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Roz Morris Interview 11/18/2012 7:36:28 AM
Roz Morris discusses her life as an editor, ghostwriter and a novelist! In the three years I’ve been hosting this blog, I’ve featured many fantasy, young adult paranormal romance, historical fiction, science fiction, horror, and mystery writers to name just a few, but never before have I featured an author that makes her living working as a ghostwriter! For today’s author feature, I’d like to introduce you to the lovely and talented Roz Morris.
I’d like to begin by having you share a little information about yourself with our readers, Roz. What do you enjoy doing when you are not writing?
RM: Watching films, going to dance classes in Covent Garden, and horse-riding. I was a pony-mad child who never grew up. Many years ago I bought a horse who is far too big for me and we had fights most of the time. Eighteen years later, we’re still bounding across the countryside and are magnificent friends. I also like cooking quirky recipes, at the moment savoury dishes seasoned with very dark chocolate, which scares my husband. I hate to do the same recipe twice because I relish the adventure of discovery. When friends come round they understand they will be experimented on.
You have critiqued, edited, functioned as a book doctor and even worked as a ghostwriter for some of the major publishers. When did you decide you wanted to write your own novel and publish a story under your name?
RM: Writing my own work was actually the first thing I decided to do! It wasn’t a grand plan to get published, more a way of satisfying my yen to make things and play with words. This took me into book and magazine publishing. I married an author and my scribbling habit really took off. Ghosting came along and made me feel like a ‘proper’ writer, and I hoped I’d soon be published in my own name with a story told my way.
I was thrilled when I got an agent for My Memories of a Future Life, but then came a round of rejections because the book was too unusual. By last year I’d despaired of ever finding a readership for it - then a number of highly-regarded novelists self-published so I decided I would too. Finding readers who click with it has been a real joy.
Is it an odd thing when you see some of these novels you’ve ghostwritten get great reviews but the ‘author’ you wrote on behalf of gets all the praise?
RM: Very odd. Once I was in a room where an ‘author’ was giving a presentation about a book I’d ghosted. He was telling stories about the events that inspired it. I stood at the back, the ghost at the banquet. Some of my books were teen novels and I stumbled across a forum where readers were discussing how much they love the characters and stories. I’d had no idea people did that. For a while it didn’t matter that someone else’s byline was on them - the bigger reward was these kids saying they treasured my work and had reread the books, sometimes many times.
Do you read reviews of your novel? With so much experience in this business do you have any advice for authors on the best way to handle a negative review?
RM: I read reviews obsessively. And with trepidation, hoping the reviewer liked it! I pay special attention when a reviewer says what worked for them and why (and what didn’t) -
I look at negative reviews carefully to see if there’s something I should learn or whether the reader simply didn’t click with the material.
How to handle negative reviews? First, see if there is a valid point. Indies are vulnerable at the moment because we are learning our standards as we go. We’re also easy targets for malicious and non-genuine reviews because we have fewer ways to let people know about a book.
Should you contact a disappointed reviewer? Yes if the criticism is about an easily fixable problem such as formatting - in that case I’d email acknowledging the problem, apologising and offering a free replacement. If the negative review is a matter of taste, let it lie. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. If most readers are responding positively, let the weight of good feedback speak for itself.
If you have predominantly negative reviews you need to take action. Are you sure the book was ready for publication? Did you have feedback from people with the judgement and cojones to stop you publishing too soon? Also, was the book good but misrepresented? Many readers leave bad reviews because they’ve been misled by the cover or sales blurb - which you should definitely fix.
If a review takes issue with factual matters and you know you are right, I’d reply and demonstrate why. I did this when a review of my writing book Nail Your Novel http://www.amazon.com/Nail-Your-Novel-Writers-Confidence/dp/146108136X/ref=pd_ecc_rvi_cart_2 criticised my spelling and language use. Being an editor I was somewhat surprised, and left a comment asking for examples. The reviewer wasn’t au fait with UK English, although he claimed to be - until I refuted his various complaints by quoting the Oxford English Dictionary. To his credit, the reviewer withdrew the post.
