Adventures in Publishing: Please Judge My Book by Its Cover

IT'S HERE.

When I first opened the email attachment that had the possible cover of "Still Life Las Vegas" in it, I gasped and slammed my computer shut. It was nothing that I expected: there was so many images, so much color, and it was oddly...

Perfect. 

I've never met Young Lim, the designer at St. Martin's Press, but he seemed to take all the disparate ideas we had about the cover ("Could we maybe use both real images and drawn?" "Maybe an accordion on the side of the road?" "Could there be some sexy statue?"), pour them into the crucible of his own considerable talent and come up with a perfect encapsulation of what the book is all about: 

There's the graphic novel element (with the beautiful drawings by Sungyoon Choi), the whimsy, the melancholy. . . and Vegas, baby, Vegas!

I'd heard so many horror stories about authors hating their book jackets that I was prepared for the worst; it was such a gift to be presented with a prototype that looked almost exactly like this. A little tweaking, and we were good to go. Now, I don't know how much toil and back-and-forth went on in-house, but for me, it was like opening a present on Christmas day. 

It's so much more of a tangible thing now, you know? And the book's presence is starting to pop up unexpectedly online, like seedlings: a goodreads listing, and now one on Amazon! My friend Derek alerted me to the pre-order status of the book on Amazon, where I also found out that it's being released on August 11, four days earlier than I thought. Amazon settled its fight with Hachette and listed me for preorder on the same day? That Prime Membership must be kicking in!

Now, you know. . .  preorders are a way for the publisher to gauge buzz about the book, so if you have any curiosity about Still Life Las Vegas, this would be an excellent time to order it. Think of it as securing your end-of-the-summer-read now! You can strike it off your list!

Truly, though, I feel so happy. Such support and talent going on over at the Flatiron Building. I am extremely grateful. 

PS. See that photo of a balloon on the cover? I took that!

In Which we Bid Adieu to Zac Efron, and 90-Day Challenges

It's finished. Three long months ago, I undertook a challenge to write a novel in 90 days, with the aid of a book called, uncannily enough, "The 90-Day Novel." I took with my on my journey my friend and colleague Holly Myer, who was going to draw ninety illustrations in that same time period. How did we do? Well, let's just say, I waited the WHOLE night, but Rumpelstiltskin did not show up to rescue me and spin my straw into narrative gold. Damn him. Holly fared better:

James Sie: Saw your blog. The Olsen twins. You really want to finish this whole thing with the Olsen twins?

Holly Myer: I don't know why it had to end with the Olsens. It just happened. I’ve been watching a lot of Full House.

JS: I'm so sorry. Trauma conditioning? Or John Stamos?

HM: I love John Stamos more than words can say. I've done extensive studies on his face, and I've discovered many similarities between his Full House-years face and Zac Efron's current face.

This is the last Efron photo
I will ever post on my blog.
Hand to God.

JS: You definitely have a type.. He's like an early Efron prototype.

HM:  Exactly.

JS: Glad to see the technology has advanced.

So, how did the challenge end for you? Cross the finish line?

HM: I ended up with 90 drawings. I aimed for 100, but 90 is still good!

JS: A drawing a day! Perfect!

HM:  Yep! Very proud of the collection overall.

JS: You've got quite a lot of stuff to work with! What were some of your favorites?

HM: : One of a family photo of my dad and brother, the OITNB characters, and one from the last week-a portrait of Juliette Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouts.

JS: You talked about how it ended up being waaaay different than you imagined it being when you started out. How?

HM:  My original idea was to illustrate all my blog entries/essays thus far, based on GIFs I've used, but most ended up being based on random family photos, frames from TV/movies, or historical portraits. Though, I still did some based on the GIFs.

JS: Why did it go that way? And do you wish you had done more of the GIF's, or is this new direction giving you more?

HM:  I think by starting with that idea was a good warm-up, but getting exercise with the digital art made me want to just run wild and abandon the path I'd set out on… but that’s okay, because I ended up with a series of illustrations that still says something! And maybe I can incorporate them into a collection with the essays so far.

