Feature Friday: Esther Friesner

Have you ever met someone who is just a unique diamond-in-the-rough kind of person?  I've decided that's the kind of person Esther Friesner is.  Esther has been getting published in the SciFi/Fantasy realm for years, but she only just recently started writing historic YA novels, most specifically the Princesses of Myth series.  I've seen Esther on panels at Lunacon for years and I've always thought she was interesting to listen to.  This year I had the pleasure of being on a panel with her and that was quite a great experience.  This year I learned that Esther is a fellow Connecticut author, a lover of anime, and that she loves hamsters; but I didn't get to know the true Esther until I asked her to become a Feature Friday author and I read her info page on her website.  Holy moly what a fun info page to read!  It's a little too long to copy and paste onto the blog, but I encourage you to take a look here.  Even if you don't get a chance to read her bio page, I hope that this interview is enough for you to get a taste of Esther's personality and creative vision as an author. 

INTERVIEW:

A.L.:

All your heroines tend to be strong roll models for the readers you set out to write for. How much of this is intentional and how much is just your own inclination for that kind of character?

Esther:

It just happens because I like that sort of character and that sort of person. I hope I never set out to use a character as a lecture platform or a pulpit! I don't like reading what I call A Valuable Lesson characters and I doubt most readers do either. I also think that strong characters are more interesting, especially female ones, because it's never been easy--and still isn't--to be a strong woman in any society.

A.L.:

Your new book, Spirit’s Princess, is about a Japanese historical figure named Himiko. Can you tell me why you chose her?

Esther:

I don't remember when or where I first heard of Himiko. I know she's one of the illustrations in an Osprey "Men at Arms" series book. I do recall being fascinated to learn that she--not a warrior-queen but a shaman--managed to unite the warring tribes of Yayoi-era Japan, and that this was not just a legend since her existence is attested in the Chinese chronicles of Wei. Foreign historians gain nothing by glorifying the leader of another nation, especially not if said leader were purely imaginary. She was real, all right, a unifier and a peace-bringer. (BTW, she exchanged tribute with China and archaeologists have found evidence of this exchange. Very interesting!)

A.L.:

When it comes to choosing which YA book you write next, do you decide to choose an area, time period, or a particular historic figure/event first?

Esther:

I choose my heroine first, not her era or country, though to be more accurate, I choose at least three young women whose lives and histories interest me enough to set me wondering about what their girlhoods might have been like. Then I take my ideas to my editor and we pick one. The good part is, I am equally interested in writing about any one of the three or I would not suggest them, so it's win-win-win for me no matter which one, er, wins. :)

A.L.:

What kind of research did you do to prepare to write Himiko’s story?

Esther:

Books and Our Friend the Internet. There aren't many books available about Himiko, but the one I chiefly used was excellent. I am very thankful for all the online resources available concerning daily life in Himiko's time, Yayoi-era Japan. I also owe thanks to the Japanese Tourism Office in New york for maps and beautifully illustrated brochures. Finally, I am happy to say that I've been lucky enough to visit Japan twice and on my second trip was able to travel beyond Tokyo. I would love to do so again, and hope that my next journey will allow me to visit a reconstructed Yayoi village, about which I have only read online. It looks wonderful!

A.L.:

I’m assuming you’ll go along with the two-book-standard for Himiko, so we should expect a second book in her series, but after her, who do you think will be your next heroine?

Esther:

There is definitely a second book about Himiko, Spirit's Chosen.

And for my next heroine in the Princesses of Myth series, I am hoping to take readers to Ireland of the Iron Age in order to share the adventures of the girl who grew up to be the redoubtable Queen Maeve. She was quite the kickbutt character, probably able to give young Helen of Sparta powerful competition, but trust me, I've got some powerful surprises and twists in store for her! [Cue Author's Gloating Laughter here.]

A.L.:

Do you see yourself writing in another YA genre anytime soon?

Esther:

I'm having too much fun writing my YA historicals right now to turn to another genre, but you never know.

A.L.:

If you walked into a Japanese restaurant, what would you order?

Esther:

YUM! I love Japanese food.

