Category Archives: Gail Z. Martin

by | September 22, 2011 · 10:19 am

Catch me at a con!

by Gail Z. Martin

Fall is just around the corner, and that means that I’ll be back on the convention circuit.  If you’re headed to one of these conventions, please stop by one of my panels/readings or catch me in the hall and say hello!

Dragon*Con—Labor Day Weekend

Here’s my official panel schedule:

My #DragonCon schedule: Title: Breaking In: How it’s Done Description: Trying to break into the SF/Fantasy/Dark Fantasy/Urban Fantasy markets? Fri 01:00 pm : Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong – Hyatt

My #DragonCon schedule: Title: Broad Universe Reading Description: Quick cuts read by some up and coming female authors; their own works or works they find influential. Time: Fri 10:00 pm Location: Greenbriar – Hyatt

My #DragonCon schedule: Title: 101 Fascinating/Gruesome Ways to Kill a Character Description: What’s the most fascinating way to kill a character? Time: Sat 10:00 pm Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong – Hyatt

My #DragonCon schedule: Title: Podcasting Writers Roundtable Description: Join popular Podcast authors to discuss the changing face of books and online media. Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: 204 – Hilton

My #DragonCon schedule: Title: Broad Universe Reading Part 2 Description: Quick cuts read by some up and coming female authors; their own works or works they find influential. Sun 01:00 pm Location: Fairlie – Hyatt

My #DragonCon schedule: Title: Down and Dirty Internet Marketing Description: How to get your stuff noticed. How to interest potential readers, viewers, listeners, etc. Time: Sun 05:30 pm Location: 201 – Hilton

Then Oct 14-16 I’ll be at Capclave, Gaithersburg, MD.  The week of Halloween, Samhain, Dia De Los Muertos and All Hallow’s Eve is my Days of the Dead online blog event, Oct. 24 – 31.

Nov            18-20 I’ll be at Philcon in Cherry Hill, NJ, and then I hope to be in several Charlotte-area bookstores in early December.

Next year is already shaping up.  Here’s a sneak peek of what’s to come:

I’ll be chillin’ in Boston for Arisia in January!

I’ve accepted invitations to SheVaCon and Mysticon (both in Roanoke) in February, and should be back in Charlotte book stores with the launch of The Dread, Book Two in The Fallen Kings Cycle.

In March I’ll be at Ravencon as well as at the Arizona Renaissance Festival outside of Phoenix.

I’ve also been invited to Book Expo (BEA) in June, although I don’t have a schedule of events yet.

That’s what’s solid so far—I’ll add dates as I get confirmations.  And if you just like to talk about the craft and business of writing, please join me in person for my monthly Meetup, the  Thrifty Author Publishing Success Network!

 

 

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by | September 15, 2011 · 10:18 am

Things I learned from this year’s summer movies

by Gail Z. Martin

What did I learn from this summer’s crop of action flicks?  Well, they weren’t really intended as educational fare, but in between bites of popcorn, I picked up a few life lessons, so I thought I’d share them with you.

Transformers—prepare for your job interviews if you don’t want to look like a dofus.

Thor—wait until you’ve been crowned before acting like the king.

Pirates 4—asking nicely for things like a mermaid’s tears will get you farther than kidnapping and larceny

Harry Potter 7—that pile of junk in your attic just might be a valuable relic.  Or just a fire hazard.

Green Lantern—stopping to help at a traffic accident can change your life.

Captain America—never underestimate the skinny kid.

Cowboys and Aliens—don’t bet against a low-tech rebellion.

Conan—If you don’t want someone to reassemble the evil mask, destroy it, don’t just hide the pieces.

I’m not sure what kind of life wisdom any of this imparts, but passing along these disturbed ramblings is just another one of my many public services.  Enjoy.

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by | September 7, 2011 · 10:00 am

Last Friday Night at Dragon*Con (with apologies to Katy Perry)

by Gail Z. Martin

There’s a Klingon in my bed
There’s a Vorlon in my head
Guinan’s serving in the bar
Reavers  passed out in the yard.
Con suite’s closing for the night
Is that a tattoo or a bite?

Photos of last night
Posted on the site
Dude!
It’s a fandom blur
But I know for sure
It ruled.

