National Novel Writing Month -- Update 6

So, this is my last update for National Novel Writing Month in 2016. It was a good ride as I wrote and discovered Searching for Rachel Edelstein.

The good news is that I found her and, more importantly, so did Rachel.

It is the story of a black Jewish woman from New York City who has been estranged from her black relatives in Virginia for her entire life. And as she seeks to understand her dual racial and religious heritage, she visits her black family outside of Charlottesville for the first time over a Thanksgiving weekend.

Also, the other good news is I reached the 50,000-word challenge of NaNoWriMo, as I have four other times since 2009. And two of those novels, once totally re-written, have made the rounds in my agent search. And while I haven't landed an agent or a publisher for either, they are quite good enough for publication, whether independently or traditionally published.

The bad news this year is that I am still very unsatisfied with Searching for Rachel Edelstein. Even as a first draft, it is choppy, inconsistent and full of holes. I originally had Rachel's Jewish grandfather traveling with her down to Virginia, only to change my mind midway through the novel. I also changed the parents of one minor but key character midway through the novel.

And there were other problems. Then again, that is what a first draft is for -- to get the story down and to later re-write, re-write and re-write again until the story is nearly perfect. I shouldn't be too hard on myself with this effort. But that re-writing, however, will have to wait until some time next year. I have work on my plate to perfect first.

Anyway, thanks for joining me this month. It's been a blast. Let's do it again next November.

Thanks for reading.

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.

Having trouble with this format

I'm having a little trouble figuring out the new format on Blogger. As the person doing the blog -- not just writing it online -- I'm not sure where things are on my blog, and not how i go about finding them. It's somewhat easier today but it's still strange and new, not two words I am always comfortable with.

On other news, a friend from my critique group who made the quarterfinals in this year's Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest unfortunately failed to make the semifinals this week. I saw her yesterday at our critique group meeting and she seems to be taking it as well as can be expected. By the time you reach the quarterfinals, you begin to seriously think of making it to the end. But then, when you dreams are dashed (as mind were at this point last year in ABNA), it still stings a little. I feel sorry for her but I tried to be supporter. After all, I know what you is going through.

Also in other news, I started a blog draft last week about Amazon and the publishing industry. I should post it soon. It should be interesting, so be on the look out.

Lastly, not only did I break my single month record for pageviews, I doubled the previous record -- and the month isn't finished yet. We have another four days to go. And more and more pageviews are of recent posts. So I must be getting more readers. I hope so.

That's it for now. I gave my critique group a new short story yesterday. Will hear their comments in two weeks. Sending out query letters for The Last Tontine Survivor. Haven't heard anything yet. My short story for the next Sisters in Crime anthology isn't panning out, so I will try something else.

Thanks for reading and don't stop writing.

Record

Though only half way through the month, my pageviews have reached a new record. I was close last month, missing a new record by less than 1 percent. But I have just blasted through this month.

Thanks dear readers. I appreciate you, even if you are just re-reading old posts.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Oh, so close . . .

March was a good month for viewership for my blog. I had the second highest views since I started nearly four and a half years ago. In fact, I only fell only three views short of my record, set in October 2009.

Oh, so close . . .

It helped that my viewership is up considerably for recent posts -- those in the last two months. I am getting more hits on posts soon after I write them. However, the most views I get are for posts several years old. I don't what that means. Whether the same people keep viewing the same posts over and over again -- for heaven knows what reason -- or whether I am getting new views on the same posts. It's a mystery to me.

Regardless of the reason for things, I will keep posting on the journey this writer is on to becoming a published novelist. Talk to you again soon.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

300th Blog posting

This is a somewhat special day. This is my 300th blog posting since I started this blog, today is my birthday and this month I have had the second highest number of views on my blog -- and the month isn't finished yet. While I doubt I will break my personal best blog views, it's possible.

