by Kevin A Davis | Apr 3, 2023 | Guests
By Kevin Pettway
Writing humor into your book can make an already difficult task even harder. Like running one of those races where you have to jump over the little gate-thingies only instead of shoes you’re wearing hot dogs on your feet? I don’t know sports.
That book is hard enough to sit down and write as is, so why put more obstacles in your own way? Is writing not hard enough already?
Well, yes.
So why do it to yourself? What’s the point of telling a grand epic tale of heroism and sacrifice and terrifying evil that you also have to put funny bits in? You don’t really need all that, do you?
Well, no. But…
Part 1: Increasing Reader Buy-In
Let’s say I want to write about an ancient evil lord who fell from the heavens and wants to take over the world with his vast army of animalistic fighters from a giant scorched nation of completely unfarmable land, and his magic jewelry that only looks special when you stick your hand in a lit fireplace. This story is gonna be grim, and sweeping, and it’s gonna have all sorts of twists and turns and inspiring characters and intriguing landscapes. Hidden kings and otherwise useless characters with hairy feet.
Hm. This is sounding good. Don’t steal my idea.
So, maybe it’s just okay. Not, y’know, great or immortal or anything, but it’s fine. So how do I increase my reader’s buy-in? What do readers like?
(Before you answer, let’s pretend you didn’t read the name of this blog.)
Part 2: What (Some) Readers Want
They like a touch of humor. You don’t have to write the funniest book in all fantasy like I did (your milage may vary, jokes in the mirror are closer than they appear), but making a reader laugh somewhere in the first chapter is a good idea for two big reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of your writing.
First and less important, people like to laugh. It can be an unexpected gift and it makes you look clever. Give your reader a chuckle without breaking your tension and you’ve just raised the bar on your whole book. Steak is fantastic, but it’s not a whole meal. You want some potatoes or something green on that plate too.
Not kale. Never kale. A funny veggie. Maybe peas.
The second and more important reason has to do with walls. Every reader opens a book with walls in place. It isn’t that they don’t want to be entertained, they do, or that they want to have wasted those sixteen bucks on a book that isn’t any good, they don’t. It’s just that life teaches all of us to approach new situations, like a novel, with our eyes open and our guard up. We can’t help but be wary, and most of us have been burned more than once.
Part 3: Getting Past the Walls
Humor is the fastest way to slip underneath those walls and pull them down, so your reader can get on with the business of enjoying what you wrote. You can do this a lot of other ways too, and many authors do just fine for themselves without it, but a well-placed funny line is the most efficient means of engaging your reader’s emotions, and it’s a marvelous tool for a fast handful of character-building as well. In that respect humor is like any other tool in your belt. Drama, sympathy, inspiration, peas, you name it.
Part 4: How to Do It
How to write humor is probably the subject for an entirely different blog, but I’ll throw a few bones here. Specificity is good, such as drilling down to exactly what make, model, and year of metal bucket fell on your character’s head. Non sequiturs are always a hit. Lead the conversation inexorably in one direction and then at the last minute raspberry rainbow.
If you don’t think you’re funny there are a couple of options out there for you. The first and most obvious is to go back in time and have a terrible childhood. Honestly, good parents are just a death-knell if you want a career in humor. You can also work harder at it, which is like, ugh. I do both which is why I’m known for my… imaginative swearing as well as being married to a woman whose facial expression is stuck in permanent eyeroll.
You have no idea how hard it’s been to keep this clean.
I hope this has been helpful in some way to you, and if it wasn’t I invite you to lie to me about it when we meet at JordanCon this year. I am so excited about making new friends there and also I cry easily, so be kind.
I had a terrible childhood.
Kevin Pettway is the author of the Misplaced Mercenaries series, funny fantasy books full of adventure, friendship, inventive swearing, horrifying evil, noble-ish sacrifice, and more swearing. Upcoming is the Misplaced Adventures shared universe, with six new series all set in the same world and including five amazing new authors and one old cranky one. Available wherever fine books are sold… as well as, obviously, other kinds of books.
by Kevin A Davis | Apr 2, 2023 | Guests
by Kelly Lynn Colby
After hitting send on your short story, that little piece of hard work gets tossed into the virtual slush pile along with a plethora of other stories from writers eager to see their name in print—and maybe even cash that check. We do need to eat.
