Writing Retreat

Last weekend I spent three days in Maine with an amazing group of women. We wrote, we talked, laughed, ate the best blueberry pie ever (thanks Faye Day!), drank lots of wine, and topped things off with an arm wrestling match. You guessed it. I lost. In fact everyone lost to Robin, a built-Maine-tough woman!

The cabin I slept in was set along the Damariscotta River, an ocean-fed river. The spot was perfect. It had all the tranquility of a lake, yet still with the salty scent of the sea. Friday night I arrived, met all the ladies from The 5 Randoms and then walked in the rainy forest back to the "Quiet" Cabin by the light of a few flashlights. After a brief tutorial on how to use the 1800's cookstove without burning down the cabin Robin's husband had built, we fell asleep to the sound of the rain on the roof and the crackling kitchen stove.

Saturday I spent the bulk of the day in this little light-filled room with three walls of wavy glass windows, sea shells lining the windowpanes, bookshelves, and two white wicker chairs. A perfect writing room, and I got a lot accomplished. We gathered for meals in the "Loud" Cabin, and sat around a massive wood table talking about our books, our projects, politics, agents, publishers...pretty much everything. 

I left Sunday reenergized and reminded that at the core, writers are all the same. We're all trying to tell the best story we can. And a peaceful retreat in Maine will help a lot!

Currently reading: Black Tuesday, by Susan Colebank

And The Winner Is....

TABITHA!!

Congratulations, you are the proud new owner of a copy of VIOLET RAINES ALMOST GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTNING! 

Thanks to everyone who came on by to play! 

Tabitha, just shoot me an email with your mailing address at: angie at angelafrazier dot com

 

Contest!

Due to some Amazon.com wonkiness, I received 2--yes, TWO--copies of Danette Haworth's debut novel, VIOLET RAINES ALMOST GOT STRUCK BY LIGHTING!!

 

Dear me. Two copies. What to do? I suppose I have two choices. Choice One: Send it back to Amazon.com (snore). 

Choice Two: Have a contest!!

Danette being my "agent sistah," I'm oh-so happy to show her some love and raffle off the extra copy! Do you want to win? Then all you have to do is leave a comment and I'll enter your name into the raffle.

If you want your name entered twice, post about my contest on your blog and let me know you did! Contests are such fun, aren't they? :-) 

I'll choose a winner Sunday, September 7!

http://www.violetraines.com

Branding

I recently read Alice Pope's CWIM blog interview with Michael Bourret (Dystel & Goderich Literary Management), where he said an author's goal should be to become a "brand." That if an author is jumping from one category to another, or one genre to another, they aren't giving readers what they want. 

I'm not sure what to make of this statement. Obviously, he is a successful agent and knows his stuff, but is it really so detrimental to a writer's career if they write MG and YA, or historical fiction and contemporary fiction? If an author becomes too much of a "brand" wouldn't their readership begin to expect more of the same? 

Take Laurie Halse Anderson for example. I read SPEAK and CATALYST before I read FEVER 1793. Her two contemporary novels were good, but they didn't resonate with me. If I hadn't seen a historical novel in her line-up, I'm not sure I would have picked anything up by her again. But then I read her historical novel and was completely blown away with how awesome of a writer she is. And because of that, I'm now turned on to both sides of her writing. 

I write both YA and MG, historical and contemporary, mystery and paranormal. I love exploring other genres, but if I do so am I hurting my career?

I'd love to hear what others think about this topic.