C.S. Boyack's Blog, page 229

Should I Publish Traditionally or Go Indie?

coldhandboyack:

I was browsing my reader this morning, as one does. Nicholas is someone I always read, so I opened his post. The cartoon sucked me in, but the content is wonderful. This is one of the best depictions of traditional vs. self publishing I’ve ever seen. Even those who aren’t writers will find it interesting.

Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:

[image error]This is a question I head surprisingly often, especially from new authors. I always tell people that both are valid ways, and advise them to pursue a traditional publishing contract first, if that’s what they want. However, they should not stop at that. Instead, they should keep their options open, should they fail to get a contract.

Secretly, I know that 99% of them will end up Indie. Not because their books are no good, but because of a simple truth: what publisher will prefer an unknown author who’s only just starting out to a midlister Indie with thousands of fans and an established platform?

So, my advice would be to try both and see what works for you. But don’t waste years waiting for an agent or a publisher to come back to you. It’s just not worth it anymore. Besides, you have better chances at being picked by an agent or…

View original 1,247 more words

Is Tony Bennett a Vampire?

I was on my commute this morning when Telephone, by Lady Gaga, played on the radio. It’s kind of catchy, and I enjoyed it. I remember when she made a Christmas special with Tony Bennett, and I heard she put out an album of classics with Bennett recently.

My mind went to work, and I did a little bit of research. Gaga and Bennett are touring together. Now I don’t like every tune by Lady Gaga, but I admit she is very talented. Strange, but talented.

More research; Bennett is 88 years old. Born in 1926. This is well past the age most people work, and well beyond the age most people are comfortable travelling extensively.

Gaga’s last album didn’t sell too well, and I don’t recall hearing about any big hits from it either.

Deep in the corners of my memory, I remember when Linda Ronstadt put out an album called What’s New. It was her take on some of the classics. She attracted Tony Bennett, and his career was reborn. I don’t recall hearing from Ronstadt ever again.

I saw in my research where Faith Hill did a duet with Bennett once. When was the last time she had a hit?

A bit more research showed that Bennett did a duet with Amy Winehouse. She’s dead now, and Bennett is going strong.

So on one side of the scale we have some very talented ladies, whose careers, well, let’s say diminished. The other side of the scale holds Tony Bennett at 88 years of age who keeps going strong. It almost seems like as the girls lose something, Bennett gains something.

If Taylor Swift’s agent wants to make a protective strike, I heard Bennett’s heart is in San Francisco.

Was Grandma right?

I write science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal stories. In my mind, they’re related, but are a bit different.

I write my novels, this blog, the occasional micro fiction, and am probably going to attempt a few short stories.

The blog covers a pretty broad spectrum of topics. Cooking, foraging, writing, reading, plus the writing cabin stories under the Muse category.

When I read, I like online articles, comic books, your blogs, and more. Novels I read are pretty broad based. I read the kind of stories I write, but I love a good detective story, courtroom drama, historical fiction, horror, westerns, biographies, and more.

So am I becoming a jack of all trades, and master of none? I am more than the blogger and writer you see here, but I share. Thus the stories about sourdough, gathering morels, growing peaches, going out with my wife.

I don’t think that makes me so different, but what about my writing? Am I covering too many bases? I understand I don’t have to change a thing, but would I be more successful if I focused more? What if I focused on novels, and blogging about novels?

Just kidding! I’m going to keep doing what I enjoy. One thing I refuse to let go of is my personal enjoyment of this. Chances of getting rich here are slim at best. Chances of having a good time are excellent. I’m having a great time.

My grandmother used to say I bounced around like a fart in a skillet. Maybe she was right, but I’m enjoying myself.

A day, in which I don’t like things

If you aren’t into tantrums, here’s your opportunity to skip this post. We will still be friends.

I am not a patient guy, but I try. One of the things I do is give things time before making a judgment. I still have to force myself, but I’m improving.

