Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Cleaning Up: If You Want to Donate

As we look up North, we find devastation. But we also find hope: people cleaning up, working together, rebuilding.

It's tempting to send goods to help, but the most efficient way to help is to contribute money.

If you don't want to donate to the well-known Red Cross or Salvation Army, check out your charity on  Charity Navigator or Charity Review. Both these sites will allow you to vet your charities before sending them money, so that you know the most money of your dollar ends up helping people, and that you're not donating to a scam. Read up on the tips to smart giving.

One 4-star group I found through the sites above, for example, was All Hands Volunteer.

Also consider donating blood. A check at the Red Cross site shows that Type A and Type O blood is currently needed most, although all types are welcome. If you'd rather not donate through the Red Cross but still want to donate, you can check to see if any of your local hospitals are collecting blood. In Raleigh, for example, Rex Hospital has a donor center on Blue Ridge Road, open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10:30 am to 6:30 pm and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays 8:30-4:30.

While pictures from New York--with half the lights off, and water filling the streets--are creepy and reminiscent of a zombie apocalypse movie or two, it's not the end of time. It's just time to rebuild.

Prayers/wishes for quick recovery to everyone in the New England area who has been affected by the storm!

And also--Happy Halloween!

Monday, October 29, 2012


You know it's going to be a bad storm when the weathermen are scared.

I remember the April tornadoes of 2011, listening to the weathermen talk about them afterwards, about how they sent everyone at the station downstairs to a safe location except those who were absolutely necessary to keep the weather coverage running. There were dozens of tornadoes in that storm, touching down on all sides of everywhere, some apparently within sight range of the station itself.

The weatherpeople admitted they'd been scared then. But they stayed, and did their jobs, because hundreds of thousands of listeners were tuning in to know what was going on, to learn how to be safe and to find out where the greatest danger at any given point in time would be. They stayed and did their jobs, despite life-threatening danger, because people depended on them.

They've got a lot of courage, those people.

Right now, I'm praying that my brother & his fiance, and our aunts, uncles and cousins, all stay safe as they prepare for the storm to blow through.

I'm also, as a writer with an idea for a storm-themed novel, curious about the storm, about what it'll be like and what the aftermath will be. I want to know what a "Frankenstorm" will look like. I know I'll be studying the cloud images afterwards, clicking through weather sites and noting the patterns and the results of each. What will we learn from this storm, I wonder?

And what will these lessons cost?

To everyone preparing to ride out the worst, my prayers and/or wishes for good luck (whichever you prefer). To the brave weather and newspeople who will run out into thick of it with cameras and microphones, be safe. And to the scientists studying the storms, please share what you learn.

What are your thoughts on the approaching storm? Are you in the midst of it? How are you preparing?

Friday, October 26, 2012

Hints and Foreshadowing

Maybe it's just me, but when a tiny detail from the first pages shows up again in the last pages of a book, it always gives me a thrill of excitement.

Foreshadowing, hints, clues, even just setting the stage: these are the things that bring a novel together.

How does your end connect to your beginning? Is there something you can throw in to tie it all together?

In The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley, one of the reasons the main character never quite fit in with the Society crowd is that she is a penniless blueblood--of questionable blue-blooded-ness, with a suspect great-grandmother whom no one tells her much about. It's not something I questioned or really even noticed the first time I read through, because it's a very reasonable explanation for why the character isn't able to connect, and thus why she's somewhat less upset than she should be for being shipped out to far away Daria after her father dies, leaving her (the unwed and unlikely to ever wed sister) as a burden to her soldier brother.

It comes back up later. I won't ruin the surprise, but grammy's secrets make a big difference. It's only at the very end that the protagonist really uncovers what those secrets were, things the reader has long suspected, but are only confirmed near the end. That little touch helps give the whole novel unity.

Unity and coherence leave a reader satisfied. The further back these hints are threaded in, the more well-rounded the story feels.

