The weather has been up and down along Lake Huron this spring. On Thursday, the temperature reached 76 degrees. Last night, we had frost warnings, and even though the sun is brightly shining at the moment, the forecast is calling for rain and/or snow showers. The rain, sure we can always use some. Snow, no thanks. Ugh!!
Why I want to Write–What’s Led Me to This Stage in My Life
On Friday, I received a nice “no thank you” email from a publishing house, indicating my work was read with great interest but they felt they couldn’t represent me. They further stated they have to think very carefully before taking on new writers and there are always multiple factors involved in the decision.
At least someone took the time to respond, which is appreciated, even if the answer was no. While I would have liked to know what factors were involved in their decision, that’s an impossible request as publishing houses deal with thousands of submissions.
Will this deter me from writing? Of course not. Why should it? This is part of the journey and I’ll keep sending submissions as I strive to improve my craft.
A bit more from the Kurdish Connection:
“Oh, but he’s got nice black hair and those eyes—brown and dark like the best coffee beans.”
“But his nose. You see its shape? Broken more than once if you ask me.”
Jake rubbed his nose after the last comment and the two women turned to face the front of the bus. Nothing wrong with my nose. Got in the way of too many kicks before I mastered Tae Kwon Do.
Whipping out a long knife, the man reached over and grabbed the clerk’s arm.
“Give me the information—or lose the arm.”
The clerk gasped and grabbed a piece of paper.
“Not so hard, was it? Forget you saw me.” With a last wave of the knife, the man disappeared into the night
Aiden and Willie met in the Kelebek Cave Hotel’s lobby before morning prayers finished. They sat on padded benches and leaned against thick cushions with small hand-carved tables nearby. A waiter brought them Turkish coffee with extra milk and sugar.
In front of them, a dozen foreigners leaned against various rock formations and a few trees, looking like Woodstock rejects. Music played in the background while they passed around joints and wine bottles.
More next week. If you’d like to read compete chapter, check out channillo.com (more about this later in this post).
My Work in Progress
With ‘The Kurdish Connection’ being my first novel, my energies are concentrated on making this story the best I can produce. This week I received excellent feedback from the other three members of the “Sunset Thrillers” beta group. Honest opinions, telling me what worked for them and what didn’t, and the reasons behind their comments.
I continued reviewing critiques of ‘The Kurdish Connection’. As always, I found excellent recommendations to improve the story. My review is now complete through chapter fifteen. This past week I finished editing chapters eleven and twelve, and they’re re-posted to the two subscription writing sites I use. Work on chapter thirteen is underway and I hope to have it completed and posted by mid-week.
Editing of the first three chapters of ‘A Cartel’s Revenge’, which will be my submission for a Strongest Start Competition being held by one of my writing sites, continued at a slow pace this week due to external factors.
Books I’m Reading
I finished reading ‘The Jungle (The Oregon Files Book 8)’ by Clive Cussler and Jack Du Brul, two of my favorite authors. As with all of the plots in the Oregon Files, Mr. Cussler and Mr. Du Brul have created a roller coaster ride for the reader. While Captain Juan Cabrillo’s Corporation completes the mission as normal, a crew member’s capture and close escape from death was intense. Even Captain Cabrillo faced certain death or injury from a suicide bomber. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride through the myriad of twists and turns, so the reader is left trying to decipher who is behind the problems facing the Corporation. Through in a spy or two and it’s a masterful work.
As with their other books, these are just for my reading pleasure but to also study craft techniques, which I can apply to my own work. So in this case it was work and personal time, rolled into one.
I’m currently reading ‘Levant Mirage’ by Oliver F. Chase, and will provide a review next week.
Blogs/Author Pages/Writing Sites I’d Like to Share
I’ve now expanded this section from being only about blogs that I follow but also introduce you to some new authors and a few writing sites. Hope you’ll check out the links!
Write Your Book With Me – Dr. Douglas W. Cooper, Ph.D., a former Harvard professor, is a professional writing coach and author who’s put together an excellent guide to helping writers of all skill levels. We first met through the Writers Network Club, and I thought I’d share his information with you today.
Channillo.com – A digital publishing platform for serialized literature. Since its launch on March 30, 2015, hundreds of writers have joined Channillo to publish their work in categories such as fiction novels, short stories, essays, columns, journal entries, and poetry. The prologue and first chapter of ‘The Kurdish Connection’ are published here, with a new chapter being posted each Friday.
Writing Resources
I don’t have any new writing resources other than Dr. Cooper’s link above to share this week as time ran out. I hope to have something new for next week.
Once again, we’ve come to the end of another ramble. Hope you’ve found something of interest or at least useful for your own writing. Until the next time, thank you for reading!
© Copyright 2016 Randall Krzak. All rights reserved.
Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt. Common ground.
Absolutely!
I have to ensure that my wife is not nearby. She thinks Clive Cussler encourages me to neglect the honey do list😁😁
LOL! Tell her it could be worse, you could be trying to write a novel like me.:)
😁😁😁