Just a quick note for those who follow my World of Warcraft blog, called Wild Family Adventures. I had planned to retire that blog, but changed my mind. This blog, the JadedWalker, is my primary blog site. Whenever there is a new post on the Warcraft blog, however, I'll add a link here. That way you don't have to check both.
There is a new post today:
Like I Never Left
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
A Fatalistic view of the 2014 San Diego Padres
A Fatalistic view of the 2014 San Diego Padres
Writing about writing can get a little boring, so I'm going to mix things up a bit and talk about another obsession of mine, and that's baseball. Since I live in the San Diego area, I have grown to love the usually hapless San Diego Padres team. We've lived here since 1999, but it was only in 2012 that we made the decision to become season ticket holders.
After two years as full season ticket holders, we have had to reconsider the number of baseball games we could physically get to as we look toward the 2014 season. We love to go to the games and we have the perfect seats for us. For our third year as season ticket holders, however, we decided to sign up for one of the half-season packages. Instead of 81 home games, we get 41 home games. We can keep the seats we have. One drawback we could have is that we may have to sit somewhere other than our own seats for the opening day game (since a full season ticket holder might get that seat for opening day). We also only get to go to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday games, and while that shouldn't be a problem, it's possible that due to scheduling we could miss a series now and then. All in all, though, we should still get to see at least as many games as we have in the past, for about half the price, although we will have fewer tickets to give to friends.
As for the team itself, the Padres have imploded this season after a promising start. With a record of 57-70, 13 games below .500, the team has a worse record this season than last season (10 games below .500). Just to match last season, the Padres would have to go 19-16 the rest of the way. That doesn't look remotely possible. I think the current team goal is to stay out of last place. The Giants are in last place right now, but only a half game behind us at 56-70.
Looking to next year, the team is mostly made up of young players who the team hopes will improve. Most of our players will be back, so next year's lineup will look much like this years. Given the Padres history, I am taking a fatalistic approach - I love the Padres, but I don't really expect them to win. From that standpoint, here are my predictions for the Padres 2014 lineup (I'll handicap the pitchers later).
Batting 1st: Everth Cabrera (SS) is serving a 50 game suspension for using PEDs (performance enhancing drugs). He was leading the league is stolen bases and was having the best season of his career until his suspension. In 2014, will he be like 2013, or will he revert to his pre-PED output? Prediction: Cabrera will fall from grace, dropping his OBP from .355 to under .330 and slipping back to being a decent but not exceptional shortstop. He'll still steal bases, but he'll struggle to get on base enough win any more stolen base titles.
Batting 2nd: Chase Headley (3B) had a phenomenal year in 2012, hitting 31 homeruns and leading the National league with 115 RBIs. A major disappointment in 2013, he's hit only 8 HRs and driven in just 35. Prediction: He's better than the awful season he's having now, but I don't think he'll ever be the power hitter the team needs, having never hit more than 12 homers in a season before 2012. Chase has good speed and should recover his ability to draw walks, so he could be a decent #2 hitter. If he fails to get on base enough, he could fall as far as 6th or 7th in the lineup. 2013 was going to be the year he earned a big contract, but that has evaporated. He's also going to be 31 years old in 2014, on the cusp of ... well, we'll have to see.
Batting 3rd: Yonder Alonso (1B) wins this spot by default. He's a young 26, and has hit well in his first two years with the club. Alonso can hit for average (.290 recently), but managed only 9 and 6 homers in those years. Not good for a #3 hitter. It's the best the team has, though. Prediction: His batting average will drop as he tries to build up his power numbers, say in the .260-.270 range, but he'll still fall short of 15 HRs.
Batting 4th: Carlos Quentin (LF) is an excellent slugger with a long history if injuries. The Padres paid him a lot of money and we're stuck with him for at least a couple more years. For five straight years he hit more than 20 homers a season (with other teams), but then he joined the Padres in 2012 and his HR totals dropped to 16 and 13. Quentin is hurt and is probably out for the season after playing only 82 games. Prediction: The Padres will have to eat his contract (who would trade for him with his injury history?) even though he he'll be hurt more often than he can play.
Batting 5th: Jedd Gyorko (2B) is the likely #4 hitter when Quentin can't play, but is slated for the five spot in 2014. Gyorko's a rookie, in his first season in the majors, and he has impressed us all with his superb play at secondbase and his level of maturity. He is second on the team in HRs (16) and his .254 batting average should improve over time. Prediction: My favorite player, the 24 year old should have a bright future, although the Padres will find a way to lose him to some other team.
