Bill Cokas's Blog, page 3

What'd I Miss?

A lot has changed since I was last here, mainly in the publishing world. The ultimate goals used to be 1.) find an agent and 2.) get published. Not that I'd turn down either an agent or a publishing deal at this point, but I'd give them a lot more thought than I would have in 2009. Why? The rise of ebooks and indie publishing. 



I've spent the last few months devouring all kinds of research

We Lost Another Reader.

Not a reader of this blog. If we lost one of those, we'd be in negative numbers. I mean a devoted reader of fiction, those invaluable souls who keep us writers in business. Okay, by "us," I mean "people who get paid to write fiction." Maybe one day "us" will include "me." His name was Carl and there was no one else quite like him, nor will there ever be again. He was born in Germany, immigrated

He did it, but can I?

Genre-hopping. Let's check in with Neil Young on the subject: "I used to be pissed off at Bobby Darin because he changed styles so much. Now I look at him and think he was a f---ing genius." I'll go on the record right now as being one of the planet's biggest Bobby Darin fans. In my book, he's second only to Sinatra. No one had the swing or swagger down better. Not Bennett, not Torme, not...

Prince Charles, you have my sympathy.

So I met Carl Hiaasen last night. Yeah, that Carl Hiaasen. My favorite living author. The undisputed king of that tiniest of sub-genres: comic suspense. Turns out he's not ready to pack it in yet. And here I was, ready to step in with my two comic suspense manuscripts and assume the throne.The guy's friends with Jimmy Buffett--isn't that enough of an achievement for one lifetime? Does he really

The Query, as it stands.

So I'm getting some traffic with this. After forty years, Dorsey Duquesne believes he's finally found his mother. Too bad she keeps trying to kill him. BATTLE AXE, my 100K-word suspense novel, will appeal to fans of Carl Hiaasen, Janet Evanovich and Bill Fitzhugh. When his father dies, the last thing Dorsey needs is a mid-life crisis. But when the funeral lures long-buried family skeletons out

Take that, Elmore Leonard.

In his "book" (if can call a hardback with one sentence per page a book) "10 Rules of Writing," Elmore Leonard states emphatically:Never use any word other than "said" to attribute dialogue.Although I'm sure he would quibble with my use of the word "emphatically." Because it's an adverb.Anyway, my son brings home this flyer from school recently that flies in the face of the great Mr. Leonard's

You're a Lucky Fellow, Mr. Smith

We interrupt your trek to the polls with this reminder of why.Hey, you're a lucky fellow, Mr. Smith, to be able to live as you do,And to have that swell Miss Liberty gal carrying the torch for youYou're a lucky fellow, Mr. Smith--look around you if you want to brag,You should thank your lucky stars and I mean, thank all 50 in your flagThis bit of Capraesque patrioti-corn was recorded by Frank

Not for me--thanks!

Is this meant to encourage me? What other profession is based on your relying on people beating down your door and then you decide if you'll even acknowledge them?I speak, of course, of the venerated literary agent. I've been sending out dozens of equeries lately, with maybe a 10% response rate. With a direct mail piece, this would be phenomenal. With a well-written, professional query, it's

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way from the Forums.

I allude, of course, to the 1962 Broadway masterpiece. The book is credited to Larry Gelbart and Burt Shevelove, but for my money, the show wouldn't have gotten off the ground without Stephen Sondheim's score and lyrics.As sung by Zero Mostel.Once called "nothing but a belch of a man" by my ever-derisive drama teacher, Zero took the role of Pseudolus, turned down by Phil Silvers and Milton Berle,

Stop the Insanity.

What is insanity? According to Albert Einstein, it's defined as repeating the same action over and over again, while expecting a different result. What are we to expect by electing John McCain, a man who, in his own words, plans to continue the policies of the least popular president of my lifetime? Something different? I invite you to explain to me how. All my life, I've avoided politics,