Yesterday, March 27, was my birthday and I had a post all ready to write, but then life got in the way. Instead of writing a post in the afternoon as I planned -- and it was going to be a really good one -- I had to handle a couple of family issues, and then headed out of town to take my daughter and her college roommate to dinner. Only now, a few minutes after midnight, am I able to sit down and briefly write.
Fantasy author Lynne Cantwell spoke to our local chapter of Sisters in Crime at our monthly meeting last Saturday. Her topic was self-publishing.
Now over the years I have played with the idea of self-publishing but, quite frankly, it was always just an intellectual exercise in my head. I never gave it serious consideration -- that is until I heard Cantwell, all 55-years old, say she decided to take the plunge when she considered that "I'm not getting any younger."
Of course, she wasn't getting younger, No one is. But I got the point, particularly as I was staring down the barrel of the gun that was my impending birthday. And for the first time I started to seriously consider self-publishing, in this case putting An Untidy Affair out into the world.
I wrote Affair in 2009 and it is now in what I consider is its 13th draft. And I have tried for some time to get an agent interested in me and, by extension, the work. So now it seems like it's time to do something different.
I haven't made a final decision yet. I want a professional editor to work on it first. But I have started putting a marketing plan together to publish it as an e-book and as POD some time in the fall. (Got to allow time to drum up some interest.)
That's where I'm at. There will be more about it later. But as part of my strategy, I will probably redesign my blog page and increase what it offers in the months to come.
In the meantime, thanks for reading and keep writing. Always.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Cancer
I haven't brought up the subject of cancer in more than a year, since Feb. 21, 2012, by my reckoning. And I wouldn't today except that it was heavily on my mind yesterday, which is why I didn't post yesterday.
As many of you know, I am a prostate cancer survivor. I had external radiation in the winter of 2012. Since then, I have visited my urologist every six months for a check up on my PSA levels. If i had chosen to have my prostate removed, my PSA level would have dropped to zero and that would be it. But because I merely 'cooked' it, my PSA levels have been dropping but aren't at zero.
And therein lies the rub. While I am told things are doing fine and I shouldn't worry but should come back in six months as scheduled, it doesn't feel like I've put cancer totally behind me. I feel like it's the sword of Damocles hanging over my head. But there isn't anything I can do about it.
The doctor yesterday told me it is normal to have a check on my PSA level every six months for FIVE years after treatment. And for at least annually for the rest of my life.
As for me, I just wish it were totally over. It doesn't generally affect my writing but I know it can. I just want it done.
Oh well, thanks for reading as I rant. Good luck with your writing.
Editor's note: I don't feel like re-reading this now and correcting things so if there are mistakes or you can't understand something I just said, I'm sorry. Maybe I will do it another day. mbd
As many of you know, I am a prostate cancer survivor. I had external radiation in the winter of 2012. Since then, I have visited my urologist every six months for a check up on my PSA levels. If i had chosen to have my prostate removed, my PSA level would have dropped to zero and that would be it. But because I merely 'cooked' it, my PSA levels have been dropping but aren't at zero.
And therein lies the rub. While I am told things are doing fine and I shouldn't worry but should come back in six months as scheduled, it doesn't feel like I've put cancer totally behind me. I feel like it's the sword of Damocles hanging over my head. But there isn't anything I can do about it.
The doctor yesterday told me it is normal to have a check on my PSA level every six months for FIVE years after treatment. And for at least annually for the rest of my life.
As for me, I just wish it were totally over. It doesn't generally affect my writing but I know it can. I just want it done.
Oh well, thanks for reading as I rant. Good luck with your writing.
Editor's note: I don't feel like re-reading this now and correcting things so if there are mistakes or you can't understand something I just said, I'm sorry. Maybe I will do it another day. mbd
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Posting problems
Sorry I haven't posted anything in about a week. I had intended to post earlier this week -- on Monday, to be frank -- but as many of you know, I am somewhat tech-challenged. For some reason I couldn't log on to my blog, except on my iPhone. And the screen is far too small for me to write a post on that.
I held my breath this evening and tried logging on and so here I am.
Just so you know, my next post is going to be on writing effective endings to short stories. A member of my critique group recently brought in an article on the subject of short story engings and it had what I belief are, at best, controversial suggestions, and at worst, just plain wrong suggestions.
But that should be for tomorrow.