After much deliberation, and a reasonable amount of time, I don’t like the new and improved WordPress.

I still think it’s the best blogging platform out there, but they’ve certainly made it less user friendly for those who blog. Here are my examples:

I can’t stand the new and improved stats display. It looks like bad chibi anime to me. I vote every single time I check stats, but apparently it was to placate serious users with no real value behind it. I’ve been clicking to display the old stats page, but now they forced me to swipe through all the new displays to the bottom before I can see any stats that make sense. It has the feeling of a close out sale. “Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
I am pretty disappointed that I can no longer open a page of my comments, likes, and follows. I am getting a lot of action these days, and the scroll thingie doesn’t work all that well. I would be mortified if I couldn’t acknowledge someone’s comment, and am afraid I might have missed one or two.
None of the changes work well with iOS. I’m sure there aren’t many Apple fans out there, so why bother. (Rolls eyes.) When I try to respond to a comment, the display actually jerks around, and I wind up hitting the wrong button half the time. The send button isn’t reliable when I do manage to hit it.
I know it’s old now, but I don’t like the new post “beep beep boop” version either. I always click through to the older one, but wonder how long that will remain. Even it doesn’t like iOS very well. I write most of my posts in Pages these days, and paste them into the new post.
I want the link option to work every single time. Two thirds of the time, when I highlight a section, the link option greys out. I have to choose a different word to highlight until the link option is available. ( Three or four times, minimum.) Only then can I make the link I originally wanted.
I want the ability to include a picture when using my iPhone. I usually write these on my iPad, but sometimes it isn’t available. The entire iPhone version is frustrating.

I feel like a hacker whenever I use WordPress these days. Nearly everything is becoming a work around. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going anywhere, but I feel like WordPress developers ought to actually use the software on various platforms before they release it to the masses.

I loved BlogPad Pro, but they decided not to update it when iOS 8 came out. It has a bug now that allows me to type faster than it can think. I’m not a fast typist.

Do any of you know of a reliable app that does WordPress better than WordPress?

Notes, from The Twilight Zone

These are exactly as presented, notes. Feel free to chime in about any of my points, or about any decent short story tutorial you enjoy.

Regular readers know I bought the entire series of The Twilight Zone. This is an attempt to learn something about writing short stories. I’ve watched two disks out of about twenty-five.

In watching the earliest episodes of The Twilight Zone, I’ve already learned some things. I really enjoy these stories, and the list of old actors are like seeing old friends again. That’s a distraction. I even got out a pen and paper to help me focus.

I’m happy to see that I’m not insane for writing more than one genre. Twilight Zone included science fiction and paranormal stories. I haven’t seen any real fantasy, but there are small elements peppered here and there. It can be done.

The first lesson is that I can’t replicate Serling. (Or Hitchcock from another old favorite.) Using a narrator to bring the audience up to speed is about forty years out of style. I’m not dissing on those who like omnipotent point of view, but I’ve only toyed with it in micro fiction. Serling brings the audience into the story in a few quick paragraphs.

I may be able to replace Serling with a good hook. (Maybe) Some line that draws readers in. “All children, except one, grow up.”

It’s probably best to start with character, but setting may work on occasion. This character must be interesting. If it’s a bad person, the character should be harming someone the audience would root for.

Add the strange spice right about here. What kind of story is this? Paranormal, fantasy, or science fiction. Get it on the page early. Twilight Zone uses a lot of peddlers. Not much use in a modern story, but we have pawn shops, fences, even auctions.

Whatever the strange spice brings, make it light. It can be charming, fun, mildly amusing. The reader might even be envious of something special a character gains.

Change the strange spice to terrifying. Make sure the reader is uncomfortable at this point. Better yet, make it personal.

End with a twist the reader never saw coming. (Good luck.) It may be helpful to write the ending first.

There is no time for a full hero’s journey. Things like training, gathering the team, and mentors have to go. It’s a short story, get to the point.

