your sake and for the sake of the author you are reviewing. Negative feedback is infinitely more helpful than positive reinforcement in the writing world. No writer can ever improve without knowing where they are weak, and a brave reviewer with an unvarnished, honest opinion is an incredibly powerful and useful motivational tool. I talked at length about the merits to be found in bad reviews in a previous post, and I'll stand by my opinions. 

But at the same time, there's a right way and a wrong way to offer criticism to an indie writer. If you know that you have many negative things to say about a book, and you honestly can't give it a four-star or five-star rating, the kindest course of action is to contact the author and tell them that. 

Was the work lacking in description? Did you feel that you had no idea who the characters were? Was the book filled with inaccuracies and/or errors? It should be very easy for you to explain flaws like these to the author gently. Remember how hard you looked for strengths in the book? Mention those first! Always preface negative comments by telling the author what you did like about the book. It is also a kindness to offer not to post any reviews of the book publicly, but if you do go forward with the review always stress those strong points in the writer's work and always keep the review honest -- honest, but not necessarily harsh. As a reviewer, your biggest asset is the kind euphemism and a diplomatic attitude. Remember how hard it is to write a book, how boring it is to edit, and keep your comments as kind as you can. 

Writing a Review

When you go to write a review, it pays to be succinct. It's not always easy to know how to start, what to say and how to finish a review. You can always come up with your own formula and review style, but you can always borrow mine, too, if you need it: 

• How'd you get the book? Many reviewers like to mention how they found the book, by way of introducing it and the review. It's a good place to start, especially if you don't know where to start in a review. 
• What's it about? Is the book a romance, a mystery, a thriller? Give the readers a few basic lines about the book in general, so they have a context for all your comments. 
• What'd you think? Now's the time to mention the good and the bad, the things you liked and didn't like. What stuck out the most to you? Write the review the way you'd tell it to a friend. Be casual, be approachable, and use plain, forthright language that I can understand. 
• No spoilers! Don't spoil a book for another reader, or make an author grimace with pain at your words. Always re-read your review to make sure you're not giving away the book's ending or any surprise plot twists. You can always touch on these elements of a story without giving too much away (example: "The twist in the middle with Girl's backpack caught me completely off guard;" "When everything came together at the end, I felt very satisfied"). 
• In summation. Close the review neatly by re-stating your overall opinion of the work ("I loved it!" "I enjoyed the plot, but the characters could use a little more development;" "I enjoyed it despite all the errors") and, if applicable, stating who you'd recommend the book to and/or if you will be reading more from this author. Remember to keep your comments constructive, kind and honest. 

Reviews should be written in the first person and in a casual tone, but you should also conduct yourself professionally with every single review you write. If you plan to do a lot of reviewing, you will begin to gain a reputation. Make sure it's a good one. Yes, some indie authors will take exception to your opinions of their work, but you will find that most of them are open to comments and criticism and truly want to improve upon their craft. Once readers know that you are an honest and thoughtful reviewer, you will attract more authors with open minds who truly want to improve.

Book 3 Sneak Peek!

Yes, the rumors are true: I've finished the first draft of Death, Book 3 in the Deck of Lies series. I still have some serious editing to do, but a few very brief passages are suitable for public viewing and I'm going to share one of them!

(image from the official trailer, yet to be released)

Excerpt from Chapter ?

    I was striding across the grass with a smile frozen onto my lips. I was wearing a bit less eye makeup, and my mascara had been re-applied with a shaking hand, but no one looked at me oddly as I moved toward the milling party guests -- so I guess I did a good enough job of repairing my appearance.

    Things were in full swing, now. All of the Japanese lanterns were lit, their colorful shades creating a haze of light that made it difficult to see the stars above. Voices were louder now that the beautifully-garbed people had been here long enough to enjoy more than one of the complimentary drinks that were being doled out by the truckload. There were a dozen or so servers milling among the glittering guests with bubbling glasses of champagne, and the bartenders were in a frenzy of activity to lubricate the crowd gathered near the dance floor.

    Carsyn was laughing with a group of her friends from Sloane Academy, the school we both attended. I stepped past a portrait of myself to reach the raised dance floor, built just that day to accommodate the guests. Everywhere I looked, I saw pink. Special rose-colored lights were aimed at the ice sculptures that dotted the buffet tales, which were all decorated with clear pink decorations that looked like diamonds. Each one of the round tables held a display of pink tea roses and more of those silly diamonds. I’d wanted red, but Violet thought the color was too violent.

    What a joke.

