Random Musings

Why I chose to self-publish

March 2, 2012 0 Comments

When I decided to take Lakehurst: Barrens, Blimps & Barons and publish it on my own, I did not take the decision lightly. After all, I had been on a modest roll, with three traditionally published books I authored or coauthored hitting shelves in three years. Advocates of self-publishing are often driven by a “screw the man! Don’t let corporations decide what deserves to be published!” attitude, which is in and of itself not a bad thing … they just forget to tell you how much work self-publishing is, and shrug away any explanation of what traditional publishers do for authors. I’ve been happy with traditional publishers. My first three books — Stuff Every Husband Should Know, and coauthor on A Year of Hitchcock and…
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Random Musings, Works by Eric, Writing

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Five years ago…

February 24, 2012 5 Comments

A Year of Hitchcock

Jim McDevitt, my friend and coauthor of A Year of Hitchcock, just sent me this email: Last night I stumbled across some old MySpace blogs I had written back in 2006-7. On Feb. 24, 2007, I noted that I had finished writing my part of A Year of Hitchcock. If I recall correctly, you finished your part a few days later. Hard to believe it’s been five years. Five years. It really is hard to believe. Things have felt like a whirlwind since. A Year of Hitchcock was my first published book, the culmination of a lifelong dream, and remains something I’m proud of. Others followed. Stuff Every Husband Should Know, the recent Barrens, Blimps & Barons, and contributing to Geek Wisdom, along with two…
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Alfred Hitchcock, Random Musings, Works by Eric, Writing

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Art does not require pain; joy is worth celebrating

December 13, 2011 0 Comments

I’m not much for the whole posting quotes thing, but this quote from Ursula le Guin’s award-winning ‘Those Who Walked Away From Omelas,’ which can be read in full here, strikes me as worth sharing: “The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by pedants and sophisticates, of considering happiness as something rather stupid. Only pain is intellectual, only evil interesting. This is the treason of the artist: a refusal to admit the banality of evil and the terrible boredom of pain … But to praise despair is to condemn delight, to embrace violence is to lose hold of everything else. We have almost lost hold; we can no longer describe happy man, nor make any celebration of joy.” In the world of…
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Random Musings, Rants, Writing

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WRITING: Nothing is ever truly done…

May 12, 2011 0 Comments

… even when it’s already in print. Over two years ago I did a series of posts called How I Got Published outlining the start-to-finish of how Jim McDevitt and I conceived of, wrote, and ultimately sold A Year of Hitchcock: 52 Weeks with the Master of Suspense. My hope was that those posts would help other writers understand what they might look forward to when their time comes. Consider this a follow-up on that series of posts. Readers of this blog may recall that not too long ago, I announced that A Year of Hitchcock is coming to paperback. That’s exciting news. This edition will target a wider market; with better bookstore distribution and a very attractive price, we should be able to reach…
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Random Musings, Writing

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Husbandly news in the, errr … news

May 11, 2011 0 Comments

Here is a little piece about the ol’ Husband book that appeared in today’s Birmingham News. Check it out. Heck, ReTweet it, too. In more exciting news, I’m just days away from wrapping up final edits on the first draft of a science fiction novel. It’s an action-packed story set in a dystopian America of the near future. I still have a long way to go on it but hope to be feverishly writing the next draft by Memorial Day.

Random Musings, Writing

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