For now, I just want to add to my list of enjoyable items to listen to as I write. (I mentioned the subject in a blog two weeks ago.) On YouTube I found a tape of an orchestra concert with uber-composer John Williams in piano playing the theme from the film Sabrina, the Harrison Ford version in the 1990s. Say what you will about this remake -- and a lot of people, including my wife, don't care for it -- the music, however, is great. The Williams score, with Sting singing the song Moonlight at the end, is just wonderful.
I like the story and I enjoy the Harrison Ford version as much as the 1954 version with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. (Although Julia Ormond is beautiful, she doesn't hold a candle to Helpburn in the title role. Hepburn was the personification of frail beauty as Sabrina.)
Anyway, I am at this moment enjoying listening to John Williams playing the theme to the film. It's good music and good writing. And I love good writing no matter what type it is.
Makes me want to work harder to be better.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading and get back to the laptop and write.
I held my breath this evening and tried logging on and so here I am.
Just so you know, my next post is going to be on writing effective endings to short stories. A member of my critique group recently brought in an article on the subject of short story engings and it had what I belief are, at best, controversial suggestions, and at worst, just plain wrong suggestions.
But that should be for tomorrow.
For now, I just want to add to my list of enjoyable items to listen to as I write. (I mentioned the subject in a blog two weeks ago.) On YouTube I found a tape of an orchestra concert with uber-composer John Williams in piano playing the theme from the film Sabrina, the Harrison Ford version in the 1990s. Say what you will about this remake -- and a lot of people, including my wife, don't care for it -- the music, however, is great. The Williams score, with Sting singing the song Moonlight at the end, is just wonderful.
I like the story and I enjoy the Harrison Ford version as much as the 1954 version with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart. (Although Julia Ormond is beautiful, she doesn't hold a candle to Helpburn in the title role. Hepburn was the personification of frail beauty as Sabrina.)
Anyway, I am at this moment enjoying listening to John Williams playing the theme to the film. It's good music and good writing. And I love good writing no matter what type it is.
Makes me want to work harder to be better.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading and get back to the laptop and write.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Book clubs
My wife has been in a book club for several years. It meets once a month and has been around for 13 years. It's called the Saturday Ladies Book Club. Usually, although not always, the book is either by a black author or it is a book with a black theme. (They have read both The Help and 50 Shades of Grey. Go figure.)
It's a group of mostly highly educated, professional black women, most of whom are married and on their first husbands, and, says my wife, there's absolutely NO drama in the group. They all get along. It's nothing like "The Housewives of . . . " Twice a year -- in the summer for a cookout and in December for a Christmas party -- they have an event and invite husbands. Both are wonderful events.
The way it works, a different woman hosts the club once a month, picking the book to read and picking up the tab for food and beverages, whether hosting at home or some place else. Although the entire contingent never comes, it can easily be 15 or more people, which is a nice group for picking up the check.
Back around Christmastime, my wife mentioned that she was scheduled to host the January meeting and hadn't picked a book yet. Jokingly, I suggested one of my manuscripts. When she agreed, I almost died from panic. But we picked which book it should be -- in this case, An Untidy Affair -- and I made a PDF copy and shipped it off.
I was nervous about what they'd think but when I went to the meeting to discuss it with them I got loads of praise. They loved it. They asked good questions about the story and the writing, and, with the exception of one woman, were surprised by the ending. They found it engaging and fun to read.
And I was on Cloud Nine. (Plus, since we were paying for it, I enjoyed some great food. It was in a black-owned New Orleans restaurant.)
I happened to see one of the ladies last night at a fundraising event and she loved my first novel so much she wanted to know when I would give them another one to read. Not ready for that yet, but we will see.
So, when I finally get a publisher, I am going to try hard to find all those ladies book clubs. Can't hurt.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
It's a group of mostly highly educated, professional black women, most of whom are married and on their first husbands, and, says my wife, there's absolutely NO drama in the group. They all get along. It's nothing like "The Housewives of . . . " Twice a year -- in the summer for a cookout and in December for a Christmas party -- they have an event and invite husbands. Both are wonderful events.
The way it works, a different woman hosts the club once a month, picking the book to read and picking up the tab for food and beverages, whether hosting at home or some place else. Although the entire contingent never comes, it can easily be 15 or more people, which is a nice group for picking up the check.
