Alison Kent's Blah Blog

Conventional writing wisdom advises authors to write their story and use the “to come – TK” reference to mark places in their manuscripts requiring research for period details, or for facts to ground the reader in the setting, or for directions on how to do something or get somewhere, or even for added political or societal verisimilitude.

The thought is to get the bones of the story down, and to fine tune during the editing stage. To not let the trees get in the way of the forest. I can’t argue with the fine tuning part, but in some cases, I disagree that the research can be woven in later.

It makes the husband nuts that I can’t get the words down until I know what seem to be trivial tidbits. (Most recently I spent an afternoon researching wool and weaving.) Just write it, he says, as so many others do. Fill in what you need once you’re done.

Thing is, so much of the research I do isn’t something that can be added in later. Instead, it flavors the story from the beginning, and drives much of the forward motion. Especially when said details are at the core of world-building. It would be impossible for me to write without knowing everything I can about my world, whether that world is an alien spaceship, local law enforcement, or wool and weaving.

This isn’t a big deal if you’re one who doesn’t mind getting to the end and having to rework everything you’ve done because a single missed detail negates everything that’s gone before. But I can’t work that way. My story becomes etched in my mind as it develops, and reworking it from the ground up . . . well, I might as well write something completely new. The husband is seeing some of that now as he helps me work out the logistics on a project. If we don’t get the details right from the get go, the whole thing will fall apart because of faulty science and / or logic.

What about you? If you write, when do you do your research? Do you line it all up before you start? Do you mark places to add details? Do you stop as you’re writing to find out what you need to know to make a scene work?

Some authors begin a book with a premise to prove (love conquers all, blood is thicker than water). Others have a character who will not let them alone. Some want to write about a situation (a marriage of convenience, a quest for a hidden treasure). Others have an idea for an amazingly intricate plot and want to see it play out on the page.

Me? I’ve done all of the above. Except for the amazingly intricate plot. My plots, if my books have them, are pretty simple and straightforward, not a lot of surprises – which I only recently had pointed out to me is probably not doing me any favors, heh. With my gIRL-gEAR books, I purposefully set out to write something sexy and urban, a la Sex and the City. With my SG-5 series, I wanted to write a team of hot heroes who might not love adventure, but would never back down from one.

I’ve got a couple of things going now that I’ve approached from different angles. I love small town contemporaries, so created a small town where I could set a series of related stories. That idea is setting driven. I’ve got a paranormal concept that I came up with four years ago at the urging of my agent. This was when vampires were so hot, J.R. Ward and all, but I twisted my creatures into something else. That idea is character driven. I wanted to write about a woman torn between two men, and I found out she had a whole lot of other family baggage. That idea is concept driven.

At Writer Unboxed, Donald Maass asks:

Novelists talk all the time about their characters’ “journeys” but in manuscripts I rarely feel like I’ve taken one. Usually one part or the other is valued, but not both. In fact, so fundamental is this dichotomy that it’s embodied in two terms taken for granted in our business: A novel is said be either “plot-driven” or “character-driven”.

Why not both?

I wrote more about my creative process at this link. Each step I explained there is vital, though I don’t always go through them in the same order. But the chart there on external and internal goals and motivations is what I can’t live without – and is what drives both the plot and the characters. Any genre, any tone, fast paced or reflective. Goals and motivations are the key to every single word an author puts on the page.

What about you guys who write? Do you always start a book the same way? Do ideas come to you as premises or characters or situations or plots? Maybe all of the above?

Yes, this post is all about me and what I’ve been doing since it’s obvious what I’ve NOT been doing is blogging. I haven’t been doing anything exciting, or much of anything at all, to tell you the truth. I do post to Twitter and Facebook every day, so if you’re on either you may have seen me there. I’ve been holing up inside and hating it, but I hate getting out in the extreme summer heat even more. This is the time of the year (and the only time of the year) I wished I lived elsewhere.

I mowed the yard one morning last week and felt like I was inviting heat stroke, ugh. Like everyone else, I’m ready for cooler fall temps, though here that could mean another month of hibernation. I miss taking the dogs to the park or even around the neighborhood, but they can’t stand to do more than a couple of blocks. No. 1 Daughter takes them late evenings, and the husband actually walked Takumi at midnight on Friday. I don’t do the after dark walking because I can’t see!

Believe it or not, I’ve kept my tomato vines alive through these days of hundred degree heat and little rain. They look sad, some shoots brown and dead, but the vines themselves are still living. I’m determined to see about getting a crop of fall tomatoes, so have been diligent about daily watering. We’re just starting to feed them, and will prune them back when the temps drop. If they don’t produce, c’est la vie! We’ll get new plants next spring like we do every year.

