Guest Post and Giveaway by Bryan Cohen. If you or someone you know is a writer or considering becoming one, I have some tips for you! Do you believe?

Belief

By Bryan Cohen

”When I’m talking about belief, why do you always assume I’m talking about God?”

Shepherd Book, Serenity

As I was growing up, my parents with the help of our Jewish faith, taught me the difference between right and wrong. They taught me to believe in God and that God was good and that if I behaved well that everything would turn out fine. I think that the religious belief system I learned growing up was a pretty good one and I would call myself a relatively moral person at least partly as a result of this upbringing. It tied into my beliefs of true love and destiny that I learned from books and movies.

Guest Blogger: Susan Hanniford Crowley, Romance, Fantasy and Sci Fi Author. Win Your Choice of a pdf ebook!

I'm pleased to have Susan Hanniford Crowley visiting today. Susan is a talented author who writes across a number of genres: romance, fantasy and science fiction! She's gracious enough to offer you two things today: for the writers out there and interested booklovers, she's going to provide advice on world building. Susan is also giving away one of her ebooks. One winner will have a choice between one of these three pdf ebooks: When Love Survives, The Stormy Love Life of Laura Cordelais, or A Vampire for Christmas.

For a chance to be that winner, just leave a comment that says what you like about vampires. Let her know which one of the books you would like. That's it. Don't forget your email, so you can be contacted if you're the winner. Of course, feel free to add to that and ask Susan questions about world building, writing, and anything else about books and writing that you have an interest in. She loves responding to reader questions and comments. Don't be shy. Giveaway ends Friday, 2/11/11. Without further ado, I leave you with Susan Hanniford Crowley...

How to Build A World

By Author Susan Hanniford Crowley

Since I am a fiction author, I will look a world building from that reference.  Your first decision is the placement of your world.  Will it be a world completely of the imagination?  I mean a world that doesn’t already exist.  Or will it be an unseen part of our real world?  Or will it be a future or past world?  Location as they say in business is everything. 

Let’s start with the easiest—putting a slightly imaginary world side by side with the present day contemporary world.  In the Harry Potter books, his world is mostly unseen by virtue of magic screening it from the eyes of non-magic or muggle folk.  In my world of the Vampires in Manhattan series, my vampires are on the street and shopping with everyone else, but I have sanctuaries in the city, buildings that belong to them.  I also count on the ability of New Yorkers to ignore anything different as long as it doesn’t hurt them.   Having spent a lot of time in New York and having had family in the city, I have an instinct on what will or will not get a New Yorker’s attention and that has changed since 9/11. 

Novel Update...If I ever thought this was going to be easy....

As some of you know, I've been plugging along writing a YA novel. I anticipated completing it by the end of the summer and querying agents this fall to see if this story stands any chance of seeing the light of day beyond my computer screen. Well, I am definitely off my own time table. And let my tell you why.

As I complete a round of revisions, I print the entire novel and read the hard copy. I can't emphasize enough how important this is. My house may be scattered with papers, but it's a necessary step. You'd be amazed by what you catch reading the hard copy that you simply don't pick up when you read on a computer screen. I'm not just talking about typos, which seem to be there no matter how many times you read the darn thing, I'm talking about how the writer picks up on all the extraneous words, redundancies, phrases that don't capture the meaning you intend...I could go on and on.

Working on My Novel: The Revision Process.

I'm happy to report that I have completed the story and I'm on my second round of revisions before I formally submit it to an agent. If you've never done this, you may think the job is done when you can write "The End" on the last page, but really, the work is only just beginning. No matter how much I believe I'm done, I always find ways to improve the writing when I go back to it.

Some agents were kind enough last night to have a chat and answer whatever questions you may have about getting published, what they do etc. I asked what do they see too much of in the way of the topics submitted to them. The answer was paranormal romance that is derivative, in essence, stories that are a copycat of what's already out there. A lot of folks envision themselves writing the next Twilight.  I have a suspicion that publishers want a book that has Twilight sensibilities, but has a new, unique spin--and this doesn't necessarily mean vampires. In fact, you'd probably be better off if it didn't have vampires because they are so prevalent, it's hard to stand out now. One agent confirmed this when she told me publishers are looking for a book that generates the same kind of emotions Twilight did.

