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Critique Circle Basics: Setting Up an Effective and Efficient Support Group

Posted on May 28, 2015 by

by K. Kitts

Writers who have been working the craft for a while understand the advantages of participating in a critique circle, but if you are new at this, you might need some convincing. First off, having external motivation especially if you write fiction on spec (i.e., you are not yet under contract) is important. There are no agents or editors beating down your door demanding to see that last chapter. The fear of disappointing your group will encourage you to turn off the TV before you get sucked into another rerun of Law & Order: Parking Division.

Critique circles are important not only to have someone read your work to find the plot holes and typos, but also to allow you to see in manifest example what to do and, occasionally, what not to do. It is difficult to see our own weaknesses, but it is rather easy to see these opportunities for improvement in others. Critiquing others’ work makes all of us better editors of our own writing.

Another important component of critique circles is old-fashioned camaraderie. Writing is a lonely business and it takes another writer to fully understand the emotional costs writing often exacts. Sometimes, you need a shoulder to cry on about that last rejection, or to whine about that unreasonable contract clause, or to receive moral support to get you back at the computer.

To develop a smooth running critique circle, there are several decisions that should be made up front before the recruiting process begins. Let’s review some of the major ones.

Number of Members

When starting a group, it is important to have enough people to elicit sufficient opinions and to keep the momentum going through vacations, sick kids, and due dates. However, the number of members should be evaluated against how much time the individuals have to dedicate to writing the reviews. If there are too many members, then the workload will interfere with your own writing and editing. Limiting the page count or alternating members can mitigate this difficulty, but do you really want to wait six months to get feedback on your limerick?

I suggest five or six and not more than seven or eight members. This allows for ten pages per person per meeting. Ten pages afford adequate advancement while protecting personal writing time.

Type of Group

Your next decision will be to determine whether the group will be genre-specific or general. Personally, I like mixed critique groups combining both fiction and nonfiction and expanding beyond my preferred genre. I find such reading more interesting. In addition, I learn tricks from genres I might not ordinarily read, and writers outside my area do not allow me to resort to shortcuts often tolerated within my fiction category. In other words, it makes my writing better. Do not fear critiquing a genre you do not generally read. Good writing is good writing. I do not need to be a thriller writer to identify problems in pacing or flat dialog.

Manuscript Length

Once you establish the make-up of your circle, you should also have an idea on manuscript length as you invite others to join you. Does the group prefer longer but fewer pieces at each meeting? Or fewer pages with each member giving and receiving critiques? Poems (unless epic), short stories, essays, magazine pieces are easy to schedule, but what of the novel? A three-hundred-page novel will take over a year at ten pages every two weeks. However, if a group of six agrees to cover one novel per month, everyone gets a review within those six months.

Group dynamics control this decision. I would simply warn you to be upfront with your expectations and to do the math. Also, be willing to revisit this issue regularly. It might not be prudent to wait five months for your turn and have the group dissolve as you send out your opus magnum.

Meeting Schedule

As for how often a group should meet, this depends on the will of the members and how far along the writers are. If most of the group have been writing for years, they will have a backlog of things to be critiqued and can have something ready to pass out weekly. A group of new authors might be in the middle of their first piece, and between work, the in-laws and the house-painting, have only enough time to produce ten pages every other week or even monthly.

The goals of the group and the type of work most members produce must also be balanced. If the group is made up entirely of screenwriters, critiquing a script per month is not unreasonable. If your critique circle is made up of Michener, King and two Russians named Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, one novel per month will be too much.

Meeting Place

Some people prefer to meet in public places such as libraries or coffee shops. The advantages include not having to clean your house, and until you come to know the members in your group, not having strangers use your bathroom. The downsides include cost. You are expected to buy something at a restaurant and although libraries are free, many have eliminated their evening and weekend hours due to the economy. It may be impossible to schedule a convenient time for everyone. Again, poll your members. Allow the group to choose and revisit the decision from time to time.

Critique circles will assist you to stay on track by improving your craft, keeping you to deadlines and supporting you emotionally through that twenty-seventh rejection. As Ray Bradbury said in his collection of essays, Zen in the Art of Writing, “You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.”

KathyKitts150_2 Dr. Kathy Kitts, past president of SouthWest Writers, is a retired geology professor who served as a team member on the NASA Discovery Mission Genesis. Despite having written dozens of scientific papers, school curricula and textbooks, she no longer writes about what is, but rather what if. Her recent fiction adventures include short literary fiction and speculative fiction in the Storyteller’s Anthology, James Gunn’s Ad Astra, and Mad Scientist Journal.

This article was originally published in the March 2012 issue of SouthWest Sage and is reprinted here by permission of the author.

Murdering English: Justifiable Homicide?

Posted on May 21, 2015 by

by Olive Balla

I just drove by, for the umpteenth time, a sign outside a shop characterizing something going on inside as a “Huge Bead Sale.” Each time I pass the sign, my eyes are drawn to it and I begin, against my will, to channel my high school English teacher. What would one do with a huge bead, anyway? Plant begonias in it, perhaps? And then a battle ensues between my Language Purist and my inner Wannabe Writer. Ugly, grammar-murdering thoughts lay siege to the edifice of proper language usage. Signage thrift aside, the specificity alone has merit. Much better than “Oodles of beads on sale. Come on in and browse.”

