Creation of a book
April 29, 2011
I did a guest post on Lucky Bat Books website. Check it out then sample my latest release on Smashwords or Amazon.com and let me know what you think. I’d really like to see some feedback.
Stories of the Fantastic Now Open!
April 27, 2011
Check out the release of my new SF satire Attack of the Lushites by following the link to Stories of the Fantastic.
You can buy the book at Smashwords, and the book will be available on all e-retail sites in the next few weeks.
For the next 30 days it will be at the introductory price of $2.99.
On-line Promotion
April 26, 2011
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002181340091&sk=photos
I’ve taken the plunge into the deep end of the on-line promotional tools pool. Now I have to be careful to use my time wisely.
The good news is I seem to be writing more.
We’ll see.
Read Dating May 12, 2011
April 25, 2011
Read Dating is an opportunity for library employees to meet 30 local authors, discuss genres and patron interests, and network with colleagues!
To see the author line-up and to register, go to: http://readdatingvancouver.wordpress.com/
It’s a fun & social event with an educational twist (and no, it’s not actually about dating…). You’ll get a chance to talk shop with authors and ask them those pesky questions you always wanted to know, like, “What’s …the difference between a police procedural and a cozy mystery? And what makes them different from crime novels?” Authors writing in romance, mystery, thriller, children’s, and YA will be representing their genres!
How much swearing in fiction is too much?
April 11, 2011
I finished a book a little while ago by Australian writer, John Birmingham. John writes alternate history military thrillers. This is a sub-genre of science fiction made popular by authors like Harry Turtledove.
John’s books are great. Lots of action, well realized characters, and strong emotion.
But what bothered me was an excessive use of the F-bomb, and other similar swearing, coming from supposedly educated characters. I’ve certainly seen this before and I’m sure will again, but it seemed gratuitous.
What bothered me was the amount of swearing. The f-bomb became a noun, a verb, a pronoun, an adverb etc. used over and over and over. On the same page it would be used ten times or more.
This became a distraction to my enjoyment of the story.
For those of you who read Clive Cussler or James Paterson or Nora Roberts you will see a little swearing, but not to this extreme.
Being me, I naturally went to John’s website and left a comment. His fans responded in support of John’s use of what I saw as excess use of swearing, which got me thinking, how do other’s feel about this?
My view if it’s distracting and I notice it, then it’s too much for me. If there are (according the Oxford dictionary) a quarter of a million distinct English words then why do some writers have to use excess swearing to convey a story?
And in the spirit of full disclosure my books have no, or very little, swearing, and they are written for adults.
If you would like to leave a comment to add to the discussion I would certainly appreciate it.
Is luck a factor?
April 4, 2011
I’ve heard many writers say things like, “You were lucky to get that publisher or agent.”
Is luck a factor in you selling your work to publishers, or does luck play a role when readers buy your books in large numbers?
Absolute nonsense.
In fact I’d say to think this way is insulting to you and about your work. You sell work to publishers for a variety of reasons that has nothing to do with luck.
Let me give you an example. A friend of mine sold an epic fantasy series to a major publisher for a large advance.
He had been writing and sending thriller manuscripts to a NY super agent for years. The agent liked them but not enough to offer representation.
After reading the same fantasy he did eventually sell a different agent told this writer to forget it and put it in a drawer. (bad advice BTW. No one knows what will sell, especially a writer. Send everything out. Caution: it must be read by a beta reader and as professional as you can make it today. I’ll explain this in a future post.)
One day the agent asks the writer if he has anything other than these thrillers, the writer says yes and sends the epic fantasy to the super agent.
Now, what the writer doesn’t know is the agents major client had just died and the publisher was looking for the next big fantasy writer.
Upon reading the manuscript the agent called the president of the publishing house. (BTW only super agents call presidents of NY publishing houses)
The super agent sends the publisher the manuscript, he reads it over a weekend and makes a mega offer.
Now, does this have anything to do with luck. No, but why?
The writer had been toiling working on craft, writing every day, consistently mailing, learning the business, networking, in other words putting in sweat equity.
Without all this preparation to make the story as good as his skills could the super agent would never have bothered calling the president of the publisher. This is opportunity and learned skill not luck.
