Catholic Writing and Publishing – Page 40

Guild Committee News: Changes in the SOA, Inside the CWG, Calls for help and more

February 17, 2012/2 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Karina Fabian

This is going to be a year of change for the committees of the Guild—a time to get a little better organized and get some ideas firmed up in order to be able to progress more smoothly in the future. As many of our volunteers know, we have a habit of getting very excited about a project, going into it full-steam ahead, then stopping to think, “Maybe if we…” So, in that vein, let me introduce to you some changes that are going to help make our projects even more awesome.

Catholic Writers Conference Online: Registration ends Feb 29! http://catholicwritersconference.com. Also, registration for presenters ends Feb 29. Sign up at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/SXJVLJW

Seal of Approval: The Guild reviews books for Catholic content and minimum editorial quality, and provides a “Seal of Approval” to those that qualify. This is a signal to bookstores (Catholic ones in particular) that the book would make a good addition to their inventory.

Many of you help with the wonderful project, and many of you are submitting your books to it. This is a project that goes beyond the Guild, serving bookstores and aiding authors. Unfortunately, it’s also our most swamped of projects, with the organizers and readers getting inundated with book requests, some of which (I regret to say) have been so poorly written that the readers have a hard time finishing them. It’s been frustrating for authors, too, when they’ve not gotten replies in a timely manner. For the past year, the committee had been struggling with how to handle the workload and books that don’t meet writing standards. This is what they’ve come up with:

* We will have a quarterly system for submissions and evaluations, where we take applications for one month a quarter, with reports at the end of the quarter. You can see the schedule on the application at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEdKWWZhOFAyREh0SVZXWF9RcTJnMlE6MQ, and we’ll be posting it to the blog as well.

* Readers may reject a book after three chapters if it clearly does not meet guidelines. We trust our readers to give every benefit of a doubt, but no longer require them to read an entire book. There are still provisions for doubts to be sent to our resident experts as well.

* Books rejected for writing quality can only resubmit if they have been professionally edited, and proof of professional editing is provided. This prevents our committee and readers from dealing with books that get only cursory changes. We are making a database of editors should authors request it, but make no recommendations. We’ve had to do this because some books are coming back with cursory edits that are addressing a few details but not significantly improving the overall quality.

–If you would like to be on the database as an editor, please fill out the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RGZBXKV. We are not requiring editors be Catholic to be on the list, but they must support Catholic works.

Inside the CWG: Thanks to everyone who filled out the survey about our internal newsletter. Maria Rivera has used this to make a few changes. The newsletter will be a little shorter, as she rotates through topics, and will emphasize areas readers said interest them the most. She is still looking for members to contribute. Please go to the forum at http://catholicwritersguild.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewforum&f=66 for more information. This is for paying CWG members only.

Membership Committee: Mike Hays, our membership coordinator, sure could use someone to help him with the membership database. If you know Excel and can spare an hour a month, contact me at karina(at)fabianspace.com, and I’ll get you connected.

Now, the sad news is that because of several circumstances, we are not going to do the Catholic Arts and Letters Award this year. We’re holding off for a year, getting some things figured out, and next year, we’ll allow books from 2011 and 2012 to compete.

I sound like a broken record, I know, but we need some volunteers, especially folks who can step up to lead. Some of us are getting tired! More seriously, a lot of active volunteers have been hit hard with economic troubles and family concerns—and some have had some lovely opportunities take over their time. We could use some new, dedicated folks. Don’t worry—we’ll train you up. Nothing the Guild does is too complex, especially for this intelligent group.

Last Word: The forums! We’d gotten some complaints (justifiably so) that the forums were too tangled and it was hard to find things. We decided simply to archive all the old information and start fresh. We’ve reorganized into what we hope is a simpler format; such as giving each project its own forum. We’ve also made it members-only. Please check it out, make some comments, and help us to get it moving again. It could be a great communication source.

“Government Pork” by Karina Fabian

February 13, 2012/7 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Karina Fabian

Dear Friends: The HHS compromise is no compromise—it’s an escalation, making it impossible not only for the Catholic Church to live according to its beliefs, but any small business that may also believe as the Church does. I wrote this parable to try to put the debate out of the “contraception/women’s health” light and show the other issues at stake. Feel free to copy this story and use it on your own blogs. If you do, please include this link to sign a petition to stop the HHS mandate (or if you know of another petition, include it) https://www.stophhs.com/sign-the-petition/

——————–

Once there was a wonderful town full of people who loved to eat, and many wonderful and varied restaurants that served excellent food: Italian and French, Japanese and Mongolian, Middle Eastern and even a kosher delicatessen. Not everyone liked every restaurant, of course, and some people even thought particular restaurants were odd, but they appreciated the variety available to all.

