So you want to get published . . . getting an agent.

A few weeks back in a desperate attempt not to use my own brain I asked my lovely readers for suggestions. And I got some really awesome ones. I hope to address them all, but there was one that really stood out for me because, well it hadn't occurred to me that I had yet to write about it.

It was from Jo, and she wrote: I'd like to know more about the business side of being a writer -publishing, contracts, money, deals, agents, whatever you can share! Thank you :)

At first I was all like, "Haven't I done that already?" And then I was all like, "OMG I haven't."

I have talked about my personal process, I have talked about interesting things I have learned about the industry. But I haven't talked about the very practical steps one takes to get published, nor about what the industry is like on the inside.

Weird.

So now I shall. I imagine it will be several posts worth, not sure how long or where it will take us, but let's just enjoy the ride shall we?

So you want to get published . . . the getting the agent bit.

You've written a book. First job, celebrate. Writing a book is a HUGE deal, and not an accomplishment everyone can boast of. Many people start books, oh yes, but very few cross the finish line. So go, celebrate, I'll wait till you get back.

I am going to make an assumption here now. I am going to assume that by finishing a book you have edited it, made it brilliant, bit the bullet and cut it pieces. I'm assuming by finishing a book you are ready now to submit the book. I may talk about the revising stage at a later date, but right now we is all about the getting published.

So what do you do next?

Get an agent.

In very simple terms an agent is someone who is a middle man/woman. You give them your manuscript, and then they give it to the publishers. They try to sell your work for you. They have contacts in the industry. They also can read contracts and understand what everything means.

You don't have to get an agent, but you really should. Why? Because these days you will be hard pressed to get a big publishing house to look at your manuscript (from now on referred to as MS) without an agent having sent it to them. There are smaller publishers who will take unagented submissions, but for the most part an agent is the way to go. Agents have become the guardians as it were of the publishing houses. If a publishing house gets a MS from an agent, they assume that it has already been vetted to a degree, that it was good enough for an agent to like and therefore in turn something for them to like.

But agents aren't just there to work for publishers. They are there for the benefit of the writer as well. To read about how awesome a great agent is, and what they do aside from just sell your work, click here.

Now getting an agent is hard. It can take years to get an agent. But the steps are very straightforward. BTW these are North American steps, the UK steps are similar, but a tiny bit different.

So first step:

1. Research. Find an agent that likes the kind of stuff you write. You also need to make sure you know that the agent is legit. There are a lot of scam agents out there. Typically you can tell an agent is a scam if they charge you money. You never pay an agent. They take a percentage off the work they sell for you.

(note: there are truly tricky scam agents out there who don't charge you up front, but then say that your MS needs editing and then recommend an editor who you'll have to pay. This is just not done with legitimate agents.)

So check out the Writer's Handbook, Predators and Editors (to see if the agent is a scam), agentquery.com. There are other good places to check out too - I have a nice list of useful links here.

So, you found some agents you like.

2. Now you must write a query letter to send to the agents.

Please visit agentquery.com to read about writing a query letter. They are tricky and take a fair bit of work. A query letter needs to reflect your work as well as sell your story, and present you as a professional person worth working with. All in one page single spaced.

3. Send off query letters to agents.

Wow! An agent is totally blown away by your query letter! She asks you for a "partial".

4. A partial can be of varying lengths. Sometimes they ask for the first three chapters, sometimes the first 50 pages. Whatever you do don't send them something from the middle of your MS even if you think that's the best bit. If you don't think your beginning is good enough to win an agent, then work on the beginning. Because if it isn't good enough to win an agent, then it definitely won't win over the discriminating reader.

Let me just get this over with now. You will see many an internet argument over which font to use for your MS. It's not that complicated. Either Courier or Times New Roman, size 12. Double space your MS. Make sure that you have a header on each page of the MS that includes your name, name of the book, and page number. This is in case the agent prints up the MS and then drops it. By mistake of course.

If you are snail mailing the partial, be sure to include a stamped self addressed envelope in the submission package. Also write a cover letter reminding the agent of what they requested, I'd advise also sending the original query letter for reference.

Wow! She loved your partial! Now she asks you for a "full".

5. A full is the full MS. Follow the same advice as for the partial.

Wow! She loved your full . . . but. . . she has a few suggestions for revisions.

6. Now . . . while this is an excellent sign, there is no guarantee that after you make the revisions she will sign you. So don't get ahead of yourself. Also really consider the suggestions. Agents read a lot and really know their business. They might not be right in all their suggestions, but I bet they have a point with most of them. I was told to cut 10 000 words. When I did, my book was so much better for it.

Wow! You did the revisions and she loved it! She calls you! She wants to meet you! She wants to . . . .sign you!! Yay!

7. You have an agent!


So easy isn't it? Such simple steps one after the other . . .

Problem is there is the potential of rejection with each step. Worse still, if you fail at one level, you don't just go down one step. No you go all the way back to the beginning again. Back to the query letter stage. Like an evil evil game of snakes and ladders.

