Hitting the Reset Button
Since you are reading this, you know that I last added to this blog on August 3rd, 2016. That's six months ago and then some. This post is my mea culpa. I want to get all the broken issues out of the way so that I can get back to doing what I love to do - writing and drawing. Please hang with me for a few paragraphs, and if you like what you read please sign up and follow this blog.
I'm doing my taxes and came across the paperwork for my home business. Frankly, it needs a great deal of work. I want to do a lot better in 2017 than I did in 2016. I have a lot of ideas in my head and scattered through my PC but I have never really put real effort into getting it organized. I have broken websites galore that I sometimes fuss over but never get anything done about it. I have a sort of finished book that is gathering dust. I have artwork but don't take the time to promote or sell it. So - 2017 is the year I make a real go of it.
I am laying out a business model to help guide me through it, starting with my name.
My Name - Such a simple thing, but I have used so many different names on my work, mostly because my name is so ordinary. I can't even steal from my wife, who's maiden name is Jones. My full formal name is Charles Wayne Bell Jr. Should I use it? The short form is Charlie Bell. Both are very common names. What about Charlie Bell Winningham, from my Mom's side of the family? Eh, not really. Umm, Charlie Bell Jr? Sigh. I grew up being called Junior, which was okay for a kid, but not an adult. The one I like the most isn't even my name: J Walker Bell. "Walker" comes from another thread of our families. The only published work I have online is a short story collection with that name on the title. Thinking on it, I decided to stay with the formal name most people know me by: Charles W Bell, and "Charlie Bell" among friends and family.
So, here is my business model: I am an independent writer and artist. The focus of my work is in science fiction/fantasy and abstract art.
Title: Charles W Bell
Author and Artist
Brief Biography:
I am a published author of several science fiction and fantasy short stories that have long gone out of circulation. I have an unpublished novel that has lain dormant for close to two years. That is sobering and embarrassing, but facts are facts.
I can't recover the past. But it's not all bad. The artist side of me woke up recently. In 2016 I published a booklet showcasing my unique abstract coloring book titled "Uniquely Original Art Coloring Book for Adults." I made some sales. It was a start. I am currently working on "The Gitmo Project," which is a true story about the three years I spent as a child in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
These are just pieces. I need to bring it all together into a plan I can make work. My goals are simple:
(1) Publish my novel "The Majik of Spark."
(2) Expand and promote my abstract artistic work. I am planning a second coloring book of abstract art. In addition, I have had some success including a personal touch by adding a name for a small additional price. Another idea I am working on would present themed coloring books, such as monsters, flowers, flying things, etc, taken from earlier work tied to the same theme.
(3) Continue to meet with writer's groups and participate in events. I miss too many meetings, and my goal is to participate more often. Please poke and prod at me when I fail. I have a terrible memory and every device I've tried to use to keep track of appointments has given up in frustration. But I try.
(4) Continue to do public readings whenever possible. The writer's group has a schedule of events where public readings are given. I should be looking for more opportunities along those lines.
(5) Dust off this writer's blog and work to expand my followers. Before I go, I'd like to add one more introduction. I started calling my blog "The Jadedwalker" back when I was using the pen name J Walker Bell. I also created a gnome-like image of the same name. The JadedWalker is a form of meme I've kept through many phases of my writing. He is my anchor amid the flood of miss-directions I've taken over many years of writing. I continue to learn from him. And from you.
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
The South Bay Scribes
The South Bay Scribes
I can't put my finger on the precise date, but somewhere along the way I wandered off the path and away from my focus on writing. My last post here was in March, a distant five months ago. My novel, "The Majik of Spark," is finished but hasn't found an agent. The plan to self-publish remains an idea, not an action. I wrote a new story, "The Royal Gramma." It was well received in our writer's group, but other than losing a writer's contest it lays fallow.
During my five month haitus our writer's group drifted apart following the tragic death of our leader, Gerardo. Most of the original group I belonged to simply stopped coming and I eventually lost track of them. The South Bay Scribes took me in, led by Charlie Berigan. I felt immediately comfortable with the new group. The jokes about how to discern between the two Charlie's when getting our attention grew, and to this moment we both still respond to any and all form's of "Charlie." One member of Gerardo's group also came to the South Bay Scribes, Robert, and he also helped draw me into the group, for which I'm grateful.
I met many new friends and they soon got to know me, my writing, and my penchant for endlessly doodling during the meetings. My "doodling" morphed into a sort of artform and the more artistic in the group, like Susan, took my better pieces and fit them into our chap books. I can now say I'm both writer and artist.
