Vaun Murphrey's Blog

In the beginning, I wrote with wonder.

I wondered what the hell I was doing.

I wondered how I was going to finish writing my book.

I wondered if I was any good at all.

(And still, I happily ground myself on the sandpaper of writing because it was exciting to push on the inside of my sticky mind.)

So, after the completion of several projects and many hard knocks, guess what? I still write in wonder.

It isn't hopeless, though. Without a doubt, I'm learning every single day. Doing something wrong is the best teacher in life. (Because at least you're going forward.)

After my first novel had 'THE END' typed at the bottom dreams of publication consumed me. They were similar to most creative human being's hopes. I was operating at a distinct disadvantage without realizing it. To put it succinctly, I didn't know how little I knew.

I took a step back to look at what I wanted out of writing. An internal debate waged against crushing myself repeatedly into the traditional publishing wall or self-publishing. My mother, a professor at West Texas A&M University, found a week-long summer writing class and sent me all of the information. I registered.

By this time, I was writing the second book in my imagined sci-fi series and noticing the flaws in my words. I still had no idea how to fix them. There was a sinking dread at knowing you're inept but still being unable to kill the hope that you're wrong.

The West Texas Writers' Academy became the best thing ever to happen to me. Feedback received showed me where I needed work. I corresponded with my first editor, DeWanna Pace, and learned how to take constructive criticism. (Not that I didn't cry about it. I so did. Angry tears at myself.)

DeWanna has since passed away. She was an amazing woman who lived to shine a light on writers and make them believe they could when they knew they couldn't. I still miss her. She encouraged me to make my first submission to a publisher.

Rejection is a harsh mistress, but she's a necessity. The first submission, (without an agent), to Tor no less, never received a response. Picture a rambling eleven-page synopsis, clunky first thirty-five pages, and a downright awful query letter. Whoever had the terrible task of reading that business threw it in the slush pile or fed it through a shredder with an eye roll.

I continued writing. I read articles on what 'to-do' and what 'not-to-do,' the majority of which contradicted each other. I joined Facebook pages and forums of other writers and listened to rants. There are a plethora of people out there who use should, never and always when they have no idea what they're talking about. Ego wars abounded. I realized I had no use for proving myself superior to some online stranger, (because I'm not), and ditched all harmful sites. They were distracting me from my joy of writing.

Cut to months later and I heard about an editor from Anne Rice's Facebook page named Todd Barselow. He became my second editor. I worked through three books with Mr. Barselow and had a 'now what?' moment. The queries I'd sent to agents had been rejected or gone unanswered. I had to decipher if self-publishing was a real option or a shady undertaking.

Much research ensued. The Weaver Series didn't fit in any one sub-genre all the way. My main character was a mature thirteen, and so the first book was supposed to fit in YA. The subject matter was adult in most ways, not skewed specifically to a young audience. It was becoming apparent I hadn't written to the market and my story was unconventional. The likelihood of a traditional publisher taking a chance on me was less than zero. I still loved my story, and I was unwilling to rewrite for marketability.

Somewhere in there, I saw a cover artist I adored. Her name is Nathalia Suellen. She's amazing. Nathalia's designs are used for books in the major houses. I took a shot and emailed her. It turned out that she did covers for indie publishers too. (Happy, happy, joy, joy!)

Things seemed to be falling into place. I dove into research on the business side. Sole Proprietorship or LLC? What website provider? What domain name? How to market? How to get reviews? Where did I find a formatter? How much was everything going to cost? Could I afford it? Was this stupid? Was I stupid? Oh my gosh, I'm an idiot. What do I know? I can't do this!

All the while, I continued to write and learn. I attended a conference at OWFI in Oklahoma. I entered contests. I put myself out there and pulled back a nub more than once. Failure became my best friend. Mistakes were made, and I learned from them. (Hopefully!)

