Rodney Strong's Blog

So my new book is out this Friday, and the last few weeks has been a whirlwind of behind the scenes activity trying to get everything finalised. Every time I think I've finished the list, a new list of things to do pop up. Anyway I thought I'd give you a little insight into how this book came about. I was visiting a cemetery with my family, and as we drove out past the old worn gravestones from people who died 80, 90 years ago, my mind thought. I wonder if there's still anyone around that misses them. That morphed into, I'd read somewhere that people will take the names of the deceased to create false identities. And then both those ides merged into, what if a con artist took one of those names and the spirit of the person came back looking for it. All of this happened in the space of about thirty seconds. So now I had a general premise, but how to weave that into a story. I went home and the next day broadly sketched out a plan, which eventually morphed into Murder in Paint (A hitchhiker novel). I'm hoping if it's received well to turn it into a series. Now onto the next one.

It's summer holidays in the Southern Hemisphere, which means my kids are home from school, which in theory means I get little work done. The problem is the itch is still there. There's always something I want to work on, so the kids are learning that when Daddy says he needs thirty minutes to do some work, they aren't to interrupt me. It usually lasts five minutes, but at least that's better than the last school holidays. What I'm finding most frustrating is that point in the writing process when the best idea comes twenty seconds after you switch off the computer. Which means writing it down somewhere, or trying to remember it until the next day. I usually rely on the memory method, which works 80% of the time. I'm hoping the truly best ideas aren't in the other 20%. Happy writing everyone.

Writing must be one of the few professions where writing The End, doesn't actually mean it's the end. In fact writing The End, really means The Middle. Because as all writers know, while knocking out the first draft is something to celebrate, what follows are several more drafts, a few edits, and masses of proof reading before it really is The End. Still, it's worth a beer I think.

There's a razor thin line between being a reviewer and being a writer.  Reading work with a writer's hat on you tend to look at things that you could have done in your own work, or things that you would never do in your own work, and judge the entire piece on your own abilities. As a reviewer though you have to ignore those impulses and look at a book purely as a reader.  Did I enjoy it, was it a compelling story, were the characters well written, did it make sense, etc. Then the third factor comes into play.  Was the book written by an independent (and most likely self published) author.  Why is this a factor?  For me it's because that's what I am, and there's a sense of comradery with fellow independent authors.  You want them to do well because you want to do well.  So for me there's a real drive to write constructive and indepth reviews.  (Note:  I'm not saying my reviews are any better or worse than anyone elses).  But written reviews are only half of it.  The rest is the dreaded star system.  Places like Amazon and Goodreads only allow whole stars, i.e. 3 or 4 out of 5.  Which is a pain, because sometimes I want to rate something 3 and a 1/2, and that's not an option.  So do I go higher or lower.  It depends on the book, but I usually feel if I was going to score something a 4 then there wouldn't be an debate about it.  So I tend to score lower.  At the end of day, it's only my opinion, but I'd rather feel good about my score, then provide a higher rating than the book deserves. Of course with well known authors the story is different.  If they have a large publishing firm behind them and I still think there are issues with the book, then the gloves are off. 

So the idea for Troy's Possibilities came about when I was looking back on a couple of key points in my life and thought, what would have happened if I had reacted differently.  From there it morphed into what would happen if you could actually live out those different decisions.  Would it be good to see whether you made the right decision, or would it be so overwhelming that you couldn't handle it. Like all novels the story went through a huge evolution during the process.  Emily is one of the main characters in the book, in fact the whole story wouldn't really work without her, yet in the early stages of writing she was barely going to be in it, someone who is referenced rather than interacted with.  One of the mentors I discussed the story with suggested that she was an important anchor in Troy's life and was too important to treat that way, so she shoved her way forward and is on equal footing with Cat and Troy. Funny how life works out.

