David Fingerman

A one time good friend with whom I had lost contact years ago recently found me on Facebook.  Ain’t Facebook amazing that way?  We were chatting last night, I think it’s called IMing, and she brought up that one can buy Minnesota Viking M&Ms.  She sent me the web site and sure enough ~ for only $9.99 a bag (minimum of three bag purchase) you can get any NFL team you want.  Okay, the price is obscene (Zygi, if I’m going to have to help pay for a new stadium, the least you can do is buy me a few bags of Viking M&Ms) but what a great way to advertise, say, maybe a book.  Sure, grab a handful of “Silent Kill” M&Ms.  Yummy.  Better yet, with an evil smirk, give some to a friend ~ or not.

Speaking of “Silent Kill” ~ things are moving right along.  It’s been out for about a month now and is available locally (or will be available very soon) at Common Good Books, Magers & Quinn, Uncle Edgar’s, True Colors, and Once Upon a Crime.  Of course you can always get it online at Amazon or B&N.  It’s also available as an ebook through Amazon (Kindle) and Fictionwise.com.  Okay, I’m done pluggin’  the book ~ sort of.  Beginning September 9th, I’ll be kicking off my Virtual Book Tour.  Check my website for dates and places (just click on the “All New Virtual Tour Schedule” – it’s in bright red (or is it orange – hard to tell with these old eyes), either way you can’t miss it).  Stop by often and leave comments.  Not only will I be giving away copies of “Silent Kill,” but there will also be Amazon Gift Card prizes given away as well.

And finally, I just want to thank everyone who stopped by for my book release party last week.  Thanks to you all it was a great success.  I love each and every one of ya.

Eons ago when I was a wee nip of a lad,  I remember saving breakfast cereal boxtops until I had enough to send away for something cool.  Poor memory doesn’t allow me to remember what those cool toys were, but I do remember waiting patiently each day (at least the first week, waiting quite impatiently the next 4 to 6 weeks) for the mailman to drop off a small package with my name on it.  Those memories came flooding back a few weeks ago when my publisher, L&L Dreamspell, emailed me what the cover to “Silent Kill” would look like.  The first thing that hit me was what a great cover.  The second was my understanding that the cover would be the last step before the book being sent off to the printer.  That meant the book would soon be released.  I ordered some extra copies to send out for reviews, etc.,  and the wait began.  The first week passed by with no trauma.  I wasn’t really expecting anything.  In the back of my mind there was a faint glimmer of hope that maybe by Friday or Saturday ~ but no.  By Wednesday of the next week I kept thinking any day now.  When just the typical mail showed up on Saturday I could feel the little kid in me getting a bit flustered.  As the next week wore on it was a chore not to sit out on the front step and wait for the postal carrier. (A lot has changed since I was young – they’re called postal carriers now.  One other thing has changed since I was a kid waiting for the mailman.  Back then one could pretty much count on the mail arriving at the same time everyday.  Today it seems as though I have a different carrier each day.  I can get my mail as early as 9am or as late as 6:30pm.  It varies day-to-day which could make sitting on the front step an exercise in futility – and a very sore butt.)  By thursday the stress was getting to me.  I dreamt that night that my books arrived but the print was so small, the entire book was no bigger than a pamphlet – complete with staple in the middle.  I thought that was a sign.  I was going to get my books on Friday.  Nope.  Saturday morning I slept until 9:30.  Not ten minutes after getting up, the doorbell rang.  I peeked out the window and saw the postal carrier walking back to his truck.  My heart raced faster than my feet as I dashed to the front door.  There, next to the welcome mat (well, mat anyway.  I admit I’m not the most social of creatures) were boxes of my book.  And nope – they ain’t pamphlet size.  I gotta say ~ it’s a damn handsome book.  Buy one and see for yourself (hey, if I’m not going to pimp myself ~ who will?).

Last Friday night I went to my high school reunion.  For those of you who know me, you know how many years it’s been since I graduated.  For those who don’t, I ain’t gonna go there, but with a little digging it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out.  But I digress.   A couple of things I found interesting.  One ~ the class I graduated with was never known (at least in my eyes) for its school spirit.  That might explain why Southwest (my h.s.) teamed up with what was then our arch rival, Washburn (all animosity has faded over the years ~ everyone seemed to get along quite nicely).  I’m guessing Washburn had the same school spirit problem as Southwest.  Together it made for an okay turnout. Okay, there’s also the more probable reason that many students from Southwest and Washburn shared the same junior high, but I like my lack of interest scenario better.

With the exception of a couple of friends, most of the old clique I hung out with were no-shows.  The ones I’m still in contact with either live out of town and had no desire to travel back, or their school experience was so awful they’d have nothing to do with setting foot at a reunion.  I can understand both.  The other thing that I noticed was that when I told people I was a writer, they seemed to be generally impressed ~ even more-so when I (ahem) casually mentioned that I had a novel coming out very soon.  Earlier in the week I had business cards printed up with the cover of the book on the front and my email address on the back.  Of course I shamelessly started passing those around.  I’m guessing most will probably end up in wastebaskets, but a couple of people might be genuinely interested ~ and doesn’t that make it all worth it?  Hey, if ya can’t pimp yourself in front of old classmates, how are ya gonna do it in front of strangers?   And what’s the worst that’s going to happen?  ”Oh yeah, now I remember Fingerman.  He’s still a jerk.”

