Sorry, I’ve been away too long. I’ve just been busy with other projects. In any case, I wanted to hop on and thank all who entered the last two book giveaways I ran:
Esmirana’s Trunk
I Fear Only the Dogs
I sincerely appreciate people being interested enough to enter the contests. So, a big Thank You!
And to all of the winners, thanks for taking the time to read the books. I truly hope you enjoy the stories!
I’m looking forward to the reviews. I love getting them–for obvious reasons, of course; but I also especially love when people share what stories they liked. I love it when readers share a little about themselves, too. For example, the reader who left a review for the book Daguerreotype Dreams cracked me up when she said she couldn’t even read the story about spiders due to her fear of them. She might have been the same one who mentioned having had weird experiences or feelings when she had visited Civil War sites in the past. I love things like that. I am very curious to know what she experienced. Little tidbits like that I absolutely love! Even if a reader just wanted to share feelings about a certain scene in a story, I like it. I am not only a writer, but also love reading (as I would imagine is the case with all writers).
There are far too many times when I read a book and I love a certain scene and want to know what other people thought about it. Not just whether the scene was good or bad, but other things. My biggest question for every reader of every story I’ve ever written has always been whether he or she sees, or gets a clear visual of a scene. Even early on I would badger (okay, “badger” might be a bit harsh–let’s say, repeatedly press) the person to share their thoughts on what they saw. I wanted then, and still want, to know if the clarity is there. I want to know if the reader sees the exact same things as they read that I saw as I wrote the story. Does that make sense? Most people assume that you are interested in whether the story you wrote is ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ which is important, I guess. I don’t want to downplay that. Of course I want to write a good story. But people’s opinions vary in that regard. It’s subjective. That part of it bothers me less, perhaps, than it might bother most writers. It doesn’t bother me, I guess, because my imagination is all over the place. I can write a story about just about anything, and in just about any style. I simply love exploring, and letting it all flow. If a reader doesn’t like one type of story I’ve written, chances are I’ve got another one that he or she might like.
When it comes down to it, I’m all about visualization, characterization, and atmosphere. I absolutely, especially love atmosphere! If I can evoke certain feelings (the same feelings that washed over me as I wrote the scene), in the reader’s mind, then I’m elated. There’s no way, of course, that I can be inside a reader’s head, no way to know what he or she sees or feels as they read. So it is something I love to get feedback on. Not, again, in the sense of the story being good or bad. I can’t explain it. I crave it though. I want to know. I like to believe that the reader is totally into the story, seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling, tasting (sounds crazy, I know, the last few) as he or she reads. I want them to enjoy the characters. I want the reader to feel the atmosphere with every fiber of his or her being. That is my passion for the craft, my striving for perfection, I guess you could say . . . Will I ever achieve that level? Probably not, but I love trying to achieve it.
I always used to say that I wanted the story to be visually strong enough that twenty years down the road, a reader might see something, or whatever, something that triggers the imagination and causes them to think of a story they read years ago–my story. And I hope they remember my name (or at least the name of the story), and where to find the book the story was in. Whether the person remembers my name or not is of less importance to me. I simply mean remembering my name as a reference point, a way to find the story — the story is everything. I hope a scene or two linger that long . . . I guess that’s what I’m trying to say. I think it would be cool. And, of course, it would be extra special if the person wanted to go back and experience the story again, the scenes, the feelings, the characters . . . Of course, I’ll never know, which kind of bums me out.
So this is all part of why I love reviews. It isn’t just for the obvious reasons, though that part of it is nice too. I guess it is mainly that I love to share. I love books (writing and reading them), and discussing them. Of course it is always fun to see how stories I’ve written affect people. I don’t mean in some huge, earth-shaking way. I don’t expect that. I want the small things, the nuances. And I especially want to know that the stories were, above all, entertaining!
