Don't Think, Just Do!

I was listening to an NPR interview with author Sam Weller on the subject of Ray Bradbury.  It was a remembrance of the man who wrote The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451 and many, many other books and who died on June 5^th. Weller penned The Bradbury Chronicles: The Life of Ray Bradbury and in the process became a friend of Bradbury’s. 

There were little particles of interesting information; for instance, that Bradbury had never driven a car in his life because he witnessed a car accident as a fourteen-year old or that he never wrote with an outline, but instead felt that he was simply a medium for his characters and trusted them to fill the pages. 

I became very engrossed in the interview, enjoying it thoroughly through to the end, but was struck by one thing in particular.  Ray Bradbury used to quote Yoda, from Star Wars, to Weller, saying, “Don’t think, just do!”  He contended that we writers had a tendency to over-analyze and also found that many writers spent more time whining about how difficult writing was than actually writing.  He had contempt for the “intellectual, New York writer set” that brooded, in his opinion.

I came home and sat down, after having brooded for nearly a month, and straight out of the box wrote the first page of a novel I’ve been noodling about for some time. It’s good and like Bradbury, I just let go and let the characters do the work.

I had forgotten how to do this. But every time I slip into this mode of writing it works for me. I think I’ve been over-analyzing because my marketing side has been so prominent lately.  But, whatever  the reason (I don’t want to waste time analyzing it!), Bradbury’s simple joke rang true for me. I’ve posted a reminder on the wall next to my laptop.

Don’t think, just do!

P.S. Bradbury also said, according to Weller, “Jump off the cliff, and build your wings on the way down.” Maybe I’m really Bradbury’s long lost love child.

Collaboration and Cooperation is the Key

In case you were wondering about doing a group promotional event, here’s the skinny. It’s all about helping each other.

As many of you know, today and tomorrow, June 4 & 5, a group of eight writers, including me, are having a freebie promo known as Reads4Free. I posted about it on the 3^rd. 

Today was kickoff day and from about 12:30 am until nearly midnight, I’ve been glued to my laptop. Oh, except for a two hour nap in the middle of the day. Come on! I’m good, but not that good. I needed my beauty sleep.

Anyway, if you’ve experienced the exhilaration of watching hundreds or thousands of downloads light up your Kindle sales board in one of your own promos, imagine that multiplied by 8. Yep, that’s it – like riding a roller coaster with your graduating class! Remember that?

We’ve still got Tuesday to go, but I wanted to thank everyone who has supported us and also to encourage you all to do things together whenever you can. I’ve already enjoyed this trip immensely and I know tomorrow will be even better.

Here’s the link if you don’t already have it. Reads4Free  See you round the Blogosphere!

In an Unprecedented Move of Epic Proportions…

Eight authors, including little old me, have come together to offer one (each) of their books free in an event we’re calling Reads4Free.  Just for two days – Monday, the 4^th and Tuesday, the 5^th.

Now for those of you who just want to get to the link – here you go:  Reads4Free! Be aware, the books won’t be free until the wee hours of Monday morning.

But for inquiring minds, here’s a bit of background on this historic undertaking. The brain child of Mr. Derek Blass, author of Allegiance (which he offers these two days), Reads4Free began to take shape over a month ago. That’s right! This is no fly-by-night, willy-nilly sort of thing. Oh, no. We, the eight authors, bantered and planned for weeks on end to get this just right. 

And we’ve been in training! That’s right. There have been planning injuries – brain freezes, incomplete thoughts, bruised fingertips – well, actually, those are all my injuries (incurred while deciding to give away my sequel Red is an Attitude for the first time). I can’t speak for the rest of the group, but trust me – it’s been brutal. 

All in the name of bringing you a collection of must-have eBooks! Elsie Stokes is giving away Cassidy Jones and Vulcan’s Gift, joined by R.S. Guthrie’s offer of his debut novel, The Black Beast. And as if that wasn’t enough here are the other four books:  The Ninth District by Doug Dorow; Sundered by Shannon Myers; Iona Portal by Robert David MacNeil and last, but certainly not least, A Hint of Murder by Lia Fairchild. 

Is this your lucky day, or what?!

The Sensation of Touch

I don’t know about you, but it seems to me we writers are missing the boat a little bit, myself very much included. 

I was reading a passage in Confessions of a Shopaholic yesterday, in which the author describes the feel of an article of clothing. It struck me – like Thor’s hammer – that I’d missed many opportunities to describe how something felt on the skin or the experience of touching something for the first time.

Oh, I know, as readers we have plenty of opportunity to experience the lusty pleasures of touch, through the steamy pages of nearly every novel nowadays, but there is so much more than that to write about. I had an experience about 10 years ago that perfectly illustrates what I’m talking about. 

My new home – new to me, that is, as it was a 1940s bungalow – had a corner in my bedroom which was devoted to large windows that met each other at my headboard. It was a lovely spring day in the San Fernando Valley of California. A huge big-leaf maple tree towered over this part of the house and as I opened both windows a mild breeze rushed in.  I spread out on top of the cotton bedspread with a book in hand, expecting to read and perhaps nap for a while.

I was dressed in a strappy t-shirt and shorts, barefoot and my hair pulled up in a ponytail, with lots of exposed skin, in order to keep cool. As I tried to concentrate on the book, my attention was draw away by the feel of the air moving over my body. 

