| mary rosenblum | hi all!
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| mary rosenblum | I am having a terrible time connecting tonight!
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| mary rosenblum | So bear with me.
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| mary rosenblum | I'm up in Seattle at a convention and I may have to use a different dialup entry.
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| mary rosenblum | We'll see how it goes, anyhow!
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| mary rosenblum | Hi! This is our regular Friday forum with me, your web editor, Mary Rosenblum. I've published 3 SF novels, 4 Mysteries, and more than 50 short stories in multiple genres, as well as nonfiction. I'm here to answer any questions you have about writing, editors, submitting, agents, or whatever.
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| mary rosenblum | I am going to have to cut this to an actual hour tonight (well, I AM in Washington rather than Oregon)...
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| mary rosenblum | since I need to be elsewhere at 6 PM or so (my time).
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| mary rosenblum | Tonight we're doing an open question session.
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| mary rosenblum | If you have a question about something that hasn't come up in the regular Forums, now is the time to ask! :-)
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| lore alley | Hey Mary! Guess what! I submitted my LR aptitude test yesterday! :-)
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| mary rosenblum | Hey, good for you, Lore! \
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| mary rosenblum | Way to go.
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| wingedwarrior24 | good luck lore
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| mary rosenblum | You'll do great, lore!
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| neo | is it true that in memoir writing it's O.K. to "embroider"
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| neo | the facts to make it more interesting?
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| mary rosenblum | Yes, neo, that's quite true.
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| mary rosenblum | And there is, of course, a fine line between 'embroidering' and 'fiction'.
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| mary rosenblum | I personally suspect that a few of the memoirists are writing a bit more fiction than memoir... :-)
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| beirdd | Mary, just finished my first novel. It's a "cozy mystery" with a Christian slant. Any recommendations for a possible publisher?
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| mary rosenblum | Beirdd, you need to do some bookstore homework. Go to your local Christian bookstore or to amazon.com if you don't live near any bookstores...
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| mary rosenblum | and start looking at Christian mysteries. Check the Harlequin Sillhouette website to see if they do a Christian line.
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| mary rosenblum | I don't keep up on 'em but it wouldn't surprise me.
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| mary rosenblum | Look for t he publisher of the books that are like y ours.
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| sallyk | Can you tell us about novel #8?
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| mary rosenblum | Sure, Sally. Oh, twist my arm please! :-)
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| mary rosenblum | It's a new SF, set in the reasonably near future, when we're into about out third generation of people born on orbital platforms...called The Tomorrow Horizon and out from Tor Books early next fall.
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| mary rosenblum | Hardcover and paperback release.
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| gwanny | Mary, I am writing a summary. I have had it drilled into my brain that when I write, it's show, don't tell...however, a summary is all tell. I can't seem to get my brain to switch back to tell. Is there a trick you use?
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| mary rosenblum | It's hard. Just write it out any which way, then revise it, changing any showing to telling...\
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| mary rosenblum | That's what a summary is...your summary of the showing.
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| mary rosenblum | And that's what a 'told' piece reads like...a summary.
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| geezer | Writing a novel, I want to expand a SS I've written. Should I or should I not try to get the SS published? Would there be a problem?
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| mary rosenblum | By all means publish it. Different rights. Lessee...I have written two novels now whose first chapters ARE a short story. Both were published in Asimov's.
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| mary rosenblum | The published story...and ANY good reviews!!!...will help you sell your novel.
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| beirdd | I know there are a few that do that sort of thing. I just wondered if you knew of any that were "looking" for new stuff right now.
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| mary rosenblum | I don't offhand, beirdd, but I don't write in the Romance or Christian arenas, so i don't hear all the publishing news first there.
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| mary rosenblum | v\Hi! This is our regular Friday forum with me, your web editor, Mary Rosenblum. I've published 3 SF novels, 4 Mysteries, and more than 50 short stories in multiple genres, as well as nonfiction. I'm here to answer any questions you have about writing, editors, submitting, agents, or whatever.
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| archer | I have a question about editors, Mary. When there are several listed in submission guidelines, how do you know which one to address your cover letter to? It doesn't always say.
