Chris LaFata's Blog, page 2

I’ve been fired

I have never been fired from anything in my life. That changed last night.

I was fired from my band.

I have been dealing with allergies my whole life. Something causes mucus to pool over my vocal cords, and I lose part of my singing range. It’s kind of like having a dry throat. If I can clear out the mucus, I am fine for a few minutes and then it comes back. The flareups usually last about a week or two and then I dry out. When we moved to Colorado last year, my allergies were the same as they’ve always been.

This year, however, has been completely different. My symptoms have been consistent since February. I’ve been to an allergy specialist and to an ear, nose and throat-specialist that people like Stephen Tyler fly in to see. I’ve been on antibiotics, antihistamines, steroids and asthma medicine. Nothing has helped. I was told to give up acidic food like tomato sauce, coffee (yikes), oranges and alcohol, and I did. Finally, I decided to start the five-year allergy injection process to try to get the problem solved once and for all. It takes two weeks to create the allergy cocktail, so I haven’t had a shot yet.

I guess the band ran out of patience. I understand. It’s been frustrating for me too. There were four or five songs that I wasn’t comfortable singing when I couldn’t hit the notes comfortably. I suggested coming up with a Plan B, so that on my off-nights, we could still play our four-hour show and not skip songs or plow through them at 80%. That idea was shot down, and I’m okay with that. I joined them, and it was their band. At the end of the day, we do this because it’s fun. If it’s no longer enjoyable, there’s no reason to continue to do it. You don’t become a musician so you can have a J-O-B!

I’m sad, but not heartbroken. I’m a firm believer in worrying only about what you control.

A few days ago, I wrote about having unfinished music I recorded sitting on my hard drive, and how I wanted to finish it. Strangely enough, I decided yesterday morning in the shower that I was going back into the studio to finish the recordings once and for all. You can hear some demos here: https://soundcloud.com/chris-lafata-music or here. I had never even played in a cover band until about five years ago, and original music was always my passion. It’s also therapeutic for me (just like writing).

I will miss hanging out with the guys in the band. They are all fun to hang out with and are good musicians. I have absolutely no hard feelings. Of course, they’ve told me we should hang out, and maybe we will, but my experience is that you hang out with people you that you share activities–whether it be your job, your kids, your neighborhood (yes, I know a neighborhood isn’t an “activity,” but you get the idea), or your band. When you no longer share those interests, your “close” friends tend to drift away.

My writer friends are probably thinking that I should focus on more writing, but I’m not wired to do just one thing. I need to be well-rounded. Besides, music has always been a huge part of my life.

I’m excited. I get to go back to writing music, playing acoustic shows, and maybe get an original band again. Besides, is anyone really going to miss me singing Jesse’s Girl?

I think not.

How many revisions are enough?

I’m almost done!

I have said this before.

Twice.

I finished the first draft of my novel on May 30th and have been actively editing and polishing ever since. I have read about writers who will rewrite their manuscripts up to twenty times before submitting them to editors. That seems excessive to me. I know we all want our work to be as good as possible, but there is also a point where we can be over-critical.

I am about to finish my third pass and have learned a lot about my writing. My first three chapters were a labor to write and it shows (just like my blog posts). I chalk this up to just getting started and learning on the job. It took three or four chapters to find my voice. Once I got into a rhythm, my writing was much more clear. Next, I tend to over-use “that” and “some.” I found one paragraph where I used the word “some” four times–and I didn’t catch it during the first two passes while I was editing. Ouch. Finally, I’m happy to say that I still like the story. I get insecure talking about it to other writers, but am usually pleased when I read a chapter that I haven’t read in a while, and it’s better than I remember.

Going back to my original question on how many revisions I should do, I know the obvious answer is: as many as it takes. My problem is I know I will find something every time I read it. I don’t want to get caught up in the process of editing and polishing to the point where I never finish the book. I have done that while recording music and it weighs on me that I have unfinished material sitting in my computer’s hard drive. I will not let that happen to this book.

I will have a better idea as to where I stand in the next month. I’m attending the Colorado Gold Conference in a few weeks and am scheduled to have an agent critique where the agent tells me if my first few pages are any good. At the end of September, I have a writing intensive workshop in Orlando that will really give me an idea as to how close my novel is to being ready for the masses.

I am excited to share what the book is about and get people to start reading it. Some of you have already found the Washington’s Providence Facebook page. There is a version of the “back of the book” copy in the About section. Check it out!

Chris or Christopher?

I was talking to my sister on the phone today and she suggested I use Christopher instead of Chris when I publish my book. Initially, I thought, Really? I’m only called Christopher when I’m in trouble. (i.e. NEVER!)

On the other hand, I’m reading a Jeffrey Deaver book right now, and I’ve always been a fan of Stephen King. I’m pretty sure Christopher Moore isn’t calledChristopher by his friends–although his web site is chrismoore.com.

I must confess that being called Christopher reminds me of the first time a student called me professor. It’s uncomfortable. I want to look around to make sure I’m the one being addressed.

So what do you think?

Chris or Christopher?