Attack of the 50FT Cover!

You see this thing on the bookshelf, you think it may just take your arm off!

Wayne Goodchild, editor of the upcoming Attack of the 50FT Book sent this image of the cover to all of the anthology contributors.

Sounds like this one's coming out soon...my shortie "Gus and Mariel" appears.

My ABC's of Writing: Y & Z Twin Bill!

The last day of June marks the deployment of the last two letters of the alphabet, "Y" and "Z" for the final Twin Bill of my ABC's of Writing series.

"Y" is for Yes! I've written on this blog about rejection and talked about how hard it can be to have a short story or novel accepted for publication. Yet, it does happen.

When it does--when that query letter hits the mark or that short story finds a home--there is only one natural reaction. It's "YES!"...often combined with jumping and shouting.

Because you're earned it.

"Yes" and "Rejection" have something in common: neither can exist with "Zero."

Zero is the chance you have of getting published if you don't put something out there. Even self-published writers have to put something on Smashwords or Kindle in order to get their work out. They bypass the publishers, but they can't bypass the act of releasing their work into the wild.

You can keep your writing to yourself. Really, there's nothing wrong with that. Just don't bemoan the unfairness of not getting published if you're unwilling to put it out there.

Remember: the submission that never gets sent never gets published.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL
O is for OUTLINE
P is for PROTAGONIST
Q is for QUERY LETTER
R is for REJECTION
S is for SUBMISSION
T is for TWITTER
U is for UNFINISHED
V is for VILLAIN
W is for WORK IN PROGRESS
X is for XENAGOGUE

My ABC's of Writing: W & X Twin Bill!

A week so EPIC, we have a twin bill for Wednesday! Today's ABC's of Writing installment is brought to you by the letters "W" and "X!"

Something drives writers.

A compulsion to create.

An obsession to share.

The conduit for those passions: the work in progress. Writers usually have something cooking, sometimes multiple projects percolate at the same time. That work becomes the focus of our efforts. Perhaps it's outlined, perhaps it's not. It could be a story, poem, or novel. Maybe it's great, maybe it's not. It could be under revision or almost ready to send off.

No matter its state of completion, it is the Work in Progress, the object of our attention and the focus of our efforts.

Coming up with something for "X" proved difficult. There are the cop outs: xylophone, x-ray, X-Men, and Xerox. I could've made them work. I reached deep down to a memory from my school days, when I usually flubbed a word for the Spell Bowl team.

I recalled an obscure word from a spelling list I never mastered: xenagogue. I remembered the word, but I didn't remember its meaning.

Thanks to the power of Google, I know a xenagogue is a guide. How appropriate!

As writers, we are John Mason and the readers are a special ops team ready to invade Alcatraz. If you haven't seen The Rock, then that means nothing to you.

Writers create their worlds and know them intimately. Who's better suited to guide readers?

That's right, no one!

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL
O is for OUTLINE
P is for PROTAGONIST
Q is for QUERY LETTER
R is for REJECTION
S is for SUBMISSION
T is for TWITTER
U is for UNFINISHED
V is for VILLAIN

A Solid Effort

Working on a short story that's straight-up crime fiction, which makes it different from anything I've written before. No superheroes, no extraterrestrials, and no talking animals for this one.

We're at 4,400 words now...1,900 of them written tonight. That's an Average Night on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. As the story is going right now, it's feeling like it's going to be a bit on the long side. We'll just have to see.

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter V

My ABC's of Writing series continues today with the letter "V."

Some may say "V" is for "Vendetta." But every story needs an antagonist. Wait...this isn't the letter "A!" (cough, cough) Every story needs a VILLAIN! We like our heroes, yes, but sometimes the villain becomes the most memorable part of a story. In movies and TV, actors often say it's fun to play the bad guy.

I can understand that. Instead of being forced to play by society's rules, they get to brandish guns, blow stuff up, spit in the face of authority, tell people to shove it, and delight in merry chaos.