My artwork has recently taken a new direction. I'm not sure who to give the credit to, but whoever it was showed me a coloring book for adults. I was fascinated, and did some research. The patterns used in virutally every book I checked was nice, but repetitive. Most books were based on the same set of patterns.
I can do that, was my first reaction. My second reaction was, I can do it better, with patterns that are unique and original, not cookie-cutter. I am now working on marketing my "Uniquely Original Art Coloring Book for Adults."
I can't put my finger on the precise date, but somewhere along the way I wandered off the path and away from my focus on writing. My last post here was in March, a distant five months ago. My novel, "The Majik of Spark," is finished but hasn't found an agent. The plan to self-publish remains an idea, not an action. I wrote a new story, "The Royal Gramma." It was well received in our writer's group, but other than losing a writer's contest it lays fallow.
During my five month haitus our writer's group drifted apart following the tragic death of our leader, Gerardo. Most of the original group I belonged to simply stopped coming and I eventually lost track of them. The South Bay Scribes took me in, led by Charlie Berigan. I felt immediately comfortable with the new group. The jokes about how to discern between the two Charlie's when getting our attention grew, and to this moment we both still respond to any and all form's of "Charlie." One member of Gerardo's group also came to the South Bay Scribes, Robert, and he also helped draw me into the group, for which I'm grateful.
I met many new friends and they soon got to know me, my writing, and my penchant for endlessly doodling during the meetings. My "doodling" morphed into a sort of artform and the more artistic in the group, like Susan, took my better pieces and fit them into our chap books. I can now say I'm both writer and artist.
My artwork has recently taken a new direction. I'm not sure who to give the credit to, but whoever it was showed me a coloring book for adults. I was fascinated, and did some research. The patterns used in virutally every book I checked was nice, but repetitive. Most books were based on the same set of patterns.
I can do that, was my first reaction. My second reaction was, I can do it better, with patterns that are unique and original, not cookie-cutter. I am now working on marketing my "Uniquely Original Art Coloring Book for Adults."
Thursday, March 3, 2016
Writer's Digest 2015 Short Story Competition Results
Writer's Digest 2015 Short Story Competition Results
The results are in and my entry, "The Royal Gramma" did not win any prizes. There were over 6,700 entries. Quoting, the "winner's names will be made public when they appear in the July/August 2016 issue of Writer's Digest magazine. Afterwards, their names and story titles will be posted at www.writersdigest.com. The competition collection has a May 2016 publication date and we anticipate that we will begin mailing in June."
So there we are. I'm disappointed, of course. More than disappointed. I really thought the story worthy of publication. This isn't the end, and I will be working on finding a home for the story.
In other news I am actively working on the "Song of Chord." This is the second book following "The Majik of Spark." The first book is still making the rounds of publishers and literary agents. I am also considering a shorter work based on the trilogy as a means to get more interest in the novel. I'm exploring a number of possibilities.
The results are in and my entry, "The Royal Gramma" did not win any prizes. There were over 6,700 entries. Quoting, the "winner's names will be made public when they appear in the July/August 2016 issue of Writer's Digest magazine. Afterwards, their names and story titles will be posted at www.writersdigest.com. The competition collection has a May 2016 publication date and we anticipate that we will begin mailing in June."
So there we are. I'm disappointed, of course. More than disappointed. I really thought the story worthy of publication. This isn't the end, and I will be working on finding a home for the story.
In other news I am actively working on the "Song of Chord." This is the second book following "The Majik of Spark." The first book is still making the rounds of publishers and literary agents. I am also considering a shorter work based on the trilogy as a means to get more interest in the novel. I'm exploring a number of possibilities.
Friday, January 15, 2016
Writer's Digest Short Story Contest
Writer's Digest Short Story Contest
Writer's Digest does an annual short story competition for all genres. The only rule is that the story has to be under 1500 words. The first place winner of the competition receives $3,000. The top twenty-five submissions will also receive at least $25. The most important prize, though, is that the top ten submissions will be published.
I have several projects in work, but the story I felt was the best for the contest takes me back to the late 1960's when we lived on the Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. When I first started writing the story, I didn't think I had enough content to get close to the 1500 word limit. I should have known better. In writing the non-fiction story about the three years we lived there, I began to remember more and more. Soon, I was struggling to keep the story under those 1500 words.
Judi came to the rescue by pointing out that there was an episode in the story that didn't fit. I liked that episode, which was funny and scary at the same time. On second reading, though, it was obvious that it interupted the flow of the story and did not add to the central theme. The result is a better story - and cutting that scene brought the story back under the word count restriction.
