Book Review: Things to See in Arizona

 

I think this is the first YA novel I've read since Jodi Picoult, years ago. It's not my usual genre, but since I've loved so many of this  author's adult work, I thought I'd give it a try.

And I'm glad I did. Tuesday is going through some typically age appropriate, post-high school graduation angst: the over-protective parents she's just recognizing as flawed human beings, the hopeless crush that might not be so hopeless, the childhood best friend growing into a deeper, adult connection.

But on top of these things, a recent health diagnosis has her struggling to make sense of the future she's currently planning. As the book starts, she's definitely trying to maintain her self-protective denial. On a road trip designed to find her runaway father, she begins to find the bravery it will take to face the truth.

Mary Vensel White

I've been lucky enough to workshop with Mary Vensel White and I've been able to read a lot of her work. I've liked it all so it says a lot that this is my favorite. Bellflower comes out today and you should check it out. Here's my review:

Mary Vensel White is an expert at creating original, believable characters you can root for in a paragraph or less-a skill that comes in handy when writing a novel that is a series of vignettes. These are the defining moments of these characters' lives: the cancer scare, the mid-life crisis affair, the paternity test results that seem like the end of the world. Bellflower tells these stories about the human condition and reminds us that, in the end, we're all connected. 

LitChat. Part Two: publishing

Yesterday's post was getting too long so I split the interview into two chunks. What follows is more about publishing.

(These chats used to be archived. Mary Vensel White asked such good questions, I couldn't just let it get lost in the void!)

MVW: You’re what we call these days a “hybrid author,” meaning, you’ve published books in a variety of ways. Your first novel, Monsoon Season, was published by Canvas then you self-published A Long Thaw. Your third, Finding Charlie was published by Amazon as a Kindle Scout winner and with B&W, you decided to self-publish again. 

KO: actually, A Long Thaw was initially published by canvas. it was part of my original 3 book deal. when i got out of my contract with them, i rereleased it on my own. but since it had already been through the traditional editing process, all i had to do was get a new cover and put it on amazon. it helped me get a sense of what self-publishing is about, but I feel like Blood & Water is my first real experience launching a book on my own.

MVW: Do you think the publishing landscape has changed in recent years to allow authors more diversity and autonomy in the ways they put forward their work?

KO: i do. i still worry that the ease of self-publishing has flooded the market with unpolished work, making it harder for some writers to get noticed and make a living. but it has also made the process democratic, allowing consumers to decide what they're going to read instead of being told by publishing houses that might not be willing to take a chance on something not easily categorized. now writers are free to find their audience regardless of whether a publisher thinks they can. 

MVW: What was your experience like with the traditional publisher, Canvas, with your first novel? What were some benefits of being supported by an established publishing house? Were there any downsides?

KO: i was unhappy with my first publisher. i had very little control over the cover or how my work was promoted. there were long stretches of time when no one returned my emails and i assumed the book had tanked and the others might never be published- only to find out 6 months later, via an accounting letter, that Monsoon Season had sold 10000 copies. i was new to the publishing world and a lot of people thought i was crazy for getting out of that contract, but the lack of personal connection to people i’d trusted with my ‘babies’ felt wrong.  

i think the benefits can be more power behind you in sales, though it isn’t guaranteed and i didn’t get that with the 2nd book. the other benefit is some degree of respect. in a sea of self-published books, it can give you some credibility that you made it past the gate keepers.

MVW: How does an author take advantage of Amazon’s Kindle Scout program and what does publication with them look like? Do they assist with marketing and sales? Did you have any control over the final product?

KO: i think Kindle Scout is the best of both worlds. i got to design the cover and write the book my way; they provide editing, an advance and marketing. they even got me a Bookbub ad this summer. 2 years after publication, they’re still promoting the book and it’s done really well.  

MVW: You’ve returned to self-publishing twice. What do you enjoy about the process? What advice would you give to authors considering publishing their own work?

KO: i’ve found i like the marketing part better than i thought i would. it didn’t come naturally, but i’ve been figuring it out over the past 5-6 years. publishing is always changing and there’s new stuff to learn. i like the challenge but it’s time consuming. if you’re serious about doing the work to find your audience, it’s like taking on a 2nd job on top of writing.  