In terms of a story, though, the villain propels everything. They plot, they plan, they collude, they tempt, they tease, they torment. Without their grand machinations, our protagonists wouldn't have much to do.

And that is why, today, we salute you, villains!

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL
O is for OUTLINE
P is for PROTAGONIST
Q is for QUERY LETTER
R is for REJECTION
S is for SUBMISSION
T is for TWITTER
U is for UNFINISHED

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter U

This is it, ladies and gentlemen, the final week of my ABC's of Writing! The week in which I come up with writing terms for those oft-used letters like X and Z! We start off with the letter "U."

U is for "Unfinished." A writer's career is like one of his or her works, somewhat molded but never quite complete. I have a half-dozen, half-finished short stories sitting on my hard drive. I've apparently abandoned two novels, though I plan to "get around to it" one of these days. Even the stories that are "done" never feel quite "finished."

On the plus side, it gives me something to work on.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL
O is for OUTLINE
P is for PROTAGONIST
Q is for QUERY LETTER
R is for REJECTION
S is for SUBMISSION
T is for TWITTER

Hulk Smashwords!

I have a lot of short stories.

Other than submitting to different publications, I don't know what to do with them.

Several have already been published, with the rights reverting back to me. Others can't seem to find a home.

What's a writer to do?

Try Smashwords!

Yes, I realize this is 2011 and this post is SOOOOOOO 2010 (maybe even 2009).

But I wanted to give it a shot. I wanted to see what this was all about:

They sell these at Target now.
I got a Kindle because that's where things are going right now. Sure, the days of the dedicated e-reader may already be numbered, but I don't like reading from my phone (too small) and I don't like reading from my computer screen (you can't lie down and read from a desktop computer). So I went with a Kindle because I have no use for an iPad, even though I'm sure they're very cool.

In addition to being a nifty gadget, the Kindle serves a practical purpose for my writing endeavors. It will allow me to see how my self-published works look on a device they're designed to run on.

I dusted off a couple of short stories I still have the rights to and put them up on Smashwords.

The experience was a robust cocktail of easy, mind-numbing, and diabolically frustrating.

I've been contemplating playing around with Smashwords for a while. A few weekends ago, I spent some time developing covers for several of my short stories.

But before I delved into Smashwords, I consulted a few other writers, including Ian Thomas Healy. Mr. Healy and I both had stories in the latest edition of A Thousand Faces. He has several stories up on Smashwords, so I shot him an email on the best way to approach it.

His response:

My best advice for Smashwords is to follow the Nuclear Method they describe in their How-To manual. To wit: Copy the text from your original document into Notepad ...copy the text from that document into a brand new Word/OpenOffice/LibreOffice document. This eliminates ALL formatting. I use the following formatting for my ebooks:

Titles: 14-pt. Bold Times New Roman, centered
Body: 12-pt Times New Roman, 1.5x line spacing, justified, 3/8" indent (use your ruler for this, not tab).
Margins: 1" all around, no headers, no footers.

It seemed simple enough.

I opened my short story "In Memoriam," pasted it into Notepad and then copied that text into a new document in Microsoft Word. I followed the formatting directions from both Ian and the Smashwords style guide.

BOOM!

I uploaded my cover.

BOOM!

I uploaded my Word document.

But we had a problem:

For whatever reason, there were several sections in the text that bounced back and forth between Times New Roman and Courier New.

This. Does. Not. Look. Professional.

My heart sank when I downloaded the Kindle version and saw the difference in text.

I did the Nuclear Method again to strip away all the formatting,

Same problem; the majority of the text was in Times New Roman, some portions appeared in Courier New.

I kept trying.

I kept having the same exact problem.

So I did what any smart person does when confronted with a frustrating technical problem: I consulted Google.

After typing in an exacting search phrase ("Smashwords sucks story in different fonts someone please help me before I smash my face in!"), I found a few forums and then went back to the Smashwords Style Guide.

