In today’s Journal
* Quote of the Day
* Life rolls happen
* Hey Media, shut up already
* Be Sure to Check “Of Interest”
* Yesterday
* Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Quote of the Day
“Even the pandemic flu of 1918 only killed one to two percent of the people who were infected.” Anthony Fauci, via The Passive Voice
Life rolls happen. I’ll be headed out of town tomorrow morning (Friday) for up to a few days. How fortunate am I, to be able to love my day job and take it with me?
Thanks to eerie events in my current novel, I only hope aliens don’t land in force while I’m gone.
Not that the media would notice if they did. Sigh. I’m sick of hearing about COVID-19, dubbed “the” coronavirus (it’s “a” coronavirus, one of many) by the mainstream media. But wishing the media would be responsible is a loosing proposition, especially in an election year.
As a novelist, though, I do have to admit it’s amusing to watch people go nuts over something they can’t control (beyond, you know, washing their hands.) Along with toilet paper (???) disappearing from store shelves, sales of Stephen King’s 1978 masterpiece The Stand are way up at the moment.
Be sure to check “Of Interest” today. There are several really good articles, some about writing, some about distributors, etc. I recommend you don’t miss it.
Had a great mentoring session with my local student yesterday, and a great writers’ chat on Marketing, Websites, and other things. It was a good time that really sped by.
When I got back to the house, I could easily have added to the novel, but I figure I’d wait and start again this morning. Instead, I decided to spend some time setting up a reverse outline.
I didn’t do a reverse outline at all for the SF novel I wrote in February (just didn’t ever feel the need). But this one is not only “a” novel, it’s also “the” genesis novel for what I expect to be a big series. So a reverse outline is important for this one, and to feed the series bible.
That took only about an hour, but I felt like I’d accomplished a ton.
Today, I thought I might post a topic, but it’s not gonna happen. I’m going to write on tne novel, then go pack my crap for the trip. But I’ve linked to a topic on my author website in “Of Interest” below.
And I have a short story due on Saturday. I’ll probably write that in the morning before I head out. Or tomorrow night.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “Subsidiary Rights – Wrong!” at https://prowriterswriting.com/subsidiary-rights-wrong/.
See “Finished a Novel” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/finished-a-novel/. A very short mini-process post.
See “Business Musings: Traditional Publishing Stupidity” at https://kriswrites.com/2020/03/11/business-musings-traditional-publishing-stupidity/.
See “Readers Binge On Books About Pandemics (Really)” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/readers-binge-on-books-about-pandemics-really/.
See “Between Books” at https://stevenpressfield.com/2020/03/between-books/. FWIW.
See “Book Promotion: Do This, Not That – BookBub” at https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2020/03/book-promotion-do-this-not-that-bookbub/.
See “The First Detective Story” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/03/the-first-detective-story.html.
See “Why small presses matter” at https://www.thepassivevoice.com/why-small-presses-matter/.
See “How to Know When Your Work is Ready to Submit” at https://www.authorspublish.com/how-to-know-when-your-work-is-ready-to-submit/. Grain of salt. Note that cycling greatly reduces the chance your novel won’t be “complete” while preserving your unique, individual authorial voice.
See “StreetLib Write ebook and POD editing and formatting tool re-launched with great new features” at https://medium.com/streetlib/press-release-streetlib-write-ebook-and-pod-editing-and-formatting-tool-re-launched-with-great-e65335475c75. Note: StreetLib is an aggregator, like D2D and Smashwords. Something to look into.
See “Character, Setting, and Grounding the Reader” at https://harveystanbrough.com/pro-writers/character-setting-and-grounding-the-reader/.
The Numbers
Fiction words today…………………… 3053
Nonfiction words today…………… 560 (Journal)
Writing of The Othgygnrkthers (tentative title, novel)
Day 1…… 3863 words. Total words to date…… 3863
Day 2…… 2408 words. Total words to date…… 6261
Day 3…… 3116 words. Total words to date…… 9377
Day 4…… 3051 words. Total words to date…… 12428
Day 5…… 3285 words. Total words to date…… 15713
Day 6…… 2486 words. Total words to date…… 18199
Day 7…… 2365 words. Total words to date…… 20564
Day 8…… 3053 words. Total words to date…… 23617
Total fiction words for the month……… 29557
Total fiction words for the year………… 166252
Total nonfiction words for the month… 12640
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 67120
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 233372
Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 3
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 6
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 48
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 202
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31
I’m definitely with you in wishing the news media would be more responsible (and HONEST) in their reporting, instead of sensationalizing the issue and taking advantage of the gullibility of so many with mindless fear-mongering. All the more reason to avoid the news, imo, especially when it comes from one of the major networks.
Yep. I haven’t watched network news since mid-2008. But today, you can’t avoid witnessing the unreasoning panic over “the” coronavirus because everyone’s going so nutso. All sorts of cancellations, major sports leagues suspending their season, etc. etc. ad nauseam. The media and those who own them have done their evil job well.