I've Been Traveling Far and Wide

In both a literal and figurative sense, I've been all over the place lately. First there was PNWA, where I basked in bizarrely sunny Seattle. Then there was Hampton Roads Writers Conference in southern Virginia, where the weather was gray and the writing bright (and the authors occasionally feisty).

In between those events I was working with my wonderful editing clients (thanks, Internet!) and peddling the manuscripts of authors I represent. So in case you were wondering why I've been missing in action, now you have your answer. It seems like a pretty good answer to give, too, given that my blogging delinquency has paid off in a big way: about a month ago, I received an offer of publication for Gerry Dodge's Beneath the Weight of Sadness.

We're crossing the Ts and dotting the Is, making sure everyone's on board with everything, but thus far it looks like clear sailing. The world will finally see this phenomenal work that I got to edit in my pajamas. That feels like glory.

In the meantime, I thought I'd give everyone a general update. I am, until at least January 1, booked through with editing clients (if I've already spoken with you by e-mail about a start date in December then you're included in that calculation). After that I expect to open up again--with client testimonials!--so bring on the literary awesomeness.

I'm sure that before too long I'll come up with some kind of adorable contest or something, but until that time I'm considering posting an excerpt from Gerry's awesome book so you guys can see what I've actually been doing all this time.

Any takers?

By the way, if you've been trying to contact me through my Kimberley Cameron e-mail for editing work, please know that non-query messages often get screened out of there and it's better to reach me at evaughanmail@gmail.com.

I'll be back before long, and I'll have a sample chapter with me...

What I Learned at BEA

Greetings, fellow literary sophisticates! Given how avidly you follow my every movement, hang on my every word, I imagine my absence these last few weeks has left you beside yourselves with worry. You needn't have feared. I was at the BEA.

What is that, you ask? It's the Book Expo America, a magical week that happens every summer, when publishers gather to showcase and distribute their newest titles; agents gather to learn about which trends are becoming hot; dental hygienists gather to, apparently, throw everyone else off; and vendors gather to start passing out free booze at 3 p.m. (this actually happened).

And you know, I learned a few things, other than that New York's Javits Center can hold literally tens of thousands of nerds.

For one, my co-workers are awesome, which is becoming a little inconvenient. I mean, it should be great that I work with amazing people. Unfortunately, they're sort of showing me up, and I may need to engage in some professional sabotage to make my own performance look better. Just keep that between us, though. You, me, and the Internet.

Case in point concerning the unflattering awesomeness: Amy Cloughley. Amy (stalk her here!) joined Kimberley Cameron & Associates earlier this year and sold her first manuscript, to Seventh Street no less, in something like three weeks. Now, I would personally have preferred that she show the professional courtesy of waiting for me to sell something first, but, office politics aside...not bad.

The manuscript is Allen Eskens's The Life We Bury, "about a Minnesota college student on a dangerous quest to discover the truth about a dying convicted murderer." If that sounds like something you're writing, you might wanna get yo' query on.

But I learned other things, too! One of them was that the illustrious Kimberley Cameron doesn't fully understand the Internet and that revealing its intricacies to her results in amazing photographs.

The other is that there are a truly mind-blowing number of editors in this industry and that their passion, discernment, and plain old nose for a good story have a boundless capacity to re-energize the sometimes jaded eyes scanning manuscripts every day. One of the highlights of our trip to New York was a jaunt over to the office of Mulholland Books, where we met the very talented (and disarmingly young) Wes Miller. One of the books Wes worked on was Lauren Beukes's The Shining Girls, a thriller about a time-traveling serial killer.

This kind of project would usually be, if not beyond my purview, certainly on the periphery. But after flying through the book (in like three days, too, and I have a lot of stuff to read) I was ready for some thrillers. The lesson here is to read a lot and keep yourself open, whether to story ideas as a writer or manuscript submissions as an agent/editor. And by the way, go buy this book. Just do it. You'll love me for it and it'll give you something to talk about around the cooler for months.

I guess the only other big discovery to come out of BEA is that BEA parties are AWESOME.

You guys--they have them on skyscrapers. I think that's all that really needs to be said.

Until next time!