JS: Certainly the iconic TV images can be in a section all their own. Maybe with commentary.

HM: Definitely.
How about YOUUU, sir? Do you have a first draft??

JS: Well, I wrote just shy of 27000 words. I have 108 pages completed.

HM: THAT'S SO MANY PAGES!

JS: Yah, but it's only about a third of the way done. HOWEVER, if I'm being honest, judging from my last book, it ended up being about my usual pace— a little more than a page a day… So my natural tendencies pulled stronger than my self-imposed challenge.

HM: Nature wins once again!

JS: "Nature, Mr. Allnut, was what we were put on this earth to rise above."

HM: Um…

JS: Say it with a quavering, strident voice and you might get it.

HM: When I said it out loud, it was accidentally in Maya Rudolph's Whitney Houston impersonation voice. Is that close?

JS:  Not even.

HM: Sorry. I had to google that.

JS: I will do my Katharine Hepburn impression for you some time. You will be impressed.

"Maybe you'd get a little more writing done without this Satan juice."

JS: ANYWAY, I do have enough of a start, and enough research, that I can continue. The challenge did give me that-- a flying leap.

HM: Oh well. But YES! See, we both made big plans that were super optimistic.

JS: You know what the big downfall for me was? The whole seven days a week thing. I needed one day to get the rest of my life in order. One day of respite. I struggled to write every day, and once I transgressed that rule, it was easy to let the whole thing slide. Like, "Oh well, if I'm not getting this part of it done I'm already screwed so..."

HM: Yeah, it's easy to feel like you're sliding, so you may as well give up.

JS: Exactly. Today, however, feels DELICIOUS. So many possibilities of things to do, with no guilt. How 'bout you? Are you going to miss the pressure?

HM: Nope, not one bit. Now I feel great, since I have some good samples… which I wouldn't have if I didn't do this whole thing

JS: And what's your plan for going forward?

HM: Build a portfolio website, and try to connect to people in the world of editorial illustration. But also/mostly, write! I missed writing. I still worked on essays, but didn't post them. I'm excited to go back to sharing.

And you? Will you keep working on the book?

JS: I think so, though now there’s also a short story I've been wanting to revise, plus an old stage adaptation that I’ve got to revamp for a production next year. And selling the book that’s already written. It’s all in the realm of good productive stuff.

HM: Awesome!! You've got the writing activated, so keep going, even if it's on other projects!

JS: Well, I'm glad we went through this together.

HM: Me too. Thank you so much for inviting me to do this with you!

JS: It was MUCH less lonely a venture.

HM: Agreed.

JS: Until next time... any final thoughts?

HM: When I was little, I got very frustrated when I didn't have time to create every picture/craft/play I wanted to. My mom would tell me, "Holly, it's okay. You don't have to do ALL your ideas. Some ideas just stay ideas. And the ones that become real things are the best ones anyway."

I think about that all the time, even now.

JS: Wise words, Mom. I think she trumps Zac Efron. Speaking of which, how many Efrons got created?

HM: Only 4, surprisingly.

JS: He was such a part of this whole challenge, sadly. Our patron saint. No wonder I was doomed.

HM:

JS: Nice. It's like he's looking down from the heavens. Good night, Ms. Golightly.

HM: Goodnight!

The Bitter and the Sweet Blog-- Guess Who I Play?

In which we check in our participants of the 90-Day Challenge, one happy and one hapless, at the 2/3 mark, and discover that things are looking up. But not for everyone.

Some of Holly's work

James Sie: We’re on day, what? 56? Are you on track?

Holly Meyers: Okay, slightly less focused that I thought, bc I'm still technically behind by a few. BUT some pictures are way more detailed than the original parameters required, so I give myself some credit for that.

JS: How MANY are you behind?

HM: Only 9.

JS: Hmm.. last time it was 7.

HM: IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY. THIS WEEKEND WAS BUSY.

JS: Oh, so BIRTHDAYS are exempt. And busy WEEKENDS. Can we be just done with this?

HM: NO, we will get through it.

JS: C’mon, let’s just delete all our blogs and no one will be the wiser. We'll wake up in the shower and it will all have been a dream.

