To celebrate the release of Under the Empyrean Sky, I’m gonna just leave this post here today for you to ask me anything you want. Ask me about the book. About young adult fiction. About my other books or my future books or whiskey preferences or toddler-wrangling techniques.
Anything.
Anything at all.
I’ll swing by here around noon EST and answer the first volley.
Then I’ll pop by come evening and answer more.
BECAUSE I’M FUNKY LIKE THAT.
Further! I’ll toss some swag and free books and such to my favorite five questions.
What kind of swag? Hell, I dunno. FREE STUFF. Mmmm. Free.
I am very excited and also very nervous about this book release (I got seven other books out now with publishers and each time I still get that “I might vomit up a cloud of nervous moths at any moment” feeling on release day). I am maybe a leetle teeny weeny bit more nervous this time because this book was a riskier story for me. It’s young adult, more worldbuildy, more sci-fi-flavored, and so forth. Plus it’s got stuff about sons and fathers, about food and agriculture and my memories of farm-life. It tries to be exciting and yet say something at the same time — yet also say something without being preachy about it and aaaaaaah *head asplodes*
What I’m saying is:
It was a tricky book to write and I hope it paid off.
And so, my plea: I only get to keep doing this if you tell folks and those folks maybe check out the book? I live and die by the grace of goodly readers such as yourselves — and, more to the point, this website lives or dies in much the same way. My writing helps fund this website (and monthly costs are no longer cheap, sadly), and so it’s folks buying my books and talking about those books that keeps this whole set of plates spinning.
So, again:
Check out the book.
Tell folks.
If you’re so inclined to leave a review somewhere: yay.
I appreciate it.
This website appreciates it.
My two-year-old appreciates it.
High-five to each and every one of you.
Now ask me some questions, willya?
Kelli Riffle says:
What is your favorite way to avoid writing?
July 30, 2013 — 4:40 PM
terribleminds says:
Answering questions about how I avoid writing.
OUROBOROS OMG THE SNAKE IS BITING HIS OWN TAIL
July 30, 2013 — 9:27 PM
Kelli Riffle says:
That’s cheating! You don’t have us ALL the time.
July 31, 2013 — 10:35 AM
Andy Taylor. says:
You are not shy at offering advice to writers. You do so regularly on your excellent blog and you have written some books on the subject. I have purchased a couple myself and have delighted in rooting out your ingots of shiny wisdom.
What about you? Have you ever read a book on writing advice? If you have, what was it? Or, what was the best if you have trawled through more than one. Maybe, you learned your licks in a different way? Or, did you just dive in and flap ’til you flew?
July 30, 2013 — 4:54 PM
terribleminds says:
Read many! Loved and still refer to: King’s ON WRITING, any of Lawrence Block’s books, SAVE THE CAT by Blake Snyder, Ray Bradbury’s ZEN IN THE ART OF WRITING.
July 30, 2013 — 9:28 PM
dtkrippene says:
Waiting to receive yon book, can’t wait. Congrats on the launch, and good choice with corn. For anyone who wants to know why, read “Omnivore’s Dilemma ” by Michael Pollan. We’re all walking cornstalks.
Question: Do you sometimes feel the YA genre has been highjacked by the RWA?
July 30, 2013 — 5:51 PM
terribleminds says:
I do not feel that YA has been highjacked by the RWA, nope. I assume you mean because YA has a lot of romance in it? That’s okay — there’s a romantic subthread running through a lot of YA because it’s relevant and narratively relevant to teens and their own stories.
July 30, 2013 — 9:29 PM
Alex says:
If you could only turn out one book a decade, but it was always guaranteed to be just as successful as the last, would you still want to be a novelist?
July 30, 2013 — 6:02 PM
terribleminds says:
No, because I could tell stories in other formats.
July 30, 2013 — 9:30 PM
feedthewriter says:
Your blog has inspired me to become a better writer. Would you ever start a book doctor business or teach a class on writing? I’ve seen a lot of “unqualified” book doctors out there with shitty services and sky-high prices. I’d paid for you to tear apart my book. I’d also pay to sit in any class you taught.
