Author of The Afterlife Series

Afterlife Sample Chapters are posted!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-10-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

Below are links to the first ever samples of Afterlife ever posted. Critique if you would like, and better yet, tell your friends LOL

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Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Afterlife Chapter 2

2006-10-02T17:42:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2

The night was clean and crisp, with a full view of the sky - dark black with bits of light sparkling through so clearly that it looked like dust thrown against a velvet curtain. A full moon was out, although it lost its red tint, and it filled the world with dim white light, chasing the darker of the shadows to bay. That and the slight breeze was enough to make for a perfect outing. Oz and Zig had joined Mark for pizza and soda, witnessed the awesomeness that was the first three Friday The 13th movies, and then set up camp outside for ghost stories. Halloween was a ways off yet, but hey, why not start celebrating early?

The tent was a full four person tent, and they used the extra space to hold a large bowl of purchased candy as well as a TV and the Playstation 2. They had all the best candy brands: Nerds, Sweet tarts, Butterfingers, Smartees, and even Twizzlers - though they weren’t quite as good as the old red licorice sticks. It was a dentist’s dream. Zig, being the connoisseur, had chosen the candy, and it was concluded by all that he had done so wisely. They stared into the TV as the video game intro started up, and oohed and awed over the graphics. No sleepover was complete without the electrically charged colors and digital audio tracks of the most recently released ‘Slasher Brothers 4: Grocery Store Massacres’.

Oz played first, as he was the expert with this particular game, while Zig and Mark watched intensely. The game was about an entire town that had been over run by zombies created by some sort of genetically engineered virus. He was in a really intense part, where the whole game was silent, and somewhere, deep in the pixilated shadows of video game cyber space, a monster was lurking, hunting them. They all moved closer to the screen, their eyes wide, waiting, anticipating, knowing that there would be a jump-out-at-ya part soon. Finally it came - a crash of a brick through a virtual game window, and all three jumped, then started laughing, pointing at each other.

"Ah ha ha you jumped!" Zig pointed at Mark laughing.

"So did you! Dude I think you farted too," Mark said, holding his nose. Zig laughed harder, and sure enough, there was another small explosion - not from the game, but from beneath Zig.

"Oh dude! Nasty!" Oz yelled, holding his nose. Zig laughed harder, and fanned the blankets, making the fumes waft up.

"Don't do that! Aw man, that's rank! Seriously man, no more pizza-with-everything-on-it for you," Mark said, moving to unzip one of the tent's 'windows'. The tent had two of them - a hatch that opened up to a white screen mesh that was fine enough to keep bugs out and let air in.

"Oh god, I never wanted air so bad in my life, " Oz said, pausing his game and moving towards the window that Mark crouched at, pulling the air in as fast as he could.

"It wasn't that bad!"

"Of course it's not that bad to you - everyone likes their own brand," Oz said.

"Watch enough Austin Powers lately?" Zig said.

"Yeah I just saw - " Oz started to say but stopped when there was a loud crack out in the woods just a mere twenty feet away from their tent. Oz's eyes grew wide, and he looked at Mark.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah, I think it came from the woods by the river," Mark said.

"Yeah no kidding- " Oz said, and another snap echoed harshly through the trees. Mark and Oz held each other's gaze, holding their breath, waiting to hear another snap, when something brushed the side wall of the tent that they leaned near. Oz yelped and jumped back away from the wall. No one moved for a moment, and all was still and silent.

"Get off of me or I am going to fart again," Zig said, pushing Oz.

"What the heck was that? I mean, something touched the tent, man. I didn't imagine that," Oz said, looking at Mark for an explanation. Mark shrugged.

"I don't know. It could have been an animal or something. Zig's fart might have been something like the same smell as some mating juices for a squirrel or something," Mark said.

"Watch it, or you will get another chance to smell it," Zig said, smirking.

"I didn't think squirrels could break big sticks like that," Oz said.

"How do you know it was a big stick?" Zig asked.

"Well, it sounded loud, a big snap like that. It sounded like a freaking branch," Oz said.

"We should go check it out," Mark said, moving towards the entrance of the tent and reaching for the zipper.

"Yeah! Only wait, we need some kind of weapon. Zig, head out in front of us, butt first," Oz said, laughing. Zig threw a Smartee at him.

"Hey watch it stink-meister you don’t want me to rip a big ole juicy -" Oz started to say, but stopped when something else brushed the opposite side of the tent wall again. For a moment they all sat in silence, staring at the wall, waiting. Mark swallowed hard and moved away from the entrance of the tent.

Something grabbed the spine that went through the top of the tent and started pulling it up and down quickly, making the walls and the ceiling billow in and out. It was violent and hard - nothing a mere squirrel could do. All three boys screamed, and raced over each other to get to the entrance. Mark was first, bursting out in to the dark, wet, grass, running full speed toward the house. Oz and Zig stumbled out next, also running at full speed, screaming from behind Mark.

The sound of laughter stopped them, and they spun around. Standing there, next to the tent with her hand on the top of it, was Kate, dressed for bed, laughing so hard she that was doubled over. She wore white footed pajamas with small orange rabbits all over it. They all looked at each other, then back at her, not sure what to make of it.

"HEY!" Zig yelled and started to stomp towards her, his fists balled up at his sides, "That wasn’t funny!"

"Are… you... kidding... me?" Kate said, regaining herself slowly, "That was hilarious! I never thought I would ever see three older boys scream like little girls. All that because of little old me."

"You could have given us a heart attack!" Oz yelled.

"Well, just consider that payback," she said and stuck out her hand. "Truce? We’re even now." Oz stared at her incredulously, and turned his head away from her, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Aw come on, at least I rescued you from the smell in there. I heard Zig's fart all the way out here," she said, smiling.

"How did you know it was me?" Zig said. She gave him the do-I-look-like-I’m-stupid look.

"Oh come on Zig, just cuz I am a girl doesn't mean I’m slow," she said.

"Uh huh, well you never told us your name," Zig said, in some kind of strange and weak defense.

"I told Mark. And I remembered all of your names," Kate said. The two boys looked at Mark like he had just given away their position to the enemy and had accepted a bribe of bananas for it.

"Her name is Kate. She shouted it out to me after you guys left," Mark said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Oz asked.

"Aren't you?" Kate responded.

"We are on a camp out," Zig said.

"Well now I am on a camp out with you," Kate said, smiling.

"No way, no girls allowed!" Oz said. Mark turned and looked at him.

“Since when?”

“Since… forever. We’ve never had girls over before,” Oz said.

“That’s because no girl ever wanted to hang out with us,” Mark said. Oz opened his mouth to protest, then closed it abruptly, realizing he was right.

“But, I don’t think my mom would be cool with a chick staying in the tent with us,“ Mark said.

"Come on be fair - she put up with my fart, and she actually scared us enough to make us scream. I'd say she’s passed the tests," Zig said.

“It’s cool with me, as long as my mom doesn’t find out,” Mark said, glancing up at the darkened house.

"Oh, and no girlie crap. That’s just too weird," Oz said.

"Like what?" Kate asked.

"Like... I don't know, anything girlie. You know. Girlie stuff," Oz said.

"Uh… Ok. I guess. So what's with the extension cord?" Kate asked sticking her head inside the tent. She saw the TV and the PS2 and started to laugh.

"Really roughing it out here, aren't you?" she said over her shoulder to them.

"Hey, a man's got to have his video games and candy," Zig said.

"I see. Well, what are you playing?" Kate asked. Mark started to walk towards her, intent on showing her the games they had. No matter what, no girl was cool enough to like video games and scary ones at that. Girls simply weren’t cool enough. Had he ever gotten the chance to say so, he would have learned that he was wrong - Kate loved scary games, and action games, and most games that boys would like. But before he could take more than two steps towards her, a bright square of light lit up the grass at his feet. He stopped and stared at the light on the ground as it flickered and danced before he realized that the source of the light was above him.

He glanced up and saw his Uncle Saul's bedroom beaming so much white light it looked like it was trying to direct ships at sea. The light would flicker, sometimes completely going out, and then coming right back up. There was nothing in Uncle Saul's room that could have made such a bright light, not that Mark knew of. He stared for a few moments, when the terrified face of his Uncle appeared at the window. His Uncle screamed - not a play scream, but a real blood-boiling scream, and then something fast and strong ripped his Uncle away from the window.

"Oh-my-God," Mark said in one fast breath and ran towards the house.

"What the hell?" Zig said

“Something’s happening to my Uncle Saul up there!” Mark screamed as he reached the back door to the house. The others looked up to the window just in time to see Uncle Saul’s hand land on the glass of the window, then get pulled away. Zig shot up like a sprinter, almost slipping in the grass, and reached the patio with Oz and Kate following.

They burst through the door, ignoring its jarring slam into the wall and pounded their way through the kitchen and into the living room. They went up the stairs like a pack of stampeding elephants, causing a lot of noise. Mark couldn't believe that his mom hadn't awoken. The screams were horrible, like the ones in the movies they had watched earlier, but far more real. They made Mark wince each time one came bleating down the hallway. When they reached the landing, they stopped. Down the hall, under the door way of his Uncle's room, Mark saw the flickering light.

"Uncle Saul!" Mark yelled and ran down the hall way.

"Mark! What in God's name – “ Mark’s mom said, bursting from her bedroom, catching him midway to his uncle’s door. She was mad, but sharp as ever for someone who had just awoken from sleep.

"Something’s wrong with Uncle Saul!" he said, cutting her off.

"What do you mean?" she asked, just as one of the screams echoed down the hallway.

"Something crazy is going on in his room Mrs. Stone - There is something in the room struggling with Uncle Saul, and there is a bunch of -" Oz blurted out, but was stopped by Mark saying "I don't have time for this!" and tearing aware from his mom's grasp.

