Guess who’s speaking at the Miami Book Fair this year…Me!

I’m thrilled to be one of the authors the Miami Book FairInternational has invited to speak this year.

If you haven’t attended the fair, it’s a must-see event for book lovers. Thousands of people pack the Miami Dade College campus downtown, where there are hundreds of street vendors and presentations from notable authors from around the world.

The headliner this year is Dan Brown, as he will kick it off on Nov. 17. I’m perhaps a little further down the lineup card, but I’ve still got a nice spot.

It’s amazing. Years ago I was in the audience at the Book Fair, an aspiring author trying to gleam a nugget of wisdom from the professionals. Now I’m going to be behind the microphone.

I’ll be presenting on Sunday, Nov. 24. The exact time and place haven’t been determined, as the fair hasn’t released its final schedule yet. I believe I will be grouped with other Florida authors and, of course, I will talk about my novel Mute.

I’d also like to mention the other projects I’m working on. There will be a Miami-set thriller coming out next year with my name on it. More on that to come...

Lessons from successful authors on Striking Terror panel at Book Fair

I had a pleasure of introducing three successful apocalyptic horror authors at the Miami International Book Fair’s “Striking Terror” panel. Hugh Howey, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes all had some great advice that I’d like to share. First, some background on the authors.

Howey started as a self-published author and then Wool caught fire and started selling thousands of copies. Now Random House is releasing the novel in the U.K. and Ridley Scott bought the movie rights. He also wrote the Molly Fyde Saga.

Due and Barnes are a husband and wife team, having co-authored Devil’s Wake. Individually, Due won an American Book Award for Essence. Her other novels include Blood Colony, The Living Blood and The Good House. Barnes has publishes 28 novels and has been nominated for Hugo and Nebula awards. He also wrote for Outliers, Twilight Zone and Baywatch. And don’t mess with him, because he’s an accomplished martial artist.

Here are some pearls of wisdom from these authors.

Howey – When I asked him what made sales of Wool really take off, he said it was word of mouth from readers. The novel he ignored in terms of marketing is what did really well. He said the best marketing is the keep writing and releasing stories.

On writing for young adults, keep in mind that they are more mature than you think. Don’t talk down to them. They want to read about mature topics, and aren’t afraid of gore. He made an alternative version of Wool without the handful of four-letter words so young adults can read it.

On the popularity of apocalyptic novels, he said people are afraid of dying alone so they want to see the whole world go with them.

He writes a rough outline of his novels before he starts, and that often includes the final scene so he knows where he is going.

He’s producing a show for BBC now.

Due – She likes to write novels that come from her deepest desires. Her mother showed her creature features and that got her interested in the genre.

She doesn’t like weak characters who fall and get eaten.

On the popularity of apocalyptic novels, kids today are sheltered to the real world, although they are savvy to what’s going on because of the Internet. So when they are forced to confront the world and leave that shelter, it will feel like a zombie attack.

On collaborating with her husband, she admits that they’ve had arguments about their books, but they agreed early on to separate their writing from their married life.

She’s working on a screenplay for My Soul to Keep. 

Barnes – He’s got four books coming out in the span of 16 months. The next is Domino Falls (sequel to Devil’s Wake) in February. These novels are his first venture into straight horror, where the dominant emotion is a sense of unease.  

In the classic movie Psycho, there’s the murder in the shower and then nothing really happens the rest of the movie. But the murder was so graphic that the viewer doesn’t want to see it again, and that creates the tension. A similar technique can create tension in horror novels.

On the difference between adults and young adults, an adult is someone who takes responsibility for their actions and no longer relies or blames others for them.

In Devil’s Wake, the group of youngsters have banded together to survive a world full of zombies. That forces them to take responsibility and be honest with each other about their issues.

“You can’t afford not to be honest with each other when one wrong step and you can get bitten by a zombie,” Barnes said.

Good writing comes in a state of unconscious competence. Like a martial artist, you perform the technique without thinking about it. When writing, this closes the distance between you and the page. Writer’s block is the confusion between the writing self and the editing self. Separate your writing – not worrying about grammar and spelling in the first draft – from your editing.

If you practice anything for 10,000 hours, you can be an expert.

My favorite books from emerging authors

I’ve been using Authonomy, a website by HarperCollins that writer’s utilize  to trade feedback, since 2009 and I’ve commented on over 500 books. Not all of them are brilliant and, often, I do my best to help aspiring writers improve their novels. Occasionally though, I find some real gems. 

Authonomy has given me a free look at some of the best emerging authors, and now I want to share their brilliance. 

So consider this my thanks to the 460-plus people who have commented my novel Mute. Many of you provided tips and corrections that made it possible for me to find a publisher. I’m thrilled that Silver Leaf Books is releasing my novel on Kindle. 

