Saturday, September 28, 2013

The Road Less Taken?
     Eons ago, writers sat at desks, writing on yellow pads, then transcribing their manuscripts to typewriters and bundling them up to ship their precious words and thoughts via snail mail to publishers and agents who sat in their ivory towers of literary power. Then the interminable wait began, only to be followed by the usual rejection letter and the lengthy process began once more.
     Well...that was then, this is now. In the new world of ebooks, boutique publishers, online publishing companies, the sad reality that many brick and mortar book stores are going under, and mind shattering technology, there are infinite choices available to writers all over the world. Each of us, as writers, are so involved in advertising, publicizing and making creative decisions that it's hard at times to find the time to actually sit down and write.
     I was a principal and a teacher for forty years. The 10-12 hours a day I put in left me little time to follow my muse although I still wrote...I couldn't help it. After retirement, I turned to writing every day. For two and a half years, I sent in query letter after query letter, summary, synopsis, and requested chapter after unrequested chapter out to any agent in my genre that I could find listed in the Writers' Guide or online. I finally got tired of it. Although not particularly computer/technology savvy, I forced myself to learn how to create my own covers, transfer my stories to HTML and then publish on Amazon at the Kindle Store. I had been a successful artist in oils in a past life, so I had fairly good basic drawing skills. I used my own art in some of the covers as well. Now, several years later and with nineteen e-books at the Kindle Store and a check every month coming in, I feel better about who I am as a writer. I'm still learning the ins and outs about marketing and advertising but I I'm working at it...getting better (hopefully) as I go along. I have a hard time with self-promotion...I always believed a person's craft should speak for them. But I'm learning. It's a matter of pride at this point.
     One can only imagine the fascinating stories that many writers have to tell about their wandering through the maze of modern day writing/publishing/publicizing. I for one, would love to hear your story. Please, feel free to add a summary of your personal journey here on this blog. Let's share where we are and where we're going!
     What's your story? 

Thursday, September 26, 2013

To Blog or Not to Blog
     Funny thing, as I began my first meager attempts at blogging, other writers around me online began discussing whether they blog or not. It's an interesting issue, perhaps more of a dilemma for some. I understand the issues. If you take time to blog, you take time away from writing. Blogging means learning yet another technological skill. Blogging is a whole different type of writing from what most of us are accustomed to. But then again, blogging is writing...it's just not writing on the story that you're presently working on.
    So, it seems that writers have a wide variety of perspectives on blogging. Some feel they don't need to or want to, that they would rather spend their time on the stories they are working on. Others feel that blogging gives them an opportunity to reach out to their faithful readers, let their fans know a bit more about them as a person, and feel a closer bond to their writing. Still others feel that it is something that will increase their exposure, a free way of advertising and a way to expand their readership base. Still others see a blog as a way to give out clues to upcoming stories and share their personal and professional triumphs and day-to-day activities. Others do it with a true sense of delight and enthusiasm.
     One thing I do know: whatever a writer's reasoning for writing or not writing a blog, that's their personal conviction and should be respected and honored. Blogging is as personal and as varied as anything else a person does. It speaks to the innate essence of one.
     Now, you might ask, what about me and blogging? Well, the dragons and I have taken the giant step into cyberspace and we will write a blog. It won't be fancy. It won't be as inspiring or as stunning as some of the beautifully crafted and written blogs that are out there. It will contain bits of who I am and where I come from. It will talk about the characters from my stories. It will shed some light on how my stories are written and why I write. It will speak personally to those that read my small stories and give them some insights that they won't find in the books. It will reveal as much about me as it does about my stories and characters...how could it not? It will get better over time, because that's what the dragons and I do. We work at something and get better at it.  We grind away at things. We pride ourselves of getting whatever we do right. We're kind of like the turtle in the Aesop's Fable, The Tortoise and the Hare. Slow but steady wins the race. 
     I truly hope you stop by and read our blog from time to time. Who knows? It might even have a few wise sayings from my grandpas and grandmas and a reminder or two that life is way too short to be too serious about ourselves.
     I hope you have a great day...and the dragons do as well... 
   

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

   

     Have you ever dreamed of soaring upon the back of a great Battle Dragon or Empress Dragon? The Dragon World Series has six titles at this point and is available as ebooks at the Kindle Store, Amazon.com for $2.99 each. The series describes a wild, rugged and lusty world of Dragons, Dragon riders, barbarians, warriors, wizards and black sorceress. It is a world of great contrasts, vast deserts, towering snow covered  mountains, lush jungles, eerie swamps and beautiful tropical islands. There is an intense, elemental battle between the forces of good and evil that sharpens all emotions, loves, lusts, and encounters. It is a world not for the faint hearted. Come to the World of Rupar!
     As the dragons and I stick our toe into blogging (sounds almost obscene, doesn't it?) the first hurdle appears to be the layout of the blog itself. So, I'm sure there will be some trial and error. If any of you who read this have suggestions, please, offer them. I'm smart enough not to re-invent the wheel. Or at least I hope I am. I'm certain the dragons are.
    Several of you have asked about the dragons. Well, I'm part Scottish and when my wife, Carolyn and I visited England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales a few years ago a small wizened old man sitting on a rock wall in a small village wished me a Scottish blessing, "...may the dragons watch over you...".  Now for most of my life I had dreamed up and written fantasy stories with dragons in them. So, the phrase fit and stuck. Now, I wish people "may the dragons watch over you" as my way of saying good luck and may the fates be kind to you.
     If you haven't checked out the Dragon World Series at the Kindle Store on Amazon.com, you'll find six stories about the wild, rugged and lusty world of Rupar. (The beginning volume is entitled Dragon World: Dragon Magic)  That's where my dragons live, love and roam!
     Anyway, as the dragons and I try and figure out this blogging thing, I ask your patience. Writing isn't a problem, putting in a format and display that is pleasing and not altogether annoying for the poor reader: that's the challenge.
     My little grandma (she wasn't much more than four foot ten) always told me that the best way to deal with something was to simply do it, and then fix what you had to as you went along. So, I'll stick with her advice.
     May your day be a good one, and may the dragons watch over you.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

My first blog

Welcome!

     Welcome to my first blog. Blog. What an interesting term. Being of the pre-computer, pre-technology generation (yes, I'm that old) means I've seen a great number of changes...and I'm now trying keep up with them. Thus the blog. I've been told all writers have blogs. So, here we are. Once I get comfortable with the format and post regularly, it will cease to be a novelty. Who knows, I might even get good at it. It is, after all, writing. And that's what I do now.
     I ask your patience as I get the bones of all this together, and thank you for your kindness and friendship. By the way...the twelfth volume of The Falls small town mystery series is coming along well. The Falls: Revenge will be at the Kindle Store, Amazon.com within the next few weeks! Clues to the plot will be coming up soon.
     Until the next post, may the dragons watch over you...