Reader Request: the Journey

Today's Reader Request post comes courtesy of Saumya, who wanted me to talk about my journey to getting a book deal, from start to finish. This could easily turn into a monster of a post if I let myself yammer on, so I'm going to try and be as concise as I can.

How long did it take me? That depends on which way you want to look at it. I was fifteen/sixteen when I first sent a letter/partial out to a publisher (it was awful, but the editor who replied was very nice) and twenty-two when I got my book deal for a very different book. So I guess it took me six or seven years.

On the other hand, I could boil it down to just A TORRENT OF LIGHT. How long did it take me from starting the first draft of TORRENT to getting the book deal? 

About thirteen months. 

I did it by the book i.e. I researched agents, I wrote the dreaded query letter, I had requests for partials, requests for fulls, ultimately got an agent, who then sold the book. So I probably could be a poster girl for How Hard Work and Persistence/Pigheaded Stubborn Determination Can Pay Off. I could also be a poster girl for How One Agent Had to Read Four of My Manuscripts Over the Course of Four Years and Ultimately Rejected Them All But Was Still Terribly Nice About Giving Me Second Chances, the Poor Bloke.

But anyway, for Saumya and for any other interested reader, here's how a manuscript called ECHOES became the soon-to-be-published A TORRENT OF LIGHT-

Late September 2009

Sangu starts writing a book. (Ironically, she is in Bangalore for the end of her summer break from university and she's writing the first part of her book which is set in England.)

November 2009

Sangu is back at university in England and stops writing the book because she thinks it's rubbish. (By this point, you will no doubt be unsurprised to hear she's writing the part of the book that's set in Bangalore. Go figure.)

January 2010

Sangu starts writing the book again because Steve (then boyfriend, soon-to-be-fiance and eventual husband) tells her it's amazing and she should and, moreover, he kind of wants to know how it ends so could she please stop being such a selfish cow and just finish the damn thing already? (He's the best cheerleader ever.)

February 2010

Sangu finishes her 'first draft', though it's not really a first draft as she's done a lot of going back and editing as she wrote it. She starts to edit, using beautiful red pens and shiny pieces of paper and feeling distinctly proud of Her Editing Tools.

March 2010

She starts querying agents. She probably did this a tad too soon, in hindsight, as the manuscript would be revised several more times in the months to come, but Oh Well.

March-August 2010

She gets a lot of query rejections, a fair few partial requests, and three full requests in these months. An agent called Holly Root finishes the manuscript in August and likes it, but doesn't think it's right for her, so she gives Sangu a referral. Sangu emails the agent she was referred to. This agent, in case you didn't already know this, is Melissa Sarver.

One week later

Melissa gets back to Sangu and wants to talk. After a long chat about the manuscript, Sangu does a few revisions, sends it back to Melissa, and

Mid-September 2010

Sangu HAS AN AGENT. Like, ohmygod.

Late October 2010

Sangu is on her way to Bangalore (funny how these things come full circle, hey?) on holiday when Melissa sends her a text to ask if Sangu is available to speak to an editor. Sangu spends the rest of the trip (a four-hour flight from Dubai) freaking out and annoying Steve with questions like 'BUT WHAT COULD SHE WANT FROM ME STEVIE TELL ME WHYYYYYY'.

Early November 2010

Sangu speaks to two editors in the space of a week, ends up with two offers on her book, talks things over with her agent, ultimately goes with one of the two offers, and HAS A BOOK DEAL OMG FAINT.

Okay, so it did turn into quite a long post after all. But I tried, I promise. Alas, me and concise will never be the best of friends.

And that's how it happened. My journey to a book deal: six years or so, five manuscripts, an awful lot of rejections, and thirteen months of crazy, exciting stuff.

And no, it doesn't end there. That's when the real work started!

Writers and Lady Gaga: more in common than we thought?

Just a quick stop today. So we all know that Lady Gaga likes to wear unusual things, right? Meat dress, anyone? (Ah, I love Lady Gaga.) And many of us are writers/artists of some kind, are we not? And in true artistic fashion, do we not have our quirks? 

