The Time and Money Equation

Okay, I have a commitment issue. Well, maybe it's better to say I have an overcommitment issue.

I describe myself as a mommy, writer, lawyer. Needless to say, each of those things is a full-time job. So, necessarily there are instances when the time required by each of them add up to more than 24 hours in a day. I'm in one of those periods right now.  So, I'll wake up at midnight, carve out four hours of work, then nap for a few hours before I have to get up to feed the horses, and take care of the dogs, cats, hermit crabs. My husband does most of the heavy lifting when it comes to running our boys back and forth to school and events. In other words, I make it work until I fall down. Okay, again not the best strategy but it's who I am.

Time is our most precious commodity. With time you can generate money, which then lets you buy more time by hiring someone to do those tasks you don't want to do or aren't cost effective for you to do. Let me give you an example of what I mean.

As a lawyer in solo practice I can generate my invoices every month. It takes me about 2 hours to prepare the drafts, review and finalize them, and mail the bills out. Two hours isn't a huge amount of time but you then need to put that into the time/money equation. I charge $300 an hour for my time. Generating bills "costs" me $600.00 in lost fees. I can hire someone to carry out this function for me for $24.00 an hour or about $50.00 per month. By hiring someone else I free up two hours of my time for $50. A net profit of $550. Worth it.

This same math applies to home improvements. Sure I can change out light fixtures, build a walk or put up a fence but is all that time worth spending? Probably not. So, while it annoys the heck out of me, I'll hire someone to do a task I could because I'd rather spend my time with my kids or writing or doing just about anything else.

But the equation falls apart when it comes to writing where time spent does not always equal money. In fact, the time/money equation strongly suggests that the time spent writing should be spent elsewhere. Writers spend hundreds of hours on each book and most writers don't their living solely from writing.

So why write?


Writing is a passion. You don't dedicate yourself to a profession where rejection is far more likely than success if you don't care deeply about what you're doing. Writers are self-motivating. We don't punch in on a time clock, literal or figurative. Most successful writers spend every moment they can in some writing-related task. Kevin J. Anderson, who is know for having multiple books published a year, probably works ten to twelve hours a day, seven days a week.  I keep a notebook with me so while I'm waiting for a case to be called I can scribble down another few sentences.

Passion makes all the difference in the world. I don't mind that I'm not up to date on the latest TV show. I'd rather be telling my own stories. I can spend the money earned during the day job to buy me more time to write.

Do I hope that my time investment in writing will pay off? Of course. But that's not why I write. Simple math only takes you so far. Your heart has to take you the rest of the way.

Summer Book Report

The summer of “can’t put down” books

        Back to school is around the corner and I’m helping my two boys, who waited until the last minute (again) to complete their book reports. I decided to lead by example. I’ve already confessed to being a not-so-closeted romance reader and writer. You also know that my favorite time for reading romance novels is at the beach, and we’ve just returned from our family vacation to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. So, I thought I’d share 10 books from my summer reading list. It’s also a bit more eclectic than normal since I’m researching my next novel, Schrodinger Effect, which features Vonna from Paths Less Traveled. In no particular order:

1.         Neil Gaiman – The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Fantasy.

Neil Gaiman started out writing a short story, but ended up with this lovely little novella. A suicide releases a supernatural creature into our world. In trying to send the creature back, Lettie Hempstock unwittingly allows it to lodge inside a 7 year old boy. Years later, that boy returns home for a funeral and discovers he’s forgotten about that summer day and the magic at the end of the lane.

This is a great little story. I fell into the narrator’s voice, spellbound. I finished it in one sitting, pausing only grudgingly to get a plate of food before the teenagers at the beach ate it all. The only criticism I have of it is the price-point. At $15.00 it’s expensive for a novella, and at $9.99 it’s a really expensive e-book. Now, I bought my advanced copy through Barnes and Noble because it was a signed copy. Still, I think the price is well worth it.   

2.         Kevin J. Anderson – Veiled Alliances – Fantasy.

In my opinion, Kevin is one of the greatest world-builders writing today. Veiled Alliances is a prequel to his Saga of the Seven Suns series. One hundred and fifty years after the Earth sent out its generation ships, Earth’s government has given way to a puppet king controlled by the Hanseatic League. The generation ships are found and given safe harbors by an alien race. With the gift of FTL (Faster Than Light) engines, Earth is poise on the brink of becoming a major player in the universe.  

