Peg Herring's Blog, page 32

Wednesday on the Blog Crawl

Win free books/e-books on the Blog Crawl!

Today's stop is at Chris Verstraete's blog, and the post is "Slowing Readers-Bad Policy". Find it at http://candidcanine.blogspot.com

Peg's Blog Crawl

Today (Jan.31) starts my Blog Crawl (a pub crawl mixed with a blog tour). There are prizes to be had by commenting on the posts as I travel from blog to blog during the month of February. You can find the details at
itsamysterytomepegherring.blogspot.com

As you follow the crawl, you'll be entertained with uses and abuses of the English language. Each week some lucky reader will win a copy of my February release, THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY
(either print or e-book format, your choice).

So get over there and get started!

Peg's Blog Crawl

You've heard of a pub crawl. Well, this is the same except it's not.
Same: You "crawl" from one place to another with a lot of other people and read my guest posts.
Different: It's virtual: no taxis, no traffic, no crowded rooms.
Same: You "travel" with like-minded people who are out for a good time.
Different: You'll never see them face-to-face.
Same: You meet new people, visit new places, and enjoy the trip.
Different: No hangover at the end.

Peg's Blog Crawl begins tomorrow, January 31, at my regular blog: http://itsamysterytomepegherring.blog.... My topic is the English language, its origins, its variety, its general craziness. I've named it "Do the Dead Speak Perfect English?" in honor of my February release, THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY.

Did I mention prizes? I'm giving away a book each week, either print or e-book, as the winning commenters choose. I also have some little surprises along the way, so join in and chime in (that's how you enter the prize drawings). You can indulge every weekday in February, learning a little about the eccentricities of English, and you won't have to crawl home!

Here's the Schedule:

Feb. 1 Peg Herring-Why Do We Say That? Part I-Find it at http://itsamysterytomepegherring.blog...
Feb. 2 Chris Verstraete-Slowing Readers—Bad Policy-Find it at http://candidcanine.blogspot.com
Feb. 3 Melissa Bradley-He Said, She Panted http://melissasimaginarium.blogspot.com
Feb. 4 Marilyn Meredith-The Dreaded Adverb http://marilynmeredith.blogspot.com
Feb. 5 Weekend-Draw for Prizes from Week 1 http://itsamysterytomepegherring.blog...
Feb 6 Weekend—
Feb. 7 Rhonda Dossett-The Ones Spell Check Won’t Catch http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com
Feb 8 Nancy Cohen-Metaphors http://nancyjcohen.wordpress.com
Feb. 9 Kaye George-Names Into Words http://travelswithkaye.blogspot.com
Feb 10 Lisa Haselton-Losing the Spice http://lisahaseltonsreviewsandintervi...
Feb 11. Chris Redding-Inventing Words http://chrisreddingauthor.blogspot.com

Feb 12. Weekend-Draw for Prizes from Week 2 http://itsamysterytomepegherring.blog...
Feb.13.BONUS POST Lelia Taylor Syntax and Sentence Structure http://www.cncbooks.com/blog
Feb.14 Jenny Milchman-Why Do We Say That? Part II suspenseyourdisbelief.com
Feb.15. Pat Brown-Dialogue and What It Reveals http://themysteryworldofpabrown.blogs... and http://pabrown.livejournal.com
Feb. 16 Debbi Mack-Portmanteau Words http://midlistlife.wordpress.com
Feb. 17 Peg Brantley-The Possessive Problem http://www.suspensenovelist.blogspot
Feb 18 Bo Parker-Read It Aloud http://www.cobbledstones.com
Feb 19 Weekend-Draw for Prizes from Week 3 http://itsamysterytomepegherring.blog...
Feb. 20 Weekend
Feb. 21 Jeff Marks-And What About Contractions? http://www.thelittleblogofmurder.com
Feb 22 Geraldine Evans-Idioms http://geralineevanscom.blogspot.com
Feb. 23 Maryann Miller-Eccentric Phrases http://its-not-all-gravy.blogspot.com
Feb. 24 Peg Herring Being Precise http://crimespace.ning.com/profiles/b...
Feb. 25 –Peg Herring Bad Words http://criminalmindsatwork.blogspot.com/
Feb. 26 Weekend-Draw for Prizes from Week 4 http://itsamysterytomepegherring.blog...
Feb. 27 Weekend
Feb. 29 Stacy Juba-Why Do We Say That? Part III http://stacyjuba.com/blog
March 1-Final Drawing for Prizes from All Entries http://itsamysterytomepegherring.blog...

E-readers, Kindle, and Nook--Oh, My!

