The Omnibus Has Landed

Spectras Arise Trilogy: Omnibus Edition

The trilogy became Amazon's #1 best-seller in Science Fiction Military over Memorial Day weekend. Not bad for a story that began as a humble firefight in my head while out on a run in Oregon's pouring rain about seven years ago. Thanks to all my readers who made these books a success (and who put me on the same Science Fiction best-seller page as one of my all-time favorite authors, Neal Stephenson).

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What I Know Is…: Reflections on Being a Writer

April 2014 will mark my second year as a published independent author. A huge milestone, really, especially when I didn’t celebrate my first year because I was frantically prepping my third novel for release at the time and barely noticed the anniversary. And a doubly-huge milestone when one considers that I wrote my first several-thousand word story when I was in fifth grade. (It was a horror story about the babysitter getting slashed to ribbons and the children being abducted. Fortunately, my parents and my babysitter never read it). All that to say, this month marks my 1.5 year publication anniversary, and the first time since it all began that I have a moment to give this adventure some (over?)due reflection.The thing about being a writer, as I was discussing with a brilliant writer friend of mine yesterday, Sezin Koehler, is that you never feel quite right unless you’re writing. If a day goes by that words have not spilled from your brainmeats onto a page, you begin to harbor insidious thoughts about the possibility that you’re a failure, that you don’t have what it takes to cut it as an author, that you are just faking it. It may be a scientific fact that the only time writers feels that we qualify as full members of the human race is when we are actually writing. Not when we “have written” or “are planning the next book,” but when our fingers are actually tapping on the keyboard or moving a pen over a page.(Which, incidentally, may also be why so many of us also blog when we’re not working on a creative piece. It’s validation, even if the results are little more than instances of embarrassing oversharing.)Given this subjective fact (get it? subjective fact? haha, um…), I can state with zen-soaked certainty that my experiences in the writing world have proved beyond a doubt that I am a writer. Okay, let me back up and explain that somewhat circular statement.The reasons people write are legion. But for those who write and publish, whether traditionally or nontraditionally (though these definitions will become somewhat more fluid over the next few years, I predict), the reasons may be more limited. There’s the obvious “I want to make tons of dough” and “I feel like this story needs to be heard,” or even more simply “My parents ignored me as a child so now I want ALL the attention.” Then there’s the more subtle “I think this concept can be commercially successful, so I want to give it a go” and “It doesn’t matter if not a lot of people buy it, I’m just having fun.” Yea verily, the common denominator for those who publish is the hope for an audience.And so, as happens to many authors who publish (and more who self-publish), where does that leave us when the audience is either absent or very small, quiet, and/or invisible? I will tell you where that leaves us—at the reflecting pool. You know, the one bubbling with starving piranhas.My reason for publishing my books was somewhere within the “I think this concept can be commercially successful, so I want to give it a go” and “It doesn’t matter if not a lot of people buy it, I’m just having fun” range. And while I have had limited commercial or financial success with my books, I can say without a nanosecond of hesitation that choosing to make my writing public has heaped on me some of the greatest rewards a person like me could experience. The sense of satisfaction one receives from the sincerely meant praise of complete strangers about one’s words is nearly equivalent to being handed the keys to paradise. Really. What more could a writer hope for?So, upon reflecting on the last eighteen months of being published and the few hundred dollars I’ve earned, the thing that brings my arse back to my seat and positions my fingers over the keyboard every morning is not an expectation that I must create the next Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings novels, but, simply, because I love to write. I am a writer.How about you, dear writers, why do you write?PS: You're welcome to read my review of Sezin's first novel, American Monsters, here.

Writing Advice from Paolo Bacigalupi

Had a pretty awesome experience this week when I logged into Twitter just to see what was happening in my twitterfriendverse. Turns out, it was moments until a live chat with the one, the only Paolo Bacigalupi, hosted by Little, Brown School, part of Hatchette Publishing. There may or may not have been embarrassing squee's of joy and excitement emitting from my office.For those who don't know, Bacigalupi is amazingly cool for two reasons: he's a Coloradan, and he also happened to win both the Nebula and the Hugo awards for his breakout novel the Windup Girl in 2010.From Amazon.com, about the Windup Girl:

Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko. Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engineered being, creche-grown and programmed to satisfy the decadent whims of a Kyoto businessman, but now abandoned to the streets of Bangkok. Regarded as soulless beings by some, devils by others, New People are slaves, soldiers, and toys of the rich in a chilling near future in which calorie companies rule the world, the oil age has passed, and the side effects of bio-engineered plagues run rampant across the globe. What happens when calories become currency? What happens when bio-terrorism becomes a tool for corporate profits, when said bio-terrorism's genetic drift forces mankind to the cusp of post-human evolution? In The Windup Girl, award-winning author Paolo Bacigalupi returns to the world of The Calorie Man; (Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award-winner, Hugo Award nominee, 2006) and Yellow Card Man (Hugo Award nominee, 2007) in order to address these poignant questions.

Side note: Don't read this novel if you really like elephants. However, to find out why you shouldn't, you'll have to read it. *shrug*Needless to say, his writing style is gritty; it's dark; it's daring; it's complex; and it's rich. He's been compared to early William Gibson and Ian McDonald with the intensity of his vision. The Windup Girl was one of those rare books that captures you on the first page by eliciting a mixture of fascinated horror and eager curiosity. Am I gushing? If you're a fan of dystopian fiction and you give Windup a chance, you'll soon see why.So, back to last week. Paolo is on tour promoting his newest novel the Drowned Cities and graciously made himself available for questions about the novel and writing in general. After getting over my bashful hero-worship (bashful? me? haha!), I posed the following question: You mentioned in a Westword interview a couple of years ago that you'd struggled for awhile to become successful as a writer. Do you have any advice on how to make that struggle easier for new writers?Take heed fellow writers, the master hath spoken.Paolo: For me, being able to writer boils down to recognizing what's important to me, and then being brave enough to do it. And to completely let go of worries about whether something will sell or whether other people will like it. It's hard. Also, finish what you start, no matter how stupid it seems in the moment. Everyone goes through lost faith moments. Relentlessness pays off if you're learning along the way. Tenaciousness matters for writers. It took me thirteen years to break in, and four failed novels. It's hard work. You have to enjoy the act of writing. It's the one thing you really have control over. Everything else, you just have to work at it and hope.In a nutshell: bravery, letting go of fear and worries, being willing to work hard, relentlessness, tenaciousness, loving what you do, and not losing hope. That's it! So easy! I just can't imagine why everyone doesn't write! After all, it's about as easy as becoming a samurai or an exorcist.And, of course, the beauty of being a writer, and secret as to why so many of us continue doing it, is that you really can become a samurai or an exorcist (or any damn thing you want) on the page. In other words, the satisfaction of well-written words makes the struggle worth it. If you find yourself facing any of the obstacles Paolo mentioned, just think of him as a shining, brilliant example. Thirteen years of struggle doesn't make you a failure; it can make you a success.For more tips on becoming a successful writer, I also recommend Lindsay Buroker's recent post Three Tips for Self-Publishing Success.

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.