Author Showcase: Query Contest Winner Noelani Spercher

I'd like to thank everybody who participated in last month's query contest, both for their great entries and for their patience with me as I took five weeks to cap the thing off. I would have gotten to it sooner, but other deadlines--specifically the ones letting me pay my rent--sort of piled up and I got all wrapped up in the notion of not living in a cardboard box.

My mistake.

But the query contest was actually judged and someone actually won (which took me a bit by surprise, as I didn't expect anyone to actually enter). That person's name is Noelani Spercher.

Noelani agreed to speak with me about her literary loves, her crazy life as an undercover writer masquerading as an ordinary college student, and her intriguing new YA series.

1. You recently completed Etheria, the first book in your The Timekeeper's Daughter series. If you had to give a teaser description of the novel, what would you say?

 

At the time when most teens are preparing to head off to college, eighteen-year-old Castella DeTyrius is heading off to another world--the first earth, to be precise. Taken away as newborn, Castella never expected to return, but when a series of strange circumstances force her back with the specific purpose of saving her brother, she finds herself in a land torn by magic and impending war that will test her resolve more than she ever thought possible.

 

The Adowyn and Kurin, two races with strongly conflicting beliefs, struggle to remain united under a king who is slowly losing his mind. And Castella’s brother Jamil, one of the most powerful Kurin Seers, is the only thing keeping a much greater threat at bay.

 

2. Etheria is a new adult rather than a young adult book. What led you to that choice?

 

I originally defined the novel as YA, but it never felt quite right, especially as I was writing the second book. Most of my test readers for Etheria were college aged and they kept saying that they saw my book more for their age group, with older protagonists. The protagonist, Castella, was originally supposed to be 16. I tweaked it for this newer genre and it feels more right. I deal with some pretty mature themes and situations later on in the series, which will definitely cater towards the slightly older audience.

3. Your protagonist, Castella, has a complicated relationship with her older brother, Jamil. How central is that to the story? If you peel away the magical setting, do you see elements to Castella and Jamil's dynamic that are especially relatable for those navigating the changes of their college-age years?

The conflict between Jamil and Castella is definitely one of the driving elements in the story. Castella’s original purpose in returning to that world was to save Jamil, but Jamil, as one of the most powerful Seers in the land, doesn’t seem to need saving. They are both good people, but they have fundamentally conflicting viewpoints: she wants to be useful and to be able to make a difference. He is much more aware of the potential danger in that world and wants to keep her safe.

 

There is also tension because Castella’s mother, Nadina, was considered a traitor--she switched sides before the end of her life, a fact Jamil has never reconciled with.

 

4. One of the key elements of the manuscript is the concept of the magical substance Etheria. How does that divide the population of this universe? Did you draw on any real-world inspiration when fleshing out the idea?

 

The Etheria, the magic-sustaining force that spottily covers most of the globe, is seen in two very different lights. Those who can control it, the Kurin Seers, are the most powerful people in the world. For them, the Etheria isn’t just a blessing: it is their means of existence. It allows mind communication, powers their weapons, and even enables transportation. But the Adowyn believe the Etheria is a dark force and they refuse to use it.

 

This comes to a head when a young Andowyn king ascends the throne.

 

As for real-world inspiration, I tend to think of instances in history when two conflicting religious or political groups have caused a lot of chaos and bloodshed. I could be more specific than that, but I’d have to give away plot spoilers.

5. You're a young writer but have already completed your first book. Tell us a little bit about where you are in life right now and what your literary inspirations have been.　

 

I’m finishing up my senior year at Bethel University in St. Paul. It’s been really interesting juggling my life as a student and my secret life as a fantasy writer. It definitely involves sacrifice and commitment (read: late nights and plenty of coffee). I’ve been able to do a lot of writing and editing during the summers, but I wrote almost the entire second book in the series during my junior year at college. I worked on it late at night, in between doing my homework and juggling my four part-time jobs.

 

 But the story hooked me, so I didn’t mind. More often than not, during classes my notes were not about what the professor was saying, but about my book.

 

Sometimes I feel like a spy or a super-hero with dual identities!

