Category Archives: Writing

Cover Reveal for Yunnan Books

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Introducing…

the cover artwork for the upcoming books by Rebecca D. Henderson

Everything’s more official when the design work is finished, right? The wonderful team at Streetlight Graphics put together the cover designs for both books, and I’m thrilled to be able to share their completed work with you today.

From the Tea Village 1600 Barnes and Noble

!SimplyYunnan 1600 Barnes and Noble

Both books will be available in paperback and Kindle edition through Amazon on 3-18-13. More details to come at that time. Until then, thank you as always for your support for these creative endeavors.

Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter (using the form in the left sidebar) to be the first to hear about upcoming dates, releases, and special offers.

If you use Goodreads, please take a moment to add my books to your Want to Read shelf. Click here for Tea Village and click here for Simply Yunnan.

And if you’re on Facebook, you can also “like” the books: here for Tea Village and here for Simply Yunnan.

Thanks!

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Why My Books are Perfect for Self-publishing

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I’ve mentioned it a few times, but in case you’re not aware, I’m publishing two books in March, From the Tea Village (a middle grade novel) and Simply Yunnan (a cookbook). You can read more about them by clicking here.

What you may not be aware of, however, is that I’m self-publishing the books and completely thrilled to be experiencing the publishing process as an indie author. Each step of publishing — from registering for an ISBN to hiring the designer (check out the work of Streetlight Graphics) to viewing the cover for the first time to becoming a Goodreads Author — has been a dream come true. These books that I’ve poured my heart into for the past few years are becoming a physical reality.

The process didn’t start out quite this way. After writing my novel, I traveled the traditional route, sent out numerous query letters, and had positive interactions with a handful of agents and small publishers who read part or all of my manuscript. I was encouraged about my writing style and the quality of my work — but over and again I was told things like, “The book is publishable, but not for us” or “I love the writing/story/details about Yunnan, but I don’t think this book will sell” or “The characters and setting are too exotic.” The last one is especially ironic considering I heard this from multiple agents who have posted that they’re looking for multi-cultural works to add to their book lists. But following the protocol of politeness in response to rejected queries, I’m not allowed to point out to them the contradictory nature of their responses or the fact that the “too exotic” argument doesn’t stand when you consider the proliferation of fantasy and dystopian books for a young adult audience. Exotic is OK as long as it’s fantasy, not Asian.

Through talking with these agents and publishers, with other writers, and with other entrepreneurs, I’ve decided that in my situation self-publishing is perfect. As a self-pubbed author I can make decisions based on my heart, not just on money. There is an audience for my books — it’s not a national best-selling audience, but I’m ok with that. Agents and publishers don’t want to take risks for books that won’t pay my salary and theirs, but I am willing to take a risk for my own sake. My success or failure only affects me. That is a good feeling.

To self-publish I can work on my own time-table. I can take the time I need to do quality writing, work on revisions and editing, and arrange for the design work, while still living a healthy life with the correct focus on God, family, and other relationships. I set my own deadlines and choose my own launch dates. Having been a freelancer for the past three years, I’ve grown accustomed to being in control of my own schedule, and I like maintaining that control over the life of my books.

And so my first two books will be available in March, and the people who want to read books like mine (with a story set in a realistic but exotic location with a main character who deals with real-life problems and is not obsessed with romance at too young an age) will be able to. If the books fail, I am the only one responsible for their failure. If they succeed, I’m the one who benefits from that success. I was responsible to write a good story, get feedback from beta readers and editors, make the appropriate changes to make it a book my audience would want to read — and now I’m responsible for getting the books into the hands of that audience. I like having this responsibility

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The Next Big Thing

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Today’s post is part of The Next Big Thing blog hop that’s been going on among writers for a few weeks now (I’m a little late to the game, been kind of busy with Thanksgiving and work and getting engaged and all). I was invited to participate by a Twitter friend and author, Kendra C. Highley, who I met through the fundraiser Crits for Water. Kendra’s Matt Archer: Monster Hunter is a fast-paced, action-filled, spooky adventure, and I’m looking forward to her Next Big Thing, the sequel Matt Archer: Blade’s Edge, at the end of the month.

