Insights from warm, witty & wise best-selling author Jess Walter

 
A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of meeting best-selling author Jess Walter when he came to give a reading at Purdue through our Visiting Writers Series. I was part of a group of MFA students who got to have dinner with him before his reading, and he is one of the most friendly, funny, and genuinely nice people I've ever met!

An amazing read! You should buy it right now!

 I took notes during his question-and-answer session after his reading so I could share his incredibly insightful, comforting, funny and wise thoughts about the writing life with you:

• I'm interested in collisions of emotion: the intersection between laughing and crying.
  

• You turn the oven on for a "novel cake" and you have no idea how long it will take to bake.
  

• As a writer, you are working against the grain of the culture. I love working against expectations -- working against what the reader expects in a really satisfying way.

• There's an incredibly fast-moving river of culture, and as a novelist you have to step out of the river and observe what's around you.
  

• We (as writers) can't focus on the number of people we reach. We can only focus on the depth of that relationship (with readers.)

• I sometimes feel like an alien on the planet, and I think that's a really healthy way for a writer to feel -- at a remove from the rest of the world, watching.

• Hollywood reflects us back at ourselves. 

• So much of fiction writing is a kind of empathy.

• On aging: Even as physically we start to fade, we become the best versions of ourselves.

It is so special when you greatly admire a writer's books, and then get the chance to meet the writer in person -- and like them even more! Jess Walter is a rare breed. If you're looking for fiction that will move you, make you laugh, crack open your world and fill it with light -- I could not recommend his books more highly!

Interview with Children's Book Author Joanne Lécuyer

I am so pleased to have Joanne Lécuyer as a guest on the blog today! She has a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Visual Arts from the University of Ottawa and a Diploma in Public Administration from the University of Quebec. She is also a Professional and Personal Coach and Reiki Master. Joanne has worked for the Canadian federal government for over 25 years, with the last 15 years in strategic and organizational communications to help management and employees communicate better. She has published two children’s books “The Witch, the Cat and the Egg” (2010), and “Kaptain Vamp” (2011).

What would you like readers to know about you as an introduction?

I’m Canadian and was born in Timmins, Ontario. I come from a small town called North Bay, Ontario, where I lived until I was 18. I now live in a small rural community near Ottawa, Ontario with my husband Rick, our dog Kato and two cats, Black Magic and Minx (photos on the website). I love nature so I like small towns. I only starting writing children’s books 2 years ago and I love it!

Tell us about your most recent book "Kaptain Vamp." What was your inspiration behind this book?

Kaptain Vamp is my second children’s book. The story is about a young vampire named Allistaire, who is also part human, who wants to change the fact that humans are afraid and distrustful of vampires. His family has been living among humans for hundreds of years and they’ve always used their abilities for good. One day, while reading his favorite superhero comic, Allistaire decides that he’s going to do everything he can to help humans. He enlists the aid of his best friend Rich to help him become Kaptain Vamp.

Since vampires have been so popular with teens and adults, for the last few years, I thought it would be fun to write a story about them for kids. I liked the challenge of taking this theme and making it positive, so it wouldn’t give kids nightmares. Also, I thought a vampire-human superhero would make a good story. I’m getting a lot of good feedback – seems my readers agree.

What have you learned through writing this book?

It’s possible to write a positive story about vampires. Also that, although it’s a challenge, it’s gratifying to self-publish.

How did you get started writing?

I’ve been writing stories for children for about 2 years now. But, it all started about 6-7 years ago, after spending a weekend with my younger brother. He’s a graphic artist and has always been extremely creative. On my way back home on the train, I jotted a story down on some scraps of paper that I called Topsyturvia. When I got home I just put the pages away.

In 2009, I remembered the story and transcribed into my computer and just kept adding to it. I got to about 6,000 words and read it to my husband–who can sometimes be brutally honest. He told me that he thought it was a very good story. I gave a copy to a few colleagues with children and they liked it too. I worked on it some more and asked my brother to do the illustrations for the book Topsyturvia. And then more stories came. In 2010, I published my first book The Witch, the Cat and the Egg, and in 2011 I published Kaptain Vamp. Topsyturvia should be out later in 2012!

What is your writing process like? Do you write on a computer? In a spiral notebook? Do you draw illustrations?

I seem to get my story ideas early in the morning while I’m walking to catch the bus or during my commute into the city. But sometimes they come when I’m really tired, after a long day at work. I always keep a small notepad and pen with me to jot down ideas (something small enough to keep in my purse). Generally, I sit down to write when the inspiration comes which is sometimes once a day, a week or a month. In one sitting, I may write as little as a brief outline or a whole chapter. When I’m getting close to finishing a story, I’ll stay up until the wee hours of the morning to get it done. I like writing with a computer since you can move things around.