L & L Dreamspell has just released two of their anthologies, Ghostly Dreamspell and Vampire Dreamspell, and guess what? I’ve got a story in each. : D

Speaking of L & L, I’m still patiently waiting to hear about a release date for Silent Kill. I do feel that it’s getting close ~ very close. And more exciting news! Playing the Hand She’s Dealt, the sequel to Silent Kill has been accepted for publication. I’m expecting a 2011 release date.

I just finished taking an online course taught by Margie Lawson. It was called Deep Editing. A very good online friend told me about this class and highly recommended it for me (she had taken a class from the instructor before).    When I checked out the site I found it was exactly what I needed – very intensive and megawork (my word, not theirs).  I’m a so-so editor at best (at least on my own stuff).  The only thing that concerned me was time.  There were a number of lectures scheduled throughout the month of May.  There was also the Rochester Writers’ Festival (see below) and my Virtual Book Tour (which still feels a bit odd in that the book I’m mostly plugging isn’t even out yet).  Then there’s also the nonwriting type stuff like life in general.  Well, I signed up.  The lectures (there were nine of ‘em) were around forty pages.  Plus assignments.  What had I gotten myself into?  After taking a number of deep breaths i told myself I can do this.  Now, I don’t consider myself a genius by any means.  I usually consider myself above average.  I’ve been writing for a number of years, took some classes, read some books, figured I knew a little something about the subject.  Nyah uh.  By page ten I realized how little I actually know about the subject of writing.  I admit being overwhelmed, but all the stuff that I’m learning (yup, it’s still sinking in), it’s well worth it. I actually think I learned more in one month than I did four years at the U.  Any writers who are reading this and want to improve their craft, check out WritersU in Yahoo Groups.  If the classes are anywhere near as informative as Deep Editing, the price ($30) is well worth it.

May 15th was the Rochester Writers’ Festival. I led the workshop Tapping into the Subconscious. I had a great time but I’m not sure I can say the same for the folks who signed up.  When I was told workshop, the key word for me was work. I planned a number of writing exercises and I don’t think some of the attendees were too thrilled. I led one of the first sessions of the day and one of the last. By the end of the day, I think people were tired and just wanted to go home. I still kept them working. On the down side, a couple of people walked out. On the plus, many more thanked me afterward, and other than complaining of writer’s cramp, said they learned a lot. I would really like to see some of the surveys. I hope they ask me back next year – at least I had a good time.

Now that the conference is over, the class is over, and the tour is starting to wind down, it’s time to get back to novel writing again. The question is do I go back to the horror novel I’ve been working on, or the suspense/thriller I just started? Hmmmm.

Now you’re pretty much caught up with me. So until next time – keep writing.

A few months ago I joined a writers website called Authors Supporting Authors. For any writers out there, I highly recommend this site. One of the many benefits was that the sitemaster, Brandi Drury, set up Virtual Book Tours for those interested. I, along with a number of other authors, took advantage of her generous offer. I’m in the middle of my tour now. And speaking of generous, one of the authors who has been donating her blog space is Louise Wise.

Louise’s book is titled “Eden.” A tale of romance and survival as three people travel from 2236 to the beginning of time. Jennifer Daykin joins the three-man crew to explore the newly discovered planet, Eden. (taken from Louise’s blog site)

Louise, please tell us a little bit about yourself.

I’m married, with four children, I live in England. I am a pharmacist assistant by day, and a writer by night. I was educated in an ordinary state school and left without achieving much in the way of qualifications; you could say I was the result of a crap school. Hungry for knowledge I enrolled in an Adult Education centre and studied English, maths and creative writing. Whereas other young girls asked for makeup and clothes for their birthdays, I asked for encyclopaedias!

When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

I always wanted to be a writer. I used to “make” books when I was younger writing about ponies and kittens and tried to sell them for a penny each.

I’m guessing you were successful. What were your inspirations for “Eden”?

I wanted to write about a man like James Bond or Indiana Jones. A man that all women dream about but don’t like to admit to… tall, sexy needn’t-be-handsome, but tough; strong. Being a guy I doubt you understand but any women reading this, can you back me up? So, in short, my inspiration was the hero in the story, I wrote Eden around him.

I know a few women who wouldn’t mind admitting it. Tell us, what are you working on now?

I had just finished a novel called A Proper Charlie and sent it to Cornerstones http://www.cornerstones.co.uk/, which is a literacy consultancy. While I was waiting for feedback from them I got stuck into my third novel and I’m writing in the first person for the first time – not as easy as it looks! But not A Proper Charlie has come back and I’m re-editing that (they liked it though, so pleased!).

Best of luck on that and all of your writing endeavors. You can visit Louise at http://louisewise.blogspot.com/

Hey folks. Please check out my first Virtual Book Tour interview at Margaret West’s blog.  Leave a comment and you might win a copy of “edging past reality.”