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| mary rosenblum | If you can't tell whom to send it to, try 'submissions editor' if there is one, and if not, just address it to the senior editor. Don't worry. Your sub will get passed to the right person. :-)
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| mary rosenblum | You clearly won't be the only person to have that problem.
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| wingedwarrior24 | how much info should you know before diving into a novel?
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| mary rosenblum | WEll, winged, you need to know enough about your world and your character and his/her career to know how they fit into your plot and vice versa. :-)
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| mary rosenblum | You can add to your research knowlege as you go along...
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| mary rosenblum | but in my case, I have to create my SF universe pretty thoroughly before I can have my characters move in. :-)
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| mary rosenblum | You do need to know a LOT about your main characters.
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| mary rosenblum | Don't start before they are fully fleshed out for you.
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| carla | have an interview set up for Assignment 3 ... is there any outlines on conducting a good interview ... ideas on questions to ask etc
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| mary rosenblum | I should put one up on the website, I don't think I have an article on interviewing up there...
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| mary rosenblum | but essentially, it's a good idea to research your person first, and have a theme or topic in mind...
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| mary rosenblum | so you can direct your questions along that line and then be ready to follow up any interesting new paths....
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| mary rosenblum | but decide what you're writing first. If you decide later, you may find that you have new questions that need to be answered. :-)
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| lore alley | I've had gwanny's problem too. I have to daydream my way back into the character's head so I can see the story from his/her POV again.
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| mary rosenblum | Yep, that's a way to do it. That switch from tell to show is a big one!
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| tory | Mary, which two stories/novels are those? I think it would be hard to have such a dramatic arc in first novel chapter for it to be a stand alone SS./
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| mary rosenblum | Tory, the first chapter or so of Stone Garden was a stand alone short story...I merely turned the end into a chapter transition.
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| mary rosenblum | And the first two chapters of The Tomorrow Horizon is a story that was out in Asimov's this year...Green Shift.
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| mary rosenblum | YOu can';t do that with every story.
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| mary rosenblum | All three of my SF novels were preceeded by short stories that used the characters and worlds...
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| mary rosenblum | but two of those stories didn't make good starting points.
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| mary rosenblum | A chapter has a dramatic arc, too, remember. :-)
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| archer | any tips on how to keep a story character driven, instead of plot driven after you make your world?
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| mary rosenblum | Make what happens to your character the most important thing in your world and make the internal plot stronger than t he external, archer.
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| mary rosenblum | Hi! This is our regular Friday forum with me, your web editor, Mary Rosenblum. I've published 3 SF novels, 4 Mysteries, and more than 50 short stories in multiple genres, as well as nonfiction. I'm here to answer any questions you have about writing, editors, submitting, agents, or whatever.
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| wingedwarrior24 | I have a very hard time with characterzation, what are a few things i need to know?
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| mary rosenblum | Your character inside and out, winged. When you know that character a bit better than your brother, you're all set.
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| mary rosenblum | There are some good articles on the craft of conveying that knowledge to your readers in Writing Craft; Character Development.
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| sammy | I'm using four characters in a new story set 1920. Main character is a
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| sammy | Is using dialect such as southern speak too annoying over the long haul? n
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| mary rosenblum | Try using /ask in front of your question in the regular send bar, sammy. Sometimes that will let a longer question through...
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| mary rosenblum | And it can be. \
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| mary rosenblum | one good way to handle dialect is to do it very heavily and phonetically....
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| mary rosenblum | for a few paragraphs and then preserve the rhythm of the dialect...
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| mary rosenblum | but don't use all the phonetic misspellings.
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| owlybear | Mary, I've been waiting for an answer from Hitchcock for five months now. Speck got an response in four and a half, but roe informed me she waited eight months. Should I just wait for them or should I send them a letter of inquiry...... maybe it's just payback for making you wait for my last few lessons..hahaha..
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| mary rosenblum | Oh, cool, owly! I suspect that your ms got held by the editor...
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| mary rosenblum | they often hold new writer ms, looking for an issue they can use it in...
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| mary rosenblum | and it's also vacation season. All editors get behind by August.