By the time I’ve driven beyond the little store, I’m intellectually spent, an over-thinking prisoner of the rules of the English language. And I’m not alone in my dichotomous inner debate. I’m told there is a movement afoot—a fairly militant movement—to keep the Queen’s English pure, both here in the United States and abroad. No euphemisms, slang, or idiomatic expressions allowed. Even some Johnny-come-lately entries in later editions of the Oxford Unabridged Dictionary are not acceptable.

But which incarnation, pray tell, of the Queen’s English are the Language Police trying to preserve? Remember the prologue to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales written in Middle English? Having been required in high school English Lit to memorize the first twenty lines, and in the spirit of showing rather than telling:

Whan that aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of march hath perced to the roote . . .

Oh wait, that’s not the Queen’s English. It’s the King’s English, since King Edward was the monarch during the fourteenth century.

Or even better, how about the first two lines of The Lord’s Prayer in Old English, the language common to the geographical area that became England during the fourth and fifth centuries. Here English language purists, put this in your pipe and smoke it.

Fæder ure, þu; þe eart on heofonum; Sie þin nama gehalgod . . .

At the other end of the spectrum are those who hold that communication in any shape, form, or fashion is fair game. Can’t find a word that means what you’re trying to express? Make one up. No artistic boundaries. No time to tap out an email missive? No problem. Just jump into texting mode. (A lexicon is available online.) Ah, the freedom.

The older I become, the more I lean toward the best-word-is-one-I’ve-made-up crowd. And it’s not entirely due to failing memory. LOL. It’s because our language sometimes doesn’t match what I’m struggling to express, short of George Carlin’s Seven Dirty Words. (Too young to remember friend George? Google him.)

According to linguists the world over, languages are living entities. Just like any other adaptive creature, they are constantly evolving. Even over the past forty-five years, the language used in America has changed dramatically. For example, in the late sixties if something was exceptional, it was righteous or bitchin. And the words lettuce, cabbage, dust, bread, shekels, and geetuss were all used to mean “money.” Within the past decade, if something was terrific, it was the bomb. And even more recently, something noteworthy was sick, dope, or crazy cool.

It seems every generation, in an attempt to break away from the commonly accepted language of their oldsters, enjoys messing with English. Case in point: the word money, in what’s currently known as gangsta rap, does not refer to any medium of exchange, but to a person—as in “wassup money.” (You guessed it, a gangsta rap lexicon can be found online.)

Focused on the purely spiritual rewards of writing, as opposed to writing for material gain? Then you won’t be impressed to learn that gansta rapper Snoop Dogg’s already passé “fo shizzle my nizzle” language-morphing net worth currently stands at about $150,000,000. I’m just saying.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the proper use of the English language. There is something about the well-turned, grammatically correct phrase that resonates with my third-generation educator DNA. And I love to use words of more than two syllables. But unless I’m writing for academia, or unless my target is the more cerebral among us, I have to curtail that urge in my stories. Because if no one wants to read what I write, what’s the point?

And so I call upon every wannabe-published author to metaphorically bind and gag your inner English teacher. Write what pours from your solar plexus, not just from the literary academic lobe of your brain. Play with the language. You learned the rules (thanks to your actual English teacher). Good for you. Now go forth and break some of them. You know you want to.

What are your thoughts on the proper use of English? Is the ever-evolving nature of the English language a “good” or “bad” thing?

Olive Balla, author of suspense novel An Arm and a Leg, is mother of 3, grandmother to 13, great-grandmother of 4, a retired educator, and part-time professional musician. Having been everything from secretary at a used car dealership, a university student, and a high school Spanish teacher, Balla states her characters are, in part, amalgamations of people she’s met. Living with her husband Victor in the Albuquerque area, she spends her spare time in a small woodworking shop designing and building everything from breadboxes and wine racks, to a porch bench. Visit her website at omballa.com.

This article was originally published in the February 2013 issue of SouthWest Sage and is reprinted here by permission of the author.

Why Writers Need Wills

Posted on May 19, 2015 by

by Sherri Burr

What do President Abraham Lincoln, actor James Dean, and business mogul Howard Hughes have in common? If you guessed that they all died without wills, you would be correct. In any given year, approximately one-half to two-thirds of all deceased Americans expire intestate, or without wills.

The reasons for not making a will are many. Some, like Abraham Lincoln and James Dean, just never got around to it. They both died suddenly. Others, like Howard Hughes, may be superstitious, afraid to give others incentives to wish or plan for their early exit to the business arena in the sky.

Whatever the excuse, to die without a will is to give the state the authority to decide how your estate will be divided. Your surviving relatives will either accept the outcome or contest it. The brawl between billionaire Howard Hughes’ distant relatives was settled in 1996, 20 years after his demise. It cost $20 million in legal fees.

So what does this mean to you as a writer? Simply put, some of your most important estate assets may be the copyrights in your work.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. can serve as an inspiration to other writers. King copyrighted everything, his speeches, editorials, books, and other writings. He may have anticipated that an early death would lesson his family’s means of support. As a consequence, his estate, which was valued at $66,492.29 after his assassination in 1968, is now worth several million.

Currently, copyrights endure for the lifetime of the author, plus 70 years. This means that you can plan to give away your copyrights for up to 70 years after your death. The copyright contains six rights: (1) the right to copy, (2) the right to adapt or prepare derivative works, (3) the right to economically exploit the work through sale, lease, rental, or other transfer, (4) the right of public performance, (5) the right of public display, and (6) the right of digital audio transmission.

You can assign all these rights to one person, or divide them up. A romance novelist, for example, could devise the movie rights to one child and the translation rights to a second, or all the adaptation rights to a third. A playwright could leave public performance rights to grandchildren.

