Nora Ephron: a writer for all women; a woman for all writers

Most people know I have a freakish memory when it comes to certain events, significant and seemingly insignificant alike. But for the life of me I cannot remember the first time I saw When Harry Met Sally.

I don't think it was in the theater; in fact, I think it was a few years after its release. How or why that happened, I'm not sure. But by the time the credits rolled, When Harry Met Sally shot up to the top of my all-time favorite movies list, and has been there ever since.

To say that Nora Ephron was an inspiration to my life as a writer would be an understatement. In truth, she was so much more -- she inspired me as a woman. Few people know, for instance, that she worked in the Kennedy administration. She also broke through the male dominated field of journalism (although in those days, just about every field was male dominated), eventually writing for Esquire. She was a part of and wrote about the women's movement as it unfolded, and left her mark on it not only in words, but deeds.

And she was funny.

In her films and essays and articles, Ephron so wonderfully captured not only the transformative powers of food, but its effect on love, and vice-versa. Despite having a rocky love life for the first part of her life, Ephron seemed to be the eternal optimist when it came to romance--or, at least, she imparted that in her characters while exposing all the wonderful, comical absurdities about relationships that I so love to capture in my own novels.

Some fellow authors and I have been sharing good and bad writing advice we've received over the years. We debated over one that says "Write what you know." Nora Ephron took that one to heart (namely, when she wrote Heartburn, a fictionalized tale of the end of her marriage to Carl Bernstein). Manhattan became just as much of a character in her films as Meg Ryan did. She loved being a writer. She loved books. She loved cooking. Her characters were often journalists or cookbook authors.

I followed suit when I wrote Faking It. As I've share many times here and in interviews, I didn't have much self-confidence when it came to fiction-writing. I was more comfortable with the personal essay. So I thought: What Would Nora Do? and proceeded to rely on the superficial details of my life for Andi's. Italian-American heritage. Long Islander. Writing professor (which worked out in more ways than one). What's more, there wouldn't have been a Faking It had it not been for When Harry Met Sally. Because what followed the "what if an inhibited woman meets an uninhibited guy" was "and what if they become friends?"

In Julie and Julia,  there's a moment when Julie talks about the imaginary conversations she has with Julia Child as she cooks. That was all Nora, who often did the same thing--not just with Child, but other famous chefs of her time, some of whom she got to meet and interview during her journalism career.

She's not the only one. Many times I've envisioned the same thing. Nora and I have lunch (always lunch, for some reason, even though it's my least favorite meal, menu-wise) at some Manhattan bistro. (Or in the Hamptons. I heard she had lived there for awhile.) The conversation goes something like this:
Nora: I read Faking It.
Me: What did you think?
Nora: You know I wanted to sleep with Devin the moment I met him.
Me: Yeah. Everyone does.
Nora: I also think you probably ruined it for male escorts everywhere.
Me: I wouldn't know. I made all that up.
Nora: Neither would I. But it's fun to imagine it.

I would then ask her to explain the virtues of baking your own bread just to see the look on her face when she did.

At the end of lunch, when we parted ways, I imagined her saying this: "Have Meryl Streep play you in a movie sometime. You won't regret it."

I've imagined my novels getting the Nora Ephron treatment on the screen. Ok, so I never saw Tom Hanks as Devin (or Billy Crystal, for that matter) or Meg Ryan as Andi, and I can't help but think she'd re-set Why I Love Singlehood in New York City than Wilmington, NC. But I believe they'd be good. There are few others I'd trust to adapt my work.

And yet, I don't have to re-read my novels to know that they already have the Nora Ephron treatment. She's on almost every page, either in homage to one of her films (slight tangent, but "I'll have what she's having" was a line that Billy Crystal came up with), or her writing style and ethic. Nora Ephron was a colossal re-writer. Perhaps our ways of doing so differed (I seem to recall her saying that she used to re-write as she went along, which undoubtedly cost her a lot of paper, typewriter ink, and white-out in the days before word processing), but I knew we both wanted to make sure we got the right words.

Most importantly, if it wasn't for women like Nora Ephron, I wouldn't have been able to be a respected college professor, single woman, or published author.

I am sad that I'll never get to have lunch with Nora Ephron for real, and I don't know if she read any of my books. I hope/wish she had.  But I take comfort in knowing that she has left something behind for all woman. A glass ceiling with holes in it, a legacy of good writing, a few good recipes, and the mother of all fake orgasms.

I'll miss you dearly, Nora.

what our characters say reveals who they are

I came up with the idea for this post in the middle of the night as I was trying to fall asleep. My only hope is that the post doesn't read as if I wrote it in my sleep.

As writers, we've all heard the lesson of "show, don't tell" ad nauseum. We've dispensed and taken this advice throughout our writing lives, not to mention our drafting and revision process.

