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The good morning, good night thread

Started by Ed, October 22, 2007, 03:49:05 AM

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Geoff_N

Cath, I so rarely write flashes these days - the story ideas popping into my head like bubbles from a glass of quinine-filled tonic water, take a smidgen too much character development. Also I have a tendence to repel clues and hints for stories. However, senssitive to your plea I'll give it a go this week.

marc_chagall

Thank you Geoff!

Poll's now up, and I've set it for two days, it being a Bank Holiday weekend.

Rev. Austin

Hey folks! I thought I'd check in and ask your collective advice; I recently sent my latest novel off to Severed Press (the first and only place it's been subbed so far) and they've replied with how the book isn't quite what they're after, but they would like to work with me again (I had my very first anthology publication with them!) and wondered if I'd like to talk proposals...! I'm not quite sure what this means, though. Are they inviting me to 'pitch' other novel/book ideas, or should I ask them what they're after...? It's certainly exciting!

Other than this, I've started learning Spanish and how to code computer games in an effort to fill up the insane amount of spare time I have (still going through the visa process to move to the States). I'm really chuffed with this latest novel so I'm keen to try and find other suitable publishers (ideally). How's it all going with you lot? I keep meaning to check on here more regularly again but keep forgetting  ::) 
facebook.com/waynegoodchildishaunted
Stay in touch! I don't mean that in a pervy way.

marc_chagall

Re: the proposals, I'd write back, sound as enthusiastic as possible, and ask what sort of thing they had in mind. Sounds like a very positive reply you got from them, so I'd certainly follow it up asap.

I'm currently busy flogging my last book (biography of my mum) which is my best seller to date. I think some people are so relieved they can buy a book from me that isn't poetry or fiction.  :scratch: Never mind. The next book is both poetry AND fiction - a collaborative, illustrated novel-with-poems. Should be out in a month or two. Publisher is keen to get it to press now because she wants me to read some of the poems at the Poetry Book Fair in London in September, and I'm game. That aside, I'm busy with poetry mentoring from Ahren Warner, and short story mentoring from he-who-must-not-be-named-on-cafe-doom. Both going extremely well. I'm working towards a second full poetry collection, so that will be the next big project.


delboy

Don't you just hate it when you write a really long post and then get a "This page can't be displayed" message and thereafter all your words have gone...

Suffice to say, well done Rev and Delph. And as for me, writing going well - really enjoying it. But have the opposite of insane amounts of spare time. Commute getting longer. Work getting more stressful. Whatever happened to the life of leisure we were promised 40 years ago?

Cheers
Derek
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Geoff_N

Yep, the publisher, Rev, will appreciate dialogue with his or her potential clients, so go ahead as Delph says, and ask for clarification.

I'm still waiting to hoodwink a publisher to take Xaghra's Revenge; written an illustrated kids' series also under consideration by a publisher; writing shorts - 7 published this year; ARIA keeps reappearing on lists and yesterday appeared on a list of nominated novels for best SF indie book. Dunno how that happened but even the nominations has led to a huge upsurge in sales - 2 overnight!

No writing next week cos I'm on another cycle tour to Cheltenham and taking Liz Williams' Empire of Bones to read for my SFF Book Group, and a notebook to flesh out other short ideas.

fnord33

I'm glad to see everybody's doing so well. The last couple of years I've been desperately trying to find an artist that will come through on the "Birth" cover. I have a good feeling about artist 4. I have art for "Sex" and have somebody working on turning it into a cover. I put the blurb-in-progress in the workshop. if anybody has time to offer advice I'd appreciate it.

Rev: You certainly picked an interesting time to immigrate. Where are you headed?
Life is an entanglement of lies to hide it's basic mechanisms. - William Burroughs

marc_chagall

For those of you who haven't popped down to the flash challenge in a while, current prompts are: 'Have you ever stopped to consider' and 'yikes!'. Use either or both as inspiration, or just write something completely off the wall so that the reader's reaction is 'yikes!'

But write something.  :scratch:

marc_chagall


delboy

I will endeavour to get back into some flash writing one of these days - used to enjoy it. But I must confess, I struggle to even get everything I want to say into a short story anymore. I suspect it's just that I'm out of practice.  :bangh:

Work has now moved from Coventry to Birmingham, result is 70 mile commute each way instead of a 66 mile one - but the concentration required is much more, it being all motorway. Especially so with all the rain we've been having. The other day I actually came home via Coventry on account of there was so much traffic (because of floods) you couldn't get near the M42. All that said, I've made a unilateral decision to only go up there when I have meetings so it's not as bad as it sounds. It is tiring, though. I think the weariness is accumulative, not just in a given week, but in all the months and years that precede a given week. Evenings and weekends I can just sleep forever.

