Feedback

I've been flattered by the personal feedback I've received from my story The Donut Shop, now available on Shred of Evidence.

I've received some 17 complimentary e-mails, and a couple were even from folks I don't know.

Like a person in any pursuit, good feedback is vitally important to the writer. I love the e-mails I've received. But there is another, perhaps more important, form of feedback.

And that is to the editor of the publication.

It is very important to an author that the editor of a publication — be it print or web-based — receive positive and strong feedback. Tell me you liked my story and I'm happy. Tell the editor you liked my story and I might get to publish another story.

Webzines make it easy through comments, e-mail and blogs. But even in a print publication or anthology, you should be able to find an e-mail address to send a comment to. It would mean a lot to me as an author, as it would any other author.

And it would do them and their career some good.

Donut Shop

The Donut Shop is out and available for viewing. You can read it at:

The Donut Shop

Please read it and if you enjoy it, please leave a comment on the site.

RIP Edward D. Hoch

Mystery short story writer Edward D. Hoch has passed away.

He was very prolific and one of the finest masters of the short story. On another forum, a member said Mr. Hoch collapsed by his shower, and had passed before his wife found him.

Here's a news story on his death:

Edward D. Hoch

Not much right now

It's been a very busy few days at that pesky "day job" of mine, so I've not been able to post anything.

I have been getting my writing in. In addition to working on a few new things, I've been pulling out some old, unpublished stories and seeing if they can be revised. It's interesting to me what a few months or even years away from a story can do for your perspective.

Saw a great interview on TV - I forget the station - I think Ovation - with Walter Mosely. I'm a big fan of his writing style and I found it interesting to hear him discuss how he weaves race into his novels. His Easy Rawlins stories are pretty darned good, but if you want a real gut punch, read some of his Socrates Fortlow stories. They'll stick with you when you are done.

Writer's Block

Quite recently, there was a forum discussion on Crimespace about writer's block.

I weighed in with my two cents, of course.

I've often found writer's block, ummm, interesting.

Some of the posters on the forum describe seemingly horrid encounters with writer's block. I'm talking mental anquish and physical pain. I think if I encountered that, I'd just put the pen down and go play judo. Let's face it, writing doesn't pay well enough for "suffering for art."

That said, I try not to be critical of those suffering from writer's block for one simple reason, I don't suffer from it, so I don't understand.

As a journalist, I must produce or I get fired. I have two weekly columns. There is no extension on those, no delays, no sick days. They must be done and done on time. When I worked as a freelancer for a spell, failure to write meant failure to afford beer.

Like a person at any job, there are issues that affect my writing. Sick family members, money problems, arguments with friends, and a myriad of other personal life matters can interfere and just like doctors, plumbers and the guy at the grocery store, they can affect my performance as a writer.

I don't know why, but I've always been able to work around "problems" with my writing quickly. Some people describe writer's block like hitting a wall. When I hit the wall, I never stand there and stare at it.

If it is a passage, I may skip it and come back later. If it is a story I may set it down and work on something else. But I just don't stop writing.

My story "The King" is a very short story, less than a tousand words. It appeared in issue no. 11 of Crimespree Magazine. Buy a subscription.

Anyway, as I said, it is a short story that started on a premise that I found very funny -- Elvis is a live and well and making a decent living as an Elvis impersonator. I never could get the story quite right, and as a consequence, those 800 or so words took about a year to write.

The didn't stop me. They didn't even slow me down. They just didn't get written until they were ready to pop out, but in the meantime, thousands of other words were written.

So writer's block? I don't know. I'll just be thankful it doesn't seem to be a problem for me.

Did I write a book? LOL

So, I did an exercise.

Occasionally, I find my writing slipping into the passive voice and loading up on weak adjectives and adverbs. So I wrote a story and limited myself to 8 words per sentence. No more.

24,000 words later, I have a finished science fiction story, written in 15 days.

I did some research.

The immensely famous Goosebumps, for roughly "middle school" readers, had an average of 22,500 words, and an average of 8 words per sentence.

Interesting.

And now I ask myself - have I written a children's science fiction novel?

An obituary

The author of one of the....ummm....most colorful and .... ummm ..... "loose" characters in fiction has died.

George MacDonald Frasier, author of the 12 "Flashman" novels, and several other books, has died. I've read two novels featuring the anti-hero Harry Flashman, and they were damned colorful books.

Here's his obituary.

George MacDonald Fraser, Author of Flashman Novels, Dies at 82