Batting 6th: Nick Hundley is a fine catcher with otherwise modest talents. He's hit a career high 10 homers this season so far, though he is destined to be the backup to 24 year old Yasmani Grandal. Grandal is out for season with injuries and is also a suspended PED user. He hit .297 in 2012 over 60 games, but only .216 in 28 games in 2013. Prediction: Grandal will be the starting catcher in 2014, assuming he's healthy, but his success in college and his rapid rise from the low minors in 2010 to the major leagues in just two years is suspect. Who knows if he has any true talent that isn't PED boosted.
The rest of the lineup is a hodgepodge that changes with every game. The contenders for the last two spots in the lineup are:
Will Venable (OF) is having a career year, if one considers a .263 batting average, 17 homers, and 14 steals to be a "career" year. Asked to bat in the #1 spot with Cabrera suspended, he is getting a lot more at bats than usual. Under normal circumstances the 30 year old is platooned against lefty pitchers. He will be pushed by rookie Jaff Decker (yes, that's spelled correctly) who is getting a good look, though the 23 year old is hitting only .174 in 11 games so far. Prediction: Back to platooning in 2014 for Venable, back to the minor leagues for Decker.
Chris Denorfia (OF) is a solid, competent player who gets his 100-120 games each season. He has a little pop in his bat, some speed on the bases, and steady play. He'll also be turning 33 in 2014.
Alexi Amarista (OF, SS) is a versatile player still young enough (24) to make a future impact, but is projected more as a utility player than a regular with his .243 career batting average and low stolen base totals despite good speed. Prediction: Amarista is young enough and cheap enough and versatile enough to hold on to, but see Logan Forsythe below.
Logan Forsythe (multiple positions) falls into the same Amarista/Venable camp, though he is already 26. Prediction: Either Forsythe or Amarista will be traded; they won't keep both utility players. Jesus Guzman and Kyle Blanks are others wannabes who have yet to show they can hold a spot on the team.
Then there is Cameron Maybin (OF) who has shown glimpses that he can be a fine centerfielder with all the physical skills of a potential superstar: power, speed, strong arm, etc. Staked to a large contract, he's already played in parts of seven seasons though he has yet to see his 27th birthday. The clock is ticking, though, as he fights through injury after injury (out for the season after just 14 games). He's never had a break out season, has never hit more than 9 HRs, and never batted over .264 (.243 career). Yet, he is apparently "still" the great hope of for the team. Prediction: Even when healthy, he doesn't seem to be able to harness all that physical talent. Maybin will always be a "what he could have been" player.
So, there's our 2014 San Diego Padres hitters.
PS - We also rooted for a local little league team in Eastlake who made it to the Little League World Series, and came just one game short of winning the national title.
Writing about writing can get a little boring, so I'm going to mix things up a bit and talk about another obsession of mine, and that's baseball. Since I live in the San Diego area, I have grown to love the usually hapless San Diego Padres team. We've lived here since 1999, but it was only in 2012 that we made the decision to become season ticket holders.
After two years as full season ticket holders, we have had to reconsider the number of baseball games we could physically get to as we look toward the 2014 season. We love to go to the games and we have the perfect seats for us. For our third year as season ticket holders, however, we decided to sign up for one of the half-season packages. Instead of 81 home games, we get 41 home games. We can keep the seats we have. One drawback we could have is that we may have to sit somewhere other than our own seats for the opening day game (since a full season ticket holder might get that seat for opening day). We also only get to go to Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday games, and while that shouldn't be a problem, it's possible that due to scheduling we could miss a series now and then. All in all, though, we should still get to see at least as many games as we have in the past, for about half the price, although we will have fewer tickets to give to friends.
As for the team itself, the Padres have imploded this season after a promising start. With a record of 57-70, 13 games below .500, the team has a worse record this season than last season (10 games below .500). Just to match last season, the Padres would have to go 19-16 the rest of the way. That doesn't look remotely possible. I think the current team goal is to stay out of last place. The Giants are in last place right now, but only a half game behind us at 56-70.
Looking to next year, the team is mostly made up of young players who the team hopes will improve. Most of our players will be back, so next year's lineup will look much like this years. Given the Padres history, I am taking a fatalistic approach - I love the Padres, but I don't really expect them to win. From that standpoint, here are my predictions for the Padres 2014 lineup (I'll handicap the pitchers later).
Batting 1st: Everth Cabrera (SS) is serving a 50 game suspension for using PEDs (performance enhancing drugs). He was leading the league is stolen bases and was having the best season of his career until his suspension. In 2014, will he be like 2013, or will he revert to his pre-PED output? Prediction: Cabrera will fall from grace, dropping his OBP from .355 to under .330 and slipping back to being a decent but not exceptional shortstop. He'll still steal bases, but he'll struggle to get on base enough win any more stolen base titles.