"Mark, come back here!" his mom yelled, running after Mark. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the light and heard the crashing from Uncle Saul's room.

"What in holy heaven is going on here?" she asked, mostly to herself, as the rest of the crew followed Mark to the door. Mark frantically turned the handle and pounded on the door to his uncle’s room, calling his name at the same time. The door was locked from the inside, and the handle wouldn’t budge.

"I'm calling the police Mark, don't worry!" his mom said and scuttled off into her room. Mark didn't even hear her as he continued his regiment of pounding on his Uncle's door.

"Let me in! Uncle Saul, unlock the door!" Mark yelled, then backed up.

"Look out guys, I am going through it," Mark said readying himself.

"Uh no. Let me," Zig said and moved Mark out of the way. Oz flanked the side of the doorframe, ready to pounce in when it was open, while Kate said something about going to check on his mom. Mark’s mother ran back out into the hallway, phone to her ear, just as Zig hit the door. The brittle door frame exploded inwards, showering splinters and sending the door flying into the room. The large kid fell flat on his stomach as Mark and Oz ran in. The sight that greeted them was of complete and total chaos.

The bed was flipped upside down, lamps on the floor were sparking threateningly, and feathers were blowing through the air like a pre-winter snow storm in the unnatural wind that was raging in the room. Uncle Saul's chest of drawers was missing every drawer - their contents strewn about the room like a bomb had gone off. Wooden splinters were everywhere, some impaled into the plaster walls like arrow shafts in a target, but among all of this, it was the full length mirror that had sat opposite of Uncle Saul's bed for ten years that captured Mark’s attention.

It still stood upright, in all of its beautiful and ornate design. Out of the center of the mirror came the body of a woman, half in, and half inside the mirror. She was a living nightmare – something that had crawled out of every one of their horror movies and materialized in real life. She had skin the color of paper. Her long black hair was matted and stringy, covering portions of her face and back. Her ribs showed through her thin body, like a starving dog. But it was her face that was worst of all. Bruised and battered, with deep dark circles around the eyes, she was no beauty queen. Her lips were split and through the deeply sunken cheeks, oozing and dripping black blood. Her tongue was extraordinarily long and stuck out between two sets of rotted pointed teeth. The eyes were the worst, with a solid black iris, and a reddish-orange pupil. The rest of the eye was white and lined with blue veins.

Upon their arrival into the door, the face turned and stared at Mark, hissing. In one outstretched and dangerously talon-tipped hand, she held Uncle Saul by his throat, two feet above the floorboards. He kicked and tried to grab the claws that wrapped around his neck, but it looked like it was useless.

"Let go of him!" Mark blurted out. Oz and Zig looked at Mark, mouths open, frozen to the spot, then back at the mirror.

Mark stomped towards the creature. He had to do something but in his blind fear he didn’t know what. Uncle Saul's face was turning purple and his eyes were rolling into the back of his head – Mark had to act now. He moved forward and grabbed the woman’s arm. It was slick and cold – clammy like a gallon of milk that had just come out of the fridge. He struggled but couldn’t budge her grip on his uncle.

At that moment, Mark's mother stepped into the doorway along with Kate, still holding the phone to her ear. When she saw Uncle Saul, she shrieked and dropped the phone. Kate stood as did Oz and Zig, rooted to the ground staring at the scene before them.

"Help me!" Mark screamed over his shoulder, "Help me get her off of him!" Mark sent a kick towards the creature’s exposed ribs when another talon-tipped claw came out of the mirror. Suddenly Mark was sent flying into the thin doors of Uncle Saul's closet. The two boys moved in, and grabbed Uncle Saul's middle, trying to pull him down. They didn’t seem to see the same thing in the mirror that Mark saw.

"It's not working, something is holding him up!" Oz screamed over the power of the wind that seemed to be everywhere in the room, but no where else. Mark was recovering from the blow and trying to stand when the thing in the mirror slammed its free hand into Uncle Saul's chest. Uncle Saul's eyes closed and his head tilted back as the creature ripped her hand back out. But instead of a bloody heart, like Mark expected to see, out came a bluish white light. It was a sphere, held in the center of the creature’s hand – twirling and twisting. She dropped Uncle Saul's limp body on Oz and Zig, and began to retract into the mirror.

"No!" Mark screamed, and lunged for the mirror. He gripped the creature's hand just as most of the face disappeared, but the eyes stared back, the red pupils moving within their dark irises. There was a moment of surprise on its face when Mark touched it, then with a high pitched laugh, it jerked free and slid beneath the water-like, rippling surface of the mirror.

At once, the wind stopped, the light went away, and all was still. Mark stood, staring at his own reflection in the now-solidified mirror. Somewhere in the distance, as the feathers floated down to the floor, sirens rang out.

Sample Chapters Posted

2006-10-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

Ok after much waiting, here are the first two chapters of Afterlife. This novel is meant for Young Adults ages 10 - 18, aimed mostly at 12-14 year olds. Comments and critiques are not only wanted, but loved, even if they are harsh. Show no fear, I love the advice!

I am splitting these into two chapters, and posting links on the sides of the Blog for easy navigation. Have fun!

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Afterlife: Oblivion Awakens

Chapter 1

The hot days of summer kicked off with a bang in the beginning of June for kids all over the Midwest – that being the sound of school doors crashing open, ringing out cries of jubilation from happy children everywhere. It was the start of the two month period where everyday was a sleep-in day and there was no mention of books, homework, or class schedules. Kids rejoiced, parents moaned.

Among the ruckus and chaos of the great escape, three boys walked along the paved roads away from the school and towards their homes, blissfully unaware of the horrid events that lay before them. Mark Stone, one of these three and the oldest (but only by a few months, the others would be quick to point out) kicks a rock down the street as they make their summer plans known.

"I don't care what else we do, but this summer we have to go into that house next door to you. It's been empty ever since the Fergusens died, and we gotta go in there and see if there is any blood or brains left on the walls," Zig said to Mark. Zig’s real name was Chester, but he picked up the nickname in elementary school for his zigzagging means of running the bases in P.E. He was heavier than a lot of kids his age, with short cropped dark hair. Word around town is that Zig would make a great football player one day, but he’s bored by anything played without a bat and pitcher and so sneers at the idea.

"There won't be any blood on the walls, Zig. The police and authorities would have cleaned that up. Besides, I think it’s disrespectful to intrude like that. It's like a gravesite, and God only knows what we would be pissing off by barging in uninvited," Oz said, kicking a rock down the two lane highway that made most of Main street. Oz, whose nickname comes from a love of the Wizard of Oz movie, is the group expert on all things strange and scary. As such, his room is filled with all sorts of horror and sci-fi memorabilia. He stands the tallest, and the thinnest, of the three, with lots of curly hair, and a particularly bright white complexion.

Mark looked at the ground as they walked, his thumbs tucked behind the straps of his backpack. "Plus I think that would be considered breaking and entering, Zig," Mark said. Mark was an average everyday fourteen year old kid, with shoulder length brown hair was well kept, but still ‘cool’. His skin was blessedly clear most of the time and his soft eyes made girls melt, although he didn’t know it. He wore baggy clothes, but not too baggy. He was smart - all A's and B's, but not to the somewhat nerdy level Oz was aspiring to. His only love in sports was Baseball – which had been his father’s favorite.

These three best friends had been inseparable since Mark moved into the town of Asherton as a small child, and this summer would not be any different. Oz looked up at the sky, aware that even though it was three in the afternoon, he could still see the dim outline of the full moon in the sky. He shaded his eyes and looked closer, wondering if the red tint he saw was a trick of the bright sunlight, or the omen of death.

“What’re you looking at?” Mark asked.

“Moon’s out, and it’s red,” Oz answered.

“What’s that mean?”

“Dunno. I think it means something about someone will die tonight.”

“People die everyday, all over the world. It’s not much of a revelation,” Mark said, looking at the moon as well. It did look a little red. Zig turned and walked backwards, facing the other two.

"Look, it’s not breaking and entering if no one knows we're there. Come on guys, we have said we are going to do it for the last three years, and each time someone has chickened out. I am starting to think that you guys are scared of it or something," Zig said.

They turned the corner, into the residential section of town. Mark lived the closest to the river, and the main road. Zig lived two blocks past that, and Oz across the street from Zig. Luckily for them, the blocks were small. As they turned the corner, Mark and Oz stopped, staring straight ahead.

"I don't think we will need to worry about it anymore," Mark said, pointing. "Look." Zig turned around, and saw a large truck in front of the house next door to Mark’s. Bob's Movers and Trucks was written on the side. Two tall and dirty men were pulling furniture and boxes from the trailer. The real estate sign that had stood in the front yard for nearly three years had a sold sign on the top of it. The sign itself was so faded from the sun, that the picture of Mrs. Rice was nearly impossible to see.

"Holy crap dude, someone is moving in!" Zig shouted, stating the obvious. He seemed to have a good knack for that, and called upon this ability often.

"Come on, let's go see what kind of freak would want to live in a house where people were murdered," Zig said and started for the moving truck. Mark and Oz followed, both in quiet awe of the spectacle before them. The movers were attempting to drag a heavy dark green sofa out of the truck and down the ramp, grunting and breathing hard. As one of them stepped into the street, he farted loudly, sending Zig into giggles, and making Oz and Mark smile at each other.

"I can do better than that, kid," the sweaty mover said. Zig waved him away and stared up into the house, whose front door was wide open, like a mouth in the midst of a yawn. It seemed as though it were stretching out the last three years of its slumber.

