Category: the writing life

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FAFO

Recovering from a nasty virus, I’ve had a lot of downtime watching the news. How unfortunate. As a writer of many apocalyptic scenarios, I’ve delved into how civilization in a multitude of ways. In Citizen Second Class, it’s a combination of class warfare, climate change, and financial ruin that brings down the United States. In AFTER Life an This Plague of Days, disease takes the world down. In All Empires Fall, there’s a range of narratives, from alien invasion to an asteroid strike. In Our Alien Hours, you guessed it! Aliens again. But the future is always surprising, isn’t it? Aliens, robots, killer AI and zombies are fun to play with. Paperwork issued by a glowering troll does not good fiction make. It sure doesn’t contribute to the betterment of the world.

When Donald Trump was on the campaign trail, annexing allies and declaring war on Mexico, Greenland, and Panama wasn’t on the table. (Don’t poo-poo or normalize it by saying he doesn’t mean it or that “he didn’t really blah-blah-blah.”) Fueled by anger and fear, President Petulance governs by spite and threats. Meanwhile, the world looks on, somewhat puzzled. His opponent, who proposed policies to assist people in buying their first home, was beaten by an adjudicated rapist and convicted felon who marveled about the size of a golfer’s putter.

The trouble with fiction is that it has to sound real. Apocalyptic non-fiction suffers no such constraints. For instance, the bishop who asked for mercy for the vulnerable in the gentlest way possible was condemned as “nasty.” As Stephen Colbert quipped, “How dare she bring the teachings of Jesus into a church!”

This morning I see reports of American citizens shocked that they’re swept up into ICE raids. Frightened of being abused and deported, many immigrant farm workers aren’t showing up to pick fruit. (Watch for a sharp rise in certain food prices soon. And no, eggs aren’t going to get cheaper.) Today, it’s reported that Native Americans are now being targeted by ICE because they aren’t “real” Americans. They say the concern is that indigenous peoples owe allegiance to their tribes over the American flag. It’s simpler than that, though, isn’t it? They aren’t white, and Christofascism is the order of the day.

There are many terrible changes and horrible possibilities on the horizon, but his followers don’t care. His allies abandon logic and their dignity to excuse every malicious move. What struck me most about the inauguration was that it was not a celebration of a great nation’s peaceful change of power. The tone and content was that of a coronation of a Christlike figure. With all the reins of power in his hands and a conservative Supreme Court bent on allowing just about anything, the United States is not unified. Trump may as well be a king, and he considers many of his constituents the enemy. He is not there to serve all citizens, just the ones who worship and/or flatter him.

This will all change, but not before many are hurt and victimized. Ironically, many of those who voted for him will be the first negatively impacted. For example, he has rolled back disability benefits for veterans and rescinded Biden’s executive order to lower prescription drug prices. He pardoned the J6 rioters who assaulted Capitol Police. I wonder how those assigned to protect federal officials are feeling about that this morning. So much for “Back the Blue.” If you were the officer whose eye was gouged out, how would you feel today?

I will not make a habit of chronicling Donald Trump’s offenses here. You can get that elsewhere in abundance. Mostly, I will sit back, wait, and watch. I am powerless to do much about the future of the world. It’s going to be a difficult four years. Anytime empathy is devalued, we are all diminished in myriad ways. I will say that DJT is a thin-skinned person, a soft and lazy man. He has been propelled to his position because he terrified of appearing weak. His cult, too, is so afraid of looking weak that they embrace being mean. Worse, they call it goodness.

Stay tuned, deny reality, or tune out. Whichever way this goes, we’re all in for a bumpy ride.

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For the love of Stanley Tucci

I have proof She Who Must Be Obeyed is my soulmate: At Christmas, I bought this book for her and she bought a copy for me.

Last year, I rhapsodized about Taste by Stanley Tucci. It’s part memoir, some family history, and delicious Italian recipes. Stanley has a dry wit, a fascinating life and career, and very strong opinions on which shape of pasta should go with what sauce. What I Ate in One Year picks up where Taste left off. It’s a near-daily diary of the trials, tribulations, travel, projects, rewards, and feasts the Internet’s boyfriend is heir to. If you’ve watched his series Searching for Italy, it’s impossible not to hear his dulcet tones as you read. Love that!

Reading this book in Cuba was particularly poignant and pointed. It was poignant because Stanley dwells on his mortality quite a bit. His first wife died of the disease and he is a cancer survivor. Meanwhile, I was far from home, sick and waiting to die by a tropical pool. Weak, cursing, and coughing, I was reminded of my father’s telling of how incredibly ill he was at sea. Flat on his back at the bottom of a fishing trawler in high seas, Dad told me, “First, I was afraid I was going to die. Then I was afraid I wouldn’t.” He survived the seasickness, and I survived my virus. Almost ninety years later, Dad was faced with the same feeling. He chose the needle rather than endure what sadists call “a natural death.” (Jury’s still out on my eventual exit, but I hope I go with the same eagerness and dignity, instead of screaming in childish protest, as is my wont.)

