I Met Neil Gaiman

When I heard Neil Gaiman planned to sign books in Cambridge, I

knew I had to see him. What I didn’t know is what it meant to see

Neil Gaiman.

First clue, tickets to see him were going on sale. I’ve seen some pretty big authors at Porter Square Books. They always talk right at the store. For free. This time, the tickets would be $5 each and the event would be held at a church.

The day before said tickets were going on sale, I called to ask what time the sale started.

7:00 am.

???

And they told me the tickets would sell out quickly.

I arrived at 6:45 am. There was already a long line. I needed to be on my way to work by 7:20 if I was going to make it on time.

On said line, two people offered to get me a ticket if I had to leave before I got in. I learned that they were waaaay bigger fans than me. I haven’t read every single book he’s ever written. I also don’t see him each chance I get. I was a Gaiman book tour attendee virgin.

Just like with the midnight sale of Harry Potter Book 7, Porter Square Books took us in quickly and efficiently. I got my tickets!

I went with the host from Kid Lit Drink Night, one writer I met at NE-SCBWI, and one woman from the Neil Gaiman Porter Square Event Facebook page.

Even though we had tickets, it was first come, first serve for seating.

We arrived an hour early.

There was already an impressive line.

It’s not a big church, so all the seats were good. Everyone was so happy to be here.

The Director of Creative Writing at Harvard movingly introduced Neil Gaiman. Clearly a HUGE fan. He started off talking about a boy who gave the author a “book” he’d written years ago. After telling more anecdotes about (slightly scary) fans, he ended with telling us he’d been the boy with the book all those years ago.

Neil Gaiman was gracious and funny and witty. He genuinely appreciates his fans maybe almost as much as they appreciate him. He doesn’t have to be like that. He’s just so… cool. It was hot and we were cramped together, but I could’ve stayed for hours. While he talked, I felt like he was in a room with a handful of people he knew instead of on a pulpit of a church before hundreds of people.

Highlights:

1)   He asked if anyone had been to previous stops on the tour. A few reluctant hands when up. He said*, “You’re not in trouble. I just want to know what you heard, so I don’t reread the same passage.” He then called on them to find out.

2)   He read a passage from chapter 3 from, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I could listen to him read all day.

3)   He also read part of an upcoming picture book. I’m already thinking of children to buy it for. It’s ridiculously funny.

4)   His Q&A was awesome. He told a story about a recent conversation with Terry Pratchett, who is in the first stages of Alzheimers, but is writing his memoir. This led to an old story of a joint interview they’d done when they’d toured for Good Omens. The interviewer thought the book was nonfiction. The producer in the background was going ballistic. Gaiman wanted to keep going with it, but Pratchett let the interviewer know.

5)   He said when he’d toured for American Gods, he often got booked in churches and wound up reading passages with curses.

6)   At one stop on this tour, he’d read further into the book, even though there would be spoilers because a thunderstorm roared outside and he wanted to read the with part with a thunderstorm.

7)   Advice to new writers: Keep writing and finish what you write.

I loved seeing the variety of items people brought to be signed, from boxed sets to first editions to laminated tickets from previous engagements. Everyone was in good spirits while they waited.

Thanks to a Facebook friend, I found out Gaiman personalized The Graveyard Book with names on headstones. I needed THAT.

When the bookstore employee asked what I wanted on the sticky note, I gave the names of everyone in my family, so we could all have gravestones. When I got closer, the next employee told me only one name (sad), so I chose mine.

When Gaiman saw the sticky note, he said, "You want all the names? I can add everyone in your family."

I said I was so happy to meet him. (Or something partially coherent, like that).

He replied in the most genuine voice, "Thank you so much for coming."

I didn’t shake his hand like so many others did because I wanted to give him more time to make the stones. I was rewarded:

Because he has so many books to sign, he can’t stop to pose for pictures, so I sort of snuck near him while the woman in our group took a picture.

As we left, we watched people enthusiastically being interviewed about their experiences. Some people had come from far away places just to see him.

I understood now. It was worth it.

It’s supposed to be Gaiman’s last book tour forever. I can only hope it’s like when I saw the “last” Rolling Stones tour back in the 1980s.

I hear he’s living nearby for a while. The only thing to top off that night would be to run into him and… I don’t know… maybe have a drink somewhere.

(I can tell him about the time I was so engrossed in his audio book, I forgot to make a telephone call to my dad to tell him I was an hour away. I didn’t realize it until I surprised my father by arriving on his doorstep. Or I can share a recent dark story I wrote based on his writing prompt in a British newspaper. Or... .)