My own Next Big Thing is the upcoming release in March 2013 of my first novel. My first novel. That sounds fantastic.

What is the working title of your book? From the Tea Village

Where did you get the idea for the book? A few years back, after reading Twilight in a 24-hour period and lamenting the loss of a day of my life reading such a poorly written book (sorry, Twilight fanatics, facts are facts), it occured to me that I could write YA lit just as well as some of the best-selling authors out there. I’m embarrassed to admit such an exceedingly arrogant yet naive sentiment now, though at the time it was just the impetus I needed to start writing a longer work than a blog post. Around the same time, I began interviewing my friend Lydia about her childhood in a Bulang village, and the idea for a series of books with her as the main character was born.

What genre does your book fall under? Young Adult (middle grade) multi-cultural set in Yunnan, China

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? Well, the book takes place in rural Yunnan, so the actors would need to be Southeast Asian for the characters who are Bulang or other ethnic groups, with a few Chinese actors for the Han characters. I don’t watch a lot of Asian film, but I’ve admired Chow Yun Fat in a couple of movies — he would make a good Jiang Lao Shi. Beyond that, I’m at a loss!

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? A Bulang girl, Ye Sun, struggles to reconcile her village background with the desire of her heart to study at a Chinese school, where she learns both her academic subjects and the depth of friendship in the face of tragic circumstances.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency? Self-published, baby!

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? I interviewed Lydia and transcribed and organized the notes of her biography from October 2009 to March 2010. I wrote the outline for this one-year segment of her story and began writing the first draft in July 2010 and finished it in October 2010.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? I’m nervous about comparing Tea Village to other books, but before and during the writing and revising process, I read and was inspired by Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins, Shabanu by Suzanne Fisher Staples, and Tangled Threads: A Hmong Girl’s Story by Pegi Deitz Shea.

Who or what inspired you to write this book? My main inspiration was Lydia, the Bulang girl who lived in my home during her senior year of high school and became my dearest friend in China. As I wrote, I had young American girls in mind as readers, in particular my nieces Patience and Haley.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? This isn’t the book for someone looking for intense action or romance. It’s a glimpse into the heart of a girl in a land so different from the U.S. and other places in the Western world, yet the people of Yunnan have the same goals and desires of anyone anywhere in the world.

The point of this blog hop was to tag other authors who have upcoming book projects that they’d like to promote, but I honestly don’t know anyone else to tag who hasn’t already been tagged. Instead, I’m going to mention a few of my blog-writing friends who I love dearly and believe could write books of their own that would be well worth the read. These bloggers might not have any books in the works right now, but each of us has our own Next Big Thing — and I just want to acknowledge a few ladies who inspire me with their writing.

My good friend Jen Anderson blogged throughout last year on Jen’s Journey to 40 about her pursuit of a healthier lifestyle leading up to a milestone birthday, but lately she’s written more for the website Single Roots than for her own blog. I particularly enjoyed her recent article about transitioning into her new life as the single foster mother of four teenagers (and foster grandmother to a one-year-old!).

Roxie McCutcheon (who I met working in Yunnan many years back) started a fantastic new blog called Crunchy in the Panhandle where she shares tips with folks in her corner of West Virginia who are trying to eat local, organic, and whole foods. I like to call Roxie my whole foods guru — I call and text her with random questions about coconut oil and gluten-free recipes, and she’s always able to answer right away like the pro that she is, or at the very least point me to an online resource where I can find answers. Even though I live in Texas, her West Virgina blog has been a help to me.

Another Yunnan friend, Erin Kimsey, recently began blogging about her experiences transitioning from non-profit work in a small border town to working for the U.S. Foreign Service in Shanghai — what a change! Erin is insightful and intelligent, and I appreciate her perspective on a variety of subjects.

Last but not least, Gillian Schweighardt is a friend I met in Washington who is now living in Vienna. I absolutely love reading about her family’s adventures and her thoughts on life. Her stories and reflections challenge and encourage me while making me chuckle — a great combination.

So, there you have it. Thanks for playing along and letting me ramble about my Next Big Thing.

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Two Book Launches in March!!

