Sense of Adventure

You may’ve noticed it’s been a while since I’ve posted here (well, I can hope, can’t I?)

I’ve been deluged by reason of having cleverly gotten behind on two writing projects simultaneously. Clearly, this requires skill. It also helps when you get a low-grade infection that saps your energy and dulls your wits for weeks on end.

Anyway … I finally got ‘em both in. One was my latest Annja Creed yarn, which will be entitled The Golden Elephant. I think. First they were calling it The Plunderers. We’ll see when it gets scheduled.

It’s my 90^th novel. I’m about to start 91, also an Annja novel, called (for the moment) Curse of the Golden Buddha. Yes, we got a lot of gold statues goin’ on in Annjaland.

You know what they say: an idol mind is the Devil’s playground.

The other thing I got behind on was rewriting my contribution to Busted Flush, the second volume of a new Wild Cards trilogy in the works. It’s going to be another mosaic novel. Looking cool so far.

The first volume is Inside Straight, which has a great cover. It’s due out February, 2008. If you want to pre-order it, please consider clicking through the above link: it’ll mean I’ll get a cut, and help to keep me off the streets.

More details on the state of the Wild Cards can be found at my Forum.

Oh, and if you want to keep current on Annja’s doings, my latest, Secret of the Slaves, has been out a month.

By the way, I’m trying a new feature: if you hover your cursor over either of the novel links above for a moment, a product preview will magically appear. Not that I’m trying to get you to give me money or anything. Except I am.

… to stand beside me when I write.

When I stop, he’ll ask, “Why?”

If I say, “I’m not sure what happens next,” he’ll nod his bearded head.

If I say, “Well, I just can’t think of the right word - ”

***Zzzap!***

Or if I say, “I don’t know how to end this scene - ”

Brzap!

Or, “I’m not sure this is in character - AIEEE!”

Now, please don’t get the idea I don’t care about my characters staying in character, or the proper ending of scenes, or indeed about getting the right word. These things matter to me a great deal.

But if I let myself worry about these things when I write, I stop myself. Hard. It’s like a hard-charging watchdog hitting the end of his chain.

This - and allied forms of second-guessing myself - is my most destructive habit as a writer. It costs me money and misery.

(more…)

Don’t try to tell me you didn’t. I saw who was there.

Granted, it was in a somewhat obscure location (I had to ask directions; so did the person who came in to read after me.)

But it may be you didn’t miss much. I was off a bit. Flat. The audience (all six of them) were kind. But the response was nothing like what I got at the ASFS reading. Even though I added the element of a soundtrack of Renaissance music, which I still think is a good touch. Although I need to compile a special playlist for the reading that leaves out vocal pieces.

Ah, well. Thanks to those who showed up and heard me out. I don’t think I did justice to my story or to you. It wasn’t from lack of trying: I gave you all I had.

Apparently I just didn’t have much today.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings. As always it’s great seeing old friends at the con…

I just got off the phone with a pleasant young woman reporter for the Weekly Alibi, mentioned below. Her name was Marisa Demarco. In my currently slightly-fuzzed mental state (still battling a low grade infection, which has migrated to my lungs, hopefully on its way out) I’m afraid I got her name wrong.

I hope she’ll be kind enough not to do the same to me.

Anyway, it was all set in motion by Patricia Rogers, a wonderful friend of mine and most of the New Mexico SF community, fans and pros alike (I consider myself both, by the way.) She got the notion she wanted to promote us NM SF authors - a noble notion indeed - so she called up her friend Devin O’Leary, who’s the alibi’s movie columnist as well as a star in some of Scott Phillips’ demented masterpieces. What with Bubonicon on its way in another month (!) or so he talked his editors into doing interviews with some of New Mexico’s dang innumerable science fiction and fantasy authors.

So I got my call as scheduled, and had a nice and what I hope was at least near-coherent conversation with Ms. Demarco. She said the piece is due to come out in the next issue next Thursday. So we shall see.

I have to thank her - as well as for taking the time and trouble to talk to me - for reminding me how scandalously behind I am in updating my online bibliography. I’m, good Lord, five or six books back. Although since I have plenty of actual writing to do before I head out to St. Louis it’s an open question as to whether I’ll actually get the page updated before then. Maybe on the road when I find a wireless node.

Anyway, my thanks to Patricia for heroically taking the trouble to get this rolling, and Devin and Marisa and the alibi. Subject to revocation depending upon what they actually say about me, of course.

Maybe the most commonly-offered, if not outright hackneyed, bit of advice on writing is, “write what you know.”

Screw that.

Write what you love.

Or at least what you like.

What do you want to read? More specifically, what sort of thing do you want to read that you’re not getting enough of?

Why not write that?

There’s a shipload of reasons to do that. First and foremost is: why make it hard on yourself? Or harder on yourself than necessary. Writing’s hard. Otherwise nobody’d be able to make any money at it. If you’re not writing what you love and loving what you write … why bother?

If it doesn’t entertain you, why should it entertain anyone else?

On a related subject - related to the bottom line, your prospect of actually getting anyone to pay to read what you write - if you’re not finding enough of the sort of thing you love to read, isn’t that a ripe old hint there’s an unfilled demand for it? Your demand for it ain’t being filled.

There you go: market research. Absolutely free.

Finally, on a realistic level, unless you’re selling regularly, there are no guarantees you’ll sell what you write - to say the least. So why not enjoy actually writing it as much as possible? At the end you’ll be assured of that much gratification at the very least.

There’s nothing wrong with “writing what you know,” surely. If it’s what you want, really want to write, wonderful. Otherwise - isn’t that what research is for?

I find I get the best results all the way around - personal satisfaction, sales, and fan approval - when I concentrate on writing the kind of thing I really want to read.

As always, your mileage may vary. Try it and see!