Last Friday night.
Yeah we gamed on tabletops
Then we did some True Blood shots
Think we filked but I forgot
Last Friday night

We went LARPing in the park
Crashed the Green Room after dark
Had some panels jump the shark
Last Friday night
Do it all again…Do it all again

What can I say—it was Dragon*con!  Just got back from Atlanta, and it was wonderful, as usual.

I had a great panel schedule, because it also gave me time to wander the vendor rooms and art show and catch some live music, as well as the panels with the stars of True Blood, and appearances by William Shatner and Carrie Fisher.

Panels were a lot of fun and very well attended.  How can you not have fun when you’re on panels with folks like Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Carole Nelson Douglas, Brent Weeks, David B. Coe, Scott Sigler, and other fun guests!  And I saw lots of other friends, like my esteemed co-blogger J.F. Lewis, my Ravencon roomie Jean Marie Ward, and all the Broad Universe crew, plus folks from my Thrifty Author Meetup group, and many more friends, colleagues and con buddies.

Costumes were fantastic, as always.  Saw a lot of great Steampunk interpretations.  My favorites were the Steampunk Green Lanterns and Captain America.  Lots of anime-inspired costuming too, as well as characters from all the big hit summer movies and top video games.  I think my favorite con t-shirt was the one with a white anime cat dressed in camouflage with a big gun—Halo Kitty, of course.

Of course, it was a total mob scene, and the elevators can only be compared to the Japanese subway, but otherwise it wouldn’t be Dragon*Con.  So now you know where I was Last Friday Night.  And all I can say is—Do it all again!

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by | September 1, 2011 · 10:14 am

Fantasy and Thrill Rides

by Gail Z. Martin

I’ve often said that I focus on making my books entertaining, like a roller coaster.  I want people to get a rush out of the ups and downs and get to the end wanting to do it again.  Maybe that’s because I absolutely love theme parks, amusement parks and fairs.  I love the tinny music, the smell of all that artery-clogging bad-for-you yummy food, and the excitement of wondering what’s around the next bend.

Part of what I love about amusement parks and fairs is way it blocks out the real world.  When you get into the middle of the park, you can’t see anything of the outside world.  You’re in a place that’s separate from your normal life.  While you’re there, the “real” world doesn’t exist.  It’s all one big adventure.  Kinda like a good book.

I also love the total immersion.  All the senses are engaged—sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound.  When you’re in a really well-run park or fair, those senses are expertly manipulated to heighten the experience.  There is so much going on around you that you stop thinking about your to-do list or what’s waiting on your desk at work or what you need at the grocery store and just revel in the moment.  And again, it’s the same way that a good book makes you forget all your troubles or responsibilities for a blissful interlude.

Of course, amusement parks and fairs are always best at night.  When it gets dark, the lights come on, bright and blinding, an artificial aurora, non-stop neon.  At night, everything looks its best because you can’t see the places where the paint needs to be touched up, or the wires or the electric cords.  The fantasy is at its best because it becomes seamless, even a little disorienting.  Suspension of disbelief is complete, and child-like wonder takes over.

Whether it’s Six Flags or Cedar Point or Disney World or Carowinds or just the county fair or local Renaissance festival, that’s probably me you see wandering around looking a little starry-eyed, taking it all in.  It’s the next best thing to a good book!

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by | August 25, 2011 · 10:06 am

You can’t go home again, and neither can your characters.

by Gail Z. Martin

Contrary to Bon Jovi’s experience, most of us find that going home after we’ve left is at best bittersweet and at worst impossible.  That’s true, I’m convinced, because not only are we not the same people who left, but the place we’ve left behind changes while we’re gone.  It’s that whole thing about not stepping into the same river twice.

As I find myself spending more time in my hometown than I have spent since leaving high school (thanks to some family concerns), I got thinking about how many of my characters have had a reason to make a return home under difficult circumstances.

Tris flees his home to avoid being killed, only to find that he must return to face his monster of a brother in order to protect those he loves.

Jonmarc staggers from his village wounded and grief stricken as the sole survivor of a massacre by northern raiders, and returns years later to repel another invasion, this time, as the champion of a queen and at the head of an army.

Kiara leaves her homeland to forge a political alliance and returns to a shattered homeland that looks to her untested abilities to save it.

Cam went back to the home that exiled him and found unexpected strengths and an unknown lurking threat.

