Six Degrees of Karen Junker

     "I found a way to get people together who need to meet each other."

-Karen Junker

In the spring of 2011, I sat in a room full of eager writers listening to a multitude of published professionals talk about how to query agents and the many trials and tribulations of contracts. One of the pros asked a question to a lady in the audience, the woman stood up and spoke about a writing workshop. Afterwards, I bumped into the lady and asked her a question about this workshop, Cascade Writers. She gave me her card and of course, after deliberation and encouragement from Bad Husband,  I decided to attend. From that short amount of time on the beaches of the Washington coast, I made friends that are still with me today. I've also accomplished more as a writer than I ever expected because of the connections I made that weekend.

Karen Junker is the founder of the non-profit organization, Cascade Writers Workshop. She along with her husband Jorgen, and a board of directors, run a weekend long writing event that creates friendships, improves writing, and I dare say can change lives. One of the things, that impresses me about Karen is that she has met so many people over the years but is not a name dropper. She also treats every single writer as though they have the potential to win a Hugo or Nebula. The writers that she chooses to lead groups are high quality well-rounded people who will inspire you to push yourself to the next level. My past leaders have been Ken Scholes and Tina Connolly who both have been published by Tor. Both leaders were able to give me better insight into my writing as well as make me feel like I belonged in the great big writing community.

Karen also leads several writer's groups in the Pacific Northwest the rest of the year. If you have the opportunity to sit down with her, she has stories to tell you personally as well as professionally that will make you laugh, cry, and think about what the hell you are doing with your crazy ideas.

Karen's inspirational story about an experience with her grandmother in the Ozark Mountains inspired me to really push forward with the anthology, Stitches, Witches, and Bitches. Now if I can get her to put it down on paper...

Karen tells us about herself and the workshop:

Katie: How long have you been writing? What inspires you to write?

Karen: I've been writing since around 1962.  One of my poems was published in a local paper so I was thrilled about that. I've also had an e-book published in 2005.  I like to write stories I'm not finding in published works.  But primarily I'm a fan of writers and I want to do everything I can to help them in their work.

Katie: What made you decide to create a writing workshop? How many alumni of your workshop have went on to publish?

Karen: I started the workshop as a way to promote new writers, but also get a chance to meet some of my favorite authors and other top industry pros.  I found a way to get people together who need to meet each other.  Many of our alumni have gone on to publish, but we can't take credit for it directly--we've had some very talented writers attend our events!  Some have met their editors or agents at our events and they later worked with them in their careers.

Katie: How do you choose special guest for your workshop? Who have you featured in the past?

Karen: I like to choose special guests for the events based on who I'd like to meet, who I think will be a great teacher, and whose instruction can really help writers at all levels learn something they can use in their work.  We've had many editors from Tor and other NY publishing houses, authors like Steven Brust, Mercedes Lackey, Jacqueline Carey, Jim Butcher, Alma Alexander, Jay Lake, David Levine, Ken Scholes, Tina Connolly, Patrick Swenson and a host of others.  We put on events as a private business called Writer's Weekend for many years before we formed the nonprofit organization called Cascade Writers.

Katie: What can writer's expect this year from the workshop?

Karen: This year's workshop will have a variety of genres represented in the guest instructors' work.  We have Tor editor Claire Eddy and agent Cameron McClure from the Donald Maass Literary Agency.  Author instructors include JA Pitts, Nisi Shawl, Delilah Marvelle, Patrick Swenson, Ken Scholes, Jennifer Brozek, Jaym Gates, Randy Henderson, Spencer Ellsworth, Cory Skerry, Keffy Kehrli, Tom Wright, and Rebecca Birch.  We'll have workshops on Wordpress and Promotion, How to Write a Query Letter, Pros and Cons of Small Publishers, a panel on LGBT issues in literature, and many other topics of interest to writers at all levels.

Cascade Writers is offering two scholarships: the Jay Lake Scholarship and a private scholarship from an annonymous donor.  Check it out at: www.cascadewriters.com.

I will be attending this year as a student as well as speaking on a panel about starting your own small publishing company. 

Best Wishes,

Katie Cord

Evil Girlfriend with a Pen

Design, Desire, and Devotion with Michelle Kilmer

Michelle is a graphic designer, writer, and zombie lover.

"The heart wants what the heart wants, even if it is writing zombie novels."

