Yes, I realize we are already on the third day of 2010. But with another 362 to go, it is still a "new" year. Hopefully I won't sound like a kill joy to mention that I was sound asleep as the calendar turned over. Even if I had been scheduled not to work New Year's Day, I doubt if I would have been able to stay up and welcome the New Year in. I'd been up since before 3:00 am on New Year's Eve, and heavy eyelids and an overwhelming desire to let them close led me to the covers around 8:30. As I did work, I was up again before 3 on the First. (Had my coat on and was heading out the door when Jessica returned from celebrating with friends.)
Mentioned in a reply to ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) jpsorrow the other day that I do not make New Year's Resolutions. It's just something I've never done. I don't have to worry about breaking them, and if I feel the need to resolve to do something, I'll do it at the time I realize the need and not because it's the beginning of a New Year.
Right now, my reading and writing projects are combined. I'm working my way through BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE once again, hoping to put a bit more of a shine on it. I've had a request for the entire manuscript and want it perfect (or as close as I can get it) when I send it in. Having been over it several times, I would have sworn that it was just about perfect to begin with. Still, it is amazing that I am finding so many things to change and correct. Mostly they are small things, a word here, a typo there, and the occasional re wording of a sentence or paragraph. Even with this latest run through, I can't guarantee that it will be completely perfect. But I'm sure it will be a lot closer to that mark than it was. Anyway, I've had a copy of it with me at work and have been reading/editing on my lunch coffee break. I bring it home on weekends and make the appropriate corrections and changes on the computer. I've made it through chapter 15 (of 24) with the review, and have the first 11 chapters updated on the computer.
At the rate I'm going, I should have it complete around the middle of the month. Then I can get it adjusted to the specifics the requesting agent wants and get it on its way. I think I mentioned before that this particular agent wants a single space after periods, and if I haven't mentioned it, one copy via e-mail and a second hard copy. Uniquely, the second copy is to be in a binder and can be double sided. To me, that's neat, as that's how I print copies out for editing and also to pass along to "first readers."
A while ago I mentioned that I was re-doing the drawing(s) of HMS/OGS Island Expedition. After several false starts I have it drawn to what my vision dictates that vessel should be. I have only a few more areas to detail and color in, and then it should be done. Once complete I can scan it in to the computer and replace the current versions of the schooner in my user pics.
That should be about it for today. Still want to enter a few corrections for the book, and also have to go to the hardware store for a toilet inlet valve... the one that's on the wall under and behind the unit. Then at 1:00 pm I'll watch the Seahawks make one more attempt to win. About all I can say about this season is, "NEXT YEAR!"
Dave
Christmas Morning! No snow this year, although it is cold. A little foggy as well. While I have slept in compared to a normal working Friday, I am still up much earlier than anyone else in the house. I've read the paper, drunk two cups of coffee, and have migrated to the "office" and the computer. It will be a quiet day until the rest of the household is up and about.
Remembering Christmasses as a child, it seems that I was always up early, even when older and when I understood the reality of the Magic. Perhaps a bit of it lingered, as one or two gifts, apparently from Santa Claus still appeared under the tree on Christmas Morning. On the other hand, Jessica was never one to bounce out of bed before daylight to see what the Jolly Elf might have left for her. She has always been content to sleep half the day a way, and then to seem totally unconcerned about the gifts wrapped and waiting under the Tree. As well, Eva usually takes her own time in getting up on Christmas. Gift opening is usually of secondary concern to her as well, as she is more generally concerned with preparing dinner.
I hope I do not appear to be overly focused on the "present" aspect of the Holiday. Yes, I still enjoy getting them, but as much, I enjoy giving them. I look forward to opening the decoratively wrapped bundles of mystery as much as the next person. But I also enjoy and anticipate the reactions of others when they open something that I've gotten for them. And in truth, depending upon what it is and whom it is for, I might sometimes be a little nervous as a gift I bought and wrapped is opened and revealed. It might be that at my point in life, that I enjoy the giving as much as the getting.
This year, the pile of presents under the tree is smaller than in the past. With Jessica beginning her college education, the budget has come under review, and we thought it best to downplay the Christmas Shopping this year. Hopefully what we have gotten for each other this year will turn out to be gifts of quality rather than of quantity. Hopefully we will each appreciate those few items that the others give us, and more importantly, appreciate the True Reason for the Day.
On other topics: If I've not mentioned my current reading project for awhile, it is because I'm not actually reading anything at the moment. I finished PEOPLE OF THE WOLF a couple of weeks ago, and since have been doing a final review of my own BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE. Rather surprising, how many changes I'm making, as I had one time considered it to be pretty much in final polished form. Yet as I go through it now, those awkward spots and those few remaining typos seem to stand out rather markedly. I suppose the biggest difference in this "go through" than previous ones is how sporadic the marked corrections and changes are. While I might have a page or two marked up as if they were part of a first draft, the next several pages might be devoid of any editing. A big help in this project is that Anne Mini is currently running a series on Self-Editing on her Author! Author! blog. (www.annemini.com) Already she has mentioned several areas that I find myself looking for as I go through the story.
Currently I've reviewed slightly less than half the book. I've brought the marked pages home over the Holiday weekend and hope to spend at least a part of my time in making the corrections on the computer. Ideally I'll have it completely done by the middle of January. Then I'll feel much better about sending it out, both to the agent that currrently has requested it, and to any others that might. If whatever I do in this current edit that might make it more acceptable to the industry, then going through it one more time is well worth it.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR, Everyone!
Dave
Nice to be sitting in a warm house today. The forecast calls for a high today that will still be under the freezing point. Lows for the next few days are expected to be in the single digits. There is some talk of snow, but today's paper didn't mention it. In a way, I wish it would snow. Regardless of the actual temperature, it doesn't seem as cold if there is snow on the ground. And if it snows and stays cold, really cold, the roads aren't that bad for driving. It's much worse when it snows and the temperature fluctuates around the freezing point.
The recent Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers (SASP) meeting turned out to be one of the best we have had in a long time. Our special guest speaker was famed local (and nationally known) humorist Patrick McManus. While he had indicated upon agreeing to our invitation that he wasn't too much of a speaker, he kept the group enthralled and in stitches for nearly an hour. We had also arranged with one of our members who also heads the book department at a local Hastings to bring copies of his books to sale. So once Mr. McManus had finished answering questions from the audience, our impromptu book store opened, while our guest signed copies of his books... both those newly purchased and those that members had brought with them. I bought NEVER SNIFF A GIFT FISH, and naturally had it signed. Over the past couple of days I've read bits and pieces of it, and have ended up laughing out loud every time. Our bookstore member also donated a copy of his latest book as a door prize. Almost as a side show, we also had our annual election. It looks as if three of us, the President, Vice-President, and Secretary will serve for at least another year. Because Mr. McManus's appearance took most of the time, we'll announce the election results prior to the next meeting.
Writing wise, I'm in the process of incorporating changes suggested by the writers group in BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE. Then for the next few weeks I'll do a final review/revision of it during my lunch (half) hours at work. Want to have it as perfect as possible when I send it off to the agent who has requested it.
I finished reading PEOPLE OF THE WOLF on Friday. That's good as now I'll be able to concentrate on the final run through of my own work starting Monday.
With that, I'll end for now. Have a lot of other computer type stuff to do, and of course there is my normal "Saturday rounds" to make. Basically I'll go get a lotto ticket, check the Corvair Club mail at one post office and SASP mail at another.
Dave
For me, I think the most immediate thing to be thankful for is the chance to sleep in this morning. For the first time in four years, I am not working on Thanksgiving. Oh, to have worked would not have been that bad. I would have slept longer than normal, gone in, done a quick clean of locker rooms and washed a few towels. As it is nearly 11 am as I write this, I would probably be home by now. But still I would have had to set my alarm and gotten up at it's insistance. It sure is nice to not have to. As I slept until nearly 7, I was no doubt tired from the previous three days of the week.
We'll eat a bit earlier than usual this year as Eva has to work later in the day. With just the three of us it won't be that big of a production, but still more of a traditional sit-down family dinner than we usually have. We'll be having chicken instead of turkey, and Jessica who is vegetarian made a shepard's pie. Custom-wise, we will have pumpkin pie for dessert!
