Breakfast on Monday

Let me make this perfectly clear right from the start: I don't like Monday.  In particular, I never, ever enjoyed Monday morning.  But we've got to feed the bulldog, right?  So here's how to make a typical Monday morning do a U-Turn in heavy traffic.

Not Your Mother's Oatmeal

Some years back I was on vacation and enjoying my brother Bob's hospitality in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.  We'd had a late night and I was feeling my age that morning when Bob announced that he was cooking breakfast.  Bob is actually a good cook, so I had no trepidation until he announced that we'd be having cooked cereal.  Oatmeal never did appeal to me, and cream of wheat is even worse.  I maintain that it tastes like glue, and oatmeal reminds me of being trapped in a hospital and forced to eat hospital food.

R.I.P. Danté

Danté in Jacksonville, FL

My cat, Danté, was euthanized on my order yesterday (Tuesday, 8/18/20) and passed away peacefully at 4:00 PM EST.  He had contracted a serious disease, likely cancer, and his quality of life was declining.  He spent his last night watching television with me in his usual place - on the footrest of my recliner between my feet - until 1:30 AM.  When I turned the TV off, he hopped off and led the way up to bed, where he assumed his customary position on the bed next to me.

Aw Hell

 Like any good writer - scratch that.  Like any idiot you'll find in heavy traffic, I've been ignoring things.  Namely, my blog.  I got a ton of spam when I put it online, and so set the comments to be moderated.  Which, as far as it goes, is not a bad idea.

Unless, of course, the web master forgets to check for messages and as a result nothing ever shows up when it should.  I just now, today, discovered what's been going on - people have been posting, but their efforts don't appear on my blog.  Now, for messages written in Arabic (and there have been a few) that's okay.  But that leaves everyone else.

My deepest apologies to those of you who have thoughtfully left missives and feedback, and never had their message appear.  I'm fixing that situation as of today.

Yours in Embarrassment,

 

WL Emery

Maintenance

Traffic Accident

A good friend of mine, Richard Kurtz, was involved in a traffic accident about two weeks ago.  I thought I might post a few pictures of the cars involved, and the survivor.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all, and best wishes for 2020.  See you next year!

Worthy Reads on Publishing

I've been out of touch for a while, but I'm back.  We'll see how long this lasts.

If you're a writer, at some point in your life you'll try and get someone to publish your work.  I'll tell you in advance that you'll do best if you have the integument of a rhinoceros.  Consider Elderberry Press vs. Random House by that lovable old misanthropic curmudgeon, Fred Reed.

From the article:

Suppose your opus somehow gets to Random House. It will fall into the hands of a first reader, usually a Barnard co-ed with the brains of a trout fly, who likely has never been more that fifty yards from a flush toilet. She will know nothing about America, truck stops, life, or Oklahoma. She will bounce your book.

A somewhat different outlook can be found on Dan Klefstad's blog.  Scroll down to the post “Embrace Rejection” Speech to Writing Students.  It's a somewhat lengthy article, but it's worth reading.

From the article:

I think we should all prepare ourselves for an industry that is structured to say No to your work. That’s the default. Your job is to be so brilliant you force publishers and agents to flip the switch when they encounter your words.

I’ve published many times, but I’ve also been rejected hundreds of times.

You write something, you submit it to a publisher. Pick a publication you aspire to be in or an agent you want to represent you. Then pick several more. Write, submit – don’t even wait for the replies because those take weeks. Write, submit, and embrace the “No thanks” emails when they start coming in.

And remember: The publishing industry has No as its default. Even after you get a good edit, the gatekeepers who are flooded with manuscripts will try to find a reason to keep you out. Dare them to. Because content is subjective and if they don’t like your work now, they might like it later. Or another publisher might take a chance with you.

It’s worth pausing for a moment and reflecting on all the times publishers got it wrong. They said No to authors who’d go on to be blockbusters. JK Rowling’s Harry Potter pitch was rejected a dozen times. John Grisham’s first novel, A Time to Kill, got 24 rejections. Stephen King rejected himself initially — He threw out the first chapters to, Carrie. Fortunately, his wife fished the crumpled pages out of the garbage and made him finish it, which he did. Then it got thirty rejections. The list goes on and on, so I’m guessing several people here could – eventually – land a major contract or get into a prestigious journal. You just have to keep trying [emphasis mine - WLE].

In support of this philosophy, here's a link to ten bestsellers that were rejected multiple times before finally being published.  I wonder how many first readers got fired over their decision to reject the work.

10 Best-Selling Books That Were Originally Rejected

My only other observation comes from Stephen King, who stated that if an author isn't reading, he should be writing.  I agree, and so it's back to work for me.