The possibilities are limited only by your imagination. When meeting with an attorney to prepare your will, be sure to inform him or her that you are a writer and that you wish to make provisions for your copyrights. Even if you write your will from online software, remember your copyrights.

Sherri Burr is the Regents’ Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico School of Law where she teaches Entertainment Law, Intellectual Property Law, and Art Law. A graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Princeton University, and the Yale Law School, she has authored or co-authored 20 books, including A Short and Happy Guide to Financial Well-Being (West Academic, 2014). Sherri is also a long-time member of SouthWest Writers and a regular contributor to the organization’s newsletter SouthWest Sage.

This article was originally published in the January 2008 issue of SouthWest Sage and is reprinted here by permission of the author.

An Interview with Author S.S. Bazinet

Posted on May 12, 2015 by

After years of writer’s block, S.S. Bazinet gave in to her creative muse and has been passionately writing ever since. She is the author of the visionary fantasy series The Vampire Reclamation Project. She has also published two other fantasy books, a children’s book, and a self-help book. Stop by her website at ssbazinet.com to see what she’s up to and read interviews she’s posted with authors like Anne Hillerman, Joseph Badal, Slim Randles, Sarah Baker, and Steve Brewer. Better yet, stop by the snack table at the next SouthWest Writers meeting. She’ll be the bright light at the back of the room encouraging everyone to pursue their dreams.

When readers turn the last page of one of your books, what do you hope they’ll say about it? I hope that they feel entertained, satisfied and uplifted. One of my readers expressed my desire best in her review when she wrote, “If you’ve ever had nightmares about unspeakable horrors, and you know inexplicably that man’s inhumanity to man is part of your personal history, this book will ultimately give you courage to carry on.”

Give us your elevator pitch for your book series, The Vampire Reclamation Project. This series is a grand journey of the spirit with angels, vampires and everyday people coming together to reclaim lost lives. Resolving issues surrounding love, hate, trust and betrayal, they struggle to find ways to reach for the stars while grounding themselves in brotherhood.

How was writing this series different from your other projects? From the moment I started writing it, I was possessed with a need to tell the story. I wrote for ten and twelve hours a day, sometimes more. I barely slept. Most nights I got maybe four hours of sleep, but I wasn’t tired. I’d get up around 3:00 or 4:00 a.m., write for a while, then take three mile walks. The creative fount I tapped into gave me everything I needed to complete not only the first book, but five more in the series in the year that followed. I’ve since completed a seventh book and have the eighth one waiting to take form.

Where did the inspiration for the story come from? I never planned to write a book about vampires or angels. Instead, I got fed up with having writer’s block. One day I decided to just have fun and not care about writing for anyone but me. That decision seemed to be the permission slip I needed to open the doors to my creativity. When I sat down with pad and pencil, the story flowed out on its own. Yet it contained all the things I felt passionate about. Soon I needed a keyboard to keep up with the torrent of words and feelings that poured forth from my heart and soul. The first book was completed in a little over a month. However, I did about nine edits on the novel before I felt I’d done it justice.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing Michael’s Blood, the first book in the series? Writing the series gave me an opportunity to purge many deep down, sometimes hidden, fears–the ones I didn’t have the courage to face head on. At times, I doubted my ability to plunge into the depths of pain the story required me to understand and then to give it a voice. When I completed the first six books in the series, I felt a little like my character, Arel. We had both reclaimed large portions of our lives.

What are the challenges in writing a series? The characters keep evolving with each successive book. As they gradually reveal more of their complex natures, it impacts the overall story. That poses a problem when it comes to editing. I usually have to scrap large portions of the original manuscripts.

Which of your books did you enjoy writing the most? I didn’t think I could write a thriller, but my novel In the Care of Wolves surprised me. It started off rather innocently, but quickly demanded that I find a way to express the non-stop action and emotional upheaval that drives the story. When I finished the book, I felt a wonderful sense of pride and achievement.

What first inspired you to become a writer? The inspiration has always come from within, from the “greater” me that doesn’t seem to know anything but possibility and the joy of creation. However, to truly access that part of myself, I have to let go of all my expectations about writing and the story I’m telling. I have to allow whatever wants to come forth, whether it is dark or light, to have a voice. When I do, when I put aside my judgments and criticisms, I experience a true lightness of being.

What do you struggle with most in your writing? One of the fears I still entertain is that I’ve purged so much of my angst–and I’m generally so happy with my life–that I won’t have the ability to write passionate stories anymore. However, I recently started a new novel that soothed my fear. All the depths of feeling within are not only available, but my ability to express emotion is better than ever. What a thrill that is.

Why do you write in the fantasy genre? I love fantasy because I love to create worlds that go beyond the boundaries of the reality we live in. These worlds allow my characters to do whatever they need to do to free themselves from situations and belief systems that have kept them shackled. More than anything, I’d like to be thought of as a writer who helps people to strip away the barriers that keep them from connecting with who they are on a heart and soul level.

Do you have unfinished projects keeping you busy? I’m in the final stages of editing book three of the vampire series. I have another novel, The Madonna Diaries, that’s nearly finished. It’s written with a first person POV. It wasn’t something I planned, but once I realized I’d slipped into first person, I enjoyed it and decided it was right for the story. I recommend that every writer give first person POV a try. It can provide an opportunity to delve deeper into the main character’s view of life.

