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Author: Janet Gershen-Siegel

I'm not much bigger than a breadbox.

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Writing Progress Report – Second Quarter 2024

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 27, 2024

Progress Report –Second Quarter 2024

How was second quarter 2024 for writing? So I spent second quarter 2024 writing and editing a ton of short stories. But I am also looking for work. So, that takes precedence.

Second Quarter 2024 Posted Works

First of all, I worked on a number of new short stories. A lot of these had been drafted on paper and so I spent some time editing them.

Then on Wattpad I posted nowhere. Am I completely done with that platform? It’s… starting to look that way. Because, frankly, for the sake of my own mental health, the last thing I need is to post in places which just aren’t the right audience for what I create.

Second Quarter 2024 Drafts

So far, and a few of these are from first quarter 2024, but I forgot to post them (oops!), here’s what I’ve been working on:

  • The New Kid – after an Earth-alien war ends, the parties decide on a student exchange. What could possibly go wrong?
  • The Walls Came Tumbling Down… Again – when a temporal mercenary upends the timeline so Rome never fell, it’s up to Rachel Shapiro and her work mishpacha to correct the timeline to fix the present day and end slavery.
  • What’s an Animal? – the humans of the future have killed or destroyed the habitats of every animal on Earth. The world is divided into uniform grids where people pollinate the plants, because there aren’t any more insects. Until one day a little girl named Cherish finds… something.
  • Recruitment Time (I don’t love this title) – time traveler Sharon Ensley was supposed to go to 16th century Turkey. But her path is diverted, and she ends up in New Jersey the day before 9/11. But the events of 9/11 seem to be happening on 9/10, and now include more plane crashes, in NATO countries in Europe. Everything is worse. But how, and why?
  • A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults – when Flora Levy turns 60, she inherits her great-grandmother Florence’s books. There’s a Torah, a family cookbook, and more. But there’s also an odd book which doesn’t seem to belong with the others. When Flora starts to read it aloud, she summons… someone from the book itself.

Milestones

Also, I have written over 3.5 million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined; there’s slightly more original stuff these days). So right now my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:

  • Dinosaurs – 42+ reads, 11+ comments
  • How to NaNoWriMo – 26,183 reads, 340 comments (pulled from Wattpad due to their severing their association with NaNoWriMo)
  • My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 994 reads, 133 comments
  • Revved Up – 59,491+ reads, 531+ comments
  • Side By Side – 21 reads, 2 comments
  • Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 16,862+ reads, 592+ comments
  • The Canadian Caper – 511 reads, 37 comments
  • The Dish – 253 reads, 24 comments
  • There is a Road – 189 reads, 28 comments

Published Works as of Second Quarter 2024

Also, I am amassing quite the collection of published works! So, here’s everything that has found a home so far.

Untrustworthy, which is my first published novel. So yay!

A True Believer in Skepticism, published in Mythic Magazine.

Almost Shipwrecked, a story in the January 2019 edition of Empyreome.

Canaries, a short story in the March 29, 2019, edition of Theme of Absence.

Complications, a story in the Queer Sci Fi Discovery anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds went to supporting the QSF website.

Cynthia and Wilder Bloom, stories in the Longest Night Watch II anthology.

Props, a story in the Longest Night Watch I anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to Alzheimer’s research.

Surprises, a story in Book One of the 42 and Beyond Anthology set.

The Boy in the Band, a story in the Pride Park anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to the Trevor Project.

The Interview, the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me!

The Last Patient, a story in the Stardust, Always anthology. This was an anthology where the proceeds go to cancer research.

The Resurrection of Ditte, a story in the Unrealpolitik anthology.

This is My Child, a short story published in the April 8, 2019 edition of Asymmetry Fiction.

Three Minutes Back in Time, a short story published in Mythic Magazine.

Killing Us Softly, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

Darkness into Light, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

WIP Corner

So my current WIPs are as follows:

The Obolonk Murders Trilogy – so this one is all about a tripartite society. But who’s killing the aliens?

The Enigman Cave – can we find life on another planet and not screw it up? You know, like we do everything else?

The Real Hub of the Universe Trilogy – so the aliens who live among us in the 1870s and 1880s are at war. But why is that?

Mettle – so it’s all about how society goes to hell in a hand basket when the metals of the periodic table start to disappear. But then what?

Time Addicts – No One is Safe – so this one is all about what happens in the future when time travel becomes possible via narcotic.

Time Addicts – Nothing is Permanent – this is the second in this trilogy. What happens when time is tampered with and manipulated in all sorts of ways? It’s the ultimate in gaslighting, for one thing.

Time Addicts – Everything is Up For Grabs – as the timelines smack together and continue to diverge, it gets harder to tell the “real” timeline from all the newer fake ones. And what if some of the changes are for the better?

Prep Work

So currently, my intention, for 2025’s NaNoWriMo, is to start to write the third trilogy in the Time Addicts/Obolonks universe. But I need to iron out the plot! So a bit of this year has been spent on that. I have no name for this one yet.

For 2022 – 2024 NaNoWriMo, I have decided to create a prequel for each of the 5 main universes: Real Hub of the Universe, Obolonks, Time Addicts (while the Obolonks and Time Addicts are in the same universe, I just plain want to write two separate prequels!), Untrustworthy, The Enigman Cave, and Mettle.

In 2022, I wrote the prequels for Time Addicts (The Dust Between Our Stars) and The Real Hub of the Universe (The East Side of the Universe). For 2023, it was the Untrustworthy prequel (Unreliable) and Obolonk prequel (Eros vs. Thanatos). And for 2024, it is the Enigman Cave and Mettle prequels.

So, I anticipate a lot of fun and perhaps a little confusion. But it’s all good!

Second Quarter 2024 Queries and Submissions

The older ones have moved. You can find them on my Publishing Stats page.

It’s been quiet. But that has been by design. Right now, I just plain don’t feel like putting myself out there these days. There, I said it.