If you've got a manuscript in the works, take a moment and go back to the beginning. Look for a place where you can seed in a hint of things to come. Don't make it too obvious; your readers will catch it the second time through. That's what makes them read the book a second time, after all: trying to catch all the things they missed.

What moments of foreshadowing have you seen in books that brought the whole piece together?

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Wednesday Writing Exercise

Find the book nearest you with at least 250 pages. Turn to page 75 and copy out the 3rd sentence.

Now rearrange the words to make a new sentence (you may make minor grammatical changes to accommodate this, if necessary). Describe who would say this, and when it would be said.


"Now you know why one of the primary prerequisites of both our jobs is a perfect memory!"


"Now one of the prerequisites of both our jobs is, you know, a perfect primary memory!"

17 year old high school senior
Counselor at a summer time-jumping camp, she's explaining to her sophomore new recruit why counselors must have a perfect memory of the camp in good order: because last year there was a horrible accident, and a counselor couldn't remember everything well enough to jump backwards in time to prevent it, so the accident was never reversed.

Grammar/vocabulary Requests

Have a grammar or vocabulary question? Want an answer? Ask, and I'll research the rules for you!

If I can't find the answer, I'll at least let you know where I looked. I also can't promise an exact time frame, but I'll be as prompt as I can.

Note that I follow the Chicago Manual of Style, and use American formatting. There are a few differences, especially in punctuation, between American formats and UK formats.

Monday, October 22, 2012

One Way to Make a Presentation

Let's say you're given a room of twenty to sixty adults and told to give a presentation. Here's one way to create your presentation. It's not the only way, and some people will prefer other methods, but it's one that works for me.

Remember that adults are frequently more difficult to teach than schoolchildren. Children are used to being in instructor-led sessions, while adults are long out of practice. Therefore, it's important to use good group management techniques, such as bringing your group back on focus frequently, and avoiding large chunks of lecture.

How to plan:

Purpose: Write the purpose of the meeting at the top of you paper. Include your audience and what the goal is.

Ex: Educate 30 head waiters from different franchises on how to assign shifts using the company's new software.
Audience? restaurant managers for Isohedron Sandwiches
Goal? They'll be able to use the software.

Room resources: If you know your venue, write down what your resources are. If possible, draw the room. Be as detailed as you can, and if you have notable limitations, write those down.

Ex: Six round tables, six chairs at each. One projector connected to a computer, cast on a wall. Do not have drawing tool. Laser pointer. 6 large notepads. 1 spiral-bound notebook per attendee. 1 computer per table, not including instructor computer. 2 pens per person. Markers, colors unknown. Nametags.

Write down time.

Ex. 90 minutes

Essential points of instruction: What is absolutely necessary for you to accomplish your goal? Write these steps down.

All attendees must learn steps to using new software.
All attendees must practice using new software.
All attendees must be shown FAQ on new software.
All attendees must be given resources for trouble-shooting.

Detail points: Make each essential point of instruction its own heading. Fill in bullets on how to teach the point of instruction. Make subheadings if necessary. Remember that group participation increases memory and keeps the group active, so vary lecture with group interaction.

All managers must learn steps.
*Using projector, have slides showing steps, 1-2 steps per slide. Move slowly enough for attendees to take notes.
*Begin with "Adding New Employee" (5 steps). Go through slides on this topic. Go back to first of these slides.
--Ask one manager from each table to follow along on the computer while the others watch.
*Move on to "Removing an Employee" (4 steps).
--Allow different attendee to follow along on second run-through.

All attendees must practice new software.
*Give each attendee the chance to do each set.
--Managers take turns inputting each step. They may use their notes and help each other. Set each manager up with a list of dummy names to use.

All attendees must be shown FAQ.
*Hand out address of FAQ. Hand out print-outs to every attendee.
*Pull up on screen. Give students a few minutes to read through.
*Ask for questions.

Combine activities, break activities up, find ways to give natural breaks, give activities to do when finished early: Adults long out of school can be harder to teach than most school children. Expect talking, speaking over one another, interruptions. To manage your group, keep them moving and don't let them get bored. Clearly define what you will be doing before every change of activity so they know what is expected: listening without questions, save questions until the end, work quietly while someone else practices.