I planned to say something profound today but I have been so busy I haven't had the chance to think of something. I just want to say that while it has taken me a long time to reach 300 postings, I don't intend for it to be nearly as long before I reach 400.

My critique group meets tomorrow and I am handing in a short story for consideration in two weeks. Also in the next two weeks I plan to finish my currently untitled short story for my Sisters in Crime anthology.

I plan to register for the Midwest Writers Workshop seminar in July. I'm checking The Last Tontine Survivor for possible mistakes and still compiling a list of agents to query.

So, I have been busy.

I am planning to discuss agents and query letters again soon. But for now, I think I will go have some more birthday cake.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Who's Looking, Part II

I don't think I have posted anything on this subject in 18 months but it's about time. Who's reading me?

I still don't have a good answer to that question but I do have numbers and this month has been a great month. Not half the month is over and yet I already have the fourth highest monthly totals since I started this blog more than four years ago. At the current rate, this could be my highest month after October 2009. And with a little luck, I could top even that month.

Posts from last month are very popular. Hits from February 2012 make up six of my Top 10 posts this month. But still, the three most read posts so far this momth are oldies but goodies. They are: Being a picker at Amazon, from Dec. 20, 2010; What's in a name?, a four-year-old post from Jan. 4, 2008; and Querying agents, from Jan. 8, also in 2008.

I am still trending heavily in the United States, which isn't surprising. I'm an American writer.

This month, 48 percent of my page views are from the U.S., with The Netherlands coming in second with 24 percent. That is trending well with my all-time hits, where U.S. views make up slightly more than 50 percent of total views, followed by Germany and France.

There is lots more information from the stats section on my blog and in the weeks ahead I am going to try to better understand what readers are looking from (other than posts from 2008 and 2009). And I will let you know what I find.

In the meantime, thanks for reading and keep writing.

Who's Lookin'? Part II

This is my last post of the year and I thought it appropriate to look back at some of my stats for my blog. It is my 96th posting this year, which tied the record set in 2008 as the year with my most blog postings. I had wanted to reach more than 100, which in itself is rather modest, but it's not to be this year. While I am okay with the number of postings in 2010, I want to stretch a little more in 2011.

I first wrote about my stats three months ago shortly after I first realized there was a way of keeping track of some of my page views. I think the stats have been available to each blogger only since May or June.

I was a little depressed by the numbers -- still am -- but I am grateful I have any numbers at all. After pouring over the statistics, I have no greater understanding of what it all means than I did back in September.

Yet, I do find some of it quite interesting.

Though readers in the U.S. continue to make up the majority of my page views, there has been some slippage since September, when 67.6 percent of page views came from the U.S. Today, that figure is just 54.5 percent. Tied for second place are Canada and the Netherlands with 5.5 percent each of my page views, up from 4.3 percent for Canada back in September and 4.6 percent for the Dutch.

Alone in fourth place is Germany, with 5 percent of my page views. Germany wasn't even in the Top 5 back in September.

My most popular month was October, but there was a drop-off in November and into early December when I had less time and opportunity to blog. It has picked up in the latter half of December and I hope I haven't lost many readers.

Although I haven't the foggiest reason why, I seem to be popular all over the world, except in Africa and Antarctica. Apparently, I haven't reached people in some of the hottest places on the planet and in some of the coldest.

No big surprises in my most popular blog postings. (Well, I'm kinda surprised because my two most popular postings are among my oldest.) Just as last September, "Querying agents," from June 18, 2008, and "What's in a name?, Part II," from Jan. 4, 2008, are in a virtual tie for first place in page views. They make up 20 percent of my total page views, though that is a drop from 25 percent back in September.

Coming in at No. 3 is (not surprisingly) "Finding an agent? WTF does it take?" from Sept. 13, 2010. I think the title and the subject matter caught people's attention.

But the fourth-place favorite surprised me. It is "Being a picker at Amazon," which was only posted 10 days ago. In fact, that posting is my No. 1 posting for the month of December, easing out both my top-ranking posts from 2008.

