Category: Blog

I’ve been gone way too long from you good folks. As you can see, I did not post while I was on my trip. I had a wonderful time in New Jersey, Manhattan, Asbury Park and Boothbay Harbor, Maine, with my girlfriend. The East Coast is full of history, in fact, nearly all the towns we visited were established a hundred to two hundred years before my hometown. How I long to delve into that history. Of all the many photos I took, I’m going to share two with you.

The house below is along the coast in Perth Amboy. There’s the road, the concrete walk (as opposed to a boardwalk), the marina, the Arthur Kill River and a great view of Staten Island. Given its location, I suspect it was a brothel at point in time. That’s the feeling I got from it. A little further along the concrete walk is the Perth Amboy Veteran’s Memorial. A beautiful tribute to the men and women from Perth Amboy who have served our great country. Between the memorial and the house, you could develop a fun story. As you know, history doesn’t write itself.

This building, I don’t think it is a house, screams Maine. How could it not? If you do a Google search for a building in Maine, this should be the first one in the search. It is actually for sale. However, you have to buy the sinking boat in the river and remove it if you buy the property. Once again, it’s another great place to learn the local history and develop a story.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I finished reading Washed in the Water by Nancy Hartney and Beautiful Mercy by Matthew Kelly. My reviews are on Goodreads.com.  I’m currently reading The Palace Job by Patrick Weeks. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

I can see the light at the end of the editing tunnel! Each night for the past two weeks I’ve come home, logged into my laptop and delved into Bayou Cove. Even though several things changed during the first round of the editing process, I know the town and my characters much better. It’s a great experience. I pray for all aspiring writers to have an exciting first round of edits.

Don’t be fooled; writing is a lot of work. I haven’t sold one book yet, but I’ve put in countless hours on this manuscript. From writing the initial words on notebook paper while watching Super Bowl XLV, to earnestly writing it in 2014 and taking it to Fiction Forge at the Springdale Public Library, to pitching it last year at the Ozark Creative Writer’s Conference, to this month’s round of editing, an author puts a ton of time into their manuscripts. Still to come are more rounds of editing, cover design, getting beta readers, setting a launch date, and promoting the heck out of the book. Then, I get to do it all again for next book. Thank you so much for following my journey to become an author. I truly appreciate it.

The next two Friday’s I’ll be on the road with my girlfriend. I will try to continue my blog during the trip. Writing these few words are fun for me. I enjoy it tremendously. Who knows, I may even turn the blog into a “Fun Facts About…” wherever I am at the time. After all, history doesn’t write itself.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I read two fantasy books by Jessica Feinberg, Birthstone Dragons and Fairies of the Forest. My reviews are on Goodreads.com. I’m currently reading Washed in the Water by Nancy Hartney.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

 

Editing continues on my manuscript. This is my first book, so there may be better ways to edit the manuscript. I’m a detailed orientated type of guy. Because of that, I decide to print the marked-up manuscript and do the edits in three rounds. Round one I highlighted all the grammar and punctuation errors. Then I went into the actual file and fixed them. Round two contained three rounds. Round two A I highlighted all the swear words throughout the manuscript. Round two B I marked out the ones I didn’t need. Round three B I went into the actual file and removed them. I removed nearly 1200 swear words, getting it down to 297. I haven’t read through the story to see how it changes, but I’m sure it has a different tone now. Round three, which I started this afternoon, is changing scenes, dialogue, and chapters to make it a better book. I have 59 of these changes to do, and I’ve completed sixteen of them so far. It’s a lot of work to edit your manuscript for your publisher.

I still hope to complete the edits before the end of the month. I’ll be a busy bee for sure these next two weeks. I believe there may be better ways to do these edits, but this system is working for me. However, I’m open to suggestions. Drop me a line and let me know how you edit your manuscript. I’d appreciate it.

Finally, a shout out to my Dad this Father’s Day weekend. He’s the greatest and does a lot for me. We hunted, we built things together, went to sporting events together and truly love each other. Have an awesome and blessed Father’s Day, Dad!!

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. Next up is the summer edition of Big Cats Chronicles, the magazine from Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. I’ll get back to reading books next time.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

I’ve been a busy little worker bee since my last post. I’m still editing my manuscript. Last weekend when I was ready to blog, the heavy rains obscured my satellite Internet connection. I put a lot of hours into editing the manuscript. I want to send the edited manuscript back to my editor by the end of the month. A lot of work between now and then.