What I'm looking forward to, as far as eating is concerned, is the days that follow and cleaning up all the left overs. They seem to taste better, and there are all sorts of neat things to do with them. I particularly like to use the left over bird (chicken or turkey) to make pot pies. I did that last year and found that a pie would feed me for several days. I've made them with traditional pie crust, with "hot water paste... ie. a raised pie, and with baking mix, such as you would use for biscuits, waffles, pancakes, etc. The last is probably the quickest and simplest way to do it. Depending, I might do that for tomorrow night. Usually Friday is pizza night, but with all that will probably be left, it would be a shame not to try something a little different.
Writing wise I'm working on a final once over of BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE. I mentioned last time that an agent wants the entire manuscript, and as it has been a while since I've gone over it, I feel I should do so. Also, from about chapter Nine on, there are recommendations from those in my writers group that I haven't yet incorporated. And in accordance with this particular agency's wishes, there is the task of changing from two spaces to one space after a period. That's not all that hard to do if one uses the find and replace function.
As far as what I reading, I'm about three quarters of the way through PEOPLE OF THE WOLF, by Kathleen O'Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear. By the time I finish that I hope to have an updated version of my work to take with me and review on my lunch break.
Having been at the computer for much of the morning, I'm starting to get a little burned out. Just might shut it off and go indulge in another Thanksgiving tradition... and watch a little football.
Dave
Sun, Oct. 25th, 2009, 10:06 am
Progress Update
Last week I mentioned that I had actually made some progress on DARNAHSIAN PIRATES. That continued on for another couple of days, and I've now added a little over three pages to chapter five. My plan is to do a bit more on it later today, once I've caught up on all the computer stuff I want to get to.
Didn't do much at the keyboard yesterday. It was fairly nice (a bit cool) out and I tried to do some outside stuff. Got the lawn mowed for what is probably the final time this fall, trimmed a couple of shrubs, and attempted to reinstall the five section wide angle mirror in my truck. Maybe I should have let the adhesive for the mounting button (on the windshield) set longer. It ended up pulling off again. Then I noticed that the right hand one was broken as well. I mounted the original mirror, which screws into the metal above the windshield and will use that for the next few days.
Today is a bit cooler, lots of white frost all over everything this morning, and it's getting foggy as well. A good day to stay inside and work on writing and other indoor type stuff. And as the SEAHAWKS have a bye, there is no football game that I'm sufficiently interested in to take me away from my computer endeavors. There is, however, game six of the ALCS (unless it's not rained out again), but it is not until late in the afternoon, and I'll be done with my efforts by then.
I'm still pressing forward with my querying efforts, and earlier today discovered an agent/agency that might be a good fit while looking at the Publishers Marketplace web-site. They want e-mail queries only, so I'll wait until the middle of the week to send it off. (I've heard that queries received over the weekend and cluttering up an agent's assistant's desk or computer screen tend to be more subject to rejection than those received in the middle of the week. Something about trying to get the stack or the file down to a managable level.) I did receive one rejection letter this week, but in a way it was good to receive it. It was a result of a query to an agent that I had great difficulty in tracking down any sort of contact information. Basically she said she was not accepting any new clients, but I feel relieved to know that she did get my query.
And before I forget, I received my free copy of the Fall Issue of SPOKE WRITE this week. All those who have their work published in it get a free copy. If I haven't mentioned it before, my essay, TENNIS BALLS AND BROADSIDES was scheduled to be published in it, and it was! In fact it is the very first piece in the collection. If you are curious about this particular writing effort, you can view it at www.annemini.com/?p=5092 If you are interested in what other folks in the Spokane Area are writing, you can go to www.graydogpress.com and order a copy of SPOKE WRITE. As a final reminder, you can also check out jpsorrowwho is posting the first six chapters of his first book, THE SKEWED THRONE. I think that as of Wednesday he had four chapters posted.
And now, I suppose it's on to bigger and better things. Hope you all have a great week!
Dave
Well, amongst other things accomplished this weekend, I actually made a little progress on Chapter Five of DARNAHSIAN PIRATES. It was only about a page, but at the rate that chapter (and book) had been progressing, that was a huge step forward. Depending upon the time when I finish posting this, I might even see if I can't expand that fresh start a little bit. I've finished the first scene of the chapter and have moved into the second one. Doing so helps me define which of several paths I was contemplating taking with the story at this point. I had several ideas as to what should happen next, as well as a definite event that Pierce would become involved in. I suppose that the variety of choices at this point was why I could never get started and move on. But I have made a decision as to what occurs, and now perhaps I'll keep going along that route. Still, I know that next week, next month, or next year, I may decide that that was the wrong road to follow and eliminate it from the story. But for now I'm glad to once again have a road in front of me.
In order to stay the course and maintain a good pace of writing, I'm thinking to unofficially participate in NANOWIMO next month. I won't actually take part, but will try to use its presence to encourage steady progress on my part for the month. I'd like to get two or three more chapters done during November. Then I can feel like I'm making progress again.
With a couple of exceptions, the rapidly ending weekend turned out to be pretty good. Aside from the rare progress on my third book, I got more stuff updated on the Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers (SASP) web-site (www.spokaneauthors.org) and my own web-site (www.stoneislandseastories.com). Saturday I spent the afternoon at a farm north of Spokane, as one of the newer members of the Inland Northwest Corvair Club had invited us up for a Cider Fest. Only a few club members showed, but a lot of others came as well. The cars (Corvairs) were all parked together and got a lot of attention. And as most folks brought something for the table, there was plenty to eat, and of course fresh pressed cider to drink. Yum! Next year, I'll have to take along a couple of jugs so that I can bring some home. Better by far that what you can buy in the stores.
That will probably be it for this time, especially if I want to see I can progress a little on the writing.
Dave
Almost forgot, but the writers group I belong to met today for the first time in several weeks. One of the other members had something for us to review and critique, so I was thankful not to be the one in the "hot seat." No, I don't really mind, but it seems a little selfish to always be going over my stuff. We've gone over three chapters of this gal's latest project, and in my opinion, she has a possible winner! I don't know for sure where it would fit category or genre wise, although I can see it as being on the border line of URBAN FANTASY.
I don't know that the title/subject I've selected will actually have that much to do with this post. Still, I have this thing, this rule in my mind that I need to have something in that spot. And as I have no particular subject to rant or rave about today, such a subject line is probably as good as any.
To begin with, one of these days I shall be re-drawing and replacing the user-pic depicted at the top of this post. HMS Theadora is the ship Edward Pierce is serving on at the beginning of BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE. I thought the representation of it, as shown above came out rather well. But I suppose I do the same with drawings as with my writing, and that is that after time I begin to see those things that could have been done a bit differently. Lately I've decided that both the fore and main masts need to be shifted slightly forward. And in reading through the very first chapter, I've discovered a technical discrepancy between the drawing and the text. The story mentions four carronades per side on the quarterdeck, and the drawing only shows two. So whether I change/redo the drawing or alter the story, I want the two to agree. I tend to think that the story is more true to what would have existed at that time. Thus it will be the pictorial representation of the frigate that gets redone.
Before I get around to doing that, I want to update and revise the drawing(s) of HMS Island Expedition as well. In fact, I've started several times and never seem to progress beyond a certain stage. What I have now (see user pics) just doesn't convey what I feel this vessel looks like. There are some peculiarities in its design that I am having trouble rendering in a convincing and authentic fashion.
Yes, to me creating these visual representations of the ships involved in The Stone Island Sea Stories is a form of research for writing them. I want the written and the visual depictions to match as much as possible. When a certain action takes place at a certain location on deck, I want to be able to visualize it in concrete terms. Thinking ahead, it might be that readers will someday also want to be able to see the ships and vessels in pictorial form.
Writing wise, I haven't accomplished a lot as of late. I do have some ideas for another leg of the overall story, one that has come about while engaged in my latest read. I suppose a year or so ago I developed an overall plot line while reading another book by this same author. I began weaving it into the tale as I neared the end of SAILING DANGEROUS SEAS. The one just conceived, however, will mean the eventual start of an entirely different story, but one that will eventually tie in with the current one. In other words, it will be a different series, a different tale, one that is set in the same location, but related events that happened hundreds or even thousands of years earlier.
