WRITER'S BLOCK

June Shaw

What is writer's block? Is it real? What can cure it? Those are today's questions.

In my early days of writing, I was happy to learn of the term writer's block. That was it: my ailment. I'd caught it, and that was why I couldn't think of anything else to write. Gosh, I loved knowing about it and having that terrific, legitimate reason for not having any more words to put on the page.

My excuse was NOT that I hadn't planned a thing for my book except who a couple of people were and what they wanted. Of course why they couldn't get what they wanted didn't take much to solve, so I couldn't go on.

But the fault was writer's block--not mine!

Wow, I discovered I could start lots of stories this way whether I wanted to write a script or short story or novel. Each time I reached a spot where I didn't know what might come next--I could get up and go to the mall! I mean, why not? Writer's block had grabbed me and dug itself right under my skin and wouldn't let me put down another word, so--off to purchase new earrings (which are so easy to shop for since they don't have to fit :) Shopping for earrings is almost like having the ailment that kept me from writing.

Back at home with my new pair of earrings, I needed to find just the right spot to put them. And the outfits they would go with. And then I needed to iron the shirt that would go perfect with them. And since I went through the trouble of getting the ironging board out, I couldn't believe how many other items I owned that needed pressing.

Oh, and then later I'd get back to writing. Of course first I needed to put supper on. And then keep an eye on the pots so nothing would burn.

And back to my story. But goodness, it was time for my favorite TV program and then I needed to shower and get to bed. After all, I had to get up and keep writing my great American novel in the morning..... If that dreaded disease, writer's block, didn't snag me again.

Of course if it did, I had a friend I hadn't gone out to eat with in a few weeks and that extra bedroom closet I'd been meaning to clean out......

Malibu Sunrise And Mr. Slug

By Pat Browning

The first Malibu sunrise of 2010 was captured on film by author Tom Sawyer and e-mailed with this note:


“Let's hope this is a sign...
May the year be at least half this glorious for all of us!”
www.ThomasBSawyer.com


So now we’ve passed the halfway mark and are hard-charging toward fall and end-of-year holidays. Don’t know about you, but my tongue is hanging out. What a year – one disaster after another, and that’s just the weather.


Then along comes author Peter E. Abresch with “Mr. Slug,” one of his weekly Burnt Offerings. Its upbeat message seems to go right along with Tom’s photo. I may print and frame them together and hang them behind my computer to remind me of a year that – isn’t finished. Keep a positive outlook, I remind myself a dozen times a day.

Here’s Peter’s poem.


MR SLUG
On my own/I am a slug in the muck/
happy perhaps/yet certainly limited in view./
But lift your child, Lord/upon Your shoulders/
and I see over trees,/hills, mountains,/
out past the stars/to all the kingdoms/
in your realm,/a foretaste of things to come./
Today I remain/a slug in the muck/
but tomorrow,/in my Father's house/
I shall become/little less than a god.
----------Peter E. Abresch -- June 28, 2010


I reviewed Peter’s first mystery, BLOODY BONSAI (Write Way Publishing 1998), when I worked for The Hanford (California) Sentinel, and we’ve kept in touch.


Among other things, Peter writes the James Dandy Elderhostel mysteries. One of my favorite books of all time is PAINTED LADY (Intrigue Press 2003). His latest, NAME GAMES, he published himself through Amazon’s Create Space.

For me, PAINTED LADY is the pause that refreshes. James P. Dandy, a retired physical therapist, and his ladylove, artist Dodee Swisher, join their Elderhostel group for a tour of the old Santa Fe Trail. History of the Old West is woven throughout. There's a legendary Mayan falcon with diamond eyes, a kidnapping, a hilarious bus-car chase, and an otherworldly shootout at the St. James (aka Ghost Hotel) in Cimarron. There's also a true story about dandelions, which may give you pause the next time you start to dig one out of your lawn.


