A Book Review and a Great Cause

Command and Control by Stephen Russell

*I received an advance reader copy (ARC) for Command and Control from the publisher in exchange for an honest review*

Wow, is what I breathed out when I finished the book.

I felt slightly drained. Not only because the second half of the book slammed on the accelerator, but also because I was concerned—scared.

I’m getting ahead of myself.

Command and Control is the second book by author Dr. Stephen Russell. The fact that the author is a medical doctor is important. I’ll explain soon. This is his second book in the Cooper McKay series.

Here is the book blurb from the publisher:

Doctor Cooper “Mackie” McKay’s plans for a peaceful retirement are once again derailed when a man with Ebola-like symptoms passes out on a flight from London. Mackie calls on his surgical skills – and a dose of creativity – to save the young man’s life. Instead of gratitude, however, he ignites the suspicions of the U.S. government.

After masked military responders forcefully remove Mackie from the plane, he finds himself in the middle of an investigation by the Centers for Disease Control. As a deadly pathogen spreads through health centers across the U.S., Mackie learns that the most promising cure is embargoed by the FDA. He soon suspects domestic terrorism rooted in Big Pharma and sanctioned by public health officials.

In the struggle for command and control of the outbreak, Mackie is caught in the cross-hairs of a governmental cover-up, where the only clear solution seems to be silencing the whistle blower.

So… does this sound familiar? Could you see this splashed on your local news feed? From the book's first sentence, this medical thriller, takes you through a journey that is way too realistic. Suspension of disbelief? Sure, I can do that, but this was written by a medical doctor. So everything felt real, possible, and scary as hell. 

Russell take the reader on a journey of deception, a mysterious outbreak, and people in position of power with questionable motives. A great book will teach the reader something new. This book delivers that in bunches. The reader goes deep in the belly of the beast known as the CDC, military response units, pharmaceutical companies, and explores our encoded genetic need for survival. I got how scary -- how fragile -- the world we live in really is. The smallest thing can be the tipping point.

When I started reading the book, I could not set it down. I did, however, mostly because at times I wondered if I showed any signs of a potential bacterial/viral/whateverial infection. Every itch was potentially a sign. Every caught could be the start—the end. This is how good a job the author did to scare this middle-aged man. The writing is smooth and powerful. The world we jump into is vivid, clear — almost felt like I can go to those locations and find my way around. And the story is superb — unfortunately, too realistic. I dare say, mainstream blockbuster, Dan Brown, could pick up a tool or two from Russell.

The book comes out Nov 14th which also happens to be World Diabetes Day. This author, along with others, will donate all proceeds of book sales toward juvenile diabetes as part of the BUY THE BOOK, FUND THE CURE event. Dr. Stephen Russell’s daughter has juvenile diabetes. He has stepped up to be part of the solution. So if you want to help fund the cure, your purchase will go a long way. More information can be found on the Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/Buythebookfundthecure.

So, if you’re looking for a great thrill ride, help fund an amazing cause, and are willing to get uncomfortable a bit, then this book is for you. A fantastic novel. Highly recommend it.

You Need To Be Connected...

... to make it in the publishing business...

In a manner of speaking.

Couple of weeks ago, I was invited to a local school to speak to a group of tenth and eleventh graders about the journey of the writer (or any creative endeavor for that manner). We discussed many topics and then one student asked, "Do you need to be connected to make it?"

I live in L.A. Anyone worth their salt knows to make it in Hollywood you need to know people.

So I didn't hesitate. "Absolutely," I said. Silence from the young faces. "But not the type of connected you may think."

Writing is a solitary art. At first. As Stephen King says, write your first draft with the doors closed. Revise and edit with the doors open.

When you're writing, it's you, your characters, your muse, and maybe even your demons. When you're done you need your community.

I can't imagine submitting a manuscript (to an agent, to a publisher, or if self-publishing, pushing "submit" on Amazon) that hasn't been vetted by my team.

Who is in my team? It starts with my first reader, my wife. Them it goes to my beta readers, each picked over time because they bring something I don't have. Even after that, I have to have my freelance-editor go through it with a fine tooth comb. And after that, I get a select two to look at it once again before I even consider moving forward. If the timing is right, I make sure I attend read-and-critique workshops to further develop the opening chapters. Then, and only then, am I ready to send it to my agent.

These people--my tribe--are my connections. How did I get them?

Twitter, Facebook, writers conferences (Santa Barbara Writers Conference and Southern California Writers' Conference), professional writers organizations (Romance Writers of America and the local LA chapter).

In all cases, I helped and they helped back. I contributed and they contributed back.

