The fabulous Vicki DeArmon of All Things Book joins us to talk about the publishing industry and what prospective authors need to know to succeed, and how to marshall your resources and see what you can do in the face of the short shelf life, unpredictable market, and changing, shortening seasons of the industry. We also talk about Book Expo America, the state of the industry, including some good news, the relationship between creativity and the market, collaboration and integration, resources and more. This episode also touches on tension, withholding, self-editing and short scenes, the value of thinking differently from everyone else, and the ‘90s publishing world in San Francisco.

Links Discussed:

All Things Book
American Booksellers Association (including Book Expo and Winter Institute)
Northern California Booksellers Association (including Discover Show)
Shelf Awareness
Publisher’s Weekly
California Summer Reads
Leif Enger’s Virgil Wander
Charlie Jane Anders All the Birds in the Sky
Martin Seligman The Hope Circuit

It was great to catch up with Marian Palaia from her home in Missoula where she was a day or so away from a final, ready-to-submit to publishers draft of her next novel. We delved into the parts of writing we hate and why, the agony of waiting for a response, countering the criticism that a novel is quiet, the tricks of adding tension to a story, working against Chekhov’s gun rule, the possibilities of chronological order, flashforwards, questions, the refusal to outline, where to start, and then starting over again...and again...and again, empathy, time and poetry’s sudden turns. We also touched on what you need to know when you are negotiating with an editor who wants to buy your book!

Links Discussed:

Rachel Kushner's The Mars Room

Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life

Rabih Alamedine’s I, the Divine

An Odyssey by Daniel Mendelsohn

Tom McGuane Panama

Facebook link for Marian Palaia

The Given World by Marian Palaia

Levon by Elton John

Owen Meany by John Irving

Joan Frank

Peter Carey

In today’s episode, we discuss non-traditional narratives and shaking it all up. Angie reviews the framework of the 7 Steps of Story and the importance of character psychology and the protagonist’s limiting belief in developing plot. Want to break out from that structure? Get clear on your goal, the reason you want to break the mold/ rules, and what you are trying to do and then try going backwards, reorganizing elements, using POV to limit information, creating an altered consciousness and controlling information. We also talk about how we’ve applied and broken from these principles in our own work, conscious versus unconscious creativity, tracking and organizing your work, the challenges of teaching writing or describing the writing process, ignoring the voice in your head that is full of doubt, observing character and group dynamics in the real world, theme, and, yes, more...

questions@storymakersshow.com 

Links Discussed:

Momento

Tony Kushner Angels in America

Linda Aheensen 21st Century Screenplay

Requiem for a Dream

Girl on a Train

The Hearing Trumpet by Leonard Carrington

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Triggers by Marshall Goldsmith

The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley

Carolina deRobertis episode

Sonoma Country Writers Camp Free Class