Category: book: witness (a.p.a.l.)

Another Night… day 33 – forcing it never works

so i was up at 4:30 and all ready to go with a cup of pomegrenate green tea to brighten things along, and things started out well. i was able to weed-whack my way through the tangled mess of last night’s confusion and realize that i had, indeed, made things far more complicated than they needed to be. so, emboldened by the clearing of the way, our beloved scribe strode boldly forth, pencil a-sharpened, ready to relate the conversations and events leading to the end of the story, packed with intrigue and derring-do, close-matched jousts of both a physical and a mental nature, captures, escapes, directions, deceptions, enemies – or allies? – and a powerful climax that will leave both our heroes with – but i get ahead of myself.

mainly because i choked. on the writing, that is. in two hours’ time, i wrote not even 2 pages. why? because i thought i could be more clever than my characters. this is an out and out lie. i was forcing them to say things that i thought would be witty or portentuous or particularly interesting, only to have them spit the words back out at me. i tried and i tried*, but they would never abide by my obvious brilliance for long. what was wrong with them? couldn’t they see how fantastically apropos this line was, or how heart-wrenchingly poetic that phrase was?

it’s still amazing to me that i can be so blind to this happening when i’m in the middle of it. it’s almost laughable – no, it is laughable - as i sit here reflecting on it, but it’s no less true. i’m still getting better at recognizing this sooner, though. thinking about my first experience with this with “Witness” truly is laughable. and cringe-worthy. i hammered some of those characters into the molds i wanted, over and over again, until draft 5 or 8 or even 12, when i would come to see the error of my ways. a little at a time, of course, which just added to the fun.

anyway, i can at least be thankful that i’m learning. i often wondered as a youth what it would be like to write that brilliant first novel and to have it fly off the shelves with my wunderkind picture on the back. now, though**,  i can’t imagine dealing with that kind of pressure. mostly, though, i don’t think anything i could have written in those earlier years would have ever been worth reading. i tend to learn by my mistakes, and my writing is no different. i still believe that someday these learnings will come together and my work will be published, and i believe that day is getting closer all the time.

a good thought to end on.

* and then i tried again

** i’ll admit this may well be sour grapes, but i honestly think it’s probably more just my aging

um, huh?

so, as i do, i was looking at amazon to see if anyone’s posted anything about Witness recently. while the answer to that question is no*, and the rank of the book has been hanging out past the 2 million mark for a while, the price of the paperback is now cheaper than the price of the Kindle version.

say what?

yep, as of this morning, it’s actually cheaper to buy the paper copy ($9.58) than it is to buy a digital copy (9.95).

why?

well, amazon is having a “Sci-Fi Extravaganza” sale, which apparently includes my book.** while i’m not complaining in the least (and i would strongly encourage anyone to take advantage of this fantastic offer), it’s just one of those weird things that catches me off-guard.

in unrelated news, i got another rejection for NGD this past Monday. it’s getting harder to be upset by this when it’s the same thing every time. bleh.

well, better get back to revising Rubber Bands and Random Numbers, i suppose. had a good start this morning, thanks to the internet being down for a while, until the provider got it back up.

oh, and don’t forget to consider an ultra-cheap copy of Witness for someone on your holiday list!***

* if you’ve read it and not posted something to amazon, i’d be most appreciative if you’d consider it, negatives as well as positives. every little bit helps.

** which seems odd, given that there’s nothing about science in Witness at all (well, not yet, anyway).

*** ah, shameless hucksterism.

because it’s 4am

and i’ve been awake for 2 hours.

i found* a site called Wordle that does word clouds, using any text you give it. i’d seen some folks mention they’ve used this to help them re-visualize their writing and address issues of unnecessary word repetition, et cetera, so i figured i’d give it a go with NGD, HHNF and Witness. it by no means substitutes for actual reading/revision, but it’s an interesting way of getting the mind to approach the content from a very different angle.

and it looks pretty neat, too.

Wordle for Hell Hath No Fury

Wordle for No Good Deed

Wordle for Witness

apparently i need to review my use of ‘back’.

right now, though, i’m going to shoot for a quick nap, see if that works.

* actually, my brother turned me onto it a few weeks ago, but i hadn’t gotten around to properly playing with it until this morning’s insomnia.