I've been fooling around with two stories. One is a contemporary YA and one is a paranormal. I'm not sure how I ended up writing this paranormal story. It popped into my head and evolved. It flowed out and I wrote it down. I love to read a good romance and writing one has proven to be so much fun. I try to think of what girls would like to read. Books are a way to escape into another world and I want that world to be as intriguing as possible.

Of course, I know a publisher may have no interest in publishing my story, but I'll try and see if I get any bites. If I don't, my friends have certainly had a good time reading it, so I know someone enjoyed it and I  had a great time writing it--no matter how things turn out.

Toodles!

Meanderings of ECLIPSE, Stephanie Myers, an interesting writer observation...stuff like that.......

Hey guys, just thought I'd throw in my two cents about Eclipse and a few tidbits about the great Stephanie Myers. I went the first day it opened, which I usually don't do, but I already had my ticket, so I didn't have to do anything but walk in, so I did.

For those of you who pay any attention to what I say around here...LOL...you may be aware that I watch the Twilight movies first, then read the book, so I have no clue about what's going to happen, especially if there's a new character involved. Anyone who is an aspiring author, has heard time and time again, you should open your book with something interesting and in a meaningful moment of the story. Many new writers have interpreted this to mean open with some sort of dramatic action, whether that be a fight, a murder, a bomb or the character being in some kind of serious trouble. Now the problem with that is, unless the reader has connected with the character in some way and cares about them, they don't give a hoot about who's dying, who's facing some sort of peril etc. And how can they bond with the character unless they get a chance to know them first?

Much advice is offered on line and elsewhere, often by literary agents, suggesting the writer not do that. The first scene of Eclipse was a perfect example. Now maybe folks who read the book, understood, but when this big dramatic scene came on--a huge rainstorm, a guy apparently being stalked and ultimately attacked by some unseen force, I didn't have the merest clue about what was going on. I know the drama of the scene was meant to elicit an emotional reaction from me, but I didn't really have one because I was too busy trying to figure out who the guy was and why I should care about what happens to him. At first, with all that rain, it took a few seconds for me to realize he was under some kind of attack...LOL...anyway this was an excellent example of what writers are warned not to do and I saw very vividly why that is so.

New Moon, Stephanie Meyer and all that kind of stuff...so what's to say? Plenty!

Well, I know I'm late to the party. I finally finished reading New Moon yesterday. I wanted to complete it before Eclipse comes out next week and mission accomplished. Yay me! When Twilight came out, I had no idea it was a book until people in the theatre told me. I loved the movie and wasn't disappointed like some were because I had no idea how the much was changed, cut out of the story etc. I've decided to continue this format and watch the movie first, then read the book.

Those of you who have read my earlier post may recall I didn't like New Moon the movie as much as Twilight. I wasn't expecting much from the book, but I was happily surprised and found it pretty engaging. I know there are a lot of Jacob/Taylor Lautner fans out there, but I find the Jacob of the book a more interesting character than the movie version. Taylor's doing a good job, mind you, I just think the literary Jacob is more compelling.

Perusing the internet and online communities, even in writer conferences, I've heard so many complaints about Stephanie Meyer's writing. I find that annoying. Of course, people have their own taste and writing and/or reading a story is very subjective, but really folks, I think she is an excellent story-teller. The woman knows how to tap into the ultimate fantasy of girls and woman the world over and that's why the book has sold so widely.

Yay! I have officially finished the first draft of my manuscript!

I am so happy to be able to say I am finished! Kind of. In some ways, this is only the beginning of a long and winding road to getting published. But, I'll take my joy when and where I can get it. The first draft of my story is complete. Now the real writing begins. It is often said that the real writing comes in the rewrite, in the revision process. How true that is.

I now have to go through my manuscript with a fine tooth comb, deciding what works and more importantly, what doesn't. Working on my query letter actually changed the focus of my story. For those of you who are not familiar with the query, it's a letter that you formulate that succinctly tells a literary agent what your story is about. The goal is to make your story interesting and enticing enough that an agent will desire to read pages of your manuscript. The hope is the agent will like the story enough to offer the writer representation and try to get the story sold to a publisher.

