A Word Please

I used to save all my rejection slips because I told myself, one day I’m going to autograph these and auction them. And then I lost the box.
~ James Lee Burke

The mainstream publishing world is shrinking, if not collapsing, in much the same way as the music industry has and is. This is due in part to the combination of the explosion in technology and the withering economy. However, the $50 million 4-book contracts for author “superstars” is largely to blame for the publishing companies having no money left to risk on the unknowns. Their stubborn refusal to move with the changes, rather than against them, is another drawback for new and talented authors seeking representation.

Rejection letters are a way of life for most authors. Now, more than ever before, finding an agent willing to read past two lines of a query letter is a daunting task. As authors, we tend to equate our value as a writer with an agent’s opinion. We label these people as experts. But even so-called experts get it wrong.

Here is a sampling of famous authors and the rejections they endured:

1. The Diary of Anne Frank was rejected 16 times. After reading the manuscript, one publisher wrote, “The girl doesn’t, it seems to me, have a special perception or feeling which would lift that book above the ‘curiosity’ level.”

2. Joseph Heller, author of the classic Catch-22, received this message from one publisher: “I haven’t the foggiest idea about what the man is trying to say. Apparently the author intends it to be funny – possibly even satire – but it is really not funny on any intellectual level.”

3. J.K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected by a dozen publishers. Finally, a small London publisher took on the project because the CEO’s 8-year-old daughter begged him to print the book. I bet Penguin and HarperCollins regret their decision on that one every day.

4. Ernest Hemingway’s novel The Torrents of Spring received a scathing rejection. It read in part, “It would be extremely rotten taste, to say nothing of being horribly cruel, should we want to publish it.”

5. A Time to Kill, bestselling author John Grisham’s first novel, was rejected by 16 agents, then a dozen publishers, before someone decided his work was worth printing.

6. When Edgar Allen Poe tried to break into the market with his short stories, one publisher had this to say, “Readers in this country have a decided and strong preference for works in which a single and connected story occupies the entire volume.”

7. Margaret Mitchell’s classic Gone With the Wind was rejected 38 times. What were all those “experts” thinking?

8. 17 publishers rejected The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot.

9. When Herman Melville sent out his manuscript entitled Moby Dick, he was told, “We regret to say that our united opinion is entirely against the book as we do not think it would be at all suitable for the Juvenile Market in (England). It is very long, rather old-fashioned…”

10. Bestselling author Ayn Rand, whose books are now classics, suffered many rejections. After reading The Fountainhead, one publisher said, “I wish there were an audience for a book of this kind. But there isn’t. It won’t sell.” Fourteen years later, Rand went through a similar process with her book Atlas Shrugged. One publisher said, “… the book is much too long. There are too many long speeches… I regret to say that the book is unsaleable and unpublishable.” Fortunately, not everyone agreed.

11. Irving Stone’s novel Lust for Life was rejected 16 times before finding a publisher and going on to sell about 25 million copies.

12. Author megastar Stephen King was not immune to the harsh words of rejection letters. One publisher had this to say about King’s first novel Carrie, “We are not interested in science fiction which deals with negative utopias. They do not sell.”

Thankfully, these authors persevered despite the doors that continually slammed in their faces. Their books eventually found a home. But how many didn’t? How many equally talented – or even more talented – authors fell by the wayside? How many potential classics sit in a drawer because no agent or publisher believes the material is worth publishing?

I wrote for twelve years and collected 250 rejection slips before getting any fiction published, so I guess outside reinforcement isn’t all that important to me.
~ Lisa Alther

In our modern world, we are always going at breakneck speed, running from one thing to another. Technology has ensured that we are never disconnected from friends or from work. We “multitask”, all day, every day. Consequently, we’ve learned to expect instant gratification. This applies to our reading habits, as well.

How long do you give a book before you decide it’s not worth reading? A few chapters? A few pages?

Capturing a reader’s attention early in a book has always been important. Now, however, our shortened attention spans make it even more vital.

