What's Next? Seph or Jovienne?

Note: This post is off-topic this week. 

In many ways, 2017 has not been my best year.
Ragnarok Publications, who released my novel Jovienne (Immanence #1) this past May, has had some ups and downs. As a result, they canceled all contracts for novels for 2018. That means the second book of the Immanence series which I had started working on… now has no home.

This is a reality many other authors have faced, and not just those of us who’d been working with Ragnarok. Many small presses fell this past year. This is, sadly, for me, familiar territory. Simon & Schuster’s imprint Pocket Books decided years back that they wanted no more Persephone Alcmedi series books from me. Despite that, fans still consistently contact me. They say they just found the series and want more, or they say they loved the books when they were first released and wonder if there will be more.

I’ve started and stopped working on #7 more times than I can remember. I’ve pitched it to small presses and always garnered interest, yet, for a variety of reasons, they all fell apart before they could start. At one point recently, it was on the table with a small press and I thought a contract would finally culminate…but it just didn’t feel right. That time, I backed out.

Again, 2017 has not been my best year.

I think it’s healthy to acknowledge feelings, good and bad, but not to let them rule. So, to that end, I allowed myself wallow in the dejection of that canceled contract for a few days. And then I turned to music.

Musically speaking, 2017 was a good year. 

I composed, created, produced, mixed and mastered and released my first CD. It’s even available on Spotify and other music streaming channels. That’s a remarkable dream come true. (Spotify link HERE. If you dig any of the songs, give 'em a thumbs up please!) 

Music will bring me out of whatever slump my head thinks I’m in. I’ve been composing for another novel, an epic fantasy that is currently with an editor. It is my intention to self-publish it in 2018, so this is a good time to work on it and the themes are a lot of fun to play with. I’m enjoying this step away from writing words very much.

This, however, is not permanent. I want to finish the Persephone Alcmedi series. I want to finish the Immanence series. Both are sitting at a bit under 20k words. Realistically, I could turn to either one with equal zeal and find completion in the same amount of time.

But which one?

This is where you come in. 

Which would you be more interested in reading:

Persephone Alcmedi #7 or Immanence #2.

Please, if you have a preference at all, head over to my website HERE and use the contact form to email me your vote. The one with the higher demand will get my time and attention in 2018. And with any luck, I’ll be self-publishing two books next year.

Recurrent Theme/Trope: The Chosen One

All the stories I

love love love 

are tales of good-versus-evil. 

I know, 

from a certain point of view, 

perhaps every story 

is good-versus-evil, 

so to put a finer point 

on my thought, 

I'll say that whether 

it's the everyday Joe 

opposing evil, 

or some mystical savior 

sent from on high, 

those Chosen Ones 

appeal to me.

  

But too often 

those Chosen One's 

have been male.

It's a big part of

WHY 

I write. 

In the last 20 years 

we've had a few women 

in that role filmwise 

either directly 

{Leeloo in 5th Element, c.1997} 

or arguably 

{Alice in Resident Evil franchise, 

Katniss of Hunger Games, 

Selene of the Underworld franchise}. 

Most recently, 

Diana of Themyscira 

has rooted herself 

as a badass, 

legit, female 

Chosen One 

to be Reckoned With.

I've been writing female 

Chosen Ones since 2009 

when Persephone Alcemdi 

-- "the Witches Messiah" -- 

first hit the shelves with 

VICIOUS CIRCLE. 

I've continued that trend with 

Jovienne 

released earlier this year.

It manifests in writing a

strong female character

who has a big destiny,

and showing her

facing her fears,

stepping up and

confronting evil

in addition

to the day-to-day 

struggles of her life.

Real Life as Subplots in the Persephone Alcmedi Series

Back in the summer of 2009, the first Persephone Alcmedi novel VICIOUS CIRCLE hit the shelves. 

It doesn't seem like that long ago, and yet...we've come a long way since then. Most of my plotting revloves around Persephone and the intracasies of the witch council and Seph's own destiny, but there are many vampire and waerewolf characters in the mix.