Lecture on "Adding a new employee." Tell everyone to take notes.
Provide each table with a list of dummy servers to add/delete.
Allow one manager to follow along at each table while the others watch.
Explain, "Each of you should now take a turn adding a new employee. Those who are not working on the computer, please read through the FAQ that's been printed out and jot down questions."

When everyone is complete, move on to lecture "Removing an employee."

Add introduction and conclusion: Write the introduction to the lesson. Clearly state the goal to the students. Decide if you will share your agenda or not. Decide if your students will introduce themselves to one another, and how they will do so.

Decide how you will conclude the lesson, and if there will be any homework/follow-up needed.

Make a list of materials needed: List all materials needed. Write down when it's best to hand them out.

Lists of dummy servers (have at table at beginning)
Print-outs of FAQs (Hand out after follow-along)

Read-through and make necessary changes: Does the presentation flow well? Are the lectures too long? Did you include a place to ask questions?

Compile the lesson and write it out for yourself in a manner that is easy for you to follow. Practice.

Presentation example:

Presentation: New Company Software

Setup: Place lists of dummy servers at each table. Include 5 name badges/table and 5 markers/table. Sign computers in to the software.

Introduction: Attendees should sit 5/table. I will stand at front. As they come in, ask them to write their name on a nametag.

State goal: "At the end of this lesson, you will be able to use our new software to assign employees to shifts."

Introductions: Ask each manager to stand and say his/her name and the franchise he/she comes from.

Say: "We'll begin by looking at adding a new employee. Please watch and take notes. You will have an opportunity to practice in a few minutes."
(Write out lecture)
"Now the person sitting in front of the computer will follow along as I do the steps again. Please watch the person at your table with the computer."
"The next person should take the computer and add the next name on the list. You will each have a chance to try. You may help one another if you get stuck, but try to figure it out yourself first. If you still have trouble, raise your hand and I will come by. While others are on the computer, read through the FAQ I'm handing out. Jot down any questions you have."

(repeat for each process)

"Now compare the questions you have from your FAQs. Write any questions from your group on the large pad that you cannot answer as a group." (give 5 min)

Compare and answer questions.

"If you have any additional problems, here's what you should do:"
(Hand out magnets with customer service phone numbers)

Conclude the lesson: "Are there any final questions?"
Thanks for coming today.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Publishing Industry news

Your bimonthly (or so) publishing news! Covering 10/3-10/19, a couple of extra days because last post came right before the fabulous Moonlight & Magnolias conference in Atlanta, GA. Because of the extra days, the news list is rather long, so I'll be keeping the blog section short & sweet.

Industry News

What do you think about letting people pay what they want for your book? The Humble e-book collection is trying this, letting customers pay what they want and donating the proceeds to charity. They've raised over $900 thousand, so it must be working well!
(Did I waste 20 minutes of time that I should have spent blog writing browsing my new e-books instead? Don't worry; your 20 minutes when you should be reading the industry news will cancel it out.)
Kindle has a new app that allows teachers and businesses to share e-books. Not individually bought ones, of course, but free e-books and documents can be made available to everyone on the network.

Quercus, British publisher, opens an office in New York to begin taking advantage of the U.S. markets. There's a new publisher on the block, folks, with a debut list for fall 2013.

Amazon releases the new Author Rank feature. Many authors seem to be displeased--who wants to see how far down the list they are? Volunteers? No...?

Amazon reminds customers that they may be receiving credit (aka money towards new e-book purchases) from the deal struck by Hachette, Simon & Schuster, and HarperCollins in the lawsuit filed by attorney generals over e-book pricing.

Speaking of litigation, the Association of American Publishers sued Google over the Google Library project. Now, seven years later, they've reached a settlement. Unfortunately the details are mostly confidential. Writers groups are going on record saying that they want these details made public.

