Publishing isn't like middle school...or is it?

Hey, Laura here.

I probably don’t even have to explain the title of my post. I don’t know anyone who wishes they could go back to middle school. High school? Maybe.

But never those years of 6th-8th.

I thought it was over when I shook the dust of middle school from my feet. The awkward dances, dreaded lunch periods, and the whispered gossip. As my kids yearn to grow up and leave their problems behind, I tell them.

“There are always mean kids. Cliques. Gossip. Hurtful words.”

I do see this in the publishing industry. Authors feeling jilted or not cool enough. Maybe they don’t realize people are actually reading their random tweets or blog posts. lol. At the same time, that’s just a small percentage. Overall, the writers I rub shoulders with are all extremely supportive and nice.

As with anything, my biggest advice in publishing would be keep your eyes on your paper. There’s always someone doing better than you and there’s always someone not as well off. And that eerily echoes what I tell my kids. That there’s always someone with more money, better vacations, a cooler house.

Don’t compare. Be thankful.

Once you let it bother you, once that bug grabs hold of you…it never ends. You reach the level you dreamed of being at only to realize that that isn’t quite enough. There’s even higher levels to reach.

Be happy. Be content. I do believe it’s possible to be both those things while reaching for the stars.

The answer to whether publishing is like middle school or not is….

it’s your choice.

 Laura Pauling @laurapauling writes about spies, murder and mystery. She's the author of the Circle of Spies Series for teens: The Almost Assassin (a short prequel), A Spy Like Me and Heart of an Assassin.

Honesty, self publishing, and home-made pastries.

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I’m not a cook. I don’t even really know how to cook. I follow recipes. But somehow we do okay. My family eats nutritious meals and sometimes they turn out pretty good. Well, not according to my younger son, who commented yesterday.

“Is that vomit? Or butternut squash?”

I told him he’d appreciate butternut squash when he’s older.

I really don’t want to talk about the numerous times I’ve completely dissolved the chicken in the crock-pot because it cooked too long. Or the fact that my mac and cheese still tastes like pasta with melted cheese despite my many attempts.

What I love is the creative side of cooking. I love to find a fun recipe and then bake it, usually just to see if I can do it. One time, I found the recipe for a breakfast Danish. And decided I was going to do this. Oh, the cookbook made it look so good. Golden crusted outside, a fruit filling spilling out the scored tops, and this melt-in-your mouth glaze dribbled over the top.

Thankfully, without too much trouble, I made it. And it was absolutely delicious. I even got really brave and made it again to bring to a sleepover reunion with high school friends.

The mom of one of my friends took one look at it and smiled. She said, “Now that’s homemade.”

But her remark was not an insult. She recognized the fact that if a professional had made it, or a factory, it would’ve had perfectly rounded corners. Each score across the top would’ve been exactly an inch apart, and the glaze would’ve been evenly applied.

I’ll connect the dots if you haven’t already. I’ve been reading a lot of self published books lately. Not because of the price but because I love the honesty in the writing and the story.

I love that they’re not perfect.

Laura Pauling loves pastries. And you'll find them sprinkled through out the pages of A SPY LIKE ME. The sequel, HEART OF AN ASSASSIN, is due out soon!

Her debut middle grade, HOW TO SURVIVE ANCIENT SPELLS AND CRAZY KINGS will be released in November. Try to say that title several times fast.

Stop by her blog and say hello!

The crippling effect of fear (and squirrels).

Fear is always present, if we let it be. 

It can overshadow our thoughts and our actions, paralyze us from making decisions. Even if we move forward, one step at a time, it hovers, whispering in our ear. (Until we kick it to the curb, that is!)

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No one will like you.

You’ll mess up.

That shirt you thought was cool, the one with the orange ruffles and sequins, is completely dorky.

Everyone is secretly laughing at you behind your back.

The squirrels in the basement are out to get you.

This list goes on.

My son entered middle school. Before the first day, he felt overwhelmed with fears, from giant ones to small ones. What if he can’t open his locker? What? He has a locker for gym too? What if he can’t remember two locker combinations? Does he have to change for gym? What if he gets lost on the way to science class? What if he fails math? How will he know what bus to get on at the end of the day?

And these are just the fears he’d talk about.

I’m sure there were secret fears too, lurking in the back of the mind. Fears about his clothing, peer pressure, popularity. All the stuff that maybe felt too private to talk about even with his mom. (Until I bribe him with ice cream and puppies!)

Most of his worries can be traced back to inexperience. After the first day, he admitted he didn’t need to worry half as much as he did.

Same goes with most things.

I fear the basement. (A very sensitive topic for me.)

Red squirrels party in my basement, waiting for me. They run along the pipes purposefully to create noise that strike terror in my heart. They see me sweat, shake, shriek and then sprint back up the stairs while they have a good chuckle and continue to tear into any crinkly paper they can find and store their nuts.

I know that fear is unrealistic. Really, I know. But I still send my kids down to the freezer to get the bag of frozen peas.

Anything in life can potentially cause fear. New jobs. New business. Writing. Publishing. Relationships.

Fear is normal, but we can’t let it control our decisions. Better to fail a hundred times than never try!

What’s your fear? Have you moved forward despite your fears?  (I'm still working on going to down to the basement by myself.)

