A2A Chat: Lisa Tiffin and the THEFT OF THE STAR TRACKER

Tip of the Day: If you get requests for partials and fulls but no offers of rep from the first couple dozen agents you query, keep going for a few dozen more! It only takes one.

Today I would like to welcome Lisa Tiffin, independent publisher of Apple Cart Books and author of the Eagle Ridge Prep middle-grade novels, starting with her first release, THEFT OF THE STAR TRACKER! And yes, this book is available now through Amazon.com!

(Isn't this cover fabulous?)

What is THEFT OF THE STAR TRACKER about, you may ask?

When their highly technical science project is stolen, brothers Drew and Alex Richfield are thrown into an action-filled battle with bully, Brett Larson, who always seems to be just one step ahead of them.

Drew and Alex must learn to work together to stop Brett from registering their GPS Star Tracker as his own in the Annual Science Fair. At stake are the brothers’ reputations, their relationship and the Grand Prize!

Full disclosure: Lisa is one of my critique partners and a reason I have grown so much as a writer these past few years. I read THEFT OF THE STAR TRACKER as a draft and knew it would have an audience. Now that it is available as an ebook, I am thrilled to see it find its readers!

And onto our A2A chat!

1. Tell us a little about yourself. An About the Author if you will.

Sure, start with the hardest question! I think story was always part of my life. When my siblings and I were young, instead of reading to us our dad would make up stories to tell us. Later, I got involved with theater. I loved to bring a story to life through a character to entertain an audience. I suppose writing is similar though hearing and seeing the reactions are a bit delayed. In my work as a freelance writer, I often have to get a message or a brand across, but when I write fiction, I can focus more on entertaining readers. And that all ties back to what our dad did for us – entertain!

2. What was your initial idea for THEFT OF THE STAR TRACKER?

It all started with a conversation with my older brother. He was frustrated with the lack of great books for his boys. As a mother of twin boys, I knew my own sons would soon be in the same position as their older cousins were. Somehow that conversation ended up with my brother challenging me to write the kind of books that we both wanted for our sons: entertaining, smart adventures capable of holding a boy’s interest.

I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into, but I outlined and wrote and wrote. I actually sent each section to my nephews with questions for them to answer about the characters, plot and interest level. I paid them with Legos, if you can believe it! After that, the book went through a revision workshop, my critique group, and several industry professionals before it was ready for prime time.

3. What made you decide to self-epub?

This book is really close to my heart. Maybe because my family was the catalyst that propelled me into writing it, maybe because it is the book that taught me I really do love science (as long as that science is technology related!) or maybe because it was the book that really sealed the deal for me as a children’s author.

The book has come really close to traditional publication (it was once under contract with a small publisher) and has had a lot of good reviews, so I just felt like it was time to get it out there into the world. I’m hoping lots of kids will enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

4. What else do you write?

I’ve written a few picture books, other middle grade novels and short stories for adults. In fact, I love short stories and am working right now on a YA book of short stories about Haiti. I’m not sure how that will ultimately play out, but I like what I have so far. In my day job I write newspaper articles, essays, magazine articles and lots of business copy like Websites, brochures and newsletters. So pretty much everything. J

5. What are your thoughts on self-epubbing and traditional publishing?

Great question! With our economy in tenuous shape and the ever-changing landscape of traditional publishing, I feel like agents and editors are all looking for that one, breakout, NYT best-selling novel. Unfortunately, a lot of competent and even brilliant writers are penning good quality, midlist, dependable novels. I think self publishing and e-publishing open the field for authors to get their books into the public’s hands. Most readers don’t care who published the book if it’s something they want to read, something of quality and something that will entertain and enlighten them.

6. Any last thoughts for our readers?

Thanks for having me and thanks to all the readers out there who care about books and what they represent. Our culture thrives on stories, and I love the interdependence between writers and readers. I’d love to hear your comments or answer questions about that relationship, e-pubbing vs. traditional pubbing, my book or anything else!

Thank you, Lisa! And you heard her, readers: What questions do you have about the various types of publishing?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

So Many Manuscripts, So Little Time (or Born of Frustration*)

*with apologies to James

Tip of the Day: Don't move to upstate New York if you are against the possibility of snow through the end of March...and into April.

All right, readers, it's INVENTORY TIME! Let's see what Deena has buried in her trunk of manuscripts!

1. character-driven YA that was the first novel I ever wrote, and has since been revised and rewritten about 5 times over 9 years. I love this book very much but think the fact that it is not plot-driven in today's market makes it a tougher sell. ***

2. character-driven YA, the second novel I wrote, that I still like the root of, but I know it would need lots of work to fix, and it would need a new ending since I now hate the "easy" way the "mystery" is solved. Will remain in the trunk for now.