I still haven't the slightest idea what people in Russia, Brazil, the Ukraine, Argentina and Poland find interesting about my blog. But I hope all of you out there keep reading. And it would be nice if you'd comment now and then.

Have a Happy New Year. I will see you in 2011.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

4 Golden Rules for Being a Writer -- Now wait a minute

I was reading an online edition of Writer's Digest this week and happened upon an article by author Anne Fortier, who wrote JULIET, a novel about a young woman who discovers that she is descended from Shakespeare's Juliet. Great premise, by the way.

Fortier's article, "4 Golden Rules for Being a Writer," appeared on Chuck Sambuchino's blog. (The blog address is below)

http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/The+4+Golden+Rules+Of+Being+A+Writer.aspx

Now I originally agreed with Ms Fortier's suggestions until I started to think about them in greater detail. And the more I thought, the more I started thinking some of her suggestions were something out of a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. (Fortier is originally from Denmark, which is a beautiful country.)

Her first rule, Start at square one, essentially says forget about networking.

"The world is full of people who know people who know an agent. But you can save yourself a lot of time and disappointment by ignoring them. Because the truth is, no one really knows anyone, and even if they did, it is probably not going to help your chances one bit," she says. ". . . if you run around looking for them, chances are you will still end up back at square one, wondering why you just wasted six months on hearsay."

I'm sorry but that's crap.

While I don't think you can hang your hat on such long chances, there are numerous examples of people who connect with an agent or publisher through social and professional contacts. I know of two people who just this year got agents through knowing someone who knew someone. In both cases, the aspiring authors were prepared for an opportunity if it came. So when it did, they ran with it.

Ms Fortier's second rule is Do your homework. She is right about this.

Not only should your manuscript be "finished, brilliant, formatted correctly, and edited to near-perfection . . . the same goes for the query letter," Fortier says. "Invest the time and do a proper job; this is the most important page of your entire manuscript."

I think this is where I somehow must be failing. Yes, as you know, I have honed my query to the best of my ability but apparently something about it doesn't entice agents. Not sure what, so I continue to work on it. But it is a tight, 250 words. And I think she is right on this point. It is probably the most important page you will write.

Rule No. 3 is Pitch your book before you write it.

"What I mean by this is that you can save yourself a lot of time and headaches by thinking ahead to your query letter as early as possible in the writing process. Once you've done your homework and know what a query letter needs to accomplish, you are very likely to look at your finished manuscript and groan," she says. "So, make a point of thinking through the story early on, with the pitch in mind."

I agree in part and dissent in part.

I agree you should think your story through but she seems to suggest that you should write out an outline before you start. I know I lot of writers who do outline but just as many who don't. And there are successful writers in both camps. It is through hard work and the re-writing process where you keep your novel being "a rambling, pointless, dead-boring excuse for a book." And if you do that, it won't end up being "un-pitchable" as Ms. Fortier suggests. You should think ahead but you also must allow the story to develop. In the end, you could end up with a better story than what you originally considered.

The last rule is Don't jump the gun. "The book world looks pretty darn big from your office chair, but it actually isn't. So, once you have compiled that beautiful list of desirable and reliable agents (once again: by doing your homework), make sure you don't waste it. Don't send query letters to more than one agent at a time," she writes.

That is insane. There can be scores of agents who potentially may be interested in your book. But the response time for most agents is between two and eight weeks for queries, or so they say. Some answer in minutes while others never respond. If you send out only one query at a time and wait for a response, it could take you more than a year, at the earliest, to get through your list of potential agents.

Sambuchino says carpeting the industry with a query doesn't work and he is probably right. He suggests sending out a small number, say, seven, and if that doesn't work, there is probably something wrong with the letter. You can then hone the letter without having invested too much time in a letter that doesn't work.

That is reasonable.