Example of telling: I opened the oven door to discover that I'd burned the roast. It was black and unrecognizable.

Example of showing: Marcus' nose emerged from behind the book he was reading, and crinkled. "What's that smell?" Just then the scent of smoldering sandpaper hit me. I raced to the kitchen, yanked open the oven door, and was assailed by a cloud of putrid grey smoke before pulling out the boulder formally known as my roast.

Ok, so that's a little wordy. But you get the idea. Showing involves the senses. It uses active voice and puts the reader courtside rather than in the bleachers seats.

Dialogue is not only a great tool for showing vs. telling, but also for revealing the various layers and aspects of your characters. In other words, what our characters say reveals who they are.

Consider this exchange between Devin and Andi during their first tutorial in Faking It. I'm deliberately taking out all the narration, but leaving in one direction of nonverbal communication.

DEVIN: What kind of music do you like?

ANDI: Beatles, Hendrix, Clapton, Nat King Cole, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, John Mayer...

(Devin glares at Andi and cocks an eyebrow.)

ANDI: I like guitars and pianos.

DEVIN: What kind of music makes you feel sexy?

ANDI: I'm not sure. I've never thought about it.

On the surface, this looks like really simple dialogue. One character getting to know another character, perhaps. But in the context of the rest of the scene, so much more is happening. For one thing, Andi and Devin are having a miscommunication, revealing that they don't know each other and are far from the point of reading each other's minds and finishing each other's sentences. Devin is asking the question not in a social way, but as a teacher, and assumes Andi gets the context. But Andi has missed the purpose of the question (hence the look he gives her). It reveals her disconnect with the subject of sex as well as with her own sexuality.

Additionally, the reader learns something about Andi that Devin doesn't yet know. Andi's musical preferences (at least in her answer) are mostly the product of her brothers' influence (one is a rock guitarist, the other a jazz pianist). And it's interesting that she doesn't explain this to Devin but rather declares she likes the instruments. We see that the strong connection to her brothers is special but has also been overbearing at times. We also see that she's withholding information from Devin.

Rhetorically speaking, the Socratic method is at work here (and forgive me for defying everything I teach my students and quoting Wikipedia, but it's convenient and defines it well): "a form of inquiry and debate between individuals with opposing viewpoints based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and illuminate ideas." This is probably one of the reasons why dialogue so appeals to me as a novelist as well as a rhetoric geek. I'm all about the peeling back the layers, the getting to the heart of the matter, the quest for meaning, and ultimately, truth. I'm all about using argument and persuasion to get one person to see the other person (or perhaps themselves) in a way they've never seen before.

Besides, sometimes it's downright fun, like this exchange between Devin and Andi well after they've gotten to know each other (again, minus the narration):

ANDI: I absolutely adore the Impressionists.

DEVIN:You what? You adore the Impressionists? No. You can't adore them. No one adores the Impressionists.

ANDI: Why not?

DEVIN: You just don't. You--no one adores them. It can't be done.

ANDI: What the hell are you talking about?

DEVIN: The Impressionists are not "adorable." Things that scamper are adorable. Fluffy bunnies hopping in meadows. Little dogs with knitted sweaters. Those little hats that newborns wear. Baby shoes are adorable. Not Impressionists.

ANDI: Wha--?

DEVIN: You don't "adore" men who cut off their ears. You don't "adore" men who eat lead-based paint. Men who refused to compromise themselves or their work, even when it meant depriving their families of food. Men who kept mistresses. Who died poor and alone and bitter. There's something much bigger happening in these paintings, something way beyond adoration.

I love everything about that exchange (and there's more, but why give away my best stuff?) -- the rhythm, the humor, and the style (another post altogether); and yet again, there's something bubbling under the surface.

This time do your own dialogic analysis and tell me what you see.

If dialogue is not your strong suit, try a simple exercise of putting two people with opposite traits, opinions, backgrounds, etc. in a room together (better yet, have them get stuck in an elevator) and see what they have to say. Leave out the narration. I'll bet you'll be surprised what they reveal.

I also use dialogue to help me when I'm struggling with a character's motivation. In that case, the dialogue is usually between me and the character.

Overall, have fun with dialogue. Explore. And most of all, listen.

check all egos at the door

I really want to write a post about writing today, but not before I tell you how blown away I am by the response Faking It has received just one week after its AmazonEncore release. In particular, this Charlotte Observer article has given the Amazon rankings a hefty spike, inspired people to write to me, and made me feel da love. I can't express my gratitude and appreciation enough. It's motivating me to keep working on my latest novel-in-progress.

And if you haven't had a chance to pick up your copy of Faking It yet (have you gone to your local bookstore and asked if they're stocking it?), head over to Book Soulmates and enter to win a copy, plus a dozen roses! Cool giveaway, yes?