For this reason authors can go years before landing an agent.

Some advice then in your quest:

1. Learn what the rejections mean and use it to your advantage

• a rejection on a full may mean that there is something wrong with the structure of your story, or it may just mean the work isn't quite right for the agent - like it doesn't quite suit her tastes. Often at this level the agent will write a more detailed rejection letter. Unless your full has been rejected many times, I would wait before doing a major overhaul. If however you are hearing the same thing from everyone, it may be worth having a look.

• a rejection on a partial is similar to a full, but quite possibly has something more to do with the quality of the writing. There was something in the partial that didn't grab the agent enough to want to read the whole thing. What was it? Maybe they just didn't connect with the story or voice. Maybe there was something off in the structure. Maybe something off in the writing. Hopefully you will get a detailed rejection letter at this point as well. However if you aren't getting past the "partial" stage, in that no one ever requests a full, I would take a close look at the MS again.

• a rejection on a query. At once both the best and worst kind of rejection. Getting rejected when someone hasn't even read your work can really sting. How can an agent judge your work by something that isn't your work? Trust me they can. And they can do it well, but that's another discussion altogether. BUT the good news is the problem may be simply the quality of your query letter, and not the story itself. If you are getting nothing but rejections on your query letter, revise the query letter.*
  

* for that reason a lot of people recommend sending queries out in smaller batches of half a dozen or so, to see how it is received. In this way you have the opportunity to fix the query and not waste your opportunities sending out a bad one to every agent.

2. Go to conferences.

Agents go to conferences. They have things which are called "pitch sessions" where an author can sit with them for 10 minutes and pitch their work. Aside from that you can also just introduce yourself to them in the bar or whathaveyou. Get to know them, get to understand that they are people too. Go to their panel discussions and see what they are looking for. Ask them questions. Though always be professional and polite, and please don't corner them in the bathroom.

Also at conferences you can meet some other awesome writers, and exchange stories and strategies. You'll also feel less alone in your quest. You may even make some lifelong friends.

3. Read their blogs.

A lot of agents now blog. It can get confusing with all the conflicting information that they share. But the good part is you get to know their personalities, you get to learn their likes and dislikes. It's research, but at a whole new level. Also it's very interesting.



So that right now is the getting the agent part of the process. We shall continue with what happens next . . . next (click here for "From Agent to Publisher").

(and if you guys could let me know if this is helpful at all, I'd really appreciate it, thank you!)

That NY Times YA article

There's this article from the NY Times that's been circulating the web for a few days now. Basically it talks of the stigma still attached with writing YA, and how it's seen as a bad thing if one's book is placed in that category. Of course the article is very much supportive of YA, but it surprised me because in my social circle most everyone I know is either writing MG/YA or is impressed that I and my friends write MG/YA.

But I thought further on it. And I realise that my experience isn't quite as innocent as all that. I get a very strange response when I tell people I've written a children's novel, but it isn't quite the same response as the ones in the article. The person I tell seems interested, and I go on talking about it for a bit, and then eventually, I let it slip that it's around 300 pages. Suddenly their eyes come into focus and they say something along the lines of, "Oh like a real book!" And start asking me questions again, this time with a sense of urgency.

Now I suppose I could see this as a positive thing, they think I'm a real author even though I write for kids, where many people don't. But because I now have a few picture book author/artist friends, I have to say, I still find it pretty insulting.

Because the implication is that a real book needs to have a lot of words. That it is a real accomplishment to write a long book, versus basically anyone can write a picture book. But this is just so not true. In fact I often find the mark of an amateur is a first time author who writes a massive doorstopper of a book. Basically that person doesn't know how to craft the story in a tight manner, they wander in their writing trying to find their plot, they are just plain longwinded. I know. I suffer from that exact affliction.

A picture book has got to be short. It has to convey a very specific story, be meaningful and have a voice all its own, in less than 1000 words. I honestly don't know how picture book authors do that. It is a very difficult thing to do.

Next, of all the books to get published, I would wager the picture book is the hardest.

First off the advances are quite small so that agents don't really sign that many picture book writers, it's not worth their while. On the plus side this means an author can submit directly to the publisher, on the bad side it means EVERY picture book author out there is submitting directly to the publisher. Picture books are also the books that most celebrities suddenly find themselves inclined to write, and the market is limited of course. And picture books, really popular picture books, have a long shelf life. Great for the already published, not so great with the new ones trying to compete with Dr. Seuss.

Point is . . . let's not be dissing the picture book writers please? It isn't easy okay, it just isn't.

But I seriously don't get in general how anyone can look at a genre of writing and presume it is easier than another genre. Each has its own unique challenges. Each has its own unique benefits.

Anyway, I just wanted to share the article and do the picture book rant. I'd really actually like to hear from you guys now . . . what do you think about the stigma attached to the children's book thing (including YA)? Did you find your mind was changed in one way or the other? Does it scare you off from writing in a certain genre (say Romance) because of the stigma attached?

