Tag Archives: Dream Agent

2009 Debutante Author Interview Series: L.K. Madigan

By Posted in 2009 Deb Interview Series, Uncategorized Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , 11 Comments

flash

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Fifteen-year-old Blake has a girlfriend and a friend who’s a girl. One of them loves him, the other one needs him.
When he snapped a picture of a street person for his photography homework, Blake never dreamed that the woman in the photo was his friend Marissa’s long-lost meth addicted mom. Blake’s participation in the ensuing drama opens up a world of trouble, both for him and for Marissa. He spends the next few months trying to reconcile the conflicting roles of Boyfriend and Friend. His experiences range from the comic (surviving his dad’s birth control talk) to the tragic (a harrowing after-hours visit to the morgue).
In a tangle of life and death, love and loyalty, Blake will emerge with a more sharply defined snapshot of himself.

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New Week, New Deb. This week we’ve got the incredibly funny L.K. Madigan, author of the forthcoming Flash Burnout, which will be released by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt this fall! L.K. is an author living in Portland, Oregon. Visit her at: http://www.lkmadigan.com.

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Flash Burnout is your debut novel, so a big congrats on that. But can you give us a little statistical rundown on how long it took you to get to this point? How many books? How many rejections? How many days, months, or years?

 

The short answer is that I got serious about writing for young adults in 2001. Eight years later, my book is coming out.

 

The longer answer is that I wrote some picture books and two novels during the first four years, submitted them to probably 25 agents, got discouraged, and shelved them. I started working on a third novel, completed it in December 2005, and spent the next two years querying about 20 agents/editors. I was thisclose to giving up the idea of writing for publication when I got the YES from my agent, Jennifer Laughran. I look at those two years of rejection now as fate. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was waiting for my Dream Agent to decide she wanted to be an agent.

 

 

 

That’s so sweet. It’s like y’all were meant to be! Which”Call” thrilled you more? The call in which you landed an agent or the call in which you landed your book deal? Can you describe to us what it felt like?

 

One was thrilling in an OMG-I’ve-Been-Going-on-Blind-Dates-for-Two-Years-Have-I-Finally-Met-Mr-Right?! kind of way.

The other was more of a You’ve-Just-Won-a-Million-Dollars-AND-Fulfilled-a-Lifelong-Dream kind of thrill. (Er, not that I got paid a million dollars … just that I felt like I did.)

So they were both massively thrilling in very distinct ways.

 

Million dollars or Mr. Right? Glad you didn’t have to choose. Tell me a little bit about writing from a teen boy’s perspective. Easier? Harder?

 

I don’t know what this says about me as a person with lady parts, but I do find it easier to write from the teen boy’s perspective. I’m a big fan of the male animal, and have spent my life in close study and ardent admiration of them.

 

 

 

Throughout your journey as a writer, what resources have you found most valuable to your success? Websites? Books? Conferences?

 

Voices in my head.

 

Coffee.

 

Critique groups.

 

A laptop.

 

And more recently, a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. (The better to hear the imaginary voices with, my dear!)

 

I marvel at the intimacy of the Internet, too. I’ve made many friends over the four years that I’ve been blogging, some of whom I’ve even gotten to meet in person. My writing life would be much lonelier without them.

 

 

 

You mentioned voices in your head. Does that, um, worry you? Should you maybe see a doctor?

 

(What does she mean, asking us such an impertinent question?!) (Shh, let me handle this.) No, Chandler, haha. Awkward! I was being metaphorical. They’re not ACTUAL voices. (We’re not? We’re not real?) (Shh! I said be quiet!) (She’s pretty.) (Let’s name a character Chandler.) (I’m hungry.)

 

 

Yes! Listen to them. Name a character Chandler!

Did you feel your relationship with your agent changed after your sale?

 

No, she abuses me with undiminished enthusiasm.

 

 

 

This is Fumbling with Fiction, so I have to ask, in your writing career have you ever had a big “Oops!” moment?

 

Errgghh, I am never going to stop cringing over it: I confused an agent’s last name with a new client at work. (They both started with Sch, if you’re really curious.) She was completely kind about it, but like I said … still cringing here.

 

 

Hey, if that’s the worst thing that happens, I think you can consider yourself ahead. You’re now at the beginning of your writing career. Can you believe it? Where would you like that sure-to-be illustrious career to take you?

 

 

To Disneyland!

 

And then back to my comfy red chair, where I do a lot of my writing.

 

Truly: I want it all. I want the goofy hats and the teacups and the rollercoasters of publishing, then I want peace and quiet to focus on the craft.

 

That would be awesome.

