Buzz, Balls & Hype

Self Publishing Might Not Be Your Answer

A great article here about the differences in publishing models. 

THE DOCTOR IS IN

RED HOT (OKAY, WARM PINK) MAMA

Monday night was my voice class performance. On Sunday three of my classmates—the ones I went to Maine with—and I held a marathon rehearsal. We ran through our individual songs several times; Beth, Antonietta and I rehearsed “You Could Drive a Person Crazy” and Florrie and I practiced “Sisters.” After each run-through, the “audience” (whoever wasn’t singing) gave the others feedback.

Everyone agreed that my voice and delivery were stronger than they’d ever been in class. But Beth said, “You’re still holding something back.”

“When we had that party in Maine,” she said, “and everybody was singing, I kept hearing this beautiful, clear, confident voice, and I’d turn around to see who it was—and it was always you.”

“Yeah, but I was drinking,” I told her. “That wasn’t really me.”

“The music isn’t in the wine,” she said. “It’s in you. Wine just relaxes you enough to let it come out. So just skip the wine, and relax and sing.”

We talked about what my friend Bill had said, about giving myself permission to be a “bad girl,” a “red hot mama.” “She’s in there,” my friends assured me. “We’ve heard her.”

On Monday, I swam for an hour and a half, in an effort to wear out any tension my body might be holding. I did breathing and vocal exercises. Ben and I practiced “Desperado” over and over. I did yoga and more breathing exercises. By the time I arrived at the studio for warm-ups, I was so relaxed I felt like a piece of overcooked spaghetti.

As I stood for my first number (our number; Ben backed me up on guitar and vocally), “Desperado,” I looked around the room at the dear friend who had come to hear all of my performances; at the classmates and teacher I’ve worked and struggled with and supported for over a year now; and at my son, who is becoming such an amazing musician and, even better, a really great person. What I felt wasn’t “bad girlness” or “red hotness”—it was love, mixed with a heightened awareness of shared vulnerability. I wasn't nervous at all, but I was suddenly afraid I’d break down as I sang about alienation and the futility of isolation and defenses.

I didn’t cry, but I poured all of my feelings into the song, and the response was enthusiastic (which it would have been if I’d fallen flat on my face—this is an extraordinarily supportive group—but people told me afterwards how moved they were). The rest of the songs—mine and others’—went really well. And I kept having that feeling of love mixed with tremendous sadness.

A few of us went out after the performance, including our teacher, Martha. People again said how “strong” my voice sounded. I was pleased to hear it, and I didn’t disagree—this is what I’ve been working toward, and I’ve been aware of real progress—but I felt the descriptor left something out. I said this to Martha. “It’s not that I don’t feel strong,” I told her, “but there’s something deeper going on that’s not strength, that has nothing to do with strength—that sometimes feels like the opposite, like I want to cry all the time.”

“You’re opening up,” she said. “That’s evident in the way you hold yourself, in the way you use your voice and your body. You’re feeling more and expressing what you feel.”

We talked a little about how singers whose voices we think of as “strong” have traditionally struggled with tremendous vulnerability. I thought about how Aaron Frankel had described singing in public as “the most naked you’ll ever be.”

I don’t intend to go the way of those great singers who crashed and burned. Neither my gift nor my personality is big or dramatic enough for that. But I have an enhanced understanding now of how singing, writing, any art that uses your whole self, can make you feel skinless, affected by everything—how important it is to nurture this condition, and, at the same time, how critical it is to protect this “skinless” self from the onslaughts of the everyday world. As George Eliot says, "If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence."

Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D.,is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself,she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. She is the author of Getting Unstuck without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity(Seal, 2007). Her Career Coach column appears every Monday on Inside Higher Ed's Mama, Ph.D. blog, and she is a regular monthly panelist on Litopia After Dark. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.

THE DOCTOR IS IN

COCKEYED OPTIMISM

In the comments to last week’s post, “me” advised me to check out the Gotham Girls for inspiration in gutsiness. I haven’t done that yet (though the suggestion continues to intrigue me) but I was inspired this week nonetheless. I saw South Pacific.

A friend from childhood and I have birthdays very close together, and every year we plan an elaborate celebration—a day trip to a sculpture park or mountain resort; an extravagant dinner; once a visit to a museum several states away to see a photography exhibit we were both interested in. This year, we decided on a musical, and specifically on South Pacific because of both its spectacular reviews and its age; we like sharing nostalgia.

