publishing | Judi Lauren

Wednesday Writer Interview with Lianne Oelke

February 10, 2016 By Judi Lauren Leave a Comment

Every other Wednesday, I’ll be showcasing authors who got an agent in the last couple of years. If you’d like to be a part of this, let me know in the comments or contact me via Twitter @judi__Lauren

Today Lianne Oelke joins the Wednesday interview, and her book, House of Orange, just sold to Clarion Books! Congratulations, Lianne! Check out her announcement in Publisher’s Weekly. I loved Lianne’s answers–she has a quick wit and it only made me want to read her debut even more!

What was the hardest part about writing your book?

Finishing it! For the longest time I didn’t take my book seriously, or myself seriously as a writer. I had to tell myself over and over that I could do this. It took several years for that to sink in.

How did you meet your agent?

Kind of a long story, so grab some popcorn. I originally queried my agent Brooks back in 2014. He requested the full MS, which was amazing, but after months of waiting and no response, I assumed it wasn’t right for him. It was mildly devastating to get a full request from my dream agent and then not hear back(!), but I kept on querying. I had almost given up altogether when I participated in #PitMad in early 2015. An editor at an independent publishing house favorited my tweet, and a month or two later, called me to discuss a potential offer of publication! I also had a full MS with another agent at the time, so I was slightly overwhelmed.

It was funny how after a year and a half of querying, everything happened all at once. I talked to my insanely encouraging friend and critique partner Becky Albertalli (yes, that Becky Albertalli!) for advice. Becky also happens to be represented by Brooks. She mentioned my situation to him, and Brooks immediately remembered me. He gave me a call and apologized for not getting back to me sooner about my MS. His main concern with the MS was that it straddled the line between NA and YA, and he thought he’d have a hard time selling it as is. I received similar feedback from other agents, and the independent publishing house wanted me to increase the romance to push it more firmly into the NA category. Brooks offered some very helpful suggestions on how to skew it more YA, which was more in line with my vision. Ultimately he offered representation, and it seemed like a great fit! It wasn’t easy turning down a potential offer of publication (especially considering how long and difficult the query process had been), but I knew I was making the right choice. Since then, Brooks has more than made up for his delayed response, and I know my MS is in the best possible hands!

We all want a quick and easy query success story, but I think we should keep in mind that an overnight response to a query (or MS) isn’t the only way to get an agent. It’s a slow slow business, and learning patience sooner rather than later never hurts. It’s also good to remember that agents are only human 😉 –YES!

Do you have a rough number of how many queries you sent out before being offered representation?

I’d say 40, over a year and a half. During that time, I had one partial and three full requests.

What inspires you to write?

That’s a tricky question; I don’t exactly believe in inspiration. I started writing before I wanted to be a writer. I suffered from depression in university, and I kept a journal during that time. Looking back on what I wrote, I realized I was really uncomfortable with the person I had been. I wanted to change that, somehow. So I played around with some journal entries, adding things here, deleting things there, until I turned a story I didn’t like into something new. And so Jane Sinner (and House of Orange) was born!

Can you tell us a little bit about your creative process? Where do you get your ideas and characters?

Jane’s voice is what carried House of Orange to completion. Her voice is as clear as my own inside my head- sometimes clearer. I had the basic premise for the book, and the rest was just using Jane to fill in the blanks. It took me over three years to write HOO, so ideas and characters had plenty of time to develop.

Many people have jobs along with writing. How do you balance that schedule?

It’s not easy, especially when you’re working twelve hour days in the film industry. Luckily for me, HOO is formatted similar to a script, so having it open while I’m at my desk doesn’t look suspicious. Also, I rearranged my monitors to face away from everyone else, so I can write while looking busy. Whatever it takes, right?!

I’m still trying to figure out this whole writing schedule thing, but having a job and daily structure actually helps boost my productivity. Without a full-time job, I’d be a full-time Netflix watcher.

SAME! Is there a fictional character or book you wish you had created? Why?

Not really. My books will always be very personal and intimate creations, so I can’t imagine someone else’s characters as my own. It would be like trying to give birth to a koala.

That’s the most unique answer I’ve gotten to that question! What do you enjoy most about writing?

With HOO, it was definitely the freedom to take what I wrote when I was in a bad place and turn it into something I love. With my current WIP, it’s the freedom to write something that could never possibly (or probably never possibly) take place. Also, as an introvert and someone who doesn’t talk very much (I’m sure gazillions of writers can relate), writing gives me the voice I don’t normally have in public.

I couldn’t have said that better myself. Can you describe your MC(s) in three words each?

Jane Sinner: Guarded, cunning, definitely-not-sarcastic-at-all.

I love her already! Before you leave, would you share the first sentence of your query that got you an agent?

The only thing eighteen-year-old Jane Sinner hates more than failure is pity.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Lianne! I can’t wait until your books is available for purchase!