If a review is obviously malicious, that’s tricky. You might be able to get it removed if you can show it contravenes the site’s guidelines. I know of people who’ve had Amazon reviews removed, but you have to be persistent. Also, it seems to work better if you complain about one review at a time, not a whole slew of them. Follow the trail back and see what else they’ve reviewed - sometimes you find they’ve dissed a lot of books in your category while trying to elevate a few that are probably by their friends.
But another point I’d make is never to put a book out until it really is ready. I see a lot of writers remarking how easy it is to change a book once it’s published, but that contingency should only be for the odd typo, not for finishing and editing. The thing you can’t edit or revise is your reputation.
Excellent advice, Roz! Of all the genres you’ve worked in as a ghostwriter or editor, which is your favourite and why?
RM: I liked writing the SAS thrillers. After a few drinks, trained assassins tell unforgettable tales. Many of them are unprintable.
Let’s discuss your novel My Memories of a Future Life. Your book has been receiving fabulous reviews. What was the inspiration behind this story and can you tell us a little bit about your protagonist, Carol?
RM: Carol is a classical musician who is struck down by a mysterious injury that stops her playing. But music is not just her profession, it’s how she comes alive. In desperation she seeks help from a hypnotist who takes people to past lives to see if they suffered a trauma that is rebounding on them now. But Carol doesn’t believe in reincarnation so she asks to be taken forwards a few years, to reassure her that she eventually will be cured and able to play the piano again. But she is so broken that she cannot see her own life continuing at all - instead her subconscious takes her way forwards into a whole new incarnation.
I was inspired by stories about regression to past lives. I thought, what if I turned this upside down? Who would go to the future, so that her life, in effect, was somebody’s past? What would she find if someone might be imprisoned by her psychic scars? I’d also had RSI myself, which was quite a handicap for a while, so I thought, whom would that be worst for?
Without giving away too much, can you reveal what’s in store for the readers when they crack open My Memories of a Future Life?
RM: Everyone finds something different. For some it’s a tense romance that flirts with dark forces. Some see it as a strange tale like Lost. Some enjoy the language the most or the poignant humour - and the future city, which is in an underwater dome. Some look at the deeper questions it raises - how we live through music or other arts, the price of discipline, the search for meaning, the quest for love, how we create superstition, how we heal and scare each other, how we deal with bereavement or great trauma, even the nature of fiction and reality! I never saw all that while I was writing, it’s come back to me from readers’ responses. Perhaps you don’t really understand what’s in a book while you’re writing it; you’re just the conduit. It’s readers who tell you.
The road to publication is difficult at the best of times, but you’ve managed to find representation from two literary agents. Was it difficult for you to pull this off? Do you have any advice you’d like to share with the author struggling to find representation?
RM: Finding my first agent took longest because My Memories of a Future Life was so hard to categorise. I had a lot of agent interest because of the ghosting, but when they saw my own work they were wary because it would be hard to sell.
I got the second agent because my own one didn’t connect with my second novel, Life Form 3. She gave her blessing for me to find a different agent for it, which I did. I made sure the contracts with each agent stated expressly that they only get a percentage of books they personally represent and have made deals for! That’s important - more authors are likely to use a mixture of self-publishing and traditional publishing, so you need to check that an agent contract doesn’t take a cut of money they didn’t help you to earn.
When querying, find agents’ websites and read any notes on what they are looking for. Obey the prohibitions, but be sceptical about what they say they are looking for. Many agents say they want something unique and quirky, but a lot of writers take originality to far greater extremes than the market can stand. If you can, find out what books an agent has represented recently by debut authors - this is a far better measure of where your work will fit.
