May - 28 - 2009Filed in:
Music | Writing | StoryI just had the rare privilege of catching a Pierce Pettis show in Houston. Pierce is one of my favorite storytellers (through song) and one of those rare gems that few people are familiar with but everyone ought to take a chance on. I wrote a short piece about my experience for The Rabbit Room. Anyone who appreciates the precise and economical use of words owes it to themselves to check out his music. Read the post here.Tags: Music, Writing, Story
May - 27 - 2009Filed in:
Story | Writing | MoviesIn the last couple of weeks I’ve seen some very poorly executed movies. Is there anything more frustrating than going into a theater with high expectations and watching for two hours as those hopes are slowly dashed to pieces? Why yes, I’m sure there are things more frustrating but it’s definitely near the top of any reasonable list. It’s right up there with forgetting to do laundry over the weekend and discovering on Monday morning that you’ve got to go to work in whichever clothes are least dirty. Maybe that’s just me.Read the entire postTags: Story, Writing, Movies
May - 26 - 2009Filed in:
Story | Movies | WritingI saw the new Wolverine and Star Trek movies last weekend. One of them was good, one of them wasn’t. I posted some thoughts and gentle mockery over at The Rabbit Room. Okay, maybe some not so gentle mockery as well.
Read the post here.Tags: Story, Movies, Writing
May - 24 - 2009Filed in:
Story | Letters to PeterThis weekend I may or may not have been diving off the coast of Barbados and while I was (or wasn’t) there I may have discovered a heretofore undiscovered shipwreck containing a corroded old 18th century chest from inside of which I may have (just possibly) recovered a rather soggy and chewed at, yet mostly readable, letter from Fin Button. How it came to be inside the chest (which may not even exist) and how that chest came to be aboard a ship sunken and undiscovered in the Carribbean these two hundred years hence, I am not at liberty to reveal.
I am at liberty, however, to reveal the content of said letter, dated November 23rd, 1775, and have transcribed it for you and placed it for public viewing on the Letters to Peter page of this website.Tags: Story, Letters to Peter
May - 19 - 2009Filed in:
Artwork | PublishingI had a meeting a couple of weeks ago with Evie Coates, who is designing the cover, to talk about what direction we wanted to go with the look of the book. I wanted to be sure I was able to communicate clearly what kind of design style I envision for The Fiddler’s Gun so I had some preparation to do. Before the meeting I took a walk through a couple of bookstores looking solely at cover art and noting which ones made me want to pick up a book without regard for who wrote it, what genre it was, or anything else other than ‘the look’. Here are a few covers that really jumped out at meRead the entire postTags: artwork, Publishing
May - 18 - 2009Filed in:
Story | Letters to PeterI’ve just finished transcribing a letter (dated November 13th, 1775) that I discovered when I dug up what appeared to be a crudely marked (yet empty) grave just outside of New Ebenezer, a ghost town in eastern Georgia. Why the letter was buried there, who buried it, and whether or not there was ever an actual body interred may be mysteries we will never uncover.
The letter does, however, shed new light on the matter of Fin’s snuffled boot. It seems a mystery is afoot.Tags: Story, Letters to Peter
May - 13 - 2009Filed in:
Story | Writing | Letters to PeterThe studious reader will have noted the link in the sidebar entitled “Letters to Peter” and quite possibly that reader will have wondered why I write letters to myself and post them here. The answer is that, thankfully, I haven’t written myself at all, or if I have, I haven’t posted it here for eyes other than those of the addressee.
In the narrative of The Fiddler’s Gun, Fin Button has multiple occasions to write letters home to her good friend, Peter LaMee. So in the time leading up to the release of the book, I thought it would be fun to discoverRead the entire postTags: Story, Writing, Letters to Peter
May - 09 - 2009Filed in:
Editing | Writing | PublishingAfter finishing my edit last week, I spent a few more days fidgeting around with the manuscript, re-reading, re-editing, and re-writing various things. I’d written quite a few new scenes during the last few weeks that I felt I should go back and revisit after some time away to make sure they fit together the way I wanted them to and to ensure they didn’t mess up the general rhythm of the manuscript.
I was especially concerned with the last chapter, which had remained almost unchanged throughout the entire evolution of the story. I made some significant changes to...Read the entire postTags: Editing, Writing, Publishing
May - 06 - 2009Filed in:
ArtworkI’m happy to announce that Nashville artist Evie Coates will be designing the cover of The Fiddler’s Gun as well as working in a creative advisor capacity to help guide the overall look and design of the book. If you’ve never seen any of her work then get thee to clicking and go visit this link to check some of it out. While you’re at it check out her blog as well, she’s a wonderful writer (eviecoates.blogspot.com).
Evie’s primary field is the creation of assemblages and I’ve posted pictures of a few of my favorites for you. Aside from assemblage though...Read the entire postTags: artwork, Publishing
May - 04 - 2009Filed in:
Publishing | WritingOne of the issues I ran up against when trying to publish The Fiddler’s Gun traditionally was the question of market and audience. Who is the intended audience? What market is it aimed at? On multiple occasions I got feedback from both agents and editors that indicated they weren’t sure how to handle the book because they weren’t sure where to aim it. That makes a ton of sense to me because I didn’t write it with a demographic in mind. I wrote it for an audience of one: myself.
I wrote a book that I’d always wanted to read but never had. I didn’t set out to write for kids, or young women, or middle-aged men. I set out to create a world and a cast of characters and narrative that would...Read the entire postTags: Writing, Publishing, Marketing