MVW: What are you working on now and when can we look forward to reading it? Will you continue writing books with these characters?

KO: i often go through a phase when i’ve just finished a book that i think i might never write again, but i just started working on something last week. i think it’s too new to articulate what it might be. if any of my characters decide they have more to say, i’ll be writing it down. the thing i’ve learned is that no story’s ever really over.

Please check out the first post in this series, on writing.

Litchat, Part One: writing

Last month, I participated in a twitter interview on #LitChat. I've attended these author chats before, but this was my first time being the interviewee. We talked about publishing and a bit about my latest novel, Blood & Water. Mary Vensel White conducted the interview and it was so fun I decided to post the content below:

MVW: Today we’re chatting with @katieorourke78. We’ll chat about her latest novel, Blood & Water, for the first half of #LitChat, and for the second half, we’ll discuss her experiences as a hybrid author.

Welcome, Katie! Can you give us a short summary of Blood & Water?

KO: when her life in NH falls apart, delilah takes off, driving across the country to her brother’s house in tucson, though she hasn’t seen him in years. the people she finds there, many of them strangers, become unwitting casualties of her early mid-life crisis, and end up helping her through it anyway.

MVW: What was your initial inspiration for the novel?

KO: i think the first scene i wrote is delilah beating a car with a baseball bat. the idea of an otherwise rational person being pushed into such an uncharacteristic extreme was interesting to me- how she got there and how she'd manage to right herself. the story grew from there.

MVW: I found it very interesting how Delilah and David came from the same parents but because of the age difference and other factors, it was almost like they grew up in two different families. Do you think siblings often have differing childhoods?

KO: i think when there's a big age span, you end up with parents who have different skill sets. parenting in your twenties is different than parenting in your forties, and that doesn't even take into account issues of alcoholism and recovery. there's an 18 year difference between david and delilah. in fundamental ways, they were raised by different people.

MVW: B & W is told in rotating POVs. How did you decide on this form? What benefits does it have?

KO: i always tell stories in multiple pov. it allows the reader to see the story from many angles and it means they end up knowing more than any of the characters. this story has 5 narrators who take turns in a sort of relay style. balancing five narratives so each character has their own arc and resolution while also contributing to the arc and resolution of the main story was probably the most complicated story construction i've taken on so far. by the time i realized how hard it was going to be, i was too far in!

MVW: B&W is your fourth novel—in your own words, a “family saga” with characters that overlap with your other books. Can you talk about this relationship between your novels?

KO: all of my books take place in the same fictional world, making it possible for characters from different books to meet each other, for a peripheral character from one book to have a leading role in the next. i don't write sequels, per se, and these books can be read in any order, but because all of the characters live in the same world, there’s an opportunity to revisit the past.

MVW: What was your writing process like for this novel, especially considering the existing links with your other books? Did you outline or just let it flow?

KO: i never know where a story is going. before i sit down to write, i spend a lot of time in my head just getting to know the characters, but i never know what the story will be or how it ends until i write it.

MVW: Your website calls your books “Contemporary Women’s Fiction.” You and I have been critique partners for years and I’d say B&W is your most literary work to date. Especially because this book was self-published, how difficult is it to settle on a genre when a book straddles two or more?

KO: i try not to think of genre while i'm writing. i do think this is more literary than my others, but i think the biggest difference is that my characters are older. because i'm older. it's about more serious things because i care about more serious things. since i'm the publisher, i don't have to let myself be pigeon-holed or told to write for a specific market. 

Tomorrow, I'll post part two of the interview, where we discuss publishing. Keep an eye out!

Book Review: The Promise Between Us

I first heard about this book when I attended a LitChat on twitter in January. Author Barbara Claypole White spoke about her inspiration for this novel: Can you be a good mother if you abandoned your baby?

The novel rotates between five narrators and tells a story about a young girl with OCD and the complicated family of flawed adults who put aside what they want in order to do what's best for her.

I love flawed characters and I love stories told with alternating POV. Claypole White's novel tackles the stigma that still surrounds mental illness, which (along with access to health insurance) can be one of the obstacles to getting treatment.