What are the chances I’ll run into Gaiman?

Maybe as good as getting to read a scene about a thunderstorm during a thunderstorm.

* These are close to the exact quotes. I didn’t record anything, but I do have a good memory.

Update: This post is also on the Arlington Patch. 

Critique Etiquette

From Cafe Press 

When someone agrees to critique your work, they are giving you the gift of time and expertise. They have lives: work, families, hobbies, their own writing. Those heroes are putting their important tasks and loved ones aside for YOU. Aren’t they awesome? Let’s show them we’re deserving.

Please learn from my mistakes I’ve made and the mistakes I’ve seen made in many a manuscript.

1) Clean it UP!

Proofread BEFORE you send. Your critiquer isn’t your maid to clean up every little speck of dust you’ve left in the rug. Please use spell check. Make sure you read it through to fix those words spell check doesn’t catch. And if your grammar is poor, do the work BEFORE you send it out.

I’m guilty of this sin. When I first started writing, I thought my grammar was tighter than un-waxed dental floss. But I made the same errors over and over. I read a few grammar books. Then I took a grammar course. The rules started sticking! I still make mistakes. Which vs. That gets me sometimes, but at least I know to use a comma before which—not that.

And find out the rules about how dialogue is done. You don’t want to make your critiquer to spend all of their time hitting the return bar for you + playing around with commas and periods.

Here’s another sin I’ve committed. We all have demon words like: that, had, was, but, so. Whatever they are, do a find and replace. I find the demon word and replace the same word with all CAPS and an extra space, so a wiggly red line shows up. Then I will see each and every one. It’s easier to decide if they’re necessary or I need to reword.

2) Explain What YOU Need

Want plot holes covered so nobody falls to their death?

Should you be showing when you’re telling?

Has your story slowed down to school zone speed?

Are you throwing clichés around like (insert cliché here)?

Are your pages bogged down with minutia?

Are your blank-faced characters standing on a blank page?

Have characters who don’t stay true to character?

Does every character speak in the same exact voice?

Do your characters make it work or do they need some work?

Does the dialogue sound like anything people actually say?

Are tags creeping onto every spoken line like weeds?

Is it unclear which speaker is speaking?

Is the word said your BFF?

Are you so in love with your thesaurus that you want to marry it?

Is there a mundane action for Every. Single. Line. of. Dialogue?

Is the structure strong enough to hold your story up or is it crashing down?

Let your critiquer know what to look for. This way you’ll receive a critique tailored to your unique needs.

3) Keep Calm and Revise On

You’re going to receive the critique back.

Unless it’s been through a # of critiquers or you’ve magically created a clean manuscript (I hate you.), expect some feedback that (which?) will hurt.

You’re going to want to hit the delete button.

You’re going to want to argue with your cruel critiquer.

DON’T.

You’re going to dwell on every single negative bit written.

You’re going to gloss over the positive comments.

DON’T.

Instead of the impulse to argue,

Say, “Thank you.”

Seriously, ASAP.

Let the manuscript stew… like your feelings.

Open the document back up after a few days.

You’ll feel like The Little Engine that Could.

And if you know in your gut  you can’t—

If the manuscript truly has so many problems with structure, character, plot, and so on, that the whole 1,000,000,000k manuscript seems too broken to fix…

Take a deep breath.

Read the comments.

Keep them in mind.

Take what you’ve learned and write another manuscript.

Maybe you’ll revisit this hot mess in a year or five years.

Maybe never.

That critiquer spent time, energy, and expertise to make you a better writer.

Keep calm and write on.

Have anything to add about what makes a good critiquee?

(Is critiquee even a word?)

Check out Sharon Mayhew's post about developing thick skin when receiving a critique:
http://skmayhew.blogspot.com/2013/07/how-thick-is-your-skin.html

Reconnaissance and Writing

Aubrie Dionne has been on my blog several times. I’m happy to have her since I’ve critiqued so many of her manuscripts, which have been accepted for publication. I was even lucky enough to critique this manuscript.

How do you balance your private life, work, writing, and keeping up with social networking/writing friends?

That’s a great question! It’s tough. I work about 30 hours a week and I don’t have any kids, so that does give me some leeway. Sometimes I don’t get to something like I didn’t practice my flute or didn’t get my word count in. Then, I just make sure to try to fit that in for the next day. My social networking is patchy. I try to keep it up, but it comes in bursts and then sometimes a week will go by and I haven’t blogged about anything. It depends on if I have any deadlines.

What advice would you give to writers who are not yet published?