3. fun, light, plot-driven MG with many characters that I think is cute, but needs to much rewriting now an will stay in the trunk.

4. YA that has good bones, but never quite came together the right way. Will remain trunked.

5. historical MG with twinges of magical realism. It got me my first agent, has been heavily revised twice, and I am now querying agents on it again. I love this book and really hope it finds a home! ***

6. contemporary MG that got me my second agent. At the time an element of it was not overdone, but since I wrote it a lot of books have come out with that type of family business. I also think it has one too many sub-plots going on. I still love the idea of it and the relationship between the two main characters, and may revise it at some time.

7. paranormal YA with a setting I love but characters that definitely need more development. I turned it into....

7a. a New Adult novella that I would love to develop into an e-serial series at some point. ***

8. contemporary YA with a great hook, but that got lots of rejections from editors who all wanted it to be something else than it was. I still love this book and have tweaked it and sent it out on my own to some new editors. ***

9. YA thriller with pseudo science fiction elements and dual pov. This is my first truly plot-driven novel, my first novel with more than one pov, and my first male narrator. I love it. I am revising it again next month (a few tweaks to the science and girl's chapters) to prep it for self e-pubbing this summer/fall. I also wrote... ***

9a. 50 pages of the sequel, which I can't wait to get back into. I plan to self e-pub that as well by the end of the year if all goes as planned. ***

10. I am about 7k words from the end of a fast draft of a new MG light mystery. What I thought would be a simple story has of course gotten headier than I expected, but I can't wait to have it finished, let it sit, and then return to it when the timing is right. ***

10a. I am also almost done with a New Adult realistic/contemp novella that I do want to finish. ***

*** means I want to actively work on these projects. As you can see by the number of *** on this page, I have so many ideas and not enough time to devote to them all! I also have two new YA ideas I am jonesing to write....realistic story of a small town based on an actual health case that came up in my area over a year ago, and a realistc story of a girl who has been brainwashed about a certain thing for her whole life, and finally learns to think for herself after being scarred.

I LOVE my day job as a YA Librarian, but there are definitely times where I wish I had even  just one month to completely be a full-time writer.

Can someone just transport me to a Hawaiian beach for six months every year with my laptop so I can bang out some pages? 'Cause, ya know, I'm sure that's exactly what I would do once there.... :)

What's in your manuscript trunk that you are dying to get back to?

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing

What Is She Up To? (or Writing and Wondering)

Tip of the Day: My hubby is a writer too! Check out the two brand new tracks he's written, produced, and posted for his new band, Blue Falcon. They're FREE on this FaceBook page! Thanks in advance for checking it out. :)

(Won't this look hot on a t-shirt?)

So while my husband has been getting his music "out there," I have been...starting a new middle grade project.

"But, but, but, what about the nine other books you've already written, Deena?" you may be asking. "Shouldn't you be getting those 'out there'?"

Or maybe that's the voice of my conscience coming through like a ghostly voice on Zak Baggins' EVP recorder.

Either way, here is where I reply, "Yes. Yes I should. BUT I CAN'T FOCUS ON ONE PROJECT!"

My plan last fall was to get my YA speculative thriller polished so I could e-pub it this summer -- if nothing else happened with my other books. But when I dove into it at the end of January, I found myself stalling and working on it soooo slooowly.

Fear of epubbing it? Boredom with the story? Disinterest in writing the sequel?

I'm not sure.

Then I went to the NYC SCBWI National Conference (SO FABULOUS, and now I am in even more love with Mo Willems (he is basically elephant and piggy personified) and Julie Andrews (so lovely AND beautiful with her daughter!) than ever), and I got excited to query agents on my MG novel and of course I got an idea growing stronger in my head for ANOTHER MG instead of getting the YA ready.

So what have I been working on? The new MG. And it is so fun to write! Plus I have some agents reading my completed MG and I keep thinking, what if I sell that traditionally and I want a follow-up MG to sub?

Ah yes, here I am thinking ten steps ahead of where I might be one day...instead of just working on the one thing I can control: perfecting my YA speculative thriller and epubbing it.

That is the beauty of the self-epubbing world right now: writers CAN take control of their own publication, and in some ways have the same odds of reaching their target audience as midlist trad pubbed authors.

In retrospect, I'm glad self-epubbing wasn't as accepted when I started writing YA novels eight years ago because I may have made the mistake of pubbing my quite crappy early drafts and early novels, thinking they were actually really good. But now, after years of writing and revising and learning and reading, I KNOW my YA speculative thriller is good -- and the sequel will rock, too.

That said, my plan right now is to:
1. Fast-draft the MG throughout March
2. Fast-edit the YA throughout April and get it epubbed by September, when the novel takes place

HOLD ME TO IT, A2A READERS! HOLD ME TO IT! :)

Deena, Miss Subbing for Pubbing