So, as I said, I'm grateful for all the attention the book is getting, and it's motivating me to keep writing; but there is a danger to this kind of publicity, and that's the ego slipping into the writing process. In fact, if you want writer's block, invite the ego in.

Aaron Sorkin has publicly spoken about being terrified to write "the thing that comes after The Social Network," and I can relate to some degree. Granted, I'm no Oscar winning writer, but I get the fear part. I've written two books since Faking It, but neither have matched its sales numbers. Understandable. They've not been around as long.

But all the ego needs is an excuse, and it doesn't have to be precedent on previous successes. It could be precedent on previous failures, rejections, or just plain ol' doubt whether anything you put on the page will be any good. You want to please your readers. You want them to like what you write. Perhaps you even want them to like you.

But try to conform your writing to that anticipation or desire, and you'll surely come up short. I can't write a character that I think is going to make other people laugh or mad. I can't put words into my character's mouths that I think other people want to hear them say. Ego sometimes makes you do that rather than sitting quietly and listening to what your characters have to say to you. Ego tells you it has to be good, otherwise you're over.

So how do we get past that?

By staying in the present moment, and trusting that the work in progress is exactly what it is and where it needs to be: in progress. That it neither has to be good or bad at this stage, and the only one making a judgment on it at this point is you, so stop that.

By remembering why you write in the first place.

By making sure you like what you write (and that you like you, too!).

And stop comparing it to your other works. We all know how one kid feels when s/he has to live in the shadow of an uber-successful older (or even younger) sibling, and how damaging it can be for parents and teachers especially to compare one to the other. The metaphor of authors' books as their children might be cliche, but it's cliche for a reason. It's a metaphor that resonates. Each book, like each child, is special for reasons of its own. Each one deserves its own love and attention, and needs to be honored for being unique. Fred Rogers's words still comfort me: "You make each day a special day by just your being you." That affirmation applies to our books, our stories, our characters--each and every one--as well as to us.

Embrace the gift of that specialness every time you sit down to write. It'll do wonders for your writing, and you.

many thanks

Tomorrow's the big day. Faking It launches as an AmazonEncore title with a brand new cover (which I love, by the way) and editing, will be available in select bookstores, and will be available in print and Kindle editions.

Who would've thought that, back in June 2009 (when I self-pubbed on Kindle--it had already been a Lulu title for six months), I'd be making such an announcement? Seriously, it's way cool.

But I'm able to make this announcement thanks to you, my readers. You got me to this place. Thanks to your reviews, your word of mouth on Amazon and Facebook and Twitter and Goodreads, your lending your print copies and recommending your Kindle copies to your friends, your selecting it as a book club read, and more, Faking It came into the range of AmazonEncore's radar. The rest is history.

More thank-yous:

Thank you to every single person who made the 99-cent investment and were kind enough to say that they'd have gladly paid more.

Thanks to all those who *did* pay more-- in the early days, significantly more, be it in print or electronic-- and believed it to be worth every penny.

Thank you to everyone who told a friend or family member.

Thank you to every male reader who wasn't ashamed to say that they loved what was essentially marketed as a chick book.

Thank you to every one that wrote me a letter about how deeply touched you were by Faking It, or bothered by Andi's f-bomb usage, or demanding a movie version soon.

Thank you to every woman who fell in love with Devin and every guy who fell in love with Andi.

Thank you to all the Undeletables who also took a chance on it (and me) when you didn't know me very well, and shared your praise of it with 10,000 others (including Aaron Sorkin) presumably "listening".

Thank you to every blogger who wrote about it on their own, or hosted me and let me do the talking. You, too, put Faking It on the map.

Thank you, Stacey Cochran, for helping me get the ball rolling and leading by example.

Thank you, Lulu (and the cool people I met there), for being the first to help me love the book into being.

Thank you to AmazonEncore, for loving the book just as much as I do and wanting to bring continued success to it.

If there's anyone I left out, please know that in my heart, I am profoundly grateful.

the announcement

About a week ago, in Jon Stewart-style, I announced on my Faking It Fans site on Facebook that I'd be making an announcement soon.

Well, here it is:
Today AmazonEncore released its spring additions to their publishing list, and I'm on it! That's right-- Faking It and Ordinary World will be re-released in March 2011 (complete with spiffy new cover art) as AmazonEncore books.

I'm thrilled amd super excited. :)

From the get-go, AE has been such a pleasure to work with. From day one, they've showed enthusiasm for my writing, and invited me through every step of the process of bringing my books to the public come March, from cover design to copyediting to marketing and promotion. I am pleased with my decision, and looking forward to working with them for a long time.

