On The Road To Character.

I'm on a journey. This is a profound and moving book that has imprinted on me.

DFA.

Destiny's Power - Conversations with Elizabeth Jade, Author.

Over the past little while, I've had the pleasure of conversing with a remarkable young woman and author Elizabeth Jade. Elizabeth's debut novel "Akea - The Power Of Destiny" -  a powerful tale - represents a journey we all take in life in that, in order to find our destiny, we must first find ourselves. Elizabeth has grown up with some unique challenges, requiring her to discover different methods of interacting with the world. Having found writing, Elizabeth has been able to express herself in ways that transcend the day to day. As a result, she displays a formidable talent that is well worth taking notice of.

I've invited Elizabeth to pen a piece that I'm really proud to present here this week. I hope you enjoy it.

- 

I always knew I had a unique take on life, but I only found out two years ago, at the age of 18, that I had Aspergers Syndrome (an autistic spectrum disorder). People have never made sense to me.  In fact, I've made a habit of avoiding contact with them as much as possible. On the other hand, I love animals; and what’s more, they love me.  We understand each other on an almost telepathic level. This affinty with animals lead me into volunteering; first with horses, then dogs, and finally cats.

I've loved working with animals. It was the people that were the problem. We just didn't understand each other and at that time I didn't know about my Aspergers. My mum tried to give me some coping strategies, but I still kept getting confused and in the end I got so depressed and anxious that I couldn't keep it up.

Elizabeth Jade, author (image credit EJ).

After years of struggling, my mum insisted that I see someone about my anxiety and depression.  I have to say that my experience with CAMHS (Children and Adolescent Mental Health Service) was not at all pleasant, but it was here that the possibility of Aspergers was first explored.  Cats Protection then opened a re-homing centre on the edge of town and my mum spoke to them about my talents and difficulties.  As it turned out, the staff understood exactly where I was coming from and they were certain that volunteering would be beneficial for me as well as the cats. They quickly dubbed me the Cat Whisperer and I gained a great deal of satisfaction from seeing pussy personalities changing, even though I mentally struggled to go in as often as I would like. 

Another outlet for my depression and anxiety has been in writing stories; animal stories naturally. The stories come pre-written in my head and fight at all hours of the night to make their way onto paper. In an attempt to boost my self-confidence, my mum decided to prove how good my stories were by finding me a publisher for my book ‘Akea’- not an easy task.

Akea - The Power Of Destiny.

Akea is a Siberian husky who was born into a family of sled dogs and a life which should have followed a predictable path, but from the day she first saw the wolf Kazakh, Akea knew her future lay beyond the safety of her home.  She soon leaves her family and with the help of Kazakh and the wolf pack, she finds her inner wolf, but unexpectedly the pack turns on her, casting her out to fend for herself. After spending some time in an animal shelter where she learns the fate of her first family, she is sent to live with a new one, but when Kazakh finds her again, she willingly abandons them too and follows him. Kazakh is well aware of the reason for the wolf packs animosity, but Akea’s destiny is clear and he must make sure she is in the right place at the right time, even if it costs him his life.

My brain then went on to write book 2 and parts of books 3, 5 and 6.  It seems I have as much control over what order I write in as when I write it, which isn't much, but as this was obviously planning  to be a series, I added ‘The Power of Destiny’ to the first title to help me keep track of things.  Cats Protection was good enough to let me have my book launch at the Re-homing Centre last summer.  It was this familiar setting that enabled me to actually attend and 25% of sales on the day were donated to Cats Protection as a thank you. 

Marketing is a challenge for any author, but for me it’s virtually impossible.  I can’t handle any of the personal appearance methods; to be honest, I’m not up to any marketing and again it’s something my mum plays a big part in. Through our social media connections we have come across some great advice and some equally great people. We have been given the opportunity to include Akea Book 1 in a new magazine for parents and we hope this will lead to some more sales, helped to set up a newsletter and shown how to approach newspapers in a way that is more likely to get you accepted. 

I still have more bad days than not so bad ones and my self-confidence is still pretty low, but I am immensely grateful to all those who continue to support me in doing the things I love most.

Purchase Akea - The Power Of Destiny here.

Visit Elizabeth Jade here.

Tweet with Elizabeth Jade here. 

DFA.

Dean & Lucy from Australia Read Bedtime Stories (Podcast).

So...we're fortunate in our household that both our children have taken to reading and story telling with the kind of enthusiasm that makes bedtime a welcome part of the day. My wife and I take it in turns (mostly) to read to the children, swapping between our 9 year old son and 6 year old daughter. 

