The Divining Wand

Once again, from The Divining Wand’s Q&A page, a reader asks:

Larramie, in yesterday’s interview with Shana Mahaffey (Sounds Like Crazy), I was very intrigued by this line:

What, pray tell, is an ‘Edwardian (cooperative) compound’ ???

Below, in a lovely post, is Shana’s explanation.

“Shana lives in San Francisco, California, in part of an Edwardian compound that she shares with an informal cooperative of family, friends, and five cats.” You bet this sentence gets the gamut of responses ranging from “what is it?” to mutters of “San Francisco” accompanied by knowing nods of the head from the informed.

The Pierce Street Edwardian compound is a “modern day Tales of the City,” the main differences being we’re located on a real street, and we have Mr. McGrath (he’s not transgendered) instead of Mrs. Madrigal. The inhabitants are aging hippies, dot-com dropouts, a couple of musicians, and a school teacher. Overseeing the whole operation is, of course, the five cats.

The compound itself consists of one large Edwardian style building with four apartments in the front and a smaller Edwardian style building with two apartments in the back. It was built around 1900 when this style of home was popular in San Francisco. The Edwardian style home generally has simpler trim than the Victorian homes typically associated with the city. Another fun fact about the Edwardian is the distinguishing feature of this style is the egg-and-dart cornice work; and these homes were constructed of wood, stucco, brick or a combination, while the Victorians built previously were all made of redwood. The two Edwardian style dwellings that make up the Pierce Street Compound are separated by an eclectic garden with a fir tree, a variety of bushes, catnip every five feet, and easily over 100 pots of plants, which are rotated by the season. In spring and summer our garden is a cacophony of color, and fall winter we have mostly green.

My second cousin, Mr. McGrath, who owns the Pierce Street Compound is a card carrying Republican complete with an NRA sticker on his car. Yet, he forged our community (in every sense of the word) by deciding to charge only what is needed to cover the bills—an act that is unheard of in modern rental markets. The result is a group of people who live in the middle of San Francisco with unlocked doors (granted our compound is protected by two very secure gates), who are a community of neighbors, friends, and family related by blood and/or time. And while do we have our own homes where we can close our doors, we’ve taken the time to keep them open enough that we know each other, we take care of each other, we basically coexist quite happily.

Another offshoot of living in a community like this is our militant social consciousness. Admittedly, this could also be considered a by-product of living in San Francisco, nevertheless, we are obsessed with green living. We religiously recycle and compost. We also share cars, ride bikes, and take public transportation as often as possible. In our homes and basement you’ll only find eco friendly products. And, even we know that we take our sharing and sense of fellowship to an extreme when it comes to parking (a perpetual problem in San Francisco). We have a three car garage that is held open for late night arrivals and guests. Keys remain in parked cars and spares are kept in the garage so that anyone vacating a parking spot can move the one in the garage if necessary to ensure availability just in case. You can often hear one of us say, “Should we move the car, or am I obsessing about parking again?” But, guests at our frequent garden parties know if they come early, they’ll get parking; and they’re also accustomed to checking if their discards are recyclable or compostable before haplessly tossing stuff in the garbage bin.

The most unique aspect of the Pierce Street Compound is our infamous Delmar Dinners, held every other month, in honor of the Pierce Street Diplocat whose ashes are scattered throughout our garden. Aside from the camaraderie, green living, frequent parties, and convivial coexistence, the glue that holds the entire compound together is our unwavering reverence for Cats (yes I mean to capitalize). You may laugh, but cats have been associated with humans for at least 9,500 years, and are currently the most popular pet in the world. And at the Pierce Street Compound, we don’t just coexist peacefully with the most popular pet in the world, we understand our role and take seriously our duty to act as staff to the five felines currently occupying the compound. Ancient Egypt has nothing on us.

Now that you’re among the informed, whether you say, “cool!” or shake your head while whispering “San Francisco,” you are always welcome at the Pierce Street Compound. Just remember if you do drop by, you might get parking, you’ll have to recycle and compost, and most important, if you see one of the cats, you must be ready to serve.

[Please remember that Shana's debut novel, Sounds Like Crazy, is scheduled to be presented here on Monday.]

The Divining Wand’s Q&A page has been active again with another “writing” question. However please remember that all questions, including those about authors and their books, are welcome too.

I am in the middle of a novel in progress, which I put away for 12 months, and which I have dusted off and begun work on. My goal is to finish it by the end of this year (Dec. 2010).

My question: Would it be useful to hire a professional editor to provide editorial advice on my novel once it’s finished and before I begin to query agents?

This Fairy Godmother chose author, teacher, and former student of Anne Lamott (Bird by Bird), Jessica Barksdale Inclan (Being With Him, Intimate Beings, The Beautiful Being), to respond:

“There are few professions in life where we can do the work at home and spring it on the public and have it universally accepted. In my writing career, I’ve never sent a manuscript to an agent or editor without careful reads by my trusted readers, all of whom in my case are writers. Each manuscript goes through careful scrutiny, and then I spend a great deal of time making the thing right before sending it on to agent or editor. And in that way, I end up getting a lot done up front. With my first novel, Her Daughter’s Eyes, my editor commented on how very little there was to do (it was never that easy again).

“So yes. Finish your draft. Make it as best you can. And then hire someone who writes in your field to read it. You should expect to get back notes and textual comments. You should also ask for a follow up after you finish reading through both.

