I recently did a presentation about the path to publication that included a big fat picture of a rhinoceros, which always seems to set people back a bit. One of the first things I tell aspiring authors to procure for themselves is some rhinoceros skin. Don't actually go kill a rhinoceros and say Mindy McGinnis told you to do it before reading the rest of this post.
Rhinoceros skin is 1.5 centimeters thick - that's pretty thick skin. Even on our fleshiest parts (hands and feet) human skin is only about 4mm thick. Big game hunters in the early 1900's even believed that rhinos had bulletproof skin. This is not actually the case, but that particular myth has staying power- Kevlar backpacks have been dubbed Rhino Skin.
And this is the kind of protective layer you need to have covering your ego when it's time for feedback. Whether that is coming from your critique partners, casual readers, agents, editors, bloggers or professional reviewers, anything negative that anyone has to say about your book is going to sting a little. And stinging a little is just fine. In fact, even the rhino is used to it - the biggest threat to their skin is sunburn and insect bites. Rhinos cover themselves in mud to protect their skin from these threats, and then they move on with their lives.
These topical concerns can't kill you - in fact, much like the rhino you learn from them. But you can't allow the negativity about your work sink past your epidermis and get down into your organs where you can be fatally damaged by it. Your ego can take a bruising (in fact it's good for all of us) but a seeping lesion will drain the life out of you.
So put on your rhinoceros skin and roll around in some mud, at which point you'll be ready to face any negativity about your writing. And yes, you can say that Mindy told you to roll in the mud.
Author Talia Carner on Stories Finding the Author
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 included in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewee’s mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well.
Today’s guest for the WHAT is Talia Carner, whose first novel, Puppet Child launched a nationwide legislation–The Protective Parent Reform Act. China Doll made Amazon’s bestsellers list and served as the platform for Ms. Carner’s presentation at the U.N. in 2007 about infanticide in China. Her novel, Jerusalem Maiden, (HarperCollins 2011,) won the Forward National Literature Award in the Historical Fiction category. Her latest novel, Hotel Moscow, (HarperCollins 2015) won USA Book News award in the Multicultural category. Her upcoming novel, The Third Daughter, (HarperCollins September 2019,) is a daring exposé of sex trafficking.
Inspired by Sholem Aleichem’s story, “The Man from Buenos Aires,” author Talia Carner’s novel, The Third Daughter (HarperCollins, September 2019) breaks the silence on the trafficking of Jewish women from Eastern Europe to Buenos Aires in the late 1800s. For historical background, book tour schedule, reviews, and contact for book group participation, please check her website.
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 books?
Stories find me. I don’t seek them out. Each time I am far along with a novel and think that maybe it’s my last one, the next one presents itself. Each takes hold of my head and heart and compelled me to sit down to what turns out to be three to six years’ work at a time. I’ve long realized that the seeds of every story had sprouted in my psyche years earlier, where they fermented…. All it takes is a passing comment, a line in a newspaper, or a road sign, and the idea blooms, takes hold on me and doesn’t let go until I crawl under the skin of a new protagonist. I rise and fall with her spirit as she struggles—and prevails against—the forces that shape her life, be they psychological, political, social, geographical, legal, economic, or religious.
Once the original concept exists, how do you build a plot around it?
I don’t plan the plot, but rather I get on the journey with the protagonist, and learn alongside her while she finds herself in a myriad of situations involving the central social issue or the historical truth of the novel. That said, on occasions I must stop and redirect her so she doesn’t lead me away from the main storyline into less relevant parts of her life. Most importantly, I ensure that the moral dilemma is strong, and does not wear out in the course of the book. Equally circuital is that when things go awry for her, she and I—as the author—don’t shy away from confronting the drama that such a situation entails. It takes guts to write the harrowing experience, and I put myself in a dreamlike trance to feel it fully and let the words spill onto the computer screen. In the editing phase, though, I might soften the scene to fit the readers’ tolerance, so they won’t throw my novel against the wall in horror…. This has been the case with my new novel, The Third Daughter, which deals with sex trafficking. The reader gets a strong reading experience, but also satisfaction from the emotional rides and the thrill, the way she might experience in a gut-wrenching film that stays with her afterward for days.
Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?
I don’t plot ahead of time. Each time the reader is surprised, I was surprised when the story took that dramatic turn. The most I do is follow the analogy that writing a novel is like setting out to drive at night from New York to California. You know the final destination, but you can see only as far as the headlights. In my case, I may keep in mind that those headlights should reveal, within two to five chapters, a hand that reaches down from the sky and yanks the story into a new orbit. I may or may not know where this short drive ahead will lead.
How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?