In Progress

As of the end of second quarter 2024, the following are still technically in the running for publishing:

This list is the name of the story and then the name of the potential publisher.

  • I Used to Be Happy – Gemini Magazine
  • Justice – Adbusters
  • Mettle – RAB
  • Soul Rentals ‘R’ Us – A Thousand One Stories
  • Who Do We Blame for This? – Sonder Review

But the truth is, I am not kidding myself. Those aren’t going to magically turn into acceptances, I bet.

Second Quarter 2024 – Productivity Killers

So it’s work, what else? I am working on a ton of things and since that is also writing, it can sometimes burn me out. Because second quarter 2024 is evidently not the end of that!

Querying and Publishing Stats
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Personal Writing Process

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 25, 2024

What is My Personal Writing Process

By definition, a personal writing process is, well, kinda personal. Asking, “How do I write a book?” is almost like asking how to breathe.

My personal writing process may or may not help you. After all, mine differs from, say, Stephen King‘s. And while he is a bestselling author several times over, that still doesn’t mean his method is better than my own.

Furthermore, his method will not work for me. And that’s not a failure on either of our parts. Because we are, simply put, rather different writers.

Plotting

For longer stories and novels, I find planning to be essential. And this can take the form of everything from an outline to some random notes. Either way, though, I create what I refer to as a ‘wiki’ although I am the only person who contributes to it.

‘Pantsing’

The term ‘pantsing’ refers to flying by the seat of your pants. So essentially you write with very little idea of plot or structure. And the intention is to fix it later.

For the most part, I write shorter stories this way. However, they might be part of a larger overall story arc. Hence the actual writing might end up a tad haphazard but the scene or scenes fit into a greater whole, which has been planned.

See, I’m a planner. Usually.

A Personal Writing Process In the Middle

Sometimes, I’m in the middle. Mettle was a lot like that, where I had a detailed outline for the first three quarters or so and then I had absolutely no idea of how to finish the piece.

There’s also the act of going in the middle by writing a far sparer outline. That’s another idea, to know the arc of the chapter and maybe even the first and last lines of it. But nothing else. So you have both the planning and the flying by the seat of your pants.

Story Arcs

Currently, aside from the Obolonk stories (which are still deep in beta reading hell), the only real series and arcs I was writing tended to be fan fiction until I started in on the Real Hub of the Universe.

Easter Eggs

One piece of my process is the addition of Easter eggs. Stories include the following (usually, but Untrustworthy has very little of this, due to the nature of the story):

• Boston, somehow, although sometimes it’s just an accent.
† Somebody named Shapiro (a cousin had this as her maiden name, but I also think of the character from Stalag 17).
• Jews, and often not just Shapiro. They aren’t necessarily terribly religious. But they are there all the same.
† Dreams, but I am relying on them less as a crutch these days. Characters have inner lives but that’s not necessarily front and center in a story anymore.

Personal Writing Process: Takeaways

Planning can’t really be avoided. Even if your personal writing process is 100% pantsing, you usually end up paying for that with a lot more time spent editing.

This does not mean that planners don’t edit! Of course we do. But the scenes are better ordered or at least they should be. So that can save on editing time.

This is what works for me. It may or may not work for you.

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Supporting Indie Authors

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 20, 2024

Supporting Indie Authors

Supporting Indie Authors – do you do it? And if so, exactly how do you do it?

I am published, and one issue that comes up, time and again, concerns how people can go about supporting indie authors. In particular, friends and family far removed from the business of writing or social media or public relations or marketing or the like still want to help out.

And for the writers, who may feel strange suggesting or requesting such support, I hope this little guide can do just that. Instead of asking, perhaps they can simply point to this blog post.

The #1 Way You Can Support An Independent Author

This one’s easy. Buy their book! Which version? Any version!

However, authors might get better percentages of the take with a particular format. If that is the case, and you don’t mind which format you purchase, you can always ask your friend the writer. While we always want you to buy the book (and a sale beats out no sale), if we have our druthers and it really makes a difference, it certainly doesn’t hurt to ask.

The #2 Way To Support Independent Authors

So once you’ve bought the book, a fantastic way of supporting indie authors even more is to provide an honest review. Amazon, Smashwords, and many publisher sites provide a means of reviewing novels and other creative works. Be sure to review where you purchased the book.

Why? Because then you can be listed with verified purchase next to your name. This adds considerably more credibility to your review (and some places require it now).

The Sum and Substance of Your Review

What should you say in your review? If you loved the book, say so. If it was a decent read but not your cup of tea, say that as well, as it’s honest, fair, and remains supportive. After all, not everyone loves the same thing. If you’re not in the demographic group the work is aimed at, then no problem. You gave it the old college try and that’s just fantastic. The longer the review then, generally, the better.

Specific references to events in the book, without giving away spoilers, really help. E. g. something like: I loved the character of ___. She was believably vulnerable.

Negative Reviews

What if you hated the book? Should you lie? Absolutely not – and, I might add, don’t lie even if the author has specifically asked for positive reviews only (an unethical request, by the way). However, if the book stinks (I’ve read books that have made me want to burn people’s computers, they were so horrible, so I know exactly where you’re coming from), then you have the following options:

  1. Don’t post the review at all, and say nothing to the author.
  2. Don’t post the review at all, but mention it to the author. However be prepared for, potentially, some negative push-back, in particular if that person specifically requested just positive reviews. You can sweeten the pot by offering some other assistance (see below for other things you can do to help).
  3. Post a short review. Reviews don’t have to be novel-length! You can always write something like Interesting freshman effort from indie author ____ (the writer’s name goes in the blank). There ya go. Short, semi-sweet, and you’re off the hook. Unless the book utterly bored you, the term interesting works. If the book was absolutely the most boring thing you have ever read, then you can go with valiant or unique (so long as the work isn’t plagiarized) instead of interesting. Yes, you have just damned with faint praise. But sometimes faint praise is the only kind you can give out.

