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.

Ad Astra Convention 2008

As some of you may remember from this time last year, I participated ever so briefly at the Ad Astra Fantasy/SF convention here in Toronto as a prize girl.

Well not only am I reprising my role, but this year I will also be sitting on a panel and doing a workshop for young people. If anyone is in town this weekend or is going, please let me know as I love to meet people in person (Ms. Hick can attest to that)!

So here's the info:


March 29th - 30th, 2008 - TORONTO, ONTARIO
Ad Astra SF/Fantasy Convention

Young Writers Workshop (Saturday March 29, 11am - Salon 243)*
"Julie E. Czerneda and Adrienne Kress will be running the workshop. This free one and a half hour workshop is for Ad Astra attendees from the ages of 11 to 17. The workshop is free of charge but participants will need to register in advance. Spots are limited so please contact programming (at) ad-astra.org if you'd like to register."

Sunburst Awards Auction (Saturday March 29, 1:30pm - Reflections Room)*
"The Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic is a juried award based on excellence of writing. This auction raises funds for the award. In the past they have auctioned off items such as a signed copy of Neil Gaiman's novel Fragile Things and a character named after the winning bidder in a Cory Doctorow novel. Come check out the exciting goodies this year!" - hosting along with Lesley Livingston and Peter Halasz

"Writing for Young People" - panel discussion (Sunday March 30, 11:00am - Salon 241)*
- also with authors Julie Czerneda, Lesley Livingston and Rebecca Moesta

* times and locations subject to change

Rejection

Rejection. It sucks. It truly does.

As writers and actors we have a heck of a lot of it, and, at least for me, it stings every time. It's very difficult when the product is something so personal. With acting, you are trying to basically sell yourself, and with writing you are trying to sell something that is a part of you.

Now of course we all cope in our different ways. Some deal with it matter of factly, it's business not personal. Some rage against the machine, telling everyone how much the industry sucks. Some sit quietly and mope.

And while some coping strategies may be better than others, I have always believed that the most important thing is to understand the pain.

This is what I have learned after years of acting and the whole writing thing. We are human beings. We feel sad when things don't work out. We can also feel angry, hurt, confused . . . even scared.

And there is nothing wrong with that. At all.

I feel sometimes we waste so much time beating ourselves up for feeling these feelings, that that in itself keeps us from moving on, past the pain of rejection. We live in a society where we have been told it is weak to cry. We are in businesses where others will note, "But you knew getting into it it would be really hard" and so we are not supposed to feel bad when the predictable happens.

Yeah, grand, whatever. We still feel what we feel. Whatever the feeling may be.

It's important, at least for me, to understand that no matter how I feel right now in the rejection state, I know I will not give up. This is a great thought to have because it then doesn't matter that you feel lousy now, or that you are full of self pity, because in the end you know that you aren't about to give up or anything. You're just being indulgent.

And that to me at least is the key. Instead of pretending the emotions don't exist, or being ashamed of them, I say indulge them. Not for a long time mind you, but take a day to just feel lousy. Vent to a caring friend. Cry into your pillow. Do whatever you need to do to purge the unhelpful feelings. Because then it's out. It's like, pardon the analogy, throwing up. Sometimes we consume something that is toxic to our system and our bodies automatically vomit it back up. And we feel better. Well "vomit" up the toxic emotions, lay them bare.

And then move on.

That is also very important.

DO NOT WALLOW.

There is nothing good that comes from wallowing.

The next day do something really proactive. Send out more queries, write a blog entry, write a novel, learn a monologue. Force yourself to feel that things are still somewhat under your control.

Of course this is only my coping strategy, some people have ones that suit them better. My point though is the solving of the problem comes not with the question of: "How do I stop feeling bad when I get rejected?" But rather: "How do I get past the emotions I inevitably feel when I get rejected?"

It's about acknowledging that you are human and feel things. Icky things. And then learning how to get past and cope with those icky feelings. Not get rid of them. But, in a really weird way, befriend them.