And the Authors Guild vs. HathiTrust lawsuit has been tossed, after the judge ruled that the HathiTrust follows the Fair Use clause. The Authors Guild disapproves, but hasn't yet thought of what to do next.

Earlier this year we heard that the publisher Dorchester was closing. Now they're trying to revert the rights of books back to authors.

Kobo's expansion in self-publishing continues as they add capabilities for several new languages. They also acquire a selection of new resources, such as buying a company that makes publishing multimedia for comics and children's' books easier, and making deals with bookstores.

Hachette restructures its sales departments to incorporate digital publishing. Unlike most 'restructuring' these days, nobody got fired--although there were a few promotions and a few new jobs.

Budding authors may now publish through their local libraries.

Have a Tumblr page? Want to figure out what your stats mean? Now they have an official analytics tool.

And Random House, the publisher, experiments with TV. They'll be basing shows off books. At least we know they've got tons of material to draw on, so I'm curious to see how this turns out. (But why did they have to wait until I canceled my cable?!)

The Overdrive library program expands into audiobooks.

Industry Blogs

QueryTracker for 10/1910/12 and 10/5.

If you have the option to set your own price on your own e-book, you're probably wondering what to price it. Jason Ashlock gives some advice and his observations based on The Rogue Reader imprint. $2.99 isn't the magic number anymore; $3-$8 is picking up popularity.

GalleyCat has an interesting infographic on how e-books are affecting publishing.

Planning to publish? Rachelle Gardner gives her readers a glimpse of what a book edit really looks like, as in describing all the different forms of editing that are involved.

Janet Reid discusses what to do if your agent quits.

On QueryTracker, Sarah Pinneo gives advice on how to ask for a blurb.

See? Told you I'd keep it short!

What interesting publishing-related news or blogs have you come across in the past two weeks?

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Just Bookmark This Until I'm Published

When you read my novel, you'll understand why this had me rubbing my eyes and then checking to see if I'd suddenly developed magical powers overnight--and being desperately relieved that I hadn't.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Dealing with Conflicting Advice

"Always begin your synopsis with your elevator pitch."
"Always begin a synopsis with the conflict."
"One good way to start a synopsis is to describe each character."
"Begin your synopsis by clearly stating the genre."

Conflicting advice gives everyone headaches. Usually, this has to do with the sad fact that there's no right answer, and even if there were, there's no way for the inexperienced to know what it is.

If there's no right answer, though, there's no shortage of wrong answers. Never including a conflict, for example, is a wrong answer when it comes to writing a synopsis. So is using poor grammar, or writing backwards, or using gold and green ink.

Sometimes the only way to learn is through experience, personal trial-and-error to see what works. It's long, it's irritating, it's arduous, and a hundred million people are rubbing their temples over the same thing right now. You're not alone.

People try to make it easier by sharing their own advice, the knowledge they've collected by trying the process themselves. The problem is, different things work for different people. That's why there's so much conflicting advice.

In the end, you just have to buckle down and try a few different variations of the same thing, until you find one that works for you. Choose a piece of advice that comes from several sources and seems to have good results from others, and see if it works for you. If it doesn't, try something else.
This runs from query letters to synopses to manuscripts to job applications. Sometimes you'll have to pick up a part-time or two or three to make ends meet while you wait for a full-time job to open up, or that advance to arrive. It sucks. I know; I've done it. The sheer level of exhaustion is something that has to be experienced to be believed, and the idea that you still have to do something else when you get home is a mind-numbing horror that makes you want to curl into the fetal position and cry for a week. Even if it's the very thing that might get you out of your three part-time jobs. Some days it just won't get done. But other days it will, and it's those days you have to focus on.
At some point, through persistence and trial and error, you'll find what works for you. Maybe it'll be like magic. Maybe it'll be something you thought was a failure and were sure would never work, but then did. And you'll stand on the mountain and shout out what it was that worked for you, because no one should have to deal with the frustration you've been through.

And one day, maybe someone will stop by your mountain, and discover that what works for her is what worked for you, too.

