The Beautiful Dichotomy Of My Life

As you may know, A MADNESS SO DISCREET was recently nominated for an Edgar award in the YA category. I was still in a little bit of shock from that announcement when I received my invitation to the ceremony, which is a black tie event in NYC.

I'm good with black tie. I'll have to shave and wash my hair and find some non-expired makeup, but I can pull it off in a pinch. But I've got a +1 on that invitation, and the boyfriend is something of a mix between Thoreau and Daryl Dixon. So if you can imagine trying to get either one of those guys in a tux and into NYC you see my dilemma.

I broached the subject while we were splitting wood this weekend. Yes, we heat the house with wood that we cut ourselves - that's how we roll. So I explained about the nomination and the ceremony while yelling over the wood splitter. And in between losing my breath from hauling logs as thick as my waist I added the bit about it all being black tie.

So we're pretty filthy, sweaty as hell, and wearing Carhartts when the boyfriend said sure, he'd put on a tux and come to NYC with me.

And... now I need a dress.

Tamera Will Wissinger On Jotting Down Notes When Inspiration Hits

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 Tamera Will Wissinger, who writes stories and poetry for children including Gone Fishing: A Novel in Verse, This Old Band, and There Was An Old Lady Who Gobbled a Skink. Her verse novel Gone Camping arrives in 2017. You can connect with Tamera online at her website, on Twitter, or on Facebook.

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? 

It was spring of 2006. (I know; even low word-count books can take their time.) As sometimes happens in my writing, fishing and the water’s edge crept into the work. As I was toying with rhythm and rhyme, some funny images emerged when I began to rhyme unexpected words – line and dine, bobber and slobber. As I played I remembered the old folk tale, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, and the concept of a fisherwoman gobbling her bait and tackle at the shore sprang forward. 

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

That summer I had enrolled in a rhyming picture book workshop with Jill Esbaum. One of my first drafts began with the old lady swallowing her boat. Jill gave me good feedback and suggested that it might work better if I started small and worked my way to the bigger items. That made sense, so I tried it and built from there. 

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

Yes. This book morphed a number of times as I worked with different trusted readers. At one point I called the old lady an old fisher, then old angler, but learned those words might not resonate with young readers. And there was also a gar in the story at one point which was…bizarre, so the gar had to go.

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

Story ideas do come to me often. I invite them, actually, and am always on the lookout for funny or poignant conversations and situations. Whether I’m at the grocery store or jolted awake at night with an idea, I try to jot story ideas down as soon as I recognize them. Otherwise they may disappear. Only a small percent of those ideas develop into a poem or a story – many times they seem wonderful in the moment only to fall flat when I begin to explore more deeply. That’s okay with me, though. Who knows; maybe I’ll be able to do something meaningful with those ideas later.  

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

Hmm. I usually go with what’s tugging most at my heart – the characters or situations that are dancing or jumping for me to turn their way. Writing shorter stories and poetry it’s a tricky balance, though, because often more than one story begs for attention. If that happens, I do divide my time. When I see one story that’s emerging most strongly, I’ll focus more energy there until I’ve seen it through.

When it comes to naming characters, I just rest my hands and let them tell me what their names are. What’s your process? 

I like your process of resting and listening to your characters. Most often I’ll begin to write using a name that I like, knowing that it may be a filler name. As the character grows it becomes more apparent to me whether or not the name fits the personality of the character. If the name no longer works, I go searching for the just-right name. Often I wind up researching on a baby name website. Some sites give name definitions, which I find interesting and informative, too.

Andrew S. Chilton On Writing The Ending First

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 Andrew S. Chilton. Andrew is a member of The Class of 2k16, and his MG fantasy novel, The Goblin's Puzzle: Being the Adventures of a Boy With No Name and Two Girls Called Alice was released on Jan 19th by Knopf.

Are you a Planner or Pantser?

I'm definitely a pantser, though I usually have a rough idea of what the story is in my head. Some pantsers will tell you that when they start, they have absolutely no idea what is going to happen. I'm not that extreme. I think it's important to have a general idea how the story ends. In fact, I usually write the ending first.