Now, I think it's time for others to share their coping methods! Don't be shy, we can all learn from each other!

Smart women . . .

I like Natalie Portman. Let me say that right from the off. Let me also stress that nothing I write in this a-typical blog rant is meant to in any way diminish her talent, her brains (she went to Harvard for crying out loud), her beauty, and all her other qualities which I am unfamiliar with because I don't know her personally.

I like Natalie Portman.

This rant has nothing to do with her.

It has to do with the cover of this month's Elle magazine.

Natalie Portman is featured on the cover, looking lovely, with the headline: NATALIE PORTMAN IS ONE OF THE SMARTEST WOMEN WE KNOW, WHICH IS WHY SHE'S PERFECT FOR OUR INTELLIGENT WOMEN ISSUE!

I read this headline while in the corner store, and I actually took pause and read it a few times. I couldn't help but laugh. Because, yes, I am sure Natalie Portman is very intelligent, but come on. I think we need a bit of a caveat there.

NATALIE PORTMAN IS ONE OF THE SMARTEST WOMEN WE KNOW - who also happens to be stunningly beautiful, a big famous film star and has a movie out right now that she needs to promote.

See I don't mind when a magazine lives up to its promises of superficiality. I'll read up on the latest trends in skirts like anyone else. Heck sometimes I buy Vanity Fair just for the pictures (I've even tried to emulate their style with my cast photo from last summer's production). But when the idea is to sell what is beneath the surface (in this case intelligence) by so obviously still using the surface to truly sell the message . . . I get a bit frustrated.

So I was all set to get irate and frustrated with the state of the magazine world, when suddenly it occurred to me . . . my goodness. Maybe Natalie Portman is one of the smartest women Elle knows. Then I had a lightbulb moment. It's not Elle's fault. Maybe they just travel in very different circles than, let's say, I do.

If only Elle had asked my opinion on the subject. If only they had asked me for a list. I could have rattled off woman after woman, all utterly brilliant and well worth being a cover girl, and Elle wouldn't have had to lower themselves to using an obvious film star.

How about some ladies going for their PhD's and not yet 30? I know a fair few of those. Or are you more interested in helping others? I have a girl friend out there who not only got her masters in Equity studies, but who started her own theatre company that works with the disabled to create incredibly poignant and fabulous shows. I also know doctors and lawyers if you like the helping other people theme. Perhaps Elle has a soft spot for the arts, well I have a long list of authors, actors, directors, fight instructors/masters, visual artists, singers, dancers . . . if this list of choices is too daunting may I assure Elle that many of these talents can be found within the same person.

Hey, I hear the environment is a big buzz word these days, I have a friend doing her masters on the subject and practicing what she preaches all the way in New Zealand right now.

Or how about my mom. Seriously Elle, how about my mom?

Not only is she an amazing teacher, and knows basically every book like ever, she seems to know . . . everything. You ask her a question about religion, politics, why the sky is blue, and she has the answer. The right answer. Heck, if my mom doesn't have the answer, it's so rare it is shocking. And what is super cool is that she is more than willing to admit she doesn't know the answer and then help you find it. She is also a wiz financially. She just gets numbers, and how to invest, and is ridiculously smart about it. Add onto all that a whim of hers to be my manager of my writing career, something she has no experience with at all, and has somehow managed to book me onto television shows, and events and get me interviews, and just somehow knows what to do and who to contact . . .

Elle, I'm telling you, my mom, now that's one of the smartest women I know. Smartest PERSON, I know. Also she's hot, so she'd make an excellent cover model, if we must do the whole superficial thing. I'm not above being superficial, Elle.

But I don't begrudge you Elle, you didn't know that I knew these people. You didn't know to ask me. I mean come on, when you think about it, what is the chance that one person would know so many unbelievably smart women?

But next time Elle, give me a call first. I've got a list that would give you cover models for a couple years at least.

Being A Good Girl

I'm sorry I haven't been posting this week, but I am currently up to my knees in revisions and I think it makes sense if I am a good girl and just focus on those right now.