Generally, we enjoy these celebrations within a few weeks of at least one of our birthdays, but this year was complicated by illness, crazy work schedules, and family crises, and we kept postponing it. The play’s impending closing finally shocked us out of our inertia, and we attended only 5 months later than we’d originally planned.

The play is, of course, about seizing the moment; about throwing oneself into life and love, regardless of outmoded rules and prejudices. And the production was passionate. It had to be—the material is old-fashioned, “corny as Kansas in August,” and any modern restraint, any hint of cynicism or commenting, would have been the kiss of death. The actors and musicians performed with such unselfconscious gusto the audience was swept along, into an experience that was larger than life.

I’m glad we finally acted; I am so grateful not to have missed this. I’ve been singing under my breath since Tuesday. And I’ve been thinking about the largeness of it all, the lack of inhibition or holding back.

I have my voice performance class on Monday evening. My “boogie woogie sisters” and I will perform “You Could Drive a Person Crazy.” Another classmate and I will do “Sisters” from White Christmas. And perhaps most challenging in the gutsiness department, I will sing “Desperado,” backed up by my son on guitar. I’ve been working on channeling my “big voice”—one reason we chose the song—but I know I can do more, and I do feel inspired by the South Pacific experience.

And of course the performance class is only a rehearsal for our club date in September; the nursing home and senior center performances Bill and I are booked for, and a tentative mothers-and-sons Mother’s Day concert that Ben and I are becoming involved in.

And I’m realizing that if I’m going to do this, I’ve got to really do it. Full commitment, no holding back.

Gotham Girls, here I come!

Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D.,is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself,she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. She is the author of Getting Unstuck without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity(Seal, 2007). Her Career Coach column appears every Monday on Inside Higher Ed's Mama, Ph.D. blog, and she is a regular monthly panelist on Litopia After Dark. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.

 

Guest Blog: Roll Your Own Blog Tour

By Scott Nicholson 
www.hauntedcomputer.com

About three weeks ago, I was driving to the day job and reflecting on the blitzes I've done with a few other authors, where we would cross-promote each other and try to stimulate a sales rush on Amazon.

I was preparing another new book for independent digital release and the idea of several weeks of organizing just for a few hours of boosted sales seemed a little disheartening.

Then I realized I was still stuck in "old brain," a hangover from the days when I would drive three hours on my own gas card to sit at a bookstore for two hours hoping I would sell a stranger a book. Of which I would earn eight percent, assuming I helped the publisher sell enough of my books, assuming I earned out, and assuming the publisher actually mailed me my 48 cents (minus 15 percent agent commission) in 18 months. All under the cheerful panic of "Sell product or publisher dumps you."

Now I work for myself and I am not dumping me. And I don't have to drive to a bookstore, because I am virtually invisible on those shelves. My audience is now at my fingertips.

And that disheartening thought completely flipped around during my commute, and the crazier it got, the better I felt.  Still at the wheel, I got the idea for a "90 Days of Nightmares" blog tour, in which I would go around to various book blogs from September to November, promoting not just one book but all of them. Clearly, that is deadline pressure with an emphasis on the "dead."

But I decided not to be locked into an organized plan, because in the digital age not only can I respond to my audience directly and immediately, I can alter my books at any time and go anywhere. The entire dynamic is now fluid. I spent a year before the release of my first novel The Red Church planning my promotion for it. Now here I am, promoting four novels, three collections, and a novella at the same time, with four new titles actually releasing during the tour.

By the time I finished my drive to work, I resolved to make the blog tour big enough to fail spectacularly. Since my core audience owns a Kindle, I decided to give away a Kindle, which I was going to fund myself, since I figured I would earn enough additional sales to offset the cost. But I also wanted some partners, so I hooked up with Kindle Nation Daily, the most plugged-in connection with my new audience, and arranged an advertising package with a lot of extras spread over three months. Then I recruited Ted Risk at Dellaster Design to spruce up the book formatting in exchange for a sponsorship and a few well-placed plugs. (Hi Ted, who loves ya?)

Seriously, though, the most uphill part of the whole tour is to be taken seriously. Even though I have published six novels in New York, now I am essentially banished to the wastelands of "self-pubbing" or "vanity press" or "pusher of books nobody wants to publish." And the biggest obstacle has been getting responses from respected book bloggers, because I am determined to compete directly with New York, on their terms and in their playground. Book bloggers, having taken over the role of promotion from daily newspapers, now get weekly cases of juicy new books from publishers, and it's incredibly appealing, because I work at a newspaper where it is still cool to get free stuff. Why would they give up their free books?