Which has been more challenging for you—writing or promoting? Promoting has been more of a challenge, but maybe that’s a good thing. I’m overcoming more fears as I learn how to get my creations out in the world. SouthWest Writers has been a blessing in that regard. The organization provides a great environment for writers to grow in knowledge and self-confidence. With these attributes under one’s belt, promoting becomes easier.

Is there anything else you’d like readers to know? Writing can be a box with rigid structures that are demanding and restrictive to one’s creative nature. On the other hand, writing can be as fluid as the ink that flows onto the paper. It can become a vehicle that opens up doors to new worlds of possibility and to dreams that have never been expressed. My hope is that every writer who feels the need for more freedom chooses the latter.

KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. KL has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.

SWW Bimonthly Contest Call for Submissions

Posted on April 28, 2015 by

After taking a two-year break, SouthWest Writers is restarting its popular Bimonthly Writing Contest with a call for one-page poems on any subject. The entry fee is $10.00. Prizes for First, Second, and Third Place will be awarded for each bimonthly topic, along with Honorable Mentions. Winning entries could be published in a subsequent issue of SouthWest Sage at the editor’s discretion. Winners will be announced two weeks following the end of each submission window.

The Bimonthly Contest will accept submissions for the first contest topic beginning May 1, 2015. You may submit your entries online or by regular mail.

Topics and Submission Windows

May 1-31: A Poem (on any subject, one page maximum)
July 1-31: Your Most Unforgettable Character (essay, up to 500 words)
Sept 1-30: Blog Post (any subject, up to 400 words)
Nov 1-30: Love Poem (one page maximum, can include bad romance)

Entry Fees and Prizes

Entry fee is $10. Multiple entries will be accepted with $10 payment for each. Prizes: $100 (1st place), $50 (2nd place), and $25 (3rd place). Winners and Honorable Mentions will be announced on the website two weeks after each contest deadline and in the next month’s SWW newsletter.

Contest Rules

Unpublished submissions only. See Topics and Submission Windows for word length. Entries submitted outside the specified submission windows will not be accepted. Previous first-place Quarterly or Bimonthly Contest winning entries are not eligible to be entered in the current contest.

Manuscript Format

For poems, formatting is at the writer’s discretion. All other entries use standard manuscript format: 1 inch margins, Times New Roman or Courier 12 pt, double-spacing. Do not include identifying information on the manuscript.

How to Submit

Online:

Do not include identifying information on the manuscript. You do not need to send a cover sheet — the online form includes the necessary information. You may upload your entry formatted as .doc, .docx, or .rtf. Click here to submit your entry online and pay through PayPal.

Regular Mail:

Your entry must be postmarked by the last day of the submission window. Do not include identifying information on the manuscript, but do include a simple cover sheet with:

Bimonthly topic
Title of entry
Your name, address, email, phone number
Are you an SWW member? (Your answer does not affect your entry fee.)
Do you give SWW permission to publish your entry in the SWW newsletter? You retain all rights.

Send your cover sheet, entry, and payment of $10 for each entry to:

SouthWest Writers
Attn: Bimonthly Contest
3200 Carlisle Blvd NE, Suite 114
Albuquerque, NM 87110

Good Luck!

Image “Pencil Holding Trophy” courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Steven T. Murray and Tiina Nunnally: On Translating and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”

Posted on March 31, 2015 by

by Joanne Matzenbacher

Steven T. Murray and Tiina Nunnally are a husband and wife team who make their living as literary translators of Scandinavian languages into English. Steven (using the pseudonym Reg Keeland) is well known for translating the Millennium series, beginning with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Tiina has translated over forty books, including works by Vidar Sundstøl (Minnesota Trilogy), Sigrid Undset, and three novels by Klas Östergren. Both Steven and Tiina have translated Henning Mankell and Camilla Läckberg, as well as other crime fiction authors.

How did you become translators? How did you find a publisher?
Steven: I studied German in high school and college and then attended Stanford’s program abroad at the campus in Germany. I was disappointed that the American students didn’t have an opportunity to speak more German, so I was impressed when I met students staying in Denmark and Sweden who had really learned the language. I ended up joining the Scandinavian Seminar program and studying at a Folk High School north of Copenhagen. That’s how I learned to speak fluent Danish. Eventually I started my own publishing house, Fjiord Press, which Tiina and I ran for 20 years. We published mostly German and Danish titles in English translation, and our books got lots of reviews in the major newspapers, including The New York Times. That was how we established our reputations as translators of Nordic literature.

Tiina: I spent a year in Denmark as an exchange student, and no one spoke any English with me, so I had to learn to speak Danish! I fell in love with the country and the literature and wanted to share the books I was reading with my English speaking friends. The first book I translated was a wonderful memoir called Early Spring by Tove Ditlevsen – the story of a working-class girl growing up in Copenhagen in the 1930s and yearning to become a poet. I was lucky enough to meet the publisher of Seal Press at a party in Seattle, and she asked to see the translation. I was thrilled when she decided to publish the book!

What are some of the most difficult parts of a book to translate?
Steven: – Slang is always difficult, but the Internet is a big help. If I can’t find a word in my dictionaries, I Google the word on teenagers’ blogs in Scandinavia, to see how the kids are using it.

Tiina: Humor is always difficult to translate, because something that’s funny in one language may not be funny at all in another language. And swear words always present a problem. For example, in the Scandinavian languages, the worst epithets have to do with the devil. But in English, a curse about the devil wouldn’t have much impact. Most of our swear words have to do with God or sex. I once translated a Danish author’s novel that was filled with swear words. When he looked at my translation, he sent me an email saying: “How did all these Gods get into my text?!”