In the meantime, be sure to check out AE's current list (available in both print and ebook), including my friend Rob Kroese's Mercury Falls, and Karen McQuestion's Kindle Top Ten bestseller A Scattered Life.

Happy reading, everyone!

What Amazon's new royalty rate means to me

Amazon's 70% royalty rate for indie authors is kicking in w/in the next couple of days (provided the book is priced no lower than $2.99), and after much hemming and hawing, I've decided to opt in on it.

You may recall earlier in March, when I changed my price from 99 cents to a buck-99, my rankings especially took a hit (and kept falling, albeit gradually). In hindsight, I was either too hasty in raising the price, or too hasty changing it back to 99 cents after less than a week (because the sales units weren't that bad once I saw them on the spreadsheet)--I can't tell. I suppose the more accurate, technical description of my response is that I freaked out a little. But in the last couple of months, I've grown disenchanted w/ the 99-cent price-point; and yet, I was still reluctant to change, fearful of another plummet in the rankings. As of an hour ago, I was hovering around #450 for Faking It and #1200 for Ordinary World-- not bad, considering there are currently over a half-million books in the Kindle Store. Kindle Store rankings seem to be the equivalent of location, location, location in a brick-&-mortar store.

Prices usually go down, not up, after a product has been on the shelf for some time. Certainly this new strategy does not conform to the norm. How will customers respond? Besides, Kindle readers typically don't want to invest more than 1.99 on an indie/unknown author. Will a reader who's not heard of me be willing to take spend the extra two bucks? Would I?

On the other hand, I've read discussion threads in which readers automatically assume that the writing (i.e. content) of 99-cent books is just as cheap as the price, and won't go near them for that very reason. I have no doubt that I wouldn't have sold as many units as I did had it not been for the 99-cent price-point, but I'm sure I lost sales as well.

Which leads me to the deciding factor: value.

I ultimately chose to raise the price because I believe my book is worth more. When I originally set my price, I put readers before royalties, and I achieved my goal of establishing a readership and good reviews. 65% of reader reviews for Faking It are 5-star. To date, I've sold approx 50,000 Kindle units of Faking It and Ordinary World combined. Faking It peaked at #6 on the best-seller list, Ordinary World at #35. All phenomenal accomplishments. The market has spoken: these books have value.

Of course, all books have value. I don't mean to imply that my book is worth more than another indie author's simply because it ranked higher or sold more. But, as I said, I achieved my goal. 99 cents no longer works for me. I'm now willing to take the risk and lose my place in the rankings in exchange for perceived credibility. Note the word choice. Indie authors who price their books so low are already credible. I was already credible. But the 2.99 minimum is a good thing for indie authors, I believe. And while I think Kindle owners will be reluctant to jump on board at first, they'll come around when it becomes the norm. I'm already noticing that many traditionally published Kindle books (including best-sellers) are priced higher than $9.99, and I remember how many Kindle owners were refusing to pay more than that for an ebook.

And, as for the royalty increase, I won't know how that pans out until I get my July statement. Maybe I'll make more by selling less. Maybe the past two months I made less while selling more. Maybe I'll break even. We'll see.

One thing is for sure: this is one more incentive for authors to seriously consider self-publishing. If they've got a book that is well written and edited, with a professional cover, then they have a chance at making more than they ever could w/ a traditional publisher or literary agent. And it's one more shift in the publishing paradigm that I suspect the Big 5 publishers (are there even that many?) have yet to negotiate for themselves.

(P.S. As of the time of this writing, the price change hasn't gone through, and my books are still 99-cents--get 'em while you can!)

tomorrow: guest blogger Holly Christine

Thanks for staying with me during this month of minimal posts. I'm looking forward to June, resuming work on the manuscript full time, enjoying my new car, and perhaps getting a little more travel in.

Summer is at our door, which means summer reading is also here. Do you know someone who hasn't yet read Faking It? Tell them it makes a great beach read! (It's also a good time for you to dig it out and re-read it!)

Meanwhile, stay tuned for tomorrow's post by special guest Holly Christine, author of Tuesday Tells it Slant, Retail Ready, and The Nine Lives of Clemenza. (hint: Robert Downey, Jr. fans will especially enjoy this post!)

And for now, enjoy my Q&A on Closing My Eyes Helps Me to See Clearly.

hiatus

Hi friends-

Man, how time flies! When I looked at the date of my last post, I gasped--it couldn't have been that long. I wish I could say that the lapse in time was due to my being fervently immersed (do those two words go together?) in revisions for WILS (more like occasional grumblings), but really it's just the end of the semester, and endless grading sessions. I still have about 120 papers to grade, plus calculate final grades, in one week (and I'll be attending an out-of-state wedding this weekend).

OY!

