Blog Archives

New Yorker Fiction 2014

9/18/2014

A WRITER'S WIT
I've seen public opinion shift like the wind and put out the very fire it lighted.
Rachel Field
Born September 19, 1894

Hot Time in Tucson

Pacaud/Roberts/Shere

September 22, 2014, Victor Lodato, “Jack, July”: Jack, twenty-two, of Tucson, is a meth addict who’s been rejected by his mother, his sister, and girlfriend, Rhonda. ¶ In a way you feel like a voyeur while reading this story, so intensely does Lodato let us in on what it is like to be a crystal meth user. Living fast is what Jack calls it, life speeded up past the speed of sound. You witness Jack’s stink. You witness his thoughts of the past (sister mauled by a dog, a less than competent mother). You feel the searing July 4th heat as Jack negotiates this fast life. You even glide into the fuzzy, foggy world of meth as he returns to the place where he’s flopped for the last two weeks, the only home he has left. His obese roommate pats his kimono pocket, and answers Jack's silent question with “I do I do I do.” Life couldn’t seem any bleaker than this, yet somehow you hope. You hope. Lodato’s novel, Mathilda Savitch, was published in 2010.
Illustration by Julien Pacaud. Left: H. Armstrong Roberts. Getty (Dog). Right: Sam Shere. Time Life Pictures / Getty (Man).

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DIY Publishing 101-C

9/17/2014

A WRITER'S WIT
There is no armor against fate.
James Shirley
Born September 18, 1596

Do It Yourself or Use Company "Services"?

It is possible, if you know what you’re doing or if you’re willing to conduct your own on-the-job-training, for you to print a book at Amazon’s CreateSpace for FREE. That’s right! But it means you must also know (or learn) how to manipulate their software once your manuscript is uploaded, to get the fonts you want, positioning text on the page. You must upload your own cover image(s), place them where you want them, select background and font colors and sizes. The final result may be much simpler looking than you would have hoped. But, if your funds are limited and you just want to get a book out there, this might be the route to take.

I would suggest going online to the CreateSpace home page. There you will find six categories. Click on the subheadings to find out more. Also, CS has any number of videos you can view to assist you in every category. I took the path of investing what I think is a reasonable amount of money, largely because I wanted the book to have the best chance possible of having high production values. Having said that, I felt that CS wanted too much money for editing services, given that all my stories had previously been published.

Instead, I located someone local, a friend and colleague named Barbara Brannon, to copy edit the final MS for me. Not only had she critiqued a good number of my stories in the writing group I belong to but she had edited more than sixty books in her career as editor and writer, so I felt quite confident in her abilities. And even though all the stories in my collection had been vetted, in a sense, by way of their appearance in nationally recognized literary journals, Barbara still located errors! And there was stylistic consistency, an overall look of the MS, to consider. She also cleaned up the MS by inserting page breaks where appropriate and using a paragraph indention of .4 of an inch instead of the standard tab indention. She prepared the MS to upload for the Kindle app! And she charged me far less than CreateSpace would have, what the local market would bear.

Depending on where you live, you too may be able to find a competent editor for less money than CS will charge you. And no matter how fine a writer you are, you will need to find an editor or copy editor. If you go it alone, your eyes may overlook the same homonym error a million times or perhaps that unintended fragment or comma splice. A fine editor will not interfere too much with the content of your work; a fine copy editor will see to it that your copy reads smoothly and in a consistent voice throughout the MS. A fine editor will give you choices when it comes to revising the copy so that it reads well and conveys the meaning you originally intended.

CreateSpace offers services to help the writer develop the interior and cover of his or her book. CS also makes available marketing services. Again, I urge you to locate the CS home page online and find out what services it provides. CS also affords you a handy device that allows you to calculate what your royalties might be, thus allowing you to set a reasonable price for your book. Most of all, I believe, self-publishing is about creating a book that represents your sensibilities. The one problem with traditional publishing is that once your MS is purchased, your MS ceases to be yours!

NEXT TIME: NEW YORKER FICTION 2014

A Rose by the Name of Macaulay

9/16/2014

A WRITER'S WIT
I have discovered that most of the beauties of travel are due to the strange hours we keep to see them . . . .
William Carlos Williams
Born September 17, 1883

My Book World

Macaulay, Rose. The Towers of Trebizond. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. New York, 1956.