The work is getting pushed back to next week as this weekend, starting tomorrow morning, I’m off to Branson, Missouri for my family’s annual reunion. My cousins and I have a blast at our reunions. They are incredibly fun. We have a volleyball tournament. We play cornhole. We joke, laugh, and enjoy each other’s company. I hope your family reunions are as exciting as mine. But if not, sit down with your favorite word processor and type up the family reunion you want to go to. History doesn’t write itself, after all.

Lastly, go see what history does write. Instead of going to the beach again this summer, visit a historic site. Learn something new. As I posted earlier in March when I visited the Pea Ridge Battlefield Park, a story is already there. The plot and characters are all laid out. Take the historic event, move it in time 400 years and change the outcome. You’ll be surprised how much you can have with history.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I finished Amy Stewart’s Girl Waits with Gun as well as Matthew Kelly’s Resisting Happiness. My reviews for both books are on Goodreads.com. Next up are three magazines, one of which I read today. I’ll get back to reading books next time.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

I pray your week was as grand as mine. I received an email on Monday from my editor. He said the editing on my manuscript would begin that day. This afternoon I received the marked-up manuscript with notes about things to change. I have a lot of work to do! I’m very excited about it as well. There are two chapters, involving living people, that will need references to the living people removed, or dropped altogether if I want them included in the final book.

I also need to remove a bunch of swear words. My critique group at the Springdale Public Library mentioned I used too many swear words. I took out a bunch of them before submitting my manuscript to Oghma Creative Media. Now I need to take out more. I’m brainstorming ideas of how to take out the correct ones.

One thing I did learn about this first round of edits is this: if you use the local lingo of where your story is set, make sure you use it correctly. Don’t go off what an Internet site says is the definition of a word unfamiliar to you. I did this, and now I have another word to remove. I might be able to use it, but it would be sparse, now since I know what the meaning is.

Overall, listen to your critique group and your editors. They are trying to help you write the best story possible. Lastly, learn from their experience. They share it time and time again, but sadly, history doesn’t write itself.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read. I’m still reading Amy Stewart’s Girl Waits with Gun. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

I’m a big fan of letting my characters tell the story.I just type what they tell me to. However, sometimes it doesn’t work. I’m working on my second novel, and I have different point of view characters for each chapter. The ensemble cast stays together for most of the story, so it’s not like I have a group here, a group there and group way out yonder working, unknowingly, together to defeat the big bad guy. I tried chapter eleven from a soldier’s point of view. A page and a half later he stopped talking to me. I changed the point of view to a captain, and the chapter took off after that. Moral of the story is: don’t be afraid to change point of view characters if one isn’t working out the way you thought.

Years ago when I let my characters tell a different story, they changed it, probably for the better. In an unfinished epic fantasy tale, my small band of heroes arrived in a small town to convince a paladin to join them. At least that was my train of thought: go into town, get a paladin to join them, move on to the next town. Simple, right? My characters convinced the paladin to renounce his faith before joining the group.  Big change! However, a paladin who lost his faith is a much more interesting character and one I hope my reader would cheer for as he struggles to redeem himself. In this example, the characters knew the story better than I and gave me a plot point to carry through the rest of the story. Now I just have to find time to finish the story.

May 21, Sunday afternoon, come see me at Books in Bloom on the lawn of the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Although I’m not an officially invited author, I’ll still have my business and trading cards available to pick up at the Village Writing School tent. I’m looking forward to meeting you. It’ll be a great afternoon and who knows what ideas will pop in my head. After all, history doesn’t write itself.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read.  I finished reading Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel. My review is on Goodreads.  I’m now reading Amy Stewart’s Girl Waits with Gun. I bought this book last year at Books in Bloom and just now getting to read it. I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

What a fun two weeks it’s been for me. I don’t want to keep you waiting any longer. This week, I received an email from the head editor at my publisher. I now have an editor assigned to my manuscript! Yeah! One step closer to being a published author. Also, with my story taking place near Baton Rouge, I found the Louisiana Book Festival website and hope to be in attendance at next year’s festival with many copies of Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure available. Selling books about Louisiana in Louisiana to Louisianan’s should be a great time. I’ll have to try the gumbo while I’m there.

