In Case You Missed It: Margaret Coel at Brea Library

Who: Margaret Coel
Where: Brea Library
When: Saturday, September 6th

Margaret Coel

Margaret Coel is the New York Times bestselling author of the Wind River Reservation mysteries, which currently numbers about 18. When I walk into the library, the owner of Mystery Ink bookstore has set up a table with 17 out of 18 of those books--everything except the first novel, The Eagle Catcher.

I settle into my seat, and she begins to speak. Margaret Coel is an older lady with short brown hair, wearing a black shirt, a black and white skirt, and a big bright turquoise necklace. She seems to know exactly what she wants to say, for she speaks without hesitation and goes right into her talk.

(Please note: my quotes aren't perfect. I was using pen and paper and scribbling as fast as I could.)

* * *

"People always ask me, 'Is Wind River a real place?' " Margaret says. "Yeah, it absolutely is."

Though the reservation is a speck in the middle of Central Wyoming, but it's still bigger than all of Delaware and Connecticut. It houses both the Arapaho and Shoshone tribes. Now, the Arapaho were originally from the plains of Colorado and the Shoshone were their traditional enemies.

"The government, in its infinite wisdom, put them together," she says drily.

Wind River Reservation

When the government took the Arapaho's land, they were supposed to reserve a portion for them to live on. But by 1878, it still hadn't happened. Finally, their chief had to plead with their enemy, the Shoshone, to "come and live under their blanket." According to Margaret's friend on the reservation, "When we finally trickled in, we were about 800--and we were a pitiful lot."

They thought the arrangement would be temporary. One hundred and fifty years later, they're still there. But the landscape of Wyoming turned out to be much like the plains of Colorado, and this is partially what drew Margaret in.

"I grew up in Colorado and I love it."

To others, however, the landscape may be an acquired taste. Father John, one of her amateur detective, comes to the reservation from Boston, going from a lush forest scape to what he sees as empty land. He describes it as, "the landscape of the moon."

"Now I always give my manuscript to my Arapaho friends to look over and make sure there's nothing offensive," Margaret says. "When my friend came to that line, she was horrified. 'You can't say that. It's insulting.' "

Her friend explained that the land was given to them by the creator and is considered sacred and beautiful. Margaret agrees. "But I didn't say it 'the landscape of the moon.' Father John said it."

Her friend re-considered. " 'Okay, you can use it. As long as we know he's wrong.' "

* * *

But how did Margaret decide to write mysteries centered on the Wind River Reservation? It began when she decided to write the history of Chief Left Hand, a Arapaho leader who lived in the mid-1800s, when everything changed. Gold was discovered in Colorado, and 100,000 people flooded the state. "To the Arapaho, it seemed as if all the white men in the world had come to their land."

Chief Left Hand

Writing about Chief Left Hand took Margaret into the Arapaho world. She visited the reservation for background information. A little later she went to a conference with Tony Hillerman, who writes Navajo Tribal Police mystery novels. Up until then, Margaret wrote non-fiction, but listening to Tony, she thought, "I can do that."

Later, when she became friends with Tony, she told him the story of seeing him there. He laughed. "I had no idea I was the responsible for Father John and Vicky," he said.

Father John and Vicky are the main characters of her series. When Margaret started thinking about who she wanted her detectives to be, she decided she wanted outsiders, "because that's what I am." She learned there was a Jesuit mission on the reservation. Recognizing the need for education, the Arapaho invited the Jesuits in, gave them the land, and "tolerated them through the years." Father John arrives as an outsider to both their culture and to the west.

Vicky, an Arapaho lawyer and advocate, came about because Margaret wanted strong female lead and an Arapaho voice. Though she is very much a part of her people, Vicky had to venture into the outside world in order to get her law degree. Like Father John, she is one of what the Arapaho call the "Edge people"--people on the border of two different cultures.

* * *

When people ask Margaret where she gets her ideas, she says they come in pairs. For example, her latest book, Night of the White Buffalo.

The latest Margaret Coel mystery

She'd always wanted to write about the birth of a white buffalo. In a Sioux myth that migrated through the tribes, a white buffalo woman came from the spirit world and gave the plains Indians their prayers and ceremonies and taught them how to live their lives. "I will return in times of need." When a white buffalo is born, it's a sign the creator is still with them and still cares for them.

Back when the plains were "an undulating brown ocean of buffalo," the birth of a white buffalo was probably a more common event. Now, with a few thousand left alive, decades can pass before a white one is born.  When it is, people come from everywhere to see the baby buffalo, trampling the pastures, overwhelming the few motels and unsuitable country roads. Though a nuisance, it can also be quite profitable for the rancher, as people do bring donations.

"I thought about what would happen if a white buffalo was born on the Wind River Reservation, what the consequences of that might be," Margaret says.

But that was only one idea, and she needed a second. It came to her in the form of cowboys. They're still around, a very nomadic people, and their lives are tough. Margaret read a case in newspaper where all the cowboys on the ranch disappeared. What happened was shocking.

"Since I write history, I like to bring history into all my books. In my first draft, I dump it in, but since few people want to read 15 pages of history, I go back and reel it in."

So Killing Custer centers on re-enactors of the Battle of Little Big Horn, Buffalo Bill's Dead Now has to do with Arapaho that went to Europe for the showman's Wild West Educational Exhibition, and Silent Spirit talks about Indians who went to Hollywood in the 1920s to play extras in Westerns. Although some chapters go back in time, the main story is grounded in the present.

"Usually, there's a crime in the past, a crime in the present, and they're related."

* * *

Now it's time for questions.

A member of the audience wants to know her research method. "Do you write the story first and research later, or visa versa?"

It's a combination of the two. She starts off doing general research, say, about buffalo and its birth, getting enough information to build a story. Then she start to write it. When she comes to a part she doesn't know, she makes a note to back and research more. Once she gets a draft down, she fills in the gaps.

One thing she doesn't do is write up a long, tedious 90-page outline. "If I did that, I wouldn't write the book." Instead it's like coming up with a road map for a long trip. She knows she needs to start here, go there, end up there. But she doesn't know what will happen on the way: the side trips, the people you meet, the surprises.