The best way to deal with conflicting advice is to choose what you think will work for you and try it yourself. You'll never please everyone, but you can please yourself, so start there. And if it doesn't work, try something else.

What kinds of conflicting advice have you had to deal with in the past? How did you deal with it?

Friday, October 12, 2012

Story Seeds

At Moonlight and Magnolias, one of the agents I was pitching to asked me where I'd gotten the idea for the story. At the time I couldn't remember, and said it was probably a dream--if you haven't noticed, my dreams tend to be wild and fertile soil for stories.

But later I thought about it, and remembered. Last year I did a writing exercise. I created a character who deeply loved her family, gave her a magic she couldn't use, and ended on a vague disaster that made me so curious I had to know more, which meant I had to write more!

I had three seeds: a character, a hint of a disaster, and an irony.

Every novel was planted as a random seed and bloomed into a full-fledged manuscript, then trimmed and twined into publishable form. There are no limits to the germination of ideas, because everything--everything--can be planted, and if planted in the right soil, with the correct combination of other ideas, and watered with a diligent word count, it will grow.

Some stories are easier to grow than others. Sometimes stories wither and die before reaching the right shape. Sometimes they get neglected and go feral, taking over some forgotten corner of your mind until they strangle themselves into scraggly weeds no one would ever want to inflict on the neighbors.

And sometimes they bloom.

Seeds aren't always grandiose, or even remarkable. In high school my friends and I would choose a random idea and present each other with a full-fledged short story the next week. These ideas were things like a failed sneeze, or a lunch room, or a cold breeze, or a buzzing. And from them came a vast array of aliens, magics, spies, and quirky poems, each wildly different from the last, each unique and strangely compelling.

It wasn't the topic that made these stories. The topics were things to which we tied other things:
For me, a lunch room combined with aliens and just another day in the office to make a space drama. For another, a lunch room contained a spy and a lost contact to create a heist.

Just seeds. Little, ordinary, boring seeds buried together and watered with words until they sprouted into an idea.

If you're having trouble coming up with an idea for your next story, look around yourself and pick up a couple of seeds. Put them in a bowl together and see what sprouts. Start simple: something about a character (hair color, profession, clothing, accent), add an object (paperclip, jewelry, toy, shoe), and an event (lost it, killed something with it, it has a secret, someone else wants it.)

Chain them together: A blue-haired woman loses a paperclip.

Now ask yourself: Why is this paperclip important to her? (form a connection)

Then ask: What happens when she loses it? (figure out the consequence. Make it dramatic enough that you're hooked!)

Then ask: Why is it important that she's blue-haired? (Everything must be important! This step provides your plot twists, a glimpse of your setting, or some deeper characterization to get you started.)

Follow up: Add in a twist (intrigue) and then explain why that twist is important (make relevance)

Example: The paperclip was holding together her notes for a presentation that will make or break her career. (connection) It falls off in the elevator. When she steps off the elevator, someone runs into her, and the papers go flying. Because of this, she gets rattled and stumbles through the presentation, and gets fired. (Consequence/initial hook) But it turns out that the man she ran into is the company's most important client, and when he discovers that he caused her to lose her job, he sets out to fix things--but he doesn't want others to know he's a nice guy, so he's out to do it without anyone knowing. (intrigue!)

Now it's your turn. Why is it important that she has blue hair? Why can't the client let people know he's actually a good person?

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Moonlight and Magnolias: Submit your requested materials!

Angela Quarles and me
The illustrious Angela Quarles, whose manuscript Must Love Breeches finaled in the Maggies, the Golden Pen, the On the Far Side contest, the Molly contest, the ECO contest, AND the Heart of the West contest, poses with me at Moonlight and Magnolias. Oh, and just because you should know how very awesome this lady is: all that, and she's a Browncoat, too!

I had a fantastic time: met fabulous people (See the picture? PROOF), attended fantastic classes, pitched to agents, and danced at the Steampunk and Corset Maggies Ball until my poor lil' feet blistered and my legs strongly discouraged any kind of bending, squatting, or kneeling.

