November News 2014
What happened?
I’ve been somewhat absent from my newsletter/blog for a month. Writing a new novel takes a lot of butt-in-chair time.
The Work-in-Progress. You can see the “timeline” on the cork board.
I’ve heard of National Novel Writing Month for as long as it’s been around. I never thought I would actually do it. I did this time. NaNoWriMo was the impetus I needed to finally write a solid first draft of Token, that YA (Young Adult) work-in-progress that I’ve been telling you about for the last year. I went into the month with four chapters that were not good. I spent some time improving those. I had close to seven thousand words to start. I needed 50,000 words to win (or complete) NaNoWriMo. You see, it’s a national challenge. I probably should point out that now NaNoWriMo is an international challenge. Many people win. I’m not the only one. I have 53,000 words today. There will be more by December 1. I’m officially going to the big TGIF (thank God it’s finished) party at River Oaks Book Store. Yay!!
This is the end of the receipt from a Barnes & Noble in Pasadena. Do you see Deadly Thyme down at the bottom? Whoo! Hoo!
Now, the News:
Denise, Fern, Sarah, Me
November 8 was the Houston Writer’s Guild’s first mini-conference under the new leadership team. The team consists of Denise, Fern, and myself. Denise and Fern are the new owners of the Guild. I am honored they picked me to help them steer the course. Our mini-conference was a rocking success with a good showing of members and new folks anxious to learn the craft of writing. Sarah Cortez an esteemed speaker and winner of many writing awards for her poetry books, was our speaker. People said that the day went by so fast they couldn’t believe it. There was also lots of food with breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack.
Now for the News You Can Use:
March 28 of 2015 we will hold a one day pitch practice conference to help members of HWG get their pitches and presentations ready for the BIG CONFERENCE. At the pre-conference we will have actual agents for members to pitch their novels, and screenplays to. More details to come.
The next big thing is the Amazing 2015 HWG conference. There will be several agents from NYC there. We will have some Texas agents and editors and publishers there. Friends, this is Big Time! There will be agents looking for folks they want to represent to the big six publishers in NYC. There will also be a lot of break-out sessions about how to self-publish, the art of craft, the business of doing it, the “how to” market it. More details to come.
Down on The Farm
One of the things I did do this month besides have some amazing books signings around town was that I took Cora to visit my brother on his farm. We picked vegetables, Jon took us to visit the menagerie, we petted his AKC Siberians, and Jon gave us some eggs (nicer than any from the store). I want to show you some pictures from that day.
And I wanted to show you some artwork that my amazing sis-in-law did. She drew this from composite photos of her trips to Egypt. She painted it with coffee. Okay, you can say “wow” too.
Happy Thanksgiving!
It’s the end of the month and I want to thank you for sticking with me in reading my blog, especially when there are weeks between offerings. I appreciate every one of you. May God richly bless you in this holiday season.
I thank the Lord for His loving kindness, and mercy in keeping our family safe and well.
Don’t eat too much and watch out for the crazy drivers.
Currently reading
The Beggar of Beliefs
The story is framed by a conversation between a writer and his editor. He is explaining his story to the editor who is skeptical.
Never since Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code have I read such a page turning mind-bender as The Beggar of Beliefs. My feet were moving I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.
Freeman, the writer in the story, explains that there are actually parallel universes, ours and Hers. The “Her” is a she-god bent on destroying our world. He knows that there are documents or “writings” that will explain how to defeat the she-god. She is slowly consuming our universe, distorting time, and causing mass death.
His first example of what is happening he shares from documents detailing the poisoning of an entire village in France in 1951. The story is gripping and realistic. There are hints at what is to come for the reader of the book. Freeman’s stories jump from past to 2018 to 2030 and back to 1980.
Time is an invention of man and does not exist as a straight line but instead has not boundry. The future affects the past so therefore the future can change the past. This is how Freeman explains it “…we haven’t really happened. Her (the destructive god) time is overwriting ours…”
Some of the characters in the book are attached to real characters in history, such as Jim Jones and the Guyana mass suicide. One character named Celus Tuther, I never could figure out if he was good or bad. The lady he hung out with, Irene, was definitely one of the bad characters.
The novel’s wrap up left me gasping. This is such a great read. What I really liked was the story within a story within a story. I’m still thinking about it. That is a difficult thing for an author to master well and Mr. Martin Adil-Smith does it.