You can read the first 65 pages free at Google Books:
http://tinyurl.com/37ojndh

As for Peter’s bio, “been there, done that” just about covers it. He’s been a professional dancer, an international geodesist for the U.S. Government and a systems computer programmer with the National Weather Service. At age 75 he started taking banjo lessons and now plays with the folk choir at church. He’s built three sailboats, and with his wife and five young sons he hammered and nailed together the 3400-square foot house they lived in for 20 years. Meanwhile, he just keeps writing and has several web sites with info about his books.


On one of his web sites he says:


“Fiction writing is addictive. You laugh, but once I started building worlds on paper, I could never turn off that seductive siren-call that still whispers to me in the middle of the night. Rejection slips -- and I've had more than my share -- never stilled it.


“Nor did frustration. I remember once during lean times, way back in the days of typewriters, when my 'Q' key got stuck. I kept on writing using the '+' key for a substitute. Then another key got stuck and I substituted a '@' key. Then one day I hit the return bar and the platen didn't advance. I picked up the typewriter and smashed it against the floor. Picked it up and smashed it again. And smashed it again. When I looked up my wide-eyed wife, Annemarie, was staring at me from the doorway. I said I needed a new typewriter. She didn't argue.”


Catch up with Peter at:
http://www.elderhostelmysteries.com/
http://www.easyreadingwriting.com/
http://www.sidewalkbooks.com/

Though we haven’t met, Tom Sawyer has been a part of my life since 2001, back in the dear dead days of the iUniverse chat room. Print on demand (POD) was just coming on the scene and causing conniption fits everywhere. Bookstores wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot-pole because POD books couldn’t be returned. The CEO of Barnes & Noble announced that B&N would have POD kiosks within a year and almost immediately began backpedaling.

Caught in the furor was Thomas B. Sawyer, a veteran writer and TV showrunner who had agreed to be the poster boy for iUniverse because of the promised bookstore connections. His novel was THE SIXTEENTH MAN, one of the best books I ever read. With the assassination of President Kennedy as a hook, Tom wrote parallel stories 30 years apart and brought them together in a heart-stopping ending.


2001 was a time of new beginnings. I had almost finished writing my first mystery and $99 seemed like a reasonable price to get it into print. I haunted the iUniverse chat room because of its knowledgeable guests. On May 15, 2001, the guest was Tom Sawyer who had been through the mill, gathering 22 agent rejections for THE SIXTEENTH MAN. I still have my transcript of his chat room appearance.


About his rejections, he said:


“They ranged from ‘Your book doesn’t work’ … to the capper from a major agent whose name will remain anonymous, who said, ‘I have yet to see a screenwriter who can write a novel, but you do show promise, so if you’re willing to work with me, I’ll teach you to write.’ Fortunately, that’s when I saw the ad for iUniverse.


“I also realize, having gone through this, if I hadn’t been a professional of many years, didn’t have a bullet proof ego, this stuff could destroy you. It makes me feel very sorry for the people who were vulnerable to it. You really have to believe in your work.”

My review of THE SIXTEENTH MAN is still up at Amazon.com. Quoting from it:

“First story, set in 1963: Tracking an errant wife whose husband wants evidence for divorce, a private eye accidentally photographs a small group of men with rifles, one of whom is a dead ringer for Lee Harvey Oswald.

“Second story, set in present time: A dirt bike accident dumps an archaeologist near a rock fissure that leads him to a pile of skulls and bones. Fifteen sets of bones appear to be thousands of years old. The sixteenth skull still has some hair attached, and there are silver fillings in the teeth.

“Sawyer weaves these stories together so smoothly that hair on the back of my neck stands up when the story threads cross. The ending is a knockout. … I think: It's fiction. That didn't happen. But what if? What if?”


Tom’s professional bio is impressive. From his web site:
“Novelist, screenwriter, playwright Thomas B. Sawyer was Head Writer/Showrunner of the classic hit series, Murder, She Wrote, for which he wrote 24 episodes. Tom has written 9 network TV pilots, 100 episodes, and has been Head Writer/Showrunner or Story Editor on 15 network TV series. He wrote, directed and produced the cult film comedy, Alice Goodbody, is co-librettist/lyricist of Jack, an opera about John F. Kennedy that has been performed to acclaim in the US and Europe.