 -Michelle Kilmer

When Michelle Kilmer walked up to me in late May 2012, she looked unwell. Okay, she looked dead. Most likely because she was dressed up as a zombie. This is not a problem when you’re at a horror convention in Seattle, WA. It is not a problem at all. She was walking around the con with her twin sister, Becky. Excitement shown in their eyes even though their skin was pale and bloody. What I remember most about Michelle was that she was eager to talk about publishing her book, When the Dead. She'd made her own postcards advertising the book and website, but had not made the plunge into self-publishing. She wasn't sure if it was for her. Being a self-published author, I was completely sold on the idea for her. We talked and she walked away to pursue other macabre activities including pitching the book to a larger publishing house.

Fast forward to September, I see a post on Facebook advertising that Michelle will be promoting her book at the Tacoma Zompocalypse and Emergency Preparedness Expo. We start talking online and meet up at the event. She's now a confident self-pubbed zombie shambling around promoting her book. I was happy for her and started conversing with her about the writer's life. We also shared some common history since we've both lost our fathers, love zombies, and believe in working hard toward our goals.

As I started to work on Evil Girlfriend Media, she became a champion for the idea and offered her unique style of graphic design to the company. I couldn't resist her enthusiasm and confidence toward the project. Her design work is edgy with a touch of femininity that is difficult to find. She was able to take my love of retro classic design and balance it with my even bigger love of creepy cute.  

This interview is about her, a passionate hard worker with the ability to not only create her own unique ideas but also tap into the brains of others to help them make their own visions come true.

Here's some of our interview:

  

Katie: Michelle how did you start working in graphic design? What are some of the challenges?

  

Michelle: I took two years of yearbook at a nice high school and was one of the editors my senior year. My time in that class got me interested in layout and I became familiar with design programs and concepts. After graduation I was hired for some freelance work here and there. I didn’t have the guts to go into business until I met my now husband in 2005. He had studied graphic design at the Art Institute and was also interested in pursuing it as a career. Together, we made it happen.

I think the most challenging thing about design is that it is subjective. You can fix a car or deliver a package in your job and as long as you do it how you are supposed to, no one complains. Good design or the “right” design is mostly up to opinion. There are basic rules that we should all follow regarding fonts, layout, clean coding, etc., but what I think is beautiful and will sell a company’s product or service isn’t necessarily what the client thinks. It is about finding the balance. You have to find something that not only works for their needs but that you can still be proud of having your name attached to.

One other challenge is that there is always a company doing something far more amazing. We know we aren’t the best but we do actively teach ourselves the stuff that will get us close. It is a constant effort.

Katie: How long did it take you to write When the Dead? What made you decide to self-publish? What has the experience been like? Do you plan to continue to self-publish?

Michelle:  When the Dead took me six years to write. I started writing because I had ideas that I hadn’t seen yet in the genre that I wanted to explore. Originally it was a story about two teenage girls who were knowledgeable about zombies. It was in a fictitious place and they had a list of rules in case of a zombie apocalypse. I was stuck with it. It was difficult to write about a place that I had to make up entirely. I started writing new scenes with new characters and then, in 2009, Zombieland came out and I completely ditched the old idea because Zombieland had rules just like it. Looking back I should be thankful because focusing on the new story (which by that time I had changed to take place in Northgate), allowed me to focus on building characters instead of an entire world. Finally, I changed my narration style and the book exploded with possibilities.

I have always wanted to self-publish. I’m an emotional person and I wasn’t looking forward to submitting my manuscript and getting rejected time after time. My progress in finishing the edits and formatting for e-book slowed because my father passed away in early May of 2012. It was extremely difficult to write about people dying. I sent it to one publisher because they seemed interested in reading it, but even when they rejected it, I didn’t lose determination. It lit a fire under me, so to speak. I finally released the e-book in late August and then set out on the journey to format for print. The paperback came out in late November.

I have been doing all right for little marketing and I like knowing that every sale I make is in some way related to my own efforts. But it is difficult to get noticed as a self-published author. Overall, the experience has been great because I not only wrote the book but I designed the cover, formatted it and even built the website to help market it.

I definitely plan on continuing to self-publish. Though I'm hoping that one of my story ideas will be picked up by a small publishing house.

Katie: What do you do to help KilmerHansen continue to grow as a business as well as what you do to continue writing?

Michelle: These days I am full time at KILMERHANSEN. To keep us growing, I’ve joined a local business-networking group, I’m learning responsive design and I continue to give the best customer service I can. As for writing, it seems like now that I’ve done it all once it has become a little bit easier. I have found my voice and the ideas keep coming. Finding the time to write is the hardest thing though.

Katie: Zombie writers all have their love affair story with the genre, what's yours?

