Damn my muse!

Book two is coming along swimmingly. I reached chapter 12 with a smile on my face and re-read what I wrote to make sure it all fits. Then inspiration hit... Of course! I have a new intro to the book, starting with one character unexpectedly cold-bloodily murdering another. Instantly I sat down and typed that bad boy out. It worked perfectly.

And it was then I realized I made a horrible mistake.

You see, the new intro chapter is perfect. Its unexpected, contains many revelations and sets up new ones. Its dramatic and suspenseful all at once.

And it ruined everything I wrote before.

Twelve chapters/one month of work down the drain. Scenes have to be rewritten and some characters need alterations to their motivation. Most of all, my three main characters now need to re-evaluate their motivations as soon as the murder is revealed. I don't know whether to celebrate or kick myself. I will probably settle on kicking myself or asking my friends to do it for me. Knowing them, as soon as they read this blog post, they will text/email/call me and ask to be first.

The upside is, my overall arc is unaffected. My intention is to make one of the central characters ambiguous. This new chapter sets that up perfectly, which is what makes starting over a necessity.

I also realized that I completely eliminated one of the necessary foreshadowing clues in the first book. Time to go fix that, and perhaps a Gin and Tonic as well.

Link Lunacy!
-  John Pinette is who I would have been in another life. Let not the fact he is a John P, chunky, and living PA fool you, this isn't me.
- I am political, but also a gamer. I believe in the VGVN.
- Funny Pic of the day:

Don't fuck with Gandalf.

Counting Rejections

I just realized getting a book published is exactly like courting someone. First there is the inevitable rejection after rejection. When you encounter 'the one', the first dates are awkward. Things smooth over as you both realize you have something to offer (a good book). Then one of you decides the other person is a project (the agent/publishing company), and starts changing things about you until you to better fit their standards (of title, number of words, pages). The fruits of your joint labor are the result of much work and enjoyment (writing), and you spend time polishing/raising your labor until it is ready to go out into the world. Then all you can do is let you're work run free and hope it supports you later in life.

So its like marriage, only without sex.

In any case, today I hit a landmark Eleven Form Rejections. I see now why many authors decide to drink. Sure you expect it, but at some point its going to start bothering you. Like the debtor trying to get its $258 for the credit card you cut up after the visit to adult store where you bought the purple silk... Umm...

The point is, it gives some power to that voice in the back of your mind that's always there. You know the one, always telling you what a stupid idea anything you think of is going to be. Sometimes, the voice that tells you to burn things can get it to shut up, but when you see your eleventh rejection, it gets drowned out. I am glad I am somewhat bull-headed (or so my ex might say).

Time to assemble a D&D group again. Yes, I admit I play old fashioned D&D with dice and paper and pencils. If Penny Arcade, PvP, and Vin Diesel can play, so can I. Exercising your creativity is important when your a writer, and a child, and D&D gives you the ability to do that (and also to use a plus +12 Sword of Awesomeness to slay the Dragon of Lunch Money Stealing and his Zombie Breakdancing Minions). If your looking for a fun family activity for your kids, I highly recommend D&D.

I am also going to start a runny tally at the bottom of each blog post with the number of rejections, right under Link Lunacy. If you an aspiring author and get a lower number of rejections than I do, email me so I know what the heck I did wrong.

Link Lunacy!
- Stories that are too awesome, even for Chuck Norris!
- The best American anime ever done, with  Samuel L. Jackson.
- Funny Pic of the Day:


Always think things through.



Number of Rejections (so far): 11

Time to start sending those letters!

I live on my own now, in a nice, but spartan, studio apartment. A good chunk of my paycheck each month gets set aside for bills and such, so I have very little money to go out or do anything fun. When your really young, you spend without regards to the consequences. As you mature, you learn the value of not spending money. Of doing without something you want so you can later get what you need. This week, for example, my diet consists of hot dogs, ham sandwitches, and rice. Thankfully, this is only temporary. But it will be an annoying few days.

That's the real secret to being an artist, living within whatever meager means you have. It's easier for me, as I am not moving to New York City/LA to get in on the action. A writer can write from anywhere and still get published. Sure, there are some downsides, but on the whole, this is an easier field to get into than say, acting. Of course, that's rather like saying blindfolded driving is easier to do in the Grand Canyon than in Atlanta.

I started emailing every agent I can with custom query emails. I have about one hundred emails to send and almost all of them want different things. Some, for example, want sample pages, others want just the query letters, and a few actually have an online form to fill out. I am going to wait until October 8th before I start sending out the paper letters. The time lag there because I am broke. Sending an email is free, sending a letter on custom paper in a special envelope with a SASE is not.

Five emails a day until I I get a request. wish me luck!

Link Lunacy!
- Cheap Ass Gamer is a much better source of game trading than anything else on the web. Check it out!
- Seanbaby tells another laugh out loud tale of someone's skull!
- Funny pic of the day (credit to Seanbaby):

Never ask Steven Seagal for training.

My first rejection... It's time to celebrate!

Yeah, that makes no sense, huh? But if you think about it, its proof positive that I am becoming the writer I hope to be. I only have to go through about a zillion more rejections before someone gets curious enough to ask for the book. Once they do, they are sold. Since every writer gets hundreds of these, I don't see it as a failure; I see it as Step One (though if I was going to be technical, that would be Step Thirty-Seven).

So, I popped open a can of beer and framed that rejection email. That's going up on the wall when I get the new place. I am going to use it as a reminder that if I am successful, there are a lot of stupid people in the world. And if I fail at becoming a writer, then this email will remind me I was warned.