Really going negative

  1. Post a negative review. However, be prepared for your friendship to, potentially, end. Yet is that the worst thing, ever? I’m not saying to be mean. Don’t be mean and don’t take potshots at a person’s character or personality. This is about the book and not about your relationship with the person (although it can sometimes turn into that. But keep the review about the creative work only). However, if the friendship means more to you, then seriously consider options #1 or #2 instead.

Furthermore, many sites have star systems. Adding stars (even a single star) is helpful as this signals to readers that there is at least some interest in the piece.

The #3 Way to Support an Independent Author

Post and/or share the links to either the creative work or the author’s website, blog, Facebook Author page, or Amazon Author page, onto social media. This method is free and anyone can do it. This means tweets, Facebook shares, Pinterest repinning, or Tumblr reblogging.

Plus it’s clicking ‘like’ on Instagram, voting up a book trailer on YouTube or adding it to a playlist, mentioning the book in your status on LinkedIn, or sharing the details with your followers on TikTok, and more. Every time you provide these sorts of social signals to social media sites, the content goes to more people and you are supporting indie authors.

Without spending a dime, and barely lifting a finger, you can provide a great deal of help.

The #4 Way to Support Independent Authors

Be sure to follow your friends’ Amazon Author pages, and their blogs. Hit ‘like’ on their Facebook Author pages and follow them on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, etc. There are agents who give more weight to indies with larger social media followings. You can hate the book but still follow the author.

You can also work some magic in person. Show up to any signings or discussions, even if you just drink coffee and don’t participate. Ask for the book at your local library or bookstore. Read the paper version in public (train stations are really great for that sort of thing). And you can also talk to your friends, or email them about the work.

Consider your audience, and don’t just spam your friends. However if your writer pal has written, say, a Christian-themed love story, then how about sending the link to your friend who has a son studying to be a pastor?

If your friend is local, try contacting your local paper and asking if they’d do a profile on the writer. They can always say no, but sometimes reporters are hunting around for short feel-good locally-specific blurbs. It never hurts to ask.

The #5 Way You Can Start Supporting Independent Authors

Here’s where it gets to be a time investment. Help them. A lot of serious authors ask questions about all manner of things, in order to perform proper research. Can you help with that? Do you have personal experience, or are you good at Googling?

You can also act as a beta reader when you’re supporting indie authors. Beta readers read either the entire draft or a portion of it or sometimes just the first chapter or even character bios. Here’s where you can be a lot freer with criticism, as this is all private.

Is the mystery too easy to solve? The character names are confusing? Or the protagonist isn’t described clearly? The scenario is improbable? Then tell the writer. This isn’t correcting their grammar or their spelling (although it sometimes can be). Instead, this is giving them valuable feedback which will help them become better.

As always, be kind. This is your friend’s baby, after all. But if you can’t tell the difference between Susan and Suzanne in the story, then other readers probably wouldn’t be able to, either. Better that that is fixed before the book is released, than afterwords.

Final Thoughts on Supporting Indie Authors

The life of a writer can be a rather topsy-turvy one. You’re high on good reviews, and then you get one bad one and it depresses you. You write like the wind for weeks, and then you edit it and it feels like it’s garbage. Or you get writer’s block, or life gets in the way.

Sometimes the best thing you can do, as a friend, is to just listen, and be there.

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Writing – Starting a PiecePublishing, Published, Positive Reviews, Middling Reviews, Bad Reviews, Teasing, Blurb, Query letter, Elevator pitch, teasers, pitmad, rejection, Easter eggs, Starting, Digital Publishing Game, pocket conflicts, Manuscript Wish List, Reading, Submission Guidelines, Set Dressing, Hairstyles and Costumes, Aroma vs Odor or Stench, Mixing a Score in Words and Music, Disgusting vs Delicious, Hot or Cold, Publishing Stats,

Writing – Starting a Piece

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 18, 2024

Let’s Look at Starting a Piece, Any Kind of Writing

Starting can be fraught with stress and worry. You can, at times, wonder if what you’re doing is worthwhile at all. But don’t worry; it is.

One year I created a kind of web. I had the main character and put her name in a circle on paper. Then I drew a bunch of lines radiating out. I connected her to other characters and then, on the lines, wrote why they connected—whatever it was (and she didn’t have to connect to everyone, of course).

That got me to start creating scenes, and I ordered them.

Some ended up just being little scenelets. I did this with all of the major characters and eliminated redundancies. Once I had the order down, I started to think about transitions between scenes.

Points of View

This web concept worked very well for a story with one main character. For The Real Hub of the Universe series, Ceilidh was always the center of things and everything would happen from her point of view. If she did not directly witness something, she would have to read about it or learn about it in some other fashion.

Sometimes this meant that another character would have to have a conversation with her. This would get her back up to speed.

Multiple POVs

For a piece with multiple points of view, the process can differ. This time, the web is more like a series of intersecting rings. How do characters relate? What do they see, feel, and hear, touch and taste? Who do they know, or like, or despise? What are their goals? What are their prejudices?

With Mettle, there are nine separate points of view, although some of them (like Eleanor’s) aren’t the focus too often. Instead, characters with more “screen time”, such as Nell, Craig, and Elise, had to do more of the heavy lifting. One thing which helped a great deal (and it was serendipity, I swear!) was that one of the major plot points concerned lessons which the middle schooler characters had not yet had.

Therefore, a part of the exposition became teaching them. As they learned, so did the reader.

This is one of the reasons why so many television programs kick off with someone moving or getting a new job, or the start of a relationship.

Newness is appealing, yes, but it’s also because that gives an expository “out”. If everyone in the book or TV show knows how high Niagara Falls is, then they won’t need to bother talking about it. But if one character does not know, then the audience or reader learns this piece of information at the same time that the ignorant character does. That’s ignorant in terms of “not knowing” rather than being dumb, FYI.

