THE BIRTH ORDER OF BOOKS

 

Because I'm a mom, I see everything in relation to my kids.

 

My hubby asks: "What's for dinner?" 

I think: "What will little Johnny eat?" 

A friend asks: "What are you doing this weekend?"

I scroll through my mental calendar of the kids' sports and birthday parties.

 

Virtually everything that goes through my mind, somehow centers around my kids. It's just the way it is...and I suspect that most moms would say the same thing.

 

So it's no surprise that when asked if I favor one of my books over another, I genuinely couldn't choose. How does a mother choose one baby over another? She doesn't. And that's just what my books are to me: my babies. Like our children, I believe that there is a definite birth order effect on each book that we writers produce.

 

The FIRST BOOK is just that - the first. It's the book that makes us writers. So there's no question that we hold a soft spot for this first book. We may not have known all the tricks of the trade when we set out to write it, and we may have made mistakes that veteran writers can spot at a glance - but for each of us, this first book is a piece of magic. We knew a book was the end result of our labor...we knew what was coming, but it surprised us nonetheless. It was truly a labor of love. There will never be another first.

 

Now the SECOND BOOK is a bit different. It is in every way, the middle child. We feel more confident in our abilities and we know how it will feel to hold it in our hands when the last word is written. We are prepared for the inevitable fear that comes with sending it out into the world, so young and defenseless. We can visualize it. As a second time author, we know that we don't know everything,  but we see that this second book will be a happy sibling to our first and a stepping stone to our third and others as yet unimagined. The second book is our friend, we settle in and enjoy it.

 

Then there's the MOST RECENT BOOK...it's the baby among our completed work and as such it is precious in a totally different way. This is the one that you are now spending most of your waking hours with and feeding on demand...it is helpless without you and as such gets all the attention (for a little while at least). It's the one that you know you can write, the one that you can almost predict how long each chapter will take and map out more specifically than any other piece. You know where your third child will go to school before they even exit the womb, so too as a writer, you know how this third book will progress before you put pen to paper. It's all "fleshed out" in your mind from the start. There are no surprises. Things go as planned and you can breathe. But the ending is bittersweet. Is this the last? Will there be more? Only time will tell...

 

But though birth order affects our relation to our work, one could never take the place of another. The first is not more important than the third, the second not more loved than the first. Each holds a unique place in our history as the Mother Author and each plays a role in our success. Life is a journey and so too is writing.

 

And all I know for certain is that each piece we write is a gift.

 

Top 10 Music Artists that have Inspired My Work

Inspiration.

It's what makes artists paint and musicians compose. It's what drives educators to teach and dancers to perform. And at the end of the day, inspiration is what makes authors out of ordinary writers.

For me personally, inspiration is what carries me from the initial heady enthusiasm I feel on page one of a new project through the hills and valleys that naturally occur before I edit that last paragraph.

I can have a brilliant idea. I can even find that perfect first sentence and a twist for the end to leave readers wanting more. But without inspired content in between that first and last page, the project is a failure. For me, music has always been my inspiration when I hit that inevitable road block - when my character is at a crossroads and just doesn't know which way to go. I will be driving along with the radio on or my ipod turned up and suddenly a song or an artist will resonate so clearly with the character or plot I am working on so that there is no longer a shadow of doubt about what I will write next. The song...the lyrics, the tone, the emotion...becomes the passion to drive my stories forward.

So I've compiled a list of the top 10 music artists that have inspired my work to date.

10. James Taylor - He's mellow and poetic and can deliver a setting through words as well as any novelist I've ever read.

9. Zac Brown - He has that honest southern sincerity to his voice no matter if he sings about "cold beer on a Friday night" or the sacrifices of our armed services...his words are heartfelt.

8. Bob Dylan - for obvious reasons...

7. Paul Simon - He's still going strong without Garfunkel and longevity is inspiring.

6. Billy Joel - He's got that little bit of crazy to his songs that make me feel like we are together on the edge of something big...quite possibly something disastrous, but something big nonetheless.

5. Christina Perri - Oh, the angst! "Sweet little bluebird..." Angst, angst and more angst!

4. John Lennon - If for nothing else than Imagine, he sparks the creativity in me.

3. Miranda Lambert - She's tough as nails and tells it like it is. Sometimes simple and to the point is best.

2. John Denver - He's wistful and dreamy...puts me in a contemplative frame of mind.

And drum roll please....the top musician that inspires me with every song he writes and every character I have created...