When I started writing children’s books, I decided that I wanted them to include lots of images and they had to be in color. So I was looking for the style of illustrations to match the story I was trying to create. I like working with different illustrators. I met the illustrator for Kaptain Vamp, Amy Rottinger, through LinkedIn. I’d liked what I saw on her website (www.arottinger.daportfolio.com). Amy and I chatted on the phone. She was very enthusiastic, and we just hit it off. We worked through email. I gave her an electronic version of the book, told her how many images I wanted in each chapter, and asked her to submit her ideas. She was great to work with and the results are amazing. I love the book. We are now working on a comic book. When I was younger, I thought I might be an illustrator. I realized however that I was more of a copy artist. I had trouble inventing characters or scenes. In the last two years, I found that I’m a better storyteller. For kids stories, I think pictures help create some of the story magic and I don’t want to write a book without them.

How do you get ideas for what you write?

The Witch book idea came from memories of reading Snow White and Cinderella. I just love how they could talk to the animals. So Juliane is a young witch that lives on the border of a magical forest who can talk and understand the magical creatures that live there. For Kaptain Vamp, I wanted write about good vampires and a superhero type. In Topsyturvia, it’s all about mixing different animals even the flora and fauna, and I’m using dream time as the vehicle for getting there. A lot of it is using my imagination. That’s what is fun about fantasy and fiction – anything goes. But you still have to make it somewhat believable – that’s the challenge.

What is your biggest advice for other writers and young people reaching for their dreams?

Just do it! Write down your ideas when you get them. I carry a little notepad with me and jot down all my ideas in there. When I have the time to finally sit and write, I pull it out and the notes and ideas get me going. Write the best story you can and ask friends and colleagues to be your test readers. They can help find the holes in the story and give you ideas. Don’t try to edit your own work. A good editor is your friend. As the author, I think we sometimes forget to add some of the details that we have in our head. Of course, you don’t have to take all the suggestions you get. But I do think that considering them makes for a better story in the end. I write for children, so I get kids and their parents to read the draft manuscript. Initially, I think I write the story for me. But I also want to share it, so it needs to be enjoyable for the reader–the kids, their parents or grandparents.

What are some of your favorite books?

Did I mention that I really enjoy fiction and fantasy? For children’s books, I would have to say all the Disney classics. That’s what I grew up reading. Other books that stand out are The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, The Chrysalids, and The Stand. My husband and I are reading an oldie but goodie trilogy about Merlin by Mary Stewart (Merlin is my favourite character). I’m also reading a French series called “Les chevaliers d’Émeraude” (The Knights of Emerald) by Anne Robillard – there are 12 books and I’m only on book 3. I’ve just finished the “Twelfth Insight” by James Redfield – I loved The Celestine Prophecy.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

When I started writing stories for children, I decided that I would write the kinds of books that leave my readers feeling good and wanting more; that also leave them with a smile on their faces. The type of book that you can read to kids before they go to bed that will help them have good dreams! That’s what Topsy Books is all about. My personal motto is “Dare to imagine and believe in the magic of possibilities!” I hope that new readers will make Topsy Books part of their reading collection.

There will be a sequel to The Witch, the Cat and the Egg in 2012 and to Kaptain Vamp next year. I’m currently working on two comic books and a French version of the Witch book. My books are available on my website, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com

Connect with Joanne:

• Topsy Books website: http://topsybooks.com/ourbooks/

• Topsy Books Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Topsy-Books/179610058715988

• Topsy Books Twitter: @JoTopsyBooks: http://twitter.com/#!/JoTopsyBooks

Part Two: Interview with Jeevan Sivasubramaniam

I am honored and delighted to have Jeevan Sivasubramaniam as my guest on the blog! I first "met" him on Twitter (follow him @EditorialHell) after becoming a fan of the informative and hilarious monthly newsletters he sends out for Berrett-Koehler Publishers. (Check out their website and subscribe to their newsletter here.) Berrett-Koehler is a publisher of nonfiction books and is a company dedicated to "creating a world that works for all." They are celebrating their 20th anniversary and also have a feature article in the latest issue of Publisher's Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/50199-berrett-koehler-posts-another-profitable-year.html.

Read on for an editor's insights on the writing and publishing process!

Some writers are anxious about today's publishing landscape-- the loss of many independent bookstores, the rise of ebooks. What are your thoughts about publishing today? Any advice for writers, particularly ones anxious about so much change?

The landscape is always changing in media and someone's always complaining. Back in the 1950s when there was a gradual shift to paperbacks, publishers said it was the end of the industry. I am old enough to remember when videotapes came on the market and everyone said that television was now dead because you could fast-forward through commercials so advertising would dry up. Traditional publishing is changing but I think there's a tremendous opportunity here if someone could just figure out the answer to the challenge. The challenge is this: people are reading more today than in any other time in history. They may not be reading books, but they are definitely reading -- mass quantities of it, in fact. Publishers are essentially generators of reading materials, and we are living in a time when people are reading more than ever before. Do you see how frustrating that is? Ideally, this should be our time to shine, not crash. So, writers, don't be anxious, but be innovative and don't restrict yourself to traditional mediums. Look what Amanda Hocking did by being innovative about how she created a market for her writing -- and sold over a million copies of her book (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/12/amanda-hocking-self-publishing).