There were also a lot of pig farmers, and people enjoyed the fresh pork. One year, they had a mayor who loved fresh pork. He thought it was the right of everyone in the town to have pork at any meal they wanted. “Why,” he’d say,” if there was only one meal I could give my kids, it’d be pork chops!” Of course, lots of the people loved pork as well, and they applauded his enthusiasm.

One day he sat in his office, thinking about how much he and others liked pork, and he decided that every restaurant should serve pork and wine, at every meal. Oh, maybe not every individual would want to eat pork, but they deserved the right to have it on their plate! Otherwise, they didn’t really have a choice, right? And so, he set out a decree that all restaurants would serve some form of pork in every meal.

Well, the delicatessen and the Middle Eastern restaurant were upset by this. They couldn’t serve pork—it was against their religions. So they went to the Mayor and asked to be excused from this rule. “After all,” they said, “people know we never serve pork.”

“But you should. People have the right to pork. Some of your customers eat pork. Even some of your employees enjoy a good ham!”

“And if they wish to, they may–but not in our restaurants,” the owners said. “It’s against the kind of restaurants we are to serve pork. And we have customers who do not want pork, who would be offended and do not want to pay for pork.”

“Well, I’m offended that you won’t serve it—and I’m sure other pork lovers agree that your attitude is most disagreeable.”

“Our customers and our employees know where we stand, and they continue to frequent our restaurants and work for us. We serve them well, but we do not serve them pork. We have the right to our own menus. We should not be forced.”

But the mayor stood firm. “No,” he said. “Everyone has the right to have pork, and it’s my duty to make sure it’s always available, whether you agree or not. It’s healthier than beef anyway. If you don’t like it, you can pay a fine and stop serving food—or you can close down.”

The restaurant managers refused to change their menus. Many people stood by them—because they, too, would not eat pork and didn’t want to pay for it; or because they agreed that restaurants should choose their own menus; or because they didn’t like the mayor telling people how to run their own businesses. The movie theaters stood by him, because they were afraid if the Mayor could change menus, he might also start dictating what shows would be played.

The pork lovers, however, were incensed. How dare the restaurants not give them pork if they wanted it?

“I can’t eat beef; what should I do then?” one demanded. “Do you just want to send me away to starve?”

“We have other dishes,” they said. “Our menu and service would be no different than before. We can feed you many things; just not pork.”

Nonetheless, the press, too, said that the two restaurants would rather let people starve rather than eat pork.

Despite the outcry of the pork lovers, more and more people said, “Let them choose their own menu!”

So the Mayor called the restaurant owners into his office. He had a compromise, he said.

“I won’t make you buy pork. You don’t have to prepare it, or touch it. Instead, all restaurant suppliers will have to supply pork to every restaurant, free of charge, and for those that don’t want to serve the pork, suppliers will cook it and put it on every plate themselves. You just look the other way.”

“But there would still be pork in our restaurant!” the owners cried. “Besides, they will increase the price of meat to cover their new expenses.”

“Oh, they wouldn’t do that. I’d tell them not to. Besides, the point is you wouldn’t be actually serving pork. See how well that works? Everyone gets pork and you can say you never provided it. And if your patrons don’t want to eat it, they don’t have to; it’s enough that it’s there for them.”

So, problem solved?

—-

(“Hold on!” one restaurant supplier said. “I’m Jewish!”)

Increase The Odds For Self-Publishing Success

February 13, 2012/2 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Fiction, Self-Publishing/by Ellen Gable Hrkach

When I began writing my first book, Emily’s Hope, ten years ago, I did so thinking, “If just one person can read my book and feel they’ve learned something, then I’ll have reached my goal.” It never even occurred to me to “make money” with my books. But, eight years and three books later, I am making a nice supplemental income.

The average self-published book will sell fewer than 150 copies (and most of these will be to the author’s family and friends). That isn’t even enough to pay for your printing and/or editing expenses.

Remarkably, self-published novelist Amanda Hocking, has sold 1.5 million Kindle books. And while that is unusual, many self-published authors ARE selling books and making money.

So what is the difference between successful self-published books that sell thousands of copies and ones that only sell a few hundred or less? And what can you do to increase your chances of selling more books?