I would order the following: miso soup; assorted sushi (I prefer roll style and my preferred kinds include, but are not limited to: tuna, salmon, yellowtail, cucumber, any combinations of the above featuring avocado, scallions, other veggies, and roe, but I am open to sampling new and untried varieties); rice balls, especially stuffed with ume (pickled plum); oshinko (assorted pickled vegetables); seaweed salad; udon (a specific type of noodle); green tea; sake.

Please note that I would not order all of these for one meal. I just don't want to leave out any of my favorite dishes. (Except I fear I might have done so anyway. There are so many good things! When shall we go?)

A.L.:

If you could give one piece of advice to budding authors, what would it be?

Esther:

May I give more than one?

Don't give up.

Recognize that your work is valuable and that you deserve to be paid for your talent and effort.

Don't take rejection personally. You are not being rejected, it's just that one piece of your writing was not a good "fit" for that particular editor/publication. Try submitting it elsewhere. Write more. If your submission receives a criticism from one editor, it might be no more than a matter of that person's taste, but if your submission receives similar criticisms from more than one editor, you might want to consider rewriting it.

Don't fall for any of the "We want to publish your book/be your agent!" scams out there. Reputable agents do not charge fees for trying to sell your work to a publisher; they receive a percentage of the money you receive once they do make that sale for you.

Beware of "contests" that charge entry fees.

If you aspire to become a professionally published author, remember the wise words of James Macdonald: "Money flows toward the writer."

A.L.:

What would you say is the most difficult part of writing a historical novel?

Esther:

The hardest part is making sure that I don't let my heroines act like 21st century young women who are playing dress-up. This means that sometimes they may accept as normal certain parts of their culture that we would find horrible.

Case in point: All three of the cultures about which I have written so far--ancient Egypt, Minoan-Mycenaean Greece, and 3rd century Japan--were slave-owning societies. It would be artificial for my heroines to declare "Slavery is wrong!" unless they first had the opportunity to think about it and the personal experiences that would bring them to this realization naturally.

And I get to give them those experiences. :)

A.L.:

Out of your three YA heroines (Helen, Nefertiti, and Himiko) which is your favorite? Likewise, whose story was the most interesting/fun to write?

Esther:

No contest: All of the Above, for all different reasons.

Never ask a mother to name her favorite child. :)

A.L.:

Some of your best baddies have been women; do you like writing female baddies more than male? Or is this just a coincidence?

Esther:

It's coincidence. I am an Equal Opportunity Baddie-Employer! I will admit, it can be a great deal of fun to write a really juicy villain's part. (Dracula is so much more interesting than Van Helsing!)

If you delve into history, you'll find plenty of examples of notorious baddies both male and female. Unfortunately, when they're a part of history rather than historical novels, they do real damage.

A.L.:

If you could be a particular female character (mythical/real) who would you be? Why?

Esther:

Off the top of my head, I'd pick Eleanore of Aquitaine. She was an independent ruler, she had the most marvelous real-life adventures, she traveled widely, and she lived into her eighties or nineties.

She could have had better luck with her husbands, though. Can I be Eleanore without that part of her life where her second husband, Henry II of England, imprisons her for years and years? Yes, it was a very comfortable imprisonment, but still--!

But she did get out eventually, and went on to make her own happy ending.

Or so I like to imagine, and for me, imagination's what it's all about!

Esther Friesner

Web: http://princessesofmyth.com/

THE GIVEAWAY!
For this Feature Friday giveaway we have a real treat!  Esther has provided two advanced reading copies of her new book, Spirit's Princess, as well as some autographed book plates.  The giveaway will run from April 20th to the 25th as part of my Showers of Books Giveaway Hop.

Spirit's Princess: Himiko the beloved daughter of a chieftain in third century Japan has always been special. The day she was born there was a devastating earthquake, and the tribe's shamaness had an amazing vision revealing the young girl's future—one day this privileged child will be the spiritual and tribal leader over all of the tribes. Book One revolves around the events of Himiko's early teen years—her shaman lessons, friendships, contact with other tribes, and journey to save her family after a series of tragic events. Once again, Esther Friesner masterfully weaves together history, myth, and mysticism in a tale of a princess whose path is far from traditional.