Discuss, people, discuss.

In the Country

Hey all! I had to get out of the city for a while, so I've gone to my cottage. Not sure how long it will be, but probably around a week. I have limited access to the internet, so I won't be posting a proper blog entry until I return, but when I do I think I will start with Jo's suggestion of a general overview of getting published!

I will totally get to all your other suggestions as well, and please do keep 'em coming, either in the comments section of this post, or the one previous, they are very helpful!

Until next week!

Need suggestions again . . .

So guys and gals, I have writer's block.

And yes I do believe writer's block exists.

You may blink at that, "Who says it doesn't?" Well there are debates between writers over whether or not such a thing is, but it truly is a semantical debate. First off you can't deny the term exists. It does. You say "writer's block" and people know what you are talking about. But the definition changes from person to person. Some people think there are authors out there who use writer's block as an excuse to stop writing something altogether. For me it is less extreme. It's that staring at a blank page/screen and not having a clue what to write. It can last for a few moments, to even a few days, but, for me at least, you get over it. You move on. Writer's block is a hurdle to overcome, not a road block.

At any rate . . .

I have writer's block. Not for my fiction writing. No, actually the words are really flowing these days which is awesome.

But I have blog writer's block. Every time I come to write a post, I honestly have no clue what I should write about, what more I can say, and what would interest you guys. It's easier when there are exciting updates to make, but right now there isn't much to share in that regard.

So for the third time I think, I will ask to hear from you guys! What would you like this blogger to wax philosophical on? I really love specific questions on technique (both writing and acting), to help with particular problems. Heck if you are writing something and have a sentence that just isn't feeling right, let's solve the problem. Something structure wise got your goat? Got query issues? Of course I say all this with the caveat that I am just one person, and it is just my one opinion, take it all with a grain of salt, but I do enjoy working with people on . . . stuff.

Yes . . . stuff. Very articulate person me.

So yes, post your questions etc in the comments section and let's see what happens!

My Birthday!

My birthday was this past Monday and I have to say it's been a great one! It began with an honest to goodness surprise party on Saturday, which I had not a single suspicion was being organised for me. Kind of got me all emotional. Then a friend's pool party on Sunday (which technically wasn't planned for me, but still was a nice way to spend a Sunday), drinks with friends on Monday, high Tea on Tuesday, and Sushi yesterday.

Okay.

Yes.

It was more of a birthday week.

BUT

I wanted to share with all of you the coolest thing ever! My birthday cake from the surprise party!



See! It's shaped like a typewriter! Complete with chocolate keys! Isn't it just awesome?!

(for anyone interested, it was made at The Sweet Escape in the Distillery District here in Toronto, and they totally do tons of other customised cakes)

Anyway, all this birthday stuff (combined with a lot of writing) is my excuse for yet more poor posting. I am very very sorry about all that!

Hope everyone is well, and I promise to be better this week!

xoxo


Oh and a really big Happy Fourth of July to all you Americans out there! May your hotdogs be plentiful and fireworks legal! Huzzah!

New Ideas

And then something like this happens.

The writing world is a strange strange place. You're working on one book, and then you get an idea for another. And then you get a bit obsessed with that idea. Suddenly you find yourself spending hours at the library doing research on this idea, and hours at home writing pages on this idea . . .

The brain is a vast and mysterious place my friends.

All this to say, I'm sorry I've been MIA this week . . . but honestly, I'm pretty excited about all this!

The Rules . . .

A couple posts ago I wrote about how agent/editor blogs can confuse authors because of all the different and sometimes opposing advice they offer.

Jessica Faust at BookEnds has just written an excellent entry on the subject of rules and writing and stuff like that today. And she basically says what I've said, you have to take what works for you, don't try to be all things to all people, and to most importantly be thoughtful and professional. However, she not only writes more in depth about the whole subject, but she's also an agent so has more of an inside scoop than I ever will.

If you have the inclination, check it out!

Timothy excerpt

And another post! What's up with this girl?!

But first let us crown the King of Awesomeness, Jandroos, for his amazing "spot the differences" prowess! All hail King Jandroos of Awesomeness!

Another quickie show and tell:

Just for those who are curious, you can read the first two chapters of Timothy over at Scholastic Canada. So yeah, just so's y'all know! (Really hope you guys like it, seriously, it's like I never had Alex published, all the nerves are just as fresh this time around!)

Alex the Paperback

Quick show and tell.

Alex is coming out in paperback (August in the States, and the fall in Canada), and I just got the cover from my publishers. It's not that different, but different enough that I wanted to share with you guys! In fact I thought we could play a little game called "spot the differences" where you guys can . . . spot the differences . . . between this and the hardcover version. The winner wins my unending respect and title of King/Queen of Awesomeness.

Enjoy! (btw, the title and my name I believe will be in foil - ooh shiny!)