July 30, 2013 — 6:16 PM
terribleminds says:
I’ll never say never — I’m likelier to start a class than a business. Mostly, though, I’m just too dang busy writing. 🙂
July 30, 2013 — 9:30 PM
ronin3567 says:
Do you think “Firefly” might be the best show ever?
July 30, 2013 — 7:00 PM
terribleminds says:
I do not! I like FIREFLY quite a bit, but I don’t think it had enough time — or enough of a kind hand from Fox — to be the best show it could be.
July 30, 2013 — 9:31 PM
auroranibley says:
As someone who is currently working on a large-scale project and struggling with learning how to outline, I was wondering if you, as someone who did not begin as a natural outline-maker, had any big breakthroughs when you were knuckling down to figure that shit out? Anything that might help those who are trying to figure it out now?
July 30, 2013 — 7:08 PM
terribleminds says:
No real breakthroughts other than just to write one out even if it feels awkward — get to the end and you start to see what’s useful and what’s not and how best to do the next one.
July 30, 2013 — 9:32 PM
auroranibley says:
Even this is helpful. So much of what a person needs is just encouragement to keep going.
Thanks! ^_^
July 30, 2013 — 10:43 PM
ronin3567 says:
What is your thoughts on the whole “Show, don’t tell” thing in fiction?
July 30, 2013 — 7:10 PM
terribleminds says:
I think it is a nugget of advice that is widely misunderstood because it’s a bit glib, a bit short, a bit too punchy. Like all writing advice, really.
But I think at its heart, it pays to lean more toward painting a picture with language than describing the picture with language.
July 30, 2013 — 9:36 PM
Amber J. Gardner says:
Do you think stories have expiration dates?
I have stories in my mind that have been there for years now, some even from High School that I still want to tackle when the time is write, but have already committed to more recent and what I feel are easier story ideas.
How long have your stories been in your head before you get about to solely working on them till completion? Do you dabble in more than one project at once and recommend it at all?
July 30, 2013 — 7:14 PM
terribleminds says:
God, I hope not. I’m still mining stories from years years years ago. BLUE BLAZES is a story that came out of a decade of thought.
I have several projects going at a time, though only one writing and one editing at a time. Usually. Generally. I think.
July 30, 2013 — 9:38 PM
thesexiestwriter says:
Is Wrasslin’ real? Cause I like the grave digger!
July 30, 2013 — 8:01 PM
terribleminds says:
It is real. FROM A CERTAIN POINT OF VIEW. /obiwanvoice
July 30, 2013 — 9:38 PM
Ralph Pulner says:
When I buy your book, which makes you more $$ or better numbers? Online or at a physical bookstore?.
July 30, 2013 — 8:57 PM
terribleminds says:
It’s negligible, really. Depends too on publisher or whether I’m self-publishing or whatever. To folks I just say to buy in the format they prefer.
July 30, 2013 — 9:39 PM
Anna Lewis says:
I finished my first book last year (yay!) and after much primping and fluffing pitched it at my first writers conference last summer. Both editors at big houses wanted to see it and I dutifully provided (and then flipped out like nobody’s business in the privacy of my home). However…it’s still with them in limbo many moons later and I have no idea what the timeline for this sort of thing is. I’m pitching the same book this weekend to agents at the same conference, and I wonder if I should bother mentioning that these houses are sitting on it and haven’t said no. I mean, it could tell an agent that, “Hey, these are big guns and they like this story,” or it could say, “It sounded like a good idea at the time, but…mehh.”
So I guess it’s sort of two questions: do I mention to agents that it’s still on those editors’ desks (one of whom has since said she’s trying to make time to read it, after a six-month nudge on my part)? And should I worry that it’s gone this long on those publishers’ desks with no word, even after they asked me to send it?
July 30, 2013 — 9:29 PM
terribleminds says:
You can mention it to agents in a firm but polite way, sure.
As for the worry — well, this industry is slow as molasses off a snowman’s carrot nose, so frequently things take way too long. Prodding is often required.