There is a chapter I really like, but no longer truly fits the trajectory of where the story is now headed. I have to remove that chapter and anything else that slows things down. It's not as easy as it sounds. Writers really fall in love with things they've written and are loath to let them go, but go they must if they no longer fit.

These are the type of things I have to do now along with looking for general mistakes, typos, etc. I'm going to let the story sit for a while to "breathe" and come back to it. I need time away from it, so I can look at it with fresh eyes. You would be surprised at how different it looks and how many things you catch when you give the story and yourself some time apart.

Toodles!

I'm Doing Something Right...Part One.

Hey guys. I've gone longer between posting than usual because I've been crazy busy over the past week. This is a busy season in the book publishing world, especially in New York City. BEA (Book Expo America) was taking place at the Jacob Javits Center and I was attending the Backspace Writers Conference. If you are an aspiring author, I can't recommend a better conference for you to attend than Backspace. It is chocked full of literary agents, authors, editors and publishing professionals of all types and they're there to help you make your dreams come true and become a published author.

Honestly, people leave Backspace feeling one of two ways for the most part: you're either super happy because you heard really good stuff about your writing or you've pretty much been told (nicely) that your writing sucks and it's back to the drawing board. I am happy to say that I received very positive feed back and left the conference in the happiest of moods. This was not the case last year when I was clearly making newbie mistakes (too much backstory anyone?) and hadn't fully honed the craft of creative writing.

They held a contest modeled after American Idol in which three literary agents (two of which represent the authors of The Art of Racing in the Rain and Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction)  decided who would make it past the first round and the audience would then decide the winners. I'm tickled to say I won second place!  When I was called up to get my prize(a fifty dollar gift certificate), I knew I was doing something right.

So many people approached me afterwards to offer me congratulations and tell me how much they liked my writing it was down right embarrassing. And I wasn't even the first place winner, but I sure felt like it! I can't imagine being any happier. Someone said I was the "star" of the conference. I don't know about that, but I'll tell you one thing, I don't know how any celebrity could be arrogant. To receive that kind of attention is incredibly humbling to me. I felt like I wanted to do more than say "thank you" effusively, over and over again, but that's all I could do. I guess writing a good story that people will enjoy is the next best thing.

This past week, two agents expressed interest in reading pages from my manuscript. Now this doesn't mean they're going to ultimately like the story or want to take it on, but at least I know I'm headed in the right direction and I'm getting positive nibbles.

Well thanks for "listening" guys. It's back to writing!

Toddles!

World Building: YA PANEL. NY Chapter of The Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators (SCBWI)

As I stated in yesterdays post, I went to SCBWI-NY last night and listened to Connie Hsu, Editor at Little Brown talk about world building in your novel. As I work on my YA manuscript, I'm attentive to all things related to literature and the craft of writing. I have two Master's degrees and neither of them is a MFA, so essentially this is a learn as I go proposition. I'm amazed at how much I have learned and how far I've come since I began this journey over the past year.

I want to pass on a few tips Ms. Hsu touched on last night. This post is  not in any way comprehensive. It gets you started with a rudimentary knowledge of what world building is. First, why is world building important? It's important because it sets the place, time and environment of the story. The boundaries, via the words and imagery the author chooses, are instrumental in bringing the world of the characters to life and making the story believable.

A Surprising Peek at a Slice of Life: Tips for Writers

As I work on my novel, I let some people at work read it to get their feedback and reactions. The other day, one of my co-workers ran to me all excited. "You just wrote a scene right out of my life!"  She was the second person at work to tell me this. It was a scene that depicted three generations: A grandmother, daughter and granddaughter.

My co-worker said the scene exemplified a scenario that had played out in her own life, right down to the characters reactions. She said, "If you can get people to identify with the characters, make it personal to them, they're really going to get into the story and be compelled to read it. If my daughters read this, they would say 'Oh my goodness, that's you and grandma!' My co-worker continued. "You did exactly what I teach my students!"

The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators-NY: A Crystalizing Moment

I attended the Winter Conference of the SCBWI in New York City this weekend. It was one of the best conferences I've attended since I began this journey toward becoming a published author. I participated in a Writers Intensive. It consisted of reading your first 500 words (two pages) of your manuscript to a group of fellow writers and an agent or editor. In the morning, Kate Sullivan, editor at Little Brown lead the group and Tina Wexler, literary agent at International Creative Management (ICM) led a different group in the afternoon.

