Reading BookLife

I'm reading this book called BookLife to get an idea of what I need to be doing to support my writing career. It has a lot of great information, and then some I'm not that big of a fan of. Namely the need to a strategic plan. My plan is to write, and one day make enough dough doing it that i don't have to supplement my income with a day job. Not that I don't love my day job, because I do, but to write for a living would be a dream come true. So do I really need a strategic plan? Since my major goal is accomplished by writing. I don't have many steps to achieve that part. And the rest is luck, craft and timing, right? Has anyone read Booklife? If so, did you following his steps?

So How's Your NaNoWriMo?

Mid-November and I'm sick of the term NaNoWriMo. Not that I hate the idea, nor the effort by so many writers. I don't agree that these books are trash and shouldn't be written. Instead, I am just tired of failing at it. It sets up such an obligation, even if you're not participating. Writer Friends will ask for word counts, excited to share their own, thereby making me feel even worse for writing 15 words in one day.

So writer friends, What's your word count? And please lie.

Interview Me?

A couple of days ago, Dave at Chiseled Rock Blog (http://chiseledinrock.blogspot.com/) a fun time to be had by anyone interested in writing or RMFW, asked me to answer a few interview questions for the blog about my recent book deal with Kensington. It felt great to be asked, and even better to start this part of my writerly journey. I picture book signings and readings, fantasize about workshops and award banquets with rubbery chicken and even worse vegetarian meals. I'm so excited. But first, I need to work on my revisions. So so long for now, and thanks for all the fish!

Just Write Already

So I've been sitting at my computer for 3 hours, doing anything that I can to avoid writing. I have no idea what's wrong with me. I know where my story is moving. I know the scene and characters. I like it so far. So why am I writing yet another blog post, or surfing the Internet for get rich quick schemes? Not that I'll ever be rich, or quick. But still, there is the appeal of not having to write this damn scene.

Deep breath. Start typing.

Two sentences later I'm checking my email for the thousandth time.

Stupid words. Why won't they come?

Happy 39th Birthday to DAVE!!!!!

I love you Dave.

You've been my best friend for more of my life than not, which makes us both old and sad.

Have a great day!

Free E-Book Fridays

God love Barnes and Noble for Free E-book Fridays. This is where they give away a free e-book by a known author for free to those with a nook or are nook capaible. I look forward to free e-book friday because, well, I'm a loser. A really, really big one. But still, there is something wonderful about a free book. Of course I likely will never read said free book, but there it sits on my nook.

What about you? Do you read books that are given to you for free? Do you think less of them or are they pushed down on your to read list?

E-books - Wave of the future or the next 8 Track?

I have to admit I LOVE, and in a purely physical way, my nook. I carry it everywhere. Of course, I usually only read at home or in bed, so why I carry it around is beyond me, but I do love it.

There are so many wonderful things about an e-reader - cheaper books, convenience, ability to read anything anytime without digging through piles of books, download free from library books I would never have bought, or bother a trip to the library to get. Of course I miss holding a book at times, and what will I do when I run into Christopher Moore? It's not like I can ask him to sign my nook, or my boobs...that's just not done in literary circles.

I read PW today. It stated e-book sales were up %158. So what, are there like a hundred e-book readers now? Traditional publishing won't ever go away. And let's hope e-books are here to stay as well. More options is a win win for the industry. Writers can have a wider audience, publishers can save money on printing costs, readers will have a choice, bookstores can make money without needing extra space.

Of course, the music industry probably said the same about the 8 Track, and you see where that got us.

* For those under 35, an 8Track was like a really big tape deck.
** For those under 25, a tape deck was like a CD but stringier.
*** For those under 15...God I'm old...

Do Not Fear the Moonlight Mile

A week ago, I wrote a post about Dennis Lehane's Moonlight Mile, and my fear of reading it. Well I was wrong! Dennis Lehane is BACK, and in a big way. This novel (I'm only 50 pages in) so far has great twists, and the characters are exactly how I remember and loved them. Patrick is older now, ten years so, and married to Angie (Which I love). They have a kid. Now that might sound like a boring, mid-aged couple, but not by a long shot. The issues from the past (As seen in Gone, Baby, Gone) are brought back with full force. The moral dilemma, the self-disgust, the gritty urban flair.

Hats off to you Dennis!

Full review to come once I finish the book.

The Good Old Days

Yep, I did it. I officially fucked myself. Yesterday's post worried over when the proverbial shoe would drop on my recent run of great luck. Well it has, and in a big, non-writer way.

So today I am going to unknock on some wood and talk about how odd life can be. You win the lotto, yet, you lose the ticket. You meet the man of your dreams, but he's just not that into you. You find a favorite author, but their next five books SUCK.