You may start on an island but you will need your tribe to cross the finish line.

This coming week I return to my third consecutive Santa Barbara Writers Conference, running from June 7th until the 12th. These are all-day events, starting at 8 AM and ending at 1 AM or so (depending on your stamina and access to coffee).

Pirate workshop at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference ~ June 12, 2013 @ 11:58 PM

It's all read and critiques. Yes, you get to read your chapters and accomplished writers and workshop leaders help you refine your work. But the part that gives me the most value is when I listen to all these intelligent people speak and give feedback. Not only about my work, but all the feedback (particularly the other feedback). And as you develop as a writer, you also realize who is your type of writer. That's when you make your connections.

Find your comfort zone and jump into the wild beyond. Whether it's Twitter, Facebook, or a conference, you'll need to start somewhere. And if you're lucky you may build friendships that are built on a common love -- story telling.

Find your tribe. Make your connections.

Fight the good fight!

How I Got My Agent

I Have a Literary Agent!

Let's just pause there for a moment and savor how sweet that sounds and feels.

I am elated to announce that the wonderful Stacey Donaghy of Donaghy Literary Group is now my agent.

My wife once said, "You need to find the agent who will love your work as much as we do." I have found that person. Her energy is infectious and her vision is clear. I look forward to our partnership.

How I found her was strategic and tactical. With the help of my network, the power of Facebook and Twitter, and some old fashioned luck, I am able to announce this news today.

Like all things, there is a story.

It started on September 20th with an announcement from Marisa Corvisiero of Corvisierio Literary, a friend of the Southern California Writers' Conference (SCWC).

Stacey Donaghy had been with the Corvisiero Literary Agency until recently. A new agency meant opportunity.

But I had missed that announcement. Thankfully, my mentor and freelance editor extraordinaire, Jean Jenkins (JJ), had seen the post and emailed me. Connections: JJ is one of the original founders and a workshop leader at the SCWC. Therefore Ms. Corvisiero was on her radar.

"New Agency to try," Jean wrote.

I hopped to the Donaghy Literary Group site. Scoured the submission guidelines, what she was looking for, etc. Everything seemed like a perfect match but then...

Oh NO! Per the submission guidelines, the agency said they like the romance to be "steamy." I don't do fifty shades type of stuff. So I wrote JJ. "I don't think I can do steamy."

Undeterred, JJ said, "Query anyway. Sometimes your idea of 'steamy' isn't the other guy's."

With her words of encouragement, I went back to the site, but...

Oh No! The site said not accepting queries until December 2nd.

The bad news was that on December 2nd there would be an avalanche of queries. I could get lost in the slush pile. I took the hiatus to learn as much as I could about Ms. Donaghy. Interviews, Publisher's Marketplace, Tweets. RESEARCH. I also bought a book from one of her clients.

At the same time, literary agent Jessica Sinsheimer and I had been chatting up a storm on Twitter--mostly about coffee and food. She then told me she was about to launch another round of the popular "Manuscript Wish List" on Twitter. This is the event where agents and editors tweet about what they wish they had #MSWL in their inbox.

And when #MSWL started, I followed the feeds. Then I saw this.

Stacey Donaghy is looking for Romance -- check!

Stacey Donaghy will look at queries in advance if I mention #MSWL in the query -- check!

I didn't waste time. I queried her -- following the guidelines EXACTLY! Please don't make your own guidelines. There's a reason agencies have guidelines.

I waited. A few weeks later she wrote me. She liked the opening chapter. She wanted the rest.

A few weeks later she sent me THE email. She LOVED the manuscript. She wanted us to talk.

We had a call (THE CALL) and it was perfect and powerful and empowering.

On November 30th, this happened

And you know what, the whole steamy thing...well, JJ was right (again). Ms. Donaghy loved the manuscript as is.

Lessons learned:

• Be involved in the writing community. Go to conferences if you can. Make friends and listen to experts. Learn all the time.
• Twitter and Facebook are your friend. Follow those in the business. Listen, learn, interact, be interesting and appropriate.
• Be opportunistic. Be ready to take advantage of lucky situations.
• Don't assume too much. When an agent says first ten pages, they don't mean first fifteen. But there are some things that are less clear. If you are unsure what an agent may mean (ex. steamy) go with your gut and take a chance. A good story will always get the eyeballs.

Thank you all for your support. 

If you want to keep up with my journey, please take ten seconds and follow this blog and/or subscribe.

Fight the good fight!

So, You Wanna NaNo?

Are you NaNoWriMo-ing Tomorrow?

What's NaNoWriMo you ask? Check out my post from a year ago then come back here.

