Before this week is out, I would be remiss if I neglected to mention my fellow blogger - and now author - Katie Alender. This being the launch week of her debut novel - BAD GIRLS DON'T DIE, I can only imagine the emotions she's going through. Please check out her website and her new book - they're both great.
Speaking of emotions, I've been feeling one a little more than usual these last few days; Envy. I think it's an emotion that many of us feel, but don't want to admit. It's one of those "dirty" emotions, lumped in with the likes of Lust and Sloth. But I think it's one that most of us feel quite often, and pretend we don't.
I personally don't find much wrong with feeling a little Envy, as long as that energy can be channeled towards something useful and productive. But one must be careful to not let Envy turn into its evil twin Jealousy. That's when things can start to turn ugly.
So, am I envious of Katie for publishing her first novel - of course, but only because I can appreciate the amount of effort and dedication it takes to write 100,000+ words that inspire and excite. I've only been doing this for a year and a half, but already understand what she went through during that point when her story was in the embryonic stages. Anybody can get to my point, but it's the rare few that can get to her point.
So kudos to you, Katie, and all the best! You've been able to do what millions of us are trying to do, and what billions have tried to do but gave up too soon.
Out.
4/24/2009
3/30/2009
IT'S OFFICIAL!
Thank you, thank you... no, please... thank you very much... okay... thanks a lot, really, I really appreciate it... yep... thank you.
Yes... yes it is true. I have recently received my first rejection letter from a literary agency. No... please... well, okay... yes, thank you... I know... I know, this really is very special for me too... yes... now... now please, folks, if you could just... thank you... yes, thanks again.
You know, I just feel all warm and fuzzy inside, really. It's almost like a right of passage into the literary world. I think it's because I was expecting it after everything I've read over the last year or so. It's really quite common place getting that rejection letter as apposed to the 'good' letter. I'm just glad it only took 24 hours to get. You gotta love email queries folks. Sure beats waiting 8 weeks, which I'm sure will be coming soon.
Again, thanks for the support, and here's to that elusive acceptance letter; the White Whale of every aspiring writer.
Out.
Yes... yes it is true. I have recently received my first rejection letter from a literary agency. No... please... well, okay... yes, thank you... I know... I know, this really is very special for me too... yes... now... now please, folks, if you could just... thank you... yes, thanks again.
You know, I just feel all warm and fuzzy inside, really. It's almost like a right of passage into the literary world. I think it's because I was expecting it after everything I've read over the last year or so. It's really quite common place getting that rejection letter as apposed to the 'good' letter. I'm just glad it only took 24 hours to get. You gotta love email queries folks. Sure beats waiting 8 weeks, which I'm sure will be coming soon.
Again, thanks for the support, and here's to that elusive acceptance letter; the White Whale of every aspiring writer.
Out.
3/29/2009
Just having fun :)
Writing is fun, I admit.
Though my mind feels like it might pop.
When I grab my notes and sit,
I find it quite hard to stop.
Though my mind feels like it might pop,
I try to stay positive.
I find it quite hard to stop,
'cause I know I have lots to give.
I try to stay positive,
even when the pen seems empty.
'Cause I know I have lots to give,
and to be enjoyed by plenty.
Even when the pen seems empty,
isn't the time to get worried.
And to be enjoyed by plenty,
my stories just can't be hurried.
Is not the time to get worried,
when the passion disappears?
My stories just can't be hurried,
despite all my nagging fears.
When the passion disappears;
I hope that day never comes.
Despite all my nagging fears,
I need to keep banging my drums.
I hope that day never comes;
I can't give in and get lazy.
I need to keep banging my drums.
If I don't write I'll go crazy.
I can't give in and get lazy.
It all boils down to one thing:
If I don't write I'll go crazy.
So I lay back and I sing.
It all boils down to one thing-
when I grab my notes and sit-
so I lay back and I sing:
Writing is fun, I admit!
3/21/2009
What ifs
I've never really been a guy that understood the saying "The Fear of Success". To me, that's always been something a failure, or a lazy person would say. I mean, c'mon, we'd all love to be successful, would we not? Whether it be with family, or finances, or sports, or writing, whatever. Who wouldn't want to show off what they've got, right?
Well, I can tell you with much certainty that these last couple of weeks for me have been filled with an abundance of fear. Not so much about the fear of success, because, ultimately, I think that ends up sounding a tad pretentious, but rather the fear of the unknown; the fear of relinquishing control of my stories to someone else. I know it doesn't sound rational, because isn't that what all would-be authors want? Don't we all want to have our prose published and read?
Here's what my thought process has been lately:
What if someone likes my material? How much of it will they want to change?
What if I get picked up? Will the well run dry prematurely?