How long does it take to translate a novel?
Steven: The Millennium trilogy took about 11 months, but that was fast work on my part, because each book was more than 900 pages in manuscript! So that was actually equivalent to translating six regular sized novels. Generally, we each try to do about four or five books a year. We’re both full-time literary translators.

Do the authors you translate know enough English to read the translation? Does anyone ever say to you that the nuance or feeling isn’t exactly right?
Steven: I agree. Sometimes authors think that just because they have the ability to speak English (however fluently) they also have the ability to capture all the nuances in writing. Two very different skills.

Tiina: Some authors get more involved than others. Most Scandinavians speak good English, but writing English is a whole different matter, especially when it comes to writing fiction. We’re always happy to work with an author on the final version of a translation. It’s especially helpful if we can email him or her questions. But authors have to trust the translator. And our first loyalty is always to the author and the text – we realize that we have a big responsibility, because we are the author’s voice in English. Accuracy and artistry are both essential.

In any language there are certain words that just don’t translate well. How often do you encounter the dilemma of “just how do I say that?”
Tiina: A word-for-word translation will never convey the nuances or depth of a literary text. It takes more than linguistic knowledge of two languages to be a good translator. We often say that we’re like musicians who have to “play” the text for the reader. We’re also like actors, who have to give up our own identity and inhabit the voice of the author. Every translator brings his or her own experience and talent to a text, but it’s important not to insert too much of yourself into the translation. We want the translation to read as if the book had originally been written in English. Translation is an art, not a science.

In Swedish and other languages, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is titled Men Who Hate Women. Who changed the title for the English market, and why?
Steven: The British publisher acquired the world English rights to the trilogy, and I guess he thought the books needed titles that would have greater commercial appeal. So he changed the titles of books 1 and 3 and created what some people are calling the “Girl” trilogy.

Why did you choose to use a translator pseudonym?
Steven: We strongly believe that translators should get credit for their work, which means having their names on the cover and/or title page and getting mentioned in PR for the book. But if the editor or publisher makes major changes to the text without the translator’s permission, so that the final English version no longer reflects our work, then we sometimes (reluctantly) choose to use a pseudonym. In the case of the Millennium books, I wasn’t given enough time to go over the final editing, and I also didn’t agree with many of the changes that had been made. For example, in one scene where Blomkvist is at his sister’s house, she asks him how he’s doing. Larsson wrote, “I feel like a sack of shit,” but this was arbitrarily changed to “He told her he felt as low as he had in life.” These kinds of changes alter the tone and flow of the writing, and I didn’t want to be blamed for such things.

Do you read the book cover to cover before starting the translation?
Steven: We usually don’t read the book before we start translating, especially if it’s a crime fiction novel. We like to be as surprised by the story as the reader will be, and it helps to keep the translation as “fresh” and exciting as possible. But of course we go back and revise many times after finishing the first draft.

Tiina: I was interested to read that Gregory Rabassa, who has translated so many amazing novels from Spanish, doesn’t read the text in advance either. And by the way, he has written a fascinating memoir about his life as a translator called If This Be Treason.

Did you like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo from the start?
Steven: As soon as Lisbeth Salander appeared on the scene, I knew it was going to be a great book.

JoanneMatzenbacher Joanne Matzenbacher does email marketing for independent bookstore Bookworks. She also reviews books that she’s currently reading plus those new to the marketplace in a monthly column titled “It’s About Books.” Joanne retired from Dex Media as a trainer/sales manager and now lives in Denver where she keeps in constant communication via computer with the Bookworks store in Albuquerque. Books are her best friends and companions for life, so she considers this to be her dream job.

This interview was originally published on the Bookworks blog and in the October 2010 issue of SouthWest Sage. It is reprinted here by permission of the author.

Related Article:
“Tiina Nunnally Receives Knighthood” by Gayle Lauradunn
October 2013, page 1, SouthWest Sage

An Interview with Author RJ Mirabal

Posted on March 10, 2015 by

RJ Mirabal is a New Mexico native and former high school English teacher whose debut novel The Tower of Il Serrohe was published in 2012 by Black Rose Writing. The Tower was a finalist in the science fiction/fantasy category of the 2013 New Mexico/Arizona book awards. Visit RJ’s website to read a synopsis and sample chapters of his novel, along with updates on the sequel, Extreme Dust Storms May Exist, scheduled for release in the spring.

Tell us about your debut novel. Wrenched from a deteriorating lifestyle when his promiscuous wife kicks him out, anti-hero Don Vargas rents a dilapidated casita which, unknown to him, is actually a portal to another world. Vargas takes readers through a dusty portal on a Southwest contemporary fantasy quest into a larger-than-life alternate Rio Grande Valley where local clanspeople are at war with the Soreyes who terrorize them on a regular basis. The clanspeople need Don to save them from the wily Soreyes’ mysterious Tower, but he only wants to drink his troubles away.

