Synaptic Misfires

Well, it's been a long while since I've done one of these, so I figured I've had an enough accretion of small, piddly thoughts, observations, news and whatnot to let my electro-chemical pathways do their thing, unhindered.
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Best book I've read in a long time has now got a cover. Behold, Stephen Blackmoore's City of the Lost.

Pre-order that bastardo right here. It really is an amazing book. And its follow-up, Dead Things, which I've also had the pleasure to read, is amazing as well. Seriously. There's some violence in these books that made me reconsider how to write violence.

On a side note, I was a terrible pre-reader for Stephen. My feedback consisted of "Uh...they're great! Don't change a thing! Oh, and there's a typo on 237."
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WRITING TIP #213:

So, everyone has been remarking and questioning the fact that I've sold 5 books in one year after only starting writing seriously in late 2007. Well, first off, I didn't sell them. My agent did. Stacia Decker is the boss.

Second, I've only written three of the five sold, so there's that. (I have one more book complete. The Incorruptibles. I've challenged Stacia to sell TI before November and she'll have sold every book I've ever written within a single year. That's gotta be some kinda record, right?)

Third, I'd spent my whole life in preparation for that day in early November, 2007, when I began to write Southern Gods during the National Novel Writing Month. I'd say from the time I was 14 until I was 33, I read at LEAST 5 novels a week. There were years I'd read a novel a day. I'm not fluffing those numbers. I read a lot of great novels - I received a BA in English while I was doing it - but I read a lot of books that were crap, too. Whatever the case, I guess you can say I was in training to be a novelist. My whole life was a movement toward it.

Fourth, and this is the big thing (and the TIP), after I finished writing Southern Gods, I immediately started writing This Dark Earth. And when I finished TDE, I immediately started writing The Twelve Fingered Boy. And when I finished that - I took a couple of months off - and then I started writing The Incorruptibles.

The point is, I kept writing. I didn't spend all my time waiting for SG to sell or to do something. I stopped tinkering with it and moved on, flawed as it was. I had my first three novels complete before I ever landed an agent.So that now, now when I have a book coming out and an agent on a hot streak, all of the work I did back then has begun paying off.

So, I guess I'm saying, after you've completed your first book, whether you have a deal or not, whether you have an agent or not, start writing #2. Right then. You'll be glad of it later.

This concludes my writing tip for this week.

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I have to write a blog for The Night Bazaar tonight and I'm dragging my feet about it. In the meantime, I'm sitting here writing a different freaking blog post, complaining about the blog I should be writing. Whoo, boy. I need to re-evaluate my life.

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I had big news today. I was invited to be a part of the Arkansas Literary Festival. I asked if I could be a part of it last year and they never responded to me. Just ignored my email, la de da.

This year they asked me. That felt freakin' good.

So that means I'll be on panels and do readings, all literary and stuff. David Sedaris has attended two years in a row, I think, so maybe they'll have him back next year. And THAT means, I'll get to meet the man at the author meet-n-greet.

Here's the list of last year's participating authors and literary figures.

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Jess Bullington, author of the brilliant The Sad Tale of the Brother's Grossbart, said some nice things about Southern Gods over at his blog. Jesse moderated the very first panel I was on at the World Horror Convention in Austin. He asked prescient and thoughtful questions and I responded in grunts and clicking sounds. I was mightily impressed with him. I don't think I'd ever be able to do what he did. (Also, I think you have to give two shits about the subject matter and I am notoriously short of shits when it comes to anyone or anything that isn't me. Really. I'm becoming quite the self-consumed whore. But in a GOOD way. Wait. Is that possible?)

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Crap, I guess I need to go write this other blog post. Sheesh, the life of a novelist sure does include a lot of blogging, but I'm not complaining. These are the best problems ever.

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Oh, wait. I don't know if I should share this. I probably should of been offended when Steve Weddle sent me the link. I should've been outraged at these folk's intolerance and prejudice. But I just couldn't stop laughing.

It's just terribly funny to me that they would research this so intensively and then focus on da poo poo.

Also, when he said "deepahhh" in front of his congregation - that's right, his congregation - I was howling with laughter. I know, it was really wrong of me. I should've been howling with outrage.

I'm not gonna embed this one. You'll see why once you watch it.

Check it out here.

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That is all.