It seemed, for whatever reason, not all of my text was in the same "Normal" format. When I scrolled through the document, I found a few places where the "Normal" box wasn't highlighted. I selected all the text, set it to normal, and reloaded the file.

The solution seemed so simple, three hours later.
I downloaded the Kindle file with anticipation, hoping that this fifth upload would finally work.

Success!
Confident I'd figured it out, I then went to work on editing and reformatting my short story "The Stuntman." That was, indeed, completely painless.

Now, I'm happy to say I have a couple of stories up on Smashwords:


Next stop: Amazon's Kindle platform!

Writing in Carbonite: A Story in Purgatory

I like a good short story. On occasion, I write a decent one.

Like any other writer, I've been rejected. A lot.

Like any other writer, I've been accepted. A little.

But this afternoon I'm writing about a new experience I'm having with short stories: the hold request.

Let me be clear: this is not a rant. This is not a complaint. This is not a blog post in which I whine about the unfairness of waiting, waiting, and waiting. Complaining about the way publishing works does absolutely no good for writers.

That being said, there is something worse than rejection. It is the impossibility of knowing. On two occasions in the last two weeks, I've received "hold" requests for submissions.

This is not a rejection.

This is not an acceptance.

This is purgatory, as if someone took my story, transported it to Cloud City, and threw it in Ye Olde Carbon Freezing Chamber.

To quote Lando: "You put him in there, it might kill him."

On the plus side, Han eventually got out. Of course, then Jabba tried to kill him.
The hold request, in all honesty, is a good thing. The editor has read my story, deemed it worthy of inclusion in his/her anthology, and asked permission to hold it back.

These are usually handed out early in the submission process for stories turned in well before the deadline.

But it does not guarantee my story will make it.

The other way to look at it: my story is good, but not good enough to garner an enthusiastic, "I'll take it!" from the editor. Some new, shiny story could come along and bump mine out of contention.

The "hold request" will either turn into a story acceptance or become a casualty of a word war.

Until then, I will continue to wait...a writer whose story is in suspended animation, frozen in carbonite.

New Short Story in Progress

I outlined a new short story a couple of weeks ago and started working on it last night.

This one is a different genre for me; it's not sci-fi, it's not superheroic, there's little "fantasy" to it. The story is more straight-up crime fic with influences from The Godfather. And I hope I mean "influenced" and not a complete ripoff of a classic.

The idea for this story came after reading the Mario Puzo's book and re-watching the Godfather movies. I promise there will be no Joey Zasa. Or Andy Garcia.

What it all means, however, is that it's time for an update on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. I wrote for about an hour and a half last night, churning out more than 1,500 words. It's not a banner night, but it is an average one.

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter T

Week four wraps up with the letter "T."

Ah, Twitter. I used to hate it. In fact, I once said if Twitter were a person, I'd punch it in the face. I've mellowed out since then.

This is a tremendous tool any writer should take advantage of. You'll find agents, publishers, and (most importantly) other writers floating around the Twittersphere with links to share, advice to offer, and relationships to forge.

I'm not the world's most effective Twitter user--I only have about 70 or so followers--but I've found some mentors and people to bounce ideas off. I've found new places to submit work, discovered some small publishers I really admire, and interacted with people who share my interests. If you're not on Twitter, you're missing out.

Sign up now! And while you're at it, follow @statomatty!

Thanks for reading...and keep watching the blog! We're gearing up for an EPIC FINAL WEEK of the ABC's of Writing!

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL
O is for OUTLINE
P is for PROTAGONIST
Q is for QUERY LETTER
R is for REJECTION
S is for SUBMISSION

Updates for my updates

Tuesday, I provided some quick updates for some of the writing projects I've been working on. You'll find the original post here.

Ah, but today I have updates for my updates!

It looks like the Live and Let Undead anthology will go to press next month. The cover art is still being worked on, a couple of writers are still doing some deep editing, and the book won't quite be ready by the end of June. My story, "Sparky Save the World," will appear in this one. I'm proud of "Sparky" (like a doting parent, I'm proud of all my kids...er...stories) because the story stretched me a bit. I'd never written a zombie tale before. Now I have.