For instance, I wear weird stuff to work sometimes (for example: nothing. I've said this before, I do sometimes get undressed for a shower, then remember an idea, and start writing and before I know it, I'm working naked for hours...) and I'm sure I'm not the only one out there. Anyone else? No? Don't be shy!
 
So I love this Guardian article. Blog-friend and reader Alesa sent me the link several days ago and I decided I had to share it.

What are your artistic quirks?

Reader Request: Top Seven Adult Characters

Another Reader Request post! This time the reader is Alex, who wanted a post about characters. Here's what she said:

I'd really like to read some more of your in-depth thoughts on fictional characters/relationships. I loved the top 10 post the other day.  

And here's the post: my favourite adult characters in children's/YA fiction. I think adult characters often get a hard time in children's or YA novels (absent parents, irresponsible relatives, cruel stepmothers, and so forth) - but sometimes you get a truly fantastic, superb grown up, whether they're a parental influence or a friend or an antagonist. In this post, I'll list my top seven, in no particular order.

Note: I'm widening the definition of children's/YA fiction to novels that also happen to be primarily about a child/told from a child's point of view, even if the novel itself isn't necessarily a children's story. I've broadened the definition for one reason only: so I can include one of my favourite adult characters of all time.

1. Sirius Black in the Harry Potter novels (JK Rowling)
I loved Sirius from the moment he appeared and proved just how wrong we/Harry/the world had been about him right through Prisoner of Azkaban. I've always thought him reckless but loving, irresponsible but oddly kind. And sexy.

2. Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
Atticus is the reason I broadened my definition, because some would argue that TKAM isn't exactly a children's book - though I think it is.
Who doesn't love Atticus? He's good and clever and brave - incredibly brave. He's not without flaws. And he loves his kids so much.

3. Minerva McGonagall in the Harry Potter novels (JK Rowling)
It will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that, given my way, most of the characters on this list would be from Harry Potter - I think there are some fantastic adult figures in the series. But I'm limiting myself to a few, lest I bore everyone. And Professor McGonagall had to make the cut. She's brilliant and hilarious and weirdly soft once you get past her sarcasm and prickly, stern exterior. And she totally won my heart when she went out of her way to defy Umbridge in Order of the Phoenix.

4. Luke Garroway in The Mortal Instruments trilogy/series (Cassandra Clare)
Clearly I like the cool, fatherly figure - though Luke is also fierce, totally not perfect, and is *ahem spoiler ahead* a werewolf. I like werewolves (except Jacob. Sorry, Jacob fans. Jacob annoyed the heck out of me.)

5. Topaz Mortmain in I Capture the Castle (Dodie Smith)
Again, not entirely sure this officially counts as YA, but if it doesn't, I think it should. 
Topaz is obviously a lunatic, and I mean that in the best possible way. She stands on the heath stark naked in an attempt to commune with nature. This makes her awesome to me. And hilarious. She's also rather sweet.

6. Lord Asriel in His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman)
Definitely not the loving father, him. He's ruthless and charismatic and often cruel, but he ultimately redeems himself. I just love that about him. And he's another sexy one, so I fancy him anyway.

7. Mags in Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)
Any Hunger Games fans out there will probably think this an odd choice. After all, Mags is barely in the book - she hasn't got much page-time. But this is an old, old woman who volunteers to fight to the death just to save another girl from having to do it. And when a certain something happens to her, I bawled my eyes out, which just goes to show how quickly I grew to love her.

And there you have it: my top seven. Who are your favourite adult characters? And why do you love them so much?

Ten Tips for a Great Story: Guest Post by David Baboulene

Today I have the pleasure of announcing a guest post from writer David Baboulene, as part of his blog tour. I recently read David's The Story Book, a fantastic guide for writers and storytellers, and I'm thrilled to have him here.

A big thank you to David for this post!

---

The Top Ten Tips to Make Stories that Grip!