Batting 2nd: Chase Headley (3B) had a phenomenal year in 2012, hitting 31 homeruns and leading the National league with 115 RBIs. A major disappointment in 2013, he's hit only 8 HRs and driven in just 35. Prediction: He's better than the awful season he's having now, but I don't think he'll ever be the power hitter the team needs, having never hit more than 12 homers in a season before 2012. Chase has good speed and should recover his ability to draw walks, so he could be a decent #2 hitter. If he fails to get on base enough, he could fall as far as 6th or 7th in the lineup. 2013 was going to be the year he earned a big contract, but that has evaporated. He's also going to be 31 years old in 2014, on the cusp of ... well, we'll have to see.
Batting 3rd: Yonder Alonso (1B) wins this spot by default. He's a young 26, and has hit well in his first two years with the club. Alonso can hit for average (.290 recently), but managed only 9 and 6 homers in those years. Not good for a #3 hitter. It's the best the team has, though. Prediction: His batting average will drop as he tries to build up his power numbers, say in the .260-.270 range, but he'll still fall short of 15 HRs.
Batting 4th: Carlos Quentin (LF) is an excellent slugger with a long history if injuries. The Padres paid him a lot of money and we're stuck with him for at least a couple more years. For five straight years he hit more than 20 homers a season (with other teams), but then he joined the Padres in 2012 and his HR totals dropped to 16 and 13. Quentin is hurt and is probably out for the season after playing only 82 games. Prediction: The Padres will have to eat his contract (who would trade for him with his injury history?) even though he he'll be hurt more often than he can play.
Batting 5th: Jedd Gyorko (2B) is the likely #4 hitter when Quentin can't play, but is slated for the five spot in 2014. Gyorko's a rookie, in his first season in the majors, and he has impressed us all with his superb play at secondbase and his level of maturity. He is second on the team in HRs (16) and his .254 batting average should improve over time. Prediction: My favorite player, the 24 year old should have a bright future, although the Padres will find a way to lose him to some other team.
Batting 6th: Nick Hundley is a fine catcher with otherwise modest talents. He's hit a career high 10 homers this season so far, though he is destined to be the backup to 24 year old Yasmani Grandal. Grandal is out for season with injuries and is also a suspended PED user. He hit .297 in 2012 over 60 games, but only .216 in 28 games in 2013. Prediction: Grandal will be the starting catcher in 2014, assuming he's healthy, but his success in college and his rapid rise from the low minors in 2010 to the major leagues in just two years is suspect. Who knows if he has any true talent that isn't PED boosted.
The rest of the lineup is a hodgepodge that changes with every game. The contenders for the last two spots in the lineup are:
Will Venable (OF) is having a career year, if one considers a .263 batting average, 17 homers, and 14 steals to be a "career" year. Asked to bat in the #1 spot with Cabrera suspended, he is getting a lot more at bats than usual. Under normal circumstances the 30 year old is platooned against lefty pitchers. He will be pushed by rookie Jaff Decker (yes, that's spelled correctly) who is getting a good look, though the 23 year old is hitting only .174 in 11 games so far. Prediction: Back to platooning in 2014 for Venable, back to the minor leagues for Decker.
Chris Denorfia (OF) is a solid, competent player who gets his 100-120 games each season. He has a little pop in his bat, some speed on the bases, and steady play. He'll also be turning 33 in 2014.
Alexi Amarista (OF, SS) is a versatile player still young enough (24) to make a future impact, but is projected more as a utility player than a regular with his .243 career batting average and low stolen base totals despite good speed. Prediction: Amarista is young enough and cheap enough and versatile enough to hold on to, but see Logan Forsythe below.
Logan Forsythe (multiple positions) falls into the same Amarista/Venable camp, though he is already 26. Prediction: Either Forsythe or Amarista will be traded; they won't keep both utility players. Jesus Guzman and Kyle Blanks are others wannabes who have yet to show they can hold a spot on the team.
Then there is Cameron Maybin (OF) who has shown glimpses that he can be a fine centerfielder with all the physical skills of a potential superstar: power, speed, strong arm, etc. Staked to a large contract, he's already played in parts of seven seasons though he has yet to see his 27th birthday. The clock is ticking, though, as he fights through injury after injury (out for the season after just 14 games). He's never had a break out season, has never hit more than 9 HRs, and never batted over .264 (.243 career). Yet, he is apparently "still" the great hope of for the team. Prediction: Even when healthy, he doesn't seem to be able to harness all that physical talent. Maybin will always be a "what he could have been" player.
So, there's our 2014 San Diego Padres hitters.
