Interview with Dana Elmendorf

I'm lucky (or cunning) enough to have lured yet another successful writer over to my blog for an SAT- Successful Author Talk. SAT authors have conquered the query, slain the synopsis and attained the pinnacle of published. How'd they do it? Let's ask 'em!

Today's guest is Dana Elmendorf, debut author of SOUTH OF SUNSHINE, coming from Albert Whitman and Co., April 1, 2016. Born and raised in small town in Tennessee, Dana now lives in southern California with her husband, two boys and her tiny dog Sookie. When she isn’t exercising, she can be found geeking out with Mother Nature or scouring the internet for foreign indie bands.

Are you a Planner ora Pantser?

Pantser! Outlines stifle my creativity. But while pantsing, I write extensive notes then I usually end up organizing in an outline-ish form.

How long does it typically take you to write a novel, start to finish?

Oh man, that varies. South of Sunshine I wrote in 45 days, revised in a couple of months. But the next novel I’m working on, it took me like 90 days to write and about 8 months to revise (this book has been a beast to work with.) My family and their needs come first, so a lot of times my writing gets put on the backburner, especially during the summer.  

Do you work on one project at a time, or are you a multi-tasker?

Kind of both. Once I’ve completed a novel I send it to critique partners. While that’s out I start another novel. By the time I get notes back from my CPs, I put the new novel on hold and revise the first one. So I’m never drafting two novels at the same time but I always have two novels in progress. Staggering the stages helps me rejuvenate my creativity and allows me a certain amount of distance between projects.

Did you have to overcome any fears that first time you sat down to write?

Oh Lord, yes. I’m not smart enough. I don’t have formal educaton/training so I’m not qualified. I didn’t know I wanted to be a writer until I was 36 so I’m not deserving. I have no idea what the heck I’m doing. Who’s ever going to read the crap I write? What if I write something and look like a total idiot? I’ve pretty much had every insecure fear you can think of and I just kept writing anyway. The only thing to quiet those fears is to constantly learn and grow your craft.

How many trunked books (if any) did you have before you were agented?

Four! I wrote four books that went from “this really sucks” to “this might not suck.” It was four years of writing and my fourth book that I discovered voice. Once I had the elusive voice, I started considering myself a writer. South of Sunshine was my fifth book that got me my agent. It wasn’t until after I wrote SOS that I started telling people I was a writer. I kept it a secret before then.

Have you ever quit on an ms, and how did you know it was time?

No, I’ve never quit on a manuscript BUT there were plenty of manuscripts I drafted but never revised. There’s no set rules that dictate how to know when to move on or when to stick it out. I think you have to evaluate how much passion you have for a story and what decision you make, either quitting or continuing a manuscript, will make you a better writer. Because ultimately, writers should always be working to honing their craft. For me, my drafts were so horrific, it would be impossible to revise, so I moved on. I took what I had learned from writing that novel and applied it to the next. That’s what made me a better writer.

Who is your agent and how did you get that "Yes!" out of them? 

My agent is Lauren MacLeod with The Strothman Agency. I got my agent through the traditional query process. How did I get a yes? I wrote the story she’d been looking for but of course I didn’t know that then. With my first round or two of queries, I sent it to all the heavy hitters in the business whom might like what I wrote. It wasn’t until my third round of queries that I decided to search for agents who were looking for or tended to like lighter, sweeter romance novels. That’s when I found Lauren. I emailed her my query on a Thursday. She requested a full on Friday. Called me on Monday to offer representation. I had fulls still out with other agents, but I knew I’d tell them no if they offered because Lauren had already proven to me how much she loved my story.  

How long did you query before landing your agent? 

I spent 13 months, 58 queries, 20 full/partials and 1 offer.  “Never give up.  Never surrender.” was my query motto. 

Any advice to aspiring writers out there on conquering query hell?

Personal connection. Personal connection. Personal connection. I believe making a personal connection got me more requests and it also got me more personalized rejections. Agents seemed more willing to explain why my book wasn’t a fit for them and I think it’s because my personal connection said something about me as a writer.

