Mobiles, Stabiles and Books by Melissa Clark

Happy 2014! 

The other night, I had the pleasure of seeing the Calder exhibit at LACMA with a friend. It is a beautifully curated show. We enjoyed reading about Calder's process and seeing the final products - the mobiles dancing in the air and the stabiles proudly standing their ground. At first glance, the mobiles look like simplistic childlike designs, but upon closer inspection the artistry really stands out. Geometric, colorful shapes are attached with delicate wire structures, allowing for balance and movement. The pieces are thoughtful, vibrant and even funny

Mobile

Stabile

The exhibit made me think of my own writing, or rather, writing in general. There is an illusion of simplicity and ease when reading a page-turner, when really the author most likely struggled with the same sense of balance, only with words instead of shapes.

I teach a class called "In Their Own Words: Artists Speak About Living a Creative Life" and in that class we talk a lot about process - the part of art that isn't really shown in museums, isn't necessarily talked about. To me, the process is the art - the art of discipline, of showing up every day to navigate some mysterious inner-compass, the art of failing, or missing your target, your vision not in line with what's coming out on the page or the canvas.

Book

As I aim to complete the upteenth draft of my fourth novel, years in the making, scenes written and then scrapped, characters born and then killed off, plot points determined and then eradicated, I'm counting on that ineffable feeling to let me know when it's 'done'. The final product - the mobile, the stabile, the book - well, that's just icing on the cake.

Melissa Clark is the author of Imperfect and Swimming Upstream, Slowly, and the creator of the animated television show, Braceface. She lives in Los Angeles and looks forward to 2014.

Busting Out of the Writing Bubble by Melissa Clark

As we all know, writing is such an isolated experience. The tippy tappy of keys day after day after night after night alone at your desk in your office/bedroom/dining room. Days, months, years pass until finally you emerge, a little battered and bruised, but with a hearty first draft, or at least something that appears to have a beginning, middle and end.

And now it's time to usher your pal, your oeuvre, out into the world to see if it's got legs. 

Here's who I've turned it in to in the past before completing the process:

The Cousin in Canada - she herself tinkers with words, and has proven to be an astute reader, bringing with her that quirky Canadian sensibility that I always hope for my novels to embody. She asks the hard questions, points out the inconsistencies and then we spend the rest of the time on family gossip.

The Friend From That Workshop You Took Years Ago - This friend is a 'bigger picture' reader, addressing things like theme and structure. You appreciate his point-of-view and usually meet over multiple cups of coffee as he summarizes your novel and the elements that did or didn't work.

The Mother - The Mother is a surprising choice, but since The Father is also a writer, The Mother has a keen editorial eye - has been at it for years with The Father's work - and knows grammar like nobody's business. When I hand in my work to her I pretend there are no sex scenes, and when she returns my book, those sex scenes are always grammatically correct.

But this time I used a source I've never used before:

The Freelance Editor - Oh, this was a wise investment. I heard about her through a friend and was so impressed with the notes she'd given to that friend that I hired her on the spot. It was a financial sacrifice - and God love her she allowed me a payment plan - but it was worth every penny. Her prescient notes were able to articulate what I knew was wrong or missing or off. She was as professional as she was friendly and I felt my story benefitted greatly because of her.

Lastly, I'd like to pay my respects to a former writing teacher who took his own life earlier this month. Les Plesko taught through UCLA Extension where I workshopped my first novel, "Swimming Upstream, Slowly." He was a generous teacher, a giving soul, who made sure you perfected each paragraph, sentence and word. RIP Les. Thank you for caring.

Melissa Clark lives in Los Angeles. You can follow her on her blog, Connections Clark. Her second novel Imperfect is on kindle sale for 2.99. 2.99 are you out of your mind?

Art and Commerce by Melissa Clark

The marriage of art and commerce has always been such a complex conversation, and I don't claim to have any answers... just lots of questions. 

I'd made money from my television writing, appreciating every penny and putting most of it away into retirement funds, but in my opinion books were different.

I always felt that writing a book was like an all encompassing psychology project. Now that I've written four I find that I grow and learn more from each one, and this experience has more value to me than money.

I'm well aware that not everybody feels this way. Take Elmore Leonard for example, who said the following:

"I always had that in mind: to write for money. You could make money, instead of trying to be literate about it." 

While I appreciate his clear point of view, this was always the exact OPPOSITE of how I felt about writing. I WANTED to be literate. The advance for my first novel was merely icing on the cake of a heartfelt endeavor.

Still, a writer has to pay the bills, and wouldn't it be nice to be able to do so from the thing you love doing most in the world?

Sigh.

No answers. Just lots of questions. 

