No Blank Pages

No Blank Pages? Try No Pages At All.

Yesterday & today, the Washington Post announced how it's shrinking--both the comics & games section and the business section.  It already killed the separate book review section on Sunday.   In the last few weeks, three or four other major urban newspapers have either gone under or gone on-line. 

In the publishing world, which I confess I don't follow as closely as I should, it seems that consolidations & shrinkage dominate the news. 

Independent book stores continue to shutter their doors & windows.  Libraries are now being used to store town lawn mowers in winter & snow blowers in summer. 

Am I an old fogie  who wants to read paper, a dying breed laughed at by the new generation that can actually read newspapers, long articles, and books on line & enjoy them? 

I look through my bookcases.  Every book I own tells a story, has a bit of history connected to it, is part of my, pardon the expression, soul.  It's looking at them and touching them that reveals that story, that history.  If I buy a Kindle2 and store a couple of thousand books, how will I be able to even find them, since the wandering through book shelves is a random experience?  If I stumble upon a book with story and history on line or on Kindle, will I be able to relive that experience simply by seeing the title on a screen? 

FULL DISCLOSURE:  If you check out my other blog, you'll see that I'm on a campaign to get Amazon to send me a free Kindle2.  It's not as crazy as it sounds.  I got the good folks at Jameson Irish whiskey to send me free samples of some of their best stuff.  But that's because I'm a tech junkie.

There is a solution.  All of us, even you internet-raised types, must subscribe to more newspapers and magazines.  We all must buy more books--from independent books stores if possible, but buy them.  Yeah, I know times are tough, but I have a horrible feeling they'll be a lot tougher when print goes the way of 8-track tapes.

In Jameson Veritas  

Say No To Agents?

Firstwriter.com is another useful website you should have in your arsenal, and, in my inbox this morning came these two articles from authors who ignored the agent route and went directly to publishers.

Hmmm.  Avoid the agent route?  Leave yourself alone and naked at the mercy of the publishing world?  Not an unheard of concept, but one that is generally not recommended...particularly by agents, LOL.

Worth considering, anyway.  And keep on truckin'.

In Jameson Veritas*   

I suppose now I have to call this a paid advertisement--at least until my free stash runs out.

Technorati Tags: literary agents, publishing, Jameson Irish Whiskey, publishers, authors, writing
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Once Again Into the Fray, Dear Agents: Queries, Alas

I recently read an agent's blog where he had the audacity to say that writing a query was easy, may he emerge in his next life as an unpublished writer in search of an agent.

To be fair, he went on to explain all the things one has to do to accomplish this easy task, but he's dead wrong.  You spend months, years, decades creating, nurturing, and editing your baby, and then you're told to cram the essence of it into a paragraph or two.  Pshaw.

But I come not to rant, but to encourage the query-crazed to visit two sites.  The first is already on the Writers Resources list to the left, Backspace, which I'm reengaging in.  There's tons of good advice and people who'll critique your query, although note that many, like me, are unagented...so what do we know.  (For the record and my ego, I once had an agent, but he became ill & had to give up my beloved child for adoption...or something like that.)

The second, which I've only spent a little time on (and will be added to the list) is Query Shark, an agent at fineprintlit.com.  You can submit queries for on line humiliation, although it looks as if the chances of getting picked are slim.

So stumble on bravely, fellow unagented people.  And keep your ego hid away--this ain't a process for the proud.

Technorati Tags: agents, Backspace, queries, Query Shark
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Great Excuse for Writer's Block

I haven't been posting much to this blog...or anywhere...for quite a few months.  I've been sleeping.  Turns out, I've got chronic Epstein-Barr disease--a virus with no cure.  You just have to wait it out and keep pushing.

But it wreaks hell on writing.  I've gone back to the first novel I was trying to peddle after my agent got ill and left me alone again in the wilderness.  After managing to do a pretty aggressive edit in moments of clarity, I've been sending out queries, but now I'm happy with one or two every few days rather than two or three a day.

As for writing, there's really little I can do, alas.  The last week or so has been pretty good, and late last night I started fooling around with a straight noir crime novel/story.  I came up with the opening line, "The glass was half empty," and went from there.  I do envy writers who can outline books and then write them.  Once I outline something, whether it's fiction or a business article, I completely lose interest in it.

Anyway, I'm going to try to resurrect this blog and find interesting articles and links...as long as I'm not asleep.  Right now, I need a nap, LOL.

Still Trapped by Brain Fog

O.k., this has been going on long enough.  I've got two novels that need edits, both of which have received rave reviews from my mother...but my brain is still fried by this sleep problem.

This isn't writer's block.  This is not being able to access that part of my brain where the rhetoric machine lives--or the creative part--and the strategic part.  It's getting scary.  It's also why I'm not blogging much these days.  I can't.  Hell, I'm not even going to send this around.  Anyone still interested can read it & wish me well.

It's been 6 months now.  Docs are befuddled and unconcerned--hell, it's not their brain.  Called a friend at Baylor College of Medicine & sent him all my reports.  They've got a sleep clinic there...so maybe I get to spend a few nice days in Houston.  Hell, I'd take anywhere at this point.

But...as a wannabe...no, goddamnit, I'm a helluva business/non-fiction writer, but as a wannabe fiction writer, this has been wondering--whatever this is, is it permanent.  Is this what my life's going to be like...and what do I do without writing. Blogging is different.  That's stream of consciousness.  I'm talking about real writing.

Oh well...at least there are words on this page now.

In Jameson Veritas