HM: And we'll be our 17-year-old selves again, and go back to high school and try to get recruited for college basketball. Oh wait that's a Zac movie.

         JS: It all comes back to Zac.

         HM: Always does.

JS: It's negative conditioning; I'm starting to HATE the thought of Zac. Because he represents crappy writing and guilt.

HM: No way. By the end of these 90 days, when you have your first draft, 
he'll be a vision again.

JS: If I have a first draft. IF.

HM: So how is it going?

JS: Everything I wrote in my last blog was a lie. All that affirming shit. I’m miserable.

HM: Oh noooooo.

JS: Just drudgery drudgery and wondering what the hell I'm doing. Though it's amazing how a promise to myself becomes so binding, like I'm pretending it's an actual deadline.  I'm afraid that I'm going to get to the end of this and then look at all the wreckage and not know what to do with it.

         [full disclosure: the book does warn against this darkness descending, and says I'll eventually move beyond it]

HM: If that happens, at least you will have created some original wreckage, and that counts as producing something.

JS: Hrmph. Anyhoo, many days missed, word count perilously low. I keep thinking I should just stop now and work on it in my usual methodic way, but that would preempt the challenge.

HM: Exactly. We're in this challenge for a reason, so chaalllleeenngggeee ourselves and our normal patterns. Maybe the last third will be the breakthrough phase.

JS: Maybe gilded monkeys will fly out of my butt.

 How are you feeling about it?

HM: I'm feeling good, but nervous! A few people at the new job have caught wind of this 90-day thing and have gone so far as to send my blog to art people. Like, legit art directors and stuff. It's freaking me out. Now I feel like I have to get super organized with a real website and business cards or something.

JS: Wow!

HM: Yeah. Mostly, said Art People have been very friendly and polite, giving me good advice about the business of editorial illustration.

JS: Editorial illustration. Explain, please.

HM: Magazine art directors hire people (like... me?!) to create illustrations for articles, online products, and even covers. It's a lot of freelance, so if I want to get in the game, I need to be legit.

JS: Oh! And is that the field you've been focused on?

HM: Well, it wasn't my original plan! I thought maybe it would get my blog a little more traffic (which it has), but I didn't think I'd need to mobilize so soon! I actually got one little gig for a fellow NYU alum, to create a poster for an event in Brooklyn next month!

JS: Look at you! Gilded monkeys aflight!

Does it affect your work on the challenge, knowing it's being scrutinized?

HM: Big time. I thought I could get away with casually posting just anything, but now I'm paralyzed with fear.

JS: Some actual trepidation!!

HM: I only sit at my computer paralyzed with fear until I remember that someone thought it was worthy of a magazine, then I feel confident again.

JS: Do your hands get tired, squeezing all those lemons into lemonade?

HM: Bahahaha!

JS: So, I guess this has all been worth it. I guess it ennobles MY efforts, knowing that it will have gotten YOU somewhere. I feel... downright philanthropic.

HM: Seriously!! I wouldn't have done this without the challenge you set up! THANK YOU.But you're not off the hook about your own writing.

JS: [grouse grouse grouse] Okay, I guess I can suffer through one more month.

HM: Yay k bye!

[Note: Sorry if there's weird spaces and tabbing and stuff; for some reason this posting has been acting up and I'm too tired to try and figure it out. Also, I figure I should actually do some, oh you know, actual WRITING, instead of mucking with it more.]

Mid-Way— The Slog Blog

                                            

"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."
—Michelangelo

I won’t lie— it’s been a slog. A month and a half into my 90-Day Challenge—halfway!—with two weeks of writing every day (well, almost every day) and it's been a lot of placeholder writing, with occasional flashes of inspiration. Hard to finagle the time, especially with end of the school year activities, and Doug! elbowing for time. What I’ve written is probably 75% unusable, as I dutifully scramble to get from Point A to Point B to Point C in whatever form it comes out in. Quite different from my usual delicate snail’s pace, my sporadic but painstaking method of writing. It’s hewing at granite instead of carving scrimshaw.