Maybe I'll go work it out in a new novel.


------
Melissa Clark's television show, "Braceface" is now streaming on Amazon. Her two published novels are here and here. Her latest two are looking for a home.

Trying to Simplify by Melissa Clark

I suppose it is just human nature that writers get pigeonholed into certain categories. I was a "tween TV writer", then a "ChickLit" author, "Women's Fiction" author and now I'm writing a "YA novel". My resume tells of that and so much more. I've taught, tutored, ghostwritten, written nonfiction, flash fiction, a few plays, a screenplay, I've filled hundreds of journals.

Which brings me to the question: Why can't a writer just be a writer? 

As it stands, these are conversations I have had:
"What do you do?"
"I'm a writer."
"What do you write?"
"Well, I used to write short stories, then I wrote children's television and now I write fiction."
"What kind?"
"I've heard my books described as 'chick lit' or 'women's fiction', but I just like to say I write fiction."
"What's 'chick lit?'
"A term someone came up with."
"You?"
"Definitely not me..."


Wouldn't it be easier as:
"What do you do?" 
"I'm a writer."
"What do you write?"
"Stories."

Because at the end of the day, isn't that what they all are? The play, TV shows, books, even the journals - stories written from the heart through the hand.


-----

Melissa Clark writes stories.

Out-of-the-Box Marketing by Melissa Clark

When I was trying to think of unconventional methods to get the word out about my first novel, The Playboy Mansion came to mind. 

You see, at the time, the reality show Girls Next Door was very popular and my dad, a writer himself, had lots of older friends who regularly attended the Mansion on movie night.  As luck would have it, calls were made and an invitation was extended to me, the glasses-wearing-uber-nerd-writer, to spend an evening at the Mansion. 

My aim was simple - I would deliver three signed copies of my book to the three girlfriends, and assuming they read, my hope was they might mention my unconvetional plot (girl gets pregnant from a lazy sperm) on air. 

The Mansion was not what I expected and the girls seemed so out of place among all the alter kockers there for movie night. I met Holly first, Hef's #1 girlfriend at the time. She smiled weakly and took the book saying she was about to go on a trip and would read it on the plane. Brigette was next - she was holding her dog in one hand and with the other hand reached out to take my book. She seemed a little confused, like why is this 30something girl with glasses handing me a book that she wrote? And then there was Kendra. She bounded in with all the energy of a 21-year-old. She was enthusiastic and full of questions. I loved her immediately. (She has since "written her own book"). 

After a mediocre dinner and a movie I'd already seen in the theater, I said my goodbyes and headed home, resolving to watch the reality show every week and hoping, praying, begging for a glimpse or mention of my novel. No such luck. 

A few months later, however, after an evening of Googling, I found that Bridgette, the least interested of the gals, had put my book up for auction in order to raise money for troops in Afganhastan. I was shocked. I spent the next few days watching the auction price rise - from fifteen dollars to a whopping $982.00! Who the hell paid 982 for my book? 

Well, the marketing scheme didn't exactly pan out as I'd hoped, but yay for the troops! 

In more mainstream marketing efforts I found postcards, book fairs and plain, old word-of-mouth to be the best bets. And as fellow Girlfriends have written in previous posts, just make sure you write the best book you can - the rest is truly icing on the cake.

Melissa Clark is the author of "Swimming Upstream, Slowly", "Imperfect," and the creator of the children's television show, "Braceface." She is too old to be a Playboy bunny, but a girl can dream... Follow her at Connections Clark!

January 15, 2013 by Melissa Clark

Holiday Break: A Tale in Diary Entries

Dec. 14, 2012

Woo Hoo! Grading complete, grades submitted, one whole month to shower attention on the WIP and read the pile of books by my bed! 

Dec. 15, 2012

Why do I have 3 holiday parties this weekend? After Sunday it's all about the WIP and digging through the pile of books by my bed!

December 21, 2012

Not sure where the week went. Why, when you go to acupuncture, do they make you come back so often? How am I supposed to get work done? A friend invited me skiing for the weekend in Big Bear. Woo hoo! Time to visit my WIP and bring a few of those books that are by my bed.

December 24, 2012

Xmas eve? How? When? Why? Skiing was amazing - days on the slopes, nights by the fire and bed by 10. Next week is gonna be a big writing week. Big.

January 2, 2013

When I bought the Yoga Groupon I didn't realize I'd use it almost every day - that made yoga classes about 3 dollars a pop. Score! I've seen so many good movies - Les Miz, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty... someone actually wrote those. They put pen to paper and wrote them. Impressive! One day, before school starts, I'm going to write my book. Uh huh. Truly.