When I learned about local Cleveland authorities planning to demolish one of the predominant buildings I used in the story, it seemed appropriate to include it.

EXCERPT:  WICKED CIRCLE, pg. 178

     Todd was blathering on about a meeting they’d just had with the Ohio Department of Transportation.

     ODOT had put a new compensation package on the table concerning their bid to buy and tear down the Cleveland Cold Storage building for the new I-90 project.   

I figured it was a great way to show that humans had their own notions and goals that had nothing to do with the non-humans. Yet at the same time, this allowed me to show their bias and hate by having the humans be snidely pleased that it was impacting the non-humans in a negative way. It also served as a mechanism to further explore and develop the heirarchy of waerewolves, as the big-wigs sent someone to negotiate for another prime location in Cleveland. 

Success

Success, to me, is a layered thing. Let me tell you how I view some of those layers.

1.) Knowing the "who, what, when and how's" in order to make a solid and feasible attempt at getting your writing published. 

Seems obvious, right? But don't scoff. Let me tell you a small aside here:

     At a local library signing thing a few years ago and I saw a woman I recognized from somewhere. (You know how that is.) She visited my table and after I mentioned that she looked familiar, she said the same. We figured out that she had been a former supervisor when I was eighteen and employed at a mall anchor store. She was at the signing to sell her books as well and she mentioned how impressed she was with the look of my mass-market paperbacks.
     "How much did they cost you?" she asked.
     I was honestly dumbfounded. I said, "Simon and Schuster's imprint Pocket Books published them."
     "Right, but what did it cost you?"
     "Nothing. They paid me."
     "They paid you?" She seemed shocked.
     "Yeah. They bought the rights to publish them."
     It was her turn to be dumbfounded. "How'd you get them to do that?"
     I'm certain I looked as confused as I felt. "Well, with fiction, you can either submit to a literary agent who may or may not take you on and may or may not sell the book for you, or you can submit to publishers on your own and hope you make it out of the slush pile." I wasn't being snide or condescending at all but she seemed irked.
     "I'll have to try that next time." She walked away.

Knowing that I won't just 'get' published is part of success. Sure, there are some authors who could let their cat type a hundred pages of jibberish and with one call to their agent would 'get' a book deal for that stuff... but that isn't how I define success. Knowing that I need to go to conventions and join groups and still do research on the industry and publishers --especially since I write genre fiction-- to know who publishes that type of novel, knowing that I have to do some work that isn't writing at all and knowing that if I don't or if I do it wrong the chances of getting published are nil, is essential to finding success in this business.


2.) Being published. 

I've never had trouble writing novel length stories, but it took a long time to learn how to write good, publish-worthy novels. That learning should never stop. (Again with the 'knowing' stuff.) No matter who you are, you can always learn more about the craft of writing and hone your skills to be sharper than yesterday. My library of how-to books continues to grow. The constant challenge is what I love about writing, and loving what you are doing is key to success.


3.) Staying published. 

The 'staying' part means maintaining creativity so I have new, fresh tales to tell.

The 'published' part of this is easier nowadays with legitimate self-publishing options available to everyone. The problem with that is, in a world of traditionally published books, small press books, and self-publishing, there are so many stories available for the readers out there that the author's hardest job may not be the actual writing of the novel, but navigating the choppy waters of advertising, media, and generally spreading the word in a positive, worth-while return on investment, attention-getting manner.

a.) I have a new novel coming in May 2017, unrelated to the Seph series. Will announce formally and do a cover reveal (unless you've been to a convention and picked up my sampler and seen it already...) early next year.  

b.) I am working on #7 in the Persephone Alcmedi series and hope to have it out next year. Have had some setbacks and am talking to a small press publisher about it. Details to come as I have them. 

c.) I am also working on two other novels (as time permits, which it often doesn't as a and b get the most of my time, well, and sleep.)

