Translate

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

So while I'm waiting for the pork loin to finish, I figured I'd dash this off right quick. Since stepping down from management, I'm finding life less stressful. I now drive a forklift and for the most part stay out of the public eye. The impression I'm getting is that's where store management wants me. (The rat bastards.) They want to keep their reputation for hiring the disabled, just keep me out of sight. I get to stay employed, but I'm looking for an alternative on the weekends. If Harper decides to pass on my book, I'm going to look at going the self publishing route. Let's face it, based on the synopsis, they might not look any further. Squeezing 100K down to one page while containing all the spoilers is hard.
I'll be honest, I wrote Travelers Road because I suffer from an over active imagination. When five people come up to me and ask to read what I've written, I hop on over to Kinkos and print up a copy.
My wife and kids like the story. They're family, so while the opinion is nice, I have to take it with a tiny grain of salt. Gradually I let close friends and co-workers read my tale. Here's what they said, (and I'm quoting from the written letters.)
"I consider myself a fan. When's it coming out on Amazon? I want to buy it.", "You weave a good yarn and kept me turning the pages." and my favorite: "It's like Gunsmoke on Mescaline."
Those are wonderful comments and I truly enjoy hearing from fans, but back up a second.
Roughly seventy-five to one hundred people have read it. I've gotten e-mails, post cards and a full fledged letter. I'm getting fan mail from total strangers.
Holy crap on a cracker!
Fan mail. Me. People really want to know what is going on inside my head? Really?
It's considered bad form to plug your book with quotes like that in the submission process, so I didn't. At the same time, no one is going to blow your horn other than you.
Wait, that came out sounding worse than I meant.
My point is: Harper Publishing, it's not too late to get on the band wagon. I'm going to write. People are going to read. Are you going to play catch up or what?

Thursday, November 1, 2012

So Carol didn't get the job. Reading the paper I see school administrators are worried about meeting the state mandated test scores while funding for teachers is being cut. The rumor going around is more teachers will get pink slips by the end of the semester.
Hmm... Students are failing the academic standards set by the state, so we will continue to lay off teachers until grades improve. That's the logic here in Texas folks. My family is ready to pack it in and head to where the jobs are. I explained it to my beloved this way: I have a job in a big box store with a side of writing. She has a career. If some one were to call up and say they need a teacher in Alaska, I'd pack everything up and go. Write this house off as a loss and start over. Seriously, if the health department saw this place they'd condemn it. the wiring is bad. No electricity in the garage or kitchen, the heating unit isn't made any more. I've replaced or rebuilt some things, but there's only so much one can do on my limited budget.
This is why getting a book deal would be a good thing. I don't believe we are pre-destined for the ordinary things in our lives. It's the ordinary things in life we have to rise above in order to be great. So I've written this great book that a lot of strangers like. Writing is a second job to me. Treating it as professionally as I can, the hope is I can be successful at it.
I do believe in karma. Let's hope what comes around, goes around.