The Quest #15

So I took a look through my master list of queries and decided to get querying again. Some of the agents have had my query since spring and I doubt that they are going to select my book. I also saw two notes on my list about agents who won’t respond when they reject you. Gee, thanks. That is not a helpful system. I should have considered their silence as a rejection after a month. So I’m going to start looking again until I have ten active queries out there.

On a side note, I think that’s a rude way to go about things. Someone takes their art to you and says ‘I’ll give you a percent if you represent me’, and you don’t even have the time to send them a boilerplate rejection of ‘sorry but this didn’t hit me’. It’s can’t take that much time.

Anyway. I continue to learn Kit’s email lists. Lots of YouTube tutorials. I want to hit the ground running with my email list and there is a lot to learn. I also think that I will redo my website to make it read cleaner.

In other writing news, I recently submitted the first chapter of a novella The Peacock and got some good feedback. I need to describe the characters a little more and clean up a mistake or two. I am submitting the next chapter for the next meeting. I’ll keep submitting until I go through the whole thing. I think there’s twelve chapters for about 53,000 words.

I found it very difficult the first time around when I was writing the chapters and submitting them, because then I had to look back as I was moving forward. So going forward I will never edit a book while I’m writing it. It just makes things unproductive.

The quest continues!

Michael

On Time

It starts slowly. Almost imperceptible.

Like any good purge, it starts slow so that there is no panic. Nobody thinks twice, they just keep their eyes down and mind their own business, not wanting any trouble. They all know what is going on, its talked about in hush tones, they look for the signs, waiting for it to start. They will notice it tomorrow, it will be unavoidable tomorrow, but they don’t see it starting.

It starts with the plates.

The cute decretive plates which are brought out for autumn, but more so for Thanksgiving, will go into the dishwasher and never see the comfortable shelves again this year. When the cycle is done they will instead be placed into a carrier, and from there be taken into the garage where they will not see the light of day until the leaves start turning next year. Instead, by the time that desert is over, the Christmas plates will have taken their place.

From there the purge rolls on. Stalin’s NKVD were given lists of political enemies to arrest each night. Aunt Beth has no list; Aunt Beth needs no list. She knows where each and every Thanksgiving decoration is, and which Christmas piece is going to replace it. As we all pile into the cars and head off to the hotel the night of the big dinner, most uncomfortably full from a bountiful meal, we know that the purge is already taking place behind us.

Coming back to her home the next day, you would be forgiven if you thought Thanksgiving never happened. The pumpkins, gourds, and haybales which lay on the doorstep and welcomed us to Buffalo are all removed before the sun rises the next day. Step inside and the two happy mice plushies, dressed as pilgrims and holding a bountiful harvest, have vanished from their place at the little table. Reindeer have taken their place.

Looming in your peripheral vision is the Christmas tree. Raised and decorated before breakfast. A six-foot long festive piece of pine and ornaments now covers the mantle.  

Moving into the kitchen, the orange and brown tablecloth and napkins have all vanished. Like the dishes, when they are done with their wash, they will vanish until next year. The pumpkins decorated the table are all gone. Nothing has preplaced them yet, but whatever Beth wants to put there will be there within a day or two. The themed paper napkins are gone too. No amount of searching will reveal them.

The proud decorations of Thanksgiving are all gone by ten in the morning on Black Friday. Christmas time has come.

As we head into the holiday season once more, this particular ritual has me thinking about time. Time is the sea we swim through. As such, we have divided it into seasons, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds.

We have developed culture and society around time. Watches are fashionable. Time pieces more so, for some reason (they’re the same thing, but calling a watch a time piece will get a sucker to shell out more for it).

The reason I am thinking about this now is because I often lose track of the day. I have to remind myself what day of the week it is. Sometimes I have to look it up. For the most part I orient myself towards the nearest national holiday. In the States we have eleven. August just slides by.

A thing I heard a lot growing up is that when you are an adult, the days go by faster. That’s true. Days just don’t mean as much as they used to. They’re snowflakes.