4.) Peers as Friends

The authors of those books I loved, the ones I stood in line and waited for them to autograph my copy, I had the good fortune to be on a panel with them. I've had the good fortune to be on panels with people whose books I read afterward and they have become friends who I can call and text and message, who will give me cover blurbs, who get cover blurbs from me, who brainstorm with me, who have drinks and hang out with me at conventions. Being welcomed into the family at whatever convention, signing or event I attend, those hugs between friends I haven't seen since last year, and that absolute sense of belonging right there among them...that is so awesome.

Writing is perhaps the most solitary art form. Because of that, social inclusion by my peers is incredibly special to me. For me to jump the mental hurdle and allow myself to feel as though I belong there (despite years of imposter syndrome keeping me at the edges) this has become a huge part of how I feel successful in this tough-and-getting-tougher business. 

Linda Robertson is the author of the Persephone Alcmedi series, several short stories and has a new novel Jovienne coming in May 2017. *details to come


WEBSITE: www.authorlindarobertson.com

FACEBOOK:
facebook.com/authorlindarobertson  - personal
facebook.com/lindarobertsonbooks  - fan page

TWITTER: @authorlinda

The Art of Mixing Genres

Let me begin by saying...

Moving sucks.

The stress and anticipation and scheduling = $$ massage appointments.
The packing of all your stuff = $$ boxes from Uline and free old newspapers from local paper.
Soap to often wash newsprint from your hands = $1.28
Moving truck/gas = $200
Loading truck with 2 helpers = hours + helpers dinner
Unloading truck with 1 helper = fewer hours + dinner for two
Unpacking all your stuff and finding the right place for it = another $1.28 for soap, and WEEKS.

Driving that 20 foot truck and backing that big bitch into both old and new driveways perfect on the first try = PRICELESS!!!!

Seriously, not ALL of it sucks, though.

The prospects of a new phase of life, the adventure in a new place and new people to meet, remembering why you kept this or that, and deciding some of that shit doesn't mean anything and can be trashed... it's also priceless because it reminds you of parts of yourself you might have forgotten and shows you how other parts of you have grown.

And since the big-truck moving stuff was done Tuesday of last week, that is my excuse for completely flaking out last week and not posting a single word. No thought of it even occurred to me. Brain no worky. Error. Malfunction. Does not compute.

I prioritized the kitchen and the office, in that order because COFFEE. Things are settling down, and here I am, late, but posting on the topic: Genrefication. How does working within or without the genre spectrum benefit?

My Persephone Alcemdi series was steadfastly categorized in the genre of Urban Fantasy. I agree with this. It was UF. My next novel (announcing soon) will be of a completely different world and characters and it too, will be UF. I have written (unpublished) Epic Fantasy, Space Opera, Poetry, and Mainstream / Fantasy.

That said, Seph and Co. whittled away at mainstream subjects such as losing old friends/making new ones, parenthood, troubled childhoods with troubled parents, loss, jealousy, murder/committing murder, rape, social constructs and politics (in a world of "non-sters" = not quite humans), aging, actions and consequences, dealing with unwanted responsibilities thrust upon you, etc.

To me, the genres are ways of poking around at topics that wouldn't appear in the normal human world alongside topics that would. It adds a layer of depth as well as a layer of separation. Some folks like the 'comfort' of knowing these genre things couldn't be real, while also taking a look at real current issues.

Let me make comparisons via visual art.

Below is my most favorite piece of pen and ink art ever. It is by the awesome Larry Elmore. In it, there are three values: black, gray, and the white of the page. It is perfectly executed and lacks nothing. The emotion conveyed is tender, yet wary. Tanis and Laurana are embracing, but both remain watchful for their world is a dangerous one.
Sometimes, however, you need (or want to play with) more than three shades. The result can be very evocative.

You may find that introducing just a few colors (read as: "aspects of another genre") can heighten the dramatic tension in incredible ways.


But if drawing on the vibrant aspects of another genre create the only possible image that completes your story, DON'T HOLD BACK.

It's YOUR story. Craft it with all the tools you need, and if you have to learn a few new skills along the way, you'll be stronger, more diverse in your skillset, and hey...that can't be a bad thing.