Our schedule pushed Thanksgiving dinner with my wife's parents until Black Friday. The northwest Georgia day was sunny, the evening scented with wood smoke across the farm. If Georgia had a different system of roads, we could drive to their farm by going almost due west from Jackson County on the northeast side of Atlanta. As it is, we must drive down I-85 to the Atlanta perimeter and then back up I-75 to the area around Calhoun, Georgia.
En route, we drove near the Mall of Georgia, Gwinnett Place Mall, Perimeter Mall, Cumberland Mall, and goodness knows how many Walmarts without getting into any traffic backups. We had a nice dinner and a nice visit and plenty of leftovers to bring home in the cooler. The lighter-than-expected traffic was a bonus.
-
On my Writer's Notebook blog today I wrote about a novel's setting, contending that it's much more than scenery. It helps define the characters and advance the plot. To get involved in the discussion, click here.
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Author Chelle Cordero ("Within the Law," "Forgotten," "Chaunce of Riches") wrote today on Lindsay's Romantics that there's a reason why Tupper Lake in the Adirondacks has figured in two of her books. She and her husband were there early in their relationship, a relationship Chelle never thought would happen.
Writers often go back to the places they know for settings in their books. There's passion in them, and the sites, sounds and ambiance are already known. I "went back" to Montana's Glacier National Park in "The Sun Singer" and my yet-to-be published "Garden of Heaven" because I worked there as a college student and have visited the area a number of times since then. What a writer knows is the beginning of a lot of fiction and place often haunts us enough to use it over and over again.
--Malcolm
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Deadline nears for GoodReads book giveaway
Two free copies of my comedy/thriller "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire" will be given away in a random drawing on GoodReads in December. So far, 365 people have signed up for a chance at one of the copies.
Enter by December 1 for a shot at Jock.
--Malcolm
Enter by December 1 for a shot at Jock.
--Malcolm
Monday, November 23, 2009
Burma Shave's Little Red Signs
Fewer and fewer people remember the little red signs along the side of the road that once advertised Burma Shave. These popular jingles promoting everything from a clean shave to traffic safety could be found along U.S. roadways between 1925 to 1963. While Burma Shave lasted as a product for another 30 years, the little signs were gone forever except in books and websites.
Typical shaving cream jingle (told on successive white-on-red signs):
Does your husband
Misbehave
Grunt and grumble
Rant and rave
Shoot the brute some
Burma-Shave
Typical traffuc safety jingles:
Train approaching
Whistle squealing
Stop
Avoid that run-down feeling
Burma-Shave
Hardly a driver
Is now alive
Who passed
On hills
At 75
Burma-Shave
Here's a jingle that demonstrates how the signs proliferated the countryside:
If you
Don't know
Whose signs
These are
You can't have
Driven very far.
Burma-Shave
I couldn't resist the temptation to create my own version:
--Malcolm
Typical shaving cream jingle (told on successive white-on-red signs):
Does your husband
Misbehave
Grunt and grumble
Rant and rave
Shoot the brute some
Burma-Shave
Typical traffuc safety jingles:
Train approaching
Whistle squealing
Stop
Avoid that run-down feeling
Burma-Shave
Hardly a driver
Is now alive
Who passed
On hills
At 75
Burma-Shave
Here's a jingle that demonstrates how the signs proliferated the countryside:
If you
Don't know
Whose signs
These are
You can't have
Driven very far.
Burma-Shave
I couldn't resist the temptation to create my own version:
--Malcolm
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Multiple Roads Diverging in a Wood
For better or worse, I'm comfortable writing in multiple styles: press releases, computer manuals, brochures, articles, grant applications and fiction.
I realize that readers like the authors they read to fit into a comfortable niche so that when each new book comes out, there are no surprises.
Pigeonholes don't excite me. Yet, it's an understatement I think to say that those who read my 2004 magical, coming-of-age novel "The Sun Singer" were surprised when I followed that up in August with the satirical thriller "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire." Which ever novel people read first, they don't think I wrote the other one.
Readers of "The Sun Singer" have asked about a sequel. There will be one called "Sarabande," but I'm not quite ready to write it, for it follows the heroine's journey rather than the hero's journey. Meanwhile, a companion novel to "The Sun Singer" called "Garden of Heaven" is still looking for a publisher.
