Dust Devils

Have you ever seen a dust devil? They're rather amusing to watch as you're driving across Texas. Dictionary.com says that a dust devil is a "strong miniature whirlwind that whips up dust, litter, leaves, etc into the air." I've seen quite a few of those in the last few weeks. We point and slow down and talk about it until the thing is out of sight.

Occasionally I feel like a little dust devil. I move very fast, and I stay quite busy, but I'm not sure that I'm doing much more than stirring up dust, litter and leaves. Whether my passion is writing or knitting scarves for shut-ins, I'd like to think I can be more productive than that. So what measure can we use to determine if we're making progress? After attending the RWA conference last month, where many of the best and brightest and MOST SUCCESSFUL in the industry were gathered, I came home and re-assessed. This is the list I came up with.

1) Is what I'm doing resulting in more sales? As artists, we often avoid this direct question, but I think it's a valid one. At RWA Nationals, I went to many workshops by where industry leaders challenged me to think like a business person. If I'm spending a lot of time and energy on things that don't really produce, then I need to re-assess.

2) Am I using my time effectively? I like to think that I have unlimited time, but of course I don't. I have the same amount of hours in my day as Nora Roberts. If I waste 90 minutes of mine on Facebook, that would be my mistake. Facebook is no doubt a great marketing tool, but I need to set a timer, and limit my minutes there.

3) Am I refining my craft? I went to a workshop by Deb Dixon and was astounded. I've taught writing at the college level for 12 years. I didn't really think I had anything to learn about point-of-view, but I'd heard so much about Deb that I stopped by anyway. My goodness was I surprised, and I have pages of notes to prove it. I saw quite a few bestselling authors in the audience as well, and I have no doubt that's part of the reason why they're bestselling authors.

My list is longer than this, and some of it is specific to me, but I want to challenge you to look at your passion and determine what you can do to move yourself forward. Success is defined in different ways for all of us, and I wish you the very best of success in whatever you choose to do.

~Drue
DrueAllen@gmail.com

Value of an Agent

Is an agent worth 15% of your money? Can you even get an agent? I queried a LOT of agents before I sold, I had interest from a few, and I signed before I sold--so yes, it is possible. On to value . . .

1) When my agent sold my first book to Five Star, she didn't make much of a commission, but she continued guiding my career , submitting proposals to other publishers, and giving me advice on how I could branch out into other genres.

2) My agent often contacted me when she was contacted by publishers in need of proposals. I spent the next two years writing a lot of proposals. I never turned her down, because I wanted her to know I was willing to work to "make it." Publishers contact agents when they need something fast, when they have a "slot" open up, or when they need a writer-for-hire. We received a lot of rejections, but my agent - - -

3) kept encouraging me! She still hadn't made any more money. My agent kept working with me, kept directing my career. It began to feel like she was a harder boss than my real boss, but I was learning to trust her.

4) My agent always returned my emails. I never called her, as I never had any urgent questions, but she always returned my emails promptly. She also sent me regular correspondence showing which publishers had rejected my manuscripts and proposals. We were/are a team!

5) My agent had her pulse on what was going on in the publishing houses. The last proposal she told me to write, I told her no. I was tired. I have a full time job, I was working on a sequel to THE COST OF LOVE, and I didn't want to do another proposal. She responded to my no, with an "I understand" email. This was quickly followed with a "let me tell you why you're wrong" email. I decided to follow her advice.

6) My agent was able to negotiate contracts for another 4 books with 2 publishers. She was able to negotiate the due dates on these books, and she was able to increase the number of free books I'd receive as well as a few other perks.

I'd say my agent is valuable to me. One of those 4 books we sold because the publisher had a "slot" open up and needed to fill it quickly. She went straight to my agent. Good writing can be noticed by a publisher without an agent, but you don't always know where those "open slots" are. Personally, I think an agent is worth her 15%. I know this isn't every one's experience, but it certainly has been mine. I hope if you have an agent now, or have one in the future, that it's your experience too.

Drue Allen

DrueAllen@gmail.com

How much fiction . . .

. . . do you like in your fiction?
Or perhaps I should phrase that differently. How much reality do you like in your fiction?

After The Cost of Love had been edited, proofed, and printed, but before it had actually hit shelves, I endured many a sleepless night. Why? Much of the plot centers around bio-terrorism. I did my research. I needed something that was frightening, and I needed to merge it with a disease that could be spread quickly and aggressively. I merged my military grade bio-weapon with H1N1. I finished copy edits in March of 2009. By June 2009, the World Health Organization had verified the "swine flu" spread, confirming it to be a global pandemic.

Hmm. Too much reality? Perhaps. If I'd had the chance to change it, would I? Maybe. But it was too late. The pages were already in the hands of the printer. Would it attract readers or push them away? Time will tell.