1) Quality of Writing
There is usually (although not always) a difference between self-published books that sell thousands of copies compared to those that only sell a few hundred and it’s most often in the quality of writing. Please, please, please don’t just accept praise from your friends and relatives telling you that your book is the greatest masterpiece ever written. Give your manuscript to a professional editor, as well as a copy-editor. Humbly consider their advice. Once you’ve finished editing, ask those friends who think your book’s a masterpiece to proofread it for you.

My spiritual director once told me that editing a manuscript is like polishing a diamond. The more you polish a manuscript, the more the brilliance shines through.

It takes a lot of work to write the first draft of a book. However, in my experience, it takes a lot more work to edit, polish, edit some more, polish some more until the book is ready for publication.

2) Eye-Catching Professional Cover
If I had a dollar for every self-published book that had a poorly designed or downright bad cover, I’d be able to take my family out to dinner weekly for the next month.

A book’s cover is the first image a perspective buyer/reader sees, whether it’s in print or on Kindle. The cover MUST be professionally produced, aesthetically pleasing and tell the story of a book with one glance. Learn more about making a good cover from my post on covers entitled “Discover Your Cover.”

3) Extensive marketing versus minimal marketing
This is the one thing that can make or break a book, in my humble opinion. There are many, many outstanding (even brilliant) self-published books out there that are going virtually unnoticed because the authors have done little or no marketing.

Writing the book is only a small part of the success of a book. In my talk at the Catholic Writers Conference Live last year in Philadelphia, I spoke about the importance of marketing: blogging, social networking (Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, Linked In), blog tours, Kindle e-books. Marketing takes 90 percent of my time. But then again, I’m a social person. I like connecting with people on Twitter or Facebook. I enjoy a lively conversation on my blog. I enjoy commenting on other bloggers’ posts. If an author is not willing or doesn’t have the time to market, this will show in sales.

4) Target Audience is Too Small
Sometimes an author will write a book directed to a smaller target audience. This has definitely been an issue with my first book, Emily’s Hope, which some people have coined as “NFP Fiction.” Since NFP-users probably make up a very small percentage of women who read, my target audience for that book is decidedly small. Most readers don’t even know what NFP is, so it’s not a book they would normally pick up.

My second novel, In Name Only, is very different from my first book. Although the characters are Catholic, it’s not as genre specific. It’s an historical romance, which makes it more appealing to the female population. It’s not as religiously thick, so secular readers can enjoy it as much as Christian readers. It has been my most popular book thus far, selling hundreds of e-books a week on Amazon Kindle, often attaining the #1 position in Religious Drama.

Most self-published books sell an average of 150 books. You can increase your odds of selling more than that by considering the following factors: quality of writing, eye-catching cover, good marketing and a wide target audience.

Keep these things in mind for a successful self-publishing experience.

photo purchased from iStock

Ellen Gable Hrkach is an award-winning, bestselling author of four books. She will be doing two presentations this year at the Catholic Writers Conference Online: Self Publishing: From Draft to Quality book and The Future of Self-Publishing: E-Books.

Writing dialogue (my way)

February 7, 2012/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Larry Peterson

Since I am writing about “writing” I will be referencing my writing. How did I learn to write? Well now, my foundation in writing came from the Ursuline nuns I had in grade school and the Marist brothers I had in high-school. Those folks knew how to teach English so I had, like it or not, the “basics” ingrained in me. I do not have a degree in English grammar or composition or American literature. Heck, I did not even get to college until I was out of high-school for 18 years and, I did not study English. Anyway, consider the source when reading my tid-bits of writing tips. I am not “trained” in the craft.

Onward and forward. I try to write dialogue just the way people speak. My novel, “The Priest and The Peaches”, takes place in a tough, blue-collar south Bronx neighborhood in the mid 1960’s. There is a lot of poor grammar in the dialogue and I am sure it would cause some of the good nuns and brothers that I had long ago to either faint, or, at least get a very severe headache. There is a lot of “ain’t got”, “I dunno”, “nahs”, “yeahs”, “gimme a break” and other NY accent dialogue. But, the reality is, the primary characters spoke like this. They still do. I understand that some of this dialogue may be confusing to some readers. But—it is what it is, right? My wife, who is from Ohio, can’t believe people actually talk like that. (I should get her some of the old “Dead End Kids” movies).