The university finished much earlier last year, so I miss having the extra time to devote to my writing. Try as I may, I'm just not a multi-tasker. The manuscript just has to wait.

And so, unfortunately, do you.

I'm not going to be posting for at least another 1 to 2 weeks. I hope you'll be waiting for me when I return. In the meantime, here are some cool things:

• Faking It is #4 on the 50 Best Rated Indie Authors in the Kindle Store list of a popular blog devoted to e-readers. I'm thrilled! And although Ordinary World didn't make the cut (although it should have, haha), I'm hoping this translates into an uptick of sales, which have been thankfully steady, although not at the stellar numbers of January and February.

• Of the combined reviews for Faking It (100) and Ordinary World (45), 107 of them are 4- and 5-stars.

Thank you, everyone. I couldn't have achieved this success without you! Please continue to spread the word to your friends and families. Lend your copies, or send them to Lulu.com (see the links to the right!) or Amazon to purchase a print copy. Or, if you can't afford your own Kindle device, the software for Kindle can now be downloaded for free to your PC, Mac, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Black Berry, and my books are still dirt cheap, so download yours today!

During my absence, please check out the blogs on my bloglist to keep you entertained. In the meantime, here's a great interview with actor Josh Malina. Enjoy. (Now, if you'll excuse me, a stack of papers is glaring at me...)

Elisa answers!

Amanda asks:

I read 'Faking It' on my kindle today, what a refreshing and unexpected gem of a find. I will read 'Ordinary World' tomorrow. I guess my question is this, is Andi and Devin/David's story done after 'Ordinary World' or is there more to come?

First, thank you, Amanda!
Second, this is probably the question I am most frequently asked by readers . And it both flatters and touches me to know that people have come to care about Andi and Devin so much that they want more. I love them dearly as well.

My answer is this: although I have no plans at the moment to write another Andi/Devin story, I never say never! Truth be told, I had thought Andi and Devin's story ended with Ordinary World. But with so many readers asking me for more, I found myself asking Andi and Devin if they had another story to tell. Their answer was "Maybe. We wanna take some time off first."

I will say that this little what if has been whispering to me... I'll say no more, however, because to talk about it would be like trying to pull up a tomato plant while it's still in seed form. I've also got at least two other what ifs ahead of it, also stand-alones, so it might take some time before a third Andi/Devin novel gets written, if at all.

In the meantime, my writing partner and I are still working on the manuscript for Why I Love Singlehood and looking forward to its completion. We hope you'll come to care about its characters just as much as you do Andi and Devin.

Keep the questions comin', friends.
:)

Elisa appears on Kindle Nation Daily!

Stephen Windwalker's Kindle Nation Daily is the place to go for all things Kindle. Readers (some 10,000 KND followers) get the inside scoop on new and upcoming authors, new Kindle features, how-tos, and any other Kindle-related news. Authors who have been featured on this mega-blog site have seen significant increases in their sales and Kindle rankings.

And so, I, humble wordsmith, have the good fortune to be one of those authors. Check out this feature which includes a lengthy sample (FREE!) of Faking It, plus a rather nice little write-up and profile (and yes, I pilfered the NC State homepage photo).

Meanwhile, work on WILS continues. We've enlisted the help of a reader with the first couple of chapters, which I believe to be the weakest right now. Not good when you want to hook an audience. He's been very helpful so far, giving ideas that I wouldn't have considered on my own and driving home the suckage point (I don't mean to say that he's been harsh in his criticism--quite the contrary. Rather, that there's so much of it is telling.)

And speaking of suckage, I don't think my writing partner will mind if I share a little chat we had this morning:

Her: Eiuch! I just typed out some of the dialogue I wrote yesterday -- it SUCKS. (caps hers)
Me: Don'tcha hate when that happens? You think it's all brilliant as you write it, until you read it the next day and go, "Oh, this is all shit."
Her: Only it didn't seem brilliant to begin with. It's THAT bad.
Me: Oh, you mean cover-it-with-a-sheet bad...

I don't know why writers are so hard on themselves. But if we can't laugh at our own suckage, then how will we ever work through it to turn it into something good?

Finally, I got another little nod earlier in the week from Aaron Sorkin, who happened to find out that I was showing The West Wing episode "Isaac and Ishmael" to my classes. According to Aaron,

Elisa should give her class a pop-quiz on the episode but throw them curveballs like "Who was the Second Assistant Wardrobe Mistress? (This counts for 75% of your grade this semester)".

My response: What do you think the extra credit question was?

today's blog tour: the evolution of a character, Devin-style

Please join me at Romantic Journey. Last week I took you through the evolution of Andi. Today I tell the story of Devin. Special thanks to Jennifer for hosting me!