But I will post some more stuff next week (I have a couple rants building inside me, so be prepared . . .).

Lastly, if any of you are in the area I'll be reading and signing books at Casa Loma in Toronto beginning Saturday for their pirate festival. Here's the info!


March 8th - 16th, 2008 - TORONTO, ONTARIO
Casa Loma "Pirate Festival"

PIRATE STORY READINGS
The Conservatory 1:30 pm (20 minutes)

Join author Adrienne Kress as she reads from her book Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, the story of 10 and a half year old Alex Morningside who must rescue her grade 6 teacher, Mr. Underwood, from pirates. Please join Adrienne in the Gift Shop after the reading where she will sign copies of her book.

The Awesome Julia

So most of you would know by now that I was super lucky to have the fabulous Julia Churchill from the Darley Anderson Literary Agency as my agent.

But what you won't know is that . . . she's leaving me!!!!!

Okay, so she's not just leaving me, she's leaving the entire company and that includes many an author, as well as Darley himself.

But still . . .

. . . she's leaving me!!!

She's leaving the agency for many brilliant and jealous inducing reasons, and I do not begrudge her any of them . . . but I am sad, I must confess.

You see, two years ago, Julia changed my life.

I had sent out several queries to agents and the next day she called for the full manuscript. She was the only one, I was to learn in the coming weeks, who would be interested. She helped me edit it and had an unwavering belief in it, even as we started getting rejections from publishers (in fact I think she got even more upset than I did about those rejections). She has been there to listen to me and my author neuroses. Heck, she even came to my going away party, when I left the UK.

She is also the reason I go into uber defense mode when people diss agents. She is the perfect example of how they go above and beyond the call of duty, are genuinely passionate about books, and . . . you know . . . are human.

So you'd better believe that I will miss her.

At any rate . . .

Thank you Julia. I've already said it to you like a million times, but I wanted to do it uber publicly, because really if you are going to say anything personal, it makes so much sense to do it online. And I wish you all the best with your upcoming adventures, and success with your life beyond that (though I do hope the adventures continue as well), because, as I always tell you . . .


You totally rock!


ETA - some of you have expressed concern over what will happen to me now, which is awfully sweet of you! Have no fear, I am definitely staying with the Darley Anderson Agency - everyone who works there is just wonderful, so I am not concerned in the least. Darley is looking for a new children's book author agent, and in the interim will be representing me. But thank you for the concern, my readers are the best!

The Magic Potion

On Friday I attended an all day conference hosted by the film actors' union here in Toronto, ACTRA. I had signed up for one panel discussion and a workshop, both on the subject of auditioning.

Now I know a fair bit about auditioning, having taken courses on the subject, and also heck just plain auditioned a fair bit. I feel quite confident about the activity, and even enjoy doing them. So I didn't really learn anything new. But I was quite pleased to discover, or at least be reminded of, that even the most successful of actors still go through periods of no work, and yes, still have to audition. Sitting listening to these actors speak, I also felt like I belonged, like I hadn't made the wrong choice to pursue acting, despite the insecurity one can sometimes feel from all the rejection.

So I am very glad I went, and there were one or two small things I hadn't known about the process that were also quite interesting to hear about.

Then, later that day, I was on one of my usual writing forums at home and a thread was started discussing the nature of query letters. It had less to do with the typical, "How does one write a query letter" and more to do with "Why do we follow a certain formula when writing query letters". It was far more philosophical than practical, in other words. Many people weighed in with excellent advice, but I couldn't help but feel we were all overthinking the issue a bit much.

Having just been at that acting conference discussing auditions, and having had one yesterday, and also having also gone through the querying process myself, and being rejected by all but one agency, I decided that I wanted to post my thoughts on the process.

The fact is, there is simply no magic potion that will get you an agent (acting or literary) or get you the work (acting or literary). You can follow all the guidelines down to the letter and not hear a peep from anyone, and meanwhile some person you know will do everything "wrong" and become a huge success.

There is simply no tried tested and true method.

