From one writer to another, thoughts on both the creative and publishing process. I finally opted for self-publishing after the painfully recorded (at this blog) futile two-year agent-search. Four novels published including Hafan Deg, published last month (available at Amazon and most outlets, including eBooks). Will let you know what's happening with "A Kind of Winnowing" from time to time...
Saturday, March 17, 2012
"Place of Dreams" is On the Road
This aspect of the business is new to me. I dispensed with the services of my last agent because I received no feedback from him at all...and he refused to give me a list of people he'd approached. So hearing back from my agent, my new friend, who addresses me as "Dear, Dear Fran", is remarkable.
You're all sitting there thinking, "Well, what did she think an agent would do?" I'm saying I just don't know. These mysterious people are capable of all kinds of behaviors, according to everything I've heard. Some regularly speak to you (well, I'm a bit geographically awkward for regular chats), and others apparently check in by email every couple of weeks. And some never contact you and become cross if you take the initiative and timidly ask what the heck is going on.
I believe my agent is just about right. I don't need constant reassurance, just a note now and then to say that my book is out there on the digital road.
I've completed the chapter synopsis for my new book, in rough form, naturally, because this is the very early stage of setting up the structure. I think I have my ending, which is vital to me, and I've finished the draft of the first chapter. Still not quite sure about the title. Have one, but I'm tinkering with it.
Writing in my head a lot, during the day, and just before falling asleep. It's becoming so real, plot-wise, that I'm barely making notes, unless it's a particularly clever bit of dialogue. This is the slow time now, trying to get really caught up in the thing. I'm getting closer and closer every day to taking off with it, feeling the rush of words that can't be ignored.
All this painting lately, and I've really missed my writing...
Quotes to Consider
"Well behaved women rarely make history."~Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
“A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”~William G.T. Shedd (1820-1894), theologian, teacher, pastor
"It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." ~Franklin D Roosevelt (1882-1945), 32nd U.S. president
“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”
~Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), essayist, poet, philosopher
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Mark Twain
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
~ Wayne Gretzky