I hope to see many of these novels “go pro” as well. Here are some of my favorite novels on Authonomy (in alphabetical order – because I couldn’t rank them at gunpoint):

The Awakening: Dawn of Destruction – By Cara Goldthrope

Freshly winning a spot for review by HarperCollins, this fantasy novel has great drama and a strong heroine. The author really captured the emotions of her characters.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/42681/the-awakening-dawn-of-destruction/

Bait  - By Ian Walkley

An exciting crime thriller set down under. As you might guess from the title, undercover detective Kasey Bates must place herself in great danger to catch the bad guys.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/37681/bait/

Behind the Hood – By Marita A. Hansen

New Zealand has a gang problem? I thought it had a sheep problem? This novel does a tremendous job showing the violence, drugs, ethnic tension and bullying in South Auckland. It made it to the HarperCollins desk.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/26613/behind-the-hood/

Between – By Cyndi Tefft

Yes, I do enjoy a good fantasy romance from time to time, especially with a unique storyline. Poor Lindsey Water met an untimely death, but she’s also about to meet the man of her dreams as she’s escorted to heaven by an 18^th century Scottish highlander.  Strange as it seems, this premise works splendidly. 

http://www.authonomy.com/books/17874/between/

Blue Diamonds ­– By Tonia Marlowe

She told him no, but this former military man won’t take no for an answer. There’s a lot of excitement as the woman tries to fend off the badass psycho guy. It made the HarperCollins desk and, while they passed on it, I feel it deserves to be published.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/27447/blue-diamonds/

Conflicts of Interest – By Bob Steele

This novel has been up for a while and it made the HarperCollins desk, and the story has stuck with me. David’s business partner is murdered after a trip to Russia and his life quickly unravels. It has some slick business corruption angles, which I certainly can appreciate being a business reporter. This guy writes like a professional.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/13680/conflicts-of-interest/

The Ghost Writer – By B.J. Winters

This novel, which made the HarperCollins desk, is about a writer who finds a mysterious manuscript at his bedside and realizes that it could help him prevent a murder. The writing here is fantastic.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/10721/the-ghost-writer/

The Good and Bad – By Marshall Dotson

Demons, rock stars, vampires, sword play. In other words, great campy fun!

http://www.authonomy.com/books/43098/the-good-and-bad/

The Immortality Game – By Ted Cross

This is a strong science fiction thriller that reminded me of the Battlestar Galactica spinoff Caprica because it involves downloading a person onto a computer chip. It has fast-paced action and puts the characters in terrible danger. My heart was racing.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/33347/the-immortality-game/

The Magic Door Knob  - T.D. Holland

This is one of my favorite children’s/young adult novels on here. It’s about a magic doorknob (duh) that takes Ricky to other worlds. It has such a great pace that it’s hard to put it down at the end of a chapter.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/40220/the-magic-door-knob/  

Misery’s Fire – By Kim Jewell

A well-written story about a high school student waking up in hell, literally. It has cracking dialog and it’s good fun.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/20484/misery-s-fire/

The Raven and the Wolf – By Athena Lyso

Another great fantasy, this time with a loyal officer being unjustly banished from the kingdom after a tense meeting with the king. Engle befriends an orphan in the wilderness and sets out for redemption. The great plot carries this one along.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/19947/the-raven-and-the-wolf/

The Roswell Protocols – By Allan Burd

If Roswell is in the title, you can guess what this is about. It’s one of the better alien invasion stories I’ve read on here. It looks at a spaceship crash from many points of view, from the general public to the military.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/31510/the-roswell-protocols/

The Rufino Bloodfang Saga: Leap of Faith – By Jason Baird

This might be the most overlooked novel on my list (I’m one of two comments at the moment), but don’t miss out on it! It’s one of the most original vampire novels I’ve ever read. Rufino is a midget vampire with a Mohawk. He’s not all that successful as a lady’s man, or a fighter really, and it’s funny to watch a vampire who’s not as tough as he thinks. Then he falls in love with a tall, beautiful druid. Of course she hates the little bugger, but she needs him for a quest. Can the little vampire win the lovely druid’s heart? Oh, and the mini vampire bites a monkey – ha ha ha!

http://www.authonomy.com/books/44417/the-rufino-bloodfang-saga-leap-of-faith/

Sage Courage – By Heather McLoud

Leila flees a tragic past for Wyoming and winds up landing a job watching somebody’s kids in a house way in the middle of nowhere. But these aren’t normal kids…The mystery really gripped me and the tension level was super high.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/40845/sage-courage/

Secrets We Keep  - By Gail Cleare

Simply put: This one deserves to be published. It’s a family drama thriller about two sisters who discover that their mother, now ill, has been leading a secret life.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/37947/secrets-we-keep/

To Set a Mouse Running – By Robert Lawrence

This type of plot is fairly familiar - a man’s family is killed in an IRA bombing and he is going to great lengths to bring the killers to justice. It’s the way this story is written that makes it so powerful. In order for this to work, the author had to make the deaths have real emotional impact. He certainly accomplished that.

http://www.authonomy.com/books/43385/to-set-a-mouse-running/

So that’s my list. I’ll consider writing another post if I come across some more truly special books.

Until then, just keep in mind that the release of my novel Mute is right around the corner.