Celebrating Books … of all Kinds

by Becky Martinez (writing as Rebecca Grace)

Today I am celebrating the arrival of my latest book in print, but I also have a sad confession to make.  I am a bookaholic.

There is nothing quite like seeing your book in print, and even though I enjoyed the release of my novella, Shadows from the Past, as an e-book last year, I was even happier last month when my publisher, The Wild Rose Press, announced they would be releasing it in print. Yesterday the print copies came and it was great to finally hold it in my hands, even though it was already on my Kindle, Nook and Ipad.

Oh, yes, I have all three and I use them all.

See, books have always been a great joy to me. They’ve been my constant companion since I was very young. I may be writing them now, but I have been a fan of books and reading from the moment I learned to read. I always seemed to have a book available or around me. In those days we lived on a farm and I can remember checking books out from the Bookmobile that visited my rural school. I remember going into town on Saturday for groceries and sitting at a little table that was set aside at the front of the store with lots of books and I spent the entire visit there. 

My mother also introduced us to the library around that time and from then on, wherever we lived, she got a library card and we paid weekly visits to the nearest library. Imagine my surprise years later when I was driving down a street in Carpinteria, California, and recognized a small building on a corner. It the old library we visited back in the 50s.

I am still an avid reader, and I am thrilled to be able to enjoy them in so many different ways. I now have bookcases full of books, as well as dozens on my Ipad, Nook and Kindle. But I’ve also become a real fan of audio books, even if my sister doesn’t consider listening to them as reading a book.

They became a real necessity 15 years ago when I worked in Los Angeles and had a house in Las Vegas. While I had always been a fan of Sue Grafton and read everything from A is for Alibi all the way up through M is for Malice at the time, I listened to them all as I made those long drives every weekend.  I listened to most of the John Sandford books I'd already read too, and discovered Harlan Coben on audio on a trip to the Northwest. Then I fell in love with the books of Robert Crais on audio and had to listen to all of them. And don’t even get me started on Stephen King.  Just don’t make the mistake of listening to something like The Shining while driving through the back roads in the Colorado mountains or Desperation, while making the drive from Las Vegas to Phoenix in the middle of the night.

And now I find myself with a real predicament.  I’m not only buying the audio book version, but since I don’t drive as much as I used to, I must also get the actual book as well so I can keep reading between driving. And I’ve been known to also get the Kindle or Nook version for when I’m travelling or when I'm in a rush to start reading a favorite author immediately. Yes, the sad truth is I have audio, hardback or paperback and e-book versions of the same book in some cases.  

So today I am celebrating books… in all sizes and every way we can get them. While I love the audio books and the electronic books, I will always have room for another one in print.

 Just don’t give me another option.

 

Celebrating Writers

By Becky Martinez

Writing conferences can be invigorating. I recently just returned from Left Coast Crime in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I always come home from gatherings like this feeling like I can hardly wait to sit down at the keyboard and get to work.  To me, a writing conference is a wonderful way to rejuvenate yourself.

Why?

The answer is simple.  It's always fun to meet other writers -- like best selling author Craig Johnson.

And it's not only fun to listen to the processes some of the others writers use, but it always interesting to hear their publishing success stories. And who wouldn’t want to listen to an award-winning, best-selling suspense writer like Laura Lippman talk about why she thinks women writers deserve more credit for their work?  That discussion was inspiring on many levels. 

For instance she noted that the book, “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” deserves every bit as much acclaim as “Catcher in the Rye.” That was a book many young girls still read and can relate to. She’s right. It stands out as one of those books that inspired many young women. She says it was the book that made her want to be a writer, and I’ll bet it inspired a good many other young writers as well.

It was also interesting to listen to Craig Johnson, who has reached a high level of success with his Longmire mystery series. It features longtime lawman Walt Longmire who keeps law and order in a Wyoming county. The series is being made into a television drama series by A&E. He told us about starting to research his series many years ago, talking to a sheriff about his story idea. Ten years later the sheriff came up to him and asked him how the story was going. Well, he hadn’t finished it. But he did. He went back and began writing and eventually was able to finish and get his work published.

Ten years!

 

But some writers take longer, as many published authors will attest to. How many writers start out and then shove their book in a drawer and never come back to it? But how many do come back? And how many eventually succeed? Those kind of stories are inspirational. You don’t fail if you keep trying. Perseverance and hard work and continued drive can often make the difference in whether you succeed eventually.

I started out writing as a teenager and it took years before I considered trying the publishing world. When I did, I was immediately sent several rejections. I still have them. What bothers me most about those rejections is what they said and what I didn’t understand at the time. The editors liked the story. They even said they might look at my work again, but it needed work. All I saw was the part that said they didn’t want this story. I put it away and it’s still in a drawer somewhere.

Years later I tried again. This time when I got a rejection, I read it more carefully. It said my work lacked polish. That was some of what the other editor said. She kept questioning my POV – I didn’t know what POV was. But this time around, I was determined to find out what “lacked polish” meant. I went to a writing group. I went to writing classes, and I kept writing.

This time I was much more determined. And eventually it happened. I got short stories published and eventually a novel.

My success has not reached that of Craig Johnson or Laura Lippman, but my determination is there and I won’t quit writing this time. And I heard similar stories from other writers at the conference as well. We’re not best sellers – yet – but we’ve got stories to tell and we’re going to tell them. And sell them!

  

Morning Mimosas

There is nothing quite like a morning Mimosa on the patio. That's one way to celebrate finishing a book! To start the week I sent in my final galleys for my upcoming romantic suspense, Shadows from the Past. Now I just need to get cover art and get the release date.

Right now I'm working on edits of another suspense. (more on that at another time) Today I want to discuss something I heard from a friend last week. He told me that he hasn't been writing as much lately because he had discovered that he hadn't been reading enough.

Huh? It sounded weird at first, but it got me to thinking and he is right.

Sometimes when I find myself in a dull period in my writing, I discover I need to do the same thing. I’ve always enjoyed reading so it isn’t hard for me to want to do it for enjoyment. There's nothing quite like sitting down with a good book or short story and getting buried in it.

But there are other times when it is also helpful to do your reading as homework. Dare I say study?

How many times have we heard bestselling authors say, read, read, read?

It keeps us connected. Reading can bring me out of the doldrums and get me going again. I especially find it true when I’m editing. Suddenly I find myself questioning everything. I don’t like the way I've written something and I start questioning my voice, my word choice, EVERYTHING.

I've learned that reading works by others and analyzing the way they say things can help me to put new spark into my own work. Suddenly I’m exposed to different word flow, different voices and it helps me analyze my own work in the same way. Was that how I wanted to write that scene? What can I do to make the scene livelier, more compact yet get my point across?

What about dialogue? Am I using too many tags? Am I using dialogue as an information dump? What do I like about the way they've written a passage? What don't I like about it? What do I like about their voice? I look at my favorite authors and question why I like their work so much, why I enjoy their voice. I look for the little things that they do as authors to make their work special and unique. At other times I take time to study work by writers I don't normally read and look for the difference in why I don't usually buy their books. Sometimes I even discover a new favorite author that way.

Then when I sit down with my own work, I spend a few minutes looking at what I like about what I'm writing and how I want to get my own story across. Before long I've rediscovered my own rhythm, my own voice and I'm ready to move forward again.

So take the time and read, read, read. It’s important to read in your own genre, but reading outside your genre can also introduce you to new worlds too.  Enjoy your reading… I’ll be sitting down with a mimosa and a good book and doing some homework.

Please leave a comment. I'd love to hear what you think of reading for enjoyment and as a way to study your craft.