A couple of weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to stumble across a new website called Authors Supporting Authors.  The title is pretty self explanatory ~ authors meet and share experiences, offer tips, etc.  You get the gist.  What makes this site extra special is web master, Brandi Drury.  I believe this website started around the middle of March (the Ides of March maybe?), and it has already grown to 70 members.  Considering the vast multitude of writer websites already out there, this is a pretty good feat.  But Brandi took it a step further.  Free of charge, she put together a virtual book tour to all members  interested.  For those unfamiliar, a book tour is where an author is a guest at different blog sites to plug their book(s) either by inteview or guest blogging.  There’s more to it than that, but in a nutshell, that’s what it is ~ a great way to get your name and your books out to the internet public.  I can only imagine the work involved planning one of these.  I don’t know how many authors Brandi organized, but I’m guessing it’s well over twenty.  That also means finding a number of host bloggers willing to share their site, and then coordinating. Yikes!  I get a headache just thinking about it.  But from April 21 to June 25, I’ll be visiting 17 different sites.  Just click on Virtual Tour Schedule under Pages on my website to find out where.  I hope you can make it to some, if not all – but especially on blogtalk radio on June 7.  Call in, say hi, and ask questions.  Anyway, Brandi, from myself, and I’m guessing from every author you set up to go on tour, a very heartfelt and huge THANK YOU!

And while I’m doling out thank-yous – Thank you to H.L. Montgomery for all the help on getting “Edging Past Reality” on Smashwords.  That means that EPR is now also available as an Ebook.

This month I am moderating the Minneapolis Writers’ Workshop meetings.  The past few weeks we have had  tremendous turnouts.  After a couple weeks of me in the front chair, I’m guessing attendance will be down dramatically.  But for those interested, this Wednesday is open read.  Even if you’re not a member, feel free to bring a few pages of your work and get an excellent critique.

May 15 is quickly approaching.  For anyone interested, there’s still time to enroll in the Rochester (MN) Writers’ Festival.  And if you do, sign up for my workshop “Tapping into the Subconscious.”  It runs from 8:30 to 10am, but if that’s too early for you, I’ll be repeating it at 2:15 in  the pm.

That’s pretty much it for me.  Until next time ~ keep writing.

This week had been a busy one. A lot of things needed to get done, and more things I wanted to get done, or at least get started. One of my problems was I didn’t make a priority list. My mind was a jumpin’ from one thing to another. For a while I wasn’t getting anything done. I finally sat down and just started doing. For the past couple of weeks I had an idea rattling around in my head for a new novel. More immediately I had an existing manuscript to edit, a workshop to prepare for, a couple of wrter friends sent me their short stories to critique (they asked first), another novel that I started months ago and set on the back burner, and of course ~ this blog. Like a little child who sees a new toy, I had to start my new novel ~ NOW! I’m happy to report that the first chapter is now on my hard drive. Was that the wisest choice to make? Nope. At least as far as priorities go. I needed to get the editing done and I certainly need to get something solid down for the workshop. But like that little kid, I just couldn’t wait. Fortunately for me, other than the workshop, the only deadlines set are the ones I made for myself. I should have started with the workshop plan. I’ve got a few ideas to play with, but it isn’t until May, so why rush? Well, because I want to do a good job. I’m probably going to get name recognition and I’d much prefer it on the more positive end. People are going to be paying good money for the conference, and signing up for my workshop to learn something. But c’mon, planning a workshop isn’t nearly as fun as getting that first chapter of a new novel typed out~ or editing ~ or critiquing for that matter.

Next, I started editing my manuscript. After a number of hours, and my brain becoming quite mushed, I took a break from that and looked at my friends’ short stories. Both are quite good but I was in no position to give them an adequate critique. But they were a pleasant distraction. Then back to editing. I’m happy to report that “Playing the Hand She’s Dealt” the sequel to “Silent Kill” is on its final stages of completion and will be ready to submit very shortly. Speaking of “Silent Kill” ~ I believe that once the cover art is completed, it will be shipped to the printer and then ready to hit the streets. Just be patient a little while longer (I think I’m speaking more to myself on that one). I re-read the short stories and while formulating critiques, I took another diversion to write this blog. When I’m done writing this, it’s time to critique. Then, and only then, will I start working again on the workshop presentation. Oh, wait a minute ~ I still haven’t started taxes.

I guess this is a blog of do as I say not as I do. When you’ve got a list, do what I don’t – prioritze! And even more importantly – just do it! (Where have I heard that before?)

By the way – a very special thank you to Susan Whitfield, who featured me Friday on her blog. Check it out. Go to: Susan’s blog.

On February 27, the Bloomington Art Center held its annual book fair. This is the second time that I had a table there. Last year I had a great day; met a lot of fine folk, made some contacts, etc. I pretty much did everything I had set out to do ~ except sell my book. My grand total sales of last year = one book. This year, damn it, I was going to double that. One minor disappontment I had going into it this year ~ I was hoping that my new novel “Silent Kill” would be out. Even though I was originally told it won’t be out until the second quarter of 2010, well, I was still hoping. Okay, it wasn’t. I’m happy to say that I got over it pretty quickly. One thing I did notice different from last year was my location. Last year I was in the middle of a line in a hallway off of the main room. This year I had a table in the main area by one of the exits. It turned out I couldn’t have been placed in a better spot. I got to greet people as they came in and give it one last shot as they left. Another big difference this time around was I had experience. Last year I sat behind my table with a forced smile and nodded at people as they passed, waiting for them to strike conversation. Looking back – that is not a good way to try and sell books (or anything else for that matter). I admit that it’s still an effort, but I am starting to crawl out of my shell – and it made a difference. I’m not saying that I sold a ton of books, but for an unknown author mixed in with about one hundred or so (give or take a few) other unknown authors, and a few popular ones, i was quite pleased with myself. Let’s just say I far surpassed my goal of selling twice as many as last year.