Book Expo Canada

Had a wonderful two days at Book Expo here in Toronto! Seriously awesome, and way more eventful than my hour long meander last year through the stalls.

On Sunday I met up with the lovely Lesley, along with authors Danielle Younge-Ullman and Tish Cohen (and Lesley's friend Shiraz who was there to pitch this awesome 3-D video game thing as well as his very cool MG fantasy book). We met at the top of the escalators to the Expo . . . and then went out to lunch.

Mexican.

Yummy.

Then we returned to the Expo where we agreed to meet at the Penguin booth at 2pm for the champagne thingy (Penguin is Danielle's publisher), and Lesley and I went off to interview Robert J Sawyer for Hardcore Nerdity. Well Lesley did the interviewing, I just listened. It was a great one, and will be up online soon.

With some time on our hands we then wandered over to the Harper Collins booth, where Lesley was greeted like the star she is, seriously, her book Wondrous Strange is going to be huge (I'm allowed to say that Lesley . . . it's okay)! EVERYONE at the booth had heard of the book, or read it, and were SO excited to meet her.

Finally we made it back over to the Penguin table where we had mimosas and the place got rather overcrowded. We met up with Chris Szego from Bakka-Phoneix Books (a fab SF bookstore here in Toronto), and I interviewed her about current trends in the market for genre work (again for the website). Next on our list was Kelly Armstrong, who Lesley interviewed, and I wandered off with Tish and Shiraz to see Danielle give a reading at the presentation stage. She did very well. But she's also an actress, so it comes very naturally to her.

We wandered around a bit more, and then went for drinks. Was very fun as we were sitting outside but under a roof and were perfectly covered when the rain starting pouring down.

The next day I returned to the event on my own in time to see a few more author friends give presentations of their books. Then I tried to get a signed copy of Danielle's ARC Falling Down, but fifteen minutes into the signing all of them were gone! So not fair! But excellent for Danielle of course.

Eventually I made it over to the Scholastic Booth for my 2:30pm signing, which was really great. There was a line waiting for me even before it started! Felt like a superstar! I'm not even sure how long I signed for, but I must have been close to an hour. It was really fun, and I met a lot of lovely people.

Photo courtesy of Q&Q Staff, Quill and Quire, Quill Blog

And then had a coffee with Danielle and Shiraz, before parting ways and returning home.

In all it was a really lovely weekend! Hectic, a little airless, but lovely!

Chasing Trends

I have felt for some time now that agents/editors blogging is both a great and slightly unhelpful phenomena. It's great because it removes some of the mystique behind the publishing process, demonstrates, you know, that agents and editors are human beings. These blogs also provide practical information: the art of the good query letter, what that particular agent likes to represent etc. They also offer excellent networking opportunities through the comments sections.

They are less helpful when they confuse authors.

The problem with these blogs is that each agent has a slightly different philosophy on the industry. Each agent has a slightly different set of requirements for his/her query letters. Each agent . . . is different. And authors sometimes can find themselves trying to appeal to every agent in one magical query letter or whathaveyou. This is next to impossible. (I wrote about this idea in more general terms here).

What also makes life more confusing for authors are the posts about current trends. I personally find them very interesting, and love it when agents talk about what's hot and what's not. But unless you just happen to have a completed novel in one of those genres of the hot variety that you've been scared to send out and this news gives you the impetus to do so, I say, enjoy these posts on a "Well now that's quite interesting" level.

Because, seriously? Current trends are pretty darn meaningless.

The thing is - publishing takes a long time. A very long time.

Let's say you have an agent already. Let's say that agent has sold your work. It will still be close to TWO years before the book is on the shelves. And there is simply no predicting what will be popular in two years. Before the DaVinci Code came out, do you think editors were looking for religious conspiracy novels? Ah, no. In fact I would venture to say if such books crossed their desks the response would be along the lines: "Too controversial." Yet suddenly this book strikes it huge and every other book on the shelf looks like some cheap knockoff (yes, even those books knocked off by Brown himself somehow still managed to look like that).

I'm not saying it isn't important to keep up with what's hot in the industry right now. I think being educated is always a smart move.

But instead of freaking out trying to write an epic love story about vampire pirate time travelers, because some agent mentioned it once in passing, try freaking out about writing a really compelling novel. Something that interests you, something where your passion obviously shines through.

My personal experience is a pretty good example of this. Alex was rejected because it was "too old fashioned". In fact when you look at the facts, Alex is definitely not what you would consider trendy. First off it's long. Around twice as long as most novels in its genre. It's also episodic, which is an outdated form of storytelling. These days we prefer our soap opera, what happens next, kind of stories. The protagonist is a girl, and I know that many MG editors are looking for male leads to entice boy readers. The language is complicated, sometimes even archaic. And I use author intrusion, which while very popular in Lemony Snicket, really is not what is desired in novels in general, let alone children's books. In fact I have read articles advising strongly against it.