Jodi Thomas, the writer in residence at WTAMU and an NYT bestselling author, introduced me to a local writer by the name of Melody Robinette. Many meetings ensued at coffee shops around Lubbock. Other writers continue to drift in and out. Personal growth continues with support. Critique is valuable. Others of your 'kind' are a necessity!

Traditional publishing wasn't a dead dream. More and more writers I knew spoke of pursuing a hybrid route. They wanted to do both. Hybrid became a new goal.

I met another editor, Esther Doucet, and she worked with me on the first book in a new series. She taught me new things about my style of writing. (Adverbs, I use them a lot!)

Time is an issue and a blessing. Through the long haul you progress but in the short term, your days are filled with a lot of heavy lifting. My time was nibbled at and then devoured by the business responsibilities of being a self-published author. Not all of it is bad. I had two television spots, newspaper interviews, a couple speaking engagements and multiple signings. They were all fun! But then add in record keeping, tracking expenses and taxes. (Bleh.) Concentrating on one thing neglected another and the magic of writing dulled for a time. It all felt like a duty instead of an adventure. Readers had expectations. (The horror!)

Now, writers also have lives. Mine is occupied by a day job, a stellar husband, two awesome children, a cool black dog, family and this thing we call living. S&%t happens. Kids get ill. Plans fall through. Time gets short. And you think to yourself, "Suck it up, Buttercup. Such is life."

Recently I found out I placed, (2nd!), in one of three categories I entered at OWFI's annual contest and conference. Oh, what the past me would have given to attend the banquet and hear her name called. It's a thrill to place at all.

But yet, I'm stuck in a rut on Book Five of the Weaver Series. I can't get my brain away from writing fantasy. It's pulling at me like a two-year-old saying they need to pee 'right now!' while you're in line to pay for groceries.

I guess the point of this ramble is to let other writers out there know it is a journey. You're 'never' going to be done. You 'should' not give up hope. And you're 'always' going to have highs and lows.

I love you! Take the time to love yourself. Live your life. Remember what you enjoy and experience new things. Give of your knowledge when you can. Be kind.

Above all, be kind.

 

 

 

So, in honor of April Fool's Day I'm actually not going to trick you.

Here is the Book Five cover in all of its Nathalia Suellen created glory.

If you'd like to check out more excellent work by Nathalia here is her site: http://www.nathaliasuellen.com/



I am going to bring up the concept of false starts.

Those of you that follow me know I've taken longer to write this book than I usually do. To be fair I wrote the first book in another series in there and did all sorts of firsts on other things.

There is a roughly 24,000-word document entitled 'AbortedDESCENT' in my files on my computer because that version just made me writhe with self-loathing. The story wasn't what I thought it should be so I canned it. Not bad writing, just the twisted version of a book I wasn't yet ready to write.

It would be lovely to announce a release date with the new cover but I'm about halfway done with the first draft right now. Who needs that kind of pressure? Not me. It is coming though and if you're impatient for DESCENT then that gives me hope I've done a good job of hooking you into Cass and Silver's lives.

 

Bueno Bye!

See you next blog.

Vaunzilla



www.VaunMurphrey.com

https://www.facebook.com/VaunMurphreyAuthorPage

 

 

 

Today I have an author guest by the name of Suzanne Kelman!

So, you’re here to promote your book ‘The Rejected Writers’ Book Club’ and I’d love to hear about it. What’s the storyline? Is it as funny as you are?

Thank you so much for having me in your little corner of the blog-asphere. It’s a comedic story about small-town life seen through the eyes of my protagonist Librarian, Janet Johnson. She gets pulled into a “kaleidoscope of craziness” when she gets dragged to a meeting of The Rejected Writers Book Club. They are a group of quirky authors who have no desire to be published but celebrate every rejection letter in style and flair. She eventually ends up on a crazy madcap road trip with them to save the club which is but in jeopardy when the leader of the group gets an acceptance letter from a publisher. And is it as funny as I am? I guess you will have to read it to find out :-) But seriously, it was a whole barrel of laughs to write, and I love bringing joy to people. My favorite reviews are from women who read it in bed and wake their husbands from a dead sleep, bursting out laughing.