Read Goodreads Reviews
Buy Now on Barnes and Noble
Buy Now on Amazon

Feature Friday: Lia Habel

For today's Feature Friday post we have the lovely, Miss Lia Habel.  Lia lives in the creepy part of New York.  No, not the West Side.  The OTHER part of the state.  Ya know, where the cows, abandoned barns, and banjo toting hillbillies are.  (I'm just kidding, I have family out there, so there's no hate)   Anyway, the point is: Lia is not a banjo toting hillbilly.  She's actually pretty darn cool.  Lia is one of those secret treasure type people.  She looks sweet and demure...Until you get to know her.  And then she only gets better.  She's my resident zombie expert, has more wigs than Cthulhu has tentacles, and is a highly respected fellow geek.  Plus, the girl writes a rockin' novel.

INTERVIEW: 

A.L.: 

What inspired you to write Dearly, Departed?

Lia:
Superficially, the entire thing started out as a joke. My friends and I wondered why paranormal guys always had to be smoldering and hot and brooding, and I started cracking jokes about "zombies need love too" - but then I said to myself, "Hey, they do. How would that work?" Soon the ideas started multiplying, and I was writing 10,000 words a day. But looking back at that period now, I also think I was attempting to craft a certain type of story - something to counter, just a little, all the books I'd been reading at the time. I wanted to create a hero with a gentle heart, a mouthy girl who was also reasonable, and monsters that looked like monsters.

A.L.: 

Do you see yourself in Nora?

Lia:  

I don't, actually. I see myself as a mixture of Bram and Vespertine, if you can imagine that. (She's not ALL bad. Wait for book two.) We do share a definite lack of height, but I decided to go that route because I have trouble identifying with tall characters. (I mistakenly made my avatar in Skyrim ungodly tall, and I grumble about it every time I turn on the stupid game. It feels wrong to me, since I'm used to being so small!) I think Nora's more open with her snark and opinions than I am. I tend to sit on mine. I see her as this little ball of energy pinging off of everything in her environment, whereas I'm more staid, at least around strangers.

A.L.: 

If you had to pick out an actress to play Nora, who would it be?  How about Bram and Pam?

Lia:  

In my head, I see Nora as Emily Browning - she has this beautiful baby face and breathy little voice. And there's a French actor named Gaspard Ulliel who'd be great for Bram. Pamela I'm always a little undecided on, because I'm not as familiar with actresses of Indian descent as I ought to be. I have some photos of Dilshad Vadsaria I use occasionally for inspiration.

A.L.: 

Alright, we have to ask, why zombies? And why zombie love?

Lia: 
More than zombies, I LOVE monsters and "hideous" characters. I grew up adoring them on a level that's hard to describe - I just always sided with them, always identified with them, and found myself naturally able to do complicated mental gymnastics to excuse all their monstrous foibles. As a tiny girl I wept buckets of tears for the Phantom of the Opera, loved Darkman to death (my intro to Liam Neeson!), and saw 'Beauty and the Beast' as the tale of a woman who stands by her soulmate even though he undergoes a disfiguring transformation into an utterly boring human. So when I tackle zombies, I'm bringing all of that. I can justify the hell out of them. I can find beauty in the weird things about them. And I thought it'd be an interesting challenge. 

As for zombie love, well...I view it as a temporal, and thus amazingly passionate thing (in contrast to how cold they are, I guess!). I think it's impossible for any self-aware zombie to lie about his condition, either to himself or others. I view them as extremely honest creatures - they literally wear every scar, every broken thing for the world to see. It's a total case of "take me as I am." And I guess I find something very attractive in that. It probably has a lot to do with my own personality - I'm like Nora in that I'd totally take 3 amazing years over an eternal "happily ever after." There's something about the idea of immortality that gives me the chills.

A.L.: 

Do you think there will ever be a happy ending for zombies?

Lia:  

It depends on your definition of "happy ending." I think living life to the fullest, a relationship to its fullest, even if you have to say goodbye at the end...that's happy, to me. Because that's what real life is like.

A.L.:

What are you working writing right now?

