Author, Blogger, Book Designer
I received an e-mail from my cousin the other day -- a wonderfully long, heartfelt response to my debut novel. It confirmed what I had already begun to recognize: that the greatest part of writing a book is the dialogue it creates between author and reader -- between a writer and his friends. One passage of my cousin's [...]
Well, I am now being blogged about ... by someone other than me. It makes me feel kind of like a celebrity. Kind of. Never mind that the blogger is my wife, Sheila. Or that she is my editor. Or that she has her own take on me and my writing, which might not be exactly [...]
I did it. Today I finished Goodnight Sunshine -- acknowledgements, bio, author interview and all. 334 pages. 4 sections. 61 chapters. 1 prologue. 90,916 words. 398,135 characters. A team of 16 people: 1 author, 2 editors, 10 beta readers, 1 painter, 1 photographer and 1 graphic designer. More than 3 years, at least 6 complete drafts, and too [...]
I haven't posted for a while. Between farmers' markets and playing with kids and travelling and trying to finish the third draft of my novel, amongst the more mundane tasks of day-to-day life, I haven't been able to justify "blog time." Tonight, I sent off draft #3 to my editor/writing coach. Somehow, it is 30,000 [...]
When I started this blog, I decided that I wasn't going to post for the sake of posting. Hopefully this is as close as I will come to breaking that rule... I've had plenty of topics to blog about lately, but not much time to write. So when I have had time, I have focused almost entirely [...]
What do I do when my book is ready? When I finally accept that it is what it is, and prepare to release my first story for public consumption...? I am willing to sign the right deal with the right publisher (whatever that means -- I'm still trying to figure out what either of those things look like), but [...]
It suddenly struck me tonight that I needed to post something TODAY! On Earth Day 2014! So here goes... Only last week I was questioning whether one-time or annual events intended to raise environmental awareness -- Earth Day, Lights Out Hour and other well-meaning initiatives -- really matter. Many argue that such events merely preach to the converted, while allowing less [...]
"Everyone has at least one great book in them," said my good friend, Chris, over the music and the constant flow of beer. I can't recall where we were; I'm not even sure I knew at the time. Somewhere in Victoria, I think. But while the details of that night faded quickly, Chris's words did not. At [...]
Mark of Words 