Stanley’s love of food was especially pointed in Cuba because he would starve to death there. When a meal fails to rise to his standards, Stanley refuses to participate in such abominations unto the Lord. He doesn’t hold back, reporting, for instance, that a meal was not just awful, but “fucking awful.” Mostly, he dines very well. As for us on vacation in Cuba, the pork was good a couple of times. Mostly, we survived the week on buttered buns. The buns were good, but I’ve had a much more delicious and authentic Cubano sandwich from Starbucks.

No matter what I ordered on this trip, I couldn’t receive the same thing twice. A cafe bombon was first a delicious ice cream treat (not what I envisioned, but great). Then, it was merely iced coffee. Intrepid and trying again, a cafe bombon became a foamy thing sort of like the first attempt, but without ice. A proper cafe bombon should be an espresso with sweetened condensed milk. (Full details here. You’re welcome.) I finally got a decent cafe bombon when I flew home and made it myself. (Note to self: Learn Spanish before heading south again.)

It’s tempting to say, if you’re traveling to Cuba, bring food. I’m being a little unfair. On my first Cuban trip to a different resort, I enjoyed the meals. Our last meal in Cuba eight years ago turned me on to Italian food. I didn’t think it was special until I savored shrimp on angel hair pasta. This most recent trip was a gastronomic disaster, but the food wasn’t the point of the escape. We got to spend more time with our kids than we get all year, and that was wonderful. The weather was great, and we needed a break. I wish we hadn’t been sick for most of the trip, but I don’t regret going. SWMBO remarked she caught the virus from me, but in deference to my long history of service, devotion, and conviviality, she agreed to never say that again.

Travel and Book Recommendations

If you plan to visit Cuba, the country has a lot of supply problems. For instance, there’s no Kleenex, a fact we lamented deeply as our illness progressed. The staff appreciate over-the-counter medicines that are often unavailable to them. Besides tips, we left the staff a miniature pharmacy. For money, they prefer American dollars, but they graciously accepted our Canadian currency.

Wherever you live, on vacation or hard at work in air traffic control, read Stanley Tucci’s What I Ate in One Year. Okay, maybe not while you’re controlling air traffic, but otherwise, I highly recommend it. I devoured this book in a couple of days. I didn’t want it to end. And I really wanted to devour the great food he wrote about. A person can survive on buttered buns alone, but after a while, you don’t want to.

Home again, I’m back to the business of writing novels. The food tastes even better than I remember. I am grateful.

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The Two Keys to a Great Vacation

One of the pleasures of a vacation is to limit your choices. In our daily lives, we have to make decisions constantly. We have to choose what to do and what to do next. How will we fit in all we’re supposed to do? It often feels like we got too much to cram into our waking hours. Gotta exercise, gotta get groceries, be responsible, shovel snow, pay bills, cook, clean, and deal with a plethora of stimuli (much of it upsetting). The world is a firehose blasting away at the teacup that is your brain. On vacation, all you really have to decide is where and when to eat. Then, it’s that rare and precious commodity: free time.

As reported yesterday, my spouse and I spent most of our time in Cuba as sick as sick dogs. The dark hours filled with coughing and night sweats were the worst. The rising sun brought some peace. We crawled out to the pool’s edge, blew our noses into napkins, and lounged. And we read books.

I’m a bibliophile, but vacation days yield more time for getting lost in books. Uninterrupted days filled with the tasty consumption of words are great days, even when you aren’t feeling your best. In today’s example of something good to read, I suggest Bunny by Mona Awad. This author was new to me, but a glance at the first few pages told me I would enjoy her wordplay. It’s reminiscent of Heathers, the 1988 movie starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater (and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, I might add). If you’ve ever felt like an outsider standing too close to a snooty clique, you’ll enjoy all the delicious evisceration of the in-crowd.

No spoilers. I despise spoilers.

Bunny tells the story of a young woman studying creative writing, and she’s surrounded by assholes. Anyone who has participated in a writing workshop will relate to her hatred of the worst people who show up at writing workshops. Her school has more than its fair share of fake, nasty, and cloying student writers.

Awad’s writing style is clever and hip. (Is it okay to say hip? Is that not hip? No? Okay, it’s bussin’! It’s gas! It’s buttah! Cool? Okay. Far out, groovy, and fresh!) I digress. Go read Bunny.

The keys to a great vacation are (A) not having to make decisions, and (B) a good book. Make time for reading when you aren’t on vacation, too. It’s good for your mental health.

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Holiday Hours Begin Now!

I just spent a good part of the day at the hospital. It’s not dire. I had to get in to see an ER doc to rule out pneumonia. Both my wife and I are sick with different things, but we are confident all will be well. No pneumonia!

Happy New Year

As I wrap up the final edits on Vengeance Is Hers, I’ll also dig deeper into the design and marketing stuff (among many, many other things). I don’t plan to post here again until January 14, 2025, and I won’t be available until then.