I came upon Ms. Macaulay when I was searching for a female writer born on August 1 to use in my “Writer’s Wit” citation for that date. The book sounded interesting because according to the woman’s biography, she struggled at times with whether she would live a secular life or a Christian one, and her work reflected such a conversation.

The book obviously takes place in Turkey, throughout the Middle East of a much earlier time. And obviously, neither men nor women could easily travel there today.

Information I’ve adapted from the back cover tells the plot in a nutshell: The narrator, Laurie, relates the story of herself, her Aunt Dot and camel (whom Laurie borrows from time to time), and Father Hugh Chantry-Pigg. They are traveling from Istanbul to Trebizond to spread Christianity; Laurie is perhaps more devoted than her Aunt Dot, though they both seem to fade in and out on that matter. Along the way this troupe encounters spies, a Greek sorcerer, an ape, and Billy Graham with a busload of evangelists. The novel is part travelogue and part comedy of manners, “a bracing meditation on the perils of love, doubt, faith, and spirituality in the modern world.”

This novel is considered by many to be Macaulay’s finest. I found it interesting, but I must confess that it would have been more entertaining had I ever traveled to that part of the world myself . . . and if I’d studied more ancient history; many of the references were lost on me. And I believe her “wit” to be a bit anachronistic, perhaps understandable to the British and/or those who lived as adults at the time she wrote this book. I have the hard copy if anyone should want to borrow it! Let me know.

NEXT TIME: DIY PUBLISHING 101-C

New Yorker Fiction 2014

9/11/2014

A WRITER'S WIT
Truth, at the wrong time, can be dangerous.
Michael Ondaatje
Born September 12, 1943

A Long Way to Ireland

Michael Marcelle

September 15, 2014, Danielle McLaughlin, “Dinosaurs on Other Planets”: Kate and Colman’s daughter Emer and grandson Oisín come home to Ireland from London to visit Emer’s parents, and bring the young woman’s current boyfriend, Pavel, a man nearly old enough to be Emer’s father. ¶ Some interesting symbolism. “Dinosaurs” by way of a sheep’s skull. Colman puts it in bleach as his grandson watches. The process forces out maggots and other insects. More symbols. Emer, the couple’s daughter, doesn’t appear to like her parents much—she’s made the trip out of a sense of duty. The only two characters who seem in any way nice are Kate and Emer’s guest, Pavel, whom Emer brings along unannounced. ¶ He’s close to being Kate’s age, and they have a brief but nearly meaningful conversation as they take a walk. Finally Emer reveals she and her six-year-old son will be moving to Australia. It seems to be indicative of the vast emotional distances that exist between most of the members of the ensemble. Well written but almost airless. I feel nothing on behalf of the characters, but I don’t think that is their fault.
Photograph by Michael Marcelle

NEXT TIME: MY BOOK WORLD

DIY Publishing 101-B

9/10/2014

A WRITER'S WIT
The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculating to meet and greet unknown fate.
O. Henry
Born September 11, 1862

False Promises

[I always try, at the end of each post, to tell which topic will be next. Last time I indicated that it would be MY BOOK WORLD. Sorry, I've gotten so caught up in the reading of my book's proof that I let my schedule get away from me. Forgive me. I'll probably make that post next week.] RJ

Selecting the Right Company for You

When I began my work of self publishing, I did a Google search, and one of the better sources I located was Writer’s Digest. I began to read down their list of sixty-five recommended companies. The WD list is quite effective because under each company WD delineates the type of printing that the company does: Print-on-demand, e-book, offset, etc. By studying each one, you may in advance develop a good idea of which companies you might most like to contact.

I hoped to receive information from two of the companies I was interested in, so at their websites I filled in online forms, thinking that I would get something by e-mail. No. The very next day I took calls from sales representatives from both companies—both of them under the umbrella of some pretty big corporate names. I won't reveal which ones because I don’t want to be accused of sabotaging their work. But I will say that everything sounded great. Yes, both self-publishing companies wanted more money than Amazon’s CreateSpace, and more than most of any of the other companies on the list. So I conducted a forty-five minute phone interview with each of them, and a week later they called me back to try and rope me in. When I told one of the representatives that I'd decided to go a different direction, he stopped calling, but the other rep has continued to haunt me with at least one call a week. Annoying.