What do you hope readers will take away from The Tower of Il Serrohe? This book explores how perception governs our relationship with the universe. All of what we perceive to be reality is a function of our perception, which is informed by our normal senses and our emotional and philosophical states of being. And, as in most literature, I hope readers will see that evil is bad, kindness is good, and love is essential to life. But, honestly, my main focus is entertaining and enlightening my readers who can share in my imagination as they read the book.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you? I had to put myself into the skin of a character who shares little with me in terms of values and lifestyle. And I wanted readers to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of the New Mexico setting. We who live here find it second nature to enjoy our landscape and interesting lifestyles, but to capture it in a novel that isn’t entirely realistic was a fascinating challenge. Finally, I wanted to take readers on a great adventure. Keeping it all interesting was a constant challenge, and only readers can judge whether I succeeded.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing The Tower? To see my characters become a reality on the printed page, with their lives and unexpected problems taking place on the New Mexico landscape, has been the most rewarding for me. To talk with people about how these characters and their lives came alive for them is a writer’s dream.

How did this project come together? The story idea was inspired by the old adage: “Write what you know.” I knew New Mexico and I have enjoyed fantasy stories since childhood, so I combined the two and placed my fantasy in New Mexico instead of the typical Medieval European setting. The other spark that started the fire of my story was taking on the challenge of writing about someone with personal problems I didn’t share. From initial idea and a couple of short stories that gave birth to the much more complex novel, it took 30 years to complete this story. Of course, I wasn’t working on it that whole time. I actually spent the last three years on the majority of the writing, editing, and getting it published by 2012. But the story ideas and my writing style improved over those years. I read continually, taking inspiration and tips from every author I read.

Are you a pantser or a planner? I start out as a pantser once I have an idea that intrigues me. I usually write one or two chapters (not always the first chapters) off the cuff, usually in a torrent. Then I step back and start mulling and plotting in such detail I can copy my notes to the draft and flesh out additional details. Strangely enough, when I’m plotting, I’m still being a pantser because I seldom go back and make drastic plot changes unless I’ve discovered a logic gap or have a revelation that energizes the story.

Why do you write in the particular genre you’ve chosen? I have always been more fascinated by stories beyond “reality.” In junior high, I got hooked on science fiction and I still admire the icons of that genre: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clark, Jack Williamson, Kurt Vonnegut, and dozens more. Then along came J. R. R. Tolkien and fantasy was added to my list, along with great mystery writers like Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, and many new writers such as Henning Mankell (Kurt Wallander series). Two of my favorite writers are fellow New Mexicans: Tony Hillerman, the famous writer of Navajo detective mysteries, and Rudolfo Anaya, well-known author of the Hispanic experience. Both writers have evoked the New Mexico landscape, culture, and lifestyle. I have tried to bring together these diverse elements in my writing.

What has been the most challenging so far—writing or promoting? At first, I thought writing was difficult. But now that I am learning and struggling to promote my book, I find the writing to be fun and the promoting to be drudgery. If I could afford it and found someone who could do a great job of it, I’d turn over the promotion to someone else. Maybe once I have a bestseller! Having to talk up my own work is not in character for me, in addition to the realization many contacts have to be made before one pans out. When I write, I can knock out as many pages, etc. as is needed to tell the story—much easier to me in comparison.

What are you working on now? My editor, Peggy Herrington, and I are putting the finishing touches on the final draft of the sequel to The Tower of Il Serrohe entitled Extreme Dust Storms May Exist. This story centers on Esther Jiron, a sixteen-year-old honor student, who is drawn into the alternate valley of the first book, the Valle Abajo. Once again the clanspeople of the Valle are under the cruel siege of the Soreyes who terrorize and dominate the Valle. Esther is called to the Valle to help the clanspeople fight off this continuing threat just as they had called Don Vargas. Of course, there will be many surprises as the story develops. I’ve already mapped out the basic plot and am writing the first few chapter drafts to conclude the saga in a third installment entitled Zero Visibility Possible.

KLWagoner150_2 KL Wagoner (writing as Cate Macabe) is the author of This New Mountain: a memoir of AJ Jackson, private investigator, repossessor, and grandmother. KL has a new speculative fiction blog at klwagoner.com and writes about memoir at ThisNewMountain.com.

James McGrath Morris Getting Strong Reviews for “Eye on the Struggle”

Posted on February 20, 2015 by

by Bob Gassaway

Santa Fe writer James McGrath Morris, who will be the speaker for the March 7, 2015 meeting of SouthWest Writers, is garnering high praise for his new book Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press (HarperCollins, 2015).

Morris wrote in an email, “Early pre-publication reviews of the book have been unbelievably encouraging. It seems that folks do want to hear the story of Ethel Payne.”

Payne wrote for The Chicago Defender, which The New York Times calls “America’s premier black newspaper.” The Times’ book review adds, “She grew up in Chicago and longed to be a writer at a time when options were dismally few for black women. She had talent, a big personality and grit. She ultimately became a star reporter for The Defender, and the pre-eminent black female reporter of the civil rights era.”

Morris said in an email to SouthWest Writers: “The book was just listed today by Kirkus as one of eleven ‘you must read.’ So things are rolling along.” In addition, NBC.com lists the Ethel Payne biography as one of “14 Books to Read this Black History Month.”

