I'm Really Enjoying This

Really enjoying Goblin Hero, that is.

The fun continues on from Goblin Quest, and I think I know where the third book might be going.

Maybe. Not that it really matters, as long as the humor is still there (and I know it will be).

Anyway, a review of Goblin Hero will be coming along by the end of this week.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

I'm Really Enjoying This

Really enjoying Goblin Hero, that is.

The fun continues on from Goblin Quest, and I think I know where the third book might be going.

Maybe. Not that it really matters, as long as the humor is still there (and I know it will be).

Anyway, a review of Goblin Hero will be coming along by the end of this week.

Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Remember the Rumor Mill/Speculations?

If you used to head over to the Rumor Mill, it apparently is no more. (Yeah, I used to go on there all the time, until I found the Absolute Write Water Cooler.)

In case you're wondering, Sue O2, or Sue Oxygen, I guess :-) has put together a little site on Geocities to kind of gather the troops, so to speak (sorry for the cliche, heh).
More...
Website/Email - Former RMers

She's asked for former RMers to send their website/blog/whatever info to her, at the following email address:

ye_olde_rmers at yahoo.com

Except replace "at" with the @ sign in the address above.

Goblin Quest?

I got this off of one of Jim C. Hines' LJ posts (he has another great series going on right now; I'm still working on his first series, the "Jig" Series or whatever it's called). Lots of humor, and it moves at a good clip.

But I'll have a review on that at some point. In fact, I just picked up the rest of the books (there's three) in the series.


Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Remember the Rumor Mill/Speculations?

If you used to head over to the Rumor Mill, it apparently is no more. (Yeah, I used to go on there all the time, until I found the Absolute Write Water Cooler.)

In case you're wondering, Sue O2, or Sue Oxygen, I guess :-) has put together a little site on Geocities to kind of gather the troops, so to speak (sorry for the cliche, heh).
More...
Website/Email - Former RMers

She's asked for former RMers to send their website/blog/whatever info to her, at the following email address:

ye_olde_rmers at yahoo.com

Except replace "at" with the @ sign in the address above.

Goblin Quest?

I got this off of one of Jim C. Hines' LJ posts (he has another great series going on right now; I'm still working on his first series, the "Jig" Series or whatever it's called). Lots of humor, and it moves at a good clip.

But I'll have a review on that at some point. In fact, I just picked up the rest of the books (there's three) in the series.


Love and kisses,

~Nancy Beck

Kudos to Signet For Doing the Right Thing

Remember that big flap over the Cassie Edwards' plagiarism a few months back? The Smart Bitches outed Ms. Edwards lifting whole paragraphs and using them as her own.

According to the Smart Bitches site, and to Publisher's Lunch (which I just received in my email box today:

Signet Drops Cassie Edwards Over Plagiarism Claims
Publisher Signet said on Friday in a statement that it had "conducted an extensive review of all its Cassie Edwards novels and due to irreconcilable editorial differences, Ms. Edwards and Signet have mutually agreed to part ways. Cassie Edwards novels will no longer be published with Signet Books. All rights to Ms. Edwards' previously published Signet books have reverted to the author."

The investigation was initiated after the Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books site posted numerous instances of passages they said were copied from historical works. At first Signet defended Edwards' work as protected by fair use, saying her "researched historical novels are precisely the kinds of original, creative works that this copyright policy promotes."

But Penguin Group star author Nora Roberts quickly joined the chorus of dissenters: "By my definition, copying another's work and passing it as your own equals plagiarism. As a writer, a reader and a victim of plagiarism, I feel very strongly on this issue. I'm not a lawyer, but I can't see it as fair use, or fair anything when one writer takes another's work."

On the Dear Author blog, Roberts expresses new hope that Edwards' other publishers will also take action: "As for the other publishers, the optimist on my right shoulder hopes they also take the matter seriously and respond accordingly. The cynic on my left isn't holding her breath."

To which I say: Good for them! Signet investigated, didn't like what they saw, and, I feel, acted appropriately. Whatever you think of Ms. Edwards' writing, plagiarism is always wrong - ALWAYS. Don't want to use your own words? Then cite/attribute the line or paragraph you use.

Easy to do.

So a hearty congrats to Signet for getting it right.

