The Deadly Sin

H. Bedford-Jones, known as “The King of the Pulps” because he was so prolific, made a very decent living selling stories to the fiction magazines of his day. In today’s dollars, he was a millionaire.

He wrote for about six hours every day and had four typewriters going — each with a different story or novel. If he got stuck on one, he slid over to the next machine and started banging out more on that story.

We don’t even know exactly how much he wrote. He was a poor record keeper, and used several pen names. The current tally of his output is 231 novels, 21 novellas, 372 novelettes, and 748 short stories, plus an incredible amount of non-fiction, poetry, radio dramas, and articles. All in a 40 year career. Something over 25 million words he wrote.

So, when I came across a copy of his book This Fiction Business (revised edition, 1929) — I bought it. My thinking being this guy knew a thing or two about writing. The book is quite entertaining, very inspirational, and informative. It’s a bit dated, but the publishing industry hasn’t actually changed all that much in the 90 years since the book was published. Much of the business aspect still applies for those going the traditional publishing route.

Chapter 6 is titled “The Deadly Sin”. In this chapter, HB-J reveals the one thing that holds back new and inexperienced writers from getting published — or, in today’s indie world, from getting readers.

The deadly sin is “The lack of perception as to what must be emphasized…”.

The new writer with little experience often misses the beat when she fails to emphasize what is important in the story from the reader’s perspective.

HB-J gives the example of a friend who couldn’t sell a story, even though he had editors praise it. HB-J read the story and saw the problem right away. The writer had disposed of the climactic conflict in 2 sentences.

Readers don’t want that. They want to fight with the hero or heroine in an arduous contest, perhaps almost lose, and then come out victorious.

Ironically enough, just before reading This Fiction Business, I read a short story in an anthology where the author made the same mistake. In the span of two sentences the story went from very good to ho-hum.

The writer lost me as a reader in those two sentences. I have no desire to read anything else she’s written. I don’t have the money to waste on a book that might have a lackluster climactic scene. Not when there are plenty of very good writers to read.

The art of telling a story is to know how to pace it for the maximum effect you, the writer, want to achieve. You also need to know what your audience is going to want to spend the most time experiencing. Is it the description of a room, or an info dump of background material, or the main character locked in a battle with the villain?

Some writers just naturally know how to tell a story. They’re the ones you want to listen to sitting around the campfire. The rest of us have to learn how to tell a story. And the best way to do that is to, as Stephen King noted, read lots and write lots.

Only by writing story after story do we get the practice needed for us to learn how to tell a good story.

Only by reading story after story, written by those who know how to tell a story, will we gain the feel for how it’s done.

So now, my writing friends, go forth and sin no more.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

Why I Write

Almost all of us, at least at one time or another, have the desire to live forever.

It’s why we procreate, and make things. It’s why we strive to make a difference: we want to be remembered. It’s why we believe in an afterlife, and why we’re fascinated with spirits and ghosts, vampires and werewolves.

It’s also why many, if not most, writers write. We have the hope that our books will give us a measure of immortality.

Of course, achieving immortality by means of the written word isn’t a whole lot different than one’s chances of becoming rich by winning the lottery. Just count how many perennial bestselling authors there are versus the number of new authors published each year, and the number of authors who never reach bestseller status but continue to write books. We’re talking thimbles to boxcars here. 

And that doesn’t count the number of bestselling authors who pass into oblivion once they die. Their names are legion. 

The number of writers who achieve immortality is indeed tiny.

One has a better chance of achieving immortality by becoming a mass murderer than by becoming an author — NOT that I recommend one should do so. Just sayin’.

When it comes to the desire to live forever, I’m like everyone else: bring it on! Or at least let me live for six, eight centuries. There are so many things I want to explore and do, and one lifetime hasn’t been enough.

Writing is a relatively easy avenue whereby one can hope to achieve immortality. After all, books last a very long time. Paper books, that is. Not sure how long these ebooks will last. Software and formats, tend to become obsolete. Remember floppy discs, Beta and VHS tapes, cassettes? 