My first idea for an overall, somewhat hidden plot line came while I was reading James Rollins' THE BLACK ORDER. My latest idea has come while reading his THE LAST ORACLE. Funny that work of an entirely different nature from what I write can influence me that way. Perhaps it is what he tends to imply in so many of his stories that intrigues me. So, unless it confuses anyone, I am currently reading THE LAST ORACLE. I'm probably a quarter of the way into it and enjoying it tremendously.
Over the past few weeks I've managed to send out a goodly number of queries. One has come back as a reject, but I've still not heard from the others. I had it in mind to query an agent who seems to deal with the type of books that mine seem to be, but it appears he is not accepting queries from new writers at the time. It's my goal to get as many as possible sent out before the industry takes a break over the Thanksgiving and the Holidays. Depending upon the results achieved, I may then attempt to submit to a local small press.
Right now I'm waiting for the fall edition of SPOKE WRITE: The Spokane / Coeur d'Alene Journal of Art and Writing to come out. My TENNIS BALLS AND BROADSIDES essay that I wrote for Anne Mini's AUTHOR! AUTHOR! First Periodic Awards for Expressive Excellence is supposed to be in it. By the way, you can see the effort at www.annemini.com/?p=5092
If you would be interested in seeing what others in the Spokane and Coeur d'Alene area are writing, copies of SPOKE WRITE can be ordered from Gray Dog Press. www.graydogpress.com
While I'm thinking of it, fellow LiveJournal user jpsorrow has gained permission from his publisher to post the first six chapters of his first book, THE SKEWED THRONE. You can go directly to his journal or to my friends page and scroll down to the appropriate entry.
I should end now. I still have some things to update on the Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers web-site www.spokaneauthors.org There's a football game this afternoon, and if possible I want to get the oil changed in the '98 Sidekick.
Sun, Aug. 30th, 2009, 07:54 am
Book Signing!
As I mentioned yesterday, our local Hastings held a mass book signing during the afternoon. While I don't yet have anything that could be signed and sold, I went by for a while to offer my support and somehow feel that I was participating. To my surprise and delight, Trish, the Book Manager at this particular store had rounded up over two dozen authors. Several were members of Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers. (SASP www.spokaneauthors.org) Others were self-published or locally published writers who do not have a connection to the previously mentioned group. Still others were local authors who had been published in the more traditional way. If anyone is familiar with the crime stories of Frank Zafiro, he was probably the biggest name there.
My impression was that those attending and participating thoroughly enjoyed the experience, even though sales were not as robust as could have been hoped for. In a way, the afternoon was like a mini-conference, with writers meeting other writers and exchanging ideas and encouragement. On occasion, regular customers in the store stopped by, and I believe a few even bought a book or two. Trish and I agreed that perhaps the response would have been better, at least with regard to the buying public, if we would have had the appropriate publicity. She had sent the information about the event to the local paper, but no one I spoke to had seen any mention of it in recent issues of the Spokesman-Review. Several attendees suggested that perhaps such an event would do better as we move into the fall and as the Holiday Shopping Season approaches.
To me the event was a close parallel to the "autograph party" held one night at the PNWA (Pacific Northwest Writers Association www.pnwa.org) Conference. As I usually do at that event, I made the rounds and picked out a few books that I would like to read. Had the authors sign them, bought them, and then came home. As a matter of fact, I probably bought more than I should have, at least in terms of cost. I had stopped by the bank on my way there and had withdrawn a little cash from the account. But when my purchases were totalled up, the amount was close to what I had in my pocket, and wanting some of that for other things during the week, I ended up putting the purchase on "plastic."
Now, with what I bought yesterday, and with what I bought at the PNWA Conference a month or so ago, I should not lack in reading material for the next several months.
As to my own writing? It seems that I always have some sort of project to get finished, and thus progress on DARNAHSIAN PIRATES has slowed to a crawl. Over this next week, and perhaps through next weekend, I'll be doing the next issue of the REAR ENGINE REVIEW. Also coming up is the next SASP meeting. That means one computer session of preparing a meeting agenda or guide, and another after the event to update the website and prepare a new PRESIDENT's PAGE. I've got SASP members whose books I've read wanting reviews, and.... Beyond that, there's yard work, and as the weather cools a little bit this fall, I have the Corvairs that need a little (quite a lot of) work. There's also the possibility of revisions and edits to both BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE and SAILING DANGEROUS WATERS. So while I probably shouldn't do it, my actual writing seems to take a back seat to everything else that's going on.
I might even need to curtail my efforts at posting and divert a bit of that into continuing the STONE ISLAND SEA STORIES. Yet, now that I have this Live Journal, I feel I should use it. While I know that not many are likely to be reading it, I write it with the feeling that many, many folks peruse it on a regular basis. Thus I feel a sort of responsibility to post on a fairly regular basis. From my own experience, it can be disappointing to follow a "friend's" LJ page and then not see any new posts for weeks or even months at a time. I just don't want to provide that sort of discontent with any of you who have me on your friends list.
The Sunday Paper has finally shown up, so I guess I'll call this quits for now and go read it. Then perhaps I'll get outside and get some stuff done!
Dave
Vacation and my annual trip to the PNWA Conference (www.pnwa.org) are now history. I've been back to work for three days, and already it has started to feel as if I was never gone. Still, the effects of being on vacation and to an exciting event linger. The three days I worked this past week seemed to have lasted forever. By the time Friday rolled around, I was more than ready for the weekend.
Thursday was the lastest SASP (www.spokaneauthors.org) meeting. We didn't have a formal presentation, but rather simply had members read from their works for five minutes or so at a time. In most cases, what our fellow members had written and presented to us was informative and entertaining. We have a speaker lined up for next month's meeting, but it is evident that the group's officers will need to meet and firm up a speaker schedule for the coming year.
In another random note, I actually won something a few days ago. Joshua Palmatier,jpsorrow , has been giving away hard copy covers of his first book, THE SKEWED THRONE on his live journal. He's celebrating the completion of revisions to his newest story, WELL of SORROWS, and the release of the German version of THE SKEWED THRONE, known there as DIE ASSASSINE. His contest was(and is) quite easy. All I had to do was comment on his LJ entry/post for the day. I've sent him my mailing address, and he assures me the book is in the mail. I already have (and have read) the story in its paperback form. I'll probably just keep that and will perhaps donate the hardcover version as a door prize at a future SASP meeting. By the way, he's running the contest for another day or so, so if you want to take a chance at winning an autographed copy of a book by an up and coming fantasy writer, head on over to his LiveJournal.
With regards to my own writing efforts, yesterday I finished some revision to Chapter 14 of my first book, BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE. Some was minor typo correction and that sort of thing, the stuff that I figure I've already taken care of... until I look at it again after a significant amount of time away. However, a judge's comment from a contest a year or so ago pointed out a possible "gotcha" in the plot structure. Basically I had the characters looking back on the course they had sailed, supposedly in the Indian Ocean area, only to discover they had unknowingly crossed over and had sailed over dry land. The comment simply was, "wouldn't they have seen that they would be doing so, by looking at the locations they were supposed to journey to?" So I had to revise the situation a bit, and have them do a series of "jumps" every time they passed through one of the special sets of coordinates. Then when they compute their position the next time, they find they are not where they should be, and often they are sailing where their charts show dry land should exist. I ended up taking out slightly less than one page of material, but adding in over three pages. The chapter itself grew from fourteen pages to nearly seventeen. That of course adds to the length of the entire book, and if no other remaining chapters are modified enough to change their length, the whole story is now at 399 pages.