I “read” this one on audio book. The 4 plus hour recording got me most of the way to the beach. Unlike some prequels this one wasn’t forced or awkward. A large part of that is likely due to Kevin’s detailed outlining. Before Kevin had written the first word for the series, he would have already known the events set forth in this prequel. Whether you’ve read the other books in the series, or Veiled Alliances is your first journey to the Seven Suns, it’s definitely worth reading. 

3.         Jeaniene Frost -  Halfway to the Grave. – Urban Fantasy with Romance.

Cat, the kick-butt heroine, is half-vampire. She hunts the undead in an effort to find and slay her father for destroying her mother’s life.  Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire and vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership. Cat agrees to help Bones cull the undead population in return for his help finding and exterminating her father. Life and unlife is never that simple though, and Cat finds Bones more tempting than any man with a heartbeat.

I also finished this one in a day.  The tone and take no prisoners heroine reminded me a lot of Gini Koch’s Alien Series. One of my friend loaned me this book at the beach when I’d run out of other stories. It was the first time I’d read anything by Ms. Frost. I’m definitely looking up the rest of the series.

4.         Sloane Taylor – French Tart (Naughty Ladies of Nice) – Erotic Romance.

Donatienne Dubois pins her hope for a “normal” life on an exclusive cooking school in Nice, France. But one by one her expectations are shattered. Donni’s lifesaver is a bad boy too hot not to handle. For his part, Mark Anderson, is incognito, hating every moment. To pose as a student while keeping tabs on a rich wild child is his version of hell, until he partners with the dish of Crème Brulée good enough to eat.

I love Sloane’s writing, ability to transport a reader to the exotic locations she sets her stories and her characters. French Tart, a novella, lived up to all my expectations for Sloane’s work. I especially loved the foul-mouthed parrot who develops a crush on Donni.  

5.         John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker – The Cases that Haunt Us – Nonfiction.

Certain homicide cases maintain an undeniable, almost mystical hold on the public imagination. This analysis of seven of the most notorious murder cases in the history of crime -- from the Whitechapel murders to JonBenet Ramsey -- often contradicts conventional wisdom and legal decisions. Using modern profiling techniques, the book reexamines cases we all know, and sometimes reaches fascinating and haunting results.

This is one of the many resource books I’m using for Schrodinger Effect. The writers take you through the criminal investigative process for each of the cases, noting how preconceptions or just investigative mismanagement affected the ultimate outcomes. A great resource and well-handled and sensitive narrative given the topics.

6.         Brenda Novak - Whiskey Creek series – Romance

Brenda Novak’s romances are great examples of the genre. One of the things I like about this series is that the first book, When Lightning Strikes, introduces us to a group of high school friends approximately 10 years after graduation, and each book in the series (so far) has focused on one character’s happily ever after.  The world Brenda Novak builds has a high degree of continuity and characters from the other books continue to interact as they really would have in any small community. 

 7.         Lee Child – Jack Reacher series, Books 1-5  – Thrillers. Jack Reacher is a retired Military Police officer with a monster case of wanderlust. His travels seem to leave him in the right places at the right time to become enmeshed in kidnapping, murder and mayhem. Given his military  background and specialized MP training, Reacher’s highly competent in many areas, and more than holds his own against FBI and Secret Service experts. I’ve listened to these books on audiotape. Dick Hill is a fabulous narrator.

 8.         David Farland – Drawing on the Power of Resonance in Writing – Nonfiction.

 A must read for every writer. Dave has long spoken about by drawing power from stories that came before; resonating with their readers' experiences, and by resonating within their own works. Frankly, Dave could sell this book for LOTS more and it would still be worth every penny. He teaches you exactly what resonance is and how to use it to make your stories more powerful with examples of how it is used in literature and other art forms, and how one writer, J. R. R. Tolkien, mastered it in his work.

 9.         John Scalzi, Editor - METAtropolis – anthology – Post-apocalyptic fantasy

 Audible was running one of its book specials, and out of the audiobooks I could get for $4.95 was this anthology. I have to admit I picked this one because it had one of the longer run times (I drive about 3 hours a day), and the high quality writers who contributed to the work.