~Nancy Beck

Kudos to Signet For Doing the Right Thing

Remember that big flap over the Cassie Edwards' plagiarism a few months back? The Smart Bitches outed Ms. Edwards lifting whole paragraphs and using them as her own.

According to the Smart Bitches site, and to Publisher's Lunch (which I just received in my email box today:

Signet Drops Cassie Edwards Over Plagiarism Claims
Publisher Signet said on Friday in a statement that it had "conducted an extensive review of all its Cassie Edwards novels and due to irreconcilable editorial differences, Ms. Edwards and Signet have mutually agreed to part ways. Cassie Edwards novels will no longer be published with Signet Books. All rights to Ms. Edwards' previously published Signet books have reverted to the author."

The investigation was initiated after the Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Books site posted numerous instances of passages they said were copied from historical works. At first Signet defended Edwards' work as protected by fair use, saying her "researched historical novels are precisely the kinds of original, creative works that this copyright policy promotes."

But Penguin Group star author Nora Roberts quickly joined the chorus of dissenters: "By my definition, copying another's work and passing it as your own equals plagiarism. As a writer, a reader and a victim of plagiarism, I feel very strongly on this issue. I'm not a lawyer, but I can't see it as fair use, or fair anything when one writer takes another's work."

On the Dear Author blog, Roberts expresses new hope that Edwards' other publishers will also take action: "As for the other publishers, the optimist on my right shoulder hopes they also take the matter seriously and respond accordingly. The cynic on my left isn't holding her breath."

To which I say: Good for them! Signet investigated, didn't like what they saw, and, I feel, acted appropriately. Whatever you think of Ms. Edwards' writing, plagiarism is always wrong - ALWAYS. Don't want to use your own words? Then cite/attribute the line or paragraph you use.

Easy to do.

So a hearty congrats to Signet for getting it right.

~Nancy Beck

J. K. Rowling

From yesterday's Publisher's Lunch:

Judge Tells Potter Parties to Settle the Case
After the second day of testimony in the Harry Potter trial, Judge Robert Patterson, Jr. urged the parties to settle, expressing concern that the case is "more lawyer-driven than it is client-driven."

Patterson said, "The fair-use people are on one side, and a large company is on the other side...The parties ought to see if there's not a way to work this out, because there are strong issues in this case and it could come out one way or the other. The fair-use doctrine is not clear." He added, "Maybe it's too late. Maybe we've gone too far down the road. But a settlement is better than a lawsuit."

Scholastic's Suzanne Murphy testified as an expert witness for Rowling, while former Random House executive Bruce Harris was the expert witness for the defense. Harris testified "that he believed there was little chance that Mr. Vander Ark's lexicon -- which, he said, might warrant a first-run printing of about 1,500 copies -- would harm Ms. Rowling's market."

Meanwhile, author of the Lexicon Steven Jan Vander Ark cried on the stand. As the Times puts it, "It was an emotional culmination to three hours of testimony in which Mr. Vander Ark gushed over Ms. Rowling and her work like the devoted fan that he claimed to be, and disarmingly preceded almost every answer to a question with an 'Um.'"

Rowling's reaction to his testimony by e-mail: "A fan's affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of plagiarism."

Did This Really Have to Be Done?

Hmm. Don't know what to make of this. I abhor plagiarism, as any good, decent writer should. But couldn't Ms. Rowling have instructed her lawyers to enter into some sort of a joint venture with Mr. Vander Ark? Why drag the dude through the court system?

If you think the publishing industry moves at a glacial pace, you haven't dealt with the justice system (in the U.S., anyway). It's Ice Age glacial (and I ain't talking about the fine and funny animated movie).

Personally, I think this is what should've been done in this case. Ms. Rowling gets a little something, the fan (who, it sounds like to me, put in a lot of effort/time/love into this project) gets a little something, and the lawyers get a little something.

~Nancy Beck

J. K. Rowling

From yesterday's Publisher's Lunch:

Judge Tells Potter Parties to Settle the Case
After the second day of testimony in the Harry Potter trial, Judge Robert Patterson, Jr. urged the parties to settle, expressing concern that the case is "more lawyer-driven than it is client-driven."

Patterson said, "The fair-use people are on one side, and a large company is on the other side...The parties ought to see if there's not a way to work this out, because there are strong issues in this case and it could come out one way or the other. The fair-use doctrine is not clear." He added, "Maybe it's too late. Maybe we've gone too far down the road. But a settlement is better than a lawsuit."