Jock Stewart, on the other hand, is an old-style reporter on the trail of horse thieves and murders. He's brusk and sarcastic and a bit of a chauvinist. "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire" satirizes inept reporters and inept local governments, but along the way I hope people find it funny. I may write another one of these satires if readers like the first one. So far, hard to tell.
I suppose I need to identify my novels with some kind of label on the cover so readers will know they are either like "The Sun Singer" or like "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire."
Suffice it to say, the readers of my magical realism and my satire are not likely to be caught dead in the same room together even though I'm comfortable in both rooms.
--Malcolm
I realize that readers like the authors they read to fit into a comfortable niche so that when each new book comes out, there are no surprises.
Pigeonholes don't excite me. Yet, it's an understatement I think to say that those who read my 2004 magical, coming-of-age novel "The Sun Singer" were surprised when I followed that up in August with the satirical thriller "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire." Which ever novel people read first, they don't think I wrote the other one.
Readers of "The Sun Singer" have asked about a sequel. There will be one called "Sarabande," but I'm not quite ready to write it, for it follows the heroine's journey rather than the hero's journey. Meanwhile, a companion novel to "The Sun Singer" called "Garden of Heaven" is still looking for a publisher.
Jock Stewart, on the other hand, is an old-style reporter on the trail of horse thieves and murders. He's brusk and sarcastic and a bit of a chauvinist. "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire" satirizes inept reporters and inept local governments, but along the way I hope people find it funny. I may write another one of these satires if readers like the first one. So far, hard to tell.
I suppose I need to identify my novels with some kind of label on the cover so readers will know they are either like "The Sun Singer" or like "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire."
Suffice it to say, the readers of my magical realism and my satire are not likely to be caught dead in the same room together even though I'm comfortable in both rooms.
--Malcolm
Elsewhere...
Malcolm's Round Table: I was disappointed in Audrey Niffenegger's "Her Fearful Symmentry" and reviewed it here.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
One word at a time
Listening to author and writing coach Mark David Gerson on blog talk radio this afternoon, I marveled at how easy writing would be if I stopped sweating it.
He's a strong advocate of just letting the writing happen. Sit down with a blank screen or a blank sheet of paper and write down a word. Once you've done that, write down the next one. As he puts it, don't worry about the word you just wrote or the one you're going to write next. Your story will unfold one word at a time "if you allow it."
There are times when I come close to doing this. These are the moments when there are no distractions, times when I'm zoned out to the outer world, and basically feel like I'm channeling the story from somewhere else. People who don't write often express surprise when I say I'm surprised by some of the things the characters do and say. They think I'm making that up.
Perhaps they think so because they were taught to begin with an outline and a stack of notecards for their research and their sources. Goodness knows, I was taught to do that in English class because we always concentrated on "themes" about one thing or another. I did poorly in English class because I thought they were teaching me to hate the writing process.
After all these years, I have to say that when the writing is going well, I don't really know how it's happening. I often feel like a pitcher or a .300 hitter who gets very superstitious and worries about arriving at the ballpark and "not having his stuff," not being able to do it and having no clue what he needs to fix.
When I can't write, I can't fix it because I don't know how I write when I write. It's become rather like riding a bicycle, rather like Mark David suggests--on my best days. I feel badly about the people who never escaped the horrors they were taught in English class, all those little things that keep them away from putting their thoughts on paper--or on the screen.
One word at a time actually works. I just need to allow it to happen more often. We all do, I think.
Malcolm
He's a strong advocate of just letting the writing happen. Sit down with a blank screen or a blank sheet of paper and write down a word. Once you've done that, write down the next one. As he puts it, don't worry about the word you just wrote or the one you're going to write next. Your story will unfold one word at a time "if you allow it."
There are times when I come close to doing this. These are the moments when there are no distractions, times when I'm zoned out to the outer world, and basically feel like I'm channeling the story from somewhere else. People who don't write often express surprise when I say I'm surprised by some of the things the characters do and say. They think I'm making that up.
Perhaps they think so because they were taught to begin with an outline and a stack of notecards for their research and their sources. Goodness knows, I was taught to do that in English class because we always concentrated on "themes" about one thing or another. I did poorly in English class because I thought they were teaching me to hate the writing process.
