Melissa Landers Looks Back on Debut Thoughts... Seven Years Later

It’s time for a new interview seriesa… like NOW. No really, actually it’s called NOW (Newly Omniscient Authors). This blog has been publishing since 2011, and some of the earlier posts feel a little… dated. To honor the relaunch of the site, I thought I’d invite some of my past guests to read and ruminate on their answers to questions from oh-so-long-ago to see what’s changed between then and now.

Today’s guest for the NOW is Melissa Landers, a former teacher who left the classroom to pursue other worlds. A proud sci-fi geek, she isn’t afraid to wear her Princess Leia costume in public. Her books include the YA Sci-Fi series beginning with Alienated, the Starflight series, and the middle-grade title, Blastaway.

Has how you think (and talk) about writing and publishing changed, further into your career?

Yes and no. Looking back at my first interview with you, I made some suggestions that I still stand by, but find a little difficult to follow. For example, I said the best way for an author to deal with anxiety while on submission is to “put it out of mind and get to work on the next book…Do whatever it takes to keep writing.” It’s good advice, but the simplicity of it feels naive to me now. Seven years ago, I had no idea how much my creativity, confidence, and motivation would be affected by publishing. I still try to “do whatever it takes to keep writing,” but it’s not as easy. 

Let’s talk about the balance between the creative versus the business side of the industry. Do you think of yourself as an artiste or are you analyzing every aspect of your story for marketability? Has that changed from your early perspective?

I still write the stories that excite me, but I also do my best to maximize the marketability of each book. I’ve learned over the years that some things make a book harder to sell than others…and because publishing is a business, strong sales numbers are the key to staying in business. 

The bloom is off the rose… what’s faded for you, this far out from debut?

 Hmm… I think what’s faded for me the most is my wishful “anything can happen” attitude when I release a new book. I used to think that if I worked/promoted/marketed hard enough, my books would hit the lists, but now I know that sort of thing isn’t likely to happen unless the publisher makes it happen. I do what I can to stay connected with my readers, but I don’t put pressure on myself to “move the needle” in unrealistic ways.

Likewise, is there anything you’ve grown to love (or at least accept) that you never thought you would?

I’ve grown much more accepting of my lack of control regarding cover design. I used to HATE that other people had more say than I did when it came to choosing my covers, but looking back, I can see some times when my instincts were wrong and the publisher’s were right. So now I keep an open mind and trust their judgment…at least more than I used to. 

And lastly, what did getting published mean for you and how has it changed (or not changed!) your life?

Getting published completely changed the direction of my career. When I started writing, I was on extended maternity leave from teaching. I loved my job in education, and I had every intention of returning to the classroom someday. But then Alienated was published…and Invaded and United…and Starflight, Starfall, and Blastaway. Now I write full-time, and I can’t imagine doing anything else. Despite the challenges of publishing, I consider myself lucky to be a part of it.  

Rhinoceros Skin - Every Writer's Must-Have

I recently did a presentation about the path to publication that included a big fat picture of a rhinoceros, which always seems to set people back a bit. One of the first things I tell aspiring authors to procure for themselves is some rhinoceros skin. Don't actually go kill a rhinoceros and say Mindy McGinnis told you to do it before reading the rest of this post.

Rhinoceros skin is 1.5 centimeters thick - that's pretty thick skin. Even on our fleshiest parts (hands and feet) human skin is only about 4mm thick. Big game hunters in the early 1900's even believed that rhinos had bulletproof skin. This is not actually the case, but that particular myth has staying power- Kevlar backpacks have been dubbed Rhino Skin.

And this is the kind of protective layer you need to have covering your ego when it's time for feedback. Whether that is coming from your critique partners, casual readers, agents, editors, bloggers or professional reviewers, anything negative that anyone has to say about your book is going to sting a little. And stinging a little is just fine. In fact, even the rhino is used to it - the biggest threat to their skin is sunburn and insect bites. Rhinos cover themselves in mud to protect their skin from these threats, and then they move on with their lives.

These topical concerns can't kill you - in fact, much like the rhino you learn from them. But you can't allow the negativity about your work sink past your epidermis and get down into your organs where you can be fatally damaged by it. Your ego can take a bruising (in fact it's good for all of us) but a seeping lesion will drain the life out of you.

So put on your rhinoceros skin and roll around in some mud, at which point you'll be ready to face any negativity about your writing. And yes, you can say that Mindy told you to roll in the mud.

