Rewrites, Queries, Political Angst and Courage!

It's sort of funny how things seem to cling to like things...birds of a feather and all that. And cycles of events. So here I find myself finishing the second rewrite of Canyon Flower (improved, improved) and starting to send out queries to agents. I find all of it rather difficult. The rewrites push me to kill my darlings, the queries push me up against that predictable wall of rejections, and the political angst I am feeling, daily, is an almost unbearable push, push, push.

Still, I suppose I have to be grateful to FEEL. I watched a video by Harvey Klinger this morning, a literary agent who said that if you really want to write fiction, you write from passion - not by formula. I guess most of us know that formula usually equates predictable (and sometimes popular) fiction. But for me and people who love literature, passion is the keyword. I like that a lot. Passion is what I like to feel when I get into a story. So that works for me. I suppose angst ultimately leads to passion, no? That's how I'm holding that one! Ha!

A new book is bubbling in my head...and it will involve a family (MY family) in ways that will not be appreciated. Not that much of that family is still alive. Still it gives me a little rush to think about fictionalizing some of the thoughts I've had over a lifetime about certain family members. If it turns out to be black comedy, don't be surprised.

But it's all fair game: (so said Sylvia Plath)

“And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

So, I guess I'm seeking the courage to keep trucking with the books I've written (three to date), and the goal I've set for myself (of selling my books to good publishers via the traditional route) and living through these beastly times. I got hit in 2011 by the last recession, so beastly times are sort of my everyday now.

2017 Brings New Challenges

As writers, everything in life is "fodder" for our craft. People have to be careful around us (or at least respectful) or they'll wind up as villains in a novel.

But the political climate of 2017 since January 20th ushers in a whole new level of fodder. If you had made it up, nobody would believe it, they'd say "Naw, Over the Top!" and it would never sell. When truth becomes less believable than bad fiction, what do you do?

(Well, for one thing, you march. The Women's March in little Naples produced 2500 determined citizens, working together for change. We shall see.)

For another thing, you write. Write, write, write. Writing well is the best revenge. That and signing petitions.

Christmas Cheer = Editing and Cooking

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah,  and may 2017 give us some relief from 2016!  (I never want to discuss politics again).

I am spending this holiday editing my new book "Canyon Flower" with a piece of new software I found online called "ProWritingAid.com."  It's a little marvel of an editor's aid, checking overused words, "sticky" sentences, grammar, adverbs, etc. etc.  I am SO pleased with it.  And it's given me plenty of rewriting to do over the vacation.

Besides editing and curling up on the couch for binges of TV series (like OA), I have done some cooking too.

For gifts this year, it was chocolate truffles.

For Christmas Dinner, it is Chicken Paprikash with nockrl (or as they said in my stepfather's family: haloopsi.)

Free Memoir & Historical Fiction Contests (Writers' Digest)

"Loose Fish" is on its way to a free contest -- nothing ventured, nothing gained.

28th Free "Dear Lucky Agent" Contest

Judged by Jennifer Wills, agent of The Seymour Agency, it promises to be a step for some lucky winners to get published. Hey, give it a go!

Flash Fiction in FriGG Literary Journal

"FLAT ON MY FACE" by Beverly A. Jackson <--Clicky"

A Tip for Writers re Editing Your Manuscript

When you are doing that all important editing, after you have a rough draft in place, it seems reasonable to be going through the manuscript many times, sometimes with the help of others' critiques, sometimes with fresh ideas for development. At any rate, almost all writers know the drill. We fix, we move, we check, we re-write, ad nauseum.

Here's a new twist! Because my eyes are poor, I find reading on a Kindle (where the font can be made larger, and is backlit in a way that my eyes are soothed) much easier than reading a computer screen. So I started transferring my documents to Kindle via Amazon's free service. (each Amazon customer has their own special email address). It takes two seconds to download a document.

Here's the kicker! Something must happen in the brain, because I find that the manuscript has a whole different "way of being" in the Kindle format. My EYES READ IT DIFFERENTLY than on a computer screen, and therefore I find many, many, many more edits that need fixing. This may sound peculiar, but I announced it to my writing group, and one by one they too are trying it, and are simply astounded that it is a fact. Editing via Kindle gives you different and better results than editing the usual way.

I can't expect you to take my word for it. Just try it!

(instructions for downloading "Documents" to your Kindle are available on Amazon. It's a pretty simple process.)

Glenn E. Miller Nominated for Pushcart Prize

I'm so proud to report that Glenn Erick Miller, a member of the North Naples/Bonita Springs Advanced Writing Group, was just nominated for the Pushcart Prize by R.K.VR.Y. Quarterly Literary Journal for his flash, "WEIGHTLESS".