After all these years, I have to say that when the writing is going well, I don't really know how it's happening. I often feel like a pitcher or a .300 hitter who gets very superstitious and worries about arriving at the ballpark and "not having his stuff," not being able to do it and having no clue what he needs to fix.
When I can't write, I can't fix it because I don't know how I write when I write. It's become rather like riding a bicycle, rather like Mark David suggests--on my best days. I feel badly about the people who never escaped the horrors they were taught in English class, all those little things that keep them away from putting their thoughts on paper--or on the screen.
One word at a time actually works. I just need to allow it to happen more often. We all do, I think.
Malcolm
Monday, November 16, 2009
A cool review of 'Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire'
Nick Oliva, author of the novel "Only Moments," posted a wonderful review of "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire" on Facebook this evening. You can also find it on his blog. If your name is not Dan Brown, John Grisham, Diana Gabaldon or Pat Conroy, the book business has been a little slow of late. So, it's nice to stumble on line and find out somebody's read the book.
Meanwhile, as Glacier National Park's 2010 centennial approaches, I've posted another short reflection about the park on Malcolm's Round Table called "Crown of the Continent." The article first ran in the Rosicrucian Digest over 20 years ago, but now seemed like a good time to post it again.
I used my Writer's Notebook blog today for another mini rant about the fact that so many people read and write "safe books." Yawn.
Author Helen Macie Osterman whose new novel "Notes in a Mirror" has just been released by Weaving Dreams Publishing, will be my guest on Malcolm's Round Table on December 8. Stop by and learn more about her story of a nurse who finds mysterious notes that appear in a mirror at a 1950s state mental hospital. They purportedly come from a patient who died at the hospital years ago.
Stay well, write often, and keep in touch.
--Malcolm
Meanwhile, as Glacier National Park's 2010 centennial approaches, I've posted another short reflection about the park on Malcolm's Round Table called "Crown of the Continent." The article first ran in the Rosicrucian Digest over 20 years ago, but now seemed like a good time to post it again.
I used my Writer's Notebook blog today for another mini rant about the fact that so many people read and write "safe books." Yawn.
Author Helen Macie Osterman whose new novel "Notes in a Mirror" has just been released by Weaving Dreams Publishing, will be my guest on Malcolm's Round Table on December 8. Stop by and learn more about her story of a nurse who finds mysterious notes that appear in a mirror at a 1950s state mental hospital. They purportedly come from a patient who died at the hospital years ago.
Stay well, write often, and keep in touch.
--Malcolm
Saturday, November 14, 2009
The Sun Singer
Since 2004, this blog has been called "The Sun Singer's Travels," and I have no plans to change that. However, an era is ending. The iUniverse version of the novel will soon go out of print. I'm looking forward to bring out a new edition.
I'm pleased with the fact that the new edition of a novel set primarily in Glacier National Park will be out in time for the park's centennial celebrations in 2010. Exciting stuff--if you like Montana, mountains, parks, mountain goats, and maybe a little adventure. For more information on the centennial, click HERE.
More news about the new edition of "The Sun Singer" will be coming soon.
I've posted the first chapter of "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire" on several of my weblogs for those who are looking for a funny story with a lot of mystery thrown into it for their Christmas lists. You can find that sample chapter on Malcolm's Round Table.
Then, come back again for a guest post by author Chelle Cordero whose new novel "Chaunce of Riches" just came out yesterday. I thought it was a gutsy move releasing a novel on Friday the 13th!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
--Malcolm
I'm pleased with the fact that the new edition of a novel set primarily in Glacier National Park will be out in time for the park's centennial celebrations in 2010. Exciting stuff--if you like Montana, mountains, parks, mountain goats, and maybe a little adventure. For more information on the centennial, click HERE.
More news about the new edition of "The Sun Singer" will be coming soon.
I've posted the first chapter of "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire" on several of my weblogs for those who are looking for a funny story with a lot of mystery thrown into it for their Christmas lists. You can find that sample chapter on Malcolm's Round Table.
Then, come back again for a guest post by author Chelle Cordero whose new novel "Chaunce of Riches" just came out yesterday. I thought it was a gutsy move releasing a novel on Friday the 13th!
