I want to like your book

No, I still haven’t completed my second draft. Shhhh. 

~~~~

Last night I finished reading Rules of Civility by the fabulously-named Amor Towles. I loved it, and I am so glad that I loved it because I love Amor Towles. I know nothing about him except this quote but that’s enough.

I read a fair number of books because I like the person who wrote them. Sometimes it’s because I’m friends with the author, so obviously I like them and buy and read their book. Sometimes, though, I get a glimmer into a person’s mind and I am excited by what I see, like with Amor Towles, or someone is simply entertaining on the internet, like Delilah Dawson or Gail Carriger. If I then check out their books and go “oh hey this sounds cool,” it’s a sale.

So. There’s a lot of debate about the usefulness of having an online platform, but if I am your target audience it totally helps. Very simply, I like supporting people I like. Make me like you, and I’ll probably buy your first book. Write a good book, and I’ll probably buy your second.

off on adventures

By the time you read this, I will be on a bus. GREETINGS, FUTURE-PEOPLE.

Anyway. I’m heading to the SCBWI winter conference in New York City. Not actually attending the conference, but a bunch of my friends will be there and since NY is basically right next door to me I really have no excuse not to go.

So! If you’re there say hey! I’ll be practicing my skulking.

How YOU Can Help Nashville

You’ve probably been following the flooding tragedy in Nashville.

a football field

One of my really good friends lives there. Mandy is, luckily, okay and her 3rd-floor apartment is mostly undamaged, but a lot of people weren’t so lucky.

houses in bellevue

Opryland Hotel

IF YOU WANT TO HELP

Mandy and a couple other Nashville writers have set up this website, Do the Write Thing for Nashville, where they will be raising money for Nashville relief efforts by auctioning off critiques, signed books, etc. from writers, editors, and literary agents. If you are an aspiring author who wants an industry professional to critique your work, or if you are a fan who wants a chance to buy something AWESOME, stay tuned! I know they’re collecting some pretty cool things. And it will all go to the Metro Nashville Disaster Response Fund.

lit drift: 21st-century storytelling

Because they asked nicely and because their site is legit awesome, I’d like to point you all over to a new blog/community for young writers, Lit Drift. They give away free books every Friday! So I approve. And when they’re not doing that, “Lit Drift is a blog, resource, and community dedicated to the art & craft of storytelling in the 21st century.” Check it out!

edit: also, when I went to the site the first words I saw were “zombie romeo,” which started everything off on the right foot. :)

Introducing…

So I have come to realize that there has been a major oversight in my blogging. I have not yet—or barely—touched on one of my favorite subjects: Oscar Wilde.

This man:

Oh, the hotness.

So I am going to institute a new feature here at Gracetopia. Yes, you guessed it: Wilde Wednesdays!

Why Wednesday? Because it starts with a W, obviously. :)

Wilde Wednesdays will be random whateverness of Wilde. They might be historical factoids, or snippets of a play, or just a picture, or something. Long or short. Who knows? We shall see. So many Wednesdays, so little time. No wait. So much Wilde, so little time. There we go.

So, without further ado, I would like to introduce the the first edition of Wilde Wednesdays.

We have to start at the beginning, of course. Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854. Really it should be an international holiday. Week from Friday. Anyone want to party? Anyway, he was born in Dublin to Sir William Wilde, an eye and ear doctor, and the extraordinary, fabulous, inimitable Jane Speranza Francesca Wilde.

Lady Wilde

Lady Wilde was a character. Poet, suffragette, diva, she was always larger than life. I have yet to actually read a book on her (I saw one once but did not buy it what was I thinking) but it is pretty obvious from what little I know of her that she was instrumental in shaping Oscar into the man he became.

Lady Wilde quote of the day, which pretty much sums her up: “I should like to rage through life—this orthodox creeping is too tame for me—ah, this wild rebellious ambitious nature of mine. I wish I could satiate it with Empires, though a St. Helena were the end.”

And there we go. Brief, yes, but Wilde.

writing rules: guaranteed to get you a book deal!

This post is part of my “blog cleanup” series and was originally posted at the last Gracetopia, on blogger. I’ve edited a bit and added an addendum to the bottom. Bon appetit.