I only have two stories still out on submission at the moment. One was requested as a "hold" (which means the editors didn't reject it, but haven't accepted it outright--a kind of submission purgatory, if you will). I still hadn't heard about the other.

I can't say that now.

That story is also a "hold," which means it has a good chance of making it into the anthology, but could still be rejected.

So I'll either go two-for-two, one-for-two, or oh-for-two with these stories. When I find out, I'll post it here.

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter S

We are drawing closer and closer to the end of the alphabet. For this Thursday, I proudly present the letter "S."

Hopes and dreams.

Blood and sweat.

That's what a submission represents.

When you've reached this point, you've polished that story/novel/poem into a fine piece of work. You've shown it to others and they've passed judgment on the writing. Maybe you've gone back to the drawing board or done some major tweaking.

Now, you're ready to unleash the work into the wild frontier that is the submission process. Thankfully, every publication has the exact same submission policies (yes, that's a dirty lie). This work you've spent so much time on is now ready to go "out there."

Because it can never get published by anyone until you send it out.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL
O is for OUTLINE
P is for PROTAGONIST
Q is for QUERY LETTER
R is for REJECTION

Reggie Meter Update!

I haven't done one of these in a while because I've been busy with revisions and some side projects. But I'm happy to report that I pounded out more than 3,900 words tonight, putting me comfortably in "Sold-Out Conseco" on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum!

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter R

I suppose the letter "Q" (query letter) goes quite well with our next entry.

The brick wall.

This.

Will.

Happen.

I don't care how great of a writer you are, I don't care what your connections are...any writer who says he or she has never been rejected is a dirty, dirty liar.

Or...they've never sent anything out. EVER.

Stephen King got rejected. J.K. Rowling got rejected. If God himself wrote an action thriller, He'd get a rejection notice.

To be a writer is to be told "NO." You must have a thick skin and be willing to accept that you'll hear "NO" a lot. But for every "NO," send out another story, another query, another article. Because the writers who make it--and this really applies to all professions--are the ones who refuse to stop when they face rejection.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL
O is for OUTLINE
P is for PROTAGONIST
Q is for QUERY LETTER

A couple of quick updates

I've had a good run on submissions for the last few weeks, placing three stories and getting a couple of rejections.

So here's a quick update on where things stand for some of my upcoming works:

Vengeance. This will be part of Static Movement's Serve in Heaven, Reign in Hell anthology. I signed and returned the contract a while ago and believe the book just wrapped up editing and has been sent off. It will be available very soon.

Summary: Calvin Collins is a nobody, a low-level hood with friends in low places--the perfect police informant. Double-crossed by two detectives he foolishly trusted, Calvin gets three bullets in the chest and an all-expenses-paid trip to Hell. There, he faces a choice: a painful, fiery afterlife or the chance to get even. But in order to avenge his death, he must first become Vengeance, a being of pure, dark energy who serves an even darker master.

Gus and Mariel. I signed and returned the contract for this story over the weekend. Editing is in the final stages and we should see this one very soon as part of Library of the Living Dead Press' Attack of the 50-Foot Book anthology.

Summary: Gus, a puffin who spent his whole life in captivity, falls in love with a bird named Mariel who arrives from the outside world. When she is taken away, Gus escapes and stumbles into radioactive goo that transforms him into a towering puffin the size of a building. Determined to reunite with his lost love, he unwittingly unleashes a trail of destruction across the United States.

Sparky Save the World. The contract for this one came this weekend and I have returned it. The table of contents is set, the stories have been edited, and we're waiting on the final cover art before it goes to press. I expect to see the Live and Let Undead anthology before the end of the month.

Summary: Harris and his bomb-sniffing partner Sparky work to stop biological weapons and other dangers from going through the nation's ports. Trained to detect hazardous materials, Sparky--an UNDEAD (UNnaturally DE-evolved Anthropological Degenerate) who used to be human--proves his ultimate worth when confronted with a massive, potentially catastrophic weapons shipment.