"The day my characters stop surprising me, will be the day the story ends."

* * *

Rita, a girl from my writer's group, raises her hand. "Do you have a specific system for getting yourself to write?"

"I have a deadline," Margaret says.

She sits down at her computer by 9:00 AM every morning except Sundays, whether she feels like it or not, whether if she thinks what she's writing is boring or not. "If you make yourself write, pretty soon you feel like it."

"But when you get stuck, do you have a method to overcome it?" Rita persists.

"I don't think writer's block exists," Margaret says.

She admits that a writer might come to a tough part in the book and not know how to continue. At that point, you need to trust in yourself and keep writing.

"You can call it Writer's Block, but I just call it avoidance." However, she does advise that you don't need to write things in chronological order. Just start with the most interesting thing and use that to get into the story.

* * *

"What drew you to the Arapaho?" asks another member of the audience.

As a 4th generation Coloradan, Margaret grew up on old stories her family would tell. Soon, she started getting interested in the people who had been there before. The Arapaho interested her because they were the "businessmen of the plains," always trading among the tribes. As such, they were peacekeepers, "because war is bad for business." At the same time they were a spiritual people and still are today.

While researching them, she discovered Chief Left Hand, who happened to be fluent in English. This was an amazing thing. Back then, the common language on the plains was sign language. But when the gold rush came, who was going to deal with the white man? Chief Left Hand's ability to negotiate led to his rise. He strove for peace and was a hero. But, as F. Scott Fitzgerald said, "Show me a hero and I'll write you a tragedy." He died in the San Creek Massacre, giving his life for his people.

Margaret was so fascinated by Chief Left Hand, she set off to write a magazine article. "5 years later, I had a book."

* * *

Kaleo, who leads the Brea Library Writer's Club, gets in the last question. "Any advice to writers who want to be published?"

Writers today have a lot of options. First thing you have to do is finish the book and make it the best you can. Then you put on your business cap and figure out how to sell. You have to be able to support the book and bring people to it.

In Case You Missed It: Kate Carlisle and Hannah Dennison at the Brea Library

Who: Kate Carlisle and Hannah Dennison
Where: Brea Library
When: Saturday, May 31, 2014

Please Note: The quotes are approximate.

* * *

I arrive fifteen minutes early, but there’s already a crowd filling the blue, green, and burgundy chairs. As I take my seat toward the back, I run into four or five members of my Brea Library Writer’s Group, including Kaleo, one of the founders.

The moderator kicks things off by introducing the guests, both authors of cozy mysteries.

Kate Carlisle is the author of the Bibliophile Mystery series, her latest one being The Book Stops Here. She has blond hair, clear glasses, a beige jacket, and a gold necklace. She also writes romance.

Hannah Dennison is the author of Murder at Honeychurch Hall, which is set in her native country of England.  She has brown hair, dark glasses, a white blazer, and pearls. 

The moderator gets the questions rolling, but almost immediately the audience jumps in. The library was not constructed with acoustics in mind. It’s hard to hear. I scribble down notes as best I can.  

* * *

Moderator: What made you decide to write mysteries?

Kate: I started reading Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, then went to James Bond and Sue Grafton. I never thought I could write a book. I thought I had to have all this education but it turned out I didn’t. It took a long time before I realized I was allowed to write.

Kate Carlisle

Hannah: For me, it was the realization that I’ve always been interested in justice. I like a mystery to have a satisfying ending—everything neatly tied up. As a kid, I loved the book where I could turn the pages and solve puzzles. I was not a natural storyteller, I was a natural liar. The truth is, I always thought my versions were much more interesting.

Audience: Where do you get your ideas?

Hannah: I read a lot of small local papers. That’s where the gems are. Everything has a story, even coming here today. So watch out!

Kate: When I first started writing, my stories didn’t have a hook. It took me a while to figure out what a hook was—so if anyone here is an aspiring author, have hope! For this series, my protagonist is a book binder. So the first thing I do is choose a book for her to work on.

Audience: Real books?
 

Kate: Real books. One time, my editor said, “Why don’t you use a cookbook?” Well, I couldn’t use just any cookbook. In the first place, it had to be really old.  I found one from the American Revolution. A woman came over from England, writing recipes as she went along with the soldiers. It was actually a cookbook, a journal, and a healing advisory. That book became the basis for A Cookbook Conspiracy.

Hannah Dennison

Audience: I talked to an author who she said she changed killer because her writing group guessed who it was. Do you ever do that?

Kate: I’ve had to change who the killer is because my editor likes the character and doesn’t want him to be the murderer. There’s this one character named Gabriel that my editor’s in love with.  Once I tried to hook up Gabriel with this nice girl. My editor said, “She’s not good enough for him.” Spoiler alert—they did not end up together.

Audience: I had no idea editors had so much power.

Hannah: My new series came from brainstorming with an editor in a bar for 20 minutes—and at the end of it, she gave me a contract!  It felt like a Hollywood pitch meeting.

Audience: Do you ever bring characters from first book into the others?

 

Hannah: In cozies—mysteries based on the Agatha Christie type of novel—the whole idea is to have a small setting, a community of people you get to know. You have to keep those characters going for the readers, weaving them in and out of the series. That’s why people read a series—these are characters you come back to see.

Kate: It’s great to tap into secondary characters. I like to pick one of the villagers and write a story around them. Of course, the first book hard to set up. You have to create a cast of characters without overwhelming your audience.

Audience: Do you expect people to read your books in order?

"The Book Stops Here" by Kate Carlisle

Kate: I don’t. Reading in the books in order gives you growth and character development—that’s fun—but the mystery is a self-contained story. And that’s kind of important to writers. How much do you explain to new readers who don’t know these characters?

Audience: What are some of the famous authors you read?

Hannah: Obviously Agatha Christie, Dick Francis, let’s see…

Kate: I just read this cozy—it was free on Amazon—it was all about a Maine clambake. It was so enjoyable. I don’t read a lot of cozies either. Sometimes I need to get away from my own genre.