I sit in front of my computer, close my eyes, and start typing. The right story moves to the forefront. That said, I’m two years into researching novel #6—including four trips to France, where the story is set—but have written very little of it. That story has the historical background in place; I know my protagonist well, but I still have no idea where her journey will take her. Luckily, by now I trust my instincts that, once I finish the bulk of my book tour for The Third Daughter and have time to devote to writing this new book, it will all fall into place.
I have 5 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?
Since I am in a dream-like state when I write fresh material or concentrate hard on revisions and editing, I can’t imagine being distracted by either cats or music. There were times I tried music, but I ended up getting up to dance…. I may sit at the computer for 10 hours at a stretch without eating, with only the occasional bathroom break. If you are in a dream, can you stop to be awakened by a phone call, and then return to the dream?
Settle Into Fall with Four Free Hardcovers!
The days are getting shorter, the light is failing… in other words, it’s my kind of time!
I love the fall. And there’s nothing better than kicking back in a cool breeze with a good book. I thought I’d share some of my recent reads with everyone, and give you a chance to win a few!
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal: A novel of family, Midwestern values, hard work, fate and the secrets of making a world-class beer, from the bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest
Two sisters, one farm. A family is split when their father leaves their shared inheritance entirely to Helen, his younger daughter. Despite baking award-winning pies at the local nursing home, her older sister, Edith, struggles to make what most people would call a living. So she can't help wondering what her life would have been like with even a portion of the farm money her sister kept for herself.
With the proceeds from the farm, Helen builds one of the most successful light breweries in the country, and makes their company motto ubiquitous: "Drink lots. It's Blotz." Where Edith has a heart as big as Minnesota, Helen's is as rigid as a steel keg. Yet one day, Helen will find she needs some help herself, and she could find a potential savior close to home. . . if it's not too late.
Meanwhile, Edith's granddaughter, Diana, grows up knowing that the real world requires a tougher constitution than her grandmother possesses. She earns a shot at learning the IPA business from the ground up--will that change their fortunes forever, and perhaps reunite her splintered family
Here we meet a cast of lovable, funny, quintessentially American characters eager to make their mark in a world that's often stacked against them. In this deeply affecting family saga, resolution can take generations, but when it finally comes, we're surprised, moved, and delighted.
Don’t miss the podcast episode with J. Ryan Stradal!
Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson: The new novel in Craig Johnson's beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series.
Attempting to recover from his harrowing experiences in Mexico, in Land of Wolves Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire is neck deep in the investigation of what could or could not be the suicidal hanging of a shepherd. With unsettling connections to a Basque family with a reputation for removing the legs of Absaroka County sheriffs, matters become even more complicated with the appearance of an oversize wolf in the Big Horn Mountains to which Walt finds himself feeling more and more empathetic.
Follow the Podcast to catch an upcoming episode with Craig Johnson!
The Last Good Guy by T. Jefferson Parker: In this electrifying new thriller from three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestseller T. Jefferson Parker, Private Investigator Roland Ford hunts for a missing teenager and uncovers a dark conspiracy in his most personal case yet.
When hired by a beautiful and enigmatic woman to find her missing younger sister, private investigator Roland Ford immediately senses that the case is not what it seems. He is soon swept up in a web of lies and secrets as he searches for the teenager, and even his new client cannot be trusted. His investigation leads him to a secretive charter school, skinhead thugs, a cadre of American Nazis hidden in a desert compound, an arch-conservative celebrity evangelist--and, finally, to the girl herself. The Last Good Guy is Ford's most challenging case to date, one that will leave him questioning everything he thought he knew about decency, honesty, and the battle between good and evil...if it doesn't kill him first.
Don’t miss the most recent podcast episode featuring T. Jefferson Parker!
The Birthday Girl by Melissa de la Cruz: In the thrilling, suspenseful new novel from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz, all of Ellie de Florent-Stinson’s secrets come to light in one eventful evening full of twists, turns, and surprises.
Before she became a glamorous fashion designer, Ellie de Florent-Stinson was a trailer-park teen about to turn sixteen. But a night of birthday celebration doesn’t go exactly as planned and descends into a night she’ll never be able to forget.
Now, on the cusp of her fortieth birthday, it appears Ellie has everything she ever wanted: a handsome husband; an accomplished, college-age stepdaughter; a beautiful ten-year-old girl; adorable and rambunctious six-year-old twin boys; lush, well-appointed homes in Los Angeles, Park City, and Palm Springs; a thriving career; and a dazzling circle of friends.
Except everything is not quite as perfect as it looks on the outside—Ellie is keeping many secrets. And hiding those skeletons has a cost, and it all comes to a head the night of her fabulous birthday party in the desert—where everyone who matters in her life shows up, invited or not. Old and new friends and frenemies, stepdaughters and business partners, ex-wives and ex-husbands congregate, and the glittering facade of Ellie’s life begins to crumble.
Beautifully paced and full of surprises, The Birthday Girl is an enthralling tale of a life lived in shadow and its unavoidable consequences.