Ellen Meister, author of The Smart One, will be available to respond to comments and/or questions August 29 and 30. Feel free to come by and join the discussion!
Author Talks! Ellen Meister – The Smart One
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Hello Lynn. Thanks for the opportunity. Can’t wait to get started.
I’m check in often to answer questions!
Oops! Make that I’LL check in often to answer questions. I think I’d better have my coffee now …
Are any of your characters in your books based on family / friends?
I am an aspiring author.. have started 2 books but never seem to be able to stay focused to finish. I struggle with using the correct “tense” for my story,… any advice.. ?
Hi, Carolyn. Thanks for the great question. I don’t take people straight out of my life and put them in my books, but I do look to the people I know for influence. So my characters often wind up being an amalgam of family and friends. For instance, I might ask myself, “What if I give this character Carolyn’s sweet nature, but make her a chatterbox like my Aunt Isabel and a bad driver like my cousin Dirk?”
Hi, Yvonne. I think it’s much harder to finish a project when there’s no deadline and no pressure. When I wrote my first book, it helped to have a writing partner–someone else who was working on a book. We exchanged chapters for critique as we went along and that really kept me focused. If you can’t find another writer to hook up with, try setting realistic goals for yourself, such as how many pages a week you’ll write. Then take a look at the calendar and figure out how long it will take you to finish the book. You might just find yourself eager to move toward that finish line!
As far as deciding what tense to write in, I’d suggest sticking with past tense. I think it’s the most natural for most people, and if you’re struggling, it’ll be the easiest to stay with.
Good luck!
Hi Ellen. Where or who do you get most of your inspiration from?
Ellen, Good Morning! How old were you when you first started to get the urge to write? Has you writing style changed from your first book to the book you are writing now?
Hello, SARAH. I think inspiration is a matter of paying attention to the constant flow of ideas in your head. We all get them, but writers tend to dam up the ones that are worth exploring. So to answer your question more directly, inspiration comes from everywhere!
ADELE – hi! I think I always wrote–even as a small child. But my self-image didn’t allow me to even entertain the notion of being a writer. That is, until an ornery high school teacher paid me a grudging compliment on a scene I wrote. Then the light when on and I thought … this is what I want to do!
To answer your other question, my writing style continues to evolve. The book I’m working on now is darker and more serious than anything I’ve written before … though certain characters insist on cracking jokes now and then!
Good morning, everybody! Sorry I’m late to the party, but I was up until 1 am reading this amazingly funny book called Dear Neighbor, Drop Dead by Saralee Rosenberg. I think I heard a rumor that Ellen is doing some co-promotions with Saralee.
Anyhow, welcome, Ellen! I am so glad you could be here. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights with us!
Hi Ellen!
Do you keep a daily journal/diary? If so, is it personal or a tool for writing ideas, and does it help?
LYNN … Good morning! So glad you’re enjoying DEAR NEIGHBOR, DROP DEAD. I’ve been having a blast doing joint appearances with Saralee. It’s so much fun to hook up with an author I admire … only to find out she’s warm and generous and just as funny in person as she is in her books. We’ve become fast friends.
VALERIE, thanks for the great question. I haven’t kept a diary or a journal since I was a kid. Perhaps I should … but my time is at a premium and I need to harness my writing energy to meet deadlines. However, I often write pages and pages of stream-of-consciousness notes to help me resolve story/character issues in my books. So I guess that’s kind of diary-like.
Hi!
So, how did you go about getting published after you finished your first book? Did you need to find an agent first? Was that hard? Were you hesitant to talk to people about writing a book before you were published? How did you deal with people that weren’t supportive?
Ellen! Firstly, I LOVE YOUR WORK! Thank you so much, on behalf of your readers, for FOLLOWING OUR BLISS.
What were you publishing before books, (articles, editotials, short stories) and where? Also, what was your focus of syudy in college?
Keep following your bliss, Ellen! We’re LOVING IT!
Hey, Ellen. You are wonderful! How did you decide on the topic you would write about?