Also, don’t query a book that’s not ready. It seems like obvious advice but I’ve encountered SO many writers who sent premature books out for query to receive nothing but rejection. If you say, “I think my book is ready.” It’s not. If you’re not sure your book is ready, it’s not. If you haven’t sent your book to some hardcore tough critique partners and made some serious revisions, you book isn’t ready to query. How will you know when your story is ready? It’s kind of like how a good cop knows when to follow a hunch. You will know for an absolute certainty that your book is ready.  

How much input do you have on cover art?

In the initial consultation for my cover, I had a lot of input. Albert Whitman gave me a detailed form to fill out about what do my characters look like, do you have pictures of them, are there underlying themes in the story, are there scenes from the book that would make a great cover, what are your favorite covers etc. It was four pages by the time I was done. Since then it’s been in the hands of the design team. For me, and a lot of my author friends, as authors we don’t get to be involved with the process. Publishers know what sells; trust them to do their job. 

What's something you learned from the process that surprised you?

The overall process to be honest. From selling the book to final book on shelf, it’s a game of hurry up and wait. Each stage feels like a rush to complete but then there are these long periods of waiting until it’s time for the next stage. Then the rushing happens again. It’s exhausting and exhilarating all in the same. 

How much of your own marketing do you? 

Everything. From social media, to conferences, to panels, to getting my own book blurbs, to any other marketing aspect that goes along with selling your book. I gave my publisher a four-page prospectus of how I plan to market myself. There are quite a few things in my plan that I worked around my publisher so we could market as a team. My publisher is fully supportive and backs me up where our marketing opportunities overlap but I didn’t want to wait for them to market me. No author should. Put together a marketing plan for yourself, find out where your publisher can help you out and then put your plan into action. You are the best person to market you and your book, don’t wait on someone else to do it for you.

I'm Everywhere! Site, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest.

When do you build your platform? After an agent? Or should you be working before?

Before you get an agent, for sure. Understanding and navigating social media takes time. Try them all and find out which forms of social media you prefer. Though it is not necessary to have a platform to get an agent, it does look favorably on you if you do. If in your personal life you prefer FB over Instagram, go that route. If FB seems daunting and you want something simpler, use Instagram. If you don’t know how to create a platform, then find out what your favorite authors do and how they connect with their readers. For your platform to be successful, it has to come naturally. There’s nothing more off-putting than social media that seems forced or rote. Mix it up. Give it splashes of your personality as it applies to your book, writing, and you as a person.

Do you think social media helps build your readership?

Absolutely! As a YA writer my readership would be teens and adults (lots of adults read YA.) Teens are very social media savvy. The social media world is ever evolving too. If you’re on top of your social media you can reach a larger readership. Teens gravitate to Instagram and Snapchat. Adults are more comfortable with Facebook. Knowing where to address your audience and how can definitely grow your readership. 

Writing From The Dark Side of The Brain

My books are not for everyone, and I'm okay with that.

I'm a walking contradiction, my personality a misleading advertisement for my books. Recently I was checking into a hotel for an event and after only a minutes' worth of conversation with the desk clerk he said, "So you obviously write really funny books."

Er... no, I do not.

There are definitely moments of humor in all of my books, because a constant state of tension and terror is no good for anybody. If you ask me The Walking Dead is desperately in need of a Hurley - consider this my annual LOST shoutout. But as bookstore placement goes, you're not going to find me in the humor section.

Since the release of A MADNESS SO DISCREET - my darkest book yet - I've had more than a few people who know me in real life tell me they wouldn't read "that kind of book" if I weren't the author. My offhand response is - "Oh, then you're really going to hate the next one."

What I say in my head is - "I didn't write it for you."

A common question young adult authors are asked is, "Why do you write for teens?" I don't necessarily think I do - I write for readers. If they are teens then that's even better because teens don't get enough credit for being intelligent, discerning readers. And some of them are readers like myself, who want a little more grit in their coffee, some tabasco in their eggs, and the feeling that maybe everything isn't going to be okay, after all.

I write what I write because I think the best books create their own reality - and reality is a messy, ugly place sometimes. I live in the real world, and that's where I write from. I fully endorse reading as escapism, and absolutely enjoy a good beach read from time to time.

But most often, I like to read "that kind of book."

So I write them.

Emily Ross On Inspiration

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always including in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewees mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.