While I was at the Conference a week or so ago, I also did some "editing" work on the third book, DARNAHSIAN PIRATES. So far I have four completed chapters in that story, and I got into the fourth with suggested edits and revisions. Haven't made any of the changes yet, but hope to in the near future. I also hope to get back to actually working on the story and progressing with the fifth chapter and beyond. I also want to resume the querying efforts for the first, although at this time of year it might be a matter of common sense to hold off until after the end of summer and allow prospective agents to return from summer holiday trips, etc. Then I want to make a final push at querying and finding an agent. If I don't land one in the fairly near future, I'm thinking about going with a small press. Honestly, I think what I'm writing is good enough to end up with a big-time publisher, but I also see that because of it's unique genre-bending situation, traditional agents and publishers might find difficulty in placing it. That is a situation that I hopefully touched on in TENNIS BALLS AND BROADSIDES, as presented at www.annemini.com/?p=5092 My thought is that if traditional publishers can't figure out how or where to place it, then perhaps a small press can. In today's world of internet communications, I think I would still have a chance to get word of the product out ot a significant amount of people, and hopefully a significant amount of them would find the work interesting enough to purchase it. As a writer, there is always that inner conflict of wanting to sell my work and make MONEY, while at the same time simply wanting to have my work in print in a professional format.
I did hear at the recent SASP meeting that the local small press publisher I'm thinking of dealing with has become inundated with hopeful authors and that those hopeful authors now must pitch or query their work. Which, I guess is as it should be. For the mean time, I'll continue on with the traditional querying route, and perhaps as the days shorten and the air grows colder, I'll approach that small press publisher. (I have also by means that I won't reveal, come up with contract information for an agent who handles a series of books that I find very similar in their cross-genre flavor to my own. Whether this particular agent is looking for new material or not, it certainly would not hurt to revise and update my query letter until it is the best it can be, and then query with all the politeness that I can muster. After all, all that can happen is to receive another rejection slip, and as an author with considerable querying experience, I have a rather large collection of those.)
Dave
The trouble with weekends is that they are two short. By the time I get rested up from the previous week and start to feel ambitious, the weekend is drawing to a close and it is time to start getting ready for the coming work week.
I'll have a short week at work as I'll be going on vacation come Wednesday. I'll drive over to Sea-Tac that afternoon for the PNWA (www.pnwa.org) Conference. It actually starts Thursday afternoon, but I've always gone over the day before. That way I don't have to fight traffic or worry about being there on time. I also like the "free time" Thursday morning to do a little editing or polish my pitch.
The little writers group that I'm in met earlier today. For once, one of the other members had something for us to critique, so Edward Pierce and his adventures got a bit of a break. It's been neat to have been the one who's work is always reviewed, but it also makes me feel like I'm taking advantage of the others. But I guess that is what comes of having two books completed and a third in work. If none of the others have anything, I always do. As it turned out, I didn't make it all the way through the material she brought us, so I'll take it with me to the conference and finish going over it. That way I can give a more detailed critique than I was able to do today.
I never did make much progress on DARNAHSIAN PIRATES over the past week. I will go through and see about including the corrections and updates that I made to it a few months ago. Then I'll be able to go over the once revised material when I'm at the conference.
Don't be surprised if I don't post anything until after next weekend. I'll be driving back Sunday afternoon, and if it's hot at all, I probably won't feel like doing much of anything on the computer until Monday at least. I'll still be on vacation Monday and Tuesday, but a lot of my computer time will probably be taken up with catching up on e-mail and the like.
As I still have a little time before crawling under the covers, I might see about making some of those changes to the third book that I just spoke of. And in case anyone is interested, I've just about finished with MOBY DICK. My hope is that I'll finish it over the next two days at work.
Dave
Over my last few posts, I think I've mentioned a contest that Anne Mini has been running on her Author! Author! blog (www.annemini.com). Anyway, sent in an entry and ended up with one of the two first place positions that were created for the competition. One of the perks or prizes was to have one's entry posted on Anne's blog. So for June 19th, I am her guest blogger. The other first place winner, Auburn McCanta (www.DancingBirds.com) was guest blogger on the 18th. The Grand prize winner's entry was posted on the 17th. All three entries deal, sometimes in quite round about ways with censorship, both subtle and direct in today's world of writing.
Speaking of (writing about) writing, I hope to get back to work on Darnahsian Pirates in the near future. I'd like to have enough to make it worth while taking a working copy with me to the PNWA Conference (www.pnwa.org) at the end of July. No, I don't try to foist it on unsuspecting agents or editors, but I find I can do a lot of revision and editing while waiting for sessions to start, or during those few times when nothing is happening. It can be a conversation starter, sitting with a loose leaf binder and intently marking changes and corrections. But before I can get back to that story, I need to write up something about the Corvair Club's recent Econo-Run Northwest and get it off to the Corvair Society of America (CORSA) (www.corvair.org) for inclusion in an upcoming issue of the CORSA COMMUNIQUE. I'll also have to include the story or a very similar one in the club's own REAR ENGINE REVIEW.
Reading wise, I'm well in to Herman Melville's Moby Dick. I'd mentioned before that I had never been able to read it, perhaps due to his complex and convoluted sentence construction. But the last time I tried was years ago. I still find it difficult at times, but as I read for relaxation during my lunch time, I just keep plugging away. I'm in no hurry to get through it. I simply savor the thirty or thirty-five minutes I spend with it everyday. And that causes me to wonder if the intend of writing, and of reading hasn't changed over the years. Regardless of the exact nature of the story, I think those written decades or centuries ago were meant to be more of a meander through life, rather than a mad dash through a brief portion of it. Those of us who are aspiring authors hear all the time that our stories must leap right into the action. Could that be a reflection of the modern reader? Does he or she want instant results, instant immersion into the story? Does today's typical reader jump in head first, rather than wading in a little at a time while getting used to the water?
Well, enough for today. I'm going into work for a while late this morning. They've had a crew in painting the walls and ceilings of the Spokane Club's indoor tennis courts, and as usual when a contractor crew is present, they've made a complete mess of the courts themselves. Our maintenance person, the other janitor and myself, along with the tennis director are going to attempt to get them cleaned up so they can be used come Monday morning.
Dave
P. S. If you happen to visit Author! Author!, read my guest post, and would like to comment, you can do so there, or I would welcome your thoughts and comments here as well.
Tue, May. 19th, 2009, 04:34 pm
On a Tuesday?
Seems strange to be posting during the week, but I never got a chance for it over the weekend. I worked Saturday morning, did some (other) computer type stuff in the afternoon, and went and watched the Lilac Festival Armed Forces Torchlight Parade in the evening. Jessica has been in the parade as part of the Shadle Park High School marching band for each of the past three years, and as this was her last time we thought we should go for once. The only other time I'd been to (or been in) the parade was a dozen or more years ago when the Corvair Club participated. I'd recently bought "Tim" my '62 Rampside pickup and ended up leading the group. The engine was dirty with oil and dirt, and with all the idling it did, it started to smoke. So here I was, laying down a smoke screen to effectively hide all the other Corvairs behind me. The cloud disipated as soon as I reached the end and got up to more normal driving speeds.
And speaking of Corvairs, Sunday the INCC got together for what we like to call "Tech 'n' Tune." The idea is that we can get those nagging little problems we have with our vehicles taken care of. Yes, some folks do get some work done on their cars, but for the most part it's a time to get together and chat BS. As it turns out we've had them for the past four years now, every spring, and I've never had either of my Corvairs running to drive to any of them. Next year? Anyway that took most of the day, and when I got home and finally went on the computer, I had other stuff that I needed to do.
I'd been trying to write a short five page essay or presentation for a contest that a perhaps well-known blogger is running. I was under the impression that the deadline for it was yesterday (Monday the 18th) at midnight. I had my thoughts on the topic pretty much together, but was having trouble translating them to "paper." I'd started a few days earlier but kept putting off a real indepth attempt at finishing it. Sat down again yesterday and worked it through to the end. Still it wasn't really what I wanted, but as the deadline loomed and I was tired I decided to send it as is. I went to the particular post that announced the contest to retrieve the e-address of where I should send it. In doing so I found that the deadline had been extended to 1 June. I suppose I had mixed reactions to that revelation. I was a little ticked off that I had worked later into the evening than I would have, and yet I was relieved, as now I'd have time to polish it a little more. Whether or not my effort does any good in this contest, I'm thinking about submitting it to Gray Dog Press for inclusion in the next or a subsequent issue of Spoke Write. That's a little collection of essays, stories, poems, and illustrations that the above mentioned publisher has started and sells in the Spokane area. It comes out on a quarterly basis and features work by folks in the local area. Either way, doing well in the contest or having it published locally would work to my advantage as a "hope to be published author." It will be something I can list as having been published in my author bio and other claims to fame.
