This fourth Monday of the month I’m dedicating this last Q & A of 2021 to some of the answers I have received to a question many of you, dear writerly readers—and workshop students— might find especially interesting.
C.M. MAYO: For those looking to publish, what would be your most hard-earned piece of advice?
DAVID O. STEWART: Nobody asked you to write that book. You’re doing it for you. If you can’t get it published, accept that they’re all a bunch of morons and move on.
SUSAN J. TWEIT: In the writing stage, be honest. When you get to a scene or place or event you want to skip over, stop and ask yourself, what am I afraid of? And then go there. Find the universal threads in your personal story—memoir works when it reaches beyond the personal into the territory that anyone can learn from. And when looking for an agent or publisher, be perseverant. Memoir is a crowded field these days, and yours has to be the best it can possibly be to stand out, and it also has to be so compelling that an editor or agent simply cannot put it down.
JAN CLEERE: Do your research before querying publishers and agents. You will save so much time if you know whether the publisher or agent you are querying accepts the type of book you are writing. There are several good websites that list publishers and/or agents and describe what they are looking for.
KARREN ALENIER: If a publisher says s/he likes part of your manuscript, ask immediately if you can send a revision. Don’t delay by feeling sorry for yourself or thinking someone else might like the whole thing. Take your openings when they present.
SOLVEIG EGGERZ: Don’t waste years seeking an agent, a large publisher, a small publisher, or anything. Instead invest time and money in getting your work read and vetted 1) by your favorite writers group and 2) by an excellent developmental editor or mentor. Once you feel confident that you’ve written a good book, do what feels right regarding publishing.
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: Before submitting anything, research the market. If looking to publish in a magazine, purchase half a dozen or so that seem to be likely venues for your work. Look at them carefully and see if you fit in. This is a good place to start, rather than submitting book length manuscripts to publishers, because book editors read these magazines, too. It also gives you a chance to learn how to work with an editor, to receive suggestions and shape the best possible piece for the magazine.
CHRISTINA THOMPSON: Don’t be too impatient and don’t try to publish work that isn’t ready. Also, I do recommend having some readers for your work-in-progress: a writing group or a class can really help you identify weaknesses in your writing that you might not be able to identify on your own.
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My own hard-earned advice about publishing? Chances are, you’ll make some mistakes, some minor, others appalling, so why not lessen the number and the pain by learning from the mistakes of others?
My favorite answer is David O. Stewart’s: “Nobody asked you to write that book. You’re doing it for you. If you can’t get it published, accept that they’re all a bunch of morons and move on.” I would add to that, don’t overlook the option of self-publishing. But again, and with self-publishing especially, it helps to learn from the mistakes of others. (On my writing workshop page, scroll down aways and you will find a batch of posts on publishing.)
May 2022 be a year filled with health, happiness, prosperity, and inspiration for you and yours. And if you’re looking to publish, may your path be blessed!
I welcome your courteous comments which, should you feel so moved, you can email to me here.
C.M. MAYO: How has the Digital Revolution affected your writing? Specifically, has it become more challenging to stay focused with the siren calls of email, texting, blogs, online newspapers and magazines, social media, and such? If so, do you have some tips and tricks you might be able to share?
Down with social media!
LYNNE SHARON SCHWARTZ: “I avoid social media as much as possible—I think it is destroying critical thinking, as well as print journalism. A lot of it is simply garbage. I do like email, though I miss getting personal letters in the mail.” —From Q & A with Lynne Sharon Schwartz About Crossing Borders, Madam Mayo blog, August 23, 2021
MATTHEW PENNOCK: “I am not particularly prolific. I do not write every day, and I’m often distracted by all the shows I can stream, and podcasts I can listen to. Social media has never really appealed to me, so I am okay there, but other than that, someone needs to give me some tips about how to get a little more done.” —From Q & A with Poet Matthew Pennock on The Miracle Machine Madam Mayo blog, November 23, 2020
ALVARO SANTANA-ACUÑA: “While I am writing, I minimize interruptions, including turning off my cellphone and notifications. I only turn it back on when I am having a break. In general, I try to use social media as little as possible. What I do is to log in, scroll down a few posts, and, if I have to post something, I do it and then log off. The truth is that, when we are on social media, we easily loose ownership of our time, which we put for free at the disposal of these companies. We become their workers. I prefer to use my time for other things.” —From Q & A with Álvaro Santana-Acuña on Writing Ascent to Glory: How One Hundred Years of Solitude Was Written and Became a Global Classic, Madam Mayo blog, December 28, 2020
It depends…
CHRISTINA THOMPSON: “I think this depends on what stage one is at in the writing process. When you’re actually writing a book, all this stuff is a distraction and you have to be very careful not to waste too much time on it. But once your book is published, it becomes a lifeline to your readership, and the more you participate the better. So, I think it’s really a matter of making all these opportunities work for and not against you, and that takes a certain amount of discipline.” —From Q & A with Christina Thompson on Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia, Madam Mayo blog, January 25, 2021
Balance
JAN CLEERE: “While digital sources have made a writer’s job more efficient when it comes to finding pertinent sources, it has also taken away that spontaneous delight of uncovering a long lost letter or hidden journal that has not yet been digitized. I try to focus on the business of writing separate from the hours I spend actually writing. Not always possible but I have found by trying to compartmentalize the creative from the business end of writing, I am more productive. The trick is to balance these activities so that by the end of the day, you feel you have put out all the fires as well as progressed with your writing.” —From Q & A with Jan Cleere on Military Wives in Arizona Territory: A History of Women Who Shaped the Frontier, March 22, 2021
No problemo!