I belong to several on-line chat groups for authors (probably too many). The gist of what's going on is that authors are catching on to the e-book revolution, some reluctantly, some anxiously, some willingly. It's scary, because a lot of things change with e-books.
For example: you don't need an agent to publish an e-book. You don't even need a publisher, if you're willing to do some homework. There isn't that assurance that some of us need that we've got professionals behind us. Then again, some authors have felt for some time that there really isn't an Oz behind the curtain.
You do still need an editor, but there's an interesting change there, too. When an author hires an editor, she maintains more control over the book. An employee, the hired editor, SUGGESTS changes, where a publishing-house editor tends to DEMAND them. One I had a few years back kept prefacing his proposed changes with "I want..." I began thinking, "Whose book is this? It's my name on the cover!" When you disagree with a pub-house editor, you can fight with them (I have) or you can give in (I've done that, too). When you hire an editor, you are wise to listen to what they advise, to get your money's worth and to recognize what objective readers will see in the work you love so much. But if you love it the way it is, it's up to you.
A current discussion in my chat groups is ISBNs. Once considered mandatory for a professional publication, questions have arisen about them for e-books. They're expensive, and if you're only going to publish electronically, you have other options. (If a book goes into print, the ISBN would be different anyway.)
Of course, traditional publishing is pulling on the reins, and I think they have to. It would be a mistake to let every joker who thinks he/she can write throw a book at us and make the pool of candidates for panels, awards, and reviews so large it's beyond managability. Rules are established, and even if some authors don't like them, they keep us honest. Yes, someone read my book other than my sister. Yes, my publisher works with multiple authors and does not guarantee publication or charge me for publishing.
Still, the publishing world is changing, so quickly that we can hardly keep up. Some predict that books will soon come out initially as e-books. If they do well, someone will take the chance and put them into print for libraries and those who love "real" books. My February release, THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY, is e-book and POD. I like that, because I will have physical copies for display and electronic copies for all those people who have never met me.
E-publishing is ecologically better, quicker, and easier. Like Dorothy and her friends, authors are treading with caution into the forest of e-books. Our sense of "Oh, my!" is fear for some, awe for others, and for the un-cowardly: "Look at all the possibilites!"

I Quit--Does That Make Me a Bad Person?

I gave up on the second of the GIRL WITH/WHO series.
Yup.
I just don't care.
It's hard for me to like a protagonist who is so weird, so amoral, so flat.
It's irritating to me that someone did not edit out the thousands of details that (I guess) are supposed to add to the story but instead draw it out. I don't care how many T-shirts, cups, chairs, and bedsheets the woman bought.
I seldom like the "I'll get that person if it's the last thing I ever do" plotline.
I will admit that by halfway through the first book, I got caught up in the story and wanted to know what happened, but I only got that far because friends told me to keep slogging through the ridiculously drawn-out beginning. Even when I got into the story, I was disgusted by the characters' disregard for any sort of moral code but their personal desires. It could be that I'm too sheltered, that life is that way, but I'm just sayin'.
So this morning I read another chapter and then thought, "There are lots of books I would like better than this one, so why am I reading it?" The answer, I suppose, is the hoopla that the world has raised about the series, but I decided that isn't enough reason for me. I don't mind being in the minority, reading books that I choose rather than ones someone else says are must-reads.
After all, I have no idea what a Kardashian looks like, and it hasn't done me a bit of harm so far.

20 Days in February = A Blog Crawl

To promote my new release, THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY, (LL Publishing), I would like to create a “blog crawl”. Somewhat like a pub crawl, a blog crawl begins at one place--my blog site--and meanders through a lot of similar places, like your site. Unlike a pub crawl, however, no one requires a taxi to get back home at the end. :)
The idea is that I will do a series of posts in February, each one leading to the next and referring to the one before. The posts will be entertaining and challenging and will focus on the English language. I have chosen to call it IS PERFECT ENGLISH DEAD? It will be designed to interest both readers and writers, having fun with the eccentricities of our language. Hopefully, people will join the crawl, visiting all the sites along the way. It’s promotion for my book; it’s exposure for your blog. Symbiosis!
If you would like to join the blog crawl, simply let me know which weekday in February works for you. If you’d like to choose the topic, I have posted a list below.
THE DEAD SPEAK PERFECT ENGLISH
Weekdays in February)
1. Why Do We Say That? Part I
2. The Dreaded (Overused and Abused) Adverb
3. Eccentric Phrases
4. Losing the Spice
5. Names Into Words
6. Being Precise
7. Same Word/Different Word
8. Portmanteau Words
9. The Possessive Problem
10. Why Do We Say That? Part II
11. Inventing Words
12. He Said, She Panted
13. Read It Aloud
14. Repetition
15. The Ones Spell Check Won’t Catch
16. And What About Contractions?
17. Slowing Readers—Bad Policy
18. Dialogue and What It Reveals
19. Metaphors: Beautiful, Extended, and Stretched to Breaking
20. Why Do We Say That? Part III