A few nights ago, my daughter Lucy, asked me - quite out of the blue I might add - what a podcast was. Apparently she'd been talking to her school friends and they were discussing story telling podcasts. I've no idea which ones they were talking about but Lucy told me that she wanted to do a story telling podcast of her own and could she and I record one. 

Evidently, the ability to record audio nowadays is pretty easy, so we decided to have a crack. So in the interests of sharing, I'd like to present to you our *ahem* attempt at story telling with a short read through of "The Night Fright" from the popular Australian "Billie B. Brown" children's books by Sally Rippin - one of Lucy's favourite authors.

DOWNLOAD .MP3 as read by Dean and Lucy Mayes. (right click and 'Save As...').

Billie loves hanging out with Rebecca's older sisters. They make her feel so grown-up! But is Billie grown-up enough to handle the scary movies they like? 

Sally Rippin was born in Darwin and grew up in South-East Asia. As an adolescent she studied traditional Chinese painting for three years in Shanghai and Hangzhou. Returning to Australia, her time overseas inspired her first novel Chenxi and the Foreigner. Sally has also written and illustrated many books for children, including titles from the Go Girl and Aussie Bites series and the popular Fang Fang stories. She is also the illustrator for many others, including the recent Me, Oliver Bright (2009) by Megan de Kantzow and Mannie and the Long Brave Day (2009) by Martine Murray. Sally lives in Melbourne and writes and illustrates full time.

Run time is a little under 15 minutes and we had a lot of fun recording this at bedtime. 

DFA.

When A Period Is As Good As A Punch In The Face.

One of the biggest challenges I face as a writer is the scourge of repetition.

It seems embarrassing to admit to it but I know I'm not unique. So today, I want to talk to you a little bit about repetition in writing.

When I sat down with the first completed draft of my manuscript for The Recipient, I was quite shocked at the amount of repetition I found littered through out the document.

Actually, I wasn't so much shocked as I was FUCKING HORRIFIED.

I have always been aware of my tendency to over use certain words, such as frustrated, panicked, malevolent, quipped, murmured, muttered and shocked (pun not intended). While these words, in isolation, aren't particularly extraordinary, when they begin popping up more than a few times per chapter, things quickly get to be a touch screwy. If there was a gold medal on offer for the most frequent use of these words, you can bet your arse I would win that medal...and probably the silver and bronze as well. To me, they felt safe. Too safe, as it turns out.

The use of exclamation points was another (parasitic) feature of the early draft. Ellipses too an hell, while we're at it, let's round off with a trio - because that's always good - italics. I very quickly realised that they were present on virtually every second page and I clearly remembering exclaiming - "Who Does That??!!"

Well...I do.

I suppose it's because I spent a lot of time trying to clearly convey the impact of a plot point or a line of dialogue. In the case of exclamation points, they are rather idiot proof. But therein lies the problem. Readers are not idiots. Exclamation points have more punch if they are used sparingly and, more often than not, they don't need to be used at all. There is nothing like a period to add the punch you are looking for.

"Tell me again, how punchy that exclamation point really is." 

(image copyright © 2006 MGM Pictures Inc.)

Ellipses are one of those grammatical devices that I frequently employ in the mistaken belief that I'm adding more to a scene or a line of dialogue - uncertainty, for example, or a moment of reflection. Again, there a better ways to achieve this that are much tidier.

Likewise, the actions of characters can run the risk of being repeated ad-nauseum - or, in my case, to the point of projectile vomiting.

A perfect example of this is "she/he shook her head...[insert emotional state here]". Another is the use of a " wry smile".  I did not realize just how pervasive these phrases were throughout the early draft of my manuscript but it became hair tearingly apparent to me as I delved deeper into my revisions.

Seattle based author, Molly Ringle, told me recently that you can get away with one or two instances of these in any given work, but anymore than that and you can find yourself with a mightily annoyed reader.

The task I set for myself in the early stages of editing was to identify instances of repetition  - and junk about 75% of them.

Having found each one and assessed whether they were needed or not, I then thought about alternative words, phrases and actions that would suit as a replacement. Now this doesn't mean you have to arm yourself with the thickest thesaurus you can find and search for the most flowery, literary alternative. In my case, simply removing the "wry" from a wry smile was enough on its own. People are allowed to just simply smile. If a descriptor for said smile is necessary, know that there are more ways describe a smile. In other instances, where impact was what I was after, the period was all that I needed.

