Author Crush Month – Jennifer Lyon

My author crush on Jennifer Lyon began soon after I met her. Not only was she a regularly publishing author, but at the time she was also a co-president of the RWA chapter I had just joined. Both friendly and professional, Jen seemed to know how to balance the real work of an author – writing – with all of the other important tasks that call out for our attention. Her blog below will show you what I like about her – how to be a professional and meet your deadlines even through the “normal” writing struggles we all face, and with a good measure of laughter thrown into the mix!

START TO FINISH

by Jennifer Lyon

1) Idea: For BLOOD MAGIC (out February 24th), the first book in my Wing Slayer Hunter series, the idea began with just a scene. In a dark and dangerous nightclub, my hero, Axel Locke, revealed that he was cursed to crave witch blood, and that he was trying desperately not to kill witches. Then I realized there were four other men just like him, and they each had a story to tell me. I was overwhelmed, but I zeroed in on Axel and his story. The initial idea is the easy part.

2) Synopsis: Yep, we all hate them! But I have to write a synopsis to sell, so I do it. Some people think out the story in their head, or maybe write down key plot points, then bang out a synopsis. Sadly, that’s not me. I start with a very basic premise, along with the hero and heroine, and start fleshing it out, writing as I go, deleting and rewriting as I struggle to unearth the story. For BLOOD MAGIC, this required creating an entire mythology and that was a huge challenge! This synopsis probably went through several drafts before my agent saw it, and a couple more based on her suggestions. Then my agent began submitting and we waited. If the synopsis sells, it’s on to writing the book.

3) Rejection: It happens to all of us! I had a few rejections on this book.  My method for handling this is that my agent and I evaluate any comments from the editors looking for ways to strengthen the story. We discuss if the project is worth pursuing or if we should move on. (In this case, we kept submitting and it paid off.) I always try to stay focused on the project, not me. It’s not personal. When I find myself getting upset, and of course I do, I remind myself that I am a professional and I will act like a professional because I want a career. Then I whine to family and trusted friends!

4) Writing the book: Once I had my deadline for BLOOD MAGIC and any comments on the synopsis from the editor who bought the project, I started work. I already had three chapters done, but my editor wanted changes. Most of her changes were fleshing out the world-building. Trust me when I say, I still didn’t fully grasp it at this point. For the beginning of a book, I use the rule that five new pages is acceptable, ten is better. My day will look something like this:

8:00 am I’m at the computer with coffee, I answer email and play around for a while. Settle into my day.

9:00 I start Chapter One.

9:02 I check my email because maybe my editor emailed. Nope, no email from her. Or from my agent. Back to work. Type a couple sentences and stall out.

9:22 Email author-friend and whine. Laugh at answer and go back to work.

10:07 Hmm, haven’t heard from sister, email her and check in. Oh and look, there’s an email from author-friend asking if I can read a chapter. YES NOW! I read and critique chapter. After all, she does it for me! Send chapter.

11:14 Go back to work, notice that it’s getting close to lunch time. I have to write! Do a whole page and a half.

12:00 Eat lunch, answer email, run errands and do whatever chores need to be done.

1:00 I’ve only done a page and a half! Crap. I have to get to work. Realize the whole beginning is wrong. Go back and start over.

1:03 Email friend and tell her I’m starting over. Discuss possibilities.

2:00 Real panic sets in. All the coffee in my stomach is churning. I turn off email and start typing. Husband walks in from work and I’m shocked. How did it get to be 5 o’clock? I look down and realize I’ve written ten pages.

Tomorrow I’ll delete five pages and then write ten more. My process is a back and forth method that is hard to measure, but it works for me.

Then somewhere between 100 to 200 pages, I hit a wall and stall out. In my experience, this usually comes down to the conflict between the hero and heroine. It’s so important to make sure the conflict will sustain the entire book (no sagging middles!). In BLOOD MAGIC, I had to go back and do some rewriting to shore that up, then things became clearer in my head and the story started moving again.

By now in the process I’m spending a lot more time writing and much less time procrastinating. At this point, I’m writing between 10 and 20 pages a day, sometimes more. But I cut a lot of those pages too. On the book I just turned in, the manuscript is 521 pages long, and there are 125 more pages in my “cut file.” When I cut scenes I always put them in a separate, saved file so I can use them later if I need them.

There are more bumps along the way, but finally I finish my first draft in about four to six months. Once I’m finished, I have the entire story fixed in my mind and I go into edit-mode. I print the entire book and sit down to read it straight through with a pencil to edit and post-it notes. I use the post-it notes to ask myself questions, to mark pages for inconsistencies, changes or problems, and to mark a place where I need to do more research. Straight changes I write in on the manuscript.

I type in all the changes. This edit usually takes me one to two weeks. Then I print the manuscript again and do a straight edit while looking for any problems I missed the first time. This takes a week, and then I send it off to my editor.

While waiting for her response, I move on to writing the next proposal, catching up on various things, and doing promo work.

5) Revisions: I do them without complaint (that’s not exactly true, I have trusted friends and family to whine to!). If I have a question or issue, I discuss it with my editor and she’s always been responsive and helpful. I believe editors are an author’s best friend. My revisions in BLOOD MAGIC were significant, and required me to once again retool the mythology, and eliminate some point of views. It was a tremendous amount of work, but I am positive that my editor, Liz Sheier’s, input made BLOOD MAGIC a significantly stronger book, and me a better writer.

That’s my routine for writing a book. I’d like to leave you with two thoughts:

First, show up at the computer each day and give it your best. It’s perfectly fine to write five bad pages. You will learn something from those pages, maybe a secret desire that your heroine has, or a new clue to the murder, it could be anything that suddenly turns the story back on track. And there’s always the possibility that the next day, those pages might look a whole lot better.

And second, the business will have its ups and downs, trends will come and go, but the only way we can get published and build a successful, long term career is if we keep writing. Writing the books is the only thing that we can control.

Award-winning author Jennifer Lyon always wanted to be a witch. Since her witch-powers never materialized, she moved to plan B and now creates magic in her books. The first book in her new series, BLOOD MAGIC, is out February 24th. Visit Jennifer at www.jenniferlyonbooks.com.