Even though I am not marketing genius, see my previous blog posts, inspiration struck in early May to do a photo shoot to promote my book.  The photo shoot involves models who look similar to three of my main female characters and have them pose in lingerie. Bill’s is a house of ill repute, with a good reputation, so why not stick with the location and drum up interest in my forthcoming book. I spoke with a photographer, and he’s looking into the details to see how affordable this idea will be. I have my own homework to do by inquiring into studio space, or other locations, and props. Very excited, but I do have to stay within my as of yet unset and limited budget. Unless one of you want to finance this opportunity. Any help would be appreciated.

Lastly, one of my favorite literary events is coming up on May 21. Books in Bloom at the Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs is a fantastic, and free, event in northwest Arkansas where you can meet many authors in an afternoon, buy their book, and most of them will sign it. I hope to see you there.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book I have my nose in. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read.  I finished reading Kathleen O’Neil Gear and W. Michael Gear’s Sun Born on May 4. My review is on Goodreads. I’m a little over halfway through Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium: The Joy of the Gospel.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

Rain can be fickle sometimes. It can be fast. It can be light. It can be wind-swept. It can be pouring. For those not living in the Northwest Arkansas area, over eight inches fell over the weekend. That’s a lot of rain. Several roads were closed, a few damaged beyond driveability, and every single road in Johnson, Arkansas, was declared impassible. Can’t recall that ever happening before.

Mother Nature does play a part in my story, Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure. I throw a rain storm and two hurricanes at my characters. It is interesting how they react to it. The hurricanes really did hit Louisiana at the time they appear in my story. It’s a good thing they were recorded because history doesn’t write itself.

I believe adding severe weather every now and then to your story tests your character’s character. Will they hunker down and ride out the storm? Or will they be out in it fleeing from the bad guy? How will the aftermath affect them? There’s only way to find out: throw in bad weather and see what happens. Who knows, it may be just the plot point your story needs.

Come see me Saturday, May 6 at the library in Farmington, Arkansas, from 1:00 to 3:00. It’ll be a fun time, a romp in the swamp even. And nobody wants to miss one of those.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what I’m reading. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read.  I’m finish reading Kathleen O’Neil Gear and W. Michael Gear’s Sun Born this week.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

I’ve delayed posting to my blog this week because I really can’t think of anything to say this week. Writer’s block on my blog. It happens to the best of us, I presume. I’m still working on my second novel. Still waiting to be assigned an editor by my publisher, Oghma Creative Media. I still have a job in the city. I’m still going to my critique groups. It’s a good thing history doesn’t write itself because it would be a snooze-fest right now.

On Saturday, May 6, I’ll be at the public library in Farmington, Arkansas, for their local author fair. I even made it on their calendar. You can check it out here. Hope to see you there. You can pick up my business card, or trading card, even sign up to follow my blog. And I won’t charge a dime for any of it. Although, you should bring some money to purchase books from my fellow authors.

I do have an idea which, I hope, would increase traffic to my little corner of the Internet. It involves photos of models for Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure. I have to look into this further and see how feasible it is to do. I’m starving artist, you know.  If it works out, it’ll be a great promotion item, just like “a romp in the swamp.”

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what I’m reading. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read.  I’m still reading Kathleen O’Neil Gear and W. Michael Gear’s Sun Born.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.

 

I continue to wade into the waters of self-promotion while my publisher reviews my manuscript to determine how much work needs to be done on it. This week I designed a sixteen by twenty poster for the upcoming book signing at the Farmington Public Library. Even though I don’t have a book to sign, I’m still going with the poster, a blow up of my business card, business cards and trading cards to drum up interest for my forthcoming book. It’s exciting to do, but I believe it would be more enjoyable having an editor and working on the manuscript instead of patiently waiting.

This summer I’ll be helping my niece rewrite her chapter book. She’s ten and has a good idea for a story. The first thing I’m doing is helping her with her character names. She has several that are very similar. The best way to do this is through a character sheet. If you can’t answer every question on a character sheet, you don’t know your character all that well. Granted, your secondary and extremely minor characters do not need the level of detail as your main character, but it’s always good practice to know everything you can about your characters. This way, when they take over the story, you’ll know why.

Lastly, as an FYI, I still have a lot of earthworms to move. (See my Facebook post about National Earthworm Moving Day from a few weeks ago.) If you need dirt, good clean, rock-free dirt, and want to fulfill the lifelong dreams of country earthworms, be a part of National Earthworm Moving Day. You’ll be happy in moving the earthworms, and their habitat, from my yard to yours.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what I’m reading. I may not be a published author yet, but I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read.  I’m now reading Kathleen O’Neil Gear and W. Michael Gear’s Sun Born.  I encourage you to read a variety of topics.