WRITING AND WRITING

I'm in the revision stage of my second novel. It's at this point that the layers are refined and the subtleties are polished to add depth to the plot. It's also my chance to clarify the characters and the emotions and reasons behind their actions and reactions. This is one of my favorite parts of writing. I love this process! Talk to you soon.

12 05 11 WRITING AND WALKING IN THE MIDST OF GIANTS

It’s been a stretch since my weekly-blog-that-turned-into-a-monthly-blog-that-turned-into a-whenever-blog has had a new entry. What inspired me to finally post a new one was that I started thinking about some of the people I’ve had the good fortune of calling my friends. Most of them don’t know each other, but they all share one thing in common. They’re talented.

There is something wonderful knowing people who can do things beyond the average. It’s intimidating, inspiring, and at the same time comforting knowing they have ruffled collars, flat tires, credit card bills and sometimes eat unhealthy food.

This is a random list, and I’m going to leave out a lot of people that warrant a mention, but these are the ones that were swimming in my mind when I wrote this.

Talent, as we all know, rarely equates to fame and fortune. What these people have besides a great gift, are an unbridled work ethic, determination, love of their craft, and to boot, are just plain nice.

This isn’t about name recognition. This is about people I know who struggle because they have to, because something inside them dictates it, regardless of whether they reach whatever their definition of success is. These people are far from household names, though if you dig a little bit you’d find info on some of them.

As I said, this is far from a complete list and never should be. At times it may sound like I’m plugging them but, you know what? They deserve it.

As a disclaimer, let me state that if I upset anyone by mentioning, or not mentioning, their names, it wasn’t my purpose to do that.

In no particular order I’m going to start with Lisa Cattoretti. She is one of the most tasteful guitarists I’ve ever known. Everything she touches has a sliver of something she once told me she calls the heart notes. She doesn’t play fancy, she plays tastefully. It’s a talent that comes from within. Her band, Blue Sky Drive, has just released a four song CD. Listening to it, her wistful guitar lines left me feeling as if I were in a field of wheat reaching out to my childhood.

Michael Gavaghen. He’s a writer who has the ability to create characters that are practically polar opposites and yet are just as much of each other as the sun is to the earth. He also has the ability within the chapters of his writings to lower, lift, and snatch away everything you thought you knew about the story. He’s a master conductor who is in some ways as tasteful as Lisa.

Gus Aviles, Jr. A guerilla filmmaker who never quits. He scrounges money, hits up friends for favors, films between his regular job, does his own writing, editing, promotion, dialogue replacement—whatever it takes to get the job done. Somehow, he always manages to come up with a product that is stirring and delightful to watch. It’s a physical and mental strain that would crush anyone who didn’t have the sheer willpower that he has.

One of the bravest and most talented writers I know is Corey Ginsberg. Though she writes in most genres, what strikes the most awe in me is her non-fiction pieces. She refuses to back down from the dark corners of her life. Not only does she write about it, she expresses it with power, grace, humor, and poignancy. This is an achievement that only comes from hard work, dedication and a belief in what you're doing. On top of that, her relentlessness in getting her work to publishers is a lesson every aspiring writer should learn. I use her for my inspiration in that department.

The list in my head contains others, but I don’t want to drag on too long and I don’t want to toss out names without giving each person their due, so I’m going to put the rest on the back burner for another entry.

The one thing I’ve noticed about walking in the midst of giants, it makes me stand taller. And for that, I thank all of my talented friends who have allowed me into their world.

09 12 11 WRITING AND WINNING - AND THE WINNER IS!!

Drum roll – Scott S. Colley was chosen from over 600 entries as the winner of the Die Laughing signed book giveaway sponsered by Goodreads! He's the author of the fantasy novel Mythica Genesis. Congrats Scott, your signed copy is on its way!

08 25 11 WRITING, and READING MY FIRST FANTASY NOVEL

A while back I talked about the fantasy genre and how I was unfamiliar with it. I mentioned a blurb I read of Mysti Parker's A Ranger's Tale and how intriguing it sounded. I finally had the opportunity to read it and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed. I found a lot to like in the story.

Caliphany, a head-strong young elf defies her domineering father and sets off to find her own destiny. Set in Tallenmere – a fantasy world – this intriguing tale is part Captain Blood, and part Gone With the Wind. 

I particularly enjoyed Parker’s method of storytelling. She uses one of three first person narrators for each chapter. To add to that, and what particular was clever, is that when she shifts p.o.v. it becomes a continuation of the story, not just the same scene retold through another person’s eyes.

            Enough of the technical side, what really made for a great read was the trouble, and Caliphany finds plenty of it quickly.  Besides physical tribulations, there’s also emotional hardship. Caliphany must endure not only her father’s harsh punishments but his rejection of her when she defies his wishes to find her own way in the outside world. Her journey leads to ferocious battles with ogres, traitors, and mages. It also leads to her soul mate, Gallidan. In Parker’s world, nothing comes easy, and Caliphany must deal with hard decisions. The pair’s relationship is crossed with bliss and misery.

This was my first fantasy novel. I wasn’t sure if I would be comfortable in that genre. After reading A Ranger’s Tale, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable anymore without visiting the genre.

Happy writing, everyone…and reading!

08 01 11 WRITING AND LESSONS I’M LEARNING

I know, I know, it’s been too long between this post and my previous one. Now that Die Laughing has moved from the aspirational to the concrete stage, it’s been a totally different, and time consuming experience for me. I’ve been pounding the pavement – virtually and physically – the last month or so trying to drum up interest in my book.

