We all got it comin', kid

Name that line!
If you answered, Clint "The Main Man" Eastwood from Unforgiven, then you'd be right. That's one of those movies I always have to watch whenever it's on. I was about to go to bed and I caught it right in the sweet spot, where William Munny and The Schofield Kid kill Quick Mike in the shithouse. That's right before the speech containing tonight's line of dialogue and before the shootout finale which I think is still one of the most captivating gunfights ever filmed. Can you tell I like this movie?

I used to be the same way with Tombstone. I love that movie in so many ways, despite the cheesy Billy Zane moments. Unfortunately, there was a stretch where I couldn't flip through the channels without seeing it on one or sometimes several different movie networks. After a few months of such repeat business, it wore me down and I got a little sick of it. Needless to say, that didn't last too long. Even so, it didn't feel right to turn away from Tombstone at all.

My newest Compton is coming out in a bit. April 7th to be exact. I was at a bookstore today and saw a good number of my books on the shelf. That never gets old, to be sure, but a professional writer needs to always think about the NEXT book. That's the problem with not having a day job. It's a blessing to do this for a living, but I don't have the luxury of sitting back and savoring every little nuance. I need to make sure the books are out there and then I need to write some more. Such is the business. That said, I will still pick up that new Compton in April, smile down at it, and make sure it's facing out on the shelf just like all my other babies. Yeah, the bookstore employees just love it when I do that. To anyone reading this, be sure to keep up the tradition!

New Year '09

Taking a breather for New Year's Day. Haven't decided if I'll take the full day off or not, but I'll definitely take it easy. The wife and I didn't really do much for New Year's Eve. Usually, we really don't do a lot. Just sit at home with a bunch of junk-food type appetisers, pig out and watch movies. To be honest, it's pretty great. I'm not a real party animal, so it's nice to do something I enjoy instead of something I feel like I HAVE TO do because it's New Year's Eve. It may sound lame, but it was fun.

In a few weeks, publishers will be back from vacation and getting back to work. That's when the fun starts. Getting a book contract rolling is hard enough under regular circumstances, but now that everyone's cutting back it's even more difficult. That's just the way it goes. Unless you're a big-time, amazingly popular author who calls his / her own shots, you need to pester (but not too much) and hope for the best. I've got plans for the next Boot Hill and Accomplice. My editors like both series, but now I've gotta wait for the higher-ups to get their ducks in a row. Persistence pays off and I'll let you know once I get some definite dates and such. I've also got plans for a new series, which would be a lot of fun to do. Again, lots of interest, but the wheels grind slowly.

That's about it from this end. Hope everyone had a great holiday and has an even better 2009.

5 Stages of Waiting

Here’s another process that’s very important to being a professional writer: Waiting.
You come up with your ideas, write them and edit to hit some deadline or a window of opportunity for submitting it somewhere. That’s a whirlwind of work, creation and refinement also known as “the good stuff”. The waiting comes when you must deal with the rest of the world.

And I’m not referring to those fortunate writers who submit something and have to wait through a whole weekend or two before they get their deal. That’s great if it happens, but it’s not the norm. It’s more like earning your salary by winning the lottery. And that’s nothing against the talent of those quick-dealers. The whole system is generally very slow and any writer will tell you that you have to wait for any results whatsoever. Wait a LOT.

While I’m waiting to hear back from submissions, I’ve found I go through some pretty basic stages. These held up when I waited to get a short story published in a small press magazine, to get an agent, and now to get a book (or series) published. Maybe some of this seems familiar to some other writers out there. For those of you new to the craft, it’s something to look forward to. After all, in the immortal words of GI Joe, “Knowing is half the battle”. And if you’re one of those folks who got your huge contract in less than eight months, good for you. I do hate you, though.

Stage 1: Denial – “This time it’ll be different! I’ll send it in and the first person who’s lucky enough to read it will trip all over themselves to give me a deal! I’d better be ready for the landslide that’ll follow this one. Should I subscribe to Publisher’s Weekly so I can read the awesome news before it hits the news stands?”

