Rainy Monday Morning

Good day to stay inside and catch up on reading offline and online.

• I'm enjoying Patricia Wood's novel "Lottery." Perry Crandall, the 32-year-old protagonist has an IQ 0f 76, so he's a little slow. But "Gram" taught him well, hopefully enough to keep is greedy and crafty relatives from swindling him out of his lottery winnings. I'm looking forward to the book discussion at Mom and More about this novel beginning December 13th. Patricia Wood will take part in the discussion.
• A few days ago, I finished Nick Oliva's debut novel Only Moments and posted a five-star review on Amazon and on my website's review page.
• My first Christmas Card arrived today, this one from the Montana Historical Society. (I've been a member for years.)
• I see that Shelly has an interesting post today called "James Bond, Superman, and Umberto Eco." With a title like that, I have no choice but to read it.
• Yes, I'm reading my own novel in progress as well as I try to figure out what it means so I can write an outline for it prior to finding a publisher for it. You can find an excerpt called "Haunting You Softly on my Myspace Blog. The working title is "Trick Falls and the Sorcerer Babes" which, I think, has a snow ball's chance of hell in becoming the real title (thank goodness).

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and escaped the perils and temptations of Black Friday. (We didn't buy anything on Black Friday except a tank of gas so we could get back home from a day trip to visit with my wife's folks in NW Georgia.)

Hmm, it's almost 3:45 p.m., which means the cats will start hassling me for food in a few minutes. They've been asleep in the livingroom most of the afternoon.

Malcolm

If you're a writer, stop by and visit me at my Writer's Notebook. Todays post contains some cool writing links.

A visit with Terry Kay

When Georgia author Terry Kay stops by our small public library to talk about his latest book, he doesn't deliver a prepared speech. He spins yarns, yarns that unfold out of the moment, often from the last question asked. As we listened last night, it was apparent that anyone who can extemporaneously bring us into the places and moments of his life, is likely to also be a great storyteller when he discovers each of his novels in the act of writing it.

I have for years quoted Richard M. Eastman's (Style: Writing as the Discovery of Outlook) comment that "a writer does not begin with a complete message or experience inside him which he wraps up in language as a means of sending it to his reader. Writing is not so much communication as creation. In a real sense, a writer does not have an outlook on anything until he's written on it."

When Kay talks about his new novel The Book of Marie, he speaks of discovery. He begins with strong characters. They talk, they live, they interact. As they do, he learns what they're about, and he discovers their story. While this approach appears to be counterintuitive to most of those who teach writing, it resonates with me.

In high school and college, I was engaged in constant battles with "creative" writing instructors who wanted me to (a) submit a detailed plot outline and (b) a comprehensive list of the characters' features, occupations, and motivations BEFORE I started writing a short story. It was clear to me they didn't know what the hell they were talking about. The only instructor who knew what he was talking about was a novelist. He had been there and done that and knew how good stories unfolded out of the moment when pen kisses paper.

When I read Kay's books, I can see and hear in my mind's eye how the story arose, such a natural thing, like life itself. The reality and the truth (often strange bedfellows) in a character driven story is clear as a bell in the words. When I read Kay's books (most recently Valley of Light) I am given the rare luxury of discovering as I read what this wonderful author discovered as he wrote.

Today, Terry Kay is speaking at one of the local schools. The kids in the crowd who want to become writers will be receiving a rare gift: words that will really help them unlock their talents.

Book Promotion

Book promotion requires constant attention even if you've found a publisher with a PR-machine and a hefty advertising budget for your book.

Promotion is often a frightening prospect for new authors. One excellent resource is Nikki Leigh who is one of the regular participants at Inspired Author.

For a quick look at the world of book promotion, you might also take a look at her article "Create Your Marketing Mindset" in this month's Readers' Station Quarterly. The article contains links to additional promotional resources.

Completing a New Novel

As I roared through the final chapters of an odyssey of a novel I began in 1993, I felt a great amount of excitement. I didn't want to stop writing, even for dinner or my favourite TV shows. Then, when I completed the last chapter, I felt a great let down. Rather than experiencing triumph for finally getting it done, I felt lost and depressed.

I don't know how to describe what this is like to non-writers.

Some people look forward to retirement, but once they say goodbye to their co-workers and walk out the door, they suddenly don't know what to do with their time.

Parents speak of feeling uneasy when children leave the nest.

Kids look forward to the prom for months, and even when the night was magical, the following morning the world seems empty.

I guess it's kind of like that.

While doing final editing, I will be seeking a publisher. While that's been a rather tedious process in the past, I'm looking forward to moving ahead with the project this time.

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In as much as "The Sun Singer" as well as my new novel are both focused on mythic themes, I'm always on the lookout for new online resources. Here's a great one: Mything Links, a wonderful portal in to a world of mythic links and sites.

Stop by an visit me at my Amazon Profile and Blog.