Welcome to One of My Universes

Most every sf/f writer has their own universe, at least one. It might be a fantasy realm they've created, a galactic empire they've imagined or an alternative history line they're following. If they write a lot, they probably have more than one universe. I've been writing since I was a kid, so I've got quite a few. Some I've abandoned or 'outgrown', others keep growing as I write more stories in them, and I always seem to be creating more universes.

Today, I thought I'd give you a peek at one of my universes, the world of the Atlans.

The Atlans are a race of women known as witches. Similar to Anne McCaffrey's DragonRiders of Pern series, there is a scientific explanation; they are descended from aliens (which they remember as 'gods'). Their parentage means they have powers no one else on this planet has, and it only passes on to daughters. Sons are sent to live with their fathers by the time they turn five.

I have plans to explore this universe from the time the first Atlans arrived through all sorts of history. I've even started a novel set in 'modern times' on this planet. But most of my stories are set in a time roughly analogous to Earth's pre-history through the dark ages.

And yes, I couldn't resist. This race originally lived on an island, and thrived, but the island eventually erupted. Most of them were killed in the eruption, and the others were scattered in tiny groups. They had to find new places to live, and for many generations, each little pocket of Atlans didn't know if any other pockets of Atlans existed.

I have finished one novel in this universe, Cali, which I'm looking to place with an agent or publishing house (or both). Cali is unique among the Atlans. She has different coloring from their norm. Not only does she not look like an Atlan, she doesn't feel like an Atlan, and for the first 5 years of her life, they wondered if she should be sent to live with her father. But Cali has ALL the Atlan powers, not just one of them. As a young woman, Cali takes on a journey to track down the men who have killed two Atlan children. Ambushed, her injuries mean a number of her powers can't be used, and she must get imaginative with her remaining powers to complete her journey.

So, that's one story in this universe. And this is just the first trial for Cali, who hasn't even completed her training with any of her powers. Cali will go down in history for what she accomplishes. Eventually. Very little of what happens in this story is even worth a footnote in the history books. Still, legends tend to grow the more distant in time they are, right? What Cali does is only what needs to be done at the time.

This tends to be the universe I spend the most time in, at least for now. There's so much 'history' to be explored, so many wonderful characters to study. An entire encyclopedia of history to be written, as it were.

It's kind of daunting, in those terms. Like I said, I have several universes. Not all of them have that many characters to explore, or that much history to invent, but even so … that's a lot of writing. I'd better get back to it. See ya next week. Trudy

Do It Your Way, Part II

Referring to Icon again, there was another panel I went to with Jim C Hines. Actually, there were several panels with Mr Hines that I went to, but this particular panel was about effective marketing of your books. The other panelist was Mickey Zucker Reichert. Their careers as authors have been very different, but they seem to more or less agree on this subject. Basically, they said, when it comes to marketing your books, do it your way.

If you like going to conventions and being on panels, go ahead. If you like doing book signings, do it. If you like blogging, being on social networks or twittering, then enjoy it. But doing these things do take time when you might otherwise be writing the next book, so keep that in mind.

Mr Hines explained that he has kept his eyes on his sales figures, looking for a rise in numbers that he could attribute to some type of marketing. But sales of his books, he said, follow the same pattern; they rise to a peak shortly after the book hits the stands, then trail off to a particular number, where they plateau for a long time. Attending conventions, having book signings, blogging (except for one particular episode of blog that proved extremely popular) – none of these produced any noticable rise in sales. The only thing that did make a difference was to have his next book hit the stands. So, to his thinking, these other forms of marketing were okay, but unnecessary.

It solved one dilemma for me. One newsletter I read has been preaching that you need to market yourself in every way imaginable, and today that means twittering. "Great!" I thought, "One more thing to eat up my time." With a full-time job and housework, and two groups I belong to, I have too little time to write, in my estimation.

Blogging is one thing – I can make it as long or as short as I want. But from what I understand, twittering is 160 characters. Typing used to consider 5 characters to be 1 word, so 160 characters is 32 words. Write something in 32 words? Heck, that's hardly enough to put my mind in gear. I've often said I have a tendency to 'run off at the keyboard', after all.

So, read my blog. Become my friend on MySpace. Look for me at midwest sf conventions. And once I have a book published, then yes, I will do book signings. But don't expect to see me twitter any time soon. 160 characters? It would take me too long to pare anything I wrote down to that size to make it worth my time.

And that's basically what I came away from Icon with. That pearl of wisdom and a small print from the Art Show by Sarah Clemens. A quiet little convention, as far as I was concerned, to help me wind down for the cold winter months.

See you next week. Trudy