During each second conference the reps answered my questions. One of their claims was that if the parent company liked my work my book might get picked up. Hm. I asked, “How many of your self-published authors actually get picked up by your parent company?” That’s a good question, one of the reps said and went on to tell me that they actually hadn’t been in business long enough to make that determination. Aha. After we hung up, I then did a Google search for writers' reviews of both of these “new” companies lounging under elite corporate umbrellas. There were no good ones! I read nothing but complaints for both of them, things like royalty structure not turning out to be as good as represented by the company. On the other hand, writers who reviewed Amazon's CreateSpace had plenty of accolades. Not only that but I spoke with two people who've already produced a book with CS, and both parties were positive.

That alone helped me make up my mind to use CreateSpace. It has been in the self-publishing business the longest, and its people seem to have the details worked out. When they offer you a service, you can count on it being worth the money. In addition to these larger companies WD’s list includes a number of smaller companies that offer self-publishing at bargain prices. It’s up to you to research the ones you are interested in and make the initial contact. Prepare a set of questions in advance so that when you speak to a sales rep, you’ll be set. And who knows? Maybe you will decide to go with one of the bigs! Best of luck.

NEXT TIME: MY BOOK WORLD
NEXT THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18: DIY PUBLISHING 101-C
NEXT FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19: NEW YORKER FICTION 2014

New Yorker Fiction 2014

9/4/2014

THE WRITER'S WIT
The novelist hasn't any right to inflict on the public his private ideas on politics, race, or religion.
Frank Yerby
Born September 5, 1916

All in the Details

Jenny Hueston

September 8, 2014, Thomas McGuane, “Motherlode”: David Jenkins, a cattle breeder in his twenties, is coerced into driving Ray, an old man, out into the Montana countryside to meet up with a young woman Ray has become acquainted with online. ¶ With McGuane writing seems to be all about details, sensory details. The story begins in such a way that it could go in five different directions: is it about cattle geneticists out of Oklahoma, ranch clients, a dog with a first-class stamp on its butt, an old man (Ray) who ostensibly has come to Jordan, Montana, to do some comet watching? ¶ Ah, no. In short order Ray points a gun at young David and says they’re headed out of town to a ranch so that he can meet up with the woman he’s met online. I won’t spoil the fun or exploit the danger, but no one hits the motherlode in this story—it’s all about getting there, arriving at the end of it alive. I’m speaking of the reader, of course. Gallatin Canyon is one of McGuane’s most recent books.
Jenny Hueston, Photograph

NEXT TIME: MY BOOK WORLD

DIY Publishing 101-A

9/3/2014

A WRITER'S WIT
You can make an audience see nearly anything, if you yourself believe in it.
Mary Renault
Born September 4, 1905

Taking the Plunge

Since 2005 twenty literary journals have published my short stories, and I've featured a number of them under the "Published Stories" page of my website. The conventional wisdom has always been that after one has published at least fifteen stories, one then seeks to publish them as a collection. Well, as conventions go, this one now stands on its head. Companies are usually willing to publish a writer’s collection only after he or she has premiered a novel, preferably a best-selling one—and often editors would prefer that the stories be linked, making a collection seem more like . . . guess what . . . a novel. They sell better.

Short story collections have always sold "poorly," but prior to the turn of the century (this one), publishers had used the sales of their best sellers to subsidize what they called mid-list writers: solid writers, who didn't draw wide audiences but had respectable sales. I wouldn't presume to say that I'm equal to one of those, but several times in the last few years I've almost placed a collection, and yet, for one reason or another certain independent presses passed—while claiming to like my work! Painful. Then I read a short article—"Presto Book-O (Why I Went Ahead and Self-Published)"—at The Rumpus by fiction writer, Steve Almond. He'd already published several collections but decided to publish a collection himself. I believe he makes some great points.

Almond's words inspired me, some years later—I'm not the most courageous person in the world—and my short story collection, My Long-Playing Records and Other Stories will be out later this year. Before that time the PDFs of my stories will come down off the "Published Stories" page of my website, and if interested parties wish to read them they will then have an opportunity to buy a copy of those stories from Amazon. Yes, I chose to go with Amazon's CreateSpace, which will produce the book and the Kindle version, as well. In the coming weeks, though I'm sure other writers have already done this, I will be posting my experiences—from researching companies to seeing the manuscript edited and uploaded to selecting artwork for the cover. All the heartache and love of seeing my work come to fruition—just the way I envision it! As Rachel Maddow says, "Watch this space!"