“The best-selling mystery/thriller, The Sixteenth Man, is his first novel. Both his book, Fiction Writing Demystified, and Storybase are Writer's Digest Book Club Selections. He is publisher of Storybase 2.0 writer's software. Tom's latest thriller - and Number One Bestseller: No Place to Run. He's taught writing at UCLA, at other colleges and universities, teaches at numerous major writers conferences, and online at Writers University where he currently teaches STORYTELLING: How to Write Stories That Will Grab and Hold Your Audience. Tom has been nominated for an Edgar and an Emmy.”

NO PLACE TO RUN (Sterling & Ross Publishers 2009) was voted Best Novel of 2009 by the American Book Readers Association. A political conspiracy thriller, it’s the first novel to make the case that the 9/11 hijackers received serious help from high up within the U.S.

FICTION WRITING DEMYSTIFIED (Ashleywilde, Inc. 2003) is one of a half dozen writing books I wouldn’t be without. Tom based it on what he learned as a screenwriter as it relates to writing novels, and what he teaches at conferences. It changed the way I look at dialogue.


You can read the first 34 pages, including the table of contents, free at Google Books:
http://tinyurl.com/322zrg6.
Tom’s web site is http://www.thomasbsawyer.com/.



=======
I haven’t met either Tom or Peter in person but we’ve been virtual friends for years. This is my tip of the hat to two authors whose friendship I cherish and whose work I admire.

Publishing: Anyone Can Play, Part 1

By Pat Browning


This week’s news: Harlequin created a new imprint, Harlequin Horizons, for self-publishing. A spokesman said it was "a way to participate in the fast-growing self-publishing market … ” You can read the full New York Times article at tinyurl.com/yz9f2s3.
***


Meanwhile, back in California … there’s news from Thomas B. Sawyer, one of my favorite writers. His new thriller, NO PLACE TO RUN, was No. 1 on the list of Malibu’s Top Ten Books for the first week of November.

 The new novel is also featured in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine (The Jury Box by Jon L. Breen):

“Thomas B. Sawyer: No Place to Run, Sterling & Ross, $14.95. Claudia Lawrence, twenty-four, is snatched from her happy life, along with her parents and teenage brother, when a secret revealed by a client to her lawyer father Bill lands them all in the witness protection program. The parents are murdered, and the kids go on the run, with government agents as the enemy. However you feel about 9/11 conspiracy theories, this is a model pursuit thriller, with mystery, menace, strong characters, and cross-cutting action managed with a screenwriter's flair. (Murder, She Wrote, of which Sawyer was head writer, was nothing like this.)”
(www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm/jury/)

 Not bad for a guy whose first novel, THE SIXTEENTH MAN, was rejected by 22 agents before Sawyer lost patience and published it through iUniverse.

That was 10 years ago. I read the book on the iUniverse web site and was so enthralled that I ordered the book immediately. I’ve been a Tom Sawyer friend and fan ever since, and I still have that copy. It was POD – print on demand – when it was a whole new and almost universally scorned concept.


iUniverse was barely a year old when Tom published his book. I was part of an online group that – as I recall – was sponsored by iUniverse. The pros and cons of self-publishing were cussed and discussed. The more I heard, the better it sounded: quick turnaround for a book costing $99.


iUniverse also had a live chat room, the Café. On May 15, 2001, the guest was Thomas B. Sawyer, calling in from Malibu. I still have my transcript printout.

In the chat, Sawyer explained how he ended up with iUniverse. On rejections of his manuscript for THE SIXTEENTH MAN: “They ranged from, 'Your book doesn't work,' to 'I didn't love it QUITE enough to sell it, but I'm sure you'll find somebody who does,' to the capper from a major agent whose name will remain annonymous who said, 'I have yet to see a screenwriter who can write a novel, but you do show promise, so if you're willing to work with me, I'll teach you to write.' Fortunately, that's when I saw the ad for iUniverse.”