 

As for inspiration, I’ve always been a big reader. I read a lot of the classics while growing up. Gone with the Wind and The Count of Monte Cristo are some of my favorites. I also love the Harry Potter series, The Hunger Games, and anything and everything written by Clare Cassandra (like The Mortal Instruments series).

6. You wrote a pretty big book pretty quickly. How'd you do it?

 

Etheria is about 138,000 words. My first draft was closer to 115,000 and I wrote it, from start to finish, in one month. The only reason that I was able to do this was because I had spent three years planning the series and, by that time, I had over 60,000 words of handwritten and typed notes. Everything was there: the characters, setting, and the basic storyline. I just had to put it on paper. It helped that I had some extra time in the summer. Sometimes I wrote eight hours in one day.

 

My writing style is also a little unusual. I tend to fly through the first draft with little or no editing, just focused on getting my ideas out. I build up momentum and, by the time I’m finished with it, it’s usually a mess. But at that point, I think, "Well, it’s done--I might as well edit." So I do. I edit, and edit, and edit. And then sometimes it is readable enough for me to share it with someone else.

7. What has been most helpful to you in terms of refining this project? What do you think is critical for any writer as they perfect their manuscript?

I honestly don’t know what I would do without my informal writing group, composed of family members and writing friends. My sister, who has her BA in creative writing, has given me invaluable feedback throughout the entire process. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to get feedback from people--honest feedback. It’s critical to any writer’s success. It’s hard as a writer to take advice sometimes--but DO IT. Your manuscript will be better as a result. Other readers will always see the things that you can’t see.

I’ve also read quite a few good books on writing and editing. And a basic understanding of grammar is imperative to any writer. Know your English. Part of what it really boils down to, though, is work. Perfecting a manuscript can be the hardest part of writing. It’s usually the part I enjoy the least, but I do it because I know the finished product will be better.

8. And, of course, your entry in the query contest was quite nice! Do you have practice in this area? Have any agents gotten to see Etheria yet?

 

The only practice that I’ve had with queries was the one I created for Etheria. I’ve gone through a few drafts of it at this point. My first query was absolutely terrible! But I’ve gotten better since then. So far I’ve sent queries to about twenty agents. I haven’t found anybody interested yet, but I’ve recently revamped my query letter and hopefully that will help.

 

Check out Noelani's fun blog to read her winning entry and keep up on her adventures in authordom!

And the Winner Is...

Decided, but you homeboys are going to have to wait a fresh minute while he/she and I get our winner's interview ready.

But while we're talking about the contest..."I'll give it about a week and a half to let everyone get their queries in."

Aren't I just adorable? As if I had so much spare time that I bathed in it. Silly Ethan.

Fear not, dear readers; the suspense will end soon. I know it's been killing you.

The Query Contest

Start your engines, people, 'cause here it comes: the much-anticipated Query Contest.

Contain yourselves, readers. You're making a spectacle.

It's pretty easy. I'll give you the bare bones of my new client Roger White's phenomenal horror manuscript, West of Sienna--without revealing any spoilers, of course--and you'll assemble those details into a query that will leave editors salivating. To the best query goes eternal glory and a Twitter mention.

Here it is:

• The setting is West Sienna, Texas; in the summer of 1967
• The protagonist is 13-year-old Gary Tolliver
• Gary's friends are Scooter Travis and Andy Reyes. Andy is new to town, a one-armed Latino teen who constitutes Gary's only real rival for the top spot on the track team
• Shortly after the book opens, a local tow truck driver is found murdered, his mouth sewn shut and his brain removed. The boys do some research and find that similar murders, in which each victim had his mouth sewn shut and a body part (eyes, brain, tongue, genitals, or heart) removed, have occurred in the region in spurts since at least the 1920s. 
• A local teenager is murdered and castrated
• Gary and his friends attempt to get to the bottom of what's happening as more victims surface

And...go! I'll give it about a week and a half to let everyone get their queries in. Use the helpful link here for some query-writing tips, then post your work on your own page. Comment here to let me know you've done it!

Godspeed, authors. Godspeed. 

A Shameless Plug of Your Contest Subject

Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce the esteemed Mr. Roger White, author, editor, and dog-walker extraordinaire. Roger is my newest agenting client--and potentially your ticket to all the fame and glory that a blog with 38--wait, down to 35--followers has to offer. Did I mention that like 70 people are following me on Twitter?