All this means that the chances of rejection are high because quite often you’re pitching in the dark - so keep going. Don’t put your life on hold waiting for a reply - build your platform and write more books.
Also, pitch to several agents at once - this used to be frowned on, but if you do them one at a time you’ll be looking forever.
That may sound like bad news for original trailblazing authors, but things are changing. Some agents are cultivating talented genre-busting writers and helping them to self-publish if they can’t get a conventional deal, so if you’re getting rave rejections seek out some of those.
As with self-publishing, check your work is ready to query. Do you need to hone your skills more? Could your book be stronger? An editor could help you here, but that will cost. But if you make some friends on line you might find informal query competitions or writing groups to give you trustworthy feedback.
Was there a certain benefit to self-publishing your novel rather than waiting for one of your agents to sell the story to a traditional publishing house? Is this a mode of publication you’d recommend to others?
RM: I had no choice, really! My agent had tried to sell Future Life but no publisher would take a risk on it because I was unknown. Several suggested I take it apart and make it into a conventional thriller or a clone of The Time Traveller’s Wife. But I’d written plenty of books to please other people and I decided I only had one chance to establish who I really was, so I stuck to my vision.
I’d definitely recommend self-publishing, with two conditions.
1 - get help to produce a professional finish. In publishing houses, books don’t just go straight from the author’s text file to the printed page, there are a lot of checking and honing processes. An ebook won’t need as much production as a print book, but there are still some basics such as copy editing, proofing and cover design.
2 - have a plan for reaching an audience. I didn’t actually give much thought to this, I hoped some of my blog readers and fans of Nail Your Novel might be curious about it. Fortunately they were, but it’s not exactly a strategy because writing-blog readers don’t always translate into fiction readers! I should have given more thought to marketing, but it’s something I can make up for later.
What is the most important lesson you’ve learned on the road to publication?
RM: Don’t be in a hurry - and learn when criticism is telling you something you need to hear! When I was getting feedback on Future Life, I disregarded anything that tried to change its essential nature, but I took a lot of notice of points about characters, pacing and the reader’s experience.
The readers would like to know if you tend to plot out your story in great detail or if your writing is more organic with the characters and events unfolding as you write.
RM: Both. If I write with no map, I get lost in imaginative doodling. So I do a lot of development and outline in detail, then while I’m writing I let the characters modify and challenge my assumptions. Once they take life, I have a lot of mental arguments with them while I work out what’s best for us all!
Some authors meditate, others need to fuel up on coffee or listen to music. Do you have any rituals, ones that can be shared with the readers, that you must do before you hunker down for a writing session?
At one time or another, most writers hit the wall and their work stalls because of the dreaded writer’s block. What do you do to get around or over this mental wall so you can resume writing?
RM: I’ve learned that a block means there is a problem I haven’t solved. And that this is part of the creative process. So I take a piece of paper and start writing down what the problem might be and several things I can do about it.
Who is your favourite author and how has he/she inspired you to write or influenced your writing style or choice of genre?
RM: Am I only allowed one? I have new favourites all the time. I suppose the writer I most admire at the moment is Ray Bradbury, for exquisite and effortless language, startling ideas and profound curiosity about humanity.
What do you foresee in your future over the next five years? Can your fans expect a sequel to My Memories of a Future Life in the near future?
RM: Oh what fun. His Memories of a Past Life? I’ve had requests for a Gene novel as he’s rather an intriguing beast. It’s not the kind of novel that would have a direct sequel but thinking about it is amusing. Besides, I have too many ideas for other novels that are currently fighting in my head.
Next to hit the market will be Life Form 3, a fable in the tradition of Ray Bradbury. It’s currently seeking its fortune the conventional way, and I’m being told it’s lovely but too weird because no one knows who I am. Story of my publishing life, I guess.
Thank you so much for taking time from your busy schedule to discuss your novel and the writing life, Roz!
RM: My absolute pleasure, Lorna - thanks for inviting me here today!
