Friday, January 25, 2013

All Weekend Q&A!

Time for my one regular feature! The Q&A! Ask any question you'd like in comments, and I will answer you. Yes, you may ask more than one. Yes, it doesn't have to be about publishing. Yes, I will give you my best answer.

Since it's Friday, I'll leave this open all weekend!

38 comments:

  1. Why do I never have fun questions to ask when you do this? (Or maybe because you answered all my questions via twitter yesterday!!)

    How many WIP's do you have going at once? Do you focus on just one?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, Emily, it's like when you get put on the spot and your mind goes blank. That happens to me like all the time:)

      As far as WIPs go, I can pretty much only focus on one at a time. If I get edits while I'm drafting, I usually have to stop the draft and take the time to finish the edits. It's hard to do both, and it seems a little inefficient as well.

      Very rarely do I work on two drafts at once, but sometimes I'll get an idea mid-draft and write out a first scene or something just to keep it appeased. There are also the times when I have to "cheat" on my current project just to clear my head, but it's not a constant thing.

      Delete
  2. If you were invisible, what's the first thing you would do?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ilima, I'd probably sneak on a plane and fly somewhere warm, because I'm so done with winter. I think in general I'd do a lot of sneaking:) And I'd probably make ninja jokes. Maybe leave a little symbol at the places I've sneaked into.

      Delete
  3. How did you find your critique partners?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have critique partners anymore. They all got too annoying. Okay, ONE got super annoying. She had to go.

      Delete
    2. You should kill her and put her out of her misery. I hear she is leaving all her editing to YOU in her will.

      Delete
    3. Just make sure you do a good job hiding the body!

      Delete
  4. What is the best lesson you learned while working with your editor?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm, Becky, I think I learned most that editors really care about putting out the best book possible. Lots of times you see complaints online about books being poorly edited and whatnot, and man that is just not true. It's also not true that editors don't edit anymore—I went through three edits before copy edits with TRANSPARENT! And that was after dozens of my own revisions.

      Editors, and also agents, can sometimes come off as the "enemy," as that great gatekeeper keeping you from publication. But from all my experience thus far, they are wonderful and have a deep-seated passion for books. They are good at what they do and they love what they do. I'm really grateful to have been able to work with an editor and make my books that much more shiny.

      Delete
  5. How do you handle babies and writing at the same time? How many hours a week do you get to write? Finally, does the anxiety about the next project, the next thing, ever go away?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1. Maya, babies and writing can be a hard balance, but I think the way I try to handle it is cutting myself slack. Some days the writing just doesn't happen, and that's okay. I use nap times to work or get my husband to watch the kids in the evening. It's also important to use the time you have efficiently. No dinking around!

      2. I'm not really sure. I usually get at least one nap time a day, so about 1.5 hrs. I don't work on weekends. So maybe 7-9 hours a week on average? Sometimes I get in more if I'm on deadline.

      3. My anxiety never goes away, heh. But I'm not sure if that my personality or just the gig. I think it's important to always be thinking ahead, though. The potential of the next project, while stressful, can also keep me hopeful for the future.

      Delete
  6. I have a question about a query, not for me but for my dad, who also writes. He was unsure how he wanted to pursue publication. He got frustrated with querying and began researching self-publication. He decided to pay for a review from Kirkus. In my (limited) understanding, Kirkus is a standard because while you pay for the review, they could come back and say your work sucks, so you had to be pretty confident in your work before you took that risk. Is this still true? Also, his review positively glowed, so if that's not still the case, I won't tell him any different. I told him it might be a good idea to reference the review in a query, since he's really frustrated with the whole author platform thing and I think the details involved in self-publishing would just drive him nuts.

    In a nutshell, does Kirkus still give unbiased reviews? And should one use a good review from them in a query?

    Thanks for the Q & A!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kirkus has a reputation for being fairly critical, and many times they give unfavorable reviews. So I suppose mentioning it wouldn't hurt. Though I am not familiar with paying for reviews or how that works, so I'm certainly no authority on it.

      Is his book fiction or non-fiction? Because platform isn't really as much a factor in fiction as non-fiction.

      Delete
  7. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Any books coming out that you're particularly excited for? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, it's 2013! So naturally I'm excited for my own debut:) But I'm also SO pumped for this year because a lot of my dear friends have novels debuting this year:

      PIVOT POINT by Kasie West (And also her contemporary out in July called THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US)
      LET THE SKY FALL by Shannon Messenger
      INSOMNIA by JR Johansson
      RELIC by Renee Collins

      I'm also excited for a few non-debut but friend novels:

      MIND GAMES by Kiersten White (Also THE CHAOS OF STARS this Fall)
      ISLA AND THE HAPPILY EVER AFTER by Stephanie Perkins
      SCHOOL SPIRITS by Rachel Hawkins

      And then there are my Friday The Thirteeners pals:

      PROPHECY by Ellen Oh
      THE MADMAN'S DAUGHTER by Megan Shepherd
      DUALED by Elsie Chapman
      TAKEN by Erin Bowman
      NOT A DROP TO DRINK by Mindy McGinnis
      BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA by April Tulcholke
      SALVAGE by Alexa Duncan
      A POINT SO DELICATE by Brandy Colbert

      Oh! And people I have no connection to:

      I will be buying the final installments of both the Heist Society and Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter. And anything that Holly Black puts out:)


      Delete
    2. Woo hoo! Just a "few" books, eh? ;)

      What a great list! And yay, this is Transparent's year! :D I am also excited for that.