    I went straight to the nearest server, the smile firmly in place, nodding to the few people who greeted me as I passed. The party was supposed to be in my honor, to re-introduce me to the von Shelton’s friends. I was meeting all the “important people” in and around our community of Silverwood, California. I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I only nodded a thanks to the server when I plucked a frothy glass from his tray.

    I’d barely brought it to my lips when I heard the voice at my right side. “Are you old enough to be drinking, young lady?”

    I sputtered and nearly spit the first sip back into my glass, but I tossed the contents down my throat instead. It was a little too much; I nearly choked when the bubbles began to tickle my nose and mouth. I smeared my lipstick when I rubbed the back of my hand across my mouth, but I didn’t care. “Owen.”

    “Sorry. Didn’t mean to surprise you.” He had an odd sort of expression on his face, as if he wanted to smile but wasn’t quite sure if he should.

    “No, it’s okay,” I answered, and I was still trying to keep that idiotic smile plastered to my face. “I’m glad you came.”

....

If you've read Justice or The Tower, you'll recognize all these names. The excerpt above is taken from a scene between Owen and Rain. Will there be a confrontation? What's the deal with this party? You'll find out in Death, which is the longest book in the series to date. And I promise, Tower fans, the scene you've been waiting for takes place very, very early in the book so the wait is almost over!

My Other Job is Fashion Writer

If you've read any books in the Deck of Lies series, you've probably noticed that I'm into fashion. I label-drop constantly, and I've tried to create a distinct style for Rain and many of her supporting characters (I've even blogged about those styles). But I don't get to write about fashion in my books as much as I'd like, so I've started writing for VAR magazine to get my fashion fix. 

I write about vintage fashions and current vintage trends in Issue 1 of VAR, which was just released this month. VAR is packed with fashion-centric photos and articles. It's based in New York, and even though I'm not I'll be contributing articles on a freelance basis to the magazine from time to time (when I'm not writing about murder plots and family intrigue). You have to buy the issue to see it all, but various snippets and articles will be available on the VAR site soon. Issue 1 features Alysha Nett, Bai Ling, Bernadette Macias, Dave Navarro, Davey Havok, Jenny Mollen, Miles Devin, Olga Maliouk and me! ...Plus many other very talented writers, photographers and personalities, of course.

Writing 101: Pricing Your Books

You were careful to choose great words for your book. You sweated it out through the editing process. You went through the formatting line by line to make certain every page is perfect. If you don't price your books the right way, you're going to watch that hard work go to waste. If you want readers, you've got to take a hard look at your book pricing.

How Much is Your Writing Worth?

A lot of factors are at play when writers are pricing their books. For any given book, whether it's a short story of a full-length novel, every page represents hours of work in formatting, writing, editing and reading. If authors charged by the hour, every book would cost hundred of dollars.

But that's not really feasible for the readers, is it? As a writer, you're expected to love your book. You've poured soul into it; sweat, blood, tears, heartache. And, if you're like many writers, you probably want to do nothing but write full-time. It's easy to get lost in the math. Charge five bucks, sell a million copies -- just imagine those numbers for a little while. Your book is a huge piece of your life, your heart and your skill. And you've got to forget all that. The price of your book isn't a reflection of your skill or how much you put into your work. It's a reflection of the market. 

Writing 101: Be Very Wary of Using Very

 How many times does the word very appear in your book? You really ought to find out, because really, the word is very, very unnecessary. In fact, some writers have made it a point never to use the word at all.

Very in Literature

"Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very'; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be." This was Mark Twain's opinion of very...and most anyone will agree that Twain was, and remains, a very successful writer. Very hasn't got much of a place in literature because it is a very empty word. 

Most of the time, the word very has very little meaning when it's used in writing. It's a word that exists almost solely for emphasis alone, except for when it's used in a very specific circumstance. Very can also denote something precise or exact (those were her very words), but most of the time it's used as a word of emphasis rather than as a synonym for exactness. 

And if the best you can come up with to emphasize a point is using the word very a bunch, you've got deeper problems than this one word.

Very Good Writing

Sometimes, a writer has to infuse a description or dialogue with a little drama -- and that's where very comes in very handy. But it's a plain word, it's an over-used word, and you can do better. Very isn't the only word in the English language that's used to emphasize a point. Replace occurrences of very in your book with much prettier words like profoundly, extremely, greatly and a bunch of other adverbs that sound way better. Replacing ho-hum, ugly words like very with something better -- or getting rid of them entirely -- will make your writing flow better and read more smoothly and professionally to your readers...and isn't that a very good reason for avoiding it?

