I can do better than that!

Posted on April 10, 2012 by L. Jacob

I have just finished listening to a book, and if it wasn’t on Audible I would have thrown it across the room.  It was horrible!  When I finished, I knew that I could write better than this guy.  And I actually have written a better novel than this one, set in the same time period with the same idea…but I know I did it a lot better.

Many times, that is my inspiration: the knowledge that I could do better than the published author.  It really is more luck than skill these days.  I could write a perfect 25 pages, stupendous cover letter, believable characters and story and everything grammatically correct – except it hits the wrong editor, time after time after time.

I’ve sent Grim out to four agents thus far, and gotten rejections.  I’m assuming I’m hitting the wrong agent.

I am tempted to pull Grim off Kindle, change it to a more adult-oriented story (not gay EroRom) and sell it to that group instead of making it a YA coming-of-age story.  It does need a good reader, and I do need someone to read it through once and get feedback.

I believe I will take the piece I started writing on Literotica and create an EroRom book for it.  The muse has given me many ideas for Tamerlane and Roger, how they work together to solve oddball crimes.  However not every scene has hot and heavy sex in it.

In the meantime, I am working on the first draft of Grim 3, the last in the trilogy, though debating on whether or not to have a happy ending.  I am also still revising Book 2; my date to have it out is September 9, 2012.

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Opening a Writer’s Toolbox

Posted on March 20, 2012 by L. Jacob

I like technology, though I wait until initial fervor dies down before purchasing some big ticket item, like an iPad or an iPhone.  I still haven’t gotten the iPhone.

I also know the biggest tool of the trade is known as “butt in chair”.  But there are a few things that I find indispensable to my daily writing grind, and thought I would share some of them here.

Music.  iTunes, Pandora, Rhapsody.  I listened to Napster before it became Rhapsody.  Heck, I listened to Napster before it became the pay-to-play and was one of the original people who downloaded music from Napster when it first came out.  (To show my age, I had AOL when it first came out and used it on my IBM PS3.)

I can write without music, but music is helpful, especially music with good cadence; that is, music that sounds like it would come off of an action soundtrack.  Pandora is good for that, as I tell it the music I like, and it creates a radio station based off of my preferences.  If I hear something I like, I’ll search for it on iTunes and buy it for the iPod.  Then listen to it over, and over, and over, and over…

Word processing program.  Word, Pages, Googledocs.  I will be honest, Googledocs is the best thing that came along since…Google.  I can go to any computer anywhere and work on my novel.  I can do some work at home and then do some work at work (shhh).

The Internet, specifically: google, wikipedia, youtube.  Google to find things; wikipedia to find information; youtube to find that song that’s been running through your head for hours.

Scrivener.  I’m writing the second book on this using it as both a word processor and for a novel-writing format.  It’s one of the best organizers out there for novelists.  If you’re going to write, buy it – after you buy my book.  My book is cheaper.

Peripherals: iPad, iPod, Mac (I have a Windows computer right now).

Now, contact information:

You can contact me here on this website by ljacob@grimaulkin.com.  I answer all emails.  I probably won’t be able to read your novel or give you editing tips.  If you really want my opinion, I’ll give it to you…though I might not be too diplomatic about it.  And I’m not an editor, nor do I work in the editorial world.

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Inspiration

Posted on March 10, 2012 by L. Jacob

I hope to write a blog every week, for Saturday or Monday consumption, about what I think about writing, the writing life, or even, very simply, a writing prompt or an opinion on what are important items every writer should have.

This week I was away for vacation, and amazingly enough, the muses were quiet.  No story ideas.  No need to write anything.  Because I was in a place that stimulated me constantly, and did not let up.  In fact, this place gave me no chance, no room to breathe.

I was fed, constantly, with creativity, creative minds, so called Imagineers (now you know where I went) – and I was overwhelmed.  My muses were overwhelmed as well.

This made me realize that I write best when I’m bored.  When I have little to no stimulation, my mind goes wild, and stories just happen.  The most creative things I did was photography and updates on my status page on my personal page on Facebook.

When do you write best?  When you’re stimulated visually or when you’re bored – or when you’re poked and prodded?

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Hello world!

Posted on February 27, 2012 by L. Jacob

Welcome to my blog, which will discuss writing, and what I’m reading and writing (or listening to) in the process of writing.  You may find book reviews here, or articles on how I feel about writing, or articles about where I might be for book signings.  You can use this blog to contact me if you want to.  I’m always open to talking about writing and how it fits in one’s life with anyone.

 

Also, this is a place for fans of my books that are being sold through Kindle.  I hope you’ve picked up my book, Grimaulkin: Demon, and I especially hope you enjoyed it.  Even if you didn’t, drop me a line.

 

What I am working on now is the deep revision of Grimaulkin: Mage, part two of this trilogy.  It should be out in the summer of 2012.

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