SOLVEIG EGGERZ: “Actually I love writing on the computer. I am not one to long for life in a cabin on a mountaintop where I write on a yellow pad free of technology. I don’t like to be surprised by “emergencies” days after they occur. I resolve the issue of disturbances by keeping my phone next to me, so I can glance at a message without shutting down my story. Maybe I am exaggerating my equanimity!” —From Q & A with Solveig Eggerz on Sigga of Reykjavik, February 22, 2021
KARREN ALENIER: “I’m used to being interrupted. I grew up in house of six children. I was eldest. The point is when I am working, I am able to ignore the lure of online wonders like YouTube, blogs and newspapers. However, I like to work in silence and know that listening to radio, TV, or music is too distracting. Yes, my smart phone is an interrupter. Still I don’t turn that off because someone important to me might reach out and need me. Some of my friends get annoyed that I don’t read their Facebook pages except occasionally. The best way for me to get something done is to put it on my list of things to do. I take great pleasure in ticking off those items.” —From Q & A with Karren Alenier on her New Book How We Hold On, the Word Works, Paul Bowles & More, Madam Mayo blog, September 27, 2021
DAVID O. STEWART: “For a lot of years, I was a trial and appellate lawyer with a dozen or more active cases at a time. I used to describe my work as a life of interruptions. Clients called. Colleagues dropped by (remember offices?). Opposing lawyers called. Dumb firm meetings. Interviewing job applicants. I was constantly dropping one subject to pick up another. I tried to be in my office by seven a.m. to get some uninterrupted time. So these days, working at home by myself, I actually get antsy if I don’t have a few interruptions. I’m used to working for a stretch, taking a few minutes off to do something stupid (see social media) or annoying (see call health insurer), and then getting back to work. It’s normal.” —From Q & A with Biographer David O. Stewart on the Stunning Fact of George Washington, Madam Mayo blog, June 28, 2021
Go into another world…
SUSAN J. TWEIT: “When I am writing, I am in another world. I turn off notifications on my phone and computer, so that I’m not distracted by the bing of email coming in or the ding of texts or news alerts. My daily routine is pretty simple: I post a haiku and photo on social media every morning (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), and answer any comments on my posts. After half an hour on social media—I set a timer—I read the news online. When I’ve finished with the news—which is research time for me, as news stories, especially those about science, are raw material for my writing—I write until the well runs dry. And then, usually at two or three in the afternoon, I allow myself to go back to social media, answer other comments, check the news. Then I close my laptop and go outside into the real world and walk for a mile or two on the trails around my neighborhood to clear my head. Getting outside into the “near-wild” of the greenbelt trails in my high-desert neighborhood keeps me sane in turbulent times, and refills my creative well. Nature is my medicine, inspiration, and my solace.” —From Q & A with Susan J. Tweit on Her Memoir, Bless the Birds: Living with Love in a Time of Dying, April 26, 2021
KATHLEEN ALCALA: “All of this is terrible. I am so easily distracted. I will start laundry, open a file, take notes by hand, and forget what I had planned to do that day. For me, the best strategy is still the writing residency, away from home, where I don’t have any excuses and fewer distractions. This is especially needed when I am trying to organize large blocks of writing, such as the chapters in a novel.” —From Q & A with Kathleen Alcalá on Spirits of the Ordinary, Madam Mayo blog, May 24, 2021
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My Own Logbook and Stopwatch for Work on Madam Mayo Blog
The ever-increasing and OMG-so-many siren calls to the Internet—as a writer, it’s something I’ve been struggling with and pondering on for the past many years. I’ve had some continuing frustrations, but also some successes, and I’ve blogged about the latter (see my writing workshop archive). Tips & Tricks for Coping with Digital Distractions, that’s a book I’m not going to write because I’m already writing another book, with two others contemplated after that, in addition to hosting this blog. Enough already!
