Interview with Marva Dasef

As everyone knows, I'm excited about Children's Literature, and next month a wonderful collection of stories I helped stories I helped critique is coming out.  So, I took a moment to catch up with Marva Dasef on her work and her new release.

Hi, Marva, and welcome to the Toasted Scimitar. How long have you been writing fiction and what got you into writing?

Greetings, Oh Dreaded One.  Thanks for asking me onto Toasted Scimitar.  It’s an honor.

Like all writers, I’ve been writing since I could smear my diaper contents on the walls.  To this day, my mother is afraid of reading my stories.  However, college led me into a more lucrative form of writing–technical documentation–for some thirty-five years.  I wrote a bit of fiction along the way, but submitted only a couple of things for publication.  I got a flash into an anthology on Sasquatch.  Fond I am of the Northwest variety of the mighty beast.  I dredged that story out of the shoe box in 2006 and got it published in Bewildering Stories.  That revamp set me off on lugging out other junk to rewrite and submit for publication.

The next story out of the archives was a memoir-style story about one of my father’s experiences growing up in West Texas during the Great Depression.  I hadn’t finished it since I didn’t have a good ending, so I went to visit my father (age 85) and asked him for more detail.  Floodgate opening time!  I ended up with twenty stories, fifteen or so actually based on his experiences. 

I had seven of the stories published here and there in on-line and print mags.  

I pulled several others out and went into rewrites (shuddering at my earlier efforts).  With the help of lots of excellent writers on a couple of critiquing sites, I managed to shape up a few of the oldies for publication.  From that, I gained enough experience to start writing new stories.

All told, I’ve had thirty-five or so stories published here and there.  If anybody’s interested in the list, they can check my website.  Some stories that went into ezines are still available.

All my books are listed here. 

Why did you decide to self-publish "Tales of a Texas Boy?” What are the benefits and down sides of self-publishing?

I tried a couple of agents with the entire set of stories, but trying to sell a small book (about 33,000 words) of short stories is impossible unless you’re already a well-known writer.  I might have waited, but since my father was getting on in years and almost totally blind with macular degeneration, I felt like I couldn’t wait to get famous.  That’s why I decided to self-publish.  I wanted my father to have “his” stories in a form he could hold, even if he could no longer read. 

The best move I ever made was to put out a Large Print edition (8.5x11" and 7.5x9.5").  Of course, his blindness got me thinking about other people with failing vision.  As it turns out, the stories resonate with the older folks.  I’ve heard more than one comment that the stories reminded them of their own childhood, particularly if they grew up in rural America.  Tales hit their nostalgia button.  The two Large Print editions are regularly on the LP best sellers list on Amazon. 

Benefits of self-publishing: You get published.  Guaranteed.  Whether you sell or not depends on how avid you are for marketing.  Thing is, even if you get a regular publisher, you’re still going to have to do a lot of marketing.  That’s the way the game works.  A publisher does provide some publicity help.  After all, they want to make money from your books, but don’t think you can sit back and collect royalties without lifting a finger. 

Downside of self-publishing: You won’t sell a lot of copies.

What got you into small press publishers? Tell us a bit about your experience with that.

Small press publishers are far more accessible.  I don’t think the quality of the material is any less than the majors, but there are only so many slots available with the majors.  Getting an agent or major publisher for a novella-length book is an exercise in futility.  I write books under 50K words.  The small publishers are much more amenable to the short books, especially if they’re e-publishers.

Some people are predicting that e-publishing is the new direction for children's and YA books. What has been your experience with e-books and other non-traditional formats?

E-books are not just for kids.  E-books are in all genres for all ages.  A particularly hot (pardon the pun) market is for erotica.  I don’t happen to write anything that I wouldn’t let my mom read (yes, she does read my books after all).  But I know a number of writers who are prolific erotica authors with their main publishing outlet in e-books.

I produced a Kindle edition of Tales, and Cantarabooks also published it in e-book format.  I think it’s a good idea to cover all the publishing bases you can.  E-books are a great way to get your writer foot in the door of publishing.

I'm a big Cadida fan. Tell us a bit about your upcoming release, "The Seven Adventures of Cadida.”

Gee, thanks!  I like that feisty gal myself.  “The Seven Adventures of Cadida” (Sam’s Dot Publishing) will be listed for sale on The Genre Mall on January 1st.  I wish it were in time for Christmas gifts, but, alas, practicalities got in the way of wishes once again.  SDP also published my YA science fiction novella, “First Duty.”  Here’s the backcover blurb on Seven Adventures to give folks an idea of what Cadida is all about:

Cadida’s in trouble again.

But then, when is Cadida not in trouble?

First, she gets captured by raiders and thrown into a cave to be sacrificed to a demon, which turns out to the a djinn named Bascoda, a rather clumsy genie who adopts Cadida as his mistress.  Cadida manages to escape despite Bascoda’s “help,” but later returns to the cave to see if anyone else had been captured.  She finds instead of a prisoner a rather lonely and rather pathetic demon who needs a new home.  Then Baakir (a fire-breathing, talking, flying horse) tells Cadida that his beloved Barika has been captured by pirates.  Baakir is only somewhat helpful because he is not yet fully in control of his magic.  Oops.

Oh, yes, there’s much more...but you’ll just have to turn the pages and find out what kind of trouble this bored little rich young lady can get into.

What new projects do you have going?

I’ve started the third book in a middle-grade fantasy trilogy.  I’m querying the first two books as a combo.  Clearly, these are separate books, but I got little response to the first book as a standalone.  One agent mentioned that it was too short and would do better if I added 20K words to it (to bring it up to 65K).  I’m not a wordy writer.  I figure that the reader knows the sky is blue and grass is green, so I’ve never felt compelled to tell them such things.  I think this comes from my 35 years writing technical documentation.  Short, simple, to the point.  Anything extra is, well, extra.

This trait will also prevent my ascension into the Halls of Epic Fantasy Novels.  When I read, I don’t want every little detail of the landscape and a description of every pockmark and wrinkle on the characters.  I guess I write for people like myself.  Less is better.

Oops, now I’m wandering off on a soapbox with wheels.

My WIP series is titled “The Witches of Galdorheim” and comprises Book 1: Bad Spelling and Book 2: Midnight Oil.  I haven’t decided on a title for the third book.  I just call it The Scottish Tale for now.  Can you guess where it takes place?

Thanks for chatting with us about your work.

I appreciate the chance to natter on somebody else’s blog than my own.  So, thanks for asking!