A reality show featuring writers, really????

Some wag suggested an Idol-style show featuring writers.  Well, there have been 'Project Runway' and 'Work of Art' and ... 'Extreme Couponing' so why not some other show that observes grass growing but making entertainment from the (usually) staged conflicts within.  The problem is, writing is such a solitary occupation unless you work in the Writers' Room at Letterman or SNL.  Those rooms bristle with tension, forced laughter, self-congratulatory appreciation of wit, panic at being 'dry', panic at being late with a deadline and other emotions.  I know.  Because I have been there.  What usually happens with those writer teams is that the producer will just throw more and more writers at the problem. Outsiders are not welcome.  But sometimes new blood will tilt the humour to a different plateau and magic happens.  Observing every comedy show on TV, I have noticed the similarity and the plumbing the depths when pure wit or Pythonesque silliness fail.  The writers dig into the dope references, blue llanguage, double entendres.  Old-fashioned.  Tried and true jokes.  Jay Leno does this every night. And for Jay, his fall-back is the applause button.  Umm, laughter would be far more pleasant for the viewer to witness (Jon Stewart & Colbert just have laughter and the occasional whoop!).  But the whole monologue on Jay's tired ol' show is over-seasoned with disciplined applause, reactions to any mention of marijuana (so darn inappropriate to Jay's own lifestyle) and boom-tish on cue from the band.  Oh, heck.  Will a reality show DARE visit the room where this plastic wit is fed his lines?  No, I don't think so.

Working on the new book

It's hard to tweet, blog and follow Facebook when you are really focused on writing a book.  The challenge is to keep all the characters in your head and on your outline plot/cards however you may do it as you get to those moments when they take on a life of their own.  Tracking consistency but avoiding predictability is the challenge.  I have two completed books but they now need covers and I want to step these up a notch.  Clearly, the Kindle listings do weird things to formatting and cover graphics.  My pictures for 'Calandra's Spring' looked awesome.  My designer is very good. But when reduced by Kindle's system, the font was not good.  And I left in a phantom 'by' in there.  Check it out, see what you think and all you pros out there, your comments and feedback are very welcome!

Back to the desk!

Maurice Sendak dies

Maurice Sendak, the creator of 'Where the Wild Things Are', to many a heart-wrenching tale of the difficulty of growing up encased in a metaphoric kingdom of scary animals, has died aged 83.  The world has lost a creative mind, but his ideas and images will live on generations past the day he sat down to craft this tale and his other works.  Isn't this something that writers want to achieve?  If so, how come the 'business' of writing is now more of a marketing sausage machine than it has ever been?  And the character of the 'writer' is now necessarily a marketing guru of sorts, far removed from that quiet, solitary garret so vital to the creation and crafting of something of worth.

Reviews and are they needed?

I have had a small number of reviews but each was well-considered, constructive and positive so I am not begging the readers who downloaded the book for free in the Kindle promo to post an opinion on amazon.com.  However, it would have been nice to have a little feedback.  It all helps, not just for the marketing of the book but also to make me a better writer.  Any feedback is welcome.

Eternal youth - worth it or not?

If you could live for ever at any age without becoming a vampire, would you do it?   This is a theme in 'Calandra's Spring' and we follow the heroes to a spring from which an elixir can be drawn.  The pros and cons of staying young are examined.  If you had the chance, would you stay young?  If so, how young?

Report on Kindle Free Promo period

Did it work?  Did it not work?  Hmmm, yet to be seen as at this moment, the sales have flatlined and I am seriously considering a re-design and re-release some time later. If you were one of the almost 800 people who downloaded 'Calandra's Spring' for free, it would be fabulous if you could write a review as I would love your feedback (constructive, please).  Sadly, it may have been an exercise in cannabalism and nobody, to date, from that period has written a word.  A few 'likes' but then they could be friends, I have no way of telling.  The method of marketing on KDP is definitely affected by the 'type & click' books that have flooded the market, unproofed, 'wham bam thankyou ma'am' in their stories and concepts or 'how-to' books that really, are a 'moron's guide to what you already knew but needed reassurance about'.  Do I sound like a cynic?  Is the KDP free promo time more about amazon.com getting hits on its side that is smothered with advertising, sky-rocketing distribution figures (which, like fireworks, smoulder and die and perhaps fall to earth) and achieving little else?  Are sales the only measure of a 'good read'?

Can you tell that I am disappointed?  Mmmmmmm, you betcha.

Warm and fuzzy books versus angst inducing ones.

Actually, I like a bit of both.  Books that terrify, (War & Peace, Little Bee) disturb (eg. anything by Kafka) or mildly frighten (pulp fiction including good old Agatha Christie books) can be good reads.   Warm and fuzzy would include 'Le Grand Meaulnes' and 'Cutting for Stone'  and so many other feel-good stories (Eat, Pray, Love).  The trick is to combine the fright with affectionate moments and then you have a classic.  I think that much of the work of Zola, Hugo and most of the French classic writers do that, squeezing terror out historical moments and happiness out of small moments of resolution along the way.  I will think about this and see if I can build a list.  Feel free to send your favourites.