“Silky” was the word that kept coming to me. It’s a cliché, I know, but I felt caressed by a soft, unseen touch that was simply the earth exhaling onto my body, a gentle blowing like when a lover cools you after the passion is spent; or perhaps, a mother trying to give her child a moment’s relief from the heat. 

I stripped down to just my underwear and spent more than an hour simply feeling the breeze; allowing myself to be drawn into the sensuousness of that morning’s gift. I never slept, for this was an experience not to be wasted on slumber. Ever since that day, my sense of touch has been heightened. I will stop in the middle of something if I notice a sensation of touch that is extraordinary, or even when it’s ordinary but stirs a newness in me. 

I have failed to use touch in my books as a way of exploring an experience or heightening one, as I think many writers have.  However, today is a new day for me as a translator of touch.

Disquiet...

According to Dictionary.com the noun usage means: lack of calm, peace, or ease; anxiety; uneasiness. I am feeling disquiet now. I’ve been feeling it for a couple of weeks.

In my experience, this feeling indicates one of three things; either over-analysis of something in the past, a certainty that change is in the wind or finally, that a story is about to spring forth.  Since my life is pretty simple at present, I’m certain this time that it is the coming of a tale, or more than one this time, I think.

Besides the uneasiness, I’ve had characters knocking about in my head, laying lines of dialog on me, clarifying their personas and introducing new characters to me as if they were standing outside the front door all the time, waiting to be invited inside. There’s been a cocktail party of epic proportions going on up there. Unfortunately, the cigarette smoke is getting to me. I think the core group of characters are about to kick-out the hangers-on and get down to business with me. In fact, I’m fairly certain the disquiet will lift in the morning, when I’ve vowed to sit down in front of my laptop, not log onto any social media sites, not read any email and start to pound the keys.

I love that word – disquiet. It is so completely descriptive of what I feel at times like this. I especially love it when the condition leaves me and I’m taken over by stillness of the mind. Tomorrow, when I’ve dumped all this cacophony onto virtual paper, the silence will surround me and I can give the characters what they want; a fleshing out, a disquiet of their own, which eventually will be resolved.

Indie Authors' Expo?

I have been having conversations with the Sacramento Mayor’s office and the Convention Center about the possibility of having a three-day event here for independent authors. As far as capacity and willingness, Sacramento has the facilities to handle a large group of people from around the world, if – and this is a big if – there is interest in the indie author community.

This is an idea I had about a month ago and have been working up notes on ever since. This involves a large amount of capital, which I’ll need to raise as soon as I have some figures together.

I need your help. I’m not asking for any commitments here, simply opinions. I’d like to know if there is a strong enough interest to pursue this. So here’s a very basic rundown of what it would entail:

•   Day One – A tradeshow, to which I would expect to be able to attract some of the vendors who make our self-publishing possible – Amazon, Smashwords, Google, Twitter, VistaPrint, etc.
•  Day Two – A conference breakfast with a keynote speaker from the community – perhaps we could get lucky and attract J.A. Konrath.  This would be followed by a selection of workshops writers could choose from with 5 time slots.
• Day Three – Book Fair – where authors could showcase their books – either physical or eBooks.
• The goal would be to keep the cost for authors as low as possible.
• Hopefully, people would have a chance to finally meet some of their online friends as well as invite readers to visit their booths on Day 3.
• I’m shooting for early 2013.

These are the very basics. I would really appreciate your feedback and/or questions.

Desperately Seeking Leaders and Rules

I’ve noticed this trend over time in the Indie author’s online community to latch onto individuals and give them the authority of a leader. Oftentimes, this leader isn’t really any more educated or talented than the masses that flock to him or her.

I understand the need to find someone – anyone – who can lead us through the maze of self-publishing, but here’s the thing that bothers me. Most of us are self-publishing to avoid the authoritarianism of the publishing industry. We could not break down their barriers, cross over into blessed territory and get ourselves published under their rules. Yet, the first time we get a chance to have complete authority over what we will publish, we look to others to make our rules, decide our fates.

We seem to hand over our future so easily. There’s been talk of creating a group that will confer a “seal of approval” on Indie books. Really? I cannot think of one single Indie author I think is qualified to make that judgment. Frankly, the publishing industry has done a piss-poor job of it themselves and they’ve been at it a hell of a lot longer.

Here’s another point. Over and over I hear about all the terrible writing out there, full of errors, etc. I’m currently reading an author who is absolutely fabulous, but his book is full of errors. If I have a choice between never reading his books and reading through the typos, I would easily choose dealing with the errors. This particular author has a very professional persona and I’m sure he doesn’t realize the book needs another edit. I will let him know when I’ve finished.

If we really want to elevate our profession, let’s tell each other the truth.  Hard to do, but so worth it. Consider what a real friend would do. In my opinion, creating some board of approval is a chicken s**t way to handle it and on par with joining the opposition (the traditional publishers), just not as honest. Come on, people, buck up and embrace your freedom. Let’s not look for ways to shoot ourselves in our collective feet. Get better at what you do. Free marketers live by your convictions and give this thing a chance to level out on its own. You know, there has only been a large population of self-publishers for about a year and half now.

I’d like to believe that we are not lemmings – that we are courageous people, willing to take a chance on moving forward without creating our own aristocracy.