Mike Befeler's Blog, page 7

One More Lesson Learned as an Author

Much like there being many ways to write, there aremany ways for people to read a book. There are a variety of print optionsincluding hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback and large print.Other ways to enjoy a book are e-books and audiobooks. Whatever a readerprefers, there are these variety of options to choose from.

Another Lesson I’ve Learned as an Author

Writing is a skill that one can learn. Like anythingelse in life, it takes practice. It’s said you need to write a million words tomaster writing. I’ve written over a million words, and I’m still learning.

 

Saturday Sleuths Book Club

I’ll be presenting and signing books at the SaturdaySleuths Book Club at Book Carnival Bookstore 348 S. Tustin, Orange, CA, June 15at 9:30 AM.

Lessons Learned as an Author Continued Again

Another lesson I’ve learned as an author is that thereare many different ways to write. When I started writing at the age of 56, Icame across a book The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. It’s an excellentbook on creativity. Julia has a technique called Morning Pages which is towrite three hand written pages first thing in the morning. These pages can beanything: your journal, a shopping list or whatever and are a way to get thecreative juices flowing for the day. I modified her concept and would reviewwhere I left off in my current manuscript and write three handwritten pages ofthe story first thing in the morning. When I came home from my day job, I’d putthose three pages into the computer, editing along the way. This produced twotyped pages a day. If you do the arithmetic, in 150 days I’d have a rough draftfor a 300-page novel. In fact, this is the way I wrote my first four publishednovels. Then when I retired in 2007, I modified my approach and wrote eachmorning directly into the computer. I wrote every morning except if I was doingan event or had a family activity. Doing this until we moved back to SouthernCalifornia in 2015, I completed a number of manuscripts, some of which havebeen published. Since then, I have been primarily in editing mode and now havetwenty-two published books with more to come.

Lessons Learned as an Author Continue

Another lesson I’velearned as an author is perseverance. When I started writing, I sent shortstories off to magazines and anthologies to get them published. I’m happy toreport that on my 112th submission I sold a story called NeverTrust a Poison Dart Frog in an anthology titled Who Died in Here? thathad either a death or a murder taking place in the bathroom. Since then, I’vehad many more rejections of novel length manuscripts, but I’ve also hadtwenty-two published books. Rejection just comes with the territory in writing,so stick-to-itness is an essential attitude for writers.

Lessons Learned as an Author

I’ve learned many thingsas an author. One of the first lessons learned is that you can write at anyage. Here’s the range from my own experience. Several years ago at the LosAngles Times Festival Of Books, Morrie Markoff was there signing the first bookhe had ever written and published. It was titled, “Keep Breathing,” his memoir.At the time Morrie was 103 years old. On the other extreme, when I lived in Colorado,I mentored an eight-grade student whose school required that he work on a year-longproject. The project he chose was to write a novel. I met with him every weekto review what he had written and gave him feedback. By the end of the year, hehad completed a rough draft. It was nowhere near being ready for publication,but he had accomplished something very important by writing a completemanuscript at his age. I started to write at the age of 56, and my first novelwas published at the age of 62.

Writers Conferences

When I started writingin 2001, I was introduced to the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Conference inDenver. I attended for many years until we moved back to Southern California in2015. This conference provided panels on writing craft, how to get agents andpublishers, and how to promote a book once published. It was through thisconference that I received my first book contract with Five Star as a result ofa pitch session to Deni Dietz of Five Star at the conference. In SouthernCalifornia I’ve attended the California Crime Writers Conference twice. Thiswriters conference is held on odd numbered years in Culver City. Theseconferences are a good way to improve writing and to make contacts forpublishing opportunities.

Speaking at Bookstores (continued)

Last Saturday I spokeat Mystery Ink Bookstore in Huntington Beach, CA, and signed my two most recentmystery novel, Murder in the Museo Kircheriano and A Mystery Yarn.

Speaking at Bookstores

Last Saturday I spokeat Book Carnival Bookstore in Orange, CA, and signed my two most recent books, Murderin the Museo Kircheriano and A Mystery Yarn. This coming Saturday,May 4 at 1 PM, I will be speaking and signing books at Mystery Ink Bookstore,Fernhill Clubhouse, 5472 Diamond Dr., Huntington Beach, CA.

Catching Up with Friends

I drove from SouthernCalifornia to the Bay Area last week and had a chance to visit with oldfriends. I stayed with a college friend, saw two friends from my working daysand visited a cousin I hadn’t seen in a number of years. All in all, it was avery enjoyable trip.