Back around Christmastime, my wife mentioned that she was scheduled to host the January meeting and hadn't picked a book yet. Jokingly, I suggested one of my manuscripts. When she agreed, I almost died from panic. But we picked which book it should be -- in this case, An Untidy Affair -- and I made a PDF copy and shipped it off.
I was nervous about what they'd think but when I went to the meeting to discuss it with them I got loads of praise. They loved it. They asked good questions about the story and the writing, and, with the exception of one woman, were surprised by the ending. They found it engaging and fun to read.
And I was on Cloud Nine. (Plus, since we were paying for it, I enjoyed some great food. It was in a black-owned New Orleans restaurant.)
I happened to see one of the ladies last night at a fundraising event and she loved my first novel so much she wanted to know when I would give them another one to read. Not ready for that yet, but we will see.
So, when I finally get a publisher, I am going to try hard to find all those ladies book clubs. Can't hurt.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
Monday, March 11, 2013
ABNA
Tomorrow is March 12, and it's the day Amazon will announce the quarterfinalists in this year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The contest will be down to only 500 contestants out of 10,000 entries. I know those who made it through Round One are sitting on pins and needles right now waiting to learn if they advance or if they go home.
I entered ABNA this year with The Last Tontine Survivor, the same novel I entered last year. I was knocked out in the pitch round last year and so I re-wrote and improved my pitch this year. Or at least I thought it was much-improved. I was quite hopeful for this novel this year.
However, I was eliminated again in the first round this year.
But as usual, I met a lot of wonderful aspiring novelists on the ABNA discussion boards, which is a rich benefit of the contest. And it seemed like a lot of others are self-published, through Create Space or through one of the other many platforms.
My brother asked me last week whether I was really to be self-published. I told him of course I am ready because frankly it doesn't take much. With as little as a couple hundred dollars and manuscript, anyone can get published.
What I want is some editorial and marketing help to get my writing career beyond the starting gate. For me, I'm not sure self-publishing can do that for me right now.
Anyway, back to ABNA, I have a friend from my writing critique group who made it past the pitch stage this year and he is hoping to make the quarterfinals. It's a good novel with some great promise.
So, Good Luck, Michael. I hope you go all the way.
As for me, I will try in again next year with an all-new novel, which I am still working on. Perhaps next year at ABNA will be my year.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
My friend Michael Eldridge made the cut today and is a quarterfinalist in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. His novel is called Bad Karma, and if you go to Amazon.com, you can find an excerpt of the beginning of the novel that you can download and read.
Another interesting note. Our critique group, In Mysterious Company, has had an ABNA quarterfinalist in each of the last three competitions. Michael made it this year, Marianne Halbert made it last year and I was a quarterfinalist in 2011.
mbd
I entered ABNA this year with The Last Tontine Survivor, the same novel I entered last year. I was knocked out in the pitch round last year and so I re-wrote and improved my pitch this year. Or at least I thought it was much-improved. I was quite hopeful for this novel this year.
However, I was eliminated again in the first round this year.
But as usual, I met a lot of wonderful aspiring novelists on the ABNA discussion boards, which is a rich benefit of the contest. And it seemed like a lot of others are self-published, through Create Space or through one of the other many platforms.
My brother asked me last week whether I was really to be self-published. I told him of course I am ready because frankly it doesn't take much. With as little as a couple hundred dollars and manuscript, anyone can get published.
What I want is some editorial and marketing help to get my writing career beyond the starting gate. For me, I'm not sure self-publishing can do that for me right now.
Anyway, back to ABNA, I have a friend from my writing critique group who made it past the pitch stage this year and he is hoping to make the quarterfinals. It's a good novel with some great promise.
So, Good Luck, Michael. I hope you go all the way.
As for me, I will try in again next year with an all-new novel, which I am still working on. Perhaps next year at ABNA will be my year.
Thanks for reading and keep writing.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
My friend Michael Eldridge made the cut today and is a quarterfinalist in the 2013 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest. His novel is called Bad Karma, and if you go to Amazon.com, you can find an excerpt of the beginning of the novel that you can download and read.
Another interesting note. Our critique group, In Mysterious Company, has had an ABNA quarterfinalist in each of the last three competitions. Michael made it this year, Marianne Halbert made it last year and I was a quarterfinalist in 2011.
mbd
Saturday, March 9, 2013
What are you listening to?
I meant to write this on Friday but I had a writing assignment due and I just ran out of time.