Starting a Piece: Some Takeaways

If you’re still having a hard time starting, recognize that it can also be a species of writer’s block. But if the stress is really bad, you can always write about that, too.

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Your Elevator PitchPublishing, Published, Positive Reviews, Middling Reviews, Bad Reviews, Teasing, Blurb, Query letter, Elevator pitch, teasers, pitmad, rejection, Easter eggs, Starting, Digital Publishing Game, pocket conflicts, Manuscript Wish List, Reading, Submission Guidelines, Set Dressing, Hairstyles and Costumes, Aroma vs Odor or Stench, Mixing a Score in Words and Music, Disgusting vs Delicious, Hot or Cold, Publishing Stats,

Your Elevator Pitch

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 13, 2024

Let’s Deconstruct Your Elevator Pitch

We have all heard of what an elevator pitch is. It seems like it is the kind of stuff for overly eager new sales associates looking to make an impression on the big boss between floors.

But there is more to it than that.

Someone has just turned to you and said, “You’re a writer. What’s your book about?”

Don’t just stand there! You’ve got to be ready.

Your Verbal Elevator Pitch

Try something like this on for size.

Imagine if animals started talking, and they told you what to do in a topsy-turvy world.

My book is about Alice; she’s a young girl, a little bored on a sunny afternoon, when she spots a white rabbit. The odd thing about this rabbit is, he’s wearing clothes and talking. She follows him down a rabbit hole, but then she can’t get out.

That’s less than seventy words, and the person asking has the basic plot, the name of the heroine, and a reason to want to know more.

Your Pitch in Writing

Yes, you need one of these, too. But but a written elevator pitch a little different.

Even if readers know you for writing sweeping, epic sagas, you should still write some short stories. They can be in your universe, or not, although it might help with both marketing and your own personal creativity if they can fit somewhere within your universe.

They do not even necessarily have to be sent out for publication, but they could be good for anthologies. Don’t knock that; this is exactly how a lot of people get their starts. In fact, if you are having trouble breaking in, or want to impress a publisher, try submitting to anthologies. You can get a published credit and impress the publisher of the anthology. There’s a win-win right there.

Point them there, if someone wants to read a sampling of your work. Don’t make them commit to a 100,000 word novel.

On Balance

Finally, have fun with it. Is your main character funny? What about quoting one of her best zingers, assuming you don’t need to explain the joke? Now there’s an idea for a pitch.

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The Top 10 Pet Peeves About Job Seeking

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 11, 2024

Welcome to My Top 10 Pet Peeves About Job Seeking

Pet Peeves? I got ’em. And, in 2024, yes, I am out there, pounding the virtual pavement. Again.

Adventures in Career Changing means, well, a lot of job applications. Beyond networking, education and research, there are just sometimes some forms to fill out. I have filled out – I have no idea how many. And they come as a bit of their own special Dantean circle.

#10 – Keeping the Company’s Identity a Secret

I get that there are legitimate reasons for keeping quiet about company identities. They might not want to tip off competitors that there’s an opening. Or maybe they don’t want the person currently in the job to know that they are being replaced. I recognize this. I get it.

But it’s also a bit of serious unevenness. You know who I am. And you get to look up all sorts of stuff on me. Yet I don’t get to do anything even remotely like that where you’re concerned. Where’s the fairness in that?

#9 – Multiple Job Postings, While at the Same Time Penalizing Job Seekers for Multiple Submissions

This goes along with the previous one. When you don’t tell me who you are, and you post the same job on, say, Monster and Dice, how, exactly, am I supposed to prevent a possible double submission? What happens when you also distribute this opening to a half a dozen recruiters? Yep – I end up with multiple submissions. And guess who gets blamed for that? Hint – it’s not the prospective employer.

Also, there is just nothing like going through a half an hour with a recruiter on what looks like an awesome job – but it turns out that I have already applied for it. Ewps.

#8 – You Make Me Fill Out a Form Even After I Gave You My Resume

I know that you have laid off your entire clerical staff, and you likely did so in 2003 or earlier. I am also well aware that you are looking to get my resume into a pigeonhole pattern so that it can be readily compared to others that are in the same pigeonhole pattern. Because taking 25 seconds to scan my resume with your eyes is just too much time. Sorry, not sorry.

Okay, perhaps that wasn’t very nice, but every career counselor I have ever known has said to spend hours and hours and make it a mondo-perfect document. But the reality is that resumes are barely glanced at.

Hence, rather than creating exciting visual presentations (unless you’re in the arts), the focus is on keywords. And I’m fine with adding keywords.

I also get how badly you want uniformity. But – surprise! There’s software that will do this! So, instead of making me jump through this particular hoop, could you invest in a system such as that? The beauty of your software doing that, rather than me doing it manually, is that you can also do some filtering. Buy yourself a good system, and you’ll get a lot more done.

#7 – S…l…o…w Sites are Recurring Pet Peeves

I know, I know. The server is down. No one’s been able to fix it since Employee X left three months ago. Whatevs. But in the meantime, I am supposed to be putting my best foot forward (and all the time, I might add).

I’ve had employment counselors who’ve essentially told me my site has to look sharp every, as I never know if a potential employer will be looking. But stuff happens, and my budget is, I guarantee, nowhere near as large as yours is.

You want me to apply and not get frustrated while doing so? Then fix your damned site.

Because a super-slow site is just plain not a good look.

#6 – Ignoring the Fact that I Will Not Relocate

If it’s available, I always (always!) check the box that says that I will not relocate. And I will not. There is no coaxing me. There are no perks to sending me to Minneapolis (or wherever). I ain’t goin’. And it is all over all of my applications, profiles, etc. This is one of my really annoying pet peeves.

Yet I am still called by recruiters who tell me about some awesome, kick-bun opportunity and everything sounds wonderful and then, oh by the way, where is it? And it’s in Plano, Texas. I live in Boston. That’s a helluva commute, don’t you think?