Lia:  

I just handed in some more edits on the Dearly sequel, so now I'm going back to some projects I'm writing for fun. I always have to have something I'm working on just for me. They both involve monsters, but I'm not telling!

A.L.: 

Are you planning another series?

Lia:  

Honestly, I don't think I'm cut out for series - or if I am, I can only do one at a time. It's just too exhausting, even though I love the characters. So I don't have anything planned just now, no.

A.L.: 

What’s the number one book you recommend someone read?

Lia:  

If you're into the whole "death and more death" thing like me, I love Thomas Lynch's 'The Undertaking.'  He's a mortician and poet, and he writes beautifully about his work. Parts of the book are blackly hysterical, too.

A.L.: 

If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring author, what would it be?

Lia: 
Write what you want, and ignore everyone else. The one thing that really gets my back up is talk of "trends" in publishing - I honestly don't think that applies anymore, not with the vast amount of self-published material out there, not with the thousands of books produced every year by traditional press, not with the millions and billions of diverse readers. When I hear people sniff, "Oh, no one's buying dystopian anymore," I want to scream, because I always imagine someone out there sighing and shelving their dystopian work - when it was the most brilliant thing since 1984. Honestly, if I'd known anything about writing or publishing before producing D,D, I wouldn't have written it. Earplugs and blinders and insanity, people. That is how it's done. 

A.L.:  

 Are any of your characters modeled off of anyone or anything that you’ve experienced in the past?

Lia:  

No, not purposefully. My mom keeps asking me to put her in, but I'd probably turn her into a zombie and then she'd yell at me and throw shoes.

Lia Habel
Web: http://liahabel.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/liahabel
FB: http://www.facebook.com/lia.habel

THE GIVEAWAY!

Lia has sent me both a hardcover edition and an audiobook of her novel, Dearly, Departed.  They are AUTOGRAPHED!  PLUS, she sent me some fun swag!  The contest for Lia's gifts will be featured in the Follower Love Giveaway Hop running from February 7-February 14, so please make sure you stop back here and enter yourself in a chance to see why love conquers all!

Dearly, Departed: Love conquers all, so they say. But can Cupid’s arrow pierce the hearts of the living and the dead—or rather, the undead? Can a proper young Victorian lady find true love in the arms of a dashing zombie?

The year is 2195. The place is New Victoria—a high-tech nation modeled on the manners, mores, and fashions of an antique era. A teenager in high society, Nora Dearly is far more interested in military history and her country’s political unrest than in tea parties and debutante balls. But after her beloved parents die, Nora is left at the mercy of her domineering aunt, a social-climbing spendthrift who has squandered the family fortune and now plans to marry her niece off for money. For Nora, no fate could be more horrible—until she’s nearly kidnapped by an army of walking corpses.

But fate is just getting started with Nora. Catapulted from her world of drawing-room civility, she’s suddenly gunning down ravenous zombies alongside mysterious black-clad commandos and confronting “The Laz,” a fatal virus that raises the dead—and hell along with them. Hardly ideal circumstances. Then Nora meets Bram Griswold, a young soldier who is brave, handsome, noble . . . and dead. But as is the case with the rest of his special undead unit, luck and modern science have enabled Bram to hold on to his mind, his manners, and his body parts. And when his bond of trust with Nora turns to tenderness, there’s no turning back. Eventually, they know, the disease will win, separating the star-crossed lovers forever. But until then, beating or not, their hearts will have what they desire.

In Dearly, Departed, romance meets walking-dead thriller, spawning a madly imaginative novel of rip-roaring adventure, spine-tingling suspense, and macabre comedy that forever redefines the concept of undying love.

Read reviews on Goodreads.  Can't wait to buy it?  Go get it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Write Well Wednesday: Creating the Preparation Plan

Yesterday we talked about the need for an author to have a preparation plan for how they want to deal with the public/promotional aspect of their career.  Today, I'll help you get started in designing one!


As mentioned yesterday, your plan should be a contingency plan full of "What Ifs," "How Tos," and "Golden Rules" that will help the external world see your author persona as how you want it to be seen.  When constructing the plan, the "How Tos" should follow the "What Ifs."  Based off of what you write for these two, you'll create a basic set of "Golden Rules" that define your public author persona.  In other words, try your best to think of every possible good or bad situation you may end up in.  Figure out how to deal with it without damaging your author persona.  Create a set of easy rules that you can live by whenever you put on your author hat.