METAtropolis is a shared-world anthology, where all the stories take place in the same created urban fantasy world, but it’s more than that. A typical anthology has a common theme – ex. Humorous horror stories – and the writers have little direction beyond that. A braided anthology has a through line and character. This is another step up in continuity. The five writers collaborated on the world. They all had the same blue print when they set their characters free and let them interact with this world.

10.       Harlan Cobin – Six Years – Thriller/ Suspense

Grammar Girl, Mignon Fogarty, recommended Six Years on her podcast. I met Mignon several years ago at Superstars Writing Seminar, and have often liked the books she’s recommended. She didn’t let me down. Again, this was an audiobook for me.

Six years have passed since Jake Fisher watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd. Then Jake comes across Todd’s obituary. At the funeral, Jake gets the glimpse of Todd’s wife…but she’s not Natalie. As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. His search for the woman who broke his heart, who lied to him, soon puts his life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on a carefully constructed fiction.

This is another “can’t put down story.” It’s not a romance since the love story plays second fiddle to the mystery Jake’s trying to unravel. Cobin handles both the romance and the mystery with a deft touch. The characters are believable and I was rooting for Jake to solve the mystery, find the girl and live happily ever after. But you’ll have to read it to find out if he did.

Now it's time to get out to the pool with a book and enjoy the last few days of summer.

Cultural Scars

A few weeks ago I was listening to the audiobook version of Lee Child's Tripwire. A lot of the story takes place in and around the World Trade Center in New York. It surprised me how hard it was to listen to events staged in a building that no longer existed. As a result, I became acutely aware of the scars we bear as a culture.

When we write we are told to make sure our characters are well-rounded, that they have a past, and plans for their future. The same thing's true for the world in which our characters live.  Each society has its triumphs, dirty secrets, and tragedies. How they affect us, the characters in our own stories, depends on who we are and how remote those events are from us.

For Americans, our cultural scars include the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the race riots of the 1960s, the war in Vietnam, the Challenger explosion, and the September 11 attacks. Each one of these events fundamentally changed how we function as a culture and interact with the world around us. But, there's something else you need to notice about the list. Off the top of my head, I only included events that occurred in my lifetime, or slightly before it. I didn't include the Civil War even though it changed, well, everything, about a young country.

If my grandparents were still with us, I'm sure they'd have included the Great Depression on the list of cultural scars. How did living through the Depression alter how my grandparents interacted with the world around them? They didn't spend money on things they didn't need to. They didn't accumulate "stuff" just to do it. My mother's parents hid cash around the house - although not under the mattress -  because they didn't trust banks. They paid cash for everything and didn't trust or use credit cards either. But I didn't live through the Great Depression. I'm two generations removed from it. So, while I know the lessons from the Depression, I also lived through the "me" generation of the 1980's where the mantra of the day was "why delay gratification? The good times will never end?" Well, they did.

To me the 9/11 attacks were more about the end of American innocence rather than the Kennedy assassination. Yes, we could be touched here in America. Our streets can look like those over seas where unrest is common. The September 11 terrorist attacks created a culture of fear. Politicians now sell it. They get elected because of it. One where we willingly sacrifice our civil liberties and outage at governmental prying for the illusion of "safety." I often wonder if my grandchildren will think the benefit was worth what we gave up.

Okay, sorry I drifted off topic. Back to my point.

Cultures are people too. They have pasts and scars. Those scars in turn inflict invisible wounds on the members of that society. The best stories are recognize this. Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns has several rich cultures that hide scars. Jora'h, one of my favorite characters from the story, must confront  his culture's despicable acts, and decide whether to bear those scars at the cost of his values or expose those secrets and endanger his people. Each race has a secret that drives its society and present policy/ actions. A culture's present responsibility for its earlier choices is one of the themes in the series. Kevin's consideration and interweaving of these macro-issues makes him one of the best world builders out there.

Paradigm shifts happen when those wounds hit a critical mass and result in change. We change because of our cultural past as much as society changes because of what we do. Our writing should reflect the world around our character, and that world has scars that carve rivulets into its people's souls.