~

Any way you want it
That’s the way you need it
–Journey

I am a member of/hang out at/lurk at/occasionally read a variety of writing websites. And people are always asking about the rules. “Am I allowed to swear?” “How long should my chapters be?” “Am I supposed to do a prologue? Am I not supposed to do a prologue?” “How much dialogue should I use?” (like literally, “what percentage of my novel should be dialogue?“) “How many plot events do I need in the first 20 pages?”

Good grief, people.

I hereby give you the only writing rule you ever need, the one rule you should remember forever and ever and ever. Free of charge, you don’t even have to credit me when you pass it around.

There are no unbreakable rules.

Anyone who tells you otherwise should be kicked. In the face. (That is not part of the rule, merely a suggestion.)

Write what works for the story. If your chapters are 20 pages, well cool. If they are 50 words, well cool.

Don’t trust anyone who declares there is one right way and then argues with you about their one right way. There are things that have been popular, things that have worked well for many many authors, but that doesn’t mean you have to do them if it’s not what works for your story.

This bothers me like a lot. Not even the answers, the questions themselves.

People ask for rules for a lot of reasons, the main one being they want that one magic bean that will get them published and on the top of the NYTimes bestseller list.

But there isn’t a bean, people. Just write, write, write, and figure out what works for you. Sure, take suggestions, see what works for other people, but if it isn’t what works for you just ignore it.

That is all.

Addendum:

The beautiful and totally fabulous Cat commented on the original post with this:

I like one particular rule, though it’s probably the hardest to follow:

“Leave out the bits the readers skip.”

I definitely concur with that rule. [Elmore Leonard, btw]

Rules that are entertaining/vague/general/witty are ok in the Land of Grace. (See also: “The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there. ~Mark Twain) General wisdom, I’d call this category. With a bit of snark. I’m pretty sure if you asked Elmore Leonard what percentage of a book should be dialogue, he’d just laugh at you.

Announcing: SF/F Writers Day!

Sci-fi author Sharon Lee has declared next Tuesday, June 23, the First Annual Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day.

I am extremely into this idea, so here I go spreading the word. I mean, why not? Administrative Assistants get a day. Why not SF/F writers? (def stole that comparison from S. Lee.) And we can always use another excuse to throw a party.

So. Celebrate! Do it however you like, this is the First Annual so there aren’t really any rules yet. (Buying sci-fi or fantasy books is highly encouraged, at least by me.) Celebrate the SF/F writers who have made an impact on you.

We’ll be doing something fun here at Gracetopia. Or at least something. So stay tuned.

karaoke

Debut novelist Lara Zielin on the trials and tribulations of editing:

(points to wordvixen, who originally posted this)

amazon update

From the New York Times.

From the BBC.

An “error,” huh? One that affects gay and lesbian literature and not vibrators? Okay then. Whatever you say, amazon.

On a totally different note, I dislike the way the BBC article talks about bloggers and the general internet community, and about how quick they/we were to jump to conclusions about amazon.com’s behavior. Like, our reaction was an irrational thing—we leapt to conclusions before gathering all the facts, and were too eager to point the finger at big, bad amazon. Like we made too big a deal out of it.

I’m sorry. I tend to dislike discrimination. Just a… thing… that I have.

And even in the unlikely event that this was some magical glitch, the fact that amazon seems to not care at all is almost as disgusting to me as if it were deliberate discrimination. Amazon is just trying to brush it under the rug (something the major news agencies seem to be helping with—those two articles were NOT in easy-to-find front page sections) as if we really shouldn’t be concerned about it. “No no guys don’t worry just a slight mistake won’t happen again!”

Maybe I’m cynical. Okay, no maybe about it. I am cynical. But until it is proven otherwise, I am going to be suspicious of the amazon.com activities. Innocent until proven guilty, sure. But also suspicious.

“a writer of uncommon talent”

Can any writer really be this good?

Wells Tower sounds like a fascinating person, but can he really be SUCH a good writer? Obviously I will have to read the book to find out. I am just dubious—I mean, every review loves him. It’s just my cynical nature, I guess.

Has anyone read Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned? Thoughts?