Tiger Writer! An interview with novelist Teri Case
As Interviewed by The Original Writers Group in London
photo by Gretchen LeMay Photography
I was recently interviewed by The Original Writers Group in London. Click here to read it.
Tag Archives: tiger drive
Thank You Mr. Tobey
Vitality Stories
Mr. Tobey
In Tiger Drive, Carrie is seventeen years old and desperate to go to college but needs financial aid. She turns to her English teacher, Mr. Hill, to proofread her scholarship essay. He is an honest and candid man, and while Carrie doesn’t fully open up to him, she trusts him. Mr. Hill believes in her, and this makes all the difference to Carrie.
In reality, Mr. Hill was inspired by my ninth grade English teacher, Mr. Tobey, at Carson Junior High School. While Carrie’s story is not my story, writing creates an opportunity to recognize people who have made a difference even when writing fiction. Mr. Tobey is one of those people. But in the past thirty-two years, I’ve never reached out to thank him. In a recent exchange with my hometown high school librarian, I said it was because of people like her that there are adults like me. She made a meme of that comment and put it on her computer to remind herself that she makes a difference. She so does. Our exchange inspired me to reach out to Mr. Tobey, finally, to thank him. To tell him how the following three interactions with him have stuck with me always. Continue reading
Biggest Surprise Ever
Vitality Stories
Biggest Surprise Ever
Dear Friend,
Right now, the above video isn’t going to make any sense because in a completely bizarre chain of events–and while I was writing this newsletter to send out–I received surprising news that the hardcover of Tiger Drive is available for shipping/delivery by January 11th via Amazon and Barnes & Noble!!! My head is spinning. I’m adding links here and sending this to you today because you deserve to know first, however, I thought you might get a kick out of my original message below because, just like that–I’m published. All my careful planning and now there’s nothing I can do about it! I have to laugh!!
Note: hardcover is $27 compared to the ~$11 paperback sales price Amazon and B&N are offering.
The Ugliest Baby (originally intended newsletter)
Happy New Year, my friend!
I missed emailing you this past month–really I missed hearing from you. Whenever I send a newsletter, several of you respond with the most interesting stories and experiences. I’ve learned so much from you in 2017, and I hope to return the favor in 2018.
This was the first holiday since I started writing full-time three years ago (yes, I know, three years and I’m just now publishing Tiger Drive–Egads!) that I unplugged and took the holiday off. Writing is no different than running your own business. It sounds romantic going into it–this idea that you will work for yourself–and then you quickly realize that you need to work 24/7 to support yourself, keep the business alive, and get everything done. It’s important to realize that just like any job, one needs a vacation from time to time. A vacation where you give yourself permission to do absolutely nothing or catch up on your non-business life. Work life balance!
So I tried to shut my brain off and stop thinking about everything that should or could be done before Tiger Drive flies out into the world on Valentine’s Day. I talked to my author friend, Cathey Graham Nickell, about it. I was telling her how I couldn’t stop worrying about everything that needed to be done. I’m a process-oriented person, and so I get a bit obsessed with checking boxes (similar to Carrie in Tiger Drive) and if I don’t check all those boxes, Tiger Drive might suffer for it. I’ve put so much of my life into this book. What if I don’t catch any final typos? Making changes and ordering proofs takes time (even though I’ve already gone through two proofs and feel pretty good about it). What if I take vacation when I could save one more typo from assaulting my readers (I’ve hired editors and proofreaders to avoid this, but I still worry)? Cathey and I have talked a lot in the past about letting the project go, that we can’t control what happens once we release our books. But this time she said,
“Now you sort of know what it feels like to have a baby.” Continue reading
F*ck It!
Vitality Stories
F*ck It!
Dear Friend,
Exciting things are happening with Tiger Drive. Exciting things as in after several years of writing and editing, I am close to announcing Tiger Drive‘s release date.
I know, crazy right?
But first, WTF is up with my newsletter title?
Well, a few things.
I’ve decided to publish my novel and not pursue a traditional publisher for a variety of reasons, the most significant being,
- The resources that were once exclusive to traditional publishers are now available to anyone who is willing to invest in their work (in particular: editors, cover artists, lawyers, marketers, layout designers, and more),
- Using an agent and a traditional publisher could mean Tiger Drive might not be published for another year or more,
- I would most likely forfeit my rights to Tiger Drive for the rest of my life plus seventy years which means I’d have to get permission on how I market Tiger Drive, would have little insight on what is working and what isn’t working, and if the publisher decides they only want to print 1,000 copies and nothing more, I would have to get a lawyer to try to buy back my rights to do another print-run.