First goal: Get over this virus. I tested negative for C-19, and I’m picking up a couple of prescriptions in the morning for this cough.

Second goal: Spend fun time with the family and help out She Who Must Be Obeyed.

Third: Final edits and locking in the manuscript.

Until then, friends and fiends, be as healthy and as happy as nature and the laws allow. Or don’t get caught.

Vengeance is coming in 2025!

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Review of Lily King’s Writers & Lovers: A Page-Turner

I just finished reading Writers & Lovers by Lily King. I don’t read a lot of literary fiction. I find that many writers of the genre favor character so much that little actually happens plotwise. Things do happen in this novel. The details are so well-observed and resonant that it’s a pleasure to read. I burned through the story quickly and didn’t want to put it down.

The best description of Writers and Lovers is Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman. King accomplishes what I love about writing. Though much of the book’s exposition is interior, the author puts a movie in your head. There’s much to admire in her writing style and eye for detail.

Writers of a certain literary bent drop ambiguous endings on their victims/readers. King doesn’t do that. This novel has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Best of all, King gives us a self-sabotaging protagonist we can root for. We want her to win, so we follow her journey, hoping things will work out okay. It works because we’re all hoping things will work out okay.

Find Lily King’s author page on Amazon here.

Lily King’s website is here.

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Preparing for the Launch of ‘Vengeance Is Hers’: Key Steps

Yesterday, I posted about the long and winding road to publication with Vengeance Is Hers. As I arrange the promotion and marketing for this vigilante justice thriller, there’s much more to do.

Here’s a short list:

  • There are bookmarks and promotional materials to order.
  • I’m toying with painted edges for a special edition hardcover I’d sell directly. I’m not that crafty, but it looks doable.
  • I want to make this an audiobook. That has expensive challenges, but I’ll explore the possibilities.
  • Identify and reach out to potential book reviewers and influencers is another challenge.
  • Setting up promotional giveaways will be on the agenda once I have a publication date.
  • Podcast interviews.
  • Set up advertising to coincide with the promotional campaigns, then more ads beyond that to keep the inertia going.
  • Submission for book awards will be on the agenda.
  • In 2025, I intend to attend book and craft fairs and sell directly that way. Gotta plan ahead for that.
  • The social media push has already begun so someone will be aware it’s coming, and happy to buy, read, and review Vengeance Is Hers.

Did I miss anything? Probably.

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Behind the Scenes of Vengeance Is Hers

If you’ve ever wondered about the writing and publishing process, I have answers. Vengeance Is Hers took longer than usual due to variables beyond my control. Creating Bigger Than Jesus took three months, from conception to publication. The trilogy of This Plague of Days took a little more than three years. At my fastest pace, I published four books in one year. The writing process for my next thriller was a mess, but in the end, it’s going to make a big happy splash.

Round One is back from the editor and the prime beta reader!

Now things start to speed up for Vengeance Is Hers! From the top, this is how we do it:

  • My official start for this novel was August 15, 2022.
  • I wrote the first draft, backed up halfway through, switched from first-person narration to third.
  • I endured two hip replacements in 2023, got distracted by a lot of pain and rehab, and relearned how to walk.
  • Wrote 120,000 words, and rethought the story arc. Clenched teeth in frustration.
  • Keeping most of the story in one small town in Maine, I had to cut 50,000 words. This was originally going to be about making a movement of female vigilantes. Some of what I wrote in the original draft may be used for a sequel. To make this a better book, I had to sacrifice a lot of words and time. I went back to rework the concept.
  • Second draft. A lot of back and forth here as I went deeper. The word count climbed back up to 105,000 words.
  • Hip pain receded almost entirely. Back to my old self, I have more energy to deal with this project.
  • Found words with the “-ion” suffix for every chapter title.
  • Third draft: filled in plot holes and found more jokes and clever turns of phrase.
  • Listened to most of it. Reread all of it. Cut the long chapters in half so most chapters are no more than 1,200 words. (For a fast pace, I like short, fast chapters so readers feel like they’re burning through the book).
  • Added tweaks, usually fleshing out something vague, adding a joke, or turning up the dialogue to eleven.
  • Woke up in the night, continually plagued by little tweaks to make the story better.
  • Word count climbed back up to 113,349.
  • When I can’t look at it anymore, it’s ready for more eyes on the prize. Prime beta reader begins.
  • The manuscript is shared to two more beta readers for comments.
  • Google Drive alters corrections I’ve already made! Frustration ensues.
  • Editrix Extraordinaire Gari Strawn begins her first round of editing. She downloads it off Google Drive so we won’t get new errors introduced to the manuscript.
  • I review all editing suggestions from beta readers and my editor, making all necessary changes. That’s the step I’m at today.
  • Gari will dig through the manuscript for Vengeance Is Hers for two more rounds.
  • When she’s done, and I finish final revisions, we’ll lock it in.
  • Then it’s back to the designers about the details of the paperback and hardcover.

Next post: What happens after all this!