PS - We also rooted for a local little league team in Eastlake who made it to the Little League World Series, and came just one game short of winning the national title.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Forward and Back
Saturday (3 Aug 2013) - Forward and Back
Well, I missed my writer's group meeting on Thursday, 1 August. The group had to change the room where they met (there was a dinner meeting of a dentist's group in the room when I got to the library). I didn't get the word. That's the second meeting I've missed due to miscommunication. Or lack of communication. Partly my fault, since I didn't get any contact information from the group during the last meeting, but it would have been nice to have been contacted about the change. The library has a monthly calendar, too, but they hadn't posted the August schedule yet. I should have checked online. However, when I did remember to do that (after driving back home) the schedule showed that the writer's group was meeting on 8 August and 22 August instead of 1 and 15 August (the first and third Thursdays of the month). Since they actually did meet on 1 August, I'm pretty confused. I now have contact information from one of the members and sent an email to the group leader asking for clarification of the meeting schedule.
The "Majik of Spark" took a step forward and a couple of steps back this week. I did a run through of the novel specifically to reset the chapter breaks along more natural lines than the forced method I used when writing them. The result is that I expanded the over-sized original 12 chapters to a more fitting 25 chapters. I like the results.
A second change is going to require some additional work. I am expanding the story by five chapters. I wavered back and forth about where the ending to the novel should be, worried that I would keep adding to it and spilling more of the story into what should be the second book. So, I somewhat arbitrarily cut it off at a convenient stopping point, leaving the troupe of adventurers poised for new challenges at a relatively safe place. Then I started working on the second book.
It didn't take long for me to realize that there was still too much left hanging in Spark that would have to be explained in the second book, and things were just not matching up the way I wanted them to. No amount of stitching things together was working. I had simply ended the book prematurely. Now, I know that sounds like I can't finish the thing and will endlessly add to it. No. The five chapters I am adding each have very specific goals. I know exactly where I want all the various characters to be, and the situation I will leave them in, and these new chapters get them there. Three of the five chapters are in pretty good shape already. I'm not worried about the ending anymore.
Now comes the "step back" part. While I was walking through the book and setting proper chapter breaks, I came across a rather nasty incongruity. It didn't look hard to fix at first, and I tinkered at correcting it for a couple of days. Tinkering was not going to be enough, though. Without going into too much detail, I wrote a whole chapter that was based on information that I had not introduced into the story yet. There are a lot of strings attached to that chapter, so I can't simply move it, nor will it work by trying to introduce that information earlier. I will have to follow several story line threads both forward and back to repair that damage, and it will take some time to do it right.
Well, I missed my writer's group meeting on Thursday, 1 August. The group had to change the room where they met (there was a dinner meeting of a dentist's group in the room when I got to the library). I didn't get the word. That's the second meeting I've missed due to miscommunication. Or lack of communication. Partly my fault, since I didn't get any contact information from the group during the last meeting, but it would have been nice to have been contacted about the change. The library has a monthly calendar, too, but they hadn't posted the August schedule yet. I should have checked online. However, when I did remember to do that (after driving back home) the schedule showed that the writer's group was meeting on 8 August and 22 August instead of 1 and 15 August (the first and third Thursdays of the month). Since they actually did meet on 1 August, I'm pretty confused. I now have contact information from one of the members and sent an email to the group leader asking for clarification of the meeting schedule.
The "Majik of Spark" took a step forward and a couple of steps back this week. I did a run through of the novel specifically to reset the chapter breaks along more natural lines than the forced method I used when writing them. The result is that I expanded the over-sized original 12 chapters to a more fitting 25 chapters. I like the results.
A second change is going to require some additional work. I am expanding the story by five chapters. I wavered back and forth about where the ending to the novel should be, worried that I would keep adding to it and spilling more of the story into what should be the second book. So, I somewhat arbitrarily cut it off at a convenient stopping point, leaving the troupe of adventurers poised for new challenges at a relatively safe place. Then I started working on the second book.
It didn't take long for me to realize that there was still too much left hanging in Spark that would have to be explained in the second book, and things were just not matching up the way I wanted them to. No amount of stitching things together was working. I had simply ended the book prematurely. Now, I know that sounds like I can't finish the thing and will endlessly add to it. No. The five chapters I am adding each have very specific goals. I know exactly where I want all the various characters to be, and the situation I will leave them in, and these new chapters get them there. Three of the five chapters are in pretty good shape already. I'm not worried about the ending anymore.