When does something go from being an event to something more?

We all have events in our lives - the kids need to be picked up from school, time to worm the animals- you know the every day in and outs of living. I've been to lots of events. Marketing meetings, seminars and fund raisers. I've seen some of the shows that redefined Broadway productions.Sometimes what we expect to be an event with the little "e" becomes an Event, capital "E." The capital E moments are the ones that leave their impression long after the incident is over. There are good Events - graduation day, wedding days, the moment your child is born - that often are the culmination of lots of small events. There are the horrible Events that steal your breath away and fundamentally change you - September 11, the death of a parent or child, the diagnosis of cancer or the loss of innocence.

But when does an occurrence cross the line from just something that happened to an Event?

For me, the crossover happens when there's a fundamental change in how I see or interact with the world. Sometimes we're lucky enough to realize when an Event is happening. Other times we only recognize the paradigm shift in its aftermath.

 The first time I heard Tracy Hickman tell his story about how one of his stories touched a soldier was one of those moments. The first time I heard James A. Owen tell his story and draw his dragon was another.

I spent the year between the 2012 Superstars and 2013 Superstars in professional turmoil for my day job. My law firm of 5 years was splitting up. I could join the D.C. office, but my title of "partner" would be just that - a title. Rather than do that, or go out on my own and face the uncertain income stream that entailed, I decided to join a firm that promised to treat me like an equal, and in six months we'd renegotiate my compensation (base salary plus a percentage of the collection) and my status in the hopes of making me a full equity partner.

That situation didn't work out like I'd hoped. After the managing partner blew off yet another meeting about my future with the firm to get a haircut - yes, you read that right, he left to get a haircut, or at least that's what he told me-, I had a decision to make. Having the managing partner skip out of a meeting with me for a haircut was a wake up call. Now what was I going to do about it?

The firm offered me insurance and a regular paycheck. I wanted those things for my family. My husband has run his own firm or been part of a two partner firm for most of his career. There are months where he won't bring home any income, followed by a month with LARGE checks from his court appointed work. Right now he's working on a case that, if he's lucky, will pay him in February 2014. Yup, you read that right too - 9 months from now. So, I thought about James.

James has a saying, "Never give up what you want most for what you want most right now."

What did I want most - to be part of a firm where what I could do and who I am was valued. Where I didn't feel like the partners were sabotaging me.

What did I want most right then? A paycheck so I could keep my kids in their school and keep their life somewhat stable.

When I thought about it that way, the choice was clear.

So, because the managing partner refused to meet with me, I quit by e-mail and gave him ten days' notice.  That decision caused about three months of hassle with the old firm and I still have a target on me as far as they are concerned. But, it was the right choice for LOTS of reasons.

Anyway, I hung out my shingle on February 1, 2013. I agonized about taking a week off for Superstars 2013, but then I'd already committed to Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta to help out. What I want most is to be a person of her word. Again, the choice was clear.

Superstars 2013 was an EVENT. Not just for me, but for lots of people.

I could quote all the blog posts about it., but it's better, I think, just to send you to them.

Nathan Barra wrote - Expectations and Hope Rewarded - you can find his post at:  http://www.nathanbarra.com/2013/05/expectations-and-hopes-rewarded-superstars-writing-seminar-2013-in-review/

Sam Knight wrote "A Lightning Strike on Your Writing Career: Seriously you NEED to read this one." You can read it.here.  If you've read my short story collection, Paths Less Traveled, you know lightning strikes has a special place in my heart.

Terry Odell shared her insights from the seminar in a multipost blog starting here.

Mark Leslie wrote - Top 10 Takeaways from Superstars Writing Seminar. You can find that post here

To Mark's quotes, I'll add the following:

"It does not matter if you are published, it matters if you are READ." - Tracy Hickman.

"It's the bad books that make you a better writer." - Joan Ann Johnson.

Superstars  is an Event for me. Not only did I get to see lots of friends from previous Superstars and meet fabulous new people. I got to look behind the curtain and make Kevin and Rebecca's life easier. As part of the non-session outing to Star Trek, I met a lovely family and got to talk to a young man about his dream about being a writer. And discovered that his father also harbored the dream.

