Mirror, Mirror

 

 Venus in Front of the Mirror
Peter Paul Rubens, 1613/1641



I am haunted by mirrors.

It took thirty-seven years, seventy-five pounds gained and lost and countless hours of angst (and therapy) to realize a simple truth: I do not look into the mirror at myself; I am looking for myself.  What does this mean for me as a writer?  Everything.

In a chapter titled Finessing Fear of his book The Courage to Write, Ralph Keyes includes a quote from Jill Robinson’s memoir Bed/Time/Story:

…The advantage of not knowing who you are is you can attempt to be all things to all men… or women.  My mother saw me always glancing in every mirror, every window;  in the gleaming blades of knives.  She said, “Jill is vain.”  She did not know I was looking to see who would be there this time.

Jill Robinson was in my head.  I had found a kindred soul  and, all at once, understood myself in a few inked pages. But there was no “Ah-Ha!” or joyous whoop, only a hot and stinging gathering of tears . 

 

Mirror, mirror,

On the wall, 

I don’t know you.

Not at all.



 Girl at Mirror, 1954
Norman Rockwell

This morning I looked hard into the mirror.  I looked past the tired mom, past the hurt friend, past the overwhelmed adult and blocked writer.  I searched for the faint outlines of what made me unique.  I caught a glimpse as the light shifted, but it was gone as quick as it came.  Fleeting, the girl with  sad eyes.

What does all of this have to do with writing?  While watching my reflection I realized my troublesome main character asks the same questions: Who am I beneath all these expectations, these labels?  Am I good?  Am I worth while?  Am I lovable?  Do I even care? 

She too is haunted by mirrors,both the mundane reflective surfaces and the metaphorical ones - the reflection of who she is in the faces of people around her.  Both of us are haunted by the terrifying "What If.".  What if, beneath it all, there is nothing worth finding?  What if, in finding HER, I will find ME?  That is Pandora’s box.  No wonder I can’t write her.  I am afraid of her.

I am a writer.  As such I require two things: something to say; and someone to hear it. What if, beneath it all, the struggle to write a novel, to find my voice, to see myself, there is nothing worth writing, nothing worth seeing, nothing worth reading? 

I write not only to tell a story but to also discover more about myself.   I put it all out there - my fears, my hopes, faults and strengths - for people to read and judge. 

 “Who am I? What do I think?”  asks Writer, me.

 “Who cares?  Why is it important?”  asks Reader, you.

It all comes down to judgment.  Writers write.  Readers judge. 

A reader’s time and money are precious.  It is a writer’s job to earn a share of those commodities.   Judgment Fest begins with the first read of the editor and culminates in sales.  Yes, writers write first for themselves, because they must, but we all need to pay the bills.  Ideas are free, heat and electricity are not.

Enter the independent publisher.  

Long maligned as a superhighway to clog the market with bad writing, independant publishing, otherwise known as vanity press, or self-publishing is gaining a foothold among new and established authors alongside smaller, specialized independent presses as well as the traditional large publishing houses. 

In a recent press release Amazon.com, Inc., announced Amanda Hocking, published through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, has joined eleven other authors in the Kindle Million Club, having sold over a million paid copies of her novel in the Amazon.com Kindle store.  She joins such authors as David Baldacci, George R.R. Martin and Stephenie Meyer as well as fellow independent author John Locke.

Self-publishing platforms such as Amazon.com’s Kindle Direct Publishing allow authors to bypass typical obstacles of traditional publishing. The danger?  A glutted market full of careless and inferior writing.  The benefit?  Higher profit margins for authors and an evolving, diverse literary marketplace more representative of a rapidly changing global society. 



Echo and Narcissus (1903),
John William Waterhouse



This idea of independent publishing is gaining momentum within the writing community.   International Thriller Writers now include seminars in self-publishing and marketing in their annual conference.  Writer’s Digest Magazine, a prominent resource for writers, is currently promoting the 20^th annual Writer’s Digest Self Published Book awards, a competition held exclusively for self-published authors and their books.



The face of publishing is changing and like any evolving entity there are bound to be growing pains.  When the time comes for the literary world to take a long, hard look in the mirror, what will it see?  For me, for my character and for the publishing industry, the story is still being written. 

Put on your seat belts folks. It could be a bumpy ride.

Ted Krever, author of Mindbenders has first hand experience with the highs and lows of the  self-publishing world.  I hope you enjoy the third and final installment of my interview with Ted Krever as we discuss the changing climate of the writer’s world.

Part One: Mindbenders

Part Two: On Writing

Part Three

Publishing today with AuthorTed Krever

RM:  We met at ITW - International Thriller Writers conference - ThrillerFest.  There were so many amazing authors there, new and established.  It was a bit overwhelming for a newbie like me.

