I think Joss Whedon is making a comeback (not that he was ever really gone.) During the writer’s strike, Whedon decided, “Hey bitches, I’m writing anyway, and making a webisode of a musical to entertain my peeps.” Okay he didn’t really say that. But he could have. I now await the call from the legal department.

If you are living under a rock, or just don’t hang out with freaky Joss Whedon minions, you might not have heard of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-along blog. And that, my dear friends, is a shame. Which is why, I feel I must create this PSA to bring in the last sheep who have yet to hear of the wonderfulness of Dr. Horrible.

The three act show, can be found at: drhorrible.com. It can be viewed for free from the site, or you can download it to itunes for a reasonable fee. (My husband just popped in here in his adorable uber geek mode to announce to me that now they have adaptors where you can hook your ipod up to your television and watch what you downloaded on a big screen. That IS cool.)

Dr. Horrible also has an attached store. Become a good little minion and buy a shirt asap.

And especially watch so that you may understand such things as: “My hammer is my penis” and “The second time they say you get to do the weird stuff.”

Seriously, your life will not be complete until you watch this. Plus it’s got Doogie Howser. Though not as Doogie Howser.

Also, Joss shares with us his Master Plan with regards to this crazy free webisode loveliness. (You gotta watch now, it’s only free until midnight July 20th.)

The reason, IMO that this is so important is…if it’s financially successful to Joss and co, the playing field just got really really leveled for this type of entertainment. Joss in effect can write his own ticket without having any network first “approve” him. Which means whatever bizarre crazy things he comes up with, he can make and we can see and enjoy. So I’m all about supporting this.

Edie is talking about the state of the business of publishing on her blog. This is one of my favorite topics to discuss.

I think there is this belief floating around that if you’re “good” you don’t self publish. Without any regard to it as a viable business model. I would really like to be a voice to help empower more writers to consider all their options for reaching their goals. And self-publishing, is a possible option. (Which is not the same as vanity publishing. I’m talking about starting a real small business and publishing under an imprint you create, either paper or ebook. I realize distribution is a bitch, and it goes way outside the scope of this post.)

The state of the book publishing industry is kinda bad right now. But if you’re a writer, take heart. You are ONE human being. No matter how bad the industry gets, they’re still gonna need new stuff at some point, and you are only one person trying to get in. Forget the other 3 billion doing it…that way lies madness.

I would love to be published by a “real publisher” and that’s a goal on the list, but sometimes I think we want to skip normal business steps. Almost no business starts out with franchising. They build a small business that works on the local level, then they slowly start getting investors and expanding. And let’s face it, there is more than just one true way to start a small business. I think there is more than one path to building a writing career and someone should pick the one that works for them, as opposed to the one that is “socially acceptable.” Though if the “socially acceptable” one works, and it might, don’t ignore it to be counter-culture.

A “name publisher” is a great goal to have, but…the quest for it can sometimes be it’s own type of vanity. Readers who aren’t writers do not care who your publisher is. But I’ve noticed other writers do. We have this subtle social hierarchy. We sorta perk up when we hear the name of one of the “better” publishers. “Oh really…she’s published by Name Publisher,” *perk perk. brown nose.*

The goal, as I see it, is to learn to write books that aren’t just “good” but that GRIP people. Then I want to get that writing into the reader’s hands, ebook reader, or mp3 player of choice. If I can get a publisher to handle the front end, design, distribution and printing part, whoo hoo. If I can’t, that’s fine too. Because eventually…if I’m doing it right…if I’m writing something that connects, get it out there, and build a reader base a publisher will come as a natural part of the progression/expansion.

Spy said something really great in the comments of Edie’s posts about this: “…we don’t need to fear self-publishing lowering the quality of stories. It’s just like bad blogging doesn’t lower the quality of blogging: the cream still rises to the top, the best bloggers still get tons of traffic and ad revenue, and the blogs with incoherent English are ignored.”

I think in a global market we suddenly realize how much competition exists. It was always there. It’s just everybody else knows about it now.

Write well. Find your readers and connect. Everything else is noise.

I finally got a copy of Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden.

Hahaha, the title doesn’t lie. I might be biased because I talk to Cindy online. It’s so easy to go “Holy crap, this is someone I talk to online, this is so cool.” But…I thought this was a really gripping book from the very first paragraph.

I loved Colin. Definitely had that growliness I like in guys. Loved the scene where he changed. Definitely not anti-climactic. Emily’s back story is very engaging, which is saying something because there are some books where you skim over flashbacks and you aren’t missing much. And this may say something really awful about me, but I really liked Niol as well. He was a villain, though not the main one. I think he’s redeemable. I would so be that stupid human that dated him. I swear…me= no survival instinct.

Anyway…you want story summary rather than me blathering on here. Hotter After Midnight is about a woman named Emily Drake who can see demons and other monsters that haunt the night. She’s the only human who can. She’s empathic and can touch their emotions and sometimes slip into their thoughts.

