Hero Worship wisely

I'm not an expert on hero worship (unless the hero is Thor, as established recently here on Debbie's blog) so it should be a short post. I want to talk about some authors I admire (NOT a comprehensive or complete list by any means) and also ways that our group has learned to network without getting any restraining orders against us. I've chosen these authors because I really admire their professionalism and their writing.

First the Authors and why I like them:

Brandon Sanderson (author of Mistborn and many other NYT Bestsellers)because he is friendly and loyal and is willing to travel far distances to hang out with his friends or save a small town indy book store. Plus he's pretty good at writing too. (understatement of the year)


Dan Wells...oops! Wrong Dan Wells.





I'm talking about this Dan Wells today.
(author of I Am Not A Serial Killer)
Putting aside the brilliant trilogy he has written (which is the only thing from the horror section of B&N that I've read since I was 14 and forced to read Stephen King with friends while camping), he is very professional and has a charming wife, who believes in his writing. Dan is friendly and genuine. Mainly though he really knows his stuff when it comes to both writing and publishing.



Bree Despain (author of The Dark Divine series)

Bree is an inspiration to me. She is patient and interested in people and she writes intriguing stories with heart and meaning. She has not had an easy road to publishing, but her road and her story inspire many. Bree has some of the most loyal fans ever and mostly because she cares about people.


Second the tips:
1) Respect personal space.
2) Be friendly, like "visiting with a new neighbor" friendly, not crazed stalker "I know what you did last summer" friendly.
3) Listen-Everyone likes to talk about themselves.
4) Food is a good bribe and an ice breaker.

Towers of Midnight Book Trailer

So most of us are looking forward to the second to last installment of the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson: Towers of Midnight, which comes out November 2.

A quick aside. I have some some really horrific (and not in the Nightmare on Elm Street sense) book trailers out there. Ones that make me wish YouTube had never lured authors to the idea of book trailers in the first place. At work we've talked often about whether book trailers help authors promote their books, and I would wager that a bad or mediocre trailer would hurt more than help. And I'm just not seeing many great book trailers.

And that's where I get back to Towers of Midnight. Here is a phenomenal book trailer that (1) hooks the targeted audience (me and other Jordan/Sanderson fans), (2) is SIMPLE and elegant, (3) doesn't use phony gimmicks or stunts, and (4) uses the most captivating teaser text they could possibly pull from the book: the note from Morraine to Thom Merrilin. So check it out. Book trailers' benchmark:

Love, power, and the podcast

This week I have an eclectic collection of topics to touch on.



First, the topic of loving your work. It has to be said, "Love the one you're with." It works for people and it works for manuscripts. Whichever person or project you are currently with love them and treat them to all of your attention.

Power, words have power. You know it and I know it and we see it all the time. Sometimes I just need to remember that power in itself is neither good or bad it's what we do with it that makes it either light up a room or burn down the house. Wo rds are much the same way they can light up our minds or burn down our egos. I'm working on choosing my words wisely and using my power for good.



And finally,
THE PODCAST
Brandon Sanderson, Howard Tayler and Dan Wells appeared at Dragon's and Fairytale Books and Games in Eagle Mountain on Saturday after our awesome marathon. Those of us still in the mood to talk writing (Debbie and I) went to hear them record three "Writing Excuses" podcasts. They were amazing as always, even though Dan, who wrote I'm Not A Serial Killer, looked scarily close to being a serial killer when he forgot to smile. Hope he's feeling better. Anyway with a large crowd of eclectic fans to make a range of strange noises in the background the recordings were a success.
Here is the quote that hit me the hardest during the discussions, from "I'm Not A Serial Killer" I promise, Dan Wells.
Answering a question about keeping invincible characters interesting he said, "You can make your characters as powerful as you want as long as their obstacles are not in the same area as their power."

Listen to writing excuses, Love your current project, and Say nice words to yourself and others, that is my three cents worth.

The Schedule is Up!! LTUE 2010

So I didn't know what to blog about this week, mostly because I'm under deadline for the newsletter and that's a lot of deadline. BUT then inspiration hit in the form of the Life, the Universe & Everything conference schedule for the FREE writing conference in February at BYU!! It's gonna be so fun. See the schedule here.

And check out these totally awesome tidbits from the schedule:
Thursday Main speaker: James C. Christensen...enough said.
Friday afternoon Dan Wells is giving a workshop on his pacing and story structure program. PEOPLE! This is one hour of hard core writing organizational boot camp. Can't wait.
Friday main address: Marty Brenneis. I had no idea who he was, so I googled him. It turns out that if there has been a cool Sci-Fi or Fantasy movie in the last 20 years he has worked on it. You can find info on Marty Brenneis on IMDb.
Saturday Main speaker: Brandon Sanderson...enough said.
This year the conference planners seem to have chosen a major artist, filmmaker, and author for the three main addresses and let's face it that just rocks!