Even Kolin finds a mixture of grief and solace returning to what remains of his home, although only ghosts and the undead still inhabit the place where he used to live.

Maybe my subconscious put me on the track of bittersweet homecomings. More than once, I’ve worked through a difficult issue only to look back through my writing and find out that I’d unconsciously put my characters in the same situation in various guises.  It’s happened enough times to make me wary when I find themes in my own stuff, wondering what it means for my real life.

The whole homecoming arc certainly isn’t new; after all, that’s at the heart of The Odyssey.  But it probably resonates more at a mid-point in life more than when you’re younger and bursting from the gate to seek your fortune.  If you can think of other character homecomings in other books, I’m interested to see what you come up with!

 

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by | August 18, 2011 · 10:19 am

Best summer movies so far.

by Gail Z. Martin

I don’t ask much from my movies.  A few explosions, some impossible but cool special effects, and a little magic.

With Netflix and Redbox, we have gotten pretty choosy about which movies we see in the theaters (that, and our three kids are now old enough that we’ve lost the child discount rate so we have to pay for five adults, which gets pricy).  We triage our theater-going to which movies really benefit from the big screen, 3-D and/or IMAX treatment, and which would be pretty much the same on the TV at home.  Needless to say, explosions and magic look better when they’re bigger and louder, so that tends to tilt toward our choice of movies.

Thor was a lot of fun—better than I expected.  (It was worth it to hear half the theater gasp when he took of his shirt.) I also enjoyed Green Lantern.  Lots of action, not real heavy on plot.  Pirates of the Caribbean 4 was an ok popcorn movie, but I liked the first one best. (However, compared with Pirates 2 and 3, Pirates 4 looked like Oscar material. My opinion.  Just saying.) Of course, Harry Potter 7.2.  I thought Deathly Hallows 2 was very well done, with exceptional special effects and cinematography with a mood befitting the tone of the book.  I’m looking forward to seeing Captain America.

I missed getting to see X Men First Class and, alas, Kung Fu Panda 2, so I’ll have to pick those up on Netflix later on.  I’m also intrigued by Super 8, and might catch that one.  And while it’s not really a movie, I enjoyed catching up on Season 2 of True Blood thanks to Netflix.

So there you have it, my confession of guilty pleasure watching summer movies.  Pass the popcorn!

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by | August 11, 2011 · 10:18 am

Good-bye, Harry.

by Gail Z. Martin

OK, I’ll say it.  I’m going to miss Harry Potter.

For the last ten years, we’ve either had a book or a movie to look forward to, and I enjoyed every single one of them.  I loved sharing them with my kids, and I loved them myself.  The world of Harry Potter was just plain fun, with its wonderful word-play (like the Penseive), great characters, and a tangible level of realism.

I also loved the other level of Harry’s books.  The friendship, self-sacrifice, heroism and power of community, all of which seem to be in short supply these days.  The triumph of democracy over oligarchy (mud-bloods vs. pure bloods), and the power of seeing something through to the end.  Rare qualities, all of them, and the saving grace of humanity.

With my kids, I’ve seen all of the movies multiple times.  To me, they never get old.  I have my personal favorites—Sorcerer’s Stone and Goblet of Fire.  And while I quibbled from time to time over the length of coverage some Quidditch matches received (then again, I’m not a sports person), I didn’t really mind.

One of the things that meant a lot to me was that in the end, it was the regular people who overthrew tyranny and fascist rule.  The mud-bloods and the half-giants, the dwarves and the orphans, the misfits and the outcasts triumphed over powerful special interests who would have subjugated everyone to enrich a few.  Voldemort tried to seduce the wizarding world through greed and power.

And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids.

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by | August 4, 2011 · 10:15 am

Copy edits—small changes that make big differences

by Gail Z. Martin

I’ve just turned in copy edits on two books (The Dread and the next book in my social media series), and will do edits on a third book (the new Thrifty Author title) next week.  And while edits are never as fun as doing the actual writing, they are a very important part of making a book successful.

A good editor finds continuity errors (places you’ve accidently changed the facts), corrects punctuation and spelling, and suggests word changes to avoid repetition.  (Edits to plot come before this point.)  The copy editor suggests, and the author gets final say over what changes are made.  Declining a change usually happens because the change would alter the original intent of the passage (amazing how a simple word change can really change things), or create stilted dialog, introduce an anachronism, etc.