And yet. My wise friend and former playwriting teacher Linda Jenkins (who is herself developing a 90-Day Playwriting book, due out this summer) sent me some encouraging words: 
“Remember—it isn't forever, just three months. And, you're building good new muscles for discipline.” 
It’s true—there is something to be said for making yourself set aside a daily block of time to write, no matter what. It’s giving yourself permission to Do as Authors Do. 

The daily grind is also helpful for the creative process: returning to the world of your novel day after day, you find it never quite leaves your thoughts; the story is marinating, untended, in your brain. It’s much easier to dive back into the writing the next morning, as bad as it sometimes is, because you’ve somehow figured out what’s lacking and have come up with other possibilities: your subconscious had been noodling with it while you slept. You haven’t let the trail grow cold.

And, let’s face it, after two weeks of actual writing I’ve got 10,000 words on the page. 10,000 words that were not there before. A rough-hewn shape from a block of granite is a better place to be than looking at said block of granite every day and thinking, "I should really do something with that one day." It's an ill-favored thing, sir, but mine own. 

Life, however ungainly, is forming. 

Zac Efron Hijacks My Week 4 Blog

Disney movies. And now Zac Efron. Since beginning this 90-Day Novel Challenge I've been checking in with my cohort and pal Holly Myer (who is going to be drawing 90 illustrations in 90 days) and our conversation has been turning ever to the sunny side, much to my dismay. I chalk it up to Holly's pernicious and persistent optimism. I thought I was immune but perhaps it has taken root even in this parched and barren land. The girl will not go dark! I swear, if my book ends with a basketball game or a musical number set in the halls of a high school, my attorneys will be contacting her.

We might blame Holly's positive attitude on her upbringing by a Methodist Pastor mother, but Doug's Dad was a Methodist minister and we know how that turned out:

Here's our chat-conversation from last week. Yes, I realize it's late, but, you know, I've been WRITING (and yes, I have been making my quota):

Holly Meyer: Hello! it's been a while!

James Sie Okay, before we get started, I have something serious to discuss with you.

HM: Oh wow, what is it??

JS:

HM: PERF

JS: I don't want you to be upset, but… I'm not sure I'm feeling it anymore.

HM: Zac? Or the project?

JS:

JS: I mean, he's gone from being this friendly, approachable guy to something more… fratboy-ish. That perpetual pursed grimace on his face, like he's vaguely pissed off—

HM: Well. Maybe it's to promote the new movie where he's a pissed-off frat boy.

JS: —that macho posturing— wait... Are you saying that he's actually so good as a performer that…that he's inhabiting the IMAGE of a pissed-off frat boy, but is not actually becoming one?

HM: He's that gooood.

JS: Ohhhh.  I'm back in. I'm guessing, judging by your pastel Easter Zac, that you have not lost the faith.

HM: Nope. Never.

JS: Let's talk projects. It's almost been a month, can you believe it? A MONTH.

HM: I knowwwww! I'm a little behind.

JS: How behind? 

HM: 23. I can make it up!

JS: Okay… not bad...What happened?

HM: I had a few busy weekends of family Easter, then wedding mania. Excuses, I know. I haven't lost motivation at all, just time. How's your progress?

JS: Oy. I'm in a terrible terrible mood today, because tomorrow I have to start ACTUALLY WRITING.

HM: Ooooh. The planning stage is over?

JS: Yes. It's been great just doodling, as it were, without the pressure of writing. And I hadn't put NEAR enough time into it, but I did show up for at least fifteen minutes every day but one.

HM: That's pretty good!

JS: Now, I've got to write. Around 1000 words a day-- 3-4 pages. IMPOSSIBLE!

HM: Oh wowww that's a lot!

JS: I'm the kind of person who, in high school and college, would just compose on the typewriter. No

drafts. Everything had to be perfect. This was the days of no cutting and pasting, you know. Or do you know? You probably don't know. There was only white out, if you had a typo. No do-overs. Or correction tape. WAAAAAAAY before your time.

HM: I used to use a typewriter in my mom's office!

JS: For your ABC's!