KREVER:  It was an interesting conference.  The most interesting thing for me was the response when I told people I was a self-published indie writer.  It was like I was the correspondent for Al-Jazeerah. Everybody there was either 'published' or seeking publication from a traditional publisher. I seemed to become the emissary from the scary future.

RM:  Everyone is realizing the publishing industry is changing but no one knows what that means- exactly.  There were a number of Indie publishers there, StoneGate Ink being one I remember.

KREVER:  I'm not talking about independent publishers. I'm talking about authors publishing themselves.  There were a few of us there.  You have to do it all yourself- no mommy or daddy to hold hands with.

RM:  Self-publishing or independent publishing is gaining a corner of the market though.  I have seen it gaining speed over the past few years.  Even Writer’s Digest is recognizing the trend with articles, how-to’s and contests.

KREVER:  Yeah, but I was really surprised and taken aback by the response I got. I'm used to writers being very supportive. These guys were uncomfortable with me. I scared them.  Oh for sure, it's a new world and a big one. But it's scary to contemplate. It is scary.  These people wanted nothing to do with it.

RM:  In a "don't talk to the guy with the pencil protector and the liverwurst sandwich" kind of way or in the "Gee, I am on the bus he just launched himself off of...should I stay or should I go now?" kind of way?  I seem to remember one of the Big Guys saying he self-published his first novella this year at a session at ThrillerFest.  That same guy also cautioned to never, ever give up rites to epub without an expiration date.

KREVER:  [David] Morrell said he would never sign a publishing contract these days until publishers made major changes to rights and ebook pricing.

RM:  Ahhh. That is it.  I think the biggest issue with self-pub is the editing process. Writers want to keep the writing intact but sometimes an editor can make a big difference in a million small ways.  I think skipping the editing process with a professional editor is not only foolish but suicidal.

KREVER:  No question. There's an infrastructure to traditional publishing that indies are going to have to find a way to emulate. And right now there just aren't sensible alternatives. But they'll emerge as the market matures. In the meantime, I think the lack of gatekeepers is an issue too. I think reviewers will emerge who people trust. They won't be national names but you'll find two or three whose taste you agree with and they will be your guardians, the ones who let you now who is worth your time and money.

RM:  I can’t help thinking that novels we consider classics today might be labeled as “not relevant” in today’s market and would subsequently remain unknown.  Do you feel like the self-publishing trend along with independent presses could be the remedy for a seemingly finicky and capricious market?

KREVER:  I had a really good agent tell me about eight months ago that she loved ‘Mindbenders’ but couldn’t take me on because she didn’t ‘do’ paranormal. I said, “Great—tell them you don’t like paranormal but you like this” and she answered “That’s not how it works.” And it isn’t. First of all, I don’t like the labeling—the marketing department runs the publishing company now. What ‘genre’ is ‘Huckleberry Finn’? I’m certainly not comparing myself to Twain but I’m saying the tail is now thoroughly wagging the dog.

I think the solution involves another step in technology. Right now, you have publishers—traditional or independent—who can’t afford to sell an ebook at a competitive price. And you have indie writers like me who can’t get paper books in bookstores nationwide, at least not in an effective way. Someone is going to have to put print-on-demand machinery in 5,000 independent bookstores around the country—the local independent bookstore will thrive as the chains go under—so that a customer can walk into the store, browse titles in a kiosk or on their own laptop or iPad , make a selection and walk out with a printed copy of the book all in one trip. The technology certainly exists, it’s just a matter of someone making the investment. It’s just a matter of time and industry politics.

RM:  So, Mr Krever, what is next for you?

KREVER:  The (first) sequel to ‘Mindbenders’. If aggravation is a sign of quality, this is guaranteed to be a great book.

~

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.  ~George Bernard Shaw, Poet  

To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author.  ~Charles Caleb Colton, Writer~

Ted Krever’s books can be found at Amazon.com, at Goodreads.com and  BarnesandNoble.com

For more information about Ted Krever please visit www.tedkrever.com

Ralph Keyes and his book The Courage to Write  can be found here. 

More about Jill Robinson and her work can be found  here.

Find the Writer's Digest's self-publishing contest here. 

Summer's over! Back at it!

~ The kids are back in school and the red edged leaves of the sugar maples outside my office window  are hinting at Fall. Alas!  My summer vacation has come to an end.  What better way to get back to the work of writing than with a book review, a little tease and an author interview?  No better way I say! So here we go. Hope you enjoy it.  ~ Rebecca

Mindbenders

 by Ted Krever

They are called Mindbenders - men and women who know your every thought. They  have the power to control your emotions, manipulate your memories, your body and the world around you.  When the possibilities are endless, who will draw the line between what is right and what is unspeakable evil?