Information about the contest can be found on the Author! Author! blog at www.annemini.com Go to the list of categories along the right hand side of the page and look for Author! Author! Award of Excellence. Click on that and it will take you to Anne's post of 20 April in which she announces the contest. It basically has to do with our view or experiences with subtle or direct censorship, and perhaps how it relates to one's writing. She also has several guest posts dealing with the subject from about that time.
So that's what I was doing, rather than posting here. And since I am here today, and since I've got over two weeks to polish my little entry, I'm NOT working on it today. I'll give it a couple days' rest, which should allow me to collect my thoughts a little more.
Today I finished 16 X Mom by Barbara Cagle (www.barbaracagle) Guess I'll need to find something around the house to take to work tomorrow so I'll have something to read on my lunch (half) hour.
Dave
Had a busy and tiring week at work. Monday, the gal who shares janitorial duties with me was ill and didn't make it in. While I couldn't do much about cleaning the ladies' locker rooms, I still ended up doing a bit more of the common tasks and areas. Thus I ended up being there a half-hour or so longer than normal. I was late enough in leaving that I went straight to the down-town facility for our annual employee benefits meeting. (I normally come home and clean up a little before going.) As it ended up, I put in over 12 hours from the time I left home and finally got back that afternoon.
Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty much normal days, but on Thursday we cleaned the outside tennis courts for the first time. Probably wouldn't have been so long in doing it, but it took nearly an hour to get started. Hoses leaked, connections were mangled, and we had to swap stuff around until we got a set of equipment that worked. Plus that, the weather didn't really cooperate. It was probably the coldest day of the week, windy too, and there I was, pushing a "water broom" along the courts while dragging over 200 ft. of hose behind me. Definitely discovered muscles that I hadn't used in a long long time! And as it was on Monday, I ended up being there well beyond the normal end of my work day.
Friday was pretty much a normal day, other than the fact that I was a little stiff and sore from the previous. Really felt good to be able to say (and fervently believe), "Thank God It's Friday!"
I've been fairly busy of late with stuff for the Corvair Club. I managed to get the April REAR ENGINE REVIEW out about a week ago. It has all the stuff in in concerning the ECONO-RUN we will be hosting in June, in concert with the "Car D'Lane" car show and cruise in Coeur D'Alene, ID. Now I have to come up with a spread sheet to track registrations for the event as they come in. Worked some on that yesterday, and hopefully will do more on it today.
Honestly, I've not had much of a chance to get much done on the writing side of things. I'm probably a week or so behind in sending out queries, and I've not even looked at the WIP for several weeks. And it seems that I've always got some other little project, writing or otherwise that takes away from the actual effort.
Plus that, Jessica will be graduating in a little over a month, so there is all the stuff connected with getting her out of high school and into college. (If I haven't mentioned it, she's been named one of her class's valdictorians!) In other words, the present time is a quite hectic one for all of us.
While I'm thinking of it, I'd like to mention that Anne Mini is running a little writing contest on her AUTHOR! AUTHOR! blog. (www.annemini.com) Information can be found on her post dated April 20th. And yes, I'm going to try and get something written for it.
I may have mentioned this as well over the previous weeks. Barbara Cagle, who was president of Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers (SASP) (www.spokaneauthors.org) before me, has published her book about her mom. It's called 16 X Mom: A Mastery of Motherhood. As it is a story about a Mom, she's promoting it as a Mother's Day gift. In fact, I think she's running a contest on her blog to give away a copy of it. She has a website at: www.barbaracagle.com There's a link there to her blog if anyone is interested.
Well that should be it for today. I need to get some other computer type stuff done, and hopefully this afternoon I'll get outside and get some stuff done there as well. I need to figure out why the "service engine soon" light keeps coming on in the Suzuki. I don't normally worry about it, but I need to take it in for a smog check this coming week.
As a last thought, I think the last time I mentioned my reading, I was reading THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH by Philip K. Dick. Well I completed that one about half-way through my break time, and started right in on his DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? I have a volume of four of his novels. I hadn't planned to read two in a row, but since I finished the one and didn't have anything else to start, I figured, "why not?" Still have UBIS to read from that volume, but I'll save that until later. Now I'm reading CUT-OUT by Bob Mayer, which I bought (and had autographed) at last summer's PNWA Writer's Conference. Speaking of which, I need to be getting registered for in the near future. The one this summer, not last summer's.
Dave
A couple of weeks ago I posted some thoughts about self-publishing as compared to being published via the traditional method. As it usually occurs with me, I had my thoughts all in a row long before I sat down to the computer. At that point it always seems that I lost my train of thought, so what went out as that particular post now seems to be somewhat incomplete. Therefore, today's attempt will attempt to complete my ideas on the subject.
(I suppose the other aim of today's post is to get away from talking about all the snow we've been having here in Spokane. Looking back, that seems to have been the central topic of many of my more recent journal entries. But before I do get a way from the subject, we hired our next door neighbor and some of his friends to get the snow off of our roof. It was piling up and having it and all it's accumulated weight removed has eliminated one source of anxiety. As noted in this morning's Spokesman-Review, something like twenty-eight roofs have collapsed in the Spokane area. Most of them were larger commercial buildings with large flat roofs having large surface areas unsupported from below. The three Wal-Mart stores in the area have been closed for the past couple of days to allow snow to be cleared off. Eva drove by the local one earlier to day to see if it was open. She works there and couldn't get through to find out if she should plan on going in or not.)
Anyway, back to self-publishing and other related topics...
I think I've stated before that my goal has always been to be published in the traditional way. I have the book written. Actually I have the first two written, I'm making slow progress on the third, and have ideas for several more. I've sent out many many query letters, some quite naturally were immediate rejects, but others have illicited requests for more material. Upon reading the material, those agents who have requested it have most generally been quite kind in their appraisal of my writing ability. However, I've come to recognize that my work perhaps doesn't fit neatly into the standard categories that the traditional industry deals with. A couple of agents have remarked that they liked the story, liked the premise, but were at a loss as to how (or where) to market it. Not being sure, they have elected to pass on me and the STONE ISLAND SEAS STORIES as an upcoming project.
I write the stories primarily as NAVAL ADVENTURE, books of the same ilk as C. S. Forester's HORATIO HORNBLOWER or Patrick O'Brian's MASTER AND COMMANDER series. However, considerations made years ago have prompted me to stretch the overall story more into an arena that might be considered fantasy. I've tried querying them (the first one, actually) as "fantasy disquised as naval adventure." This drew a good deal of interest, but as one editor put it, "I had to read the synopsis" to figure out the fantasy aspects. The truth is, there is a fantasy aspect, or perhaps an alternative world aspect to the series, but it doesn't jump out and grab you as such, right on the first page. More recently I've backed off on categorizing them as fantasy, and instead have reverted to Naval Adventure with a fantasy element. My current thinking is that as I get back into querying after the Holidays, that I will simply promote the stories as Naval Adventure.
I do plan to return to querying on a regular basis quite soon. Knowledgable in all aspects of the publishing world, Anne Mine ( www.annemini.com ) suggests in her AUTHOR! AUTHOR! blog that one should wait until after Martin Luther King's Birthday to resume contacting agents and others in the industry. Primarily, she explains, this allows enough time for them to clear out submissions and queries that arrived while they were off for the Holidays, and also displaces the myriad of queries submitted as a result of New Year's resolutions. By the middle of January, the average agent or his/her screener shall be back to a more normal load of way to many queries and submissions to review. It might mean that "they" will take a slightly longer look at what appears at the top of their reading pile. Over the next week or two, I'll do some final tweeks on my basic query letter and start sending them out again. Since I started querying, I've counted up having sent roughly fifty such letters out in one form or another. Since Anne told SASP last month that the average to connect with an agent is on the order of 150, I suppose that I still have a ways to go. And I will keep going, as I believe I have a series of books that many people would enjoy reading.