So what on earth are we supposed to do? It's maddening reading the stories from successful authors or actors on how they got to where they are today, because each story is different. We can drive ourselves to distraction trying to extrapolate that one universal thread of truth found within each tale of glory.

Yes, there are certain things you can do that will be unlikely to be frowned on. Show up on time to the audition, be polite, put in the work ahead of time, memorise your lines. Write a grammatically correct query letter. Double check the spelling, especially of the agent/editor's name. Make your story sound exciting and fresh.

And above all, in both cases, be yourself.

Ah.

Yes.

Be myself.

Myself which is so confused as to what myself should do or what myself should be that myself is just that blithering crazy person in the corner? Is that the myself to whom you are referring?

It ain't easy my friends. It ain't easy.

But I am afraid the "myself" factor . . . that's the key.

So this is what I have gleaned. Partially from my success in the writing world, and partially in my . . . not as great success (yet) . . . in the acting world.

In the end, dude, you have to find what works for you.

Listen to the advice. Listen to all of it. Read the stories, watch the interviews, be a sponge and absorb it all. Hmm . . . wrong metaphor. Don't be a sponge, be a sieve. Let the information pass through you, let it register, and then catch the larger bits that make the most sense to you. Those bits that work for your personality. That honours who you are. Steal the good stuff, and let the other stuff just go away.

It'll take a few tries to find what suits you best. And, while you're trying, people who don't like the method you chose will try to convince you to do something else. They could be right, they could be wrong. Just let it pass through you and see if anything remains.

But don't look for the magic potion. It doesn't exist. It would be nice if it did. But it doesn't. There simply is no one way, no one path, to achieving our dreams. It's what makes each of our journeys special. Would you really want to walk down a path with everyone else? It would be crowded, and you wouldn't be able to see anything except the other people around you. What about the sights man, what about the sights?!

Look, this whole acting/writing thing is really hard. And what sucks even more is that the kind of people who tend to be drawn to the arts tend to be more emotional, more empathetic, tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves more obviously than the average Joe. So not only do we have a really tough road ahead of us, we feel the pain all the more acutely (not meaning to diss other people and other jobs. Again, sweeping generalisation here.).

But don't let all the white noise confuse you. You can only do what works for you, not what worked for someone else. Trust your instincts. Trust your gut. Be open to advice, but protect your heart.

Advice in the arts tends to be very impractical. You try taking a voice class. Seriously. "There is a fire in your belly and the smoke is slowly moving up your throat . . . " You learn everything by friggin' metaphor. And the reason you learn everything by friggin' metaphor is because the teacher is trying so darn hard to find one universal way to teach an entire class something very personal, something that you can't see, something visceral. You've got to give them serious props, that is so not easy.

Anyway, advice in the arts is impractical. It is the best someone can do at the moment. And so, this is very important, one must learn not to look at the words, but rather to look at the spirit of the advice. Really that's a good idea in general I think. Don't get wrapped up in the technicalities.

Just remember to be practical. Be professional. Be thoughtful.

And yes.

Be yourself.

Anonymous

A couple of posts ago, Book Lady made a comment in the comments section (a thoroughly appropriate place to put a comment I might add) that said this:

P.S. I had to stop by because you were the only commenter brave enough to actually put your name on your comment over at The Rejector. In a sea of anonymous commenters, you stood out. :-)

I thought it was important to post this as another example of my amazing wonderfulness.

And also because it really set me thinking in the last few days.

Everyone knows one of the joys of the internet is the ability to be anonymous. Everyone also knows it is one of its greatest dangers. Who exactly is the person behind the avatar? How can we trust anyone online? People have built relationships based on playing make believe, fall in love with someone they thought was a hoolahoopist and turns out to be a doctor, etc.

And hopefully when we enter the world of the wide web, we take caution, we don't trust completely, we are careful not to give out personal information to just anyone. We are responsible.

I have always been aware of the anonymity and its sinister evilness on the web. Of the extremes of horribleness. But now that I have become more of a participant, not just an observer, in the past few years, I have to say, it is the more subtle moments of anonymity, that have really begun to surprise me.