Now it's time for the follow-up. For those of you who have had the opportunity to pitch at a conference, here's your chance: Actually (e-)mailing in your requested works puts you ahead of the game. Agents complain that their pitches rarely follow through, meaning that when a writer does, the query gets a serious look.

Show how professional you are and send that requested manuscript/partial manuscript in. It shows you're professional enough to follow through, and you're serious about your career. So do it! The usual time frame I hear is to send in within 1 month maximum, giving you just enough time to make last-minute fixes with whatever you've learned at conference.

Who else went to Moonlight and Magnolias? What did you learn?

Monday, October 8, 2012

Too Few Women in Your D&D Group?

I play Dungeons and Dragons. Not as often now as I did in college, but every now and then, I join a group of friends around the table for a delicious meal, pull the dicebag out of my purse, a character sheet out of my bag, and indulge in a four to six hour hangout session with a bunch of friends who know how to tell a good story. Some of these friends are women.

Despite the stereotypes, 1/3-1/2 women is the norm I play with. I've never been the only girl in a group, at least not for the entire campaign, and I don't go specifically looking for co-ed groups: I just hang out with my friends. Lady geeks tend to enjoy a good cooperative game that involves lots of roleplaying; there are few better games for social cooperative gaming than Dungeons & Dragons.

Sometimes I hear the question of "how do we get more women to join our group?" It's simple: 1) Know women who are geeks and 2) Play the game in a manner that appeals to the women you know.

There are ladies who prefer meat-grinding dungeon crawls over any other kind of dungeon. But on the whole, there are aspects of the game that women in general (at least the ones I know) tend to enjoy more. If you've got a gender imbalance and want more women in your group, here are some things to try, based on what I and the other lady geeks I've met enjoy:

