Archive for The Calling
Testing The Kindle
Posted by: | CommentsI don’t think there’s any question that digital publishing is going to continue to flourish. The success of the Kindle (3.3 million sold already) and The Nook by Barnes & Noble (no sales figures, but in April of this year, The Nook reportedly sold more units than the Kindle) are undeniable. I have no idea which format is going to out last the others (there’s the iPad, as well), but eventually it would be nice to be able to find any book you wanted and download it to whatever device you preferred without any cross platform problems.
Anyway, I’ve started to test the waters a little this week. I began uploading some short stories to The Kindle. I believe six are live now, and three more should be live in the next day or so. Eventually, if it appears to be successful, I’ll go through the same process with The Nook and also begin to upload some novels.
In the meantime, if you’ve got a Kindle and you’re interested, here are the current short stories I’ve uploaded, along with links to each page. They’re priced at .99 cents, so it’s hard to go wrong.
The Calling - The story of an adult son caring for his mother, dying from cancer. The last few days of the struggle, and the inevitable horror at the end. Won a Stoker Award in 1990.
Brothers - A thunderstorm is coming, and it’s going to change Trey’s life. Dane and Trey are twelve-year-old twin brothers. Dane has always been the leader, the stronger of the two, the bravest. Trey has always been the follower, learning what he can from his brother, and doing his best to survive in the world. But things are about to change. And Trey’s entire world will turn upside down.
Dry Whiskey - A son tries to reconnect with his father who gives up drinking after a mysterious accident. Made into a short film by Writer/Director Robert Budreau and Lumanity Productions.
Dwindling - There are mysterious changes going on around twelve-year-old Derrick. First, his sister, Sarah, goes missing. Then other members of his family, one by one. And all the while, a deep and profound sadness has settled over his mother as she wishes she could go back in time and start raising a family all over again.
Ice Sculptures - What begins as a winter retreat to explore various artistic mediums in the high natural environment of Eagle Peak, ends tragically as environmental forces come together in a “revolution of nature.”
A Time To Every Purpose - When Jeremy Taft schedules a meeting with an old childhood acquaintance, it seems he wishes to unburden himself of the guilt from a past tragic event that caused the death of a young schoolmate. But instead, all the unanswered questions from that incident are brought to the surface, and the two men suddenly find themselves as allies, desperately trying to save a girl from the past from a long-ago wrong.
Getting Help Along The Way
Posted by: | CommentsBecause writing can feel like a lonely profession at times, it’s often helpful to connect with other writers whenever the opportunity arises. In fact, I’m currently participating in a small challenge with two other writers who also happen to be my good friends. I haven’t told them I’d like to post about this experience sometime, so I won’t go any further into it for now. But let me say that I’ve found their support and encouragement throughout the challenge to be incredibly helpful.
It’s not the first time I’ve had another writer help me out, and that’s really why I’m writing this post … to thank a writer and editor publicly for his help on a short story I wrote just over twenty years ago.
The story was titled “The Calling.” It was a very personal story that I wrote shortly after my mother’s death after her long battle with ovarian cancer. When I finished writing it, I was exhausted. I had poured more of myself into that story than anything else I’d ever written, and it had been difficult at times.
But I was proud of it, too. Because I shared an experience that many people would consider the ultimate experience … helping a loved one through the finals days of life.
I wasn’t sure if it was going to sell. I knew I was too close to the story to be objective about it. But if it didn’t sell, I knew that just writing it had been important to me.
I sent the story to Thomas F. Monteleone at Borderlands Press, who was putting together the first Borderlands anthology. And a few weeks later I received his response. He liked the story, thought it was powerful, but also thought it fell short at the end. He made a small suggestion on how to correct the problem, and invited me to resubmit the story if I’d like.
When I read Tom’s suggestion a chill rattled through me. He had nailed it perfectly. I hadn’t seen the missing element until he pointed it out, but there it was, right in front of me, and it was so on the mark, so powerful and right. I made the change immediately – I just had to add a couple of lines – sent back the story, and he bought it.
“The Calling” went on to win a Stoker Award that year, and for that I owe my great gratitude to Tom.
He could have read the story and rejected it out right. He could have sent it back and told me to keep working on it, without any hint at its weakness. He could have accepted it as it was and done both me and the Borderlands readers a great disservice.
But Tom is one of the those writer/editors who has a deep respect and passion for the written word. He cares about the stories he writes and he cares about the stories he publishes. I’m very fortunate that story ended up on his desk. Very fortunate.
Like any profession, writing is much easier when you have people like Tom who help you along the way.
And you know what?
I’m not the only one. Tom’s spent his whole career helping other writers.
What a great legacy.