Here are some things you'll want to think about:

1.  How accessible to do you want to be?  Think long and hard about separating your personal life from your writer persona.  You don't want creepers stalking you at work or kidnapping your children.  If this requires creating a pen-name, making a new Facebook page, or wearing a Zorro mask, do it.

2.  What can you physically and emotionally deal with?  Decide ahead of time what your physical and emotional limitations are and don't make exceptions.  If you are a sloppy drunk, don't drink with fans or readers.  If you get annoyed by people who can't get to the point, consider an online only persona or taking some classes to deal with this.  If you get grumpy and irritable after being on panels for 12 hours, try to have a wing man to deal with fans.  If you have creepy basement dweller stalkers, get really burly escorts to hustle you out and walk you to your car.

3.  How do you interact with your fans and critics?  Try to treat everyone the same...Otherwise you may end up with someone who thinks they are "special" or "your friend" and might cross a boundary or two.  It's okay to have and make friends, just make sure you can clearly see the line between friendship and hero worshiping stalkers.

4.  When dealing with emails, tweets, and blog posts.  Try to be as kind and clear in responses as you can be.  Don't be afraid to say no to or ignore belligerent people.  It's always a good idea to give a "disclaimer" type of message or note outlining that you don't sit by the computer waiting for fan mail, thus you don't answer right away...

5.  What kind of networking and promoting are you going to do?  Make time for your fans.  The best way to build a following is to interact with people, not to just bludgeon them with advertisements!  Show your fans that you are a real person.  Just.don't spend so much time networking that you forget to write!  If your fans are demanding too much of you then you need to step back and reassess your schedule.  (The best way to do this is to just make sure you set clear rules about your networking before you even create an account!)

6. Are you an author on a soap box?  Consider your transparency and affiliations.  As a person you've got your own socio-political and religious affiliations (or lack of).  Do you want these affiliations to define you as an author?  If not, make sure you keep these topics out of your persona's spotlight.

7.  Do you need a muzzle?  Be careful what you do and say.  Things DO come back and bite you in the bum, especially with the internet.  YA moms don't like their children reading books written by an author whose Girls Gone Wild video is up on YouTube.

8.  What happens when you start interacting with other authors?  Don't be "that guy."  Try your best to be civil and humble -- especially around other authors.  You are not a diva, someone will always pwn you.  These are your "co-workers" so don't go all fan girl when you meet Dean Koontz.

9.  How do you want others to see you?  Dress the part.  You can go professional or dress to your genre, just remember that once you decide you have to remain consistent so that your fans can recognize you more easily.  Also, be appropriate for the genre you write!

These are just some of the things that you're going to want to make sure you consider when creating your plan.  Have fun and good luck!

Thoughtful Thursday: Author Net

Okay Folks, I've got a ton of cold medicine in my system, so I hope this makes sense... Here goes.

The author net.  There are a number of different definitions for this phrase.  Today the aspect of the author net that I want to bring particular attention to is the idea that authors have to be each other's best friends, fans, and partners.  Why?  Well, if we aren't there to catch each other when we fall down, then who is?

Like those crazy artists on television, authors are a special breed of human being.  While we are clearly functional in today's society, we're also a little like black sheep.  It's our job/hobby/passion to live with our heads stuck in another world, with our emotions wrapped up in the love life of an imaginary person, in constantly picking apart the world around us for that perfect explanation for what fifty people walking down a hall sounds like.  There's a slight disconnect (or over connect) between us and everyone else.  And the only people who really get us and the challenges we deal with are other authors.  We rely on each other for help both emotionally and creatively.

Not to mention professionally...

I know a lot of authors who are just out for themselves in this industry.  They wonder why they should bother giving advice to newbie authors when those very authors might become competition a few years down the line.  My answer is simple:  If you want to be able to do this in ten years then you should help others.  What goes around comes around, it's the karma circle.  If you don't help others they wont help you.  There are a lot of things competing for people's attention these days, it's easy to get lost in the fray.  The friendship and support of other authors, especially those who have already gone through the process is imperative. 