Like Sam, I saw the lightning sparkle and strike for many people this year. Sure, some of those strikes won't ignite the rocket Sam refers to, but surprising number will.

Really, people. Why weren't you there? I hope I'll see you next year.

Getting Geared Up for Superstars

After a lovely breakfast in bed and the gift of flowers from my boys (all three of them), I spent the better part of my day on a plane headed to Colorado Springs, Colorado for the Superstars Writing Seminar. The seminar officially kicks off on Tuesday, but there's lots of unofficial getting together and airport runs tomorrow.

Kevin J Anderson just posted the updated schedule. And I have to say, we have some great presenters this year - Kevin, of course, Rebecca Moesta, Eric Flint, James A. Owen, Tracy Hickman, Lisa Mangum, Joan Johnston, Jim Minz, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Peter Wacks, and Superstars Alumni -  M. Scott Boone, and Moses Siregar.

Superstars is still by far the best way to learn about the business of writing.

I'm taking bets on who wrings more tears from  the audience - Tracy or James. I'm going to be posting from the seminar. So  stay tuned this week.

Everything I needed to know about the business of publishing, I learned at Superstars Writing Seminar

Three years ago my life changed.

Before dismissing that statement as being melodramatic, just hear me out.

It was 2010 and I was thinking that I might actually be interested in maybe someday pursing a writing career. I was receiving Dave Farland's Daily Kicks, and he mentioned he was putting together this seminar-thing (okay, he was far more eloquent than that) with a bunch of other top-notched and top-selling fantasy writers about everything you needed to know about the publishing industry but no one was willing to tell you. The other instructors - Kevin J. Anderson, Eric Flint, Rebecca Moesta and Brandon Sanderson - all had equally impressive resumes. The seminar-thingy was the Superstars Writing Seminar. I figured what the heck, I'd been going to "skills" seminars for about 5 years now, maybe it was time to get an insider's look at the industry I wanted to be part of.

Best (professional) decision of my life.

Why? 

The information and insight into the publishing market, including the self-publish v. traditional publishing debate, was invaluable. Knowing the risks inherent for a publisher in taking on a new writer, I understood (and could work to circumvent) the barriers to publishing.

The time with the instructors was unprecedented. Remember that I said I'd been attending seminars for 5 years. Even with instructor intense workshops, there wasn't a whole lot of out of class time with the instructors. Superstars blew that distance out of the water. We went to lunch with the instructors. We went out drinking with Kevin Anderson. If you wanted a few minutes of their time, all of them where happy to oblige.

The instructor time ties in with a very important point. Brandon, Dave, Eric, Kevin and Rebecca are some of the nicest and most open people you could every want to meet. They genuinely want to help other writers succeed. They are invested in helping them do so. They are a wealth of information on many disparate topics and are more than happy to share that knowledge whether its publishing, queries, hiking, micro brew beers, mafia, European history or whatever.  For the price of asking, they've given us hours of their time to help the Superstars attendees move their careers forward.  The picture above is Brandon Sanderson talking to a group of Superstars alum at the 2012 World Fantasy Con. He gave us three and a half hours of his time to talk about anything and everything. I could spend many posts talking about the other instructors and how they've helped my career as well, and probably will in future posts. And the guest speakers are just as open and wonderful as the regular instructors.

Then, of course, there's the connections you form with the other attendees. The Superstars attendees are as amazing as the instructors. A group of the 2010 Superstars alums formed the a writing group We blog about writing and the writing life at Fictorians. The picture to the right is of some of us at World Fantasy 2012. In addition to Fictorians, Superstars alums have an active Facebook group. We encourage and commiserate with each other. We are our own best cheerleaders. That network of people going through exactly what you are is invaluable. It's also how I found my publisher.

Most of all, what Superstars did for me was give me the confidence to say, "I am going to be a professional writer." It's not a crazy dream. It's a goal. Superstars gave me an understanding of the business side of the industry that I couldn't get anywhere else.

So, I'm a repeat offender for Superstars. The 2013 session (May 14-16, 2013) will mark my fourth attendance. If you are interested in a career as a writer (or even if your just curious), I highly recommend you attend Superstars Writing Seminar, which will be held in Colorado Springs, Colorado this year. Prices go up on 12-21-12, so sign up now.