And the World Stopped. I did a lot of (electronic) contract signing this weekend! This is for the Told You So anthology of conspiracy stories from Pill Hill Press. Submissions just closed this week, so this will need to go through editing and all that. It will probably be a few months on this one.

Summary: When the world's super-powered heroes and villains suddenly lose their awe-inspiring abilities, Night Wasp gets an unexpected call from the Heroic Legion to investigate. The vigilante's uncompromising effort uncovers a deep, wide-ranging conspiracy reaching to the highest levels and pitting him against his own government.

Harrigan the Magnificent. No contract is signed for this one, although the story has been accepted. This story will likely need some editing, as it's part of a shared universe and the timelines from different stories will have to sync up. Timid Pirate Publishing plans to release this in September.

Summary: Strange psychic messages draw Harrigan to a sinister circus where children disappear in the wake of the grand finale. Determined to save the victims, the luckless antihero confronts the dark mistress behind the behind the plot and stumbles across an unexpected, bittersweet destiny.

Old-Fashioned Police Work. Strange, Weird, and Wonderful accepted this short story, which is due for the Fall 2011 issue. I'll share bylines with a writing buddy of mine, the esteemed R.J. Sullivan. I haven't gotten the contract for this one yet.

Summary: After the police department hires a contingent of super-powered rookies, a veteran officer learns he'll soon be forced into early retirement. As he contemplates his career options, he and the rooks confront a string of robberies that only a little old-fashioned police work can solve.

I currently only have two other projects I'm waiting to hear about. One has been held by the editors, with the submission deadline set for the end of July. I sent the other story back in December, but the editor tells me we'll hear next week about acceptances/rejections.

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter Q

We definitely have our "P's" and "Q's" straight as we continue forward on this journey through the writing alphabet.



Ah, the query letter.

It's like lining yourself up with a billion other kids on the playground for a huge dodgeball game and hoping, praying, begging you get picked for the "good" team. Instead, you wait.

Others get picked ahead of you and your name doesn't get called. Before you know it, everything erupts into a free-for-all and you get a dodgeball right in the kisser.

Such is the game of sending out query letters.

A good query letter can get a bad book noticed; a bad query letter can kill a fantastic read before it ever has a chance. Learn the system, learn to write to it, and your chances, though still slim, will slightly improve.

And of course, there's this lightning rod from the esteemed Marcus Sakey, who says you can get a 75% manuscript request rate just by being awesome.

Still, the query letter remains a necessary evil for those writers seeking representation.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL
O is for OUTLINE
P is for PROTAGONIST

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter P

We enter our fourth week in my ABC's of Writing Series. We stopped at "O" last week, which means this week begins with "P!"

P is for protagonist. Every story must have a hero. That hero doesn't have to be heroic or even particularly likable, but he or she must carry the story. We have to care about them; their thoughts, feelings, well-being. We have to get into their heads. If the story is a car, they are the driver, weaving their way through traffic and running red lights in a frantic effort to reach their destination.

Make us care about them, and we'll care about your story.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL
O is for OUTLINE

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter O

We round out the third week of my ABC's of Writing with the letter "O."

Not every story has an outline and not every writer sketches their stories out in advance. My writing process tends to vacillate between stringent outlining and pure ad-libbery.

For me, the outline is a set of Google Maps driving directions. I know where I'm starting and I know (mostly) where I'm going, but getting there could involve several different routes (of course, Google Maps typically offers a few route alternatives). I don't commit everything that happens in a story or novel to the outline. The pieces fall into place, sometimes in the most unexpected ways.

However, I do tend to include the following in any projects:

1) Character names & short biographical sketches
2) Key settings and locations
3) Prevailing themes
4) "Rules" of the world
5) The ending*

*subject to change based on development of the story

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT
N is for NOVEL

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter N

The letter "N" brings us today's entry in the ABC's of Writing.