I recognize that your job is to get a person into an opening at some company. And I further understand some people who will change their minds with enough incentives. I also know that there are folks who rent apartments briefly. But really – at the very least – be up front, immediately – with the location, and stop wasting both of our times.

While I’m here, seriously, LinkedIn, get your act in gear, and make it so that it’s easy to indicate both a reasonable close commuting distance plus universal work from home. A company need not be in Boston if I can work from home. But if I have to come in, it must be.

How hard is this to figure out. Bueller?

#5 – Vagueness (a Persistent One of My Pet Peeves)

Oh, man. You can’t be bothered to say anything meaningful about the position? Then how the hell can you honestly expect to get the right people in? I know that, a lot of the time, HR is the one writing the job description. But, truly (and this goes quadruple for large organizations), the job description should be a part of the company’s overall records.

And so, when HR (or whoever) writes up the job description, they should pull the basic framework of it from their records. And said records should be updated, perhaps every year, with things like new software versions and anything else that’s fairly major that might have changed.

Case in point. I used to work in data analysis. And this should have a basic description, which should include the system(s) being used, the version(s) of software and the general day-to-day activities.

So, is the opening more report creating, or report running? Will I train people in how to read it? Will I perform analysis to help senior management interpret it? Or am I supposed to just churn out whatever the system spits out? Of course, the upside to all of this is, I get to have ready-made questions in the event of an interview.

The Wonderful World of Engineering and Designing/Drafting

For my husband’s most recent job search, I noticed a number of issues. He is a designer. Not. An. Engineer.

And he cannot magically become an engineer in five minutes or even five months. You need, at minimum, a BS in it. Or, at least, be well on your way to getting yours.

Yet job descriptions, LinkedIn, and recruiters could not get any of that straight.

#4 – Requiring Salary Expectations Way Too Early in the Process

I have seen, on several occasions, vague job descriptions requiring some form of salary expectation mentioned up front. So, I get that you want to weed people out early, and waste less time. I get that, and I do appreciate it. However, this is so early, it’s not funny.

Plus, if I don’t know who you are, I have few ways of figuring out whether my # is anywhere near jibing with yours. And I change my expectations, depending upon what, exactly, you want me to do. The application stage is a lousy time to ask about money – on both ends.

And for women in particular, I might add, it is one of the reasons why the glaring salary gap (by gender) persists.

At least there’s salary transparency in a lot of places. But when there isn’t, you are asking me to give up my own real bargaining chip.

#3 – Requiring Me to Waste Time Updating Preexisting Information Manually

A rather large employer in my area (Boston) uses a resume management system with both a resume piece and a manual piece. I filled out the manual piece in – no lie – 2008. It remains that way, even as I provide an updated resume. What to do? Do I erase the entire shebang, and just send in the resume? Or do I update? Something else? It provides a distorted picture of where I’ve been.

Make up your mind: resume or manual entry? Or, better yet, just take my resume and be done with it. I suppose this is the corollary to #8.

#2 – No LinkedIn Functionality is One of My Bigger Pet Peeves

While I suppose this is not strictly necessary, it’s awfully nice to have. And, in particular, if you’re advertising the job itself on LinkedIn, why can’t I just apply by connecting you to my profile there?

#1 – Security to Beat Fort Knox

Of course, I want to maintain my own security. I certainly don’t want anyone else to be able to mess with my profile. But why, oh why, do you need me to change my password every other month, to some wacky combo of letters, numbers, special characters and, I dunno, cuneiform?

I swear, the security on some of these apps ends up more complicated and Byzantine than I have for my bank account!

Huh, maybe I should just change banks. Harvey’s Money-o-Rama might no longer cut it.

And Now for Two Three Dishonorable Mention Pet Peeves

Ugh.

A – Seemingly Endless Questions

And the pet peeves continue! Because apparently, you do not trust me enough to self-select out of the running because I don’t know Software version infinity plus one or whatever. But, really, folks! Save something for the interview! Because I guarantee you, you will not get every single thing answered beforehand.

And, spoiler alert – if you have too many requirements, then guess what? You won’t find anyone who can fill them.

B – Interviewing Too Many People

Screen on the phone. Then screen with your resume software. Screen with your keyword searches. And then screen with your well-written job description. Screen with your HR people calling. And screen with a Zoom interview. Screen with your published salary range. Finally, screen with a little social media investigating.

And then your decision (or in-person or Zoom interview) process can be for 1 – 5 people who can do the job. And decide amongst them based upon the intangibles.

Yet I have been in interview situations where there were a good twenty people in the in-person interview stage for one position! Sheesh! You are wasting everybody’s time. And, frankly, behavior like this makes me wonder about you as a company, and about you as a manager. Do you always hem and haw like this? Do you know naught of efficiency?

C – Personality Tests and Cognitive Tests

Whoever invented these needs to be placed into a very small, windowless room, and made to take these tests, over and over again—in order to get food or sunshine or companionship. For the rest of their days.

Yeah, they stink (and don’t worry, I have far earthier words for them).

A writer’s (or any marketer’s, for that matter) ability to match pictures is not related to writing ability. A designer’s ability to pick the “correct” personality from the multiple choice quiz that you give? That doesn’t relate to their abilities, particularly when they aren’t customer facing. Ever.

Oh, those personality tests. Would you run over your own grandmother for a Klondike bar? Do you know the way to San Jose? Are we not men? Where is the love? Who are you (who, who, who, who)? Black air and seven seas, all rotten through; but what can you do? How low can you go? Why does the sun keep on shining? When can I go swimming again?

Or whatever the hell it is you’re asking about. For a test where you claim, “there are no right or wrong answers”, there sure seem to be a lot of exclusions based on the answers. If employment is hinging on the answers, then guess what?

It means there really are right and wrong answers.

