The Second Book

Image: www.bakeadogabone.com/dog-business/index.htm

Goodness! Having the boys at home for their summer vacation is draining every ounce of energy from my mind. I meant to blog more often, but whenever I get a break, I just want to sleep or lie on the sofa and stare at the ceiling. Three year olds are loud, energetic, and attention suckers. I do hope you'll forgive me if my blogs seem a bit detached. Two more weeks to go...which means a month to go for Uni. Yup, that's right: I'm leaving a well paid job to go back to University in hope of pursuing my dream of becoming an author.

Since I've already had a two week break from the querying and writing, I've been re-thinking things a little. When the boys go to kindergarten again, I'll have two weeks until Uni starts (majoring in English this time, already have a bachelor's in marketing and administration). I could do what I was doing two weeks before the boys had their vacation: sit at the computer and read articles etc. and keep dreaming, or I could start writing the second book of the series. I think I'll go with the latter.

I'm both curious to see how the second book unravels, and I also think it's important to start writing it so that a) I can say that I'm already well on my way with the second book if I do get an agent interested, b) writing is fun and it's important to use the little time I have left to cram in as much writing as I can (I wrote the first manuscript in a month, so I should be able to get at least half of the book done in two weeks), and c) if I can't get a deal, I will feel more optimistic about e-publishing, because I've already started on the second book.

There's one other thing I haven't considered much, and that is to query publishers. There are many writers who query publishers first and then find an agent if they find an interested publisher. The other way would be more ideal, since the agent can negotiate the deal, but I think it would probably be easier to find an agent if you already have a contract ready to be signed from a publisher. Once I'm back at Uni, I'll probably spend some time compiling a list of publishers -- ones who consider unsolicited material. There's the problem, really, and the main reason writers try to get an agent first: not all publishers will consider manuscripts if the writers have no agent. This has put some unfair shift of work on the agents. Now it is they who have to sieve through the query letters, which seems more logical work for the publishers.

Anyway, as soon as the boys are back at kindergarten, I'll sit down and draft the second book. I already have readers related to me who are waiting for the continuum.

Twitter-dee, Twitter-dumb

People who are trying to get published often talk about the need to have a platform. This is especially important for new writers who have had nothing published before, or in other words: writers like me.

A platform is basically a follow-ship of people who would likely buy your books. There are different kinds of platforms, but since the only way I can build a platform in America is by using the internet, I'll skip the talking at conferences, teach courses and such.

What are my optioins?

A blog. A nice feature in a blog is the follow button so that both the writer and possible agents/publishers can see how many are following your blog. It's important to keep blogging, every day or at least a few times a week and keep at it. People won't continue following you if you stop blogging for a long time.

You can write articles and/or short stories and have them published on a popular website/blog/ezine (online magazine). If you can do a number of these, eventually people will know who you are and might follow you on your blog. If you get to publish on a big, famous site then you could possibly mention it in a query letter.

You can create Facebook and Myspace, and any other follower-related accounts. Ten thousand followers on Facebook would be an impressive platform, though you'd have to be very witty and clever to build that kind of a follow-ship. I personally prefer Facebook (it's what all Icelanders and their grandma have - yes, my 78 year old grandmother is very active on Facebook), but I have created a MySpace page as well.

You can join writer-related chat forums and be active in the discussions. I recently joined She Writes, a community for female writers. I'm still getting into it, but they have excellent tips, discussions, and groups. I don't know if I'll join more communities since an awful lot of time is going into blogging and reading writing-related material on the internet.

And then you can use Twitter. Dum-Dee-Dum. Twitter is a tool I just cannot understand. I created an account earlier this week, but it looks like a jungle to me. I just don't see the point in Twitter. I much rather prefer Facebook. I was excited to get my first follower on Twitter though (I'm TessyQuin there), and I'm sure that, in time, I will be able to figure this Twitter thing out. Some people seem to be addicted and "tweet" many times a day. I suppose I'll have to alt-tab there every hour or so and try to say something clever.

All of these are tools I need to keep active to build my online platform.

What are you doing to build a platform? Do you have many followers yet?

Fantasy Genre

Vampire Girl from the Dark Moon homepage

I'm a total sucker for vampires. Ever since I watched the movie Interview with a Vampire in my teen years, I've been hooked on those fang-bearers. I even love watching Angel! (The vampire, not a fallen angel). I absolutely adore Charleine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series, and I read any YA vampire novel I can get my hands on.

I didn't choose to write about vampires when I was designing my story. I started creating my magical characters before Twilight hit the theaters (which was when I discovered the books), so YA vampires weren't big in my world at the time. I should be thankful for thinking outside the box when I decided to write a book, because now agents and publishers aren't taking in new vampire novels. At the time, I had no idea there were such things as trends in book publishing, and I thought that if someone wrote a good vampire novel, they'd get it published. As for me, I suppose I wanted to create something that was mine from the start.

I have also read books about fallen angels. I must admit that angels don't appeal to me as much. I don't know what it is. They're supposed to have the dark element, but they just don't do it for me. I'm now reading Fallen, by Lauren Kate, and we'll see how I feel after that. It's definitely something I wouldn't choose to write about.

Then I've read books about fairies, and I honestly don't know if I could ever write books about fairies. At least not the kind of fairies I've read recently. Elves are a different matter, and to me, they're not the same (although they sometimes seem to star in fairy books).

I can't bring myself to check out a werewolf book from the library. I've seen them in movies and read about them as vampires vs. werewolves, but I always cheer for the vampires. Edward was always the one I rooted for, and Jacob was just annoying at times. The same goes for the movie Underworld, which really wasn't a great movie, but it's about vampires, and so I watched it. Charleine Harris has werewolves and fairies, but I let that slide because I love her vampires so much.

I suppose that if I can't write about vampires (if I want to be published -- and I do), I'll have to continue creating my own race of fantasy creatures. I don't know if that'll ease my way into publishing or hinder, since it might be a risk for publishers to introduce new creatures. I have caught myself wondering if I should write a vampire series, I even have an idea for one, but reading the agent/publisher blogs I've decided not use my time on that and rather continue with my own creation.

Vampire books will always be the thing I love to read. I hope that although agents/publishers are rejecting such books today, they'll never stop completely so that suckers, such as I, can continue reading what we love.

What are your favorite creatures in fantasy novels?