The name of the story is "The Royal Gramma." I sent the story to the Writer's Digest contest. The contest closed on 15 January, and winners will be announced sometime in February.
Writer's Digest does an annual short story competition for all genres. The only rule is that the story has to be under 1500 words. The first place winner of the competition receives $3,000. The top twenty-five submissions will also receive at least $25. The most important prize, though, is that the top ten submissions will be published.
I have several projects in work, but the story I felt was the best for the contest takes me back to the late 1960's when we lived on the Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. When I first started writing the story, I didn't think I had enough content to get close to the 1500 word limit. I should have known better. In writing the non-fiction story about the three years we lived there, I began to remember more and more. Soon, I was struggling to keep the story under those 1500 words.
Judi came to the rescue by pointing out that there was an episode in the story that didn't fit. I liked that episode, which was funny and scary at the same time. On second reading, though, it was obvious that it interupted the flow of the story and did not add to the central theme. The result is a better story - and cutting that scene brought the story back under the word count restriction.
The name of the story is "The Royal Gramma." I sent the story to the Writer's Digest contest. The contest closed on 15 January, and winners will be announced sometime in February.
Monday, December 7, 2015
The Writer's Market
The Writer's Market
The novel "The Majik of Spark" is finished and got it's first look by a literary agent at the San Diego Writer's Workshop on October 9th. The details can be found in the October 10th post. In a nutshell, the agent, Jennifer Azantian, liked my pitch and requested I send a formal query letter.
Jennifer responded to the query letter on November 12th. In her response she said: "I found your story to be very strong and truly believe you're quite talented." Then she politely said no, the book wasn't right for her, and wished me all the best.
Finishing the book was my first milestone as a writer. The second milestone was getting the attention of a literary agent. Now I have a third milestone - my first rejection letter.
I consider that positive news. Using tools such as the Writer's Market book (and it's online version, writersmarket.com) published annually by Writer's Digest, I am building a list of literary agents and publishers that might be interested in the book.
My first search on the website for literary agents turned up forty. I am working my way through those listings and will report on how that goes.
I'm still writing, of course. The advice I've been given from several sources is NOT to go right into working on the second book of my trilogy. Should the first book not fair so well, few if any would be interested in part two. Well, I can't help but work on the second book, at least part time.
I am branching out, though. I have two short stories in progress, and maybe it will surprise readers to know neither is fantasy or science fiction. The first story has the working title of "Belefonte's Device" and began its life as a science fiction story. When I pitched the idea to my wife, she asked a very good question. "Do you always have to write fanatasy and sci-fi stuff?"
My knee jerk answer is yes, I always write fantasy and sci-fi. But then I took another look at the story, which centers on two friends in their sixties, Nathan and Madge. It didn't take much thinking to see that the story could be better told as straight fiction, and that's now my approach.
My very smart wife also suggested I should write something closer to home. I knew almost immediately what I wanted to write about. In 1968 my Dad was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mom, Dad, me, and my two brothers lived there for three years. I remember very little of my childhood, but the three years I lived in "Gitmo" from the age of twelve to fourteen stand out in great detail in my mind. So I can now add a non-fiction story to my list of projects.
The novel "The Majik of Spark" is finished and got it's first look by a literary agent at the San Diego Writer's Workshop on October 9th. The details can be found in the October 10th post. In a nutshell, the agent, Jennifer Azantian, liked my pitch and requested I send a formal query letter.
Jennifer responded to the query letter on November 12th. In her response she said: "I found your story to be very strong and truly believe you're quite talented." Then she politely said no, the book wasn't right for her, and wished me all the best.
Finishing the book was my first milestone as a writer. The second milestone was getting the attention of a literary agent. Now I have a third milestone - my first rejection letter.
I consider that positive news. Using tools such as the Writer's Market book (and it's online version, writersmarket.com) published annually by Writer's Digest, I am building a list of literary agents and publishers that might be interested in the book.
My first search on the website for literary agents turned up forty. I am working my way through those listings and will report on how that goes.
I'm still writing, of course. The advice I've been given from several sources is NOT to go right into working on the second book of my trilogy. Should the first book not fair so well, few if any would be interested in part two. Well, I can't help but work on the second book, at least part time.
I am branching out, though. I have two short stories in progress, and maybe it will surprise readers to know neither is fantasy or science fiction. The first story has the working title of "Belefonte's Device" and began its life as a science fiction story. When I pitched the idea to my wife, she asked a very good question. "Do you always have to write fanatasy and sci-fi stuff?"