With a digital file, bloggers appear to get no tangible goodie. But I will drive new visitors to the participating blogs, because that is how people can win the Kindle DX. It's a partnership. And the next generation of emerging book bloggers is e-friendly and owns devices themselves, and they require no convincing that giving away a Kindle is a benefit instead of a threat.

Full of myself because of my inventiveness, I approached Amazon in a very roundabout way, through an obscure media link on the site, and after a few rounds of communication got a commitment for both a Kindle DX and a Kindle 3--nearly $600 of value. I immediately changed the tour name to "Kindle Giveaway Blog Tour," because free Kindles are catchier than free nightmares. We're still working on a UK-exclusive giveaway, since England has been dragged kicking, screaming, and pudding-flinging into the digital age.

So, the DX winner will be randomly selected from the pool of people who comment on the various blog posts. The Kindle 3 will be given away to a random subscriber of the tour newsletter (scottsinnercircle-subscribe@yahoogroups.com).  Winners will be selected at the local public library to remove any question of propriety.

But since social media is critical to an impromptu digital campaign, I added a Pandora's Box of free e-books as a prize to a follower of "hauntedcomputer" on Twitter. People like M.J. Rose, Vicki Tyley, Debbie Mack, and Zoe Winters are already in, as well as the entire catalog of Ghostwriter Publications, where Neil Jackson has been providing my covers, which I believe are as professional as anything coming out of New York. I also have authors house-sitting with posts on my blog while I'm away.

Because I want to raise the respectability of indie publishing and back up my belief that I must be even more professional than New York, since I have no one else to blame, I am aiming for book blogs with at least 300 followers and largely avoiding author sites except for those of indie success stories like J.A. Konrath, Zoe Winters, and Debbie Mack. I have a few prominent blogs on board, plus some Kindle-centric blogs that were reviewing me back before I was cool.

So, with launch a few days away, most of the September schedule is full and starting to creep into October and November. I'm not worried about picking up the extra blogs, because I believe this will build momentum as it goes.

I have so much faith that I upped the stakes and will kick in an extra Kindle 3 if any of my books break the Top 100 in either the U.S. or U.K. Kindle stores during the tour. That gives people an incentive to promote me, because the better I do, the more I give away.

In writing some of the exclusive guest posts, one for each blog, I realized I have never told the Scott Nicholson story, nor had I referred to myself in the third person before. I look forward to talking about my paranormal and psychological thrillers, the local legends that are source material, the new digital age, and the intimate new experience readers and writers share. I even plan to collect all the posts and turn them into a book, because I can do that, and I can give it away, and the Scott Nicholson story can float around a little longer.

During the tour, I have to format several novels, revise one former U.S. title for U.K. release, co-write a novel with J.R. Rain for a November release, and work with my agent on some graphic novels. While managing the tour. And working the day job. And canning tomatoes. And being a husband and father. And brainstorming some more surprises for the tour. I am living the dream.

I will probably hit some Uphype Twitter types and have them broadcast the message and call on my supporters for yet one more favor. All told, I will spend $300 at the most, and I only have to sell an additional 150 ebooks or so to earn that back. And I get the money in two months instead of two years.

What have I learned in three weeks, besides that I am irrevocably insane?

(1) That perhaps I would have gotten more value, dollars for time, if I had hired an established blog tour organizer and saved myself several hundred cold emails. I am not sure there are any e-book-specific tour organizers anyway (anyone sense a business opportunity?) But I would have missed the chance to learn about the blogging world and experience the passion of book bloggers, who are 95 percent female and heavily skewed toward young adult novels.

(2) That even giving something away isn't easy, and selling a novel takes more creativity, passion, and drive than writing a novel does.

(3) That this is the most fun I've ever had in my 14-year writing career. The curtain is about to part on Act II, and this time the audience is writing the story.

I hope you will join us at http://www.hauntedcomputer.com/blogtour.htm.
----
Scott Nicholson is the author of 12 novels, four comics series, six screenplays, and more than 60 short stories. He's also editor of the freebie download Write Good Or Die. A journalist and freelance editor, he lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.

Linktopia

The association of books with escapism developed with railroad travel, says James West, the director of the Center for the Book at Penn State University. Inexpensive "railway editions," the precursor to airport paperbacks, would be sold in stations along the route ...