What if I'm a one-hit-wonder? Then I look fluky, not skilled.
What if more than one agency wants me? Now what? I am the least cutthroat person I know. I haven't the foggiest on how to negotiate. Maybe I'd better brush up just in case.
What if, what if, what if.
What if... I don't even know anymore. It's almost gotten to the point where I don't even want to go through the hassle of submitting material. Maybe I'm ahead of the game, because fear of rejection isn't even on the radar. Things have always rolled off my back pretty smoothly for most of my life. Maybe that's a bad omen...
One thing I am 100% certain would happen if I don't submit anything - absolutely nothing.
Out.
3/15/2009
Hopefully not a "master of none"
I guess that's what you get when you discover a passion late in life (relatively speaking). As followers of this blog may or may not know, I only recently started writing over a year and a half ago. At first it was an outlet, a way to relax and just drain my brain, but now has become a serious venture into the unknown and the terrifying (I'm submitting material for the first time very soon - Ahhh!).
When I started writing, it was after being bashed over the head with an idea that had been with me for most of my life. I guess I always carried this idea, or realization, around with me, not knowing exactly what to do with it. Now that I've found the way to put that idea forth, I'm really stoked at the possibilities.
That idea became a book idea, and I've been struggling along, like so many would-be authors before me, to try and complete it in a reasonable amount of time. However, what I'm discovering as I've tried to coax this new story into being, is that there are other forms of writing that interest me, and have unwittingly started to interrupt my original plan.
I've just recently finished writing some short stories that will be submitted in time for a couple contests. I never planned on writing short stories, and since discovering them for the first time all over again, I really enjoyed the fast paced, concise nature that they require. They truly are a challenge to not only write, but write well. I'm not sure if I've done the latter.
I've also had several children's book ideas flood my mind, too. I guess this was inevitable with having three young boys under six in the house. I have currently finished two children's book manuscripts with the plans of sending one out this month. I found that during the tough times with my novel, the simplicity and innocence of writing a children's story was very soothing to me.
Just when I thought that I had drained all the excess ideas from my mind - BOOM - I get blind-sided by poetry. Poetry? Yeah, that's what I said. The only time I can remember ever even having the desire to read poetry was in grade six, when the new girl was in town. I always saw here reading poetry, and figured hey, there's my in. Of course I couldn't get through one page of it in grade six - no girl is worth this!
But it was after reading a style of poetry called Pantoum that I discovered that poetry could be fun. Fun to read, and more importantly, fun to write. I'm really enjoying the strict adherence to the rules of Pantoum poetry. I hope none of my jock friends are reading this, but I think I'm hooked.
I will be back at my novel very shortly and will hopefully be finished the first draft by the end of this year. I guess that's what happens when you become a "jack-of-all-trades"; you just get caught up in all the possibilities, that you end up standing in one spot, waiting for something to happen. I just hope that there aren't any more cool things to write, 'cause I really want to finish my book.
Out.
When I started writing, it was after being bashed over the head with an idea that had been with me for most of my life. I guess I always carried this idea, or realization, around with me, not knowing exactly what to do with it. Now that I've found the way to put that idea forth, I'm really stoked at the possibilities.
That idea became a book idea, and I've been struggling along, like so many would-be authors before me, to try and complete it in a reasonable amount of time. However, what I'm discovering as I've tried to coax this new story into being, is that there are other forms of writing that interest me, and have unwittingly started to interrupt my original plan.
I've just recently finished writing some short stories that will be submitted in time for a couple contests. I never planned on writing short stories, and since discovering them for the first time all over again, I really enjoyed the fast paced, concise nature that they require. They truly are a challenge to not only write, but write well. I'm not sure if I've done the latter.
I've also had several children's book ideas flood my mind, too. I guess this was inevitable with having three young boys under six in the house. I have currently finished two children's book manuscripts with the plans of sending one out this month. I found that during the tough times with my novel, the simplicity and innocence of writing a children's story was very soothing to me.
Just when I thought that I had drained all the excess ideas from my mind - BOOM - I get blind-sided by poetry. Poetry? Yeah, that's what I said. The only time I can remember ever even having the desire to read poetry was in grade six, when the new girl was in town. I always saw here reading poetry, and figured hey, there's my in. Of course I couldn't get through one page of it in grade six - no girl is worth this!
But it was after reading a style of poetry called Pantoum that I discovered that poetry could be fun. Fun to read, and more importantly, fun to write. I'm really enjoying the strict adherence to the rules of Pantoum poetry. I hope none of my jock friends are reading this, but I think I'm hooked.
