© by Gerald So | 4:00 a.m.
This past Thursday, three college friends and I attended the Mysterious Bookshop double-signing and conversation between Ace Atkins and Alex Segura. It was the last day of Ace's tour for this year's Spenser continuation, Robert B. Parker's Old Black Magic, and Alex's second tour date for his fourth Pete Fernandez P.I. novel, Blackout.
Among many things I admire about Ace and Alex is their reporters' approach to writing. For reporters there's no time to wait for inspiration. Stories must be filed on deadline or you'll probably be fired, so you must always be in some stage of writing, ready to kick into high gear when it's called for.
Also, someone in the audience asked if Ace or Alex read others' fiction while they're writing. Ace said yes. Because he's always writing, he can't let that keep him from reading.
These answers resonated with me because I'd spent the past two weeks working day and night, getting little sleep in between, on an idea that goes back to a 1995 aborted novel.
I've reworked the partial novel since November 2016, trying to get at the core story I wanted to tell with its characters and present it as a short but complete story. I last thought the story was ready to submit two months ago. Formatting it for its latest market led to a more significant revision than I saw coming.
I knew everything I wanted the story to do; I'd enthusiastically put writing the story before all else; but, the work was still frustrating. The action in my mind's eye wasn't showing as vividly on the page. I could only revise, revise, revise until it did. Saturday morning finally it did, and I submitted.
Specific markets and deadlines motivate me, but I also know I can't simply use another writer's process. If it takes me a month to write as many words as someone else might write in a day, that's the way I work. As I discover how I work best, I can tell you, but you still have to find your best working conditions and tap into them.
When I had my book signed, I told Ace I thought I was adding significantly to my story, only to see a lower word count. "The same thing happens to me sometimes," he said, "and it never gets easier."
This story definitely hasn't been easy, but I can't say it hasn't been fun. It's shown me that having a specific idea to work on, no matter how frustrating the work may be, no matter where the idea leads, is another thing that keeps me going.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Sunday, April 01, 2018
30 Days of The Five-Two
© by Gerald So | 11:30 a.m.
Every April, I join the Academy of American Poets' celebration of National Poetry Month with a blog tour at The Five-Two.
Check out this year's schedule.
Every April, I join the Academy of American Poets' celebration of National Poetry Month with a blog tour at The Five-Two.
Check out this year's schedule.
A Thrilling Twenty Years
© by Gerald So | 9:00 a.m.
Today is the twentieth anniversary of Kevin Burton Smith's Thrilling Detective, a virtual encyclopedia of fictional private eyes.
It's hard for me to believe it's been twenty years. I so associate the site with my discovery of Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels in 1993, which hooked me on the private eye genre. Certainly I got to know Kevin writing in additions and corrections to his already excellent entry on Spenser.
As I recall, Thrilling had been publishing first-run short stories for some time. I submitted one about an ex-cop, ex-linebacker whose most distinctive trait was his soft drinking. When the story was rejected, I considered that maybe I wouldn't break into the genre as a writer. Maybe my ideas weren't as fresh as those I expected from my choice of reading.
I was surprised, honored, and intimidated when Kevin recruited me in March 2001 to take over for fiction editor Victoria Esposito, who was leaving to focus on one of the first magazines for mobile devices, HandHeldCrime.
Kevin, and Victoria especially, reassured me that I could work up to the job of determining Thrilling's future stories. It's difficult to overstate how much Victoria taught me about editing in those two months before she left Thrilling Detective. The three of us worked surprisingly well together, and then, in eight years on the job, I maintained and grew rapport with Kevin. Bouchercon 2017 was the first I met Kevin in person, and it was as epic as I'd imagined.
Being fiction editor, I never did publish my own P.I. story at Thrilling, but I did land a couple elsewhere.
My personal favorite character, though, is roguish aviator C.J. Stone, who debuted in the July 2003 HandHeldCrime story "For Old Times' Sake", who has since appeared in nine more stories, and even gained his own theme music.
I recall replying to Victoria about "For Old Times' Sake", asking if she were sure she wanted to publish it—her standards were so high—and again she assured me she did.
For the last few years, Victoria seemed to have disappeared from the Web, but last week, Kevin put out a call for anniversary material, and she reconnected with us on Twitter. I am forever grateful to her, Kevin, and all the writers we worked with.
Thrilling doesn't publish fiction regularly anymore, but it remains an essential genre resource.
Today is the twentieth anniversary of Kevin Burton Smith's Thrilling Detective, a virtual encyclopedia of fictional private eyes.
It's hard for me to believe it's been twenty years. I so associate the site with my discovery of Robert B. Parker's Spenser novels in 1993, which hooked me on the private eye genre. Certainly I got to know Kevin writing in additions and corrections to his already excellent entry on Spenser.
As I recall, Thrilling had been publishing first-run short stories for some time. I submitted one about an ex-cop, ex-linebacker whose most distinctive trait was his soft drinking. When the story was rejected, I considered that maybe I wouldn't break into the genre as a writer. Maybe my ideas weren't as fresh as those I expected from my choice of reading.
I was surprised, honored, and intimidated when Kevin recruited me in March 2001 to take over for fiction editor Victoria Esposito, who was leaving to focus on one of the first magazines for mobile devices, HandHeldCrime.
Kevin, and Victoria especially, reassured me that I could work up to the job of determining Thrilling's future stories. It's difficult to overstate how much Victoria taught me about editing in those two months before she left Thrilling Detective. The three of us worked surprisingly well together, and then, in eight years on the job, I maintained and grew rapport with Kevin. Bouchercon 2017 was the first I met Kevin in person, and it was as epic as I'd imagined.
Being fiction editor, I never did publish my own P.I. story at Thrilling, but I did land a couple elsewhere.
My personal favorite character, though, is roguish aviator C.J. Stone, who debuted in the July 2003 HandHeldCrime story "For Old Times' Sake", who has since appeared in nine more stories, and even gained his own theme music.
I recall replying to Victoria about "For Old Times' Sake", asking if she were sure she wanted to publish it—her standards were so high—and again she assured me she did.
For the last few years, Victoria seemed to have disappeared from the Web, but last week, Kevin put out a call for anniversary material, and she reconnected with us on Twitter. I am forever grateful to her, Kevin, and all the writers we worked with.
Thrilling doesn't publish fiction regularly anymore, but it remains an essential genre resource.
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