A Bubba In Time Saves None
You can now pre-order A Bubba In Time Saves None
an anthology of Bubba’s lost in Time stories including ‘Bobby Sue Almost Got Married’ by me!
Writers in OKlahoma
I’ll be at Norman Galaxy of Writer’s meeting May 15, 2010, 10 AM University Lutheran Church, 914 S. Elm St, Norman, Ok
I doubt that I will make it to Literati Indie Book Fair Sat. May 15, 2010. But I know Bev Hale and a couple of other really great Oklahoma authors will be there.
Amazing times
The last few weeks have been amazing.
Had a great time at Conestoga 14 hanging out with Michele Bardsley She put up a fantastic blog that was -as it should be- all about me. Well, not all about me, but a bunch about me, and a not too horrible photo of me. She also put in a nice plug for the Bubbas of the Apocolypse books from Yard Dog Press.
Michele, Kristi and I went to Applebee’s for lunch on Sat and had the best Mango Sangria ever. Will be going back for that.
Michele is the best. Love her. Love hanging with her. Love her books.
Shared a room with Yard Dog Press’ Selina Rosen & Lynn Stranathan and Tyrie. They were excellent roomies. Selina never ceases to amaze me. She knows more about Kabbalah than I would have ever imagined she would have had enough time to learn, considering how busy she is. Very interesting and educational.
Selina made me read on the Yard Dog Panel. I didn’t mind at all, seeing as how I’m an exhibitionist by nature. But I wasn’t scheduled to be on the panel, so I was completely unprepared. I followed William R. Eakin reading from Redgunk Tales from the Kudzu. A word to the wise. Never follow Bill when reading on a panel. He blew me away. He read Lawnmower Moe so brilliantly that I was ashamed to call myself a writer in his presence.
The following weekend at Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Inc 2010 Conference I spent a lot of time in the bar with Cherry Weiner. She seemed very interested in seeing Emmen Seed as soon as it is finished.
I hadn’t pitched it to anyone yet, because it isn’t finished. If it were done, I would have probably already pitched it to Yard Dog Press. Still will if Selina is interested.
A lot of great speakers at OWFI this year.
K.D. Wentworth graced my banquet table Friday and Sat night. I’ve known Kathy for years and was very glad to see her at OWFI. She’s the coordinator for Conestoga and the first line of judging for Writers & Illustrators of the Future Contests. Just a hint to contestants. She doesn’t like Elves.
Deborah LeBlanc joined us at our table on Sat. night. She does a ton of scary stuff for a living. Not to mention she is one of the most expressive and energetic speakers I know. I could listen to her talk about all the exciting things she does, besides writing books, for days. Her books are eerie, but not as eerie as her real life activities.
Of course my minions Dion Mayes and Lisa (what’s her name) Willis were at the table both nights and also shared a room with me. It was like a week-end long slumber party.
We had a couple of new people at the table Friday night. Including K.D. Wentworth’s shepherd Richard. But were joined by more minions on Sat. night. D’s husband Bird, Tom Barczak and his lovely wife Kayla, and Wizard Wayne Wyrick.
My boys Adrian Simmons, Neil Mavis, and Lance Hawvermale didn’t make it this year. Can’t imagine what could have been more important to them than seeing me, or attending OWFI. Neil gets a free pass. His wife just had a baby about 5 weeks before the conference.
I met some wonderful people at the conference. Especially Cherry Weiner, Josh Getzler,Terry Burns, Kelly James-Enger, and Nancy Robinson Masters.
Nancy Robinson Masters reminded me a lot of me. Instantly liked her. I think she’s my kind of person.
Spent this past weekend at ConDome. It’s an annual event for Yard Dog Press authors held at Selina Rosen and Lynn Stranathan’s house. This was my first year.
Their house is beautiful, amazing, and awesome. There are castles, fabulous floors, cabinets, and unbelievable artwork that Selina has made with her own two hands. Their house is a showplace. I didn’t want to leave. I wanna move in.
It was more fun than a barrel of Yard Dogs. Actually it was a barrel of Yard Dogs and goats and a really large, obnoxiously dangerous looking snake. Oh my.
Selina made me stand guard while she went for a shovel to kill it. She said if someone didn’t stand guard it would slither away as soon as she moved. I told her that if it moved I was gone. But I was a brave little dog and guarded the evil venomous viper, all alone, while Selina abandoned me. Thankfully she came back and rescued me before I fainted and was eaten alive.
Selina is an excellent cook and made some of the best baked beans I’ve ever eaten. Got to hang with three more of my favorite folks Bill and Sally Allen and Sherry Dean. There were so many talented people there, Tracy Morris, Dusty Rainbolt and her husband Weems -a phenomenal photographer, Zane and his wife Joy, Pop, Audrie, John, and everyone else I’m leaving out. But y’all know who you are and that I really enjoyed spending time with you.
Can’t wait for next year. Wanna see the progress on the castle, and the house. Also wanna spend more quality time with the Dogs.