July 30, 2013 — 9:40 PM
Sara Crow says:
So, late into the third edit of my book, and I’m not sure whether my work just getting boring or I’m just tired of editing. Do you have that problem, or does my writing just suck monkey balls?
July 30, 2013 — 10:03 PM
Isha says:
I really wish I could get the hard copy of your new book – I’m not allowed to purchase anything from the internet – everyone in my family is so paranoid about identity theft, so I won’t be able to buy the electronic version. Any chance that there might be hard copies available?
July 30, 2013 — 10:06 PM
terribleminds says:
Amazon sells hardcovers!
August 2, 2013 — 11:57 AM
Dj says:
Do you ever want to do something more than just write? Do you want to be a musician or a director or an actor? How do you deal with conflicting interests?
July 30, 2013 — 10:37 PM
terribleminds says:
Nope! Pretty much all writer for me. 🙂
August 2, 2013 — 11:57 AM
Ali says:
What advice do you have to someone who gets jealous as hell at other writers’ small-scale success? I have long realized that I will never be a best-selling author, or anything remotely close to a critical success. It’s likely I’ll never get published. But I deal in fanfic (yes the writing world’s hideous, bastard child). I figure I am good enough to garner attention that way, because lord knows I’ll never get good enough for the big leagues. Sadly, I’m still shit there. In my little sliver of fandom, I’m a nobody whereas others go on to much success, have a loyal following of readers and I just…I don’t know why I bother. I enjoy it, but I don’t want to write into an echo chamber. I want feedback, I want reviews, kudos, the whole nine. I want what any other writer wants. But I don’t get it like others do and if I do it’s when I creep the web to see what people won’t say comment on my writing where it is posted (usually “well she’s not as good as writer X” or “she doesn’t write as quickly as writer Y”). It eats me up inside because if I’m shit at writing, and shit in the rest of the aspects of my life that I use writing to escape from, what’s the point of my existence? So basically how do you find fulfillment in the writing you do if no one else cares? I have fun with it and it makes my day better but if I told you I didn’t ultimately want praise for my work, I would be a lying sack of shit.
If I didn’t think your advice posts on your blog were life-changing I wouldn’t blather on about my personal struggles but your posts have gotten me out of gloomy days before so I defer to you again. Your blog is amazing, Chuck. <3 Sincerely, thank you.
July 30, 2013 — 11:12 PM
terribleminds says:
Jealousy, while normal, is totally worthless. It does nothing for you, nor for anybody else. You have to realize that the success of others does not destroy your own and in fact signals a healthy creative ecosystem that you may one day take part in.
August 2, 2013 — 11:58 AM
Lindy Moone says:
Have you ever driven cross-country? If so (even if not) was there a roadside sign that particularly took your fancy? (My favorite is “Fireworks, Handguns, Homemade Sugar-free Fudge”.)
July 31, 2013 — 3:24 AM
terribleminds says:
I have not, but I very much want to one day.
Across PA I like seeing the signs for QUAKER STATE AND LUBE just because, you know, LUBE.
August 2, 2013 — 11:58 AM
Lindy Moone says:
When I lived in the San Francisco Bay area, I couldn’t stop snickering over the sign for “Linoleum Dicks”. If ever there was a need for the possessive…
Or maybe just a Lube center, next door.
August 2, 2013 — 3:38 PM
Wesley says:
There’s this thing that happens to me every once in a while and I’m curious just how common it is. Have you ever written a scene that just felt awesome and then went back to read it and it was still just as awesome, but something about it was disturbing enough to you in a personal way that you wanted to stop and take a shower and maybe go walk it off?
July 31, 2013 — 4:35 AM
terribleminds says:
Sure.
August 2, 2013 — 11:59 AM
Todd Moody says:
Seton Hill (not Seton Hall) has an MFA program specifically for genre fiction. I think there are more of these popping up now.