So I decided (with the support of my peers in three creative groups) in a very unusual Teri fashion, F*ck it. I’ll publish on my own.
What this means is things need to start happening, um, yesterday.Tiger Drive is currently in the hands of a copy editor. This week I’m finalizing the back of book description with the help of other authors and the Tiger Drive Squad, and next week, professional designers will start drafting the cover. I’m going to be honest, choosing the right cover and back of book description are more intimidating than writing the novel. Did you know (and I will try not to hyperventilate while I type this) that a book cover only gets 0.2 seconds to convey the genre and attract a reader’s attention? Point two seconds! It took me three seconds to type “point two seconds.”
Exactly!
But F*ck it! I have a team–a professional team–helping me get the cover and description right.Also, Tiger Drive is in the hand of an editor as I type. If I used a traditional publisher, I was going to face a problem that is now no longer a problem: use of the F-word.
Drug dealing, biker gang WJ in Tiger Drive can now be a realistic character and say f*ck as much as he wants. I rarely swear or use the F-word, but as I was writing Tiger Drive, WJ kept dropping F-bombs all over the place like F-ing cigarette butts. No kidding, during the first draft I was so embarrassed by WJ’s potty mouth, I said out loud, “You can’t write that. He can’t keep saying that!”
But F*ck it! A drug dealer, biker gang member like WJ would swear. So I let him.
However, now is a good time to share that many readers frown upon foul language in a book, and it’s possible you might be one of them, and for that, I’m sorry. In fact, using the F-word guarantees at least one negative review on Amazon and Goodreads. So I searched how many times WJ says it in Tiger Drive:
108 times?! WJ gets an “F” for language! But WJ won’t give a fig about an F grade. He’s got other problems to deal with.
Anyway, enough about me. What’s going on in your world?
As always thanks for being you,
Teri
P.S. If I don’t have your first name, send me an email, and I’ll update your subscription 🙂
P.P.S. If you are receiving this newsletter because one of my awesome subscribers forwarded it to you, and you want to subscribe to the newsletter, too, then click here and Thank You!
You Win Some, You Tattoo Some
Vitality Stories
You Win Some, You Tattoo Some
And the winner is…
Two weeks ago, I shared my perspective on tattoos and how I was having a tattoo drawn for a character, WJ Sloan, in Tiger Drive. Like many tattoos are intended to be, the tattoo has special meaning to the character and having it extracted from my imagination and put on paper (or in this case, digital format) has made me appreciate this complex character even more, and as someone who has no plans to ever get a tattoo, I now also appreciate the work that goes into a tattoo. Continue reading
Tattoos and Tiger Drive
Vitality Stories
Author Missy Wilkinson by Missy Wilkinson
Tattoos and Tiger Drive
Do you tattoo?
Tiger Drive is written from the point of view of four characters, and the most challenging (and foul-mouthed) character is WJ Sloan. In 2011 when I first started writing WJ’s scenes, I’d make myself blush and cringe, often chastising myself, “You can’t write that! He can’t do that! What’s wrong with you–he can’t say that!” And yet he did, and I did. Again and again.
In fact, when Deborah Halverson, DearEditor.com, read one of my earlier versions, she came back to me and said something like, Continue reading
Growing In Tokyo – Day One
Vitality Stories
Growing In Tokyo – Day One
First Impression
Steps taken: 19,654
Not knowing much about Tokyo, we were hesitant to book traditional Japanese accommodations and instead opted for a western hotel between the Akasaka and Roppongi neighborhoods. As is typical when staying at a western-influenced hotel, our fellow lodgers were a mix of business travellers and tourists.
Ted and I are walkers. I wear a pedometer on our travels to track our daily adventure (and to figure out how much dessert I will eat) one step at a time. We have struck a fashion sense inclined towards practicality and comfort, avoiding aching feet and backs without feeling underdressed, or barring ourselves entrance to nice restaurants or establishments due to tennis shoes, t-shirts and jeans. Our packing philosophy has always worked—until Tokyo. Continue reading
Thanks For Your Influence In Tokyo
Vitality Stories
Thanks For Your Influence In Tokyo
Really?
In October I went to Tokyo for the first time. When I told people I was going, the responses ranged from wide eyes to frowns, all followed by, “Really?” Continue reading