Tearing down your own work

Tearing down your own work

Posted inRandom Musings, Writing
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.…

Hitchcock book in the news

Posted inUncategorized
The Asbury Park Press is carrying a short piece on the release of A Year with Hitchcock. Nifty. (2016 edit: the link is dead, so I removed it.) I'll be speaking at an area library in the near future. I'll post the details once it is scheduled. Check out the book at the Scarecrow Press website. (Edit: Ditto) That is all.

Authors don’t make a lot of money

Posted inWriting
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…

Step by step, it comes together

Posted inWriting
I think I'm close to ready to begin pitching my next book. This one is a middle grade adventure novel in the spirit of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles. You might remember them from when you were a kid. Earlier this week I finished the umpteenth or so draft of my query letter (I talk more about queries here), and last night I think I nailed down a pretty solid synopsis. They're both essential ingredients in getting the attention of an agent. Nailing them is vital. Of course, the best query in the world doesn't mean squat if your book has…