Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Writing Religiously: Retiring a Dream


For the longest time it was my dream to have my first novel Untold published. After spending years searching for a publisher in vain, I decided to take matters into my own hands and self-publish. I’m not against self publishing . . . especially when it involves oddball genres. Self publishing was a mistake for this book, though. I worked with a company that promised the stars, delivered next to nothing, and took a large chunk of money from me in the process. Some editing was done on the book, but in truth I was such a young author back then that the story really needed a good overhaul.

And then there was the yearly sucker-tax maintenance fee. I had to pay $50 a year to make sure my book was still in print. Untold has never made more than $50 a year except the first year where I think I made about $275 . . . which didn’t even put a dent in the fees I paid to get the thing published in the first place.

I’ve paid the fee for the past two years mostly out of my desire to have the book still in print for the two to six people who purchase the book every year.

Now it is time for Untold to retire, though. Maybe I’ll re-write the work someday . . . or maybe I’ll just finish the audio drama based in the same world and then let these characters go for good. I don’t know. But I do know that it is time to put this dream to rest.

The last remnants can be ordered here

And so I leave you with the saddest word in the English language: Ephemeral.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Movie Version: John Carter

The first trailer for John Carter, the movie version of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Princess of Mars.

Features 99% more clothes than the book!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Writing Religiously: Clash with the Editor

I just wrote something that I think is absolutely brilliant. It’s one of the best stories I’ve ever produced. I sent it in to be considered for publication in a short story compilation. While I admit that there’s a few unpolished areas in the story, the changes the editor wants to make are extensive, and in my humble (but correct) opinion, they would change the whole thrust of the story in significant ways.

My intent here isn’t to belittle the editor. I have high regard for him. The struggle is, however, a very real one in the world of creative endeavors.

So I’m at a decision point: Do I make all the changes to get published (and undermine the thrust of the story)? Or do I dig my heels in, leave the bulk of the story unchanged and take my story elsewhere if need be?

I think this is a real struggle every author will eventually face. For me, I think I’ll implement some of the suggested changes, dig my heels in about others and see what happens. At the end of the day though, if my name’s slapped on it, it’s got to be something I’m proud of.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Love to hear the shepherd go tweet tweet tweet

From a conversation with my friend (I'll call her Polly), who's old enough to be my grandma:

Polly: 'The Pope tweets'!? Jeepers, give me a break!
Me: Well...everyone does nowadays.
Polly: Yeah, come on, get with the program, Polly.



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