 

 

I was unaware that publishing came with goofy hats and teacups. See! THIS is why I need to interview you guys. Tell us a little about receiving your first editorial letter. What was yours like? How did you feel when you received it?

 

Authors who have received 12-page editorial letters are going to curse me, but my first editorial letter was one page long. It accompanied a marked-up manuscript, too, of course, but it was a pleasant surprise to read it and feel like, “I can do this,” instead of curling up into a frightened ball. I did gasp audibly, however, at one line: “I’d like you to start thinking of other possible titles.” In the end, my editor decided to keep FLASH BURNOUT, much to my joy and relief.

 

 

One page! Wow. Finally, if you could have written one book previously published by another author, which book would it be?

FINGERSMITH, by Sarah Waters. I just read it this year, and I can’t stop raving about it.

It’s set in the Victorian era, and it’s brilliant. It’s fast-paced and tense, full of all the elements you want in a Victorian mystery: orphans and thieves, a creepy country estate and a handsome scoundrel, burning desires and cruel greed. Sigh. I would love to be able to write like that.

Thanks for the interview, Chandler!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6 Ways To Quit Wasting Your Time

By Posted in Uncategorized, Writing: The Process Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

If you’re like me (and I bet you are), when you are in the midst of submitting your novel/short story/query to agents or editors your day goes something like this:

 

Wake up, check your iPhone for emails before you so much as roll out of bed, go to your computer to check the response times of agents/editors at the Blue Boards, compare with your excel spreadsheets, brush teeth/do hair/try to act like you are about to be productive, go check inbox, check blogs, check inbox, open your Word document, check inbox, stare at screen, check inbox, hit refresh, hit refresh, hit refresh…

 

Ok, so first thing’s first. Take your mouse off the refresh button. Navigate away from your inbox. Close the entire window. Yes, I promise it will be ok. Your emails will still be waiting for you in an hour’s time. I swear.

Now, here’s how we can better spend our time:

 

1. Edit. You might be too wound up to write anything new. Fine. Sometimes that happens. But think about what you can do that is productive. I mean really, really productive. Editing! Go back a few pages and read. Fix any glaring errors or maybe flesh a scene out. This activity is well worth your while, somehow feels less intensive, and is completely guilt free.

2. Grab your notebook. Not your laptop, the kind that involved killing trees. Thanks. Now, go sit on a couch, away from your computer and work out a plot point. If that’s too intensive for your little, wound up mind, think of snippets of dialogue. Again, this takes fewer brain cells, removes your from temptation, and yet is an activity related to your next WIP. Feel good about it.

3. Research. Anything to add realism or depth to your new project. Unfortunately, this places you closer to your computer, but, luckily, your inbox is not just minimized but closed, so resist! Plus, research is fun. Who doesn’t like to learn new things? Plus, the knowledge needed to write novels is usually the useless kind and that’s the best stuff to know anyhow. Take notes.

4. Storyboard. This takes a bit more brain power, so to do this activity you’ll need to not be entirely consumed by the anticipation that comes with waiting for an agent/editor’s verdict. Get a big piece of cardboard and a bunch of post-its. Use different colored post-its because that’s more fun and a ruler to draw the lines because it will look prettier when you finish. Make it look like a weekly calender. A margin on top and then divide into smaller column units. The smaller column units will be labeled as chapters. Different colored post-its should signify different things like characters introduced, clues given, or red herrings thrown in. This way you can visualize how everything is coming together. Plus, with post-its you can move things around as necessary. This will help you to identify plot holes and to see where the story climaxes and mini-climaxes.

5. Go to the library. I know, you probably already have your coat, keys, and are halfway out the door. But, really, reading within your genre is incredibly important and should never be considered a waste of your time. This is also the best way to forget about the milliseconds passing in which you’ve received no emails from Dream Agent #1. Read the book for fun, but pay special attention to what worked in the book and what didn’t. Note what scenes you loved and the ones you hated. As you read more within your genre, try to figure out the trends. You shouldn’t necessarily write for the market, but you should understand it. Of course, if you can afford to do this all at the bookstore, then more power to you. But, hey! We’re trying to decrease stress, so if spending a billion dollars on books doesn’t make you feel great, don’t feel bad. Use the library, it’s the American way! (Also, libraries are great customers for publishers and therefore your favorite authors because they often by multiple copies in hardcover. A great way to help your favorite authors is to request that the library order the book if they don’t have it already!)

6. Finally, if you really can’t handle writing related activities–Attend to Real Life. Writers always complain about real life getting in the way. Well, maybe washing your socks and running the dishwasher is exactly the diversion you need.

 

Status: Just got back from Happy Hour and am about to do some reading. Waiting, waiting, waiting for a page from SCOUT. I’ve got ants in my pants and probably need to take my own advice.