Musings from the basement...

Hitchcock: The Sequel

May 11, 2009 1 Comment

Jim and I are working on the follow-up to A Year of Hitchcock. We can’t say much about it at the moment other than that it’s in progress and is also an Alfred Hitchcock book. A full book proposal is written — if you recall my How I Got Published posts you recall what they are — and the book is outlined. We are currently in the research stage and expect to begin writing the first chapter in the days ahead. This one is going to be focused on a specific topic, an in-depth look at an aspect of Hitchcock’s films we find particularly compelling. The idea sprang directly from the commentary in A Year of Hitchcock. So, watch this spot, check our website, and…
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Alfred Hitchcock, Writing

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Tearing down your own work

May 8, 2009 2 Comments

Sometimes you have to take something you’ve created and stomp it to pieces in order to make it work. Earlier this week I began writing a novel I’ve dabbled with on and off for years. I’ve made a few aborted attempts to write it, but other things have always gotten in the way. It has remained incomplete, sort of taunting me from my files. I like the story and world of the novel. I’ve always intended to finish it. So now I’m doing exactly that. At the moment, I have eight chapters completed out of a projected 30 to 40. Thing is, those chapters are crap. Oh, the story they tell is a good story, but the writing? The writing is garbage. See, those chapters…
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Random Musings, Writing

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Authors don’t make a lot of money

April 24, 2009 7 Comments

People have the impression that writing a book = making money. That by writing a book you’ll suddenly be rolling in dough. Advances! Royalties! Cash! But it just doesn’t work like that. Not only is this an absurd notion for a little book like mine — I’ll be happy if it covers the expenses we incurred while writing it — it doesn’t even hold true for New York Times bestsellers, as author Lynn Viehl outlines in this blog post. Her bottom line is simple: Despite a $50,000 advance, selling about 73,000 copies and hitting #19 on the New York Times bestsellers list, you’d make more money stocking shelves at the local supermarket than she did on book sales for this book. It’s important to know…
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Writing

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