Further Query Letters are going to have to wait as I move from one apartment to the other. I don't want to send a QL from one address and then ask them to send the reply to another, it might look odd.

This move makes me grateful that some companies prefer emails instead of actual letters.Your email address doesn't move from one address to another so you can send one and walk away.On the other hand, since my new place isn't going to have internet access for a bit, its not a wise idea to send emails I won't be able to receive for a while. My job is as a travel agent is nice, but they block access to all email sites at work.

Once I finally get to the new place, my internet speed is basically going to double. Time for some revenge matches on Xbox Live! And I will finally be able to stream stuff off Netflix without it pausing every fifteen seconds to download more of the video. I truly am a child of the internet.

Before I disappear for two weeks, I will leave you all with one last set of Link Lunacy!:

- Halolz is the site for video game related funny pics.
- Visit the Deadpool Bugle for all Deadpool related info.
- DM of the Rings is the entire story of Lord of the Rings told as a D&D webcomic.
- The Doctor is so badass, he shows his enemies a Clip Show and they run for their lives.
- Tomorrow night, the Venture Brothers return! If you are not watching this show, you are missing one of the best shows on TV.

- Today's Funny Pic (credit to Seanbaby)!

First Query Letter is out! and other random bits of nonsense.

Or should I say, Query Email. Frankly, it doesn't have the same impact. Emails are a far more expeditious and common method of communication, but not nearly as elegant. The majority of these things will be sent out in letter format, but I will be holding off until the move to my new apartment is done.

Seems like the only real method I can rely on is what people have termed 'carpet bombing'. Every writer with a Query Letter tends to send out single ones at first, then slowly degrades into sending out hundreds of them at a time. The Law of Averages states someone somewhere will read one and get interested enough to ask for the manuscript. I hope.

My brother keeps telling me his sweetheart has some friends in the industry as well, so I've decided to bother her. 'Never be too proud to ask for help', is a wise set of words I ill be putting into my next book.

It occurred to me that when I started my blog, I never explained what my book was about. Since the whole point of this blog is to make you curious enough to read the book, may I say 'Oops!'

It starts out with the hero being left to die in a burning fire with no memory of who he was. His mentor (who is also the person who rescued him) is something of a madman. Oh and this savior/mentor also happens to be the greatest hero in the world. After training, our hero is let out to find his own destiny, which gets him involved in all sorts of adventures.

And thus being a capable hero, I had to play against trope with him. For example, he is terribly bad at making puns (so no great one liners), not very good with women (yet still adorable or so I am told), and keeps trying to talk enemies down with nothing but the power of his reputation (of which he has none). Naturally, he runs into a a female love interest, terrible enemies. ect. ect.

Ironically, for a kick-ass story, it addresses a lot of themes that I really didn't consider while I was making it. This makes me happy, as I turned out to be smarter than I realized (or than everyone else has realized, or that school testing has shown me to be). On its face, its the usual 'unorthodox heroes vs a power mad dictator' adventure stuff you find on a lot of shelves. But the story as a whole will address themes you won't recognize until the third book. Here is a brief list: How do you measure life, how religion can be manipulated by a person or people for selfish and political ends, the nature of sacrifice, time finds a way, everyone has a destiny.

Hopefully, these little teaser bits should motivate you to buy it when it comes out.

Link Lunacy!

- Seanbaby again! This guy doesn't know how NOT to be funny.
- I am very Libertarian, so I read Reason Magazine.
- If you haven't played Shadow of the Colossus, play it now. right now. Like before you read the rest of this post. If I made works of art this good, i'd be rich.
- Today's funny pic is related to Shadow of the Colossus:

Query Letters and Random Lunacy

Final edit of final draft is done! Based on the three people who were kind enough to read it (and my editor), it is excellent-aside from some spelling errors. Now is the time that every struggling author dreads: The Query Letter.

A query letter is a letter to an agent, asking them to read your book. If they like it, they will represent you to the publishers at large. Needless to say, its a make-it-or-break-it-point for every struggling author. If your too fancy, you're ignored. Too funny? Your dismissed. To arrogant? You're blacklisted. Your letter has to be brief, professional, attention grabbing, and respectful. In other words, its the most nerve racking thing your going to encounter as an author, up to and including first day sales. And unlike that day, I can't drink myself into forgetting the memory if it's bad.

You're job is twice as hard if your new to this. If your established, like say Ann Rice, then you can just say, "This is my book and I wrote A, B, and C." Check signed, drop into a lounge chair, and drink a mai-tai.

I haven't published anything yet. I wrote many online articles for various websites (check out Kombo.com and search for me) and edited some of them too. None of that counts, because it wasn't 'paid work'. I pretty grumbley about that, but I can understand where they are coming from.

Still, I believe in myself and my work. To me, it really doesn't matter if I become the next J.K. Rowlings, I'd be happy to be a Robert Asprin (or *knock on wood* a Neil Gaimen). I just want what I wrote to be enjoyed by someone other than my test audience. If I get published and one person enjoys it enough to post here, I will be happy. Plus, a lot of money will be nice too.

So wish me luck on my query letter. Its gonna be a bumpy ride.


And while I have you captive, let me share something I call Link Lunacy.

- Your state isn't the worst, unless its Florida. Seriously, what do they drink there?
- Its not news, its Fark.
- If you just need to laugh your ass off, for any reason, visit Seanbaby, the inventor of being funny on the internet.
- Funny random pic (credit to Seanbaby):

This is why you always need to practice your one liners before fighting terrorists.