Ebooks are in the same category as those acid-laden wood pulp magazines that are self-destructing because of the cheap paper they were printed on. As the pulp magazines crumble into dust, so too do media vehicles become useless junk. Something to think about.

Nevertheless, by means of stories, I can tell whoever will listen to me what I think about life, who I am as a person, what my dreams and hopes are (or were). And if my stories become popular enough, then they will make the transition to each new storage medium that comes along. After all, I can read Shakespeare and Euripides on my ereader.

My desire to live a very long life, if not forever, and to write lots of books crystalized in the wake of close encounters of the near death kind. 

About a dozen years ago I came close to death due to misdiagnosed appendicitis and consequently a ruptured appendix. The doctor told me I was a lucky man. The rupture created quite a mess. Then a couple years later, I had a heart attack. The left anterior descending artery was blocked. Colloquially called “The Widowmaker” because of its high percentage of fatalities. Again, the doctor told me I was a lucky man.

Now I have been told I have kidney disease. For which there is no cure. The only treatment is to follow good health practices in an attempt to slow the progress.

Death is my friend. My mortality has been made very clear to me. It is why I write and why I have such a feeling of urgency about writing. If it weren’t for the Grim Reaper standing in the corner of my room, I’d probably get lazy and slack off.

Of course, we don’t live forever, at least in this life, and it is the only one I care about at the moment, and this life is short. Although I always keep in mind Seneca’s words, “Life is long enough if you know how to use it.” That last clause is of course the rub: we usually learn too late how to use it well. We squander the most precious and rare gift doing and pursuing what is ultimately not of much value.

Writing brings me great joy. It also helps me to become a better person. Through my characters I hone what is important in my own life and discard what is not.

Around 40 to 45 percent of us are kinesthetic/tactile learners. These folk learn by acting and playing and touching. Through my characters, I live many lives and face many dilemmas and learn many things about myself, because they are after all the people I have made in my image.

I know writing brings me great joy and that I do it mostly for the sake of writing, because I make darn little money at it. The pot of gold continues to elude me. Yet, maybe my heirs will hit on the right marketing strategy and my books will sell and I will achieve that immortality we all desire. After all, my books will be in copyright for 70 years after I pass on. That’s more or less another lifetime. That too is something to think about.

Life is long enough if we know how to use it. I may at last be getting the knack of it. We’ll see. I’ll keep you posted.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

What Book is in Your Hand?

Reading is my favorite form of entertainment. I enjoy reading over TV and movies. I enjoy it more than boardgames. Although I might actually enjoy eating more than I do reading. The waistline is difficult to ignore.

There is, though, one problem I have as a writer with reading. It takes over my mind. As a result, if I am writing a horror story, problems develop if I start reading mysteries, for example. Suddenly my brain leaves the monsters behind and I’m thinking whodunit. Something of a problem that!

Recently I received a three month Kindle Unlimited trial for 99¢. Unfortunately, it ran over the holidays so I didn’t get as much of an advantage out of it as I would have liked. Nevertheless I did read 7 novels/novellas, 7 short stories, and 1 short story collection. Which means I did get my money back with interest.

Most of the novels I read were mysteries, and therein lay the conflict with my novel writing.

I’m currently at work on Pierce Mostyn #7, but with all those mysteries passing before my eyes my horror novel started looking a little bit like a murder mystery. I’ll undoubtedly have some fixing up to do.

However, don’t take the above as complaining. I’m just saying. Because quite a bit of my KU reading was, in fact, horror related. The short stories were from the Occult Detective Quarterly, Issue #1 (Fall 2016). Six of the seven stories were excellent reads. So good in fact, I’ll probably buy all of the issues. The short story collection was The Abominations of the Nephren-ka and Three More Tales of the Cthulhu Mythos by Mark McLaughlin and Michael Sheehan, Jr. All four of the tales were quite serviceable reads with which to pass a couple of hours.

With the KU trial over (I didn’t renew), I’m now back on my own resources for reading, which includes the works of several indie authors of my acquaintance I wish to promote.

I think it is very important for indie writers to read the books of their fellows. Because we indies are all in the same boat pulling at the same oars. The least we can do to help each other is to buy, read, and review each other’s work.