Today's guest for the WHAT is Emily Ross, author of HALF IN LOVE WITH DEATH, for which she received a 2014 Massachusetts Cultural Council finalist award in fiction. Her fiction and nonfiction have been published in Boston Magazine, Menda City Review, and The Smoking Poet. She is an editor and contributor at Dead Darlings, a website dedicated to discussing the craft of novel writing. She attended Sarah Lawrence College and the University of Massachusetts Boston, and is a 2012 graduate of Grub Street’s Novel Incubator program.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your book? 

Yes I do. I was having trouble plotting my novel when my sister suggested I turn to a true crime for inspiration and not just any crime. She confided in me that when she was 12 she’d been obsessed with the case of Charles Schmid, ‘the Pied Piper of Tucson.’ Schmid was a charismatic young man who murdered three teenage girls, and buried them in the Arizona desert. Two of his victims were sisters. I was surprised to be hearing about this crime that took place in the sixties, for the first time now from my own sister. I had to look deeper into this case.

I learned that Schmid had been very popular with Tucson teens and had lots of girlfriends. Some of the material about him read more like an episode of Gossip Girl, than the thoughts of a serial killer. Photos from an old Life Magazine article from 1966 showed him to be a handsome guy who didn’t look like a murderer. In fact he didn’t look all that different from kids I’d hung out with in high school. One of the many aspects of this case that disturbed me was that some of Schmid’s friends had known about the murders and didn’t tell anyone. I began thinking about how little I understood about my own friends as a teen, and how blindly I’d counted on love to solve everything. Slowly a story emerged about secrets, lies, and a girl who falls for someone who may not be what he seems.

Once the original concept existed, how did you build a plot around it? 

Researching this crime gave me a broad arc for my story and a sense of events that could happen. It also helped me to develop my main characters. I decided to tell the story from the point of view of a girl whose older sister goes missing, and based my protagonist loosely on Wendy Fritz, Schmid’s youngest victim. I was drawn to a photo I found of her. She looked so innocent and uncertain, and reminded me of myself at that age. Other than this photo though there was almost no information on her. Ultimately this turned out to be a good thing because it freed me to tell a story that was quite different from the case. But I didn’t leave my original concept entirely behind. I wove many details from the crime into my book, sometimes without even realizing it.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper? 

I usually don’t start with the plot firmly in place. I wish I did. Rather I have a vague idea of the major plot points and the ending, but things change a lot as I write a draft. I’m okay with that as long as I keep heading in the right general direction. But revising my novel was a painful process with lots of wrong turns. For my next novel I’d like to have the plot firmly in place before I start. We’ll see…

Do story ideas come to you often, or is fresh material hard to come by? 

A lot of vague story ideas float through my mind but they’re more like bits of a story, a line, an image, a voice. Sometimes when I write it feels like I'm making a collage out of all these little pieces of things. I have to figure out what connects them and how they fit together, but I usually don't start to see the connections until I’m well into a draft. Even then I stumble around in the dark hoping that a story will emerge from all the bits and pieces. The strange thing is that it often does.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I’m pretty indecisive so choosing what to write next is hard for me. Right now I have two novel ideas bouncing around in my head. One is about a teenage girl who aspires to be a video game designer. It will require a lot of research, since I don’t even play video games. The other is about dance teams, something I’m a little more familiar with. To help myself decide I often just start writing to see if the idea holds my interest. If I find myself writing lots of pages, that’s usually the story I choose to write next. If that doesn’t work I have also been known to arbitrarily choose one of my ideas and force myself to stick with it for a while to see if I can make it work.

Sometimes the perfect word eludes me. If I can’t come up with it in the moment I usually write something in ALL CAPS like A GREAT WORD HERE and move on to catch it later in revision. Do you roll with the flow, or go find that word right away?

I’m a bit obsessive so I try to find the word right away. I look it up in an online thesaurus or Google things like word for [fill in vague phrase]. But I rarely find the perfect word that way so then I do my best to roll with flow (difficult as that is), and add a comment in my draft that says, COME BACK. Usually the word will come to me later when I’m in the shower or at the grocery store or in some other awkward situation that makes it difficult to write it down.