News and Notices from the Writing Trenches #19…

#117:  Shah Wharton’s interview of me is now followed by my guest post titled “How British Sci-Fi Influenced My Writing.”  This provides some insight into what influences my writing and why I feel writers should also be avid readers.  It might have special resonance with my UK fans.  See: http://wordsinsync.blogspot.com/2012/02/british-influence-on-sci-fi-by-steven-m.html

Shah runs three sites that include Words In Sync (see above), her own author page, and a site from which she can “beautify your blog” (see the excellent job she did with subheadings and images in my guest blog post).  Words In Sync also contains interviews, reviews, and hints for writers, and can be used as a launch platform to her other two sites.

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Like many children, I admired various sports figures.  Roy Campanella, Brooklyn Dodgers’ catcher, was a role model.  I played that position and later admired the man for his tenacity and courage in facing his paralysis after an auto accident.  I also became a Dodgers fan and was overjoyed when they moved to L.A.   K. C. Jones and Bill Russell were favorites at the University of San Francisco and I followed their careers to the Boston Celtics where I became a fan, even though I was on the West Coast.  The historic confrontations between Russell and Chamberlain were more exciting than the gunfight between the Earps and the Clantons.

I can’t remember seeing any of these three athletes drink or smoke, or reading about their philandering ways in the national media.  A simpler, more innocent time?  Perhaps.  Steroids in baseball were far in the future.  Tiger Woods and Kobe Bryant were too.  Nevertheless, I can imagine how devastating it might be for a young boy or girl to see and hear about the decline of one of their sports heroes.  It must be at least as stressful as that first kiss or that first dance.

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In this post, I’ll commit the cardinal sin of discussing religion and politics.  Maybe you never were invited to dinner where the host tells you, “Mr. and Mrs. X are also attending.  They are Y religion, so don’t discuss religion.  In fact, don’t discuss politics either.”  If you were, I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to sit down at a dinner table and avoid the topics of religion and politics, because most other Americans just can’t resist them.  Where European, Latin American, and many other countries are obsessed with just politics, people in the U.S. are often obsessed with both.  In fact, I venture to say that religion warps our politics in ways that are often as sad as they are humorous.

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Author:  [Whispers, like announcing the Masters.]  Readers, today I’m interviewing another of my main characters, Spacer Brent Mueller, a minor character in Survivors of the Chaos and a major protagonist in the soon-to-be-released Sing a Samba Galactica.  He’s the Methuselah among my characters, so we should expect some words of wisdom.  [My normal voice.]  Brent, you were just Jenny Wong’s love interest in Survivors of the Chaos.  Are you enjoying your promotion in Sing a Samba Galactica?

Mueller:  Is that your idea of a promotion?  First, I lose Jenny, then I lose Rita, and finally I almost lose exoarchaeologists Edith Shumsky and her two friends as well as explorers Lisa Malenkov and Minerva Boutotte.  You really rake me over the coals—I think I’m using that old expression correctly.  I become a Guide to the Way and then become disillusioned and abandon my calling.  This isn’t a Broadway show, you know—my name isn’t up there in lights, showing my promotion to top billing.  However, I am satisfied that things sort of work out for me and my friends, so thank you.

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A comment, a one-liner, I recently received to a very old blog post, read as follows:  “you suck you gay computer nerd why dont you go die.”  Even though WordPress let this through the spam filter, my usual censoring policy kicked in, and I deleted it.  That policy is this: if a comment doesn’t add to the conversation, whether it’s positive or negative, there is a—pfft!—and it’s terminated with prejudice, like via a Glock 19 with silencer.  Nevertheless, this particular comment started me thinking about how computers and the internet have allowed introverts like me to have a voice.  It’s a small voice, but it reverberates more via internet TCP/IP packets than it would ever do in personal face-to-face discussions.

While “you suck” might be appropriate (however, some people do like my writing), I reluctantly inform this reader/commenter that 1) I am not gay, although I’m a supporter of human rights, and those include gay rights; 2) I am not a computer nerd (more on this later); and 3) I don’t have any plans to die soon, but that’s mostly out of my control—and his too, I hope.  The title of the post this person read was “Short stories versus novels…” from October 20, 2010.  I reread this post.  Besides its obvious length (a recurring failure of mine, compared to others’ posts), I fail to see what our writer of negative tweets found so objectionable.  Take a look and comment if you see something I don’t.  (I recently had an eye exam, but I could have missed something.)

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#111:  I’ve added two new websites to my preferred websites list (see the “Steve’s Writing” page):  (1) Paula Haataja does a good job of finding inexpensive books for readers on Daily Cheap Reads and Daily Cheap Reads Jr.  Together with the Bargain eBooks site, readers have a large number of these books to choose from.  Don’t look for many eBooks from a legacy publisher at these sites, though, as the corporate nemesis of indie writers generally charges almost as much for their eBooks as their hardbounds and paperbacks.  (2) Shah Wharton’s site, Words In Sync, offers a variety of information for readers and writers alike, including reviews, interviews, and a blog with guest posts from around the world.

#112:  Daily Cheap Reads Jr. has featured my YA novel The Secret Lab.  For young adults (tweens and teens) and adults who are young-at-heart, this whimsical story of a cat and kids on the International Space Station in the future is still only $0.99—available on Amazon, Smashwords, and most online eBook dealers.

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#105:  For a follow-up on #104, see my blog post “Indie books and bookstores…,” prompted by a myopic NY Times article on B&N.  The Times presents the official viewpoint of B&N.  I present my own.  Are you surprised that I don’t side with the bookstore giant?  They recently announced that they will not carry Amazon’s publications.  That doesn’t make sense if you just consider the online giant as another publisher (it isn’t, of course).  I don’t know what it means for KDP (Amazon’s eBook publishing).

#106:  Deanna Proach yesterday (Feb. 2) made a guest post to my blog titled “How to Critique a Writer”—for established writers and writers who are starting out.  Anyone who has a good critique site (where writers interchange manuscripts to have them critiqued) is welcome to comment there or here with a URL to the site.  After EditRed (now defunct), I stopped participating in critique groups, but I know they are very popular with some writers.

#107:  Shah Wharton has interviewed me for her blog.  See yesterday’s (Feb. 2) posting on www.wordsinsync.blogspot.com where you might learn a bit more about my quirky cynicism.  Writers should check out her “Author Advice” category where she quotes famous authors’ tips on writing—readers might be interested in these too, because they are sure to recognize some famous names.  I especially like Philip Pullman’s, though.  Shah also has an author page:  shahwharton.blogspot.com .

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[Note from Steve:  Today’s guest post is from author Deanna Proach.]

All writers need to have a second and third pair of eyes read their work. The trick is having to find two or three trusted persons to read your work. Some writers—like me—don’t have a parent, friend or relative who is a published author, editor or avid reader. If this is the case, you should seek out a reputable writers’ group where you’ll feel welcomed and at ease. If you’re not able to find any reputable writers’ critique group, you can form your own critique group.

Critique groups are not all about telling each other what’s wrong with our manuscripts. When critiquing someone’s work, you need to be considerate of his or her feelings and you should always provide feedback that is positive and constructive in a way that will benefit your fellow writer.

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