Over the weekend, I read In Agony Again by Ernestine Marsh. Ms Marsh has to be in the running for the title of Queen of Comedy. She’s that funny.

With the writing of Pierce Mostyn being bent all out of shape due to my recent reading, I have to get it back on track.  So for the rest of the month, I’ll be focusing on horror, the supernatural kind.

Aside from the KU reading, I’ve read this year “The Call of Cthulhu” and “The Nameless City” by Lovecraft, and The Horror from the Hills by Frank Belknap Long. Having thus far read only one Clark Ashton Smith Cthulhu Mythos tale, maybe I’ll spend some time with Mr Smith. “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros” may be a very good place to start.

Now to you. What book or books have been in your hand of late? I’d like to hear about them. Especially if the authors are indie writers such as myself.

With over 3000 new books appearing on Amazon each day, that’s a lot of books to sort through. And if we consider that four years ago there were 3 1/2 million ebooks in the Kindle store — that’s a heck of a lot of books to look through for some good ones.

So please share some of your good reads with me, and you can bet I’ll do the same back with you.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy reading!

Talent’s Not Enough

Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. … Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

—Attributed to Calvin Coolidge

Last week I wrote about creativity and the joy of being a creator.

This week I want to riff on that idea with a dose of reality. Talent is not enough to succeed.

In my years of actively writing for publication, I’ve seen many poets and fiction writers — far more talented than myself — give up.

They may have given up because of too many rejection slips. Or thrown in the towel because of a bad review or two or three. Or they may have called it quits due to lack of sales. Or they were not up to the hard work of promoting their writing. They had the misconception that just because they had talent they would not have to work. Success would instantly be theirs. As Nick Stephenson has noted, if no one knows you exist — all you are doing is writing into a black hole. And I’ll add: even if you have talent. Success comes from work. You have to work hard to get people to find you and notice you.

I could easily name a half dozen authors or more whose books are on my iPad who have disappeared. Apparently they’ve given up. They lacked persistence and determination.

It’s common knowledge that most new business ventures fail within the first three years. And writing is no different. It is a business venture, whether the author is traditionally published or self-published.

My late friend, John J. (“Jack”) Koblas, whose books were published by a regional publisher in Minnesota, used to drive his van — loaded with cases of his books — all over the country. He gave talks and went to conferences, and sold autographed copies of his books. That was hard, hard work. But he was able to earn a living from his writing by doing so. He found many, many readers because he did the work of finding them.

Jack was persistent and determined. When I first met him in the early 1970s, he was gathering rejection slips for his fiction. He eventually gave up trying to sell his fiction, and instead wrote biographies of famous writers who lived in Minnesota. He found publishers for those books. Then he wrote a fabulous book on Jesse James’s raid on the Northfield, Minnesota bank — and he found his audience in history writing.

Then, because his non-fiction was selling, his publisher brought out his fiction and poetry.

Work. Hard, hard work. But it eventually paid off.

We indie writers are in the same boat. The easy money, the easy route to readers, is gone. It ended in 2014. Now, due to tremendous competition, we have to work. We have to get creative, in order to find our readers.

Persistence and determination. That’s what we need. That has to become our mantra. Because talent is not enough. Many talented writers were and are business failures. They gave up and disappeared. Their dreams crashed and burned — because they gave up. They didn’t have the determination to push on. They didn’t persist. They didn’t get creative and find their unique path to success.

And I find that to be very sobering and very sad. I urge you, my fellow writers, not to be one of them.

The joy they could have brought to scores, hundreds, maybe thousands of readers — is gone, forever.

Talent isn’t enough to succeed. And that is repeatedly demonstrated by the mediocre writer, who is persistent and determined, and thereby succeeds. That, too, is very sobering and very sad.

Persist! Be creative! And you can hold your dream in your hands.

Comments are always welcome. And until next time, happy persisting!

The Joy of Creativity

There is nothing more satisfying than being a Creator, or being around Creators. There’s an indescribable electricity when Creatives are together. The experience is exhilarating.

Last week, my wife and I were on Madeline Island. She was enrolled in a plein air oil painting workshop. I tagged along to be pack horse, and encourager, and to do some writing.

