Cake or Death? Yet Another Author Appearance

Author K S Brooks at the Library FundraiserThat’s pretty much how I feel each time I’m invited to do an event. Cake?: staying home in my hermit writer’s cave, glued to my WIPs, email and social networking. Death?: going to an event which makes me feel like I’m basically on display at the author zoo.

We’ve been through this – you know you have to do the event. (See my post here.) Sure, it blows half the day getting your stuff together, having the ghost of Leona Helmsley do your make-up, and dressing up like a monkey. Okay, maybe that wasn’t you. But you get the picture.

If you live on a dirt road, you don’t want to lean up against the car in your black pants. You also don’t want anyone to see that those same pants are covered in white dog fur. But you weren’t anywhere near the dog…doesn’t matter. Static electricity attracted every piece of loose fur in the house onto your pants. You are so static-charged that you could power the Las Vegas strip for an evening.

Then you get to the event during set-up time. You immediately realize that despite the fact it’s an evening event at the Country Club – it’s not formal. And, in your fitted suit, not only do you feel grossly overdressed, you’re now overheating because it’s hot as hell. You’re wishing you’d brought a change of clothes – and not for those reasons – but because the Country Club carpeting is stepping up the static in your pants and they are now clinging to you in a revealing manner from your ankles to your…well, you know. You’re afraid if you touch anything that not only could you cause a power outage, you might even spontaneously combust. Continue reading “Cake or Death? Yet Another Author Appearance”

How To Write a Novel

Welcome to The Learning Curve. As a new writer I expect to make mistakes. My job is to show you these mistakes so that you can avoid them yourself.

How To Write a Novel

Originally I thought this would be the shortest blog post in history, or at least for this column. Sadly though, Stephen Hise, the Evil Mastermind at Indies Unlimited, would not let me get away with it. My first attempt at this post was a crack at anti-verbosity. It was succinct and to the point. Before I expand on that post however, let me share it with you in its entirety.

How to write a novel: One word at a time.

That’s it. You can keep reading of course, but that’s my monthly post for The Learning Curve in a nutshell. All great novels throughout history were written one word at a time. Then again, so were the worst. Continue reading “How To Write a Novel”

Self Publishing Is Not Out of Control by Richard Brawer

Author RIchard Brawer
Author Richard Brawer

I recently read a blog titled: “9 Reasons Self Publishing Is Out of Control.”

I responded with the following:

The same thing can be said about blogs. You have to take into consideration that people like to express themselves, and self publishing and blogging has given them a voice.

I am an avid reader. Before small presses and self publishing the only books we could read were the ones the big publishers “chose” for us to read. I’m sure you’ll agree that some of them were pretty bad, just like the author of the article says that some self published books are bad. Continue reading “Self Publishing Is Not Out of Control by Richard Brawer”

Meet the Author: Alex Canton – Dutari

Alex Canton-Dutari

[This is a golden oldie—it ran on Indies Unlimited back on October 9, 2011.]

Author Alex Canton-Dutari (Alejandro Cantón-Dutari) was born in the Republic of Panama in 1944, where he still resides. He holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology and worked in the field of clinical sexology from 1967 to 2006.  Though retired from clinical practice, his grandson, Dieguito insists he is not retired because,  “Abuelito, you write books.”

Alex is a widower with three boys and four grandchildren.  He describes himself as  a humanitarian by belief and actions, and stays interested in world affairs.

He is a prolific indie author who has published short novels, a textbook on sex therapy, two self-help books on sexual orientation and many scientific articles. He is not the kind of man who’ll be nervous or put off by the fact that this interview may be read by upwards of a dozen people. Continue reading “Meet the Author: Alex Canton – Dutari”