  • Make sure your campaign has an overarching plot. Consider how popular RPG games are with video-game playing women. Plot's important, so embrace it.
  • Avoid railroading. Nobody likes being steered in a certain direction without choice. Out-of-the-box scenarios are especially prone to this bad habit, so if your DM enjoys this kind of creativity, ask if he or she is willing to make a campaign from scratch that responds to the characters' backstories, choices, and personal goals. It's a big time commitment, but everyone in the group will probably enjoy the games more. If it's not possible, try adding house rules to customize the game, or give the players pieces of backstory to work around so that they can come into the scenario already tied to it. This will make it seem more personalized.
  • Include roleplaying XP. Meat-grinding isn't appealing to everyone. Give players equal credit for figuring a way to avoid a fight as for killing all the monsters in gratuitous slaughter. Sometimes a battle is the best way to deal with a problem, but if it's always the best way? Not as much fun. The games in which my female friends and I generally have the most fun tend to involve a more or less equal ration of problem-solving to meat-grinding--especially when the problems are responsive to the party's attributes.
  • Let the ladies take a few sidequests of their own making. There's nothing wrong with armor-decorating or in-game recipe sharing, and if they decide to organize a town-wide celebration for the mayor's birthday as a distraction for the party to avoid getting caught sneaking into the mayor's mansion--let them go all out! Being nerdy doesn't mean girls don't still enjoy being girly on occasion (unless the DM throws "fashion unicorn sparkly party" at them; that's just lame. You're best off letting each group of women spark their own ideas until you have a genuine feeling for sidequests they might enjoy). It's not a bad idea to suggest the party delegate tasks so that party members who aren't into selecting gauntlets and matching boots can be, say, out on a hunting mission, or off buying a ship from the docks. Each sub-group can make a plan and then approve the highlights with the DM. This is a great place to award roleplaying XP, and if that impromptu birthday celebration later helps the party when dealing with the townsfolk, so much the better.
Don't make the mistake of assigning the girls to 'girly' tasks. Not every woman likes cooking; some men are excellent at event planning. Allow your players to choose for themselves who does what.
  • Include a social aspect of the game. If charisma is an across-the-board dump stat, consider giving your characters more town-time. Also, don't emphasize charisma disproportionately for female characters when it doesn't matter: a fighter still values strength over flirting ability. Incorporate tasks where diplomacy matters. If you're playing 3.5 or older, remember that "bard" is only a useless class if the DM makes it such. Encourage your DM to build a campaign that makes use of every character's strongest skills.
  • Don't force the girls to play clerics or sorceresses. Yes, those are the classes women frequently play. Often that's because the guys have already called dibs on the fighter-classes. Every now and then, encourage a female player to try a barbarian or a fighter--but don't force her if she declines.
  • Avoid rules-lawyering. Sitting around for half an hour arguing over a rule wastes everyone's time. If your DM is purposely trying to kill your characters, try switching to Paranoia or let someone else DM for a while. Otherwise, try adopting a "DM says, challenge later" rule, where you accept the DM's take for the game session and e-mail challenges or notes afterwards, to be applied in the future (but never retroactively).
  • Let the group goof off every now and then. In-character joking around is just plain fun. And build in time for out-of-character chat, too. You should be playing with friends, anyway, so if you're all-focus, all-the-time, you're probably stressing your friendships.
  • Be welcoming of new players. D&D is less popular among teen girls as it is among teen guys, so it's statistically likely that if you have a gender-balanced group, more females than males in your group have been playing for a shorter time than the group average. Being inviting to new players of either gender is a big part of growing your group; seeing another new player being mocked for being slow to figure out the math or for having less-than-fantastic battle plans typically makes a woman just as uncomfortable as being mocked herself. Yes, even if she gets treated well herself.
  •  After each session, ask every player what they enjoyed the most about that session's gameplay. Do those sorts of things more often. It might sound dorky, but all the best DMs I've played with have done this.
If you do these things already (because, let's face it, most of these are just as popular with men), and still have few to no women in your group, ask yourself if you've made a point of inviting women to join your group. Girl geeks won't appear out of nowhere; make the effort to meet a few, and invite them to bring friends (of either gender). This is called growing your social circle, also known as "making new friends." One of the best ways to bring new people in is by word-of-mouth: lady geeks will often know a couple of other lady geeks in the area, so recruiting one is the first step to gaining a balanced group. Just don't assume that every female geek has a coterie of fellow female geeks.

Do keep an eye out for jerks. Although they're just as rare as actual male jerks, female jerks just as certainly exist. Since lady geeks, like male geeks, can be loners or just plain socially awkward, it can be tough to tell the difference between a normal player and a jerk. Lady jerks are typically harder for a male player to spot than for a female player, especially at first. One test is to invite another female geek you know who isn't cliquish, have her play a few sessions (3-6), and then ask her opinion.

Every woman has different tastes and interests, so these are guidelines, not do-or-die rules. Even if you don't follow any of these suggestions, you may still find women joining your group. Keep in touch with your players' interests, and you'll make your own sessions more fun regardless of who plays.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Publishing Industry News

Note: This news post only covers 9/21-10/3! I'll be at Moonlight & Magnolias again this year, so I'll be out town for your regular Friday post. Hence, you get it Wednesday.

Industry News

 Penguin sues several authors for failure to deliver manuscripts. The authors accepted advances but never completed their promised work, and Penguin's suing for the return of the advance money, on the grounds of breech of contract.

Sept. 1-October 6 is Banned Books Week! Go grab a banned book and read it! Yes, now. Hunger Games and Brave New World are both on the 10 Most Banned Books list.

Readers can now borrow library e-books on their Nooks if they have Nook Tablet, Nook Color, or Nook HD+. 

Penguin has teamed up with 3M to create a library e-lending program. Penguin formerly worked with Overdrive, but pulled their titles last year after discomfort with the Kindle-lending. 3M is definitely small compared to Overdrive, but it could yet grow.

B&N drops the Nook Glowlight to $119 to compete with Kindle's Paperwhite (ad-free version $139, ad-version $119).