I accept probably better than 97% of the suggested changes because they are mechanical issues.  The remaining 3% are declined because they would change the story or affect characterization.  Sometimes, grammar has to bend to allow for how people really talk, or how a sentence “feels” when it’s read mentally or aloud.

I may never meet my copyeditors in person (although I have met several of them and it was quite cordial), but they are definitely part of my team, and I owe them a lot.  They make me look good, cleaning up my disregard for correct comma placement (sprinkle a few here and there), regional variations in spelling (I have a tendency to spell in the British fashion), and acute semi-colon deficiency.

So here’s to the copyeditors of the world, publishing’s unsung heroes!  You’re the people who know the difference between “eats, shoots and leaves” and “eats, shoots, and leaves”.  (Hint:  One has to do with diet and one is homicidal.)  Salute!

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by | July 28, 2011 · 10:09 am

Story ideas from real life

by Gail Z. Martin

OK, so here’s the making of a fantasy story…..

Once upon a time there’s a king and he’s come into possession of a magical item that has to be eliminated before it destroyed the entire kingdom.  Everyone agrees that if the magic item isn’t eliminated, it will cause a catastrophe.  Then the king’s advisors and the nobles begin to squabble.  Each side has ideas on the best way to get rid of the dangerous magical item, and there are hidden agendas in abundance.  No one is telling the truth, and everyone is out for his own self interest, regardless of the cost to the kingdom.  A few of the loudest nobles think they can discredit the king by making any plan to get rid of the magical item fail, and they’re willing to risk destroying the kingdom because their soothsayers have told them that the magical item isn’t really as dangerous as the others believe.  Political intrigue and backstabbing abound, while a hapless, helpless kingdom awaits a hero with the courage to take action…..

Hmm….sound familiar?  For those who have been under a rock (lucky you!), the above is a thinly-veiled version of the budget war in Washington.  But strip out the names of modern legislators and political parties and it could be a power struggle in Ancient Rome or in Medieval Europe or in a fictional kingdom, or on another planet.

The point is, people are people, and regardless of the issue or the time period, they can be counted upon to act in certain ways.  Much as the nostalgists would prefer to think otherwise, our ancestors and forefathers weren’t really any more noble, selfless or moral than modern-day folks.

What this means is, your next idea for a novel could be as close as today’s headlines.  Every published author gets asked, “Where do you get your ideas?”  But the truth is, you have only to read history or this week’s newsmagazine to get more ideas than you could write about in a lifetime.

Start by asking “what if.”  “What if” the situation didn’t happen now, but in the past?  What if it wasn’t the president and Congress, but a king and nobles?  Or maybe an emperor and the generals?  What if the catastrophe were more than economic?  What if the magic wasn’t  confidence in the financial system, but real magic?  What if the backstabbing was more than figurative?  If you’re stuck for ideas, start with the real stories in the headlines and replace one element after another to see what happens.  Replace the people, the place, the central object, revise the stakes, change the technology.  Getting some ideas?  Go forth and write!

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by | July 13, 2011 · 1:00 am

Twitter Novels

by
Crymsyn Hart

This past weekend a friend and I were sipping coffee at our local Books A Million café. She pulled out her cell phone which is the same kind I have and asked me how I liked it. I glanced at the new EVO I’ve had and sighed. It’s a win loose battle for me. I love my Blackberry because I can write on it. The new phone being touch screen and me texting rather fast it’s a disaster. But I need the phone for other reasons for my day job. Of course my Blackberry is still nicely tucked away and I use it when I’m out and about. After the phone debacle, she suggested that I should try writing twitternovels. I’ve heard about them. A whole story in an update of 140 characters, I don’t possibly see how anyone could write a novel on twitter, but with further investigation I see there are lots.

While it’s an intriguing idea, and my friend is working at it, I’m not sure about it. Short it hard for me. I would think that 140 characters is near impossible to set the mood, conversation, tone, and have people follow it. But then again Stephen King has done it. Many others have done it. I’m sure it’s the new form of writing. It’s great to think that you can be anywhere and be writing. Walking down the street or hanging on the subway. Not tied to the desk.

What do you think? Is this a new trend that going to stick around? Anyone follow the them? What do you think that makes them good?

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