Thursday, August 18, 2016

EVERYONE WANTS TO BE AN AUTHOR

Hi, to all my family and friends (note I didn't say "followers." I think if you are following me, you are my friend).

Today, I want to pose a question, and I hope you will all take five minutes and give me an honest answer.


My novel, "Bridgetown High" has garnered some great review on Amazon.com, and many of you have asked me to write a sequel, and some have even suggested turning "Bridgetown High" into a movie.

 

So far, I've written more than 30 pages of the sequel, but it's not coming easy. I probably need a good critique group to encourage and help me.


When I wrote "Bridgetown High," I never intended it to be the first of a series. I had two other books in mind that I was having fun with. One I titled, "GERTA!" and the other, "Johnny Sweeting's Story," (for lack of a better title).

Gerta is set in the early 1950s and is about a poor disadvantaged girl that no one likes. It's primarily about bullying, but the main character grows to love her -- as a friend.


"Johnny Sweeting's Story" is set in 1910 and is about a young man from the coal fields in Wyoming who accidently kills a co-worker. He has to flee to California to escape being jailed and hung.


My question to you is, which would you prefer me to write?

• A Bridgetown High Sequel
• GERTA!
• Johnny Sweeting's Story

I apologize that I do not have any tips about writing this week, but I do need your help in exchange for the advice I've given you over the past several months.

So, until next week,  as always, if you like this blog, please "Share" and "Like"it on Facebook , and "Retweet" it on Twitter. Then PLEASE, take five minutes to write a review of "Bridgetown High" and post it on my author page on Amazon.

Also have you signed up for my email letters on my Blog Site? I would love to see you there and have you introduce yourself and give comments to this blog. And also keep in mind "Bridgetown High" is still available at Amazon, Goodreads and Barnes&Noble and several other places I can't remember, both in kindle e'book, or paperback. You can read some GREAT reviews of Bridgetown High on Amazon and Goodreads in case you need more info about it

See y'all next week,

Paul

Hi again, all my faithful followers.

Did you like my expose' on Charisse Davis, one of the main characters in "Bridgetown High?" If so, I hope you will "Like" and "Share" and/or "ReTweet" This post. I have a goal to make this novel into a best-seller. Ha, ha, I even had a couple of readers suggest it could be a movie. Not sure I would go that far.


A few days ago, I finally got some time to work on "GERTA!" I have 45 pages written so far. I know. I have a long way to go. But, I need to confess, this is a 4th or 5th edit of this part of the book. It's the ending that I can't seem to get.


That brings me to a technique I learned in a creative writing course in college. For my Communications requirement I signed up to a Communications class (imagine that). The professor had one requirement -- write 1000 words (real tough). It could be about anything as long as it made sense and communicated some idea. Seeing my work, he suggested I enroll in a Creative Writing class. It was half way through the semester, but I agreed. I didn't get much in the way of lasting ideas, but one thing he taught me is this:


For the final test in the class, he wrote two seemingly unrelated sentences on the chalk board. He told us we had to begin a short story (500 words) with the first sentence and end it with the second sentence. That, I have to admit, was a tough challenge. The two seemed to have nothing to do with each other. But I began, knowing I had to connect them somehow. Well, to make a long story short, I got the only "A" on the test, and one of the few in the class.


So, since then, I've tried to write all my fiction that way. Create a hook for the opening, then work toward the final that I've pre-created for the story.

Maybe that bit of advice will help you too.

Read More »

Hi, all my faithful followers. I want you all to know I truly appreciate those of you who have been following me for a while. You probably know, and maybe even grieved with me, as I've let you in on my struggles to become a published author.


By now I think you all know that my dream has become real! My book, "Bridgetown High." has become a reality. It's been exciting, and I hope you have shared that excitement with me.

Now, the journey is far from over. I still have to get people to purchase my book. I'm reading up on all the different ways to do that, but I have no idea if they are working. My biggest marketing tools are Amazon, Facebook, and Goodreads, but I can't find a way to determine how many books have sold, or how the sales are going.

My publisher is supposed to have some people who will write reviews in Amazon, but I haven't seen their reviews yet. Reviews are a huge part of marketing. It helps possible purchasers to decide whether to buy my book or not. For those of you who have bought my book, I sincerely thank you. Have you written a review yet? I would truly appreciate it if you would.

Hang in there, all of you, my faithful followers. The journey is not anywhere near finished. And, I have GERTA! waiting in the wings, so to speak, if I can find time to work on it.

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Does anyone know how to get people to read a blog? I guess when it comes to being technologically talented, I missed the boat when God passed that talent out.

My publisher, Limitless Publishing, asked if I minded that they slip the editing effort by a few days. Sure. I will still have two weeks to fix whatever he finds wrong, but won't effect the release date.
I hesitate to mention the date as that may end up slipping too. eventually.

I wrote back and said it was OK, but I'm extremely anxious to see what kinds of edits he comes up with. Bridgetown High (assuming the title remains the same) has been edited over and over by several people in my critique group. It reads pretty smooth in my opinion.

So, to all you faithful followers, hang in with me and see what the publishing process is like. And, when that is over, I'll teach you all how to write a best selling novel - assuming my novel achieves that status, ha ha ha. Or, maybe it will be GERTA! that achieves that status.

Oh, you don't know about GERTA! It's my next middle-grade novel. Here's a teaser:

She stood five-foot-eleven, had to be all of 450 pounds and smelled worse than a sewer. Her dull beady eyes looked out from a mass of tangled, dishwater blonde hair. Her twisted and puffy face was pocked with oozing acne. “IT’S GERTA! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!” We’d all scream in our best blood-curdling cries whenever we saw her. Everyone knew she was cooties of the deadliest kind and we would probably die if she ever touched us. But I loved her.

What do you think?

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Hi Fans (all 1 or 2 of you),

This week I don't have much to comment on. I've been too busy to do much of my writing, just the writing I need to do for my "real" job.

I have, however, found a few minutes here and there and I'm still working on the revision of my novel. I think this revision is going great! I can feel it coming on the way it was meant when I first started to write this so many years ago.

I can't wait to finish it so I can, once again, start marketing it.

Then, I'm anxious to resume work on GERTA! and Johnny Sweeting's Story.

More about them later. Keep with me. It's got to get better.

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OK, it's done. I found an on-line submission form that was a whole lot easier than the submission form in MS Word. Now it's not holding my breath time. The receipt email said they would let me know in 2 to 6 months. In the meantime, I think I'm going to devote my time to writing GERTA! and Johnny Sweeting's story.

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(What do Mormons Believe:

We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.

Articles of Faith
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)

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(I don't know why I can't turn this italics off)

Because I have a new "faithful few follower" I thought it might be a good idea if I were to post a little about my next novel. "GERTA" that I intend to finish after "Sweet Revenge," to see what y'all think. Here's the pitch.

She stood five-foot-eleven and had to be all of 350 pounds. Her dull beady eyes, looked out from a mass of tangled, dirty blonde hair, her twisted and puffy face full of acne. “GERTA! run for your lives!” we’d scream in our best blood-curdling cries whenever we saw her. Everyone knew she had cooties of the worst kind, and we would probably die if she ever touched us. But I loved her.

Read More »