Have a great weekend, everyone!
--Malcolm
Friday, November 13, 2009
big bad slam poet
Those of us who write know how difficult it is to promote our work. Quite often even the nearby newspapers won't acknowledge us, favoring their shrinking number of column inches (on and off line) to major authors who don't need the publicity to find readers.
That said, it's especially gratifying to read Tod Caviness' "Word Count" blog for the Orlando Sentinel. He not only took a look at the posthumous compilation of my nephew Dave "Strat" Campbell's poetry and associated CD, he had kind words to say about the work.
Kudos to my brother Barry for his great labor of love in compiling these poems for the eye and for the ear, and for finding a way to catch a reviewer's attention.
Personally, I find the poems extraordinary, but an uncle's review would be considered highly suspect. But here are a few lines from an untitled poem that tell me all I need to know about STRAT and his art:
i can't be confined to a poem....
i can't be held prisoner to structure....
free verse....will not be enough....
i am about to perform emotions in their entirety because it will just not be enough....
--Malcolm
That said, it's especially gratifying to read Tod Caviness' "Word Count" blog for the Orlando Sentinel. He not only took a look at the posthumous compilation of my nephew Dave "Strat" Campbell's poetry and associated CD, he had kind words to say about the work.
Kudos to my brother Barry for his great labor of love in compiling these poems for the eye and for the ear, and for finding a way to catch a reviewer's attention.
Personally, I find the poems extraordinary, but an uncle's review would be considered highly suspect. But here are a few lines from an untitled poem that tell me all I need to know about STRAT and his art:
i can't be confined to a poem....
i can't be held prisoner to structure....
free verse....will not be enough....
i am about to perform emotions in their entirety because it will just not be enough....
--Malcolm
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Noah's Wife
I just finished an extraordinary novel by T. K. Thorne called "Noah's Wife" and posted a five-star review for it on GoodReads, Amazon and Malcolm's Round Table. The novel re-imagines the Biblical flood and the years leading up to it from a feminine viewpoint. As I read, I was reminded of Tosca Lee's "Havah: The Story of Eve" which told the Garden of Eden story from Eve's perspective. My review of T. K. Thorne's well-told story is among those listed on Christian Fiction Reviews.
So far, nearby newspapers have not picked up the story about my participation in Operation E-Book Drop. I am among 16 authors at Vanilla Heart Publishing and 230 authors across the country who have signed up. The story is listed on PRLog.
I spent the morning at the public library in Commerce, Georgia searching through old microfilm for news stories relating to Jefferson's Pendergrass Store. The 1858 store is part of the Crawford W. Long Museum: as the museum focuses on a January 9th re-opening after a major restoration, I'm doing a little volunteer research.
Wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through Jackson County earlier in the week after dumping a fair amount of rain in Atlanta. I had quite a few large downed limbs to clean up in the front yard.
The "Geek" banner below comes from a pilot campaign (geekthelibrary) in selected areas to raise public awareness of libraries and their need for funding and support. The campaign focuses on the idea that whatever you geek (love, like), the library supports you. You can even leave your personal story on the site and create down-loadable banners such as the one below about the stuff you geek.
--Malcolm
So far, nearby newspapers have not picked up the story about my participation in Operation E-Book Drop. I am among 16 authors at Vanilla Heart Publishing and 230 authors across the country who have signed up. The story is listed on PRLog.
I spent the morning at the public library in Commerce, Georgia searching through old microfilm for news stories relating to Jefferson's Pendergrass Store. The 1858 store is part of the Crawford W. Long Museum: as the museum focuses on a January 9th re-opening after a major restoration, I'm doing a little volunteer research.
Wind and rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ida swept through Jackson County earlier in the week after dumping a fair amount of rain in Atlanta. I had quite a few large downed limbs to clean up in the front yard.
The "Geek" banner below comes from a pilot campaign (geekthelibrary) in selected areas to raise public awareness of libraries and their need for funding and support. The campaign focuses on the idea that whatever you geek (love, like), the library supports you. You can even leave your personal story on the site and create down-loadable banners such as the one below about the stuff you geek.
--Malcolm
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Rain from Ida
Some days, rain is all there is.