For some time now, I have been listening to a single piece of music as I write. It's been about six weeks. The music is from Meet Joe Black, the thoroughly pedantic 1998 film starring Brad Pitt, who plays an extremely handsome Death, and Sir Anthony Hopkins, who plays an extremely rich businessman whom Death is about to take. (Yes, it does sound like a remake of the 1933 film, Death Takes a Holiday.)
Now, I like the idea of both movies -- death taking a day or two off. But Joe Black is maddeningly slow and a painful three hours in length. But I love the film. Yet for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. Finally, it dawned on me. It's the music. Thomas Newman's soundtrack draws me in and makes the emotional connection that action on the screen often doesn't seem to do.
Specifically, I love That Next Place, the music that plays at the end of the film. The full version is more than 10 minutes long and I can play it comfortably in the background as I write. I can hear it but it doesn't distract.
Oddly enough, another shorter piece (not from the film) that I enjoy is -- wait for it! -- The Mission by John Williams. It is the theme for the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, although you only hear a few seconds of it at the end of broadcasts.
I like the music, for some reason, and can easily write when it is playing. Who knew?
What do you like to listen to when you write, or when you need something playing in the background? I'd love to know.
Thanks for reading. Hope you come back.
For some time now, I have been listening to a single piece of music as I write. It's been about six weeks. The music is from Meet Joe Black, the thoroughly pedantic 1998 film starring Brad Pitt, who plays an extremely handsome Death, and Sir Anthony Hopkins, who plays an extremely rich businessman whom Death is about to take. (Yes, it does sound like a remake of the 1933 film, Death Takes a Holiday.)
Now, I like the idea of both movies -- death taking a day or two off. But Joe Black is maddeningly slow and a painful three hours in length. But I love the film. Yet for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. Finally, it dawned on me. It's the music. Thomas Newman's soundtrack draws me in and makes the emotional connection that action on the screen often doesn't seem to do.
Specifically, I love That Next Place, the music that plays at the end of the film. The full version is more than 10 minutes long and I can play it comfortably in the background as I write. I can hear it but it doesn't distract.
Oddly enough, another shorter piece (not from the film) that I enjoy is -- wait for it! -- The Mission by John Williams. It is the theme for the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, although you only hear a few seconds of it at the end of broadcasts.
I like the music, for some reason, and can easily write when it is playing. Who knew?
What do you like to listen to when you write, or when you need something playing in the background? I'd love to know.
Thanks for reading. Hope you come back.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Contests
Ok, so I have been away since October. It's hard trying to be interesting on a regular basis when you don't have a lot to say. At least I don't think I always have a lot to say. How to other bloggers do it -- blog everyday?
Anyway, I'm back, thanks to the inspiration of my great friend, Sharyn. Thanks, babe. You are the best.
In entered two contests over the weekend, with two separate novels. The first is the James Jones Fellowship Contest at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. This is the 22nd annual contest for an American with a first fiction work in progress, and is sponsored by the James Jones Literary Society.
"The award is intended to honor the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into modern culture exemplified by the late James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity and other prose narratives of distinction," sponsors of the contest said on the Wilkes University website. The top prize is $10,000, with two runner-up awards of $750.
The deadline, which originally was set for March 1, is March 15. To enter, you submit a two-page summary and the first 50 pages of the novel. An author who makes it past the first round will be asked to submit the original 50 pages along with pages 51-100. novel The winner will be notified in September and must attend the society's annual conference in early November. They normally set around 600 entries. Last year it was 558.
For obvious reasons -- well, at least they were obvious to me -- I entered An Untidy Affair. It's a strong work and it's set in Pennsylvania, specifically in Philadelphia. I feel comfortable about my chances but that certainly doesn't mean I think I will win. Just that I think I have a legitimate shot.
The second contest I entered last weekend is the Dundee International Book Prize, sponsored by the City of Dundee in Scotland, and the University of Dundee. This is the ninth annual award.
I really like this one, if only because if I win I would travel to Scotland to pick of the award, which is 10,000 Pounds, or about $16,000 U.S. And unlike the James Jones, Dundee also awards a publishing contract.
The novel must be in English, which isn't a problem, and unpublished, although a work on Kindle or in an e-book format are acceptable.
"The winning books have showcased a diverse range of writing talent in a variety of genres," the contest website said.