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I’ve never used an exclamation mark in the title of a blog post, but this news is pretty darn exciting.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not just one, but two books will be ready for release in March 2013 — my middle grade novel From the Tea Village and the cookbook Simply Yunnan. Both books sprang forth from my years of living in Yunnan, China, and though they each stand alone, they also complement each other.

From the Tea Village

Ye Sun grew up in an ethnic Bulang village in Yunnan Province, but she now lives in the Chinese world of her boarding school. While other students decide to stay home after sixth grade, Ye Sun sticks with it and moves to middle school in the market town. Her friendships broaden, but she also faces more difficult subjects, an abusive teacher, and taunts over her faltering Mandarin. Just as she thinks the situation is at its worst, a harrowing accident turns her family — and her life — upside-down.

Simply Yunnan

Ten years of eating in Yunnan led to this cookbook. I want to share the simple recipes I’ve collected from friends and from trial-and-error recreating dishes from favorite restaurants. These are the dishes I like to cook to remind myself of towns where I lived, of people I miss — to remind me of places and moments wrapped up in flavors and textures. Simple ingredients. Simple technique. Simply Yunnan.

Look for more news on where to find print and e-book versions of both books to come in the days ahead. Don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter (using the form in the left sidebar) to be the first to hear about upcoming dates, releases, and special offers.

Thank you, friends!

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Writing Retreat in Bend, Oregon

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As I said in my previous post, I booked a yurt in Central Oregon for a little writing getaway and had to take the only reservation available between June and October. In my mind, June is late enough in the year to qualify as summer, but my mind still isn’t used to winters in the Northwest — winters that last longer than mid February, like I grew up knowing in Texas. So last week’s trip to Wallowa Lake got snowed out, and I regrouped for Bend this week.

Oregon, oh you wonderful, beautiful, amazing Oregon, I cannot begin to decide on a favorite spot in all the state. I have a deep fondness for the coast and for the Columbia River Gorge, but now Bend and Central Oregon are competing for my affections. I couldn’t have picked a better spot for a writing retreat, and thankfully the weather cooperated this time around. I spent four days camping in a yurt at Tumalo State Park on the Deschutes River just outside of Bend — it was a little more crowded and noisier than Ft Stevens was in early April, but it proved to be perfect nevertheless. Easy access to town, to gas and food, to the highways and byways leading to all the glorious wonders of our Creator’s creation nearby.

the Deschutes River at Tumalo State Park

I got to have dinner the first evening with friends I hadn’t seen in a few years, and they showered me with recommendations and maps and tour information for the remainder of my time. Look for a post on Cascade Lakes Byway soon, a spectacular driving tour I wouldn’t have taken if it weren’t for their suggestion. They also gave me a copy of a guide for a walking tour in historic downtown Bend — and unlike some towns that claim “historic” downtown areas, I felt Bend actually qualified, with its architecture dating to the early twentieth century and its ties to the Oregon lumber mill industry. (Random facts gleaned from the Heritage Walk info: Clark Gable once worked at the Brooks-Scanlon mill, and Amelia Earhart’s home with her husband G.P. Putnam is on the tour.)

Drake Park in Bend, Oregon

For a good 360-degree view of Bend, the desert and Blue Mountains to the east, and the snow covered peaks of the Cascades to the west, I walked up Pilot Butte one afternoon. Don’t make the mistake, like I did, of calling it a “mountain” to a local. I guess it’s bigger than a hill but doesn’t qualify as a mountain when you’re in sight of the Three Sisters, Mt Washington, Mt Bachelor, and the like. Whatever you call it, it’s a good way to get an overview of the surrounding areas, with great interpretive displays (and a restroom, for the record) at the summit.

And lest I be accused of just gallivanting around Oregon every chance I get, I actually did write each morning in my yurt. I kept my regular writing schedule, working breakfast to lunch time, and put more words on the page each day than I had been averaging the previous week. A productive and beneficial writing retreat, indeed.

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In Writer Mode

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I’m not blogging much these days, and I honestly didn’t realize it until just a couple of days ago. I’ve been blogging regularly since June 2008 (according to the notification on my calendar app), and since that time it’s like there’s been a blog writing program constantly running in the background of my mind, always thinking of new things to blog about, always composing a post or coming up with a title. I mean it, I really like to work on my blog. At times, I’ve had to ground myself from it in order to stay on top of my bill-paying work.

