Tony Noland's Blog, page 12
August 20, 2014
Setting a book aside
This book I'm working on just isn't coming together. The plot is OK, but the ending is weak. More importantly, while I have plenty of bad things happen to my MC - whipsaw events that make the action rise and fall - I'm not sure I've really given the reader any reason to care about him. This book has me stuck, scratching my head. Who is this guy, anyway? And why are these things happening to him?
I have lots of notes for revisions to put into this first draft, but my enthusiasm to do so is low. I'm not sure what I want this book to say, so I'm questioning myself at every page. This tells me that I need to quickly whack these changes in, then set this text aside for a while and work on something else.
The suspect that the working on something else is going to be critical. Merely taking more time isn't working; I'm spinning my wheels on this book, not making any progress. Maybe when I come back to it, the fresh eyes will let me see more clearly what needs to be changed.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow me and find me around the web:
At TonyNoland.com // On Twitter // On Facebook // At Amazon.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My books (click the cover for more info):
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
[image error]
I have lots of notes for revisions to put into this first draft, but my enthusiasm to do so is low. I'm not sure what I want this book to say, so I'm questioning myself at every page. This tells me that I need to quickly whack these changes in, then set this text aside for a while and work on something else.
The suspect that the working on something else is going to be critical. Merely taking more time isn't working; I'm spinning my wheels on this book, not making any progress. Maybe when I come back to it, the fresh eyes will let me see more clearly what needs to be changed.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow me and find me around the web:
At TonyNoland.com // On Twitter // On Facebook // At Amazon.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My books (click the cover for more info):
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
[image error]
Setting a book aside
This book I'm working on just isn't coming together. The plot is OK, but the ending is weak. More importantly, while I have plenty of bad things happen to my MC - whipsaw events that make the action rise and fall - I'm not sure I've really given the reader any reason to care about him. This book has me stuck, scratching my head. Who is this guy, anyway? And why are these things happening to him?
I have lots of notes for revisions to put into this first draft, but my enthusiasm to do so is low. I'm not sure what I want this book to say, so I'm questioning myself at every page. This tells me that I need to quickly whack these changes in, then set this text aside for a while and work on something else.
The suspect that the working on something else is going to be critical. Merely taking more time isn't working; I'm spinning my wheels on this book, not making any progress. Maybe when I come back to it, the fresh eyes will let me see more clearly what needs to be changed.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow me and find me around the web:
At TonyNoland.com // On Twitter // On Facebook // At Amazon.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My books (click the cover for more info):
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
I have lots of notes for revisions to put into this first draft, but my enthusiasm to do so is low. I'm not sure what I want this book to say, so I'm questioning myself at every page. This tells me that I need to quickly whack these changes in, then set this text aside for a while and work on something else.
The suspect that the working on something else is going to be critical. Merely taking more time isn't working; I'm spinning my wheels on this book, not making any progress. Maybe when I come back to it, the fresh eyes will let me see more clearly what needs to be changed.
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow me and find me around the web:
At TonyNoland.com // On Twitter // On Facebook // At Amazon.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My books (click the cover for more info):
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
August 13, 2014
Send me your email, if you dare
Periodically, I get email intended for some other Tony Noland. I know of Tony Nolands who live in Minnesota, Kentucky, Indiana, California, etc., etc. (I also know of an evangelical rock and roll minister named Tony Nolan. I sometimes get email for him, too.)
I've developed a canned response to these emails. Sometimes the sender corrects their records, sometimes not.
Using AutoHotKey (which I've talked about before), I simply type:
Have I ever gotten any sales this way? Not to any great degree. Perhaps some other Tony Noland - a car salesman, a soccer coach, a politician, an art thief, etc. - might buy one of my books purely from the novelty of reading something written by his namesake/doppleganger. Regardless, it makes responding a lot easier than retyping a long reply each time.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
I've developed a canned response to these emails. Sometimes the sender corrects their records, sometimes not.
Using AutoHotKey (which I've talked about before), I simply type:
wrongtonynolandThis automatically expands to:
You've sent your e.mail to the wrong Tony Noland. I'm guessing you want the Tony Noland who is a dad or coach or neighbor or who is otherwise someone you know and/or work with. Instead, you sent it to me - the writer who lives in Philadelphia, PA.I click SEND and go on with my day.
While this won't do you much good with respect to your subject of interest, it DOES give you the chance to check out any of my books on Amazon http://amazon.com/author/tonynoland or to go read my blog at http://www.tonynoland.com. My books cost less than a latte, and they are all a great way to use your Kindle or Kindle app!
I hope you're able to find the right e.mail address for your Tony Noland, and correct your records for future e.mails. I'm sure he's sad not to be hearing from you!
Cheers,
Tony
Have I ever gotten any sales this way? Not to any great degree. Perhaps some other Tony Noland - a car salesman, a soccer coach, a politician, an art thief, etc. - might buy one of my books purely from the novelty of reading something written by his namesake/doppleganger. Regardless, it makes responding a lot easier than retyping a long reply each time.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
August 11, 2014
What's in my WIP?