The manuscript needs to grow up. It often acts like a child. Playful, naive, ignorant of the ways of the world. But from the very first day the writer writes, the manuscript ages. The process is subtle, but simple ideas grow in complexity. Characters evolve from just names and author's chess pieces into characters. The manuscript's understanding of the world grows until subplots begin to sprout and a prevailing theme reveals itself.

The manuscript is no longer a manuscript; it has evolved, moved past childhood and adolescence and young adulthood.

It has grown up into a Novel.


A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND
M is for MANUSCRIPT

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter M

From the aspirant legend, we move onto something more concrete with the letter "M."

Sculptors have clay and marble. Painters have canvas and brushes. Writers have manuscripts.

Whereas a sculptor or painter can only capture one moment in time for their work, our manuscript is the canvas of everything. New worlds, new people, new legends, new romances. Or they could be old worlds, old people, old legends, and old romances. Our text may employ all of these; it may employ none of them. Our manuscript is shapeless perfection, a sea of opportunity waiting to be navigated in black and white.

Without our manuscripts, there would be no writing. And thus the writer would be nothing.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS
L is for LEGEND

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter L

Our next entry is brought to you by the letter "L."

"L" is for Legend. This isn't a vain declaration of my impending future as a legendary writer. To quote Virgil "the Turk" Sollozzo, "You think too much of me, kid. I am not that clever."

Instead, I write today of legends. Throughout human history, we have turned to legends to explain the unexplainable and share the best and worst of human nature. We've used them to scare the little ones and offer cautionary tales about the foibles of our darker nature. Without these stories, I don't think I would have such a passion for writing today.

Legends stick with you; they shape your understanding of the world. And while I would never call any of my writing legendary, there are certain stories and characters aspiring for a greater purpose.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI
K is for KEYCARDS

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter K

Oh, "K." If I really thought about it, I could've come up with something fabulous for this one.

Instead, "K" is for keycards. It's an obscure in-joke to a post I did back in January on my apparent obsession with keycards (you'll find that here) as a plot device. They are apparently the only security measure I'm comfortable using in my books.

So let's cheer for the keycard! Whether through magnetic strips or computer chips or simple magic, you let us into places we're not supposed to go!

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA
J is for JEDI

Godfather Quotes: from Book to Screen

After doing some book revisions and churning out a short story or two, things have quieted down on the writing front. I'll be getting back to a more regular writing schedule soon, but my brief break gave me the chance to do something I've been meaning to do for years.

I finally read The Godfather.

I didn't see the film until college, when a brilliant friend of mine decided the DVD box set was something I abso-freaking-lutely needed. Man, was she right! After watching all the movies, about a million different TV and movie references finally made sense!

I think I got the box set in 2000 or 2001...which means I finally got around to reading the book a decade later. Mario Puzo's The Godfather is considered a modern classic. What it lacks in subtlety it makes up for in strong characterization and complex plotting. What struck me about the book is the amount of dialogue pulled directly from it and used in the movie. A friend reminded me that this should be an obvious concept, since Mario Puzo collaborated on the screenplay.

Still, the movie follows the book closely in many respects, with the flashback scenes from The Godfather: Part II culled from the pages of Book III of the original work. As with any book-to-movie adaptation, some sacrifices had to be made, such as the subplot involving Sonny's mistress (truly, in the book world, The Godfather: Part III never happened...it couldn't have). Johnny Fontane is a bit player in the movie, but has much more prominence in the novel, including subplots about his return to Hollywood and the introduction of one of Johnny's friends to the Hollywood scene. Al Neri has a very interesting backstory that isn't touched upon in the films; reading the book makes Neri a very compelling character.

Despite these differences, the movie has a lot of dialogue that's word-for-word or close to it, including some of the film's most memorable lines.

"No Sicilian can refuse any request on his daughter's wedding day." In the movie, Tom Hagen mentions this. In the book, it's Michael who says it.