Important, the science fiction episodes dealt with the culture of the day. Space travel and nuclear war were on everyone’s mind. Today we might have genetics, GMO food, overpopulation, global warming, or depletion of resources in land or sea.

I’m pretty happy with myself as far as my story elements. Lisa, the robot, has GMO skin. Prejudice plays a role in Wild Concept, Panama, and The Cock of the South. Arson has socialized medicine and big insurance as the villain. Yay me!

The seven deadly sins seem to have been as much a motivating factor then as now. Still valid plot issues.

I was slightly surprised to see a robot girl in one episode. They didn’t take time to explain her, like I could in a novel. She was not the main character, Jack Warden was.

Some science fiction elements are timeless; time travel, space exploration, artificial intelligence. I can still use these.

I have no doubt my Muse will be inspired. I’ve already noticed her sandalwood perfume in the air.

I may discover a few thing more as I enjoy these shows. If I do, I’ll share them. It’s hard to come by a good tome about writing a short story. It seems they skip over minor failures and successes, to just deal with the big ones.

The Science of Sourdough

Many readers have expressed an interest in Tituba, my sourdough starter. I started her sometime in the 1980s and really don’t know how old she is. One of the secrets is knowing how to put her away for long term storage. I used to freeze a small sample, but these days I dry the sample and refrigerate.

A sourdough starter is a wild yeast culture, but that’s pretty simplified. They really don’t travel all that well, and will eventually become a culture of your local wild yeast. That’s why I never feared adding other yeasts to the mix.

Active dry yeast is the hothouse flower of the yeast world. It will only last a generation or two under the crock environment. Its best use is to medicate an ailing starter, knowing it will all disappear and leave your wild beastie in place. I’ve added champaign yeast, brown ale yeast, and active dry yeast to mine at times.

The lifespan of one yeast organism is somewhere around the blink of an eye. I have no doubt that some hybridization occurred, but Darwinism leaves me with a decent starter. She was born in Nevada, and may be more of an Idaho wild yeast these days.

There is a microscopic war going on all around us. We want yeast to leaven our bread, but yeast is under a constant attack. The enemy here is mold. Tituba needs an ally.

Enter lactobacillus. This simple bacteria hates and kills mold with extreme prejudice. It loves the alcohol produced by the yeast as it devours the flour I feed it. I get bubbles that raise my dough, and the bacteria gets the waste product of fermentation, alcohol. (Every military in history thrives on alcohol.) The bacteria in exchange, keeps the mold at bay.

But wait, there’s more. Sourdough bread has a distinct tangy flavor. This flavor isn’t available to bakers who use active dry yeast. That’s right, it is provided by the lactobacillus.

Tituba is a symbiotic organism. She consists of both a wild yeast culture, and a colony of lactobacillus. She makes great bread too.

I baked my first loaf of the year this morning. It turned out great. I left it out overnight to ramp up the sour flavor. The house is usually cold enough at night, but this time it over proofed a bit. It was about to crawl out out of the Dutch oven when I got up. It fell a bit when I sliced the dough prior to baking. Still, it tastes wonderful.

A Saturday Update

I managed a little writing time this morning. I didn’t get the word count I’m accustomed to, but it was good stuff. It included fairies and teeth getting knocked out. I’ve absolutely reached that Act II slog I hit every time. It’s time for all the characters to move and get closer to each other. This means research to make sure the new city is represented properly. Other writers will probably relate.

I built a loaf of sourdough bread around noon. This stuff raises slowly, and it’s best not to rush it. The sour comes across better with a slow rise. I laced this one with rosemary and olive oil, and it ought to be pretty good. Tituba, my sourdough starter awoke with a vengeance this year. Some years she’s slow, some years she’s fast. She nearly climbed out of her crock on Tuesday. I decided I’d better bake with her, before there was trouble.