Stage 2: Bargaining – “Come on! It’s been what, three weeks? I haven’t heard anything so that’s gotta be good. That editor must be wondering if I can truly handle following through on the amazing idea I showed them in that proposal. I can handle it! I swear, if I get my chance with this, I’ll run with it! I’ll RUN like the WIND!! Who am I talking to? It doesn’t matter. The forces of good will carry my desire and happy thoughts to where they need to be. I can’t doubt for one moment that this is gonna happen or I’ll jinx it. Oh, shit! Did I just jinx it? No. I can DO THIS!!!”

Stage 3: Anger – “Damn it! It’s been three months!! Freaking editors are always on vacation. Freaking system doesn’t even move. What the hell is going on out there?! I should stomp into whatever break room they’re using to suck down their coffee and show them my GENIUS!!!! This is ridiculous! If I had the crappiest office job imaginable I’d never have to wait this long to get results from handing something in! I crank out more starlight from my printer and they take a month off for ONE HOLIDAY!!”

Stage 4: Depression – “It’s been over six months. I’m not gonna hear anything. Honestly, what did I expect? Those editors have either tossed my submission away like the garbage it is or they’re laughing at it. I think that telemarketing firm is hiring. Maybe I’ll try that.”

Stage 5: Acceptance – “Eh, screw it. I did the best I could, so I just need to wait for something to happen. There’s not much else for me to do. Actually, I’ve got an idea for something else. Maybe I’ll try that.”

Unfortunately for my wife and anyone else who has to deal with me (a big sorry goes out to my agent who still returns my calls and answers emails from every one of these stages), I may go through this cycle several times while waiting for one submission. If this sounds familiar to anyone out there, at least I’m not alone. That’s the problem with not working in an office. I don’t get to gripe to fellow co-workers.

As far as waiting goes, the simple truth is that you gotta do it whether you go through these stages or any other sort of ritualistic torture. Cry, whine, howl, work, shrug, it doesn’t matter. In the end, you’ll still be waiting. Of course, every so often, the waiting is worth it. And when it is. . .it’s REALLY worth it.

Still kickin'

Yes, I’m still alive. Just taking some time to put together a bunch of different projects. Writing professionally is tricky enough. It gets REALLY tricky when you don’t have another (dreaded) day job. Not all regular jobs have to be tedious and mind-numbing. Lots of authors are also teachers or lawyers. I’m not fortunate enough to be quite so smart. I write and write some more.

Writing for a living is a constant hustle. For those who’ve read my ACCOMPLICE books, you’ll know Doc and Caleb make their money in a lot of different ways besides sitting at a poker table and giving suckers…I mean other players…a hard time. For me, I’ve got projects in other genres like horror and fantasy to go along with my western stuff. Do I like some genres more than others? Sometimes, but it changes. Variety and all that.

Here’s where all the risk and uncertainty of a writer’s life pays off. Hustle enough and you can move along doing what you love. Like Doc, we get to leave our day jobs behind and forge a trail of our own choosing. I don’t get to carry pistols and get into saloon fights, so I’ll take my comparisons to Doc wherever I can get them. There’s a lot of more surefire ways to make a buck, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. As a lot of writers will tell you, any money you get from selling your work feels like a victory. And in the words of Fast Eddie Felson, “Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.”

Random Stupidness

Yeah, I know stupidness isn't a word...or is it?

I was just going over some preliminary edits for my next Compton book and it got me thinking about dumb typos that I constantly make. Every writer's got at least one or two. For example, I don't know why but I often type "furture" when I mean to type "future". I think my brain is just zipping ahead to the end of the word while I'm still typing the beginning. Either that, or I've got a screw loose.

Another good one that an editor pointed out is my insistence on writing "in tact" instead of "intact". It's one word, idiot!!!!!

One more is my over-use of the "...". I do that one a lot...or do I?

Ahhhhhhhh....

That’s the contented sigh I let out when a completed manuscript is dropped off at the Post Office. I just finished my newest Ralph Compton book and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. There’s still a few editing phases to go through, but this part’s done and, even better, it’s done ON TIME!