Lianne Oelke lives in Vancouver, BC. When she’s not running around in the woods pretending computers don’t exist, Lianne works in the film industry. Her disillusionment with made-for-TV movies featuring the mild antics of generically attractive white people has inspired her to write some pretty substandard stories of her own.

HOUSE OF ORANGE, her first YA novel, explores the shenanigans of a witty misanthrope caught up in the mediocre world of community college, reality TV, and really shitty roommates. Lianne is repped by Brooks Sherman at the Bent Agency. You can connect with her on Twitter and Tumblr.

In Which I Hate My WIP

December 17, 2015 By Judi Lauren Leave a Comment

Rubbish

I’m not sure what’s happened with this manuscript I’ve been working on since October. I started it as part of the YA Buccaneers fall writing boot camp and I enjoyed that so immensely. But I can’t remember the last time I wrote a book that gave me this much grief. That literally made me want to stop writing it almost every day. I actually enjoyed the first 20k or so, but after that, it really went downhill.

I’m about 99% positive that I’m not the only writer this has happened to. Many writers I know have one book they’ve struggled with and wish they’d never started. And then there are those ones who seem to be somehow okay with every word they’ve ever written. Those people amaze me.

There were only a few things, besides chocolate and coffee, that managed to help me finish the MS (and it was only 50k because that was ALL I could get out of it).

I took a step back

After October ended, NaNoWriMo began. I look forward to this every year, but I think I looked forward to it even more this year because it meant I got to write on something other than my current MS, Blood on My Name. During Nano, I still wrote on BoMN, but only a couple hundred words here and there. And the break really helped me pull myself together and determine that I didn’t want to give up on it. Not at 35k words in.

I remembered why I started it

I have a personal reason for writing every book I ever start. That may be part of the reason why I have such a hard time stopping an MS that’s being particularly difficult. BoMN is about revenge and broken trust and all that good stuff. Somewhere along the way, it became a little convoluted and the plot holes made me want to stop. So during my step back, I also went back to the reason why I started it to begin with. It’s a story I wanted to write. And it’s that simple.

I got feedback on it

This one was new for me. I’m a perfectionist and I don’t usually send out my stuff until I know I like it well enough. But I had a critique partner read this one during its first draft phase. And she was able to point out the problems and even gave me solutions on how to fix some of them. I’m not going to lie, it amazed me that she managed to get through the whole thing. I also won a full critique from a lovely lady that I can’t wait to hear back from. I think their combined efforts might be able to save this thing.

Which is great, because I already promised it to my agent.

Do you have any tips or tricks for getting through a difficult writing project? Let me know in the comments or chat me up on Twitter @judi__Lauren. I’d love to hear from you!

Things About Publishing That Freak Me Out

December 9, 2015 By Judi Lauren Leave a Comment

One of the things I feel like isn’t talked about a lot among writers is publishing fears. I’m pretty busy, so I don’t actually have a lot of time to sit and wonder about my book and how it’s doing out in the big submission world, and that’s probably how it is for a lot of writers. But these past couple of weeks I’ve had some serious insomnia and the only thing I can think about while in bed, staring at my ceiling, is things that freak me out about publishing.

Never publishing that first book

I know a lot of writers whose book that won them an agent also scored them a book deal. And then I know a few writers who had to write another book after their first one didn’t sell. And that is one of my greatest fears about this whole publishing journey. I know in my head I’d take it in stride, because you can’t make any editor love your book. But I’ve put all my blood, sweat, and tears into Still Breathing (or as I call it, Drew) that I can’t imagine it NOT going somewhere.

Publishing that book and having everyone hate it

I’m not talking about a few bad reviews. Even the big bestsellers have a ton of one-star reviews on them. I’m talking about those books that EVERYONE LITERALLY HATES. The ones that are constantly made fun of and no one ever has anything nice to say about it. This is like very, very rare, I know. But just the thought of it freaks me out.

Not earning out an advance

I’m nowhere near close to believing I’ll get a huge advance for my book, but it freaks me out to think that I might even get a low or mid-figure one and I won’t be able to earn it out.

Publishing that book and never publishing another

I read this story once about a writer who had a really popular first book, and then he couldn’t get another house to buy his next books. Or magazines to buy his articles or essays. The major reason why this one really freaks me out is because I love to write. And I can’t really imagine doing anything else with my life.

The book signing where no one shows up

So this is like a really, really long way off and not every publishing company deals in book signings. But the thought of having one and just sitting at that table for a couple of hours where no one shows up REALLY makes me cringe. There was a scene like this on a show that aired a few years ago, One Tree Hill, and I felt second-hand embarrassment for that character.

I know I’m not the only one, I’ve spoken with other writers and even one of my CPs about publishing fears. If you have any that I didn’t mention, comment below or join a discussion with me on Twitter at @judi__Lauren. I’d love to hear from you!