My knee jerk answer is yes, I always write fantasy and sci-fi. But then I took another look at the story, which centers on two friends in their sixties, Nathan and Madge. It didn't take much thinking to see that the story could be better told as straight fiction, and that's now my approach.
My very smart wife also suggested I should write something closer to home. I knew almost immediately what I wanted to write about. In 1968 my Dad was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mom, Dad, me, and my two brothers lived there for three years. I remember very little of my childhood, but the three years I lived in "Gitmo" from the age of twelve to fourteen stand out in great detail in my mind. So I can now add a non-fiction story to my list of projects.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
Writing On The Go
Writing On The Go
I still do most of my writing at my desk on a desktop computer. Lately, though, I've been considering getting a portable device so that I can write wherever I happen to be. The choices are numerous and continue to expand.
First off, I should describe the not-so-current system and devices I have now. For those with all the newest gadgets, you may need to hold your nose and roll your eyes at my "setup."
The desktop is an Intel Velocity Micro Edge Z40 running Windows 7 with a 250GB SSD drive, a number of external drives and a 21" HD monitor. Not flashy, but stable and gets the job done. The very few problems I've had were handled superbly by my favorite local PC store, MPC Electronics in Chula Vista, CA.
http://www.mpcelectronics.com/home.php
I bucked the Apple bandwagon (favored by my iPhone spouse) and use an older model LG smart phone (identical to the Galaxy 5). Works for me.
I also have a Lenova Windows 8.1 tablet that I never really got comfortable using. The detachable keyboard and wireless mouse worked fine, but other connections for HDMI, USB, microUSB, etc were poorly placed which quickly became irritating. The Windows 8.1 touchscreen was also difficult to manage and maddeningly vague about how to navigate it. Okay, so some of that is from my own inexperience with touch screen tablets. I hoped the Lenova would help me get over that, but it didn't. When the battery utterly failed, that was the end.
Since the main reason for getting a second device is to write in places other than at my desk, I considered getting a small, inexpensive wireless laptop that I could use anywhere. There are any number of those and I may still wind up settling on one of them. As a secondary desire, I am very interested in checking out the now available Windows 10. I could use the laptop to get comfortable with the new operating system before trying to upgrade my PC. In other words, I'm not going to screw up my PC by attempting to upgrade the OS to Win 10 until I really knew I could do it safely.
I dug deeper, looking to see what else is out there that might fit my needs. I came across this recent article:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2911098/computers/mini-pc-invasion-10-radically-tiny-computers-that-fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand.html
The PC World article reviews 14 tiny devices that are fully functional computers. Looking through all fourteen, it was the last one on the list that got my attention. The Asus Vivo Stick fits in the palm of your hand, has all the connections you could want, and it runs Windows 10. It's not yet released, but the projected price is $129. I could use the keyboard from the Lenova and connect to any screen with an HDMI connection.
http://www.cnet.com/products/asus-vivo-stick-pc
I want it. Let me know if you use similar devices or know of other good ways to write on the go.
I still do most of my writing at my desk on a desktop computer. Lately, though, I've been considering getting a portable device so that I can write wherever I happen to be. The choices are numerous and continue to expand.
First off, I should describe the not-so-current system and devices I have now. For those with all the newest gadgets, you may need to hold your nose and roll your eyes at my "setup."
The desktop is an Intel Velocity Micro Edge Z40 running Windows 7 with a 250GB SSD drive, a number of external drives and a 21" HD monitor. Not flashy, but stable and gets the job done. The very few problems I've had were handled superbly by my favorite local PC store, MPC Electronics in Chula Vista, CA.
http://www.mpcelectronics.com/home.php
I bucked the Apple bandwagon (favored by my iPhone spouse) and use an older model LG smart phone (identical to the Galaxy 5). Works for me.
I also have a Lenova Windows 8.1 tablet that I never really got comfortable using. The detachable keyboard and wireless mouse worked fine, but other connections for HDMI, USB, microUSB, etc were poorly placed which quickly became irritating. The Windows 8.1 touchscreen was also difficult to manage and maddeningly vague about how to navigate it. Okay, so some of that is from my own inexperience with touch screen tablets. I hoped the Lenova would help me get over that, but it didn't. When the battery utterly failed, that was the end.
Since the main reason for getting a second device is to write in places other than at my desk, I considered getting a small, inexpensive wireless laptop that I could use anywhere. There are any number of those and I may still wind up settling on one of them. As a secondary desire, I am very interested in checking out the now available Windows 10. I could use the laptop to get comfortable with the new operating system before trying to upgrade my PC. In other words, I'm not going to screw up my PC by attempting to upgrade the OS to Win 10 until I really knew I could do it safely.