I exist in a part of the internet that is populated by more of the thoughtful, mature, and intelligent people out there. I am talking about the writing world. I have a lovely group of bloggers with whom I can have a very interesting exchange of ideas, as well as am a member of several very reputable writing forums - where, for example, a newbie will quickly be chastised for using "text speak".

And so I find it all the more upsetting when I read certain blogs by very intelligent professionals, and people in return post extremely nasty defensive comments. Okay, everyone is allowed their opinion, but here's the crux . . . they do it anonymously. And that is just . . . well . . .chicken.

To put it more eloquently, people have stopped taking responsibility for their actions. People are hiding behind the pseudo-anonymity (no one is truly anonymous on the internet as ISP's prove) of the internet to let the basest of emotions take over. You would think in an environment that forces you to write things out, to take the time to put words down, there would be a thoughtfulness associated with it. Not so.

And it isn't like these really strongly opinionated offensive posts (comments) are even helpful to the debate. I have never seen a nasty comment help move a discussion towards any direction other than mud slinging.

What happened to thoughtfulness?

Now some people claim they wish to be anonymous because they don't want the crazies to track them down, fair enough. But it has been my experience that these same people are also the ones who just run off at the mouth, feel free to insult whomever, and then run away as quickly as they can.

There are many reasons I am not anonymous on the internet. One of them being that I am here to try to promote my work, and it would do a great disservice to say, "Go buy my book, I won't tell you what it is called, or what it looks like . . . but you'll figure it out." But another is I knew that by being myself, I would have a responsibility to think before I spoke. To remember that ANYONE can read these blog entries, and that, this may sound cheesy, but I wanted to make sure that my parents would be able to read what I wrote, and I would not feel ashamed.

I have very strong opinions. I also talk loudly, you might not know this as I haven't chatted with many of you in person, but believe me, it's true. And I get carried away emotionally far more than is necessary in a debate. In short, I am far from perfect. No one is perfect, and, my word, EVERYONE makes mistakes.

But these days so few people own up to them. It isn't just the anonymity on the internet, it's the false apologies given by the media: "I'm sorry if this article offended you", or by politicians, "While things have turned out differently, we did what we thought was right at the time".

Heck it is the lack of apologies in general. The admitting you were wrong. We are so focused on feeling good that even when we know we did wrong, we can't admit to it because that moment of, "I'm sorry, I was wrong" is such an icky feeling. Can't we just get over ourselves?

What happened to people taking responsibility for their actions?

At any rate, that is one of the main reasons I do not post anonymously on the internet. It keeps me honest. It keeps me humble (yes humble, sometimes . . .sheesh, I too can be humble!). It keeps me kind. It keeps me embarrassed at times too when I do say the wrong thing, or just put my nose where it doesn't belong.

And it keeps me human.

Advice

Occasionally I get asked for advice. Most of the time I get specific questions about specific issues a writer is dealing with. But sometimes I get:

"What advice can you give an aspiring writer?"

. . .

This is a pretty big question as you can imagine. There is a lot a lot of advice that can be given out. About writing. About the publishing process. About marketing. About maintaining sanity. Of course I always have opinions on any subject, and I thought I would maybe write a couple of posts in the coming days on each of these topics.

But today's entry is going to be a nice list of links. Because there is no way I could feel comfortable giving my relative newbie advice without sharing the knowledge of some pretty smart and more experienced individuals first.

So . . . check out JA Konrath's blog if you are interested on advice on self promotion, he has some truly amazing insights.

John Scalzi just recently posted a very interesting entry on Writers and Money (but his blog in general is an excellent read).

There are also a gazillion agent blogs out there all trying to help writers find their way through the mysterious querying process, as well as just being informative about the agenting business. Start with Pub Rants, and follow the links on her page to other agent blogs.

Interested in writing for children? I've just come across this blog by an anonymous editor of children's books. There are also these two websites devoted strictly to writing for children: Verla Kay and Write4Kids.

