Guest Post - Behind the Scenes: Authors as Entertainers - Serena Chase



Today's Guest Post is written by Blogger and now Author Serena Chase :
 Serena works on the Blog http://www.edgyinspirationalromance.com  and is one of the blogs that I frequent quite regularly and have found some awesome books on the site.


Behind the Scenes: Authors as Entertainers by Serena Chase

There is a shortage of glitz and glam in the life of a typical fiction author, but there is no denying that, regardless of the intellectual level of what we write, we are vital members of the entertainment industry. Why, then, is it so difficult for many authors to admit this?
Our culture has evolved (or devolved, some might say) to be fairly focused on instant gratification. Although e-books have given us that sort of access to novels—“click here to download now!”—the actual business of being entertained by novel-length fiction is quite a time commitment in our fast-paced world. Unlike the movies, where we pay approximately the same price to be admitted to the theater as we would for a new release trade paperback, with books, by the time we’re 120 minutes into the “show”, an average-paced reader is less than halfway to the end. Our cinema-entertained counterparts, however, are, in most cases, already fully entertained and on their way to their cars. Honestly, it’s a lot for us to ask of those who consume our “product.” But, as with a great movie, a great novel is entertainment at its finest—perhaps more so. Indeed, Shakespeare described reading as, “the theatre of the mind” and our God-given imaginations are way less limiting than a Hollywood director’s 120 minute interpretation of a story.
So why should we fight the “entertainer” label? In my opinion, we shouldn’t. We should embrace it!
Perhaps some authors see the “entertainment industry” as too surface, too “everyman” for their style of über-intelligent prose. Others, perhaps, are writing to fulfill a societal or moral agenda and see their work as more of a “message to the masses” than a means by which people might be entertained. For me, however, I’m perfectly comfortable with the idea of being involved in the entertainment industry. Perhaps that has something to do with my background.
When I graduated from high school I didn’t have any concrete plans to write a book. I enjoyed writing, of course, and was a voracious reader. In fact, I was fairly experienced in the art of living within my imagination. But it wasn’t writing books that drew my heart and charted my path away from home, it was my other passion, music, that filled my need to create stories. But back in those early days, I wanted to fashion my tales in increments of four-minutes-or-less—the common length of a modern pop ballad.
When I left home, it was with the plan to enter the entertainment industry—specifically, the music business. I planned to be a songwriter and, in my heart of hearts, yearned to perform my own songs for the masses, someday. At eighteen, I headed off to Nashville. Four years later, I graduated from Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business with the tools to succeed and a few connections to help speed me on my way.
But life had other plans. Love moved me out of Music City USA and back to my home state of Iowa. A couple of years later, becoming a mom (another cherished dream) kept me here. Even though I kept writing songs and performing at weddings and local events, something was building behind-the-scenes. Eventually, it took the form of stories that could not be conveyed in the three minutes and thirty seconds required by popular record label standards.
At thirty-three I was a far cry from the naïve-but-educated newlywed with the Music Business degree in hand, but one evening, I sat down to try to give breath to the story that had been percolating in my heart. It took seven years of drafts, of studying the craft of fiction writing, a lot of struggle, and a fair bit of near-despair before my first book, The Ryn, saw the light of day via publication. And, while I hope there is a bit of intelligence in the prose and a message that touches my readers’ hearts, I hope that, on their way to those sweet words “The End”, those who have spent time within the story have been . . . entertained.
Much like an actor, director, singer, or songwriter, by writing and publishing fiction, I provide a service—a means of escape and a vehicle to transport those who desire it into a realm where, if for only a moment, a reader can vicariously live beyond the limitations of his or her circumstances. Even though my “membership card” may look more like something you would get from a library than the cool sort of lamination that might be attached to a lanyard at a red-carpet event, I am proud to be a card-carrying member of the entertainment industry.
I am an author; therefore, I am an entertainer. And I hope you, dear reader, are entertained through each and every page.

About the author:  

Serena Chase is a frequent contributor to USA Today’s Happy Ever After and blogs at Edgy Inspirational Romance. Her debut YA fantasy, The Ryn, was released in March 2013 and its sequel, The Remedy, in April 2013. Together, they comprise an expanded re-imagining of the classic Grimm fairy tale, Snow White & Rose Red and are the first two books in the Eyes of E’veria series. Serena lives in a small town in Iowa with her husband, Dave, two daughters, and a very spoiled white goldendoodle named Albus. You can connect with Serena at her website http://www.serenachase.com, her official author page on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter @Serena_Chase.
 


 

Comments

  1. Thanks for having me, Paula! *hugs*

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love it! Having worked in and around Hollywood for many years, there are so many similarities. I always wondered why these beautiful, wonderful actors say they can't watch themselves on screen, and now I understand... I don't want to read my own books after they're published either! It's too nerve wracking to view the final product.

    Keep on entertaining, Serena! I can't wait for book 3. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't wait for more books written by you either! :)

    ReplyDelete

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