Now that we're on the same page, and since this is my second year at this (and therefore an expert, thank you very much), there are a few thoughts that I'd like to share with you.

First: DON'T FREAK OUT!

Please, this is about using an excuse to focus on writing for one month. Friends want to go to the Justin Beiber concert? First, get new friends. Second, tell them, "I'm on a deadline. I made a commitment!"

Second: Get into your story world

I won't bother to tell you that you need to nail your concept, know your characters, plot it out or pants it in -- you are NaNoWriMo-ing, you understand this stuff.

But what you need to do in preparation of your daily writing session is get into the world/universe you've created for this story. Feel it, see it, hear them. Make it vivid and the stakes will become vivid.

I have a writing journal where I write out, what happened, what will happen next, and why do they matter.

Three headings, bullets underneath each. Remember that what happens next must have a reason for happening. As Jim Scott Bell says, happy people in happy land does not make for a compelling story.

Spend 15 minutes on this and your writing will get an octane boost.

Third: Don't stop until you're done

That means don't go back and reread what you wrote. Don't revise now. Stop that. All you're doing is stalling the creative process.

I know the pain, I've been there. You're well into the second act then you realize, "Holy Bat Juice, Batman, if I made Bobby a woman, then I can add this very cool plot twist." But it's more than changing the name, it's changing some of the interactions, the dialogue, it's, it's.... STOP I tell you.

Get a post it, on it write "Bobby = Barbie" then stick it on your table, your monitor, your forehead (scratch that). When you are DONE with the first draft, you will have to revise -- none of us are good enough to write perfect first drafts -- at least no one that reads this blog.

The desire to go back and revise is your inner child saying you're not good enough. The universe will conspire against you. Don't get hooked by it. You are a writer. Do what you do -- tell the story before your characters decide to leave you.

Fourth: Write

It's that simple. Just Write.

It doesn't matter if it's crap. You can't fix what hasn't been written. I am a better reviser than a first drafter. But I know that when I put the story on paper, the world becomes real and my characters become three dimensional -- they become vested in the outcome of their story. They can't do that if I am navel-gazing wondering if the first responder would be the Highway Patrol or the Sheriff. Who cares?

Write it now, fix it later.

You are a story teller. Your medium is writing. Now go and do it and let me know how you're doing.

Fight the good fight!

Plot & Structure Analysis - Sleepless in Seattle

Sleepless in Seattle 

If you haven't done it yet, you are missing out on a very powerful tool. The tool I'm referring to is story decomposition.

No, not like the decay of once living things, but breaking down something into manageable, understandable pieces, so that you can learn from them.

Decomposing your favorite story (screenplay or novel) into it's various beats is a powerful and instructive way of learning what works, what doesn't and why/how to incorporate the same concepts into your work.

One of my more popular posts was when I did the Plot & Structure Analysis for the movie Notting Hill. For that one I used James Scott Bell's methodology as outlined in his must-have book Plot & Structure.

For this one, I will use another powerful method: Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! framework.

Boiling it down to the basics, all good stories (commercial ones at least) will have specific beats (scenes) that must happen in order for the plot to move forward in a convincing and satisfying way. The more primal the scenes, the more the story will resonate with the audience.

Warning: Spoiler alert. If you haven't seen this romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, then I will give it all away. It's a fun movie. Go and get it.

Why Sleepless in Seattle? Why not could be a good response, but there is a tactical answer. The current story I'm writing required me to keep the hero and heroine away from each other for an extended period of time. The first third of the book in fact. General wisdom says you don't want to have too many scenes where the would-be-lovers are kept away from each other. Yet, this movie pulled it off for nearly the entire movie. How did they do it? What elements in the story and/or characters allowed the writer to get away with it? Let's dig in.

The Opening Image: Sets the tone, mood, type and scope (style and stakes). This is the starting point of hero -- the “Before” snapshot. Cemetery, father and son staring at casket. "Mommy got sick and died...if we ask why we'll all go crazy." The world is suddenly broken for these two. How will they cope? Notice that this is not the inciting incident. The story has not yet started. What we have is that they are alone. By the end we will have a matching beat where the closing scene should show us how the character/s have evolved throughout the story.

Theme stated: Hanks and son decide to leave home and start a new. Hanks's friends tell him that soon he'll meet someone. Hanks snaps back, "and I'll grow a new heart...it only happens once." This is the theme. Can true love happen again? This statement that Hanks makes is the theme and the movie is really about answering this question. The writer gets this out and in your face up front. The audience wants to see, will this man be able to find love again.