Author Talia Carner on Stories Finding the Author

Inspiration is a funny thing. It can come to us like a lightning bolt, through the lyrics of a song, or in the fog of a dream. Ask any writer where their stories come from and you’ll get a myriad of answers, and in that vein I created the WHAT (What the Hell Are you Thinking?) interview. Always included in the WHAT is one random question to really dig down into the interviewee’s mind, and probably supply some illumination into my own as well. 

Today’s guest for the WHAT is Talia Carner, whose first novel, Puppet Child launched a nationwide legislation–The Protective Parent Reform Act. China Doll made Amazon’s bestsellers list and served as the platform for Ms. Carner’s presentation at the U.N. in 2007 about infanticide in China. Her novel, Jerusalem Maiden, (HarperCollins 2011,) won the Forward National Literature Award in the Historical Fiction category. Her latest novel, Hotel Moscow, (HarperCollins 2015) won USA Book News award in the Multicultural category. Her upcoming novel, The Third Daughter, (HarperCollins September 2019,) is a daring exposé of sex trafficking.

Inspired by Sholem Aleichem’s story, “The Man from Buenos Aires,” author Talia Carner’s novel, The Third Daughter (HarperCollins, September 2019) breaks the silence on the trafficking of Jewish women from Eastern Europe to Buenos Aires in the late 1800s. For historical background, book tour schedule, reviews, and contact for book group participation, please check her website.

Ideas for our books can come from just about anywhere, and sometimes even we can’t pinpoint exactly how or why. Did you have a specific origin point for your books?

Stories find me. I don’t seek them out. Each time I am far along with a novel and think that maybe it’s my last one, the next one presents itself. Each takes hold of my head and heart and compelled me to sit down to what turns out to be three to six years’ work at a time. I’ve long realized that the seeds of every story had sprouted in my psyche years earlier, where they fermented…. All it takes is a passing comment, a line in a newspaper, or a road sign, and the idea blooms, takes hold on me and doesn’t let go until I crawl under the skin of a new protagonist. I rise and fall with her spirit as she struggles—and prevails against—the forces that shape her life, be they psychological, political, social, geographical, legal, economic, or religious.

Once the original concept exists, how do you build a plot around it?

I don’t plan the plot, but rather I get on the journey with the protagonist, and learn alongside her while she finds herself in a myriad of situations involving the central social issue or the historical truth of the novel. That said, on occasions I must stop and redirect her so she doesn’t lead me away from the main storyline into less relevant parts of her life. Most importantly, I ensure that the moral dilemma is strong, and does not wear out in the course of the book. Equally circuital is that when things go awry for her, she and I—as the author—don’t shy away from confronting the drama that such a situation entails. It takes guts to write the harrowing experience, and I put myself in a dreamlike trance to feel it fully and let the words spill onto the computer screen. In the editing phase, though, I might soften the scene to fit the readers’ tolerance, so they won’t throw my novel against the wall in horror…. This has been the case with my new novel, The Third Daughter, which deals with sex trafficking. The reader gets a strong reading experience, but also satisfaction from the emotional rides and the thrill, the way she might experience in a gut-wrenching film that stays with her afterward for days.

Have you ever had the plot firmly in place, only to find it changing as the story moved from your mind to paper?

I don’t plot ahead of time. Each time the reader is surprised, I was surprised when the story took that dramatic turn. The most I do is follow the analogy that writing a novel is like setting out to drive at night from New York to California. You know the final destination, but you can see only as far as the headlights. In my case, I may keep in mind that those headlights should reveal, within two to five chapters, a hand that reaches down from the sky and yanks the story into a new orbit. I may or may not know where this short drive ahead will lead.

How do you choose which story to write next, if you’ve got more than one percolating?

I sit in front of my computer, close my eyes, and start typing. The right story moves to the forefront. That said, I’m two years into researching novel #6—including four trips to France, where the story is set—but have written very little of it. That story has the historical background in place; I know my protagonist well, but I still have no idea where her journey will take her. Luckily, by now I trust my instincts that, once I finish the bulk of my book tour for The Third Daughter and have time to devote to writing this new book, it will all fall into place.

I have 5 cats (seriously, check my Instagram feed) and I usually have at least one or two snuggling with me when I write. Do you have a writing buddy, or do you find it distracting?

 Since I am in a dream-like state when I write fresh material or concentrate hard on revisions and editing, I can’t imagine being distracted by either cats or music. There were times I tried music, but I ended up getting up to dance…. I may sit at the computer for 10 hours at a stretch without eating, with only the occasional bathroom break. If you are in a dream, can you stop to be awakened by a phone call, and then return to the dream?