"Remember what the papers said? Blood all over, two of the bodies were decapitated. I don't think they ever found the murderer, but they also never found that Fergusen girl. What was her name? Nancy?" Oz said. Mark was quietly staring into the windows. He remembered the first time he had heard the stories. It made him close his blinds; his bedroom window looked down upon the bedroom where one of the headless bodies was found, or so he’d been told.

"I mean seriously, that’s some bogus stuff, and you know that the realtor couldn't have just let that slip her mind. I mean dude, the whole town has to know about that. Probably the whole state," Oz said, his eyes not leaving the house.

"What kind of freak would want to live in a house like that?" Zig said, echoing his earlier statement.

"A freak like me," came a girl's voice from around the other side of the truck. She stepped out from behind it, dressed in a black tee shirt, and a black short skirt. She was about their age, Mark guessed, with shoulder length straight brown hair, and pale skin. Her eyes were sad, Mark thought.

"Whoa, a girl!" Zig said, and jumped away from her as though she were on fire.

"You were expecting something else? A vampire perhaps? A serial killer?" she said, her eyebrows coming together with an irritated look.

"Vampires only come out at night-" Oz started, but was hushed when the look was shot his way.

"Excuse him," Mark said stepping over to Zig, "Sometimes he forgets and just says whatever falls out of his little brain. My name is Mark." Mark offered her his hand, and she regarded it as though he were trying to hand her something green and vile. After an awkward few moments, he let his hand fall back to his side. She looked at him suspiciously for a moment, then looked back to Zig.

"Who are these other two stooges?" she asked.

Zig, who wasn't in the least bit offended, stepped forward with a big smile and stuck out his hand saying," I'm Zig. That's not my real name, but everyone calls me that." She stared at Zig like he was some kind of amusing science fair project, and ignored his hand as well. Oz returned her annoyed look and didn't answer.

"What's the matter, smarty, too good to talk to a girl?" she said.

"No," Oz said sneering, "I just resent the comment that I one of the three stooges."

"Well I resent being called a freak," she sneered back.

"Hey, I didn't call you a freak, Zig did. Don't take it out on me!"

"Well you didn't argue with him."

"Well, you are moving into the murder house, after all. The one and only massacre that this little town has ever seen happened in your house. So how were we supposed to know?" Oz shot back at her. She only glared at him. Mark stepped towards her and held up his hands in defeat.

"We didn't mean to offend anyone. It took us by surprise that someone was living here," Mark said.

"What are you, Super Boy? Apology not accepted. Get out of my yard," she said and started to stomp away, her arms crossed over her chest. Mark looked down and shook his head.

"Fiesty one, she is, " Zig said, trying his best Sean Connery accent.

"Hey, anyway, I gotta get home guys. Mom asked me to clean the kitchen. You still comin’ over tonight?" Mark said. The others nodded and muttered their goodbyes. Halfway across the lawn to his house, his mind already starting the night's camp out, the girl called to him again.

"Hey super boy!"

Mark stopped and turned around. She was standing on the front porch, her arms around one of the posts.

"My name is Kate. Don't go away with your tail between your legs – we are going to be seeing a lot of each other. We do live next door, after all," she said smiling, and gave him a wink. With that she turned and walked back into her house. Mark shook his head again. God, what is WRONG with girls?, he thought as he went to his porch.

His mind drifted again - monster movie marathon was on tonight plus they were going to do a spooky camp out afterwards, but only if he got the dishes done and the house picked up before his mom got home. Plus his Uncle Saul wanted him to help with something in his closet. That meant another long, drawn out story of how he saw a ghost one time, or a werewolf down the street, or a vampire in the cemetery. Mark had learned over the years to just nod and smile. It was the easiest way out of the situation - putting up any argument was an invitation for another hour of debate on why things like that can't really be real.

His uncle wasn't old, somewhere in his mid fifties, but after Mark’s aunt died ten years ago, he had come to live with them. It was either that, or he would have been locked in a looney bin. His mind, Mark’s Mom said, had just slipped. Outrageous stories of monsters poured out of Uncle Saul's mouth to anyone who would listen. And each time he swore they were true. He kept all these weird trinkets and charms in his room, and once a week, on Saturday, he went down to the local 'magic' store to buy something else.

Today his uncle was standing on the front porch, regarding the scene of the new neighbors moving in by rubbing on his gray and white beard. He seemed very intrigued by all the excitement, and at the same time, like a peeping tom, watching from behind the visual protection of a front porch column.

"Hey Uncle Saul, " Mark said, walking up the steps to the front porch.

“Girl likes ya,” Saul said. Mark rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I could see that with her warm smile and invitation to tea,” Mark said sarcastically. Uncle Saul frowned.

“You’ll see, maybe, one day. Women are tricky creatures.”

“I think I sort of know all about that,” Mark said, and Uncle Saul laughed.

"They shouldn't be moving into that place. That is one nasty house. Bad blood in that spot, dude," Uncle Saul said. Mark hated it when he talked like this. Not the surfer talk - Uncle Saul had lived most of his life on the California beaches - but the ‘cursed’ and ‘mysterious’ talk.

"It's fine, Uncle Saul. I am sure they have some sort of priest or someone bless it," Mark said, a sigh of long suffering in his voice. Uncle Saul turned around to face him.

"We'll see dude, we'll see. I know what happened there and I don't like it," he said following Mark through the door into the house.

"Did Mom say when she was going to be home tonight?" Mark asked, dropping his back pack on the floor and removing his shoes. His mom insisted that everyone take their shoes off when they entered the house. Of course, Uncle Saul was immune to this rule, and walked around wearing whatever he pleased.

"She left a note on the fridge. Said that she had to go shopping, and not to forget the dishes in the dishwasher that need to be put back. She underlined 'properly'," Uncle Saul said, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Great," Mark said, then, "I suppose you have made more dishes for me to collect around the house and put in the sink?"

"No way dude, I put them in the dishwasher."

"You mean the dishwasher that had clean dishes in it?"

"Looked dirty to me, dude," Uncle Saul said, picking up the newspaper and rummaging through it. Mark closed his eyes and clenched his fists in an effort to keep himself from saying something that would surely get him grounded later.

"I ran it last night, of course they are clean," Mark said, looking at the back of his Uncle's head as he opened the dishwasher. His Uncle laid down the paper. Without turning to Mark, he spoke.

“Look at them. Don't they still look dirty to you?"

Mark looked at the dishes and was surprised to find that they were indeed all covered with stuck on food particles. Either he really hadn't run it the night before, or something was broken. The tell tale sign of dried soap spilling from the soap holder in the dishwasher door told him that it was busted. This could mean one of two things - either it was awesome and he was off the hook for putting the dishes away, or he would have to wash them all by hand and then put them away.

"You're going to have to wash them by hand dude," Uncle Saul said as if reading Mark's thoughts, "I found it shooting suds out of the vents last night. So see, I already knew it was busted. I’ll help. I need to talk to you about something anyway." Mark rolled his eyes, both for the not-so-surprising news of hand washing the dishes and for the feeling of an oncoming story. Uncle Saul was great around Halloween, but it just kept on going – Halloween or not.

"Ok, I’ll fill the sink," Mark said as Uncle Saul came over and put on a pair of bright pink rubber gloves. Mark stopped and looked at them, his head tilted to the side, and then erupted in laughter. Uncle Saul stopped midways of putting on Mark's Mom's flowery apron, and looked at the boy with steady eyes.

"What?"

"You’re seriously going to wear those gloves and mom’s apron to do dishes with me?"

"Yes. What's wrong with that? I don’t want to get dishwater on my nice clean shirt, or my hands all wrinkly in the dishwater."

"But they're pink, and flowery," Mark said, giggling.

"Dude, pink is cool man. And chicks dig flowers," Uncle Saul said, although he couldn't fully compress the smile spreading across his face. Mark kept laughing. When he was more composed and the sink full of dishes, Uncle Saul spoke.

"Look dude, I know that you think the stories I tell you are all made up, and I know it bugs you. I know that I bug you, and that you put up with it a lot -"

"Uncle Saul you don't have to -"

"No I don't. Just let me say my bit and then you can tell me what you think. I just wanted to say that I tell you the stuff I think you need to know. I don't have any kids, and I think of you as my own. I know I am nothing compared to your dad, and by God I wish he was still here, but I try to be part of your life, " Uncle Saul said, washing a plate and splashing soapy water all over the place, including the floors. Mark was silent, not knowing what to say or do. He always had a hard time knowing how to act in sappy moments.

"You're not a bad guy, Uncle Saul. It's just that... those things you say are true, are like right out of the movies. They are way over the top - I mean, come on, seeing real ghosts in the graveyard? I have walked through there for years with Oz and Zig, and I have never seen anything other than spider webs and cats looking for mice. I don't know. They were cool when I was little, but now they are getting a little bit old, you know?" Mark said, not looking at his uncle, keeping his eyes focused on the soapy sewage he was sticking his hands in.

"You have grown up into a great young man that your mom and I are very proud of. But that doesn't mean that those things aren't real to me. In any case, I am going to stop with the stories. No need for me to torture you or your friends any more, " Uncle Saul said, stopping to examine a big chunk of what used to be spaghetti but was now more like concrete, stuck to a plate.

"Ok, I am cool with that."

"One last thing though, I have a box in the closet I want you to help me get to this weekend. It won’t take much of your time. I think your mom wanted me to throw some of it out but, there is stuff in it for you. Stuff that I have been waiting to give you until you were old enough. I think you are now. It has to do with your dad."

"My dad?” Mark asked. Uncle Saul nodded, and slopped more soapy water all over the place.

“Cool, I can do that. Tonight the guys are coming over and we are doing monster movies, then a camp out in the backyard. Probably pizza and soda for dinner tonight too. So maybe tomorrow I can get that for you?"