I’m going to tell you a little secret. Editors have so many submissions to sift through they’re not searching for reasons to love a piece. They’ll reject as many as possible as quickly as possible so they can find the nuggets of treasure hidden among the rest. If you want to make it into the vault of awesomeness soon to be printed within a dust jacket, you’ve got to make it difficult for the editor to say no by avoiding the most common mistakes.
- Follow the Submission Guidelines
Carefully read the guidelines and follow them precisely. Writing might be an art, but submitting is a science. Check everything twice before hitting that send button. It’s super easy for an editor to reject a submission because the writer sent a .pdf file when a .doc was requested. Side Note: If they don’t specify how to format your manuscript, use this handy guide. You’ll look professional and the editor will appreciate the effort.
- Match the Publication’s Preferences
Every anthology or magazine has a specific flavor they prefer. It’s your job to mirror their tastes. If it’s a clean PG-13 publication, don’t send them erotica. If they like quick-moving plots, don’t send them a long diatribe about what you had for breakfast. The best way to familiarize yourself with their preferences is to read a sample of the stories they’ve published in the past.
- A Story Needs a Beginning, a Middle, and an End
This might seem like common sense, but I’ve personally rejected more stories than I can count that only describe a scene or leave off in the middle of the telling without any sort of satisfying ending. A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. That’s true whether it’s 100K words or 2000.
- One Character in One Pivotal Moment
This is a short story—sometimes even flash fiction—we’re talking about here. There isn’t a ton of space to speculate or dump a bunch of back story. Concentrate on one character during one pivotal moment in their life and bring us along for the ride. On a side note: name your characters. Few things will have me reject a story faster than if it starts with something like “the girl.” Nope. Next story.
- Reject Your First Two Ideas
You’d think we’re a big world and no one could come up with the same idea. But you’d be wrong. There is such a thing as zeitgeist and many writers can be tuned into certain frequencies that look remarkably the same when formulating a story for a themed call out. When an editor for an anthology is reading the same idea for the fifth time, it’s really easy to reject it so they can move on to something else. So don’t write the first thing that enters your mind. Think on it a bit until something truly awesome makes itself known. Then write that.
Hopefully, these tips will help you avoid common rookie mistakes when submitting to an anthology. There’s nothing like getting that acceptance letter.
If you want to know another secret, editors are just as happy to send them. Every letter means we were lucky enough to find a golden nugget that, for just a moment, warmed our cold little hearts and reminded us why we do this job. Because we love to read as much as you love to write.
Now that you have a few more tricks up your sleeve, slip on those muck boots and get to climbing.
As publisher and editorial director at Cursed Dragon Ship Publishing, Kelly Lynn Colby gets to combine her two favorite things—authors and reading—into a career full of mischief, adventure, and inspiration. She even finds the time to create some worlds of her own. To find out more about Kelly and her publishing company, check out https://curseddragonship.com.
by Kevin A Davis | Mar 25, 2023 | Activities, Guests
Guest Blog by Rosemary Williams
Okay, well maybe not officially, but by the time JordanCon is done this year, it will be! We shall release a horde of tiny, adorable krakens in the form of crocheted octopuses! (Octopi? Octopodes?)
Some of you may have noticed these adorable little beasties making the rounds last year. This year, Rosemary Williams is going to teach you how to make your own! I mean, look at these guys. How could you not want one? Or two? Or seventeen?
For a $5 workshop fee, 25 lucky crafters will receive a crochet hook, and enough materials to make at least two tiny eight-armed friends. But we bet you won’t be able to stop there. Oh, no. The floodgates will open, and the krakens will spill out and soon the world will be ours! Ours! Muahahaha…ha…oh. Right.
Ahem.
So please, join the workshop and Crochet the Kraken!
by JordanCon Marketing | Mar 10, 2023 | Announcements, Engagement, Guests
Halito! Hello! When Jennifer Liang asked me to be Toastmaster for 2023 I said yes almost instantly. Attending JordanCon caused many new beginnings for me. I can’t imagine the last decade of my life without the connections and opportunities stirred by the winds in Dunwoody, GA.
