Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
ANNOUNCEMENT!!! 'Rockapocalypse: A Boy's Tale' is under contract!
I'm happy to announce that my first book, 'Rockapocalypse: A Boy's Tale', is under contract with Written World Communications! I'd like to thank everyone for their interest and support over the last year and a half. Now you get to read it! I'll know more about the publication date as we progress in that direction.
Friday, March 23, 2012
What I'm up to these days...
Half way through edits for Rockapocalypse with my publisher. Also, I've finished a second book entitled 'Cold Currents', a mystery/thriller set in the South. I'm hoping this is my year to go into print. I'm sorry this blog hasn't been updated more often, and I sincerely thank everyone who has followed it. I'm working on another blog with Weebly that will combine the contents of this site and my Wordpress blog. I hope to launch that soon!
Friday, November 18, 2011
Darn! I forgot I had this blog here!
Not really... just been so doggone busy. In fact, I'm heavy into learning all about ebook conversion software. Why, you ask? Because like it or not, the doors are blowing off the traditional publishing model. Ignore it if you want. It's a quick fix society...has been for years. I've played by the rules, played nice, followed the guidelines, waited patiently.
Nobody has ever said, "You suck as a writer! Don't quit your day job...", so I've maintained the course. But I can't ignore the technology, the tools that are available in a free society. Or the growing tide of self-pub mania. Oh, I've not completely pulled out of the trad-pub realm, just keeping my options open. It's like this...if I came to your playground with my dodge ball and I saw you and your friends playing like a bunch of octogenarians wearing depends and sporting walkers, the dust collecting on the ball as it sailed through the air in some odd (and very slow) time warp, and was told I would have to be voted in to play, I would go form my own dodge ball game. I wouldn't care if yours was the Queens dodge ball league and had been around for 150 years. It's that simple.
My first book has undergone a metamorphosis that would put The Fly to shame. I've done all I can do with it, but it will be published. I will not surrender. My second book is coming along nicely and I just did a line edit on the first 200 pages. I've also "sold" a story to a literary publication that will be in print by January and I'm fishing around another short story as I write this. See? I have been busy!
Here's the deal with the trad-status, per say. I'm working with a trad-publisher to get my book in print, but when, no one can say. There is NO contract, just a "gentleman's agreement". I will not live forever. For the life of me, I cannot understand why traditional publishing takes so long! I know the ins and outs of the process, but there seems to be a floating lag factor that cannot be nailed down and stomped like the turtle-paced, snail headed monkey that it is. We've come too far to be operating like scribes from the 16th century. That's why I'm learning ebook stuff. Enough is enough. Sure, I know if I go that route it will be a struggle, but it will be a struggle that I have control of. It will be a struggle that will keep me engaged in the process and not sitting around waiting for the turtle-paced snail head to tell me what's going on.
Well, that was refreshing. Just needed to get that out.
Nobody has ever said, "You suck as a writer! Don't quit your day job...", so I've maintained the course. But I can't ignore the technology, the tools that are available in a free society. Or the growing tide of self-pub mania. Oh, I've not completely pulled out of the trad-pub realm, just keeping my options open. It's like this...if I came to your playground with my dodge ball and I saw you and your friends playing like a bunch of octogenarians wearing depends and sporting walkers, the dust collecting on the ball as it sailed through the air in some odd (and very slow) time warp, and was told I would have to be voted in to play, I would go form my own dodge ball game. I wouldn't care if yours was the Queens dodge ball league and had been around for 150 years. It's that simple.
My first book has undergone a metamorphosis that would put The Fly to shame. I've done all I can do with it, but it will be published. I will not surrender. My second book is coming along nicely and I just did a line edit on the first 200 pages. I've also "sold" a story to a literary publication that will be in print by January and I'm fishing around another short story as I write this. See? I have been busy!
Here's the deal with the trad-status, per say. I'm working with a trad-publisher to get my book in print, but when, no one can say. There is NO contract, just a "gentleman's agreement". I will not live forever. For the life of me, I cannot understand why traditional publishing takes so long! I know the ins and outs of the process, but there seems to be a floating lag factor that cannot be nailed down and stomped like the turtle-paced, snail headed monkey that it is. We've come too far to be operating like scribes from the 16th century. That's why I'm learning ebook stuff. Enough is enough. Sure, I know if I go that route it will be a struggle, but it will be a struggle that I have control of. It will be a struggle that will keep me engaged in the process and not sitting around waiting for the turtle-paced snail head to tell me what's going on.
Well, that was refreshing. Just needed to get that out.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Writing and the "Junker"
I started on my next book a month ago. Or maybe it was two weeks ago...or last week. I don't remember.
Idea #1 started well enough. The plot fell at my feet. Ingenious, twisty and full of life. I cranked out the first chapter, thrilled at the possibilities. Then realization sunk in. This would be in the 200-300k word range if I pursued it. And some of the plot points would take a monumental effort to pull off. And then I would have to revise like a madman. I put it aside. It needed more thought.
Idea #2 struck around midnight. I rushed to capture the opening scene and I caught it well. But where was the plot? I'll never know. It was in a thousand places and there seemed no way to make it coherent. I put it aside. Maybe I would re-visit, maybe not.
Idea #3 slapped me like a ton of bricks. It came welling up from me like a tide. At that point I came to a realization that should have been evident the moment I started Idea #1. I've told you why the first two didn't work, but the excuses were all wrong. They didn't work because they had no real voice. Not like the third one.
Idea #3 will be my next book. The voice of my MC is strong and has a story to tell. And two chapters into it, the bond between writer and character has been forged and honed for the journey.
What about the Junker? Sometimes writing is like owning a "junker" car. It takes a few attempts to get it started but once the motor catches, you know it will take you where you want to go.
Idea #1 started well enough. The plot fell at my feet. Ingenious, twisty and full of life. I cranked out the first chapter, thrilled at the possibilities. Then realization sunk in. This would be in the 200-300k word range if I pursued it. And some of the plot points would take a monumental effort to pull off. And then I would have to revise like a madman. I put it aside. It needed more thought.
Idea #2 struck around midnight. I rushed to capture the opening scene and I caught it well. But where was the plot? I'll never know. It was in a thousand places and there seemed no way to make it coherent. I put it aside. Maybe I would re-visit, maybe not.
Idea #3 slapped me like a ton of bricks. It came welling up from me like a tide. At that point I came to a realization that should have been evident the moment I started Idea #1. I've told you why the first two didn't work, but the excuses were all wrong. They didn't work because they had no real voice. Not like the third one.
Idea #3 will be my next book. The voice of my MC is strong and has a story to tell. And two chapters into it, the bond between writer and character has been forged and honed for the journey.
What about the Junker? Sometimes writing is like owning a "junker" car. It takes a few attempts to get it started but once the motor catches, you know it will take you where you want to go.
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