Hoping to see a bunch of Yard Dogs at SoonerCon June 4th-6th in OKC. There will be Zombies and Yumbies and Bubbas, Oh my!
Y’all come. It’s the best time you can have with your clothes on. And there will be some folks there that will be having fun without most of their clothes on. The costumes are as far out there as a galaxy far far away. Hope there are Storm Troupers, Fedies, and Klingons. Oh my.
later
vck
Busy, Busy
This is my busiest time of the year.
Miss Rhylee’s brother Dallas turns 6 today. That makes both her brothers six years old for a month. Then Lane will turn 7.
Miss Rhylee, her brothers, her cousin Dalton and her parents went to the Medieval Fair today. www.medievalfair.org
I have a Norman Galaxy of Writers’ officers’ meeting to go to tomorrow. www.nonprofitpages.com/normangalaxy
Then the SoonerCon Staff is meeting at the Medieval Fair on Sunday. www.soonercon.com
The deadline for the current quarter of Writers of the Future contest is March 31, 2010. Then of course the next quarter starts April 1, 2010. www.writersofthefuture.com
I’m working on a story to send in for the current quarter and will start the next one as soon as this one gets mailed sometime in the next four days.
My conference season starts in April.
Starting with Conestoga 14 April 23-25 2010 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. www.sftulsa.org
Then Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Inc. Conference: April 29 – May 1, 2010 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. www.owfi.org
Followed by a Yard Dog Press Authors’ meeting May 7-9, 2010. www.yarddogpress.com
Then SoonerCon 2010 A Bubba Odyssey – June 4-6, 2010 – Oklahoma City www.soonercon.com
As of this moment I don’t have any conferences or conventions schedule for after SoonerCon. But that is always subject to change. It all depends on whether I get invited to speak somewhere after that.
I’m just a tad disappointed that I don’t have any weddings to perform in June. That’s always a busy month for weddings. So if you live in Oklahoma, and you’re planning to get married, and you need some one to perform the ceremony, I’m pretty much available after June 6th.
Of course I’m always available to perform weddings during any of the conventions or conferences I attend.
Lots to do in Norman, Ok this weekend
Lots of stuff to do this weekend:
Norman Public Library celebrates The Kick-Off for the Big Read:The Maltese Falcon.
Thursday, March 11th :6:30 pm The Great Decisions series discussion on Global Crime, with OU Law Professor Peter Krug. Room A/B; 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm Junior League of Norman meeting in Lowry room;
7:00 pm Thursday Night Page Turners discusses the Maltese Falcon
March’s art walk Friday March 12, from 6-10pm http://2ndfridaynorman.com
Saturday, March 13, at 2 p.m Panel Discussion, The Maltese Falcon: The Plot Thickens, at the University of Oklahoma Law School
Sunday March 14 Science Film Series Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History http://www.snomnh.ou.edu/publicprograms/index.htm#SundayScienceFilms
Keep up with all the activities in Norman, Ok: http://www.ci.norman.ok.us/community-event-calendar
Working while you wait
Miss D had surgery on her shoulder this morning. Everything went well. She looked like hell (sorry kido, but you looked like death warmed over) when she came out from under the knife. She went home to bed and was doing fine when I talked to Bird this evening.
I went home, fed the baby and crashed myself.
I never really know where story ideas come from. Some just pop into my head fully developed. Others come in brief flashes or a few sentences and demand I flesh them out from there.
While sitting in the waiting room one of those, nearly, fully developed stories hit me out of nowhere. I’m not entirely certain where it is going –to Earth I think- but I do love the beginning.
I got 10 pages hand-written. For some unknown reason I didn’t take Dora with me. I’m about to type those pages and maybe finish the first draft before I crash again.
Oh yeah, saw an ad for the following contest while I was there:
Good Housekeeping’s Short Story Contest
Deadline: All entries must be received by September 15, 2009.
To blog, or not to blog, that is the publishing question
I’ve been reading Midnight Sun on Stephenie Meyer’s website http://stepheniemeyer.com
It’s Twilight from Edward’s point of view.
Apparently someone leaked the first 264 pages of the book on the internet before Meyer finished the novel.
Because of that leak, rumor has it that she has put the rest of the book on hold for now and is working on other projects.
I’m wondering how they could turn Midnight Sun into a movie considering that it is basically the same story as Twilight just from a different perspective. Could that be part of Meyer’s motivation to drop the project? Are the producers of the Twilight movies encouraging her not to waste her time on a remake?
I’m also wondering if Meyer has considered continuing the book Midnight Sun as a blog, since part of it is already on the web. She could charge a subscription fee for readers to follow the blog –that way she won’t be losing money by posting it- and still sell the print version when it is completed. She probably wouldn’t even need to post new pages every day to keep the readers hooked.
I have a feeling that is the future of publishing: Authors posting novels as they write them on pay-to-read sites. It not only gets the material into the hands of the reader quicker it also increases the number of potential readers exponentially.