Scholastic's Suzanne Murphy testified as an expert witness for Rowling, while former Random House executive Bruce Harris was the expert witness for the defense. Harris testified "that he believed there was little chance that Mr. Vander Ark's lexicon -- which, he said, might warrant a first-run printing of about 1,500 copies -- would harm Ms. Rowling's market."

Meanwhile, author of the Lexicon Steven Jan Vander Ark cried on the stand. As the Times puts it, "It was an emotional culmination to three hours of testimony in which Mr. Vander Ark gushed over Ms. Rowling and her work like the devoted fan that he claimed to be, and disarmingly preceded almost every answer to a question with an 'Um.'"

Rowling's reaction to his testimony by e-mail: "A fan's affectionate enthusiasm should not obscure acts of plagiarism."

Did This Really Have to Be Done?

Hmm. Don't know what to make of this. I abhor plagiarism, as any good, decent writer should. But couldn't Ms. Rowling have instructed her lawyers to enter into some sort of a joint venture with Mr. Vander Ark? Why drag the dude through the court system?

If you think the publishing industry moves at a glacial pace, you haven't dealt with the justice system (in the U.S., anyway). It's Ice Age glacial (and I ain't talking about the fine and funny animated movie).

Personally, I think this is what should've been done in this case. Ms. Rowling gets a little something, the fan (who, it sounds like to me, put in a lot of effort/time/love into this project) gets a little something, and the lawyers get a little something.

~Nancy Beck

Gaming the Amazon Review System

As a writer and a reader, I find authors who "game" the Amazon review system to be terribly dishonest.

Everyone Is Not Going to Like Your Story

There's a discussion over on the Dear Author blog about yet another romance epublisher having problems (Highland Press). At the end of that particular post, Jane says:

As a reader, I am far more disturbed about the last item which appears that MacGillivray is using her position to game the Amazon review system. I’m sure that there are dozens of authors who would like negative reviews to be removed. Other fans and authors find this practice disturbing as well.

Amen!

When you or I write a book, it's expected that not everyone is going to fall in love with it (at least, not as much as the writer has). This follows through from agent to publisher. It's just something an author has to live with: Some people are going to love your book, some are going to be lukewarm about it, others are going to hate it.

To do this writing thing, you have to have a thick skin, or you'll end up in therapy for quite some time.

Bad Reviews Removed

So a romance author/illustrator has her groupies (or whatever you wish to call them) go around on Amazon "reporting abuse" on all the negative reviews on her books.

Shame on her.

Look, I understand wanting to get paid. I understand you have bills to pay, mortgages and whatnot. Believe me, I've got oodles of friggin' credit card debt.

But negative reviews = not getting paid? Didja ever consider that maybe your published book might - just might - be a craptacular book to a certain portion of the reading public?

I'm sorry, but having minions abuse the system is just low.

Live with the bad reviews. LIVE WITH THE DAMNED BAD REVIEWS!

Bestselling authors have to deal with it, so why can't you?

In Summary

• Gain a thick skin.
• Write another book.
• Stop having other people - and stop yourself! - from removing bad reviews.
• Write another book

'nough said? Thanks to Jane at Dear Author for the interesting post.

~Nancy Beck

Gaming the Amazon Review System

As a writer and a reader, I find authors who "game" the Amazon review system to be terribly dishonest.

Everyone Is Not Going to Like Your Story

There's a discussion over on the Dear Author blog about yet another romance epublisher having problems (Highland Press). At the end of that particular post, Jane says:

As a reader, I am far more disturbed about the last item which appears that MacGillivray is using her position to game the Amazon review system. I’m sure that there are dozens of authors who would like negative reviews to be removed. Other fans and authors find this practice disturbing as well.

Amen!

When you or I write a book, it's expected that not everyone is going to fall in love with it (at least, not as much as the writer has). This follows through from agent to publisher. It's just something an author has to live with: Some people are going to love your book, some are going to be lukewarm about it, others are going to hate it.

To do this writing thing, you have to have a thick skin, or you'll end up in therapy for quite some time.

Bad Reviews Removed

So a romance author/illustrator has her groupies (or whatever you wish to call them) go around on Amazon "reporting abuse" on all the negative reviews on her books.