If you don’t know, Madeline Island is the largest island in the Apostle Islands chain, off the coast of Wisconsin, in Lake Superior. The island is beautifully wooded and possesses some fabulous views of the largest of the Great Lakes.

Aside from the plein air workshop, there was a workshop for mixed media and another one for quilters.

To be with so many Creatives all in one setting was supremely stimulating. I had a blast interacting with the artists and the tag along spouses.

I got in some extensive walking, worked on a novel (part of a new series I intend to launch next year), sketched out 3 story ideas (which were provided by some of the artists) and wrote a haiku.

The advice is legendary: if you feel stuck in your writing (or any other creative endeavor), go on a trip. The change of scenery stimulates the creative juices. With last week in mind, I’d add: go on a trip with other Creatives who are not in your field of interest.

Seeing the way oil painters view and interpret the world provided me with new insights. 

Those new insights ramped up my own creative energy. Those new insights took me back to the time when I experimented with haiga, a Japanese art form that links a picture and a poem together to form a whole creative expression. Hence the haiku, the traditional poetic form used in haiga.

In addition, those new insights and the conversations I had with the artists gave me some new fiction ideas.

I came home from the island with my Creativity supercharged.

Writing is, for me, like breathing. I can’t live without it. Shoot, I love writing the grocery list! Part of the excitement is the tactile experience. Holding the pencil. The feel of the soft lead as it glides across the paper. The texture of the paper. Or the feel of the fountain pen or dip pen holder. The movement of the pen point across the paper. Watching the ink or graphite form my thoughts into words, words into sentences, sentences into paragraphs. It’s an experience that’s better than magic.

Creatives are relatively rare, which is why I think so many people want to be a Creative. Creatives, though, are gifted. They are a breed apart. They cannot ever not create.

In every culture, the deities that are worshipped are Creators. Which is an indication to me that Creators are held in high regard by all cultures. They are special. Divine, as it were.

People may emulate Creators. They may even master a creative medium. But if they are not Creators, heart and soul, they will ultimately lose interest.

Rainer Maria Rilke, in the first letter of Letters to a Young Poet, advised that the one who wants to create must first look deep within and ask the question, “Must I write, paint, sculpt, throw pots, blow glass, etc, etc.”

If the answer is yes, then Rilke says you must structure your entire life so that you can create. If the answer comes back, no, this is not a must — then go and do something else. There is no shame in this. We must all do what we were meant to do. Don’t become frustrated trying to do what was not meant for you to do.

I love writing. I loved it before going to Madeline Island, and I love it even more for having been there.

Many, many thanks to the Madeline Island School of the Arts (MISA) and the beautiful people at the workshop (my wife included!) who reconfirmed what I’ve always wanted to do with my life.

Comments are always welcome! And until next time, happy creating!

Interview with Karen J Carlisle

I’ve never been a fan of time travel, yet I realized very recently that right here on planet earth we do time travel all the time. Today’s guest lives in my future and I live in her past. That’s because she sees the sun before I do and for other very scientific reasons.

I first met Karen on Twitter. I think it had to do with our mutual love of tea that we followed each other. Then we ran into each other on the now defunct Steampunk Empire. And we’ve been in each other’s future and past ever since.

So all the way from the future in Adelaide, Australia, we have with us Karen J Carlisle and she is going to talk to us about herself and her new book.

CW: Welcome, Karen! Glad you can visit with me here in the past. At least it’s the past for me. For you it’s the present.

Karen Carlisle: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to get in practice for being the Doctor’s next companion.

CW: My pleasure. So, tell us a little about yourself.

KC: I’m a science geek. I’m a Doctor Who fan. I’m an artist. I love to garden. I’ve played D&D since 1979 and have been a historical re-enactor since 1994 (though I don’t get much time to do it now).

When I left school, I wanted to be a writer, an archeologist, a photographer, a cinematographer, an artist, an astronaut and the Doctor’s next companion. Instead I did my B App Sc and became an optometrist.

After a few false starts and an unexpected, and forced, career change, I’m now pursuing my first love of writing. I work more hours than I ever did before. And I’m loving it. I get to create things. (Some people even like them.) Bonus!