See where the next step is taking us when you are on the road.

THE DOCTOR IS IN

NO MORE MS NICE GIRL(?)

My friend Bill Corry and I have put together a program of popular old show tunes which we perform in nursing homes and senior centers. Last week's audience was unusually responsive--they sang along, beat rhythms on tables and the arms of wheelchairs, and gave us enthusiastic ovations. It was great.

As we walked out, though, a beautiful elderly woman caught me by the hand. "Honey," she said, "you have to loosen up!"

Bill and I repaired to a coffee shop for our usual postmortem. After we went over the inevitable technical glitches, I asked him, "So, do you think I'm stiff?"

He hesitated. "I wouldn't say stiff, no," he finally said. "But you do tend to ask permission to sing, to be onstage. You have a lovely voice and a warm manner, but you hold back, like you're not sure you're allowed to be there. The audience wants to be entertained, and they're looking to you--you need to own the stage."

Bill is much more experienced than I am, so I take what he says seriously.

That evening, my "boogie woogie sisters" and I rehearsed our second trio, "You Could Drive a Person Crazy," with our vocal coach, John. It's a hard song for me in places, because we go from singing in unison to complex three-part harmony, and as the middle singer, I'm often pulled upward to the soprano part. I kept going off, and cursing or groaning under my breath. Finally, John stopped playing and turned to face me.

"Look," he said, "you're sounding really good. You know your part. Sometimes you go up to Beth's part. That happens. The audience isn't going to notice or care--they'll think that's the way it was written. But I guarantee you they'll notice and care if you communicate an apology."

I remembered a teacher in graduate school telling me, in regard to my comments in class, "You have to stop apologizing for being so smart!" I didn't understand what she meant--I thought I was just participating politely, as I thought I was just singing in the nursing home. But clearly I'm doing something more. I thought about how as a girl, I was taught not to take up space, not to show off--in other words, to apologize for existing, with every breath. I thought I was through with all that, but apparently not.

I wondered how this tendency to apologize affects my writing. I looked at the story I'm working on now, and I have to say, I'm much looser and weirder in my writing than I was a few years ago. But I imagine there is still more there; that I hold back without realizing it.

When I asked Bill for permission to write about all this, he said, "I'm so glad you brought it up--I've been feeling sheepish about what I said to you. You're a fine singer, and I was afraid I'd undermined you, made you self-conscious."

"Not at all," I told him. "I asked you--and I need friends like you to point out what I can't see in myself."

"In that case," he said, drawing a deep breath, "I'll go a step further. You need to give yourself permission to be a bad girl. I have a strong feeling that underneath that sweet exterior, there's a red hot mama fighting to get out. Do yourself a favor and let her rip!"

I promised him I'd do my best. So--watch out! (Please. And sorry for any inconvenience.)

Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D.,is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself,she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. She is the author of Getting Unstuck without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity(Seal, 2007). Her Career Coach column appears every Monday on Inside Higher Ed's Mama, Ph.D. blog, and she is a regular monthly panelist on Litopia After Dark. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.

The Ad Man Answers #88

Thursday + Gregory Huffstutter = The Ad Man Answers

Q: Pixar/Disney has this new movie, TOY STORY 3.  Cue the tie-in.  We see Woody and Buzz at McDonald's, at the post office, at the food store.

It seems a win-win situation.  People see the characters on products unrelated to the actual movie and decide to make the purchase.  People see the characters on products unrelated to the actual movie and remember to go see the movie.

Since everybody seems to win, in what direction does the advertising money flow?

I've always wondered about this.  :)

Stephen
http://www.stephendrogers.com

A:  After working on a Fast Food account for 5 years, The Ad Man can tell you the money absolutely flows from Restauran --> Movie Studio.

In fact, from 1996 through 2006, McDonald’s paid $100 million dollars in royalties for their exclusive partnership with Disney.  I can recall several franchisee meetings with restaurant owners grumbling about the expense, complaining their TV budgets were hijacked into advertising movie tie-ins instead of hamburgers.

Yet the practice continues. 

Why? Because during that same 10-year period, McDonald’s netted over $1 billion dollars while promoting Disney flicks, even ones as mediocre as “Treasure Planet.”

When a fast food franchise throws their weight – and marketing budget – behind a movie, the extra advertising boosts the movie’s awareness level and bottom line. 

In return, the restaurants receive something even more valuable… the “nag factor”:

Happy Meals were introduced in the late 1970’s to promote McDonald’s as a restaurant for families, specifically those with smaller children. The first toy / movie tie in was Star Trek in 1979. And the rest is history.