"OK. Hey we gotta get these done before your mom comes home. I don't think she is going to be in a great mood when she finds out about the dishwasher being broken. That's like the third time this month, and she doesn't want to buy a new one."

“Tell me about it,” Mark said, sighing. It was him that got to clean the dishes by hand each time it broke. Each time right after spaghetti too – like the spaghetti was cursed to destroy the dishwasher. Cursed spaghetti – he would have to remember to tell that one to Oz.

Mark’s mom hadn't been happy when she got home, but she didn’t go completely ballistic when she saw the dishes were cleaned and put away. With a long suffering sigh that said she knew she would be up all night, Mark was allowed to invite his friends over.

Chapters 1 & 2

2006-09-05T04:58:00.000-07:00

I have gone ahead and rewritten the first two chapters of the opening of Afterlife. I let it sit for nearly 2 months while I worked on other projects. Yesterday I went back to it, and re-read those first two chapters. The first thing I asked was "Where am I?". My voice, the one I have been writing with more recently, was missing. It was like I was trying to write a business letter or something, rather than fiction.

So I rewrote it, and am now going through another round of edits on it with my lovely beta reader and the master reader. Once they are through, hopefully this week, I will post them here, and you can get a taste of what this storyline is about.

Marketing

2006-08-23T05:36:00.000-07:00

Oh and Karen Syed has a fantastic post about marking on the Life of a Publisher blog that can be found here .

Have fun and learn something.

The Process

2006-08-23T05:25:00.000-07:00

Hmm.

It's true what they say - the best thing to do when editing is to sit the manuscript aside for a couple of months then come back to it. I basically did that, although not voluntarily, and wow it was eye opening.

I think I have improved quite a bit since I wrote afterlife book 1. And that means more editing, but my beautiful beta reader is on it. My voice comes out more in the prose, and hell, I think I am just better at painting a decent scene than I was then. It wasn't that long ago.

So I say again, thank GOD for my beta reader. I think I should take her out to dinner (again).

Writing is an ever evolving craft I find. I don't know if that is true for all writers, but it has been for me so far.

Editing is back up!

2006-08-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

The edits are moving right along now, with my lovely beta reader knocking out more pages on a daily basis.

Soon, the afterlife series will see the light of day! Muhahahahah

And then the second novel in the series can start up. Stay Tuned!

The next editing process

2006-06-22T04:46:00.000-07:00

I have slowed to a complete stop on the 3rd and 4th draft edit of the Afterlife book, so in order to get out of this rut, I decided to type the changes into the manuscript. What I thought was going to be hideously boring, really isn't all that bad. Granted, it's not nearly as fun as the creative process, but I am still able to get sucked into that world really well. I am impatient to get this thing done because the deadline is closing in.

But then again, what deadline? The conference? I don't know why I am pushing so hard for it. If the agent asks to see anything, it will be a partial - the first three chapters, and the chance of them asking for anything more is pretty slim. Not that I don't have faith in my writing (a lot of writers think their work is utter crap) just that most agents don't end up picking up clients from conferences. And second, I don't have faith in my writing (some times I do). So what am I rushing for? Chances are good that I have all the time in the world with this manuscript. But no matter what the odds say, I still have hope that I will get requests for fulls.

So within me is this conflict on the story. Either rush really fast and hustle to get it done in the off chance that an agent asks for a full during or just after the conference, or say screw it and go with the odds, take it easy and relax. It'll get done when it gets done. Hard call. Any opinions?

Beta Reader 2

2006-06-14T04:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I learned yesterday that Beta Reader the Second (Lovingly called The Mama) has finished my book, and is eagerly awaiting my current edits so she can re-edit. I really respect her abilities as a beta reader. She isn't blood related, she is extremely well read, and has an affinity for catching the things that make bad writing well, bad.

Let me put it this way - no author writes stunning shining prose on the first draft. Maybe on the second draft, but never the first. My Beta Readers are there to tell me if the story is going no where, if it's not publishable, and how my writing is. Then we get into the nitty gritty - sentence by sentence, taking it apart and putting it back together again. That is how we remove anything unwanted from the prose and turn coal into a diamond :)

So I will need to speak with The Mama about truly what she thought of it, and her opinion on its level of success. Maybe sometime this weekend I can post about that.

Still editing

2006-06-09T10:21:00.000-07:00

I am still editing the book - marching my way ever forward. Our hope (our as in my beta reader and I) is to have it completely done, revised and printed up by the time the Florida Writer's Conference begins. I just bought my ticket today to show off Afterlife book one. I have 3 interview sessions purchased - two with agents and one with an editor from Random House. The odds of anything coming from this meeting in person are slim, however, the odds of me gaining knowledge, friends, and who knows what else are very high.

So, if any of my few but faithful readers are going to be in Orlando , FL for the 2006 conference, shoot me an email! I look forward to meeting you!

See my other blog

2006-05-26T04:58:00.000-07:00

Go to my profile and see my other blog for a posting on the tragedy of the death and ressurection of the AbsoluteWrite website by a literary agent.

Then send your support to AbsoluteWrite - they were /are the primary source of information on agents, editors, and publishing houses on the web!

Sorry for the delay!

2006-05-24T04:26:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry for the delay. Eight days with no post is odd for me, but it's been exceptionally busy at work and at home, so I haven't had a chance to pop in even for a little while.

In the meantime I DID start a new Blog - this new one is for horror writing and general writing (what I have been putting here) and this current one will be based on progress on the Afterlife book series.

Speaking of that - Demon is slowly going forward (6,000 words)(Hey I did say I was busy) and the afterlife is caught up in edits to chapter 6 (only 12 more to go). I am not happy with my progress in either direction, and if I am ever going to get something ready for the November conference I really need to hustle.

Mind that all this editing (drafts 3 and 4) are all on paper, not digital yet (traditional red pen). I would love to have Demon ready for November, but I honestly don't think that is going to happen. Editing at this level is slow going - can you imagine trying to edit two manuscripts at the same time? Not going to happen. I will have the writing done by then, but the edits on it - no way. Not unless I recruit another beta reader to do that one for me at the same time Afterlife book 1 is being finished.

However, I do have the first 3 chapters. I am going to put the edits into them and post them on my up-and-coming website soon. Until that site is done, I will post them here. And then all three of you loyal readers can see just what sort of rubbish I write.

I hope to do that this weekend. So here's to hoping.

Slow summer start

2006-05-16T04:43:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks haven't seen much productivity from me. The manuscript for afterlife book 1 is stuck in the middle of chapter 4 in the edits (it's a 17 chapter book). I haven't written anything in the last week, and the story demons are starting to tear at my mind.

It's a very interesting thing that happens - when I don't write for a period of time, my mind, or muse, or whatever it is, starts randomly sending scenes and dialogue to me throughout the day. The longer I go without writing, the more frequent these become until I really can't focus on much else. Today is a no-focus day. Tonight I am going to work on Demon while giving my beta readers more time to get through some of the edits. My goal is to get a large stack ready for me to revise so I don't have to stop as often.

So let's hear it for kicking the tires and lighting the fires!

Who is your hero?

2006-05-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

This is probabl more of a personal post than I really wanted to be in this blog, but it has merit.

Ever since I was a kid - we are talking like 8 years old, I have read Stephen King. I can't say I am the world's biggest fan, but I can say that as far as writing goes, Mr. King is my absolute Idol. He has inspired me to write more than any other human on earth. I am not obsessed with him (I dont care what he eats for breakfast or anything like that), but if you ask me who I would most like to meet before I die - it would be him. Just to chat with him about the craft of what we do.

Last night I had a dream that I was able to spend the day with him, talking to him about writing. It was a great dream, and one that I hope maybe, one day, could happen. Though I don't think I will ever have enough notariety to meet him as peers, I hope I will get to meet him as at least a fan.

So, who is your writing idol? Who has inspired you the most to write?

Born with a silver publishing contract

2006-05-09T04:20:00.000-07:00

I have a rant. But it's a rant based on selfishness, I warn you beforehand. This rant is based on Christopher Paolini, writer of Eragon (of which a motion picture is being released next month, thus prompting this rant).

As such a rant, this is my opinion, feel free to tell me I'm an idiot.

What makes me angry about this, is that Mr. Paolini never had to try, never had to fight, never had to face the streams and hordes of rejections that we authors do. Why? Because his parents own and operate a publishing house. Although it's a small press, please remember that publishing is a small business. Everyone knows everyone.

So he writes a novel, he revises it. Mommy and Daddy edit it, and publish it. They pass it on, using their network, to a larger publishing house. That house, because of the reputation of the Paolini's small press, puts some big money behind the marketing, and they market what would be an at-best-mid-list book to bestseller status in a few months. Then, after only a two year period, it's produced into a major motion picture, instantly turning 18 or 19 year old Paolini into a star writer.

But his work isn't of that caliber. Not even close. When I read the first portions of that book, I could not understand why it was being marketed so hard by the publishing house. It had none of the quick writing of Dan Brown, the cynical description of Stephen King, the whimsical narration of Lemeny Snickett or the imaginatory description of JK Rowling.

It was average, with no specific voice to speak of. Even my wife, who enjoyed it, pointed out a great many grammatical failures that someone of his age would make that had escaped the editing process.

So why did it get pushed so hard? Because of who the Paolini family is in the industry. Owning a publishing house (a legitimate one at that, with an average level of success) has taught them how to market novels well. The Big House (unnamed for legal reasons here) knows this and backed them with more money.

What makes me mad is that this kid never had to face rejection, and now, he never will. He will never know what it's like to fight his way through the slush pile by providing absolute perfect and stunning writing. He will never understand what it's like to check the email inbox or the post office box on a daily / hourly basis waiting to hear, and then to only hear that it's a rejection.