It's thicker than blood during a storm. I cannot hold rain; it holds me with skies the color of my eyes and just as deep.
I wonder what the cat sitting in the window thinks of rain. Does she know it flows through her calico shadow as it flows through my veins?
The rain draws us together because there's nothing else. I see Ida's projected path on the radar, far away from us though her rain is here and now and a connexion between me and all I know.
Here with my books, I see the words washed clean and floating according to the reality of my perception.
Do kids still recite the old verse?
Rain, rain, go away
Come again another day
Little Arthur wants to play.
If so, I have to smile, not that I am too old to play, but more simply because the words floating on the page and the cat in the window are play enough for me.
Since I cannot hold the experience, I live it for the moment only.
--Malcolm
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Geek The Library
While participating in the Jackson County (GA) Authors Showcase at the Maysville Library yesterday morning, I found handouts and bumper stickers for the "Geek the Library" campaign being conducted by the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC).
According to the geekthelibrary website, "the campaign hopes to inspire a conversation about our incredible public libraries and their urgent need for increased support. We hope you tell people what you geek, how the public library supports you and your community, and that everyone in your community benefits from the services your local library provides."
Currently, the OCLC's pilot campaign is operating in Georgia and central Iowa, as well as Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Shelbyville, Indiana; and Zion, Illinois.
As library patrons, most of us seldom think about funding issues; when we do, we presume funding is handled through the city or county budget and is under control. On the site's myths vs. facts page, we see--for example--that a busy library may not be a financially healthy library.
MYTH: The busier a library is, the more money it receives.
Fact: Funding is not based on library use or demand. Budgets are based on city/county allocations or property tax allocations.
The city budget in the small town where I live included many cuts this year because tax revenues are down. Across the board cuts impact all city departments including the library.
According to the OCLC, "as the economic downturn slowly recovers, millions of Americans are turning to local libraries for educational opportunities, job-searching resources and entertainment. The increased demand for library services is taking a toll on libraries already experiencing flat or decreasing budgets. And state and local cuts are impacting public library hours, programs and staffing, forcing some libraries to close indefinitely."
If you're a writer or a reader, get a Geek the Library bumper sticker for your car and learn what else you can do to keep your local public library financially viable.
When it comes down to it, Geek the Library is all about you, for the library is there to support you no matter that you geek.
-
As Veteran's Day approaches, I geek supporting our troops with books through Operation E-Book Drop. Along with other Vanilla Heart Publishing authors, I am happy to participate in the program with my latest novel, "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire"
According to the geekthelibrary website, "the campaign hopes to inspire a conversation about our incredible public libraries and their urgent need for increased support. We hope you tell people what you geek, how the public library supports you and your community, and that everyone in your community benefits from the services your local library provides."
Currently, the OCLC's pilot campaign is operating in Georgia and central Iowa, as well as Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Shelbyville, Indiana; and Zion, Illinois.
As library patrons, most of us seldom think about funding issues; when we do, we presume funding is handled through the city or county budget and is under control. On the site's myths vs. facts page, we see--for example--that a busy library may not be a financially healthy library.
MYTH: The busier a library is, the more money it receives.
Fact: Funding is not based on library use or demand. Budgets are based on city/county allocations or property tax allocations.
The city budget in the small town where I live included many cuts this year because tax revenues are down. Across the board cuts impact all city departments including the library.
According to the OCLC, "as the economic downturn slowly recovers, millions of Americans are turning to local libraries for educational opportunities, job-searching resources and entertainment. The increased demand for library services is taking a toll on libraries already experiencing flat or decreasing budgets. And state and local cuts are impacting public library hours, programs and staffing, forcing some libraries to close indefinitely."
If you're a writer or a reader, get a Geek the Library bumper sticker for your car and learn what else you can do to keep your local public library financially viable.
When it comes down to it, Geek the Library is all about you, for the library is there to support you no matter that you geek.
-
As Veteran's Day approaches, I geek supporting our troops with books through Operation E-Book Drop. Along with other Vanilla Heart Publishing authors, I am happy to participate in the program with my latest novel, "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire"
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Just Finished Another Book Review
The November issue of Living Jackson Magazine arrived in today's mail. My novel "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire" will be featured in the books section of next month's issue. This afternoon, I finished writing a review of Hilton J. Bik's "Tyranny, Taboo, and the Ten Commandments." This well researched book focuses on the Decalogue within its historical, linguistic and sociological context.
