Summer pick-me-up

This has been an amazing summer!

I am ever grateful to Miami SuperCon and Tampa Bay Comic Con for the awesome crowds and response I've had for "St. Blair: Children of the Night." I beat all my records in book sales and feedback. These events have given me the drive to exceed expectations and give readers more of what they are looking for.

My YA novel is an unconventional read I'm told, it builds to the conclusion and you have to keep up with the scenes to dial in for the finale. I didn't choose this format, it chose me.

The St. Blair series is tough to write.

I try as hard as I can to keep St. Michael on the page, but he wanders off to battle demons and leaves me.

He is a magnificent being and doesn't take direction from mere mortals. He dictates his story to me and I comply. Then he is off to the next battle.

I definitely identify with Sybille's frustration a great deal. People in her life go missing when she needs them or pop up unexpectedly and want her to save them from peril. What is a girl to do?

My favorite person is St. Blair. I so enjoy hanging out with her. She is the epitome of who I want to be. She has a since of humor, shows up when you need her and will bring reinforcements if the occasion calls for such. She has total faith that God will provide and doesn't do the heavy lifting for you, but instead supports you on the task.

All writing releases something in the author that they didn't know about themselves. I sometimes don't understand where a new character comes from or their mission, but I let them in. I have not thrown a character out of a book yet. Maybe I should? But I am not sure if the story would be complete otherwise.

So I continue as the agents and publishers encourage. Write the story that is in you.

To my readers, thank you for taking the journey. I hope to keep you busy.

The book that surprised me!

I just published Marquel's Dilemma. I love these characters! I can't wait for you to meet the new cast members.

What is now book two in a three book "Marquel" series, would never have happened if it weren't for Judy Roe, Roxanne Smith and Robyn Fairbanks. These women fueled my desire to write a sequel. More responded later and I am equally grateful to Bunny Cates who connected me with Lani Skuthorpe. Lani was a beta reader of Marquel's Dilemma and is a fan of the first book.

I have often said that I have a difficult time hanging out with my character Marquel. She pulls at my heartstrings and brings me down to a dark place. However, the plot for the sequel never took flight if I am honest.

I started with my outline and these people: Marquel, Zach, Isabel, Jackie, Ken Avery and Collins took over. My original plot for Marquel's Dilemma is now going to be the outline for a 3rd book, Marquel's Redemption. If they take me on another detour, this may become a serial or who knows? A television series?

I hope those who discover Marquel's Dilemma will read Marquel first. I wrote the sequel in 40 days, which is a record. I wrote Marquel in 52 days. My other series St. Blair: Children of the Night took a good few years to write book one. I will be writing Marquel's Redemption this summer and we'll see how long that one takes. The film script for the first book is complete, but under revision.

For everyone who encourages an author, you are blessing the world with more stories. Thank you!

The Writing Process Part 2

To plot or not to plot, that is the question.

I wrote Marquel with a plot and I'm writing the Marquel sequel with a full plot worked out. To write with a plot, you have characters who are predetermined with profiles and back stories.

St. Blair: Children of the Night was a concept in my mind, but not on paper. I wrote this book from my gut. I knew where I wanted to go, but I didn't know who was going along for the ride, meaning my characters and what they were going to do to derail or enhance the story.

To allow a story to unfold on the page, you sometimes are surprised by who shows up and what they intend to do with your lead.

I like both styles of writing, but realistically, I need to plot. I think it's because I learned this from my mentor, Harry Whittington. It took Harry years to learn to plot and once he did, he could write quickly and pump out books literally by the month! He was a full-time author.

Three quarters of the way through writing St. Blair, I had to plot. I had started the book as two parts allowing the story to develop on its own. Then I was advised to blend the two parts, so I did. But I was still wondering how I would get to to the end.

I so frustrated until Eston showed up. He is an important character who stayed away, didn't present himself for a long time! I was like, ok Eston, you should have come in much sooner, because now we have to back track.

Eston was one of the missing pieces of the puzzle. I needed him! For the longest time I was just hanging out with Sybille and Blair, wondering what was going to happen? They were equally looking to me for the same resolution.

If I had plotted St. Blair from the beginning, I know Eston would have been there. Characters aren't just whims, they are born to carry a story and they will push their way in one way or another.

I respect freestyle writing, I'm prone to dabble in the technique, but I want to have a road map, so I can get to where I am going without a lot of roadblocks.

Amazon and Hachette Debate

Amazon wants lower prices to make it affordable for readers to buy and read more. Hachette, as I understand, wants some rate integrity for their authors and to release ebooks at higher prices.

The debate as been compared to the pulp era when mass market paperbacks threatened the hardcover book industry. Publishers had to seek alternate distribution channels like dime stores to sell books, because traditional bookstores and publishers felt the paperback's lower price would kill their industry.

Having been mentored by pulp legend, Harry Whittington, I can tell you the world wouldn't be the place it is today without the mass market paperback.

The reality of the paperback sales the dime stores generated as excited readers went in to get their next installment of the authors they loved, no doubt grew more in store sales for a multitude of brands. Similar to what happens when a reader is on the Amazon site.

While Harry was an author for hire by publishers in his early years and had representation by agents, too. I'm sure Harry's agents likely might have agreed with Hachette's rate integrity concerns, but the Amazon argument is equally legitimate.