While the contest is open internationally, the first three winners are from Dundee or have direct connections there. The others seem to be from Ireland, Scotland or England, except for last year's winner, New Yorker Jacob Appel. All of them seem like heavyweights compared with me and I would think this year's entrants will be the same. But I don't care. I have a good novel and I entered it.
The novel is The Last Tontine Survivor. I entered it because it is good and strong, and it is finished. Plus it isn't under consideration anywhere at the moment. (As an aside, I entered Tontine in ABNA this year and last year, and was shot down in the pitch stage. So, no one has actually looked at the entire manuscript.)
I also decided on Tontine because, while the novel is mostly set in New York, the climax is in Alexandria, Virginia, which, as it turns out, is a sister city to Dundee.
Angela helped me edit the 500-word summary, to get it down from 700 words. They required the summary and the entire mss.
The winner will be notified by June 1.
In the last day or so, I have given thought to entering Poison Pen Press' second Discover Mystery contest, which is open until March 30. I would enter an entirely different novel there, probably Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal. But I'm not sure. It would require a lot of work in a short period of time, it probably wouldn't get a second read by anyone and would require I come up with another title. So, I probably won't enter. But I may.
Well, that's it from me for now. I hope all the people in Russia who have been viewing my blog are enjoying it. And everyone else, too.
Thanks for reading.
Anyway, I'm back, thanks to the inspiration of my great friend, Sharyn. Thanks, babe. You are the best.
In entered two contests over the weekend, with two separate novels. The first is the James Jones Fellowship Contest at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. This is the 22nd annual contest for an American with a first fiction work in progress, and is sponsored by the James Jones Literary Society.
"The award is intended to honor the spirit of unblinking honesty, determination, and insight into modern culture exemplified by the late James Jones, author of From Here to Eternity and other prose narratives of distinction," sponsors of the contest said on the Wilkes University website. The top prize is $10,000, with two runner-up awards of $750.
The deadline, which originally was set for March 1, is March 15. To enter, you submit a two-page summary and the first 50 pages of the novel. An author who makes it past the first round will be asked to submit the original 50 pages along with pages 51-100. novel The winner will be notified in September and must attend the society's annual conference in early November. They normally set around 600 entries. Last year it was 558.
For obvious reasons -- well, at least they were obvious to me -- I entered An Untidy Affair. It's a strong work and it's set in Pennsylvania, specifically in Philadelphia. I feel comfortable about my chances but that certainly doesn't mean I think I will win. Just that I think I have a legitimate shot.
The second contest I entered last weekend is the Dundee International Book Prize, sponsored by the City of Dundee in Scotland, and the University of Dundee. This is the ninth annual award.
I really like this one, if only because if I win I would travel to Scotland to pick of the award, which is 10,000 Pounds, or about $16,000 U.S. And unlike the James Jones, Dundee also awards a publishing contract.
The novel must be in English, which isn't a problem, and unpublished, although a work on Kindle or in an e-book format are acceptable.
"The winning books have showcased a diverse range of writing talent in a variety of genres," the contest website said.
While the contest is open internationally, the first three winners are from Dundee or have direct connections there. The others seem to be from Ireland, Scotland or England, except for last year's winner, New Yorker Jacob Appel. All of them seem like heavyweights compared with me and I would think this year's entrants will be the same. But I don't care. I have a good novel and I entered it.
The novel is The Last Tontine Survivor. I entered it because it is good and strong, and it is finished. Plus it isn't under consideration anywhere at the moment. (As an aside, I entered Tontine in ABNA this year and last year, and was shot down in the pitch stage. So, no one has actually looked at the entire manuscript.)
I also decided on Tontine because, while the novel is mostly set in New York, the climax is in Alexandria, Virginia, which, as it turns out, is a sister city to Dundee.
Angela helped me edit the 500-word summary, to get it down from 700 words. They required the summary and the entire mss.
The winner will be notified by June 1.
In the last day or so, I have given thought to entering Poison Pen Press' second Discover Mystery contest, which is open until March 30. I would enter an entirely different novel there, probably Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal. But I'm not sure. It would require a lot of work in a short period of time, it probably wouldn't get a second read by anyone and would require I come up with another title. So, I probably won't enter. But I may.
Well, that's it from me for now. I hope all the people in Russia who have been viewing my blog are enjoying it. And everyone else, too.
Thanks for reading.
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