I kept Charlie one evening a couple of weeks ago when it was just the two of us. We watched Murphy’s Romance. ;) And we had a family day at Sam’s request where I baked cupcakes in ice cream cones after Cheryl S mentioned doing so in my recipe post. (And you really should click over for the great recipes everyone shared!) I don’t get to see No. 2 Daughter enough now that she’s moved across town, so I loved having all my peoples (sans the boyfriends and stepson) together.

I’ve been writing all over the place, getting a feel for several stories that have stolen my brain: a contemporary romance, a women’s fiction piece, a young adult idea that came to me after our vacation to Gulf Shores. I love all of them and have trouble settling on one to write, which causes no small amount of consternation for @CuppaCafe who worries about my fractured focus. ;) The characters will pull me this way and that and since I have the time to play without the worries of a deadline, that’s what I’ve been doing.

I’m learning who they are, what they want, if their desires pit them against one another with the conflict readers want to see them overcome. If they even have a story to tell. The beginnings of books are the best part, when anything is possible. Barbara Samuel describes this perfectly in her post: The damp, dewy beginning:

I’m at the beginning of a new book. This is probably my favorite part of writing—every possibility exists. There is a freshness to the material, a scent of dew and dawn filling my work hours. There is always the chance that this time I will have matured enough, learned enough, that I will be able to draw the material from the Land of Book Children with such care and expertise that it will be perfect.

That never happens, of course. I love many of the books that have flowed through me, and feel a mother’s pride over every single of one of them. But never once has one emerged on the page just as it exists on the other side of the veil. I am only human, not an angel or a goddess. I show up and do the best I can.

But right now, I haven’t yet marred this new book. It’s still wet behind the ears, delicate and full of potential. This stage of development is what makes non-writers think they could write books—they have a great idea, they have ideas for structure and originality, and it’s so much fun to think about the book project that a person can spend endless hours daydreaming about it. It’s exciting to imagine turning points, discover the details of characters.

I’m also getting excited about the release of THE ICING ON THE CAKE. It’s been seen in the wild, and I’ve sent out review copies, and the reaction so far is so flattering and lovely. It was a great honor to be tasked to tell Todd and Michelle’s story, and hearing them say how right I got their personalities is humbling. I can’t wait for the book to find its way into the hands of readers! Very very excited, too, by all the press the TRUE VOWS series is getting. Fun stuff being part of a new imprint’s launch!

So what’s everyone else been up to?

A Guest Blog by an Industry Publicist

It’s interesting how different mediums are utilizing social media to help leverage traffic and exposure for their work. Writers have been known to traditionally stick to pen and paper and do book tours for promotion. Over the last year, however, tons have been stepping up to the plate to partake in the fun of social media to help get their name and writing out there. [Writers need to use social media.]

Blogs have been highly effective promotional tools for awhile now, and even writers who haven’t used blogs for any kind of personal purpose are testing the waters for writing a blog version of a book and publishing online only. They have Twitter accounts, GoodReads accounts, Facebook fan pages … the works. It’s awesome because there’s no better way to get your writing and name out there than sending it out to thousands of eyes a day.

One contest is going on now that shows the use of a social hub that can exist even after the contest is over. Anthony Bourdain (host of “No Reservations” and published author) and publisher HarperCollins are using a contest site (Medium Raw Challenge) to help promote his new book, MEDIUM RAW. This wouldn’t be a big deal normally, except there’s a lot going on here targeted to pull in fans that may know him for various things through his show and published books.

The idea is to go on and answer the question, “What does it mean to cook well?” and contestants and fans can answer the question for public voting and interaction. You’ll see the newest entries box below, as well as a box showing what others are interested in. ‘Recent activity’ shows what has been voted on- and you’ll note that Anthony is on there interacting with his fans as well.

If you think about the big picture here, this contest site is integrating fans from all over under one common question. It’s also encouraging engagement and conversation between the writer/host and the very people who have read his books and watch his TV show. For anyone who only does one or the other, they’re also exposed to a new way to view him.

A lot of publishers may avoid this, because they’re afraid of what can be said on an open forum where anybody can speak their mind. But in the new age of social media, being able to hear candid responses from fans can actually help you move forward as a writer. To me, this is a good move, and I hope to see more authors and publishers hopping into the social media world. Even though there’s something exciting and unknown about embarking on a book tour all over the place, gaining the attention of fans everywhere could be as simple as throwing up a contest website and letting the fans speak for themselves.