Keep writing. When you finish one book, go right to the next one. Don’t dwell on a particular book for too long. Right now I have five completed books that are looking for homes. I don’t wait until I get a contract before I carry on. If I did, I’d be waiting since last fall, when I got my last contract from Spencer Hill Press for a book that comes out in 2014. The publishing world is VERY slow, and you need to keep writing to keep up your skills and to have material to submit.

Good luck!

You’ve been writing for a while and have several books published. Looking back, what would you have done differently and why? What are you glad you did?

I would have skipped reading the negative reviews! All that does is undermine my creativity and make me not want to write. Now, I don’t read reviews almost at all.

The other thing I’d do differently is not checking my sales rank on Amazon all the time. That tends to bring me down and make me not want to write as well. So, instead of focusing on the end product, I try to enjoy the journey.

What am I glad that I did? I’m glad I kept on going. It took me four books to get an agent. So, what if I’ve given up after book 3?

Reconnaissance is the second in the Paradise Reclaimed series. Book 1 was Colonization. How many books will be in this series?

There is a free short story that takes place during book 2 that you can download here:

It’s called Breach:

http://www.inkspellpublishing.com/free-reads.html

I’ve also written a third and final book called Alliance, which is with my agent right now. I haven’t submitted it to Inkspell yet, but that is definitely in the future.

Thanks for having me, Theresa, and for asking wonderful questions!

Please visit her website: http://authoraubrie.net/

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2964057.Aubrie_Dionne

Blog: http://authoraubrie.blogspot.com

Twitter: @authoraubrie

The Story Behind The Herbalist

When I discovered Niamh’s blog, I became captivated by her poems inspired by Magpie Tale picture prompts. Niamh and I sometimes commiserated about the querying process. When she’d found an agent and then publisher (Penguin Ireland), I was thrilled for her. The Herbalist has been my most anticipated read of 2013.

It didn’t disappoint. Here’s my review on  Goodreads.

Today Niamh’s talks about her journey to publication.

Thanks for visiting my blog, Niamh.

Hi Theresa, and thanks for having me over!

Did you start off as a poet or a novelist?

I started with short stories in 2008 after attending a local creative writing workshop. I was juggling very young children, a teenager and a part time job back then so the brevity of the form suited me. It fitted naturally into the tiny pockets of time I had available to write.  And it was portable, all I needed was a notebook- so I began to carry one in my bag and write whenever I could - parked in front of the school, in bed at night, in waiting rooms... And maybe it was because of my age, (I was thirty seven) but there were dozens of stories just dying to get out as if they had been building up for years. I wrote one after another, very quickly. I found that time very exciting creatively.  I suppose I initially wrote in forms that fitted in well with my life style, short stories, flash fiction and poems.

Can you tell us a little about your writing journey from novice to published novelist?

After that initial workshop I wrote around a ten stories before I started to send them out to magazines - and keep twenty-four hour watch on my inbox!  My first published story was called ‘Wild Cat’s Buffet’ and was quite gothic (think female ghosts fighting over a man!) It was published by a fantastic Irish magazine called Crannog. I think you always have a soft spot for those responsible for your first publication. 

Then a story of mine then was shortlisted for the Hennessy XO Literary Award.  That encouraged me to carve out more time for my writing.  Being nominated for that award made it clear to me, that though a ‘room of your own’, a desk, or a fancy laptop are desirable, good work can be created without them. So I stopped waiting till I had these working conditions to consider what I did my work.  The story that was nominated was written at a chaotic breakfast table while my middle son ran in and out of the room to tug my arm and tell me about transformers. I think the intensity with which it was written couldn’t have been duplicated in a ‘room of my own.’ I suppose I’m saying to other mothers out there, write whatever your environment, don’t wait!

When my youngest started school I thought about a novel, but I knew it had to be an idea with the strength to sustain my interest over a long period. There were several false starts at novels that petered out at 10,000 words. I harvested stories from some of them. It didn’t bother me too much, these poor fledgling novels that went nowhere.  I went back to writing stories, and when the character of the herbalist appeared in one of them I thought nothing of it. When he appeared in another, and then another, I realized if I were to write a novel, it would have to be about him.

The first draft was written in 2009 fairly quickly and put away to cool off. Now I’m not forgetful or anything but, because another novel (as yet unpublished) called Ghost Estate demanded to be written, and because I went ahead and wrote it, I didn’t get back to The Herbalist till 2012. That was when I decided to enter it into The Irish Writers Centre’s Novel Fair Competition. I opened the manuscript and started work on the second draft after three years. There was an upside to the gap in time, I found it fascinating to read, almost as if someone else had written it! Luckily I won a place at the novel fair, and that was where I met my agent Ger Nichols and afterwards signed with Penguin Ireland.