Twins putting on the gore.

Michelle: Zombies have been part of my life for a long time but more generally, horror. My sisters and I got in trouble as kids for telling the babysitter we could watch Pet Sematary. I had horrible nightmares but I would still want to watch scary stuff and my twin and I would often have horror movie marathons. In 2005 I had just moved back to the West Coast and Halloween was coming up. My twin and I shredded our bridesmaid dresses from our older sister’s wedding and did our first zombie makeup. It was amazing and very freeing in a way. Every Halloween from then on we have been zombies of some kind. In 2007 we attended our first official zombie walk in Fremont. I think after that it really became a bigger thing to us. Getting dressed up in "full gore" is twin time for me. Becky and I have greatly improved our makeup skills and dress up as often as we can. And of course we see every zombie movie that comes out. I also love to see the ideas that other writers bring to the genre.

I’m still afraid of the dark, have nightmares, and watch horror movies through my fingers.

Katie: Where will you be next and what are your plans for writing?

Michelle: Next, I will be publishing a short story collection that follows a plague as it spreads through a city. My twin is working with me on this project, contributing chapters of gruesomeness. I also have a talented artist on board who is providing cover art and chapter illustrations. Our goal is to have the collection in print and available to sell along with When the Dead at Crypticon Seattle this May. I have a couple of other ideas in the works, including a short follow-up to When the Dead (kind of a companion book), a prequel to When the Dead and an unrelated novel that is top secret but has amazing potential. I’m really excited for this next year!

Check out Michelle Kilmer on Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, and at KILMERHANSEN DESIGN.

Best Wishes,

Katie Cord

An Evil Girlfriend

Jedi and John Jackson Miller

Photo used courtesy of John Jackson Miller 2013

“My advice to anyone who wants to write for a living: look at journalism. It teaches you to communicate with readers and on a deadline. I started on a daily newspaper that I had to fill the page every day. You have to hit the deadline and let go of the story. If you don’t let go of the story. No one will ever read it. How many stories have been stillborn on a hard drive because someone gets stuck? It does no one any good if you get stuck and it never gets out.

Fear, you can’t let it dominate you. Rejection, no one ever appreciates it, nobody ever wants it. You have to keep working, knowing there is more than one market. Keep moving forward.”      -John Jackson Miller

John Jackson Miller is the type of guy who takes what life gives him and goes with it.

During his last year of college he was sitting alone in the newspaper office, when his editor walked in and unexpectedly asked him to interview the governor of Tennessee, as in right that second. He didn’t freak out, he didn’t say, “I can’t do this”, he just did it. This opportunity led to a series of articles that helped John become the editor of the campus newspaper. 

You’d think he was the luckiest man alive, but a few short years later, his dissertation for his PhD crumbled with the fall of the Soviet Union. Instead of landing in the pile of rubble with the changing political landscape, John chose to graduate with a Master’s in Political Science from Louisiana State University and instead decided to use his bachelors’ in journalism. His first assignment was working as the editor for a not so glamorous lumber magazine - a job that made him realize he could write about anything.

You might wonder why I give you this information. It’s because John is a sci-fi writer creating in one of the largest and most popular settings, the Star Wars universe. After speaking with him, it was no surprise to me that he writes about Jedi or how he ended up in a cool job that many covet. He has the heart of an adventurer and radiates the nobility of one meant to protect The Galaxy.  

To prepare myself for such an opportunity, I read up on John and purchased Star Wars: Vector which is an offshoot of Star Wars: Knight Errant series. He wrote the first portion highlighting Jedi Zayne Carrick and Celeste Morne. The story was compelling and as a zombie fan, his twist on how victims become “infected” as rakghouls is very intriguing. I also refreshed my terminology with Bad Husband’s old WEGs Star Wars RPG Sourcebook.

I still didn’t feel like I had enough knowledge to talk to John about the “sandbox” he creates in, but I took a couple of deep breaths and talked to him anyway.

What was great about this interview is that John didn’t mind educating me and he understands that there are casual comic book geeks out there. After reading Vectors, I’ve picked Star Wars: Knight Errant #1-3 at The Comic Stop in Redmond, WA.

John writes in a romantic, layered way that gives you action while allowing the complexities of the Jedi way of life shine through. I would recommend his work to anyone from the casual movie fan to the person who owns everything Star Wars. Check out his full length novel “StarWars: Kenobi,” which is due to be released by LucasBooks in August 2013.