In writing, the Holy Grail is a five star review.  We all want them, crave the warm glow those five little stars brings.  But I'm only interested if they're genuinely given. I was searching groups of Goodreads when I came across a group that were all about reading and reviewing other author's works.  Great I thought, so I joined.  It was only then I saw the post from the group facilitator, basically saying that they were only interested in five star reviews, so if you were reading a book and couldn't give it a five star, then stop reading it and find something else to read. I love five star reviews as much as the next person, but that approach is completely wrong in my opinion.  If I get a review I want it to be genuine, if someone reads my work and thinks it deserves three stars, then they should give it three stars, and if possible write a review so as an author I can understand what it was they didn't like.  Filtering the results so authors only get five stars is no good to anyone.  It gives people an inflated opinion of their work, look at me I only have five stars, and it potentially tricks people into reading a book they normally wouldn't. So I left the group straight away.  Feedback is essential in this game, but you have to have thick enough skin to take the good with the bad.  Otherwise you're in the wrong profession.

You write a book, it's a marvelous book (in your humble opinion), and then it gets published, whether it's self published or the more traditional route.  You sit back and wait for the accolades to pour in, sure that everyone will recognise your genius (I'm exaggerating for effect here).  What they don't tell you is the agonising wait for reviews.  Because like any new business it's all about reviews.  Good reviews lead to more sales, bad reviews (in your case won't exist of course) not so much.  So you spend your days checking Goodreads and Amazon to see if you've got any reviews.  You cheekily ask your friends who have read the book if they can post a review, you give away copies in the hope it will result in favourable reviews, or as time goes on, any review at all.  And you wait, and wait. Writing isn't supposed to be this, it's supposed to be creating new worlds, and complex flawed characters.  But you learn and adapt and grow into the role, because you have to.  Because the alternative is giving up, which is far too unpalatable.   No one told you life was going to be this way (clap, clap, clap, clap).

Writing is a lonely business, just you against the blank page, wrestling with words alone in your kitchen or dining room, or if you have the space at home, an "office".  You need the solitude, the absence of interruptions in order to craft your world, to build tall mountains and dirty cities heaving with characters.  Some days you get to dinner time and realise that the only adult conversation you've had is the one you spent half a day lovingly crafting between your two main characters. ButWriting is more than the writer.  It's the editor that tells you where you've gone wrong, it's the initial readers who offer the first emotional reactions, it's the cover designer who will do their best to make sure people are attracted to the book before even knowing what it's about,  it's the proof reader who makes sure everything looks spot on, it's the book shops that take the risk and stock the work.  Behind every writer is an amazing hard working group doing their best to make sure the end result meets the writers vision.  I don't think I fully appreciated that until Troy's Possibilities was into its second draft.  That's when the importance of the right people became apparent.  It's not just enough to have an editor, it's got to be one you can trust, likewise a proof reader, a designer etc.     

The saying goes don't judge a book by its cover.  Which seems to apply to everything these days except for books.  Because the cover is what draws us to pick up a book to begin with.  If the cover doesn't appeal to us, then we may not pick up the book and quite probably won't read it. I was lucky enough to work with a very patient designer for my cover.  We went through five or six different options before settling on this one.  I specifically wanted the moon on the cover (which will make sense when you read the book), and the designer was skilled enough to interpret my vague instructions into something magical.  Of course like people, it's what is on the inside that matters.   

I've always wanted to be a writer.  In fact I still have the very first play I wrote in primary school.  When I left high school I never considered that being a full time writer was an option, and once the lure of a regular pay packet took hold, the dream drifted away.  Although it was never completely gone.  Ideas still came, and my fingers still itched to release words onto a page.  So how is it that at 48 I finally decided to give this writing thing a proper go? Two reasons.  The first is I got sick of the corporate world.  The money was good but my heart wasn't in it and I could see the long years until retirement stretching out before me, and it wasn't a happy thought.  The second, and more important reason, is my kids.  They're still young, and haven't really got to the "I want to be a..." stage, although my five year old told me she wanted to drive an ambulance (she also wants to be a princess so...)  But mainly it's the thought that I can't tell me kids that they should puruse their dreams if I've never done it myself.  And I want to tell them they can be whatever they want to be when they grow up, whether it's a paramedic or a princess (or both).  So this is me taking the plunge and whatever happens from this point on, at least I chased my dream.