“I can’t write without a reader. It’s precisely like a kiss – you can’t do it alone.” –John Cheever
My book Backbone is going into general release on this July 28th. I’ve just signed a contract for my second book, and I’m smack in the middle of my third. So, outside of the day job, my life has been writing, writing, writing…
Just so you know. I write dark books. The inside of my head is a scary place. On paper my guys suffer. I put them in harsh worlds and confront them with cruel people. But they dream, and through their struggles they give their dreams life. I give them the happy ever after. I also give them a ton of hot sex and lots of love. Soul-satisfying, meant-to-be love. And there is always a shining light at the end their black tunnels. I dread these stories in a way though because I’m not sure anybody else really likes dark in quite the same way I do.
Just write, I tell myself. Keep writing.
The point to this is—I get absorbed. I fixate on the writing but there are other things I need to do.
For example, I just picked a new theme for my website in preparation for Backbone’s release. No major changes to the site, but in the process of revamping it, I realized that I hadn’t posted anything since June 7!
Which got me to thinking—I really don’t have a vision for this thing. There are so many good blogs out there offering incredibly helpful content. Blogs I subscribe too. Blogs I tweet links to whenever I think other writers can benefit. There’s a lot of great advice out there. I actually have some advice to offer too but not today. Today is about setting a goal for this blog… until I discover a better goal.
Backbone is my first traditionally published book. What I mean by traditional is that I have a publisher that is offering the book in both electronic and print formats. I have an editor—amazing. Cover art—amazing. They are involved in marketing my book as well. Maybe not in as targeted a way as in days gone by but a sight better than a lot of publishers now offer. The process has involved a lot of unknowns. Giddy highs have devolved into a daily grind of sorts. Publishing and writing are entwined but entirely different things. This entwinement creates a symbiosis that might not have a lot of appeal for aspiring writers. For some people writing is the only thing. For me, the gift of my writing to others is the ultimate thing.
I want to affect people with stories that will hopefully touch them in deep, maybe secret ways. So I write my dark stories and put them out there in the hopes that they will find a home in the hearts of strangers. Maybe these strangers won’t stay strangers. Maybe somebody is reading this blog right now.
So, I can’t promise you content that will absolutely change your writing or transform your life in any particular way, but I am letting you in on a journey of small things in a newly published writer’s life, the daily surprises that spring up as I work to make my dream come true. The dream’s the same as it always was but the reality is WORK! Not that that’s a bad thing. Writing is work. But reaching readers is a different job. For now—this blog will be about the things I notice on my trip to fame (yeah, right) or obscurity. So if you’re an aspiring writer or a reader interested in how writers work, I hope you’ll stick around. ☺
Little posts. That’s what we’ll do for now.
Soar!