Witness now on Kindle! Paperback half price!

check it out here!

it should also be available on the Sony Reader, but for some reason it’s not showing in their catalogue, so i have to talk to the folks at iUniverse and see what’s going on there.

still, it’s pretty cool. or, i think it is, since i don’t own a kindle, but i’m told it’s very cool.

in i think related news, the price for the paperback edition at Amazon is currently down to 10.95, which is almost 1/2 price. i’m a bit torn saying this, though, because i’d much prefer sales through independent book stores, but i’ll admit to simply wanting to be seen more.

also, this price may well go right back up tomorrow. the more popular a book is, the cheaper it becomes apparently. i’ve seen a couple times where the price has dropped for a few days, only to go back up. i assume the same will hold true for this.

so buy now, buy several!

sorry, couldn’t resist.

brief update (and award win!)

Crowded Beach in New South Wales

Crowded Beach in New South Wales

writing:

the flight over (which was largely fine) wasn’t nearly as productive as i was hoping, but that’s alright, as i’ve managed to make some excellent progress since then. granted, i did backtrack a bit, but it wouldn’t be me without some backtracking. anyway, today i worked from the beginning to the end in a final detailed outline (yes, i know, you’ve heard it before, but this is it).

travel:

we’ve been visiting family this week, which has been wonderful, though far too short. 1 week is not enough to cover for several years of absence. jet lag was better than in past trips (good flights over really helped), which we’re very grateful for. as for pictures, etc., we’ve been mostly doing some hill- and beach-walking, but here are a couple examples of things we try to explain about the water, here:

1 – (un)crowded beaches

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2 – a million colors blue

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now, though, it’s back to our last evening with family, before our flight to Cairns!

COOL NEWS ALERT!

i just checked email and discovered that Witness won first place in the Fantasy category of the 2009 Indie Book Awards! more on this as it comes along, but for now… way cool!

best rejection ever!

earlier this year, i submit Witness to an annual international self-published book contest. yesterday, just a few days before christmas, i received notice that i hadn’t won. this, in itself, is okay; disaappointing, obviously, but okay. i’m certain there were quite a few very strong contenders (the letter even said so – “Competition was particularly fierce this year” – so it had to be true), and i learn from my mistakes and all that. so, that was fine.

the notification itself came in one of those stiff-backed full-sized envelopes so the pages are un-folded and all, and included the aforementioned letter, a cardstock certificate of participation in the contest, a couple photocopied pages of book marketing and promotion tips, and judge’s comments on my work.

now, let me say that i did pay $50 to be included in the contest, which is i suppose the reason for the more formal presentation of the notification; however, why on earth would i want a certificate to commemorate the fact that i hadn’t won something?*

okay, i can hear you asking: ‘what’s so ‘best’ about this rejection?’

well, i’ll tell you:

as i mentioned, i received comments from the judge (#32) that read my book. the following is an exact copy of the commentary i received, word for word:

Plot: 4
Grammar: 5
Character Development: 4
Cover Design: 3

Judge’s commentary:

What did you like best about this book?
The back cover copy is strong and compelling. After reading it, I was eager to open the book and start reading. After the opening hook, I couldn’t put down the book. With a well thought out plot and scene after scene of fabulous dialogue and active narrative, Witness is sure to have readers begging for more from author Bill Blais. The story starts at a good point and has a strong sense of movement, with all of the events unfolding in a logical yet unexpected manner. The characters are strong and sympathetic, even with their flaws. They speak naturally, and ring true to who they are. The authro voice is strong without being intrusive or overpowering to the story.

How can the author improve this book?
The front cover is okay, but it doesn’t offer a strong enough hint of the wonderful tale inside. With a story this powerful, the author might consider revising the cover for future printings. Take a look at other covers in the bookstore and see what jumps out – then do one better. There isn’t much else I’d change about this book, other than perhaps add a stronger hook at the end of all the chapters. Most of them have a light hook, so this really isn’t necessary. It would just strengthen it enough to take it from very good to excellent. Marketing this book would be a joy. There are all sorts of online book groups that would be eager to hear from the author for a chat or interview. Libraries and bookstores are other great places to ask about reader groups.

and this is the rejection letter? wow. (for reference, the numerics were based on a 1-5/low-high scale) obviously, i’m thrilled to hear all these fabulous things about my work, and i even understand where the judge is coming from about the cover art. it’s decidely not like the other books on the shelf, and it might do better with a more typically ‘fantastic’ cover. i’m not thrilled about that bit, and i don’t want to agree because of what it says about us as readers, but i can see the point.

that bit aside, though, my book is apparently bloody awesome.

just not good enough.

all my general snarkiness aside, though, i do want to be clear: i am genuinely and seriously thankful for this commentary, and i do appreicate that there are probably hundreds of books vying for the top spot in the genre fiction category. even as a rejection, this still ranks as extremely high praise, and it gives a little boost to the ego, if i do say so myself.

*worse, still, my name was off-center. i mean, come on, if you’re going to go to do a job, do it right. it’s the little things, folks, the little things…