The worst thing is that the writing time is slipping away. Again, not the minutes and hours in any given day or week, but the years in which to give this thing a decent shot at success. I'm not thinking of success as anything other than being able to look back and know I wrote most of the stories that I have inside me and that I wrote them to the best of my ability. It would be a dream to be able to do that. I have a night-time terror that if I wait much longer it'll be too late and I won't even try.

Hey ho. Back to the grind. Wheels of industry and all that.
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

Geoff_N

I sympathise with your commute hell, Del. Years ago I was seconded as an IT Advisory teacher. I loved the preparation and delivering IT workshops to teachers all over Cheshire. I used to leave home at 6am to arrive up the M6 to the HQ at 7am. I could write guides and lesson plans until 9 when the phones started ringing. It was like the IT CROWD comedy - truly. All that "Have you turned it off and on again" several times a day. I was based right in the north of Chesire on the Lancs border. A headteached insisted I came to his school right away to fix the loaned PC system as it was to be demonstrated to the Governors at 11am. It was a progressive comprehensive we wanted to keep on our side so off I drove the 50 miles to his school. Yep, I unplugged it and plugged it back in. Worked. I was ready to disembowel it but no need. I had to go back to base cos of afternoon workshops then other visits. Typical to arrive home at 7 - 8pm in time to put the primary age kids to bed. Boss liked what I did and offered me a permanent post. The alternative was to return to my Chester school as head of ICT and system manager. Mrs N said if I took the adviser job for a 3rd year and beyond we would be divorced in months. The secretary said for the two years I was an Advisory teacher I averaged 120 miles a day on the road. However, that was in 1989 / 1990 when motorways were quieter. I took the Chester job & found time for my family and time to write. Now I'm retired I have time to write, read and cycle for 120 miles a week (in winter) 200 miles or so a week in summer.

elay2433

QuoteThe worst thing is that the writing time is slipping away. Again, not the minutes and hours in any given day or week, but the years in which to give this thing a decent shot at success. I'm not thinking of success as anything other than being able to look back and know I wrote most of the stories that I have inside me and that I wrote them to the best of my ability. It would be a dream to be able to do that. I have a night-time terror that if I wait much longer it'll be too late and I won't even try.

Know what you mean, Del. I felt that way the last few years. Got to the point where I started to feel like I was fooling myself. Or lying to myself maybe. Not like I expect to sell a dozen books (or one even) and get rich. But, damn, if I'm gonna do it, I should at least do it right, right? I still counted myself a writer even though I didn't complete or sub a story all of last year. Still counted myself a writer, but I really did feel like I was lying to myself. It started to feel way more like a hobby than a passion.

Changed things up this year. Getting up early every morning to write for an hour or so before the day starts. Still not expecting to sell a dozen books (or even one), but I might actually write one. Going strong with stories this years. Averaging one  a month. Even subbed two out this year. Both got pretty quick rejections, but I'm feeling good about it all. Heading in the right direction at least.

A girl I know from a local critique group is in a situation very similar to yours. Work has eaten up all her spare time and energy for the several years. She hasn't subbed a thing through the group. She's single, no kids, and she's been socking her money away. She's quitting next month. Taking three months off (at least) to write her book, edit it, and start the submission process.

I envy her. I could never do anything that drastic. But between her way and mine, it shows there are a lot of options. Hope you can find your way, Del.

Best of luck.  :afro:

-Jerry

delboy

Cheers Jerry.

About 18 months ago I started doing what you're doing - writing for an hour before work every day and it worked really well. But as alluded to earlier, the job change thwarted that. On the days I'm travelling I'm getting up an hour earlier than that just to get on the road. On the days I'm not travelling I need to sleep...

But I am still writing, I just don't think I'm doing it as well as I could. I'm definitely not writing the books I really want to write. I've allowed myself to settle on the easy options of the westerns - which are great fun, allow me to keep my hand in, and are the ideal length for the time I have available - when really I want to be having a bash at a few longer and more complex novels. Hopefully one day in the not too distant future I can do something akin to the girl in your critique group.

Derek
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker

elay2433

Sorry, Del. I see what you mean. If my 'extra' hour each morning was lost to a commute (or any other task) I'd feel pretty hopeless too. I commend you for finding a way to keep your hand in it. I hope you do find a way to get to those projects that are calling you. I know how impossible it might seem, but I'll bet you do find a way. Sooner if not later.

delboy

Just had my contributor copies of my latest western. Always a nice moment. I'm also pleased to see the "Also by this author" page growing nicely. I recall when I were a lad and reading books by Alistair Maclean it seemed inconceivable that they wrote so many books, so it's nice to see my own list ticking along, albeit slowly. Still need to find a way of rearranging life to allow me to accelerate the process!
"If you want to write, write it. That's the first rule. And send it in, and send it in to someone who can publish it or get it published. Don't send it to me. Don't show it to your spouse, or your significant other, or your parents, or somebody. They're not going to publish it."

Robert B. Parker