The American Library Association writes a letter than states that publishers are being "discriminatory" in their e-lending policies. The Association of American Publishers declares the letter to be "disappointing," because it doesn't acknowledge the efforts the publishers are making to e-lend, or the difficulties in creating secure technologies.

Harcourt experiments with a social media publicity measure, where readers can sign up and earn points towards free e-books by sharing e-books on their social media platforms.

Lerner Publishing's Carolrhoda Books will be accepting unagented YA manuscripts for the month of October.

Industry Blogs

 QueryTracker's Publishing Pulse for 9/28.

In her Friday Night at the Question Emporium, Janet Reid gets asked if there's a trend of self-publishing to solicit blurbs from random readers. Her answer? No way! Bad idea. She also gets asked how to be a good editor. She suggests practice and listening to client feedback. And is it a bad idea to self-publish a book in one genre when querying a book in another genre? Quite possibly yes, because if the self-pub book doesn't do well, you have a bad track record before you've ever stepped onto the court.

Writers Write gives advice on coming up with a title for your book. Make sure it fits the genre, and try to keep it fewer than 5 words long.

Something I'd never considered before, but it's important to ask people before you thank them in the acknowledgements. Kate Messner explains that it might cause a conflict of interest for the person, such as if they're trying to be on an awards committee.

Feel embarrassed because you don't write every day? Nathan Bransford says it's okay; he doesn't either. Everyone is different and many successful writers don't write every single day. Just make sure you have some kind of established routine.

Do you use a pseudonym? If you're thinking about establishing a pen name, the question of whether or not to use them in the face of modern social media is up in the air. Rachelle Gardner gives some insight into the nays. She also points out a great reason to go to writers' events, join writers' groups, go to conferences, etc: sometimes knowing the right person can give you the leg up you need to get the agent you want. At the very least, meeting people in person helps you build a support network.

Patricia C. Wrede offers advice on using a variety of body language signs, not just sighing and shrugging, to convey emotion.

Stina Lindenblatt gives some advice on prioritizing social media, and why it's important to through more than one outlet at a time.

The Editor's Blog reminds us that characters shouldn't be able to read minds unless they're actually telepathic. Avoid having characters draw conclusions about what other characters are thinking.

Help keep me (and the other readers) up to date! What have I missed? What's happening while I'm gone?

Monday, October 1, 2012

Ladies only: recommendation for unusual necklines

Hi guys. Go grab a cup of tea or coffee or something; you don't need to read this post. This one is for the ladies, on a very practical and extremely uninteresting subject matter: how to wear unusual shirt necklines with the utmost practicality. I promise it will be dull and that there are no pictures of the subject matter.


Are they gone yet?

Here's a kitty picture to give them more time (no, this is not the subject matter; doesn't count against above promise):

This is my chair now. Go write somewhere else.

Okay, now that they're gone, bra recommendation. We've all go those gorgeous shirts that traditional bras don't fit, because absolutely anything with straps will show. I have awful luck with strapless bras (which usually end up around my waist), but I got this stick-on bra and it actually works:

NuBra Ultralite, by Fashion Forms, style 16846

You do have to wash right before putting it on, soap and all, or will start to peel up at the edges towards the end of the day. Also try to get it on right the first time, because every time you pull it off and reset it, it becomes a little more likely to peel up. Do it right the first time and it stays secure all day. I've used this bra a few times a month for the past six months and it's still sticky and it still works.

After taking it off, it needs to be washed off with a gentle soap. I run it under the faucet with room-temperature water and just a little soap, rinse it off well, and let it air dry, and then store it in the box it came in. I won't claim it's got amazing support or anything (come on, it's a stick-on), but it does a reasonable job and nobody knows when I'm cold.

I got mine at Belks for $32. Worth every penny for me, because I have some really cute sleeveless tops, love unusual necklines, and of course have that obligatory dress (or three) that just don't work well with normal bras.

Men, if you're still here, you are now sworn to never reveal the tricks of the trade. Don't be surprised if a couple of nice agents in black suits show up in the near future and flash a pretty red light at you.