Yet . . . I still managed to find people interested enough in spending time with me to edit it and then eventually publish it.

There are so few things we can control as authors. We can't control what an agent/editor likes or dislikes. We can't control the economy. We can't control readers deciding they'd rather watch a movie. But we can control the words on the page. We can write our story, choose our words, play with characters. We can edit a manuscript over and over again until it shines. That, at least, we should feel some power over.

So I say instead of grasping at some trend's tailcoat, let's start our own! It will be brilliant! It will be delightful! It will be the trend to end all trends!

. . . and we shall call it . . . Carl.

Fab New Website

Wow two posts in as many days! Girl's on a roll!

Just wanted to share with everyone the exciting new version of my website that went up recently. Designed by my amazing friend Joanna Blackman, I think it is so amazing! It isn't completely finished yet, still some tweaking required, but please do check it out, and then report back what you think. If you have any suggestions or anything, I would love to hear them!

Also just a reminder again about my reading/signing tomorrow afternoon:

TYPE Bookstore Danforth
503 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
OPENING WEEKEND CELEBRATION
Saturday May 31, 1:00 pm
Reading

First Pass Proofs

It's amazing how time passes and things become habit and that which once was terribly exciting can become old hat.

Still.

I have to say it was pretty darn awesome to receive my first pass pages of Timothy today.



For those not in the know, or who haven't combed through my archives (and why haven't you and shame on you for not reading all my glorious posts) and read my explanation from last year, first pass proofs are printed pages of your manuscript in the cool sexy final font, organised as if it were the final book, with cover page, copyright page and in this instance a page that says, "Books By Adrienne Kress" with Alex being listed:




That is totally wicked awesome. I am the author of not one, but TWO books, and I have a list to prove it! Okay it's a list of one other book, but it's still a list. I also love the font Weinstein Books uses, it's all romantic old booky looking.

And it's times like these that you remember just how lucky you are, and how crazy that it is that you are an author, a real live author. And, in your cheesy way, you take a picture of your first pass pages.

I don't know if I will always feel this way, if the feeling will diminish. Certainly certain things aren't as exciting as they once were. Book signings are fun, but less incredible, less - OMG why do these people want my autograph? Meeting authors is still totally awesome, but more the norm than a singular event. Going to conventions still gives me butterflies, but I now know what to expect.

Well who knows. Can't predict future feelings.

All I know is that right now the feeling looking at these pages is just as fresh as it was this time last year.

And I'm glad for that.

BEA

BEA stands for the Book Expo of America. It's a huge trade show for the publishing industry, all concerned with buying and selling, can be rather overwhelming, and it begins this week. Last year I went with the lovely Lesley and we had an absolute blast. This year the BEA is in LA (as opposed to NY last year), making it a little more costly for yours truly to attend, so I will not be going. This makes me a bit sad as I had a totally awesome time last year. So I've decided I would link to my synopsis of last year's event, just for those of you who are new to the blog and didn't read it, and also out of nostalgia because that's the sort of person I am:

Adrienne and Lesley's excellent BEA adventure of 2007 (you will note that since that trip Lesley now has a two book deal with Harper Collins - amazing what can happen in a year!)

I shall however be attending the Book Expo of Canada in June, signing copies of the paperback version of Alex (details to follow closer to the date).

And this Saturday I will be participating in the opening weekend celebration of the new bookstore Type on the Danforth, so do come along if you are in the area:

TYPE Bookstore Danforth
503 Danforth Avenue, Toronto
OPENING WEEKEND CELEBRATION
Saturday May 31, 1:00 pm
Reading

Ole!

Yes my plans for world domination are slowly but surely coming to fruition.

I would like to announce to all and sundry (because Sundry is one of my most loyal blog readers), that my fabulous agent has just sold the world Spanish rights (excluding the USA) of my book to Editorial ViaMagna!

What makes this deal especially cool is that now I share a publisher with the amazing Patricia Wood (of Lottery fame, who is also celebrating her 55th birthday today, mazel tov!), and I just think that is so darn fantastic.

So, let's order a pitcher of Sangria and celebrate!

Ole!

My Publisher

Another short post folks. I really should be in bed actually, have an early call for rehearsal before we open with our first show at 1pm. Still . . .

Thought this was cool.

As many of you will know my American publishers are Weinstein Books. Despite the fact that they used to be Miramax Books for quite some time, technically they are a very new company. So for the last several months their website, while informative, has been a little . . .shall we say . . . on the skimpy side.

Well it would seem that is no longer the case. I just checked it out, and they have an absolutely beautiful site up and running now, and of course featuring yours truly!

I will also add to this post that the release date for Timothy and the Dragon's Gate has been moved to January 13, 2009 (though it will probably be available in December - yay weird book industry weirdness). I am pretty happy with this change as it allows me a bit more breathing room with the edits for one thing, and for another, I don't much like the idea of my amazing work being upstaged by something as slight as this election thing going on south of the border. . .