Hannah: When I’m writing, I can’t read any fiction. Just nonfiction

Kate: I read romances.

Audience: What’s your writing schedule like?

Kate: I write every day. I used to get up at 5:30, write for 3 hours, and then go to work. But now that I’m writing full-time, I still get up at 5:30, but I spend that time doing business stuff—which is just a brain-sucking thing to do. Then I write for 6 hours a day. But Hannah still has a day job.

"Murder at Honeychurch Hall" by Hannah Dennison 

Hannah: I write very early in the morning. When I come to a deadline write, my writing is very eratic because it has to get done. It’s a struggle to fit in all the social, promotional stuff. I’m doing a blog tour, writing for 13 or 14 blogs. At the same time I’m finishing a fifth book.

Audience (Kaleo): Any advice for the aspiring writer?

Kate: Don’t give up.

Hannah: Follow your dreams.

Kate: Steven Spielberg told her that.

Hannah: Yes, I saw him on a plane. He said, “You’ve just got to take that leap of faith and follow your dreams.” When I started writing, I found that’s when the universe opens up. I recommend taking classes. Be wary of book writing groups—unless someone is published—it’s easy to get side-tracked and write the same thing over and over again.  Finish the manuscript, even if it’s crap.

Kate: And read. Don’t give up on the craft. Continuing education is important. Don’t think that just because you’ve got a book published you’re done learning. Being a writer is hard. There are so many other things you could be doing.

Hannah: It’s like having homework the rest of your life.

Kate: It’s the best revenge.

In Case You Missed It: Literary Orange 2014, Part 8

What: Literary Orange
Where: Marriott, Irvine
When: Friday, April 5, 2014

Final Thoughts

How wide, how deep the pool of writers, how small I feel in the middle of it...

There are less tiny oranges in the glass squares than there were this morning.  I notice this as I pass by the tables on my way back to the parking lot and smile to think of people eating them throughout the day.

As the elation of the event wears off, I find myself feeling incredibly humbled and a little depressed.  Are these strange emotions to have?  But I do have them.  Because I compare myself to the authors I've seen--these talented, articulate women, all with agents, most with several books to their name... and I've never even heard of them until I came to this conference.

How wide, how deep the pool of writers, how small I feel in the middle of it, with my weak voice, and my imperfect, unpublished manuscripts.  It's such a long, uphill climb.

Plus, I've got 12--count 'em, 12--pages of notes to convert into something intelligible, and that too is a long, uphill climb.  What was I thinking, agreeing to blog about this conference?  I have one week, maybe two, to try to capture, in my own words, the essence of Literary Orange.

Impossible!

But I have to try.  I open my green spiral notebook (already it looks worn and fatigued), squint at my lead scribbles, and begin my chronicle.

THE END

In Case You Missed It: Literary Orange 2014, Part 7

What: Literary Orange
Where: Marriott, Irvine
When: Friday, April 5, 2014

Please Note: The quotes are approximate.

Afternoon Keynote Speaker

Ann Hood, author
Books: Somewhere off the Coast of Maine, The Knitting Circle, Comfort: A Journey Through Grief, The Red Thread
Website: www.annhood.us

I could read whenever I wanted to escape the world.  I could write whenever I wanted to understand the world.

Ann Hood has blond hair that frames her face.  She wears round glasses and a burgundy jacket.  When she speaks, her voice is calm and yet full lively inflection.  She draws me in.  I lean forward, losing myself in her witty, funny stories.

As a young woman, Ann had worked as a flight attendant for TWA.  One day, she saw a man sitting in first class, nervously pushing all the buttons like a child.  She learned that he was a writer.  At the time Ann had just got an agent for her first book, Somewhere off the Coast of Maine, and told the man so. 
The man looked her up and down.  "You look to stupid to be a writer."

Fortunately, TWA had trained all their flight attendants on how to deal with rude customers.

"I think what you mean is that you don't expect a flight attendant to be a writer," Ann gently corrected.

"No.  You look too stupid to be a writer."

The audience is already laughing.  But the story doesn't end here.  A few weeks later, Ann was doing a book signing, and who should she see standing in the line but Mr. First Class himself.

"I bet you don't remember me," he said.

"Oh, yes I do."

I'm giggling with karmic delight.  I'm impressed.  Ann speaks in an off-the-cuff way that doesn't come across as stuffy or rehearsed.  But make no mistake.  Her speaking is polished.

Maybe her past has something to do with it.

"I came from an Italian American family who sat around the kitchen table late into the night, drinking black coffee, smoking cigarettes, and telling stories. I learned from an early age, that if you wanted to get heard, your story had to be better than everyone else's."

They were not a family of readers, but somehow, at the age of four, Ann managed to get a hold of her brother's school book.  She read it.

"I knew then--though I couldn't express it at the time--that every cell in my body had settled on being a writer."

As she says this, I feel a squirt of--I can't really describe it--kinship, I suppose.  An echo of knowing deep in your soul who you are and what you're meant to do in life.  A feeling of destiny, for lack of a better word.

Though sometimes destiny works in mysterious ways.

Ann tells us of growing up in a small town without a library.  Of her blue-haired "ancient" teacher, Ms. Nolan, who walked the rows of desks, ruler in hand, and inspected the student's hair for lice.  Of reading Little Women during the Pledge of Allegiance and breaking down in sobs when she realized Beth died.

Of living with a crazy grandmother who would rank which grandchild she liked best (with Ann near the bottom) and climb onto the table each Easter to bless them like she was the pope.  Of a living with an outhouse, a coal-burning stove, and chickens running around the yard.

"I can be nostalgic about it now," Ann says. "But at the time, I was embarrassed.  Didn't they know I was the fifth March sister?  I wanted to be one of the Brady Bunch."

It all came out one day when a popular girl invited Ann to her beautiful home.  The girl's grandmother offered Ann cookies.  Young Ann caught a glimpse of the lifestyle she could never have.  When she came home, Ann burst into tears and yelled at her grandmother. "I hate you!"

Soon after she penned what would become the first in a long line "disappearing Grandma" stories.  The settings might differ--one might take place in contemporary life, another in the future, another in caveman times--but they all shared a similar plot: the grandmother disappears and the girl's life immediately becomes better.