January 7, 2013

Downton Abbey is the best thing on television. I watched seasons 1 and 2 in the past few days. Brilliant acting, amazing directing, and the writing! THE WRITING!

January 11, 2013

Last weekend before school starts up again. From Friday to Sunday I'm going to hunker down - stay here in my home since there are no flu germs inside and the weather outside is frightful, and print out my WIP. I'm going to lay it out on the floor, reorganize scenes, revisit my outline, rewrite the ending... I'll write 20 page a day to make up for the month of lost time. Nights, I'll try to get through at least 2 of the 10 books on my bedside shelf and mornings I'll rise and do it all over again. This is going to be the most intense, productive weekend ever. Bring it!

January 14, 2013

First day of classes. Thank God I remembered to create the syllabus last weekend, and tweak the assignments, and prep for my tutoring gig, apply to those artist residencies, help my friend get a cat at a shelter, do karaoke, get a flu shot, watch the Golden Globes, chat on the phone, do yoga, clean house, go on a date and get the car washed. 

Melissa Clark is a sometimes-writer, sometimes-blogger and sometimes-skier. 

Saturday Book Giveaway by Melissa Clark

Okay, there's this book, see, and it's been getting a lot of buzz, but I'll tell you upfront, I did not like it. But others do. I mean, Margaret friggin' Atwood gave it a blurb ("A seriously strange but funny plunge into the quest for authenticity.") If you Google the book, you will see the reviews, some glowing, some scathing, you will see articles and editorials, you will see 5 stars on Amazon and you will see 1 star. How has this book received so much attention? Are you curious? Are you interested? 

The book is "How Should a Person Be?" by Sheila Heti. I made it to page 178 before giving up. (It goes until 306.)

It is a hardback edition in pristine shape.

It is yours if you:

a) "follow" this blog (if you don't already)

and

b) leave a message in the "Comments" section below answering the simple question: How Should a Person Be? (and leave your email where I can contact you)

The winner will be chosen by Random.org on January 11th. I will announce the winner in the Comments section of this entry and we will take it from there.

Perhaps you will love it. Perhaps you will hate it. You'll only know once you win it. Good luck!



Melissa Clark does not attempt to answer the question How Should A Person Be? in her novels. Instead, she probes lazy sperm in Swimming Upstream, Slowly, and women who purr in Imperfect, both available as traditional and e-books. She blogs about various subjects on Connections Clark. Feel free to follow!

MeNoWriMuInNo by Melissa Clark

This, of course, stands for my own writing practice: Me No Write Much in November. Congrats to all the true NaNoWriMo participants - I applaud your courage and tenacity and especially your ambition to pound out a draft in 30 days. 30 days! I wonder how many novels are born this way, and even more curious: do some people think they can really write a solid, polished novel in this time?

Everything I know about drafting comes from my television writing career where we started with a pitch, moved to the premise, then the beat sheet, outline and first draft. After the first draft came notes, then a second draft, and more notes and a third, and more notes and so on and so on... until there was a polish draft, which still left room for more notes. Often, it would be an entirely different episode from pitch to final draft, just as I find it is from fictional premise to published novel. What a journey this writing process is!

And since I have yet to participate in NaNoWriMo, what is it that you really hope to get out of it? Is it a kick in the tush? a first draft? a taste of what it means to write a novel? I'd love to read your answers in the comments section below. Hey, with 11 more days left, what are you doing reading this? Get back to work!

Melissa Clark is the author of Swimming Upstream, Slowly (1 year 3 months to write), Imperfect (4 years) and just completed her third novel, Bear Witness (3+ years).

Learning to Float

While transitions are a part of life, I like to fight them. I'm that swimmer in the ocean - the one swept out to sea and struggling with the waves instead of letting them carry me back to shore. Because ultimately, isn't that what transitions do? Carry us to our next phase of life? To our next chapter, so to speak?

My transition back from Spain this summer was a bumpy one. I was getting used to soulful conversations around gourmet food at the magical artist residency in El Bruc. While I didn't necessarily come home kicking and screaming, I came home looking backwards instead of forward. Once I got my bearings, I was thrust into another transition: five hours before teaching my first class of the semester, I got a call that enrollment was down at the college and my class was canceled. Ouch. Really? Five hours notice? I freaked out appropriately and then set to work finishing my third novel, the one I was too busy to tend to in Spain. I finished it. With all this new spare time I also decided to publish my ebook Imperfect as a traditional book. It is now available for purchase. 

Another birthday, the loss of a friendship, the birth of twelve new ones, applying for wonderful and adventurous teaching opportunities, finishing a novel, starting a new one... all transitions. 