Lastly, for anyone who has just been dying of curiosity over what exactly Timothy is about, there is an excellent summary of the story over at the new Weinstein website. If you are interested, do check it out here!

Sorry again for my poor blogging habits folks! I'll try to do better once the show is over. In the meantime wish me break a leg for tomorrow! (yes I've done the show twice before, but it's always a little different and we are in a new theatre)

Sorry

This has been a long tough week folks, and I just have not been in the right head space to post. However, I did write an article for Hardcore Nerdity, so if anyone is missing their Adrienne fix (and how sweet if you have!), here's the link to my article about the novel Watchmen.

Again, sorry for being MIA. I'll try to do better next week!

Hardcore Nerdity!!

It's alive!!!!!!!!!!


Yes it is time for the great unveiling! May I present to you all:

The Ultimate Destination for all your Nerd Needs.

Your mission – should you choose to accept it – is to get with our Nerd Herd as we dig down deep into the world of genre to bring you exclusive insights, interviews, scoops, reviews and rumors, along with some of the coolest behind-the-scenes tidbits and unexpected treasures unearthed from the deepest darkest corners of the SF/F jungle. We cover genre from all angles – from ink on a page to pixels on a screen and all that’s in-between – and we back it up with input from entertainment-industry professionals with seriously authentic geek cred.

Check out the Escape Pod, our weekly podcast hosted by Mr. Jonathan Llyr, with Rob Salem and Simon Evans. This week he talks with screenwriter David Hayter who gives us the skinny on the highly anticipated film Watchmen.

Don't forget to also visit the awesome bio page, where we fab contributors are displayed in our comic book glory!

(see post below for more Hardcore Nerdity details)

New Job

I mentioned it before on my Ad Astra post, but I thought I'd talk about it again. Cause I want to. I am now a part of a new website called Hardcore Nerdity which launches on Thursday, and I have to say it's already been a huge learning experience.

For those who may not remember the synopsis:



Hardcore Nerdity is the pet project of Mr. Jonathan Llyr. Some of you may know John in his former role as an on air personality for the Space Network. He's since moved on from the channel but now he and several colleagues are starting this amazing website. Contributors include the incredible Rob Salem (if you are Canadian you will have seen his articles in the Toronto Star and, well, everywhere), the effervescent Simon Evans (another Space veteran and former MuchMusic producer/presenter), myself, the lovely Lesley, my good friend Casey Hudecki (fight chick extraordinaire), along with the friendly folks over at angryrobot.ca: Nadine, Toku and D. If you have any nerdish leanings this will be the site to check out. John has serious nerd connections. The site will feature a weekly podcast, articles, interviews and original comics. This week's podcast is awesome, beginning with a seriously lively and hilarious chat between John, Rob and Simon, and featuring an interview with the amazing David Hayter, screenwriter for X Men and X Men 2, about his working on the screenplay for Watchmen.


Okay, back to me and my learning experience.

First of all I am interviewing people. I mentioned my fear of this before, but it is something I have never really done before. It's weird, because a lot of my friends work in television and are extremely proficient at the interviewing, but it's a world I know very little about. I've always found interviewing a terrifying prospect. Not so much the interacting with other people, but the responsibility that comes with the role. Here you are, one chance to talk to someone of note in an industry you find interesting, and if you ask them the wrong question or forget to ask them something important, that's it, you blew your chance. I am a fan of the "re-do". There really isn't such a thing with interviews.

At the same time, I find interviewing very exciting. I love doing the research about a person ahead of time, learning all this interesting stuff about them, really getting to know someone. I also like the actual interview, the conversation. So I think I'm totally into this interviewing thing, even if it still scares me a little.

I'm also writing articles for the site, and that is something new as well. Now I like to post to this blog at least twice a week, and that has given me a good sense of how to handle deadlines, but it's interesting writing articles within a certain framework. In this case the SF/Fantasy genre. I feel like I am writing essays again, much like my post on Magical Realism. I am quoting people, and having a thesis, and it's been ages since I've really written anything like that. It's been a challenge definitely, but fun.

So it's been an interesting new job, and the site hasn't even launched yet!

With that in mind, I wanted to ask my loyal readers, for their help. I am posting an article twice a week at Hardcore Nerdity, all in the SF/Fantasy realm - books, tv, film, comics, gaming, whatever - does anyone have any article suggestions? Anything they would like me to investigate, or write about? I already have an article on Battlestar Galactica and Watchmen, and I am sure I can come up with more considering I have opinions on everything, but it would be cool to see what kind of stuff you guys would think would be cool!

Time for more rehearsal pics . . .

Yes ladies and gents, the ever popular production of Macbeth by the ever fabulous Tempest Theatre Group is back in town! And you know what that means . . .

Artsy black and white rehearsal shots by yours truly!