From a parental perspective, Happy Meals are a pain in the ass. Kids can nag you for days about a certain toy that they must get to complete the set. You buy the meal and the kids get their toy, which either breaks or is lost within 48 hours.

Fast-food marketers have proven time and again that kids can and will drive meal decisions.   And few Happy Meal purchases are made in a vacuum… Dad’s ordering a supersized Quarter Pounder with cheese, Mom’s trying to be good with a yoghurt parfait, but splurges on a large fries and Diet Coke, etc.  Before you know it, one Happy Meal has resulted in a $22 total bill.  Now multiply that by millions of daily transactions and you see the appeal.

McDonald’s is hardly the only one bellying up to Hollywood’s bar.  Last year, Burger King signed on with a trio of Paramount tent-poles:  “Star Trek,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and “GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.”

Summer movie tie-ins have considerably boosted its sales, Burger King has said in the past, and as a result, the company has aggressively pursued more high-profile releases.

"All three of these feature films boast a huge loyal fanbase and have carved out a permanent place in pop culture," said Russ Klein, Burger King's prexy of global marketing, strategy and innovation.

That’s not to say that every movie-tie in is a natural fit and flawlessly executed.  Here’s a list of some recent duds.

But the greater lesson here is that when it comes to co-branding, the power is on the side of the content creators.  

As authors, it should be comforting to know that IF your book is lucky enough to get optioned for film, and IF the movie studio can line up advertising support months before the release, then 3-inch, Chinese-made likenesses of your imaginary characters could wind up in the ketchup-stained hand of an overweight tweenager who whined to his parents for days until getting his plastic prize.  And you, as the original author, might make a few more sheckles on the side.

Gregory Huffstutter has been punching Ad Agency timecards for over a dozen years, working on accounts like McDonald's, KIA Motors, Suzuki Automotive, AAA, and the San Diego Padres. His first mystery, KATZ CRADLE is on submission while he's working on the sequel. The first 100 pages of his novel are linked here. For general advertising questions, leave a comment or send e-mail to katz @ gregoryhuffstutter dot com with 'Ask The Ad Man' in the subject line.

Author Branding

A brand began as a way to tell one person's cow from another's. And while it's crass to compare books to livestock, it's the easiest way to explain the idea. A brand imparts certain qualities or characteristics that make a product - be it a cow or a book - special or unique.

'Brands are the express checkout for people living their lives at ever increasing speed.' - Brandweek

When I was growing up I looked at the branding colophons on a book's spine to get a sense of what kind of read this book would offer versus that one. And I bought accordingly.

But few imprints still function as identifying brands. 

Few brands still exists.  Harlequin means romance and Poison Press means mystery but imprints that impart information with their names are but a small percentage. I can't tell you the difference between a Doubleday book,  a St Martins book or a Harper Collins book.

But  consumers- or in this case readers - still need to be able to tell one person's cow from another's.

That's why the Author as Brand is not only heating up but will burst into flames in the next few years.

'Products are made in the factory, but brands are created in the mind.' - Walter Landor

With such a multitude of books being published, review sources having shrunk, coop more expensive than ever, advertising dollars at a premium and over 85% of books getting less than $2000 in marketing, the cows all look too much alike.

Faced with too many choices - readers - like any other consumer - will default to the name brand they know and recognize. So bestsellers sell better than every before and fewer mid list and debuts are sold. We've been seeing it for the last year. And the results are devastating. The big box stores want more copies of fewer titles. Heavy on the brand name authors and lighter than ever on everyone else.

The more books published, the harder it is for any one to stand out, the more powerful  name brands become. Whether the name is James Patterson, Lee Child or J.K. Rowling, familiarity breeds sales. 

'The three key rules of marketing are brand recognition, brand recognition, brand recognition.' - Anon

What does this mean for the future of publishing? 

 Every year more and more  bestselling authors will be publishing multiple titles, many taking on partners. PubLunch announced just last week that  Vince Flynn will be doing a second series co-authored with Brian Haig. 

The author as imprint might become the ultimate blurb. 

Will we a shelf of books with the imprint " Lee Child Presents" written by authors who write fast paces action thrillers with existential angst. 

Or "Steve Berry Presents" offering thrillers with strong historical elements. 

The big names won't be writing or even necessarily editing - but they will be (for $)  identifying new and mid list authors.