CW: What did you read as a child?

KC: The earliest recollection is a book from primary school: ‘Stig of the Dump’ by Clive King. For some reason that one sticks in my head. My favourite childhood book was ‘The Dark is Rising’, by Susan Cooper. I’ve just finished re-reading it. Still love it.

I moved onto crime and mystery, delving into Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh and Sherlock Holmes books. A librarian, who wanted to expand my reading diet, introduced me to ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’ and then I gorged on fantasy. Science fiction wasn’t far behind. I think I’ve read just about every Star Wars novel and Doctor Who novel that was published in the 70s and 80s. So, most of my literary diet is fantasy, science fiction or mystery-who-dunnits.

CW: Aside from writing, how do you spend your free time?

KC: I love to create.

I’ve been a costumer since 1980 (my first fan con was Conquest in Brisbane). I do photography, draw (pen and ink mostly. I have some of my work on Redbubble). I’m also a Doctor Who fan (since early 70s) and an old movie buff.

I spend a lot of time in the garden – though I’ve neglected it this year. I have a chemical-free (mostly) edible garden, and companion plant garden as well. 

There are way too many things to distract me. I can’t list them all here.

CW: How many fiction books do you read a year?

KC: I’m a notoriously slow reader these days. I used to read a few books a month when I was at university. 

These days (due to an extraocular muscle imbalance – oh ugh, technical jargon.), I can manage one a month. This year, I’ve struggled to complete three, as I was ill most of summer and am slammed with a writing deadline at the moment. Though I still buy books as if I was still reading at Uni-speed. 

My ‘must must- read’ pile is nudging nineteen books. Guess what I’m doing when this book is published?

CW: What book do you think everyone should read and why?

KC: 1984 by George Orwell.

I studied this book in high school. It’s a cautionary tale for those of us who value personal or thought freedom, and a handbook to those who seek to control the masses. Read it.

These days, I see parallels all around me. Social media playing Big Brother – watching our every move, And we let it happen. Ordinary people participate, swept up in the group mentality, while those who shout the loudest vilify and control those on the fringe, or those with differing opinions.

Governments are defunding arts and declare words, such as ‘climate change’, should not be used in official documents and research. Both are known tactics when trying to curb independent thought and control a population.

It’s all there in 1984. It’s been used before, to great (and detrimental) effect… And we all know how that ended.

Or is that being too cynical?

CW: No, not at all! 1984 is one of the all time great books. It is definitely a must read, as you say, if we care at all about our actual liberty and our freedom to think. And again, as you point out, we do indeed know the real life exemplars of 1984 ended.

So tell us, now, about a book that has influenced you as a person.

KC: Okay, this will get a bit deep and meaningful now. If I dig down to my philosophical and emotional core, the New Testament of the Bible had the earliest and lasting effect on me. 

I was brought up a Methodist but taught to question why, and not follow blindly. I believe if we treat others equally - as we expect to be treated - then the world will be a better place. No strings attached. No caveats. No buts. Everyone has a right to live and love. This hope keeps me going, gets me through moments of anxiety.

Bill and Ted (as in Excellent Adventure) got it right: Be excellent to each other.

CW: It is the Golden Rule in practice. You are absolutely right: if we only followed it, our world would be a much better place for everyone.

Okay. You are being exiled to a small island in the Pacific. You can take 3 books with you. What books would you take and why?

KC: Argh, the answer changes whenever I get asked this question; it depends on my mood and where my headspace is in at the time.

Right now?In no particular order:

• Lord of the Rings (the trilogy in one book — even if that is cheating). I find the story full of hope, of undying friendships, loyalty and love, and good triumphing over evil. All these things seem to be of lower priority these days, but it is something most people crave. I need a friend who will keep looking for me and rescue me, or at least do regular book drops. (Or at least will help me hide the bodies… Did I say that out loud?) Plus I have a thing for Aragorn.

• Blue Moon Rising by Simon R Green. This is my ‘comfort book’. I read it first in the 80s. It’s a feel-good, fun adventure, with a spirited female character and an unlikely hero. Its voice is easy to read. It always makes me feel better.