Here’s some of our interview:

Katie: Can you tell me about the universe you create? You seem to write a lot of female characters. I read the Vector series with Jedi Celeste, how do you write such good female characters?

John: I don’t think too much about the gender of characters when I’m writing these things in Star Wars. The important questions are not male or female. We have human and wookies. It’s a very diverse galaxy so we don’t think about those things when we’re writing.

You have to think that we are in a galaxy far far away. We don’t use the word earthquake because that pertains to earth. We use groundquake because there is no earth. There are a number of things that we tend to take. We don’t say businessman, we say businessperson. A person is just as likely to be from a species where there is no defined gender roles. That being the case, in a matter of wordsmithing you end up using gender neutral terms. I don’t tend to write farm boys as much as farmers. I had to think about this with my novel coming out later this year, Star Wars: Kenobi. I have a lot of strong females in this book. I had to think about the history of Tatooine because the Women Suffrage didn’t occur because it didn’t need to.

Katie: What do you plan to do in 2013?

John: This year, I’m focusing on prose. I’ve done over 100 comics over the last 8-9 years and I plan to keep doing it. I love comics and even run the comic history site, www.comichron.com.  I’ll always be into comics but I’ve realized I’ve worked in other people’s sandboxes for a really long time. I’ve written over a million words and I only own about 5,000 of those because they are licensed works. I’ve been compensated fairly and it’s all good but I want to develop some things of my own. I have a couple of projects that will be announced over the next year.

Katie: On your independent projects are you considering self-publishing?

John: One project has a publisher and I’m waiting to see where I publish the other. In today’s world, it is sensible to have a variety of approaches. You have to be prepared to do it yourself, be prepared to get an agent, and also be able to negotiate with publishers yourself. The writers who want wants to write full time need to be able to do all those things. And not just to limit to one approach or another. Everybody has their own strategy but this is mine.  Comics work is usually done without agents, which to some degree is different than prose.

Katie: It looks like you’ve been a comic book collector your whole life, how long have you been reading comics?

John: I was six years old and that’s about the same time I started drawing my own… My mother was a grade school librarian so while other kids’ mothers encouraged them to throw out their comics, my mom encouraged me to put them in order. That was the start. I started to keep all my works. I kept everything. I did fanzines in high school with my typewriter and used my dad’s copy machine.

All that time, I saved everything I created. I have a file cabinet that basically goes back to age 10. I bought my son, who’s age 13 a file cabinet so he can save his stuff too. I think what it does is put you in the mindset that you are a creator and producer. You’re writing things that are worth saving.

Katie: How did you get into comic books as your profession?

John: In 1993, I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity to be editor of a trade magazine for comics. I moved from Tennessee to Wisconsin. I worked for them as well as Comics Buyer’s Guide which recently folded after 40 years. It was my work on those projects that introduced me to the folks who create the comics. And that lead to almost 10 years ago my first comic series I did for Marvel. My Russian studies degree was even used in that project because I was writing one of the Crimson Dynamos.

John mentions he is going to a major convention that he has attended regularly since he was a teenager, Midsouthcon. He plans to do library events and school lectures on his way down so that he can encourage others to create their own work.

Katie: It sounds like from what you’ve said before, that your parents were incredibly encouraging of your work. What would you say to someone who has not had encouragement from their family or friends?

John: It’s so much different than when I started. When I started with my fanzines, you had to go to the copy shop. It was very visible what you were doing. It was easier for your parents to see you and tell you if they thought you were wasting your time. Today, no one knows if you are writing a story or playing a video game when you are sitting at the computer. It’s also so much easier to self-publish and be read. I don’t know anyone’s parents who would discourage them to write. I imagine they are out there. If someone really wants to write they will do it.

John tells me about how his son wants to design the railroad of the future. John talks joyfully about this and taking him to C2E2. His son found the 3-D printer the most fascinating thing. He encourages his son to follow his bliss.

“Star Wars: Kenobi” is available for pre-order now and releases August 2013. If you’ve never read a Star Wars book, John’s are the place to start. His noble Jedi heart and deep knowledge of the Star Wars universe shine through in his writing. Check him out!