      Delete
  9. Oh God! I just can’t get enough of you and Kiersten White’s CP question/answer thing, it just keeps getting more hilarious, puts a smile at my face every time :)
    That being said here are my questions (sorry if too many your generosity ruined me :P:
    1- What kind of energy do you think we would be using in the future other than what we have right now?
    2- When did you start this Q&A ritual on your blog? what did you exactly hoped to achieve from it? And doesn’t the whole thing of giving readers the freedom to ask you whatever intermediate you, or used to? (that's not one question, right?)
    3- How much does it usually take you to finish a book?
    4- And other than Biopunck & Contemporary where do you find yourself?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See, Natalie? SOMEONE appreciates me.

      Delete
    2. Kiersten, don't hijack my Q&A or I won't send you any more chapters.

      Haneen, here we go!

      1. Hmm, I'd like to hope we would settle on a renewable, non-planet-killing energy. I don't know what kind, but that would be better than assuming we find another thing to deplete the planet of.

      2. I think I started the Q&A around the time I was getting frequent readers. Maybe sometime in 2008? At first I would just have people ask questions and I'd answer them in posts. But then I thought it would be cool to give immediate answers via comment for a day.

      As I've gotten busier, Q&A is a chance for me to interact with readers like I used to when I was much active in blogging. I love being able to talk to you guys and wish I could do it all the time, but once a month is where I'm capable while meeting my other responsibilities.

      And I'm honestly not sure what the third question in #2 is trying to say. But if you clarify I'm happy to answer:)

      3. If you mean finish a rough draft, then I average about 3-6 months. If you mean including revisions, that could be years.

      4. I've written all over the YA board. HOUSE OF IVY AND SORROW (Winter 2014) is paranormal. I've written cyborgs and ninjas and steampunk fantasy. Dragons, elves, zombies, and aliens. So I pretty much go where I feel like going, so long as it's a story that interests me.

      Delete
    3. sorry, sorry, I meant 'intimidate' you, not 'Intermediate'! big mistake.And thanks for your great answers so far :)

      As for Kiersten Whit's replay....I'm SO going to blog about it Muhahahahahaaaaa :P

      Delete
    4. Ah, yes! That makes much more sense now:) It's actually easier for me to answer questions than to come up with my own content, lol. Sometimes all my ideas just seem stupid so I don't post anything at all. I've always been a pretty open person, so I don't mind sharing things.

      Delete
  10. No question, just grateful to read all the interesting info here. Thanks for doing this! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Veronica Mars related questions :) What is your opinion of the show and character? Also if you like the show what is your favorite episodes?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Horrible confession, Savanna, I have not seen a single episode of Veronica Mars. Yup, VM virgin here. But I keep hearing awesome things about it and hope to see it at some point in my life.

      Delete
  12. Hi Natalie! What advice can you give to young writers on finding their writing voice?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think my advice would be to DO things. So much of my writing has come from my life. Not so much in exact, autobiographical experiences, but more just in the feelings and knowledge and growth that comes in doing things. You can't write if you have an empty well to pull from, you know?

      Voice will come naturally as you figure out who you are as a person. It's okay to mess around and not quite know yet. Experiment with your writing. Focus on getting better instead of getting published. Read. All the standard good advice.

      It's simple stuff, but it really does work. Maybe not as fast as you want it to (at least that's how it was for me), but it does work.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the great advice, Natalie!

      Delete
  13. I have one book pretty well sorted out. But I find myself thinking more about two other WIPs. Feel a bit unfaithful. Advice?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm a cheater, heh. I think it's okay to explore new ideas if you really feel like it. Sometimes I write a few pages to get the voice out of my, and then I go back to my big project. Sometimes I realize a project isn't what I want it to be, and writing something new I love gives me the push to jump ship.

      Writers have lots of ideas. I don't think you should be married to any single one:P

      Delete
  14. I love to read the funny banter between you and Kiersten which is a nice segue way into the question about finding great critique partners, I have not had much luck,since 2010 when I decided I wanted to take my writing goal serious I also made a commitment to find critique partners/beta readers and I was successful but it never last long.

    The main problem is the chemistry or I may critique plenty and not get back a fair critique, I have also participated in a few critique groups but that too fell through. Lastly I feel CP/Beta is crucial to the journey and I feel defeated sometimes not having couple any advice.

    ** TYSM for always paying it forward to the writing community.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Keisha, I wish I had more advice than "keep trying," but that's all I can really say. It can be hard to find the right people to call crit partners. Sometimes things don't work out—it's happened to me as well.

      Hopefully someday you'll find that person you click with.

      Delete
    2. Thank you Natalie, your right that's the best advice lol

      Delete
  15. When is Brandon going to finish the next Stormlight book? Think you could nudge him along?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, let me just call him. I'm sure he's never been asked that before.

      Delete
    2. When you find out for Nick can you let my husband know too. :) Apparently he and Nick have the same reading tastes.

      Delete