For you as an editor, what makes a writer great to work with?

A genuine openness to guidance. I understand why writers are hesitant about letting someone get involved with their writing. Writing is the most personal thing we can create and we're inevitably going to be very protective and guarded about it. That said, you have to trust the editor because, quite honestly, you can't trust yourself. This is why surgeons don't operate on their own family -- a level of distance and objectivity is needed to really assess and edit a project and a writer's over-protectiveness is not going to help. Just as the even the best surgeon in the world will hand the scalpel over to a trusted colleague when it comes to operating on a family member, writers need to listen to their editors. Remember that an editor's job is to make the book the strongest it can be and so make the author look the best he or she can be. Editors' names do not appear anywhere on the book (unless they are specifically thanked in the acknowledgments) and no will ever know their role in creating a book, so authors should understand that editors are not in this business for personal gain or fame. They genuinely like what they do.

Do you have some favorite books that might be helpful for writers to read?

• Elements of Style has always been the primer for any writer, I think.
  
• On Writing Well by Zinser
  
• And of course the instruction manual for language, The Chicago Manual of Style (though I hate that they keep revising it annually).
  
• Also, my friend and author Mark Levy's book Accidental Genius: Using Writing to Generate Your Best Ideas, Insight, and Content.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I was thinking of something clever to say here but I think that if I really wanted to help your readers, I would be better off saving the pithy remarks and instead saying I am happy to take any questions and will do my best to answer them. Just email them to me at jsiva@bkpub.com and in the subject line, say "Question after reading Dallas' blog interview" so I'll know it's one of your folks.

Interview with Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, Managing Director, Editorial at Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

I am honored and delighted to have Jeevan Sivasubramaniam as my guest on the blog today! I first "met" him on Twitter (follow him @EditorialHell) after becoming a fan of the informative and hilarious monthly newsletters he sends out for Berrett-Koehler Publishers. (Check out their website and subscribe to their newsletter here.) Berrett-Koehler is a publisher of nonfiction books and is a company dedicated to "creating a world that works for all." They are celebrating their 20th anniversary and also have a feature article in the latest issue of Publisher's Weekly: http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/50199-berrett-koehler-posts-another-profitable-year.html.

Read on for an editor's insights on the writing and publishing process!


What would you like readers to know about you as an introduction?

Well, I'm the Managing Director for the Editorial Department here at Berrett-Koehler Publishers. I do work on acquiring a project or two here and there but by and large I am the chief administrator for the Editorial Department and handle a lot of the inter-departmental stuff. People never think of editorial departments as having administrators, but they actually need it more than anyone else because a company lives or dies by the acquisitions and decisions the editorial department makes. I am responsible for tracking all projects, drafting contracts, administrating editorial reviews, overseeing signings by the editors (and meeting various signings goals), handling author relationships, inter-departmental communications, legal and copyright concerns, communications with various Library of Congress offices, and a few other boring things. I am also given some leeway to do the initial legwork on acquiring some promising projects and authors and I usually pull in about two or three a year. Because I don't have a quota of signings like the other editors, I can be very selective and hold out for the most promising authors -- a luxury few editors can afford.

How did you get interested in editing and publishing?

I was originally interested in intellectual property and legal documentation but slowly gained an interest in copyright and publishing legal issues during my time with a legal services company after graduation from college. In grad school I worked with a professor as a graduate research assistant and her big task for me was to find a publisher for an anthology of plays by women from around the world. I had to educate myself as I went along and it was quite exciting. It was also downright frustrating as I saw how publishers can treat authors. Almost all authors you meet have an adversarial relationship with their publisher -- as if they consider each other as necessary evils. I felt publishers could do better, and also wanted to be a part of a better publishing model.

What grabs you as a reader?

A compellingly different way of looking at things. I say "compellingly" because just seeing something in a different way is not enough. As human beings, we are programmed to see things differently whether we like it or not -- that in itself is nothing too exciting. But some people see things that almost contradict what everyone else sees. To give an example, there are so many books on how to act on the here and now -- how the past is not relevant, only the present moment and what you choose to do with it. Then I met an author who actually felt that was simplistic and wrong. He felt that the past was the most valuable tool we had to shape our futures -- that the lessons from our regrets and things we would rather not think about are most important to this exercise. I liked that he was not afraid of going up against an entire movement (you know which authors I'm talking about and you know how big they are) and challenging how they advised people to do things. A colleague once told me that I'm always looking for a good fight when it comes to the books that I like. I think his assertion was spot-on. I like books that create trouble and make people question what they thought they knew.

Check back tomorrow for PART TWO of my interview with Jeevan!