Guest Post by PRETTY GIRL THIRTEEN Author Liz Coley: How Writing is Like Learning the Game of Tennis

Today, I'm welcoming Liz Coley to the blog. Liz is a fellow Lucky 13 and author of YA mystery/thriller PRETTY GIRL THIRTEEN, which came out from Harper on 28th Feb in the UK, and will be published in the US by Katherine Tegen Books on 19th March under the title PRETTY GIRL-13. This is what it says on Amazon: 

A gripping, suspenseful debut that will haunt you long after you have turned the final page…

Angie Chapman is only 13 when she gets lost in the woods in the middle of the night.

The next thing she knows she’s returned home, scars around her wrists and ankles, physically exhausted. Her parents collapse into tears when they see her, but Angie doesn’t understand – until they tell her she has been missing, presumed dead, for three years.

Angie doesn’t remember anything from her missing years. But there are people who do – people who could tell Angie every terrifying detail, if only they weren’t locked inside her mind.

With help, Angie begins to unravel the darkest secrets of her own past.

But does she really want to know the truth?

Doesn't it sound amazing?! So without further ado, here's Liz with a guest post about how writing is like learning the game of tennis.

Photo © Liz Coley

My author bio claims that I play tennis to stay fit and humble. So far this indoor tennis season, my record is 4 wins and 4 losses. That’s the humbling part. And I can tell I’m getting more fit, because everything hurts.

Here’s what I know about learning to play tennis:

(1) You can learn the theory of the game by watching the best players, but you don’t improve your own game from the stands; the champs possess skills you can only dream of at this point.

(2) You can’t learn tennis all by yourself. You need to find a group of people--some may be more advanced and some may be less--who want to play with you. By putting your feet on the court, through trial and error together, you’ll make gradual improvements in coordination and stamina. Scores won’t matter—it’s all about the camaraderie, the coffee, and the lunches out.

(3) At some point, you’ll decide to make a greater investment in developing your skills and pay for lessons. One lesson, you’ll focus on ground strokes, another week on net play, another time on defensive lobs. A professional coach knows how to break the game down into component parts and direct your focus to improving the level of your play bit by bit.

(4) Finally, you will realize it’s time to put yourself out there where it really counts, face to face with competition. Skills matter. Scores matter. And even if you have a disappointing or even embarrassing match one week, you have to pull yourself up by your shoelaces and try again. You’ve made the commitment to play.

(5) Lather, rinse, repeat. It’s a seemingly endless path upwards. Even the champions of the world have coaches. They practice constantly. And they always seek to improve strength, skills, and strategy.

Here’s the parallel in learning to play the game of authorship:

Observation: Read widely to pick up the nuances of language—grammar, vocabulary, and voice. By studying pace and conflict and turning points, figure out how plotting works. Read sometimes for pure pleasure, sometimes with a story-engineer’s eye. Good writers are good readers.

Participation: Develop a network of writing friends and critique partners. Some will be your mentors; some will be your mentees; some will be your exact equals in their progress down the road of craft development, representation, and publication. Whether you are helping or being helped, you are learning the craft and business together. Don’t forget the coffee and mutual support and treating to lunch. Writing does not have to be a solitary endeavor.

Education: Attend conferences and workshops as an investment of your time, talent, and treasure. Workshops tackle specific components of the craft and business of writing, allowing you to focus on improving one particular part of the package that is you. Becoming a professional requires mingling with others in your field, making connections, and learning not only from books on the craft, but from the best in person. If you aren’t confident enough to invest in yourself, who will be? Conferences and workshops are the one place where you have immediate access to the gatekeepers to traditional publishing—the agents and editors.

Competition: Tennis is more forgiving than publishing in that the competition is stratified: beginners compete against beginners, intermediates against intermediates, and grand slam champs against each other. Writers compete against the entire market for acceptance, although publishing houses range from the petite to the megalithic. One way or another, your work has to march onto the court and present itself, compete for the attention first of an agent, then a publisher, then the reading public. Don’t let the fear of losing prevent you from playing.

Completion: There is none. Throughout your life, you will evolve and improve as a writer.

 

You can check out Liz's website and blog here, connect with her on Twitter here and like her author page on Facebook here. Thank you for such a great guest post, Liz!