One snowflake is beautiful, but as they build on each other the ones below get compacted until they become ice.

A whole life is like those ice core samples they drill out of Antarctica.

Time is the sea we swim in.

As I grow older, the days stop bringing new things to me. Experience with the ordinary makes it hard to see the novel. Another addition to the feeling is the sense of self that came to me now that my brain is no longer developing.

I don’t know exactly when it happened, but thirty feels just like twenty-nine which feels just like twenty-eight and so on. Ages used to feel different. Seven was very different than six. Eighteen was worlds different than seventeen. Graduating college and looking at the incoming students, I thought they looked like kids.  

Now everyone looks the same.

Time is funny. We have surrounded ourselves with reminders of the time, but rarely think about what that means. Watches, clocks, clock towers, are all just to remind us what portion of the day is left. They do not warn us that it is wasting. That never seems to be anyone’s job.

Occasionally I will have what I call a “Once in a Lifetime” moment. I call it that because of the Talking Heads song of the same name. Every once in a while, I realize that I am alive, and my mind breaks from the monotony of the everyday.

When those moments come, I take the time to appreciate my heart beating in my chest, every breath of air, the strength of my muscles, and the simple pleasure of walking. It feels nice to break free from the mindlessness of doing one task after another.

In my writing, I give these “Once in a Lifetime” moments to characters who are about to die. I like giving them a moment thinking about life right before they lose it. I don’t think its mean. It’s a curtain call.

Holidays break up things too, mostly because they offer a chance to see people again. It’s like the autopilot gets switched off for a brief moment of heavy social interaction. In that way, holidays have come to mean as much as the months do.

Because of that, I go crazy when I start seeing Christmas commercials. Every year they creep further and further up the calendar. It serves to dampen the whole thing for me, as I start thinking things are closer than they are.

Then again. I know that I’m going to blink and be in a Santa hat.

Time is the sea we swim in, but I try to lift my head out of the water — even for just a moment — and take stock of things for a moment. After all, if I blink, I might just miss Thanksgiving.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

The Quest #14

No change in the numbers. No rejections so no further queries. I found number of agents that look like a good fit. Unfortunately, their submissions are closed for now. I’ve been watching them for a little while now, checking every day for when they open. I want to make sure that I’m one of the first submissions when they do open.

I found myself a newsletter service that will work well for me. I have been tinkering with the settings and all, trying to learn the system. No newsletter as of yet, but I hope to have one up soon.

I’ve also been thinking about what I would put into the newsletter. Progress on writing and the Quest probably, though I would have to decide how to make them a little different from my blog. But that is a problem to be solved once I get to it. The goal is to drive engagement in my stories, so maybe some sort of question alongside a call to action. Let’s try it.

Who would win in a wrestling match: Abraham Linoln or Teddy Roosevelt. Let’s say on inauguration day first term.

I know my answer.

So that’s where I’m at right now, trying to figure out how to populate a newsletter with fun stuff.

In other news, submitted a chapter of my work to my writing group and got good feedback on how to punch up The Peacock to being a great first chapter.

The Quest continues!

Thanks for reading,

Michael

Another Historical Thought

Often times when asked about the most important moments in history, people will mention great wars or battles. Some will mention treaties or an invention like the printing press. But I disagree.

There are eight billion people on the planet right now, and all of us are here because of a few men making key discoveries. Take for example, Edward Jenner, perhaps the most important man to ever live.

He discovered that people infected with cowpox could not get infected with small pox, a disease which kill a million people a year back when there weren’t a billion people on the planet. His discovery was the memory of the human immune system. We began deliberately making ourselves sick with a weaker disease to train our immune system for the stronger diseases. Jenner formed the basis of modern disease prevention.

With him is Dr. John Snow, which theorized that cholera was spread, not by bad air, but contaminated water. He worked tirelessly and because of him, we as a species decided that we shouldn’t have poop in our drinking water. A development that I’m so happy for.