In my work I have been fortunate to have conversations with famous people who have made their money from stories, including:

• Bob Gale (scriptwriter of Back to the Future);
• Lee Child (16 million Jack Reacher Novels sold);
• John Sullivan (TV comedy writer of Only Fools and Horses; Just Good friends; Citizen Smith…);
• Mark Williams (Actor in The Harry Potter films; Shakespeare in Love; 101 Dalmations...);
• Willy Russell (Theatre supremo and writer of Educating Rita; Blood Brothers; Shirley Valentine…)

to name but a few. So, from the insights from these fine gentlemen, from my own experiences getting published, my work as a story consultant, from working on films and from undertaking my PhD in Story Theory, and of course in writing and researching The Story Book, here are my top ten tips for writers.

1) If you want to be a writer, read a thousand books.

2) Write every day. Make it a priority, build it into your schedule and discipline yourself to it. Set yourself a manageable word count and make sure you achieve that. Stephen King reportedly writes 2000 words a day, every day. Sunday, Christmas Day, his birthday - every day. And when he finishes a book, if he's only done 1500 words of his daily count, he gets a clean sheet of paper, writes 'Page 1' at the top, and starts the next one. Self-discipline, folks. Yes, being a writer is glamorous to talk about and a romantic place for dreamers, but the ones who make it in this business work very hard, are professional and productive.  

3) Don't try to learn 'how to write'. No course or method or guru can tell you how to write. There's only one person who can tell your story your way, and that's you. Those who find success have self-confidence in writing what THEY think is great. Yes, learn about STORY - where the power comes from in stories, how they work, why they exist, how they resonate, what factors are present in all great stories - then use that understanding to get the most you possibly can out of yourself as a story teller. Then you can use your personality and your knowledge to take responsibility and write your story YOUR way to the best it can possibly be.

4) Understand story structure, but structure is NOT a starting point for story development, so don't let it drive you. Let your creative brilliance run wild and free and write from the heart in creating your story, then later, use your understanding of structure as a fantastic tool in problem-solving and optimizing your story.

5) Most of all, understand SUBTEXT. And understand the creative behaviours that embed subtext. Subtext is the substance of story. If you have no subtext you have no story. The more subtext there is, the higher a story is rated by the audience. Fact.

6) Stories are about character behaviours. Don't think about 'plot' and 'character' as separate things. What a character does when he takes action will define his true character, and what a character does when he takes action will also provide the action. Character behaviours define both plot and character. Get this right, and your story telling will be tight, cohesive and superb.

7) All the greatest stories show us a character learning and changing and growing through the experiences of the story events (or failing to learn and grow, but the lessons are still evident to us as readers/viewers). Try to ensure that at least one character is offered the opportunity to climb the ladder of life. You will find that this is actually your real story, and this is what resonates with your readers and elevates your story.

8) True character comes only from putting your protagonists under pressure to make difficult decisions. For a mountaineer to climb a mountain might be a huge challenge, but  he'd be delighted to do it, so the conflict is not meaningful and therefore the story is not meaningful. For a mountaineer to climb a mountain to save a stranded friend... risking his own life whilst his children are begging him not to go and his wife says she’ll leave if he does... that is a story. Sit your characters on the horns of a dilemma wrapped in a choice of evils and sandwiched between rocks and hard places and your readers will be gripped...

9) It's really important to learn to handle rejection (there WILL be rejection...) otherwise you will never send anything off. I know many, many writers who develop their stories... then develop and develop some more... because they are so scared of the Judgment Day that comes the moment they admit it’s finished. There's no easy way. You have to grasp the nettle and get on with it. Put your ego to one side (the vast majority of rejections are nothing to do with your ability or the literary merit of your story); dig deep, be strong, and put it out there. When I asked John Sullivan for his advice for aspiring writers he gave me this series of steps that should define a writer’s life:

    A) Write the best stuff you can.

    B) Send it off.

    C) Go to A.

It ain't rocket science! But you do need to be brave, or else you won't get anywhere. As soon as your material is good enough, you WILL be recognised... and you WILL get a deal! And I promise you - once you’ve had 10 rejections, the 11th doesn’t hurt so bad!  

10) If you would like more detailed information on any of the above, get in touch with me and I will send you a free chapter from The Story Book on the topic that is puzzling you.