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| mary rosenblum | So I would wait one more month and then drop them a polite note offering to resend if it got lost.
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| mary rosenblum | You might well hear by then and it's nicer not to nag the editor who is behind...lots of other writers ARE nagging believe me. Be a patient hero. :-)
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| mary rosenblum | Of course ms DO get lost, but one more month won't kill you.
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| mary rosenblum | (payback, heheheh)
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| mary rosenblum | Hi! This is our regular Friday forum with me, your web editor, Mary Rosenblum. I've published 3 SF novels, 4 Mysteries, and more than 50 short stories in multiple genres, as well as nonfiction. I'm here to answer any questions you have about writing, editors, submitting, agents, or whatever.
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| mary rosenblum | Hi! This is our regular Friday forum with me, your web editor, Mary Rosenblum. I've published 3 SF novels, 4 Mysteries, and more than 50 short stories in multiple genres, as well as nonfiction. I'm here to answer any questions you have about writing, editors, submitting, agents, or whatever.
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| mary rosenblum | oops.
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| mary rosenblum | Sigh, I love having my laptop, but I sure miss my nice, fast, cable connected home computer.
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| info | I finally got a laptop and find I am loving it. Is there any drawbacks to them?
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| mary rosenblum | Nothing if they are new, info.
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| mary rosenblum | The screen small, so the many windows I have open for a forum are cramped here.
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| mary rosenblum | This is an older dell I bought rebuilt...slow...Windows 98.;
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| mary rosenblum | Works just fine, I"m just spoiled.
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| mary rosenblum | The mobility is wonderful and it's my backup at home if the power/cable are out.
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| leodurocher | Mary, do you mind, have time, to read very re-edited assignments, after your suggestions?
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| mary rosenblum | I do read revisions from my students, leo...
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| mary rosenblum | but not unless I've asked for a big revision that will make the story publishable where it was not.
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| mary rosenblum | I can turn into a crutch real fast....
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| mary rosenblum | and students do need to use both feet. :-)
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| wingedwarrior24 | how many students do you edit a day?
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| mary rosenblum | I do three every day, winged. Even here at the con. :-) I run about 20 student ms a week, so that makes a nice doable workload...\
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| mary rosenblum | over the course of a week.
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| gwanny | I noticed that there was a Christmas Anthology last year...will there be one this year?
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| mary rosenblum | I don't know that I will do a Christmas one, but, yes, I"ll probably do a themed anthology. It'll be in the winter, probably, when I have the extra time to spend on it. That's on my own time.
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| spider | The anthology was a lot of fun!!!
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| mary rosenblum | It was,spider, and I thought it was a nice way to teach people how editors select stories. :-)
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| mary rosenblum | Good teaching tool.
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| wingedwarrior24 | can you tell me about the anthology, I never heard about it?
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| mary rosenblum | It was mentioned in the website updates last year, winged...a short short anthology...it's up on the website still.
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| mary rosenblum | I got a LOT of submissions.
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| writermom | when do you find time to do your own work
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| mary rosenblum | Laughing, writermom. Every day. Even here. :-) I don't need to spend hours in front of my computer...
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| spider | How many students do you average, and how many do you take on per year?
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| mary rosenblum | I"m not sure what my student load is right now. I'd say, judging by my numbers per week that I've probaby got over 200 active students. I get a few as some graduate all the time.
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| diane2 | Mary, what exactly is comtemporary women's fiction?
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| mary rosenblum | It's fiction slanted to women readers and set in the real world of today with real world issues.
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| mary rosenblum | And now I do have to go. Am going out to dinner with some editors. :-)
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| mary rosenblum | We can continue the Q & A on Tuesday for our Tuesday Forum.
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| mary rosenblum | We haven't had many open sessions lately, and I know some quiet types haven't brought questions up when I have a topic.
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| mary rosenblum | I'll post the transcript.
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| mary rosenblum | See you all on Tuesday...don't think I'll make our open chat on Monday morning. \
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| mary rosenblum | have a good weekend, all, and drive safe!
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| mary rosenblum | Good night all!
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