A colleague at Pacific Northwest Writers (PNWA), Bill Kenower, is the editor of Author Magazine. Bill’s editorial focus is on the author experience, especially for novelists. He is a great speaker and I’ve been to several of his seminars and workshops. Being a fiction writer — an aspiring novelist — is one thing, but being a published Author is different.The writer phase is private. You sit in a room, do research, commune with your imaginary friends, and work to craft compelling tales.It got to where I’d not mention my novels. I wanted to avoid that horrible question, “What have you published?” It’s embarrassing to say, “Nothing.” We all go through that. The Harry Potter lady, now a billionaire whose books sold millions of copies, took over a decade to get published. Sure, the Harry Potter franchise has, at this writing, grossed some $25 Billion dollars. But that was later. The unpublished novelist, except at writer’s conferences and conclaves, is deemed by some to be a social misfit, a dilettante, a hobbyist. It’s a long lonely road and many don’t make it. I would have given up myself, except for encouragement from family and colleagues, including some famous authors like Tony Hillerman, whose “blurb” graces the cover of my most recent novel, Soft Target. But eventually, if you persist and are fortunate, a metamorphosis occurs. One day, poof, you are published, winning awards, getting 5-star reviews, and your world changes. It turns by increments from dim and grey, to one of rich colors. You have become an Author. That’s basically what Bill says. He’s right. We, my wife and I, now split our time between alternate universes, Oregon and Arizona. America is a land of contrasts, and these two states are opposites in most things: climate, vegetation, politics, the economy, etc. This contrast helps my novels, but part of being a successful novelist is that it is business, one with myriad bureaucracies and details all demanding attention. Even the best novelists are in peril if they don’t attend to the business part of writing. Richard Bach learned that to his sorrow when the IRS pounced on him after Johnathan Livingston Seagull had brought him international recognition. His lesser known book, The Bridge Across Forever, is a cautionary tale about that ordeal, and one I suggest authors should read. Last Christmas, as confused snowbirds, we found ourselves heading north for a confluence of reasons both exceptional and mundane – from Christmas and a new grandson, to a book signing, meetings with lawyers and accountants, the mandatory annual inspection of our airplane, etc. Tedious details dragged on. I was impatient to return to Arizona by New Year’s. I wanted to get back to my craft and my next book, but an e-Mail came in. A first rate bookstore I’d been courting for years was doing a first for them, a local author event, and I was invited.
Weather. That’s what. As the date approached, the forecast was for major winter storms, heavy snow with the mountain passes closed. The trip became an adventure, but we got there. We made it in on instruments just ahead of a major storm, with another one hard on its heels. Resort employees were kind enough to tuck our airplane into a hanger where it was safe. It was the last airplane they could fit inside.
It was starting to remind me of Stephen King’s The Shining. The novel where the snowbound author goes insane, except the Sunriver lodge had a LOT of food stocked, an excellent restaurant, and nothing crazy or sinister was afoot. They assured me their equipment could get us to the bookstore regardless. My wife said I was, “Still normal,” but then looked dubious and added, “Hopefully.”
By morning the storm was abating, but everything was shut down. Fortunately, we had food, a kitchen, and I’d picked up a copy of Craig Johnson’s book Steamboat at the signing. Snowed in, but with the power back and the room warm, I read by the fire. It was about a desperate rescue flight in an old B-25 Bomber through a horrific winter storm. How fitting.
It was a great signing and a trip to remember. The life of a published Thriller Author starts with being a writer. The books you write, the tales you craft, are always the main thing. Still, once you are published and your books are loose in the wild, it goes beyond that. The Author Experience is about more than the words you put on the page. It becomes richer and more unpredictable when the world becomes engaged with your novels. My advice to new authors? Hang on, and enjoy the ride. |
-
Recent Posts
- The End of the American Republic: 1776-2020
- Understanding the Great Reset
- Trump Wins, Triggering the Left’s Planned Coup
- IS GASLIGHTING (fake news) making America CRAZY?
- Destroying America: The Physics of Political Destruction
- Trump at Mount Rushmore — His Finest Moment?
- Bio-war, Pandemic, Shutdown, and a suppressed cure. Next comes riots.
- Fear is the mind killer. It kills freedom.
Recent Comments
- chuck Moody on Understanding the Great Reset
- SilverCat Kulwant on Subscribe Page (Opt-in)
Archives
- January 2021
- November 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- March 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- November 2018
- October 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- April 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- August 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- January 2017
- August 2016
- June 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- October 2015
- September 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
Key Topics (Categories)
Meta