Holy Moly ~ has it been August since I wrote my last entry? My, how time flies. What have I been up to you might have asked. Well, whether you did or didn’t this is my blog and I’m going to write about it. At least as it pertains to my writing.

My novel “Silent Kill” is slowly moving along. The final layout has been completed and I’m hoping to hear from the artist about the bookcover any day now. Once that’s done it’s off to the printer. Unfortunately, the book is obviously not going to be out by the Bloomington Book Fair, which is the day after tomorrow. Still, if you’re not doing anything this Saturday, stop on by and say hello (click on ‘events’ for the address). I’ll still be selling copies of “Edging Past Reality” and would love to shoot the breeze with anyone in the mood. Anyway, I’m hoping that “Silent Kill” will be out no later than the end of April. No guarantees, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed. “Spyder,” also accepted for publication by L & L Dreamspell, is still waiting in the wings. Again, no guarantees, but I’m hoping for a late summer or early fall release. Still no definte word on the anthologies, but I’m expecting a couple of them to be published soon.

In other writing news, many of you knew it was my goal to finish the first draft of “Playing the Hand She’s Dealt” (the sequel to “Silent Kill”) by the end of 2009. I’m happy to report that the first draft was completed on December 31, with just over four hours to spare. I’ve been working diligently on editing and it will soon be ready to shop around. L & L ~ are you reading this?

Mark your calendars for May 15. That’s the Rochester (MN) Writers’ Festival. This year I’ll be leading a 90 minute workshop called ‘Tapping into the Subconscious.’ For those of you who like to sleep in, I’ll be doing it twice ~ once in the morning and once in the afternoon. It’s quite a switch from last year where a number of us gave 30 minute talks. Attendees many times had to choose between two topics that were being held at the same time. This year they not only switched to the workshop format, but by presenting it twice, more people will be able to attend all the workshops they want.

For those of you who don’t already know, and even for those that do, I’ve been writing book reviews for www.minnesotareads.com. If you’re looking for a good book, check them out ~ there are a number of excellent reviewers.

I went and visited a Toastmasters meeting last week. It’s the first time I’ve ever attended one. The people I met were genuinely friendly, and wow, quick thinking. There were a variety of jobs while the speaker was giving his/her speech. My favorite was the ‘um’ keeper. She kept track of how many times a speaker said um or er or any other filler words while giving their speech. I found it quite educational and will most likely head back. If anyone is in need of improving their public speaking skills, I highly recommend checking out a toastmasters in your area.

And finally, I need to apologize to all the people who have subscribed to this blog. My first apology is that it’s been so long since I’ve written. I hope that won’t happen again (no promises, but I’ll really really try). Second, I was informed that there was a maintenance update which just happened to delete my subscriber list. Some of you I knew and was able to replace. Others – sorry. So if your one who subscribed and were not notified and just happened across this by facebook, twitter, or accident – please resubscribe. And for any of you who haven’t subscribed but would like to – please do. And yes – I’m going to make a back-up this time.

For the past four days I’ve gotten maybe three to four hours of sleep per night. I have no idea what’s up – it just happens sometime. Tired and a bit cranky, I still wanted to go to the art fair. Today was the last day. For those not familiar with Minneapolis, there were actually three art fairs going on simultaneously this year. The biggest is the Uptown Art Fair which I avoid at all costs. I went there years ago and it’s shoulder to shoulder mayhem, constant pushing and shoving and still not being able to see much through all of the bodies. I swore I’d never go back. There’s the Loring Park Art Fair which is actually quite nice, but it butts up against downtown and parking is a bit of a hassle. That left the Powderhorn Park Art Fair. Powderhorn Park is 68 acres (I know, I looked it up – I didn’t think it was that big either) located in the heart of south Minneapolis. I wanted to get there early. One, to beat the crowds; and two, it was supposed to get up to 90 degrees with a humidity to match. I wanted to beat that too – at least the temperature, the humidity felt like it was already there. So I hopped myself up on caffeine (I never said I was all that smart), and off I went. Last year one of the booths I stopped at had artwork by a Ukrainian artist named Olga Krasovska. She paints street scenes (or her interpretations thereof) of Russian and European cities. You can check out her website at www.artfromolga.com. Anyway, last year I walked away from her booth empty handed, and have regretted it until today. I had no idea if she’d be back again this year, but I hoped. Well, the art gods were smiling (kinda laughing at me) and I found her booth about half way around the park (as far away from the car as I could be). And just like last year I started to waffle. If I’m going to spend a good chunk of money on myself, I need a reason – like something to celebrate. I could call it a late (or early) birthday present. It’s six months away no matter which direction I go. I could celebrate that I’m still functioning on not a whole lot of sleep – nah, didn’t seem quite the celebration type of thing. It finally came down to, “dammit, I really like that art!” I ended up buying two prints of the streets of Prague.

After hanging up the pictures, I did what most people do now-a-days – I checked my email. There were two messages. One was from a fellow writer, whom not only do I admire, but also quite respect. He lauded me for the book reviews I’ve been doing for www.minnesotareads.com. He also does book reviews for ‘Rain Taxi’ among others, and has been doing them much longer than I. I was floored. After regaining my composure, I clicked on the second – from L & L Dreamspell. They’re the publisher that accepted “Silent Kill.” A few weeks ago I sent them my novel, “Spyder.” I talked to them about it, and to be quite honest, I didn’t have a lot of hope. In the past, I have gotten a lot of raves in my rejection letters of Spyder, but what most of them came down to was they had no idea where to fit him, and no idea how to sell him. My conclusion after today? L & L is smarter than the rest. Spyder has finally found a home. Sometimes time just works backward. I did have a reason to celebrate – I just didn’t know it yet.