Shame on her.

Look, I understand wanting to get paid. I understand you have bills to pay, mortgages and whatnot. Believe me, I've got oodles of friggin' credit card debt.

But negative reviews = not getting paid? Didja ever consider that maybe your published book might - just might - be a craptacular book to a certain portion of the reading public?

I'm sorry, but having minions abuse the system is just low.

Live with the bad reviews. LIVE WITH THE DAMNED BAD REVIEWS!

Bestselling authors have to deal with it, so why can't you?

In Summary

• Gain a thick skin.
• Write another book.
• Stop having other people - and stop yourself! - from removing bad reviews.
• Write another book

'nough said? Thanks to Jane at Dear Author for the interesting post.

~Nancy Beck

Self Publishers and Amazon

After going through and reading some of the stuff eBay is up to, I was kind of surprised to see Amazon up to some tricks, too.

If You Use Lightning Source Instead of BookSurge

I'm sure you know Amazon bought BookSurge about a year ago or so; they' a self-publishing option for those who want to go that route.

Well, it seems that if you use Lightning Source (PublishAmerica, anyone?), Amazon will remove the "Buy" button from your book; books printed by the aforementioned PublishAmerica (PA) have already had the Buy buttons removed.

But...There's A Catch (Isn't There Always One?)

The catch, the way I read it, is you have to agree to Amazon's contract and use BookSurge.

An informative page about this whole Amazon/BookSurge thing is at the Writer's Weekly site (Angela Hoy, who also runs the epublisher, Booklocker). Here, specifically, is what the fuss is all about:

Mr. Clifford [of Amazon] said authors of those books could participate in the Amazon.com Advantage Program, meaning they would have to pay Amazon $29.95 per year PLUS 55% of the list price of their book, as well as buy and then send those books to Amazon directly for them to warehouse and ship to customers.

More and more fees and stuff. Doesn't seem right, especially as a lot of authors want their book with Lightning Source, as it uses Ingram as a distributor.

And something else in favor of Lightning Source:

Amazon/BookSurge would make money two ways on Amazon.com sales - first the fee for printing the books, and then 48% of the list price of each sale through Amazon.com. Lightning Source allows its customers to set their own discount rate for Amazon and other retail sales, and does not force POD publishers or authors to pay "48%."

So...What to Do?

I'm not in the self publishing boat, fortunately. Ms. Hoy is seriously considering moving all of the books in Booklocker to Barnes and Noble. But that'll take time, as she has lots of books up at Amazon.

For those published by bigger or smaller presses...it looks as if everything is okay right now. (If anyone comes up with anymore info, feel free to post your comment; I'll probably blog about it at some point.)

But who knows? I'm currently an Amazon Associate, although I haven't taken advantage of it all that much (I post books on reviews is about the extent of using it).

I wonder if B&N has a similar program?

Since this seems to have happened in just the past day or so (talk about fast), I'm sure more things will shake out about this.

One Thing Is For Sure...

I hope Amazon reverses itself on this. My feeling is that maybe they're not getting enough people to go with BookSurge, and they think only force can provide them with the moolah they want?

Oy vey. Not liking this, FWIW.

~Nancy Beck

Self Publishers and Amazon

After going through and reading some of the stuff eBay is up to, I was kind of surprised to see Amazon up to some tricks, too.

If You Use Lightning Source Instead of BookSurge

I'm sure you know Amazon bought BookSurge about a year ago or so; they' a self-publishing option for those who want to go that route.

Well, it seems that if you use Lightning Source (PublishAmerica, anyone?), Amazon will remove the "Buy" button from your book; books printed by the aforementioned PublishAmerica (PA) have already had the Buy buttons removed.

But...There's A Catch (Isn't There Always One?)

The catch, the way I read it, is you have to agree to Amazon's contract and use BookSurge.

An informative page about this whole Amazon/BookSurge thing is at the Writer's Weekly site (Angela Hoy, who also runs the epublisher, Booklocker). Here, specifically, is what the fuss is all about:

Mr. Clifford [of Amazon] said authors of those books could participate in the Amazon.com Advantage Program, meaning they would have to pay Amazon $29.95 per year PLUS 55% of the list price of their book, as well as buy and then send those books to Amazon directly for them to warehouse and ship to customers.