Very best of luck with your work. Oh, before I go, I think there might be just one more tip we could all benefit from...

11) Get off the internet and go do some writing!

Thanks so much to Sangu for the opportunity to contribute to this wonderful website.

David

www.thescienceofstory.blogspot.com

Book of the Month (March)

I've read an awful lot of books this month - and in February too (I kind of, maybe, forgot to do a Book of the Month for February so I'm combining the two here). I read a lot of great books this month. In spite of that, though, picking this Book of the Month was surprisingly easy.

My pick?

George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones.

The first in an ongoing series, this novel is epic/high fantasy, full of politics and intrigue and a lot less magic that you might expect from the genre (which in my opinion, was a good thing here, as the whole epic/high fantasy magic thing can get old fast). Here's the Amazon summary:

The first volume of George R R Martin's glorious high fantasy tells the tragic story of treachery, greed and war that threatens the unity of the Seven Kingdoms south of the Wall. Martin unfolds with astonishing skill a tale of truly epic dimensions, thronged with memorable characters, a story of treachery and ambition, love and magic. Set in a fabulous world scarred by battle and catastrophe over 8000 years of recorded history, it tells of the deeds of men and women locked in the deadliest of conflicts and the terrible legacy they will leave their children. In the game of thrones, you win or you die. And in the bitter-cold, unliving lands beyond the Wall, a terrible winter gathers and the others -- the undead, the neverborn, wildlings to whom the threat of the sword is nothing -- make ready to descend on the realms of men.

And if that summary happens to sound good to you, guess what? It's so, so much better than it sounds!

I'll be honest: I had vaguely heard about this series and Game of Thrones a couple of years ago, and more recently when Steve, who is a fan, asked me if I'd ever read it. But I never actually took much interest in reading it, because I'd hit my aversion-to-epics phase. I used to love high and epic fantasy when I was fifteen, sixteen. I wrote high and epic fantasy. Then I went off it. Maybe it was because everything I read started to sound corny and repetitive. In six years, I think the closest I've come to reading an loving a novel in this genre would be Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books and even then I think those gripped me because they were different.

I'm happy to say Game of Thrones has given me back my faith in the genre. I finally started reading it this month, after learning about the HBO TV series based on the novel. When I saw the trailers, and saw that Sean Bean and Lena Headey were starring, I couldn't resist. And, like any good reader, I decided to read the book first.

I think I'm a bit obsessed. With the characters more than anything else. Specifically Cersei and Jaime Lannister. This is a series full of fantastic characters. You know the whole good-evil thing? Yeah, forget about it. Very few of the characters in Martin's series are entirely good or entirely bad - most don't even lean either way. Cersei and Jaime, for example, are twins. At first, you might think they're horrible, ambitious people. But there's so much more to these characters and I just love them. I might even be in the minority on this one, with other readers outright despising them. But that's a good thing because there's nothing quite like a rabid, divided fanbase to prove how a character can get under your skin.

And on another note, there is very little magic and sword-and-sorcery in this series. It's almost entirely about power, and politics, and love, and intrigue. Which sets it apart from most of the novels in the genre.

And that is my quite incoherent view of this series - and this novel in particular. I read Game of Thrones and then, within days, read its three sequels and am now desperate for the fifth book. And these are monster-sized books. But so compelling.

New Title!!!!

Many of my regular readers will have heard me yammer on about my debut novel. For those of you who are new or who missed those posts, my YA debut will be published next year by Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins.

Obviously, this is the most exciting thing for me! But to add to that awesomeness is this - the novel now has an official title. When I first wrote it, it was called ECHOES. Then it was called WOVEN when my agent sent it out to editors. And now it has a brand new and super-shiny real title.

It's called A Torrent of Light.

But wait! It's not just a title. It's from a quote.

Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through, and pour a torrent of light into our dark world.

-Mary Shelley, Frankenstein

I love that quote. It captures so much of the mood and essence of both novels. A TORRENT OF LIGHT revolves around the concept of stitching life from scratch, creating clone-like beings called echoes - and it was rereading Frankenstein at university that first sparked off the idea. So it's doubly special for me to have a title with part of that quote in it.