Sawyer added: “I also realize, having gone through this, if I had not been a professional of many years, didn't have a bullet proof ego, this stuff could destroy you... It makes me feel very sorry for the people who were vulnerable to it. You really have to believe in your work.”


Later that year, the Wall Street Journal published an interview with Sawyer. Excerpts:


***
Wall Street Journal – November 13, 2001
Agents, Editors, Publishers – Who Needs 'Em?
By Matthew Gurewitsch


Thomas B. Sawyer is the author of the thriller "The Sixteenth Man." He is also its publisher, because he was too impatient to wait for a creaky, old-line house to do the job. And because modern technology made it easy for an amateur to navigate the world of typesetting, printing, binding and inefficient bookstores.


Two years in the writing, "The Sixteenth Man" was Mr. Sawyer's first novel after two decades in Hollywood, where as head writer on "Murder, She Wrote" he scripted 24 episodes and plotted some 80 more, collecting a cool $5 million in the process.
…
In the real world, Mr. Sawyer might still be angling for an agent. "I sit on panels at these conventions with novelists whose work I know," he marvels, "novelists with five or six well-reviewed, well-received books in print. And they have day jobs! In Hollywood, they threw money at me, and I thought that's what writing was. But in this country, unless you're one of the six authors who sell 94% of the books, you're in a world of nickels and dimes."
***


That was then. When I e-mailed Tom this week for permission to quote him on his experience with iUniverse, he added these comments:


“When I spotted an advertisement for iUniverse -- then very early in the history of POD -- and visited their website, I immediately saw that it was a new wrinkle in vanity publishing, a path I was unwilling to pursue. So I emailed them with my credits, logline and synopsis, said I wasn't interested in paying them, but that I might be willing to serve as their poster-boy for the professional writer who had chosen to thumb his nose at the system. They responded affirmatively 25 minutes later (call me ‘shallow,’ but I admit to being a pushover for that sort of thing).


“Am I glad I did it that way? Yes and no. The no-part: no bookstore sales. The yes: with the excellent inventive help of my publicist, Milt Kahn, and that of iUniverse, THE SIXTEENTH MAN became one of the all-time bestselling POD books.


“For my new novel, NO PLACE TO RUN, I ‘played the game,’ had an agent, sold it to a conventional house. It took two years to find a publisher, Sterling & Ross (the book is a bit subversive), and another 18 months for it to debut. Am I glad I overcame (‘suppressed’ says it better) my impatience? Yes. I am now ‘legitimate.’”

Tom turns out so much work one might wonder if he’s really twins. His how-to book, FICTION WRITING DEMYSTIFIED, is one of three or four that I would never be without. He teaches writing, both online and in workshops. He and Will Holt wrote the book and lyrics of an opera. That’s not a typo. They wrote an opera – JACK –about the life of John F. Kennedy.


From the synopsis at Sawyer’s web site:“… the almost Shakespearean story of a complex, deeply conflicted yet loving relationship – between an obsessed, profoundly driven father, and his near-textbook second son – and how that young man, in overcoming those and other challenges, would ultimately provoke his own assassination.”


I have a 14-minute video of highlights from the 1995 production of JACK at the University of Oklahoma. It’s dazzling to watch and very moving. A detailed synopsis can be read at the web site: http://www.thomasbsawyer.com/.

Sunday, Part 2. Honest questions and honest answers about self-publishing from Debbi Mack and Richard Hicks.


Debbi Mack is the owner of Mack Research and Writing, providing corporate communications, web content, and white papers. She has just republished her first mystery, IDENTITY CRISIS, to good reviews.


Richard Hicks is a former trial attorney who has published several books with Xlibris. His latest novel, MURDER BY THE NUMBERS, is an Enneagram mystery.