Don’t worry, I’ve got good things to say about the job search process. And I’ll post them. But for right now, these are the real stinkers. Got any pet peeves you’d like to share?

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Self-Review – Eros vs. Thanatos

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 6, 2024

Review – Eros vs. Thanatos

In part, I admit I wrote Eros vs. Thanatos to get out of having to come up with a whole new plot for NaNoWriMo 2024.

But it was also because I wanted to give Peri Martin a better fleshed-out backstory. And, I wanted to really show Charlie Hollis alive. This helps to give more dimension to her character and the Obolonk universe as a whole.

Background

One great part of this story (for me, anyway) is being able to show Peri and Charlie actually working together. I also used it as an opportunity to reveal just how hot guns came to be.

This story also serves to bridge between The Dust Between Our Stars (first contact) and The Obolonk Murders. In the latter, it’s obvious that we have been in a society with aliens and semi-sapient robots for a while.  But how did we get there? In part, this story fills in the reader.

Plot

It’s a time of change. As a condition of getting her divorce from Anil Deshpande, Detective Sergeant Peri Martin trades her engagement ring for the deed to the downtown Boston apartment. When her department partner, Vic Frontieri, retires to an orb in the Uranian System, she gets a new partner, Charlie Hollis.

Peri navigates a mixed-up work and at times romantic relationship with sometimes-married Charlie while they deal with rival gangs blowing each other away with a new weapon, the hot gun.

Personal flamethrowers are the nastiest feature of Pandora’s box. It doesn’t help that the talented engineer making these weapons even more lethal is mob princess Kiki Madden.

Can Peri and Charlie stop the gang war and rein in the arms race before everyone’s remains end up small enough to fit into a ring box?

And speaking of rings, will a mutual love of an obscure fandom bring together Kiki and Burnside mob scion Marius Burnside—and maybe bring about peace?

All’s fair in love and engineering.

Characters in Eros vs. Thanatos

The characters are Peri Martin, Charlie Hollis, Dennis Dolan, Greg Shapiro, and other members of the New England Meg Police Department. Other characters include mobster Dutch Burnside; his son Marius; and his ex-wife Noreen. Also, rival mobster Melinda Killeen Madden; her husband Philip Madden; their daughter Kenisia (Kiki); and witness Nate Johnson.

There are also some moments with Anil Deshpande, Sudarshana Deshpande, Doug Anderson, and an Obolonk named Method (They Say This One is Very Methodical).

Memorable Quotes

The next morning, Peri was awoken by a ringing in her left ear. This was nothing unusual, for she had had a mini-phone implanted in her ear for years. Groggily, she flipped a small switch behind her earlobe. “Hello?” She yawned.

“This is Bettybot One Four Six. I have a Mrs. Sudarshana Deshpande to speak with you.”

“A robot is calling? What?” Peri tried to shake the cobwebs.

“The connection is being slightly delayed as a courtesy since it is before your stated awake time. If the connection is refused, this robot will inform your caller and will take a message of no more than one thousand characters or fifty words, whichever is longer.”

“Oh, um, yeah. Put her through, I guess.” Peri glanced at her tablet. The time was 6:23 AM. She blinked several times. Oh yeah, Mumbai-Bangkok is ten hours later than here.

There was a click and then an annoyed woman’s voice with a moderately heavy Indian accent. “Perdita! Why didn’t you pick up right away?”

Peri winced at the use of her full name. I don’t even like it when Mom and Dad call me that. “Oh, er, hi, Sudarshana. What a less than pleasant surprise. It’s not even six-thirty here.”

“Oh. Well, it’s almost four-thirty here and your time zone is nonsense anyway.”

“What do you want?” Peri whined.

“What?”

“Your demands. What are your demands this time?”

“Demands? I do not make demands.”

“You only call me whenever you want something. In case you hadn’t noticed, Anil and I are no longer married. Why didn’t you call him at this ungodly hour instead?”

“My son is busy.”

“Yeah, busy boffing my replacement, in our apartment downtown, to boot.”

Rating for Eros vs. Thanatos

The story has a strong MA rating. Peri and Charlie deal with some extremely dangerous people, and the deaths and injuries are particularly gruesome. I am not kidding.

Takeaways

I love writing Peri, so picking up her story again was like coming home. As for Charlie, he was a revelation. He’s just as much of a jackass as I had originally wanted him to be, but he’s also truly skilled. And smart.

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The Top 10 Positives About Job Seeking

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 4, 2024

Ready for My Top 10 Positives About Job Seeking?

Job Seeking. Sigh. In 2024, I am back on this bandwagon, so here I go again with this top 10.

Adventures in Career Changing means job applications.

Beyond networking, education and research, there are just sometimes some forms to fill out. I have filled out – I have no idea how many. And while there are problems with many of these forms, there is also some good out there, along with other aspects of looking for a job these days.

#10 – Following X or Bluesky for Job Seeking

There are all sorts of Twitter X or Bluesky streams which showcase any number of openings. Company streams, in particular, can be a good source of leads. Make sure to watch for perhaps a week or so in order to determine whether the content is being updated frequently.

#9 – LinkedIn, Land of Job Seeking Opportunity

For power users of LinkedIn, there are numerous ways to look for work. One good way is to check their job listings, and apply through the site. Some openings allow you to apply directly via your LinkedIn profile. Others send you to a company’s website.

But make no mistake; companies (or at least they should) check the traffic sources for the job applications they receive. And so by going to a job application directly from LinkedIn, you show that, at least in some small way, the biggest online networking site in the world matters.

But instead, you should apply directly on the site if you can. Why? Because applying through LinkedIn is often just a means of showing an interest only. Sometimes, it can’t be helped. But if you have a choice, apply on the company website every single time.

#8 – LinkedIn Skills and Endorsements

If you’ve got an account on LinkedIn, surely you have seen these by now. So fill in your skills profile! And make sure to endorse other people as well. A lot of them will reciprocate.