Still it seems that the line between self-publishing and traditional publishing is blurring or becoming narrower. There are now a lot of options now that fit somewhere in between the traditional aspect of each. As I learn more and more about these other options, the more interested I become in perhaps taking such a route to seeing my books in print. Whether one's work is published and printed by a big New York company or by one's self and a local printer doesn't compromise the quality of the finished product. Marketing and selling the work are the areas where the two approaches differ. As much as I want to see my work in print, I don't especially look forward to having the entire stock boxed and sitting in my basement, while I spend a significant amount of time trying to sell them from the back of my car. Today, even local printers and publishers can connect with the larger stores and help ensure that one's works are available over a vast area. On line marketing venues also help, as does an author's own web-site from which he/she can also sell his/her books.
I believe that a couple of months ago I mentioned that a group of writers in northern Idaho had basically established a publishing co-op. To go with them, on their acceptance of one's work, would basically be to pay for the costs associated with publishing and printing while having their name listed as publisher, rather than the work actually being self published. One's work would then also be advertised on their website, etc. More recently I've heard of a local printer/publisher who offers somewhat the same, but only on a multi-level approach. The first is where the author actually publishes and they merely print the books. The second level still calls for the writer to pay the expenses involved, but the company, rather than the writer is the publisher. The third level is that the company, especially should they really be enthused by one's work, publishes in the traditional manner. They pay and absorb all costs associated with printing and distribution of the books. Plus as I understand it, the are able to present one's work to buyers for major stores and have it listed on various on line shopping sites.
I suppose one advantage of going with a small press like this outfit, would be that one can interact more directly with them. One would not have to become involved in an endless search for an agent nor sit by helplessly while that agent attempted to find an acquisition editor that just might be interested in the work. It certainly simplifies the whole process if one can e-mail, call, or even visit the publisher/printer and deal face to face.
I think I mentioned the last time that I was on this topic, that self-publishing or being published by a small press also allows an author to have a little more control over the finished product. One would not be at the mercy of the traditional big company publisher arbitrarily deciding upon the story's title, the cover artwork, or even the font and style used within the text. With a small press, depending of course on that business's own guide lines, it would seem that the author would more generally have some say, or input in these matters.
Again, I still hope to be published via the more traditional means, and in light of such, I plan to keep sending out those query letters. Yet, if by the end of this year (2009) I don't seem to be progressing, I may seriously look into alternative means of getting my writing into print.
With the weather, Spokane Authors, the Inland Northwest Corvair Club, the Holidays, the family, and work, I haven't made much progress at all on DARNAHSIAN PIRATES. I did go through what I have of chapter five a couple of days ago and make a minor change here and a minor change there.
As to my reading, I'm still on SUNYATA by L. L. Breaux, a former member of the local writing group I belong to. I still have the last twelve chapters to read and then I will try to offer him some general feedback, comments and suggestions. After that I have a couple of books that I received for Christmas, and we have a basement full of books, so I should not be at a loss for things to read.
Dave
P. S. I have rarely used the user pic that accompanies this post. It was one I had originally designed and drew as a possible logo for my business cards. If you can't make it out, it is the bowsprit and head sails (jibs and the like) of a sailing vessel situated against the night sky and a large four pointed star. If I haven't mentioned it before, the white four pointed star against a blue back ground has certain significance within the Stone Island Sea Stories.
If you should take the time to go back three or four posts, you will find one in which I discuss my preferences regarding the (at that time) upcoming Presidential Election. Needless to say, the outcome of the election was not exactly as I had hoped. But I am not totally bummed out about it either. I was not 100% for the losing ticket. More, it was probably 55% to that side and 45% to the side that won. While I did not support Obama, it was strictly on the basis of politics and had nothing to do with race. In regards to that, I'm glad that he won and that we have broken the old mold of white only Presidents. Next we need to break the male only mold!
What does bother me is that apparently some of those who voted as I did seem to have such a tough time reconciling the fact that Barack Obama won and is now the President-Elect. In the past few days since his victory was declared, I've continued to receive e-mails in which the originator still seeks to somehow discredit or even disqualify the victor. I even received one picturing a gravestone. It was engraved, "The United States of America, born July 4, 1776, died November 4, 2008. Suicide!" It's one of those that I now delete and don't bother to pass on. While I did not support or vote for the winning candidate, I will now support him as much as I can, because he is our next President.
I haven't posted much about writing lately, probably because I haven't been doing that much. Oh, I know it's National Novel Writing Month, but I've opted once again to not get involved with that. I have enough other stuff going on that I'd be lucky to get even a single chapter done, let alone an entire story. One of these years, perhaps. But I have actually made a little progress of late on DARNAHSIAN PIRATES. Having not done much at all with it since I was on sick leave for my surgery, I did get a start at the fifth chapter a few days ago. And now I find that I tend to think a bit about it, laying out and projecting what is to be happening next. I'm hoping that as we get into winter, I'll find myself adding to the story on a regular basis.
Reading wise, I've finished THE CRACKED THRONE by Joshua Palmatier (jpsorrow ). I really liked it and look forward to reading the third and final book of the trilogy, THE VACANT THRONE. I have it on hand, but will probably read a couple other books before I get to it. Currently I'm reading THE LAST SPYMASTER by Gayle Lynd, which I picked up at the PNWA Conference (www.pnwa.org) this last summer. The author was one of the featured speakers, and yes, it is autographed! I still have two or three books that I got there to read.
And speaking of books, check out the jpsorrow entry for the 1st of November, titled "Spirit of Giving." He is offering to supply libraries with a set of his Throne Of Amenkor books completely free of charge. (That would be, THE SKEWED THRONE, THE CRACKED THRONE, and THE VACANT THRONE.) He merely asks that you contact him via e-mail, the address is in his post and provide him with the name and address of a library that you think should have copies of his books. I also think he will hold some sort of drawing from amongst those who send in and ask that he send the books to a library.
While I'm on the subject of books and writing, this past Thursday was the latest meeting of Spokane Authors and Self-Publishers (SASP, at www.spokaneauthors.org) This month marks the group's tenth anniversary, and in honor of that occasion we had some of the founders present a history of the organization. Next month we'll be hearing from Anne Mini (www.annemini.com) who will speak to us about writing query letters and synopses. For those of you who must know, the group originally started out as one for those who had been or who were interested in self-publishing. Since then it has grown to encompass any and all writers, whether interested in self or traditional publishing. Thus we try to bring in speakers who can inform us of all aspects of the writing and publishing world.
That should about do it for this time. More in a few days.
Dave
Sun, Oct. 19th, 2008, 11:11 am
A Busy Week!
During which I actually managed to get a few things done. Of course as I cross stuff off the "list," more stuff is continually added to it. It's a never ending (and sometimes vicious) circle. At at the stage of life that I'm in, I've discovered that I can push myself so far and then it's time to sit back and relax a little. The stuff on the list can just plain wait.
Probably the most difficult thing I did was to write a piece concerning the candidates for the upcoming presidential election. Auburn McCanta at www.DancingBirds.com had landed a position as non-paid correspondent, and via an exchange of e-mails had wondered if I would submit something about my views on the candidates. I said I would, but then found that it was a really difficult task to accomplish. I ended up with a little less than three standard format pages, but it took me longer to write it than it usually takes me to write a complete (14 to 18 page) chapter in one of my books. I guess a large part of the problem was that I was trying to be as brief as possible and yet fully explain my position and political stance. Quite naturally I wanted to show why I support one candidate over the other. Yet I also wanted to give the opposing Presidential Hopeful a fair shake. I did not want to stoop to some of those accusations and implied messages that seem to be circulating about either candidate. Anyway, I finished that up yesterday and sent if off to her. Haven't heard back yet, so I don't know if it is what she wanted, or if it is something she can use. If she does use it, I'll see if I can provide a link so you can find it. If she doesn't, I might post it here so you can decide for yourself. No, I don't plan for it to sway anyone who's choice might differ from mine. But if I do post it, I would welcome any comments you might have as to the actual writing itself.
It seems that lately I end up spending one entire day of my weekend at the computer. Yesterday, and a week ago yesterday, certainly bear that out. A good portion of my computer time yesterday was spent in finishing up that political piece, even though I had started it earlier in the week. Then I made several updates and corrections to the SASP website. (www.spokaneauthors.org) Still have some left to do, but they involve things and techniques that I am not well versed in. I'll see if the group's webmaster won't take a stab at them.