With our without our consent, change is coming. I suppose it's time to stop fighting it and to start trusting the ride, the chapters, the story. 

Melissa Clark is the author of Swimming Upstream, Slowly, Imperfect, and the recently completed Bear Witness. In the above photo she is learning how to float in the ocean.

Sunday Girlfriends Book Review!

You're used to reading GBC on a daily basis. Today we are pleased to announce we're adding Sundays to the mix.

Welcome to the first ever Sunday Book Review edition of GBC. We have decided to keep this blog running on weekends and look forward to sharing reviews of good reads. We hope you will chime in with your own reactions to these books in the 'comments' section below. 

Book reviews from the authors you've come to know and trust.

Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner, Kindle edition: (reviewed by Melissa Clark)

It very well could be because I recently spent five weeks in Spain, but Ben Lerner's "Leaving the Atocha Station" is easily one of the best books I've read in a decade. 

In real life, Lerner, a poet, won a Fulbright Scholar in 2005 and moved to Madrid for research. This novel is a fictionalized account of his experiences. I absolutely love when poets write prose. The language, word play, thought process is electrifying. 

Adam Gordon, a modern day Holden Caulfield, is in Madrid on an unspecified fellowship to do research for a book of poems. What Lerner captures is the surreal feeling of the American abroad - the language barrier, all the challenges and excitement of travel in general. 

The protagonist is not necessarily sympathetic. He's a pill-popper with an anxiety disorder, suffers from intense insecurity, falls in love too easily and wants to be seen as something he's not. But Adam is also vulnerable, funny and edgy. 

This is not a traditional book. The plot is thin but the themes resonate. The novel tackles so many issues: art, travel, relationships, mental illness, politics, Bush, Franco, terrorism, etc. "ETC." is actually a concept that is tackled as well. Sound quirky? It is. Sound intriguing? It is that, too.

The book is so prescient, so funny, so sad and so alive. A thrilling endeavor as a reader, and an inspiration for any writer.


Melissa Clark is the author of "Swimming Upstream, Slowly" and "Imperfect", and is currently finishing her third novel, "Bear Witness". Please follow her on her blog, "Connections Clark" for book recs and more.

Once Was Blind, But Now I See, by Melissa Clark

The term 'self-publishing' used to make me cringe. Now I cringe at the fact that I used to cringe at it. I was blind to the entrepreneurial side of it.

My first novel was published by Random House. Naturally, I assumed my second would be, too. But my editor got married and pregnant and - gasp - quit her job, leaving me at square one. I had faith. I had hope. The new book went out wide. I waited. And waited. And waited. My agent suggested this was one of the longest waiting periods she'd ever experienced - through Christmas and even Easter. It was nothing short of a nightmare. 

Finally, responses started trickling in. Editors loved it, were fighting for it at meetings, thought it was a 'page-turner', 'quirky', 'unlike anything they'd ever read' - BUT - BUT - BUT they couldn't get consensus within their company. A book about a person who purrs like a cat? Not everyone was on board. The first positive pass was painful. The second, even worse. Eventually, I stopped counting, but at one point I was praying for a flat-out rejection. Those came, too. We heard from all the A-list companies and then reorganized and sent to our plan B. It wasn't catching there, either. We were scheming ways to send out to our C-list when I suggested we stop the madness.

Around the same time, my friend Leena and I had lunch. Leena is an indie filmmaker and was excitedly talking about putting her movie online (Her film had a wide and successful run at many film festivals). Another friend, fellow girlfriend Maggie Marr, was talking about putting her latest novel online. I trusted both these women. I didn't find anything cringe-worthy about their decisions to 'self-publish'. My final decision came after reading the Steve Jobs biography. I loved reading about the passion he had for figuring out ways to sell the Mac computer - it just seemed so creative and fun. I finished the book and decided I was going to go that direction, too.

I edited my manuscript for the 435th time, reached out to friends and strangers for blurbs, hired a cover designer, a formatter, made postcards, filled out some paperwork and voila! On March 20, "Imperfect" launched as an e-book. 

I have never felt more in control in my life.

I think that this adventure is even more exciting than the first book's publication. AND it's selling. There's still lots of work to do in the marketing and promotions department, but that's what entrepreneurs do.

The publishing climate is changing, and I think the change is favoring authors. And that's certainly something to celebrate.

"Imperfect" is available on Kindle, Nook, and everything else. Melissa will be giving away one copy of her new book to someone who leaves a message here AND follows her on her blog, Connections Clark by Friday, April 6. Winner will be chosen by random.org and announced on my blog.

