. . . And the walls came a tumbling down

I’m headed into a new phase of my life. I’m transitioning from unpublished author begging agents to read a few chapters to hot, middle aged mama (hot is an overstatement of my general aura), boldly self publishing my novels for all the world to see.

I have spent the last ten years working the agent/publisher gig; writing, querying,  attending conferences, reworking my synopsis, posting & reading at publisher and industry sites and generally immersing myself in an industry that equally prizes innovation, cherishes imitation (read sequels), is entirely subjective and seems unable to  understand that their world is on the cusp of a change so large that they’d best soon schedule a meeting to address that change or someone may escort them out of their office when the rent goes unpaid.

Truthfully, I’m a little pissed off. It’s like a spent a boatload of time cataloging 8 tracks to find out the players are no longer made. I’ve been following this business for a quite some time, I knew change was coming. I remember when I found out about the first ereader and thought to myself, change is coming. But who knew when? And who could have predicted the depth and breadth and speed with which a centuries old industry was turned on its head.

A while back, I wrote a book called A Song After Dark. I remember thinking it was crap when I finished it, and I was afraid to show it to anyone. Truthfully, I’m very harsh on my writing, and most of the time I think it’s terrible. It takes someone whose opinion I trust to look at my writing and tell me that it’s pretty good.

That wasn’t my first novel, more like my eighth. But the situation hasn’t changed. It rides ever onward, morphing and reappearing with each book and story. I’ve learned, after almost a decade, to have fun with it, to love that part of writing—journeying into the unknown, into your own subconscious. It’s scary at times, but it’s always rewarding.

Luckily, I have my girlfriend, whose opinion I trust and who encourages me endlessly. I know now that looking at one’s own writing and being unsure of whether it’s good or not is just part of the game. The same goes for those times during writing a novel when you wonder whether you’ve taken the right path or not, when ask yourself where the hell all this nonsense is going, when you doubt whether you’ll ever finish the thing at all. It’s all a natural part of the process. Learn to love it, to let the third eye do what it will. Then, when the story has finally laid itself upon the page, clean up the mess and turn that coal into a diamond.

Letting Your Story Flow

by Brian Beam

Like many writers, I have had my share of discarded manuscripts, some only paragraphs, others dozens of pages. So many hours, so many ideas, all thrown away.

At the height of my frustration at not being able to finish a complete fantasy novel, I knew I had to try something else. I wanted to identify that special “something” which would allow me to fulfill my dream of finishing my first novel. Through articles about writing, interviews with my favorite authors, and instructional books, I found that a common theme was outlining your story. 

So, I started outlining. However, instead of discarding my manuscripts, I found that I couldn’t even start one to discard. It made no sense to me. The story was right there on the page. All I had to do was expand it into narrative. It should have been easy. For me, though, easy as it may have been, the inspiration to write those stories evaporated.

After taking a step back, I realized that I felt too constrained with my outlines. I had written out the flow of the stories, but then I felt stuck to that flow. Getting new ideas meant going back through my outline to figure out exactly how that new idea would affect the rest of the rest of the plot points. It felt tedious. I kind of gave up.

After a few years of minimal writing, I got a general idea for a series of short stories. It was the first idea I had been excited about in so long that I just had to put it to paper. I forewent the outlining, just wanting to enjoy the feeling of writing again. I was only a couple pages in when I realized that my first idea was not going to work as a short story. My new plan was to expand my story into a trilogy of novellas.

 
Pirate Therapy and Other Cures
BY: Mark A. Rayner
PUBLISHED BY: Monkeyjoy Press
PUBLISHED IN: 2012
ISBN: 9780986662782
Pages: 158

  
    When I saw the book request from author Mark Rayner for his book Pirate Therapy and Other Cures, I had to laugh and at the same time I wondered what Pirate Therapy was. Mark Rayner has a website/blog skwib.com where he publishes flash fiction, in which some of those stories have made it into this book. I don’t read very many humor books, so I was skeptical about reading Pirate Therapy and Other Cures.

    The author has collected some of his best flashes for this edition, which are hilarious tales that will put a smile on your face. You’ll learn what happens when a worldwide virus turns it’s victims into clowns; learn about the strange mythology of unicorns; learn about what high fiber foods you should be eating (if you are a cyborg); find out how Batman really feels about his Justice League of America team; learn the history of Groundhog Day; and learn ten great facts about Canada.

While flipping through channels a few weeks ago, I stumbled upon Gilmore Girls. I recall when the series was first aired in 2000 and for some reason I never got around to watching an episode. What caught my eye was that Lauren Graham was constantly carrying around a cup of coffee, which so do I. After twenty minutes of viewing and listening to the snappy dialogue, I was now a fan. A few days later I went to a Target store in the city and found seasons one and two bundled together for twenty dollars.

Gilmore Girls is set in the small, wacky town of Stars Hollows, where single mother Lorelai (played by Lauren Graham), manager of the Independence Inn, is raising her sixteen-year-old daughter Rory (played Alexis Bledel). When her daughter is accepted into the Chilton Preparatory School, Lorelai asks her rich estranged parents for financial help due to the school’s expensive tuition. Of course things are not so simple as her parents want them to have Friday night dinners with them and be an active involvement in their lives.

 
TITLE: Star Wars: Knight Errant Volume 2--Deluge 
AUTHOR: John Jackson Miller
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics 
PUBLISHED DATE: June 5, 2012
ISBN: 9781595826381
ARTIST CONTRIBUTORS: David Daza, Iban Coello, Ivan Rodriguez, Joe Quinones, Michael Atiyeh, and Sergio Abad



Set in the beginning of the Old Republic, a 1,000 years before the birth of Luke Skywalker, this epic tale centers around a young female Jedi Knight named Kerra Holt, who is attempting to fight against the evil Sith Lords. The Sith Lords are trying to control large portions of the galaxy while continuing a war with the Republic. In the five issue series titled Deluge, Kerra Holt returns to the ocean world of Aquilaris, the planet she once called home, which is currently under control by the Sith Lord Daiman.

As soon as Kerra arrives she jumps into a battle against the Sith Lord’s army and she allies with other Republics. Her people have been enslaved and she’ll do anything to save them. Soon, she realizes that there is another enemy - a Hutt. Now determined more than ever, Kerra must go against all odds to stop them from flooding her home planet.