Writing 101: Offensive and Adult Subject Matter

Have you ever been to a book burning? To this day, people still protest against some of the material in Mark Twain's books. Schools around the world ban Catcher in the Rye, written way back in 1951. When you're writing from the heart, and writing something that's going to resonate, creating a real world using nothing but your words, you might end up stepping on a few toes. Offensive and adult subject matter might creep in, and sometimes touchy subjects have to be included in a work to create the powerful effect the author wants. But when you start stepping on toes, you've got to be prepared to get kicked right in the pants.

Let's Write About Sex

Dare you to sit through just one hour of television without finding some reference to sex, either overt or well-hidden. It's in the beer commercials where the women run around braless, it's in the dating commercials where the two mildly attractive people lock eyes and stare suggestively at each other. It's even in the sitcoms, when sex becomes a joke (because everything's a joke). It's even in the car commercials. It's everywhere, because sex sells. And if you've ever walked through the book aisle of a grocery store, you know good and well it sells books, too. Even one of the Twilight books (and movies) had a sex scene, and those are primarily marketed to teenagers.

Sex is, quite frankly, part of living. Everyone who is alive would never have been so without sex. Whether you're writing a romance, love story, comedy or tragedy, sex might happen. It's definitely going to happen in some cases, and it's your job as a writer to figure out exactly how you need to handle it.

There's a thin line between writing erotica and writing romance novels. Both kinds of books have sex scenes, but one is much more explicit than the other (can you guess which?). Erotica novels are built around sex and sexual encounters; by contrast, romance novels focus on love (with sex sprinkled in). It's confusing, because you can write very sexy, very erotic scenes into a romance novel and still not be writing erotica. Romance writer Jennie Bryant summed it up succinctly in her blog, where she wrote that the sex in romance novels is built around feelings, with mild euphemisms used to describe the action (you'll find pleasant-sounding words for the male anatomy, like "member," and sweet words for the female's, like "mound"). In erotica, the sex is far more graphic and vivid -- and much more present throughout the book. The words and descriptions are more in-your-face, and the sex is present throughout. If you are writing a romance or an erotica novel, always stick to the basic rules.

Why? Because you don't want to alienate your readers. Many women are drawn to romance novels because they want all that gooey love junk, and explicit sex scenes more akin to erotica novels will feel, to them, like a bit of a betrayal.

Sex might happen even if you aren't writing within the safe confines of a sex-specific genre, however. If it can happen in Twilight, it can happen anywhere. Love and sex are often present in many books, from mysteries to teen fiction, because (once again) it's a basic part of life. But sex scenes in these off-genre novels shouldn't read anything at all like sex in romance novels. Forget all the stuff you learned about vivid imagery and descriptive writing. Be vague while still getting the point across. It's tempting, and sort of easy, to spice up any novel with a thrilling sex scene -- but a sex scene can still be good without giving readers a full blow-by-blow. If your readers don't expect it, they may not like it...and that's when you start moving into offensive territory. Once you've been branded with that label and started to piss off your readers, you might find yourself getting burned by the flames. Take a gentle hand when writing sex scenes into off-genre novels, and avoid alienating your readers.


Other Offensive Material

Religion. Politics. Racism. Even if you aren't writing about sex, there are plenty of land mines to navigate. Faith, political convictions and certain belief systems are part of the world, and they may become part of your story. Writing a passionately political character can be very exciting, and creating a villain with racist tendencies is a good way to illustrate some of the uglier aspects of human nature.

But it's dangerous. You could easily upset religious groups, parental groups, activists -- you could even piss PETA off if you've got a character who lives inside fur and leather goods. For realism's sake, and for the sake of the story you need to tell, you can't always skip the offensive parts of life. It's out there, and it may be a very necessary part of your story.

If you're going to include anything offensive or potentially incendiary, you've got to write carefully. Many writers find a way to introduce this subject matter and skirt the line of decency without actually crossing it. There are many literary tricks you can try to help balance out your work. If one character is an extremist, for example, you might create an additional character to serve as a counterpoint -- someone to introduce the opposite point of view. You've got to be sensitive to all sides when you're dancing around a potentially offensive subject; often, writers will have offensive characters come to ill ends in their books to include a moral lesson or commentary on their behavior. Be careful about how you use racial slurs and other offensive material in your writing. It can be effective, but at times it can be too effective for getting your readers fired up and passionate. If there's something in your work that gives you pause, test the story out on a beta reader or two before you release it to the public. A second opinion can provide valuable insight and help you more safely steer through the waters of offensive writing.