• A never-ending notebook (and pencils). If I couldn’t write while I’m there, I’d go absolutely barmy! (NB: I take it an unending dark chocolate supply is a given, right?)

CW: We’ll make an exception on the dark chocolate, just for you. Now, tell us, please, about a book that’s influenced you as a writer.

KC: I can’t confine myself to one. I’d say it’s a combination of writers – Agatha Christie (many of my stories end up with as mysteries), Conan-Doyle (Sherlock Holmes – for mysteries and that slightly off-kilter Victorian feel), and Gail Carriger (for her voice, which she calls comedy of etiquette. I wish I’d come up with that phrase!)

CW: Of all your books, which one is your favorite and why?

KC: Of the books I’ve written? That would be ‘Doctor Jack’.

I’ve always had a fascination with Jack the Ripper – not the creature himself, but the history and mythology that has been woven around it. Who was he? Will we ever know? Why did the chief of police really scrub away the graffiti on the wall – was it political, was it a cover up? Why didn’t they use some of the latest forensic methods, such as fingerprints (the new technique had been used in France)? Was there a conspiracy? Why weren’t some of the newspaper eye witness accounts used in the coroner’s court? There have been so many theories over the years, yet we are no closer. It is the ultimate true crime who-dunnit. It was a story rife for speculation.

I wrote ‘Doctor Jack’ as an experiment in writing from the villain’s point of view. Every bad guy thinks he’s the hero of their own story. They have their own loves and hates, their own dreams and goals. I wanted to show that , and perhaps have the reader understand his thinking, without necessarily condoning it. I mean, the murders were horrid.

CW: If I hadn’t read any of your books, which one should I start with and why?

KC: Start with Doctor Jack & Other Tales (paperback).

This is the first paperback in the first series I’ve written. You can read each story separately; they are complete in themselves, but there is a background story arc threaded through them, which concludes in The Illusioneer (I’m working on now).

If you read the ebooks, start with the novella, Doctor Jack – my retelling of the Jack the Ripper story. Doctor Jack was my favourite story to write. You can go back and catch up on the first three short stories, which fill in the background. However, Doctor Jack does have a spoiler for the second short story, An Eye for Detail.

CW: Where we can find your books?

KC: You can find shopping details and links on my webpage: www.karenjcarlisle.com/shop  

They are available via various online bookstores in Australia and internationally, including:

Amazon, Smashwords, iBooks, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Booktopia, Fishpond, Angus & Robertson/Bookworld.

You can also buy the paperback direct from me (if you live in Australia).

CW:  Would you give us contact information, such as a url to your website, Amazon page, Facebook page, or wherever else we can find you?

KC: Sure!

Web: www.karenjcarlisle.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kjcarlisle

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenJCarlisle/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/KarenJCarlisle

CW: Thank you so much for visiting with me in the past. I hope things are just fine in your present, which is my future. Goodness. Thanks again, Karen, for visiting. All the best to you.

KC: Thank you for having me on your blog!

CW: And if you head on over to www.karenjcarlisle.com and answer today’s question, Karen will put your name into the hat for a chance to win an ebook of one of Viola Stewart’s adventures. That is a very good deal!

Karen J Carlisle is an imagineer and writer of steampunk, Victorian mysteries and fantasy. She was short-listed in Australian Literature Review’s 2013 Murder/Mystery Short Story Competition and published her first novella, Doctor Jack & Other Tales, in 2015. Her short story, ‘Hunted’, was featured in the Adelaide Fringe exhibition, ‘A Trail of Tales’.

Karen lives in Adelaide with her family and the ghost of her ancient Devon Rex cat.

She’s always loved dark chocolate and rarely refuses a cup of tea.

The Illusioneer & Other Tales

Viola Stewart returns for a third set of adventures

Viola needs a holiday. But, even at the beach, or while partying on the grand tour of Europe… there are things afoot.

Seeing is believing… or is it?

The Illusioneer & Other Tales: The Adventures of Viola Stewart Journal #3 is currently scheduled for release in late October/early November. 

For more information, sign up for Karen’s newsletter: http://karenjcarlisle.com/sign-up-email-list/