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April 18, 2009

Voting

I had two votes yesterday for the Romance. It is something of a "horse book" and I went to visit some trainer friends (Hi Ann and Brad) who implored me to write a book about the horse world, pointing out that material is always there for a romance (or a soap opera).

So now I have to get into the mood to write on something that I haven't touched in, oh, six months. I think the first step will be to print a copy (on the back side of some scrap recycle), and read the thing through again. That way I won't write what I have already written.

April 15, 2009

The next book.

Ah, you finish one, you button up its little jacket, pat it on its butt, and send it on its way and what’s next? Why the three that are waiting for you in My Documents under a file called Books! Hmmm. Which one to work on now? The possibly commercially viable Romance that flashes in and out of my consciousness but doesn’t make my socks go up and down? The one with 60,000 words all in the wrong order? The one I’ve been working on since the early ‘90s that is about as linguistically complicated as The English Patient and therefore is hell to write?

Well, if you’ve read some of my past posts you probably would select the Romance. I want to take the next step and get published. I have nothing against POD and self-pub but a new experience is always at the top of my list. I want to see if I can actually interest somebody in the publishing world in my material. So on to farms, and handsome veterinarians and grumpy mares. But always with the other two in mind.

April 13, 2009

A momentary ego pause...

Skip this post if you are easily embarrassed by ego trips. :)
Today I got a note from one of my readers who bought the book from me at work. I'm sure most of them bought my book because it sat propped up on my desk for weeks at a time and they were just trying to be polite.

Disclaimer here: I don't report to this person and she doesn't report to me.

This work, this book is wonderful. I am so impressed. The characters are richly portrayed, the story is so poignant. You did a beautiful beautiful story. I'm now sharing it with family and friends.


She had the week from hell last week and took the book with her to bed at 7PM thinking to read herself to sleep. She finished it at 3AM. Sorry about that.

April 10, 2009

Deliquency

I've been very delinquent about thanking the Quakertown (NJ) Monthly Meeting for their glorious reading and book signing last weekend. The weather was great (not their doing, of course), the readers and visitors alike were lovely, and my nerves subsided after the first 10 minutes. A great Sunday!

April 8, 2009

Really in demand...not.

Can someone tell me why some dealer on Amazon.com has found it necessary to put two used copies of my book on Amazon.com for $39.78 apiece when you can get new copies for $15.99? Strange.

April 5, 2009

Story triggers 101

One of my friends asked me the other day about what gets me started sitting at the machine and writing. I tried to tell her that the sitting and typing was not the first thing that happened during the process. So I’m setting this down to try and clarify even in my own mind what triggers a burst of creativity.

First there is the trigger incident. For me this generally occurs when I am in what I consider my muse, New York City. I see someone or something and a story starts in my head. Why are they where they are? Why are they doing what they are doing? This story probably bears no resemblance to reality. If it actually did I think I would begin to need help.

One short story I wrote started when I saw a woman wearing what appeared to be only a black plastic bag curled up on the sidewalk next to a stone pillar of a building on 5th Avenue. First I noticed her, then I began to think of the circumstances that brought her there and then she began to talk to me. No, I don’t hear voices. Then again, maybe I do. The fantasy character in my head begins to tell me her story and it is at this point that I have to write it down or lose it.