Would you give a book only a single line to draw you in? Here are some brilliant first lines that have hooked countless readers:

1. “When I finally caught up with Abraham Trahearne, he was drinking beer with an alcoholic bulldog named Fireball Roberts in a ramshackle joint just outside of Sonoma, California, drinking the heart right out of a fine spring afternoon.” – The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley

2. “If I could tell you one thing about my life it would be this: when I was seven years old the mailman ran over my head.” – The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint by Brady Udall

3. “I write this sitting in the kitchen sink.” – I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith

4. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” – A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

5. “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” – The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

6. “It was the day my grandmother exploded.” – The Crow Road by Iain M. Banks

7. “Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.” – Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler

8. “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.” – The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

9. “Granted: I am an inmate of a mental hospital; my keeper is watching me, he never lets me out of his sight; there’s a peephole in the door, and my keeper’s eye is the shade of brown that can never see through a blue-eyed type like me.” – The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass

10. “He was born with a gift of laughter and a sense that the world was mad.” – Scaramouche by Raphael Sabatini

Do you have a favorite of your own?

Homelessness is a major problem here in the U.S. It shouldn’t be. We’re supposed to be a wealthy country. We shouldn’t have families sleeping in their cars and battered women sleeping in a “tent city”.

There are many ways to get involved. We don’t have to be wealthy to care.
www.nationalhomeless.org/

Do names influence or even shape personality? It’s a question I’ve often pondered. My first name is unique. While I have heard the name “Darcy” (or Darci) on occasion in my adult years, I have never run into another Darcia. In a sense, my name is an outcast. Did that have anything to do with me being somewhat of an outcast throughout my youth?

Research by S. Gary Garwood of Tulane University addresses this issue. A group of teachers were asked to rate names as either desirable or undesirable. Garwood later performed psychological tests of personality and self-concept on a group of elementary school children. He separated the completed tests into “desirable” and “undesirable” groups according to the teachers’ ratings of the names. Garwood then compared the scores, finding that the group with the desirable names showed “a considerably higher level of adjustment” than the group with the undesirable names.

Is the problem that the names are undesirable in general? Or undesirable to the person with the name, who then projects his or her discomfort to the world?

A study by Orlo Strunk, Jr. of West Virginia Wesleyan College compared people’s opinion of their name with each person’s self-concept. Strunk found that “there appears to be a persistent tendency for individuals who dislike their first name to have less affirmative attitudes toward themselves than do those who like their first name.”

Looking at the issue in that way, self-esteem is not so much tied up in the teasing one receives from an odd first name but, instead, from the person’s own opinion of that name he or she is permanently stamped with.

The problems with “odd” first names seem to be much worse for boys than for girls. Various studies over the years have found higher tendencies toward mental illness in people with uncommon first names. (Thankfully, I think I managed to avoid this dilemma, despite my uncommon name. Maybe it is because I always liked being the only one with the name!) This tendency is, for whatever reason, higher in men than in women. Perhaps society allows for more freedom and extravagance with female names. The reasons are unclear. However, parents might want to give serious thought before naming their son Fleming, Dax, or Altair. And, while “A Boy Named Sue” might have been a great song, I don’t think Johnny Cash meant for your son to be tormented throughout grade school.

Share your story, win a tote bag!

My three dogs are rescues and tend to be spoiled brats with bad manners. At the moment, they are probably lounging on my couch, watching Jerry Springer and raiding the snack cabinet. Okay, in reality they are probably sprawled out in their respective beds, sleeping blissfully. Either way, I wish I could join them.

The above is a paragraph from my brand new release, The Cutting Edge. The book isn’t about dogs; it’s a dark comedy about a hairstylist with murder on her mind. However, rescue dogs are a big part of my character’s life, just as they are a big part of my own.

The first to tug at my heartstrings was a beautiful female Black Lab that my brother saddled with the name Sergeant. That’s what happens when you allow very young children to name your animals. She was a castoff, unwanted and uncared for by the man who’d purchased her on a whim. Sergeant was my first best friend.