Because Sabrina Zbasnik tagged me, here are the opening lines of Chapters 1, 2, & 3 of my WIP. (This is WIP, so don't expect any happy families all alike.)
Chapter 1. "If he'd said the job was going to be easy, I'd have been even more vigorous in my efforts to get out of it."
Chapter 2. "I sat for hours in the ER of the only hospital in Joppa, a regional care facility that gave the simultaneous impression of being both newly renovated and distressingly shopworn."
Chapter 3. "Let's cut to the chase: I completely screwed it up."
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
Chapter 1. "If he'd said the job was going to be easy, I'd have been even more vigorous in my efforts to get out of it."
Chapter 2. "I sat for hours in the ER of the only hospital in Joppa, a regional care facility that gave the simultaneous impression of being both newly renovated and distressingly shopworn."
Chapter 3. "Let's cut to the chase: I completely screwed it up."
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
July 30, 2014
Changing course
I've not been satisfied with sales of my book, so it's time to make some changes to the marketing. Those roll out today.
In the meantime, I'm working on my next book. I'm told that the best marketing strategy is to keep publishing books and built your list, so I am.
Onward.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
[image error]
In the meantime, I'm working on my next book. I'm told that the best marketing strategy is to keep publishing books and built your list, so I am.
Onward.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
[image error]
Changing course
I've not been satisfied with sales of my book, so it's time to make some changes to the marketing. Those roll out today.
In the meantime, I'm working on my next book. I'm told that the best marketing strategy is to keep publishing books and built your list, so I am.
Onward.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
In the meantime, I'm working on my next book. I'm told that the best marketing strategy is to keep publishing books and built your list, so I am.
Onward.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
July 28, 2014
The nuclear option
It seems that saying "Screw it, I'm done with this writing thing" is part of the usual drama and angst that many writers go through. This is usually followed at some point by a return to the page and the world of words.
But under what circumstances would you actually make it stick?
An addict desperate to get clean will gather up all the drugs and flush them down the toilet, gather up all the paraphernalia and throw it into a dumpster, pack a bag and leave town to get away from the peer group of users, dealers, pimps and prostitutes that encircle a life of addiction. Sometimes, they get clean; other times, they only recreate their former life in a new place.
I've heard of would-be writers admitting defeat and taking steps to burn the bridges behind them. Take down the blog, recycle the notebooks, delete the files from the hard drive, pull the books from Amazon, cancel the accounts on twitter and goodreads.
Get clear. Get clean.
What would make you do it?
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
But under what circumstances would you actually make it stick?
An addict desperate to get clean will gather up all the drugs and flush them down the toilet, gather up all the paraphernalia and throw it into a dumpster, pack a bag and leave town to get away from the peer group of users, dealers, pimps and prostitutes that encircle a life of addiction. Sometimes, they get clean; other times, they only recreate their former life in a new place.
I've heard of would-be writers admitting defeat and taking steps to burn the bridges behind them. Take down the blog, recycle the notebooks, delete the files from the hard drive, pull the books from Amazon, cancel the accounts on twitter and goodreads.
Get clear. Get clean.
What would make you do it?
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
July 23, 2014
Dune - Book Summary & Analysis by Thug Notes
This is a fun performance piece, and a better job analyzing "Dune" than I ever managed.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
July 21, 2014
The horror of old work
I'm cleaning out my desk, recycling enormous piles of old paper. Among the detritus is a complete anthology of science fiction stories which I never got around to publishing. Spaceships, aliens, antimatter, Victorian automata, black holes, time travel... this anthology has it all.
Intrigued, I read through them, letting my own words come back to me across the years.
In general, the stylistic choices I made way back then are not the choices I would make today. That's perhaps putting it kindly. One choice I made back then is exactly the same as I made today: the best place for this collection of stories is an undisturbed grave.
To my credit, however, I certainly seem to have written with a great deal of enthusiasm.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
Intrigued, I read through them, letting my own words come back to me across the years.
In general, the stylistic choices I made way back then are not the choices I would make today. That's perhaps putting it kindly. One choice I made back then is exactly the same as I made today: the best place for this collection of stories is an undisturbed grave.
To my credit, however, I certainly seem to have written with a great deal of enthusiasm.
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
July 17, 2014
Blog tour: Meet my main character
I’ve been tagged in the Meet my Main Character blog tour by my pal Icy Sedgwick .
Here are the rules:
The taggee must write a post answering the same seven questions about their MC (main character). Then the taggee becomes the tagger and chooses five other authors.
I debated using this opportunity to talk about my WIP, but since it's still too far from completion for me to have a publication date, I'll talk about "Verbosity's Vengeance" instead.
1. What is the name of your main character? Is he a fictional or a historical person?
The Grammarian, aka Alexander Integrity Graham, aka A.I. Graham. The Grammarian is a costumed superhero, so definitely fictional.
