Writers' Dreams

Back when I worked as a waitress (and for years afterward), I often had waitress' dreams. Anyone who's ever worked as a server in a restaurant knows exactly what I'm talking about. There are variations, but mine typically went like this: I'm waitressing and become completely bombarded with tables. My section expands into warehouse like proportions and eventually I have dozens/hundreds of tables, so many that I can't possibly keep track. Customers want their checks, the kitchen is yelling for me to pick up orders, people need salads and bread, drink orders are waiting to be delivered. I'm working frantically, but no matter what I do, I can't get caught up.

I've had this dream many, many, many times and never once during the dream do I decide to just go back to the time clock, punch out, and go home. At some point I realized that I always got these dreams during the most stressful times in my life. Apparently, this was my subconscious telling me I was overwhelmed. Like I didn't know that already.

I haven't had one of those dreams in ages. Instead I now get what I call writers' dreams, even though on the surface they don't appear to have anything to do with writing.  Whenever I get a little snarled up in a novel, whether I'm stuck on a plot point or can't write (due to life's interferences), I get a similar dream.

These dreams are varied, but they always have one commonality. I'm in a house and I shouldn't be there. Sometimes it's a house I used to live in that now belongs to someone else. Other times I'm in a scary part of town and I take refuge in a house that happens to be open. Usually it's nighttime and I have nothing with me--no purse, cell phone, or money. In the dream I fear that the homeowners will come back and find me there. I keep thinking, I'm not supposed to be here and I'm terrified, but I can't leave. Sometimes people I know in real life are in the dream. But they never ever help me, the rat bastards. Clearly, I'm on my own.

The one good thing? Shortly after having one of these dreams, my writing usually takes a turn for the better.

Last night I had a writers' dream, but it was different this time. I was in a strange house where I discovered the homeowner asleep and I was able to slip out undetected. I remember walking down the sidewalk away from the house and thinking man, that was close! It was a little harrowing, but not nearly as intense as what I've experienced in the past.

I've been a little tangled up in my current story, but I'm choosing to believe that this dream means something has shaken loose in my subconscious.

Now I'm off to write!

Happy dreams,

Karen

A thank you to the readers of the Edgewood Series!

I've been Internet quiet lately, and have been a little anti-social in real life as well! I can be that way under normal circumstances, but right now I'll blame it on being entrenched in writing book three of the Edgewood series. Right now I'm calling it "Absolution" but that may change. Or not. :-)

In my free time I've been following Dean Wesley Smith's blog as he gives a day by day description of writing a novel in ten days. Someday I'm going to try doing this very thing! If you're a writer, his whole site is of interest, so if you haven't seen it yet, go and soak up his wisdom.

In other news, I've been inundated with emails, comments, and DMs on Facebook, Goodreads, and via my website form, all of them saying they loved the first two books: Edgewood and Wanderlust, and wanting to know when book three is coming out. Be still my heart! I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing from readers, and these messages go above and beyond anything I've ever experienced before.

This is just a tiny sampling:

I read 100+ books a year and the last author I felt inclined to take the time to email because a book was so good was George RR Martin.  You are an excellent writer and I look forward to your next book.

I rarely take the time to write to authors whose books delighted or resonated with me, but I just had to gush about how lucky I feel to have discovered your work. Even as someone who's no longer a 'young' adult by any stretch of the imagination, I just devoured Edgewood and now intend to buy...well, pretty much everything else you've ever written.


My daughter has been reading it at school and she just came home and told me it's "THE best book I've ever read, Mom….really!"

I just finished it! I couldn't put it down! I literally kicked my legs and giggled in glee when I was finished.

I haven't loved a book like this since The Hunger Games. Write faster please!


The Amazon and Goodreads reviews have been fabulous too. I am beyond grateful to everyone who's taken the time to leave a review, contact me directly, or recommend the series to another reader. Because of you, I get to write full time for a living, something I hope to do for a very long time.

So thank you, thank you, thank you!

To answer the question I seem to get the most lately--book three, Absolution, should be out in September. If that changes, I'll post it here and on Facebook. And if you want an email notification of the book's release, you can sign up here, on the contact page of my website.

Off to write!

Karen

Calling All Wisconsin Writers!

This past week I had the pleasure of meeting Bridget Birdsall, author of Ordinary Angels, when we both spoke to a group at Madison College.

Bridget asked if I'd help spread the word about an upcoming writers' conference in Madison, Wisconsin--The The 24th Annual Writers’ Institute - April 12-14, 2013. It sounds fabulous--if you're a Wisconsin writer, you'll definitely want to check it out!