Feel free to e-mail me off-line if you have any questions about Superstars. And I hope to see you there.

Why writing is like farming.

Recently, I've heard writers lamenting about their sales and royalty checks. Some of them have gone as far as saying that the cost of writing a story so outweighed the financial benefit that they have received from that story that they will no longer write.

When I was talking to my husband about this, he said that it seemed to him that "writing was like farming."  I asked him to explain what he meant. It struck me that his analogy was a lot like Kevin J. Anderson's popcorn theory, and like Kevin's also particularly apt. The analogy that follows is Matt's:

Writing is like farming. First, when you start you have to work very hard to clear the land, prepare the soil, and plant the seeds. You work to weed and fertilize the crops. The first harvest is never what you want it to be. But it's a start. Once you've harvested that first crop, you have to work the land and reseed it for your next one. Then the weeding and fertilizing starts again. You have to move sites every once and a while so you don't use up the land and make it useless. And you have to do it year after year never knowing what the sun, rain and pests will do to your harvest.

When you have your very first harvest and take it to market, no one knows you or what you're selling. They don't come and buy that harvest in droves. If your lucky you have a few brave souls willing to take a risk on you. And you spend hours at farmers' markets and other venues trying to get those few precious sales.

After a couple of years, people begin to learn about you and come by to see if they like what you are growing. And if you have a bad year, some of your customers will go away and not come back. But you have to keep putting your harvest out there for sale, and tell people about it at the grocery store, gas station and every other place and time you can.

Then, years and years after you start, people will be coming by regularly for your crops. You will know them, and want to grow better crops for them.

And then a bunny will come and eat your lettuce, but you won't mind so much.

Nancy again -

Our neighbors across the street are farmers. They grow hay, corn and about half a dozen other crops, as well as, hogs, goats, chickens and cows. He and his family perform massive and exhausting labor every day. After Leighton's heart attack, his first question wasn't "should I give up farming" but "how long before I can get on a tractor again?" If I suggested he should stop farming just because his hogs aren't selling well this year, he'd look at me like I was insane. And he'd be right. You don't give up when one crop fails. You have other crops in the works because at some point every crop will perform poorly.

It seems to me that you can substitute the word "book" for harvest, and crops, and the word "writing" for growing fairly easily. Breaking out in the writing industry is hard work.  First, when you start you have to work very hard to come up with the idea and write the first draft. Then, you have to work at editing (weeding and fertilizing) the story. When you have your very first novel and take it to market, no one knows you or what you're selling. They don't come and buy that book in droves. You spend hours in promotions, blog hops and doing everything you can think of to sell that book. The first book is never what you want it to be. But, you keep writing.

Most writers who have "broken out" didn't do it with their first book, or the second. If I recall right, Kevin J. Anderson quit his day job after his tenth published book, and with a year of savings in the bank. A recent Daily Kick from David Wolverton advocated having no back-up plan for writing. If writing is what you want to do, you need to sink your heart and soul into it.

Leighton, Dave and my husband are all right. (Yes, Matt, I said that on the Internet so now you have proof).  If a story isn't performing as well as you'd like, and all your marketing isn't helping, work on your next one. Get more product to the market. Eventually, all your time, effort and energy will pay off.

Drawing Out The Dragons - Superstars 2012

There are dragons out there if we just believe and search for them.

Yet again, this year's Superstars Writing Seminar (http://superstarswritingseminar.com)  exceeded expectations. Presenters included: Kevin J. Anderson, Rebecca Moesta, Eric Flint, Brandon Sanderson, David Farland/ Wolverton, Dean Wesley Smith, and James Owen. James Owen drew the dragon pictured above as part of his presentation - Drawing Out The Dragons. Each year, one presentation inspires awe. The first year, 2010, for me the title went to Brandon and how he was chosen to complete the Wheel of Time series for Robert Jordon. There was no doubt that last year's title went to Tracy Hickman's story about how our writing touches our readers. You can hear that story on the Superstars website. James Owen stole the title this year.