(just for a change of pace, considering we've been rather "author" oriented lately)

Robbie Westgate (aka King Duncan) napping in the corner. I enjoy this picture because of the windows and the reflection on the floor. You may have other reasons to enjoy it. That is perfectly acceptable.

The fab Mr. Steven Burley (aka Malcolm) in a snazzy hat. Beside him sits Phil Borg (aka Ross) having an enthusiastic chat with the ever lovely, Ms. Lesley Livingston (aka Lady M).

Our ever so talented director and the Mr. Mac himself, Jonathan Llyr. I believe at this moment he was discussing his plans for the show with Mr. Burly from the above photograph.

And a little change of pace, yes, an actual colour photograph, of the "happy we finally have sun and warm temperatures" Ms. Casey Hudecki (aka Second Witch). Note the awesome sunglasses.

And tagged again!

And no it isn't a tag back which as we all know is so illegal.

No. This time I have been tagged by Sue Eves with a really neat one.

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people and post a comment back to Sue's blog (she's the one who tagged me - you will in turn nominate the person who tagged you - ie me) once you've posted your three sentences.

So . . . nearest book . . . that would have to be . . . (aside from my own) . . .

Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly, a non fiction book about pirates.

Page 123:

"Mower was a Boston man, thirty years of age, "of short stature, thin favoured, and dark complexion," and he had good reason to be worried. No sooner had the pirates taken the ship than they decided to force Mower to join them. The methods which they used left him with little choice."

So now I tag (again):

Lesley Livingston

Catherine J Gardner

Heidi the Hick

and . . .

Holly Kennedy

David L McAfee

I love blog tag!

Well every once and a while it happens that I get tagged by another blogger. In this case it happened the other day when djpaterson appeared in my comments section.

So thank you sir for the tag! And now I shall proceed to share with you all:


6 (more) Random Things About Me

1. Guylian chocolates are my favourite (the ones shaped like seashells? Yeah those ones . . .).

2. My window by my computer looks out onto the brick wall of the apartment opposite with the exact same kind window staring back. But it isn't a perfect mirror image as it is slightly further north than mine is. And I have no idea why that is.

3. I love making business cards. I get very artsy doing it. My favourite kinds are the ones that are glossy on one side.

4. I love art history. In university I wanted to double major in it, but the drama portion of my degree was just too time consuming.

5. In that line of thinking, I adore Toulouse Lautrec. Specifically his poster art.

6. I hate shopping, but I love new clothes. This is a problem.


Now I have to tag six other bloggers, but to be honest I just can't think of who today - head is a bit fuzzy. So I am instead tagging these three (half of six, so I figure it still works with the play on numbers):

Lesley

Heidi

Catherine

Rules:

· Link to the person who tagged you.

· Post the rules on your blog.

· Write six random things about yourself.

· Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blog

· Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

· Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

Talking to Teenagers

Tuesday I went to a highschool and spoke to a group of around 80 teenagers about writing. It was actually the same highschool where my father (who has since retired) was once head of the English department, so that was cool.

I was really nervous.

I hadn't spoken to teenagers before.

Know what I learned?

It's a lot like talking to adults.

And a lot like talking to kids.

Okay yes there are differences between all three groups, and I'll elaborate on them in my next post (because I think they are interesting), but this post is a moment of revelation post.

So this is the revelation:

I'm starting to think people are just people.

Yup, pretty sure . . .

It's nice.

And yet more Ad Astra pics . . .

I am obviously on some kind of picture binge. Anyway, the lovely Lesley sent me a few more pics from Ad Astra that I thought I would share (Doug you will be happy to see we have an auction pic finally!)!

Enjoy!

This was really special. Lesley happened to run into her good friend Darth while we were at the convention. It was such a coincidence he was at Ad Astra as well! I don't think she had any idea he was coming. It was a really special reunion - man the stories they had to share . . .!


Me and my friend Scotty (who you have seen several times on this blog as his pirate self, and who also lent me the steampunk goggles for that photo a few posts down). I am wearing a pirate hat. I think I would make an awesome pirate! Except for all the killing and stealing. I'm not so into killing and stealing . . . but aesthetically . . . I think I could rock the pirate thing.
(man the flash of the camera really washed out our faces!)


And finally me and Lesley all glammed up for the Sunburst Awards Auction. You will note we are attempting to auction off our own books. We have no shame.

My book in the Philippines

Here is an awesome photo of my book in the Philippines courtesy of the Bibliophile Stalker (appropriately named it would seem).



Now I know I know, how exactly can we prove that this photograph was indeed taken in the Philippines. Well we can't. But that is what faith in our fellow bloggers is all about. At any rate, thanks so much Mr. Tan for sending the pic my way!

I also thought I'd post this pic of my book in Germany that I was sent quite a while ago but totally forgot to post! It too is awesome (it's the book in the centre with the orange spine)!




This is probably a good time to remind people that I will always be open to pictures of yourself and my book in any and all countries. If you are wearing an enjoyable costume, so much the better. Just make sure when you send the pic you also send permission for me to post it!