PS: If you’re a foodie… you may want to enter. There’s some fun prizes being offered.

A commenter left a link to this video in the contest post below. This is the couple I wrote about in action in their bakeshop, woot!

You can read the whole article at this link.

Winner #1 – Laurie G
Winner #2 – R Varnum
Winner #3 – Lori
Winner #4 – Alina D
Winner #5 – Sharon

It’s time to remind you I have an upcoming book. Not only an upcoming book, but a LAUNCH title for a BRAND NEW imprint from HCI Books, True Vows, Reality-Based Romance, real life love stories written to read as romance novels. The other two launch books are by fabulous authors Julie Leto and Judith Arnold, and right now, you can start reading free chapters of Judith’s MEET ME IN MANHATTAN at this link.

One of the spring True Vows releases will be written by my buddy, HelenKay Dimon. She’s got a GREAT couple with a very cool story to share. You can read that news at this link. Additional spring / summer titles will be written by Cindi Myers, and Jill Barnett – who will be writing the most AMAZING WW11 era story – and a third author I can’t yet spill the news on.

If you haven’t read the story of my couple, Todd Bracken and Michelle Snow, here is the WaPo write up of their wedding. Eventually there will be more about them at the True Vows website, but you can see their bakeshop’s website at this link and do some drooling while there. One of my Twitter followers said: “I work across the street. The Cupcakes are orgasmic.”

Here’s the cover copy for my book, and you can read an excerpt at this link.

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match . . . dot.com. An on-line dating service is not Michelle Snow’s idea of how to find love but when the Big 3-0 hits, Michelle decides she has nothing to lose since she hasn’t brought a date home in ten years, she’s professionally burned out, and her climb up the corporate ladder has come at the expense of abandoning her sweet dream: to own a boutique cupcakery.

Todd Bracken, early thirties and a successful technology consultant, isn’t exactly a player after being off the market for ten years, and pours himself into his dual passions of martial arts and home-sweet-home renovations. Only there’s no one to come home to so he decides to give Match.com a try. Todd isn’t so sure the Internet dating scene is his thing – until a message pops up in the wee hours on a weekend night: “I like your smile.” Todd likes – a lot – the whole package that glides into a French bistro in Washington, D.C.

It’s serious mojo-at-first-sight but there’s a glitch: Todd and Michelle live in different cities. Will love find its way in the digital age with a You’ve Got Mail courtship when video cam kisses just aren’t enough? And when Todd challenges Michelle to not only go for her dream but also let him share it, will they be able to make it happen together despite obstacles more plentiful than a shower of rainbow sprinkles?

If you’re on Facebook, this is the link to the Frosting – A Cupcakery page, and there are several articles online that mention their bakery: at the link, at this link, at this link.

So . . . since my story is all about cupcakes, I decided to do a contest that’s cupcake driven. To enter, you have to post your favorite cupcake recipe in the comments. (If your favorite cupcake recipe involves a box of Betty Crocker and a can of icing, okay. You can say that. Or if your favorite cupcake recipe is one you buy at a bakery, that’s okay, too, but at least give us the scoop on why you love it and where you buy it. But it will be a LOT more fun if you share a recipe, or at least link to one online.)

Since a Sprinkles recently opened in Houston, No. 1 Daughter and I have sampled about a dozen of their flavors, and have decided that the cupcakes I make are FAR superior. (We found their cake SO dry, though the frosting was gooey and good.) Of course, I only make one kind these days, and it’s not even my recipe. It’s a cake recipe you can find at this link, and the ONLY thing I do differently is to NOT pour the icing on until the cupcakes are cooled. I tried it the other way, and the cake became a gooey thick unpalatable mess. Much better to cool the cake first.

So, post your recipe, and each weekday from 8/16/2010 – 8/20/2010, I will draw a name to win a copy of THE ICING ON THE CAKE. Then on 8/21/2010, I will draw one name to win a $50 gift certificate to Amazon. I will draw the weekday names each morning at 10:00 a.m. CDT starting on the 17th, and the gift certificate drawing will be held at the same time on the 22nd.

Go, go, CUPCAKES!

It all started with Kassia Krozser who as booksquare on Twitter said:

booksquare: oh, authors, please stop spamming me (and others) by “recommending” your books on twitter. it’s self-promo at its worst.

Those of us who circulate in the romance genre’s online community have seen an uptick in Twitter and Facebook followers coinciding with authors returning from the RWA national conference. I’m going to hazard a guess that there were a lot of workshops on using social media for promotion. Probably some given by publishers as well as by authors. Publishers are definitely pushing social media as a way to gain attention for their authors’ releases. And that’s excellent. It’s great to see authors out there interacting with their fans and the reading public.