Publishing companies could reap the benefits too by providing the subscription sites and editors to clean up the author’s work before the stories are actually posted. Publishing companies could provide security services and encryption methods that would prevent the readers from simply copying the story and re-posting it for free.
Posting books to subscription sites, as the author writes them, could also be a good way for new authors to get their foot into the door of the publishing world. New authors could post the first few chapters for free and build up their fan base. Readers only need to subscribe to books and authors they like.
It’s a win-win situation. We’ve all spent our hard earned, shrinking dollars on books we never finished because they had shiny covers but the insides weren’t quite as lustrous. It’s green. And most importantly it’s instantaneous.
Let’s face it we already live in an IMing, blogging, texting, tweeting, real time world. Why shouldn’t we be reading the next best-seller that way?
Must be more productive!
Must stop procrastinating.
Must update blog daily.
Should change the heading of ‘To Do List’ to ‘Must Do List’.
What I am doing today: Meeting Miss D for lunch and a movie. May go to see ‘The Time Traveler’s Wife’. Then we will probably go to Hastings for coffee and writing. I’ve got a long list of projects to work on. Join us.
This evening I hope to attend the Southmoore students talent showcase at 7pm at Shekinah Church located on 104th and Walker. It’s free! However, each performer will have a donation box for any loose change. This donation will help them to attend the Smithsonian Educational Tour to New York next summer!
There are a few contests coming up that y’all might be interested in entering.
Glimmer Train
SHORT STORY AWARD for NEW WRITERS
Deadline: August 31, 2009
- Open only to writers whose fiction has not appeared in any print publication with a circulation over 5,000. (Entries, of course, must be unpublished.)
- Stories not to exceed 12,000 words.
DEADLINE Sept 30, 2009
Norman Galaxy of Writers’ annual contest
www.nonprofitpages.com/normangalaxy
DEADLINE
November 7, 2009
Must be a member of Norman Galaxy of Writers but it is really cheap and easy to join.
validation
Writers are funny folk. Our work is solitary. Even when we surround ourselves with other authors, we do most of our work alone in some dark dismal corner of our own little universe.
Sounds a bit counterproductive because we need light to write. Well some of us do. I type with my eyes closed most of the time. Could explain my lousy spelling? No. I just can’t spell worth shit.
Like most artists, writers’ tend to be their own worst critics. We are never convinced our work is any good, or at least not good enough. Sometimes it isn’t. We’ve all written crap during our exploration of the craft. But still, occasionally, we create something we aren’t completely ashamed to have read aloud in public.
Like most artists, writers’ need validation. That validation can come in many forms. The day your family stops nagging you about wasting so much time on the computer with your little hobby, and starts nagging you to get back to work on your writing, is a moment of triumphant validation. Winning contests, selling something you’ve written, wowing your critique group with an awesome short story, are all moments of validation.
Still we doubt ourselves, our ability, our talent, our value.
Writing is not a nine to five job. We don’t punch a clock, or pick up a weekly paycheck. We get paid sporadically and usually in small amounts. I once received a check for $3 for a short story. Hey it was three dollars I didn’t have before the mail ran that day. And it was validation that my work had not gone unnoticed, unappreciated, or unpaid.
But every now and again I get a surprise validation. A check for a contest I had forgotten I had entered. An honorable mention from an extremely prestigious contest. A sale of a story I didn’t particularly care for myself but someone convinced me to submit it anyway. An “Oh my God!” from my daughter when she has just finished proofreading a new story.
Sometimes that jaw dropping, eye widening, expression of complete awe on the face of a reader is the most rewarding validation of all. It always surprises me when someone has that reaction to something I’ve written. It always makes me step back, look at myself in the mirror, and say to myself, “maybe I can write.” Of course an hour later I’m deleting an entire book I think sucks the big one.
But once in a great while, when someone gets that look of awe on their face, when my family nags me to get back to work, when I open an envelope in the mail and there is a check inside, when I get an email telling me I’ve just won another contest, I feel validated. I feel like it’s all worth it. I feel good about myself. I feel like I’m a real writer.
I feel that way today because I just won another first place at Whim’s Place for a flash fiction piece entitled, “In a Flash.” Unfortunately, Whim’s isn’t going to publish it on their web site this time. Their newsletter implied they may be going under. Which sucks!
Whim’s Place was a great paying market providing excellent exposure for their authors. I hate to see them fold. I encourage everyone to pay them a visit at www.whimsplace.com and encourage them to continue supporting and validating writers like me.
tips from author, editor, publisher Selina Rosen
For some great writing tips listen to an interview with author Selina
Rosen, of Yard Dog Press,
www.yarddogpress.com
http://www.yarddogpress.com
She is being interviewed by Chris for Cubicle 17 at Nasfic
listen at
www.escapefromcubicle17.com
http://www.escapefromcubicle17.com/2007/08/18/efc17-001-selina-rosen/
