Author Interview ~ Shelley Bates

A transplanted Canadian, Shelley Bates grew up on Vancouver Island and currently lives in California. Whether typing search warrants and making undercover phone calls for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, or editing marketing collateral for the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley, Shelley has always found that everyone has a story. Most people have stopped telling her theirs in case she puts them in her books. Between books, Shelley enjoys playing the piano and Celtic harp, making historical costumes, and spoiling her chickens rotten.

Your new book, Over Her Head, comes out in May. How did you come up with this story? Was there a specific 'what if' moment?

There sure was. Back in 1997, my mom sent me an article about a murder that had occurred at my junior high (it was a tough school in the seventies and clearly, nothing had changed) where a gang of teenagers swarmed a girl who wanted to join their clique, and drowned her under a bridge. The event absolutely horrified me. I got that prickly feeling on my neck and shoulders—which only happens when I know I’m going to write about something.

It bubbled away on the back burner of my mind for several years, while I thought, “What if a Christian mom found out her daughter was in a swarm like that—and did nothing to help the girl? What would that do to their relationship? To her marriage? To her relationships in her church?” Heh.

So that’s when I began writing. The title comes from the imagery in Psalm 124: “Then they had swallowed us up quick, when their wrath was kindled against us: Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the stream had gone over our soul: Then the proud waters had gone over our soul.”

And FaithWords—bless the art department’s heart—came up with a cover that reflected this perfectly. The heroine is outdoors looking up at the sky—but it also looks as though she could be underwater, swimming toward the light. It’s absolutely wonderful.

Tell us about your publishing journey. How long had you been writing before you got a contract? How did you find out and what went through your mind?

Certain moments are etched in your memory forever: Saying “I do.” Where you were when the Loma Prieta earthquake hit. Getting The Call. At 10:45 a.m. on August 8, 2002, an editor from Harlequin called to say she wanted to buy my master’s thesis. I had written it during the M.A. in Writing Popular Fiction program at Seton Hill University, and it was my first book-length sale.

I’d been writing with the goal of being published since I was 13, so it was the culmination of many years of education and, well, a lot of pages! But every one of those pages taught me something, and every one brought me closer to that goal of publication.

Do you ever struggle with writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?

I don’t believe in writer’s block. People on deadline can’t afford that luxury :) I do, however, believe in the underlying meaning of these temporary halts in production: that I’ve taken a wrong turn plot-wise … that there are too many consequences to a scene … that I’m not being true to my character … that I’m in the wrong point of view for that scene. Once I analyze the real problem, I can move through the halt and get back to work.

Where do you write? Do you have a dedicated office or a corner or nook in a room? Any special music to help your muse?

When we built our house after the old one fell down in the earthquake, we included an office for me in the floor plans. I love it. It’s my kingdom. I have a stand-up workstation as well as a regular desk so that with my back problems, I’m not locked into any one working position. I don’t usually write my first drafts indoors anyway.

I take my AlphaSmart outside, let the chickens out of their pen, and we ramble around the yard together. I sit on a stump and write while they debug my garden. The neighbors have gotten used to it

Do you have a word or page goal you set for each day?

You bet. In order to make deadline I have to write 30–40 pages a week. I don’t worry about exactly when those happen, but as long as the page count is up by that much at the end of every week, I’m good. Needless to say, I’m not a proponent of the “you must write every day” school. It works for some writers, and works well. It just doesn’t work for me, so I don’t stress over it.

What does a typical day look like for you?

Well, I’m a freelance editor, so I work part-time at an advertising agency. On those days I don’t write. But on my writing days, which I protect ferociously, I’m up by 7:30 and at my desk by 8:00. I do e-mail and any PR stuff until 11, and from 11 to 4 I write. After that my husband gets home from work and we have dinner, watch TV, go swing dancing or for a walk. Normal couple stuff :)

What’s the best writing advice you’ve heard?

Jenny Crusie was the guest lecturer at Seton Hill during my first term, and she said, “Start where the trouble starts.” That helped me eradicate my tendency to info-dump in the first chapter, helped me pick up my pacing, and helped me with the art of the kickin’ first line. Smart woman, that Jenny. So many months of craft lessons, packed into five words.

What do you wish you’d known early in your career that might have saved you some time and/or frustration in writing? In publishing?

I wish I’d heard Jenny sooner. I wish I’d read Robert McKee’s Story and Debra Dixon’s Goal, Motivation, Conflict and Chris Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey earlier … that probably would have shaved a couple of years off my apprenticeship as an unpublished writer.

It’s important to become as educated in this business as you possibly can. That means learning who the distributors are and what they do. Learning how the publishing process works so you can work inside it when you get there. Learning how to pace yourself and manage your schedule so you don’t mentally implode the first time you realize what “back-to-back deadlines” really means.

And how do you do this? Talk to published folks. Participate in industry discussions at your local writers’ group meetings. Sidle up to booksellers and ask them questions. All the people in the industry love to talk about the industry. Use this to your advantage.

How much marketing do you do? What have you found that particularly works well for you?

Marketing is what I do in my day job, so it seems natural for me to apply it to my writing. It’s important to find out where your pain thresholds are, though. If you’re the woman throwing up in the restroom before you have to give a talk, maybe the speaking circuit isn’t the best way to promote your work. (I used to be that woman, by the way. Things have improved and I do speak in public with some degree of comfort now.)

I think online marketing is smart. Start with a website and move outward to MySpace, ShoutLife, writing bulletin boards, and e-mail loops. You can do all those things in your jammies with a cup of coffee at your side. I like to have bookmarks and postcards to send out; other writers don’t.

Develop relationships with as many booksellers as you can, and visit them regularly. And speaking of that, a visit to your publishing house, in my opinion, is a must. Go at least once, so they have a real person to connect with the manuscript coming in.

Building relationships is key to all marketing, whether it’s with your publisher, your booksellers, or your readers. As E.M. Forster said in Howard’s End, “Only connect.” It’s vital.

Do you have any parting words of advice?

The most important thing I’d want any writer to remember is: Believe in yourself and your work. Don’t let the rejections get you down, because you’re the only one who can write your particular story from your particular point of view. You’re the one with the passion, so let it show on the page.