Then there are the drones. Darn those drones. I kind of liked them. I thought it was a fun aspect of the book. If you're going to have people dying horrible deaths, you need a little fun. A little zipping around in the night. So I went with drones, which do have a long history domestically. What? People don't know this? It's true. This week in the news, it's a big deal that drones are going to be used domestically to monitor our borders. ((sigh)) Seems my romantic FICTION keeps intersecting with the headlines.

I'm not sure about all this. Personally, I'm a bit of a news junkie, so that's where many of my ideas come from. What do you think though? How much fiction do you like in your romance? Or should I say--how much reality do you like in your fiction?

~Drue
DrueAllen@gmail.com

Titles, Themes, and Planting Ideas

HOW do you come up with a title? I know there is a better process than the one I have.
I slink out to the hammock with a tablet and stay there until I've compiled a list of 15 titles. Anything that comes to mind can go on the list. Then I trot back inside, type up the list, and blast it out to my closest friends and family. They pare it down for me.

The truth is I'm TERRIBLE at coming up with Titles. Encapsulate my entire work into an eye-catching 3, 4 or 5 word phrase? Also, you should google your title on Amazon to be sure it hasn't been a best-selling title recently. (Although a title can't be copyrighted, so you're free to re-use someone's).

In truth, a title is very closely related to that thing we were taught in high school English--THEME. It makes us uncomfortable to talk about theme. Most of us had high school teachers who slapped us with a D on the paper and wrote "WRONG" across the top. I graduated from college during a time when something called reader-response theory was in vogue. If you read it, and your response is genuine, then your ideas are valid.

I often tell my college students that the theme of a story is the meaning minus the specific character names. It's over-arching like an umbrella. Our title should suggest or tease that theme. Choose carefully, then enjoy the fun part . . . planting it deep in the story.

Lucy realized they would all continue to take the risks they needed to take,
pay the price required of them. They would do it for the people they cared
about. So Dayton, and any other children coming into this circle, could grow up
in the country they loved. Living without love was something she wasn’t
courageous enough to do. The cost of love? It had always been, would continue to be, high. Gazing across into Dean’s eyes, she’d wager love was worth any cost.
(excerpt from The Cost of Love)

Building Characters

. . . or Reluctant Heroes and Kick-Ass Heroines.

That last phrase might be a bit overused. What do you think?
I can't abide a whiny woman though--in real life or in a novel. So there you have it. I'm normally quite tolerant.

Truthfully I've read quite a few articles about "world building" but not so many about "character building." I'm of the opinion that you can create any story line, set it in any location, and throw any circumstances you want at your people--but you need to have good people. You need to start, continue and end with characters that matter. They need to matter to your reader from page one, and when your reader reaches the end, they need to close the book (or turn off the e-reader) with satisfaction but a bit of despair because they don't want to leave your people.

I like a reluctant hero. I like a guy that isn't walking around SEEKING the spotlight. I live near the Ft. Hood Military Base, largest military installation in the world, and we have a lot of what I'd call reluctant heroes. Guys who want to do their job. If they ever end up in the paper or on the news, they're a bit shy about it. You can tell they want the cameraman to hurry up already and move on. These type of men were my inspiration for Dean Dreiser, the lead character in The Cost of Love. He's a lone wolf. I so dig Dean, because he's based on real men that I respect.

Lucinda, my heroine for this book, is a different story. Lucy I have met and know personally. She's Hispanic, beautiful and very bright. Soft-spoken and on the petite side. A man's first response is to protect her. Probably not necessary. Lucy can take care of herself--and then some.

These two characters are what sold my story, The Cost of Love. Yeah--biological weapons, White Sands Missile Base, Roswell, UFOs, etc. helped. But it was the PEOPLE that sold the book. It's always the people.

Have fun building your characters. There's no other job quite like it.

UFOs, Thrillers, and First Love

What could UFOs, Thrillers, and First Love possibly have in common? They're all in my debut novel, The Cost of Love. Set in Roswell, New Mexico--the UFOs are a prerequisite. Chapter One opens with Dean evaluating a decomposing body, enough said about the thriller portion. And Lucy does find her first love, as silly as that sounds--though neither of us planned it that way.

But then novels often don't go as you plan them. I certainly never intended to write about Roswell the first time I drove through it, or when I sat in one of its little diners (quaint would be a kind word), or even when I hiked the Guadalupe mountains to the south. Imagination has a way of taking hold though, and when you sprinkle in a good dose of nightly news, a bit of research, and characters that won't turn you loose, you have a story that's not only fun to read, it was also a complete joy to write.

Story ideas come in all shapes and forms, and from many different places. What works for one book, might produce nothing for the next. A tried-and-true method for your favorite author might leave you staring at a blinking icon on a blank screen. You have to find what works for you, for this moment.

Writing and reading are mysterious that way. When you pick up the next novel you've been waiting to start, or flip on your e-reader, kind of makes you wonder though. Where DID that idea come from?