His work began a movement called the Great Sanitation Movement, where people decided that it was probably better if their streets weren’t filled with poop. Not horse, not dog, not human. Huge public works installed sewer systems through all the great cities of the world. In Chicago, they raised the whole city by a couple feet to try and stop the dump of waste water into the lake, where they got their drinking water. Though there is a surprising amount of poop on the sidewalks near me. One of my neighbors needs to learn to cleanup after their dog…or themselves.

These seem like common sense, but they really weren’t. There was a lot of push back from scientists, who were working from a body of work built up over centuries. But these guys stuck to their guns and fought for their discoveries.

The public sanitation movement was perhaps the most important in history, and the doctors and medical researchers who led it. Their work is the most important in history, work that continues to this day.

Thanks for reading,

Michael

The Quest # 13

Numbers are steady. No rejections in the last few weeks so no additional queries. Maintaining ten out at any given time is the aim, because now that I am looking at active agencies, I need to make sure that I don’t query two people at the same house. I have a reference to an agent that I think is a higher percentage play than blind querying. I will query them when they open for queries again.

In the interim, I have met a second wizard. The last wizard referred me to this wizard. It was hard to find a single wizard, and now they are popping out of the woodwork.

Zach Jefferies took the self-published route, and he had a lot to teach me about that side of the business. I learned that amazon ads don’t really work, but can be a complimentary strategy. I learned his strategy for titles and artwork which I will be using in the future.  There is much to learn.

Being self-published so far, with both my kindle novellas and my epic fantasy epic poem, what we talked about was highly relevant to me. I took a lot of notes in our conversation.

I think the biggest thing he advised for me was to start a newsletter. He said that was the best way to build an audience, and how he kept in contact with his audience. So that is the next goal on this journey for me. Create a newsletter and fill it with stuff. I’m not sure what I’ll put into it, but I will figure that out once I sort out how to make the mailing list.

Once again, thanks for reading,

Michael

This is Zach’s website, check him out:

https://www.jeffriesbooks.com/

Retelling the Odyssey

The piano is Penelope.

This week I was thinking about one of my favorite songs.  Disco Ulysses by Vulfpeck. The piece is a nice groove and I love a band of talented musicians who are with it. I’m bringing it up here because I like to think of it as a retelling of the Odyssey. I mean, it’s in the name of the song…and the music video. I don’t think I’m discovering anything here, but I do like exploring the storytelling in the song.

So, the piano is Penelope. Odysseus leaves Troy to make it back to her, but the adventure is too much fun. That’s the bass played by the amazing Joe Dart. The bass and drums lead Odysseus further and further from the piano until in the middle of the song its gone. But then in all drops out as the joy of the adventure is over, this is Calipso. This is the guitar duo part in the middle.

Then, freed from the prison by a glissando, he races home, the piano growing more powerful until at last he reaches her. The adventure returns but only in the pursuit of Penelope. The whole song bursts to life as he fights his way home.

I don’t know if you can see it when you listen to the song, but it is what I hear. I love it.

Music has an odd power in the creative space. It can build stories without words, simply by the way instruments build on each other.

I write to music all the time, as it takes up the part of the brain that needs to be entertained. When I’m listening to an instrumental song and not writing, I find my mind gets taken up by scenes built as I listen. The more I listen to a song the deeper the story goes, built up and up on every listen. Don’t get me started on Gershwin’s An American in Paris, because I can tell you where the poodles go.

Thanks for reading this odd one,

Michael

The Quest #12

Sorry I missed last week. I was out of town and was busy doing this and that. The numbers are steady.

Recently, a friend read and gave me feedback on the book I’m trying to get published. Getting back feedback is always an odd experience, because I never know if my writing is going to come across the way I want it to.

I quickly read across the edits and talked with my friend about his thoughts on the book. His edits will help to make a stronger book, and help me get published by making the first chapter stronger.

Something to remember while editing is that when someone says a piece isn’t working, they’re right. When they say how to fix it, they’re usually wrong. That comforts me because it sets parameters on what has to change and gives me the control, not my audience.