#7 – Scannable Resumes

Gone are the days when most resumes were eyeballed, at least to start. Because your resume is far more likely to be read by a machine before a human. So get your resume loaded up with relevant keywords! Why? Because you’ll make the first cut, that’s why.

However, much like with regular old search, keyword stuffing is a lousy idea. If you’re job seeking for a career in marketing, then larding up terms like marketer, marketing, market research, etc. can often be too much. Yes, you want to match well. But you also don’t want to turn your resume into an obnoxious laundry list of terminology.

#6 – Personal Websites

The good, the bad and the ugly are out there. My own, for instance. I leave it to you to decide which category it falls under.

At least this site is completely functional and current. And it comes up quickly, plus you can readily find everything on it. Finally, Google ranks it fairly well. I know I can improve it. But it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

#5 – Clarity

Job descriptions can become very precise these days, as employers can (in part, in some instances) select software and versions from drop-downs to better communicate their needs to the job seeking public.

One special form of clarity is now the law in a lot of states—salary transparency. May it become the law of every single state, and soon!

I truly love salary transparency, and a lot of people do, too. In fact, there are plenty of people who will not apply to a job that does not list a salary range. I love this idea, although in all candor, I don’t always practice it.

But salary transparency, bottom line, saves time.

#4 – LinkedIn Recommendations

Unlike endorsements, these require a bit of prose. But they can be rather powerful. At the very least, you don’t want to be a job seeker who doesn’t have any. So ask! And not just your boss or former boss. Ask your coworkers as well, and offer to reciprocate.

If the person you ask doesn’t think they’re good at writing, offer to write the recommendation for them and have them, of course, adapt it as they like and post it or not if they wish. And the same in reverse. If you’re uncomfortable, ask the person to write a rec for you and then you can enhance it or take out bits as you see fit.

#3 – Blog

Just like this one, a candidate can use a blog to provide more information or get across personality without having to overload a resume. Savvy employers will look candidates up on social media. Why not give them something good to find?

Something better than Facebook rants, voter rolls, etc.

#2 – LinkedIn Functionality

For jobs advertised on LinkedIn, for some of them, you can apply by connecting them directly to your profile. What could be easier? But beware, as that’s not too specific to jobs, and hiring managers don’t like that.

And functionality changes over time. One thing you can do is inform a company that you’re interested in them (via LinkedIn). You can also, although I believe you currently need to have the paid version of LI, tell them if theirs is one of your top choice jobs/companies.

#1 – Being Able to do Job Seeking Online

Finally, of course, a lot of the job search still must happen in an old-fashioned manner. Interviews will, for the most part (except, perhaps, for quickie phone screens, particularly where relocation is at issue), be conducted on screen. Some may still have to be done in person.

A lot of networking will still happen at events and not on LinkedIn. But a ton of it can happen in cyberspace. It makes the search far easier and faster than it ever has been.

And God bless the developers of Zoom. An initial interview pulls maybe an hour out of your day—instead of a good four or more.

Got any of your own gems you’d like to share?

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Speculating About the Future

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 30, 2024

Let’s Consider Speculating About the Future

Speculating is fun. However, future predictions can be notoriously inaccurate. I’m still waiting for my flying car, for example.

However, some predictions have been eerily on the nose, such as cell phones, which are a lot like Star Trek’s communicators. So here’s a few idea on how to essentially build your own crystal ball.

For writers, this kind of speculation can be helpful, either to set a scene or to spark some other idea. While science fiction and fantasy are natural genres for this, probably just about any genre could work. Maybe the couple in your romance are inventors. Or the victims in your horror are dispatched with cutting edge (pun intended) stuff.

Extrapolation

The easiest way to speculate and predict is to take what currently exists, and then extrapolate from that.

Transportation

For example, consider transportation. Your car gets a certain degree of fuel efficiency and it has a particular top speed. It holds a certain number of people. And it has a particular styling. So what happens when you stretch those characteristics?

And so you can consider a car that can go faster yet safely. Maybe your futuristic vehicle is self-driving, or a robot ‘drives’ it.

Since parking can be a pain in a lot of places, why not think up a car which can park itself, or can fold up so it doesn’t need a conventionally-sized parking spot? Maybe your new car is partly powered by solar or nuclear fusion. And how sleek and aerodynamic should it be?

Communications

And you can consider other basic areas of life. Let’s look at communications next. Because nearly all of us already have smart phones, think about the trends. Sometimes, phones get smaller, and are more lightweight and compact. However, at other times, they become larger and almost could be thought of as tablet hybrids.

What do your characters need? And what are the limitations on either scenario? How small can a phone become? How large?

Can it be embedded?

Speculating About Feeding the World

So what about food? People still starve. However, that’s usually due to distribution problems rather than growing enough crops or the existence of enough arable land. Hence how do your characters (or your setting) solve this problem?

And so you can look at any basic area of life, from finding love to consuming entertainment or buying clothing. See where extrapolation takes you.

Employment

When I graduated from undergrad, in 1983, there was no such thing as social media. In fact, I well recall cutting and pasting paragraphs in papers by literally cutting and pasting. Sorry, rain forest!

While computers already existed of course, they had not made it to the mainstream yet. But once the price started to drop, in the late 80s, mid 90s or so, computers started to become more ubiquitous. So, that year, the prospects for employment using a computer were really just programmer or someone who taught programming.

Now, of course, many of us use our computers every day at work. And this doesn’t even get into how often we check and use our cell phones. But back in that year, would any of us have come up with so many varied uses for computers in work?

Off the Wall

And then there’s the somewhat pie in the sky, kinda crazy stuff. For example, let’s think about the second Back to the Future film. Doc Brown uses fusion power to make the DeLorean go, but one of the things he grabs for fuel is a discarded banana peel. What a brilliant off the wall idea!

Off the Wall Fashion

So let’s look at, say, fashion. Maybe it’s the opposite of today, where everything is covered up but genitalia. But what kind of a society would support that?