A little about James for those of you who don't know him. He started his writing career as a comic book artist in middle school. His life has been punctuated by moments where most people would give up. He never did. At eleven he was diagnosed with a rare blood disease (read this as "the doctors didn't know what was wrong with him but he was dying.") and not expected to survive. He found the will to do so. As an adult, when it looked like success had finally found him, he was in a car accident. The doctors told him that he was lucky because he'd only injured his right hand (you know, the one he drew with), and that even though that hand would never be 100%, he'd be fine unless he needed his hand for his job. James said that he did because he was a comic book artist. In response, the doctor replied, "Not anymore."

James is a comic book artist.

He has more courage than anyone I know. I hope that if I'm ever faced with some of the choices the was I will have the internal strength to make the choices he did to stay true to what he wanted and not compromise them for the thing he needed at that moment.

Here's the thing: writing is tough. It's easy to give up or compromise.

Indie publishing (whether e-publishing or self-publishing) changed the writing market. Writers can directly interact with readers without the Big 6 traditional publishers. Whether this is a good thing or not is a different issue. What was true before the e-pub world continues to be true - No one can make you an international best seller. Only you can do that.

People will help me open the doors, but I still need to decide to walk through them. I need to live with purpose and make the tough choices. I need to ask for help and be willing to accept it. I have to make things happen for me. I will make things happen for me.

I will draw out the dragons even when everyone else can't see that's what I'm doing.

James Owen can be found at http://www.coppervaleinternational.com and http://coppervale.livejournal.com

The Science of Writing

On March 18, 2012, the New York Times published Your Brain on
Fiction by Annie Murphy Paul. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/18/opinion/sunday/the-neuroscience-of-your-brain-on-fiction. In that article, Ms. Paul discussed recent research suggesting that reading about an event often stimulates the same areas of the brain as experiencing it. As an example, Ms. Paul cites a 2006 study where researchers studied participants’ brain waves while reading words with strong odor associations, such as “perfume”, and “coffee”, and words without odor associations like “chair” or “key.” The olfactory cortex (the part of our brains that processes scent) was activated by the “smelly” words like “perfume” but not the odor neutral ones like “chair.”

Similarly, a study from February, 2012, demonstrated that clichés like “had a rough day” or descriptive phrase like “he had strong hands” were processed like any other words. However, the phrase “he had leathery hands” engaged the sensory cortex. Another study found that words of motion activated the motor cortex (which coordinates movement). Other studies have found that the regions of the brain used to understand a story substantially overlap with those we use for social interaction, and more avid readers seem better able to understand other people.

What does this mean for us as writers?

The right words matter.

A lot of writers instinctively knew there was a mind/reading connection. The imminent Mark Twain said: “The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug.” Writers are told to use strong verbs and avoid clichés. Why? Because as science has borne out, the phrase “leathery hands” is more evocative than “strong hands.” Science bears this out. Evocative stories are memorable.

Each word in a story is a dot of paint. When combined in the best manner possible, the reader sees the whole image and not just a dot. Good fiction transports the reader. When her senses
are fully engaged, her brain makes no distinction between reading the story and participating in it. That's worth mentioning again: Our brains appear to make no distinction between reading an well written story and participating in it.

Ancient scribes slaved over detailed illustrations for religious texts. Early novels had artwork. Eventually the publishing houses stopped printing illustrated adult novels largely because of the cost. Picture books became the province of young children. This trend is changing. Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings has artwork at the beginning of each new chapter and some amazing maps. Scott Wegterfield’s middle grade series, Leviathan, is beautifully illustrated. Again, the map is remarkable. Both of these writers have shown that adult or near adult fiction can be profitable with illustrations. Their success makes it easier for the rest of us to press our case for illustrations. Kevin J. Anderson has novels with soundtracks, a trend that is growing. See, his interview on writing and music at: http://www.facebook.com/l/NAQEAf9GY/www.spinner.com/2012/03/02/books-on-tape-top-10-collabs-authors-musicans/.

New media like e-books expand our ability to make reading a multi-media experience. Smart writers are using this to their advantage. The old maxim “show not tell” still holds true. Science demonstrates that reading can fully engage our brain. As a writer, it is up to you to use this fact to
enrich your writing. Mark Twain was right (of course). The right word at the right time makes an indelible impression. By actively engaging the readers’ senses, you can transport them to another time and place, which is, after all, the reason they read.