Now comes the "step back" part. While I was walking through the book and setting proper chapter breaks, I came across a rather nasty incongruity. It didn't look hard to fix at first, and I tinkered at correcting it for a couple of days. Tinkering was not going to be enough, though. Without going into too much detail, I wrote a whole chapter that was based on information that I had not introduced into the story yet. There are a lot of strings attached to that chapter, so I can't simply move it, nor will it work by trying to introduce that information earlier. I will have to follow several story line threads both forward and back to repair that damage, and it will take some time to do it right.
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
When The End is not THE END
Wednesday (31 Jul) - When The End is not THE END
The novel, The Majik of Spark, was officially completed in May, 2013. It came in at 295 pages with twelve very large chapters. I recently went through the book to set more natural chapter breaks, and after that was done I had a twenty-five chapter novel. Getting that first draft to something more polished and final is still a work in progress. I do have a reader who has been very helpful, and I've already made one change to the book based on her comments.
While the editing process continues I began putting together the second book of the trilogy. I have a rough chapter summary, something which I didn't have for the first book. I have the makings of two chapters for the second book as well. That's where I ran into a challenge.
The first book was about the world of Spark. The second book is to be about Spark's sister world, Chord. I struggled over how to start the second book, particularly how to transition the storyline from one world to the next. It finally dawned on me that the problem wasn't with the second book. The problem was that I had ended book one prematurely. I had been concerned about how to end the first book all along, worried that I would continue it endlessly and never finish it. As a result I ended up closing the cover a little too soon, with a few things left hanging that had to be in place before the second book could take flight.
So, how do I know when to end it now? Well, having worked back and forth between the ending of the first and the beginning of the second, I found the specific break points I wanted. In other words, it was now clear to me where all my characters should be, and in what situation, when the story closed. When I finally had that part spelled out, I knew what I still needed to do. When I finish this time, there will be thirty chapters instead of twenty-five. Two of those chapters are already mostly written, so I hope it won't take that long to wrap it up.
I doubt that will totally close the book. The editing and critiquing is still in progress. I am now delving into the background I had already prepared for book 2, and reading through that has raised some issues that I may have to go back to book 1 to address. These things are not plot related, but more about fleshing out book 1 to meet the expectations of book 2. Spark is a faded, badly damaged shell compared to the richness of Chord. To make that very clear in book 2, there needs to be more hints and vestiges in Spark to show just how far Spark had fallen, and what had been taken from them.
The novel, The Majik of Spark, was officially completed in May, 2013. It came in at 295 pages with twelve very large chapters. I recently went through the book to set more natural chapter breaks, and after that was done I had a twenty-five chapter novel. Getting that first draft to something more polished and final is still a work in progress. I do have a reader who has been very helpful, and I've already made one change to the book based on her comments.
While the editing process continues I began putting together the second book of the trilogy. I have a rough chapter summary, something which I didn't have for the first book. I have the makings of two chapters for the second book as well. That's where I ran into a challenge.
The first book was about the world of Spark. The second book is to be about Spark's sister world, Chord. I struggled over how to start the second book, particularly how to transition the storyline from one world to the next. It finally dawned on me that the problem wasn't with the second book. The problem was that I had ended book one prematurely. I had been concerned about how to end the first book all along, worried that I would continue it endlessly and never finish it. As a result I ended up closing the cover a little too soon, with a few things left hanging that had to be in place before the second book could take flight.
So, how do I know when to end it now? Well, having worked back and forth between the ending of the first and the beginning of the second, I found the specific break points I wanted. In other words, it was now clear to me where all my characters should be, and in what situation, when the story closed. When I finally had that part spelled out, I knew what I still needed to do. When I finish this time, there will be thirty chapters instead of twenty-five. Two of those chapters are already mostly written, so I hope it won't take that long to wrap it up.
I doubt that will totally close the book. The editing and critiquing is still in progress. I am now delving into the background I had already prepared for book 2, and reading through that has raised some issues that I may have to go back to book 1 to address. These things are not plot related, but more about fleshing out book 1 to meet the expectations of book 2. Spark is a faded, badly damaged shell compared to the richness of Chord. To make that very clear in book 2, there needs to be more hints and vestiges in Spark to show just how far Spark had fallen, and what had been taken from them.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Finally, a Writer's Group!
Finally, a Writer's Group!
On 18 July I made it to my first meeting of the Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Group. The group meets in a conference room at the local library in Chula Vista. We have a nice library. Not only are there the books to check out, there are large, comfortable spaces for reading, listening to music, watching movies, getting online, and other activities.
There were eight members at the meeting. For three of us, counting me, it was our first meeting. At first glance the outfits of a couple of members were, well, somewhat outlandish. Did I wander into a group that operated "in character" or something, like a World of Warcraft toon? It only took a few seconds for the light bulb to come on. This is the annual Comic-Con week, one of the biggest comics conventions in the country. Most everyone comes in costume for the event, and a couple of members had come to the meeting from the convention.