"The more I wrote, the more I came to understand why I was writing," Ann tells us.  "It was a breakthrough moment for me.  In my life, whatever happened, I always had these dual comforts.  I could read whenever I wanted to escape the world.  I could write whenever I wanted to understand the world."

The words sink deep into my own marrow.  They are simple, yet profound.  But if reading is simply an escape, does that mean I've spent most of my life running from reality?  And if writing is my own private therapy, am I selfish to want to make a living off it?

While I ponder all this, Ann starts speaking high school and having a spectacularly unhelpful conversation with a guidance councilor about to do with her life.

"I want to be a writer," said Young Ann.

"People don't become writers," the councilor said.

"Then how do we get all these books?"

"Don't be a wise guy."

Fortunately, Ann had a back-up plan.  She wanted to to be an airline stewardess, meet men, see the world, and get that kind of "running with the bulls" experience she thought all writers ought to have. The councilor shot this down, too.

"Smart girls don't become airline stewardesses."

"Then you tell me what to I'm supposed to do," Young Ann said.

"You can be a nurse or a teacher," he said.  "Or you can make your life easier and just get married."

The married women in the audience laugh.

Well, Ann didn't listen and set out to do what she wanted to do.  She became a flight attendant and then a full-time writer.  She got married and had two children: first a boy, then a girl.

It all seemed to encapsulate into this one perfect moment.  Ann came home one spring day, and it was unusually hot, 90 degree weather.  She could smell her husband barbecuing in the back.  Her daughter Grace, the youngest of their two children, ran up with a fistful of chives that had sprouted purple flowers.  Ann looked at her life, and thought, Wow, I like where I've landed.

Ann pauses.  "Grace died the next day."

I suck in my breath.  Everyone else does the same thing, and we make one long, collective gasp.  How could this healthy girl with a fistful of chives die so suddenly?  Ann's explanation does little to help.  Grace had an infection.  They took her to the hospital.  The disease flared, and the little girl died.

Ann and her husband had to cross over a chalk drawing their son made with the words Welcome Home, Grace.

That whole night, Ann held onto the edge of the bed like it was an anchor.  The next morning, she heard the sounds of people going off to work.  She couldn't believe it.  How could the world continue to go on, like everything was normal?

"I went outside.  I picked up the newspaper.  I opened it up and stared at the headline.  And I was shocked.  For the first time, since I was four, I could not read.

"I could not read, because the words did not make sense.  And I could not write, because I did not want to re-create the worst day of my life.  My dual sources of comfort had been taken away from me at the moment I needed them the most."

She kept this a secret from her friends and family.  Deep in mourning, Ann had trouble doing everyday things.  Even a visit to a grocery store would remind her of Grace: she'd see her daughter's favorite cereal, her daughter's favorite snacks.  Her friends and family took care of her during this time.  They fed her and walked her--like a dog, Ann jokes.  I smile, but my heart is heavy with empathy.

One day, her friend told her, "You've got to get out of your head and do something with your hands."  Her friend's first suggestion was to re-upholster furniture.  Ann rejected it.  Her second suggestion was knitting.  For some reason Ann lit on this suggestion.

Unfortunately, the knitting classes had already begun.  Ann felt discouraged. Then, out of the blue, a mysterious woman gave Ann the card of a knitting instructor.  Ann didn't know it at the time, but the woman had a son with cystic fibrosis; she knit to keep from going crazy in the waiting room.  It was Ann's first hint as to the community of knitters, how they used their craft to deal with tragedy and heartbreak.

Ann went to the knitting instructor's house and learned a basic stitch.  She was bad at it, but found the act engrossing.  She practiced for hours, just sitting in her car, stitch after stitch, until the yarn was too tight and she could knit no longer.

"I thought to myself, Wow.  Knitting tells you when your finished."

Of course, the next day, her knitting instructor told her she did it all wrong and began undoing her stitches.  Hours of hours of hard work simply unraveled.  Ann felt as though someone had deleted her writing.  But her instructor said, "Don't be silly.  I'm going to fix it."

"You can fix anything in knitting," Ann tells us.  "That was a profound thought.  It gave me hope that maybe I could heal, after all."

Her experience inspired Ann to write The Knitting Circle, a fictional about a woman who finds healing through knitting and through the support of other knitters with tragedies of their own.

Even though Ann was slowly healing, she still experienced a sense of loss.  One day, she looked at her son, and thought, I cannot have my son thinking life is bad.  I need to show him there's still hope.  So Ann and her husband decided to adopt a baby girl from China.

"In China there's a saying that each one of us is connected to every person we knew in the past, every person we know now, and every person we will know in the future by an invisible red thread.  No matter how tangled or frayed the red thread becomes, it never breaks, it can never be cut--even with death."

There was a twist.  The baby they were to adopt was born on April 18th--the same day Grace died.  Ann panicked.  "I won't be able to celebrate her birthday.  I can't celebrate the day my daughter died."  She thought about taking on China's formidable bureaucracy in order to change the baby's birthday.  But that was silly.  Her husband convinced her it was a way of reminding them that they should enjoy life and move on.

"Fine," Ann snapped. "But don't expect me to bake cupcakes."

The first few years, they celebrated her daughter's birthday on a different day.  After all, a one- or two-year-old doesn't know calendar dates.  But the years passed, and the daughter grew wiser.  On her fifth birthday, she had her first big party.  It was April 18th.

"And on that day," Ann says, "I saw that red thread go all the way back to China, connecting me to another woman who'd lost a daughter--the same little girl that I now loved.  I saw the thread connect her to Grace, to the daughter I lost.

"And on that day, I did bake cupcakes."

Tears prick my eyes.  The audience stands and applauds.

Throughout the whole speech, I've wanted to laugh, I've wanted to cry.  I've experienced the emotions so vividly in my imagination, I almost feel they are my own.  How has she managed to weave the story of her life and the inspiration of her books into one stunning narrative?  I am in awe.

* * *

To Be Continued...