Greg is a man who can’t remember, cut off from his memories.   While Greg’s body survived the war in Iraq, his mind remains a fractured tangle of the sights and sounds of past battles and lost comrades.

Max Renn can never forget.  A human weapon and Cold War  leftover, Renn can read minds, move mountains – even plant ideas and emotions into another’s head.  What he cannot do is escape the past- no matter how far or how long he may run. To live in Hell is hearing every thought, feeling every emotion, experiencing every lived moment and memory of every person around you.  Max Renn is a permanent resident.

When Dave Monaghan, caretaker to lost souls and a former director for the US cold war mind control project is murdered, the uneasy peace Gregg and Renn had found in Dave’s Florida everglades safe haven is shattered.  Thrust into a world of international conspiracy and paranormal warfare, Greg and Renn race to gather Dave’s old team of Mindbenders in a fight to stop an insidious evil bent on world domination. 

For Gregg it is about vengeance- vengeance for Dave.  Someone murdered his friend and  that Someone was going to pay.

For Renn it is about answers.  Who had killed Dave Monaghan and why?  Who were these Others, new Mindbenders with inferior abilities and murderous intentions?  And what did an assassination of the Indian Prime minister, a sabotaged nuclear power plant in New York and a disgraced international leader have in common?  The mind control program is back in play and they are coming for Max Renn.

Mindbenders is a fast paced thriller with broad audience appeal.  There is a literary hint to Krever’s writing without the prose being over burdened by heavy word choice and turn of phrase.  I enjoyed the dark and brooding look back to a time passed.  This glimpse into the era  of spies and intrigue and old-fashioned espionage lends a noir overlay to an otherwise  hedonistic, modern thrill ride.  Krever’s fully developed characters seep quietly into your head and set up house, begging you to read on well into the small and quiet hours of the night.   

The rule to telling a good story, like a good lie, is adding a healthy dose of truth and Mindbenders is no exception.  Krever skillfully balances the ingredients to good story telling- a sprinkle of fact, a body of fiction and viola!  A nightmare of believable proportions.  In this age of hidden terror behind everyday faces, Mindbenders promises a fantastic paranormal underbelly to a humdrum existence.  Pick up Krever’s Mindbenders and expand the horizons of the Possible.  After all- the mind is a terrible thing to waste.  If you don’t use it someone else might.

 ~

This past July I attended the International Thriller Writer’s ThrillerFest at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.  The week was packed with brilliant authors, inspiring talks and new friends.  I met author Ted Krever by happenstance, in a small alcove set back from the busy miasma of words, inspiration and networking.  He was kind enough to befriend a girl who had no idea how to mingle.  He has continued that friendship despite my neuroticism and writing temper tantrums. 

Ted has graciously agreed to an interview about his book Mindbenders, a paranormal thriller.  I hope you enjoy the next few posts where Ted and I discuss his novel, the process of writing, living a writer’s life and the fate of the publishing industry. 

(Note- for the purposes of this series of interviews I am RM and the fabulous Ted Krever is KREVER­ - obviously.  (It really is a necessary step in the rock star writing world after all:  to be known by only one name.)

RM:  I have the fantastic opportunity to interview you today - the Ted Krever, author of Mindbenders and my friend.  Wish it was over a bottle of wine or coffee and face to face but I guess we can make this IM thing work.

KREVER:  Go ahead, you start.  You’re Walter Cronkite and I'm Rocky the flying squirrel

RM:  I always loved Rocky.

KREVER:  Me too.  I loved Boris and Natasha—I wonder if that’s where Renn came from?  That’s a weird thought.

RM:  I was just wondering that myself.  Are you mindbending me?

KREVER:  I told you it was real. Seriously. 

RM:  Well, at Thriller Fest, I was standing in the market in Grand Central wishing someone I knew would come and have lunch with me and suddenly there you were- with chocolate!

KREVER:  It was very good chocolate.

RM:  Really good chocolate.  Must be a writer thing.  You have been writing for quite a long time, in one fashion or another.  Can you give us a quick background? 

KREVER:  I grew up in New Jersey, moved around some as an adult. I’ve worked in television and Internet production, including at ABC News, as a prep cook in an Italian restaurant, associate manager of a revival house movie theater, a local newspaper reporter and a mattress salesman. But in writing fiction, all that matters really is a skeptical eye on the world and a way with words. People can get a sense of those things from my website or—better—from the excerpts of the books available on Amazon, BN.com or Smashwords.

RM:  Mindbenders is selling well on Amazon.  You have received positive reviews from the likes of Thomas F. Monteleone and F. Paul Wilson, both NY Times bestsellers.   Readers say they enjoy the fast paced action and developed characters. 

I found myself deeply invested in the story from the very beginning.  The story of Greg, a Iraq war vet living, or trying to live, with PTSD and Renn, a “leftover” from the Cold War era coming together to fight the age old war between what is right and what is easy was both thrilling and frightening.  How did you approach the idea for his novel?