The Set-Up: The hero, the stakes and goals are stated with vigor. We meet all the key players in the story. We meet Meg and her allergic to everything fiancé. When Meg's mom tells her daughter how she knew she had fallen in love, Meg realizes that she doesn't have a similar experience. She felt no magic. Is he right guy? For Hanks, even though they moved, life is still empty. And the son is getting concerned for his father.

Catalyst: The main characters get knocked off the stasis world. Meg hears a kid on a pop-psychology radio talk show. He's Hank's son saying his father is sad because after his wife died he didn't find anyone. Hank's grudgingly gets on the call. "What was so special about your wife?" the radio host asks. He says, "I knew it the very first time I touched her. It's like coming home." He knew it was love. "It was like magic," he says, the same thing Meg's mom had said. Meg's world has been destabilized. Typically in movies this inciting incident happens later -- they have a captive audience. In books, you have less time to get the reader engaged.

Debate: The interview still ringing in his head, Hank's begins to debate if he should date again. Thousands of women are sending him letters. Meg is thinking about the interview also, wondering if she's with the right person.


Break into act two: Hero enters the “Upside Down World.” Meg hears the replay of the interview and begins to cry. Her life is missing the romance. Hanks makes the decision -- he calls a woman for the first time and in the background we hear the music, "I'm back in the saddle again." Meg decides to write Hanks a letter.

B Story revealed: Here the other story is revealed. Eventually the A and B stories will come together. For now, we see them as part of the life of the characters. In most stories, this is usually the love story which carries the theme
. We see both main characters trying to get on with life but they are both incomplete. This is a love story. He's trying to find that magic again, she suspects that Hanks may be the one, even though she has never met him.


Fun and Games: This is the core of the story. Various set pieces are loaded here with both characters. We see how the father and son are struggling with all of this. We see her struggle with the life she has versus a fairly tale story she wants. She even hires a private investigator to get information on him. She's obsessing over him.


Mid-point: The stakes are raised here. This is when he becomes serious with the woman his dating and his son doesn't like it. The son has read through all the letters from women who want to meet Hanks and the son wants his dad to call "Annie" the Meg Ryan character. The father will not hear any of it.

Bad Guys Close in: Internal and external forces, tighten the grip. Hank's friends fly in to visit. She also fly's into Seattle to try to meet him. Out of pure coincidence they see each other at the airport. He stares at her, not sure why, but something about her has him in a trance. Shortly after, she finds his home and decides she will introduce herself. But she sees that he's with someone else. She thinks that he's in love again. It turns out it's Hanks's friends from back home. Meg escapes, goes back home.

All is Lost: She escapes, returns home and declares, "It's good that I'm back." The fairy tale will not happen. In her letter, she had asked him to meet with her on Valentine's day, at the top of the Empire States building, just like her favorite movie. Now she realizes she was being a fool. She refocuses on her relationship with her fiancé. 

Dark night of the soul: Father and son have a big fight and the son says, "I hate you."

Break into Three: The son gets a plane ticket and goes to New York to meet "Annie." Hanks finds out two hours later and also gets on a plane, on track to find his son and maybe to meet his destiny.
 
 

Finale: The A and B stories collide. Meg and fiancé are in NY, about to have dinner. She sees the lit Empire States building and realizes, she has to see if Hanks will meet her there. What if? She admits everything to her fiancé. They break up and she makes a dash for the rendezvous point. Hanks is in New York, desperately trying to find son. When they find each other they reaffirm their love for each other. They agree that they are fine together as they are. They leave. At the same instance, she shows up, but they are gone. But all is not lost, the son forgot his backpack, they go to get it and find Annie there. "It's you," he says, realizing she was the one at the airport.




Final Image: He holds her hand, and just as he had described the first time he had held his wife's hand, something happens. They both feel the magic. Hanks and son with a new woman. Will she be mom? We see the three walk out together. A family that appear happy and complete. A far cry from the opening scene.

What I realized by decomposing this story is that unlike most romantic comedies where one of the two is a lot more evolved, in this case, both had a fairly steep character arc. They both were trying to find an answer, unlike say, Notting Hill, where he knows he loves her, but she has to struggle with her life until she realizes he is the one. That may be the secret sauce in this one. Practically two stories that converge.

Hope this was helpful.

Fight the good fight!

Dude Writes Like a Lady

"Oh, I thought you were a woman."

Not a lot of guys would grin if they were told that. I heard it five times...in a span of 40 minutes...by Literary Agents no less!

An explanation is in order.

In early June, I attended the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. This was my second year attending. In

Lunch on the beach during the conference

advance of the conference, I had sent in pages from the first chapter of Game of Love (my manuscript).