Here is a sampling of the reviews:

“Important and often absorbing new book … It’s a deep pleasure to meet Ethel Payne. ‘We are soul folks,’ she declared in 1967, ‘and I am writing for soul brothers’ consumption.’ Her own soul beams from this book…” ~ New York Times

“In James McGrath Morris’s compelling biography Eye on the Struggle, this ‘first lady of the black press’ finally gets her due. Morris lovingly chronicles Payne’s dedication and her rise… For her, being a reporter was about ‘stretching the horizon of the heart.’ Never content simply to ‘live and let live,’ she sought always to engage, fight and make change.” ~ O Magazine

“Eye on the Struggle is a fast-paced tour through the highlights of 20th-century African-American history, with Payne as witness.” ~ Boston Globe

“Morris’ well-paced narrative not only walks readers through the civil rights movement’s inner workings, but he lets us tag along with Payne on her 13 journeys to Africa and trips to China, Vietnam and elsewhere.” ~ Minneapolis Star-Tribune

“Eye on the Struggle is the compelling biography of journalist, Ethel Payne, the ‘First Lady of the Black Press,’ a significant figure in the civil rights era. ~ NBC.com “14 Books to Read this Black History Month”

“At long last, this journalistic pioneer, who traveled and covered the world, not to mention sent shivers down the spine of our strongest presidents during press briefings, is getting her due in James McGrath Morris’ absorbing new biography Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press.” ~ Patrik Henry Bass, who assembled “Ten Standout Titles” for Essence Magazine

Morris’ presentation to SouthWest Writers on March 7 is titled “Using Storytelling Techniques to Breathe Life into Your Writing.” In his description of the upcoming presentation, Morris writes:

“You will leave this meeting with a dozen specific narrative writing techniques that you can use to invigorate and bring life to any genre of writing. Adapted from the best of fiction and nonfiction writing, these storytelling methods help build tension, make for compelling scenes, and get you closer to writing a page-turning book.”

Morris is a Santa Fe author who writes primarily biographies and narrative nonfiction.

Bob Gassaway started writing news for radio and television and moved to newspapers and The Associated Press, including a stint as a war correspondent in Vietnam. After earning a Ph.D. in sociology, focusing on the symbolism of human communication, he taught journalism for 22 years at the University of New Mexico and the University of Missouri. He has also written for magazines and professional journals and has published a number of book chapters. He now writes murder mysteries.

Interview With Author Sarah H. Baker

Posted on January 5, 2015 by

Sarah H. Baker is the author of more than 20 novels, with publishers ranging from Kensington to Harlequin to small presses. She holds an MS in engineering and works full time, but also writes fiction under three pen names: S. H. Baker, Sarah Storme, and Lydia Parks. The first book in her Dassas Cormier Mystery series, Murder in Marshall’s Bayou (Zumaya Publications, 2009), was recommended for an Edgar Award. Return to Marshall’s Bayou (Siren Audio Studios, 2010) is the full-cast audio version of this first mystery and was a finalist in the Audie Awards. Sarah enjoys sharing her experience with other writers and teaches courses through University of New Mexico’s Continuing Education Department. Visit her on Facebook and her Amazon author page.

Tell us about your newest work.
Angel in My Arms is a full-cast audio romance set in 1920s Louisiana. Captain Joshua Wakefield lost his wife and child seven years ago in a Gulf storm. Lydia Wakefield, a young woman wise beyond her years, offers the love and joy he never expected to find again.

What do you hope readers will take away from Angel in My Arms?
I hope readers will be reminded that there is always hope for a better tomorrow, no matter how bad things are, and that love is the one thing we must give away in order to find.

What unique challenges did this work pose for you?
This was the first piece I’d written specifically for full-cast audio. The producer — Linda of Siren Audio Studios — and I shared a vision of what audio could be, and worked hard to fulfill that vision with this book. We’ve done things in here never done before. For example, as Joshua and Lydia grow more intimate, their internal dialogues weave together, and when they move apart, their internals move apart. The effect is breathtaking! But there was quite a bit of trial and error involved before we were both happy. And, since there are a dozen actors in the book, the post-production took quite a while. I think readers will be happy with the result, too.

What was the most rewarding aspect of writing Angel in My Arms?
The most rewarding aspect of this project was working closely with Linda and the actors. Everyone participated in bringing the book to life. And having the opportunity to actually hear the characters’ voices has to be one of the most amazing things a writer can experience.

What are you most happy with, and what do you struggle with most, in your writing?
My struggles have evolved with my writing, as everyone’s do. At this point, I’m most happy with my dialogue, and tend to struggle with getting enough detail and use of senses into descriptions.

Of all the novels you’ve written, which one did you enjoy writing the most?
Beside the audio books, the book I most enjoyed writing was Death of a Dancer, part of the Dassas Cormier Mystery Series. The story takes place in New Orleans in 1925. Although I grew up there, I had no idea what the city was like in 1925. I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed researching a book so much. I found amazing information including a city map from 1919 and a menu from Antoine’s in the early 1900s, and I even located an officer in the New Orleans Police Department who answered all my questions. I had a blast visiting the original police station in the French Quarter, long ago turned into an office building. When the book was released, I sent a signed copy to the officer who had helped me. Best I can tell, it ended up on his desk the day before Hurricane Katrina hit.

What is the hardest part of writing a series?
The only series I’ve written is the Dassas Cormier Mystery Series, but the hardest part for me is remembering details. It would be easier if I wrote all the books straight through (or if I had a younger brain), but, instead, I’ve written several books between each of those in the series. I did discover early on that I needed a map of Marshall’s Bayou and a list of all the secondary characters. If I were going for another dozen books in the series, I’d probably need to keep a detailed summary of each book. At this point, I just keep basic relationship notes. Before I get back to work on the next book (the last in the series), I plan to reread the other four.

You write under three pen names — what is your advice to writers considering the use of multiple pseudonyms?
I admit, I’ve signed the wrong name to a book at least twice! My advice is to be sure you need different names. In my case, I write in three genres and don’t want my romance readers picking up a mystery by mistake, or my mystery readers picking up erotica. Genre fiction is about reader expectation, so I want my readers to know what they’re getting. If you don’t write multiple genres and don’t need to write under other names, I wouldn’t advise it. Life is confusing enough!

