Advice to Aspiring Writers

I am occasionally asked for advice from writers about how to get published.
Depending upon my mood, my advice is anything from a long list of books to read and websites to peruse, to simple comments like "just write today, and worry about the rest of it later."
I have often wished that "someone out there" would take the trouble to write a comprehensive answer to the question, and now someone has.
Today's blog post from Hugh Howey, "My Advice to Aspiring Authors" is so excellent and so jam-packed with current publishing-world insight that I'm just gonna link to it here. I don't agree with EVERY point he makes, but the bulk of it is so "write on" that I'm not going to quibble.
Okay. My work is done.
hasta pronto!

My Favorite Books of 2012

I hate "Best Books" lists. After all, one woman's "trash" is another woman's "best," and those lists always make me want to ask "best for what?"
Best for keep you up at night, or best for keeping the porch door wedged open?
Best for making you feel that the world is an okay place after all, or best for making you feel that life is completely stupid and pointless? (It seems like many books I find on "Best Books" lists fit the latter definition.)
Anyway, my list is simply this: The seven books published this year that I most enjoyed reading.  Not sure why seven, but there it is. Lucky number seven.
I won't be adding mini-reviews here, as most of these books have been reviewed here in the past 12 months and I don't want to repeat myself (the others have been reviewed extensively elsewhere and I don't want to repeat them, either).
Suffice to say, they're all well written and have "something to say" rather than simply being "entertaining reads" (though most of them are that, too).

Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Black and White by Wes Albers

Little Girl Gone by Drusilla Campbell

Redshirts by John Scalzi

So L.A.  by Bridget Hoida

Tincture of Time by John Rosenberg

When the Killing's Done by T.C. Boyle

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

While I wasn't trying to focus on books written by lesser-known authors, or those from smaller publishing houses, it worked out that many of the seven are one or the other. I wasn't trying to focus on fiction, either, but six out of the seven are novels (though Ms Strayed herself likely refers to her memoir as novelistic).
I'm not going to write a Worst Books list for 2012, but I will say that I finally broke down and read "Fifty Shades of Grey" and I have no desire to read the two others.  I wasn't expecting much and I got just that.  The fact that these books are out there is hardly surprising--the fact that they have sold so many millions of copies is shocking and depressing.
My biggest disappointment this year: Junot Diaz's This is How You Lose Her. This might have been a case of too-great expectations; Diaz wrote one of my favorite books of the previous decade, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and the new book seems a warmed-over collection of notes for that book, passed off as something new. 
Just FYI, the book I just started reading, Pancho Land by Raul Ramos y Sanchez, is the third of a trilogy I've enjoyed tremendously, and will probably be my eighth favorite book of 2012.
hasta pronto!

Catching up with Conferences

Had a great time at the SCWC in Newport last weekend...Other bloggers have reported on the conference, so I'll be lazy and just link and let them report.
One, by Doug Bornemann, a first time SCWC attendee, is here.
The second post, by my friend, the witty and tireless columnist-writer Gayle Carline (long-time SCWC attendee) is here and actually deals with more than one conference she attended last week...You go Gayle!
The third, a short wrap up from the fearless leader himself, Michael Steven Gregory, can be found on the SCWC site.
I'm planning on resting up and writing this weekend but I'm planning for my next event--which will come the following weekend at the first annual SD Writers, Ink, Fall for Writing Conference. I'll be doing a panel and a workshop (Sunday afternoon the 14th from 10-12). The panels are only $5 each, or you can do all the events and classes for three days for only $75!
All of you San Diego writers--and visiting writers--can read more about it and register here
Hope to see you there--hasta pronto!

Bridget Hoida's "So L.A." is so cool!

Okay, here's a late summer read you won't want to miss: Bridget Hoida's So L.A.  This hard-to-put-down book proves my oft-stated point that intelligent, witty writing doesn't have to be a drag...Nor must said writing be pretentious, dull, or just plain depress the poor reader to death.
Hoida has told her tale with great attention to detail in place and setting--and I know, since I was born/raised in L.A. and spent many years there as an adult. She's used super smart pacing, written believable characters, and included plenty of devastatingly witty insights into the current state of American culture. AND she's done all this while striking an enviable balance between lively humor and realistic, heart-felt human tragedy.
On a purely practical note, I loved the way So L.A. was broken into short bite-sized chunks and how the  ironic "chapter headers" were employed. Like I said, it was hard to put down, and I don't recommend starting the book as before-sleep reading...Unless you feel like getting to sleep early the next morning!
Check out an excerpt from the book here. 
You can meet Hoida at the Newport Beach meeting of the Southern California Writer's Conference in September. She's gonna be speaking there, and I can't wait to hear what she's got to say about publishing right now. I'll be there doing the ever-popular "Pitch Witches" workshop with my friend and colleague Marla Miller among other things.
You can also meet me at my "How to Craft a Query Letter" class for San Diego Writers Ink, at the downtown San Diego Ink Spot. It's from 1-4 on Sat Sept 8th...More info on that class can be found right here. We'll talk pitches and queries and proposals and get you writing (or rewriting yours) in the class-- to make it a better tool to sell your work.

What I'm reading--and doing--this summer

I'm not finding much time to blog...Having taken on the job of producing our first film, Russel and I (and our director-producer partner David) have really learned a lot--it is like a film school education in bits and pieces. But not usually the piece you need when you need it.
I am still editing books, and have been busy planning for upcoming classes. The first class this fall will be at San Diego Writers, Ink on Sat Sept 8th from 1-4 pm.  Check out the class info here -- and, while you are there, check out the rest of SDWI's great website.
And of course later in September, there's the annual SCWC in Newport Beach...Another one is held in San Diego in February.
What I've been read lately--actually re-read--is John Rosenberg's great book on film editing, The Healthy Edit. So much great stuff to learn, for writers of film and TV scripts and, of course, for filmmakers, too. (It is NOT just for film editors)
Also been re-reading some Elizabeth Berg. Including a recent fave referred to me by Diane Shea, Berg's book on writing, Escaping into the Open: the Art of Writing True. Great stuff there...I'm going to bring it to my next writer's group meeting.

Big News: We're going to be filming a short version of our screenplay "El Camino" here in San Diego in mid-September...We have a great director, a superior camerawoman, and the crew just keeps getting better...More on that soon!