Throughout the years, we’ve adopted many such castoffs and pound puppies. Our two current family members are Sidney and Kaylee. Sid is a Mini Pinscher/Chihuahua mix, abandoned due to the sin of not being a pure bred. He was tossed around and eventually dropped off at a pound where he’d been left to die. A small breed rescue saved him with hours to spare. From there, he was shuffled to various “foster homes”. We adopted him when he was somewhere between 6 and 9 months old. By then, he’d lived in at least 5 homes in 3 different states. He’ll be 10 this year, though he doesn’t know it. He’s got more energy than I’ve ever had. Sid still has trouble trusting, particularly men, but he’s a lovable little guy and makes me laugh, even on my bad days.

Kaylee is a Chihuahua. She spent the first few years of her life as a breeding dog in a puppy mill. She was kept in a tiny cage and fed mostly bread soaked in water. The SPCA raided the puppy mill and took more than 100 dogs away. Many were too sick to save. Kaylee barely made it. She was skin and bones, had severe ear infections, rotted teeth, and a scratched cornea that had never been treated. She didn’t know how to chew dry food and walked like a newborn deer. Running was out of the question. I could provide more details but it still makes me cry to think about the condition she was in. This is Kaylee when she first came to live with us:

We’ve had Kaylee just over 3 years. She has more than doubled in weight (and is now a little chunky!), chases her big brother across the lawn, and chews dry food and bones like a pro. She’s incredibly sweet and lovable. What truly amazes me is how trusting she’s become. To trust any human, after all she’s been through, is remarkable. Humans should be so resilient.

Today is Thanksgiving. Scott and I have been at my parents’ house since 11 this morning. We also brought our four dogs. They never stay home alone on a holiday. My parents are back to having six dogs now. Yesterday, they took in a new refugee from the rescue. This one’s name is Reggie and he’s a one-eyed collie. A sociopathic teenager poked out the missing eye. The parents opted to keep the kid and get rid of the dog. Personally, I would have gotten rid of the kid and kept the dog.

Skye Summers, my main character in The Cutting Edge, might have a murderous streak with her clients but she loves her dogs. And, honestly, dogs can often be a lot easier to love than people are.

I’d like to add that, while I might have rescued these dogs, they have also rescued me. Health complications keep me mostly housebound. My dogs are great company. They always listen, don’t care when I’m cranky, and love nothing better than to be trapped on the couch with me all day. What more could I ask for in a friend?

Has a rescue dog touched your life? Do you foster dogs? Know someone who has too many dogs? Avoid dogs like the plague? Share your story with me and you could win a new tote bag! Just leave your comment here by midnight on July 21st and I’ll pick a winner from the bunch. Be sure to use a current email address, as I will use that to contact the winner for a mailing address. The drawback is that you need to live somewhere in the U.S. or Canada. Unfortunately, shipping gets expensive. Sorry about that!

Books For Soldiers is an organization that helps get books out to the men and women serving in the military. Regardless of where these men and women are serving and regardless of our personal beliefs on any war, each day they risk their lives with little thanks. They endure a lot of lonely times, a lot of scary times, and, between missions, dull monotony. Sending military members books to read not only takes their mind off the dangers for a little while, it also lets them know that someone back home cares.

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Storm Williams, founder of Books For Soldiers. Storm has graciously taken time from her busy schedule to answer a few questions for me.

1. What prompted the idea for this organization?

During the first Gulf War, several of my friends from school were in the reserves and were activated to fight the Iraqis. CNN reported that once the soldiers were deployed, they were faced with massive downtime and were restricted to their base due to the travel limitations set by the Saudi government.

When the next Gulf War started in 2002, I knew I wanted to do the same thing, but I needed help, so I designed and launched BooksForSoldiers.com, a self-serve site with thousands of volunteers all sending books to deployed US troops.

2. How long have you been operating?

We started on March 1st, 2003.