This has made her hunted…though not to kill (except for the few trying to kill her.) She’s a psychologist and monsters have problems too. So she’s known as the monster doctor. When a murder that appears to be “other” in nature happens in Atlanta, she’s brought on as a profiler. She becomes involved with our lovely, yummy and somewhat dangerous detective, Colin Gyth, who’s a shifter. Otherwise known as the baddest of the bad.

Loved this book, read it in one day, can’t wait to get my hands on the next one.

Also, I’ve got 4 crit readers, plus Tom now for SMS. Thank you so much to those who volunteered! I think I’m covered now.

Also… I have clearly hit stupid-o-clock and it is evidenced by my new and improved sidebar headings.

I’m very ambivalent about e-books. I’m part of the I love real paper books faction. I like to sit in the tub and read or read outside on the porch. I like the feel and smell of a book. Paper and ink have a smell and I just like BOOKS.

I can accept that ebooks exist alongside paperbacks, but I live in this abject terror that one of these days it’s all going to be ebook and I hate that. I hate the idea that someday there will be almost no print books. It makes me think about what it means to be a writer even.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a Disney cartoon animator. But then most of the art went to digital, and I didn’t want to do it that way. I liked the old-fashioned way so I soon lost interest in being a cartoon animator. And I really wonder if all books went to ebook and there was never another chance of having my name on a printed novel…would I still want to be a writer?

I say yes, but it wouldn’t be quite as shiny for me. The allure wouldn’t be quite as great.

Nevertheless, despite these feelings, I find that the Amazon Kindle has a draw for me. If it can exist in addition to, and alongside print books without usurping them completely. I can see the benefit of this item on long car trips. The packing ease of being able to take many books instead of a few without packing heavier. Being able to read and switch books on a plane without having to get my bag out of the overhead compartment.

The screen itself is supposed to be really easy on the eyes and isn’t as annoying to read from as computer screens. So there is that at least.

It’s still a bit pricey, and I’m not sure if it’ll really take off because of that. There are other things that Kindle can’t do. You can’t loan a kindle book to a friend, unless you loan them your entire Kindle. You can’t go to the library and get Kindle books either. (something I’m glad about) I also see major piracy issues here. Since the ipod became so big people steal music off the internet and put it on their ipod all the time. I could see the same thing happening with kindle and ebooks since you can transfer an ebook you already own onto kindle for free or 10 cents depending on the method you use to do it. And they can’t prove you paid for the book.

What this means is, piracy is going to become an even bigger issue for authors than it has been in the past. And unlike musicians, who make most of their money off of tours and merchandising, authors take a big personal cut here.

If it succeeds all I ask the writing gods is…please please don’t take my print books away. I like paper. I like the feel of a book in my hand. Ebooks are like cybersex…novel at first, but it’s just not the same.

I broke one of my cardinal rules last night. I am a little more than halfway through the crap draft of CLAIMED, and I reread what I had so far. Oh. My. God. Seriously. This is why I don’t reread the crap draft midway through. I have to cling to the demented hope that what I’m writing is brilliant, and if not brilliant then at least passable English.

I have to cling to this hope so that I can get through the damn thing so I have something to edit. But now I’ve done the unthinkable. I’ve reread what I’ve got so far because I was too impatient, and now I see how shockingly sucktastic it is.

I wonder what would have happened if I’d done this after 5 or 6 chapters of SMS. I wouldn’t have finished it. But it’s improved in the intervening drafts. I’m not yet good at writing a clean first draft. Even though I have an outline, I’m still trying to figure out layers and parts of my story as I go.

Writing my rough draft words is going to be harder today, but I’ve got to do it. Writing the crap draft is the only way I know to get to future drafts where it gets better.

In other news, I’m on vampire central time. Again. I went to bed at 8 am and got up at 5:30 this evening. This has got to end. So I’m flipping forward, it’s the only way I’m ever able to fix my schedule. I’m gonna stay up til tomorrow afternoon and then crash and sleep as long as I can, and do that for a couple of days til I’m getting up at normal times. This is why I almost always make my blog post at midnight. I’m usually up at midnight whichever schedule I’m on.

Today I’ll be guest blogging about anti-motivation over at Dionne Galace’s Blog

Also, I need a couple of people who would be willing to read SAVE MY SOUL and give me some feedback on it. It’s gone through 6 drafts and some of it is good and some of it I think still sucks and has lazy parts, but I’ve looked at it so many damn times I can’t look at it anymore without having some feedback of some sort on it. I’m at the point where if I edit further without feedback I’m risking making it worse. Anyone who would be willing to tell me what sucks, and what needs sharpened up, please email me at: zoe_winters@yahoo.com

As always, anyone who ends up critiquing for me, I’ll return the favor if asked.

Thanks!