That sounds entertaining! What would you say you’ve learned about yourself as you wrote this book?

I think my biggest lesson was that I could actually do it. I had attempted to write books in the past but always got bored or ran out of steam and gave up halfway through, but for some reason I persevered with the rejected ladies, and we made it limping and breathless over the finish-line together. It was my version of a 25-mile marathon. I was very proud of that accomplishment.

You cohost a podcast, ‘Blondie & The Brit,’ with a friend and fellow author KJ Waters. Does that cut into your writing schedule or do you find it nudges you along to talk with other people in the writing business?

The most challenging thing for both of us about the podcast is the effect running another business has on our writing time. There are many things we have to do to keep the whole B&B machine oiled and moving. But you are so right about how the interviews help me also. Our favorite part of the job is meeting and learning new things from our authors; we get such a thrill from that experience. K.J. and I always have a debriefing call right after an interview and nine times out of ten, one of us will talk about one aspect of the podcast and comment, “I’m going to go and do that right away!”

Is this novel going to be the first in a series or do you plan to make it a trilogy or a stand-alone?

This is a trilogy, and it will also have a Christmas Novella to compliment the series. I am working on the second book right now and hope to have that to my publisher by June. I have already written a rough first draft for book three as well.

Now to a less serious question, coffee or tea? I live in Texas and most people look at me like I have two heads when I want hot tea with milk and sugar instead of over ice in a tall glass.

And being British, tea is my drink of choice, too. In England, we think a cup of tea solves everything it is the first thing people give you for shock, illness, death and dismemberment. You could be there with your arm hanging off and the first thing someone would say to you is, “let me get you a nice cup of tea.”

What genre do you read the most?

Historical fiction. I love the idea of swanning around in crinolines fanning myself and having the Mr. Darcy's of the world picking up stray handkerchiefs when I drop them.

If you had to pick the worst on-screen adaptation of a novel, what would it be?

Ok, so there are a lot I could choose from, but my least favorite was, Message in a Bottle. I have no idea if the book ends the same way as the movie, I have been frightened to find out, but if that is the case, I think they made a huge error in judgment killing of one the main character when the made the film. That should have been changed as it was that way in the book. Books and films are very different animals you have to write what the audience expects. Otherwise, you end up with viewers like me shouting “What! THAT’s how you're going to end it!” at the screen, I still hate what they did with that movie. I always try to read a book first, if I can, because I know what a screenwriter is up against. Taking a 500-page book and paring it down to 110 script pages (that is about 30 full novel manuscript pages) is a challenge. Adding to that the fact they often have to create peaks and troughs at a different point in the story as well it only makes the job more difficult. A screenwriter has to take the essence of the novel and create a story. So, I always like to, whenever I can, read the authors words first and then see how the screenwriter interpreted them.

As we discussed before, I’m a fan of rum. I don’t drink to excess, but I have heard some authors take the expression, “write drunk, edit sober” a tad too literally. Have you ever imbibed before writing to disastrous results? How do you feel about that whole tortured artist label that comes and goes in popular culture?

I think grammar is torture enough! I think there can be some truth in the adage just because of the fact writing is as much an emotional journey as a creative one, especially depending on the genre you right in. Memoir writers, for example, tell me how hard that can be as the relive painful moments from their past and even mainstream writers have to dig deep. I wrote the last chapter of my book in one full whole day, all 8000 words of it, crying through most of it. Sometimes that’s what it takes, and rum, or in my case a little Baileys is how we make it, through :-)

Writing tends to make us observers of the world. Have you seen or experienced anything of note you think you might one day incorporate into a story?

I’m always thinking in storylines; I live in the land of “what if”… I don’t have anything right this minute that I am in that place with, but I do have a screenplay on the back-burner. It is still in the process of being creating. I love that when a project is in the place that everything you read and see somehow filters into the melting pot, and may easily become a part of the storyline.