But I agree with Fortier when she says, "Don't test the water by sending your second-best. Be patient. Finish the book. Write the most attractive query letter ever. And then sleep on it. And sleep on it again. Remember: an agent is not some opponent you need to blitz; an agent is someone who would like nothing more than to be your ally. All she/he needs is a good reason."

As with most advice, you have to take from it what works best for you. In that way, you will be prepared when opportunity comes knocking. And even if you fail to accomplish your goal, you can be comfortable in knowing you did your best.

Thanks for reading and, above all, don't give up.

Oh that name!

The second most popular blog post I have is from Jan. 4, 2008, and is called, What's in a Name, Part II. In that post I discuss the possible name of the book I was about to start. It was about the murder of a black newspaper publisher and the novel, still unsold and unrepresented, is called DEATH AT THE JUNGLE-BUNNY JOURNAL.

I worried that no publisher would risk taking on such a non-PC title. Or that they may be brave enough to take the chance since I am an African-American writer. Nothing so far.

But given that that blog posting is the second most popular posting I have, the title must strike a cord somewhere.

I haven't decided on what the title will be for the novel I plan to write in November. It probably won't be something as interesting as Jungle-bunny Journal. But maybe . . .

Haven't had a lot of time this week to query or blog. But I have been working hard mentally on an outline for the NaNoWriMo novel. Perhaps more on that in the coming weeks.

But for now, have a good weekend. I have a booksigning for BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD tomorrow in Bloomington and another one in Speedway next Saturday.

Thanks for reading.

Who's lookin'?

Fellow blogger Anne Gallagher pointed out something to me last week and I have been fascinated by it ever since. On blogspot, there is a category on your dashboard called "stats". By clicking on it, you can view general statistics on who is looking at your blog and from where.

I was a little depressed at the numbers at first but got over it once I realized this feature apparently only goes back as far as May or June. (I think June.) But there is some interesting information, although I have no idea what it all means.

I am an aspiring author in the American Midwest blogging, well, about myself, mostly. I wouldn't expect to have much appeal to someone outside the country, and certainly not outside of English-speaking countries. I only write in English. (Don't get me started on how hard it is for me to learn another language.)

But only 67.6 percent of my pageview hits are from the United States. I have hits from five of the seven continents of the world. Apparently, no one in Africa or Antarctica has read me.

After the United States, some 4.6 percent of my pageviews come from The Netherlands, followed closely by 4.3 percent from Canada (which doesn't completely surprise me) and -- get this -- 4.1 percent from Bolivia. Who in the world in Bolivia is reading me?

I also have 13 page hits from China and 10 from Russia. What in the world am I saying that would interest someone in those countries? Is it the Secret Police? I don't know. They aren't leaving me any comments.

Some 28 percent of all my pageviews have come in the last month. But that doesn't mean my September posts are what people are looking at.

Two posts make up one quarter of all my pageviews -- and they are both from 2008, more than two years ago. My No. 1 most popular post (at 12.7 percent of all pageviews) is Querying Agents, from June 18, 2008, followed closely by What's in a Name, Part II, from Jan. 4, 2008 (12.3 percent of all pageviews).

They also have the most pageviews in the last month. But at No. 3 in pageviews this month is Finding an Agent? WTF does it take?, from last week. I was clearly frustrated when I wrote that one. But in terms of overall hits, that post from Sept. 13, is only tied for eighth in overall pageviews.

Now, what does any of this mean? I really don't know. But I hope to figure out why people are reading certain things and hopefully address those concerns more often. But it would be helpful if some of you people in Israel, Brazil, Italy, Denmark and Japan would leave me a comment from time to time.

I am glad, however, that people are reading. I hope you keep doing it.

Thank for reading everyone out there. Now get back to writing.

Excerpt of "The Missing CD"

When I started blogging in December 2007, I intended to chronicle the struggles, trials and successes of an aspiring novelist. For the most part, I think I have done that -- though a few more successes would be welcome. However, I'm still in the process.