I left the Intensive knowing I was on the right track. I received very positive feedback from both groups. If you've read some of my other posts, you know this has not always been the case. I had a lot to learn and that is the point.

LIGHT ON SNOW: A Compelling Story-A Book Review and Lesson for Aspiring Writers

I was in a discount store over the holidays, A Dollar General, I think. I was perusing the aisles and came to a section with some books. I've never paid much attention to books in these stores because I'm usually disappointed. They often carry some odd, esoteric non-fiction stuff I have no interest in. This time I noticed novels, so I perked up.

I saw some romance novels, a few paranormals-you know, the more interesting reads! And then I saw Light on Snow by Anita Shreve. I read the blurb on the back and it sounded interesting, so I took a chance and bought it. Boy am I glad I did.

I devoured this little gem. Though it is actually not so little at 305 pages. I don't believe this book was classified officially as a Young Adult book, but it certainly reads that way. The protaganist, Nicky is thirty when she recounts the story, but the novel's action all takes place when she is 12 years old and is told from that perspective. This story explores love, loss and the effects of death and grief on the young and not so young.

The summary on the back of the book says it all, so with that being said:

YA Panel: NY Chapter of The Society of Children's Book Writer's and Illustrators (SCBWI)

On Tuesday, I attended a young adult panel presented by the NY chapter of SCBWI. The presenters consisted of two editors: Krista Marino, Senior Editor with Delacorte and Lexa Hillyer, Editor with Razorbill.

Ms. Marino addressed the issue of voice. The authorial voice is the author's fingerprint. It follows them from book to book. If you read a Stephen King book or a Meg Cabot book, you will find a commonality of tone that is evident in all their writing.

Lessons for Writers from New Moon, the movie

I spoke to several people today to get their opinion of New Moon. The sentiment was the same: it was good, but not as good as Twilight. They had no plans to go back for another viewing, though several of them saw Twilight multiple times. What's the difference? As I said on Sunday's post-it's the focus of the movie: Bella's inner angst and turmoil. It's hard to make those kinds of emotions exciting and attention grabbing on screen.

Backspace Agent-Author Conference: Opening Pages

The second day of the conference, the attendees read the first two pages of their manuscript. It was evident that people had put a lot of thought and effort into what they had written and expected to be affirmed. For the majority, it was not to be. The agents were direct in what was not working and why: Not identifying the appropriate audience for your writing, writing things there was no way the POV character would know, being too descriptive with your writing; not getting to the point quickly enough.

Revision one, two, three...

I've had a fairly steep learning curve as I began to formulate my novel. I bought books and searched for information on line about the craft of writing and story telling. A consistent theme was the need to revise and edit your writing.

So, you think you're a writer eh?

I've always had a professional reputation for being a skillful writer. Since beginning this adventure known as penning a novel, I've learned that creative writing-good creative writing is a different animal entirely. It requires different skill sets than  academic or scholastic writing.

Clinical/technical writing does nothing to enliven the imagination. It's goal is to transmit information-period. When you're writing a novel or a memoir, you want to bring the reader into the world of the story. Your goal is to make the story so engrossing, the reader is not conscious they're reading a book-they are there, in the story, right along with your protagonist. Maybe they even become your protagonist. This is a skill that takes time to develop. You have to practice. the more you write, the more you realize you need to write-and write, and write, and write...It's an ongoing process. Recognize that, accept it and be prepared to do what's necessary to get your character's or your own personal story told.

After many interruptions, I was finally offered a seat in a nursing program to take the clinicals. After much thought, I turned it down because I really want to work on my novel. The program is intense and there is no way I would be able to work full time, take the clinical classes, do the internship in the hospital and work on a book. I have to prioritize. I want to give my book the best chance possible and that means giving it the time it requires. I know I made the right decision, because I don't regret it one bit! I enjoy writing and I'm excited to see where I can go with it. If you have a passion for something, give it your best shot. Even if it doesn't work out as planned or as you would have desired, at least you know you did your best and you'll have no regrets.

Toddles!