Author: ransomnoble

Published Writer: young adult and science fiction

Strengths

Each of us has different areas we’re confident in pursuing. These talents vary, and we measure ourselves against the best and brightest in each.

Some days, that’s not the best decision. We falter in our forward progress, see that we’re not cut out for the big time, and become frustrated or disillusioned. We need peptalks from friends and family to get going on our paths again. A few give up entirely and choose another area of interest to dabble in.

Don’t quit something you love. The beauty of hobbies is you can do something you’re not perfect at and still just enjoy it. I’ll never be a great guitarist, but that doesn’t stop me from playing and learning. I’ll always write, whether I get published again or not – though I do keep hoping for the former rather than the latter.

May you find your motivation wherever you need it, and not give up on the little things that make life so much fun.

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Opportunities

As a writer, bringing in money can be a concern – especially when starting out. There are hundreds of opportunities to be found; each has pros and cons. The best case scenario is to be supported by the craft, but in the beginning it takes time.

Most of us have supportive spouses who try to understand our crazy tendencies to write in spite of what else could be done. Watch TV? No, thanks, I can get another chapter out instead. Weed the garden? I can still see the things I planted, give it another week until I get this drafted. Those examples aren’t always realistic, but we do have to steal time in our schedule to finish our projects wherever we can. We juggle jobs and families and chores in the hope that we can share our creative talents.

Jobs are difficult. They provide security, but also take most of our energy. Few can push on after a full day, and a part-time option doesn’t pay the bills. The indulgent spouse may offer an opportunity to stay at home for awhile, especially to save on child-care.

Even when we do manage some success, publish that novel or several short stories (or both), it can still be a long time between paychecks. Some of us cover it with freelancing, or using other talents to fill the gaps. I’ve been looking at several options lately, and while it surprises me to figure out how many options there are, I struggle to decide what the best option is.

For now, I’m attempting Helium, but that doesn’t mean I won’t keep other things in mind.

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Meet Nancy Famolari

Nancy Famolari lives with her husband, five horses, two dogs and five white cats on a farm in the Endless Mountains of Pennsylvania. Her stories and poems have appeared in Long Story Short, Flash Shot, Fiction Flyer, Lyrica, Alienskin Magazine Clockwise Cat, and Matters of the Heart from the Museitup Press. She received an award from Fiction Flyer for one of her flash fiction stories. Her novel, Summer’s Story, will be available from Red Rose Press in the fall 2008. Her mystery, Murder in Montbleu, will be available from Red Rose Publishing in 2009.

What are your future writing plans?

I have a second book under contract to Red Rose Publishing. This novel is a murder mystery, Murder in Montbleu. The setting is a small town in Pennsylvania similar to the one I live in. I’ve become very friendly with the characters in this novel and have two other novels that use the same setting, Lake House and Buttermilk Falls Murder. I’m still in the process of editing them, but hope to find a home for them.

Do you write the same genres you read?

I read mysteries and romance. These are the genres I write. I find that when I’m writing something I’d like to read myself, my story is more interesting. The characters start to talk to me, and I have fun listening to them. I’ve tried to write in genres I don’t read and it comes out flat.

What draws you to the genres you write?

I’ve always loved mysteries. In fact that’s my preferred genre. My next book Murder in Montbleu due this year from Red Rose Publishing, is a cozy mystery. I had great fun with it. I decided on a romance for Summer’s Story because I think harness racing is romantic. I’d been involved in harness racing as a breeder, owner, and trainer for years. I thought it would be fun to write a book with that as background. When I read, I like to be taken to a place outside my ordinary work-a-day world. Harness racing for most people, except those who work in it, is quite foreign. I enjoy romance, particularly the Nora Roberts style of romance. I don’t do serious erotica. I also have great fun with mainstream romance, but mysteries are my first love.

What is the best tip you can give someone who wants to write?

The best tip I can think of is apply your seat to the chair and write. Courses are great, so are critique groups, but the sad fact is that you have to put in the hours developing your voice and learning to use all the things you’ve discovered in courses. Critique groups are a double edged sword. You can get valuable information, but you have to have enough self-confidence to decide what to accept and what to reject. It is, after all, your work. It has to please you.

Thanks for stopping by, Nancy. More about her book, Summer’s Story, will appear in this blog on the 21st of January!

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Book to be Illustrated

The Art of Science will be published with illustrations. Looked like we’re done with revisions and the book will be formatted soon. Eight illustrations will be dispersed throughout the book.

I’m excited to see what the illustrations will look like. It takes time to find an illustrator. They will be pen and ink. There are often many options, but this isn’t my area of expertise. It differs from other types of books, in that there are illustrations (different from an adult novel) but that they aren’t showing a story to a child who can’t read yet (picture book). It’s interesting to straddle the line between those two, and it opens my eyes to how much I don’t know about children’s books and their illustrations.

More research, and probably more posts ahead.

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Legislation Regarding Creationism and Evolution

Science and religion are often at odds on how the world came to be. Several bills have been posed to change how scientific theories are taught in schools. The latest one is a lot like the others, except being careful to not mention religion.

The article is right- any science teacher worth anything will bring up the evidence for and against evolution during class. It looks like it’s just another attempt to bring the creation theory – or intelligent design – into the picture.