We all made introductions. The organizer, Robert, then gave a great presentation on what to do when that novel is finally finished. Talk about great timing for my first meeting! There was a lot of great information and I took copious notes, even though my cat bitten left hand (my writing hand) burned and complained at the abuse I was putting it through.
Three members gave readings from some of their work, which I enjoyed. I spoke up to tell the group that Robert had "ambushed" me on the night we met at the play writing evening by asking, "What is your book about? In one sentence." I didn't do so well that time, but I was prepared for this meeting and got to say my line, even if I did have to cheat from the back of my business card a little.
One new member, Melody, came as a proxy for her son, who has written more than one eBook novel and was looking for advice about improving sales. He and his family recently moved to Hawaii. Melody offered to do some reading of my novel and give a reader's opinion, which I was happy to accept. I also took a look at her son's most recent novel, Blood Brothers, and decided to give that a read and provide some feedback as well.
I came away from the meeting with homework. Should I ever get to pitch my novel to an agent/publisher, there is a list of things I must have ready to go at a moment's notice. Here is the short summary:
The one sentence story description - that I have
The five sentence summary of the book
The two page synopsis
Sample Chapters (1-3 usually)
The Complete Novel (in the correct format, of course)
A Character Synopsis (have it, but use only if it's asked for)
Out of the above comes the formal Query Letter.
There is a lot more information about what to do/prepare for if asked for a complete proposal.
My next task is to find out when and where the upcoming Writer's Conferences are being held. The best way to contact an agent is to run into one at one of the many conferences that are held. Agents are at these conferences to find talent. It doesn't come cheap, though. Typical conference fees run $300-$400 and up depending on which events you want to attend. If you manage to interest an agent, reading fees of $50 for each reading are pretty common. I am a bit fortunate (or unfortunate from a billfold perspective) that between now and February 2014 there are five Writer's Conferences scheduled within a two hour drive.
On 18 July I made it to my first meeting of the Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy Writer's Group. The group meets in a conference room at the local library in Chula Vista. We have a nice library. Not only are there the books to check out, there are large, comfortable spaces for reading, listening to music, watching movies, getting online, and other activities.
There were eight members at the meeting. For three of us, counting me, it was our first meeting. At first glance the outfits of a couple of members were, well, somewhat outlandish. Did I wander into a group that operated "in character" or something, like a World of Warcraft toon? It only took a few seconds for the light bulb to come on. This is the annual Comic-Con week, one of the biggest comics conventions in the country. Most everyone comes in costume for the event, and a couple of members had come to the meeting from the convention.
We all made introductions. The organizer, Robert, then gave a great presentation on what to do when that novel is finally finished. Talk about great timing for my first meeting! There was a lot of great information and I took copious notes, even though my cat bitten left hand (my writing hand) burned and complained at the abuse I was putting it through.
Three members gave readings from some of their work, which I enjoyed. I spoke up to tell the group that Robert had "ambushed" me on the night we met at the play writing evening by asking, "What is your book about? In one sentence." I didn't do so well that time, but I was prepared for this meeting and got to say my line, even if I did have to cheat from the back of my business card a little.
One new member, Melody, came as a proxy for her son, who has written more than one eBook novel and was looking for advice about improving sales. He and his family recently moved to Hawaii. Melody offered to do some reading of my novel and give a reader's opinion, which I was happy to accept. I also took a look at her son's most recent novel, Blood Brothers, and decided to give that a read and provide some feedback as well.
I came away from the meeting with homework. Should I ever get to pitch my novel to an agent/publisher, there is a list of things I must have ready to go at a moment's notice. Here is the short summary:
The one sentence story description - that I have
The five sentence summary of the book
The two page synopsis
Sample Chapters (1-3 usually)
The Complete Novel (in the correct format, of course)
A Character Synopsis (have it, but use only if it's asked for)
Out of the above comes the formal Query Letter.
There is a lot more information about what to do/prepare for if asked for a complete proposal.
My next task is to find out when and where the upcoming Writer's Conferences are being held. The best way to contact an agent is to run into one at one of the many conferences that are held. Agents are at these conferences to find talent. It doesn't come cheap, though. Typical conference fees run $300-$400 and up depending on which events you want to attend. If you manage to interest an agent, reading fees of $50 for each reading are pretty common. I am a bit fortunate (or unfortunate from a billfold perspective) that between now and February 2014 there are five Writer's Conferences scheduled within a two hour drive.