Meanwhile, the winner of the Fresh Fiction Junior's cheesecake sampler giveaway emailed me yesterday to let me know that said sampler arrived, right on time, and she's enjoying every last bite. Makes me want to order one for myself...

Monday marks the last day of the tour, and I'll do my magic trick of being in two places at once. After that, I'll resume my regular routine of blog posting here about writers, writing, and those seemingly mindless things that manage to bring me so much simple pleasure.

Enjoy!

today's blog tour appearance, and an new promotion idea

Today I'm at SellingBooks.com. Check it out! It's a nice interview. Thanks to Cathy for hosting me!

Meanwhile, the cheesecake giveaway was such a hit that I've been brainstorming Junior's-Faking It promotions. Such as "post a photo of you reading my book at Junior's" on the Facebook Faking It Fans page (or Twitter, or this blog), or just holding my book outside of Junior's! For that matter, post a photo of yourself on with my book wherever you are!

Anyone else have similar ideas? Please share them!

today's blog tour appearance, and a giveaway

Today I'm back at Misadventures With Andi talking about an unlikely subject-- collecting! Stop by and join in on the fun.

Andi's also doing a giveaway -- a randomly selected winner will receive a signed copy of Faking It and Ordinary World. Huzzah!!!

a Valentine's Day gift suggestion

Hey guys:

We all know that books make great gifts, right? Well, how 'bout giving your honey a paperback copy of Faking It.

Don't let the title fool ya.

Faking It is actually the perfect Valentine's Day gift. Girl meets handsome escort. Girl exchanges lessons in writing for lessons in sex. Contract forbids girl and guy from becoming friends. Girl and guy become friends. Uh-oh.

Faking It also has champagne and strawberries, cheesecake, and an occasional slice of New York pizza. What more could a girl want?

"Faking It is about relationships, writing, and getting real."

Here's the best part. Now at Lulu.com, Faking It is available at a new low price -- $11.99! Order today and it'll arrive by Valentine's Day!

Still not sure? Check out some of these reviews.

Gals, pass this on to all the guys you know!

She'll love you. She'll kiss you. She'll... well, you get the idea.

Lulu.com. $11.99. That's cute.

blog tour tips, and today's appearances

Today I'm making two appearances at once -- magic!!

The first is Shelly Burns' blog Write for a Reader as part of her "Because of a Book" series. There I talk about three authors whose books influenced me as a writer. They are, by no means, the only three! The second is Misadventures With Andi (love her name!), who interviewed me and reviewed Ordinary World.

Thank you so much for hosting me, Shelly and Andi!

This month I'm really not going to do much posting here other than directing you to tour locations and schedules. Why? Because there's no need! I've already written something -- you just have to go somewhere else to read it! Yay blog tour!

For those of you who've never heard of it, a blog tour is a great way to promote your book without having to leave your home. This is not an issue of laziness but of cost. I organized my first tour back in June to promote Faking It for summer reading season. Thanks to my generous friends who hosted me, I was able to get the word out -- all the better when word of mouth leads to sales!

This time around, I enlisted the help of Jodi, organizer extraordinare, who hooked me up with bloggers, reviewers, and lots of topics to blog about.

If you're thinking about putting together a blog tour, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Know the readership and interests of the host blog. If it's a blog about writers and writing, then write about the evolution of a character or how to overcome writer's blog. If it's a blog about travel, then feature some of the locations in your novel. Back in June, when I appeared on my friend Mitt's blog, I appealed to her love of cooking by featuring "The foods of Faking It" -- it went over great (and made me hungry)! Try to find blogs that match your book/novel subject. You'll likely appeal to more readers that way.

In the case of this tour, many host bloggers gave me a specific topic to write about. This was actually very helpful to me to know the topic in advance. It also gave me a chance to check out the blog site and see the kinds of posts other guest bloggers have done. Very important to one's rhetorical situation!

Some authors do one blog post and send it to every blog. That is certainly one method, but in my opinion it's not a very effective one. Just as you wouldn't send out a generic cover letter or query letter, why be so informal with a generic blog post?

Focus more on planting seeds and less on selling. When I worked in retail as a sales associate, my first goal was not to make the sale but to meet the customer's needs. Often times that involved sending them to another store, offering advice, or just leaving them alone. I wanted my customers to trust me, trust my judgment. If they didn't buy from me today, they would come back another day, or they would tell their friends.

If you are a published author, traditionally or independently, then you are also a bookseller. More and more authors are taking responsibility for their own marketing and promotion because they have to. Plant seeds and you'll get your readers thinking about it, then asking about it, then buying it, then talking about it.

Give away free copies. I'm offering either print or electronic copies of Ordinary World (and even a couple of Faking It) on this tour. For indie authors, budgets could be really tight, but if you can pull it off, then do so. It draws more readers to the sight and elicits more comments (usually the winner is selected randomly from those who left comments).