Hopping the "E" Train by Melissa Clark

Inspired by many of The Girlfriends, I am hopping the train to epubbing town. I've always been very old school about my book aesthetics. I like to hold, turn, flip pages, thumb through and feel a book. There is no denying the fact that technology has changed things, and now that I finally own an iPad I can see why. The first ebook I purchased (after downloading a free chapter of my own novel - that was fun!) was Joan Didion's latest, "Blue Nights". A few clicks and there it was. What a thrill.

My novel "Imperfect" has been 'passed on' (so much better than 'rejected') 27 times. The tears stopped after the 10th or so pass about a year ago and the hard wall was constructed around my psyche. Out of those 27 lovely-but-painful responses, 16 editors wanted to buy it but couldn't get the support they needed (most blamed the Marketing Departments). I am not, nor have ever been, a 'committee' writer. "Imperfect" follows two characters - a woman who has developed a cat purr as well as a hoarder. It is a coming-of-age, coming-to-terms-with-yourself type story, and while it is definitely quirky, I like to think it is also universal. I am positive that my first novel, about a woman getting pregnant from a lazy sperm, would never have passed the 'committee' had I written it today.

So, what does one do when they are voted off by the committee? Start their own! Thankfully, that has already been done. The writers I know who have gone this route feel empowered. They are able to set their own prices, have say in their covers (some even design them themselves), edit as needed and reap the financial rewards.  Based on the authors I've spoken to and heard speak on panels, this landscape almost feels like the Gold Rush. The neurotic in me assumes the committees will eventually find a way to steal back the gold, to squeeze the power out of the author, but until then, I am joining all the other renegades out there who are throwing their stories into the atmosphere and seeing what flies.

Melissa Clark is the author of "Swimming Upstream, Slowly." In Spring, 2013 her piece "Rachael Ray Saved My Life" will appear in a food anthology to be published by Shambhala Publications.  Please follow her here.

Novel-in-Regress by Melissa Clark

Everyone writes about their novels in progress, but unfortunately mine is in regress. Novels #2, #3 are still out in the world looking desperately and humbly for homes while novel #4 is tucked away in my computer, untouched since August. I was so excited when I started it last year - a high concept idea with characters that were leaping off the page but then... but then what? Summer, a college reunion, the beginning of the semester, a trip to New York, a minor crisis in my personal life, my second teaching gig, movies, dinners, friends, parties...that's what.

I'n quite optimistic, though. Winter break is fast approaching, which means a month of uninterrupted time stretched out before me (that is if I don't fill it with movies, dinners, friends, parties, etc.). If nothing else, I'm sure I'll have time to read, Joan Didion and Steve Jobs are already on my nightstand just waiting to be cracked open.

That novel-in-regress - it taunts me every time I start my computer - it calls out, "Melissa! Hey! Over here! You were just getting to the good part!" I steal glances out of the corner of my eye - the folder wedged between "PIX OF MONTREAL" and "TAXES '11" I will double-click that blue folder one day soon. It will blink to life, the pages will open, and I will pick up where I left off, restoring it back to a novel-in-progress.

Melissa Clark is the author of "Swimming Upstream, Slowly" and teaches writing at Otis College of Art and Design and The Writing Pad in Los Angeles. Her non-fiction piece, "Rachael Ray Saved My Life" is forthcoming in a food anthology to be published by Shambhala Publications. You can follow her on her blog, Connections Clark.

Tappity Tap Tap by Melissa Clark

I grew up watching my writer-dad scribble ideas on yellow legal steno paper and type drafts on to his Smith-Corona typewriter. I always knew I wanted to be a writer. There was a small diversion, age 10, when I thought perhaps acting was my calling, but once I discovered the Judy Blume books it was back to writing.

Looking back, I see I had the makings of a writer even at a young age as I was:

1. Incredibly shy - I had a horrible tic which was to grab my leg and stretch it behind me, like a runner preparing for a race, when talking to people. My leg was my security blanket. Something to clutch onto. How weird is that? Total makings of a writer.

2. An only child (for a little while) - My sister was born when I was nine so up until then it was me and my imagination for company. And books. Lots and lots of books.

3. Always writing short stories on my dad's old typewriters - sure, I only used my right hand and it took a while to complete a sentence, let alone a page, but I kept at it.  

After that, it was a writing major at college (Emerson), a graduate degree from a writing program (UC Davis), a job in publishing (Chronicle Books), lots of freelance writing gigs, a move to television, some residencies at various artist colonies (Ragdale, Vermont Studio Center) and finally, joyfully, thrillingly, a foray into novels.

Now I teach writing (Otis College), can carry on a conversation without clutching my leg (usually) and continue to devour books which, I think, is the best form of a continuing education.