 

From an email Bridget sent to me:

 

There is still time to sign up and it promises to be a great line up of programs, editors and agents…

Here’s some things they may want to know…

10 Things you maybe didn’t know about this year’s Writers’ Institute

1.)    The UW Madison Writers’ Institute is one of the premiere writers’ conferences in the U.S. and this year will be held at a new location-The Madison Concourse Hotel.

2.)    This year’s agents are looking for material within 36 genres ranging from Romance to Steampunk

3.)    This is the first year we will be inviting local publishers and small presses to the conference

4.)    We have an instructor who will discuss how to write the female superhero

5.)    Our two Practice Pitch experts are Hollywood veterans

6.)    We have over 40 workshops and 4 lively panels over the 3 days

7.)    We have a panel that features an author who will discuss how she self-published with the help of an agent

8.)    Our book signing event features our instructors’ books as well as our attendees’ books

9.)    We are premiering our new journal, The Midwest Prairie Review and celebrating the journal’s authors

10.)  The 24^th annual Writers’ Institute is one of the best places to network with other writers and come away inspired, enlightened and energized about your writing as a result of spending three days with us.

Attendees can…

Book agent pitch meetings, practice pitch meetings, advanced manuscript critiques, personal consultation sessions and the critique workshops soon as time slots fill up fast.

For those attending all three days of our event, plan on being present on Thursday evening, April 11th for our pre-conference free Practice Pitch Session. This event provides an arena to work on your pitches so your professional pitch meetings will flow with ease.

Check out all of the details of this year’s Writers’ Institute at www.uwwritersinstitute.org

OpEdNews challenges my memory!

Last week I had the honor of being interviewed by Joan Brunwasser, Senior Editor for OpEdNews. She threw me off by actually having read one of my books (A Scattered Life) and then by asking probing questions about the novel, which required me to stretch my brain and memory. Luckily, I was able to bring it.

 I hope the interview is as much fun to read as it was for the two of us to do. Joan, the next time I'm in the Windy City, I'm buying you lunch! I just know we'll have a great time.

And now, because I'm out of ado--here is the interview. The fascinating bolded questions are Joan's. The intelligent, thoughtful answers are mine.

The paperback edition--the one with the Delia Ephron quote on the cover!

My guest today is author Karen McQuestion. Welcome to OpEdNews, Karen. I just finished reading A Scattered Life. It deals with love and loss and building bridges. And it all takes place in a small town in Wisconsin. You're a cheesehead, right? Does this at all resemble where and how you grew up?

If by cheesehead you mean Wisconsin born and raised, then I'm guilty as charged! As far as A Scattered Life resembling where and how I grew up, I can't honestly say that's the case. Like most writers, my fiction is a result of things I've seen, experienced, heard about, and imagined. Mostly imagined.

A Scattered Life revolves around relationships, trust and letting people in. And the challenging dynamic of threesomes. Can you comment on that?

As a storyteller, the number three has always had a certain fascination for me. You see it in children's stories like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and in jokes (a priest, a rabbi, and a Lutheran minister walk into a bar...), and in mythology. Plays are often divided into three acts, and those acts are frequently comprised of three parts as well.

Now having said that, the combination of three females in a friendship can be a disaster. Someone always feels left out. To make matters worse, in this novel the third woman happens to be a meddling mother-in-law with issues of her own. As you can guess, nothing good can come of that.

I was fascinated by how very unlikeable Audrey, the mother-in-law, was. Was it fun to work through her character?

Poor Audrey. So misunderstood and unlikeable. She was my favorite character and she really seemed to come to life on her own. I think a lot of women can relate to doing so much for their family and getting so little appreciation in return.

I consider myself a giver too but she was so obnoxious and self-righteous about it. Did you set out to have her transform herself or did it just happen?

Of course, Audrey didn't think of herself as obnoxious and self-righteous. She just thought she was right.

When I set out to write the novel, I had a much smaller role in mind for Audrey. I intended for her to be merely a thorn in daughter-in-law Skyla's side. As the story grew, Audrey wheedled her way into a bigger part and transformed herself and the outcome of the story.

There's also the triangle of Skyla and Roxanne and Thomas. That was an interesting one because of how a husband can feel threatened by his wife's friendship. I'm glad you explored that common but not often discussed dynamic.

