Recent Events and Favorites List

Not too much going on here that's of immediate interest to anyone but me, so I'll write to like I'm writing just to myself so I can enjoy the fact that there's at least an audience of one. Imogene Pass training has tapered, thanks to a broken hubby and lack of self-motivation. But the fact that I have a new Garmin Forerunner has made me very happy and now I'm training on my own just so I can get a look at all that great data after a workout. I'm a geek that way.But the real news (which I've already tweeted, blipped, and facebooked about) is the fact that I finished the first draft of my second novel, Contract of Betrayal. It went so smooth, like warm buttah, compared to my first novel. I still don't have a clue if I'm any kind of good writer, or marketable, which is in some ways more important, but I really do enjoy the feeling of having just created a world out of approximately 8,000 sentences and 90,000 words. It's, as many authors have said, like birthing a child. Don't know how apt that is, and don't wanna find out, but I still get that amazing sense of accomplishment with having created something big with a (quasi) life of its own. The third installment of this series is going to have to wait to be written until I get the first one published, or at least get an agent, as I've got other ideas I want to explore in a novel setting. I say that now, but in truth, it will probably decide on its own when it wants to be written and I will have no choice but to oblige or experience the explosion of my frontal lobe.I am actively looking for an agent now. Writing a query letter has long daunted me, but I'm ready for it, I think. I've had enough time to digest the nuances of the books I've written to be able to talk about them in nuanced ways, cut down into 100-200 word sound bites, instead of getting the shakes at just the idea of trying to talk about my book. This is progress.So that's about it. The blog post title mentions a favorites list, so here it is. A list of my favorite characters in the embarrassingly huge number of movies I've seen (in no particular order).Leads:The Dude – The Big LebowskiRipley – AliensCaptain Malcolm Reynolds – SerenityRiddick – The Chronicles of Riddick/Pitch BlackCarolyn Fry – Pitch BlackMaximus – GladiatorShaun – Shaun of the DeadAlice – Resident EvilOphelia – Pan’s LabyrinthDaniel Plainview – There Will Be BloodKyle Reese – TerminatorSarah Connor – Terminator/T2Alexandria – The FallJohn Constantine - ConstantineAldo Raines - Inglourious BasterdsSelena - 28 Days LaterCharlie Epps - Numb3rsNavar - LadyhawkeVillains:Carter Burke – AliensSarge – DoomThe Terminator – T1The T1000 – T2Captain Vidal – Pan’s LabyrinthColonel Miles Quaritch – AvatarKirill – The Bourne SupremacyDracula – Bram Stoker’s DraculaBrian Gamble – S.W.A.T.Vincent - CollateralThe Jew Hunter - Inglourious BasterdsBounty Hunter Toombs - Chronicles of RiddickBuddies/Secondary:Walter Sopchak - The Big LebowskiDe Jesus - The Big LebowskiHudson – AliensJayne – SerenityZoe – SerenityPantucci – Deep RisingBishop – AliensNewt – AliensHarry Pfarrer – Burn After ReadingChad Feldheimer - Burn After ReadingOsborne Cox - Burn After Reading

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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.

The Trend in Publishing

I have a few friends and acquaintances who've asked me if I've thought about self-publishing or considered putting my books into e-format. There's a genius author and blogger named JA Konrath who writes a suspense/thriller series with maybe the most clever motif for titles I've ever seen: “Whiskey Sour,” “Bloody Mary,” “Rusty Nail,” “Dirty Martini,” “Fuzzy Navel” and “Cherry Bomb.” His genius is the finger he keeps on the pulse of the sea change going in on the publishing industry, most particularly on Amazon and the Kindle. Here's the press release for his newest book and the latest information he's shared involving Amazon's new imprint publishing branch, Amazon Encore. A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Shaken by JA Konrath Press ReleaseI've mentioned to a number of people how the world of publishing is in flux with all the new types of technology being introduced, and basically what it boils down to is: digital is cheap and anyone can do it. With the Kindle, absolutely anyone with a tiny bit of tech-savviness and something written with a word processing program can make their writing available for sale, and set their own price. Seems like a great idea, right? It tempts people to imagine that their writing is just as available to the world as if it were for sale on a shelf in Barnes and Nobles. But the reality is that this is just not true. What publishers offer is marketing, leverage in the industry, and the requisite built-in network to get your name known to everyone and their mothers. You know, things like the New York Times bestseller list, you absolutely don't get there without a publishing house backing you.So when it comes to self-publishing, it's a question of your goals. Do you just want something out there that you can hand to friends and family and say you've got a book in print? Or do you want people to know your name, and give you money?There's that saying that selling one apple for only five cents is still five cents more in your pocket than selling no apples for fifty cents. With so much material now available in e-book format, most of it for pennies, people with readers are like kids in candy stores. Why pay $29.95 for a new hardcover book you might like, when you can pay $1.99, or even nothing, for something else to read until that book comes out on paperback, or even better, Kindle? Most people, especially those who read voraciously, have enough books on their list they want to get through that they have plenty to do until that spendy hardcover is cheaper, or for resale at their local bookstore. The big publishing houses are now trying to figure out how to deal with that, and still make money, and still make the authors money.Amazon may have the solution. With its own proprietary e-reader and its built in consumer base, the marketing practically does itself. With their own publishing branch, people with e-readers can get the books they want for the low price they expect (it costs less than pennies to format an e-book for the Kindle, as opposed to the large print costs to create a traditional book), and those without readers can still get their hardcopy book. It's a win-win for Amazon, and according to JA Konrath, for the author too. This is the trend folks, and Mr. Konrath is proving it.

Impatience

I woke up this morning itching to jump into the novel I'm working. And I do mean itching. The thing needs to get written, and I mean now. Of course I want to get it done, but I've suddenly found more motivation than ever for a very unexpected reason. About two months ago I had the barest outline of a new story I wanted to write pop up in my head while reading an article in Outside Magazine and just started reading the first book I bought on the research last night. This new story is veritably bursting out of my brain cells, which is making it a little like to cats fighting inside my pillowcase in the ole nugget. I have one story getting close to done, and another wanting to be started. Now I know how Zeus must have felt when Athena was hammering away inside his skull.And just to clarify, this is a very high class problem. I'm not complaining.