This is my 200th posting since I started blogging and so I decided to present to my readers an excerpt from my short story, "The Missing CD." This is from the last e-mail I got before the story went to the copy editor. I don't remember there being any major changes.

This story is in the upcoming racing anthology, BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD. All the stories in the anthology relate in some manner to the Brickyard 400 stock car race in Indianapolis each summer, or to NASCAR. The book should be in local bookstores in two weeks, and is available now on Amazon, as well as on the Borders, and Barnes and Noble websites.

The launch party for the anthology is Saturday, June 12, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Carmel on US 31 North. I hope to see some of you there. And I hope you enjoy the story.

Michael

___

The Missing CD
by
M. B. Dabney

Award-winning journalist M. B. Dabney is an avid race fan whose writing has appeared in the Indianapolis Star, NUVO, The Indianapolis Business Journal, EBONY magazine, and BlackEnterprise.com. He is an officer in the Speed City Indiana chapter of Sisters in Crime and recently completed, A Murderous Dispatch, a mystery novel set in a black newspaper. He lives in Indiana with his wife, two daughters, and their dog, Pluto.


Barbara Jean was the best waitress at Rosie’s Roadside Diner on Highway 77 north of Talladega, Alabama, near the interstate. She knew all the regulars and was cheerful and welcoming to a fault. And she was particularly happy about having her one-time high school sweetheart, Bobby Lee Stevenson, having breakfast at the diner.

Barbara Jean offered Bobby Lee a big smile as she approached a booth near the back. She carried a plate full of flapjacks in her right hand, and on her forearm, balanced a plate of fried eggs sunny-side up, four strips of bacon, and an order of grits. She set the glass of orange juice in her left hand on the table before placing the plates of food in front of Bobby Lee.

“Here you go, darlin.’” Barbara Jean called everyone ‘darlin’ these days. “You need anything else?”

“No, Barbara Jean. Thanks.”

One of the old men up front in the restaurant yelled to Bobby Lee.

“Why you down here, boy?”

Bobby Lee, who looked a lot like Cary Grant early in his film career, hadn’t lived in Alabama since his father moved their struggling NASCAR team, Johnny Eldon Stevenson Racing, to North Carolina, 10 years earlier.

“Just visiting some family. One of my cousins is sick,” he said, charging headlong into the food. “You know him. My cousin, Eldon, named after grandpa. And we got a weekend off this week before heading up to Indianapolis for the Brickyard.”

Another old guy said, “You guys looked pretty good last weekend. If it weren’t for that damned fool Tony Stewart crashin’ Kevin out you might have won that Chicago race.”

“We’ll get ‘em next weekend,” Bobby Lee said. “Our guy’s a pretty good driver. We’ll get there.”

The good folks of Talladega considered the Stevenson's a hometown team and no one wanted to mention the team’s fall from grace. For lack of sponsorship, the team was forced to hire a third-rate driver named Kevin Holmes who came with his own sponsorship money from a Southern grocery store chain. That deal, which Bobby Lee arranged, financially saved the team.

Rosie’s was surprisingly busy for mid-day on a Tuesday. A regular crowd of senior citizens was up front having donuts and coffee and talking NASCAR with two truckers, who were having full meals. But there was a lone man, a stranger, sitting at the counter toward the back eating the steak and eggs special, enjoying black coffee and reading the local sports page. He was tall and thin, and wore blue jeans. His cowboy hat was on the counter next to him.

“You finished, darlin’?” Barbara Jean asked Bobby Lee when she saw that he was done. Then she added with a slight flirt, “You need anythin’ else?”

“No, I’m fine, Barbara Jean,” he said, ignoring the come-on. “Just leave the check on the table for me while I go hit the john real quick.”

She nodded, wrote the check, and left it on the table as he headed to the restroom.

