self-publishing | Painting With Light

Posts Tagged ‘self-publishing’

Should Writers Make New Year Resolutions?

December 30, 2015

Winter-Landscape
What’s on Your Writing Horizon in 2016?

If you’ve been around here a while, you know I quit making New Year resolutions a long, long time ago. I never managed to keep them anyway (particularly those related to exercise and weight loss), despite my best intentions.

The only resolution I’ve ever come close to keeping was my promise to go on writing stories, as long as I could.

I’m happy to say I’m approaching another significant birthday number (at my age, every birthday number is significant) … and my storytelling muse is still going strong.

Thankfully, no special equipment is needed beyond the ability to use words … and a whole lot of imagination, and my long-suffering bride tells me I’m still doing well in both of those departments. She can tell just by the way I answer her when she has chores for me to do.

Imagination and Words
Powerful stuff. I continue to practice my storytelling because well-used words are like magic … and meaningful communication is an art. Besides, it makes me feel good.

About this time last year I was mired in another spell of writers’ block but, by summertime I had finished my novel STREET LIGHT. I’m delighted to say it received a 5-Star review from Readers Favorite, who said “… it was hard to put down …”

There was even more excitement in my house last month (from me, anyway), when the online review site Shelf Unbound made STREET LIGHT one of its Notable 100 Books for 2015.

I honestly thought STREET LIGHT finished the story I began years ago with my novels REICHOLD STREET and ONE WAY STREET but, you know, a funny thing happened.

A few weeks ago when I sat down to write, as I usually do every day, some of the trilogy characters appeared and decided they had more they wanted me to say.

They were so insistent I couldn’t tell them no. So, I’m about 8,700 words into a new book right now based on what they were telling me.

A book I didn’t think was going to happen.

New Work Coming
I’d be further along with it but, at the same time, I’m also more than 22,000 words into a completely new novel.

This one will have a strong touch of fantasy, but it also draws a lot on real American history. I got the idea while researching my family tree.

Look for it next summer.

Advice
For every writer and soon-to-be writer out there, there is a great piece of advice I discovered a long time ago that is still relevant, and worth passing along again.

Keep reading and keep writing … and, by all means, have fun.

I know I will. Call it a resolution, if you like. It’s one I intend to keep. Someday I may even get it right.

Best Wishes to Everyone for the New Year.

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My books have all garnered some terrific reviews, and you can see the ones I have available by using the Amazon link below.

You’re invited to visit my web site, BROKEN GLASS, or like my Book of Face page. You can also follow some of my shorter ramblings on The Twitter.

The Official Book Trailer for “Street Light”

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Comments posted below will be read, greatly appreciated and perhaps even answered.

Tags:self-publishing, storytelling
Posted in Award-Winning Fiction, Book Promotion, Storytelling | 2 Comments »

Why Writers Help Writers

December 15, 2015

fastest-writer-on-the-world
If Only My Fingers Would Move That Fast.

Writers tend to stick together. I think it’s got something to do with the craft we’ve chosen to pursue. For the most part, it tends to be a rather solitary business, and to a lot of people it looks easy.

“After all,” they say, “all you have to do is write down words.”

Sure. Don’t I wish it was that simple?

Any writer worth his salt (pardon the cliché, but at the moment I’m working on two different novels … plus, it’s the holiday season … who has time to be overly creative?) …

Most of those writers certainly know that good writing (ah, there’s the disclaimer I was looking for … good writing) doesn’t just happen. It takes extraordinary effort.

“It ain’t whatcha write, it’s the way atcha write it.”
~ Jack Kerouac

“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.”
~ Ernest Hemingway

“Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it’s work.”
~ Stephen King

* * * * * * * *

A friend of mine, Evans Bissonette (above), a fellow writer, mentioned a couple of writing groups he attends in the area that are looking for a few new members and, since they provide that writerly help I’m talking about, I told him I’d put his flyer in my next blog.

I’m not normally a fan of critique groups, but I appreciate the idea of writers helping other writers so much that I might be intrigued enough to attend a couple of these sessions myself … because I’m certain I can use the help … not just because Evans is such a nice guy.

Here’s his flyer:

sunset scribes
The email link above, which doesn’t work in the jpeg image of his flyer, is typefont@gmail.com. If you’re interested in either group (or both), be sure to contact them before the end of January.

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My books have all garnered some terrific reviews, and you can see the books I have available by using the Amazon link below.

You’re invited to visit my web site, BROKEN GLASS, or like my Book of Face page. You can also follow my shorter ramblings on The Twitter.

Street Light was just selected by Shelf Unbound as 1 of 100 Notable Books for 2015

The Official Book Trailer for “Street Light”

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Comments posted below will be read, greatly appreciated and perhaps even answered.

Tags:indie writers, self-publishing, storytelling
Posted in Book Promotion, Independent Publishing, Storytelling | 8 Comments »

What the Heck is a Tetrology?

November 12, 2015

slide_208667_680364_huge Making a Splash

Now that I’ve written and published three books that are considered a trilogy: (Reichold Street, One Way Street and Street Light) what do I call a fourth book in the series?

This recently became an issue, when I mentioned on social media that I’m writing another book featuring some of the characters originally found in the first three books.

Now, technically, four books in a series is called a tetrology.

Does that mean I have to change the covers for the three books that comprise the original trilogy? Particularly any of them that make reference to a trilogy (like Street Light)?

Well … in a word … probably not.

OK … that’s two words, but authors and publishers have done things like this before. Publish multiple books in a series, I mean.

Some authors have their characters go through changes, and make references to past events (like my series). Typically such series are published in the order of their internal chronology, so that the next book published follows the previous book.

The changes may be minor – characters might get engaged, change jobs, etc. – but it does not affect the main story line.

Besides my books, examples of this type include Tony Hillerman’s award-winning Navajo Tribal Police books.

In other series, the changes are major and the books need to be read in order to be fully enjoyed. Examples of this type include J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

There are some book series that are not really a proper series at all, but more of a single work so large that it must be published over two or more books.

Examples of this type include The Lord of the Rings volumes (including the prequel, The Hobbit) or the Dark Tower series by Stephen King.

Some authors, like C.S. Lewis, make it difficult to list their books in a numerical order. In his Chronicles of Narnia series, he jumps back in time to early adventures of the characters, writing works that must be placed before or between previously published works.

This was likely done intentionally, as C.S. Lewis was a medieval literature scholar, and knew medieval literature does not always tell a story chronologically.

Now, I’m not using any of this information to make light of those who might question my announcement that I’m working on a fourth book in what they’ve come to know as “a trilogy.”

It’s not something I planned … but neither was the trilogy in the first place. It just happened.

Now, I’ve discovered the characters have more to say … months after I thought they were done.

I’ll find some way to account for it with the title of the new book, which is still up in the air. Hopefully, you’ll just enjoy the read.

Either way, I hope you’ll take a moment to take a short survey about the whole issue.

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My books have all garnered some terrific reviews. You can see the stories I have available by using the Amazon link below.

You’re invited to visit my web site, BROKEN GLASS, or like my Book of Face page. You can also follow my shorter ramblings on The Twitter.

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Comments posted below will be read, greatly appreciated and perhaps even answered.