In Case You Missed It: Literary Orange 2014, Part 6

What: Literary Orange
Where: Marriott, Irvine
When: Friday, April 5, 2014

Please Note: The quotes are approximate.

Panel #3
Travel: Journeys in Writing

People on the Panel

• Lisa Napoli, author, Radio Shangri-La, www.lisanapoli.com
• Gail D. Storey, author, I Promise Not to Suffer: A Fool for Love Hikes the Pacific Crest Trail, www.gailstorey.com
• Catharine Hamm, moderator

"Go to wisdom of the heart.  Go to cocktail parties."

I've come to a revelation.  Literary Orange is not a writer's conference.  It is not here to dispense raw information to writers looking to break into the business.  Rather it is all about stories.  But I can still salvage part of my business model.  All of these authors are here to sell their books and they're doing a good job of it.  If I listen and observe, I can learn how I can follow in their footsteps if I should ever have to sell my book.

With my belly full of chicken, I head over to the F/G1 room.

This room is larger, but currently rather empty.  Everyone must still be drinking their coffee and chatting.  Well, good for me, I get my pick of the chairs. I sit down towards the front.

The panel is here.  Gail Storey has brown hair, a leather jacket, and a large turquoise necklace.  She sits to the left and her husband sits across from her, in the audience.  Lisa Napoli occupies the middle.  She also has brown hair and wears a blue-patterned blouse.  Catherine Hamm sits to the right, as all moderators do.  She has brown hair and a magenta blouse.

Eventually, the room fills, and we are ready to begin.

* * *

Moderator: I had the privilege of being able to travel all around the world without leaving my chair, because I read the books by these two ladies here.  Can you tell us a little about your books and how you came to go on these adventures?


Lisa Napoli

Lisa: My story began when I traveled to the Himalayas to start a youth-orientated radio station in the Kingdom of Bhutan at the birth of democracy.  At the time, I was working as a journalist, but I'd become soured to the media.  During my time spent in Bhutan, I fell back in love with it.  Radio Shangri-La contains twin stories.  There's the story of the kingdom of Bhutan and there's the story of me, how I coped with my midlife crisis.  And what I learned in the end is it's really not about me.  It's about helping other people.

Gail: I'd never thought I'd hike the Pacific Crest Trail.  In fact, my book begins, "I never cared much for nature, or rather, thought it okay as long as it stayed outside."  What happened was that my husband had hit a crisis in his career and needed renewal in nature.  Out of the blue, he said to me, "Let's hike the Pacific Crest Trail.  I know you'll love it."  My reaction was, "No.  I will not love it."  But I agreed.

Moderator: One of the things I love about your books is the way you weave in details.  Now I understand it took you about 9 years to write your book.  When you started this adventure, neither of you planned to turn it into a book.  How were you able to reconstruct all the details?


Radio Shangri-La by Lisa Napoli

Gail: I had no intention of writing a book--for me, it was all about survival.  But my husband insisted we bring water proof paper with us.  It was a good thing it was waterproof, because it was soon soaked with my tears.  My husband would write regularly and keep all the day-to-day details of the trip.  For example, one of his entries would say, "Made camp.  Gail did a bit better today."  Mine would be, "What the f**k am I doing here?"  Whenever we reached rest stops, I'd send elaborate emails to friends and family.  When I got home, I thought it would be fun to write conflicting versions of the same event, but it fell apart.

Lisa:  When I left for Bhutan, I was trying to escape from the media, so I didn't bring a journal or take notes. My boss let me have a leave of absence, as long as I took microphone and sent back a story every now and then. Since it was a radio show, many of the young people recorded themselves and those recordings became the basis for my story.  It didn't actually take me that long to write the manuscript.  It did take 9 months to write the proposal.

Moderator: You write some deeply personal things inside your books.  How difficult was it to be that brutally honest?


Gail Storey

Lisa: I, as a young woman, had been sexually assaulted.  So for me it was a revelation to be able to have this experience and trust these people.  Here I was, a single woman having had this past experience and I was still able to come to this new country alone and put my life in the hands of strangers. I was grappling with this beautiful, wonderful thing, with this pivot point in my life.  There was no way not to write about it.

Gail:  The most challenging thing to write was the sexual and the spiritual.  The spiritual because you're writing about ineffable--you're trying to describe the indescribable.  With the sexual, I had to confront not just the erotic portion, but the problematic.  For example, I have a chapter called "Sex Under the Tarp." (Laughter)  No, but it was a struggle for me to get to the honesty.

Moderator: Who was the person who went into the journey and who was the person who came out?

Lisa: The person who went into the journey was befuddled--not knowing what to do--not really happy.  After I returned, I started reflecting on all the things present in my life that I didn't appreciate.  Like the ability to love.  I don't mean just loving a man, but spiritually, being able to love other people.




I Promise Not to Suffer by Gail Storey

Gail:  An interesting thing happens when you start a journey and commit to it.  The layers of yourself begin to fall away.  The first layer is the physical.  You confront the limits of the body.  Even as you're becoming stronger, you become emotionally raw.  Then the psychological self falls away.  You become a creature of awareness.  There's always the mystery of the question, "Who am I?"  But I've learned to be content living with the mystery.

Moderator: So how can I have an adventure that becomes a book?

Gail: Drop into the heart.  So many times we over think things.  Learn instead to follow in the wisdom of heart, letting it guide you.  The mind will follow as a function.

Lisa: Be open. I like to travel on my own and go everywhere I can--even to Irvine. (Laughter.)  I had the opportunity to go to Bhutan because I went to a cocktail party.  There's a lot of things that work against you.  The infiltration of maps--not physically, but in your mind, telling you where you're supposed to go.

Moderator:  So what I got from Gail was, "Go to wisdom of the heart," and what I got from Lisa was, "Go to cocktail parties."  (Laughter.)  Do I have to hike 900 miles?

Gail: You just have to be present.

Moderator: Where do you go from here?

Gail: My husband and I are planning a hike along a small section of the Continental Divide trail.

Lisa: Rapid City, North Dakota. I'm researching a book on Joan Crock.