Bobby Lee spent a few moments in the restroom. No one was looking his way as he came out. And no one noticed he was carrying a white business-sized envelope in his right hand. As he passed the stranger at the counter, he dropped the envelope on the red vinyl stool next to him. The man didn’t look down and Bobby Lee kept walking. Once at his table, Bobby Lee grabbed his check and headed to the front to pay.

The cash register was on the end of a counter near the entrance and Bobby Lee had the crowd's attention as he walked up. He gave Barbara Jean a knowing smile as he paid the bill and tipped her more than 25 percent.

As everyone else in the joint was fawning over Bobby Lee, the stranger reached for the envelope, opened the flap and looked inside. He saw the left half of 10, nonsequential 500 dollar bills, and a picture of a newspaper sports columnist from Indianapolis named Henry Rennert.

The man with the cowboy hat tucked the envelope in his inside jacket pocket and motioned to Barbara Jean to refill his coffee. It was bitter tasting because it had been sitting on the warmer too long, but he drank it anyway. He was facing a 10-hour drive and needed to stay awake and alert. And once he arrived at his destination, there was work to do before he completed his job.

Three days later, on Friday morning, Henry Rennert was found dead in his Speedway home. Police said Rennert apparently was shot after walking in on someone burglarizing his home.

Tired

I'm a little tired of writing and with sending out query letters. I hear the novel screaming in my ear to get it out into the world but there is only so much I can do. And I read everything on each agent I intend to query, which is tiring. Plus they can provide conflicting information on what they want from one source to another.

I am telling you all this to show that being an aspiring author is exhausting. There is so much work to do, on both the creative and business ends. And it seems endless.

But it is the weekend. I am going to enjoy a nice dinner at a Japanese restaurant tonight and relax for as much of the weekend as I can. (I cut the grass several days ago.)

When I started blogging in December 2007, I intended to post three times each week, and thus have blogs 12 times a month. That didn't work out. For a variety of reasons, I slacked off. But I am trying to get back to my original goal. And with this posting, I will have 12 postings this month. That hasn't happened since March 2008.

Being a writer is a journey, and this blog is about that journey. I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Anthology

I wrote a whole new scene yesterday for AN UNTIDY AFFAIR. It was a bit of backstory between the main character, David Blaise, and a former love interest. And while I was doing it, I was surprised by some of the developments that came out of it.

It always amazes me when I am writing something and something surprising comes out. In this case, there is a definite connection between Blaize's ex and the missing person's case he is working on. And I didn't know any of that until I was writing it.

Amazing.

Also I am making progress in promoting BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD, the anthology being put together by the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime. It is being published in two weeks, though pre-orders are being taken on Amazon. There are a couple of libraries interested in having signings, one of the anthology's editors get them dates for a local TV show, I'm close to getting some coverage in a local community paper and a local book club is interested in having a couple of authors come to talk. The launch party date is May 22.

It is still slow-going but things are moving ahead.

Next will be really getting stuff online. I will do something in my blog, of course, but I want a greater presence via Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and on the chapter's website.

Not sure if we can have video on our website but I am working on that. I definitely know we can do something on the chapter's Facebook page.

Like I said before, this is an exciting time. I am looking forward to seeing what we can do.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Birthday

I have had a really good birthday today. I received many, many wonderful birthday wishes from friends and family. And many reminded me that the coming year should be my best.

I think that is true but it won't be unless I do my part to make it so.

In the last two-and-a-half years, I have finished three-and-a-half novels -- FIGHTING CHAOS, DEATH AT THE JUNGLE-BUNNY JOURNAL, and AN UNTIDY AFFAIR, with THE DEATH OF ART sitting at the 40,000-word mark. But I still an unpublished and unagented. Why? I'm not all together sure. Writing is a hard and lonely task. I have worked hard at it.

And while I have queried agents, networked with writers and others in the profession, entered contests, attended conventions and conferences, and reached out into the biosphere, I am not further along than I was at the end of 2007, when I started blogging. I have read and researched and tried many of the things writers do to get noticed. Nothing has really worked.