With the right branding, a reader will "get" the book with little work which will lead to the reader getting the kind of book they are searching for.

There are lots of questions of course - like what happens when the author leaves her house  - does her imprint stay? Unless of course the author is the publisher too... but that's another post.

Linktopia

Creating a random viral moment is as rare as getting struck by lightning, but Justine Ezarik has found a way to routinely bottle the juice and light up the Internet. With over 300 million YouTube views, the coal miner's daughter and social media savant is a double-live platinum new media star.

The story from Fast Company is here.

Short testimonials are not a bad thing at all. Letting potential customers know that other real people used your product with success is always a good thing. But turning a testimonial into a personal anecdote will greatly increase its impact. Adding a name, a face, and story will play to the way our brains evolved, and will be both more convincing and more memorable.

Not surprising to a writer, but it's surprising how often something so simple is overlooked in marketing. The details are here.

Unilever's Omo detergent is adding an unusual ingredient to its two-pound detergent box in Brazil: a GPS device that allows its promotions agency Bullet to track shoppers and follow them to their front doors.

Ad agencies and consumers meet on yet another level. The story is here.

Did you vote? Did your favorite Thriller make the Top 100? NPR found plenty of voters. Keep reading here.

THE DOCTOR IS IN

COINCIDENZA?

I've been corresponding with my novelist friend A about some weird synchronous events that have occurred recently in our lives, and how they would stretch the imagination in a novel. Just one example:

Recent events in my life have triggered some disturbing childhood memories that I thought I'd dealt with--but there's always another layer. I've been talking intensively about these issues with one friend in particular, not only because he is an insightful and empathetic listener, but because we've known each other since we were ten, and he is familiar with the setting and some of the players. We've come to refer to the constellation of events and feelings as "Pandora's box," for obvious reasons, and also because the myth of Pandora was important to me as a child--the idea that underlying all the ugliness that flew out, was hope, the "thing with feathers." That image sustained me through a difficult childhood and adolescence and was pivotal in my decision to become a psychotherapist.

My family is addicted to the BBC TV show "Dr. Who," which we download and save to watch when we can't hold out any longer, since there are far fewer episodes than we would like. This week, after a day of discussion with my childhood friend, we watched the last episode of this past season. It involves the "Pandoricon," which I won't even attempt to explain except to say that it is a box built in part by the childhood memories of the Doctor's current sidekick, Amy, of reading about Pandora's Box. As I was contemplating the odd coincidence, Amy commented similarly to the Doctor, who turned on her ferociously and spat, "Don't ever believe in coincidences!" I was too taken aback even to communicate this to my husband and son.

The next day, my childhood friend adn I drove to Connecticut to explore Harkness State Park. As we zipped along the highway, I started to tell him about the Pandoricon episode. However, I only got as far as, "The weirdest thing happened last night," when we passed a billboard for a jewelry store captioned, "Pandora's box."

As my correspondent A commented when I told her about this latest weird occurrence, "Sometimes I can understand how a person could slip into madness, believing that the universe is crafting messages and meaning specificaly for them and them alone. It's so striking when these things happen, like a jolt telling you to pay attention."

I responded, "If one of my clients told me she was getting messages through the TV, I'd start thinking about emergency rooms, antipsychotic medication, etc. But sometimes this stuff is so over the top, so seemingly written, it's hard not to take it personally!"

But I know A and I are not alone. Perfectly sane friends, clients and supervisees have confided similar occurrences, usually prefaced with, "I hope you don't think I'm crazy, but...." I have come to believe this phenomenon is fairly universal. It could be that preoccupation induces a heightened sensitivity to certain stimuli, or it could be that the universe really is sending these messages--I honestly don't know. What I am aware of is that much of what goes on in my life, and those of many others, would be considered overdone in a novel, and outright lying in a memoir.

My question is, why? If we have these experiences, why aren't they considered normal, and why don't they find their way into "realistic" novels and memoirs?

Thoughts?

Susan O'Doherty, Ph.D.,is a clinical psychologist with a New York City-based practice. A fiction writer herself,she specializes in issues affecting writers and other creative artists. She is the author of Getting Unstuck without Coming Unglued: A Woman's Guide to Unblocking Creativity(Seal, 2007). Her Career Coach column appears every Monday on Inside Higher Ed's Mama, Ph.D. blog, and she is a regular monthly panelist on Litopia After Dark. Send your questions to her at Dr.Sue at mindspring dot com.