If I could have 3 wishes:

1. Never having to shave again. I mean it. Seriously this is the most annoying thing to have to do and eats into a good 10 minutes of my day. I could waste more time on the internet if I didn’t have to shave. No shaving or waxing, and no having to get laser hair removal even though it’s just that one time. Just magically no hair where I don’t want it, forever.

2. Immortality. (Number one makes more sense now doesn’t it? Yep…thinkin’ ahead.) I would want to be young and beautiful forever. Hmmmm maybe I should wish for beauty. I think I’m taking for granted that beauty automatically comes in the immortality package because all those vampires are just so pretty. Except on Buffy.  And Nosferatu.

3. The power of teleportation. This would save me a considerable amount of money in travel and gas prices and a considerable amount of time. Though I’m immortal who wants to spend immortality in traffic with hairy legs?

What are your three wishes? And remember no wishing for infinite wishes, that’s cheating and genies really hate that.  And if you don’t use one of your wishes to end world hunger, no one will judge you here.

In other news, I finished reading book 31/50 for the 50 Book Challenge, Mary Reilly by: Valerie Martin.  I’d seen the movie a few years ago and loved it of course.  The movie is very close to the book which is fairly uncommon,though I like the way the book unmasked him better than the way the movie did.  The one problem was…I kept hearing Julia Roberts and John Malcovich’s voices in my head while I was reading.  It was a little disturbing because I would have liked to have experienced the book as the book, as opposed to, as the movie in book form.  Since the book came first and all.

I’m told there was this magical era in the before time when television and mass marketing was still new.  Television was an event and people watched commercials…on purpose.  Now most people change the channels, go do other things, or use the magic of Tivo.

Telemarketing and junk mail, despite their statistically low response, keep coming.  And most marketing now is just plain trickery.

Like vanilla wafers.  It says they are low in cholesterol, which I’m sure is true, but so is arsenic, so what’s the point?  Then right next to that it says: “A good for you food.” Is there a parallel dimension now where we’re all buying that vanilla wafers are suddenly a health food?

Why do I even mention this?  Because marketing is relevant to all of our lives.  Everyone has to market themselves now, not just the vanilla wafer people.  And not just writers.  This is why I don’t understand the mentality: “Writing is too competitive, why bother?”  In a world of instant mass communication everything is too competitive so you may as well do what you love.  It seems to me, picking something to do just because it’s less competitive is a sure way to unhappiness.

I think “being real,” and building relationships is the new wave of marketing.  It was probably always the really effective way of marketing.  It’s either be real, or lie and try to convince the world vanilla wafers are healthy.

There are some days I feel almost “cool.” Then there are days when I miss it by quite a long shot. There is this line between social networking and bum on the street and there are days when I cross over to the dark side. Don’t mean to, it just happens.

Like the following phrase which I ACTUALLY posted on someone’s blog…”My best friend owns a comic book store so I’ll get her to special order me some Hellboy if I like the movie.” I swear to God, some days I should be shot. I’m going to write an ebook called: “How to let everyone on the internet know you’re the biggest lamer ever.”

In college this same best friend used to tell everyone in our immediate vicinity whether it was applicable to the conversation or not: “My boyfriend owns a comic book store.” We all teased her about it. But she was just so cute, she pulled it off.

Now I’m going “My best friend owns a comic book store.” OMG seriously who cares?

This is the downside of commenting a lot online. Sometimes your brain separates itself from your fingers and you just start typing weird crap. Like how is that in any way applicable to the conversation? *head desk* Is there any universe in which I’m cool based on the fact that my friend owns a comic book store? Yeah, didn’t think so, lol.

As you can see, the road to cool is paved with lots of really stupid comments. What’s the last goofy thing you said?

Are you a member of the Bad Girls Club? (my apologies to any men who happen by here, but in the romance genre, we’re mostly girls) I’m not talking about the reality show or asking for details of your sexual exploits. I’m talking about simultaneous/multiple submissions. Most editors say they don’t accept simultaneous/multiple submissions, but a lot of writers do it anyway.

On the one hand no editor likes to find something they like only to find out it’s been submitted elsewhere and accepted there before them. (But isn’t this the competitive nature of the business? Why are writers expected to accept that but publishers aren’t? And don’t agents basically simultaneously submit when they get a bidding war going?)

The writer’s time is valuable as well. Should writers really sit on their own work for up to a year at a time while waiting to hear back? Is this really fair? If you join the Bad Girls Club and do it anyway, will you be blacklisted? Will publishers and agents refuse to deal with you?

So who’s a member of the club…fess up. (You can post anonymously if you want.) I’d really like to discuss this, the pros and cons of this option. Is this really a reasonable request? And if not, how does one deal with it as professionally and honestly as possible without getting screwed in the process?

In other news, Dionne Galace has a kickass story called “Chasing Daisy” that she’s serializing on her blog. I’m loving it. Check it out!