KREVER:  Characters always come first for me. I got a letter from a woman who got the book on a Goodreads giveaway, saying her son had been home from Iraq for ten years and was still struggling with PTSD, that she found the book disturbing but very accurate about that. That meant a lot to me, because I worried more about that aspect of the story than any other. Greg and Max have in some ways very complementary problems. Greg can’t remember his history because of the PTSD and Max has no history, having been raised as a genetic experiment by the KGB. A lot of the book is tied up in the question: how differently would you view people if you really knew what they were thinking?

RM:  The themes of war and a global reach to politics, the idea that so few could effect so many with what seemed like a whim and the fear that accompanies feeling vulnerable and helpless resonate with me both as a child during the Cold War and a parent today.  Do you think that, somewhere in your subconscious, growing up during the Cold War had anything to do with the themes you choose to write about?

KREVER:  Actually, I think this is very much a post-9/11 book. I think one of the interesting things about it is the way the old Cold War lines get jumbled-up. Both Max’s team and the bad guys include members from both sides, people who would have been bitter enemies twenty years ago. If anyone wants to read into that some message about the absurdity of all our conflicts, I won’t object.

RM:  9/11 is something very much on the American mind, especially this week with the tenth anniversary coming up this weekend. 

In Mindbenders, Max Renn and his team posses the ability to read minds and manipulate the world around him using the power of his thoughts—his mind.  Did this novel come from any past experience or fascination with psychic phenomenon?

KREVER:  Not from any particular psychic experience of my own, no.  My son wanted a superhero and I made up a mindreader because I didn’t want a guy in tights.  When he went home to his mom that night, I started thinking, 'this could be interesting if I could find the right angle for it.'  I did a little research and stumbled upon remote viewing, the fact that the US Government funded a mind control program for 18 years.  And then the revelation that the Soviet program began much earlier was more serious and considered much more successful.  Once I stumbled onto that, I had Renn.

RM:  And so Renn was born.

KREVER:  Now this is about ten years ago. Renn first appears as a secondary character in a literary novel I wrote, which is probably one reason my literary novels never sold.

But when I finished that book, instead of patting myself on the back, I found myself thinking, "I've got to give this guy his own story. He's my Sherlock Holmes." And then it took me years to get loose enough to do him justice.

RM:  Let’s talk about your character Greg.  Mindbenders is told in the first person-Greg’s point of view.  While Renn appears as a secondary character early into the book, Renn quickly moves to stand shoulder to shoulder with Greg.  How did that come about?

KREVER:  Renn is certainly the main character. But Greg is a necessity. My first attempts at writing Renn were first person –from inside his head—and that just didn't work. The guy hears every thought for three blocks around all the time. So it was impossible to do him justice. The background noise at any given moment would overwhelm the story.

RM:  You had to tell Max Renn’s story from the outside. 

KREVER:  So Greg was a practical decision. I realized I needed Watson. Watson is the most important guy in the Sherlock Holmes stories because he's the one who asks, "Holmes, how did you deduce the details of his life with such uncanny accuracy?" which gives Sherlock the opportunity to tell us.  But Greg is also to some extent my son, who has a serious case of Asperger’s - and the Vietnam vets who lived across the street and had a hard time focusing on anything for any length of time because part of them was always back in the jungle, hearing whispering in the trees and the guns pounding inside their heads all the time.

RM:  In many ways I saw Greg as a vehicle for other stories. I find it interesting the story is told fromGreg’s point of view when he seems to function as a container, a whiteboard for other people’s emotions and experiences. What did Renn call him?

KREVER:  Greg is a receptor.   He can pick up brainwaves if the frequency is a match.  Renn makes the point that most people can be receptors under the right circumstances

RM:  A receptor, yes. But Greg’s own emotions, his own head is on lock down, at least from himself.

KREVER:  He's locked away from himself, yes. That's the PTSD.  His life is a mystery that he feels, not unnaturally, that he has to try to unlock. But he's forgotten the connecting threads. He remembers details but not how they fit together.

RM:  I don't get the feeling he wants to unlock it, only that he feels he should want to unlock it.

KREVER:  I think, through most of this book, he’s just glad to be functioning. He's been existing on the most basic level for so long that all this tumult is still an improvement.  I think it takes him most of the book to take seriously the thought that you might be able to find yourself. But that thought is the first step to doing it.

Part Two - Author Ted Krever and I discuss the writer’s life.
Part Three - Author Ted Krever and I discuss the changing climate of publishing and independant publishing.

Ted Krever’s books can be found here at Amazon.com, here at Goodreads.com and here at BarnesandNobel.com

For more information about Ted Krever please visit www.tedkrever.com