I often use omniscience in the characters to show what they are truly thinking so the reader understands the folly of what they are saying. Maybe I do that too much. I’m not sure. Maybe I should trust the reader more. As I write the dialogue I become the character speaking so I dialogue in my head as two or even three different people at the same time. It is never as if I am, for example, thinking as only the protagonist as he/she speaks to someone else. Does that makes sense to you?

I also try to use a minimal amount of “he/she saids”. I try to do it in such a way that the reader knows who is speaking even though I am not saying who is, and I try to go sometimes a half-page that way. It is a bit tricky but I think it is important. I also do my best to avoid long dialogue. I’m a one or two sentence guy if I can help it. I even have a scene in my book where the priest gives a homily and it lasts less than two minutes. It takes about fifteen seconds to read that part but the reader does get the point.

Okay, that’s it. How do you guys do it?

Rejection: A thorn by any other name still stings…

January 24, 2012/4 Comments/in Catholic Writers Conference Online, Catholic Writers Guild, Catholic Writing and Publishing, Editing, Encouragement for Writers, The Writing Life/by Leslie Lynch

Ouch.

I don’t care who you are, rejection hurts. But as writers, we all experience it, so it behooves us to learn to deal with it.

It’s tempting to pitch a fit, sulk, or even threaten to quit writing altogether. But when we take a look at these responses, it’s clear they are self-sabotaging…and ultimately ego driven.

This is what I’ve learned about rejection. It’s not about me. It’s about the needs of the publisher, or timing, or the quality of the writing – but it’s never about me, the author (unless I’ve made such an @$$ of myself that no one wants to work with me, no matter how brilliantly I write. But you’re too professional for that!)

Some factors that lead to rejection are out of our control. If a publisher just signed a contract for a story involving a blind golfer, and my story is about a blind golfer, it’s unlikely they’ll buy mine, even if it’s more brilliantly written. Or the editor hates stories about blind golfers. Or the editor just got sued by a blind golfer. Or… Well, you get the idea. None of these are within our control, so we cannot take the rejection personally, even when it’s unlikely we’ll ever find out the underlying why.

The other two reasons are within our control. Maybe I’ve pitched my epic poem about a blind golfer to a house that doesn’t publish poetry. Do your homework. Use Writer’s Digest or other resources to see what a specific publisher is looking for. Read your target publisher, then tweak your work to fit their needs and style.

Finally, maybe the quality of the work is an issue. (Ouch, again!) I look back on my initial submissions and cringe at the amateurish mistakes I made. Yet, at the time, I thought my work was brilliant! We all need to continually work on improving our craft, no matter our level of experience. Read books on craft. Check your local library. Take online classes, get involved in the CWG forums, the CWG online conference, or a writing group. Volunteer to judge contests. (That’s a real eye-opener, a glimpse into an editor’s life.) Find or create a critique group; it’s much easier to see someone else’s blunders, and eventually you’ll learn to recognize and fix those weaknesses in your own work.

If you’ve done all those things and still get rejected, what next? Bounce back. Is there is a lesson in a particular rejection? Learn it. Don’t give up. Keep writing. Keep submitting – but don’t beat a dead horse. If a project doesn’t sell, either re-work it or move on. Keep a positive attitude. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb on his 1000^th try. He did not view the first 999 attempts as failures, rather as the 999 ways to not make a light bulb. Each step was necessary for his eventual success. Each rejection we receive brings us one step closer to our success.

What are your favorite ways to deal with rejection? How do you turn rejection into a positive element in your writing life?

Catholic Writers’ Conference Online

January 23, 2012/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Karina Fabian

(Feel Free to Repost/Distribute elsewhere)
CONTACT: Karina Fabian
E-mail: karina@fabianspace.com

For Immediate Release

Registration for Free Catholic Writers Conference Online Opens

World Wide Web—The Catholic Writers’ Guild will again hold its online conference March 17-30, 2011. The conference will feature presentations on writing and marketing as well as pitch sessions with publishers.

The conference is held via chats and forums at http:// www.catholicwritersconference.com. Sponsored by the Catholic Writer’s Guild, the online conference is free of charge and open to writers of all levels who register before March 1, 2011. The conference serves both fiction and non-fiction authors and covers aspects of the Catholic faith in writing as well.

“The conference is a wonderful opportunity for writers,” said organizer Karina Fabian. “In addition to presentations and workshops covering everything from worldbuilding to article ideas to marketing your published work, we have critique sessions and pitch sessions with Catholic and secular publishers.”