Let's Ask the Dead

My upcoming release, THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY, might have put me in a strange state of mind. I keep wondering what the dead would think of the living at a funeral.
Funeral attendance is required more and more often as a person ages. Here's what I notice about them:
First: The ministers in charge seem to miss the fact that the people are there not for a sermon, but out of respect for the person who died. Instead of acknowledging this, many clergymen and women make the occasion into a bid for conversion. My thought: if attendees are churchgoers, they don't need a second weekly sermon. If they're not, you just emphasized for them why they don't go to church.
The other thing I wonder is if the dead really would enjoy seeing their loved ones publicly exposed in the throes of their grief. It is painful to me to be present as family members suffer. I don't want to watch them being led into the church before and out of the church after, following that dreadful box of dead. Where did we get the idea that grief is somehow resolved by publicity?
So here's my personal declaration. No funeral. When I die, I want a nice dinner for anyone who cares to attend. No wringing the grief out of people by capsulizing my life and telling everyone what a great gal I was. The minister can attend, and he will be allowed to say grace if he can do it in a minute or less. After that, just talk about me while you enjoy the chicken and meatballs. Or don't, as the mood strikes. Enjoy each other's company. That's what a funeral should be for.

THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY

People often ask authors where their ideas come from. I speak not for others, but as for me--not a clue most of the time.
THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY, my January release, seems to have stemmed from a conversation I had with my son, a Merrill Lynch VP. He mentioned that he had fired one of their employees for selling away. I asked what that was, and he explained. It took root somewhere in my head, and the idea for a mystery formed.
Where the dead part came from, I could not tell you. I had no real desire to jump on the paranormal bandwagon, and to be honest, the story is not a typical paranormal: no vampires, no screaming vengeance from beyond the grave, and most certainly no ghouls or zombies. Think the Thomas part of Odd Thomas, not the fighting-other-worldly-creatures part. Kind of gentle paranormal, kind of speculating on things other-worldly without being scary or gloom-and-doom-ish. It's a mystery that just happens to involve dead people, and even though I don't know where the idea came from, I had a great time with it. And sometime in January, I hope a lot of other people do, as well.

Proud Words and Self-Publishing

Look out how you use proud words.
When you let proud words go, it is not easy to call them back.
They wear long boots, hard boots; they walk off proud; they can't hear you calling—
Look out how you use proud words.
—Carl Sandburg, American poet and essayist, Primer Lesson, 1922

The same can be said for self-publishing.
I went to a book-selling event last week, and of seven authors in attendance, two were traditionally published. As we chatted, all five of the self-pubbed authors admitted to me privately there were mistakes in their books they wish could be fixed.
That is what's wrong with self-publishing.
To be fair, it can be done and done well. But in too many cases, self-publishing equates to impatience, and we all know the adage about haste making waste.
Sometimes it's just plain ignorance, like the author who kept informing prospective customers that her book was a "fiction novel". Sometimes it's frustration, like the man who tried for seven years to get the attention of The Machine and could not. Often it's lack of study of the industry, a lack of awareness of consequences. And sometimes--perhaps more so of late when e-publishing has begun to take off--it's a conscious decision. The writer understands that she will be doing her own promotion; she gets help with editing and formatting; she carves out her niche and works to make it as attractive and visible as possible. She keeps in mind that if people read a book with her name on it that is badly produced, full of errors and weak elements, they are unlikely to repeat the experience.
So take Sandburg's warning to heart. Like proud words, self-published books cannot be taken back once they are out there. Writers should send them out only under carefully considered circumstances. Every collection of words you offer the world should be words that make you proud.

It's Wrong, Make It Right--Rewrite

It's Wrong, So Make It Right--Rewrite
A writer who is paying attention knows when something's wrong with a project. That knowledge does not come early on, and often not easily. For me, when the writing is ongoing, it is important to get the main story down, and details almost have to be left fuzzy. I am an insistent advocate of "rest time" for a first-draft manuscript, time (like a month) in a drawer or on a CD so I see it with fresh eyes. Any MS needs multiple rereadings by the author before anyone else ever sees it. Like your child, you should want your writing to be as beautiful as possible when the world sees it.

Multiple re-reads allow a commited author to notice the things that aren't logical, places that need rewriting. There are times when I'd rather not. (Why can't I stretch credibility a little? Even great writers have done it. For example, DOCTOR ZHIVAGO. How many times can two people accidentally stumble into each other in one lifetime?)So I may be tempted to gloss over why the protag goes to a particular spot. Or how she happens to leave her cell phone at home. Or when she chooses to go there, it is where the murderer is, too, by some odd chance. But as I go back over the piece, each time looking for different types of errors, those places feel weak. They need fixing. They need rewriting.

I just finished the edit of my January release, THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY. The editor found more things that needed rewriting, and that's to be expected. No author I know is capable of judging her own work alone. It takes an educated and committed editor to finish the job, acting as objective reader and polisher. So even after I'd read the piece and rewritten the weak spots I found, I was in for more work. However, I know the book gets stronger each time I read again, write again, examine again.

Rewriting is not a lot of fun, and the mark of an amateur is unwillingness to do it. Many would rather stagger onward and write more junk than go back and make that first draft into something worthwhile. For me, the term "writer" might be more correctly termed "rewriter". It is the people who are willing to reread and rewrite, many times, who produce excellent books.