For those of you who have read this column will know that my very good friend, Stacy Waibel, has needed a new kidney for quite some time (see Living Donors Needed 2-11-09).  A wonderful potential of donors had stepped forward, but the one and only match came from her husband, Wayne (normally the donor remains anonymous, but it’s her husband fer gosh sake – and I gots permission).  Oddly, the first time Stacy needed a kidney, Wayne was deemed unacceptable.  Go figure.  Must be all that clean livin’ he’s done since then.  Who knows, maybe the gods that be decided to save him for later, knowing he’d be needed again.  Either way, the operation took place late last week and from what I was told, the kidney started to work in Stacy immediately.  Like a kid moving in with mom after living with dad, it’s going to be a bit of a transition, but everything is expected to work out hunky-dory.  I talked to Stacy on the phone this morning and she sounded healthy and chipper as ever.  Hopefully she’s even going home this evening (Wayne is already home ready to welcome her back).  Now that she’s on the mend, I look forward to seeing her out promoting her new book, “Rudy Gets A Checkup” real soon.  And speaking of Rudy books (personal message to Stacy – I forgot to tell you when we were chatting.  My doctor friend from North Carolina told me that a new children’s ward has opened up in Charlotte.  I told him about “Rudy Gets a Transplant” and he said that he’ll make sure that the hospital gets copies.  And as always, my positive vibes are headed your way.)

Now that crisis has been averted and things have worked out swell, I feel comfortable switching gears to shameless self promotion:

The wonderful and wise folks at L & L Dreamspell accepted “Silent Kill” (my suspense/thriller novel) into their family of books.  It should be out hopefully in the second quarter of 2010.  So this spring be prepared to see my sorry butt (jeans covered you sick bastards) out and about the cities doing readings and signings (and other things I won’t mention here) to sell my book.  And as if L & L isn’t great enough enough for accepting my novel,  my work will also appear in some of their anthologies.  Look for my short stories in “Ghostly Dreamspell,” “Vampire Dreamspell,” Dreamspell Goddess,” and “Dreamspell Nightmares.”  In the mood for a good book before mine comes out?  Check out their website at www.lldreamspell.com.  They’ve got books for just about every taste.

Wanna read a review before plunking down your hard earned bucks on a book?  Got to www.minnesotareads.com.  I’ve even been known to do a few reviews myself for them.  So until next time – keep reading.

I’ve written a number of horror stories over the years, a mainstream novel, and a horror suspense novel where many a number of my characters have never made it to the final page.  Many of these characters died a most colorful and gruesome death.  Some of those persons’ sole purpose in the story was to die, thus giving the reader reason to despise the antagonist, root for the hero or just add depth to the story line (some people say that I’m guilty a gratuitous violence every now and again, but I do try to keep it within the confines of the mood that I’m trying to set).  Even if they only show up for one page or even one paragraph, it does it not make them unimportant.  No matter how minor the character, without them I’d have a very one-dimensional, and very boring, story.  Still, there is no excuse to gloss over their being.  Even in death they deserve as much care and soul as the main characters.  These figments of my imagination had families and people who cared about them.  Do they deserve less?  How many times have you gone to a movie or seen on TV people blown away with no more forethought than the space they were taking up?  In my mind I always take it a step further.  Who’s going to notify their families?  What grief and hardship is it going to create?  Without my imagination I’ll never know.  The producer or director haven’t seemed to give it any thought – or care.  In my stories I try to give every character a life – and a past.

Early in my writing life there was a man in my writers’ group who showed me what he used to distinguish each person in his book – a character sketch sheet.  It’s probably one of the most important tools I now use.  Every character I now create, no matter how minor, has a name, a physical description, a past.  The reader might not know every aspect of that person, but hopefully with me knowing their background, the reader will see more than a one dimensional being – someone they can actually care about.  And then, of course, there’s the no-brainer why this is such a valuable piece of paper.  I can’t count the number of times I’ve put work aside for a while, come back, and . . . were her eyes blue or green?  was he driving a honda or toyota?  It has saved me hours of backtracking a story.  So, my recommendation to all of you writers out there (especially fiction), make yourself a character sketch – and use one for every character in your book.  If any of you dear readers out there are interested in the one I’ve adopted, drop me a note and I’ll be happy to email you one.