Authors want equal access to sell their stories and readers want to buy them at affordable prices. 

Sure, Harry would have wanted his representatives to make him more money, but if he thought his titles would be lost in the price wars, I don't think he would have agreed with some the pricing strategies that are being debated.

Where do we draw the line on progress?


Amazon, like other bookseller sites make it possible for all authors to get their work released in the same marketplace in the ebook age. 

Even agented authors are taking control of some of their ebook rights and publishing specific works on their own. They don't want to be controlled, but read. Their agents don't agree about crossing genre lines or publishing shorter works, yet authors do.

Agents are good marketers, no doubt. They know how to bring a client to market and the investment needs to pay off. The pricing has more do to with how long the title will trend or even get on the radar. Will a book breakeven?

Markdowns on books happen everywhere. I respect Hachette's rate integrity concerns, as I do Amazon's broad sales approach.

I think the greater concern should be protecting the digital platforms and the writers who fill the pipeline. The add-on revenue streams from other products, ad sales, cross-promotions, films and merchandise that spinoff from book sales are where the growth opportunities are for everyone vs. demanding more from readers who may be financially challenged.

The Writing Process Part 1

Most readers want to understand how a writer develops a story and where their characters come from.

For me, the story comes in an aha moment. Something will trigger a feeling or circumstance that plants the seed. With my novel "Marquel," the idea hit me in a moment of sadness. I was very burned out over many things in my personal life and just tired of trying to fix things that were out of my control.

I remember very distinctly that my husband was in the living room watching t.v. and our daughter Marquel was in bed asleep in her room. She was 4. As I was crossing through the dark hallway next to Marquel's room, the character Marquel appeared in my thoughts. She just overwhelmed me with grief.

That was the aha moment.

I wasn't even thinking about writing. I just remember feeling this woman's pain. As I entered our dark bedroom, I didn't turn on the light. I just sat on the edge of the bed and turned to lie down. As my body was in motion to recline, I saw the story flashing through my head like rapid fire flipcards and by the time my shoulders and head hit the pillow I was overwhelmed with the movie I had watched in seconds.

I was so amazed that I sat up in a nervous excitement and grasped for some scrap of paper and a pen.  That is also common for me. I write on envelope, scraps, magazine covers, napkins, anything. And I started making notes in the dark. I wasn't about to waste a minute, I didn't want to forget something. I thought about telling my husband, but I knew he wouldn't understand. So I scribbled key words to remind me of different points I wanted to remember.

I felt I gave birth to the character Marquel that evening. She was in my head and wanted me to get her story on paper. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of a goal I made at age 15.  I said I would have a daughter Marquel and that I'd write book about a character Marquel.

While my daughter was in the next room sleeping, her namesake was pushing her way out into the world through my pen.

Great writing moments

A funny text I sent my daughter after a long night of writing. I was obviously half asleep when I wrote the text to Blair.

15-year-olds unite!

    So I was on the Southern Literary Trail site (I say "so" way too much) looking for places to go in Florida and discovered we must be an island, because it seems we've been cut off the Southern trail?
I need to have a talk with these people! We've got authors as well as sand, sharks, attractions and alligators. We deserve to be recognized! Can I get a witness?


   Anyway, as I was looking around and I found this quote from one of my favorite authors. Actually,  Margaret (Gone With The Wind) Mitchell is my favorite. I discover we have a writer's bond that begun when we were 15.

 

     At 15 she wanted to do great things. At 15 I wanted to do great things! Do you see where this is going?  Mine weren't as noble as hers, but I set a goal to have a daughter named Marquel and write a book with that title. I have done that. She set out to be a writer and she wrote a phonebook of a novel (For millennials who don't use phonebooks, that means a thick novel). I also had a daughter named Blair and titled a book after her, St. Blair: Children of the Night. Together my novels don't have as many words as GWTW. But that doesn't change the fact that Margaret and I were amazingly determined 15-year-olds. Right?

    Now, I'm no Margaret Mitchell, but I am hoping to be the Susan Boyle of Writing (she's the Britain's Got Talent winner). I will be the United States Late Bloomer Overnight Author Sensation! I picked it, people. The United States Late Bloomer Overnight Author Sensation, soon. Very soon. You can't take it. Make up your own status. No copying. I already have the ability to make this happen! Remember, the 15-year-old me? I got this down.

   This will also be timed with the discovery of our amazingly talented daughters. Look around the blog, people. My kids are plastered all over. Share their story. Grow the vision. I need to get on with the U.S. Overnight Sensation thing so I can live the dream. Late Bloomer means now, I'm not any getting younger.

    While I am at it, I will manifest that my husband get a great role in a commercial with the Dos Equis guy. The Most-Uninteresting-Man-in-the-World meets The-Most-Interesting-Man-in-the-World. Whoa, I sound like Chris Jenner booking everyone in house. Slow down, film mom.

  Just kidding, Tom. Tom is my husband. It's a commercial, Tom, not real life. But I know you just want to drink a Dos Equis with the Dos Equis guy. We'll go for that. Or a Depends commercial. What? It pays!

   Sorry I took that break to talk with Tom, so if you want to see any great Southern Literary landmarks go to the site listed below and tell them I sent you. Also, tell them to have some respect for Florida! Because the United States Late Bloomer Overnight Author Sensation Emily Skinner resides there!