The Future of Print

So, sometimes I think of the future and how things will work. Sometimes my imagination isn't so good, but I give it a try anyway. I read a blog entry about the future of print at The Rejecter's site: http://rejecter.blogspot.com/, titled

The Exaggerated Reporting of Print's Death.

In it The Rejecter quotes Stan Lee saying there's something about holding something in your hand and that's why comic books will never die.


I agree, and would like to expand. I don't think I could ever getting into reading a book on a computer. I just don't think I could sit at the desk, trying to get comfortable, and really get into a good book. And forget the laptop too. Too big and heavy, and warm, for me.

For this to work, it would have to be some sort of digital device that would give me a screen to read from, it would be lightweight, and it would have to be combined with something else that I would often use.

Behold, the iPhone.

First off, let me get something straight. I'm not pimping the iPhone or anything else. But, I think something like this, with a large screen, the bonus of it already being an mp3 player and a cell phone, and its simply cool design, would let me be able to sit down and read a book. Yeah, I like having the thing in print form. I like putting my book on my shelf to make me look cool. But if I were to be on a long trip, or an airplane, or work ( hehehe ) it might be nice to be able to download the recent Charles deLint novel and pass the time.

And a lot of people don't even care about having the book. They don't mind reading online. But still, having to sit at the computer is a pain in the butt. Literally. So, why not have a device like this where you can download the book and read it in one handy device. You might even be able to listen to a song while reading it.

Hey, its a thought.

This blog is rated G

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• hell (1x)

So, I'm pretty disappointed. I figure my life in general (public, anyway) has to be rated at least a PG-13. So, I guess I'm just going to have to make this blog more racy. Somehow. Darn it. To heck!

And now I wait

I remember when I first got into the Harry Potter books. I think the fifth one had just come out, or was just about to come out. I read them all pretty quickly. It was nice to be able to go book to book with out waiting. Until I finished book five. Then I was stuck with everyone else, waiting.

I just started reading The Dresden Files this year. I just finished book nine. It was great to read them all at once. They really are great books, and now I wait. I've had the advantage of instant gratification (as instant as one can get when reading a book can take me a week or two), and now I wait.

That's okay, though. There have been other books waiting to be read. And besides, the next Harry Potter comes out next month. And then I won't have to wait for those books any more.

The Waiting Game

Something to get out of the way first:
Yes, I am very politically minded. But I try to keep most of my OPINIONS out of my writing. Sure, a character might have an aversion to sex or alcohol, but that's my opinion, and I try to make that clear. My last post about immigration is only opinion. Now, let me get back to more important things, my writing.

So, I read on http://www.justinelarbalestier.com/blog/, Justine Larbalestier's blog, that one of the worst things about writing is the waiting. I can handle publishers rejecting me, but I wish they'd do it a little faster. And I completely understand how busy they are. I've heard that the longer someone takes, the more likely they're interested. And I haven't even been waiting that long. I started querying agents on June 8th. That was thirteen days ago, not even two weeks, and I'm getting impatient.

The worst part, even if I get an agent, and even if they sell my work, it'll be at least a YEAR before it hits the shelves. They I have to wait to see if it does well. **Sigh**

Thirteen days isn't long compared to everything else. Heck, it took me a year and a half to write the darned book.

So, I queried 30 agents. Of those, I have heard nine. So, about a third. I'm waiting to hear from the rest (or most of the rest) before I start another round of queries. Those will be sent to children's agents (since technically my book could fall into that category, even though its closer to young adult).

But in the meantime, writing continues on my new novel, one about ghost hunting. It's very cool so far (at least I think so) and I'm excited. I'm about 20,000 words into it, and I plan on it hitting 100,000 or less (though things can always significantly change). So, I guess that puts me a fifth through. With all I learned on the first book, maybe I can start cranking them out faster and faster.

You, Mr. President, are wrong.

Okay, I voted for George W. Bush. Twice. And most days I don't regret it. I think he has done a lot of good things.

That said, he needs to stop on this immigration bill. I don't know what his deal is. It's like he's obsessed with getting it passed. Why? I don't know.

What I really hate, though, is how he's treating people about this. It's his basic opinion that if you don't agree with him on this, then you're the dumb one.