3. Can you tell us briefly how the organization works?

Soldiers come to our website (we also operate CollegeForSoldiers.com and BiblesForSoldiers.org), fill out the request form on the front page. The request then gets added to our database by one of our over-worked moderators. From there, one of our thousands of volunteers will check to see if they have that title and they will then send it directly to a soldier.

4. Do the books sent need to be brand new?

We ask that any item sent to a soldier be “gently used.”

5. Is there anything else you’d like readers to know?

If any of your readers know anyone in the US military, please tell them about BooksForSoldiers.com. And if they want to send books to the troops, we are always looking for more volunteers!
***

To learn more about Books For Soldiers and/or to become a volunteer, go to www.BooksForSoldiers.com. You’ll find all the guidelines for joining and mailing, as well as a FAQ page to answer any and all questions you might have. You can also find Books for Soldiers on Facebook and Twitter.

I stumbled across an interesting site the other day. This organization sponsors literacy for children by allowing you and your child to read books online for free. How easy is that? You get a free read, while doing something good for an underprivileged child!

We Give Books is a new literary program created by Penguin Group and the Pearson Foundation. To get involved all you need to do is log on to their site and read a book to or with your child. For each book you read, they donate one book to a leading literacy group of your choice, on your behalf.

All the books available for online reading through their site are picture books, appropriate for children through age 10. You’ll find a mix of fiction and nonfiction, a variety of authors, and books for reading aloud as well as independent reading.

This is the first charity I’ve ever come across that not only does great things, but doesn’t cost you a penny. In fact, they give you something free! Read a book. Help give a child somewhere the chance to do the same.

www.wegivebooks.org

Do we have a reasonable expectation of privacy? And, if so, what exactly does that mean?

Those of us who tend to be camera shy might still be able to slip away from the crazy friend with the camera phone. But we can’t escape those same camera phones held by the creepy guy two tables away at the restaurant or the MySpace addict at the party who posts everything on her page. Like it or not, our mug shots could end up just about anywhere.

And what about the cameras that are appearing on every traffic light and are stuck to the side of every business? And the cameras that follow you around Target and Wal-Mart? In an average day, you could star in any number of videos.

I have to admit that I don’t normally give this much thought. The intrusion of cameras into our everyday lives has been a subtle, though steady, occurrence. For the most part, we don’t see them. Out of sight, out of mind. We do still have our privacy. Right?

Then I recently shopped at a store that shall remain nameless. (Can they sue me for talking about them, while they invade my privacy? I don’t know.) I needed to try a few things on. As I walked into the dressing room area, I noticed a small plaque on the wall with even smaller writing. I’m a reader. I read everything. So I stopped and read the plaque.

This fine print told me that their dressing rooms are monitored by video cameras, with a person viewing at all times. This gave me pause. Honestly, pause is not nearly strong enough. I was furious. Video cameras and people watching me undress? Seriously? How did this become okay?

I’ve adapted to cameras watching me cross intersections and following me around stores. However, the two places I always assumed fell under the ‘reasonable expectation of privacy’ rule are dressing rooms and bathrooms. If cameras are now filming my striptease, are they also watching to see whether I wash my hands after I pee?

This is not okay with me. I’m not hung up about nudity. Nor am I hung up about my body. But if I am going to strip for someone, I want to choose who that someone is. I also want to be told outright, not discover it through fine print.

A small plaque with smaller writing that most people walk right by is not acceptable. When does reasonable expectation of privacy cross the line into blatant intrusion of privacy? If all it takes to monitor someone’s private moments is small print stuck in an obscure spot, then privacy has become nothing more than an illusion.

How important are reviews to authors and readers?

For authors, they can be a vital part of marketing; particularly for those of us who are independent, self-published, unknown, struggling, potential superstars.

For readers, they can sway the decision to buy one way or the other, particularly when it comes to spending money on something written by an author unknown to him or her.