 

And we’ll wind this down with a fun game of ‘caption this.’

 



“Now, what was it they said about water and cell phones? Is it rice or flour?”

 

Suzanne, thank you so much for being my guest, and I look forward to reading more of your work in future. Should anyone else be interested in Suzanne’s upcoming release of ‘The Rejected Writers’ Book Club’, I’ve got all of her links posted below.

 

Suzanne Kelman’s links:

Website http://www.suzannekelmanauthor.com 

IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5882992/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

Blog http://www.whidbeylifemagazine.org/suzanne-kelman/

Twitter http://twitter.com/@suzkelman

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Goody-2-Productions

Linked in http://www.linkedin.com/pub/suzanne-kelman/32/23a/860

Amazon http://amzn.to/1WC3Fjf

 



Suzanne Kelman is the author of “The Rejected Writers’ Book Club” and an award-winning screenwriter and playwright. Her accolades include The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences – Nicholl Fellowship Finalist, Best Comedy Feature Script - L.A. International Film Festival and Gold Award Winner – California Film Awards. 

I had my first podcast interview with the wonderful and entertaining Blondie & Brit this January. If you haven't had a chance to come across their show you're in for a treat. I haven't laughed that hard in a long while.

Download this episode (right click and save)

I swear my ideas are going to set each other's flags on fire.

What could be the problem with this?

Well, let's see, here are some thoughts:

I'm trying to finish one novel while fending off the impatient mutterings and threats of another novel. (THE BLOOD KEY still needs editing and I won't release it until I've finished the whole trilogy because, uh pressure! Readers read books and then want to know what happens next, of all the nerve.)

The two ideas are at least different genre's so the confusion of melding them together is nil when drafting, BUT one won't be quiet while momma's working. (Shhh, no talking, no talking.)

I've heard/read other authors talk/post about following the 'Muse' and going with the strongest idea to stay inspired. Am I wrong not to do that? (It's my brain and my methods to tell my stories sooo...its only wrong for me if I say it's wrong for me. So there brain, take that!)

Do I even believe in a dang 'Muse' at all? (My single quotations may answer this question for me.)

Writing, no matter how you cut it, is hard work so, maybe my self-discipline will freaking pay off. (One dayyyy over the rainbowwwww...) Be glad you can't hear me sing. I once was singled out of a bar crowd as, and I quote here, "Who's the one that sounds like a dying cat?" Everyone at the table pointed my way. Traitors. I won a prize but still.

I've already let myself be distracted by another book once, and so I feel putting DESCENT to the back burner once again is a letdown. (And I would be right.)

Maybe I'm sad and don't want to end the Weaver Series, so I'm making excuses to prolong it? (I really do love Cass and Silver. They are some of my best imaginary friends.)

Wow, I'm making a list about idea confusion and procrastinating at the same time! Go me. *Facepalm*


I'm stopping here because my blog pep talk to my myself seems to be working. My ideas are going to play nice, or the loud one is going in time out. It may still chatter from the corner and talk smack, but I'm in charge, so nose to the corner it is. Or, er, nose to the grindstone. Eh, whatever.

 

Tragedy.

Noun.

An event resulting in great loss and misfortune.

Drama in which the protagonist is overcome by some superior force or circumstance; excites terror or pity.

Social media can be a beautiful tool to bring us together. It can also be a tragedy overload that bloats us with the most horrible events and happenings in the world.

So, this morning as I sat down to write my phone alarm went off to wake me up. Unsurprisingly I'd beaten it out of bed. As I turned it off, I somehow found myself looking at Facebook.

(This happens more than I like to admit.)

The first article I see is about something so terrible that I'm not going to repeat it here. Let's just say that reading the headline was enough. Anything that involves children is a quick anxiety trigger for me.

That poor family's personal tragedy wrecked me, and I thought, "Why did this happen to them? What can I do so it doesn't ever happen to my sons?" My mind went down every avenue of why something like this wouldn't or couldn't happen to me and mine.