More and more fees and stuff. Doesn't seem right, especially as a lot of authors want their book with Lightning Source, as it uses Ingram as a distributor.

And something else in favor of Lightning Source:

Amazon/BookSurge would make money two ways on Amazon.com sales - first the fee for printing the books, and then 48% of the list price of each sale through Amazon.com. Lightning Source allows its customers to set their own discount rate for Amazon and other retail sales, and does not force POD publishers or authors to pay "48%."

So...What to Do?

I'm not in the self publishing boat, fortunately. Ms. Hoy is seriously considering moving all of the books in Booklocker to Barnes and Noble. But that'll take time, as she has lots of books up at Amazon.

For those published by bigger or smaller presses...it looks as if everything is okay right now. (If anyone comes up with anymore info, feel free to post your comment; I'll probably blog about it at some point.)

But who knows? I'm currently an Amazon Associate, although I haven't taken advantage of it all that much (I post books on reviews is about the extent of using it).

I wonder if B&N has a similar program?

Since this seems to have happened in just the past day or so (talk about fast), I'm sure more things will shake out about this.

One Thing Is For Sure...

I hope Amazon reverses itself on this. My feeling is that maybe they're not getting enough people to go with BookSurge, and they think only force can provide them with the moolah they want?

Oy vey. Not liking this, FWIW.

~Nancy Beck

A Crossover Nomination For a Well-Known SF Author

I'm talking about Linnea Sinclair, and the nomination is the 2008 RITA Awards.

The RITA awards, in case you don't know, are from the Romance Writers of America people. But since my blog is supposed to be about fantasy (which is part of a triumvirate known as speculative fiction, which includes fantasy, SF, and horror), I'll just give an extra couple of claps to Linnea for the nomination.

The book nominated? Games of Command.

Want to know a little bit more? Kristin Nelson's blog has more about the other nominees, including a link or two.

And, yes, some of her clients are nominees (including Linnea).

Congrats to all! :-)

~Nancy Beck

A Crossover Nomination For a Well-Known SF Author

I'm talking about Linnea Sinclair, and the nomination is the 2008 RITA Awards.

The RITA awards, in case you don't know, are from the Romance Writers of America people. But since my blog is supposed to be about fantasy (which is part of a triumvirate known as speculative fiction, which includes fantasy, SF, and horror), I'll just give an extra couple of claps to Linnea for the nomination.

The book nominated? Games of Command.

Want to know a little bit more? Kristin Nelson's blog has more about the other nominees, including a link or two.

And, yes, some of her clients are nominees (including Linnea).

Congrats to all! :-)

~Nancy Beck

And I Thought I Was the Only One

I thought I was the only who visibly shuddered when punctuation is used incorrectly.

Apparently, though, I'm not.

This article, Celebrating the Semicolon in a Most Unlikely Location, is about a New York City subway placard that gets it right as far as semicolons are concerned. The man who wrote the public service blurb thought someone was complaining when his supervisor told him a reporter was inquiring about who was responsible for the semicolon.

Others have commented on, and applauded, Mr. Neches for his correct usage.

Imagine that. :-)

~Nancy Beck

And I Thought I Was the Only One

I thought I was the only who visibly shuddered when punctuation is used incorrectly.

Apparently, though, I'm not.

This article, Celebrating the Semicolon in a Most Unlikely Location, is about a New York City subway placard that gets it right as far as semicolons are concerned. The man who wrote the public service blurb thought someone was complaining when his supervisor told him a reporter was inquiring about who was responsible for the semicolon.

Others have commented on, and applauded, Mr. Neches for his correct usage.

Imagine that. :-)

~Nancy Beck

The Tolkien Line Continues

This came from yesterday's Publisher's Lunch:

JRR Tolkien's grandson Simon Tolkien's THE INHERITANCE, in which an aging police inspector decides to travel from England to France to delve into a possible World War II theft and crime hoping to save an upper-class student set to hang for murdering his father, an Oxford historian with a questionable military record, to Peter Wolverton and Thomas Dunne at Thomas Dunne Books, in a two-book deal, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).

I wonder if this is the same guy who went to Peter Jackson when they were filming some of the last scenes of The Return of the King - and received a bit part in that film (I mean, how could they say NO to someone with the last name of Tolkien?).