Here’s what I’ve learned.

Lesson one: There are some incredibly nice authors out there, willing to help a first time novelist like myself.

I asked two well-respected authors if they’d read the book before it was published and write blurbs – both, very busy, agreed.

I asked an author for advice on how to start the promotion process. She put together a lengthy and detailed step-by-step procedure that I’ve adapted as my blueprint.

A local author shared his contact info on sources for book readings and signings.

Three more authors took it upon themselves to interview and/or post reviews of my book on their blogs. They did this without prompting, strictly as a gesture to help attract attention to the release.

To all of you, my deepest thanks, and a promise to pay it forward.

Lesson two: Wait until you have an ISBN number out for the book before approaching bookstores.

No matter how many times you tell a bookstore proprietor not to look for the book on Ingram, Baker/Taylor until the actual release date, the first thing they will do is look for it. Ingram, Baker/Taylor are the distribution sites for every publisher printed book in the universe as far as I can determine.

When they don’t find it listed there, they will determine that you are a self-published author no matter how much you repeat that it won’t be released until the beginning of the following month. They will then consent to a book reading only on a consignment basis, which basically reduces my profit to zilch, and in one case I actually lose money on the deal.

Lesson three: Sometimes you have to bite the bullet with bookstores and lose money for the sake of promotion.

Lesson four: Comic book stores are owned by, and employed with, some of the coolest people around.

Because Die Laughing is part sci-fi I approached comic book stores about carrying the book and doing readings. Nearly all were enthusiastic to help out. They agreed to carry the book and/or do book readings.

One place, who’s going to carry the book, but doesn’t do book readings invited me to participate in their indie creator weekend.

An employee at another comic store told me he’d make sure to personally insert one of bookmarkers in each bag of merchandise he sold.

Lesson five: There are wonderful people out there who devour books.

These bibliophiles are eager to read, discuss, and talk to you about your stories. They are friendly, generous in praise, and happy to help spread the word by writing reviews. I’ve gained much respect and admiration for them.

My lessons continue. I have to admit I’ve travelled some interesting and enlightening roads. I’m looking forward to seeing what’s around the bend and sharing them with you.

Next up: my first book reading (and yikes I’m nervous about that!)

Happy writing (and reading) everyone!

06 30 11 WRITING and A GAME PLAN TO GETTING PUBLISHED

On the verge of the release of my sci-fi novel, Die Laughing, I thought it might be of advantage to other writers to hear my approach on how I got it published.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the story (I’ll leave that to others.) This is strictly a pragmatic approach that I used, which may help you to formulate your own plan.

I put together a tier of objectives, starting with what I thought should be my main goal, which I figured would be the best way to lead to a publishing deal with a major publisher. (Aim for the stars, settle for the moon.)

On top was to get an agent. I put together the best query letter and brief pitch that I could (constantly refining them.) From there I scoured agentquery.com and the Internet in general for agents related to my genre. I went through everyone I could find. I had some nibbles but no bites.

Next on my tier was to have the large and mid-size sci-fi publishers who would accept unsolicited manuscripts read mine. There aren't many, but I sent it out without any success.

The next step was to send out my query letter and pitch to the smaller legitimate (and check carefully!) publishers, which I did. This is where I started hitting pay dirt. In a short period of time I had five positive responses. The first one to make a concrete offer was IFWG Publishing, which I was pleased to accept. They're small, but spunky.

Had I not gotten any bites at that level I was faced with a choice - to hold back until my next novel was completed, start the process over with the new novel, and then present my first novel to whoever accepted the new novel (providing someone accepted it) - or to self-publish. I'm not sure which direction I would have taken.

The advantage to a tier system is that when I signed with IFWG it was with the knowledge that I was taking the best offer out there for my book.

The entire process took about a year and a half. And I’m happily sitting on the moon.

There is one caveat; it takes more than a plan. It requires perseverance and commitment.

Good luck and keep writing.

06 13 11 WRITING and PROOFREADING

First a big congrats to fantasy author Mysti Parker. She just celebrated her 5,000^th hit on her blog “Unwritten.” I’ve only got about 3,400 more hits to catch up with you!

Secondly a big thanks to my friend Debbie Orta. She’s not only a mom, a great vocalist and an actor, but also a proofreader. Debbie volunteered to go through Die Laughing. It’s amazing how generous people can be. Deb, I can’t thank you enough!

Speaking of Die Laughing, I finally set up a Facebook fan page for my book. Take a look at it. I’ve got my promo video – where I try to channel Rod Serling – on there. I’ve put up movie posters of 1950’s sci-fi movies that influenced my writing of the story, and I’ve even got a quiz asking what your favorite movie of that era is. If you like the site, “help a poor alter boy out” and hit the ‘like’ button. (That quote is from The Exorcist, if memory serves me correctly.”

Okay enough of the plug, back to the topic.

Before Deb’s proofreading I went over the book twice more myself after it being proofread at least four times earlier. This is humiliating to say, but I still had characters being called by different names! I had Hoover Dam spelled like Hoover Damn. I had one character, Francis, referred to once as France. Sheesh – how embarrassing would all that have been? In my blog on the Nuts ‘n Bolts of submission, I stressed the importance of proofreading, well here I am a classic example of why you can never overdue the process!

It’s the publisher’s turn to proof it again, and then I’m going to go through the galley. Anyone want to bet there’s still more correcting to do?

It’s a headache for sure, but nowhere near the pain of having your work published with errors in it. And really, who do you blame? After all, as the author, the buck stops with me. Keep writing everyone…and keep proofreading!