Caroline Gerardo's Blog, page 48

Amazon Buzzards Come and Get Me

On Sunday the revision was final. I deleted one ending and have chosen two.I am emailing pdf copies and a paper copy to:a writer buddy beta reader, a friend from twitter who fits my demographic and my friend in London. All three are men becauseI believe that is who will most enjoy the narrative. This one is pretty dark, and this time frame since Thanksgiving has been the inkiest buzzard swarming betrayal in my personal life. But the story has a hopeful quality in his Don Quixote quest to connect and ultimate acceptance of who he is in the soul. A character as anti hero transforms through the diving in the pool as a lifeguard through fire, violence and electric shock. My editor in the U. K. only read two chapters and is clapping his hands to hurry me along. Editing for me is a tedium and a torture. Dean Wesley Smith in his Killing the Sacred Cows says not to use the slow process I have chosen, but there was backlash critics who sniped at me for my writing style. A couple of the posters on Amazon are not critics of my work,they are mean spirited individuals who know of me. However, manipulation of Amazon is widespread. The more novels, short stories, poetry and work I complete and publish - the easier it is to take a swing under my chinto break my neck. Little do they know I am ready with my left.

Photograph copyright Caroline Gerardo 2011- yes there are buzzards in that foggy tree waiting.

Happy I'm Home with the People I work For.

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The people I work for.

Poison My Anti-Hero?

LustGreed (Cardinal Sins) 

Poison Water Hole copyright Caroline Gerardo July 2011

Second revision is near completion. I have three different endings for the novel. I would like to find three beta readers who will each read the pdf. of the book and decide with me - Does Seth have a happy ending and Rebirth? Does his daughter that he disallowed, and claimed was not his (although there is a DNA match just as in real life) come back and take his life? Does he make peace with his own soul fulfill a need for connection?



I am inclined to have him live in apathy but for story telling purposes that seems rather dull. It is not one of the endings I have put in chapters. The vengeance ending is my last choice.



The novel has some structural problems I need to toy around with. I think I will make three sections with chapters as the voice changes. First is voice of daughter in a brief prologue introduction, then the body of the narrative is in second person, and the ending chapter might be first person or daughter depending on the ending I select.



I continue to struggle with an anti-hero who wants love and connection. He takes the journey with willing heart but lacks the right map. Can we as humans really change that much? Or are our souls, our destiny filled with liquid of a certain DNA, a pre-planned God mapquest and if doused in violence the water is forever poisoned?

A couple of my short stories are up in the Kindle 1000 range Lust Vanity (Cardinal Sins)

Swimming Turtle

Lust

Turtle Bravely swimming into the dark future.Copyright Caroline GerardoEbook Freedom
Merideth Greene's review of Read Mill

http://bit.ly/p9Pefa

Intelligent article about choices, my hand is up in the air when called upon. Me first.

I love the freedom of reading in all formats.

There is something sacred about wandering through Laguna Beach Books and chatting with Jane Hanauer about novels she stacks. I still adore the smell of vanilla pages in my hands, dog earing the pages or leaving them upside down on a beach towel in the summer. An ebook does not fulfill the same piece of soul.

However, I also enjoy the ability to order ten books on my Kindle and decide after reading two Chapters what I will or will not continue in a faster delivery method. It is a less emotionally connected purchase. I buy on impulse on Kindle, often not reading the whole book. Why you ask? Like my teens, the siren song lures of so many other things to read and taste while online.

An interactive reading style will further develop the internet. I see authors like myself who also are visual artists using linking websites, music, and interactive story telling. Writing might be something where three authors begin a premise and readers change the direction of the tale. Not the same as gaming, prehaps in real time. I embrace the idea that ereading is the Gutenberg press of our time. Authors and artists must join together to find new 'guilds' and new art forms that will push the limits of narrative experience.

That a company chooses to limit or change the font I chose, certain I dislike the edges of that. Will they also censor the violence or sexual overtones in my writing?

It is an amazing time of growth ahead of us, happy to see Meredith Greene, you are asking questions.

Readmill Site in Progress

Thriller Fest Writers

Ghost Image New York 7/6/2011 Copyright Caroline Gerardo
Learning pearls of wisdom at Thriller Fest, Craft Fest Classes. It is amazingly for a writer. It is not just seeing people I have read, but hearing them speak with passion about writing.

A real treat of the day (although I have not slept now third night) was David Morrell talking about his own vision. He emotionally spoke of how authors today are free to write what they want. He is a master who has a thirty-nine year career investigating his topic and living off his craft. He makes an excellent point that all we have is time. If a writer is going to invest a year of their life into a novel do not waste it chasing the tail of some latest trend pulp fiction because the fashion will pass you by faster than one can imagine.

When I return home, more on Steve Berry's lively presentation and William Bernhardt's five plots. I believe the Tylenol PM is finally kicking in.
Wish I brought my copy of Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A novelist Looks at his Craft not to have it signed, just to show him how crumpled it is from reading.

Thriller Fest New York

Happy Fourth of July
I'm not packed for my New York trip but feel a sense of anticipation and worry.
I love New York.




Bumps in Writing Path

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Feeling gnarly and lower back pain. The second revision is almost there. Things around me are as watery wind. Think I will take a break from writing and hike today.  

Anti-hero Burning

My first reader has returned the manuscript fortunately without a red pen.
She is analytical about some of the details, and wants me to make the main
character turn for good about halfway through the story. I am not going to
make him into a nice guy. This is not the point. She says it is not mainstream
enough without the turn.

I can think of a few anti-heros who readers like but they do not find redemption,
but yes, there are not many. He will find change.

I miss my old first reader, need to find a new one who I trust the same. With eyes
that hear and a way of making me build a skyscraper, not burn down the house.
 I miss the most -
                                                    and  the brainstorming. (gap intended).

So on to the next revision, marching.

P.S. writers I read a great and brilliant idea from J. A. Konrath - put the copyright
legal mumbo at the end of the book, as ereaders will be more tempted by your work.

I had just changed a couple books to add a clause that I do not allow lending ( a silly
girlish idea that if I write it they will feel arrows of guilt) now with Konrath's idea
I perhaps am going a different route- to put the copyright disclosure at the end and
some note in the front that if you want my work for free, all you have to do is ...what?

So back to getting pallets of wood to burn all my paper books ...#amwriting
Oh forgot today is Sunday I count this as my ROW80 checkin- I finished ahead of schedule,
my deadline was july 5 now I can go for round three on the book- read aloud.

Vanity released on Kindle Today.

Vanity released on Kindle today

Lust on Kindle

Lust on Kindle released today