The real value is in the networking, and it may boost your pedigree marginally, and of course it is credentialled, so you can teach writing, if that’s your thing. I’m currently enrolled there, so I admit to being biased, and I have to say I’m having a wonderful time. The faculty and mentors are all published writers and are absolutely wonderful to work with. So are the students, and wow, what a cross section of society.
July 31, 2013 — 7:20 AM
terribleminds says:
That’s the key — if you can extract value, it’s, well, valuable. But some MFA programs won’t offer as much value and further, you don’t *require* them in the same way you require college for other work. And they can be expensive, to boot, for a career that isn’t so awesome at paying you back immediately.
Some programs are top-notch, of course (as you note), and it behooves the student to do mega-buckets of research first.
July 31, 2013 — 8:33 AM
Todd Moody says:
Sorry Chuck, this was suppsoed to be a reply to the MFA question, but it ended up here. Feel free to expunge.
Congrats on the release! I’ll be buying it.
Here is a question, the program I’m in recently had Kevin Hearne come a do a presentation. (He was awesome, but he also taught for years, and is used to doing presentations in front of a crowd) How would you feel about doing a presentation for an audience of writers, and do you have anything prepared? (Cons or MFA programs may want to book you.) =)
July 31, 2013 — 7:37 AM
terribleminds says:
I’ve done presentations and like them — though I’m usually more comfortable doing panel talks or workshops for people!
July 31, 2013 — 8:31 AM
jkflickinger says:
Just finished reading Under the Empyrean Sky. I thought the characters enjoyable and totally “real”. You built a world where I could dive in and forget everything around me. Good read. Congratulations!
July 31, 2013 — 7:46 AM
terribleminds says:
Why thank you!
July 31, 2013 — 8:30 AM
kaytee says:
How do you find the right words? Not just any old words that say what happened, but the best words to get the reader to see what you’re seeing?
July 31, 2013 — 8:59 AM
terribleminds says:
Whew, going through the questions to pick favorite is HAAAAAARD.
July 31, 2013 — 2:00 PM
brandonmcrose says:
What is your favorite word? (Follow up: What is your least favorite word?)
July 31, 2013 — 2:15 PM
pamelacreese says:
totally off base…but I have toddler also… what is the seed-munching teddy bear’s name? (there is always a story in a name 🙂
August 1, 2013 — 12:17 PM
Wodke Hawkinson says:
Do you like to do crazy interviews with questions that have no correct answers, most of which are unrelated to writing?
August 1, 2013 — 11:45 PM
Seth Guerra says:
How do you feel now about your very first work(s)?
August 2, 2013 — 2:07 AM
terribleminds says:
I HAVE CHOSEN FIVE AWESOME QUESTION-ASKERS.
jspotila!
Rick Cook, Jr!
Kelsey!
Kelli Riffle!
And idreamofthought.
You folks: email me at terribleminds at gmail dot com.
— c.
August 2, 2013 — 12:04 PM
Mike Henderson says:
I’m about to have my novel published through a small press run by wonderful people. But sometimes I feel like the editing is taking by book and breaking it down like a shotgun and pumping its dumper full of trouser wad. Is that normal?
August 2, 2013 — 2:22 PM
Pabkins says:
Ok, listen here Chuck! *does an impersonation of a sailor for a few minutes* I don’t Want your Free Shit! #Evil Grin. I get that from the pubs, then of course promptly buy copies for my unsuspecting friends and family in order to torment their nightly slumber….plus I must buy your shit to enable you to keep producing the shit I want to read – get it? Got it? Good – now onto my shitty question….
Just how many books have you worked on/been writing at once? Mike Underwood made this hilarious comment at BEA saying that you write 6 books before breakfast…Maybe you were a D&D game master or something…How do you keep all that shit straight? millions of post it notes everywhere? A character tree sprouting off all their traits and such. Tell me! How do you not mix it all up!!??
August 5, 2013 — 3:42 PM
terribleminds says:
I was not only a game master, but I wrote games for 10+ years!
I sometimes work on two books at once — one I’m writing, one I’m editing.
I outline and keep the rest in ye olde noggin.
— c.
August 5, 2013 — 7:33 PM