HM: I WAS 12! It taught me a lot about patience and attention to detail.

JS: So the idea of allowing oneself to write badly, just to get it all down, is going to be extremely uncomfortable for me. I don't know what's going to happen. It IS a lot of pages!

HM: That's the idea of a big challenge though!

JS: Sigh… I guess… If I get stuck I'm just going to keep writing "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy."

 

JS: Have you had any epiphanies while drawing, in connection with your book?

HM: I've realized I admire strong female characters. Most of the reference photos I've banked are of ladies with opinions.

JS: On your tumblr I recognize Lena Dunham, but who's the first woman?

HM: I just posted a Kristen Wiig, in a scene from Bridesmaids. She's a character who feels like she's losing her connection with an old friend, and having trouble finding her way on her own.

It's interesting, especially, as my friends are starting to get married! I feel like I'm always defending my life as a single lady. Stuff like that. GIFs I've been using all year suddenly have more meaning to me.

JS: Does 2 more months of this stretch out like a barren wasteland, or a yellow  brick road?

HM: Yellow brick road, for sure. (Dorothy's another good character!) What about you? Especially now that you're starting to write 1000 words a day?!

JS: Tomorrow. I'm filled with dread. Because I'm going to have 60 days worth of dreck to despise.
How's that for optimism!

HM: Room for improvement.

JS: The author talks a lot about self-destruction, about not letting doubt impede you. I do have to  say this: tonight, I went for a walk with the dog and almost immediately he began pulling, straining at the leash. There, as if it were waiting for me, was a coyote. He just sat there in the dark, staring at me.

HM: Ooooooh.

Look right above the stone post--you can see its eyes shining. I swear.

JS: "Don't back out now." I imagined it saying.

HM: Seriously. THE ANIMALS KNOW. Now you really have to. Or else.

JS: Yeah, they might ambush me otherwise. Okay, I've got to get to sleep so I can get up and write (eeeeeeeesh). Let's check in soon. Wish me luck.

HM: GOOOOD LUUUUUCK.

The Bloom Falling Somewhat Off the Rose

Dear 90-Day Novel:

Okay, I just want to say up front that I think you're really special. These last three weeks, they've changed me. You've introduced me to worlds I never knew before. I think about you every night, and our daily dates have been inspiring. You're an inspiration. I'm glad you're in my life. 

But.

I have to say, some days it's been hard. Wait wait, before you get upset, let me finish. I know it's not news to you that you can sometimes be... demanding. Remember, we used to laugh about it? And I know it's what I signed on for but... I mean, every day? Do we really need to meet every single day? I want to be with you, sweetie, but it can get a little overwhelming. Not you, just... Life. Trying to fit it all in. And sometimes I feel like I need a little break, you know, to recharge, to find myself again, (and, you know, to check the Twitter and the Book of Face from time to time. :) )

Oh, I can just see you, reading this, that little furrow starting to deepen between your eyebrows, that pulse on the side of your neck asserting itself... don't go there. I know you were straightforward about what you expected. I know your feelings about commitment. After all, it's there in your name. All or nothing. 90 days or bust. And I'm not bailing. I am absolutely not. It's just that sometimes I feel like I don't have it in me, every day, and I have to confess that sometimes... I'm just going through the motions (I'm just being honest here).

Anyway.

I thought you'd want to know. God, now I feel awful. Not even a month in, and I'm already balking? What's wrong with me? Jesus. I'm weak. It's me, it's totally me. Let me prove myself. I want to go the distance with you, baby, I do. Please give me another chance. I promise I'll do better. I love you. Just forget I ever wrote this, okay?

See you tomorrow,

J

PS. I am totally counting this letter as today's work. 

Week 1 Recap— 90-Day Challenge Gone Disney

WARNING: The following text-chat recap of my 90-Day Creative Challenge contains scenes and images of intense Disney-fication. May be too saccharine for more cynical readers. How this element crept into my blog is unknown. Perhaps it is a natural result of bringing together two people who met in an animation studio. I, however, blame Holly and her blog. She is a pernicious influence.

