March, 2010

Pitch Descriptions

The following links were tossed around on the Agent Query SF/Fantasy author’s group today and I thought I’d share. The first one helped me redefine my pitch, so check out this link.

This is a list to some great, practical advice if you’re about to go pitch.

An Answer

If you’ve seen my post called Praising God, you know I’ve had some self-doubt (and lack of faith issues) recently. I wanted to share the devotional that came up this morning and filled me with a renewed sense of hope and purpose:

“He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.” Philippians 1:6.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. ;D

Successful Auction

I just received the following from Mr. Kay’s publicist and thought I’d share with you all:

Toronto – March 26, 2010 To celebrate the launch of Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay’s much anticipated new novel, Penguin Group (Canada) announced earlier this month that the first book off the press, autographed by the author, was up for bids on Ebay.com. Signed and verified by the publisher, it included a product identification slip and letter from the printing press identifying the book as the first copy printed in Canada. The auction wrapped up with a bid of CDN $535 submitted by Neil Negandhi of Toronto.

Negandhi, a long time fan, has also won an auction of the first copy/first edition of Kay’s Lord of Emperors in 2000, and another for the first copy of Ysabel in 2007. “I’m really looking forward to diving into another one of Kay’s beautifully constructed stories, this time half a world away in ancient China. Supported by fascinating characters and settings, Kay’s thoughtful writing always elevates his work into memorable explorations of ideas,” he raved.

Kay will match the winning bid and Penguin Group (Canada) will contribute $500 for a final sum of CDN $1570 to be donated to Indigo Books & Music, Inc.’s Love of Reading Fund. The fund directly supports high-needs elementary school literacy programs across Canada.

Earlier this month, Penguin Group (Canada) launched www.guygavrielkay.ca, a website dedicated entirely to Kay’s oeuvre, and featuring an array of music files, artwork, and downloadable wallpaper and posters, plus a first chapter excerpt of Under Heaven, a journal by the author, Twitter and Facebook links, book synopsis, and Canadian tour information.

Under Heaven is on-sale in Canada this week. Inspired by the glory of Tang Dynasty China in the eighth century, Guy Gavriel Kay melds history and the fantastic into something both powerful and emotionally compelling. Under Heaven is a novel on the grandest narrative scale, encompassing the intimate details of individual lives in an unforgettable time and place.

Guy Gavriel Kay is the author of ten previous novels and an acclaimed collection of poetry, Beyond This Dark House. His work has been translated into twenty-two languages and has sold over two million copies worldwide. Kay has twice won the Aurora Award, is a three-time World Fantasy Award nominee, and is the recipient of the International Goliardos Award for his contributions to the literature of the fantastic. He is currently writing the screenplay for the second of his novels in development for film. Last Light of the Sun has been optioned by Chartoff Productions and Ravinett Productions.

Contests and Stuff

Okay, I know I JUST changed my look, but then blogger updated itself. What do you think? Did I keep “striking” and “dramatic” as well as “readable” this time?

It happened this morning in part because blogger Christina Farley was kind enough to comment on my article yesterday, so I thought I’d pay her a long overdue visit. What should I find when I arrive, but a wonderful little shopping spree give away. Select the link on her name or in the title and see what neat things she’s bought for her readers from the market in Insadong.

What does that have to do with a giant Budhha on my page? Christina has just updated her site, reminding me of how many times I wished blogger gave you greater flexibility – before they gave us greater flexibility. LOL

Be careful of what you wish for?

An Interview with Laura Manivong

Laura Manivong is the author of “Escaping the Tiger,” a historical upper middle grade novel due out from HarperCollins Children’s Books on March 9, 2010. The story is loosely based on the experiences of Laura’s husband and his family who spent time in refugee camps in Thailand after fleeing Communist Laos in 1987.

VLD: Since I know where you got a lot of your information, I’ve often wondered how much did you rely on his and their memories and how much of your imagination did you put in?
LM: The plot is completely made up but there are a few scenes for which I relied heavily on my husband’s experiences. Attempting to cross the Mekong River in a sinking canoe, which is how the novel opens, is one. I needed to know how far sound would travel, the temperature of the water, how people were positioned in the boat, the landscape of the bank, and so on. It’s those sensory details that are difficult to find in a google search. There’s also a scene with a turkey that anyone who’s ever thrown a ball through a window can relate to. And if the scenes in the book aren’t true to life for my husband’s family, they are true to someone’s experience.

