Starting With The End

David Baldacci, who writes in my genre, is #2 on Amazon's most read list with his release of 'The Fix'. Of course, I could not resist 'looking inside'. 17 of the first 25 sentences used 'was' as the main verb. Five began with 'there'. He also has a very comfortable relationship with adverbs. Here's an example. Not the most egregious but just so obvious. "He abruptly walked out without another word." The sentence's context not only obviates the adverb but also makes the prepositional phrase extraneous. I repeat. He's #2 on Amazon's most read list. Who's #1? Stay tuned.

I don't begrudge Mr. Baldacci anything. Good for you, David. I wish you every success.

At 3:58pm on Saturday, May 13th, 2017, I wrote 'The End' to my sixth novel, 'Seraphim' and I will make a determined effort to gain agent representation. 'Was' exists only in dialogue. No sentence begins with. 'there'. I haven't counted, but would be surprised if more than five adverbs exist. And if so, nothing like the monstrosity above (lol).

So though I felt thrilled, excited, and relieved to finish it, a pall of uncertainty hangs over me. I have this nagging feeling that none of the work to improve my craftsmanship matters. Something about this publishing business makes no sense. It's all a matter of sheer, dumb luck. Amanda Hocking anyone?

How much effort should I put into an eye-catching, attention-grabbing cover? I would have whisked right by this one.



Margaret Atwood's, 'The Handmaid's Tale' is Amazon's #1 most read and most sold book. I 'looked inside'. I had no idea what was going on. It recalled the late Elmore Leonard's dictum. "If it sounds like writing, I re-write it."

I offer this not as criticism of Ms Atwood. Mazeltov, Margaret. May you sell a million more. But as I embark on the road to that dark, treacherous forest within which agents dwell, it occurs to me I might be profoundly clueless. A naive ingenue (or whatever the male equivalent is). A babe in the woods ripe to have his lunch handed to him. I've run out of cliches. lol

I also fret over Seraphim's provocative nature. It crosses one of polite society's red lines: religion. The chronological appearance of history's great religious figures, with the exception of Judaism which still waits for its Messiah, all ended centuries ago. But why should Mohammad be the last one? Seraphim posits the arrival of another in a modern setting. How would the world and its religions react to a prophet with astounding abilities claiming to represent the God of Gods? Into the millpond of religious stability, Seraphim hurls a boulder. How are agents going to react to that?

In any event, indie or trad (forgive me, Eldon. I just don't have your panache), the work begins when 'The End' is written. I've started converting my double-spaced, 1.5 inch margin manuscript to Kindle format so that my first and beta readers have something convenient. I'll give it an author's read through then let it go to them.

This being my sixth, I've tried both editing styles. Most experts advise mowing through the creative process first then re-write and edit when complete. When I tried that, I grew to hate my own book. Reading the same story over and over is a torture best reserved for al Qaeda. I find dynamic re-write and edit much easier while the material is fresh to mind and it spurs the imagination as I contemplate and structure upcoming scenes. Take your pick.

I also have to begin the tedious process of updating my agent database. Like any business, people move around, retire, get fired, get promoted. When finished, I'll make it available to anyone interested by just sending me a PM. But, after, I send out my own queries !! :-D

I think it will also be interesting to blog on my thinking as I process through agent selections. One thing I've learned, other than genre preference, their bios are worthless blah blah. Why can't people say what they mean and mean what they say?

Then of course, there's the crafting of a blurb and Query Letter. I'm pretty comfortable with both and have already begun the process (thank you, EG !!). I'll wait for the critiques and corrections to roll in and when I have something more substantial, I'll post both here.

I also think those changes and corrections, without giving anything away, will prove instructive and interesting. So I'll post those too. After that, it'll become a case of waiting for the rejection letters to start arriving.

As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome.