Tagged with The Director of Happiness …

Oct 15 2012
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Book Reviews, Status of the Novel

Martin Seligman, Happiness, To-get-her

I really dig this happiness stuff. I mean, I’m not like all rainbows and cupcakes. I just think the actual study of what makes people happy is important stuff. Sure, it’s going to be easy to satirize because of how many people aren’t even on the map toward realizing happiness. Of course, that’s at least half the point. We could use more of this kind of information. Anyway, a couple of main characters struggle with it in The Director of Happiness, my recent, officially complete now, novel.

I would like to think The Director of Happiness, while it satirizes “happiness” and what people find truly important, also breaks some ground on the subject. There certainly are plenty enough examples in nonfiction on the subject of happiness and positive psychology. And that’s really what got me to thinking about Martin Seligman. Speaking of groundbreakers, Seligman’s penetrating definition and analysis of happiness has long since set the standard. The way he balances empirical research with his analysis and conclusions. Perhaps David Brooks’ The Social Animal is the next step removed from what Seligman is doing. I would say Authentic Happiness has the trappings of seeking bestseller attention, but it’s more about establishing a kind of standard, an authority speaking on the scientific study of happiness, not to mention Seligman continues to write and publish other books, like Flourish, which does seem to have even broader market appeal.

Of course it’s not exactly scientific, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be studied. The same is true of most disciplines when it comes down to it. Anyway, I digress.

Sometimes over the past 18 months or so, since I’ve made the move toward “writing a breakout novel” and running C&R Press, people have asked my wife (who’s title at the Lamp Post Group is Director of Happiness),  “Do you think Chad is really happy?” Maybe they’ve misunderstood that happiness is earned. It doesn’t always come easy. Or maybe they’ve misunderstood how Shelley and I are figuring out our calling TOGETHER. I recall my 4th grade teacher, Ms. Barrett (“That’s Barrett with two ‘t’”s!” the cranky old hag said on the first day). What that woman’s cynicism pulled out of me that year is compelling stuff. The point is, in this vulnerable moment of my education, Ms. Barrett taught me to spell an important word, “together.”

“If a boy and a girl want to be together. HE has to-get-her.” I never forgot how to spell the word after that.

Well, does J.J. Fleming “get” Heather Ownby, the Director of Happiness? You’ll have to find out when the novel finally gets to print. In the meantime, it’s pretty clear that happiness itself is hard work. It’s a popular trend, sure, just as my protagonist is a trend hunter. But it’s one of those trends that directs us toward the future (rather than a fad, which will quickly become the past), and Seligman is one of those industry experts that provides the research to back it up.

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Apr 17 2012
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Status of the Novel

In Search of the Lost Wackys

It all happened innocently enough. The year, 2008. The day, Saturday. The family had nothing to do. With time on our hands, and nothing to eat in our fridge, we decided to make a mid-morning foray to Aretha Frankensteins, known for their killer breakfast burritos and sloth-paced service. It was busy and already hot outside and flies were making camp at the tables so, as fate would have it, we ended up inside next to the Pac-Man arcade machine.

Then I saw it, the framed images that would soon change the direction of my life’s creative journey: a collage of old-school Wacky Packages. How could I have forgotten? The cards were more than a fad to me between the ages of 8 and 10. They were sources of endless fascination and a weird, pre-adolescent rebellion. I never had enough money to collect all the cards I wanted. Opening each pack, laden with sugar-powdered gum, was pure excitement and anticipation. I have no idea what became of my collection of nearly 200.

“How much?” I asked the Frankenstein’s manager. They were not for sale.

But wait! I could find them online.

Sure enough, not only could I find the old ones I’d so confabulated, but there was a whole history of Wackys, and a series of new releases. The following months held a quiet joy to me as I opened box upon box of new and old Wackys–all under the guise that this was really in support of Eliah’s (he was six) new fascination. A kind of father-son bonding thing.

All those 25+ years later something had happened. The fascination remained obscured by my adult-ness. Now, they felt much more like a collector’s item and less like…I couldn’t put my finger on what exactly. I tried everything. Well, not everything. I didn’t go to the length of Greg Grant (featured in this YouTube video), but I did what I reasonably could. “We” got Old School Series and New School Series (which definitely aren’t the same as the artwork by Norm Saunders!); we collected entire sets and arranged them in order; completed the puzzles on the back sides of the cards; even made our own framed collage. Nothing helped. My childhood exhilaration was lost to me. Forever.

And yet…

A couple of years later, a concept emerged for a novel. I was conceiving an American zeitgeist novel. Something that takes place in a very limited amount of self-important time, in which the narrator is surrounded by the pop cultural images that constitute his identity and basically his entire “reality.” He doesn’t resist. In fact, he has become so much a part of his marketing and capitalistic culture, he revels in his senses’ bombardment. His years-long marital struggle and fruitless attempts to procreate are the center of his soul’s struggle and create the narrative tension as he skitters across town. The original images centered on Wacky Packages. Some of the themes focus on the hollow struggle to bring back the past. The novel became The Director of Happiness.

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Mar 23 2012
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Hanging Chad: The Life, Status of the Novel

Delayed Happiness

Hanging Chad had a radio interview on Chattanooga’s local NPR station (88.1) yesterday. Mike Miller and I sat down for over 30 minutes, and he’s edited two segments to air on Around and About. This is a clip of the first one, which is about taking some leaps of faith in my personal and professional life. Miller’s editing focuses a lot of my relationship with Shelley, and a little on the development of my debut novel. It’s all good though. The book is dedicated to my “Director of Happiness,” and it’s not coming out in published form for quite some time yet. Plenty of time to discuss it at greater length down the road.

Hanging Chad posts have slowed a bit this week while I’ve been trying on my new jet pack. Also, I’m in the grand finale stages of completing this final draft of The Director of Happiness. Plenty of other things going on, which I’m sure my readers know all about in their own lives. I won’t bore you with the details. Thanks for checking in, and stay tuned for new and exciting posts featuring high speed rail, the BAM movement in jazz, how studies show the rich behave differently (and what you can do about it), starting with the “why,” and much much more.

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Mar 14 2012
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Community, Publishing and Writing Forum, Status of the Novel

Re-directing “The Director of Happiness”

You know, there really is a lot to get excited about with the whole power of social media and networking thing. No doubt about it. But for as much as so many of us want to be pioneers, in a lot of ways you can really only go so far as the industry is ready. As my friend Terry Hawkins says, “If you’re the only guy in town with a telephone, there’s no one to talk to.”

The idea of trying to be so ahead of the curve that you literally have “no one to talk to” relates to the concept that Dan Cafaro and I explored with the release of my debut novel, The Director of Happiness. On first blush, it seemed pioneering, entrepreneurial, and that it might even generate extra buzz. The strategy, as detailed in a previous post would justify the publisher’s expense to cast it into print form and distribution, but also have a built-in audience (those who had already invested in it as readers and donors). Then there were these little problems to consider, like: (a) Do people want to read the vast majority of a novel on their computer (which is where it would seem most would); (b) Can you spin the novel through the book review circuit once it’s been released (or mostly released) online?; (c) Is it worth the risk for one’s literary debut? In other words, would it not be seen as a second-class citizen, having to develop funds on its own to justify publisher expense? Or, on the other hand, would it seem like we were giving it specialized attention over the other Atticus authors, especially if the book were a success?; (d) And if the project failed, beside the public humiliation, what then exactly, especially after so much of the novel had been previously released?

Those were mostly my concerns, anyway.

One unexpected creative direction came out of resolving another issue: How can we keep the original readers interested in purchasing a copy of the book in print form if they’ve already read it? The first solution was to keep them hooked, and not release another section until a certain goal had been made. Another was to at least keep the last two chapters from being released online (but that didn’t seem completely fair). Yet another was simply give the project more than a two-month deadline to fulfill its funding goals. But other than “cutting off” content, I had another idea. What about at certain levels of donor funding, the author agrees to write other perspectives? The Director of Happiness was a monologue in the voice of the “Cool Hunter,” J.J. Fleming, about 48,000 words plus another 10,000 worth of footnoted material. He addresses his thoughts to his “Director of Happiness,” and the focus of his thoughts are on his wife E. What if I gave voice to one or both of them? How would that change the novel?

In the synergy of brainstorming, Dan got really excited about what the Director Happiness might have to say, and we both agreed it would make the title of the novel even more compelling. Not only that, but she had a lot to say. I had no idea how formed the character already was in my mind, and how much must have been unconsciously brewing. We’ve both decided to hold off production until we see how her perspective works in contrast and relationship with J.J. Fleming’s and go from there.

In some ways it’s back to the drawing board inasmuch as I’m writing a whole new perspective for a novel that I had polished and copy-edited to near “perfection.” Now that I’m over 2/3 done with her POV, though, I couldn’t be happier. It adds a compelling layer of complication and sophistication to the story, and ironically enough, came as a result of trying to be a part of innovative strategies for getting a book you believe in “out there.”

Ahead of my time? Maybe not. But I’m thrilled with where my first novel is headed both literally and figuratively.

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Feb 01 2012
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Publishing and Writing Forum, Status of the Novel

How Do You Prepare for a Serial-Release Novel Launch in a Month?

The Gauntlet Thrown: Atticus Books has agreed to release my first novel, The Director of Happiness, in installments of two chapters a week for eight weeks, beginning this March. It works because the novel is written in 16 short chapters, and even with the footnotes comes out at 58,000 words. Pretty short.

How it Works: Well, that’s part of the process. Neither of us know exactly. This is virgin territory. One approach is that readers Sponsor (or Adopt) an Author by contributing to the novel and for it to reach goals along a thermometer line.

Complete the Dramatic Triangle. The first level along the thermometer triggers the author (me) to write the next perspective of the three major characters that form the dramatic triangle, creating suspense for readers as it further develops and complicates the novel. Now the Director of Happiness herself speaks from her own voice. Another level mark releases the third and final section of the triangle’s completion, the voice of the character “E.,” (the main character, J.J. Fleming’s, wife). Another mark can be sending the book into ebook status, and at the final mark the novel is sent into full print production, distribution and promotion following its online release and subsequent success. But the two other perspectives are only released in the print version! Oh, and the real incentive? The last two chapters are held back until it’s fully paid for. If it never is, then I’ve published a portion of what is now only one part of three parts of a novel. I have nothing to fear, and we’ve basically generated some buzz, learned from the experience, and published a portion of the novel.

How Did I Get Here?  In late August I had begun a second novel, and for the first couple of months it easily took the majority of whatever “professional development” time I had. A common enough writer-life problem. Perhaps even more importantly, I spent a lot of time carefully targeting publishers and agents who I would be proud to work with, and less on blitzing in at all costs. I knew I had a “product” I believed in, and it would be worth the wait to find the right place. I’d also been doing a lot of work for C&R Press, and we’d been working on these ideas–all of which sounded potentially great–but how to put them altogether? It was sort of like cold fusion.

Crazy Crazy? or Crazy like a Fox Crazy?  It seems for all the legitimate excitement and buzz in today’s publishing industry about e-everything, that writers of (it’s almost a bad word) literary fiction, cannot (and I will say for now should not) go the self-publishing route. Why not? Well, that’s a subject for another post. The fact does remain, for “hot topic” nonfiction, and often for genre fiction, self-publishing is a viable, even preferable, way to go, especially if you’re authentically driven to get behind your product. Just check out the persuasiveness from James Altucher’s recent blog post Why Every Entrepreneur Should Self-Publish a Book. He backs up his claims from experience with three major publishers. Or from a different perspective focusing strictly on the book publishing industry for writers, publishers and booksellers, consider Book Biz from Tim Byrd’s Under an Outlaw Moon blog.

Something Different about Atticus: While the idea was my own, a way “to get in the door” during a fairly dormant reading period across a great deal of the publishing world, and while the novel has not been officially “taken” by Atticus to print (which is a part of the suggested arrangement), I had no idea how excited I would be. I want to give a shout out to Atticus–specifically Dan Cafaro and Libby O’Neill. If not for the innovative spirit and engaging challenge from Dan to hit them up with ideas even while they were not accepting new manuscripts, I probably wouldn’t have even sent my brainstorm off. Perhaps it has something to do with Cafaro’s background. When he founded Atticus:

…Dan’s book publishing experience primarily had consisted of carving out a niche career in the professional association world, specifically in human resources, aerospace sciences, and performance management. His knowledge of the literary presses, mostly as a bookseller, reader, and collector, gave him a distinct, well-rounded edge to attempt the implausible: create a viable book business whose purpose was to discover voices otherwise lost in a crowded, unforgiving marketplace.

Rewards and Risks: In partnership, Atticus Books and I may be on to something new here.

  • The possibilities for how to promote the work through all the avenues of social media are greatly improved. And as an author I have to literally put up or shut up about whether or not people respond. A challenge and an opportunity.
  • We can promote by doing things like having a contest/bid for the book trailer. A book trailer would be perfect for a project such as this–abstracts of characters and images and some content–all without revealing the end.
  • Certain obvious risks are in play too. How much material do you offer for free? How much do you “let happen” and how much do you set specific goals? How does one structure the opportunities for people to donate and, therefore, support the title coming into existence in print form? And is that really what the primary goal of such an enterprise should be?
  • How much does the publisher get for their energy, promotion and time in general, and how much does the author?
  • How do we measure success? a certain number of readers, a certain number of donations or funds? Or is it like so many entrepreneurial endeavors: simply another step in the long and challenging journey of marketing and branding?

With a release date a month away, we have a lot of work to do, but that very urgency, the very immediacy of generating buzz and maximizing the event of its first release, is the very part of this idea that just might work. If it doesn’t? It will. Okay, OR, we learn a lot and offer it as advice?

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