In my opinion, this is like paying your dues. It would be different if Paolini was a prodigy and had written the world's greatest children's novel, or if his writing was so outstanding and perfect as to make William Shakespear look like a cheap hack. But it's not. It's average. Unimpressive.

In my opinion, he hasn't earned his way to the bestseller list. Not like the rest of us. I strongly dislike people born with a publishing contract in hand.

Rant Done. Feel free to dispute, but it's only my opinion.

Have you ever seen English?

2006-05-03T04:37:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen the original written version of the English language? It's very interesting, in fact the entire history of our language is (at least to me). Just thought I would put that out there - go and check it out if you are ever curious.

In the meantime, my beta reader has finished Afterlife and reported that she enjoyed it all entirely. She has given me 4 months to complete the next novel in the series :P I am very fired up about starting on the next one in the series (already have some of the first opening scenes in my head), but I also have more progress to make on Demon. Demon, to me, is my 'in between' project that I work on between each Afterlife novel. This means that it will take forever to get to the finished status, but that's ok. By then I will end up having five novels completed - half a million words. So what I am going to do is outline Afterlife book 2 today and outline the rest of Demon, that way I don't get lost while I am writing them.

Fun! I won't post the outlines here, because, well, that would give away a lot of the stories behind them, and you don't want that now, do you?

In the meantime, I think I was able to detour a writer from falling into the trap of another scam agency. This place contacted her saying they would represent her and sign a contract with her if she paid 85 dollars to have it professionally edited by this other company. I advised her against it and loaded her up with information and where she could get more. I am thinking I should probably contact Writer Beware maintainer Victoria Strauss and let her know. The writer didn't take them up on their offer (thank goodness) and disaster was averted.

It saddens me to think that there are still scam companies out there trying to prey on us writers. Damn them.

Busy busy busy

2006-05-02T04:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy weekend, and a busy start to the week, in which I didn't get much writing done. I did, however, get a breakthrough in a stuck part of Demon. Now I can go back and make some more forward progress on it while my crack editing team continues work on Afterlife book 1.

The good part about it, is that my primary beta reader told me that she had planned to stop reading at one point so that she could go work on some of her art, but couldn't put the book down. She also gets all of the characters, she even fights for them (A message from her yesterday "That cop can't do that, there is no evidence and besides, Mark OWNS the house!). Her reactions have been even better than I was hoping for. I hope this bodes well for others that read the polished version - I love to entertain.

And really, that's why I write, so that I can entertain whoever is reading. It's what I live for, it's what I long for. I am working hard to polish my craft in the initial drafts: no more passive voice, no more weak sentences (I missed a lot of that when I did the first draft revision. Second draft is revealing a lot, but not quite AS bad as I thought it would be). So here's to the hope of a successful story that's being polished and to the successful completion of the next book (Demon) so I can start on Afterlife Book 2.

So many stories, so little time :)

Editing progress

2006-04-27T04:49:00.000-07:00

The editing process is going superbly well. After the initial re-writes, I sent out my first draft copy of the manuscript to my wife and mother in law (Who are both very, very well read). My wife has so far given me the first comments and allowed me to go through them, and I am very pleased with the things she has caught. I made a good choice in placing her on my Beta Reader list. She tells me what works, what doesn't, and where I messed up the comma placement (again).

While this is going on, I am training myself to recognize weak writing while I am doing it, rather than afterwards. The more practice with this that I get, the better I will become, and hopefully the end result will be superb and powerful writing. I am picking up the latter half of the craft, and I am loving it. What's more, my beta readers seem to be enjoying the book. Folks, it just can't get any better than this - writing, having people read it, and having people entertained by it.

Demon (working title) has been put on hold so that Afterlife book 1 can go through it's editorial process sooner. The YA market is hot right now and a lot of publishers are open to new voices in YA. I am trying to get this done with high quality writing before that window closes so that maybe, JUST maybe, I can put a publishing credential on my resume. Time will tell.

(There might be a rant later on. Stay tuned)

Voice...

2006-04-25T04:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday blogger.com seemed to be having a problem posting my material. Sorry you didn't get the update until today. Anyway, today I have a new little article, based on a conversation I had with my technical recruiter last week.

She was astounded to know that I am a writer and that I have finished novels (the news that I am unpublished didn't seem to phase her, which I found interesting). She asked me the classic question - "When you submit your work to people, aren't you nervous that someone will steal your work?" My answer to this has always been, and always will be, "No."

I have had business ideas stolen from me, I have had a guitar stolen from me, and I have even had my wallet stolen. Each of those things made me warry of allowing the situation to arise again - discussing business with friends, letting new friends into my house, and leaving my wallet in my vehicle.

However, sending my writing out to other unpublished writers and agents, editors, publishers does not worry me in the least. This is because of voice. Let's get two things straight off the starting point here:

1. There is no such thing as a new story idea.
2. Everyone is unique and different and special in their own way.

So, considering that I can't come up with a new story idea, I can just rehash what's there already, people ask - " Then how do you write something original?" See part two - Voice. I might tell a vampire / vampire hunter story (Dracula) but in my own unique way (Death of Blood, coming in 2007 if I ever get around to finishing the edits on my current manuscript).

Voice and perception are the reasons that literature, much like artistic painting, can never truly be 'stolen'. An artist paints a picture of a flower. The flower is not original - Good old Mother Earth has been making them for years. But the WAY he paints it is unique. And try as they might, another artist will not be able to paint the same uniqueness unless he does a stroke by stroke copy. Writers are the same.

Sure, I could take 30 pages from Stephen King's Carrie and stuff it into a work of my own, and then write something around it and pass it off - but it would be completely obvious that the voice changed in the middle. Evidence such as this is why I don't worry - the idea for the story isn't new (good vs evil, love vs hate, life vs death) but the way in which it's told and the voice which tells it are unique to me. Without copying me word for word, no one will ever be able to steal 'me'. There was a writing professor who tested this theory. He gave all of the students in his class a plot and characters, with a description of what the characters were like. The class went and wrote the story. Though he gave them the same plot, and even the same characters, he received back 15 different stories.

So don't be scared - submit your work, no one can steal (or become) you.

Literary Rants

2006-04-24T04:48:00.002-07:00

I have a couple of things I could rant about today, however I think I am going to stick with one subject - one that is more important to fellow writers.

Third party query companies.

These are companies that will put together a "well written" query letter about your novel and submit it to agents for you. All paid for, by the author, of course. This is a bad idea for a writer, and a supreme waste of cash.

Let's start off with the first reason, the most obvious reason, for me to say the above statement.

AGENTS AND EDITORS AREN'T STUPID. They remember queries - maybe not authors, but definitely queries. If they start seeing several query letters in the same sort of format (down to the style and wording) they will definitely pick up the trend. And from what I have read from Miss Snark, Nelson, and Agent Obscura - they don't like them. It shows them that you, as an author, don't have the gusto to really jump up and write your own damn query letter. Also, these companies tend to make mistakes on WHO and WHERE they are submitting these to (incorrectly spelled names, incorrect addresses, etc). None of this is impressive to an agent or an editor.

The second reason, one which I shouldn't have to explain, is that this is something writers should do on their own. Let me put it this way: paying a third party company to query an agent for you is equivalent to asking your friend to ask the pretty girl out for you. It's a bad idea all the way around. Not to mention that the query letter is an agent or editor's first impression of your writing, your voice, and your ability to communicate effectively. This is when you show up all dressed for success, smiling white teeth, perfectly manicured hair and speak politely to everyone. You never get a second chance to make a first impression (cliche, but true nonetheless) - don't blow it. Show your creativity, your voice, and your originality.

Anyway - that's my rant for now. Feel free to send comments. Even argue if you have a valid point. I won't bite, I promise.

Surprise, two posts in one day

2006-04-20T10:59:00.000-07:00

I have to talk about this. Everyday when I come in to work, I check the blogs of SEVERAL agents and editors (from large houses). I try very hard to learn all that I can - these guys are the Oracles of our industry. It's my job to learn everything I possibly can - hell if I could afford to, I would take a free internship at TOR for a summer just to learn the ropes.

There are thousands of authors out there. Everyone wants to write a book. My perception is that they all go to try to find either an agent or an editor to publish their book. I don't really see a lot of people writing a novel and letting it sit there. Let's say 100,000 people want to write a book. 80,000 of them actually write it. Out of that 80,000, I would say the odds are that 100 of them make it to "published" status.

Why is this number so small? Is it because it's such a niche you need to know someone to get in? (NO, and please see my previous post debunking this myth a month ago). 79,000 of them didn't get past the query letter stage.

And surprisingly enough, 77,000 of them didn't follow submission guidelines. These aren't true numbers, but I am betting they aren't far off. I would love to know how many people Agent Kristin has to reject because the submitters didn't even know what genres she represented. And she is nice too - gives even the non-submission-guideline-followers a read. It makes me shudder to think how many Miss Snark has to reject (she is known for her toughness, and right on).

It still boggles my mind. People don't think the rules apply to them, and do what they please, and end up in the reject pile. I follow the rules TO THE LETTER. I recently submitted a short story query to a magazine. Why? Because they said they look at 4,000 words at the largest, and anything larger than that should query first. My story was 4,200 words after trimming every single inch of fat I could from it. A lot of my colleagues said to just go ahead and submit the story without the query. I just had to stand back and shake my head. They said 4,000, not 4,200, or 4,500. Therefore I did what they said and I queried. It's only been a week, and it might still get a rejection. But it wouldn't be because I didn't follow the rules.

And really, that's what guidelines are. Not suggestions - Rules. I read this little quote today on Anna Louise's blog (she is an editor at TOR).