Another example, in July 2008 I sent a manuscript to a publisher, in September 2008 they offered me a contract. was this luck?
No, I’d been working on my craft for a decade, I’d researched markets, I’d attended workshops, sat through brutal critiques, had manuscripts that were complete failures. The manuscript I sold had been rejected by a dozen publishers, but I kept it in the mail.
So was this luck? No, absolutely not. I was ready to sell, I was ready for the editing process, I was ready to start the promotion part of the business. I’d written eight novel manuscripts and fifty + short stories before I sold. I’d sold a few short stories so I at least knew what a contract looked like.
I had put in the sweat equity to write a good story that I kept in the mail until it sold.
There is no luck. There is only hard work and dedication and persistence.
I know many writers who disagree with me, but if they really looked hard at what they did to sell their first story they might see the effort it took.
Why would anyone sell themselves and their work short by saying it was luck?
I write crap that I’m lucky I sell? What? That makes no sense.
One more example, from the world of sports. Jack Nicklaus won all those golf tournaments because he was lucky? I think he’d have a big problem with that interpretation.
The late Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once said, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”
There is no such thing as luck, this is just plain insulting and I’m not about to put myself or my work down.
Excerpt from Antique Virgin
April 2, 2011
Just a taste of my new release, I hope you enjoy it.
It rang once and a woman answered. Her tone suggested boredom. “911…police, ambulance, or fire?”
Sax wasn’t sure. “Uhhh…none of the above?”
“Ma’am, this line is for emergencies only. Please get off the line.”
“No! Wait! I’m trapped by a bear.”
“A bear?”
Sax nodded. That got her attention. “Yes. You see my friend Bryce and I went for a hike, and we came to a sleeping bear at a bend in the trail. That was after I stepped on some skunk cabbage—I’m allergic to skunk cabbage—”
“So you need an ambulance?” interrupted the woman.
“No, no. I’m fine. Besides it’s not as bad as yesterday when I ate that clam chowder Bryce shoved in mouth.” Sax snorted. “Ya know he almost murdered me.”
“So you need the police?”
“No. No. I’m fine.” Sax chuckled. “Do I sound like I’ve been murdered? If I was dead how could I be talking to you?” She shook her head. “Anyhow, we got away from the bear—”
“So you’re not trapped by a bear?”
The woman’s constant interruptions were getting annoying. Stay calm, girl. “No. I mean yes…I mean…oh, never mind about the bear. He’s asleep back on the trail. Or maybe he’s a she? I didn’t look that closely. I’d be a real weirdo if I spent my time looking at bears genitalia wouldn’t I?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Sax didn’t appreciate the amused tone in the woman’s voice. But what am I gonna do? She’s the 911 operator. You can’t criticize the 911 operator. “So we went off the trail into the woods and now he’s huh, somewhere. And I’m here.” Sax frowned. But where was here?
The operator sighed. “So you went on a hike with your friend, stepped on skunk cabbage, that you’re allergic to, but not as bad as clam chowder, then you met a sleeping bear at a bend in the trail, then you ran into the woods, now you don’t know where your boyfriend is and you’re lost. Is that about it?”
She gets it! “Yes. Exactly. Lost. All except the boyfriend part. Bryce is not my boyfriend. We just met the other day.”
“Ok. Where are you calling from?”
Sax rolled her eyes and her hand formed a fist at her side. Her cheeks warmed. She gritted her teeth and spoke slowly, “The woods. I’m in the woods. I don’t know where the freak I am.”
“Ma’am, there’s no cause to yell at me.” I didn’t yell! Sax’s heart beat faster.
“I meant where is the hiking trail?”
“Oh. Sorry. It’s one of the trails on Mount Peck.”
“Mount Peck?”
“Yeah.”
“Ma’am there is no Mount Peck. I’m going to let you off with a warning this time because I’m going to win jackass-caller-of-the-month. If you call this line again to waste our valuable time when someone who is in real danger may die we will charge you with public mischief and you will go to prison. I’m going to hang up now. I’d suggest you go back to bed and sleep off the booze from the party last night.”
There was a soft click and the line went dead. Lowering the phone she stared at the tiny screen. 911 hung up on me.