Or maybe everyone wears a uniform, but the uniforms look really odd.

Consider hair when you consider future fashions. Does the mullet make a mainstream comeback? Or do we all just say to hell with it and shave our heads?

More Speculating Out of My Overly Fertile Imagination

Cars could be six stories tall. Communications could be facilitated with chewing gum. Maybe you vote telepathically. The sky, as always, is the limit.

Takeaways for Speculating About the Future

In short, thinking about our future, you may want to consider today, back a few decades, when today was the future. How did everything change? Was it gradual or radical? Did celebrities and influencers steer the ship? Or did it come up from grass roots?

Depending on your genre, and how much room there is for humor, your ideas about the future can go in any number of directions.

Decide on how plausible you want everything to be. And don’t forget to take into account professional predictions like Moore’s Law when speculating about the future!

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The Weird World of Being Published

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on May 28, 2024

What is The Weird World of Being Published?

Published? Me?

Well, yeah, actually.

I suppose, in the back of my mind, when I was first starting to write (age four or five or thereabouts), I had an idea about becoming a published author. I also wanted to, at times, be a cowgirl, a veterinarian, an archaeologist and other things. Becoming, for real, published, makes up one weird world.

So, sit down, and let me tell you all about it.

Origins Story

No, I was not bitten by a radioactive spider.

For probably any aspiring author, the road is a long one. When I first started writing, it constituted what you would now refer to as graphic fiction. I was a child and so I would draw little figures in addition to a few words. As I got older, the words began to dominate, and I have never written, as an adult, a graphic novel.

Maybe I should one of these days. Except my visual artistic endeavors have not truly developed beyond what they were when I was in grade school. So, maybe not.

I wrote fan fiction for a while and then began to migrate over to wholly original fiction. Furthermore, I had wanted to write for NaNoWriMo back in 2012, but I did not have a decent idea that year.

I also wanted to make what I wrote wholly original fiction. In 2013, I was fortunate enough to come up with a great idea and so Untrustworthy was born.

I submitted it to a contest held by Riverdale Avenue Books and was lucky enough when they chose me as the winner in February of 2014. My thanks, of course, goes out to the wonderful people there, particularly Lori Perkins and Don Weise.

The Start of the Wild Ride of Publishing

I took a few months for things to really start clicking along. Lori was busy, other submissions came in, plus of course they had a business to run. I was in school at Quinnipiac and so, while I noticed the time passing, I was okay with it.

In November, Lori contacted me and we started to get down to the nitty gritty. This included editing the manuscript. It also included getting together a blurb about me and getting an established person in the business to review my book (a thousand thanks to Cecilia Tan!), and deciding on a cover.

I felt that the aliens in my novel would be too difficult to draw, and making up a model like them would be costly (such things are at issue if you’re a first-time author, folks) and wouldn’t necessarily evoke my vision.

Hence I instead suggested an image of broken glass. Adding to that effect were the concepts that (a) the moon, Wecabossia, would be nearly the same size as Caboss, so it would be rather large in the sky and readily observable during daylight hours, and (b) the Cabossians breathe methyl salicylate, or wintergreen oil.

Those gave the cover designer (the incomparable Scott Carpenter) some design elements and ideas to work with. I truly love the cover and how the huge moon gives a sense of foreboding as the one broken window amidst a mass of perfection is a nagging hint that something’s not quite right.

Note, by the way, that there is a newer cover, meant to evoke The Handmaid’s Tale as Untrustworthy is cut from fairly similar cloth.

Nuts and Bolts

A ton of strange things happen when you are published. For one, you need an Amazon Author page! But you can’t make one until your book is actually for sale on Amazon, in any format. Furthermore, Amazon’s many domains have different rules. You can make author pages on Amazon.com (the US), Amazon.co.uk (the UK), Amazon.fr (France), Amazon.de (Germany), and Amazon.co.jp (Japan).

Amazon Author pages exist on Amazon.ca (Canada), but you can’t change them! For Amazon.it (Italy) and others, there are no Author pages. I hope Amazon makes this feature more uniform across the board.

As for what to put into your Author page, you need a good recent headshot of yourself (mine comes from four years ago; I could use a newer one) and links to things like your Twitter stream and your blog RSS, if any.

For works available in countries with non-English native tongues, you might want to have a trusted friend help you with translations (or do them yourself, if you’re able to). Trusting Google Translate is not in your best interests. Get a native speaker.

Autographing

Dealing with autographing books is interesting when someone hundreds of miles away asks you to do this. I’ll pass along this tip from New York Times bestselling author Dayton Ward: arrange it all through PayPal. For him, the best way to take care of this means to collect the cost of the book and two types of postage: one goes to his home or a post office box, and the other goes to the fan’s location.

I’ll add to this – if it’s a person you know, and you don’t mind giving out your address (or if you have a PO box I suppose your relationship with them would be moot anyway), have them have Amazon (or Barnes & Noble, wherever your book is available in dead tree format) ship the book directly to that location. Then all you need to collect is return postage.

Conceivably, someone who doesn’t want to work with PayPal could even supply a money order and slip it in the mail to your PO box.

Reviews are gold and you need them. But how do you get them? If your friends are buying your work, once they say they’ve finished, ask them to write you a review. Reviews can be short – a five-word sentence is better than nothing. There are also book bloggers. Do your research and find some that are (a) semi-available, (b) write decent, unbiased, honest, and constructive reviews, and (c) read your genre.

Oh, and bad reviews? Not fun but don’t be discouraged! For many brand-new authors, having unmitigatingly positive reviews and five stars all over the place feels, well, kind of suspect. But a bad review, here and there, and a single star or no stars will help you. Because readers will see the reviews as being far more authentic.

Takeaways for Being Published

It’s all rather satisfying but also a tad freaky. Every now and then, I just want to run around screaming – I’m a published author!

‘Cause I am, you know.

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