I will be back at my novel very shortly and will hopefully be finished the first draft by the end of this year. I guess that's what happens when you become a "jack-of-all-trades"; you just get caught up in all the possibilities, that you end up standing in one spot, waiting for something to happen. I just hope that there aren't any more cool things to write, 'cause I really want to finish my book.
Out.
3/11/2009
An Easter miracle!
'AND ON THE... eighth day it rose again!'
(Perhaps a tad sacrilegious. Please forgive me.)
(Perhaps a tad sacrilegious. Please forgive me.)
In keeping with the Easter season - and with an enormous amount of guilt heaped upon my already collapsing shoulders - I've decided to bring the blob back from the dead.
To all my fan(s) out there, my intentions were to continue my blogging on my new website I'm currently in the process of developing. You've got to get your name out there somehow, right? So, my apologies for killing off this darling. Perhaps it was a tad premature.
I think it's been this incredibly long and bitter winter that influenced my decision. As an example, let me explain to my American friends, who happen to live in a place where when in starts to rain heavily they have a freak-out, just what kind of weather we're talking about here.
Yesterday, March the 10th for heaven sake, was -40C in rural Edmonton. -40C!!! That', like, -(something)F for you guys. Now how is one expected to be productive in a climate like that? There is a saying up here in good ol' Edmonton, that if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes. Well, here comes the extreme weather change. Tomorrow it will be +8C. +8C!!! How is the human body supposed to adapt to such a drastic temp change like that. I'll tell you how, by catching a darn cold, that's how!
At least I can look forward to my trip the San Antonio in June. Mean temperature for the month of June in San Antonio: +35C. I can deal with that. Well, maybe that's a tad too hot. We can never be happy can we? Anyone know of a place where its a sunny +23C year round. Call me.
Out.
PS: It's good to be back.
To all my fan(s) out there, my intentions were to continue my blogging on my new website I'm currently in the process of developing. You've got to get your name out there somehow, right? So, my apologies for killing off this darling. Perhaps it was a tad premature.
I think it's been this incredibly long and bitter winter that influenced my decision. As an example, let me explain to my American friends, who happen to live in a place where when in starts to rain heavily they have a freak-out, just what kind of weather we're talking about here.
Yesterday, March the 10th for heaven sake, was -40C in rural Edmonton. -40C!!! That', like, -(something)F for you guys. Now how is one expected to be productive in a climate like that? There is a saying up here in good ol' Edmonton, that if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes. Well, here comes the extreme weather change. Tomorrow it will be +8C. +8C!!! How is the human body supposed to adapt to such a drastic temp change like that. I'll tell you how, by catching a darn cold, that's how!
At least I can look forward to my trip the San Antonio in June. Mean temperature for the month of June in San Antonio: +35C. I can deal with that. Well, maybe that's a tad too hot. We can never be happy can we? Anyone know of a place where its a sunny +23C year round. Call me.
Out.
PS: It's good to be back.
3/03/2009
2/15/2009
1/24/2009
1/06/2009
A posted new post for the new year's posted news.
Forget the title, I'm in one of those goofy moods today. God help my wife.... This just might be one of those years.
Is there a better way to start out the new year than with a great quote? I can't think of one. Well, maybe having one of those lottery-ticket-stocking-stuffers come through, but I won't hold my breath.
For Christmas I received a new book - which I wished for based on the comments of a fellow blogger - and immediately found a simple, yet profound quote that is not only for aspiring writers, but for anyone.
The book is called ON WRITING, by Stephen King, and early on I stumbled upon a quote which rocked me to my very core. (Yes, a bit dramatic, I realize. Maybe it was the eggnog...) He wrote: "-optimism is a perfectly legitimate response to failure."
Wow. What a great quote. I've always tried to ooze optimism whenever I can - much to the annoyance of my wife. Now I hope that I may continue to do so with the new challenges and rejections that I'll most assuredly be receiving in my coming future.
I wish the same sort of optimism for you, dear reader, in this year of 2009!
Out.
Is there a better way to start out the new year than with a great quote? I can't think of one. Well, maybe having one of those lottery-ticket-stocking-stuffers come through, but I won't hold my breath.
For Christmas I received a new book - which I wished for based on the comments of a fellow blogger - and immediately found a simple, yet profound quote that is not only for aspiring writers, but for anyone.
The book is called ON WRITING, by Stephen King, and early on I stumbled upon a quote which rocked me to my very core. (Yes, a bit dramatic, I realize. Maybe it was the eggnog...) He wrote: "-optimism is a perfectly legitimate response to failure."
Wow. What a great quote. I've always tried to ooze optimism whenever I can - much to the annoyance of my wife. Now I hope that I may continue to do so with the new challenges and rejections that I'll most assuredly be receiving in my coming future.
I wish the same sort of optimism for you, dear reader, in this year of 2009!
Out.
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