I do so love my super secret spy blog readers! I highly doubt anyone has such super secret spy blog readers as I do!

Some Ad Astra pics . . .

And here as promised are some pics from the event (Ad Astra). These are just from my camera, so there aren't too many seeing as I was rather busy. And none of me and Lesley as our glamorous auction ladies (sorry Doug, soon I hope). But I hope to collect some from my fellows that I will be able to share with you all soonish.

So:

John Llyr (looking confused), Peter Halasz (looking far away) and Scott Bakker (looking fuzzy)


Scott Bakker looking less fuzzy. At least in the picture. Cannot speak to his emotional or mental state at the time.


Nadine and Chris from angryrobot.ca (Nadine is showing off her sound equipment and Chris is taking a picture of me at the same time as I am taking one of him.)


Me making sure to take a picture of me proving I was there, or at least pretending to be there by showing up at the hotel at the exact same time the convention was going on.


Jim C Hines reading from his book at his book launch. Just moments before I and my 7 points won a prize. Yes I like reminding people I won a prize.


Julie Czerneda, Lesley Livingston, Rebecca Moesta and me at our panel for writing for young people.


Julie hosting the launch for Misspelled, while Lesley (in the grey t-shirt with the batman logo on it) looks on in fascination.


Me wearing a pair of Steampunk goggles belonging to my pirate friend Scotty. They is awesome.

And the follow up report . . .

So as you all know last weekend was the Ad Astra convention and I have to say it was an absolute blast. I hope to get some pictures soon, but for the moment you are all just going to have to settle for the narrative.

I started out Saturday morning as the lovely Julie Czerneda's assistant teaching a writing workshop for young people. I have to say it was really cool. I've taught a fair bit of drama to kids, but I have never really taught writing. Julie on the other hand has. And she rocks it. We had around 8 teenagers show up, and they were so enthusiastic about writing and SF/Fantasy and it was just so special. They did some group work where they chose an object and had to brainstorm story ideas. Then they chose one to elaborate on. And then Julie made them keep the same story idea, but gave them a new genre. Very interesting to see what they came up with. Winged Rats From Outer Space is my new favourite title!

After that I reprised my prize girl role for the Sunburst Awards Auction with the ever lovely Lesley Livingston (who has a very lovely new website designed by my very lovely other friend Joanna - check it out!). We of course looked fabulous, more glamorous this time I think. Oh and we raised a fair bit of money for the auction as well!

The rest of the day was chatting and hanging out with folks in the bar. I met up with authors Scott Bakker, Robert J. Sawyer, Caitlin Sweet, Steve Perry and Jim C Hines again this year and went to the book launch of the latter's third book, Goblin War. He had this game going where we had to collect goblins (drawings of goblins on paper) from different people at the convention. I only got 7 points. But I still got a prize! So I was happy. Not so happy as the kid who won first prize who got a GORGEOUS signed print of the cover art.

I actually wound up interviewing Jim for a podcast for a website that the sensational Mr. Jonathan Llyr is launching May 1st called Hardcore Nerdity (another awesome title, man this blog is filled with them today). Side track on Hardcore Nerdity for a second:

Some of you may know John in his former role as an on air personality for the Space Network. He's since moved on from the channel but now he and several colleagues are starting this amazing website, and if you have any nerdish leanings this will be the site to check out. The man has serious nerd connections. It will begin as a feeder site off of Angryrobot.ca, and then when the content builds up, it will take the training wheels off as it were and be on its own.

Anyway, I'm going to be a part of the whole thing, as I must confess to having quite nerdish tendencies myself. And that's why I got to interview Jim! And it was my very first time being an interviewer and I was super nervous, but I think I actually did okay! Besides Jim and I get on really well, so we really just had fun with it. Well you can judge for yourself sometime in May (and you'd better believe I'll be promoting me).

Back to Ad Astra:

I interviewed Jim in the afternoon on Sunday. In the morning though, Lesley, Julie, Rebecca Moesta and I had a panel of writing for young people. At first I was sad because there were all of two people in the audience, but after we began it started to fill up nicely until it was quite well attended. I think we did pretty well, and after a slow start we got some good banter going. It was a lot of fun, and I always find it very interesting to listen to other authors talk of their experiences.

Almost right after was the book launch for Misspelled, an anthology that several characters from this blog post were involved in. Both Lesley and Jim had short stories in it, and Julie was the editor. It was great fun, and they added a theatrical bit to it that is a bit to complicated to explain so I won't. Then they had cupcakes. And I like cupcakes.

But it was also really special because, okay, now Lesley is this big time two book deal Harper Collins author, but her story in the anthology was her first official sale. Not only that but it is the lead story in the book. So it was really special seeing her sign books (she signed mine!), and I dunno, it was cool.

And then the weekend was over and I was pooped.

All and all, a good time. Gots to say. A good time.