As mentioned in earlier blogs, I’ve been spending a lot of time talking about marketing my book “Edging Past Reality” (does the phrase ‘beating a dead horse’ come to mind?).  As much whining as I’ve done about it, it has been a blast – really.  A couple of weeks ago I did a reading and signing at Common Good Books.  The turnout was good (thank you to all my friends who showed up and supported me), I got some nice compliments at the end, and the staff treated me like I was a best selling author.  Thank you Jonathan.  I’ve mentioned them before, but they really are a great independent  bookstore.  Anyway, I’m sure that I’ll schedule more readings and signings in the future, but for now that was the last one on my list.  This past Staurday, Rochester, MN had it’s First Annual Writers’ Festival.  Anna Matetic put it together and did an outstanding job.  Approximately 80 people (give or take a few) attended.  Not bad for a first try.  And I was privileged to speak at one of the sessions.  The conference started at 9:00 am and I wasn’t scheduled to speak until 3:00.  The first session that I attended was “From Manuscript to Published Book” led by local author Patricia Cumbie.  Pat has published a young adult novel “Where People Like Us Live.”  It’s a novel about child abuse (I just started it this morning, and I’m guessing that I’ll probably finish it by this evening – a very well written and compelling read thus far).  Pat did a great job speaking.  Unfortunately for me, she covered a lot of the same topics I had planned to talk about.  I had no idea how many people who had signed up for her session had also signed up for mine, but I guessed there would be more than a few.  On the plus side, I had a lot of hours between her session and mine so I was able to do some rearranging, and if there was overlap – what the hell – it means that it’s probably important and bears repeating.   While waiting I did some networking, sold a few books, and met a lot of writers and aspiring writers.  Life was just hunky-dory until it was my time to speak.  When I got up to the podium, my nerves kicked into high gear (nothing like feeling your sweat soak into your shirt).  I was supposed to speak for 30-35 minutes with 10-15 minutes for q & a.  The subject – dealing with rejection (from publishers – get your mind out of the gutter – this is a writers’ blog).  It’s a subject I am very knowledgeable about.  I had written an outline, took some of my favorite reject letters over the years (you bet I save ‘em) and practiced speaking all day Friday, and even in the car, driving from Minneapolis to Rochester on Saturday.  It’s amazing how smoothly it goes when you’re talking to no one but yourself.  But put a few people in front of you and it all goes to hell.  When I get nervous, I tend to talk fast.  I lost my outline in the shuffle of my rejection letters and omitted probably twenty-five percent of my planned speech.  I finished my talk in just over twenty minutes.  But every once in a great while, the gods are smiling down.  I asked if there were any questions (please, please, please let there be questions) and there were. In fact, there were enough that it pretty much covered my 45 minute time slot.  I even got a nice round of applause at the end.

After the conference, I drove down to Peterson (southeast corner of MN) and stayed the night with friends whom I hadn’t seen in too long.  As I was driving home the next day i realized how much I missed just writing.  I have been writing off and on between researching on more marketing techniques and following up on those techniques, but not the consistent writing that I need to do.  I still haven’t finished the novel where my goal was to complete the first draft by the end of 2008.  Health problems derailed the end-of-the-year goal, then EPR came out and I concentrated on selling that.  Now that I’ve got nothing scheduled for the near future, I think it’s time to finish writing that novel, and maybe a few short stories in-between and let marketing take a short snooze. It might not be the smartest idea considering I really do want the book to sell, but it’s something that I need to do.

Before I end this week’s blog, I just have a couple of thank-yous and references for the writers who read this.  In my last blog I mentioned Jodi Chromey and her website www.minnesotareads.com.  If you’re a writer (especially if you’re from Minnesota) and you want your book reviewed, this is a great site.  Equally, if you’re a reader looking for a good book, check it out.  The reviewers don’t sugar-coat their reviews.  If they think the book stinks, they’re not shy about saying so.  If they think it’s good, they’ll say that too.  I’d also like to thank Marta from martasmeanderings.blogspot.com for reviewing EPR.  The same holds true for Marta – if you want your book reviewed, get in touch with her.  If you’re looking for a good book, read her reviews.  And for writers, check out Anastasia Cassella-Young’s www.authormeetingplace.com.  It’s a great site for networking with other authors, along with many helpful links.  And lastly, I’d like to thank Deb Walker, a friend who I met on MySpace, who has been kind enough, along with her daughter Charlotte, to advertise EPR on their pages.  Much thanks to you all.

Next blog, I won’t talk about marketing. Promise!

A number of people have been asking me what’s going on in my life.  How’s the marketing coming?  Are you still writing?  When are you going to go back to work – no, really?  So, here’s the poop.   The marketing is going well.  Obviously, I could do better, but I do have a reading this Tuesday night at Common Good Books in St. Paul at 7:30 pm.  If you’re in the area please stop in and say hi.  And buy a book – it doesn’t even have to be mine.  It’s a great bookstore.  I’m also preparing for my session at the Rochester Writers’ Festival on April 18th.  The session I’ll be leading is “How to Deal With Rejection Letters.”  Ha – I’m way over qualified.  The writing is going okay as well.  I just got a short story accepted by L & L Dreamspell.  ”Almost a One Star Hotel” is scheduled to appear in their “Ghostly Dreamspell Anthology.”  I’ll keep you posted when I get more information.  I’m also always playing around with other short stories when I get bored or blocked with my novels.  Besides trying to find publishers for two completed novels, I’m also working on two other unfinished novels.  Actually, that’s not quite right.  I had a dream a few nights ago that definitely screamed NOVEL! (screamed being the key word)  The next morning I got up and wrote chapter one.  Now I guess I can say I’ve got three unfinished novels.  So, where do I find time to watch as much TV as I do?  Priorities.