1. James Blunt - Somehow he manages to capture the complexity of a personality within the confines of an individual song. In a three minute song, he can show you the good of a person and the devil on the other side...which just proves that characters are multi-dimensional and complicated if we just give them room to breathe.

Yes, my inspirations come from a wide range of musical genres, so if you haven't heard of any of them, I highly suggest you do...

What artists inspire your writing?

What's In A Name?

You may notice a change on my blog...then again you may not.

After much internal debating, I have decided to change the name I use for my blog from my formal given name to the nickname that I have been called ever since I can recall. I've never really used my given name...ever. Not really. I've heard it called out at graduations and during the roll call on the first day of class. "Johanna," the teacher would call out. "Here," I'd say, "but please call me Josie." More than once I've wondered why I wasn't named Josie in the first place.

When I had my own children, I named them each with the intention of avoiding nicknames completely. I thought I could avoid the same pitfall of confusion for them. Did it work? Not really. I've discovered that no matter what the name, kids will find a way to change it. They'll find a way to customize it to their liking. Name your daughter Emily and she'll become Em. Stewart becomes Stew. Even when you think it can't be done, they find a way...even if they have to elongate it to be different. Suddenly they'll become Paulie instead of Paul. I think kids do it just to claim their own identity. They need to let us as their parents know that although we gave them the name in the first place, they will tweak it a little just to say they did. Just to claim that little bit of independence.

But that wasn't my situation. I doubt I was ever called my given name since the day I was born. My formal name was just that...a formality.

So when I began to submit my books to agents, I thought using my given name would be the thing to do. It sounded more writerly I thought. But lately, it's gotten confusing -it just doesn't feel like me. And frankly, nobody I know would even recognize it. So I've decided to become more authentic. I've decided to just be little 'ol me. Josie.

After all, how important is a name anyway?

3 Reasons Why I Love Reality TV

Hi. My name is Johanna and I'm a reality TV junkie.

Ok. I said it. The first step toward recovery is admitting you have a problem, right? For years now I've tuned in and followed the Bachelor from lonely lost soul to giddy, hopeless romantic. I've followed stressed out designers on Project Runway as Heidi Klum unabashedly tells them "You're Out" and kissed them auf wiedersehen. I've watched with baited breath as Ryan Seacrest dimmed the lights and crushed the dreams of American Idol hopefuls. But in the past year, my addiction to the genre has grown worse. Lately it seems that there is no shortage of reality show offerings. Now there's a Real Housewife for virtually every city, Top Chef and Cupcake Wars, Top Models and too many singing competitions to count. There's Jersey Shore and Survivor and the Amazing Race and Million Dollar Listing and the list goes on and on and on (and on...)Anyway, you get the idea.

So what's a girl to do? I will no longer deny it. I will no longer tape and TIVO my favorites only to watch them in private moments when no one is looking. In fact, I will embrace Reality TV for three good reasons:

 1. Truth is Stranger than Fiction:

 It's true. As a writer, I could never dream up the plot twists and turns that show up on reality TV. I spend months plotting my books and trying to figure out what my characters will do, who they will be drawn to...what will really tick them off. And even with all my plotting, I'd never be able to write the lines that I hear uttered from these people. Often I can predict next week's episode of Greys or how The Good Wife will end. But reality TV is a roller coaster that keeps me guessing from minute to minute and I LOVE the simple complexity of the whole thing.

2. Character Fodder:

Watching a few reality TV shows can be like doing a whole month's worth of research into a character. Want to write a story set the South? You'll find a host of characters with the tell tale drawl and lingo right on the living room screen. Tempted to touch on a western romance? Reality TV will provide the authentic dress and scenery for your new setting. Reality stars are larger than life, but for a writer the secret is in the details that we see underneath the surface and bring to light in our own characters.