“The truth also is that might not be enough. But it usually is, and you will have the confidence that your work is going out in its party dress, ready for the party.”

But serendipity was in play as our messages crossed paths and Jessica’s OTHER email arrived in my Inbox announcing that;

“Due to unforeseen and universal tiltings, I’ve found myself with some time this quarter to work with folks privately. This could either be a quick hourly consult or a full manuscript read. As I’ve written around in genres, I’m able to work with contemporary, literary, and/or genre fiction–romance and young adult.

“I’ve had a crash course in the past few months on “How to Get an Agent,” and I did just do that, signing with a new agent only two weeks ago. In that time, I have sharpened my query writing skills and have learned a great deal about the process anew–synopsis writing, chapter outlines, and first 50 page edits. Personally, I’m hoping to never have to use these skills again, but I could help guide you through the morass.

“If you are interested in working on a full manuscript or something much smaller or know someone who is, please email me or forward this on and I’d be happy to talk further. Thank you.”

This is an open invitation to all those who might be seeking assistance. If interested, please contact: jbarkinclan@gmail.com

Announcement: The winner of Randy Susan Meyers’ The Murderer’s Daughters is Erika. Congratulations to you! Now please email: diviningwand (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address and the book will be sent out promptly. Thank you to all who commented.

Were you aware that The Divining Wand has a Q&A page where you can ask questions and/or make comments about any author you wish? Interestingly enough exactly six months after the site’s launch, the first question was posted:

I have the beginnings of a fabulous nonfiction book but I don’t have the time to finish writing it because I need to work- what I really need is to stop working and finish writing it. I am an educator of 12 years and am confused as to what to do. Do I risk my job and take time off?? What do you recommend?? I received some pretty good feedback from a “so called” publisher but there was no offer of money involved and it didn’t really go anywhere. Do you have any recommendations?

Of course this Fairy Godmother does not have the knowledge to recommend anything, but I certainly have authors/friends who do and put this question to the following:

Allison Winn Scotch (The Department of Lost and Found, Time of My Life and The One That I Want coming June 1, 2010).

Allison is also well-known for her popular 4-year old blog, Ask Allison, and responded:

“My advice would be that for a non-fiction book, she doesn’t need to finish it anyway. To sell a non-fiction book, you need only a proposal, an outline and the first few chapters – it sounds like she’s written many of those already. That said, I wouldn’t quit her job. The market is too risky, and it simply is too big of a gamble. Even if it sells, she might sell it for peanuts, as is often the case. She just needs to keep chipping away at it at night and get the proposal into really strong shape, and then take it out to agents.”

THE Founder of The Debutante Ball and legendary “giver of assistance to countless writers” Kristy Kiernan (Catching Genius, Matters of Faith and Between Friends coming April 6, 2010) said:

“No, don’t take time off from your job to write a non-fiction book. First: Finding the time to write is a choice. I wrote my first novel working full-time, and my second working part-time. It was slow going, yes, but I fit writing in around the many responsibilities in my life, and I personally know many authors who have much busier lives than I and work full-time. Second: Non-fiction requires a proposal, not a finished manuscript. Get online and learn how to put together a non-fiction book proposal<----surround that phrase with quotes and put it in Google. Third: Once you've learned everything you can about how to put a proposal together, research literary agents who handle your type of book. Again, Google is your friend. The "'so called'' publisher"' comment in your question concerns me, because it indicates that you haven't spent much time doing research on how to find a legitimate agent. The information is out there, it's easy to find, it's easy to sift through. Go get 'em, and good luck!”

And Eileen Cook (Unpredictable, What Would Emma Do? YA and Getting Revenge on Lauren Wood YA), who transitioned easily from author to her counseling background, offered:

“I have a few pieces of advice:

“I never suggest anyone leave their “day job” for writing. Once you finish the book it will take at least a year, maybe longer, for it to hit shelves (assuming that you are lucky enough to sell.) Writing is not a good get rich (or even making money) scheme. Even as a full time writer people struggle to fit the “job” demands of being a writer (the marketing, interviews etc) in with the creative aspects. Holding down a day job while you write is good practice for when you may be doing both aspects. Look to carve out time either at the beginning or the end of the day to write.

“If you really feel you need some uninterrupted time off to write, consider using your vacation time as a working holiday. Take two weeks and have firm goals about what you want to accomplish. As an educator you may be able to use your summer breaks. Your employer may also have an option for you to take an unpaid leave of absence. I would encourage you to look to find a way to hold onto your job unless you have another stable source of income. The truth is most writers either hold down other jobs or have other means of financial support.

“Non fiction is different than fiction, in that you may not have to finish the whole book before selling. There are lots of great books on preparing a non-fiction proposal which will include an outline, sample chapters and a proposal on how your book will fit into the market. The proposal should take you less time than writing the full book. Armed with your proposal you can approach agents etc. If you’re lucky you may sell on proposal and be provided an advance which will cover some costs while you write.

“Hope that helps!”

My hope is that all three answers will help and thank you for asking.

Announcement: The winner of Melanie Benjamin’s Alice I Have Been is Marrgay. Congratulations to you! Now please email: diviningwand (at) gmail (dot) com with your mailing address and the book will be sent out promptly. Thank you to all who commented and do read Alice’s story…you’ll enjoy.