 

Author Interview - Liz Coley

Today, I'd like to give a huge welcome to Liz Coley, one of my fellow Lucky 13 authors whose debut novel, PRETTY GIRL-13, is out from HarperCollins in 2013. Liz has also self-published a YA novel called OUT OF XIBALBA, so I've asked her a bit more about both books and about the differences between the self-publishing and traditional publishing processes.


Hi Liz. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Liz Coley, mother of three teenagers, changing careers mid-life from volunteer extraordinaire/chauffeur to author. It’s going to be crazy interesting.

When did you start writing, and why?


I started writing seriously in 2002, when I wanted to create a sci-fi novel my two boys could enjoy. The Captain’s Kid was born over the next two years during piano lessons and taekwondo classes. It has never sold. I kept writing, though, because I was determined to give it a solid effort, and, I reassured myself, I was setting a great example for my kids of standing up in the face of rejection and plowing ahead with my dreams.


What is your writing process like?


First I have to go grocery shopping on the way home from school drop-off, then prep the vegetables or start a soup simmering. Some dusting or bill paying or sorting things or laundry might enter into it. Then there’s catching a missed episode of Daily/Colbert. Make a latte. Oh bother--it’s almost lunch time. You get the drift. Procrastination often steals the morning, but the afternoon can be a productive rush of writing frantically packed in before carpool.

You have a debut YA novel, PRETTY GIRL-13, coming out from HarperCollins in 2013, but you’ve also self-published a YA novel, OUT OF XIBALBA. What made you decide to self-publish XIBALBA, and what made you decide to pursue a traditional publishing deal for PRETTY GIRL-13?


I have written eight manuscripts by now, all with the goal of traditional publishing. OUT OF XIBALBA was a true labor of love, a story involving a lot of historical research about the Mayans, a sophisticated civilization that fell into ruins in the jungle a millennium ago. I drop a teenaged girl from Ohio alone into that world of human sacrifice, bloody warfare, and palace politics. As a time travel/alternate history/romance/2012 apocalypse story, it wasn’t something hot on the radar for teens, and in fact, many of my readers have been adult men and women. It refuses to be niched, which makes it impossible to sell traditionally. However, I knew I’d regret it forever if XIBALBA languished on my hard drive, so I made the decision to self-publish before the world ends.


Can you tell us a bit more about the process of self-publishing XIBALBA?


Using Createspace for my print platform and Kindle and Smashwords for my ebook editions, I learned so much from self-publishing--lessons that I believe make me a better author for my publishers. Since a self-pub author makes all the decisions, I now have a better appreciation for both cover and internal design--fonts and style decisions and typesetting. I appreciating what it means to be the final copy-editor and proofreader. I get the really important differences between e-pub and print, including use of images and fonts. Most of all, I appreciate the sizable challenges of promotion and distribution. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, and Nook all carry OUT OF XIBALBA now, and it is getting nice reviews. I’m working to get it into some libraries and schools. (see LCTeen.com)


And can you tell us a bit more about PRETTY GIRL-13’s journey to publication?


PG13 was my 2009 Nanowrimo novel. I had spent a year thinking about it, the prior summer doing the research, September and October clearing my plate of other projects, and November diving into what was a dark and difficult subject. I delivered the story to my agents in early 2010 and spent half a year in revision with them. They took the manuscript out on submission at the start of 2011, and I signed with HarperCollins in July.


If you could only own one book, what would it be (and why)?


This is too hard. Maybe the Oxford English Dictionary (with the magnifying glass and a really bright light) or maybe a favorite that I have reread to shreds but never get tired of--The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis or Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold.


If you could only own one album, what would it be (and why)?


A recording of Handel’s Messiah, because I could sing along.

Who or what is your biggest inspiration?


In terms of writing, I am always inspired by the stories and interviews I hear on NPR. In terms of how to live your life, I am inspired by my mom.


And finally, what’s next for you?


For Nanowrimo 2011, I am digging into another dark psychological story I hope will please PG13 readers. If PRETTY GIRL-13 is about secrets you can’t even tell yourself, this one is about a guilty secret that has to be told, even if it means losing everything.


Thanks for letting me interview you, Liz! It's been great to have you on the blog and to find out more about your books - they both sound fab!


You can also find out more about Liz here:


Lizcoley.com


LCTeen.com


Phlography.blogspot.com


TheLucky13s.blogspot.com


twitter.com/#!/LizColeyBooks