Monthly Archives: October 2017

Post 150!

Today I took a ride to Newport to find the radio station WADK that I’m going to be on November 8 at 10:30. I found the offices, but I don’t think that’s the studio, so I’ll call them tomorrow and ask for directions. This Tuesday at 9 a.m., I’ll be on WNRI talking about Grimaulkin.

Finished the final edits on Grimaulkin Tempted. I did them in about 6 hours. Just little things like extensive commas. I am a comma abuser.

I wrote a tie-in story called “The Joint” which I’m letting rest right now. It’s about Mike in prison, but told from a different point of view.

This NaNoWriMo is going to be a memoir, which I suppose will be published posthumously. It’s going to go into my life, how I was treated by my family, how I treated my family, and about cancer, death and living with autism. I think I’ll get 50K words out of it. But it’ll be hard, because it will be narrative non-fiction, something I’m not really good at.

On the blog of Paper Angel Press will be a press release for Under the 13th Star which has my short story in it. My website will have a link to that book. I might actually send the press release out to the Providence Journal or the Pawtucket Times or even the Valley Breeze to get an interview. If I do, I’ll be sure to post it here. And I’ll buy up all the copies!

 

What to write next?

Last week was a long, boring week. It seems that I’m not writing much, if at all. I’ve been thinking about doing NaNo, but it depends on when Grimaulkin Tempted gets back from the editor. I can turn it around usually in two weeks, so that’s not a problem. The problem is I have no idea what to write for NaNo.

I looked over War Mage and I have 8K words there. Earth, I have 3K. The other thought is to get Earth finished for NaNo, since that’s what’s next on the publishing agenda.

War Mage is slated for May 2018, but War Mage is like pulling teeth. I don’t want to offend anyone in the armed forces with the book, being that I’m coming at it from a non-combatant’s point of view. It’s not like I didn’t do any research on war–I’ve read four books on the Afghan war and two on Iraq. But I do admit it’s nothing like being in combat, and I somehow have to lie about that when I write. I’ve been told that the first scene of Homecoming was very realistic, so I might be able to pull it off. It’s the little things, the slang, the acronyms, the military language that I don’t know. My target audience for War Mage is people who are interested in the military but want a fantasy element to it. Kind of like John Scalzi but with fantasy instead of sci-fi.

Something–the muses, whatever–wants me to try something else. Memoir, perhaps, because memoir seems to sell well in this neck of the woods. The story in the anthology is based on a story my great-uncle told me about when he lived during Prohibition. (By the way, my story is first in the anthology, a place of honor, as I understand it.) I want to get away from the magic for a little while, not because I’m sick of it, but because I know it all too well. The memoir I have in mind is in three parts: Cancer, Death, and Autism. The title is Torn Asunder. Maybe I’ll do it. I know NaNo is for fiction, but I want to do something that is lucrative. I don’t know if I have enough stuff to write it, and if I want to bare my soul yet (some people involved aren’t dead yet). But it could be only for me. And my posterity. I do want to get it down before I die, and the way things are going, I have about six years left.

Okay, so I amend my first statement. I have a few options. We’ll just have to see what I end up with in the next two weeks.

In the meantime, I’m going to try and write at least once a week on my writing blog. It might not always have to do with the game, even though I’m back to playing it again. I have too many characters in that game to keep track of now! And I keep making more! I’m addicted and need to stop. But I’ll try and write a short story once a week. I read a quote that if you write a short story every week, there’s no way you can write a bad short story 52 times in a row. So somewhere there’s going to be a diamond out of all that crap I spew out.

Don’t try this at home

After the festival, I ended up in the hospital for dehydration and elevated potassium. Oops.

So lesson learned: don’t not eat or drink anything for two days.

Finished the editing for Grimaulkin Tempted, and awaiting a new cover.  Also trying to think up the blurbs for it.

I think I might do NaNoWriMo this year. I have a few days off next month so I’ll be able to do it. I have NO idea what to do since I started War Mage already. Maybe add 50K words to it to make it viable? I also started Earth. Those are the two books that are on the schedule for next year. I don’t want to do Grim 3 because I have just the major plot in mind for that. The muse needs to percolate more ideas for that one.

I would hate to waste a month on something that I’m not going to publish, considering I have deadlines.

Also, I’m in an anthology, Under the 13th Star, which is a showcase of Rhode Island authors’ short stories. articles, and poems. My story is first in the anthology! I’m so excited! It will be officially released on Monday, but it’s on Amazon right now with print-on-demand.

Columbus Day Weekend

Well, the big push for my appearances is over, and I just have to wait until December for my last appearance this year.  I learned a lot of good things from my tent-mates, some of which are in my podcast this weekend. (Which doesn’t have the same quality–I kind of rushed through it.)

I learned that my story is first in the Association of Rhode Island Authors anthology, Under the 13th Star, which should be on sale in November. I was so happy to hear that. It meant my story was good enough to lead off the anthology. I was glowing the whole day when I heard that.

And I found my perfect reader for Grimaulkin on Saturday. She’s bi, likes reading gay stories, and we discussed the fact that there isn’t that much gay literature in the mainstream. “Most of it’s about how awful it is being gay, but it’s not that bad,” she said. She bought a copy of Grimaulkin, and I told her, “I wrote this for you. You’re going to love it.” Another glowing spot of the day.

Sunday was overcast and spotty rain, so I didn’t get any customers, nevermind any buyers. Which was okay; I learned about marketing from my tent-mate.

I got Grimaulkin Tempted back from the editor, and I need to make Mike just a wee bit more sympathetic. The ending that I thought sucked was one he didn’t see coming, so I have to drop more clues in the book to make it more plausible. I remembered the subtle clues–I guess they were too subtle. I also got a cover. After thinking about it, and having it on my background here on the computer, it kind of looks more like a bodice-ripper than a teen story. I have to talk to the publisher about it. Maybe changing the title might help.

Good news, Good news, Bad news, Meh news

Good news: I’ll be on another radio interview at WADK.com on November 8 at 10:30 a.m. That’s a small station out of Newport, RI.

More good news: The anemia isn’t what’s causing my exhaustion. In fact, we don’t know what it is. But my cortisone pills have been increased so I’m feeling much better.

Bad news: No new episode this weekend. I’ll get one out next Monday, Columbus Day, after my stints at Autumnfest and Scituate Art Festival. I’m tempted to call it, “Throwing stuff against the wall: Ways how not to market your book.”

Meh news: I still haven’t done any writing. It’s like there’s nothing there. I’ve got ideas, but no real push to do anything with them. I know War Mage is supposed to be done for next year, and Earth for next February, but it’s like “meh” when I sit down to write it. I’ve stared at the blank page and end up falling asleep. Hopefully the cortisone will kick me back into gear soon.