But I will offer a word on my strategy for fitting Madam Mayo blog into my week. This blog has been ongoing since 2006, and since 2019, on a regular schedule of posting on Mondays. Although for years I resisted establishing a regular schedule, to my surprise, it has made the blog far easier to manage.
One of the biggest challenges to the sort of blogging I do is that because there’s no editor, no paying subscribers, it’s easy to have the whole show just ooze on out into who-knows-what-who-knows-when.
If you enjoy writing, watch out, blogging can take over your writing life!
Blogging then, for me, is what behavior modification expert B.J. Fogg, in his book Tiny Habits, terms a “downhill habit,” that is, a habit “that is easy to maintain but difficult to stop.” (Of course, on the other hand, for many people, blogging is, as per B.J. Fogg, an “uphill habit,” that is, one that requires ongoing attention to maintain but is easy to stop.)
Starting in January of 2021, I have been attending to the tiny habit of logging the time I spend on Madam Mayo blog, aiming for about two hours per week, never more than an hour a day, and also aiming for putting my attention on it (including dispatching any related emails) only on Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays. When I sit down to work on Madam Mayo blog, I open a digital stopwatch app. When I’m done, I note the date and time spent in the logbook. Was it as scheduled, and within the time limit? If so, I give the entry a check mark and do the B.J. Fogg prescribed “celebration.” Yes, it’s kind of nerdy, but I have been finding this system, or rather, set of tiny habits, balancing, energizing, efficient and, hey, just fun.
I welcome your courteous comments which, should you feel so moved, you can email to me here.
“My three novels address the very different parts of my ancestry. I also hope to have this book in particular picked up by the Jewish reader interested in the Jewish diaspora from Spain, someone who realizes that an Eastern European background is not the only one.”— Kathleen Alcalá
A couple of decades ago, when I was beginning to publish my own work about Mexico, and editing Tameme, a bilingual English/Spanish journal of new writing from Canada, the US and Mexico, I had the immense fortune to meet some of the most accomplished and innovative literary writers from the US-Mexico borderlands, among them, Kathleen Alcalá. The author of several books of fiction and nonfiction, Alcalá’s work has been recognized with Western States Book Award, the Governor’s Writers Award, and a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Book Award. In 2014 she was honored by the national Latino writers group, Con Tinta, and she has been designated an Island Treasure in the Arts on Bainbridge Island, where she lives in the state of Washington. When I first met Alcalá, her novel set in northern Mexico in the 1870s, Spirits of the Ordinary, based on the true history of Mexican Jews practicing their religion in secret, was then relatively recently published, and a sensation it was, for the history of the conversos of northern New Spain (Spanish Jews who had converted to Christianity at the time of the 15th century expulsion of the Jews) and the crypto-Jews (those who practiced Judaism in secret) was then little known. Spirits of the Ordinary received high praise, for example, from Publisher’s Weekly, which called it “A fecund fable about the convergence of cultures—Mexican, American and Jewish—along the Mexico/Texas border…. Alcalá’s seductive writing mixes fatalism and hope, logic and fantasy.” And no less a literary heavyweight than Larry McMurtry called it “continually arresting—a book in which passions both ordinary and extraordinary are made vivid and convincing.”
How delighted I was to learn from Kathleen that, for its 25th anniversary, Spirits of the Ordinary is back in print in a lovely new edition from Raven Chronicles Press, introduced by one of my favorite poets, Rigoberto González. Apropos of that, Alcalá agreed to answer some questions.
C.M. MAYO: What inspired you to write Spirits of the Ordinary?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: My first book was a collection of short stories in the manner of the stories told by my mother’s family. When I finished the last, long story I realized that I knew much more about these characters, based on my family’s history, enough for at least one novel. It turned out to be three novels.
C.M. MAYO:As you were writing, did you have in mind an ideal reader?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: I don’t know if I should be embarrassed to say that I expected my readers to be much like myself, people who grew up in the United States, but with our cultural roots firmly in Mexico. This comprises some of my audience. But a bigger part of it is the American readership that has good associations with Mexico as a vacation destination and the site of some of their fantasies.
Toni Morrison described this as writing under “the white gaze.” I had no idea how important this was for BIPOC (Black or Indigenous People of Color) writers. I was not writing the “poor farmworker makes good” narrative that was expected of me in the publishing world. As a result, around 25 publishers rejected the novel before Chronicle Books took a chance on it.
