The Week in Review

Cough, sneeze, fever, strange mutant flegm, cough, headache, etc... And that was just my son. Now it's my turn. Perfect.

A Writer’s Marriage

I am married to writing. And like all marriages, we go through our up’s and down’s, our shimmies and our shakes. It isn’t perfect, but to throw some cheese out there, we were born to be together. From making up stories to entertain friends and family to the ubiquitous tale to get out of trouble, it’s always been there. I did manage to get out of some heat with my parents for my creative lie story telling alone.

Currently, it’s safe to say we are on a down slope. But even these times are helpful. They help in me create the appropriate mood for certain scenes that require a bit of a downer attitude or a bit of a tempered moment. In addition, it helps me appreciate those few precious moments when I it’s just me, my laptop and espresso. And yes, it’s okay to bring in props into the marriage. Some people use, well, I’m not going there, by espresso is our thing.

So, since you all are the closest to a writer’s marriage counselor(s) I know, I’d like to tell you that I have printed out my MS, and am reading it out loud and catching all kinds of little mistakes. Things that I should’ve seen before, as they were obvious enough in reading, that now I feel like an idiot and a half for not catching them earlier. Writing and I are trying to patch things up or mend them (pun intended), but these issues will have to be worked out before we can start honeymooning again.

The definite upside is that being married to writing, means that my actual wife is more like my adulteress lover. A title she may frown upon, so we shall keep this between us. It does, however, keep things interesting, fresh and exciting. Fireworks, baby. Fireworks.

Do you (or a beta reader) catch things in your writing that send your hand flying toward your forehead, with the thought of “How could I’ve been so careless?” Am I alone? Insert violin music….fade.

Sufferin' Subterfuge!

Where in the hell is time going? I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, but my job is getting in the way of my love *sigh*.

No MS progress, still. I do have to give a special thanks to my beta readers, who have taken the time to look over, enjoy and suggest on my WIP. I thank you all and really do appreciate you.

Also, I need to post about my New Orleans trip while I still feel the crawfish heartburn rolling in my insides. Yeah, its gonna be like that! ;)

best wishes to you all, and hope to catch up soon.

A Quickie

I'm writing from Nawrlens' darlens'. Not that I have been a slacker, well, yeah.. I have. And it's been great. I've been on vacation for quite some time now, and I'm dreading the eventual return to the daily grind. However, I have all my blogger buddies, and this, the quick post. I hope y'all had a great time celebrating the end of the year and welcoming the new year. I wish the best of luck for the next year, but not a day more. ;)
Kidding.

Post more soon.

Chao.

'Tis the frakking season..

Merry New Years, and Happy Christmas, and all that jazz.

I do hope that you all have had chance to work and make some progress on your various WIP’s. I know I have not. Not at all. I’ve been a lazy movie watching, wii playing, procrastinator (on my time off). I’m about to go on vacation, and I’m not seeing much work done over those days either. Maybe some, but I’m not prioritizing it.

I’m giving time to the things that had been falling by the wayside: Playing video games with my kids, lounging around with the wife, and trying to get all Christmassy. I will say that it is hard trying to convince two boys that a cackling old man that should be on weight watchers, whom has the overseeing habits of a peeping Tom, and also enjoys having little children on his lap is the kind of person they need to please. Seriously, all run on sentences aside, how am I supposed to sell THAT? If it were anybody other than Santa, we’d be hearing all about in on Court TV. Forgive me, TRUE TV now.

In any case, enjoy your spiked eggnog and that drunk uncle everybody wants to pretend (and wish) he didn’t keep showing up every year. Have fun seeing all those people that told you “you need to grow up,” and give them money (just because you have more than them now) while affirming that you decided it was best not to grow up. Oh, and above all be Merry, or Mary, or whatever your cross-dressing preferences are.

Ho, ho, ho


PS. I forgot to mention the sign I saw the other day. it read: "Jesus: the reason for the season". Is that who I have to blame? I'd like to have a word with him, please.

Off Ice

I've decided to chisel out my MS from the ice block I placed it in just before Thanksgiving weekend. It was hard to do, I admit, and seeing my little paper spawn frozen, tugged at my heart as emotion threatened to drown my eyes.

Okay, okay. Maybe it wasn't THAT hard. It was nice, however, to give myself a little self-dictated vacation from writing. Alas, the time has come now to give one last read through before I delve into the hell that is query letter writing and synopsis typing.

I hope my eyes are fresh enough to catch all those mistakes that have eluded me already. I'm wearing my hunter eyes. To the common folk they appear as a mere squint, but trust me, they are predatory and menacing. Be afraid ill placed comma and awkward dialogue tag, for I am coming for you, and all your rapscallion friends. I shall try to focus on voice consistency and grammar errors. The story itself will not change. In any case, wish me luck, and tell me of your writing process. What do you find that helps you the most during editing. Besides booze that is.

Chao for now.

The Weekend Review

I drank, I smoked, I shopped, I cursed Christmas and all its merry bell ringers and braindead shoppers (me included). I drank.

Writers: Mind Your Business!

Seriously, we should. For those of us who hope to profit from our passion one day (if not already) we need to accept the reality that this is a business. Oh, but you don’t write for the money, you write because you love it, right? That’s crap. Then don’t try to get published. Just read your stories to yourself. But, oh, you write for yourself, not for others? Bullshit. Saying that is the equivalent of singing in the shower, and even then, at the very least you have a small audience. Even if he is your trusty canine companion.

Treat your craft with the passion it deserves. Not just when you are crafting, but when you are talking about it. If you are unpublished, (a minority, right?) talk to people about what you do. Tell them about your story, get them excited about YOUR creation. Get them to want to know more. Send them to your blog, to your website, to your facebook. Today, we have advantages that novelists of the past never had. And yes, it’s okay to be called a novelist, even if my grandmother thought that “novelists” were not well thought of in high society. In today’s day and age, we can network faster and easier than ever before. Use the tools that are there at your disposal.

When you get published, keep up the hard work. So you have an agent, an editor and a publisher. You have that little ISBN number assigned to your work, and your paper baby has flown the nest into the neatly stacked shelves of bookstores. Guess what? Your work is far from done. Keep talking; yell to people that YOU have a book that deserves to be read. Hand out business cards like toothbrushes in a dental convention. Go to parties (the hard-life, I know), always keep something that will make people remember your book. It is your job to make the book sell. I know the writing should sell itself, but let’s be honest for a moment, people need to know where and how to find your book first.

I’m tired of seeing people that are desperately passive with their desires, or that feel that what they have created is so fantastic they don’t have to do anything at all to succeed. Look at the most successful brands in the world, and you tell me how much you think they spend on marketing alone. Rant finished.

Public Query Slushpile

So, I have given this query writing business yet another stab. i think this makes four. If I was to take this many stabs at anything else, I'd probably end up arrested. I posted it on the "Public Query Slushpile" blog. Its a neat concept created by writer, for writers.

You should definitely go check it out. Not just my query, but the others that are there. Some are good, some really need help. You decide which is which, and hey, you just might pick up a think or two. You never know.

Let me know what you think. Ciao, for now, kiddies.