All Posts Tagged: Where Shadows Loom
First, Let Me Apologize
I haven’t written a post in some time. You were sitting on the edge of your seat, wondering, I know. I must admit to feeling, let’s say, less than enthusiastic as of late. Why is that? Am I having trouble with my latest novel, WHERE SHADOWS LOOM? No, actually, I’ve completed the manuscript. I’m excited about that. I’ve taken SHADOWS as far as I can without a second and third pair of eyes poring over it. Now, I’m letting it stew while I mull things over. I need a proofreader with fresh, discerning eyes; a talented, perceptive editor; I could desperately use an agent with major contacts; and ultimately, of course, I need a good publisher. I’m panting for air just thinking about all that.
Writing is hard work, excruciatingly so sometimes, but it’s not the writing that gives me pause. Stirring the creative juices far outweighs the hammering out of a story’s devilish details. So why the weary sigh? Well, the fact of the matter is, selling books requires marketing, and believe it or not, pounding a fist against my chest while shouting how wonderful my work is, is not something I naturally am inclined to do. Frankly, I find it distasteful, and I suspect many of you find it annoying. For that, I apologize, as necessary as it nevertheless seems to be. Long since obliterated is my youthful notion that writers write and publishers promote. The thought that a writer’s time is too valuable to waste with the thorny details of marketing is, of course, laughable. Unless your name is Stephen King, you best learn to write fresh stuff while simultaneously shouting at the top of your lungs why readers should be buying up the stuff you already have in publication. Writing is a craft; in some cases, it’s an art; but above all, it’s a juggling act. And juggling requires a skill of its own–a concentration of its own.
That’s what I keep telling myself. But I don’t compartmentalize well when I’m engrossed in my writing. When I’m obsessed with my writing, some would say. I keep reminding myself about that, too. After all, as I mentioned, writing is hard work. And I didn’t sign on to be that clown, juggling knives at the weekend carnival, in front of a sparse crowd, never mind my feeling like the butt of a cruel joke now and then. Besides, catching knives with bare hands can be dangerous.
Tough shucks of worm-eaten corn, you say. Everybody has to toot their own horn nowadays. We live in a narcissistic world! It’s all about the self! More often than not, it’s about the id! If you don’t start shouting, who will? So, get to it! Roll up your sleeves and start juggling! Shout with the same enthusiasm you have when you peck away on the keyboard–and at the same time! Make people know you’re out there! Make them know you have something that must be read! This is a narcissistic world, remember? And what’s more narcissistic than thinking what you write actually is worth someone else’s reading? So make people hear you! Make yourself heard above the deafening roar of a screaming social media! Do it!
Okay, okay, alright already. Can I dry my eyes first? Does anyone have a tissue? Oh thanks. Yes, better. (Deep sigh.) Now where was I? Oh yeah. So–so, if you haven’t taken the time to read WANDERING WEST, please do! You can buy it right here on my website! I think you’ll like it–I really do! But don’t take my word for it; check out the reviews! You can find them right here on my website, too! And when you’ve finished reading, help me get the word out! Write a kind review, tell a friend to read the book, pass the word, and so on! Shout it at the top of your lungs, for crying out loud! Please? I mean–please! Meanwhile, amid my own shouts, I’ll keep working to get WHERE SHADOWS LOOM ready for publication. I can juggle, just like the next guy. And by the way, keep an eye out for more on WHERE SHADOWS LOOM. I’ll be posting about that again soon.
Now where are those knives?
Searching For Dragons and Finding Windmills
Do you do that, too? Do you search for the fiery dragon and find only the creaky old windmill? I know I do. I have a tendency to hear the squeak and, therefore, see only the rust. Nevermind the fact that the blades are, otherwise, shiny and oiled. The blasted thing is still turning! But the squeak! It’s maddening! Well, that’s human nature, I guess. Especially when it’s our squeak we’re hearing, and our blade with the rust that we’re seeing. That’s kind of where I am these days where writing is concerned. I’m listening hard for that squeak, and if I listen hard enough, I’m sure gonna hear it.
Can a story move too fast? Can it be too tight? Have I fleshed out too many characters? Not enough? Have I spent too much time on this scene, and not enough on that one? I’ve been asking myself questions like these quite a lot lately. First drafts are like that, you know. Insecurity abounds. What will the reader think of this? Of that? Well, as Willie Shakespeare himself wrote, “To thine own self be true.” Everyone has to have a rudder to get anywhere in life, right? Mine is channeled pretty deep after these so many (yes, many) years. So, despite the insecurity, I press on with the original draft of my new novel, WHERE SHADOWS LOOM. Actually, I’m feeling better about things just telling you about them now. Thanks, future reader. I’ll let you know more as I channel on. I’ve got a can of 3-in-1 oil right here beside me, should I hear another squeak, whether I need it or not.
Now where is that fiery dragon? I need it for my next scene. I know it’s around here somewhere.
Sweat, Tears and Sir Francis Bacon
Just so you will know, my sleeves are rolled, my reading glasses are perched over my nose, and I’m hovered over my keyboard the way a mother pigeon flutters over her squab. I’m hard at work on my next novel, WHERE SHADOWS LOOM. Like any expecting parent, I’m excited about the prospects but a little anxious about the results.
Writing is hard work. Writing well is exacting, hard work. As Sir Francis Bacon wrote (And I’ll quote it the way my dad did rather than how it was written because I like the sound of it a little better.): “Conversation maketh the ready man, reading maketh the learned man, but writing maketh the exact man.” No truer words were ever written, about communication at least. Conversation, indeed, prepares us to communicate offhand, which, by its very nature, lends itself to inaccuracies. Reading certainly teaches us, provides us with that precious gift of knowledge. It gives us the authority with which to communicate intelligently. But, as Bacon’s quote so eloquently states, writing–writing well–forces us to express what we mean and to mean what we express. I can assure you, writing well–saying what you mean and meaning what you say–is harder than it sounds. It is a struggle, a slog through a grueling process, that is matched only by the exhilaration of the creative process.
So, I toil away, reminded of Dad’s admonition and Bacon’s eloquent insight. Beyond that, I can only hope for the best. That great beyond is in your hands, the reader’s hands. When the time comes–should WHERE SHADOWS LOOM be deemed of sufficient quality to be published–I hope you’ll give this old, bleary-eyed writer his due. Read my work. All any author can ever ask for is to be read.
I know what you’re thinking about now. Here you are almost through reading this post and Gary still hasn’t told us one blasted thing about WHERE SHADOWS LOOM. What the heck is it about? Well, you’ll just have to stay tuned to future posts for answers to that question. I will tell you that I’m excited about it. I’m having fun with my flawed characters and the mounting circumstances they find themselves in. It is a rather tense work with many moving parts. Keep your fingers crossed that ole Gary can pull this one off. And stay tuned for any future developments I happen to divulge.
Oh, and while you’re staying tuned (Thank you very much!), if you haven’t already done so, give a look to a previously toiled-over piece of fiction I wrote, WANDERING WEST.