But I must also admit, at least to myself, that I have tried harder at the creative part of my job as a writer than I have at the business end. It is understandable. Many writers are more comfortable at writing than with promoting themselves or their work. But I know -- and I have blogged about this in the past -- publishers aren't going to come looking for me. I have to go to them.

So this year, as my birthday gift to myself, I pledge to re-double my efforts to improve me writing and to make myself more visible and viable in the industry. Then this will be the best year of my life, which I believe it can and should be.

Thanks for reading and don't give up. I won't.

I'm back! Again.

I'm back. This is my first posting since October and I plan to get back to it on a regular basis. But first let me update you on what's been happening since October.




First and foremost, my Winter Project -- battling prostate cancer -- is nearly over. Thank the Lord!

I have had 41 daily radiation treatments and only two remain. Thursday's will be the last and after that I should be cured. At least that is the hope and prayer. I won't know anything for about a month, not until doctors draw blood and check my PSA levels. They should be near zero. The side effects are quite tiring but they should also start to diminish and then completely go away after treatment ends. I should be back to normal -- and with me, who really knows what that is -- within a couple of weeks. Thankfully, everything still works (and that's my last word on that!).

I entered National Novel Writing Month back in November and won. I reached the 50,000-word mark on Nov. 15, and finished the novel at 54,000 words four days later. I met a number of writers, both online and in person, and try to stay in contact with new friends.

AN UNTIDY AFFAIR is a murder mystery about a struggling private eye in Philadelphia in May 1985 who is asked by a pretentious socialite to investigate whether her husband is having an affair. He is having the affair but what the detective also finds is murder. And the victim is the socialite's lover, whose badly burned body is found amidst the ruins on the city block police destroyed when they bombed the house of the radical group MOVE.

Now five drafts later, AFFAIR is just under 70,000 words, a little short for the mystery genre -- the target is at least 75,000 -- but it is what it is.

I have started querying agents but no bites yet. I will keep you posted.

Members of my critique group loved it, which was a welcome surprise. It is in first person, and marks my first venture out of a third-person narrative.

At the moment, I am concentrating on AFFAIR and querying agents, but soon I will have to move on. I haven't decided whether to return to THE DEATH OF ART, a murder mystery set in the art world. I love the story and the characters. I was half way through the novel last summer and fall when, first, I had to deal of the knowledge of my cancer and, then, I entered NaNoWriMo. I haven't decided whether to return to DOA or to let it sit for a while and start a new project. More on that later.

I am still an officer in the Speed City chapter of Sisters in Crime and our anthology, BEDLAM AT THE BRICKYARD, has an early May publication date. I am looking forward to that for a variety of reasons, not the least of which being that once it is published I will no longer merely be an aspiring author. I will be a published -- though still struggling -- author. (One step at a time.) My short story, THE MISSING CD, is the 12th of the 15 stories in the anthology. We are still working on the marketing and don't have a date yet for the launch party. Unfortunately, The Mystery Company closed its doors in February so we are looking at a Barnes and Noble in Carmel. (I worked for Jim Huang at The Mystery Company for several months before its closing and truly enjoyed it. I learned a lot about how the industry works from Jim, who is tremendously knowledgeable. He will be missed in Indy.)

I have several friends entered in ABNA this year -- the semi-finalists are being named today -- and I continue to root for them. Plus my friend Gae Polisner's book is slowly moving toward publication next year, the wonderful Milton McGriff had a successful book signing and discussion of his novel, 2236, last month, and the delightfully talented Hank Phillippi Ryan last month published DRIVE TIME, the latest novel in her Charlotte McNally series.

I will try to touch on many of the above topics in the weeks to come. But for now, I am glad it is spring and I look forward to a productive year of writing.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

Computer woes, again

I have been having computer problems for the better part of five days and it still isn't resolved. But as soon as I have a reliable computer, I plan to post on writing a one-sentence pitch, using Angela's help in marketing, and not winning (another) contest.