Hey, I might be dumb, but I know how to pronounce nuclear. And I might not know everything about immigration, but I know this bill is a bad idea.

Taking at least twelve million people who have ignored our laws and are trespassing on our soil and allowing them to stay with minimal consequences is irresponsible. You're going to have 12 million people who will want benefits like medicaid and food stamps. You're going to take people that I'm told will do the jobs we won't, and they're going to realize that they don't want to do them either. You're going to take 12 million people and let each bring in 5 family members. You will encourage others from Mexico looking to immigrate to break the law rather than follow it. You will have an entire class of people that have no respect for our laws.

Do you know what Mexico's immigration policy is? First, you have to have permission to enter. You also have to be wealthy enough to never need anything from the government. You can buy property, but if the government wants it for any reason, they'll take it. If you ever criticize a politician you get deported. And you will NEVER be granted citizenship. Sound fun?

We don't need new laws. What we need is a president willing to seal the border and enforce our laws. We have an immigration policy, let's follow it. In our war on terror, having a border as insecure as ours is just stupid.

Seal the border, enforce the law. Enforcement is under the purview of the executive branch, the head of the executive branch is the president. Don't ask for new laws that will hurt us. Enforce the ones we have. I guarantee it will help the country.

Novel in Progress

It's one in the morning here and I just finished writing for the night. It's been a while since I've been up this late writing. First drafts are always very exciting.

My novel in progress is almost 14,000 words long now. To put that in perspective, the one I recently finished was 113,000 words. I hope to keep this one at about 100,000 or so, which would put me 15% into the novel. And I just started last week. This is fun.

Editing is hell, writing is fun.

Just a pic of me and my son

Just trying something out.

Keeping my house clean

I have learned that the best way to get my house clean is to invite friends over for dinner. My wife and I got back from our vacation two weeks ago, and we had yet to clean up and put stuff away. Sure, we kept up on the laundry and the dishes, but that's about it. We had friends over last night, and sure enough, we got the place looking good before they arrived. That's really what friends are for. They give you the motivation to get things done. If nothing more than if you don't, you'll be embarrassed.

Vacation in Kentucky

And finally, pictures from my vacation:

This is me and Will having a nap.

This is a farm that belonged to Emily's great-aunt Sally. I'm not sure why I look annoyed.

This was Will at the Louisville Slugger factory. At the end of the tour they give everyone a mini bat, even the babies.

Will fell asleep on the way back to the car, but he kept a good grip on his bat.

Will's buckled in with Daddy. Everyone has to wear a seat belt in my car.

Me, Will, and Emily outside the Hard Rock Cafe, Louisville.

Query Letters

So, I've written a query letter, I've researched agents, and now I'm sending queries out. It's a nervous process. For most of the agents, I'm sending snail mail. I've heard that, unless otherwise specified, most book agents want snail mail. Don't ask me why. For the few that prefer email, that's what they're getting. I just started sending out queries yesterday and have already gotten two rejections. That's exciting to me. Why? Am I nuts? Well yeah, a little, but that's beyond the point. For me, I'm excited because I'm actually hearing from these people. They're real, they exist, and now I have proof. Even though they're not interested in my books, I know that they read the query letter. My name is out there. I know it's out there with thousands of other wanna-be writers, but it's there all the same. The trick now is not giving up, and steeling myself for all of the rejections. And rejections are okay. There are many reasons for a rejection, and not all because your project isn't any good. I'm saving them, and any clues or tidbits I receive will be helpful.

Until then, I'm starting research on my next book. I don't want to go into too much detail now, but it involves ghosts. My first book took me 17 months to complete. Hopefully this one takes a lot less time. I'm very excited about this project, and if my first book doesn't attract anyone, maybe this one will. If it's successful, then I may have more luck selling the first one. The idea, for me, is not to write sequals until I get a book deal. If I spend all the time on sequals and I can't sell the first book, I'm wasting my time. You can't sell the second book in a series if you haven't sold the first. So, I will continue to write new books until I get a deal. I have at least four novel ideas (including the book I'm shopping now and the ghost book) and all could end up being a series.