This will be the 15th year for JordanCon. The 10th anniversary of A Memory of Light and the first season of the Wheel of Time show were two pivotal moments in the WoT fandom. How will the next few turnings of the wheel change the fandom and JordanCon?
JordanCon’s 5th year was a turning point for many fans and attendees, including myself. A Memory of Light was newly published. An ending had occurred. All of Team Jordan and Brandon Sanderson were attending. Leigh Butler, leader of the Tor Wheel of Time Reread, was the Toastmaster. A large number of the Leigh’s Loonies, my online fandom group, were attending for the first time. I told my spouse I had to go, for “It might be my only chance to ever meet them all!”
How I laugh at my “only chance” comment now. JordanCon friends became a new family. Since 2013, I’ve attended all but one year. The weekend energizes me in ways hard to put into words. The friends I have online every other week are next to me and we can just talk, or hug, or chill together in person. This joy is shared by all who post using #IsItAprilYet.
Since the 5th year of JordanCon, the community has grown in multiple ways. I thank the community for enabling my growth as well. The confidence I gained in becoming the (former) Workshop Director and a panelist filtered into other aspects of my life. From sharing my fan art food creations, to sharing my opinions and writings. I went from reading Tor.com blog posts to writing articles for them. I went from entering the costume contest to judging the contest. I went from a book lover to a beta reader for multiple best-selling authors. My younger shy dyslexic self could never have imagined being an active part of creating a novel, let alone over a dozen. Parts of the last ten years boggle my mind, while also bringing me great joy.
Deana wearing her Veil cosplay.
Now I get to share a part of this joy as Toastmaster of JordanCon. The Toastmaster is the master of ceremonies. They help kick off the fun and welcome everyone to the convention. I remember feeling thrilled while watching Leigh Butler give her welcoming speech. It was the start of an amazing weekend. I hope to start the 15th JordanCon on a similar entertaining footing. JordanCon has found a wonderful recipe for success, and I plan to highlight several flavor notes as Toastmaster.
JordanCon is about welcoming people to the buffet table. This includes our amazing Guests of Honor. As this year’s Toastmaster, I consider it an honor and privilege to be able to interview this year’s author Guest of Honor, Wesley Chu. I’ve been a fan of his for years, since reading his Tao novels and his season 12 co-host role on Writing Excuses. His newest novel, The Art of Prophecy, is his “love letter to the wuxia genera.” It is the start of a very promising journey.
Equally impressive is our artist Guest of Honor Omar Ryyan. His art is full of whimsy, grace, and fantasy creatures. His work reminds me of the best of Romantic era paintings. My costumer’s heart delights in the fine detail he pours into clothing, accessories, and finer details. What a delightful addition his work will be to the Art Show!
Welcome home to JordanCon everyone. I look forward to sharing the community table and ribbons with everyone in 2023. Come talk to me about your favorite flavors, cuisine or literature, your choice.
By Deana Whitney
by pandrewfloyd | Apr 9, 2022 | Announcements, Guests, Uncategorized
JordanCon is thrilled to announce a special partnership with long-term vendor and JordanCon family member, Leia Powell!
Leia approached us about creating some incredible licensed JordanCon stained glass artwork, and we agreed this was a wonderful opportunity to see our convention represented in a unique and beautiful way. We will be posting more information closer to the event about where you can find these pieces and how to make sure you get one, but we were just too excited to wait to share the news! Start saving up now, though. As you can see from these previews of the designs, you’re definitely going to want to take a piece home with you.
For more information, please see our Attending Professionals page and scroll down to Leia Powell for her bio and an amazing interview. We can’t wait for you to see all her awesome art in just a few short weeks!
by JordanCon Marketing | Jul 14, 2021 | Guests
We’re thrilled to welcome the fantastic Marie Brennan to JordanCon 2021!
Marie Brennan is a former anthropologist and folklorist who shamelessly pillages her academic fields for material. She most recently misapplied her professors’ hard work to Turning Darkness Into Light, a sequel to the Hugo Award-nominated Victorian adventure series The Memoirs of Lady Trent. The first book of that series, A Natural History of Dragons, was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and won the Prix Imaginales for Best Translated Novel.