This is a drive by announcement from my intern, who has been opening slush for me for the past few weeks, and stacking it on my shelves.

She said to me yesterday:

"It's amazing how many people say in their cover letter that they read your blog, and then don't follow your submission guidelines."

This tells me that even though people are looking right at the Oracle, they are still either not hearing, or not caring. Seeing as it's written online, hearing has nothing to do with it. Don't be an idiot.

How do you measure a year?

2006-04-20T04:42:00.000-07:00

For me, I measure a year in the strands of events. Those are the spider web of changing matter that marks the forward movement of time. Becoming serious about publication has helped me to appreciate these events, and to examine the interconnected web closely.

What am I talking about? Well, beyond the insanity that has been this month, many good things have happened. I have learned about myself as a writer - I am still a young (speaking amount-of-novels-written-wise) writer, and I am following the same patterns that most young writers fall into. This has brought to my attention exactly how much I DON'T know, and how much I do. It has awakened me to some of the areas I need to work on within my work. This isn't to say that I write a bunch of garbage, but that the story I write has quite a bit of coal on the outside before you can get to the diamond within. My goal is to learn to make that layer of coal smaller.

I discovered this about myself by getting a sample edit from an editing company. They turned out to be less experienced (they had been editing for 20 years, but had never been a professional anywhere in the industry either as an Agent or a House) and more expensive than I liked. So I decided that I needed a mentor. An author, agent, or editor who was in the industry, or had been in it, who could show me the ropes, so to speak. This isn't easy - you can't just go up to someone and say "Will you be my mentor, mister?". Mentors-for-hire didn't sound like a good idea to me either, so I avoided that entirely.

Writing, being a solitary sport, played against ones-self and without a net, is not simply art - it needs skill. Skills are something I have taught myself since I was a kid (the reason I am a programmer without ever having stepped on to a college campus), and at this point I decided I would teach myself what I needed. This quickly turned into a block wall - I don't know what it is that I don't know. In the words of some old Chinese guy - "wise men know what it is that they don't know."

Then, while perusing the Florida Writers Association site for 2006 conference details, I found information about a service in my area that did coaching and editing, and even, if you are deemed good enough, submitting. The coaching caught my eye. I checked out the person who offered the services. She had been an acquisitions editor at Cader books AND with Tor, as well as another large non-fiction house I haven't read much of. I checked her out, and she is indeed true to her word - she really was all those things. And from what I can see, I can afford at least her advice on the book. Hell, her advice on the book alone is worth twice its weight in gold.

For those who don't know, and Acquisitions Editor is responsible for getting through the slush pile and finding manuscripts that will make money for the house. They also edit the book with the author to make it the best it can be before it goes to print. This person is the one you want to impress when you are trying to get published. To have one tell me if my book is salable, and how to make it so if its not, is extremely valuable. To put it in the words of my favorite character from Afterlife, Zig - "Dude, sweet!"

Also, I have been posting and writing to another Agents' blog (who just so happens to be coming to the conference here in November) and they have been responding to them, and, AGREEING with them. This tells me that I am learning - I am catching on. The mystery of the industry is slowly fading. For me, this is nothing but a good thing. An educated author is a successful author.

Who knows where these strands in the cobweb of atoms and molecules will take me next?

New Novel Progress, editing, etc

2006-04-12T04:19:00.000-07:00

Two things for this post weigh on my mind.

First thing: Do professional freelance editors really make a difference? Copy editing is expensive, and as far as I can tell it shouldn't be necessary for an author to pay for it. They should be able to do it on their own. Copy editing is something that comes from practice, schooling, and being a good writer. It 's part of the craft.

Critiquing is OK, but if your editor does not have a background in publishing, either as a writer or an editor for a big house - their critique is just as good as any that you would receive from a writing group online.

Out of the pages that the editor did for me as a sample, I was able to glean one bit of advice that I found useful (the other parts I already knew and had been planning on implementing). That was to avoid getting caught in sentence patterns. I hadn't realized that they were there, but afterwards, I could see how I would use the same pattern over and over. So in the editing process that comes on with Afterlife: Oblivion I am going to focus on changing it up a bit.

OK part Two: The progress on the next novel, "DEMON", is going well. Its 4, 300 words into it. Not bad for two nights of writing (ah the suckiness of being a writer who has a day job). Already I can see the tone for this novel is going to be much more into the 'sad' direction. In the second scene of the book, a really horrible tragedy occurs, and just when you thought it couldn't get worse, I threw in some extra tragedy for the heck of it. Makes you want to hate me, but hey, that's good - emotional response to prose keeps you reading to find out if I make it any better.

We shall see when I get the outline done, how much happiness really does invade the book. I am a fan of happy endings with deep consequences and profound impacts on the character's future, so you will just have to wait and see.

Oh, Hey, does anyone want to see the blurb for the Afterlife book that I am going to put into my query letter? I was thinking of posting it and getting response on what you think of it.

Anyway, I won't be able to post much until after Easter - we are going to visit my father this weekend in IL, who turns 50 in a few days. Can't miss the chance to shower him with 'Over the hill' merchandise :) The cool part: he doesn't know we are coming. My mom has done a pretty good job of hiding it :P

Go mom :)

Recent updates

2006-04-07T06:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while - the home life is busy right now.

I am still editing Afterlife, although now that I have gotten through the major re-writes, I am going to let it sit. I think I only have one more section to really re-write, and then I am going to just let it go for a while.

In the meantime I have started on a new novel, tentatively called 'Demon'. Here is the blurb I am thinking of using (feel free to send comments on it):

"
Fourteen year old Cassandra Grey's father has an odd job - one that he has trained her to do since she was eight years old - to remove demons from the bodies of humans using the latest technologies available.

Then one day a tornado rips through their town, ripping a young man from his trailer and up into the darkness. He is found two days later, three miles away, unconscious but unharmed. Everything seems fine at first - until he discovers that he is not alone in his body. Now Cassey and her father hurry to expel the presence within the boy before it destroys him and takes over completely.

This time more is at stake - a battle over who will have the boy's body wages, and Cassey is stuck in the middle, fighting against evil and her own fears of inadequacy.
"

Anyway, it's going well so far. It's going slow as well. This month is busy as hell for me, and I won't have as much time to dedicate to it, but that's OK, there is no need to rush.

Still hunting for an editor with the publishing background I require. Hard to find, but I have faith.

Editing

2006-04-04T04:53:00.000-07:00

I am having a fairly hard go at editing this novel. At first I thought, maybe it's because I need to step away from it, give it time to breathe, though then I realized that was just a cop out to hide the manuscript under the table and not ever finish editing it because hey, editing is way more boring than actually writing. Especially when my new novel - Demon - is so damn exciting.

So, does anyone (If there is actually anyone who reads this blog) have any advice about editing? Does anyone have any tips to make it more enjoyable? I realize that I am betraying my supreme lack of self-discipline in the editing department, but hey, what can I say - pumping out the stories that have been sitting in my head for the past 4 months is a stronger calling. Plus I am unpublished, with no fan base and no deadlines, so I can afford to take my time.

However this won't always be the case, so I am trying to prepare myself for when there are deadlines in the future. My day job has prepped me for business, and for deadlines, two things I am extremely familiar with. But not for deadlines with creative sides (programming is far from what I would call 'artistic' or 'creative').

In any case, I am looking for advice, tidbits, experiences - whatever. Give me knowledge people, and I will promise to sign you a copy of the book, if it ever becomes part of the world of the 'published'.

It's been a few days

2006-03-29T04:16:00.000-08:00

Life has been busy, however I am still making progress on the re-write sections of the book. After those are done, I am going to let the last half of it sit for a while, let myself get detached from it, then I will go back in and finish the last half of editting. I have some other projects that I thought I might work on (a couple of novel ideas)

Anyway - I have been trying to contact as many authors as I can - published authors - with high notariety, to get their take on using literary agents. The two biggest names to answer have been Jonathon Kellerman, and Anne Rice. Both of them seemed to recommend not using an agent to start with, but to go straight to the publishing houses first.

This makes me wonder why they would say that. Could it be that back when they were first published and had to struggle, editors accepted unsolicited manuscripts? Agents back then weren't really a necessary step to getting published, but helped afterwards to further the writers career. Or could it be that they really don't think that agents have the writer's best interests at heart? Anne said that agents are there to make money, while editors get paid their salary regardless. Jonathon said that agents are... well....'Most of them are jaded s.o.b.'s who need to be goaded to plow through the stack of submissions' - however he didn't say not to use them. He even offered his agent's name, although we are not in the same genre, and his agent is now actually his Ex-agent.

I am going to continue to try to contact some of the more established authors, and get a general consensus, keeping in mind the time frames that each other was published. The advice of those who have made it successfully is like gold to me, something that I value and treasure, but I have to remember that its from their perspective - the author's perspective....

The No-TV time

2006-03-22T09:49:00.000-08:00

I think the next 2 weeks will be an interesting study in the sociology of my own home family life. That's because our TV (which was broken by the guy who came out to fix another problem in the first place) is completely unwatchable, and won't be replaced for two weeks. While at first I was pissed off, I came to an understanding.

No - TV means quiet candle-lit dinners with my beautiful wife for 2 weeks. It means that I have much more time to write since I don't need to worry about missing any of my can't-stop-watching shows. My DVR will record anything I am missing. It means that we can listen to romantic music, and just be together.

Unfortunately my wife's computer also died, so I need to find a way to pay for a new one so she has something to do since the TV is out of commission while I write.

Segue -

I have discovered something I didn't know: Editing is a buttload more difficult and time consuming than writing is. I spent three solid hours the other night editting, and I only got through six pages (Six pages that I know I will need to revisit at least two more times anyway). I keep trying to avoid editting the rest of the book, and instead want to start on the next one, but I can't. I really need to finish the editting first, so that those fans who are just dying to read it can do so. By fans I mean my family and friends.