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Gaining Traction
Gaining Traction
Efforts to join/create a local writer's group in my area through the GBW Meetup group hasn't panned out so far. I had suggested and prodded for a listing of members by location to encourage smaller, area based groups, but getting that list from the organizers of the group was taking time. Since I was the one who suggested the idea, and I was the one who wanted the list, why wait for busy people to get around to it when I could do it?
There are close to 200 members of GBW, and with no search feature for location, I had to manually check each member's profile for the information. It was a bit time consuming, but simple enough to put together. Sally was very happy to get the list, and I got an enthusiastic thank you. Hopefully the list may inspire members to create their own localized writing groups.
As for the South Bay area where I live, there were only two other members, which would make for a pretty small group. Still, it was worth contacting them to see if there was interest. So far, there is none.
If not a group in my area, why not cast the net a bit farther? There is another group that meets in El Cajon, which is a bit of a drive, but doable. The group is called the East County Writer's Group, and I am a member. They appear to have more regular, attended meetings, than the GBR. I had to miss their first meeting after I joined, but planned to attend their next one, on July 11th.
And then sometimes fate intervenes. Last night we went to The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. Balboa Park is the center of culture in San Diego, with numerous museums, parks, a fabulous zoo, and gardens. A friend of ours was taking a course in play writing, and we came to see the performance of her ten minute play, along with the plays of the other students of the class.
I have to admit that I was very impressed with the production and the plays. There were about ten actors who performed the plays, taking many roles over the course of the evening. Most of the student playwrights did not act in their play, but our friend did. We loved her play, and her acting was quite good as well. It will surely be something she'll treasure, and we, of course, had a great time.
Our friend, knowing that I was writer, introduced me to another writer in her class. He was in a writer's group for fantasy and science fiction writers. Really? What a coincidence, that is the genre I write in. Where do you meet? Are you in one of the online meetup groups? Well, the group he was in didn't use the online groups since, he explained, they tended to get too large and unwieldy, with poor participation. I had to agree with that. Up until now, though, I hadn't been able to find a better solution.
He invited me to come and meet the group at their next meeting. Where do they meet? They meet at the local library in the area, less than ten minutes from home.
Not only did I get an invitation, I got my first lesson as well. I mentioned that I was looking for help with my novel. He asked me to describe what the novel was about - in one sentence. Having read many tips about pitching a story/book, I knew I should have such as sentence ready. I have one, too. But I panicked and made a mess of it.
I believe I'm really going to like this group. I also think I'm going to have to work even harder to make this "writing thing" work. At least it appears that I may finally be getting some help with that.
Oh, and my one sentence description of the novel? Here it is:
"The story is about twin worlds bonded together by Song, one dying from a world consuming disease of magical making, the other so frightened of contagion it shamefully severs that bond, abandoning their twin, and the desperate journey of young adventurers sent by a mysterious goddess to restore the bond and heal both worlds."
Ok, I'll keep working on it.
Efforts to join/create a local writer's group in my area through the GBW Meetup group hasn't panned out so far. I had suggested and prodded for a listing of members by location to encourage smaller, area based groups, but getting that list from the organizers of the group was taking time. Since I was the one who suggested the idea, and I was the one who wanted the list, why wait for busy people to get around to it when I could do it?
There are close to 200 members of GBW, and with no search feature for location, I had to manually check each member's profile for the information. It was a bit time consuming, but simple enough to put together. Sally was very happy to get the list, and I got an enthusiastic thank you. Hopefully the list may inspire members to create their own localized writing groups.
As for the South Bay area where I live, there were only two other members, which would make for a pretty small group. Still, it was worth contacting them to see if there was interest. So far, there is none.
If not a group in my area, why not cast the net a bit farther? There is another group that meets in El Cajon, which is a bit of a drive, but doable. The group is called the East County Writer's Group, and I am a member. They appear to have more regular, attended meetings, than the GBR. I had to miss their first meeting after I joined, but planned to attend their next one, on July 11th.
And then sometimes fate intervenes. Last night we went to The Old Globe Theatre in Balboa Park. Balboa Park is the center of culture in San Diego, with numerous museums, parks, a fabulous zoo, and gardens. A friend of ours was taking a course in play writing, and we came to see the performance of her ten minute play, along with the plays of the other students of the class.
I have to admit that I was very impressed with the production and the plays. There were about ten actors who performed the plays, taking many roles over the course of the evening. Most of the student playwrights did not act in their play, but our friend did. We loved her play, and her acting was quite good as well. It will surely be something she'll treasure, and we, of course, had a great time.
Our friend, knowing that I was writer, introduced me to another writer in her class. He was in a writer's group for fantasy and science fiction writers. Really? What a coincidence, that is the genre I write in. Where do you meet? Are you in one of the online meetup groups? Well, the group he was in didn't use the online groups since, he explained, they tended to get too large and unwieldy, with poor participation. I had to agree with that. Up until now, though, I hadn't been able to find a better solution.