Hi, Talethea. Wonderful writer questions! I’ll take them one at a time:
* Yes, I found a literary agent first. This can often be the most difficult and frustrating part of the process. Literary agents are inundated with query letters every day, and it’s so hard to be the one who breaks out and gets noticed. My advice is to get input on your query letter from other writers, and then test the water by sending it out to about ten agents. If you get no bites, rewrite the letter and do another mailing. Also, try not to let the rejections get you down. Remember that almost every successful author has a long history of rejections.
* I started out a little fearful about telling people my dreams, but then I realized that if I let the cat out of the bag, it would push me to work harder and finish the book. So yes, by the time I finished writing my first novel, my friends and relatives all knew!
* As far as people who aren’t supportive, that’s always going to be part of the landscape. Try to remember that it’s their issue and not yours. People who try to cut you down are probably wrestling with their own feeling of inadequacy. Stay above the fray and focus on your goals. You can do it!
Hi Ellen! I’m interested to learn how you broke in–how’d you go about getting your first novel published? Did you have an in, or did you go about it the old fashioned way lol?
Hello darling Elle! Before I wrote my first book, SECRET CONFESSIONS OF THE APPLEWOOD PTA, I published short stories in print and online literary journals. Prior to that I was an advertising copywriter and wrote tons of brochures. Old habits die hard, so it took me a while to stop ending my stories with “Act now! Call today!” Lol. To answer your other question, I was an English major in college, and people always said, “Are you going to be a teacher?” When I responded, “No, a novelist,” they rolled their eyes. Ha!
CHAV … hello and thanks! Sometimes I feel like my topics choose me. Seriously, the way it works is that I always have a number of small ideas floating around my head. But after a time I start to notice that I’m thinking more and more about one particular idea. As it expands, layers begin to emerge … and then I know I have the beginning of a new novel.
Hello, Angie. I just queried agents and dealt with lots of rejections! The trick is to work and work and work on your query letter, and then try to target agents who rep the kind of book you wrote. My advice to writers is to keep at it. It’s great to have an “in,” but it’s truly not necessary.
Oh, oh! I have a question.
How much input did you have regarding the cover art of The Smart One? Why cupcakes and an apple? And for that matter, there seems to be a running theme with the covers of your books. There’s an apple on The Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA, as well.
Just curious. LOL
Hi, Lynn. Most authors don’t get much input on their book covers, but I have a very kind editor who wants me to be happy. The first cover idea they sent me for The Smart One was very literal, showing a photograph of three women. I asked if we could do something more representational of the three sisters, and they came up with the idea of two cupcakes vs. an apple. They sent me three different versions to choose from. Ultimately, they used one that I DIDN’T pick … and now that the book is printed, I realize it was the right choice. I think the cover pops! And it was a good lesson in humility for me. Clearly there’s a lot I don’t know!
I really don’t know if the recurring apple theme is a coincidence or a marketing decision to create some kind of brand image. I like apples so it’s fine either way!
This isn’t really a question, but rather a request.
Will you do a sequal to either of your first two books? Both conclusions are open-ended, and I would love to spend more time with those women!
**Financial question** (If this is innappropriate to ask, I apologize.) Do/could the proceeds from your books support you? Do you get a flat rate for writing and/or part of the profit?
What a sweet question, Valerie! Glad you would like to see a sequel to Applewood or The Smart One! Right now I have no plans to do one, but if the inspiration strikes, you never know!
As to finances … authors get royalties consisting of a percentage of the cover price of each book sold. These numbers are fairly (though not strictly) standard. The big difference lies in the advance against royalties. Obviously, someone like me is not going to get the kind of advance a blockbbuster author or celebrity gets. When you hear, for example, that Olympic star Michael Phelps got $1.6 million for his memoir, that’s the size of his advance against royalties. Clearly, the publisher is expecting his book to sell big! My advances are … um … quite a bit less.
do enjoy other forms of the arts as well when not writing such as painting or gardening or even poetry?
Hi, Shannon. I do enjoy other forms of art. Alas, more as an observer than a participant. I know so many multi-talented writers–people who are excellent musicians, painters, etc.–and I’m in awe of them. Still, my appreciation for other art forms often borders on rapture, which can be kind of embarrassing. For instance, I recently took my young daughter to an art museum, and when my eyes lit upon an original Van Gogh–something they hadn’t done in years–I started crying. Scared the hell out of my kid.