Stay in touch. Check in to the host blog on the day your post is featured. Answer questions that readers ask, respond to comments, and be sure to post a comment of "thank you". Personal involvement makes all the difference to a reader.

Prepare. Write your posts at least two weeks before its scheduled post-date, and be sure to send any links to your books, blog or website, bios, photos, cover art, etc.

And, as always, Have fun!

good news

On the eve of turning 40, the gods have blessed me with book sales.

As of this moment, Faking It is ranked #19 on the Kindle Store bestseller list, with Ordinary World following at #133. (I'm even beating out Dan Brown at #22!!)

Keep a few things in mind (and my ego in check): The Kindle Store rankings fluctuate quite a bit. Also, they don't necessarily reflect the rest of the market (i.e the New York Times Best Seller list). You'll see that most of the titles on the Kindle list are either free or priced at a buck, so you can see where the attraction really is.

But still.

I'd like to think that my price gets them to the door, and the writing keeps them inside.

And yet, I can't help but have an uneasy feeling about this. Booksellers and agents are voicing opposition to the low pricing, and claim that devaluing our books (beyond just price) is killing publishing. And I agree with them to a point, actually. Not necessarily that it's killing publishing, but it's certainly upsetting the industry, and I'm a part of that now.

But hey, I'm a bookseller too. And I can't help but think about how much fatter the check would be even if I at least doubled my price. But would as many copies have sold? They didn't the first time around (although I didn't have the patience to find out if the readers would've come around anyway). I've got readers now. And reviews. Good ones, too. That's what I really wanted all along.

But I worry if traditonal publishers will reject me now because I'm not playing their game and am part of the devaluing. I took advantage of the capitalist system, that's all. I persisted. It's the number one advice I get from agents, editors, and other writers. Persist.

Anyhoo... I'm getting off track here.

It's a neato birthday present, is all I'm sayin'. And it feels good.

oink oink

Readers, you may have thought I escaped to the beach, or went pumpkin picking and got caught in a vine; or, perhaps you thought I succumbed to the insanity known as mid semester. Or, perhaps you thought I was going deep and quiet before launching the Ordinary World missle.

Sadly, it was none of the above. I had the swine flu.

Yes, that awfully named H1N1 virus that has nothing to do with swine but everything to do with the flu. I am now a statistic.

It was spreading around campus faster than gossip (a recent memo from my university approximated 900 reported student cases, "presumably" H1N1, since the beginning of the fall semester), and several of my students had already missed class as a result of it. Faculty had also been issued a memo that students with swine flu were to be given special consideration regarding attendance, catching up, etc. I frowned, thinking that they were simply riding on the paranoia bandwagon.

And then I got a tickle in my throat.

I'd dismissed it because it was at night, after a day in which I lectured for three hours straight (which I normally don't do). When I woke up the next morning with a cough and feeling a little bit woozy, however, I thought that maybe it wasn't from all the talking.

I went into school anyway, but by the time I got there I was pretty certain that I should probably turn around and go home (feeling more woozy and throat sore), that maybe I should take advantage of the bandwagon, especially given that in 24 hours I would be on fall break, a break I was looking forward to so I could start planning the Ordinary World launch, line up some readings, etc. (not to mention just relaxing).

Besides, the department secretary said I didn't look too good.

By the time I got home, I was running a slight temperature. Very slight. I made a doctor's appointment for the next day. Even apologized for jumping on the H1N1 bandwagon.

I'll spare you the details of the H1N1 test (other than to say "snout test" might coincide well w/ "swine flu"), but 10 minutes later, my results came back: positive.

That's not what upset me, however. What upset me was the doctor reminding me that I hadn't been there for a physical in quite some time, and now that I'm almost 40, these things have to become regular.

Damn, I'm almost 40??

It turned out that I was too late for Tamiflu, and the doctor told me to stay home for one week exactly and take OTC meds, which I did. No contact with others.

For the next three days, I was sicker than I've been in a long time. The fever was the worst. At some point I finally lost it and burst into tears when my mom called. It was also the first in a long time that I felt lonely. I wondered if this was payback for my criticism of the "special consideration" memo. Had I not already been on vacation (and a sucky vacation it was), I would have had to cancel even more classes. This is not a curl-up-under-the-blanket-and-catch-up-on-soap-operas-or-reality-shows kind of flu. You start to think of ways to put yourself out of your misery: drop an anvil on your head, drink the entire bottle of Dimetapp, suck on the exhaust pipe of a bus, you name it. I had very little appetite for anything other than toast or soup. (I did, however, have the foresight to buy a bag of peanut M&Ms on my way home from school earlier in the week.)