For general information about agents and a good introduction to the world of query writing, check out Agent Query.

And to check up on the legitimacy on any agents or editors, we have Predators and Editors, as well as Writer Beware (and its fabulous blog). Writer Beware is also the site that introduced the Twenty Worst Agents list, well worth checking out.

I also have already linked to several other blogs and websites in the sidebar here at The Temp, The Actress and The Writer, totally check them out.

Lastly, if any of my fabulous readers would like to add to this list in the comments section please do so! I only learned about many of these sites through online friends like yourselves!

Next post, I shall attempt to answer the writing advice question myself. Until then . . .I think these links will totally keep you all rather occupied!

I have the best readers ever!

Okay, I don't know who it was, or even when it happened, but I have to say it really made my day when I checked out the Amazon listing for Timothy, and noticed that I had a sales rank!

For those not in the know, on Amazon it tells you where your book is in terms of sales. Alex for example is currently at 44,028 (the rank changes hourly and really reflects a general state of your books, it really isn't an exact science. If your book is in the top 1000, you are doing very well, in the tens of thousands, not bad, hundreds of thousands . . . well you get the idea).

But you only get a sales rank once someone buys your book (obviously). Until then there are no numbers. So if you see numbers, that means someone somewhere bought a copy of your book! And I see 747,446 over at Timothy!

So thank you to whomever bought my book! I feel very JK Rowling (obviously I'm on a JK Rowling kick this week) with all my pre sales. Or should I say, pre sale.

Silly, but it really made my day!

The Great Defender . . .

Maybe it's because I adore her books. Maybe it is because she is so cool under pressure. Maybe it's because I think we would maybe actually get along really well and I would love someday to go for coffee with her in a very civilised absolutely non-stalkery way.

But I feel a need to be JK Rowling's great defender.

Not that she needs my help, of course, she can more than take care of herself.

Still, I get a bit sick and tired when I read in various different locations (blogs, articles, forums), that all JK Rowling is interested in is the publicity and the money. People said this when she announced Dumbledore was gay. People said this when she made those seven books (oh, and gave away six of them, auctioning off only the last, you know, for charity, but whatever). People say this as a general rule, as if J K Rowling sat down one day and decided to be an author to make the big bucks.

And it gets me . . . grr.

First of all. Anyone who has seen any interview with JK Rowling knows that she is a writer through and through. All she has ever been since she was little was an author. It's so obvious how passionate she is about writing, that even if you don't like her work, you simply can't deny she loves what she does.

But.

EVEN if let's say she was doing this for the money (uh . . .right . . . because there isn't any easier way out there to make money than writing books), there is no way on this green earth that she could have predicted the kind of success she was to get. Because the kind of success she's had? Has never happened to any other author ever.

Yes Dan Brown, very successful. Yes Mr. Grisham does splendidly. But the attention, the money, the world wide phenomena, the awesome parties, the changing the nature of an entire genre (by which I mean demonstrating to publishers that writing for children is indeed a viable market, and making said market one of the hottest of all markets right now)? That distinction belongs to JK Rowling, and JK Rowling alone.

And if she could have predicted all that . . . well then I think the ability to see so clearly into the future itself is a pretty admirable thing, and she still deserves accolades.

So yes, as you can see, I am quite obviously JK Rowling's great defender.

Or so I thought.

Until I found this article, and I realised that of course there is one out there who has always been in her corner, who has always been supportive of her books. He has written many an article about her, but this one I think is just brilliant. Forgive me if any of you have already read it. I am often late to the game. But it's a good'un, and really shares just how impressive a thing JK Rowling has done.

May I present to you the true bearer of the great defender title: a one, Mr. Stephen King.

Another Interview

Hey all!

Quick post today. I was interviewed over at the blog of author Auria Cortes. If you feel so inclined, please have a quick peek, and if you feel even more so inclined, maybe post a comment or two over at her blog!

Thank you so much for the lovely interview Auria, your questions were very interesting, and good fun to answer!