Although the story is a dual-perspective novel (switches between the female and male protagonists), the first chapter begins with her, Gemma. In fact, the story is Gemma's story. Andre is the agent of change. Also, although one could argue that this is a love story and therefore probably a romance novel, this story is can also pass for women's fiction.

So, to summarize: the pitch to the agents is that the manuscript is women's fiction or romance (depending on what they're looking for), the story begins in the head of my female protagonist, and to top it all off, my name is not the most manly name in the world.

Ara the Barbarian? Ara the Invader? You see what I mean?

Anyway, so as I waited for my first meeting, I began shadow boxing, humming the Rocky theme, and asking myself, "Are you going to bring it? Well are you?"

With that, I entered the lion's den. I found the first agent and marched up to her.

"Hi, I'm Ara. Nice to meet you." Firm handshake. Very manly.

"Oh." Pause. "Nice to meet you too." Pause. A shy grin. "I thought you were a woman."

The first time, my eyes went wide before I grinned. By the fourth one, I was laughing, full of pride.

Why, you ask?

Because I had succeeded in effectively capturing a woman's voice in the opening pages. I had done my job as a writer -- respect the characters. The agents all said the same thing. "You've nailed it," one said. Another said, "Readers may be surprised."

To be fair, this is not an out of the world skill. Successful authors do it all the time. A famous example: JK Rowling is not a teenage boy. You get the point. This is normal and has to be done. We all do it.

But for me, this feedback was monumental. When I set out to write Game of Love, I wanted to tell Gemma's story. Not the way a guy would perceive it, but the way she would perceive her life and the challenges she faced.

I've blogged about this before, and if you don't believe me that's fine. Just believe me when I say that I believe my characters are real. They exist in my head, my thoughts and imagination. My job is to listen to them and put their words on paper, the best way I can.

It appears I did a good job of that--or at a minimum the character is credible. Now all I have to do is convince an agent and then an acquiring editor that the story I've told is a sellable one.

Fight the good fight!

The Power of Brevity - "Hot In Here"

Less is more

The concept of brevity goes beyond not repeating things, or avoiding the sin of over explaining something, or going on and on, hoping your reader will finally understand what the heck you're talking about. Brevity asks you to focus on word choice and the imagery those choices create.

A simple example to set the stage -- in "A Wanted Man" by Lee Child, Jack Reacher is given a bottle of water. Child then explains:

"...He split the seal on the bottle..."

Child could have said, "...He opened the bottle..." (yawn!) but by choosing the verb "split" and the noun "seal," he produces an image that's impossible to miss. In fact, he accomplished a few things. He shows the action and puts the reader tight into the narrator's POV by allowing the reader to actually hear the action.

My freelance editor, JJ, put me to task. Over the last few months I've been knee-deep in revisions and have taken this simple lesson to heart. The right verbs go beyond showing, they let the reader hear and experience it by pulling them in closer to the story.

It was with this in mind that the opening lyrics of a Rascal Flatts song caught my attention.

"Hot In Here" by Rascal Flatts
She jumped in my truck in her bare feet
Slid on over to the middle seat
Baby crack a window,
Crank that AC high as it can go

Let's dig in...

She jumped in my truck in her bare feet

The opening sentence should make the reader/listener ask questions and extrapolate answers. Who is she? Why is she in her bare feet? She can't be a high society woman. Poor? Or is she a young woman? He drives a truck. Small town in rural America? Maybe Let's hear more.

Slid on over to the middle seat

Beautiful use of an audible verb. Slid creates the picture we need. She must be younger -- youthful attitude to be in bare feet and slide on over. As close as she can be to him.

Baby crack a window,

She calls him "baby." Not just acquaintances. Young love? Can you hear the crack of the window? Are you in the driver's seat yet? I remember my first car and how the day's temperature expanded the windows such that the first time I rolled her down, a cracking sound would echo in my poorly insulated car.


Crank that AC high as it can go

Crank. Old truck, no touch-screens on this puppy. It must be hot outside. And it seems that when these two are together, things get hot inside. Now the image of a barefooted young woman is taking on a new meaning.

What the songwriter(s) have done is set up the world and situation. The judicious use of powerful verbs create images, produce sounds, and deliver the audience an experiential story. We can see ourselves there, we've probably lived a version of this story in one form or another.

Brevity is power. As writers, we must question if our readers can experience the sentence we've written.

Are there passages or song lyrics that with the brief use of words have created a complete scene for you? Scenes where you didn't need to be there, but you could see it all unfold in front of you?

Fight the good fight!