By Saturday, my fever finally broke, but was still 99. On Sunday, I relapsed just a little, but my appetite returned (as did my single-serving instant cake recipe). Yesterday was my first full day w/ a normal temp and w/out needing meds of any kind. Today was my last day off from school. I even got some work done today.

So even though my vacation was shot to hell and the Ordinary World release has been delayed, there are more things for which to be grateful: having a job in which to call in sick; having health insurance to cover my doctor visits; having family close by to deliver orange juice to me; having a mom to call me each day and make sure I'm ok, and a wombmate who made me laugh until I couldn't stop coughing; and lots and lots of dear friends and colleagues and loved ones via Facebook who let me know they were thinking of me, sending me love and healing energy, and simply wishing me well. Besides, better sick now than at Christmastime, when I'm back in Sag Harbor with my writing partner working on our manuscript.

Not only that, but this past week, Faking It climbed very high in the Kindle Store rankings yet again (and, last I checked, is still in the Top 100 for special categories), got its first UK paperback sale (woohoo!), and is a semifinalist in the Best of the Best ebook contest (its Kindle status qualified it).

I have a lot to catch up on, and am looking forward to getting my energy levels up. I'll say this: don't take this flu lightly. I still think there's a lot of hoopla about it; but, it's not something I wish on anyone. I certainly have more empathy for my students now (not that I had none before), and perhaps that's another good thing to come out of this as well. And I'm bringing a can of Lysol to my office on Thursday. That and some Halloween candy. I would've baked cookies for my students, but I don't think they'd really want anything that my hands touched this week.

a little lovin'

I got my proof copy of Ordinary World last week and have been busy reading it looking for typos, etc. I'm not sick of it yet, which is a good thing. Quite the contrary, actually. I love this book. I love it for entirely different reasons than why I love Faking It. Even though it's a sequel, it has so much more depth and complexity than Faking It. These characters have grown. Andi has a lot more to worry about than what she's wearing or what people think of her. And while it's not as lighthearted as Faking It, it's got its funny moments. I hate to be so cliche, but it's an "I laughed, I cried" novel.

It's a great thing to be pleased w/ one's writing. Mind you, there are parts of Faking It that I read and think I could've done better, but it was my first novel, and given that I think it still came out great. But dare I say, Ordinary World is better.

Be proud of the work you do, writers. The awards and accolades may not come your way as quickly as you'd like, but your biggest fan needs to be you. If you don't like what you write or why you write, you can't ask anyone else to.

I can't wait for you all to read Ordinary World. I hope you'll like it as much as I do.

P.S. Check out my good friend Roberto Scarlato's new book For What It's Worth!

why I love my manuscript

This weekend I took out the manuscript that's been neglected for months, mainly due to busy schedules. I had intended to do some writing for it, but here's what happened instead.

I read from page one. Laughed at jokes I'd forgotten about, cried at a certain scene, and found myself wanting to keep going, even as my eyes got heavy. Couldn't remember who wrote what most of the time-- the style was flawless and uninterrupted.

I tweaked a comma or a word change here and there, but nothing major (we've already done so much revision to what's already on the page). Didn't do any new writing until about chapter 16. Wrote a rough draft, 3-page backstory. Read up to about chapter 20 with at least 100 pages to go. And I want to read more.

The verdict? This book is gonna rock.

Seriously, I love this novel. I love its stories and its characters, and I've already written a post about wanting to live in its world. I love that it's a collaboration between my friend and me.

We both know we're at the point that any additional writing is really going to happen when we're both in the room together. That day is coming soon. (Yay!) Of course, I wish it was done now, all perfect and polished and published and on the shelves. We even know what we want the cover to look like. Patience, I have to tell myself. This is the manuscript we intend to query. This is worth waiting for.

At some point the conversation about self-publishing being so time-consuming (when do we have time to write what we intend to publish?) is likely going to resume on this blog. But for now, I'm savoring the moment. A good weekend of reading good writing.

Deep breath: Inhale. Exhale.
Nice.

Meanwhile, the FREE Ordinary World special preview ebook has gotten 130 hits, the blog interview has gotten over 75 viewings, and I've sold a half-dozen copies of Faking It, all since Thursday. (Not to mention the sales of the Kindle version since reducing the price to 99 cents.) Thank you to everyone who tweeted about it, posted something on Facebook, and downloaded a copy. Please post something about it on your blogs or elsewhere, if you can. I would be so grateful!

Lulu blog interview is up!

CLICK HERE to watch my interview with AJ McDonald about Ordinary World. You can download the excerpt right here on my blog (remember the spoiler alert!), and find out how to win a signed copy of FAKING IT via Twitter.

Thanks again to Carol, AJ, and everyone at Lulu. I think the interview is great (although why do I always look like I'm slouching in a chair?).

Enjoy!