Or ARE they . . .

Here’s the thing. Social media only works as a promotional tool when it doesn’t look like a promotional tool. If you’ve set up a Twitter or Facebook account JUST to talk about your new release, UR DOIN IT RONG. Social by definition means interaction, a back and forth, a give and take. A conversation.

Social does not mean a one-sided hammering with promotional posts. Social does not mean it’s all about YOU the AUTHOR. Social does not mean spam, and that’s exactly what these constant reminders or recommendations by an author of his/her own work are. As HelenKay Dimon joked in a recent tweet:

HelenKay Dimon: I see what you’re saying about promo but have you read my recent release about zombie howler monkeys? Suzie Reviewer says…

Yeah. Don’t do that.

One of my favorite authors to follow on Twitter is Portia Da Costa. Not only does she natter on *g* about what she’s writing, her research, the scenes she’s editing, but she does so with her wonderful British sensibility AND she shares so much about the other things going on in her life that wanting to read her books to see how her personality translates into fiction is a given.

And that is exactly how promotion should work. Get out there and get your hands dirty. Dig in and interact with the people who find YOU worth following. There’s nothing wrong with mentioning a new release, a sale, a contest win, but when a feed is nothing but, I can tell you followers will leave. I know this because I leave.

If I’ve followed someone and they never post original content but simply spam me with links to their blog posts or giveaways, I unfollow. And it’s kinda tough when a WHOLE bunch of folks retweet the same links without personalizing them, but those I’ve learned to skim IF the poster is someone who also entertains me, makes me think and laugh, sends me out on the web to read interesting articles.

One thing that’s really important is not to insulate yourself and converse only with other authors. I see this happen a lot. It’s normal. Those are the people who get us, who we often know IRL, who aren’t scary unknowns. *g* But not branching out is a whole lot of singing to the choir. I’ve seen folks leave Twitter completely because it felt too cliquish to them. And I’m guilty of hanging in my comfort zone too often.

A lot of that is time. I’m rushing through to see who’s saying what so I can get back to work. But when I take the time to follow threads out six degrees or whatever, I’ll often find some really cool stuff and meet some folks I never would have by hanging so close to home. Some of it ends up grist for the mill even, so it’s not time wasted at all. But if I hadn’t jumped in to see what strangers had to say, I would’ve missed out on some fun @ reply chats. A follower of mine mentioned this just this weekend, saying:

Saschakeet: @laurendane @alisonkent Be a person who interacts with real persons. We notice when you respond only to reviewers/bloggers/authors.

just_denise: @Saschakeet couldn’t have said that better myself. That is one thing that really bugs me. Glad there are some gr8 authors who talk w/readers

Saschakeet: @just_denise Authors who do it well are all too rare. Makes me want to try a book from likable person. Gonna buy @alisonkent cupcake book.

See how that worked? Along with talking about writing a synopsis on my iPod, and about seeing Claire Duffy on NBC Nightly News and thinking of how much I miss working at Brava with Kate, I linked to an article about the couple who star in my upcoming release, THE ICING ON THE CAKE. A reader mentioned having visited their bakeshop, and I bemoaned that they don’t yet ship. That was all the promo I did, an off the cuff mention of an article about my couple, but now she wants to read my book.

Now, I am no promo expert, but I’ve been blogging since 2002 and have been on Twitter this long (click to see how long you’ve been tweeting!). I have definitely become a blogging slacker, but I think after eight years I’m kinda out of words. *g* Twitter lets me blurt out random thoughts as they come to me (and I can always make them post to my blog if you want to see them!), and I’m doing more and more on Facebook, though I’m still not interacting there enough and need to take my own advice! But this just seems like common sense to me. If you build it, he will come.

Be interesting. Be approachable. Be humble. Be real. That’s truly all you need to do to turn social media into a promotional tool. And it doesn’t cost a cent!

*****
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Author Don’ts (Part Eleventy Thousand – SPAM Edition)

Last week, @Cuppacafe and I took an impromptu vacation. His boss was out of the country for the week, leaving him with nothing pressing to do – even though FIVE co-workers called, texted, or emailed him while he was out of the office. Being an oilman, he was interested in seeing the Gulf Coast beaches and water for himself, so we headed out on Tuesday, not sure where we were going. The first two or three hours, from Texas into Louisiana, was a rather unpleasant experience. At one point on Interstate 10, we were crawling along at 30 mph because of the storms.

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