When you're in the thick of writing a first draft, it is easy to overlook repetition and its easy to be unnerved when you look back on what you have written. However, having said this, one shouldn't necessarily fret about it. That's easy to say here but, trust me, I am an expert worrier so I know how fretting can trip up your momentum. Knowing that you're going to be revisiting the text in subsequent drafts should nullify any worries. In the beginning, getting words on the page is what counts. You are going to be getting more than one set of eyes on your work later on too. That will go a long way in helping you achieve a succinct and repetition free manuscript.

So how about it? What have been your experiences with repetition? What words, phrases or actions have you been known to flog like a dead horse and what did you do you to eliminate them from your writing?

DFA.

What Is The Value Of Literature?

Earlier this week, I found myself participating briefly in a discussion about reading preferences between ebooks and physical books. 

In the course of the discussion, it became clear to me that there is an expectation on the part of a certain section of consumers and readers that a literary title presented to them in digital form should be priced dramatically lower than its print counterpart or, in many cases, it should be free.

Now, while I can accept that ebook pricing by and large should be set on a different tier to its print counterpart, their was a part of the consensus view point that made me angry.

It seemed to me, in the course of the discussion, that readers have very little concept of the work an author puts into creating,  writing, editing and producing a story. 

When an author commits to a project, it can consume anywhere up to a couple of years of your life. The amount of research, the character development, story development, editing, proof reading that is required of a writer is significant. It can be quite a daunting prospect to will a story from a few scattered ideas. 

And this, of course, is all before the manuscript is handed over to an editor and publisher.

At the end of that writing journey, when you have done everything to ensure that your story is the best possible story it can be, to be confronted with the kind of mentality that says - "oh I would never pay more than X amount of dollars for an ebook" or "I only read free titles" or I don't believe ebooks are real books..."

It actually angers me.

The one side effect of the explosion in digital reading I've observed is the degradation in the value of writing as a craft by consumers and the degradation of the value of literature as a whole. Additionally, the reaction of some authors to that side effect, is to further devalue their own work by chasing consumers, almost begging them to take on their work.

It is something that, I believe, should be addressed and challenged.

DFA.

Weekend At Clare Writers' Festival.

Last weekend, I took part in the Clare Writers' Festival in the gorgeous Clare Valley in South Australia. As part of the festival, I participated in the Indie Author Showcase on the Saturday afternoon where I sold copies of my novel Gifts of the Peramangk and chatted with a whole host of wonderful people, writers and readers - among them, New York Times best selling author Sean Williams who has written extensively in the Star Wars universe. 

Sean participated in an evening session with a number of noted Australian authors including P.D. Martin and Fiona McIntosh called "On the Couch" which was kinda like the ultimate Q and A session. It was a very funny and entertaining evening. 

For me, the Festival was a great opportunity to meet and talk and sell some books and I'm really glad I made it up there. 

DFA. 

Picking Through The Broken Pieces - Conversations With Rachel Thompson.

I have been an ardent follower of Author and Social Media entrepreneur Rachel Thompson since around 2011 when her first novel A Walk In The Snark landed on Amazon. Described as a satirical look at men, women and relationships, the novel is a collection of wry and witty essays that were drawn from Rachel Thompson's blog and presented in a roundly celebrated, multi-award winning book. 

Building on the success of that first literary outing (which she added to with her highly successful follow-up The Man Code Exposed), Rachel founded BadRedheadMedia in 2011 where she works with authors to learn social media, branding, and marketing -skills acquired through fifteen years of successful, award-winning pharma marketing and sales. Thompson has coupled her enterprise with one of the most successful Twitter presences I've seen in recent times. Describing it as a wonderful, fascinating platform to connect with readers, Thompson represents the gold standard in the effective, engaging use of that social media platform. 

Her vibrancy, advocacy and entrepreneurship makes her one of the shining lights as an author and a personality.

So, when her third published work Broken Pieces, landed in late 2012, everything I thought I knew about Rachel Thompson was turned on its head - but in the most profound way.

Broken Pieces is as far removed from her previous works as is humanly possible.

Upon approaching the book, I thought that I would read it over a week or so and savor it as I do with most books. I started reading it after finishing a night shift at my hospital and I did not stop until I had turned the last page. And, when I lay down my reader, I sat back. I was stunned. I was moved and I was changed.

Rachel Thompson's series of vignettes have been inspired by life: love, loss, abuse, trust, grief, and ultimately, love again. They examine the deepest and often darkest recesses of her life and they are like a sucker punch to the stomach. Unflinchingly honest, even brutal are descriptions that many reviewers have used to describe this work and I cannot add to those really. 

