It’s been fifteen years since the terrible attacks of September 11, 2001. I won’t dwell on this and leave it to others, but suggest a thought or two for those who somehow were impacted by this tragedy.
On to happier thoughts. Who are the birthday people this weekend? Let’s find out who in the writing world had a birthday. On September 10th, we have: Carl Van Doren, historian and critic who won a Pulitzer Prize for Benjamin Franklin; Mary Oliver, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet; Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist, biologist and writer of science books Time’s Cycle and The Panda’s Thumb; and Bill O’Reilly, TV host (The O’Reilly Factor), author.
If your birthday is on September 11th, you’re also in good company: James Thomson, Scottish poet; O. Henry, (William Sydney Porter), short story writer who wrote “The Gift of the Magi,” and “The Last Leaf; D.H. Lawrence, English novelist (Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Sons and Lovers); and Jessica Mitford, investigative journalist (The American Way of Death).
Happy birthday to all!
Why I want to Write–What’s Led Me to This Stage in My Life
As I sit here with brilliant sunshine bouncing off my computer screen, my mind’s buzzing with possibilities for furthering my stories. It’s too easy to become lost in the myriad scenes, characters, and descriptions whizzing by, so I need to capture as many as I can for later use.
Discipline is now called for so I can continue with my ongoing works; otherwise, I’ll never get anything finished. Good thing that I have three subgroups within my two writing groups to keep me on point. It’s like a kaleidoscope–a single point of light when I’m focused and a rainbow of flashing colors when my thoughts run wild.
My Work in Progress
I’ve mentioned in the past about having homework from my publisher that I must complete before we get into editing of The Kurdish Connection. So this week, rather than spend any time on A Cartel’s Revenge, I focused my energies, with some able assistance, on creating my author bio (two versions), the story description (two versions) and a logline. Not quite satisfied yet, so I’ll be doing a bit more tinkering over the next week, but these sections are well under way.
I also finalized my review of the twenty-four reviews of chapter one from A Malicious Affiliation, which will be included in the back of The Kurdish Connection as an introduction to the second novel in the Bedlam series. Once I complete my editing based on the feedback, I’ll ask my contacts to take another look.
I’ll also be doing the same process with chapter one of A Cartel’s Revenge, hoping I might be able to squeeze the chapter into the back of the book. I’ll also be creating book descriptions to be added in the front under upcoming works. At least that’s my plan, but will have to discuss some of this with my publisher.
I found out yesterday that my first sci-fi short story writing attempt, ‘Countdown to Extinction,’ received second honorable mention in the contest it was submitted to in one of my writing groups. There were forty entries, all sci-fi/alternate world, so I’m very pleased with the result. In fact, this is another story that I plan to expand into a novel.
Books I’m Reading
During the past week I read The Covert Messiah (The Jesus Thief Series, Book 4) by J. R. Lankford. I hadn’t read the first three in the series and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect jumping in with book four. There was sufficient backstory to quickly put me in the know so I didn’t feel there was a lot missing, but I’ll likely go back and start at the beginning.
A cloned Jesus, who had died eight years earlier re-appears, first in Italy and then take his ‘mother’ to Tanzania, to a small village where he makes his appearance known. Lankford does an excellent job in blending Christian and African spiritualism together to create a well written story. There is plenty of action and thought-provoking scenes throughout.
Blogs/Author Pages/Writing Sites I’d Like to Share
I’ve expanded this section from being only about blogs that I follow but also introduce you to some new authors and a few writing sites. This week, I only had time to read through one but it’s well worth a read. Hope you’ll check it out!
Roderick Will’s Refreshing Writings – Join Roderick on his journey to write a short story every day for a year. Packed with something for all, and good photography, too.
Writing Resources
With my ongoing homework form my publisher, I have plenty of resources to share. Today, I’ll point you towards a couple of links to help you with writing book dedications. Here are just a few of the links I’m now reading:
https://www.scribendi.com/advice/dedication_examples.en.html
http://www.bpsbooks.com/BPS-Books-blog/bid/109450/How-to-Write-a-Dedication-A-Few-Pointers
Once again, we’ve reached 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.