So now I will be embarking on a comprehensive edit number three to make draft 4. Some people say never edit unless a publisher tells you to, but if there are people I trust to look at my book early, then I should trust their opinion.

Thanks,

Michael

The Quest # 11

This time I met a wizard. In every quest, there comes a time for the protagonist to meet with a wise wizard who can help on the path.

First, I’ve been maintaining about ten active queries at a time. I got one rejection from a more recent send. No harm, no foul. Keep up the pace and something will get through.

Anyway, the wizard.

I’d heard from the writing group I go to that there were some people who went pro. That made me feel like I was in the right place, an incubator that someone had come out of. So I asked and reached out to them.

Earlier this week I met Sue Burke. She is an author who is traditionally published and has an agent. I asked her a lot of questions about how she broke in and her ideas on who to do so know.

The main thing is patience. She said it took her a year of querying to find someone. I’ve been querying for six months. We commiserated about how it feels to be rejected by an agent. Then she created a large list of things I can be doing now to get my name out there, and pointed me to local communities I could go to network.

I have never talked with a traditionally published author before, so it was a great experience. I can see the woods ahead now. It helps to have a wizard.

Michael

Her site is https://sueburke.site/

Check out her books and let her know I sent you.

Stories in Games

How Twilight Imperium tells stories:

We are living in the golden age of board games. Well, we were before tariffs. If you thinks that board games are Monopoly, Risk, or Sorry, take a look around now because games can do such much.

Twilight Imperium 4th edition is a game I’ve played probably about 40 times. At first look, it seems like Risk. It’s dudes on a map. It’s about using spaceships to fight battles and take territory, right?

No.

If you spend a game of TI attacking people, you will probably lose. The game gives this framework: Three thousand years ago, the galactic empire collapsed from internal rebellion, the galaxy scorched and the various peoples retreated to their corners. Now, the stewards of the old galactic throne sent out a call to try and rebuild galactic civilization. Those stewards give missions, you the player get points for completing those missions. First to ten points wins.  

Now, it is possible to win the game by eliminating the competition, but that would take so long that by the time you managed it, your opponents would win because there just isn’t enough time.

So you have to do these missions. Own four of this type of planet. Have certain number of technologies. Be near special systems. This is simple, but it creates an interesting dynamic.

In TI, war is expensive and potentially disastrous. Building a fleet and getting it somewhere useful takes a few turns in a game where you might only have eight turns. Players have to consider military action and weigh that against diplomacy. Sniping a system can be the difference between winning and losing, and better than losing everyone in an unnecessary battle. In Risk, you lose a bunch of men, oh well. There’s always more next turn. In TI, losing ships is devastating.

A standard conversation goes a little something like this:

Player 1, “I’m activating X system and sending this fleet.”

Player 2, “Really? Why are you coming at me? She has more points!”

Player 1: “Yeah but I need that victory point. Besides, you already scored it. I’ll leave it next turn, I promise.”

Most players understand such maneuvers, leading to a diplomatic ecosystem where people understand getting tapped, but that when you start swinging punches at them, they team up against you.

This is an excellent model for diplomacy between nations. And it’s pretty incredible that this is achieved despite everyone playing a psychotic alien conqueror. There are resources you need, but talking more exposes you.  Having a friend to watch your back in vital.

TI builds natural stories simply by giving players the power to seize what they need at the time, but not hold it. Players take on rolls and for relationships with the nations around them, be they friendly, adversarial, or hostile. You won’t get a chance to take over the galaxy, but you will have a deep rivalries with your neighbors over small things. Its wars are memorable and the nation states frequently teeter on the knife edge between ruin and glory.

I love this model of diplomacy, where everyone wants the same things, but are willing to lose now for gain later. So often we are taught all or nothing. I need everything I want or I will lose. But this, trading, losing a little to gain more in another location to get the points. Flexible empires survive. Rigidity dies. I have never played a game that so perfectly told the stories of whole peoples so well.

Thanks for reading,

Michael