2. When and where is the story set?
The story is set in the present day, on the streets of Lexicon City. It's a lot like Chicago, mixed with bits of Philadelphia, Sao Paulo and New York.
3. What should we know about him?
He's a very human guy with superhuman abilities. His powers are based on language constructs. such as words, punctuations and grammar. He can project a full stop to block a grenade, punch through steel with an acid remark, or spray a mass of commas to silence a crowd. The raw material of his power is his intelligence, which can also be used for purely physical effects. By diverting his mental capacity into strength, agility, speed-healing or other super-abilities, he can do amazing things... just not too many at once if he wants to stay coherent.
4. What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?
The Grammarian can handle his arch-nemesis, Professor Verbosity. Tracking him down and stopping his latest plan is only a matter of detective work. What really screws things up is the interference of the Avant Guardian, an incompetent, rookie superhero eager to make a name for himself among Lexicon City's heroes. The Grammarian is patient, and he's out for justice; the Avant Guardian is splashy, and he's out for quick fame. Their clashes only serve to help the Professor Verbosity and another supervillain new to Lexicon City. Amid this action, the Grammarian (in his real identity as Alex Graham) is pursing a romantic relationship with a scientist with an interest in superhero technology. When her interest rises to the level of obsession, the entanglements with the damage caused by the Avant Guardian's bungling (and the Grammarian's attempts to set it all right) initiates a terrible cascade of events that threatens the entire city.
5. What is his personal goal?
Stop the villain. Save the city. Hire a sidekick. Get a date for Saturday night. Not necessarily in that order.
6. Is there a working title for this novel and can we read more about it?
The book is "Verbosity's Vengeance: A Grammarian Adventure Novel". It's available at most e.book retailers: Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes, Barnes & Noble and in other e.book formats directly from me.You can also read about "Verbosity's Vengeance" and discuss it on Goodreads.
7. When can we expect the book to be published?
It came out last September, with good reviews. As of this date, it's averaging 4.60 stars on Goodreads and 4.7 stars on Amazon .
Now, I get to tag a few people. They are:
Cathy RussellLarry KollarRachel Lynn BrodySabrina ZbasnikAngela Kulig
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
Here are the rules:
The taggee must write a post answering the same seven questions about their MC (main character). Then the taggee becomes the tagger and chooses five other authors.
I debated using this opportunity to talk about my WIP, but since it's still too far from completion for me to have a publication date, I'll talk about "Verbosity's Vengeance" instead.
1. What is the name of your main character? Is he a fictional or a historical person?
The Grammarian, aka Alexander Integrity Graham, aka A.I. Graham. The Grammarian is a costumed superhero, so definitely fictional.
2. When and where is the story set?The story is set in the present day, on the streets of Lexicon City. It's a lot like Chicago, mixed with bits of Philadelphia, Sao Paulo and New York.
3. What should we know about him?
He's a very human guy with superhuman abilities. His powers are based on language constructs. such as words, punctuations and grammar. He can project a full stop to block a grenade, punch through steel with an acid remark, or spray a mass of commas to silence a crowd. The raw material of his power is his intelligence, which can also be used for purely physical effects. By diverting his mental capacity into strength, agility, speed-healing or other super-abilities, he can do amazing things... just not too many at once if he wants to stay coherent.
4. What is the main conflict? What messes up his life?
The Grammarian can handle his arch-nemesis, Professor Verbosity. Tracking him down and stopping his latest plan is only a matter of detective work. What really screws things up is the interference of the Avant Guardian, an incompetent, rookie superhero eager to make a name for himself among Lexicon City's heroes. The Grammarian is patient, and he's out for justice; the Avant Guardian is splashy, and he's out for quick fame. Their clashes only serve to help the Professor Verbosity and another supervillain new to Lexicon City. Amid this action, the Grammarian (in his real identity as Alex Graham) is pursing a romantic relationship with a scientist with an interest in superhero technology. When her interest rises to the level of obsession, the entanglements with the damage caused by the Avant Guardian's bungling (and the Grammarian's attempts to set it all right) initiates a terrible cascade of events that threatens the entire city.
5. What is his personal goal?
Stop the villain. Save the city. Hire a sidekick. Get a date for Saturday night. Not necessarily in that order.
6. Is there a working title for this novel and can we read more about it?
The book is "Verbosity's Vengeance: A Grammarian Adventure Novel". It's available at most e.book retailers: Amazon, Smashwords, iTunes, Barnes & Noble and in other e.book formats directly from me.You can also read about "Verbosity's Vengeance" and discuss it on Goodreads.
7. When can we expect the book to be published?
It came out last September, with good reviews. As of this date, it's averaging 4.60 stars on Goodreads and 4.7 stars on Amazon .
Now, I get to tag a few people. They are:
Cathy RussellLarry KollarRachel Lynn BrodySabrina ZbasnikAngela Kulig
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Landless by Tony Noland. If you like the blog, try one of the books.