I think I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was working on a pictorial representation of HMS Theadora, the ship in which Edward Pierce is serving when we first meet him at the beginning of BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE. I finished the basic drawing a week or so ago and then scanned and ran off several copies. I then took one of those copies, and with the help of markers and colored pencils, made a colorized version. I didn't care that much for the result, so last night I did another one. While this second attempt isn't perfect, and from my viewpoint, no attempt every really is, it is a lot better. If I have time today or later in the week I'll scan it in and perhaps use it as one of my userpics. I think I've got one spot left. My actual goal, however in doing the drawings of the ships from the STONE ISLAND SEA STORIES is to post them along with some "factual" information on the www.stoneislandseastories.com web-site. I've always found that no matter how well one writes and describes things, ships and vessels, for example, it is always easier for the reader to visualize and understand from an actual picture. In doing so, it is my intent to only present those ships and vessels that are completely fictitious... ships that exist only in the story and that do not have a real counterpart in the historical world. Thus, even if I happened to mention HMS Victory or USS Constitution within the story, I will not attempt to put up any images or representations of them. I don't know but there may be copyright problems in doing so, and those particular ships have web-sites (that my site links to) so that anyone interested can go there and check them out.
Reading wise, I'm now a little over halfway through jpsorrow 's,THE CRACKED THRONE. I really like it so far, and one indication is that when I finish my "lunch time" reading session and go back to work, I'm still thinking about the story and the characters in it. I figure if a book can cause me to do this, then it is a good read. Quite honestly, I've read many stories, that while very good, do not stick with me once I close the covers...either at the end of a reading session or upon reaching "The End."
Now, I need to finish this up and get to printing out the next issue of the Rear Engine Review. I finally got it back from the club president yesterday, and it's about a week later than I would like to be sending it out. Besides that, I want to change oil in the Suzuki today. Lucky for me the Seahawks don't play until this evening.
Until next time,
Dave
I'm glad it's over and the weekend is here. It felt great to sleep in this morning as well as to awaken and realize that my cold had subsided a bit further. Having had a nasty one over the past week, I've decided that this weekend will be one of rest and recuperation. Hopefully that will translate into getting some writerly type stuff done. That may include a post or two here on my LJ page, as well as working on updating the website ( www.stoneislandseastories.com ) or doing some editing on my query letter (see last week's post). I also need to write a review for a book I recently read and post it to Amazon, because upon buying the book at the recent PNWA (www.pnwa.org) Conference, I promised the author I would do so. Other "projects" I have in mind include a synopsis for SAILING DANGEROUS WATERS, a query letter for the same, a start on next month's REAR ENGINE REVIEW, and perhaps even some work on Chapter Five of DARNAHSIAN PIRATES.
Right now, my biggest problem is where to start, which of these projects to undertake first. As you can see, I have, in a way, side stepped the issue by posting here instead. Perhaps because of the current state of my mind, I'm finding that a bit difficult as well. The thoughts are too scattered and rush through my mind too quickly that I can't concentrate on any particular one. I wonder now if that is the effect of having an active mind, a sense of imagination, or if it is the accumulated effect of a week spent taking cold medications? Is it the combination of these factors? It's almost the same situation that I face every once in awhile when trying to sleep...and the thoughts keep coming to the point that I'm wide awake and can't sleep!
I guess the best thing to do is to jump right into something and take it from there.
I can't remember if I mentioned finishing reading EVERGREEN IS MOVING by Bob Gabbert or not. By the way, that's the story I want to write a review for. Anyway I did finish it a couple of weeks ago, and now I'm reading a little non-fiction book entitled IS THERE A PROBLEM, OFFICER? by Seattle Police Officer Steve Pomper. Quite basically it's a guide to dealing with the police when you are stopped for a minor traffic violation, and to understanding the officer's mindset as he (or she) approaches your window. Like EVERGREEN..., I bought this at the PNWA Conference, and yes, it is autographed. In fact, I and those SASP (www.spokaneauthors.org) members who were there, sat with the author, his wife, and his agent at one of the evening banquets. It's a fairly short book, and I should finish it Monday when I go back to work.
I have one more week of work before I go on vacation for a week. This will be my second and final week off this year, having taken the first in order to attend the Conference. Since I'll finish the above mentioned volume Monday, I'm thinking not to start any reading project until after I go back to work. I'll still have four lunch hours to deal with to finish out the week, but I think I'll print out the first four chapters of DARNAHSIAN PIRATES and do a little editing and revising. As much as possible while off for that week, I plan to stay away from the computer. I want to get some yard work, some garage work, and some automotive work done instead. If all goes as planned, I might even get my '62 Corvair Rampside pick-up on the road again!
That should be about all for now. Sorry if it seems rambling and somewhat disconnected. Maybe the next attempt will be a little better. Writing this, however has allowed me to decide on what to do next, and that is to try and write the review for EVERGREEN IS MOVING.
Dave
Sat, Aug. 23rd, 2008, 10:12 am
Just me again
I think that last time I mentioned I had started reading a new book entitled EVERGREEN IS MOVING. Then I could not remember the author's name well enough to include it, and as the book was at work, and I was here at home, I could not readily go find out. But as I have read a little of it over the past week, I've had ample opportunity to remember the writer's name. The book is by a fellow PNWA (www.pnwa.org) member, Bob Gabbard. (Gosh, my memory seems to be a bit confused, so there is a possibility that I don't have the last name correctly spelled. If that is the case, I'll check Monday and post a correction.) From information within the book, or perhaps the lack of information therein, I'm guessing that it's self-published. It's one that I bought (and had autographed) at the PNWA Conference last month.
I'm probably a third of the way through it, and I'm enjoying it tremendously. In a nutshell, as as far as I've read, it's set in the near future, concerns the first women elected Vice-president of the United States, an act of terrorism that thrusts her into the Presidency, and her struggle to bring true peace to the Middle East. In my opinion, it is very well written, grabs one's attention, even with the discovery of a few typos along the way. (But then, haven't we all seen typos, even in the best selling books published by the biggest houses of the traditional industry. Or do I notice them now because as a writer I look for them in my own work... and don't always find them!)
There's mention on the cover of a site where one can go to obtain copies of the book. If I remember, I'll write it down and include it in a subsequent post for anyone who might be interested.
Well, on to other things. I've mentioned my new web-site in the last couple of posts. I did do some updating a few days ago, but there is still a lot to do. I hope that if you check it on a regular basis, you will find that it is growing and expanding as time goes on. I can't promise that you will notice something new or revised everytime, but you should not see the exact same thing week after week. I also have revised my LJ profile and have included the site there as well.
You may have noticed that lately I've not mentioned much about my actual writing. It seems that I've been busy with other stuff and just haven't gotten to it. I need to get back at it one of these days. Yet, while I'm not actively sitting at the computer and inputting words for it, I'm thinking about it, figuring out how to continue the scene where I left off, and where to take the story next. Oh, I do have an idea of where it will eventually end up, but I have to envision the route taken to arrive there.
I also want to go over and revise my basic query letter before I start querying again next month. I think I have a pretty good one, as it has gotten me requests for more material from several agents. Even so, I think it could be better. While I've not tracked any sort of success rate, I'm hoping that a better letter will up that rate, even a little bit. By the way, Anne Mini is currently posting about query letters on her AUTHOR! AUTHOR! blog at www.annemini.com
Last weekend we had temperatures hovering around the 100 degree mark. During the week, things cooled down and we got some rain. This week end is supposed to be nice, with temps in the mid 80's. That being the case, I shall make an effort to get outside for at least a part of each day and get some outside stuff done. After the rain, the yard needs cutting, and there is always that garage to be cleaned out.
Friday afternoon, I'm home from work and gladly facing another real two day weekend. As usual on a Friday, I'm worn out enough that I don't plan on doing a lot. There's a Seahawks pre-season game later, as well as a Mariners game. I'll probably watch the football game until baseball comes on. Then I imagine the "last" button on the remote will get used quite frequently. And, being that it's Friday, it'll probably be pizza for dinner. (And don't forget the beer!)