So tonight, I am going to try to do some more editting. I have to watch that I don't sit there and fiddle with a paragraph for 30 minutes straight. To me editting is a multi-layered process. First layer is re-write the inconsistant scenes. The second is to copy edit and make sure it's readable. The third is to change the wording so its written well (best word for the spot and all that). I find that as I read the work though, I am doing all three stages at the same time, and that accounts for my slow progress.

Six pages in three hours, when I have 160 pages in total (single spaced) is incredibly slow. However, now that I think about it, when writing the novel, it was 4000 words a night on average, which is about 4 pages. So maybe it wont be so bad :P

*sighs* It's going to be a while before I start handing this out to editors/agents. I want it to be polished as well as I can polish it before it's in front of their professional eyes.

2006-03-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

I finished Afterlife: Oblivion last night. My initial title on this work was Afterlife: Spirit, but I just didn't like the ring to it. I am not sure I like the two worded title format either. I have thought about things like The Afterlife: The Spirit Begins, or Afterlife: Oblivion Awakens. The problem is, I just dont know which sounds best, and there is probably a whole host of other titles. What sucks is that since it's in rough draft form, no one but me knows the storyline, and therefore no one can help me pick a title. Of course, this might be moot, because it's possible the agent or publisher I snag will have a better one. I am always open to new ideas :)

So, this post is about the editting process. And how much I really don't know about it. But like any good project manager (And don't get me wrong, this IS a project) I have decided to break out the objectives, and break out the individual tasks to be completed to reach said objectives. So first the objectives:

1. to have a complete flowing storyline/plot
2. to have 3d characters that people can identify as people, and not characters
3. to have a readable manuscript.
4. to a have a manuscript where the writing is actually well done, and more like art, less like stereo instructions.

So, now that the rough draft is finished, and (as usual) my storyline has changed TREMENDOUSLY in the 5 months it took me to write it, I have some rewrites to do. Lets put the tasks out as such:

Part I - the rewrites
1. Rewrite plotlines in the beginning of the book to match the plotlines at the END of the book
2. Fill in plot holes with actual content. I have several parts in the book where I wrote stuff based on a rough idea, that has now been polished, that needs to be filled

Part II - the characters
1. Write out a short biography on each character, based on the new personality traits I have decided they must have, and the histories they have.
2. Re-read the manuscript and decide how in each scene a character should be reacting to the things going on around them based on the new personality traits.
3. Cut some of that "Dude" Dialog so it doesnt sound too surfer-ish.

Part III - the readability
1. Read the son of a bitch out loud, to no one. As I read, I catch things that don't sound correctly, or where another word would have been better.
2. Send it to the mama to help with this process.

Part IV - the prettiness
1. Choose the best wording for scenes. This is an ongoing process, and the damn problem is, it CAN be never-ending. A writer never wants to stop tinkering with the wording. This is where I will need the advice of my friends and family of when to tell me to stop, leave the damn thing alone, and start to submit it. This step might come before I send it to the mama for further editting. Part of me feels that the step of sending it to the mama to edit is the last editting step, whie another feels like its in the middle somewhere. We will see how things go. All I know is that I want it to be at least somewhat readable before she gets it so that she can at least enjoy the story :)

That's the biggest test... will they like the story? will they be entertained enough to be nagging me for the next installment? Will they be able to read the book and understand the plot without asking questions. If they can, I have done my job. If they can't I have done something wrong and need to a little bit of editting still.

Before anyone asks: The Mama is referring to my mother in law, who happens to have more books stashed away in her house (and I do mean stashed) than the entire Orlando Library, and has probably read four times that in her lifetime. She is my first Beta Reader, and I trust her to tell me when its crap, why it's crap, and what I can do to make it not-crap.

2006-03-17T11:18:00.000-08:00

Dillemas....

Today I came across a dilemma I thought I had gotten past many times before. But it has reared its head again.

I discovered a whole host of new Agents' blogs out at blogger.com. One of them started to talk about Young Adult Fantasy, and portals. My ear perked up.

But it quickly fell down. The agent was saying that its general consensus of editors and agents that the story line of: Child in our world accidentally steps into portal into new world, where something happens and the child becomes a hero is DEAD, DONE, BURIED, PLEASE-NO-MORE.

This sucks - my book has a lot of that concept (except for the becoming a hero - My characters, while maybe heroes to each other, are not heros of the world. Oh, and my characters willingly CHOOSE to go to another world, not accidentally. And my other world is not a fantasy world in the sense that there are castles and knights and elves). I do use a portal, and there are swords, magic, and arrows involved.

So the question (or dilemma) becomes, do I write for publication (What I think the agents/publishers want) or do I write what I want to write, and damn the publishers?

If I stick to the "I write what I want to write" then my stuff needs to be so outstanding, so well written, and so original that it grabs and HOLDS the agents/publisher/editor's attention. If you ask me, personally I don't think my story OR my writing is so great as to do that over the 50 a day other queries that come to these poor agents. I am sure there are a lot of english-department-of-Harvard-Degree people that are writting things much better than mine.

But I feel that if I write for what I think the market wants, I am losing myself. Or rather, I am writing for the wrong reason. When I write my novel, I am putting part of my soul into it - the part of my soul that saw this imagery in my head and translated it to english words to put on paper. Maybe, I feel that not writing what I want to write is selling myself short.

I think that the best thing for me to do is write what I want to, and be true to myself. I fear that this will indeed drop my chances of landing an agent/publisher for the Afterlife series. But then again, I don't really expect that the Afterlife series will be my "breakout" series anyway. I think, if anything, it will be the 5th or 6th novel I write. While that sounds like a lot of writing, it is, but what else would I be doing?

EDIT - I have decided to keep my normal god given name, unless my agent (if I shall e'er nab one) advises me to do differently.

2006-03-17T11:17:00.000-08:00

Why are we authors such assholes?

I have a new rant. This rant is also about Authors, and the ego of authors.

I was perusing RejectionCollection.com today while waiting for the email to come in saying that I could work on the database project for work. Writers are getting GREAT rejection slips. They are recieving rejection slips that are form based, and getting some that are personally written.

And they go nuts over it. Some of the authors are even going so far as to say that the agent wouldn't know good writing or a good story if it hit them between the eyes. Or blaming their rejection on the young college student they imagine is going through the slush pile. And they all have one thing in common - they think what they have written is the best thing ever put on paper. That there couldn't possibly BE another story out there, or other writing, that is better.

Come on people *rolls eyes*. Get with the program. This is stupid. Why is it stupid? Well, first, if the agent is a good agent who has a track history of sales, then OBVIOUSLY THEY KNOW GOOD WORK WHEN THEY SEE IT, and you saying otherwise is stupid. If they DONT have a track history of sales, or any proof that they know what they are doing, then you are still stupid because you submitted to a sub-par agent. An agent who couldn't make sales even if they did accept you.

Then there is the claim about it being rejected by a college kid. Most agencies don't do this - most agencies read the queries themselves. The agents make money when they find an author that sells. They pay their bills and feed their cats from that money. It's in their best interest to find authors that write well, and are publishable/sellable. When they have someone going through that slush pile, that someone is looking for the basics, not the nuances. Look - the college kids/assistants are looking for things like:

Is it the correct genre?
Is it to the correct agent? (no blind sided queries that are obviously mass submissions)
Is it in the proper format?
Did the author pay attention to the guidelines and send what is required? Or did they just send the whole damn manuscript.(In the opinion of many agents, this is a big no-no. If they didn't ask for the whole thing, don't send it.)
Is there any sign of an amatuer (purple paper, perfumed paper, colored ink, bribes, etc)
Are there spelling mistakes/grammatical errors in the submission? ( A sure way to tell that the author didn't spend enough time on their submission, and therefore doesnt think much of the agent)

Then there are those authors who say things in tune with, "How can they tell from the first 2 pages if its good or not? The character was better on page 8!"

Agents AND editors have to think like readers. When YOU walk into a bookstore, you pick out a book - what do YOU do, before deciding to plunk down 8 bucks? You read the first few pages. Hell, maybe you don't even get that far, maybe you only read the synopsis on the back cover. By that you can figure out if you want to buy it or not. You don't sit down and read the entire thing. You most likely dont even read past the first three pages. So, since that experience is what causes you to buy, and buying pays the publisher, and the publisher pays the agent, can you tell me how you expect an agent to apply DIFFERENT rules? If the same process that a reader goes through is the same process that the agent and publisher go through, and your agent and publisher decline, what do you think the reader will do? Most likely, decline.

Rejected Authors keep saying how 'the publishing industry is going to hell' or mutter something about how there is a whole bunch of crap on the bookshelves at Barnes and Noble, how come their superb perfect novel is getting rejected? Buying books is SUBJECTIVE to the reader. Different people get turned on by different things. For instance, I cant stand westerns, nor can I stand romance. But there are some people who LOVE romance, and despise horror. Still there are some that like horror, and like Dean Koontz, but call Stephen King's works crap.

Getting an agent is getting a reader. Plain and simple. Your agent needs to LOVE your work. They need to rave about it, like you do to your friends and family when you find a book that is just awesome. If your agent doesnt love your book, they wont be able to sell it. Period. So your agent is really your first BIG reader. Your first real objective reader, who wants to be entertained. You have 1 page, and 1 idea to impress your readers with. Make it good. If its NOT selling, then examine your hook and examine your first few pages. Change them around and spice it up. Don't sit there and bitch about how agents don't know you're-the-next-stephenKing/DanielleSteele/DeanKoontz/etc etc. Don't get mad at the assistants and start calling them names.