Click here to pre-order from Amazon.com

                                  

Best Wishes,

Katie Cord

Blondies, Books, and Beth Cato

"Just because you're doing something you love doesn't mean that it's easy. It's full of pain and rejection, but also moments of outright joy".  -Beth Cato












When you meet Beth Davis Cato, she appears quiet and humble. You wouldn't know that behind wire rimmed glasses and really funny t-shirts lies the heart and soul of an up and coming science fiction and fantasy writer as well as amazing baker. She will never tell you that she's been published in multiple magazines (online and off) or that when you read her stories you will be gutted while your heart warms simultaneously. It's all revealed when you read her work. I had the fortune of participating in a critique group with her at Cascade Writers in the summer of 2012. Her guidance on writing was well appreciated. I also enjoyed her story so much I've toyed with the idea of creating an anthology around it just so EGM could publish it. I remember telling her this, "As a woman, this is the perfect combination of science fiction and fantasy that I want to read. I hope to see more of it".


Here's our interview:

Beth, have you always been a geek girl or discovered sci-fi as an adult?

I had no choice but to be a geek girl. When I was a baby, my first spoken words were, "Mom," followed by "Daw Wahs" (Star Wars). Throughout my childhood I was obsessed with horses, but I was always surrounded by Star Wars, Star Trek, Back to the Future, and lots of other fantasy and science fiction. I met my husband because of our mutual love for the Final Fantasy video game series.


When did you start writing and why?

I wanted to grow up and be an author from the time I was about four. I wrote a lot as a teenager, but didn't have the nerve to submit my fiction anywhere. For about a decade, I stopped writing at all. Then when my son was a baby and my husband was deployed in the Navy, I realized I was miserable and unfulfilled. I wasn't being true to myself. I needed to read and write again. My son is now seven, and my writing career has kind of grown up along with him.


What are you working on currently?

I'm in the very early stages of researching for a new steampunk novel.


Where can readers find your work?

Here, there, and everywhere! A lot of my stories and poems can be found for free via the bibliography on my website, BethCato.com. I'm also in a number of anthologies available in most any bookstore, including numerous Chicken Soup for the Soul books.


Have you had any moments where you just wanted to hit delete and walk away from writing?

Absolutely. I can tell you about my absolute lowest moment. I have a novel that I adore beyond anything. Writers aren't supposed to have a project become their baby, but this was my baby. I rewrote it and edited and poured my everything into it for a year and a half, and yet I kept getting feedback that it was intrinsically flawed and just plain did not work. After some especially honest feedback, I spent days in a deep depression, wondering what to do, wondering if it was all worth it. Then I faced the question: if I'm not writing, what am I going to do? I tore apart my novel plot and stitched it back together, rewrote it almost from scratch, and seven months later I had two agents offer representation for it.

Can you tell us a little about your baking and maybe share a recipe?

Ah, my baking. That's my creative outlet away from the computer. I'm of a personality type that loves to feed people. Unfortunately, my family is small and relatives are far away, but this is a boon for my husband's co-workers, as I send them bundt cakes and cookies and fudges galore.



And I love sharing recipes! It's the next best thing to feeding people the actual food. This is a recipe for Irish Coffee Blondies, modified from a recipe in Martha Stewart Living:

Irish Coffee Blondies

Ingredients

For the Blondies:
2 sticks unsalted butter, plus more for pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups packed light-brown sugar
3 tablespoons freshly ground coffee
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sliced almonds, skin on

For the Glaze:
1 tablespoon melted butter, warm
1 teaspoon almond extract (or vanilla)
1 teaspoon + water
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted

Directions

The blondies:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan, and line with parchment so that it overhangs on all sides. Butter parchment. In a big bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.

Melt butter, and pour into a mixing bowl with brown sugar, ground coffee, and salt. Stir to combine.

Add eggs and vanilla extract. Stir in flour mixture until just combined. Pour batter into pan and even it out. Sprinkle with almonds.

Bake 27 to 30 minutes, depending on how chewy you like your blondies; they'll be harder and less chewy the longer they bake. Let cool completely.

The glaze:
Whisk together butter and extract. Gradually whisk in confectioners' sugar. Add teaspoons of water, as needed, until the glaze is thick but pourable. Using a pastry bag fitted with a plain round tip or a sandwich bag with a corner snipped off, drizzle glaze over blondies in a rough crosshatch pattern. Let glaze dry 1 hour. Cut blondies into 2-inch squares.

If you're stacking these for storage, I suggest using wax paper between the layers, especially if you live someplace warm.

Is there any advice you have for those trying to live a creative life?

Just because you're doing something you love doesn't mean that it's easy. It's full of pain and rejection, but also moments of outright joy. Drag yourself through those sucky weeks and months of rewrites and rejections, because an acceptance will come, in time--just never the time you want!

Check Beth's work out at www.bethcato.com or follow her on twitter: @BethCato

Best Wishes Always,

Katie
An Evil Girlfriend with a Pen