Author, author!

Well, after nearly a six year hiatus, I'm officially writing again. At least, I'm editing that dusty manuscript that's been lurking somewhere on my hard drive. I managed to get the thing printed so that I could read through it without hunching at my computer for hours, and I've been going over it with my favorite pencils...red for new stuff, green for 'delete', and blue for 'move this paragraph over here'.

See, I started this story way back in '95 or '96. It's a swords-and-sorcery tale, and I can easily recall what prompted me to write. I was living in Lake Jackson at the time, working at one of the many local chemical plants. I've always loved to read, and I had just finished reading a great trilogy by someone or other, and was looking for a new author to read. I wandered over to the nearest bookstore and spied a ton of books by a particular author. If I liked his work, I figured I'd have lots to read, so I chose the first trilogy he had published. Optimistic, as always.
I finished the first book, and was pretty disappointed. I'd paid good money for that book, and it just left a bad taste in my mouth. The story seemed to drag on and on, and nothing was really resolved to my satisfaction. Nevertheless, I picked up the second book, reasoning that it would probably answer some questions, and that the story might suddenly get better. I'm sorry to say that it did not.

I remember standing up in my slanted little duplex (the floor did, indeed, slant slightly eastwards), slamming that second book on the ground, pointing a finger at the sky and saying aloud, 'I can write better than THAT guy.' I walked over to my computer, booted it up, and got to work. And it was a blast!

I've always enjoyed writing. Somewhere, I still have some silly stories that I wrote purely to amuse myself when I was 9 or 10 years old. As my little world came to life on the page, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the process. This was the first time that I had ever attempted anything longer than a short story, and at first, the task was daunting. But stuff kept happening to my characters, and there always seemed to be more to write. Sometimes, I'd look up from the keyboard, only to discover that it was 2am...just a few hours before I was due back at work. I found myself jotting notes down at work, at lunch, between classes at the martial arts school, wherever an idea struck me. Slowly, the characters took shape, the plot revealed itself, and everything started to come together.

Now, I'm no McKiernan, Tolkien, or Fiest. I have no illusions in regards to my writing ability. I am most decidedly not a literary genius of any sort. But I can string words together passably well, and I feel that I have some cool stories rattling around in my noggin. I'd like to get those stories out of there and see if anyone might enjoy them.

Honestly, sometimes I'll see a picture, or hear a snippet of conversation, or read something that makes me ask myself a question. From there, sometimes, a story emerges. It's kind of cool.
Back when I first started this particular story, I loved asking my friends, family, and coworkers to read my latest chapters. Any of those folks who're reading this now, thanks for tolerating my youthful enthusiasm back then...I know I was like a hyperactive puppy, just dying for approval. One fellow at work agreed to read some of my work. We had been trading fantasy novels for a while, and I was glad to have his opinion. He handed it back to me with the comment,'I didn't really know what to expect...I thought it would be like something a third grader would write, but this is really good!' A third grader? Hmmm. I thanked him for the compliment, but I still wonder why he would have thought that it would be so bad? Ah well. As I said, I'm no literary giant. I'm just an optimistic guy, working on a story because I enjoy it and hoping that some literary agency will give me a chance.

So a couple of days ago, I idly seached the 'net for literary agencies. Back in 2000, I had finished the first manuscript and set about looking for an agent, via query letters and emails. I got some favorable responses, and actually got accepted by an agent who has since been listed several times on various 'Do Not Use This Agent' lists. I was thrilled to have a REAL LITERARY AGENT be interested in my work! Of course, I got billed each month for submission materials and postage, and got several 'no's', so I finally dropped him. This time around, I decided to follow the advice of Mr. McKiernan, who said that 'money should always flow TO the author. Agents should only get paid if they sell your stuff.' So I found a literary agency that I had not queried back in 2000, and I liked what I saw on their website. They even had an online query form. I filled it out, and went back to work on my second chapter edits.

Holy crap, they wrote me back the next day! It was, of course, a form letter. But it was a form letter requesting 3-5 chapters of my manuscript! I stayed up until 2am last night getting those first five chapters edited to my satisfaction, and sent it off before staggering back to bed. Again, I have no illusions here. I doubt that I'm going to get a phone call from a frantic agent in New York, begging to Show Me the Money!!! But I think I've at least got a chance. Wish me luck.

Oh, and I'm still working on my taxes. Are goldfish deductible?