Of course it has Oxford in the mix, considering that's where Professor Tolkien did his, um, professoring. :-)

Actually sounds quite interesting. I hope he can deliver the goods!

~Nancy Beck

The Tolkien Line Continues

This came from yesterday's Publisher's Lunch:

JRR Tolkien's grandson Simon Tolkien's THE INHERITANCE, in which an aging police inspector decides to travel from England to France to delve into a possible World War II theft and crime hoping to save an upper-class student set to hang for murdering his father, an Oxford historian with a questionable military record, to Peter Wolverton and Thomas Dunne at Thomas Dunne Books, in a two-book deal, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (NA).

I wonder if this is the same guy who went to Peter Jackson when they were filming some of the last scenes of The Return of the King - and received a bit part in that film (I mean, how could they say NO to someone with the last name of Tolkien?).

Of course it has Oxford in the mix, considering that's where Professor Tolkien did his, um, professoring. :-)

Actually sounds quite interesting. I hope he can deliver the goods!

~Nancy Beck

Why You and I Should Be Ticked Off At This "Advice"

I have a publishing credit from a few years ago (a short story), and I haven't yet cracked the publishing world on the novel end of things. (All in due time. :-))

I subscribe to a feed for the Daily Writing Tips blog, and the blogger's post about a certain published author's "advice" left me a bit ticked. Not the blogger; she couldn't believe what this author said.

The Author's "Advice"?

So what the heck did this author say, making it sound like some sort of rule?

That you, the writer, should only write in the Point of View (POV) of your gender, and that you should only write a POV character with your own past experiences.

To which I respond: Bullshit.

To Write or Not To Write In Your Own Gender

A few months back, I came up with an idea for a story set in a town not far from where I live. Just for the heck of it, and since I had never tried it before, I wrote from a male perspective.

I revised the first chapter a couple times, curious as to what people thought of it. I submitted it to Evil Editor's blog, received a really funny continuation, and it ended up in EE's first Novel Deviations book (OF COURSE I bought it :-)). Anyway, if I remember correctly, there were 2 comments that said it sounded as if the male MC sounded more like a female. Heh. :-) Made me grin and realize I had a lot to work on. I've since put that aside, but I'll continue to experiment with male POVs just because can, nyah, nyah, nyah!

Guess what? That's a personal thing with me. I would never, ever offer that as writing advice. And it's obvious why: Plenty of authors have written POV characters that weren't in their own gender. And have done well with it. J. K. Rowling immediately comes to mind, as I'm sure other writers will come to mind, too. (A recent author, who writes mysteries, is J. A. Konrath, a man writing as a woman. On his site, he readily admits to getting advice from his wife and mother, and knows that if he gets something wrong, he'll get whacked for it. :-))

So...don't be afraid, if you're a woman, to write as a male, and vice versa. Maybe it'll suck, but maybe it'll be brilliant. Who knows until you've tried? :-)

Me? That's something I have to work on!

As For Using Only Your Past Experiences?

More horse hockey.

If by past experiences, this particular author means work and personal experiences (bringing up kids, working as a brain surgeon, bungee jumping off the Eiffel Tower, etc.), again, I feel this is something particular to her, and not a rule or guideline.

For instance, in my current WIP, I have a POV from a woman who has 4 kids (I don't have any) and from a woman's POV character who works as an editor at a small publishing house (this part is set in 1940s, BTW).

Now, according to this woman, I CAN'T write about a mother and her kids because I don't have any. Baloney. I remember how my mother treated me (and it's specifically between this woman and just one of her kids, a daughter), plus I have an imagination and can imagine how this woman would feel in certain situations (especially when the woman is tricked into leaving her daughter...)

As for the other...there's a writers' website I've frequented where I feel I've received quite an education about the publishing world. True, it's about the publishing world as it exists today, but I can't imagine it's too far away from the 1940s (huge discounts for bookstores and the agenting thing notwithstanding). Besides, the people running the publisher have no idea what they're doing, the woman-POV character doesn't what to be editing the types of books she wants to edit, etc. And any ineptness feeds well into the storyline.

The other part of the storyline, setting most of it in the 1940s, is because I have an insatiable interest in the 1940s. Setting in and near Hollywood during that time is also near and dear to my heart: I have the movie studio books to prove it (and have read through them hundreds of times over the years).