Look at where the blame really belongs for a non-selling manuscript: In the mirror.

2006-03-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

I have spent some time reading articles by legitimate agents and publishing houses, and some time reading from published authors whome have been published at big houses. I joined a certain local writer's association, and I started looking around, expecting to find some authors who were, well, versed in what a professional publishing house needs.

I found, on their board, a member of this writers association, who was representing someone as an agent. She boasted that she just sold her client's novel to [a certain POD Publishing house who shall remain nameless. See Writer Beware's website for further details], and it can be bought for 16 bucks at amazon.com, etc.

*sighs*

This lady is about as much of a real agent as I am a real CIA Agent. Let me explain why this is the case.

I started researching [nameless publisher]. They are a POD (publish on demand) company. This is evident in that [nameless publisher] will publish ANYTHING you send them, with no gatekeeping (although they profess differently). A gentlemen took 30 pages of a manuscript, changed the author's name to "Travis tea", copied and pasted those 30 pages over and over again until it was a full 300 pages, and sent it off. Wow, what do you know, it was accepted!

The second clue is that major bookstores (Barnes and Noble, Borders, Books a Million, dalton, walden) won't carry their stock IN HOUSE. They will sell it through the website, but not on the shelves. Sorry - they say - they don't stock POD publishers.

Hmm gee, starts to sound like [nameless publisher] might not be on the up and up. I found more clues from actual defrauded authors on RipOffReport.com. At the bottom, there were lots of comments from people who defended [nameless publisher]. I couldn't believe what I read.

Any real agent would not submit a manuscript to a POD publisher. End of story. We should all know the rules about agent scams by now. If you don't, here is a run down of how to tell a real agent:

1) Real agents never ever charge up front fees. Authors never pay Agents - agents take a cut of the authors payments from the publishers.

2) Real agents do not submit to vanity or POD publishers.

3) Real agents will not refer you to specific outside services for things like editting. If one does, more than likely they are getting kickbacks. Besides - when your book is accepted by a publishing house, they house has edittors that will do that with you as PART OF THE PROCESS - why pay for it?

Each of those authors who defended PA said the same thing, " I tried to play the agent game, where I crafted queries and sent it off to them, but I kept getting rejections. I tried for a few months and then just gave up. PublishAmerica gives me the chance to make my dreams come true, by giving me a book I can hold in my hands."

What?! a few MONTHS? Come on, people. For a writer, especially a first time (but even established as well) author, rejection is part of life. And a few months, even 6 months, is not enough time. It takes YEARS to get published, and 95% of the time, it will NOT be your first novel that gets you published!

Stephen King, one of the most successful and famous authors of our time, wrote almost a MILLION words, in the span of 4 different novels, and weathered 12 rejections before Carrie was published.

Tom clancy recevied 30 rejections before the Hunt for Red October was received.

Even JK Rowling, the most successful writer of all time, received a rejection before harry potter was picked up.

Everyone thinks they can write. I can't tell you, even as a amatuer writer, how many times I have been told, "You know I have this book idea I have been meaning to write down ", or "I have a great story that one day I am going to write into a book". But not everyone CAN write. I have learned that while reading amatuer writing boards. Its the same thing about art- not everyone can draw. Not everyone can play the guitar, or the piano. Not everyone can play football. It's something that takes a fair amount of talent to pull off.

So these average joes come out and write themselves 90,000 words of a rough idea. The idea might be great, but I can tell you the writing will be horrible. They edit it a few times, or they send it to a critique group, and they make a few changes, and its not quite AS rough now, but they think its golden. So they send it out, with dreams of finding an agent/publisher in New York immediately. But the agents and publishers see what it is - bad writing wrapped around a small idea, that will probably not sell. So they get rejected, over and over.

They take it personally, instead of reading the editors personal notes, and taking their advice, they through the rejection down like some sort of mail bomb, and give up. They are vulnerable and desperate. Then they see an ad in Writers Digest for PublishAmerica.

[nameless publisher] accepts their mss, and says how awesome it is. They send out a contract, and tell them how they will be making great money and can write more works. The author is exuberant, and loves [nameless publisher].

That author will never make a living writing. That author will not learn or grow his/her craft. But that author will defend [nameless publisher], and their decision to go with them, to the death. Because [nameless publisher] puffs up their ego, and accepts their child - the mss.

I have done my due diligence on this, and I believe I have a pretty good idea of what to expect. Even though my family and my wife think otherwise, to be supportive, I am pretty sure my first novel won't get published. I am fairly certain that the entire Afterlife series that I am writing (four books) won't get published. Instead, what it will do, is receive a large stack of rejections from real, true to life, agents. It will take a few years, not months, before I am able to write a piece of publishable writing that gets accepted.

And even then, if an agent picks it up, they have to sell it to the publishing house. Even the best, the biggest agents, have had works that won't sell. It's the nature of the beast. That's yet another big battle, because my book has to go through one (at best) but more likely two editors, then that editor has to pitch it at a editorial meeting - if it gets acceptance there, she has to pitch it to the publisher him/herself, and it needs to get picked up there before she can even buy the book. So there are three groups of people my book has to impress at that publisher.

But that's not the end. After its been accepted, and editted and proofed and printed, it needs to sell. And selling is all about marketing - the Author has to pound the pavement in everyway he/she can to get the word out. Signings, book clubs, readings, school appearences, speeches, etc. All of that work, just to hope that the book can sell enough copies to cover the initial advance the publisher made to him/her.

And while the author is doing that, somehow they have to produce another book of equal or (preferrably) better quality by a certain deadline because that's what the publishing contract says.

Writing is NOT an easy sit-at-home-or-in-a-coffee-shop-all-day job. It's not an easy ride, or a quick way to get rich. Writing is difficult, time consuming and a hell of a lot of work for not as much payback. YOu have to expect that things move VERY slowly. You have to expect that you will get rejected A LOT. YOu have to expect that its not going to be easy to get your foot in that publishing door and print out your work. YOu have to expect a lot of stress, and a lot of problems each time you write a book.

But true-to-life, real writers KNOW this, and what's more, they ACCEPT this. They don't write because they want to be rich - obviously being in the writing industry is not an easy and quick way to get rich. Real writers write because they have to, they write because its what god has made them to do. The rest of the insane overhead that comes with publishing is just par for the course - they know it, and they do it because they love it.

One time, when I was thinking about becoming a doctor, someone said to me, "You can't really decide to become a doctor because you have an interest in it. You have love it, you have to LIVE it, you have to BE it, or you will never succeed." The same rings true for me about writing. Not anyone can just sit down and become a writer because they have a story idea. It takes ten to twelve years to become a doctor - getting through school adn residency. I have heard successful authors tell me (personally) that it takes about ten years to become a writer for a living.

I know this, and I accept this, and I want this. I am not published yet, nor do I have an agent. But I feel that I am at least slightly prepared as to what will happen when I am done with my first book.

2006-03-17T10:27:00.000-08:00

OK so I have a LiveJournal (No, random creepy people that I don't know are not allowed to have the URL. Sorry, deal with it). Its personal, and not an entirely appropriate space for me to place my writing insights, nitwitiness, and absolute stupidity.

I will absolutely NOT post chapters of the manuscripts here. Sorry fans - if you want to know what's in the book, visit my website for sample chapters, or buy the book (when it's out. Of course that depends on me getting it published, which depends on me finding a publisher, which depends on me finding an agent, which really means that I have no fans).

I will, however, post rants (As if you cared), Rejection letters (Because seriously, to a good writer, those things are like gold, and each one is a treasure of information, even the form ones. More on this later), websites that actually are helpful, and other information I come across that has to do with the process of getting a book written, published, and making sales.

And so, here is my first post. More to follow. Have fun, and feel free to toss the occasional disgusting tomato at me because I have something wrong, or I have something right and you think you are smart enough to disagree.

Oh, before I go, I am going to post my expectations of the publishing industry - in case an agent or editor happens upon my blog - I don't want to look a fool. (Of course, that won't happen, because agents and editors are far too damn busy to do things like surf blogs looking for unpublished wanna-be writers).

1. Rejection isn't personal - its a business decision based on the merits of my work. If anything, my work isn't good enough (yet) to be for them.
2. Reading is subjective! An agent will rep what she likes, because that agent needs to be excited and into the book to be able to sell it to a house.
3. EVERY STEP OF PUBLISHING TAKES A LONG, LONG TIME. Writing is not get rich quick. It's not get-your-book-on-shelf-quick. It takes a long time for your agent to read your manuscript and like it. Then it takes a long time to find an editor to like it. Then it takes a long time to get it printed, edited, proofread, etc etc.
4. As a sub part of number 3, it TAKES A LONG, LONG TIME TO MAKE MONEY. Yes, your advance is divided in to 3 payments (sometimes four) and that last payment isn't until that book is on the shelves. And then your royalties take another couple of years. But wait - REAL authors write because they love WRITING, not because they want to be rich. If you are a starving writer, get a bloody job. Write at night. That's what I do.
5. Market and publicize your own damn book - Don't expect the publishers to do it. You are the one who makes yourself successful, and the more self-promotion you do, the better off your book is.
6. It takes a LOT of people a LOT of hard work and many, many hours to get your book on the shelves. Don't be an egotistical ass, and don't yell at anyone (see numbers 3 and 4 as to why things aren't moving so fast). Send your sales staff some cookies, send your editor flowers (Provided its a female editor), and give your Agent a giant box of chocolates and a case of margaritas. Most of all, give them their dues in the acknowledgments of your novel.
7. Be Diligent, do your bloody research on A) your book (duh), B)Your agent (should be another duh), and C) the proper way to treat people.

There is more, but I will have to post those in later entries. These things are my expectations, and they are what I expect to do.