This year, the conference is taking a different tactic: March 17-24 will feature forum workshops, while live chats will be offered March 23-30. Fabian said that this was by request of attendees, who felt overwhelmed by the number of topics offered and wanted more time to appreciate both venues of learning.

Although the conference is offered free of charge, donations are accepted; proceeds will go toward future conferences. Non-Catholics may attend, as long as they respect Catholic beliefs and the conference’s Catholic focus.

To register or for more information, go to http://www.catholicwritersconference.com.

# # #
Graphics, interviews and further information available upon request.

Notes on Homilies: Sacrifice and Suffering

January 22, 2012/5 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Karina Fabian

by Karina Fabian

Saw an interesting blog post by Roman Catholic Cop. He was challenged to record one thought from the weekly homilies at Mass.

In Matthew Kelly’s talk, “The Seven Pillars of Catholic Spirituality” he suggests taking ONE thing from father’s homily on Sunday and to write it down in a journal. He says after one year of going to mass you will have an amazing guide to spirituality.

I like this idea, so I’m going to attempt to do the same here. Too often, I find something at Mass really touches me, but as soon as I get out the doors and have to deal with lunches and kids and to-do’s, I forget what it was that made such an impact. Writing them will give me a chance to remember, and I thought you might like to share in them as well.

Today’s homily was about sacrifice and suffering, and how our vocations in life involve each. The priest spoke of a high school boy paralyzed in a hockey accident, and in an interview he said that this was his calling, his vocation. “It is a mystery, but I embrace it.”

What an amazing attitude for a teen to take. I think about the days I just want to give up on everything because I’m tired or have a headache or someone got mad at me, but this kid may never walk again, but he’s not only not giving up, but embracing this mystery he’s been dealt. I’m humbled.

The other thing I’m taking, which applies to the first, is the idea that suffering can mean putting yourself aside to serve others. That’s one I have a hard time with because (like I said in my book, Why God Matters), I tend to have a martyrdom streak, and a loud martyrdom streak at that. Instead of putting myself aside in my suffering in order to serve others, I tend to make a noisy point of my suffering as I serve others.

What about you? What did you take from today’s homily or sermon? What do you think about suffering and service?

Living Life Offline

January 11, 2012/8 Comments/in Blogging, Catholic Writing and Publishing/by Sarah Reinhard

My husband made a comment in a teasing sort of way, mid-December, that there was no way I could spend a week offline. I needed no further impetus to answer a pull I’d been feeling for a while.

I spent the week between Christmas and New Years mostly offline. I didn’t read blogs, post status updates to Facebook or Twitter, or read my email.

I read four books, an advance manuscript, and a friend’s first-draft manuscript. I puttered around the house, doing my usual assortment of household things, and waited for my phone to ring (it didn’t, though I’ll bet that would have changed if I had refused to text).

The week was wonderful, in many ways. It was a tangible reminder that, as online as I may be with so much of my work and communications, I have to live my life offline.

My best ideas and my best inspirations come from the world around me.

Though I read plenty of things online and there is a lot of room for inspiration, for me, the best is what’s happening around me: the brilliance of the sunrise, the book I’m reading, the antics of my family.

When I am online all the time, I run the risk of living an alternate life. I become the Sarah people think I am, as opposed to the Sarah who’s really here, right now, tapping away during the baby’s nap. I lose sight of the humor and heartache in my real world, and while there’s room for my world to include the internet, I have to remember my priorities.

My best source remains real life. The rest is extra.

Immediacy is sometimes overrated.

As I’ve been at this writing thing longer, I’ve noticed that the ideas that really need to stay…do. The more I try to catch and capture and keep, the more they seem to slip between my fingers.

On the other hand, the more I sit back, rely on God for my inspiration, and trust in His ways, the better everything seems to go.

(All of that, mind you, is easy to type and advise you. It is much harder to follow it myself.)

When I’m online, it’s harder to slow down, to think, to ponder, which leads me to my next observation.

I’m less distracted when my online time is segmented.

The internet looms around me. It will take over every single minute that I let it have.

Now that I have an iPad, it seems it never stops. I can drop in and check email after the kids are in bed, even though my laptop’s tucked away and I’m technically offline. I can ignore what I dubbed “Offline Evenings” a few Lents ago, because I’m just popping in.

The problem is, the “popping in” lasts all evening, and I’ve not only lost the only real reading time I’m guaranteed, but also any chance I could have had to interact with my husband.

I’m a better blogger because of time spent offline.