I even appreciate the bad reviews if they are constructive and informative. I know I need a decent editor. I’m working on finding one. One of the hazards of ‘shooting from the hip’ in writing, or just letting ‘er rip, is that there is probably a lot more editing that has to be done. Though I do think that, playing it as fast and loose as I do, my writing comes out fairly clean. More so than I should expect, and for that I am thankful. That’s not to say that it is all perfect. Far from it. I’m just saying I’m lucky. It could be much worse. A high school teacher/grammarian could easily rip me a new one. Of course, misspellings drive me crazy and I try to catch them. It seems some always slip by. I’m confused sometimes as to whether I should throw in a semicolon or just leave a comma or two. It all depends on the day. Some days I can read something over and it will seem fine, other days it all seems awkward and disjointed. Most of the time my hope or feeling is that whatever is wrong doesn’t interfere with the reader’s experience of the flow of the story. If it doesn’t, then I’m okay for the time being; though I do know it is something I’m going to have to take care of. So, do I need an editor? Absolutely. But then, too, (and I’m not using this as an excuse, because I do want my writing to be better) I’ve read major author’s works that have mistakes. Again, not making excuses here. I was reading a novel for pleasure a little while back while I happened to be in the proofing/editing process of one of my own books. So I guess that’s why I was more attuned to seeing the mistakes. This author wasn’t on the level of a Stephen King, Dan Brown, or Lee Child, etc. But he/she is good and known enough, and even has a website devoted to writing, finding editors, etc. In any event, I counted seven errors in the first eighty pages (and I’m certainly not a hard core grammarian). My thoughts at the time weren’t that the work sucked or that I was being critical. The errors will be there no matter how many times you read something over. You want to catch them all, but you can’t, at least not right away. I’ve seen work that has been edited that still had mistakes. No, I wasn’t blaming the author, it happens. My only thought was, should I contact this author and point the errors out so they can be fixed? I wanted to, because I would want to know. Once you know where the mistakes are, you can take care of them. Like I said, I was just in that mode, due to proofing my own stuff. My only fear was that he/she would see it as me being critical rather that helpful. Who was I, after all? My writings certainly weren’t on the same level. I’m not as well known . . . Obviously, in the end, I didn’t contact author.
And since I mentioned Lee Child, I have a question. Like I said, I’m not an expert grammarian, and certainly not on his level as a writer. And maybe I have it wrong, but does anyone else notice that most of his sentences are phrases rather than complete sentences? From what I remember from school anyway, you had to have a subject, verb, and predicate. At first it kind of bothered me. It won’t hold me back from reading any of the Reacher books, of course. I love them. And after all, who am I? And maybe it is also a case of knowing the rules before you can break them. Once you know them, and are an expert in the field . . . And does anyone really care? His books are fantastic. I just pushed the thoughts about sentence structure aside and kept reading. Every once in a while I’ll think about it, but his stuff is fantastic! And again, who am I to critique? And maybe, technically, I’m wrong about it. Do I even know or remember enough to question things? I just need to tend to my own writing and try to improve it. And yes, I definitely need to find a decent editor.
And don’t even get me started on Faulkner. His two page long sentences could easily be broken up . . .
Anyway, I can only hope to be at the level of these guys. Or even at the level of the other writer that I mentioned. I’ll certainly never be at Faulkner’s level.
And, in the end, I know it sounds like I’m making excuses. I’m not trying to do that, even though, technically that’s what it amounts to. At least on the surface. Inevitably, I have to keep working, keep trying to get the editing side of things worked out. It’s on me! All of it! No excuses.
Getting back to reviews, though this post was just supposed to be a short thank you . . .
I did just see a review left by a young lady who read Esmirana’s Trunk. She just won it a couple of days ago. She hit me on the editing, rightfully so. She was very constructive (and instructive), and also very gracious. I very much appreciate that review as well as any anyone might leave. My favorite part of her review, however, was where she mentioned which stories she liked the most.
That’s what juices me! I love to share. I love to know that someone was entertained, at least for a while. Maybe they were relieved from the cares of everyday life, perhaps only for a short while. Maybe they had a chuckle, or even an outright laugh (a guffaw? I love using that word, though I imagine it’s dated. It was in use even before my time). Or maybe the reader was surprised by something . . . I could go on . . . You know I could!
I would write even if no one ever read any of my stories. Because I love doing it! And, of course, because I have to. I have to let it all out. I love meandering through the wilds of the imagination and describing/sharing what I find.
Even writing these posts helps to soothe the creative beast within, at least to some degree. It is cathartic. I hope people are reading and getting something out of the posts. Where I end up isn’t always where I meant to go when I started. That’s also what happens when I set out to write a story, which keeps things interesting, at least for me (and hopefully for the reader). It’s also what keeps me at it. I love the game. I love seeing where the characters lead. When I start a story, “the game’s afoot,” as Sherlock Holmes would say.
And speaking of Holmes, I’ve started a post about my book, The Children’s Home (a novella). The book is very Holmesian. The post will be upcoming. Or I guess it technically already is upcoming–a matter of semantics. LOL.