About six weeks ago I started working on page 1, chapter 1 of the manuscript for West Texas Interlude, after six months of preliminary research. Finally. Writing. I jumped in headlong and have thrilled at the process of putting this manuscript together. I don’t know how to explain it to someone who doesn’t do creative work and doesn’t get to pursue their passion each day — but it’s fun, it doesn’t seem like work, and I’ve gotten lost in it over the last few weeks. I wrote an earlier post about how different the process is this time around from when I was writing the Middle Grade novel about a young girl in Yunnan — that post was written only a week after I started, and I can only say that the differences have become even more pronounced. Unlike when I wrote the MG novel, I don’t have to force myself to sit down and write each day. I don’t look at the word count at the bottom of the screen every 45 seconds. I can’t wait to get started writing each day, and some days I’ve kept writing past my usual stopping point (otherwise known as lunch). Two days last week I threw out all my afternoon tasks so I could keep working on the manuscript a few hours longer. At times I’m writing twice as many words per day as I did for the first book, in the same amount of time. I’m well on track to meet my goal of having a first draft by the first of August. I just love working on this project.

Also unlike writing the MG novel, I didn’t ground myself from blogging before I started. I told myself I would just see how it goes, I’d blog when the ideas strike, but I wouldn’t make any restrictions on myself. And thus…two blog posts this whole month. It didn’t occur to me until a day or so ago that I should probably post something, just to let people know I’m still around and this URL still functions. So, here you are. It’s all I’ve got, people, nothing more than a promise that one day I’ll get back to regularly blogging again. I know already that I’ll have a couple of things to talk about in June (one is another trip to Oregon and the other is my post-West Texas project idea), so at least there’s that to look forward to!

Until then, please forgive me for pouring all of my energy into West Texas Interlude. I’ll return shortly.

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From Research to Writing

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Once again I’ve entered into a new phase on my current work-in-progress, West Texas Interlude. Last week I made a firm step out of the research phase and into the draft writing season of the project.

It was almost two years ago that I began this phase on my first book, a middle grade novel based on the experiences of my friend Lydia in Yunnan. I’m finding, though, that this time around the writing phase is different. For one thing, I’ve been working full-time as a writer for two years now, and the day-in-day-out diligence of a writing schedule is perfectly normal to me now. When I first started writing the novel, I was staying with good friends who I would just as soon have sat around drinking coffee with all morning than hole up in their basement to type on my laptop. It was hard making myself work. Somehow, I don’t know how, that book was eventually written.

The other major difference I’ve noticed so far in writing West Texas Interlude is that the words come much easier because they are in my own voice. The novel was written from the perspective of a 13-year-old Bulang girl. I, as you might be aware, am not a 13-year-old Bulang girl. West Texas Interlude is a non-fiction project based on my own experiences and my family’s stories. It’s just me, writing, talking to my readers (whoever they may end up being). Kind of the same way I write these blog posts. I’ve been developing my voice and style long enough now that I don’t have to work to conjure them up. It’s a wonderfully refreshing feeling, fingertips to the keyboard, words popping up on the screen.

Just as I had the hospitality of several friends in Alaska and Fort Worth to give me living and office space while writing the novel, I have friends here in the Tri-Cities who have opened their homes to me to use while they are at their day jobs. I leave my apartment by 8am each day and head over to my friends’ house to set up my mobile writing office. It’s a great set-up. More so than when I’m working on freelance projects and magazine articles, I need that separation of space from my living quarters to help me feel like, ok, I’m at work now, time to get busy.

In addition to writing West Texas Interlude in the mornings, I’m also working on a new project in the afternoons. I won’t divulge all the details about it yet, but I’ll give you a photo hint from a previous post — way previous, like May 2009 previous.

 

 

Are you hungry yet? Do you use a Kindle or a Kindle app? Check back here for more info about what I’m working on as it develops.

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Writing about Family

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Writing about family members is a terrifying venture.