He invited me to come and meet the group at their next meeting. Where do they meet? They meet at the local library in the area, less than ten minutes from home.
Not only did I get an invitation, I got my first lesson as well. I mentioned that I was looking for help with my novel. He asked me to describe what the novel was about - in one sentence. Having read many tips about pitching a story/book, I knew I should have such as sentence ready. I have one, too. But I panicked and made a mess of it.
I believe I'm really going to like this group. I also think I'm going to have to work even harder to make this "writing thing" work. At least it appears that I may finally be getting some help with that.
Oh, and my one sentence description of the novel? Here it is:
"The story is about twin worlds bonded together by Song, one dying from a world consuming disease of magical making, the other so frightened of contagion it shamefully severs that bond, abandoning their twin, and the desperate journey of young adventurers sent by a mysterious goddess to restore the bond and heal both worlds."
Ok, I'll keep working on it.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Looking For Help
Looking For Help
"I would like to get a small writing group together in the South Bay area. I know there was some interest at the Upstart Crow reading a couple of weeks ago. I have never been part of a writing group before, so this is all new to me. I know I need help and advice, particularly for the novel I recently finished.
I don't have much in the way of credentials, but I gained a little experience reviewing and critiquing stories when I worked with the small press magazine Neophyte. I've also published an eBook and can talk to many of the issues involved with that kind of project.
Charlie Bell"
I posted this on the GBW discussion forum today. I'm not sure how many will read it. The forum had only one entry when I first joined GBW. Now it has three, the last two being posted by me. I had also previously sent the organizer, Sally, a message reminding her that she had intended to send out a list of member locations to help us organize our own internal groups. She returned a thanks for reminding her note, but nothing more happened.
Two more friends of mine are helping me out by reading the first draft of my novel, which I really appreciate. I got some early feedback from one of them. He had read about a third of it so far. He liked the quick pace and said that everything was very well explained, which was an important element for him. That's very encouraging to me.
One of the "tricks" to keep from backsliding on my writing came from the Upstart Crow reading. Sally suggested that we go to the section of books where our book would be and imagine it on the shelves. Take a picture of that shelf, and put it where it can always be seen when you write. I did that. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked well, at least not yet. I'm so invested in the first book right now, it's hard for me to focus on the second book, which I should be writing! I haven't been a complete slug, however. The first chapter is about half done. I've also started compiling a rough draft of future chapters. If I can forecast the characters and plot further out than the current chapter, I can probably increase the pace of my writing. The chapter outlines will only be a guide, however. My way of writing is to give my characters a lot of elbow room to be themselves. I set the environment, but their own actions directly influence what happens. That probably sounds strange, but when I write I very much believe in my characters and that they in some way have their own say in what happens to them.
"I would like to get a small writing group together in the South Bay area. I know there was some interest at the Upstart Crow reading a couple of weeks ago. I have never been part of a writing group before, so this is all new to me. I know I need help and advice, particularly for the novel I recently finished.
I don't have much in the way of credentials, but I gained a little experience reviewing and critiquing stories when I worked with the small press magazine Neophyte. I've also published an eBook and can talk to many of the issues involved with that kind of project.
Charlie Bell"
I posted this on the GBW discussion forum today. I'm not sure how many will read it. The forum had only one entry when I first joined GBW. Now it has three, the last two being posted by me. I had also previously sent the organizer, Sally, a message reminding her that she had intended to send out a list of member locations to help us organize our own internal groups. She returned a thanks for reminding her note, but nothing more happened.
Two more friends of mine are helping me out by reading the first draft of my novel, which I really appreciate. I got some early feedback from one of them. He had read about a third of it so far. He liked the quick pace and said that everything was very well explained, which was an important element for him. That's very encouraging to me.
One of the "tricks" to keep from backsliding on my writing came from the Upstart Crow reading. Sally suggested that we go to the section of books where our book would be and imagine it on the shelves. Take a picture of that shelf, and put it where it can always be seen when you write. I did that. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked well, at least not yet. I'm so invested in the first book right now, it's hard for me to focus on the second book, which I should be writing! I haven't been a complete slug, however. The first chapter is about half done. I've also started compiling a rough draft of future chapters. If I can forecast the characters and plot further out than the current chapter, I can probably increase the pace of my writing. The chapter outlines will only be a guide, however. My way of writing is to give my characters a lot of elbow room to be themselves. I set the environment, but their own actions directly influence what happens. That probably sounds strange, but when I write I very much believe in my characters and that they in some way have their own say in what happens to them.
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