My day did start a bit surreal today.  I woke up this morning . . . I opened up the front door . . . I stooped down to pick up the paper . . . A foot of snow was on the floor.  (Do you hear the blues harp in the background?)  Okay, it wasn’t a foot of snow.  Probably not even an inch.  But it did snow last night and the ground was covered.  Anyway, that wasn’t the surreal part. Around here, snow in April is not all that unusual.  But as I was perusing the books section in the newspaper – there was my name.  Common Good Books notified the paper and mentioned my reading.  Not that that wasn’t way cool enough on its own, but my name was right next to one of my favorite authors, Walter Mosely.  He’ll be signing his books at B&N in Edina on Wednesday night.  My morning surprises weren’t over.  After I read the paper I went to check my email.  There was a post from a Jodi Chromey, that my server wanted to alert me might be spam.  My server can be a little over zealous at times so I decided to risk opening it up.  Well, it turns out that Jodi runs a website –  www.mnreads.com.  In it there’s a blog that features “six questions we always ask”  and she asked me if I’d be willing to answer.  Yes, please.  But before I responded to her email I checked out the site.  Awesome!  Very professional looking.  A lot of interviews with Minnesota writers, and loads of book reviews.  If you’re a reader you don’t even have to be from Minnesota to enjoy this site.  Anyway, look for my answers on Tuesday’s edition.  Thank you, Jodi.

So for those of you who asked – now aren’t you sorry you did?

Friday night I did a reading at DreamHaven Books in south Minneapolis (thank you Eric and Greg) and all of my worlds collided. You know how you try and keep one group of friends separate from other groups of friends, and all friends separate from family? I had family show up, writer friends, non-writer friends, even some former co-worker friends who I haven’t seen for ages stop in. And I could feel a few friends show up in spirit who couldn’t make it physically. There were even a couple of people I didn’t recognize. The reading went great and I got bunches of kudos for my reading abilities (friends and family would tell me if i sucked, right? well, I know of a few friends that would – and they didn’t). The night ended with a number of us going down the street to a local bar (I’ll say no more about that).

The next morning I packed my books and headed to the Bloomington Book Fair. Was it a success? If I was there just to sell books, it was a disaster. I sold one book. But I had a blast. Setting up I was pleased to see my good friend H. L. Montgomery (Skinwalker Moon) at the table next to me. One table down on the other side Chuck Tindell (The MAC Detective Agency Mysteries) had already set up, across the way, friend and poet Diana Lundell (Awaking Indigo) and friend and writer Maria Marud (I apologize, Maria, I can’t remember the name of your book – color me embarrassed). Down the hall, another good friend and romance writer Deborah Krider (Even in Stillness There is Rhythm) was setting up. In the children’s book section, Stacy Waibel (Rudy Gets a Transplant) was all set up. I had a lot of support. And even though I didn’t sell books, I met a lot of talented writers and interesting readers. I networked and even chatted with William Kent Kruger (if you haven’t heard of him, you probably don’t read mysteries). It was a long, but fun day. To top the day off, I checked my email before going to bed and got a note that my short story “An Almost One Star Hotel” has been accepted in “The Ghostly Dreamspell Anthology.” I’ll keep you all updated as to when it will be available.

My next reading will be at Common Good Books on April 7th. Until then I think it’s time to get back on my butt, give marketing a bit of a rest, and return to writing.

In downtown White Bear Lake, on the corner of 4th Street and Washington Avenue, sits a quaint little book shop called Lake Country Book Sellers.  The entire downtown area has a small town feel, and walking into Lake Country Books I felt instantly at ease.  It’s area is small but nicely laid out with as many books as one could fit in while still making it comfortable to move through the aisles. There  were some best sellers, but mostly they were books you would only find at an independent bookstore, or would have to special order at a B&N or Borders.  Even though it’s a small store, I could easily spend hours browsing. (And it feels like a real bookstore!)  The owner, Susan Fruncillo, made me feel welcome, and being that this was my first ever signing and reading, I felt no pressure.  In fact, she left it up to me on whether I would do any reading.  We decided to play it by ear.  I was under no delusions.  I knew a few, but not many friends were going to make the drive from Minneapolis.  And even though there were ads in the newspaper, I knew that being an unknown would not draw in many (if any) strangers. 

Go  back one day: Nervous and edgy, it also felt like I was coming down with a cold. I had practiced reading (folks in my writers’ group say that I read way too fast) and tried to put more emotion into my words.  Friday night I thought I might lose my voice.  When I woke up Saturday morning my nose was stuffed and I could barely swallow.  Still, there was no way I was going to miss this event.  Fortunately, my wife is much better organized than I.  So while I’m fumbling with my jacket and looking for my glasses, she made sure I didn’t forget my books, poster, favorite pen, etc.

While driving the twenty-five miles an amazing thing happened.  My nerves settled, my nose cleared and my throat opened up.  I never figured myself for one of those  psychosomatic,  hypochondriac  types, but there ya go.  (My wife says it’s allergies – I’d like to believe she’s right.)

Well, my friends who said they were coming, did, and a few more surprised me by showing up – thank you all!  I did end up doing a reading and was told that I sounded good (my friends wouldn’t lie, would they?)  While I was reading, a few strangers walked in and quietly sat down to listen.  They even applauded at the end.  All-in-all, I had a blast.  

Next stop – I’m doing a reading at Dream Haven books on March 20th.  I’m no longer dreading the experience.  In fact, who woulda ever thunk, I’m actually looking forward to it.