Old What’s Her Face* and I went to Whole Foods for some upscale goodies, then went to dinner. We wound up in a pub environment called The Tilted Kilt. We’ve been there before, and both like it. Me for the beer and cute waitresses. My wife for the great food they offer. It’s also cheaper than many other places, and close to Whole Foods. It’s near the BSU campus, which is probably the source of the waitstaff. It was a slow night, and we almost had the place to ourselves. Good for us, not so good for business. They have a Scottish Ale, I particularly like, so I had two.

Now it’s time to finish up with Harry Dresden. I want to find out about Mouse, the dog’s, secret. After that I may return to The Twilight Zone.

I may wrangle some writing time tomorrow, but I also have to call my parents. I have research to get to as well. Then I need to start a beta reading project for a friend.

How was your Saturday?

*Not my wife’s actual name.

 

I have a New Study Guide

I’ve been toying with the idea a of writing some short stories. I have an idea of what a novel takes. My micro fiction seemed to work well, but something about the length of a short story is eluding me. How many disasters should I include? How much to slice off at each end? That sort of thing. So I got a study guide…

…Imagine yourself as a writer. Your stories are good, but the rejection letters keep piling up. You finally decide to self publish, but you’re late to the event. You need to buy cover art and figure out how to promote your works.

It’s a solitary process, just you and your imaginary friends. So you start a blog. You meet a few kindred spirits along the way and they really help. But your imaginary friends demand time too. One day you decide to park your imaginary friends at a wonderful place you call the Writing Cabin.

My friend, you’ve just entered…

 

I think Rod Serling could teach a guy a thing or two about short stories; particularly the kind of stories I write. It was this or Love American Style, which was also good in its own way.

If you need me, I’ll be binge watching about five years worth of vintage television.

Some Goodreads Success

I wound up contacting the Librarians group to solve my problem. They got everything spiffed up overnight. I now have all my books under my author profile.

If any of you are so inclined, you can copy and paste any Amazon reviews on Goodreads now.

I think this is the linkamabob : http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9841203.C_S_Boyack

I still have some quirks to figure out. I’d like to figure out why my blog isn’t updating over there. It uses the RSS feed and ought to be fine. I may have to approach the librarians once more.

The Idea Mill # 8

I’ve gathered up a few more cool articles to help spark your imaginations. These are interesting for anyone who wants to take a look. I always look at them from a writer’s perspective.

The first one is one of those top ten lists. Thankfully, it isn’t the type where you have to click on page one through ten to read it. (I hate that) This one is called 10 of the Stranges Jobs in the Victorian Era. All of them would add a bit of style to a novel set in this era.

I was drawn to the lamplighters and how they sold interesting bugs to collectors. They would have observed a great many things during a shift, and would make great informants. Maybe you want to write a story about a mad scientist, and the first evidence is some strange bug.

I also liked the leech collectors. They would be the perfect ones to find the floating body somewhere. I’ve seen too many grave robbers and female hysteria doctors, but they probably have some mileage left in them.

This one is called 10 Unsolved Mysteries from the Wild West. There are several lost mines mentioned. Those who like adventure stories ought to find something interesting about those. You wouldn’t have to set the story in the Wild West either. It could be a Martian colony pretty easily.

I’m drawn to the guy who was marooned on Antelope Island. I think this could be made into a ghost story pretty easily. So could Pancho Villa’s body parts.

The last one I’ll just call 6 Ancient Objects. These are things from the ancient world that we still can’t explain today. Any one of them would make a great “we are not alone” kind of story. I also like the Baigong Pipes as part of a fantasy story. They could be all kinds of things, from a weapon to a cemetary in a fantasy setting. Those stone spheres would make great monster eggs too.

I’ll keep collecting articles and posting these, they are pretty popular posts. Share what you can come up with in the comments. I’d like to hear it, and I’ll bet other readers would too. Maybe your leech catcher saves enough cash to go hunting for a lost gold mine in Costa Rica, and comes across some huge stone spheres that are more than they seem.

Happy reading and have fun with them.