Broken Pieces is indeed those things but there is something more within its pages - a power, a courage, a potential. Rachel's examination of herself is so raw and honest. By allowing us into her world, Rachel allows us to examine her but she also encourages us to examine ourselves. Her experiences here are unique to her, yet they are unique to many of us. And, within that, Broken Pieces has the potential to start a conversation that may well lead to the healing of many like Rachel. One cannot help but be in awe of what she has achieved.

In my conversations with Rachel, I wanted to explore the genesis of Broken Pieces, and I began by asking her what was the impetus for such a deeply personal work.

Well, that’s a loaded question. I never dreamed I would share such private experiences of my past in the way I have. The idea for the book started forming when I started writing my first book, A Walk In The Snark, and some serious things happened in my life -- and here I was writing a humor book.

It put me into a quandary: my book is nonfiction based on my life, and I’m not writing about anything serious – how real is that? So I included a few of the more serious pieces in that particular book, though I continued to write non-humorous essays and such. 

Fast forward to book two, The Mancode: Exposed (again, satirical humor), and I had met so many amazing author friends, and had such a great relationship with my editor, that I started writing about my childhood sexual abuse, the suicide of my ex, and other serious topics without fear. They challenged me to dig deeper when I needed to, and I’m forever grateful. 

In making the decision to chronicle these intensely difficult pieces of her life, the challenges Rachel would face in that journey would test her like no other endeavor. And perhaps the most significant of these was Rachel's choice of stylistic presentation. Rather than conforming to a narrative with a beginning, middle and end, Broken Pieces reads as a collection of fragmented vignettes which the reader is encouraged to interpret. I asked her a little about those challenges and what she did to overcome them. 

I’m so thankful for my brilliant editor, Jessica Swift (@SwiftInkEditor) for understanding that all the ‘pieces’ create a whole. She understood my work from the second we started working together (way back on book one).

I told her that I was struggling with a structure for it – by topic, by style, I was lost LOL. She advised me to put them together in a way that represented the fragmented feelings I had experiencing everything – so there is no typical chronological order that most books have and I love that.

I do get complaints from readers occasionally that the ‘fragmented’ organization bothers them, but that to me is a total win. That’s exactly what I was hoping for. 

Arriving at the completion of a work, for any author, is a significant personal achievement. With an undertaking like Broken Pieces - to have trawled through some of the darkest corners of ones psyche - ones human experience - the sense of achievement takes on a significance that cannot be understated. I asked Rachel to reflect on that sense. What did it mean for her.

I imagine like any author feels – like letting go of our baby. I’d experienced that twice before to primarily positive response, but this book was entirely different: I was really putting myself out there, sharing intensely private moments that for years had caused so much shame.

A part of me wondered if people would consider it some kind of ‘vanity project,’ but I think my honesty wins them over in the end. At least I hope it does. I also made sure not to go into explicit detail.

The most wonderful benefit, beside reviews from people I admire intensely (top Amazon reviewer/MidWest book reviewer Tracy Riva, Dr. Bojon Tunguz, a Top 10 Amazon reviewer), so many amazing readers, several awards, etc., and being signed with Booktrope for the print version of the book, has been connecting with many other survivors of childhood sexual abuse and being a voice for so many who can’t or won’t speak out. 

Testament to the power of this book, Broken Pieces reached #1 on Women’s Studies and Gender Studies within two weeks of its initial launch and it had garnered almost 55 unique four and five star reviews in less than eight weeks. As it stands presently, Broken Pieces has attracted close to 150 reviews on Amazon alone. In March, 2013, The Midwest Book Review gave Broken Pieces five stars, as did two Top 10 Hall of Fame Amazon reviewers.

In May, 2013, Broken Pieces won best nonfiction book honorable mention from the San Francisco Book Festival, and received nominations for best nonfiction and women’s studies with the Global eBook Awards and eFestival of books — she won first place with the Global eBook Awards.

Going forward, Rachel has a follow up to Broken Pieces in the works and I have no doubt that it will meet its sibling's expectations and exceed them. 

As an author, Rachel Thompson is a astute literary talent, able to cross pollinate genres and retain a familiar voice. She is a risk taker too and those risks have paid dividends. As a business woman, Rachel has poured her considerable experience in marketing and media and occupied a space in the social networking sphere where she contributes - and empowers other to contribute - to a higher standard of social networking. A standard that promotes conversation, the exchange of ideas and self promotion that espouses integrity, rather than blind salesmanship. 

Rachel Thompson is a fully fledged human being.

Connect with Rachel Thompson here.

Purchase Broken Pieces here. 

Tweet with Rachel Thompson here. 

DFA. 

Join Dean's Campaign to have "Gifts of the Peramangk" Reviewed by Kirkus.

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