Your writing has a lyrical quality. How has poetry influenced your writing?

Oh, that’s a hard one! I don’t know if I know! Well, I enjoy writing poetry, and reading it too, and perhaps that has nurtured my love of language - I relish startling images, good clean writing, and understatement. 

When I write poetry I look closer at the world, zoom in on the details, so perhaps that practice has played its part. I think I use the same energy to create images on the page that I once used to create images on canvas. So perhaps both visual art and poetry have exerted some influence on my writing.

How is your writing journey similar to 

or different from Niamh Boyce’s?

Niamh's blog:

http://niamhboyce.blogspot.com/

The Herbalist, UK 

The Herbalist, US 

The Colors in Between

This poem is inspired by what a thirteen-year-old boy musician would write to the girl he likes in the middle grade WIP I’ve almost completed. (So if it’s not any good, it’s because a thirteen-year-old boy sort of wrote it.)

Music’s hue

Is like a poem from Langston Hughes

Swirls and soars

A life beyond markings on pages

Your eyes bright,

You remind me of Van Gogh’s Starry Night

Hidden curls

Underneath a cupcake dress, you twirl

We are more

Than the clothes we wear, texture of hair

Pedigree

Ethnicities, strokes on a painting

True black’s like

A bear’s coat, the ocean at midnight

What is white?

Bright, like creampuff clouds sweeping the sky

With coloring,

I just see, the colors in between

Subtle shades

Expressionist details, contrasts fade

Truths whispered

Vibrant moments, memories, laughter

Our wishes

Just you, me, music, a dance, a kiss

http://magpietales.blogspot.com/

P.S. Thank you to everyone who shared and especially donated for my Contest for a Cause  .

Peace First,  a local charity is working to reduce violence. Living in the Boston area, people here couldn’t help but feel it personally. Your support meant a lot to me.

There were people who donated, but just wanted to help. They didn’t take a book. There were also people who won, but aren’t blogger. Those who won and are bloggers:

 L.G. Smith 

 Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (signed)

Sharon Mayhew

 Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden (signed)

The Words Crafter 

 Jennifer Government by Max Barry (signed)

Congratulations to the winners! I’ll be in touch soon.

As a result, the remaining books will most likely be donated to Books for Boston , if it works out with the contributing authors/book donators. Details about Books for Boston HERE. 

KidLit Cause and Contest!

M.T. Anderson was part of our charity event.

After the Boston Marathon bombing, I wanted to do something different to help. I belong to a group called KidLit Drink Night.  (We’re all adults who like kids lit and work with kids. We can drink off hours, right?) Our group consists of librarians, writers, editors, agents, and booksellers who meet in Cambridge.

I asked the founder of the group, Sam Musher, if we could use our group to raise money for Boston Marathon victims. She liked the idea. But she felt we could expand the charity to include more victims of violence. She suggested Peace First. 

We sent out a call for books and even signed books. We got together a few weeks ago and people gave $ to get their name put in a raffle. We gave away a book about every 30 minutes and raised over $150.

A big success!

One problem: we had more book donations. Sam and I decided to take the raffle online. She’s put the word out to our group. I want to spread the word here.

Details:

Time for Book Raffle Round 2: Online Edition! Buy tickets via Theresa Brown Milstein's PayPal: theresamilstein at gmail dot com. $5 per ticket or 6 tickets for $20. Indicate book preference(s) if you like in the comments and we'll try to make every winner happy. Ticket deadline: June 13.

Remaining books include:

The Wanderer by Sharon Creech (signed)

My Dog Lyle, a picture book by Jennifer Pulver Goldfinger (signed)

Tracing Stars by Erin E. Moulton (unsigned)

Stealing Air by Trent Reedy (unsigned)

Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk (signed)

Jennifer Government by Max Barry (signed)

Set of 3 Phoebe Stone books (Deep Down Popular; the 2 Romeo and Juliet Code books) (signed)

Dear Life, You Suck by Scott Blagden (signed)

Enter to win by donating to my PayPal. Or if you’d prefer, donate directly to Peace First http://peacefirst.org/ and email me a copy of the receipt.

You can earn two EXTRA raffle tickets each way you spread the word:

Twitter (+2)

Facebook (+2)

Blog Post (+2)

Please provide links.

Thank you for your support!

xo,

Theresa