Great Weekend

I didn't realize how much I missed camping. Hate getting ready, so tend to drag my feet and not go. So glad we went this weekend. Beautiful scenery. Interesting characters, yes, I took notes and even worked on and finished chapters 9 and 10 of Second Chances.

Spent most of today getting things straightened out from the weekend and planning the week's purchases. Also listening to Second Chances from chapter 1 to 10. Listening for any inconsistencies. So far only a few errors to fix.

Until tomorrow, happy writing, revising and submitting. And don't forget to read every now and then. It clears the brain and adds new dimensions to your writing.

Don't be a Traffic Statistic

Otherwise know as Assignment 4 is on its way to Connecticut.

I forgot my stick, so I can't work on Second Chances. So I prepared Ten Little Gator Eggs to present to the Children's Gallery and Arts Center. It's now ready for them with a back up copy. (always good to have a backup plan)

I think I'll spend the rest of the evening being lazy. Gotta do that now and then.

As I'm working with one of my picture books, thought you'd like some interesting information. Here are a couple of interesting articles that talk about picture books.

The Artistry of 'Children's Picturebooks' Revealed

and a really cool interview with Mo Willems and his new book

A Rival for Pigeon in Willems' New 'Duckling'

Another thing I read today that was extremely interesting and encouraging is an article by Writer's Digest:

23 Timeless Quotes for Writers

Some of them are really uplifting and encouraging. Here's one of my favorites:

“You can’t write a novel all at once, any more than you can swallow a whale in one gulp. You do have to break it up into smaller chunks. But those smaller chunks aren’t good old familiar short stories. Novels aren’t built out of short stories. They are built out of scenes.”
—Orson Scott Card, September 1980

I have definitely found this to be true as I've worked on Second Chances scene by scene.

Happy writing, revising, submitting or just relaxing

 "One thing that helps to give myself permission to write badly. I tell myself that I'm going to do my five or 10 pages no matter what, and that I can always tear them up the following morning if I want. I'll have lost nothing---writing and tearing up five pages would leave me no further behind than if I took the day off."
---Lawrence Block, June 1981 [sic]

Assignment 4

Sunday was a beautiful day. We put up my sisters pop-up camper, aired it out and got it ready for our weekend in Dade City. I was too tired to do anything else. Actually went to bed early.

Today has been a very busy day. I'm loving it. I did get my final look through of Assignment 4. Printed it out and it's in an envelope ready for me to drop off at the post office tomorrow morning. It'll we winging it's way to CT soon. Now on to Assignment 5.

I hope to figure out how to write creative non-fiction. I had hoped Assignment 4 would be that way, but it seemed to come out quite technical. Going to try again with Assignment 5 as I discuss the life and times of Hurricane Alex, 2011.

Stuck? A couple of summers ago a writing prompt suggested writing something every day. It didn't matter what you wrote. Even if you wrote 'something' a million times. It was during the month of July and I faithfully wrote something every single day. So far, I've managed to take four stories from that writing prompt and I'm not done. Try it. Maybe your next bestseller will come from writing stuff.

Happy writing, revising and submitting.

Assignment 4 and some important things to watch for

I turned Assignment 4 over for editing. It came back in need of some changes. Always amazing when I turn in, what I think is my best, and find out my best comes after the editor. Thank you Mick.

I've been to many websites and this is truly a common problem for 'do it yourselfers' Check this out and then check out your webpage to ensure there aren't any of these common mistakes:

Common webpage errors

Talked to Children's Gallery & Arts Center about illustrating my picture book Ten Little Gator Eggs I love the fresh, innocent art style of children. Looks like this book is finally on its way toward publication. Watch here for updates and check them out Children's Gallery & Arts Center

Happy writing, revising and submitting.

Mark A. Cooper, Author

Mark A. Cooper, author, is an interesting person. Born and raised at Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, London, UK, he wowed his followers with his British accent. He moved his family to the United States because it has a lot to offer and he loves Florida weather. Sarasota hit their hearts and they settled there in 2003.

He owns an antique business that deals mostly in coins and watches. He developed his love for the antiquities as a child in his families used bookstore. He grew up reading and handling the musty books.

He's a member of a large author support group, in Sarasota, that meets once a month.

He self published through Infinity Publishing the following:

A Movement in Time with Rolex and Breitling, 2007, Moving into the

United States & Immigration, 2008 and Fledgling a Jason Steed Novel, 2008. 

Mark chose the self publishing route because he didn't feel adequate as an author. He still doesn't. Fledgling was written for his son and he didn't really think there'd be very much interest. He feels a lot of luck surrounded Fledgling.

It came out about the time the Alex Rider series ended. It seemed a logical cross over. He didn't bother to stop the rumors that Anthony Horowitz was writing under a pen name. Fledgling was also picked up 

by Prince William, who enjoyed the read. Take a look at his website. There's a picture of Prince William reading it. (www.markacooper.com) He also feels the book was timely with the first book in the Hunger Games series.

Four months after Fledgling was published, he was contacted by an agent who sold it to SourceBooks as a trilogy. They required him to get a facebook page and website. He also had to cut 25,000 words. 

The second book in the series: Revenge, was published by SourceBooks March 2012. The third book, Fuhrebunker Survival, is due out late 2013.

He is also working on Edelweiss Pilots. SourceBooks and his agent are excited about this one as well. All his books are written from life experiences or insights he's gained from his observances.

He doesn't have a work schedule. When his shop is slow, he writes. He also writes late into the night as his wife watches TV. He hand writes first, draws pictures of his characters and pastes them on the wall so he can remember their little nuances. He has notes on lots of pieces of paper that he leafs through as the story progresses. A little disorganized, but the system works for him at this time. Only time it's difficult is when he travels.

As for movies, he's had a couple of tugs, but nothing solid. His first tug was from the same company that filmed Harry Potter. His agent wants him to write the script. He feels inadequate and is dragging.I really enjoyed visiting with Mr. Cooper. He's a down to earth kind of guy and his  accent provided me with my daily recommend allowance of the British accent.

Meet as many authors as you can. You never know what you'll learn and what friendships may form.

Happy Author Hunting.

Another catch up day

Revised Assignment 4. I believe it ready for polishing and sending off.

I wrote a couple of reviews for the LongRidgeWritersGroup Newsletter. One to finish the FictionBrigade Publishers submission experience and the other for Mark A. Cooper, author. I met him last evening and really enjoyed our talk.

Have tried a couple of times to work on Second Chances, but that doesn't look possible for today. Perhaps tomorrow.

Happy writing, revising and submitting.

Yesterday, April 17th

Twelve years ago, a litter of Great Danes was born into this world on Mother's Day. That August, we drove to Boca Raton, a 3 1/2 hour drive one way and picked up Sally and Toby. They were already too big to be lap dogs. Two years ago, the Tuesday before her 10th birthday, Sally succumbed to cancer. Yesterday, April 17th, Toby lost his life to old age. And now our house is empty.

Says it all. Struggling to get back into the routine. 

Happy writing, revising and submitting. And if your're struggling right along with me, we'll get there.