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

It depends. I can do a first draft in thirty days, but that means setting aside thirty days to do no other kind of work. Getting that much uninterrupted time is a challenge, and if I have to stop and start up again, that adds a lot of time. And even if I get my thirty days, what I have is a very rough first draft. I'd say it takes a minimum of six drafts to get something into any kind of decent shape. Allowing for cooling off time between drafts and beta reading, I'd say that 18 months is the minimum for going from writing “Once upon a time” to hitting send on the email to my editor.

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

I do better work if I stick to one project at a time, so that's what I try to do. My brain, however, feels differently about this. (“Ooo, look! Shiny!”)

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

Like a lot of writers, I have this part of my brain that's constantly telling me, “This is dumb. You can't write. You're an idiot. And not a funny one, either.” But that doesn't feel like fear to me. It's just negative self-talk, the kind of stuff you have to learn to ignore if you're going to do anything at all. But fear? No, I didn't really feel afraid. What is there to fear? Failing? Making an ass of yourself in public? I've done both of those enough times to have learned that they're no big deal (not fun, but not that bad.) There are things worth fearing in this life, but none of them will happen to you because you wrote a book.

How many trunked books did you have before you were agented?

The Goblin's Puzzle was the first book I ever finished, but if we include projects that I worked on but did not finish, the answer is several dozen. I just peeked in my writing folder. There's about twenty abandoned titles in there, and I only keep the ones I think there's some kind of chance I might go back to.

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

Yes, but it was never a conscious decision. They all just slowly dribbled away.

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

My agent is Pam Howell with D4EO. Basically, I just sent her a query, but there's a little more to the story than that. A friend of mine is a middle grade author with a couple of books published. He'd read The Goblin's Puzzle and really liked it. (Well, he really liked it after I redid the opening scene—twice.) Anyway, he was kind enough to pass it on to his agent (who ultimately passed on it). While looking for other possible agents, I ran across Pam's book review blog. On it, she said that my author friend's latest book was her favorite middle grade of the year. So, with his permission, I included his endorsement in my query to her. 

How long did you query before landing your agent?  How many queries did you send?  

I kept pretty good records. Pam was the forty-first agent that I formally queried. I sent my first query on September 26, 2011. Pam called me to offer representation on July 8, 2013. So it took just over twenty-one months to land an agent. (Answering this question is the first time I ever actually worked out how long it took. It was a surprise how much shorter it was than I remember. At the time, it seemed like it took forever.)

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

Try not to think of it as Hell. It's hard because our books are so much a part of who we are that having them rejected—especially having them rejected for no obvious reason—can be painful. It's best to try to get over that as fast as possible. Sure, some people land an agent the first time out. Or the second. But most don't. I know one author who queried 140 agents before finding representation for a book that went on to be a New York Times bestseller. Every individual query is a longshot. Think of it as rolling a pair of dice looking for double sixes. What happens if you don't? You pick the dice up and throw them again.

Of course, it's all going to be a lot easier if your book is good enough...

How much input do you have on cover art?

More than I knew what to do with. I don't have a very visual imagination. When Katherine Harrison (my wonderful, wonderful editor) asked me for ideas about the cover, I think I said something like, “Uh, maybe we should have the main characters on it?” She went out and found the amazingly talented Jensine Eckwall to do the cover and interior illustrations, which are beautiful. Hire her if you get the chance.

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

You hear a lot about how publishing isn't like it used to be and no one really edits anymore and so on. This was not my experience at all. We went through several rounds of editing, and Katherine worked very closely with me on the book.

How much of your own marketing do you?  

I do some of my own marketing but probably not as much as some other authors. I do have a Twitter account and an author page on Facebook, but I mostly use them to announce upcoming appearances.

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

I'm probably not the best person to ask this, but my inclination is to say that you shouldn't worry about this too much. If you enjoy having a blog, then you should have a blog. But if it you don't, I wouldn't bother. Every agent I've talked to will say that platform doesn't really matter to them. (At least not in fiction. Non-fiction, I understand, is another story entirely.) That said, every agent I know is a total social media monster. So, there's that.

Do you think social media helps build your readership?

I think it helps more with young adult than middle grade. Your middle grade readership isn't on social media (or isn't supposed to be, anyway), so you have to be indirect. It's about building relationships with people like librarians and booksellers, people who will put your books in kids hands.