I dug deeper, looking to see what else is out there that might fit my needs. I came across this recent article:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2911098/computers/mini-pc-invasion-10-radically-tiny-computers-that-fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand.html
The PC World article reviews 14 tiny devices that are fully functional computers. Looking through all fourteen, it was the last one on the list that got my attention. The Asus Vivo Stick fits in the palm of your hand, has all the connections you could want, and it runs Windows 10. It's not yet released, but the projected price is $129. I could use the keyboard from the Lenova and connect to any screen with an HDMI connection.
http://www.cnet.com/products/asus-vivo-stick-pc
I want it. Let me know if you use similar devices or know of other good ways to write on the go.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
Talking with an Agent
Talking with an Agent
Wow! I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. Yesterday I pitched my novel, "The Majik of Spark," to an agent. A real literary agent! I was so nervous I knew I'd forget my pitch. I had a pile of paper notes to keep track of what I wanted to say, though I know I should have memorized it.
Wait. Maybe I should back up a bit. An apology first for disappearing for the last seven months. It's been that long since my last post. That was in March, after I attended the Southern California Writer’s Conference. I had a lot of lofty plans after the conference. In hindsight, I'm okay I didn't get to many of them. Instead, I focused on making the novel better. Not long after the March conference I began to realize my "finished" novel was really more like just the latest version. I kept finding issues in my read throughs, and my wonderful editor, Deb, was put through the ringer fixing grammatical errors and other missteps. I lost count of how many versions we went through before I really felt like it was DONE.
Back to the present. Yesterday, 9 Oct 2015, I went to the San Diego Writers Workshop. This is an intense, one day workshop hosted by San Diego Writer's, Ink. The key reason I went is that the conference offered sessions with real literary agents where I could pitch the book. Out of the many agents available, there were two who represented sci-fi and fantasy works. The sessions are short - ten minutes. The idea is to get practice pitching our work, learn that agents aren't ogres and that they are just as excited meeting us writers as we are to meet them.
One of the agents liked my pitch enough to ask me to submit the first 25 pages of the book. Literary agents see hundreds of pitches and read thousands of query letters from novel toting writers trying to get their books published. Nearly all are rejected. So this is a big step, but I have to remind myself it is only one step.
What happens now? I'll write a query letter. In addition to the 25 pages I'll send a synopsis (a 1-2 page summary of the entire book). She asked that I add the word "Requested" in the query letter, which gets my submission out of the slush pile of other query letters and directly into her hands. I can't ask anymore than that. But I can hope.
PS - If you don't know who this is, this is Charlie Bell. My pen name is J Walker Bell.
Wow! I'm so excited I can barely contain myself. Yesterday I pitched my novel, "The Majik of Spark," to an agent. A real literary agent! I was so nervous I knew I'd forget my pitch. I had a pile of paper notes to keep track of what I wanted to say, though I know I should have memorized it.
Wait. Maybe I should back up a bit. An apology first for disappearing for the last seven months. It's been that long since my last post. That was in March, after I attended the Southern California Writer’s Conference. I had a lot of lofty plans after the conference. In hindsight, I'm okay I didn't get to many of them. Instead, I focused on making the novel better. Not long after the March conference I began to realize my "finished" novel was really more like just the latest version. I kept finding issues in my read throughs, and my wonderful editor, Deb, was put through the ringer fixing grammatical errors and other missteps. I lost count of how many versions we went through before I really felt like it was DONE.
Back to the present. Yesterday, 9 Oct 2015, I went to the San Diego Writers Workshop. This is an intense, one day workshop hosted by San Diego Writer's, Ink. The key reason I went is that the conference offered sessions with real literary agents where I could pitch the book. Out of the many agents available, there were two who represented sci-fi and fantasy works. The sessions are short - ten minutes. The idea is to get practice pitching our work, learn that agents aren't ogres and that they are just as excited meeting us writers as we are to meet them.
One of the agents liked my pitch enough to ask me to submit the first 25 pages of the book. Literary agents see hundreds of pitches and read thousands of query letters from novel toting writers trying to get their books published. Nearly all are rejected. So this is a big step, but I have to remind myself it is only one step.
What happens now? I'll write a query letter. In addition to the 25 pages I'll send a synopsis (a 1-2 page summary of the entire book). She asked that I add the word "Requested" in the query letter, which gets my submission out of the slush pile of other query letters and directly into her hands. I can't ask anymore than that. But I can hope.
PS - If you don't know who this is, this is Charlie Bell. My pen name is J Walker Bell.
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