Do Want You Want...and Do It Well

The thing to remember is to write characters that are believable, whether they tie in to your past experiences or not. Maybe you've come up with a character that has a profession or passion for something that suddently piques your interest. So who's stopping you from writing about that person, whether it's a he or a she?

Yourself, of course. And you shouldn't let it, just because some multi-pubbed author has problems with it. That's her problem, her business.

Persist, have fun with it! Don't let someone else's problem become your problem.

~Nancy Beck

Why You and I Should Be Ticked Off At This "Advice"

I have a publishing credit from a few years ago (a short story), and I haven't yet cracked the publishing world on the novel end of things. (All in due time. :-))

I subscribe to a feed for the Daily Writing Tips blog, and the blogger's post about a certain published author's "advice" left me a bit ticked. Not the blogger; she couldn't believe what this author said.

The Author's "Advice"?

So what the heck did this author say, making it sound like some sort of rule?

That you, the writer, should only write in the Point of View (POV) of your gender, and that you should only write a POV character with your own past experiences.

To which I respond: Bullshit.

To Write or Not To Write In Your Own Gender

A few months back, I came up with an idea for a story set in a town not far from where I live. Just for the heck of it, and since I had never tried it before, I wrote from a male perspective.

I revised the first chapter a couple times, curious as to what people thought of it. I submitted it to Evil Editor's blog, received a really funny continuation, and it ended up in EE's first Novel Deviations book (OF COURSE I bought it :-)). Anyway, if I remember correctly, there were 2 comments that said it sounded as if the male MC sounded more like a female. Heh. :-) Made me grin and realize I had a lot to work on. I've since put that aside, but I'll continue to experiment with male POVs just because can, nyah, nyah, nyah!

Guess what? That's a personal thing with me. I would never, ever offer that as writing advice. And it's obvious why: Plenty of authors have written POV characters that weren't in their own gender. And have done well with it. J. K. Rowling immediately comes to mind, as I'm sure other writers will come to mind, too. (A recent author, who writes mysteries, is J. A. Konrath, a man writing as a woman. On his site, he readily admits to getting advice from his wife and mother, and knows that if he gets something wrong, he'll get whacked for it. :-))

So...don't be afraid, if you're a woman, to write as a male, and vice versa. Maybe it'll suck, but maybe it'll be brilliant. Who knows until you've tried? :-)

Me? That's something I have to work on!

As For Using Only Your Past Experiences?

More horse hockey.

If by past experiences, this particular author means work and personal experiences (bringing up kids, working as a brain surgeon, bungee jumping off the Eiffel Tower, etc.), again, I feel this is something particular to her, and not a rule or guideline.

For instance, in my current WIP, I have a POV from a woman who has 4 kids (I don't have any) and from a woman's POV character who works as an editor at a small publishing house (this part is set in 1940s, BTW).

Now, according to this woman, I CAN'T write about a mother and her kids because I don't have any. Baloney. I remember how my mother treated me (and it's specifically between this woman and just one of her kids, a daughter), plus I have an imagination and can imagine how this woman would feel in certain situations (especially when the woman is tricked into leaving her daughter...)

As for the other...there's a writers' website I've frequented where I feel I've received quite an education about the publishing world. True, it's about the publishing world as it exists today, but I can't imagine it's too far away from the 1940s (huge discounts for bookstores and the agenting thing notwithstanding). Besides, the people running the publisher have no idea what they're doing, the woman-POV character doesn't what to be editing the types of books she wants to edit, etc. And any ineptness feeds well into the storyline.

The other part of the storyline, setting most of it in the 1940s, is because I have an insatiable interest in the 1940s. Setting in and near Hollywood during that time is also near and dear to my heart: I have the movie studio books to prove it (and have read through them hundreds of times over the years).

Do Want You Want...and Do It Well

The thing to remember is to write characters that are believable, whether they tie in to your past experiences or not. Maybe you've come up with a character that has a profession or passion for something that suddently piques your interest. So who's stopping you from writing about that person, whether it's a he or a she?

Yourself, of course. And you shouldn't let it, just because some multi-pubbed author has problems with it. That's her problem, her business.

Persist, have fun with it! Don't let someone else's problem become your problem.

~Nancy Beck