Reports are coming in from the Western Writer’s convention and it sounds like it was a good time. Lots of good folks showed up, but only a few editors were among them. This harkens back to the dry spell I wrote about a few posts back. As I said back then, the market ebbs and flows. So long as good stuff keeps getting written, things will come around eventually.

It’s hot here on the prairie, but at least it’s not sopping wet like it is in Missouri. My Mom lives in the thick of all that, but she’s tough and is doing as well as can be expected. Even so, I’m sure I’ll be headed down there as soon as she needs a helping hand. That’s why I’ve got the ol’ laptop. It may not be one of those new, slim models, but it gets the job done. Actually, by computer standards, my laptop is a brick. All I need it for is to work on Word documents, and even a brick can handle that.

Dry spell

Seems like there's been a bit of a dry spell where westerns are concerned. It's a good news / bad news sort of thing, though. The bad news is that there really aren't any good western movies or TV shows out right now (reruns don't count). Publishers are getting reluctant to start up anything new and the western sections in a lot of bookstores are dwindling down to the ol' reliables like tried and true series, L'Amour and such. The good news is that this just happens every now and then in this business. Westerns rise and fall in popularity, much like other genres such as horror and private eye fiction. It's a cycle, which means it'll be on the upswing before too long.

Of course I don't mean that westerns are drying up or dead. They're just in a lull. Personally, I think it's funny when anyone says that westerns or any of those other genres are dead (especially funny when they say horror is dead, but that's just irony...or a pun). I've heard this stuff from readers, writers, editors and publishers. Some time goes by, then those same people say the genres are being revitalized by some new movie or something else. Now, it could be that movie or just the mood of readers in general that brings a genre up or lets it fall. Whatever causes it, those peaks and valleys happen. I've written in a good number of other genres and they're all affected by these things to some degree.

There's still work to be done and stories to be written. When readers get tired of a genre, maybe writers should try to put another twist on it or do something a little different. If something's stagnating, shake it up! It doesn't have to be revolutionary, but get out of the rut. Otherwise, you just need to stockpile some stories and wait for the mood to change on its own. Then again, the publishers don't help matters when they are reluctant to buy anything too far outside of their lines. It's the old story of trying something new vs. going with something that's more likely to sell.

Eh, this is why I don't like talking about the business part of what I do. Writers write and publishers do the business end. Some writers are real good at the business angle, but I hate it. I just want to write and write some more. Dry spells come along and sometimes they cause writers to hang up their pens. It's the stuff that drives a lot of writers to the ol' whiskey bottle. Then again, if we tough it through the valleys and make it to another peak, we get paid to do what we love. It's not an easy job, but it's a rewarding one.

Fortunately, I've still got work to do so I'd better get back to it. I've settled on a new title for that Compton book: Outlaw's Reckoning. I like the sound of it.

What's in a title?

Actually, a lot.

Usually, I come up with a title before I start a project or get one not long after I'm into it. I like my titles to have some meaning and reference something in particular as opposed to something that just sounds cool without being specific to the story. I like there to be that moment when someone's reading that they go, "Oh, that's where the title came from." It's a dumb little thing, but I always think about it. I've done my fair share of ghostwriting for other series and get sick of stuff like, "______ River Vengeance" or "Hellfire on the _____ Trail". Just fill in the blanks and you've got about six dozen different books in a dozen other series.

I don't always get to use my own titles, which can throw me off. THE MAN FROM BOOT HILL wasn't my original title for the series. I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me and I like it just fine now.

Some titles are happy accidents, like NO ANGELS FOR OUTLAWS. That one just came out as dialogue from Nick's father and I instantly knew that had to be the title for the next one.

Some titles can be somewhat generic, but still very cool and appropriate for the book. The reason I'm bringing all of this up is because I'm trying to think of a title for the next Compton and am having some trouble. I had an original title in mind, but that got shot down. It's fine, because I wasn't too crazy about it anyway. The problem is that nothing else is coming to mind. Oh well. I'll think of something. Times like this, it's always good to just keep chuggin' along and wait for that title to hit you. It will hit you. If little creative things don't hit writers every now and then, they shouldn't really be writers.