Ellen, dearest!!!!!!!! How nice that you write fiction that is so fun and easy to read! Do you plan to write more of this type of fiction??? Or do you plan to go “deeper”?
Ellen Parker! Lol!!
I’ll clue everyone in here. Ellen P. is a friend and fellow writer who was recently giving me advice on how to deal with people who make passive-aggressive comments. You know the type. False friends who pay you compliments like, “What a cute shirt. You hardly look overweight in that.”
But the whole light vs. heavy issue is worth discussing, so I’ll treat this as a hardball question …
A lot of folks make the false assumption that fiction with humor is necessarily light. But I think they’re often missing the bigger picture and deeper issues. Humor entertains, but it doesn’t obscure the real emotions and human relationships … unless you let it.
How’d I do, El?
Ooo! Ellen, dahlink, you hit the nail on the head! But you know what I really would like to read about? Well. I think you know. And you’re just the woman to write it. These people can all kiss yo ass. I want to read about some fucking ironing boards. I want to to read about some fucking fissures. Pardon my french. But you know great things are awaiting you.
Dear Ellen,
Do you ever say to yourself, “I can’t write that because my family might read it?” Ever censor yourself? It seems to me that would make you freeze up.
El … thanks! I’m going to get to work on it the second the kids go back to school next week.
Gary, it would indeed make me freeze up. So I don’t go there. I don’t think about my mom and dad or aunties or children while I’m writing. I worry about that afterward, when the book comes out. Then I don’t let my children read it. (Seriously, my stuff is too risque and is off limits to the kids.) And sometimes I moan when I hear that some elderly and very religious relative is reading my work. But so far no one has excommunicated me.
How many projects do you normally work on at a time? I seem to have 3 or 4 going at once, and my family thinks I am nuts!
Lynn Mc.
Lynn … wow! I’m so impressed that you can juggle multiple projects like that. I only work on one at a time, though if I wasn’t under deadline pressure I would take breaks from my novel to write short stories. Thanks for the question!
Hi Ellen,
Just wanted to say I love your work, cant wait to get my copy of The Smart One. I LOVED Applewood PTA.
My question is what are your working on for your next project?
Here’s another…. Do you still get to write what you want or do you have to write the story your publisher wants?
Hi Vicky. I’m working on a third novel that will be published some time in 2010. I can’t say much about the story just yet. It’s a real departure for me, though I continue to explore relationships. This one has a paranormal element, though it feels more like magical realism than anything sci fi … yet more “Sliding Doors” than Alice Hoffman (who I’m a big fan of, btw).
Lynn … For a published novelist, the way it works is that you write a proposal about your idea. This consists of several sample chapters and an outline for the entire story. Then the agent shops it around to one or more publishers to see if anyone is interested in buying it. For a first time novelist, the book has to be written in its entirety before being shopped around. Hope this answers your question!
Oh, and Vicky? So glad you liked Applewood!
hey ellen – and everyone – just stopping in to say hello! we are putting the primer on the kitchen and we have paint samples for the outside!!! best wishes to you ellen for a very successful book!!! its going to be my reward when my house is all beautiful and quiet.
Hi Ellen,
I’ve written a book…yay! Any advice on how to get it published? For some reason, for me, writing the synopsis, query letter and figuring out who to send it to, seems harder than writing the book!
Hello, Annie! Thanks for stopping in. Good luck with the painting!
Sandy … I agree that getting published can be harder than writing the book. But if you’re already working on a query letter, it sounds like you know the drill about getting an agent first. There are so many helpful resources out there–from websites to books–that it’s hard to single out just a few, but I’ll give it a shot. Some great books for writers include Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, Stephen King’s On Writing, Ann Rittenberg’s Your First Novel, Noah Lukeman’s The First Five Pages and Betsy Lerner’s The Forest for the Trees. For inside info on how to write a great query letter, check out queryshark.blogspot.com, to find out who’s making publishing deals, visit publishersmarketplace.com, for practical insights from a writer, visit author Jennifer Weiner’s website, and be sure to bookmark a site called Preditors and Editors (http://anotherealm.com/prededitors/) so you can verify that you’re dealing with reputable people. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I hope it helps!
This was a great discussion! Thank you to Ellen, and everyone who participated!