And as if all of this isn't enough, the book deal is now up on Publishers Marketplace too.

Reader Request: Security Blankies

First, I have to apologize for how sporadic my blog posts have been lately. Honestly, I can't even remember the days when I used to blog seven days a week! I wish I could still do that, but I haven't got as much time on my hands anymore. That said, I'm going to try and work up some kind of blog routine with regular features and posting days - more on that soon.

As for today's post, it's something many of you will be familiar with as I'm pretty darn sure I've seen other 'writing aids' posts out there. But blog reader Jamie sent in an email asking me to talk about my most-needed writing aids, so here it is. 

Some kind of drink
I would add 'and something to nibble on', only, after this post, I think we all get the idea that I can go hours without nibbling simply because I've forgotten to.But I do need something to drink: be it hot tea, water, a fruit smoothie, Coke or something extremely alcoholic. Any of the above goes. 

Music
Again, my 'how I work' post will have showed you that I can listen to the same song for hours on end without noticing it, but even so, I need music to work. Sometimes I listen to a playlist for a particular book. Sometimes I just listen to the same song over and over because it has the right mood or atmosphere or because I've just tuned out. Either way, when I'm writing, I usually have a totally outdated version of Winamp open alongside - or Youtube. 

My laptop fan
Because my laptop is an absolute piece of tripe and overheats if you use more than one measly program at once. I can't begin to tell you how many times I have had to rewrite paragraphs because my laptop's turned off before I could save something. No fan, no work.

Note to self: must get new laptop when I am rich and famous. 

Clothes
Goes without saying, doesn't it? Or so one would think. Sadly, I have fallen prey to the whole 'taking your clothes off for a shower, then sitting down to check an email before going in, then being struck by a brilliant flash of inspiration, then writing whilst scarcely clothed for the next three hours' syndrome. This would not be a problem, except writing while scarcely clothed means that when you return to reality, your fingers are stiff with cold and your butt hurts.

Familiar with this? No? Sigh, I must just be weird. 

Visual inspiration
This, I must admit, is not always necessary, but it helps me no end. I like having something moody or atmospheric to look at while I'm working. When my brain starts to drift away, looking up at the visual something pinned behind my laptop often brings me straight back to totally-inspired-and-raring-to-go. Right now this inspiration is a print I found after some random browsing online:

I think it's eerie and sensual and beautiful. The photo is by Heather Landis and she has some other great work uploaded at that link.

And that's my list of security blankies, my cannot-do-withouts when writing.

What do you need at hand when you're doing your thing?

Giveaway winner announced!

Last week I interviewed Talli Roland and offered a signed copy of her novel The Hating Game to a commenter. I said I'd announce it sometime this week, so here it is. After some trial and error with picking a name out of a hat (literally - you'd be surprised how many names accidentally fall out of hats), the winner is...

Bish Denham!

Congratulations, Bish! Could you email me your address? (sangumandannawrites@gmail.com)

That's all for today, unfortunately, but stay tuned for another Reader Request post and a review of the new Frankenstein play later this week.

An episode in the saga of How Sangu Works

ON AN AVERAGE WRITING DAY

1.30 PM: Wake up

1.35 PM: Fall back asleep

1.40 PM: Wake up and play games on iPad or, if very lucky, read a bit of a book (or a whole book. Why not?)

2 PM: Turn on laptop, because laptop takes at least twenty minutes to start up properly. Then go get dressed and brushed and whatever else. On busy days dressing and brushing is optional. Pity postman.

2.30 PM: Check emails. Return blog comments that arrived overnight/day. Write up a blog post if I have time, otherwise glance over my favourite blogs and Twitter stuff.

2.45 PM: Find a song I really want to listen to right now. Usually a song that fits what I'm about to be working on.

2.47 PM: Start writing/editing/revising/tweaking/proofreading/tearing hair out.

3.50 PM: Notice that I received a text message half an hour ago. Odd. Why didn't I hear that? Hmm. Forget to reply to text message because brain is fully lost in book-world.