But for now, thanks for reading and keep writing (if only, like me, it is in longhand).

Blogging

I was reading an online article in Writer's Digest today on blogging. It was titled,"Is Blogging Right for you?" And while the article, which I must have missed in the print version of the magazine, was interesting and thought-provoking, it didn't answer the question.

Or at least, it didn't for me.

But it did cause me to re-evaluate the reasons that I blog. It isn't so much as to communicate with others than it is to communicate with me. Yes, I would like to have more visitors to the blog, but I don't advertise or promote it. So until I do, I can't hope for any true readership.

But there is one true reader of this blog. Me. The primary reason I write it is so that when I look back, I can see what I was thinking about writing or whatever on any given day. It is like a diary or journal for me. I have never kept a diary or journal and only can manage this in a half-assed way. But I am managing it. That's a start.

There were also some interesting statistics in the article. Apparently, there are more people blogging than people reading books. The article said data shows there are 112.8 million active blogs in the world, with another 175,000 new blogs a day. But there are only 500 books published a day, a figure that only doubles if you include self-published titles. And there are roughly 18 blog updates every second of every day.

In just a few moments I will add to that.

Though anyone is welcome to hear my rants about writing and getting published, the first reader is always me. So I will continue . . .

Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing.

Resolutions

I was reading the blog for the Newbie's Guide to Publishing today and was reminded yet again not to sweat the stuff I can not control, which, unfortunately, can be a lot. But it also encouraged me to reexamine my goals for 2009 and do the things I can control.

All of the goals I have for the year are obtainable solely by me, except one -- finding an agent. I can put myself in a position to get an agent through query letters, contacts with other writers, attending conferences and the like. But I can't control whether I get one.

So I am changing my agent goal to the number of queries I send out and am specifying my blog writing to 12 a month, which was the original goal.

If you do what you can control you can skip the excuses for not getting it done. But you also can totally accept the success of accomplishing what you set out to do. It doesn't mean there won't be disappointments. But it will end the blame game.

Thanks for reading and keep writing.

100th blog posting

I know I am speaking to the choir -- I have had fewer than 300 views to my blog in the last year and a lot of them are me -- but this posting is a milestone. This is my 100th blog posting.

Yes, I know I should have reached this point months ago, probably back in August. When I started, I had planned to blog three times a week and roughly 12 times a month. For the first four months, I kept that pace. Since March, only once have I had as many as eight posts in a single month, and that was in July.

But reaching 100, all I can say is better late than never.

Since I started this blog, the intent was to talk about my journey as an aspiring novelist and fiction writer. I wanted it to help other writers but I first wanted it to help me. I think I have done that.

Since I started last December, I have finished the final draft of my first novel, "Fighting Chaos," completed my second novel, "The Death at the Jungle-bunny Journal," started a third novel, "The Death of Art," written a short story, "The Missing CD," for an anthology, written more than 35 newspaper, magazine or online articles, and have sent out dozens of query letters to potential agents. I joined two fiction-writing groups, and joined a writer's critique group.

Now that I look at it, I have been busy. It's odd for a person as lazy as me.

In my blog, I have touched on numerous subjects, including writing query letters, how to handle rejections, marketing and promotions, writing, reading other writers, agents, disappointments, encouragements, research, my books, and many, many more.

The past year has been a real growth year. Looking back at Fighting Chaos, I can more clearly see why it wasn't picked up. The writing is good but boring. The book needs a complete re-write -- the seventh -- but I'm not ready to do that now. Perhaps some day. I still like the story. It is very personal to me. But I may never get back to it. We will see.

Anyway, I am looking forward to moving forward with my postings. I still have lots to say, even when I'm not saying it.

So I will end with what I generally end with. It is perhaps the most important thing I can say.

Thanks for reading and don't give up on writing.