VLD: Obviously, it’s an exciting story, but what was the core element that made you decide to write it – especially as fiction. You could have done it as a memoir, for instance.
LM: My friends made me do it! I didn’t grow up knowing I’d be a writer, but when I’d tell people bits of my husband’s background, the common response was, “That’d make a great book.” I wrote it initially as a picture book, and when an editor rejected it saying the story was good but the protagonist was too old, I decided to turn it into a novel, which ended up being an eight-year process (child bearing included). As far as making it fiction, I’m not sure it started that way. I have drafts in my drawer that are more true to life, but I kept running into problems with the timeline. My husband was a prisoner of war in the Laotian “seminar” or Communist re-education camps as a young boy, then he was an illegal resident in Thailand working in factories as a tween, then a refugee in his late teens. Such a long time frame was overwhelming, so after many, many attempts, I ended up focusing on the refugee storyline.

VLD: I know Lian Hearn and Alma Alexander have both mentioned that they sometimes felt presumptuous to write about a culture in which they don’t belong. Did you find it difficult or problematic to write about this place?
LM: I find writing in general difficult and problematic! But sure, I worried about doing the story justice. I’ve never been in a refugee camp or nearly drowned in a river, but I can pick the brains of those who have. As writers, we hear all too often to “write what you know,” but I think it’s equally import to “write what intrigues you.” Someone smarter than me said to write the book that you’d want to read, and I think that’s sound advice.

VLD: What was the hardest part of writing “Escaping the Tiger?”
LM: Gosh, do I have to pick only one? The kids, the full-time job, the laundry, the lack of confidence. But almost every writer has those challenges, so my answer for this question has to be picking my husband’s brain. Without his memories, I had nothing, and I was asking him to relive a lot of pain, often at inopportune times. He’d be in the middle of a favorite TV show and a steaming bowl of rice noodles, and I’d run downstairs and say, “Hey, tell me again about the mosquitoes in the latrines.” He claims I even woke him up in the wee hours of the morning begging for details, but I’ll deny that to the death!

VLD: Do you have any tips or resources for other writers, particularly those of us who use an Asian setting?
LM: I’m not sure what writers did before the internet but there is an abundance of information to get you started. I didn’t have the opportunity to visit Laos, but I was able to see settings, how the people interact with each other, their environment, etc. It was better than nothing!

VLD: If you could ask your readers one question about this book, what would it be?
LM: What I want kids in particular to come away with – without sounding too didactic – is to be open-minded when you meet someone who’s different. Take the time to stop and wonder: what is this person’s background? How has their life been different from mine? What can I learn from them? If someone has an accent or speaks broken English, it doesn’t reflect on their intelligence. In my husband’s case, it’s because he was a prisoner of war from 1st through 5th grade and never had the opportunity to go to school outside those confines. Imagine what it would be like to start life over in a country where not only do you not speak the language, but the alphabet is not even recognizable.

VLD: What’s next?
LM: I’m writing a young adult novel set in the Arizona desert. There are wolves, a curse, a tangled romance, and three generations of brothers who’ve all died without explanation.

VLD: Do you think you’ll ever return to another Asian setting?
LM: I can’t see it happening now, but I never thought I’d write historical fiction either. I won’t say it’s never going to happen. There are just too many ideas in the pipeline to think about that now, although my husband wants me to write about his re-education experience in the Communist seminar camps. That’s where his father spent twelve years in prison at a labor camp. It was where the Communists forced people to go after the war to try and get them to re-think their belief system.

VLD: That would be very powerful, too.
LM: Yeah. That would take the same hair-pulling as the first novel and I don’t think I have time to do it right now. But yes, it would be powerful.

Laura, I look forward to whatever you come out with next. Thank you so much for talking with me! Laura’s blog and book trailer can be seen at http://lauramanivong.com/.