"And if by chance an honest man like yourself should make enemies then they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you." This is very close to the exchange Don Vito Corleone has with Bonasera in the book. The entire Bonasera conversation is an echo of the book. In the movie, of course, it's edited for content and to run in the allotted time.

"A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man." This is a slight alteration from the book, "a man who is not a father to his children can never be a real man."

"I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse." Almost identical to the book, "I'll make him an offer he can't refuse."

"It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes." This is streamlined, for the better, from the novel: "The fish means Luca Brasi is sleeping on the bottom of the ocean. It's an old Sicilian message." The movie version is much more memorable.

McCluskey: "How's the Italian food in this restaurant?"/Sollozzo: "Good. Try the veal. It's the best in the city." I always found it funny that McCluskey, who comes off as a dimwit in the movie, asks how the Italian food is at the Italian restaurant. Their exchange is similar in the book: McCluskey: "Is the Italian food good here?"/Sollozzo: "Try the veal, it's the finest in New York."

"Tattalgia's a pimp. He could've never outfought Santino." This is word-for-word from the book.

"Consigliere of mine, I think it's time you told your Don what everyone seems to know. " A slight variation from the book, after Santino gets killed on the causeway.

"I want no inquiries made. I want no acts of vengeance. I want you to arrange a meeting with the heads of the Five Families. This war stops now." Again, the movie errs on the side of brevity, but makes the same point as the book. The original passage:

"None of you are to concern yourselves with this affair. None of you are to commit any acts of vengeance, none of you are to make any inquiries to track down the murderers of my son without my express command. There will be no further acts of war against the Five Families without my express and personal wish."

"Sure, Mike, I'll do anything for my Godfather. You know that." Johnny Fontane says this to Michael in Vegas. It's directly from the book, with the word "Mike" being moved slightly: "Sure, I'll do anything for my Godfather, you know that, Mike."

"I want you to use all your powers, and all your skills. I don't want his mother to see him this way. Look how they massacred my boy..." The wording from the book is, as is often the case, a bit cluttered: "I want you to use all your powers, all your skill, as you love me. I do not wish his mother to see him as he is. See how they have massacred my son."

Tessio: Can you get me off the hook, Tom? For old times' sake?"/Tom Hagen: "Can't do it, Sally." Pretty much verbatim from the book (although the movie adds in a couple lines of dialogue from Willi Cicci during the exchange, which starts with Tessio complaining that his arrangements are getting messed up).

"Thank you for the dinner and a pleasant evening...Mr Corleone is a man who insists on hearing bad news at once." Taken directly from the book. Much of Woltz's rant about the movie role making Johnny a star is also verbatim, although some is slightly rearranged from the book.

"But I'm a superstitious man. And if some unlucky accident should befall him - If he should get shot in the head by a police officer, or if he should hang himself in his jail cell - or if he's struck by a bolt of lightning, then I'm going to blame some of the people in this room, and that I do not forgive. But, that aside, let me say that I swear, on the souls of my grandchildren, that I will not be the one to break the peace we've made here today." A surprising amount of this exchange during the meeting of the Five Families is right from the book, although the Don's speech is quite a bit longer:

"I am a superstitious man, a ridiculous failing, but I must confess it here. And so if some unlucky accident should befall my youngest son, if some police officer should accidentally shoot him, if he should hang himself in his cell, if new witnesses appear to testify to his guilt, my superstition will make me feel that it was the result of the ill will still borne me by some people here. Let me go further. If my son is struck by a bolt of lightning I will blame some of the people here. If his plane should fall into the sea or his ship sink beneath the waves of the ocean, if he should catch a mortal fever, if his automobile should be struck by a train, such is my superstition that I would blame the ill will felt by people here. Gentlemen, that ill will, that bad luck, I could never forgive. But aside from that let me swear by the souls of my grandchildren that I will never break the peace we have made."