Given the importance many of us place on reviews, I thought I’d take a look at what some people have to say about the “best books ever written”. According to Newsweek, the #1 book ever is War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. Here’s what one Amazon reviewer had to say about the book:

(1 Star Review) Let me start by acknowledging that Leo Tolstoy is often regarded as one of the preeminent authors of all time. Let me follow that with the acknowledgement that many consider “War and Peace” to be the greatest triumph in human literature.

This book is horribly boring. While other lengthy works, like Les Miserables, excite and build intrigue, War and Peace does nothing of the sort. It ambles on, like a wounded victim hoping to be put out of its misery. After a thousand pages, that is exactly what I did. I threw the book clear across the room in disgust with what was a lethargic, uninteresting, and needlessly convoluted tale.

Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is #10 on Newsweek’s list. Here’s what a different Amazon review had to say about this book:

(1 Star Rating) I last read Dante’s “Comedy” in college. I thaught it might be rewarding to read it again, 40 years later. Now everybody finds out what a low-brow I am. “The Comedy” is a collection of nonsense from an age so seeped in religious nonsense that nothing was in excess in the name of God. Considered a “Classic” by generations of Christian zealots. I consider it (brace yourselves) trash.

And, according to Random House, the best novel ever written is Ulysses by James Joyce. An Amazon reviewer had this to say about it:

(1 Star Rating) Ulysses is the sorriest excuse for a novel I have ever come across; don’t waste your time. I’m all for challenging reads, but not for gibberish which academics persist in labeling erudition. I find absolutely nothing redeeming about this book, but those who enjoy taxing their brains to ridiculous measures; drawing (more than likely inaccurate) conclusions from an incomprehensible conglomeration of words; and imposing meaning where none exists because few things in the text will limit whatever perspective they want to take are welcome to it.

Of course, these books are hugely popular, so a few bad ratings won’t hurt them. They do, however, give us something to think about. Humans have largely varying opinions on just about everything, including what constitutes great reading. Maybe reviews should come with yellow caution tape reading: Opinions expressed here might unnecessarily sway future readers.

When I was young, I had glamorous visions of where writers would sit to do their creating. I pictured large, polished wood desks gleaming in the sunlight drifting in through large windows. The desk was always neat, uncluttered. The chair was high-backed leather. No distractions entered into the writer’s domain. His or her office was this shiny, well-lit, quiet spot where creative juices flowed uninterrupted by the world.

The author in my daydreams was always distinguished. This person looked the part. These authors wore nice outfits and sipped fancy coffees while they typed. They worked during the day, during specific hours, in a specific place. Often they had offices outside of their homes, with secretaries screening their calls.

I am now one of those authors I used to daydream about. And that daydream is not my reality.

I have an office/library, which takes up most of the back of our house. It’s a long, somewhat narrow room. Our house is an open floor plan, so the living room and kitchen both open into this room. There are no doors to close. I have a desk but it’s painted a cream color and it’s never neat and uncluttered. While no humans occupy my space during most weekdays, I have two dogs that bark constantly and two cats that think my lap is there for the taking. The phone rings right at those moments when an idea sparks and the neighbors behind us like to party on the days I would most like silence.

Aside from the desktop in the office space, I often write using my laptop. I sit on the couch, surrounded by spoiled animals. I type a paragraph and let a dog out. I type another and answer the phone. I curl up under blankets when it’s cold and sprawl out in my pajamas when I’m feeling lazy. Sometimes I take the laptop to bed with me and write late at night when everyone is asleep. Other times I take it outside beneath the palm tree in my backyard.

My work area is often as cluttered as my mind. I have no specific times when I write or don’t, no specific area that is defined as my own. I’m sure there are authors who work as those in my daydreams did. I’m not one of them. Creativity doesn’t come from a place or an uncluttered desk. It doesn’t matter if you’re wearing old sweats or a designer suit. The words we write come from a place that knows no boundaries. So write in your underwear if that’s what makes you happy. When writing is something you’re meant to do, all that matters is that you write.