I'm reading and reviewing a wonderful new novel from Chalet Publishers called "Noah's Wife." Written by T. K. Thorne, the novel imagines the story of the Biblical flood from a woman's perspective. As I read, I'm reminded of Tosca Lee's excellent novel "Havah: The Story of Eve" which told the Garden of Eden story from Eve's point of view.
Many of my reviews are posted on my March of Books page on my Website.
Malcolm
Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Jock Stewart available just about everywhere
My comedy/thriller novel "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire" was officially released on August 12, and now it's finally showing up on most online booksellers' sites. So, just to be of assistance as the Christmas shopping season gets underway, ahem, as you're buying gifts or making your own list for trusted friends, here are the URLS
Powell's
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon France
Amazon Germany
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
You can order it at any book store that doesn't have Mr. Stewart on the shelf. If you live in Gainesville, Georgia, you can find my noir reporter at the Hall Book Exchange. If you live in Commerce, Georgia you can find him lurking around at the Bookstand of Northeast Georgia.
So there it is: Stewart may not be ubiquitous, but he's working on it.
Thanks for your visit!
Malcolm
Powell's
Amazon US
Amazon Canada
Amazon France
Amazon Germany
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
You can order it at any book store that doesn't have Mr. Stewart on the shelf. If you live in Gainesville, Georgia, you can find my noir reporter at the Hall Book Exchange. If you live in Commerce, Georgia you can find him lurking around at the Bookstand of Northeast Georgia.
So there it is: Stewart may not be ubiquitous, but he's working on it.
Thanks for your visit!
Malcolm
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Everybody's talking
When a writer approaches the Internet with the hope of attracting people's attention to his books, it appears that everybody's talking.
To what end, I often wonder. There are times when many writers feel like they're lost in a wilderness of chatter where the noise of all that talking drowns out every individual voice.
I read a great post by James Ball this this morning, and he said that when we step into the social networking arena, it's easy to forget who we are and why we're there. The trends, fads, games and tempting applications make it easy to get more lost in the crowd than we were when it first occurred to us that everybody's talking.
There are times when I want to return to the "old days" before the Internet. I want to open a store and put a sign on it that says "Books." If somebody wants a book, they come in and buy it. They're not there to play Farm Town with me or discuss which mythical character I am or tell me what their Indian Princess name is.
I want to keep them coming back by selling great books and offering great service.
So, I must say that I am often annoyed by the fact that every year writers on the Internet are expected to write more words than exist in all of their novels combined just to call attention to their novels.
Does anyone else feel this way? Are you tired of spending more hours a week on Facebook than you are writing? Are you tired of writing more words on all your blogs than you're writing in all your novels?
And, do you ever wonder if you're becoming less yourself by trying to think of a constant stream of posts, status updates, comments and links that match all the latest trends enough that somebody will notice and stop and look for a moment?
I'm just curious.
To what end, I often wonder. There are times when many writers feel like they're lost in a wilderness of chatter where the noise of all that talking drowns out every individual voice.
I read a great post by James Ball this this morning, and he said that when we step into the social networking arena, it's easy to forget who we are and why we're there. The trends, fads, games and tempting applications make it easy to get more lost in the crowd than we were when it first occurred to us that everybody's talking.
There are times when I want to return to the "old days" before the Internet. I want to open a store and put a sign on it that says "Books." If somebody wants a book, they come in and buy it. They're not there to play Farm Town with me or discuss which mythical character I am or tell me what their Indian Princess name is.
I want to keep them coming back by selling great books and offering great service.
So, I must say that I am often annoyed by the fact that every year writers on the Internet are expected to write more words than exist in all of their novels combined just to call attention to their novels.
Does anyone else feel this way? Are you tired of spending more hours a week on Facebook than you are writing? Are you tired of writing more words on all your blogs than you're writing in all your novels?
And, do you ever wonder if you're becoming less yourself by trying to think of a constant stream of posts, status updates, comments and links that match all the latest trends enough that somebody will notice and stop and look for a moment?
I'm just curious.
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