* * *

Once again, my notes are dazed.  I am, too.  I'm heady with inspiration.  This has been the best panel so far.  I genuinely feel as though I have been on this journey with these women and have come out of it with newfound wisdom.  It makes me question my own fantasy writing.  I send my characters on a trips across the world. Do they bring such wisdom back?

My enlightenment is disrupted by the sudden prospect of material pleasure.  They're setting out dessert!  I rush to the ballroom for my piece of decadent chocolate cake and my last round of coffee.  The day is nearly done.  Only one speaker left.

* * *

To Be Continued....

In Case You Missed It: Literary Orange 2014, Part 5

What: Literary Orange
Where: Marriott, Irvine
When: Friday, April 5, 2014

Please Note: The quotes are approximate.

Lunch

It is noon.  The ballroom is being set up for luncheon, and all the speakers line the hall in their black-clothed tables.  Now is the time to sign books and socialize.  Wise ones have bought their books in advance.  I am not wise.  And I am not alone.

The bookstore is madness.  Every inch of table is crowded by some browser or another, and the line for the register wraps around the wall.  And there is another problem.  All the authors from the same panel sit together.  I cannot afford all three books, yet I will feel horrible if I go up to only one of the speakers with a book to sign.

Deciding against purchase, I go back to the dining room.

On the way, I see the YA panel.  The three women are talking to each other.  No one's really approached them.  I would like to talk to them.  They are role models in my genre.  But what do I say?  Nothing comes to mind.  If I had bought a book, I could ask them to sign it.  But I have not.  What do I do?

If I were suave and graceful, I might simply go up to them and chat.  But no.  I slink to the ballroom, meet my aunt, awkwardly down a salad--before deciding I'm supposed to be networking, dammit, and go back to talk to them after all.  I hope that they have not seen me pass back and forth three times like some kind of stalker.

Jessica recognizes me and we speak briefly about our mutual friends.  I explain the long line in the bookstore. Maurene signs a bookmark for me, and Jessica signs an excerpt of her book.  (Kendare doesn't have anything.)  Now, I've dispensed with the pleasantries, and I still haven't left.  I stand there awkwardly as the lull starts to stretch.  Ask them something, ask them something!  My mind races.

"You have such wonderful ideas," I start.  "Very creative.  Where do you get--?"

No! I tell myself.  You are not going to ask them the oldest, dumbest question in the book! Think of something better!

"I mean," I stutter, making a conversational u-turn, "everyone asks authors where they get their ideas, but, you know, ideas are all around us.  So, um, how do you narrow them down and decide which ones you want to develop?"

Better, my brain says.

I'm so flustered about coming up with clever and creative questions, I almost miss their response.    Kendare says that if an idea doesn't leave her head, she knows that it wants to be developed.  Jessica writes an outline and if she can't come up with enough points, she knows the idea's not strong enough to carry the book.

I nod, trying to think of my next question.

"You speak very well.  You're very funny.  How do you do that?  Practice?"

Jessica says she practices.  Kendare says she just talks about whatever.  Once she had to stretch a 5-minute speech into a 45-minute presentation.  She ended up talking about cheese.

I might have asked a few more questions, but it all goes by in a self-conscious blur.  Eventually, I figure I have wasted enough of their time and make my grand exit.  As I sink into my chair all a-jitter, the dinner rolls come by.

Lunch is a chicken breast coated in breadcrumbs topped with a demi-glace sauce.  (Okay, I'm trying to sound smart here.  I don't know what sauce it is.  It's brown and it's not curry, so I'm going with demi-glace)  It is served with little potatoes that need butter and carrots with too much pepper.

* * *

To Be Continued...

In Case You Missed It: Literary Orange 2014, Part 4

What: Literary Orange
Where: Marriott, Irvine
When: Friday, April 5, 2014

Please Note: The quotes are approximate.

Panel #2
YA: The Awesome Age

People on the Panel

• Maurene Goo, author, Since You Asked, www.maurenegoo.com
• Jessica Brody, author, Unremembered, www.jessicabrody.com
• Kendare Blake, author, Antigoddess, www.kendareblake.com
• Alyson Beecher, moderator

"You don't have to like the character.  Just the story."

My first panel and second panel are in the same room, so I remain in my seat.  Why not?  I've got a good view of the stage.  As the panelists play musical chairs, I gaze through my notes.  Suddenly, I hear my name called.  I look up.

Two members of my party--Michelle Knowlden and Debra Young--sit down beside me.  They both took a "Save the Cat" workshop with one of the panelists, Jessica Brody, and they've come to show support for their former teacher.  As for me, I'm here because this is the only panel even closely related to my chosen genre of fantasy.  Mystery, literary fiction, poetry, and narrative non-fiction are all well-represented.  Speculative works are scarce.

The members on this panel seem young.  Two of the women are Asian--the only non-white speakers I will encounter the whole day.  On the far left is Maurene Goo, followed by Jessica Brody and then Kendare Blake.  Alyson Beecher, the moderator, occupies the far right.  I think about taking a picture of the room for reference, but I'm too lazy.

The moderator makes the obligatory introductions and we begin.

* * *

Moderator: Can you each tell us a little about your writing journey?

Maurene Goo

Maurene: Well, my writing journey was probably different from these ladies here.  I had no aspirations of being a writer.  I never thought it could be done.  I wrote a sample chapter for a grad school application.  I decided not to go into that program, but I kept writing.  I have a friend who's a graphic artist.  I sent the story to him.  It turns out his editor, who worked with graphic novels, wanted to tackle regular novels, and mybook was just what he was looking for. So the stars really aligned for me.

Since You Asked by Maurene Goo

Jessica: At the age 7, I wrote the riveting story of a puppy and kitty who--spoiler alert--get the chicken pox. I put my story on the shelf with all the other books and that was the first time I really saw myself as an author.  As I grew up, though, I thought, Writing isn't a real job.  I kept writing, but it was more of a hobby.  Then I got laid off.  The severance package was 18 months.  I stretched it and wrote novel my first novel.  Then I started to write YA.  I was thinking about trying SciFi when I saw a news article about a plane crash with a sole survivor.  I started thinking about that lone survivor. What if she had no memories?  What if she had superpowers?  That became the basis for Unremembered.