Reader discretion advised.

Holly Myer: Hello!

James Sie: "I will find my way

I can go the distance

I'll be there someday

If I can be strong

I know every mile

Will be worth my while

I would go most anywhere
To feel like I belong..."

HM: Hercules?

JS: I thought I would freak you out by quoting a Disney song, Ms. Frozen. And, this morning for some reason I could not stop watching youtube videos of this guy named Chris Villain singing Disney. He dressed up as a mermaid and sang “Part of Your World.” I was horrified and yet I could not look away.

HM: Hmmm. Sounds like an incredible person.

JS: As you can see I am making productive use of my time.

HM: How was the first week?

JS: So, my week? Well, I sprang out April 1st full of energy and I got an INCREDIBLE lot done. Felt like all this bottled creative effort was finally shaken and sprayed out. 

By the third day, I was thinking, "Is 90 days over yet?"

HM: Hahaha. Pace yourself! But at least a strong start is a good sign!

JS: I have to say, against my better snarky judgement, that this book is very helpful. It's having me write around the plot without diving in, like tinkering at the edges, so that I can be open to all possibilities. He keeps talking about holding the story loosely at this point.

HM: I can see the strategy there, to figure out how little things work in that world before you get wrapped up in bigger events.

JS: Exactly. I have to do all these exercises, like imagining the worst day of the antagonist's life, or the thing that the protagonist loves above all else, or something she has never told anyone...

HM: Those sound like fun assignments!

JS: Fun? Sometimes. Sometimes I get impatient. But it also helps because you're not thrown into "Write! Write your book NOW!" I'm not allowed to actually write pages until next month. It’s like productive procrastination!

And you? I see from your blog there are lovely pictures popping up, like crocuses in Spring...

HM: The first week went well! I am on track with 7.5 drawings. 

JS:  Nice!

HM: It's been really interesting trying experiments with color--I'm already moving past the idea of having an outlined/black&white version of each…because I like the colors!

JS: Is it manipulation of photos?

HM: No, I'm drawing on layers on top of a photo, then I remove the photo.

JS: Ah… very cool. And do they pair with your writings?

HM: Some do so far. I'm going through the GIFs I've used on the blog, and choosing a frame (or two) to study to create the individual image. Plus, I've been going through family photos and using the same technique. It's a very thoughtful process, looking at all the little details of someone's face.

JS: How long does each one take?

HM: The more monochrome style takes about an hour, full color takes longer. And with some, I'm adding the background, which adds another 30 minutes.

JS: Wow. You're really putting the time in! I love the frowning, direct-to-the-camera one. I see a book cover!

HM: Ha, thanks! I'll take that into serious consideration!

JS: Are you surprised that you have somehow found the time?

HM: Yeah, actually. I spent a lot of quiet time this weekend working. I also tried drawing at Republic of Pie, a local coffee/live music/study hall place I love.

JS: That is a great place-- good tables. And good pie.

HM: A caught a lady looking in the reflection of my glasses to see what I was drawing…then the lady started talking to her friend about Marilyn Monroe.

JS: I'm afraid I'm a Starbucks man, myself. Mundane, I know, but habitual.

I HIGHLY recommend Bose noise-canceling ear bud headphones. They are made by magical elves. Costs more than a Luxury Suite at the Venetian, but worth every penny. They tune out most everything. 

HM: I imagine. Perfect music is important to creative work!

JS: Yes. I have found that playing "Da Pacem" by Arvo Part automatically makes my writing sound 200% more compelling.

JS: Are you looking forward to this week? I am terrified of not sustaining.

HM: I'm a little nervous about keeping up with my solid start, yes. But definitely looking forward to more coloring time. I'm four [years-old]. But I get excited to draw, like when I was four. So that's good.

JS: Very good. And you have images to plaster around and remind you how good it is.

HM: Yes. Thank you. And now, thanks to you, I have "Go the Distance" on repeat.

(the Lucas Grabeel version, obvi.)

JS: Oooh. Sorry. It was meant ironically.
 So, good luck on the week. See you on the flip side!

HM: Thanks. You too!