Laura Pauling writes about spies, murder and mystery. A Spy Like Me, her YA debut novel released in April 2012. Her short story, The Almost Assassin, a prequel to A Spy Like Me is free on Amazon. How To Survive Ancient Spells and Crazy Kings, her debut middle grade will be released in November from Pugalicious Press. Visit her blog and say hello!

Effects of the Indie Revolution on my reading and writing.

Hey, everyone! Laura Pauling here. Glad you popped by. I'm talking about how this Indie Revolution has jolted my reading and writing into high gear.

I’ve been reading a lot. I can't seem to stop. Lately, I've been reading 3 or 4 books at a time.

I have a list of books I’d like to read at my library, by my bed and on my Kindle. And then there are Indie books for under 5 dollars that are doing well that I’d really like to read. And sometimes I skip my lists and stacks and purchase the ones I’m dying to read.

But we’re all like that, aren’t we? (And the girl in the picture isn't me. lol)

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Just starting out as a writer, I heard the advice read, read, read, and cut, cut, cut. I’m more of an underwriter so the cut, cut, cut for me is more like add, add, add. But to be honest I kinda scoffed at the read, read, read.

I’ve always loved reading but I didn’t purchase many new releases. I read what I could from the library. As a writer, I don’t think I got it. But wait, I read craft books. Tons of them. That must be the key. So with my brain overloaded from craft books, I continued to write.

It wasn’t until I seriously started researching agents that I went out of my way to purchase new releases from authors my top agents represented. After all, that’s what we were told to do so like a good little obedient writer that’s what I did by golly. And I could definitely see a difference. For example, this one agent I respect loved one genre but I learned he also loves incredibly detailed writing. 

But something happened. I became addicted to new releases with gorgeous covers. I wanted to devour them whole. Some disappointed me but others I loved. I didn’t even read a lot of sequels. I wanted to taste new books. This was before self publishing hit.

And then self publishing hit.

So how has this affected my reading and my writing?

I'm reading even more and through all the reading I’ve done in the past few months, the good and the bad, the Indie and the traditionally published, I see that it is not following all the rules of the perfect first five pages that get you an agent or a deal or lots of sales.

It’s a great story with heart. I think it’s always been that way. I know this because regardless of publishing route, those are the books I read. I’ve put down just as many traditional published books as I have Indie books.

I’ve also branched out in my reading. I’ve read novellas and short stories. I’ve been reading adult books too.

I love that I have more choice.

So back to the craft books. I saw a bigger jump in my writing when I started reading more fiction and watching movies to study how authors applied all that craft knowledge crammed in my head. I saw it in action. And it led to blog posts like these:

Tips from the Opening Chapters of Nightshade.

Fifteen Tips to Strengthen Story Structure.

So how has the Indie revolution affected your reading? You are reading, right? And thanks for hanging out with me!

Laura Pauling (that's moi) authored A SPY LIKE ME, the first in the Circle of Spies Series. She writes about spies, murder and mystery. She lives the cover of suburban mom/author perfectly, from the minivan to the home-baked snickerdoodles, while hiding her secret missions and covert operations. But shh. Don't tell anyone.

Hang out with me at my blog and Twitter.

Johnny Depp, Chocolate chip cookies, and Me.

Hey, Laura here. I have a confession, and I’m just going to come right out with it: I love spies...and Johnny Depp.

                                             

I mean I don’t really love him because I don’t know him. But I love who he is as an actor. (Okay, plus he’s kinda cute and sexy all rolled into one.) (And don’t worry Castle, you’re my TV crush. Johnny’s my movie crush. So no fighting, you two!)

I don’t want to know anything about his real life because I don’t want to hear that he does horrible things or that he doesn’t like homemade chocolate chip cookies just from the oven with the chips all melty and yummy because then my image will be forever shattered. Now if he likes to frolic in the fields with cute fluffy bunnies and help orphans, I don’t mind hearing that.

                                                 

I was reading a bit on my friend, Johnny, and noticed that his career didn’t really take off until he paired with Tim Burton in Edward Scissorhands. (Which by the way I loved!) I love that Depp is known for his quirky, artistic movies.

And, of course, when he’s in slightly different movies, I’ll still watch.

What’s the point?

Sometimes we don’t succeed at the things we try. At first. It might be that we just haven’t found our niche yet. Or that we’re trying to do something for the wrong reasons.

Like trying to fit in with the group of popular and wealthy playground moms when our next best friend could be dropping off her child at afternoon Kindergarten and we just haven’t met yet. Yes, sometimes the whole middle school thing carries over into adulthood. The mean girls often turn into the snobby moms. It’s a vicious cycle.

Or maybe a high school girl desperately tries to be a cheerleader when that’s not her gifting or path - she just thinks it is. Or she feels that instant popularity will bring happiness, which we might learn the hard way that it doesn't.

Kid, teen, adult, when we look at who we are and accept ourselves we can then move forward with confidence. As a writer. As a mom. As a spy. As a teen. As an athlete. As an artist. As a pirate. As a lover of warm chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven.


                                                

 Be like Johnny. Embrace you. Embrace all the quirks and weirdness - or the complete normalness. And be happy.

  Are there any movies, actors or T.V. shows that speak to you? Make you fall in love?

Laura Pauling writes about spies, murder and mystery! Head on over and leave a comment on her blog to win an ebook of A Spy Like Me. There could be more than one winner!

Or find A Spy Like Me on Amazon - Barnes and Noble - Smashwords