"Ethan, you have seventeen Twitter followers?"

"No, not seventeen: seventy. It's a little unbelievable, I know."

Roger caught my attention with his chilling horror manuscript about a small 1960s Texas town where something is very wrong. He will, I hope, catch your attention with his eminently entertaining blog, where he writes on subjects as bone chilling as sadistic murderers, resurrection cults, and paying for college tuition.

So, here's the deal folks: I am hosting a query-writing contest based on the post I put up back in February. In my next entry I will provide you with basic, unembellished details of Roger's manuscript (which is titled West of Sienna, by the way), and whoever can come up with the most compelling query will be featured in a blog and Twitter post.

Is it worth the time and effort it will take? Absolutely not. Will it provide you with a fleeting sense of gratification? YES.

So do this. Let me know in the comments if you're interested and, regardless of the feedback you supply, we'll kick off next week.

Until then, and as I wish the wonderful Kimberley Cameron good travels, VIVE LA FRANCE.

...And Now What?

I was watching Breaking Dawn -- Part 2 this weekend when something occurred to me.

This is awesome, I thought. I mean, this is WAY awesome. This is the coolest thing ever. Nothing could be cooler than this! Wait...nothing could be cooler than this. Oh, my God. I've made some really bad life decisions. 

Aside from revealing the striking depth of my emotional immaturity, my infatuation with the Twilight saga sheds light on a difficult truth in publishing: the profitability spikes in our field are more often than not driven by literary lightning, projects that illuminate the publishing world for a ferocious moment before disappearing and leaving a bunch of clouds behind.

Unsurprisingly, the biggest bolt of the hour tends to spawn smaller sparks who light up their own corners of the sky (preferably in a manner that achieves recoupment), which explains why Stephenie Meyer's accomplishment was followed by Vampire Academy and the television show True Blood, both of which capitalized on the niche Meyer exposed.

The reason for Twilight's success is not hard to grasp: her books provide readers with comforting visions of true love, handsome heroes, and supernatural power presented in a conveniently sexy package. Beneath the vampire/werewolf rivalry, Twilight is the story of a directionless young woman rescued by a rich, hot guy. Doesn't everyone secretly wish for something like that, at least once? If they don't, it's hard to explain how Fifty Shades of Grey (which started as Twilight fanfiction, mind you) has sold 65 million copies worldwide.

But what's next? Conventional wisdom, not to mention human nature, dictates that every trend has a shelf life, and with Twilight's last film installment done, vampires should be headed the way of the Baha Men (on a completely unrelated note, I'd like to point out that I hated that song back when it first debuted--even at 12 I demonstrated the effortless good taste that has since become my trademark).

That's right: Bella and her ilk are destined for a swift death.

Except they're not.

In fact, the vampire genre is still enjoying robust success long after it should have died down; the final book in the Twilight series was released in 2008, which means that vampire lore is captivating the reading public a full five years after the the era's greatest success wound up. That, much like Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway, constitutes some serious staying power.

 


Vampires have lurched on like the literal undead in publishing largely due to the absence of anything to replace them. In some corners of the industry there is a consensus emerging that zombies will be the new thing but, at the risk of demonstrating a dangerous lack of foresight, I'm going to call their bluff. Zombies may be a natural successor to vampires in a mythological sense, but they're missing everything that made vampires all the rage to begin with: good looks, sophistication, wealth, grace. Vampire stories tap into an archetype we all want to emulate; zombies are just us with hangovers and bad skin.

So it's vampires, at least for now. As for what comes afterward, your guess is hopefully only marginally worse than mine. There are only two things I know for sure: 1. Whatever displaces the vampire juggernaut will allow us to indulge in the same kind of fantasies Twilight did (see the profusion of successful romance novels of late) and 2. We probably won't see it coming.

Any ideas, guys?

As always, you can learn about my manuscript editing services here. This month I've had the privilege to work with two new writers, both of whom learned of me through the blog. That would not have happened without you having this ongoing conversation with me, so thanks for all your awesomeness!

And for my next trick: a contest...