Forget the Pollyanna approach, things won't always work out, but they might. So I have to trust in my warped vision of karma and things might be all right. Right? Please tell me everything will work out? Come on, won't anybody help a sister out?

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Momentum is an odd thing. For five years I wrote story after story, novel after novel without results. Sure I won a few awards, published a few short stories, but I never felt like I achieved what I wanted to in terms of my writing. Then I get the publishing contract I've always wanted, with a major publisher. Then other offers start rolling in. People start writing nice reviews. Things are going so well, and picking up speed. So why do I feel like I'm waiting for the other shoe to smash me in the head, and say, "Snap out of it!"

Do famous writers feel this way? Does JK wonder when her words will dry up? Does Stephen King? Or Harlan Coben worry at night? What about Harper Lee? Did she worry that she would only publish one book, and then it came true?

Politics - Let's Never Speak of This Again

Nope, I will not talk about it. You know that thing that happened on Tuesday.

I will talk about Bush's new book however. I spent five years struggling to find a publisher. Five years of learning my craft, of practice, of swallowing rejection after rejection. Bush got a book deal for being the worst president in history.

I can live with that. No way would I want to decide to send troops to their death, or scramble a jet to shoot down a plane full of people, or standby while people whose only crime was the color of their skin are waterboarded in my name.

So congrats former president Bush. I won't be buying a copy of your book, nor will I avail myself to a socialist copy at the library. I will however reread the Constitution. Let's have something good come out of your presidency. Knowledge of a place we as a country should never experience again.

Series

So I just bought Dennis Lehane's Moonlight Mile, and I'm terrified to start reading it. Why you might ask, or maybe you'd ask how's the weather, I don't know you that well...anyway, at one point in time, Dennis Lehane was my favorite author. He had a gritty, dark, and loving mystery/crime series surrounding two PI characters, Patrick Kenzie and Angela Genaro. You might remember them from the movie Gone, Baby, Gone. I loved these books, and then suddenly, the two are broken in Prayers for Rain, and he starts writing other standalone books. That to be honest aren't great. I never worried about what was happening on Shutter Island.

Now Patrick Kenzie and Angela Genaro are back. And I'm scared I won't feel the same.

So those of you who write series novels, what makes you stay with a character? And what would make you do what Dennis did? For readers, how do you feel about series and when the series ends?

From The Junkie Tales

Junkie-Dextrous


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NaNoWriMo

NaNoWriMo started on Monday. It is a month long tear fest for only the heartiest, and might I add craziest writers. 50,000 words in 30 days. Are you insane?

For the last three years I've tried it, failing each time. I did get close my first year. About 30,000 words. This year, I've decided rather than kill myself to write 50,000 words and feel like a failure when I don't, I'm going to simply write everyday. I usually write in spurts, so writing everyday will be a new experience. Who knows, maybe I'll even get 40,000 words.

So who else is doing NaNoWriMo? What is your story about?

Blogs, Blogs and More Blogs

Currently I write for three blogs. One is a work blog for Naropa University's SWP. One is this blog, where I get to talk about writing, books and whatever else pops into my head, and the third is The New Never News, which is a fairytale blog in the vein of the National Enquirer to promote my upcoming fairytale series (published by Kensington Books in early 2012).

While I love writing for each of these blogs, something sometimes gives, and all too often it is writing my 'real' stuff. I find myself using the blogs as a crutch when I don't feel like spending hours pouring over a scene or a word.

Other writers blog, so how do you find the time to blog, write, work, and have a life?

You Can Go Blind if You Google Yourself Too Much!

To Google oneself or not to google? That is the question of the twenty-first century. Tis it not nobler in the mind to know what others are saying? So you don't suffer those slings and arrows plastered over the internets?

Really what I'm trying to say is, I am addicted to google. Yes, and even addicted to googling myself, but not for the reasons one might suspect. Most people google themselves for as an ego boost, to know who is talking about them. Which, hey, let's admit is nice to hear. Even bad press is press, right?

I google myself to relive past transgressions. Out of fear. You see, the Internets have been around for a long time, longer than many people might suspect. Remember the days of AOL? I do. It's sort of like remembering disco (which thankfully I don't). I've lived a online life, met people I would've avoided like the plague in real life, said things I would never say today, and yet, it lives on. Google my name. I dare you.

You did it, didn't you?

So you know the truth...

I'm nobody. I write stories, books and the occasional editorial. I've pissed off Safer Colorado. I've published a short story collection called The Junkie Tales. I worked with online writers groups, work at the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University, worked for Regis University, gave a reading at AWP, etc. So yeah, googling oneself can be satisfying if you are successful in your field. And if you're j.a. kazimer, well, it's pretty damn sad.

Fellow googlers tell me your story. What do you find when you google your name?