Ask the Author: Sheldon Charles
Answered Questions (9)
Sheldon Charles
The hitchhikersettled then buckling his seatbelt as I pulled the car back on the road when my nose caught a familiar scent. My eyes darte toward my new passenger and as a passing streetlight illuminated their face, I was greeted by the visage of them curling back thei to expose rows of sharp teeth and a trickle of blood running down one side of their mouth.
Sheldon Charles
Congratulations, and welcome to the world of storytelling.
In most cases, publishers won’t accept a manuscript directly from an author. They require a literary agent as an intermediary, unless you are writing a children’s or religious book. Ready for the Catch-22? Most literary agents won’t accept someone who isn’t published. It’s sort of like trying to get a job at sixteen, being told you need experience before you can get a job. But don’t fret, there are other avenues. An online publisher called SmashWords has a fantastic collection of videos to help the new author self-publish. (https://www.smashwords.com/about/supp...) also, Amazon offers an avenue to bring your work to the public yourself. I have used both and they’re a great way to get your book out there.
Before you get to that point, you’ll probably need some talents that you may or may not have. A while back I wrote a rundown of some talents I found in the wild that might help: http://www.wordsbycharles.com/2019/04...
I hope this helps. We’re fortunate to live in a time when it doesn’t take the approval of a small group of elite publishers to get your story into the hands and hearts of readers. Take advantage of it.
Good luck
Shel
In most cases, publishers won’t accept a manuscript directly from an author. They require a literary agent as an intermediary, unless you are writing a children’s or religious book. Ready for the Catch-22? Most literary agents won’t accept someone who isn’t published. It’s sort of like trying to get a job at sixteen, being told you need experience before you can get a job. But don’t fret, there are other avenues. An online publisher called SmashWords has a fantastic collection of videos to help the new author self-publish. (https://www.smashwords.com/about/supp...) also, Amazon offers an avenue to bring your work to the public yourself. I have used both and they’re a great way to get your book out there.
Before you get to that point, you’ll probably need some talents that you may or may not have. A while back I wrote a rundown of some talents I found in the wild that might help: http://www.wordsbycharles.com/2019/04...
I hope this helps. We’re fortunate to live in a time when it doesn’t take the approval of a small group of elite publishers to get your story into the hands and hearts of readers. Take advantage of it.
Good luck
Shel
Sheldon Charles
As a military brat, I've lived in several places and had a variety of friend groups. Pre internet, when you moved you lost contact and therefore friend's whereabouts years later is a mystery.
I could see writing a story where the protagonist has to track down a friend group from their past in order to solve a problem or fill in some missing part of their personal history. For spice, perhaps one of the group is working against them and tries to block the ability to find a particular friend who holds the key.
Hmm. Maybe I should start thinking about this, it might make a good story.
I could see writing a story where the protagonist has to track down a friend group from their past in order to solve a problem or fill in some missing part of their personal history. For spice, perhaps one of the group is working against them and tries to block the ability to find a particular friend who holds the key.
Hmm. Maybe I should start thinking about this, it might make a good story.
Sheldon Charles
I wanted to write a book set in Kuwait, the result of that was "Blood Upon the Sands." The story came to me over weeks as snippets; then I started to figure out ways to weave the snippets and storylines into one larger tale. The book was meant to be the second in the series but was released about 18 months after "From the Firebird's Nest," which is the third Evan Davis Tale. The delay was due to a horrendous contract which prevented me from releasing "Blood Upon the Sands" until now. I think the story benefited because I spend additional time editing it and ensuring its continuity before releasing it.
Sheldon Charles
Sharing a good story. To me there is nothing more fulfilling than seeing the eyes of a listener are hearing from a reader who has truly immersed themselves in a story that I created or told them.
Sheldon Charles
Two projects at the moment: First, the next book in the Evan Davis Tales series. Second, I am writing a nonfiction accounting of the last two years of my father's life. He was suffering from both CTE and dementia, leaving my brother And Ito try and care for him as Dad tried to maintain normalcy and a level of control over his life. While My brother and I went through it, many of the things we ran into we later found were quite normal and we could've prepared, at least mentally, to handle.It is not meant as a "how-to" but "what we did to survive".
Sheldon Charles
In between books, I work on short stories, and I hope to release a collection of these later this year. Doing this helps me mentally cleanse from one book to the next and it allows me to play with several genres without writing a complete novel.
Sheldon Charles
I've never really encountered writer's block, at least not the way I have always heard it works (or doesn't work). I've always been able to put words on paper and move the story forward. I do have good days and bad days of writing -- days when I write 3000 words and all of them are golden and other days where I write a 1000 words and I end up deleting 700 of them. Luckily, those days are fewer than the good kind.
How I get past the bad days is to set what I'm working on a side and work on the other parts of being a writer. I may answer a few emails, work on other authory things like the description, cover design, or enter books I've read I read in Goodreads (that one will only last until I get everything in). Reading is another way I get past bad days. It helps to look at the way someone else approaches a story to get your mind cleared and back into your groove.
How I get past the bad days is to set what I'm working on a side and work on the other parts of being a writer. I may answer a few emails, work on other authory things like the description, cover design, or enter books I've read I read in Goodreads (that one will only last until I get everything in). Reading is another way I get past bad days. It helps to look at the way someone else approaches a story to get your mind cleared and back into your groove.
Sheldon Charles
Always be writing something. Write something every day. Start with maybe 250 to 500 words and then gradually grow to where you're writing a thousand words a day. As with anything, practice makes you better at it. Continually putting your thoughts on paper forces you to think about things differently because you would start boring yourself if you were always writing about the same thing.
I remember a high school English teacher that used to require a 500-word essay every Friday. Everyone moaned and groaned at having to write what seemed like a massive amount of words once a week. But it was by doing the assignment that I went from dreading it to looking forward to it. If you start writing daily, eventually It will become less something you think about and more something you look forward to.
I remember a high school English teacher that used to require a 500-word essay every Friday. Everyone moaned and groaned at having to write what seemed like a massive amount of words once a week. But it was by doing the assignment that I went from dreading it to looking forward to it. If you start writing daily, eventually It will become less something you think about and more something you look forward to.
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