But I realized part way in - there is no 'tragedy proof' life. No one thinks it will happen to them until it does. Waste a whole lifetime on worry or live it while the living is good?

Small wonderful smiles. Full body hugs from people who mean them or need them. The abandon of silliness and snuggles. These events have as much power or more as the bad.

Maybe for this Thanksgiving we can all remember to live in the moment a tiny bit more.

 

I've got too many ideas to write it seems.

Last class session at WTWA (West Texas Writers' Academy), I was lucky enough to take a class with Alexandra Sokoloff on her plotting method. That's worked out for me extremely well. For a person who always claimed to be a pantster, I turned out to be an effective plotter.

When I began writing novels in 2013, I had no idea what I was doing. (Okay, maybe sometimes I still don't.) I would sit down in front of the computer and stare at the screen terrified because I didn't want to jinx what the backside of my brain was doing, but the not knowing in advance was killing me. Total torture sessions galore for a control freak.

Four books were written in this way before I began to burn out from the stress. Don't get me wrong, there was joy in there too but only when the words were flowing. Each sticky stop along the way made me doubt my sanity.

Now since I've gotten used to the idea of plot structure and what the audience has come to expect from a gripping story, (thanks to Alexandra Sokoloff and NO she isn't paying me to promote her methods), I can sit down with a map and write on.

This doesn't mean you can't change lanes or even highways along the writing way; it just means now you can handle course corrections SO much better. As you become aware of the parts, you begin to see them everywhere and in everything. Movies make more sense, not to mention the knowledge you need to deconstruct your stories and find the pieces that don't quite fit or need improvement.

Now I've plotted and reverse plotted multiple projects. Not going to lie here - it feels dang good.

If you're interested in learning this method for writing, I've got a couple suggestions.

Attend Alex's class at WTWA in June 2016. Here is a link to the Facebook page: WTWA

OR just buy Alexandra Sokoloff's book, Stealing Hollywood, on Amazon. Here's the link: Stealing Hollywood

If you're stuck in your story, and you feel like you need to try something new...go for it!

Fight the good fight!

That's what I tell myself daily as I drag my butt out of bed and stare at a glowing screen before the rest of the house wakes up, and I have to make it through the stress of my day job.

Some days are easier than others.

The thing is; I'm not sure my life would be any better if I wrote for a living. I'm one of those humans who need structure, or I slide into a ball of ooze that does nothing -wasting away with inactivity. I'm at my best with a list of 'to do's' both personal and professional.

So, if I win the lottery, (Oops I keep forgetting to buy a ticket), I'm not even sure I'd quit my day job to live the life of luxury. And by luxury I mean reading books all day long in my pajamas and writing until my brain is mush.

The point of this very short blog is - what 'could be' is great, what is 'now' is doable and what 'was' is gone.

I'm going to do my best to boost my productivity even when I'm tired or just disgruntled or discouraged. My imagination has always lit a fire in me, but it's up tp me to make sure I take care of myself and don't let it fizzle out.

Work smart not hard and all that jazz.

I'm out.

I've got no end of ideas of late, but I'm finding it harder than ever to write.

Perhaps it is the endless waiting game of writing itself. The terrible and joyful pushing you do with your mind as you assert your will over your apathy.

Or maybe it's the lack of glamour, because you know there's nothing more camera worthy than typing in a robe with bedhead and tired eyes.

I just can't give it up. And maybe that's how I know who I am.

Not sales or awards or contest wins but the doggedness of being a writer.

So this is my advice to anyone just starting, in the middle or the end of their writing - don't stop being you.

No matter what others view as success. No matter if you can't live off of your stories or if you have two vacation homes.

Remember why you started in the first place and hold it close. No one will ever care as much about it as you. Don't expect them to. As long as you do - it doesn't really matter.

I've gotta go.

My freak flag needs to fly.