Incidentally, I liked how this book included the character's financial concerns. It seems like so many authors gloss over this issue, which makes for totally unrelatable stories, in my opinion.

As a writer of women's fiction, I appreciated her definition:

"Technically I write WF, yes, because I'm writing emotionally layered stories. . . WF is about the protag's emotional journey. Some argue protag has to be female: I disagree."

I'll be participating in my own LitChat on twitter February 26th when I will be interviewed by author Mary Vensel White.

WF is about the protag's emotional journey. Some argue protag has to be female: i disagree

WF is about the protag's emotional journey. Some argue protag has to be female: i disagree."

The blurb!

My amazing writer friend Mary Vensel White wrote me the best new promo blurb for Blood & Water:

"Delilah is leaving her cheating boyfriend and she has nowhere to go except the home of her brother, whom she hasn’t seen since their mother’s funeral five years before. David is a single father trying to manage his teenage daughter, and he’s not exactly pleased when his wayward sister shows up. 

From the opening of this absorbing novel, as Delilah nurses a black eye and ransacks her apartment, trying to decide what she can’t leave behind, I was fully along for the ride. The widening ensemble of characters each have their own voice, their own journey to define family and home. 

Blood & Water is Katie O’Rourke’s most compelling and heartfelt novel to date, a story about family—past and present, predetermined and chosen—and the deep veins that keep them connected. "

Such great words to hear from a talented writer I admire. Doesn't it make you want to get your copy right now, during the 99 cent launch sale? (Available at all major booksellers.)

;)

Tucson Festival of Books

This is the third time I've attended the annual book festival, a completely free weekend of events designed for readers and writers. There are book signing and talks on publishing and presentations by the Desert Museum and yummy food vendors. It's held at the University of Arizona and it's huge.

This year was especially fun because my Authonomy pal Mary Vensel White came in from California and stayed in my guest room! Mary attended as a presenter, talking about her journey to publication with The Qualities of Wood. It was particularly fun to get to talk about writing and publishing with someone about as obsessed with those things as I am. (My boyfriend was probably relieved as well.)

What stood out most for me about the authors talking about how they got published was that they each had a different experience. The MFA community, standard query process or crowd sourcing - all of these were presented as valid paths to take.

We ended the weekend by attending the conversation with Noam Chomsky, another free event that makes me so appreciative of this resource for Tucsonans.

Blog Hop!

Writing can be such a solitary endeavor. It's nice to remember we're part of a larger creative community. Robin Israel invited me to participate in this blog hop as a way to do just that and to shout out to other writers I admire and support.

LIKE: Mary Vensel White, author of HarperCollins' The Qualities of Wood (and a forthcoming masterpiece I've had the privilege of reading before publication).

AND: Juliet O'Callaghan, who has started writing again after taking a contemplative break. You can read about that and you can read her chapters.

BLOG HOP QUESTION:

Why are you working on the project you are writing now? Why is it important? (to you, or to the world, or…)

As of this weekend, I have finished writing Finding Charlie. (I thought it was done a few weeks ago, but it needed another chapter.)

So my new project is deciding what to do with it. I'm working up a query letter for literary agents and weighing the pros and cons of self-publishing.

I never would have considered self-publishing my first book, but with two traditionally published books under my belt and a bit of experience with social media promotion, I'm feeling more confident. It's definitely something I'll think about.

In the meantime, you can check out my first chapters. Finding Charlie opens on the mystery of 19 year old Charlie Howard's disappearance.  As the hours turn to days, older sister Olivia tries to put the pieces together.  This is a family drama that takes place in the summer in Tucson, Arizona - the longest season of the year. Readers of Jodi Picoult, Sue Miller, and J. Courtney Sullivan would appreciate this story.

Monsoon Season: Some links

With publication of Monsoon Season days away, there have already been a few advance reviews.

Here's the review by Qualities of Wood author Mary Vensel White.

Here are reviews by book bloggers:
Lookatmybooks
Mamajheart 
Lucybirdbooks 
Literaryinklings

Here's a guest blog about my inspiration for Monsoon Season.

A guest blog about my journey to publication.

Order your copy here:
http://www.amazon.com/Monsoon-Season-ebook/dp/B0070TREUS