Ah yes, Thomas. He was a hard one for me to figure out. He didn't seem to have any friends, but he was likeable enough. A shy guy, devoted to his family. I think he wanted to be his wife's everything, but of course, that wasn't enough for her.

Thomas also had a bit of Audrey in him - very controlling in a subtle, insidious kind of way. It was hard not to cheer for Skyla to break away from him. A lot going on there.

Absolutely. And I don't think he would have changed if his wife hadn't stood up to him. His insecurities, which made him want to control everything, could have been his undoing. Who wants someone else dictating how towels should be folded, for instance?

What made it more difficult was that Skyla was so much younger and came from a pretty dysfunctional family. So, she lacked self-confidence and what attracted her to Thomas in the beginning - his age, experience, stable upbringing - began to grate on her as time went on. It took a special person like Roxanne to shake things up. How lucky for Skyla tha Roxanne came into her life. She's a much more interesting and complex character at the end than she was at the beginning of the book.

There was definitely an evolution of character for Skyla. She came into the marriage sort of as unformed clay. There was a lot below the surface, but initially she was just trying to figure out her odd in-laws and how she could fit into the family. It took her friendship with Roxanne to make her stop and think about what she really wanted and needed out of life and marriage.

I understand that you have many books under your belt since you wrote A Scattered Life. So, even though these characters are new to me, they're very old news for you. Is it hard to conjure them up again, Karen? 

It's funny but when we started this interview I had a moment of panic, wondering if I'd actually remember the story and characters. It feels a bit like talking about something that happened in high school.

But as we're now discussing the story, it's all coming back to me, even the way I felt as I wrote the book. I had such affection for these characters, even the unlikeable ones. All of them were fully realized to me. I was so happy when the book came out and readers responded with such enthusiasm. I found it incredibly validating.

A Scattered Life explores how people who are radically different can still find commonalities and a way of living together, if not in harmony, at least without killing one another. Would you care to comment on that?

It seems to me that the biggest conflicts in fiction and life center around control and communication. If we could just get past the power struggles and really listen to one another, it would go a long way toward achieving harmony.

Before we move on to talk about your other writing, I just remembered Madame Picard, the fortune teller in the back room. She was a stitch! I got quite a kick out of her.

I'm glad to hear that! The humor in the book is something that seems to startle and delight readers. They expect it to be this somber family drama, but there are funny moments throughout the story.

I loved the quirky but fully fleshed out cast (and we haven't even talked about Roxanne!) not to mention all the twists and turns. You're an interesting character yourself, Karen. Adult fiction isn't all you write. Please tell us how your dabbling in various genres came about.

This is the first time I ever remember being called an interesting character, Joan! I like it and will be quoting you.

Good!

To answer your question about the various genres, I didn't set out to break the publishing rule that says authors need to brand themselves for marketing purposes. I just like to read and write all different kinds of stories. And since I was having some difficulties getting published at the time, there was no one to tell me what to write.So I just followed my ideas wherever they led me.

As of now, I have nine books published--two for kids, four for teenagers, and three for adults. The adult titles are all women's fiction, but even they vary in tone and subject.

How did you get started? Which genre did you tackle first? Is there any relationship between when you wrote what and when it got picked up and published? And isn't that a crazy process altogether?

Not counting two appallingly bad books which I wrote in my twenties, A Scattered Life is my first book. I wrote novel after novel, and tried getting published for years. It was a long, disheartening process, which included having an agent for two different books, near-misses at publishing houses, and rave rejection letters.

Given that track record, it's all the more remarkable that you persevered in thinking that you could successfully adjust to very different audiences. Kids are so different from teens who are so different from adults. How did you know you could do it?

It's funny, but as much as I lacked self-confidence in other areas of my life, when it came to writing, I had an inner resolve that's hard even for me to understand. It never occurred to me that I couldn't tell any story that I wanted to. I write the stories that I'd like to read--that's always been my main objective.

When did you first get bitten by the writing bug?

Third grade! My teacher had the class write stories and afterward she read mine aloud as a good example. After that, nothing else compared. Plus, I had no other discernible talents.

Good call by your third grade teacher! All of your fans are grateful. What haven't we talked about yet?

I would like to mention what I'm currently working on--a paranormal series for young adults, which is going over well with all ages. It's the Edgewood series, the story of teenagers in a small town who acquire super powers. Two of the books are out and I'm writing the third one now. Everyday I wake up and can't wait to find out what happens next. That's the joy of writing for me.

Wonderful. So, you really don't have everything mapped out before you get started? How does it work?