C.M. MAYO:Now that some years have gone by, can you describe the ideal reader for this book as you see him or her now?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: The ideal reader is now a generation younger than I am. It is a young professional or student who wants to broaden their perspective to include fore parents who loved the land, fought for it, died for it, and were often discriminated against by their own society. My three novels address the very different parts of my ancestry. I also hope to have this book in particular picked up by the Jewish reader interested in the Jewish diaspora from Spain, someone who realizes that an Eastern European background is not the only one.
C.M. MAYO:Can you share any surprises for you about the reception of your book’s first edition? (And has it been different in different countries?) Do you expect it to be different in 2021?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ:Spirits received a number of awards right out of the chute. From manuscript rejection to publication and great reviews in a year really floored me. I was not prepared for the embrace provided by readers. I have to thank writers like Ursula K. Le Guin and Larry McMurtry, as well as booksellers like Rick Simonsen at Elliott Bay Books and Paul Yamazaki at City Lights for their kind words that helped propel this book out into the world.
C.M. MAYO:What inspired you to bring Spirits of the Ordinary back into print?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: Almost twenty-five years later, crypto-Jews are no longer a secret. When I was researching and writing, no one knew what I was talking about except for a few Sephardic Jews. Now there is a substantial body of writing about the events leading to this condition, as well as critical analysis of both the events and the literature. I feel as though this topic has come full circle now that Spain has offered expedited citizenship to descendants of the Expulsion. This provides a much more complete context for my work.
C.M. MAYO:Which writers have been the most important influences for you when you were writing Spirits of the Ordinary— and subsequently?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: I have always read science fiction along with mainstream fiction. Some people look down on “genre” fiction as not true literature, but alternate worlds and points of view fit perfectly with my upbringing in the southwest, with cousins on both sides of the border. Our reality has always been alternative.
Other writers will tell you it is comics that sustained them when they were young, but that’s really the same thing, except in pictorial form: narratives willing to address the “what if.”
I studied with Ursula K. Le Guin, Joanna Russ, and Charles Johnson. I read Elena Poniatowska and Juan Rulfo in Spanish, and later my age peers, Ana Castillo, Sandra Cisneros and Denise Chávez, although they were way ahead of me in achievements.
More recent writers who have knocked me dead include Roberto Bolaño, Ruth Ozeki, Sabrina Vourvoulias, Isabel Quintero and NK Jemison. There are so many more. Books are my vice.
C.M. MAYO:Which writers are you reading now?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: I’ve read a lot of Greg Bear’s books because we are friends and he is very prolific. Nisi Shawl is an up and coming writer even though she has already received a lot of accolades. I have been reading a lot of indigenous writers recently, mostly poets like Laura Da’, but also fiction and essayists like Rebecca Roanhorse and Elissa Washuta. Every time I meet a new writer whose work I like, I try to let them know how great their writing is. I probably scare people at conferences because I am not cool— I am enthusiastic, especially with writers of color or those who otherwise don’t fit into the mainstream narrative.
This is one reason that, Phoebe Bosché, Philip Red-Eagle and I started Raven Chronicles Press. We wanted to provide a showcase for these wonderful writers. Currently, you can see much of this work in an anthology called Take a Stand: Art Against Hate. I am also working with Professor Norma Elia Cantú on an anthology of stories, essays and poetry about La Llorona— again, because there is so much talent, so many ideas that need to be published and shared.
C.M. MAYO:How has the Digital Revolution affected your writing? Specifically, has it become more challenging to stay focused with the siren calls of email, texting, blogs, online newspapers and magazines, social media, and such? If so, do you have some tips and tricks you might be able to share?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: All of this is terrible. I am so easily distracted. I will start laundry, open a file, take notes by hand, and forget what I had planned to do that day. For me, the best strategy is still the writing residency, away from home, where I don’t have any excuses and fewer distractions. This is especially needed when I am trying to organize large blocks of writing, such as the chapters in a novel.
C.M. MAYO:For those looking to publish, what would be your most hard-earned piece of advice?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: Before submitting anything, research the market. If looking to publish in a magazine, purchase half a dozen or so that seem to be likely venues for your work. Look at them carefully and see if you fit in. This is a good place to start, rather than submitting book length manuscripts to publishers, because book editors read these magazines, too. It also gives you a chance to learn how to work with an editor, to receive suggestions and shape the best possible piece for the magazine.
C.M. MAYO:What’s next for you as a writer?
KATHLEEN ALCALÁ: Surprisingly, after all these years, Spirits of the Ordinary and Treasures in Heaven (my third novel, which is about the feminist movement in Mexico) have been optioned for movie and television rights! We will see where that goes. In between distractions, I am foolishly working on two novels at the same time – one is set in 10th Century Spain, and one in a near-future west coast and Mexico. Oh yes, and I owe someone a short story!