Why do you write in the genres you’ve chosen?
I started out writing romance because I enjoyed writing about relationships, and I’m an optimist. With romance, the goal is to have the reader smile and sigh after reading the last page. What can be better? I also write mystery because I grew up reading everything from the Hardy Boys to Agatha Christie to James Lee Burke. I love the genre for the same reason I love romance: it’s full of optimism. The good guy or gal wins out in the end, and the evil-doer is punished. Erotica is a different situation in that I was asked to write it. I found out, however, that I really enjoyed it, too. The genre gave me a chance to write paranormal again (vampires and shape shifters), and to expand my boundaries as a writer.

What first inspired you to become a writer?
I’m one of those lucky people who stumbled onto writing. Although I’ve always been an avid reader, when I was young I didn’t know someone could just become a writer. I guess I thought people like Dickens and Mark Twain emerged into the world as writers. While living in Alaska, I discovered a fan fiction site on the still-new Internet for my favorite TV show and started writing short stories to share with others. It turned out one of those “others” was a NY editor who encouraged me to write a book. She said I had potential as a writer and should try my hand at writing romance. I had no idea what I was getting into!

Who do you wish you were more like in your own writing?
I would love to be more poetic like James Lee Burke, better at characterization like David L. Robbins, funnier like Carl Hiaasen, and better at writing outside the lines like Elmore Leonard. My goal is always to learn from every writer I enjoy reading.

What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on two pieces set in the distant future, one post-apocalyptic, and one not. This is a strange time in my life, however, as I’ve been away from writing for a while and am just getting back into the habit, so I also have several other ongoing projects including the last Dassas Cormier mystery and a mystery told by a ghost. Oh, and then there’s the YA mystery series I’m outlining. (Maybe I really need to work on focusing.)

What is the best encouragement or advice you’ve received in your writing journey?
The best encouragement I received from outside my family was from an editor who read my first manuscript and actually called me. She wanted me to know that she wasn’t going to buy my book, but that she thought I had potential as a writer. She gave me a list of writing books to read and told me to get started on my next book right away. Without that call, I doubt I would be published today.

Advice? Never give up, never surrender! (Yes, I stole that from Galaxy Quest.) But I don’t know anything for which persistence is more important than with writing. As soon as you finish one book, start on the next. Keep the creativity rolling. Another good piece of advice I received was to let a book rest before editing. Otherwise, you’ll still be inside the story and unable to read the words you’ve written.

Anything else you’d like to share?
The publishing world is competitive, but writing shouldn’t be. No two writers will ever tell a story exactly the same way. Don’t be afraid to help those around you, or to learn from others. If you’re not improving and having fun as a writer, you may as well move on to something else. One of my characters once told me, “If you ain’t havin’ fun, you’re just wastin’ space.” That has become my motto.

Eight SWW Members to Read at the South Broadway Cultural Center

Posted on November 13, 2014 by

The theatre at South Broadway Cultural Center

Don’t miss SouthWest Writers’ debut event at the South Broadway Cultural Center (SBCC) on November 15 at 10:00 a.m. If you’ve never been there, you’re in for a real treat. The SBCC is assembling a fabulous citywide home for all things literary, and the gorgeous facility is absolutely first class.

Readers will perform onstage in the beautiful SBCC theatre, near a room where books will be available for purchase. There’s plenty of parking, too.

The gala event will be hosted by SWW Vice President, Peg Herrington, who will introduce each reader with a tale from his or her writing background.

Copeland Neeley reads the first chapter of his unpublished novel The Haunt at Hauntington Elementary. This kid-friendly mystery unfolds through a string of vignettes as each student in Mr. Morton’s class takes a turn in the spotlight.

Gayle Lauradunn reads from her freshly published debut poetry collection, Reaching for Air. She is working on a historical novel set in 18th Century Scotland.

Lucy St. Clair reads from the first volume of her paranormal Time Passages series, Scattered Years, to be published in late 2014. “My time travel trilogy leans heavily toward allegory,” she explains. “You might say it’s something of an autobiography in disguise.”

Don DeNoon’s humorous poem “Midnight on the Rio Grande” will be read by John Candelaria (as Don is recovering from Achilles tendon reattachment surgery).

Bobbi Adams reads “Happy Easter,” a hilarious short story taken from her memoir in-progress. It was published in The Storyteller’s Anthology: Presented by SouthWest Writers.

Joyce Hertzoff participated in the National Novel Writing program for the first time in 2008. She reads from her Kindle eBook The Crimson Orb, which was written for NaNoWriMo in 2010 and published in 2014. It’s a fantasy tinged with science.

John Candelaria’s poetry has been published in the OASIS Journal 2012 and 2013; Poetry from the Other Side, New Mexico State Poetry Society, Albuquerque Chapter; and SouthWest Writers’ The Storyteller’s Anthology. He reads “Albuquerque Rises,” celebrating the history of our city.

Jim Tritten reads “Two Old Soldiers,” from the Corrales Writing Group 2013 Anthology. It is particularly appropriate as it celebrates the end of World War I and Veterans Day.

Plan to attend! This Reading is the first event SouthWest Writers will sponsor at the SBCC. It could be a landmark, bragging-rights event. The South Broadway Cultural Center is located at 1025 Broadway Blvd SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102, 505-848-1320.