If you're a new author, you should be telling everyone to read the new and upcoming books of fellow authors.  If you're more experienced, get on a forum and help some newbies get over their issues with building better dialogue.  Everyone, get out there and make some author friends so that you don't have to bore your best friends from high school with five hours of obsessing over whether your MC should be gay or straight.  With any karmic luck, someone will do the same for you!

Diva Don'ts

After hearing horror stories and seeing first hand the horror of the literary diva, I feel it is necessary to address why you should remain humble as an author.

1.  The Queen Bee.  It doesn't matter how great you are.  There is always someone better.  If you don't recognize that and look to them as role-models you will inevitably make a fool of yourself.

2.  The Saucy Sister.  I know you've had tons of readers who loved your work, but there's gonna be someone out there who thinks your writing is the worst thing created by a bipedal hominid.  They like to tell you about how much you suck on forums and in nasty emails.  You may feel like making rude hand gestures at the screen for five minutes and then writing a scathing retort.  But stop and think for a minute.  Think about what a person might do in retaliation if you send them an email back.  Think about all the other people who visit that forum.  Take a deep breath and swallow your pride.

3.  The Lazy Susan.  If you want something done, you better darn well do it yourself.  A lot of authors think, "Oh well, I wrote the book and did the edits, now I sit back and relax and let my publisher do the work."  Um, no.  You have to get your butt out there and do it yourself these days.  That includes taking responsibility, making sure that you are prepared for the worse possible scenarios, and not being a cry baby about it when things don't go as planned.

4.  The Gossip Guru.  The industry is small.  If you piss someone off, everyone else will know you suck in less than a week. Similarly, if you lie or gossip about someone, they are inevitably going to find out.  Again, think about things before you follow through on them.

5.  The Drama Mama.  If you are demanding, impatient, and unreliable you will chase away valuable allies and opportunities.  Patience and professionalism are key virtues in this industry, learn them and love them.

6.  Typically Two-Faced. Your author persona is the face of your work.  If you come off as a diva, people are less likely to want to read your work, make friends with you, or approach you. 

7.  The Wall Flower.  Don't forget to have fun.  There is a huge difference between the demanding princess diva and the fun loving, disco diva.  This industry is stressful enough, don't make being a likable author a chore.  If you're a stick in the mud you stand out just as much!

8.  The Nit-Picker.  Everyone makes mistakes.  Obsessively pointing out those mistakes in the work or behavior of others isn't going to make friends.  In fact, it will only make people more critical of YOU and YOUR work.

Did I miss one?

The Circle of Muses

What's your Muse?

You often hear artists of all types talking about their "Muse."  In ancient Greek mythology there were, at one point, up to nine Muses who ruled over everything from poetry to astronomy.  These days few people mean these gods and goddesses when they talk about their muses.  Never-the-less, today's muses serve the same purpose as the muses of yesteryear.  They inspire within us a desire to see, to create, and to think beyond our daily tasks.  And, while today's version of the muse may not hover over our shoulder like a  guardian angel, we can still feel their weight pressing us to create.

So when do you feel that creative urge?

For me, like with many other authors, I find my artistic inspiration in the work of other artists.  Some authors need to read to find inspiration.  Some need only look upon a piece of art and feel the need to put it into words.  Others hear a song and feel the story behind that melody clamoring to the tips of their fingers.  Even another artist's passion makes me want to sit down and write something.

Is it possible that we've become muses to each other?  And if so, why wait?  If we want a muse, then let's go out and find it!

I'm not saying to go out and write a bunch of re-tellings and do a bunch of cover songs.  I'm saying that there are roots to the human experience in every form of art we experience and we shouldn't look over such an important resource.  So, if you're feeling a little stumped as to how to write an action scene, throw on a little Beethoven; if you don't know how your female character should react to a walking on her brother and best friend making out on the couch go watch a soap; if you want to know true joy watch a little girl laugh; and if you want to know what true cover art looks like do some research on the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

Most importantly, never be afraid to play the muse for someone else. :)