NEXT TIME: NEW YORKER FICTION 2014
NEXT THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11: DIY PUBLISHING 101-B

Photography

9/2/2014

A WRITER'S WIT
As one went to Europe to see the living past, so one must visit Southern California to observe the future.
Alison Lurie
Born September 3, 1926

Texas Tech University Museum District

For the last two summers Ken and I have made a thirty-minute stroll every morning through the grounds of three museums/galleries: The Texas Tech University Museum, The National Ranching Heritage Museum, and the International Cultural Center (great gallery inside). Not only is it healthful exercise, but the walk is a pretty one, unfettered (mostly) by traffic. The photos below help to capture some of the charm.

The Brain Again

9/1/2014

A WRITER'S WIT
Of course, that was the thing about Washington, really; you didn’t have to be born to anything, you could just buy your way in.
Allen Drury, from his novel *Advise and Consent*
Born September 2, 1918

My Book World

Nussbaum, Paul David. Save Your Brain: 5 Things You Must Do to Keep Your Mind Young and Sharp. New York: McGraw Hill, 2010.

In March I posted a profile of Norman Doidge’s book The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science. It was concerned with how the brain can, through certain training, be changed. It contained a number of sections about individuals who had overcome physical or mental difficulties through certain brain training.

Nussbaum’s book is different in that it offers certain prescriptions for helping one to see that one’s brain can retain plasticity as we grow older. The brain does not have to atrophy, as once was the common thinking. I found the book helpful for a number of reasons. One, the author distills some complex information into something we can all understand. Two, for each of the five things we must do, he offers simple but effective ways to increase our brain power as we age.

Nussbaum’s develops five critical areas: 1) Socialization 2) Physical Activity 3) Mental Stimulation 4) Spirituality and 5) Nutrition. He then tells how each one of these concepts is important and what we need to do to optimize each area. For example, he makes it clear under nutrition that the brain must have certain fats to thrive, and not the kind that comes from chips and fries. Under spirituality, he makes the case that regular meditation, prayer, or other types of mental rest and reflection help the brain to take a break from its rigors.

I wish I’d had this book when I was in my thirties; I might be much smarter now. Kidding. But I do think, from what Nussbaum says, that it’s never too late. One of his most important points is that taking care of the brain helps to build a mental reserve, which helps to fight off or delay dementia. Each one of the five areas is important and works in conjunction with the others. If you’re curious about how your brain works or how to stave off old age, this book may be a good place to begin.

One other point Nussbaum makes repeatedly is that we must continue to learn things that are “novel and complex” for us. For me, I ought to learn sign language because I’ve never done anything like that before. For others, it might be trying to learn a new camera or studying a musical instrument. The task must be novel and complex for the individual. Take up knitting if you’re normally all thumbs!

Brain Training Not Draining

Ten weeks ago, I began “brain training” at Lumosity.com. For a nominal annual fee you and up to four others (a "family") can train in the areas of memory, speed, flexibility, attention, and problem solving. Training comes in the form of “games.” For example, in the area of problem solving, one exercise asks you key in from your number pad the answers to simple math problems that are falling down the screen inside “raindrops.” You have to key in the answer to a problem before it hits the water. Of course, the difficulty of the problems increases, and the number of problems you must solve increases, and at a faster pace. If you’ve always relied entirely on the calculator to balance your checkbook, say, then it isn’t that you don’t know the answers to simple math problems . . . it’s just that if you’re not accustomed to doing math in your head on a regular basis, your speed may not be that good at first. Plop!

At the beginning of my training I took a test that provided a baseline for my brain’s condition, and then just recently, after ten weeks, I took another test. I was pleased with the results. By training three to five times a week, my score went up nine points. I shan’t say where I began. But I have begun to notice subtle differences in my life. When I’m attempting to learn a new piece on the piano, the memorization seems to be coming faster. Only time will tell if the training will help me make even more improvement, but I plan to continue!

NEXT TIME: FIRST INSTALLMENT OF DIY PUBLISHING

New Yorker Fiction 2014

Hot Time in Tucson

DIY Publishing 101-C

Do It Yourself or Use Company "Services"?

A Rose by the Name of Macaulay

My Book World

New Yorker Fiction 2014

A Long Way to Ireland

DIY Publishing 101-B

False Promises

Selecting the Right Company for You

New Yorker Fiction 2014

All in the Details

DIY Publishing 101-A

Taking the Plunge

Photography

Texas Tech University Museum District

The Brain Again

My Book World

Brain Training Not Draining

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