I am forced to focus, to keep it real, and to be efficient. I have to pay attention to my priorities, and if I’m not careful, they’ll creep in the wrong direction.

Do you spend focused time offline? What have you found?

image credit

The “Control” of Self-Publishing

January 9, 2012/0 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, Self-Publishing/by Ellen Gable Hrkach

Self-Publishing is so easy nowadays that anyone can publish his or her own book. Because of that, many self-published authors are producing poor quality books. This can give self-publishing a bad name.

In some respects, self-publishing is more difficult than publishing with traditional publishers. After all, publishers take care of the editing, cover design and all the jobs that go with creating a quality book. They often do extensive marketing as well.

However, I believe the advantages of self-publishing outweigh the disadvantages. Over the next few months, I’m going to share what I believe are the main advantages of self-publishing.

I do not use Trafford, Author House or Publish America. I simply started my own publishing company and currently sell my books through Amazon, Kindle, Smashwords and my publishing website.

This month: Control

As a self-published author (and owner of my own publishing company), I maintain 100 percent of the control and decision-making. I like having a say in every part of my book’s creation. I enjoy working with my husband in the creation of a cover that I feel will best illustrate the content and story of my book.

I transcribe the book, make necessary edits, typeset it, convert it to Kindle and do all the marketing myself…which is why I’m only able to knock out four books in ten years.

If I can’t perform a specific job (like overall editing and copy-editing), I hire people to complete that job. I currently hire an editor, copy-editor and several proofreaders.

Control re: prices

This is especially important when it comes to setting Kindle e-book prices. As a self-published author with little overhead, especially with e-books, I can offer my novels at a remarkably cheap price of 2.99. Traditional publishers generally don’t do that, which means that I can sell more e-books than they do.

Control re: content

While my editor makes suggestions on plot, character, settings etc, I make the final decisions regarding those things. I don’t have to water down the Catholicity nor do I have to make it generic Christian, unless I feel that a certain project warrants that.

Self-publishing gives the author control over every stage of book production from first draft to publication.

Personally, it’s the way I like it.

Next month, Finances and Self-Publishing

I’ll be doing two moderated chats on self-publishing at the 2012 Catholic Writers Conference Online in March. Click on the link to find out more information about the conference.

Ellen Gable Hrkach is an award-winning novelist and vice president of the Catholic Writers Guild. She lives in Canada with her husband and sons.

“To Outline or Not to Outline”

January 3, 2012/4 Comments/in Catholic Writing and Publishing, CWG Member News/by Larry Peterson

Before I get to the topic at hand, I would like to announce that my new book, The Priest and The Peaches officially launched two days ago. So, HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It is in e-book format and the publisher is Tribute Books. This is a work of fiction and I would like to let you all know that, in my own way, I have tried to compliment, praise and elevate the priesthood with this work. In fact, part of the dedication is to the priesthood. The truth is, I’m sick and tired of all the anti-catholic, anti-priest stuff that has been smothering everyone, and maybe, in my own small way, I might be able to counteract that. Anyway, if you might want to take a peek at the book you can go to http://www.thepriestandthepeaches.com. Okay–to the point at hand.

I have been fulfilling numerous requests for “guest posts” on blog-sites. You know how that goes. They ask you to write 300 to 500 words about such things as writing habits, inspiration, character development, character interviews, etc. etc.. One question I was asked was, “Do you outline your stories or do they just take you along for the ride?” So, let me “fess up” about me and outlining.

I think they call someone like me a “pantser”. That is because I do go along for the ride and “fly by the seat of my pants”. I outline the book after I’m done. I mean, I do have a potential ending in sight when I start, but, like some of those remodeling jobs I have done in the past, I never know what to expect. I might tear out a wall and, lo and behold, there are plumbing pipes staring at me. Where did they come from? You don’t want them there but you cannot get rid of them so–you adapt and change things. Consequently, as I write things become clearer and clearer, and anticipating problems and glitches happens more quickly.

Ultimately, I outline when I’m finished. I understand that, according to all the “poohbahs” out there, I am doing it all wrong. Well, my goal is to get to the finish line. For me, getting there is all that counts. If I fall down ten times, bust myself up and wind up bloodied in the process, I don’t care. Look, I am probably the type of writer you do not want to emulate. But, when all is said and done, we must march to the beat of our own drum and I have always had a hard time keeping in step with the beat.

I sincerely hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas, and a I wish Happy New Year to all of you.