They only target evolution, rather than any number of other controversial topics in the sciences. Isn’t that interesting?

I remember an old youth group pastor who apparently never had a problem thinking that evolution could be the intelligent design. He said there was more than one way to think about it: either a passive god created the world and let it go on its own, or an active god made changes as the world went along. The first could explain creation theory, and the second could explain evolution.

Most of the scientific-minded people in my circle don’t have issues also believing in religion. We don’t necessarily take any religious book at its most literal, but as a guide on a metaphoric level. I can’t say how we do it is right or wrong, but it works for us. We occasionally discuss these things, but are also unwilling to push our views on others.

My hope is that everyone can find an answer to suit herself.

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Geek Appeal

Engineering Students from Virginia Tech created highly durable bricks of a lunar-rock-like material, which may be used to build future colonies on the moon.

I love science fiction as much as the next girl… well, no, probably more. I’ve had conversations with fellow geeks about colonizing the moon. The biggest issue is always water. It’s awesome that a new material might get us closer to that.

The new bricks can withstand a ‘gradual’ application of up to 2,450 pounds per square inch, which is substantial – and reportedly nearly equal to concrete. Looks like one of the original intentions was for armor. (Concrete, for those of you who don’t know much about it, is an amazing material with wide applications.)

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Writing Passion

I read a lot of books about writing. Each one is different and contains some bit of information (or more than one) that takes me in my path to become a better writer.

The most recent one explores, as part of setting goals, passion. Part of it deals with the “one-sentence pitch.” (I’ve always heard it called a premise.) I wrote one before my most-recent in progress novel, “Four young teens whose goal is to each be ‘normal’ are beset by nightmares sent to them by a desperate other-being who wants to regain his freedom.”

Moving on from that, the book also explores goals as a writer to show how to give each story your own unique mark. Examples given:
“I want to write X stories with Y and Z. (I want to write sensual stories with suspense and intrigue.)
X and Y are what writer Z is all about. (Spunky heroines and slapstick comedy are what Jack Doe is all about.)”

I wonder how many of the authors I know use a formula like that. I think I write in several different areas, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love each of them. In one way, you can see it easily getting slated for one genre- sensual stories might put someone in romance, for example. It also works across genres to say that perhaps the action stories the author chose to write would have a sensual side.

I’ve been giving it some thought. I’m working on my own words to fill in X, Y, and Z, but I just haven’t found them yet.

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Reconnections

Social networking sites are fun, time-consuming, and yet still worthwhile for getting the word out. I set up a page on Facebook as a writer, and I have 17 fans! Okay, I knew them all already, so far, but that doesn’t mean  the word isn’t getting out. We all start with people we know and build an audience from there.

At least it’s a nice start.

I heard over the holidays that a bunch of the creative/artist types are at LiveJournal, but I haven’t checked that out yet. It’s always about balancing the time we have between what we want to do (the creative bit), what we have to do (promotion and marketing), and distractions (oh, my friend is online and I haven’t chatted with her in forever).

I like to add things slowly, but then I get excited and do more. Then I remember that I’d really rather focus on my creative efforts, and sometimes I miss something.

Lists are wonderful for that. So are emailed reminders.

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Final Revisions?

Oh, I’ve been getting close to that. This time you know it has to be good if I get to choose where the illustrations are going!

There aren’t going to be that many, but it’s still exciting. I read through the final draft last night, and I’m still considering the illustration options.

I’ve also been working on my press kit. It’s a good thing for any author who promotes a book. There are even services out there to make them for you – but they’re quite expensive. Definitely worth doing yourself. Also, it gives an author the knowledge base to promote herself and a focusing point for bringing it up.

At least, I think so. Either way, progress feels good.

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Consumer Product Safety

Consumer Product Safety Act of 2008

Oh, the joys of reading government lingo early in the morning. I found a link to the act after my publisher spread the word about some of the changes called for by this legislation.

Concerns are about testing and how the publishers are held accountable for books that may or may not have lead in them, when the printers are the ones who have control over that aspect.

This reminds me of working in the automotive industry! I worked with quality for over five years, and I learned quite a bit from the stringent regulations.

1. The highest order corporation leans on everyone who supplies them. (In automotive, that meant Ford, GM, Toyota, etc.)

2. Tier 1 suppliers lean on their suppliers. (Names get less recognizable, but Visteon and Delphi are among them.)

3. Down the line, the people who actually make the individual pieces implement all kinds of quality measures to show they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing.

This is how QS-9000 and TS-16949 became the quality intiatives (at different times) in the industry. We needed a way to show we’d followed everything we needed to, and though it isn’t always the most efficient way, it did make everyone follow a procedure.

Our publishers need to lean on the printers to certify that they’ve tested for lead in the paper, ink, and other materials. They’d need to do this for all books that might come in contact with children, and their batches could be by paper batch or ink batch rather than by book title. Book title, especially in the smaller presses, seems cost prohibitive. If it is distributed over paper (or other material) batches, which you’d think would contain entirely the same amount of lead throughout, would make it possible to follow.

What happens if someone screws up? That’s where you keep the proof. Printer certifies it, and the publisher keeps the documentation. Printer keeps the documentation they have, as well as copies of their batch tests. They’d also need to keep records which batches did which titles.

Definitely something to watch.

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