Her other novels include the Doppelganger duology of Warrior and Witch, the urban fantasies Lies and Prophecy and Chains and Memory, the Onyx Court historical fantasy series, the Varekai novellas, and nearly sixty short stories, as well as the New Worlds series of worldbuilding guides. Together with Alyc Helms as M.A. Carrick, she is the author of the upcoming Rook and Rose epic fantasy trilogy, beginning with The Mask of Mirrors that came out in November 2020. (See the interview below for some sequel news!)
Marie recently sat down for a Q&A session with JordanCon. From us to you, we present the fruits of a chat with Author Guest of Honor Marie Brennan!
JordanCon: What are you looking forward to the most about JordanCon 2021?
Marie Brennan: Honestly—given the circumstances—I’m looking forward to simply being at a con! I haven’t attended one in person since FogCon in early March 2020. The chance to hang out in person again and geek out over fantasy just sounds hugely appealing.
JC: What is your favorite type of book? Be as specific (or not!) as you’d like.
MB: It’s hard to narrow down to a specific type, but I’ll say I really like a well-done series arc—the kind of thing where the books are all building toward a conclusion, rather than something more open-ended and episodic. I also love secondary-world fantasy that feels truly immersive with its worldbuilding. But I also enjoy historical fiction… I’ll stop before I wind up listing everything I read!
JC: Do you remember the first thing you ever wrote? Can you tell us a little about it?
MB: The first thing I remember writing dates back to when I was a mystery reader, not a fantasy reader. It was the summer either before or after third grade—I can’t recall which—when a woman was babysitting me, my brother, and the two sons of another family. She taught us how to make little books with fabric-bound cardboard covers and the pages stitched into the spine; well, naturally I wrote a story in mine. All I recall is that 1) it had to do with someone stealing local pets (the line “you’re mine now, kitty” sticks in my memory to this day) and 2) I somehow got it into my head that I had to fill all the pages… so as I got further along, my handwriting got bigger and bigger and eventually I wound up listing every last thing my main character packed when she went on a trip at the end of the story.
I like to think I’ve improved a bit since then.
JC: Our theme for this year is Con of Legends, in reference to a particular time period (Age of Legends) in the Wheel of Time series. With that in mind, tell us:
Do you have a favorite legend (story)?
MB: Oh, yeesh—I have a degree in folklore, so I know too many to really pick out a single favorite! But the Scottish border ballad “Tam Lin” is a big formative influence on me, specifically through Diana Wynne Jones’s novel Fire and Hemlock, and then later Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin.
Are there any legends in which you’ve taken a deep dive (or would like to) in terms of research/nerding out?
MB: This isn’t legends in the technical sense, but I’ve done deep dives into both English fairy folklore (for the Onyx Court series) and Japanese yōkai lore (for The Night Parade of 100 Demons). As for what I’d like to learn more about… frankly, everything! I love feeding my brain lots of different tales.
JC: What do you believe makes a character “legendary”? And/or, what do you believe makes a setting or fictional world “legendary”?
MB: I don’t know that there are any fictional settings I think of as “legendary”—I’m more likely to attach that word to a character. In that context, I tend to assign it to the characters that become timeless in some fashion, where we tell many stories about them long after they were first created. (Though the pedantic folklorist that lives in my brain immediately points out that this is not what a “legend” is. The pedantic folklorist can hush.)
JC: Is there anything else you’d like to share about yourself or your work?
MB: Since not everybody realizes there’s a connection, I should mention that in addition to my work as Marie Brennan, I’m also half of M.A. Carrick (the other half being my friend Alyc Helms), author of The Mask of Mirrors and its sequel The Liar’s Knot, coming out this December! And I always like to plug my Patreon, for anybody who’s interested in anthropology and worldbuilding.
Catch Marie Brennan in person at her book signing (Friday, July 18, 3 – 4:00 p.m. ET). Attend her Guest of Honor Spotlight panel in person or online (Saturday, July 17, 12 -1:00 p.m. ET). Additionally, get more Marie at her website, swantower.com.
