I was at a writers’ group meeting a few months ago.  During said meeting, one of the members broke out her laptop.  She showed me some pretty interesting posts from her fan page.  While we were Facebook friends, I was embarrassed to say that I had never I hadn't checked her page out before.
     It's not that I’m not a snob or anything.  Quite the reverse.  If there’s any page with interesting posts, I wanna see it.  But there's just so much out there and so little time to see it all.  I “dumpster dive” through hundreds of FB posts every week (most of them from strangers).  Having liked thousands of pages, my friends' posts don't always come up every week.

     Well, in my friend's case, I ended up “stealing” a few posts to share later on.  Is there a point here?  Maybe.  Imagine you run a page and have a group of folks who loyally follow your posts.  People who actually support what it is you're doing.  Well, maybe you should hit their pages and peek around once in a while.
     Anyone who follows your page might have similar tastes and even a useful posting or three.

     Also, it’s a subtle show of . . . I dunno.  Respect?  Gratitude?
     Eh, it’s a thought.

A TIP FOR WRITING ABOUT GUNS

            I had a gun phase when I was a little boy.  That’s odd, because – to this day – I’ve never fired one.  But back in the 80’s, during all of those macho-action movies, I was fascinated by the massive assortment of guns out there.  In time, the phase came and went.

            Now, I’m only interested in guns when I’m writing.  Sometimes, I need to think up something exotic for whatever chapter or short story I’m working on.  As it turned out, movies are still a useful resource.

            For example, I never laid eyes on a man-portable minigun until Predator.  A .50 Barrett sniper rifle?  Hmm.  Probably Navy Seals for that bad boy.  Get where I’m going with this?  If you happen to like action movies, you can remember which guns caught your eye.  Then, if your writing involves bullets and mayhem, you can simply hit Google with a question like: “What kind of guns did they use in Transporter 2?”

            And damn it, if you won’t get flooded with sites like this one:       

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Transporter_2

            You don’t have to become a gun nut.  But it wouldn’t hurt to build a list of guns and what makes them stand out.  For example, say you’ve gotta pick a gun for this hulking Russian mobster in Chapter 8 of your fledgling masterpiece.  Yeah, you could give him an AK-47 . . . but it’s too generic.  A Desert Eagle’s too Boondock Saints.  Perhaps you can find something in Transporter 2 that this fictional character might want.  Like a Heckler & Kock G36C, with laser sights and see-through clip (among other features).

            Just a thought.
            Just a thought.

 

My thoughts on autographs

I'm not a fan of autographs.  But once in a while, I run into a fan who makes the experience worthwhile.  I loaned out a copy of Unheroic to a fellow student, with the option to buy it if he liked it.  A few weeks later, I ran into him on a CVS parking lot.  He liked the book and wanted to buy a copy.  He had the book (and cash) in hand.

But, he had a regular pen (mercy!).  This is why I always carry a felt-tip pen.  In my experience, they're far superior to mere ink and make folks think you're a professional writer.  Then I get to the part of the autograph I don't like: actually writing them!  See, I have three pitfalls when signing autographs:

1. Remembering the person's name.
2. Knowing what to say.
3. My shitty handwriting will embarrass me to my dying day.

On this day, everything worked out.  I actually remembered his name.  And since he wanted an atypical autograph, I gave him a weird one.  Since I hardly ever write by hand anymore, I was pleased that (this time) the handwriting came out all right.  I put my name down and the date (so he'd have bragging rights someday).

Then I gave him a business card with all three of my book covers lined in the back.  He could either buy 'em on Amazon or come to me for a discounted, autographed copy.

Did I plan any of this?  Nope.

But Fortune favors the prepared.

Plot Idea: What if you were dead and didn't know it?

Wouldn't it be weird if your body sort of died - but kept on going?  Your heart stopped beating and your lungs stopped working . . . about a month ago.

But you look the same and feel just fine.  No rigor mortis, pallor, post-mortem stench.  You eat, drink, and hit the bathroom like normal.  And no, you don't crave human flesh.

You only find out you're dead when you go in for your physical.  At first, you scoff as your breaks the news and shows you to instrument readouts. 

Then you justifiably freak out.

But then what?  How is this possible?  And most importantly . . . what are you?

Take the plot idea (with my blessing).  Run with it, if you wish.  If you ever turn it into a story/film/best-selling series, lemme know.  I'd like to see how it ends.



 

Copyright your stuff!

I know.  This seems obvious.

But you shouldn't wait on filling out copyrights on anything (of significance) that you write.  The link to the Library of Congress's copyright website is below:

https://eco.copyright.gov/eService_enu/start.swe?SWECmd=Start&SWEHo=eco.copyright.gov

Last I checked, standard copyright protection's still only a $35.00 hit to your credit card.  Pay attention to the instructions (different media have different sub-types of copyrights). 

And voila!  Some 3 - 7 months later, you'll get a copyright form from the U.S. government.  It's a good feeling to stack 'em up over the years.

This second link should help with any questions you might have: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/

Easy-peazy.

Writer Links

Hope they're of use.


Three Ways Marketing Fiction Differs from Marketing Nonfiction
http://goinswriter.com/fiction-marketing/

Poets Make Words (Contests-Fun-Friends-Prizes)
http://poetsmakewords.com/?page_id=149

Book Marketing 101 From An Author’s POV

http://us5.campaign-archive2.com/?u=ee67504962a9b77099dcde650&id=a7205c9c07

How To Write Great Dialogue
http://writerswrite.co.za/writing-great-dialogue

The 5-Step Mission Statement (An Author Essential)
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2013/08/03/mission-statement/

Get Reviews for Your Self-Published Book
http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/08/get-reviews-for-your-self-published-book/

19 Book Cover Cliches
http://www.buzzfeed.com/lukelewis/19-book-cover-clichés

Writing Realistic Injuries
http://www.users.totalise.co.uk/~leiafee/ramblings/realistic_injuries.htm#intro

Should Fiction Authors Be Bloggers?
http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/12/should-fiction-authors-be-bloggers/

How Procrastination Cost Me 72,800 Email Subscribers
http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/08/08/how-procrastination-cost-me-72800-email-subscribers/

The value of a decent threat

If there's going to be violence in your tale (whatever the genre), please consider if, when, and how to use threats.  It's common for one character to threaten another before an act of violence.  But sometimes, it's better to make an example of someone . . . then threaten the survivors. 

Either way, it can greatly help your story if you make something special. 

Unique. 

I would even suggest enclosing your threat in a sugar coating.  Making threats short and memorable (like Clint Eastwood's "Go ahead.  Make my day.") might not cut it.

I hope this advice was useful.

The link below is from Kill Bill.  It inspired me to write this post.  Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3TPmiAnkAs

Staying out of a hermetic "writer's bubble" is a real b*tch.  I want to just sit on my couch and type out page-after-page of the twisted prose.  But if I did that, no one'll ever read/hear my stuff.  Keeping that sad possibility in perspective forces my introverted self to ineract with the outside world . . . most of the time.