Although it seems like a sensible approach, I've never been able to outline a story from start to finish. I start with a beginning and a sense of how the story will progress, and I go from there. Some decisions are made ahead of time--the tone of the story, and which character will narrate, but even that's been known to change. Each day I make decisions about the scenes I'll be working on that day. I usually have at least one day of crisis where I hit a wall and don't know where the story is heading. Then I think the whole thing is a loss and get really depressed, but after a night's sleep I usually come up with something.

Overall, I really love writing and feel so privileged to be able to make my living writing fiction. I was made for it, I think.

Lucky, lucky you! You've written a lot of books, Karen. What happens to the characters once you're done? Do they recede into the ether or stay fresh in your mind? Are you sad to let them go or is it a painless leave-taking?

Once I'm done with a book, the characters tend to recede into the ether, as you so eloquently put it. When I do think of them, it's fondly. Too bad there's no Facebook for fictional characters. If there were, I'd love to friend them and see how their lives continued after the story ended.

I'm looking forward to reading more. It's been a pleasure talking with you, Karen. Thank you.

You're welcome, Joan!

Finishing a Novel

When I’d finished my last book, Wanderlust, my husband said, “You must be excited to have that done.” Excited? Well, yes, of course. There’s something very satisfying about starting with a blank Word doc and some months or years later typing “The End,” (even knowing that the words ‘The End’ won’t make it into the finished book).

Completing Wanderlust was especially sweet because the writing went faster than I'd anticipated, and it was the second book in a series, something that had me concerned. Edgewood had gotten great reviews. Readers loved the story and the characters, and I didn’t want to drop the ball, so to speak.  Added to that was the fact that the first book was told entirely from Russ Becker’s point of view as opposed to the second book, which started off from Nadia’s point of view and then switched back and forth between Nadia and Russ, and well, I worried a bit about how well the shifts worked.

So I’d just finished a book and already experienced excitement, worry, and doubt. When I talk to my writer friends, they tell similar stories. There seems to be a certain universal chain of events that happens when you finish a book. This is how it goes:

I’m done, I’m done! I can’t believe I pulled it off! And this may just be the best thing I’ve ever written.

For a little while, all is good. No one else has seen it, so the book exists in a perfect little bubble.  And that lasts until you give it to others to read for feedback. Call them beta readers or critique partners or whatever, these people will give it to you straight, which is just what you need. And just what you dread.

They’ve had the manuscript for twenty-four hours and I’ve heard nothing. (Nervous pacing) They said they’d get to it right away. This lengthy, horrible delay must mean they hate it and are trying to find diplomatic ways to tell me so.

And then you get an email saying either that they haven’t looked at it yet because it turns out they have their own lives and things happen, OR that they’ve started it and love it so far.

She said she loves it so far! She wouldn’t say that just to be nice, would she? No. Well, maybe. But at least she didn’t say she hated it.

Next you get the manuscript back from your critique partners. You relish in the praise and laugh at their funny little comments, all of which makes the other comments, the criticisms, bearable. You have to mentally sift through all the suggested changes to decide what will make the book better and what will only make the book different.  Ultimately it’s your book.

Deep breath. Okay, this isn’t too bad. I can do this.

And:

Oh, thank God she noticed that! I would have looked like a complete idiot if that had been in the book.

And:

There’s no way I’m making that change. She’s just wrong, that’s all there is to it.

That night, just before you drift off to sleep, you realize she’s not wrong, in fact she’s right, and because she's right you now you have to do more rewriting than you wanted to do. Plus, you don’t like her suggestion for making the fix. Luckily, your brain works on the problem while you sleep and when you wake up in the morning, you have a different, but still effective solution.

So you make everyone’s changes and now the book really seems perfect. Time to send it to the editor for more feedback and then on to the eagle-eyed copyeditor.

I will be very surprised if she finds ANYTHING. This is such a clean manuscript--she's going to be very impressed.

You get the manuscript back and are amazed at all the things she found. Missing periods?  A misspelled name?  And you thought you knew the serial comma rule, but somehow page after page, like a complete rookie, you’ve violated said rule. Well, at least now you have a chance to fix it.

Hopefully there’s not more that she didn’t see. I mean, editors are people too, right? They must have off days, times when they are tired, or not feeling well. I hope they got it all.

And then you read it one more time, making it the thousandth time you’ve gone over it, until you feel like your eyes will bleed. And you no longer care about the characters and their problems. The dialogue seems hackneyed, the description tedious, the pacing off.  You’re no longer objective, if you ever were. You debate taking out a comma, then you do take it out, but after rereading the sentence, you put it back in. You’re spinning your wheels and getting nowhere. That’s your cue that you’re done.

