Jun 2009
Finding Criticism
It’s easy to look around and find ten people to read your work and tell you it’s wonderful, or gosh-wow great, or really, really nice but none of that is terribly useful. On the other hand, try to find ten people to give you a thoughtful critique and offer suggestions on how to improve your manuscript. The latter is...Read the entire post
A New Letter
Jun - 29 - 2009Filed in: Writing | Letters to Peter
Since I’m a big fan of deciding things, I took the opportunity to go in and put them to the test. I was greeted by Uncle Jesse (who, it turns out, is not in Hazard County, GA, and not dead, but hiding out in this store) who explained that he sold “a little bit of everything and something for everyone.” I was skeptical but I accepted his challenge.
The first thing I decided was that I would not be buying any of his collection of antique spatulas. Then, although tempting, I also decided against a large stack of neatly folded brown socks (I think they were originally white.) I continued my inspection and judgement upon the moldy little shop and easily placed each item into the “Junk” category until I came upon a small packet of letters stored in a Folgers can.
The letters were an admirable collection of correspondence between members of the Bolington family, many of which dated back over a hundred years. I read through each one with passing interest and considered that in this one case the item in question may be elevated above junk and possibly to the esteemed designation of collectible.
But when I reached the final and oldest letter of the series, I had to admit that Uncle Jesse did in fact have something for me. It was a letter of the late 18th century in which Charles Bolington chanced to cross the trail of Fin Button and saw fit to write of it to his wife, Lucilla.
I purchased the letter for a price that both I and Uncle Jesse considered fair and I have spent much of the time since transcribing it. I’m pleased to be able to present it to you here at The Fiddler’s Gun on the Letters to Peter page. Enjoy.
West Virginia Fiction Award
Jun - 24 - 2009Filed in: Writing
If you've never been to his site you should proceed with all haste to do so. He's got a unique voice and humor and always has something interesting going on.
The updates to The Fiddler's Gun are coming a bit slow this week because I'm on vacation in the mountains of Tennessee. No cell phone service and a really slow internet connection are small prices to pay for a cabin over looking the Cumberland Valley, hikes to local creeks, rivers, and waterfalls, a hot tub on the deck, and a whole lot of my mom's good cooking.
New Letter Transcription
Jun - 22 - 2009Filed in: Story | Letters to Peter
The letter, dated December 19th, 1775, has been precisely transcribed and is presented on the Letters to Peter page.
Going, Going....
Jun - 18 - 2009Filed in: Promotional
I read today in Scott’s Compendium of Collectible Bookmarks that the value of these has tripled just in the first week and their worth is expected to increase exponentially in the next few months. I’m no mathematician* but at that rate of return you might be able to retire in a few months. Get them while they last! Just send me an email (via the Contact page) with your mailing address. Each collectibly misprinted bookmark is guaranteed still warm off the presses and smelling like an old fashioned ditto upon delivery.**
*I never mastered the whole multiply and divide by zero concept
**Guarantee not guaranteed
What's a Salzburger?
But just because the author knows the history of a person or a place doesn’t mean it belongs in the story. A lot of that kind of information gets cut during editing. That doesn’t mean the research was in vain, though. The individual stories and histories behind the persons and places of The Fiddler’s Gun serve to inform the tale in much more subtle ways long after the raw exposition has been excised.
It does make me sad sometimes, though, and one such example is that of the Salzburgers...Read the entire post
Short Fiction: The Stonemason's House
Jun - 16 - 2009Filed in: Story
So I sat down to try to write something similar and this was the result. I’ve given it a fresh edit here to tighten a few screws. Hope you enjoy.
A New Letter Transcribed
Jun - 15 - 2009Filed in: Letters to Peter | Story
I have meticulously transcribed the letter, dated December 14th, 1775, and placed its tale on the Letters to Peter page.
Bookmarks: Collector's Edition
Jun - 11 - 2009Filed in: Marketing | Promotional
My first reaction was to call and complain but then I remembered how I declined the option to have a proof sent before the printing. I bet they did it on purpose.
It’s only a first printing of a hundred and it didn’t cost much so I can’t really complain. I guarantee I’ll say yes to that proof option next time though.
But all is not lost. Like anyone who’s ever collected stamps or coins knows, flaws are not always a bad thing, not when they are the fault of the manufacturer. Yes, that’s right, the print error on these bookmarks has rendered them rare collector’s items. They will probably be worth hundreds one day, if not millions. Hundreds and millions of what? I’m not at liberty to say.
If you want one, send me an email with your address. Guaranteed in mint condition*.
*not liable for folding, crumpling, wetting, or other detriment caused by the postal service.
Origin of the Story
The real story, if you choose to believe it, is that some years ago I decided to try something different for Christmas. Simply buying gifts and handing them out wrapped in plaid paper had grown too ordinary. That’s when I thought, “Ah hah! I shall build treasure chests and fill them with gifts and bury them!”...Read the entire post
Short Fiction
Some may have noticed a new webpage link in the sidebar entitled “Short Fiction”. While the pieces I plan to post there will not be direct examples of the style of the novel, I do hope they’ll offer a broader portrait of my writing and will help to earn your trust in the quality of the story yet to come.
The first short presented is one I wrote for The Rabbit Room entitled “The Taming of the Toad.” It is very loosely inspired by my experience as a staff member at the Florida Sheriffs Boys Ranch and is not, as I’ve often been asked, autobiographical. I hope you enjoy it.
A New Letter Found
He told me of a collection of aged documents that he’d found some years ago hidden between the pages of an old Gutenburg Bible. The Bible, he assured me, now rests safely in the hands of the local museum but he held onto the documents having no clear idea of what they might be worth or to whom they might be of interest. He related his elation at the discovery of this website and how, with all haste, he sought me out and then bid me come to inspect his documentary treasure.
I did so at once.
Most of the documents in his care were of little note being either unreadable or unremarkable. Most, not all. One among them, although undated and unsigned, seized my interest at once and I have transcribed it and entered it upon the Letters to Peter page of the site.
Come Join the Conversation
I wanted to write a review of it for The Rabbit Room but was a little too overwhelmed by the experience to do it any justice. I did put down a few thoughts though and invited readers to do the same. Head over to the Rabbit Room and add to the conversation. And if you haven’t seen the movie yet, cancel whatever else you’ve got going on this weekend and get thee to a theater.
Bookmarks
Using the character artwork that Chris Koelle did a few years ago I put together a simple 2x6 graphic and a short pitch for the...Read the entire post
A Captain's Log
I hid in a broom closet until they closed and then, under cover of darkness, I snuck into the museum proper to find what I had come for. Having watched Treasure of the Four Crowns last week, I was able to easily avoid the laser alarm system and a rather ingenious nest of booby traps that guarded the logbook. I danced through the laser field like the pasty middle-aged ninja that I am and used a bag of sand to fool the weight-sensitive plate upon which the logbook lay. Then I cut the page in question from the two-hundred-year-old book and left a polite note that I would return it in the near future along with a copy of my library card.
The transcription of this newly acquired log entry can be found on the Letters to Peter page. I hear sirens outside my door.