"I think your brain is going soft with all that comedy you are playing with that young girl. Never tell anyone outside the Family what you are thinking again." This is a rearrangement and simplification of the book:

"Santino, never let anyone outside the Family know what you are thinking. Never let them know what you have under your fingernails. I think your brain is going soft from all that comedy you play with that young girl."

And of course, one of the movie's most famous lines, "Leave the gun. Take the cannoli," isn't in the book at all. Depending on which story you believe, Richard Castellano (Clemenza) ad-libbed the line or Mario Puzo/Francis Ford Coppola included it in the screenplay.

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter J

Round Two wraps up with the letter "J."

You didn't think you'd escape from this without a Star Wars reference somewhere, did you? Feel fortunate that I almost lasted two weeks before busting out something Force-related.

Today, I'm talking about the concept of becoming a Jedi.

And by Jedi, I mean Swiss-Army Author. It's not just about writing, my friends. I think most of us realize this. In this day and age, we have to wear so many hats. Writer. Promoter. Social networker. Blogger. Book designer. Layout expert. Editor. Reviewer. Critic.

There are so many opportunities out there today, but we have to have Jedi-like focus and metahuman, Jedi-like skills in order to capitalize. I'm not just talking about self-publishing, either. The days of writing your book, sending it out there, and concentrating solely on the writing are nearly past. So become a Jedi, a Swiss-Army Author.

Yes, focus on the writing. But learn about the business side, play with Photoshop, fiddle with this ebook thing if you're feeling Obi-Wan Kenobi-like. Become your own best editor and toughest critic.

And may the Force be with you.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR
I is for IDEA

On Rejection and the Votto Story Meter

Often, with the bad comes the good. Or the other way around.

I received a rejection for one of my stories on Wednesday. Look, rejections happen. You can't be bitter about them and you can't let them stop you from writing. The first ones I got stung. I thought "they" were rejecting "me." I didn't realize there were opportunities to make my story better. I didn't recognize the writing quirks that stood in my way. You never quite grow numb to rejection, but you do become accustomed to it. To any writers out there feeling discouraged because your story/poem/book/memoir/query/article just got shot down, keep your chin up. Keep writing.

Leonidas didn't give up. You shouldn't either. And it'll probably end better for you anyway.
You know what happens when you keep at it? The next day you get an acceptance email for another story you submitted. That's exactly what happened to me today; I received an email from Pill Hill Press notifying me that my short story "And the World Stopped" made it into their Told You So anthology. To be perfectly honest, I didn't think that one was going to make it. The story is rather lengthy (8,300 words trimmed down from 8,600) and I wasn't sure its superhero vibe would fit in with the antho.

Yet, it made it in and I'm waiting for the contract to firm up the deal.

Here's the summary:

And the World Stopped: When the world's super-powered heroes and villains suddenly lose their awe-inspiring abilities, Night Wasp gets an unexpected call from the Heroic Legion to investigate. The vigilante's uncompromising effort uncovers a deep, wide-ranging conspiracy reaching to the highest levels and pitting him against his own government.

I've updated the "Matt's Short Stories" section to reflect today's news. Even better, I've updated the fabled Votto Story Meter, which now includes Wednesday's rejection and Thursday's redemption.

In real life, Joey Votto is hitting .335.

My ABC's of Writing: Brought to You by the Letter I

We've almost been at it for two weeks, folks! Almost there! For this Thursday, we focus on the letter "I."

The idea.

It sparks something within us. It could be something we see on TV, another book we read, or something we observe in our daily routine. That seed of an idea turns into a concept...which turns into a setting and characters...and eventually, a story. Maybe it's a poem. Maybe it's a comic strip. Maybe it's a painting.

The format isn't important.

What is important is how the idea wraps itself around our mind so tightly, we have no choice but put it out there for others to see.

A is for AGENT
B is for BETA READERS
C is for CRITIQUE GROUP
D is for DESCRIPTION
E is for EDITING
F is for FICTION
G is for GENRE
H is for HUMOR

Background image: Jeff Kubina (via Flickr)