The first thing I do after my normal pre-sitting at the computer morning routine is to plop down on my non-ergonomic chair, check my main email account, read the newspaper online, do the crossword puzzle, crypto-quip, and jigsaw puzzle (no – i never got into doing sudoku – staring at numbers gives me a headache). It used to be that when the jigsaw puzzle was complete, that was my cue to start writing. Then I got a My Space page and soon after that came Facebook. As I wanted to learn more and more about marketing, I found, and joined, a number of other sites. As of now I am a member of nine (I guess they’re called social) websites. On the days that I devote myself to marketing I find most of these websites invaluable. I’ve gotten reacquainted with old friends, stayed in touch with friends who have moved away, met some new friends, made some contacts, have done some networking, and even sold a few books. Awesome! On the days I devote to writing, however, all of these websites can create quite a hinderance. On each one I have an email address (boy, can that take up time). More often than not someone will have written an article, short story, or even a poem that catches my attention. Holy-moly, am I ever going to start writing today? Unfortunately for me, I have a somewhat addictive personality. Some addictions, like smoking, I have quit. Others, like Battlestar Galactica, I’ll quit soon enough because the series will be over. But some, like those gawd-awful Saturday night original Sc-fi movies, checking my emails, and pouring over writing sites, I see no end to. The word ‘moderation’ seems to slip from my vocabulary and I can spend hours perusing. My day of writing can become half-assed at best. So here’s my plan – I will still be checking my emails (some things are just unavoidable) and on my main email address I’ll answer quickly. But on the other sites please be patient. If it doesn’t require an immediate response (in my opinion) I probably won’t get back to you for a day or two (and probably late at night). For those of you who post articles, stories, or poems, I’m going to cut back on my responses (c’mon, my responses really aren’t that prophetic anyway). If you’re just looking to make more points (what’s the deal with points anyway?) I’m sure the one or two you’d get from me aren’t really going to make a difference. Well, I gots me some emails to check and then I guess I’d better start getting to writing.

Well how exciting is this?  I’ve got another reading engagement set up for April 7th at Common Good Books. Please stop by and say hello.  And if that’s not enough, I was asked to speak at Rochester’s First Annual Writers’ Festival on April 18th.  It’s an all day affair and I’ll be speaking from 3:00 – 3:45.  My topic – Dealing with rejection letters. The good news is – I’m very familiar with that topic.  The bad news is – I’m very familiar with that topic.  I have a file folder that I’m quite pleased with full (well, kinda full, sorta) of acceptance letters. I have three overstuffed files (and enough on my computer to almost fill a hard drive) of rejection letters. (hmmm, maybe that’s why my old computer crashed.)  Once again I’m treading into new territory.  With the support of my friends (“We’ll teach you the sink or swim method on how to deal with hecklers”) I’m guessing that by May I’ll be curled up in the fetal position under my desk.

On the serious side for a moment, marketing is amazing.  I’m constantly learning new stuff and actually putting it into practice.  Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks of all this marketing is the writing itself.  I haven’t done much of it in the last couple of months.  I have a paved road of good intentions, but it seems like whenever I start getting back to the novel, I’ll come up with more ideas and more research that I want to know about on how to market.  (The internet is a miracle and a curse in that regard.)  It’s easy to say that I’ll deal with it later, but the mind is already racing and I can’t concentrate on plot. Soon my characters are on the computer reading bloggers. Fun for them, not so much for the reader.  So for all of you writers out there who have been in this predicament, please let me know how you deal.

Before I get back to my writing (yup – I’m going to give it another try today) I want to thank Whistling Shade, and specifically Deanna Reiter, for reviewing “Edging Past Reality.” You all are wonderful!

I’m going to sidestep my usual rants about the subject of writing in this blog and instead write about a good friend of mine. Actually, I’m going to say very little about her, and let her do most of the writing. On September 18th, 2008, I wrote a blog “Rudy Gets a Transplant.” It’s a children’s book (yes, a children’s book) about Rudy (the cute poodle) needing a new kidney. In the book, Rudy gets his new kidney. The book is written by Stacy Waibel, a transplant recipient herself. Unfortunately, Stacy is now in need of another kidney, and using the sports vernacular, the clock is working against her. Instead about me going on about what a wonderful person she is (and she is), I’ll let her take it from here . . .

Currently there are 100,000 people on the waiting list for organ donation. 77,000 of these people are waiting for a kidney. Average waiting time for a kidney is 5 years. Startling statistics considering most of the 77,000 would not need to wait if there were more living donors. Unlike other organs almost all people are born with 2 kidneys – we only need one, so we have “a spare to share.”
Back in 2003 I attended a transplant workshop. At that time the average wait was 2 to 3 years. Now it is 5 years. This condition is very disheartening. So many people could benefit from a living donor. Studies show that a recipient who has a living donor is likely to be healthier at the time of the transplant, and the success rate of the surgery is higher. (No time delay between donor and recipient so the kidney doesn’t need to be packed in ice.) A person needing a transplant can avoid dialysis which is very hard on the body, to say nothing of the quality of life.
Recently a study was done at the University of Minnesota regarding the health status of past living donors. It indicated that living donors are healthier than the average person. Reasons include – they were in good health to begin with and they benefit from a positive feeling knowing they have saved someone’s life.
If you would like to become a living donor, please contact the University of Minnesota Transplant Center at 612-625-5115 and follow the prompts to the Living Donor Coordinator. To be a living donor one should be in good health (no diabetes, MS or Cancer).