Kendare: I didn't think I could make a living from writing. I had a boring job.  One night I was on the barn roof with my brother.  We were drinking beers, talking about the need to leave the country. And the easiest way to do that was with a student visa.  I went to Middlesex University in England.  When I came back, I thought, Well, I can live with parents forever.  I wrote a contemporary novel, first.  But I decided blood and guts was the way for me and wrote Anna Dressed in Blood.

Moderator: Can you tell me about the element of world-building and research involved in your writing?


Jessica Brody

Maurene: I write contemporary stories, so I don't do a lot of world building.  My settings are realistic but more heightened and exaggerated.  It's a little more fun, a little more fantasy.

Jessica: Writing this trilogy has been a crash course in world-building.  It takes place in the real world--at first.  In the first book, I'd put in little hints about the world my character comes from.  Then, in the third book, I realized she had to return to her own world.  All those hints in first book needed to be explained. 


Unremembered by Jessica Brody

Kendare: Anna Dressed in Blood took place in the real world.  I set it in a city close to my house, so I could do fun research trips for local details.  I take a more minimalist approach to description, but I still need details.  The challenge in Antigoddess was building gods that work in the real world while honoring the original Greek myth.  So I did a lot of research.  It was intimidating, because there were all these different origin stories and some of them contradicted each other.  I ended up relying on Homer.



Moderator: You all create characters that feel very real.  Do you ever have trouble with characters going in different directions than you intended?  Is it hard being evil to the characters?

Kendare: Well, as far as characters misbehaving, I created a character named Carmel, who I thought was going to die. Turns out she didn't.  If I'd have known she was going to live I wouldn't have name her Carmel!  In Antigoddess, Hermes told me he was gay.  I was like, "Okay...  At least you told me early."

Kendare Blak

Jessica: I have argued that erasing all of your character's memories and planting new ones is the most evil thing you can do.  Because if you have no memories, how do you know who you are? As far as surprises, one of my characters turned out to be the brother of my heroine.  It was a very, "Luke, I am your father" moment.

Maurene: I think even normal characters can surprise you.  Friendships in my book turned out to be much deeper than I anticipated.  ...I guess, I don't really do evil things to my characters.  The worst thing I've put them through is Life--which is evil enough.


Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

Moderator: Recently, there was an article in Time discussing what is the ideal YA female protagonist.  Your thoughts?

Jessica: So I wrote a novel called 52 Reasons I Hate My Father about a rich girl who has to work 52 jobs before she can inherit her trust fund.  People have told she's unlikable in the beginning of the story.  I'm like, "Yeah...  And your point is?"  She's supposed to start off unlikable, but over the course of the story she changes and redeems herself.  You don't have to like the character.  Just the story.

Maurene: People have told me, "I hated the protagonist."  I feel deflated, because she's based on me.  There's lots of pressure to have this perfect character, but as a writer, it's not that interesting.  My heroine is honest about her flaws.  That's an attractive quality to me.

Kendare: There's this sense in society that females are judged more harshly than males.  Look at superhero movies.  When we meet the heroes at the start of the movie, they're dicks.  But we're told, "You just need to peel back the layers, like an onion, and you'll see that deep down, he's a good guy."  But we're not willing to do that with female characters.  We expect them to be perfect to begin with.

Maurene: Plus, we're dealing with teenagers.  Think of what you were like as a teenager.  You weren't your best self.

* * *

We open for questions.

I glare at my notes.  They don't quite capture how funny and witty these women really are.  But I have been listening too closely to write down more than a phrase or two. Oh well.  At least I had more fun at this panel than the last one.

After questions end, Michelle and Debra walk up to Jessica to say their hellos.  Networking, I think.  Here's my chance.  But I am not a master socializer.  I find myself standing awkwardly between the three ladies as they catch up.  By the time Jessica turns to me for an introduction, I barely manage to burble out my name.

Well, that went well, I think, as the authors all move to their signing tables.  A chance for networking has slipped through my fingers.

* * *

To Be Continued....

In Case You Missed It: Literary Orange 2014, Part 3

What: Literary Orange
Where: Marriott, Irvine
When: Friday, April 5, 2014

Please Note: The quotes are approximate.

Panel #1
Agents: The Business of Writing

People on the Panel

• Julia Drake, publicist, Julia Drake Public Relations (JDPR), www.juliadrakekepr.com
• BJ Robbins, agent, The BJ Robbins Literary Agency 
• Linda Friedman, moderator

"The most boring thing is a plot synopsis."

With the morning keynote finished, everyone splits off to different panels.  I head over to the Marina Del Ray/ Newport Beach room, which, despite its double name, is actually pretty small.  A few pictures of palm trees are the room's only decoration.

The lady I sit next to shares her notes on Marlo Thomas' keynote address.  She's summed it up in three words: Acknowledge, Appreciate, Action.  I wish I could be so succinct.

There's a black-clothed table in the front of the room. Three ladies sit at it with white paper triangles displaying their names.  The publicist, Julia, sits in the middle. She sports short dark hair.  Two blonds flank either side of her.  To the left is moderator Linda, who wears glasses on her nose.  To the right is agent BJ, who wears glasses atop her head.  All three ladies are wearing green.  If there's some deeper meaning to the color, I don't know what it is.

I'm afraid that this will be a very loose question and answer session, with the audience lobbing whatever questions come to mind, with no real order to the presentation.  Thankfully, I learn the moderator will be the one asking questions.  Reassured, I click my lead pencil and start to write.

* * *

Moderator:  So let's begin.  Why don't you ladies start by introducing yourself.

Julia: My name is Julia Drake.  I founded a P.R. firm, Julia Drake Public Relations, which does targeted social media and events.  I have over 100 clients, from NY Times best-sellers to new authors.