3. Trade Secrets

Watching reality TV gives me a glimpse into many worlds as yet unexplored and unavailable to me. I'm fascinated by the life of a high stakes NY realtor. I'm intrigued by how an Executive Chef runs his kitchen in a five star restaurant. And even on the Bachelor, I have learned a little about the life on vineyard and the inner workings of a funeral home. I find so much great information that I just tuck away in the funnel. Who knows? One of these tidbits just might pop up in my next novel.


So today I've come out of hiding and admitted to the world that I am a reality TV junkie. I've made peace with it and will hold my head high as I watch Theresa Guidice flip her next table or Jeff Probst announce: The tribe has spoken. I will accept it as a professional hazard that I cannot turn away from a great character...even if it makes me cringe just a little.

Query letters...it's like getting my kid to eat his peas

I am in that no man's land between finishing a piece of work and looking for a publisher. You know how it is...you spend a year (or more) pouring the creative contents of your mind onto paper and then months proofing it for spelling and grammar. And then, at last...finally...it is done. You print it out and hold the finished manuscript in your hands and just can't believe that you created this work of art. Each and every word is yours. It feels like the end of a great labor. But in reality, every writer knows this is just the beginning of an even more arduous task: the search for an agent.

This time, writing my query letter proved a bit easier than last time. Thankfully, it does seem that it becomes less daunting with practice. Even writing the god-awful synopsis wasn't quite as painful. The stressful part was clicking send on the email to that first agent. But I lived through it and sent out about twenty queries. I figured I'd wait for the twenty rejections and then send out another batch. (Yes, I'm generally a glass half full kind of gal.) If I reached the end of my agent wish list without a bite, then I'd move on to the self-publishing route. This was my plan.

What I hadn't planned on was getting a request for a full read within 24 hours...or two more requests for partials within 36 more. What I hadn't planned on was the glimmer of hope. The hoping is the hardest part. What happens if you allow yourself to hope and then get that dreaded rejection? It's one thing to be rejected from a simple query letter. But isn't it worse, in a way, to hear that an agent didn't like your work after actually reading it?

It's like when my son asks "what's for dinner" and I say "peas". Sometimes it is better when he just groans and says he doesn't like it before he even sits down. But when he waits until the peas are in his mouth and then makes a production of gagging and uttering his distaste, it makes the agony of feeding him even worse.

But I guess no one ever said writing was an easy profession. Publication was never a guarantee. But the love of the art is so strong and the satisfaction I get from finishing each book so powerful, that I know I'll never stop trying. Just like I'll never stop trying to get that stubborn child of mine to eat something green!

So for now I've given in to hope and I've begun to let myself believe that becoming published isn't just a dream. How did you find the route to publication?

Magic Genie, I wish For...

If I had three wishes right now from my very own magic genie, I'd wish for a PR specialist. Why? Because there is SOOOO much to do in thinking of self publishing my novel. I spent most of yesterday looking into the various aspects of what I need to be doing to really give this baby of mine the best shot out there in the world of books.

I had a sort of temporary ADD running from one website on launch parties to another on book doctors to a third on book trailers. Yikes! Overwhelming? Yes. Thrilling? Absolutely.

So today, I hope to approach things with a tad bit more aplomb and focus. I look at this as birthing my 4th baby...and by all accounts, it very well might take 9 months!

Please continue to share your tips and success stories!

Getting Ready To Take The Plunge!

I think I'm finally ready.

I think I'm ready to take the plunge and self publish my first novel. With the completion of my second novel and the editing process in full swing, I've decided it's high time I do something about the first one sitting on my shelf in it's three ring binder.

I'll be the first to admit that the thought of all that goes into publishing your own book is more than a bit daunting to me. The more I research and read about the marketing and promotional aspects of it, the more I wonder if this is an arena I can be successful in. I spend much of my time conversing with fictional characters in my head...planning their words, their next move. It's quite a leap, in my mind, to go from this solitary endeavor to peddling my book to the masses. Still I believe there has to be a happy medium for a writer like me...a way to market myself inside my own comfort zone.

So now I feel a little like the proverbial kid in a candy store with so many options of book covers producers, copyright editors, book doctors...marketing strategies and launch parties. Hey now, this could be fun if only I can get over my fear of the stigma attached to self publishing by so many in the industry.

As I start to prepare for this new endeavor, I'd love to know your experience with publishing your own book...from choosing a company and hiring editors to how you spread the word and marketed your work. Please share!