4.10 PM: Realize I'm hungry. Even odder. Have I not eaten today? Oh. Why didn't I? Hmm. Forget to eat because brain is fully lost in book-world.

5 PM: Brain aches. Eat a plum.

5.15 PM: Steve rings to say he's leaving work. I mumble, most irked about being disturbed while brain is fully lost in book-world. Steve tentatively inquires about text messages that were not replied to. I say 'hmm? What did you say?'

6 PM: Look around wondering where Steve went. He's been quiet an awfully long time. 

Oh. He hasn't come home yet.

6.20 PM: Steve comes home and kisses me on the top of my head, over the back of my chair. Refrains from pointing out the fact that I look like a deformed crab, hunched over laptop with alarmingly bad posture.

6.30 PM: Look around wanting to know why Steve never hugged or kissed me when he came home. He sighs. I give him a hug and we manage to have a proper conversation lasting a whole three minutes. I go back to writing/editing/revising/tweaking/proofreading/tearing hair out. Brain aches. Odd. Why am I hungry?

7 PM: Steve shouts at me for only eating a plum all day. I make up for it by taking a two-hour break and watching TV with him and eating Too Much Dinner. And dessert. We have real conversations and sprawl half on top of each other on the sofa to watch TV.

9 PM: Return to manuscript. Brain does not ache. In fact, brain wants to know why Characters One and Two aren't kissing yet.

9.30 PM: Realize I haven't put a new song on since 3 PM and must do so because Steve is heartily sick of hearing the same thing over and over. Change song and play it for the next three hours.

4 AM: Turn off laptop. Brain aches.

4.10 AM: Shower. Wash hair. Trip out of shower and into bedroom, where Steve is asleep on my side of the bed. Make him move. Get in bed.

4.30 AM: Can't sleep. Bloody nuisance. Read a book. Or poke Steve and demand entertainment.

6 AM: Finish book. Stop poking Steve. Sleep.

8 AM: Wake from comatose condition to Steve kissing me goodbye as he leaves for work. Swat him affectionately and descend back into the depths of corpse-like slumber.

12 PM: Postman knocks. Stumble downstairs and offer winning smile.

12.10 PM: Comatose.

1.30 PM: Wake up. And start all over again.

Reader Request: Great old Britain

Ah, England. I live here now. I don't think I ever expected to. As a teenager, I always expected to move to the US instead. Funny, that. But living in England hasn't diminished my memory of first visiting, back when it was strange and new. Vix asked me to describe my first impressions. So here they are.

I was exactly fourteen days away from my twelfth birthday when I first arrived in the UK. On holiday, with my parents and my brother. We rented the most gorgeous flat in London for twelve days, went to the theatre, did some sightseeing, took a day trip to Stratford-upon-Avon.

But what did I think of England?

1. The milk was amazing. No, really. Milk in Bangalore did not taste like this. I was in awe.

2. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what half the words meant. This was England, right? Home to English? So what the hell was a haggis and why didn't I know this word? What, for the love of Heathcliff, was a spotted dick? Let me tell you, my eight-year-old brother and I could not say those words without giggling.

3. Holy hell, it's light at ten o' clock! At night, I mean. It was May. It got light at about five in the morning and got dark after ten at night. I was bewildered. Flabbergasted. In India, whatever the season, it never stays dark later than about seven in the morning and never stays light later than about seven in the evening. With about a two hour window for sun-up and sundown. Light at 10 effing PM was a novelty.

4. Strangers called me 'love'. There you go, love or cheers for the seat, love or got any change for this, love? I thought it was sweet.

5. The weather didn't shock me. And that shocked me. Sure, it was a lot colder than it had been in Bangalore, but it wasn't colder than Bangalore winters. What was all the fuss about this bitter English cold, then? Reminder: it was May. Of course it wasn't that bloody cold. Boy, did I realize how naive I'd been when I turned up for my first year of university seven years later.

I'm sure there are other things that really struck me or stood out for me when I first arrived in England, but I can't think of them now. These are my highlights. And they continue to be highlights. I love being here. I'm always surprised.