Good or bad, it is what it is. I did my best.

Publication day comes and with it, the resulting nervous excitement. No matter how much promotion you do, it doesn’t seem like enough. Maybe you go out to eat to celebrate, or your significant other sends you flowers, maybe not.  The joy of writing has to be enough to carry you through. You know that and still you can’t help but hope this book takes off in a big way. Or at least doesn’t tank.

Someone left a review on Amazon, and it’s a good one! Oh happy day.

You get a few great reviews before you get a bad one. The bad one nags at you, and you decide not to look at reviews anymore, but to get started on the next book. You open a new Word doc and the blank page stares back at you, scary but full of promise. This next book may well end up to be the best thing you’ve ever written.

 

 

 

 

Three Day Promotion--Edgewood Free on Kindle

 

The heading says it all,  I think. My novel, Edgewood, the first in the Edgewood Series, is free today through Tuesday (February 17th - 19th). So if you haven't downloaded yet, but were thinking you might someday, today's the day!

I've been lucky enough to get some help in spreading the word. The Kindle Boards blog is featuring Edgewood today. Other writers know that the writer's cafe at Kindleboards.com is a terrific place to exchange information about writing and publishing with other authors, but KB is a Kindle readers' friend as well--sorting through all the free and cheap Kindle offerings so you don't have to. I'm lucky that my book was one of the chosen.

If you have a Kindle you might be interested in the Kindle Board links below:

Blog: http://www.kboards.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kindleboards

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kboards1

 

 

Free Kindle Books and Tips provides the same service but specializes in free books. As in, no money at all, everyone's favorite price.  I've only become aware of this site recently, but I've already found some deals there. I'm delighted that they are featuring Edgewood today.

 

Check out their social media pages:

 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/fkbooks

 

Twitter: www.twitter.com/fkbt

 

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/fkbooks

 

If you know someone who might enjoy reading the book, feel free to spread the word. I love gaining new readers!

 

Later,

 

Karen

Don't Worry Baby by Gail Grenier



What can I say about Gail Grenier, my former writing teacher turned friend and role model? She's a pure soul, has an infectious laugh, and really listens when you talk. Also, she now has a new book out!

Let's see what Gail has to say about this novel of hers...

Gail: I call it a novel but it’s 90 percent true – maybe more – about the zany things that happened to my husband and me on a road trip in 1972. “Max and Ginny” stand in for my husband and me. They throw a mattress into the back of an old van and head for parts unknown on the day after their wedding. Max and Ginny are sick of Wisconsin’s winters and want to find a place where they can grow vegetables in three seasons.

Karen: What are some of these zany happenings of which you speak?

Gail: Everything that can go wrong with the van does – in fact, it’s amazing that Max and Ginny survive the Ozarks. They have unlikely tangles with officers of the law and with a judge who has rollers in her hair. They meet up with various hitch-hikers: a biker with a busted Harley, suit-wearing preacher-types, and a couple of hippies. And they have harrowing encounters with insects that get progressively bigger the farther south they travel. 

Karen: So the book is a catalog of silly happenings?

Gail: No, it’s more than that – because the biggest adventure for Max and Ginny is sorting out the push and pull of newly-married life. They also reminisce about the things they learned growing up, and try to figure out what’s important for them in their new life.

Karen: Who is the audience for the book?

Gail: As I wrote it, I kept thinking of my kids. I thought, “I want them to know how it was.” I’d write and laugh, write and laugh. There’s one thing that happened to Mike and me that my older son still doesn’t believe. So I wrote it for my kids, but when I finished the book, I thought “I’ll bet every Baby Boomer in the USA will relate to this story.” It’s a journey down Memory Lane, to a time of telephone booths, five-cent cups of coffee, and arguments about the Vietnam War.

Karen: The Vietnam War. So Don't Worry Baby has a serious side?

Gail: Overall, the book is light-hearted, but Vietnam is a background to the story. There’s some tension because Max is an Air National Guardsman but has doubts about the war. He and Ginny talk about the war with each other and with the hippie hitch-hikers. It would be impossible to write a story about 1972 without mentioning the war. There’s also a large sense of the back-to-the-land movement, and a smaller feeling about the women’s movement and the Civil Rights movement. I think the book would be a perfect companion to courses in 60s/70s studies.

Check out Gail's book here! Tell her Karen sent you.