I have spent the past 2 1/2 weeks asking my grandparents questions about their lives, recording their answers — while hovering near my grandmother as she sliced brisket to put in the freezer, while sitting on the ottoman at my grandfather’s feet as he flipped through photos on my iPad and recalled the locations and stories belonging to the images. I have attempted to piece together the equipment and techniques involved in land surveying as described by my father and grandfather, men who have known the ins and outs of the profession for decades, to the point that they no longer remember what is common knowledge to mankind and what is only known to surveyors. I don’t even know what it is I don’t know, and I have struggled at times to come up with interview questions. But now I’ve learned what a theodolite is, what a bearing is, how to turn an angle, how to identify a monument or find a corner, and next I will sort out the best way to describe it in the context of West Texas Interlude.

I have 15 hours of recordings from the first research trip and am daunted by the prospect of piecing together the information that belongs to each town, each photo. How will I decide which photos to include, which stories to write, which stories to summarize and which to elaborate upon? How will I organize it all? Which towns will I need to skim over and which ones will require intensive research? Should I focus more on the vacation spots featured in the photos, or on the little towns where the family may have lived for only a few weeks at a time?

But more daunting than any of that — the technical aspects and the artistic decisions — is the prospect of writing a story whose main characters are ones I sit down to Thanksgiving dinner with every year. Ones who held me as an infant. Ones whose opinion and good favor I value more than just about anyone in the world. They are trusting me with their stories, and I will strive to do my best to write them well. I long to approach the stories and the background research with an objective mind, but I cannot deny that my own memories and impressions, my own point of view as a Henderson, color the picture that I lay out on paper. And since I’ve said from the beginning that the book will be a collection of Bob and Ann’s photos and stories combined with my own experience visiting the places they lived, I think it’s OK to allow my impressions to color the process. Still, I tremble at the thought of trying to capture the character of my family on paper, fearful of what they will think of my words, of what I include and what I leave out.

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State of the Blog

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Last week I took an unexpected break from the blog, as some may have noticed. I have several topics lined up, several posts in various phases of almost-writtenness, but I have found myself caught up in the midst of other tasks. At times it’s easy for a self-employed writer to let the time during the day drift off into all sorts of good projects — volunteer work, small writing assignments to help out others, marketing and all the mundane aspects of trying to keep a freelance business (and life in general) afloat. All of these are good projects to be working on, yet they are not writing for my work-in-progress.

As this has happened in the last couple of weeks, I decided that the blog needed to pause for a week or so. I don’t make any income from this blog, and so there are times when I can’t justify spending a few hours a week working on it instead of working on things that will pay the bills or are directly related to my book projects. It makes me sad to pause, because I love the writing I get to do here, but I can’t work on it in good conscience when I should be sending out query letters or doing research instead.

Hopefully things will settle down in the next couple of days, and I will be able to start posting regularly again. I’m eager to flesh out a few topics I’ve been pondering, and I’m also eager to get this done before I begin traveling in mid-November. Look for posts over the next few weeks about giving and sharing, an update on what I’m learning through West Texas Interlude research, my reflections on Jane Eyre, a Quinault Community Garden update, and my plans for travel this fall to Texas for research and to China to visit friends (I’m going to China!!!!).

And now, back to work.

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Writing to Music from Lyle Lovett

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I’m not working on the writing for my West Texas project yet — these days I’m mostly writing about how I’m going to write about West Texas. Gotta do the ground work first, put the initial pieces together, see how the project takes shape. It’s a great place to be, in the dream phase of the project, the phase where I play around with different ideas and see where they go.

As I’m looking through the photos and plotting points on the map for my research trips, I find myself needing a little background music. And the obvious choice for me for this project, so far, has been Lyle Lovett. Yesterday, I smiled quite a bit over his version of “West Texas Highway” — I couldn’t find it on YouTube, though, so I’m posting another one that makes for a good soundtrack to my work, “Ballad of the Snow Leopard and the Tanqueray Cowboy”:

Comfort me, said she, / With your conversation, / With the cocktails / And the candlelight / In your eyes; / It’s funny how we hunger / For some inspiration, / And everything else / That money just won’t buy.

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