BJ: I'm BJ Robbins.  I'm a literary agent based in LA.  I started in publicity in Simon and Schuster. Later I became an editor, and then I moved into agenting.  I represent both fiction and non-fiction.  For fiction, I veer towards what I like to call literary with a lowercase l. Literary fiction is a tough sell right now.  I like narrative-driven nonfiction, such as history and memoir--also a tough sell.  I have to really like the voice of the work, but I also have to know that I can sell it in this hostile marketplace.

Moderator: For writers, there's a 2-pronged effort, first to find an agent and get published, and second to run a publicity campaign.  BJ, what advice do you have about the first part of that effort?

BJ: Learn as much as you can, and get your manuscript as good as you can.  Even to the extent of hiring an editor.  You only get one chance to make a good impression.

Moderator: Julia, what would you consider a realistic publicity effort?

Julia: Depends on the writer's platform.  I hate that word.  People hear it and think what does platform mean?  Basically a platform means your built-in readership.  You should already have a website and social media up.  The actual publicity campaign starts 6 months before the book is published. We tap into different media to promote the book.  Everything is working toward the publishing date.

Moderator: BJ, how involved are you with editing?

BJ: Really involved.  If I see potential, I will edit.  It's more developmental editing as opposed to line editing.  It's also sort of a test for the writer, to see how they behave.  Are they willing to change their work?  Because if they don't take my advice, they won't take advice from the publisher.  By the way, you don't have to make every correction. Just 80%.

Moderator: This question is for Julia.  What's the most effective way to do social media?

Julia: From P.R. perspective, you should focus on whatever increases your visibility, whatever resonates, whatever makes you unique.  It's not just updating your Facebook account 20 times a day.  You need a content posting strategy.  Although social media creates buzz and audience interaction, that doesn't necessarily translate into sales.  I've noticed that some bestselling authors don't do social media, but they do write blogs.  It's consistency that's important.

Moderator: How do you find an agent that's a good match?

BJ: It starts with a query letter--a good one--one targeted specifically at me.  No "Dear Agent" or multiple listings in the email header.  Tell me why you're approaching me and what your book is about.  The summary should be no longer than a paragraph.  Then tell me something about yourself: if you've been published before, if you have an interesting job, your credentials.

Moderator: Julia, when people interview you to be their P.R. agent, how do you promote yourself?

Julia: Actually, we're interviewing them.  We have to believe in the project.  What's your platform?  How can we sell you?  All of you.  We look for anything interesting in your background or maybe something happening in the news that connects to your book.  Authors fill out a questionnaire.

Moderator: So you need to feel simpatico?

Julia: We want our clients to feel comfortable with us.  Transparency is important.  We encourage people to call previous clients and talk to them and to look over our old promotional material. That's the difference between the big scary P. R. firms versus the smaller boutique ones.  Smaller P.R. firms give more personalized attention.  You go for a big name publicist for the big hits--for having Oprah on speed dial.  But understand, they still might not be able to get you on Oprah.  In fact, if you're self-published, they won't even take you on as a client.  And sometimes those big hits don't translate into sales.  A New York Times review might do nothing, because the market is fractured.

BJ: Same thing with literary agents.

Moderator: What are your views on how publishing has changed?

BJ: Ever since I started, I've heard about the death of publishing, blah, blah, blah, but for those of us in publishing, it's still business as usual.  That doesn't mean there haven't been changes.  There are fewer places I can take a book to. More goes into the decision to purchase a book than the editor loving it.  The marketing director will say, 'What's the platform?'  If there is none, the book will be axed.  There's more emphasis on celebrity authors, more media noise.  It's harder to compete, harder to get attention, harder to make money.  The heyday of bidding is gone.  Sometimes it's better to look for a smaller, more enthusiastic press, who will pay less of an advance but give you more attention.

Moderator: Julia, what can you tell us about literary events versus social media?

Julia: Actual face-to-face contact works better.  It gives you sense of an audience and creates a personal connection.  Book clubs, libraries, and literary luncheons like these work great for selling books.  But its not enough just to show up and sign books.  You need to think more outside of the box, you have to make it an experience.  So maybe hire a musician, make a slideshow, always have food.  When you talk, don't just tell us what your book is about.  The most boring thing is a plot synopsis.  People want to hear about you, how you were inspired to write the book.  It's all about selling yourself.

Moderator: I remember an event based on an epic novel of Cuba in the 50s.  They held it at a restaurant and hired salsa dancers and everything.  They actually rolled the book into the price of the event.  Everyone got a copy with purchase of admission.

Julia: That's a good example of thinking outside the box.

Moderator: Self-publishing has exploded with the rise of e-readers and Print-on-Demand.  What are your thoughts?

Julia: A couple of things about self-publishing.  It's done a good job of democratizing the market. Content is king.  But if you do self-publish, know that you're going against the current.  Traditional publishers are still able to get more media attention.  And since there's a higher volume of books in the marketplace, it's harder to compete.  Ask yourself, Should I be writing this?  Is the hook strong enough?  The advantage to owning your own publishing company is that if you do make a killing, you don't have to share.  The risk is higher, but the rewards are higher, too.

BJ: Some people self-publish thinking it will get them an agent.  And while that does happen, it's a really small percentage.  Out of all the thousands of self-published books, maybe 10 will land an agent.  So that can't be your reason.  A lot of these services advertise that it doesn't cost anything to self-publish your book.  But it does end up costing.  It costs your time--just doing the formatting, for example.  It costs money for the artwork.  It costs in marketing.  If you self-publish, you're not going to get any bookstore distribution.  Some of these services say that they'll put your book in a catalogue--okay, but who's going to see them?  You have to be careful and get as much info as possible.

* * *

The formal interview over, the moderator opens for questions.  I stretch my cramped fingers and stare at my 6 pages of scribbles, a feeling of pessimism pressing against me like a wave of humidity. I already knew most of these things.  Certainly, after 15 rejections, I understand the impossibility of netting an agent, even with polished, personalized queries.  A few nuggets of information may prove useful--like charging people for an event and tossing the book in free.

Mostly, I feel overwhelmed.  How can I succeed, if I'm not famous enough for a traditional publisher or loud enough for publishing on my own?  Is there a way for me?  How much will I have to risk before I see any reward?

* * *

To Be Continued...