Yesterday I finally finished making the corrections to the first three chapters and the synopsis of BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE. Delighted with my progress, I proceded to combine them all into a new, single document for forwarding to the requesting agent. Got that done and fired off the e-mail as she had requested, complete with the document attached. I mention that because I occasionally forget to attach stuff. Also sent myself the message as acknowledgment of having sent it.
Well, today I'm screening newly received e-mails, come across this one and decide to see just how it would look to the one receiving the actual message. "Oh ____ (you're choice of four letter expletive here)," I said to myself. To back up a little, I must explain that I fight with the "header and footer" feature everytime I try to combine documents, but I thought I had it worked out at the time I pressed "send" yesterday afternoon. While combining the three chapters and creating a "slugline" was not difficult, the addition of a title page at the front and the synopsis at the back upped the complexity of the exercise... at least for me. I'm sure that millions of more savvy computer users would have had no problem. I did figure out how to keep the slugline off of the first page of the combined document. Being the title page, it is not supposed to have one. I even figured out how to have the slug line on the first page of chapter one, saying page one, even though it was the second page of the document. And when I got to the end of the third chapter and began the synopsis, I actually got the page count to start over at "ONE." All well and good, so what was the problem. Well, for the second through forty-first pages of the document, the actual first three chapters of the book, the slug line should have looked like this...and that's how I entered it. MCCHESNEY/BEYOND OCEAN'S EDGE/27. By the way, the illustrated page number was selected quite at random and has no significance with regards to this post. Imagine my disgust then upon seeing the following on every page of the forty that are of the actual manuscript. MCCHESNEY/BEYOND OCEAN'S EDGE/SYNOPSIS/15. (Again, a completely random selection for the page number.) It's what I wanted, needed, and created for the last five pages, the synopsis part of the document, but... Anyway, I'd swear that I checked the chapter areas of the document before sending it, and the correctly worded slug line was in place according to which part of the document was involved.
Of course now I'm stuck with the dilemma of what to do about it. The e-mail with the slightly botched document attached has already been sent, and very probably the receiving agent or agency assistant has already had a chance to look at it. With the prerequisite writer's insecurity working over time, I can imagine that she(he) took one look at that unneeded "synopsis" in the top left hand portion of the page and simply announced, "NEXT!" At the same time I realize that I've sent electronic submissions before, and that even after noticing some quite glaring errors, have received requests for more pages. I can only hope this is the case in this situation. Additionally there is the urge to re-e-mail the agent and apologize for my computer ineptness. I'm fighting that impulse for a couple of reasons. First of all, I understand that it is never in a writer's best interest to contact an agent unnecessarily. Agents are busy people and don't care to be bothered with such stuff. Secondly, such a gaffe may not have been noticed, and pointing it out to her(him) may not be the smartest thing to do. And as an additional reason, the agent or the assistant may very well choose to ignore the goof and set right to reading the submission. although I imagine that incorporation of such an error could lessen the chances the submission will be read in its entirety.
Of course, had I not sent myself a copy, I'd be blissfully unaware of what has ended up in this particular agent's in box. It might be several days or even week before I might get around to looking at the document and discovering the problem. I guess all I can do is cross my fingers and hope that despite the error, the submission actually gets read.
Dave
Sat, Aug. 2nd, 2008, 11:55 am
I'll try to get a little something posted today, as I might not find time tomorrow. There's a picnic for the Inland Northwest Corvair Club that I'll be going to in the afternoon, and so I might not spend much time at the computer tomorrow.
As far as the writing progress is concerned, I've not had a chance to do much with the third book as of late. I think my last attempts at it were near the end of my surgery recuperation. Just seems that so much other stuff has been going on. I think I mentioned a few days ago that I had printed out the material that I've been requested to send as a result of my pitch appointment at the PNWA's recent Conference. (www.pnwa.org) I found that I couldn't effectively go over it here at home, so I took it to work for two or three days last week and reviewed it there. It was difficult to do there too, as I had to put aside naominovik 's VICTORY OF EAGLES for my "lunch" time reading sessions. Oh, I thoroughly enjoy reading my own work, but I do know what's going to happen, having written and read the thing... over and over and... I hope you get the picture. And it think it also points out why I suggest that a writer set his/her work aside for a while if possible. When you do come back to it, it won't be so sickingly familiar. You will be better able to spot areas that need changing, as well as common typos and the like.
Anyway, I did finish going through the first three chapters and the synopsis. Perhaps later today I'll get the corrections made on the computer. My next step before sending them out will be to combine them all into a single document. The agent requesting them wants them via an e-mail attachment, and currently, each chapter, the synopsis, and even the title page are separate documents. But to prevent her the necessity of opening a total of five different attachments, I'll combine them into one.
OK, a little advice for queriers, submitters, and the like. It always pays to check an agent's "submission guidelines." If an agency asks for pages with an initial query letter, and if they accept e-queries, make sure you understand how they want you to include those pages. Most agents/agencies won't open attachments from people they don't know, fearing invasion of their computer(s) by various viruses, spyware, adware, etc. Instead they will most often suggest that you include your pages in the body of the actual e-mail. At this point, I want to add that what I'm about to say next is strictly my own opinion on the matter. We've (hopefully) all worked very hard to ensure that our work is in proper STANDARD MANUSCRIPT FORMAT, and when we paste it into the body of the e-mail query letter, that standard format becomes very very non-standard. I seem to think (here's where it's my opinion, now) that agencies and agents who request pages sent in this manner understand this situation and do not hold it against the submitter.
However, if you have queried or pitched, and the agent has asked you directly for pages, and if they want it sent electronically, they may very well ask that you submit them as an attachment. That way the hard work of ensuring your manuscript is in STANDARD FORMAT will be preserved. Speaking of STANDARD FORMAT, Anne Mini is again posting on the subject at www.annemini.com I think it would benefit anyone who is even a little unsure about STANDARD FORMAT to read her posts as soon as possible. (And yes, I'm the "beloved Dave" that she refers to as always posting a certain comment when she's on this particular subject.)
Well what do I usually comment about? I hope we all know and understand that a manuscript is to be printed on only one side of the page. But I comment and allow that that is for submission and when dealing with professional readers, ie. agents, editors, and others in the publishing industry. What we do with copies of the manuscript destined for our own use is strictly our choice. Personally, I print on both sides of the page and keep the thing in a three ring binder. That makes it easy to take with me, say to work so I can work on it at lunch, or I can take it along if taking my daughter to an appointment of some kind. (It gives me something to do while she's getting her hair done.) Likewise it makes a nice package to give to someone who is acting as one or your "first readers." Supposing a 400 page/ 100,000 word manuscript, I'd rather lug a notebook containing 200 sheets of paper about than a box with 400 loose sheets in it. BUT I WOULD NEVER TRY TO SEND DOUBLE SIDED, THREE HOLE PUNCHED, BINDER BOUND PAGES TO AN AGENT, EDITOR OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL READER. NOR AM I SUGGESTING THAT YOU EVER DO THAT EITHER!
Perhaps some are wondering why I print out a copy for myself when I'm working/writing on the computer. Simple! We read differently on screen than we do from actual physical copy. It's easier to find errors and spot things that need to be changed when reading from hard copy. Anne will also insist that it be read aloud, although one might not be able to do that sitting in the doctor's waiting room. Additionally, having the story in hard copy allows one to take it along, to work, to a writer's group meeting, etc. While they are nice, not all of us have lap top computers, and the desk top set ups most of us have are not conducive to portability. As I progress through a story, I'll print it, read it, make corrections and print the revised version. Then I'll read it again (hard copy) and mark anything else that needs fixing. I'll make these corrections, and...
It does turn out to be a sort of never ending process. I've been over the entire story of BEYOND THE OCEAN'S EDGE several times. Chapter one and the synopsis have both been professionally edited. Still, as I went over them recently, prior to submitting them as requested by the agent I pitched to, I found a few areas that could be "tweaked" slightly. I'm probably at the point where I really need to watch it and not make changes simply to be doing so. Now, on the other hand, when I get to the point that an agent or editor is asking for changes, it'll be time to do so once again.
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accomplished
nostalgic
energetic
creative
mellow
hopeful
busy
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content
annoyed