Awesome authors and Publishing folks planning to present:
The aMAZEing James Dashner, bright newbie Karen Hoover(debut author), the multi-talented author/editor Lisa Mangum, the Fable-istic Brandon Mull, the fantabulous Tristi Pinkston, the queen of romance Julie Wright, scary but likable Dan Wells, the extraordinary Stacy Whitman and many many more.

Here is the tiny disclaimer...all scheduling is tentative at this time. Still I can't wait.

David and Goliath as a girl story!! What?

First things first, Happy Birtday to Me and Bree. That's right its a big week for birthdays. Bree Despain is having a great giveaway contest on her blog for her birthday. Click here to read about it. For my birthday I'm dragging all my friends out to lunch, then to Bree's signing in West Jordan, and then to Brandon Sanderson's signing in Eagle Mountain. It was soo nice of them to arrange all these great events the day of my B-Day party!!!

So now on to David and Goliath and the alternate ending. Last week I met an amazing corporate communications guru named Bill Graham. He is a master storyteller and presenter. One of the great things I got out of his class was the concept of Story. How to use it more effectively in all the aspects of my life. He said that after 7,000 hours of directing daytime television and tens of thousands of hours of watching competitve shows along with his experience in theater and reading, he has decided that there are only 2 kinds of story. Are you ready for this? Can you lump all the stories in the world into two categories? Well, Bill thinks you can and this photo is a hint of the categories.




He calls them: "Boy Story" and "Girl Story"

"What does a boy story have to have in order to be finished?" he asked.
An enthusiastic CEO shouted out, "Someone has to win."

"Not that important."
Bill had us all scratching our heads. If winning isn't that important then what does the story need to be finished?

"Someone must LOSE," came the reply with in a sad tone.
In a Boy Story, according to Bill Graham, there must be a loser. The superbowl would not be the same game if it ended with a tie. In fact, if it is tied at the end of the regular time period then the game goes into "sudden death." Football is a 'boy' game.
DO NOT GET ME WRONG! You don't have to be a boy to like a boy story. Anyone can like seeing a satifying 'sudden death' ending.

So then what is a Girl Story?
Well, in this case he related the story to a romance novel. What makes someone/anyone read Pride and Prejudice over and over again?
The answer is simple...hopeful anticipation. The breathtaking hope that all will turn out blissfully and both of the characters you love will win in the end. (You could say that there are no losers in this story...at least where the main characters are concerned. The Mr. Collinses and Aunt Catherines of the world can lose all they want as long as Darcy and Elizabeth both get to win.)

To illustrate the point we used the biblical tale of David and Goliath.
In the original version it is clearly a boy story. Goliath loses and we all learn that the 'bigger they are the harder they fall.' Little vulnerable David, downs the giant Philistine and cuts off his head and saves all of Israel. Yeah, boy story.

Now if it were a girl story...
David would march up to Goliath and throw his slingshot to the ground and shout, "Look, Goliath, we Israelites might be small, but we have a lot to offer and if you would just stop and use that large head for a minute you'd see that we can both benefit from an alliance rather than killing each other." After lengthy debate, David and Goliath would shake hands and a trade agreement would be forged in the middle of what was intended to be a battlefield. Everyone goes home happy and prosperous. Yeah that's David and Goliath the girl story.

I loved the examples and had a blast thinking of stories to switch into the other category. Anyone read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? It occurred to me that it might very well be an attempt to make a girl story into a fun boy story by making someone lose.

So what are you writing? Is it a 'boy story' or a 'girl story'?

Poor Clorinda...

"Poor, Clorinda." This sentence makes me smile every time I think of it. However, if you have not read Georgette Heyer's book Regency Buck then you will not recognize just how funny these two words can be together. For the initiated connoisseurs of Heyer's brilliant regency romances, the thrill will always live in this phrase.


For those not in the Heyer fan club, here are the facts:
1. Clorinda is not the character's name. Its a nickname for the main character created by the smarmy and fascinating hero/villain (you won't know which until you read it.)
2. Lord Worth is one of those incredible characters you can hear in your head while you're reading. Heyer makes him soooo real that I can hear the emphasis, the sarcasm, and the tenderness all wrapped up in these two little words.

As an aspiring author it is my dream to create a terrific "Poor, Clorinda" moment in my stories. That is a goal I am still working on. Reading great writing is essential to being a good writer though. So here are some other books and authors I love to revisit when I need inspiration:
Georgette Heyer
Arabella
The Grand Sophy
Beauvallet
Venetia

Elizabeth Peters
Amelia Peabody Series
Vicky Bliss

Orson Scott Card for the storytelling.

Brandon Sanderson for world building.

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham for the humor.

I told a new friend of mine that I would blog about Georgette Heyer and how much I love her writing...so SR here you go. I hope you will read her books. They are my winter companions and I am grateful to have them around on a dull snowy day or any other day for that matter.