Month: October 2018

Second Manuscript Slump

I received confirmation this week my publisher will not publish my second manuscript. The story is a medieval fantasy story about a prince and his entourage traveling across the land to meet his princess bride. It’s a fun story, with death and kidnapping thrown into the mix. It also gives me a whole new world to explore. I already have ideas for more stories in this world. But, they will have to wait. I’m okay with that. The delay gives me time to develop the religions in this made-up world and clarify the history. I plan on writing the next story in this series and outline the third one before shopping the whole thing to another publisher.

In the meantime, I started another historical fiction story. The main character of this story is Peggy, from Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure. As already mentioned in my first book, Peggy is from West Virginia. She was in Hartford, Connecticut, for the tragic circus fire. She had her one of her legs amputated after falling from the trapeze. She joined a two-bit circus outfit after that and made her way to Bill’s. The story I’m working on now fills in all the gaps of her life. An added bonus, toward the end of this story, she’ll be at the Cajun House of Pleasure training Octavius the alligator. Revisiting the bayou will be great.

A writer’s work is never done. I have more stories to write and share with you. And there are more events to attend. Several members of my Fiction Forge critique group are going to the Tulsa Night Writer’s Craft of Writing conference on November 3, 2018. It’ll be at the Martin Regional Library. I won’t have a table set up, but I’ll bring some books just in case. Hope to see you there.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book is open on my Kindle. I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read a variety of authors and topics. Currently, I’m reading Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series. I’m on the sixteenth book The Heretic’s Apprentice.

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is available on Amazon, as an eBook, and in physical formats. It is also available on the Barnes and Noble website.

Weekend Networking

Last Saturday, my parents and I were in Scott, Arkansas, for the High Cotton on the Bayou Festival. The festival was held at the Scott Settlement, a collection of almost two dozen buildings on a football-sized field. It was in the high 80s that day, and that may have contributed to the low turnout. I still made some book sales, but I feel if the weather had been cooler, a lot more people would have come and out and enjoy the event. I found out about this event by attending the Arkansas Writers Conference in June. It was a fun event, and I encourage you to attend the festival next year.

Yesterday, I attended the Ozark Creative Writers Conference in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. This event was indoors at the Best Western Inn of the Ozarks. This was good because it was an overcast and rainy day. Tess Gerritsen was the keynote speaker. She wrote the Rizzoli and Isle series that TNT bought and made into a series. I enjoyed the day and catching up with my fellow authors.

Next month, on the third, I, and several members of my critique group from the Springdale Public Library will be attending the Tulsa NightWriter’s Club Craft of Writing Conference. I’m looking forward to attending this event with a great group of friends. An added bonus, this event is free.

Part of being a successful author is your ability to network. It was because of networking I went to the Ozark Creative Writer’s Conference. I hope to expand my network in Tulsa next month. Don’t overlook networking as you grow your career.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book is open on my Kindle. I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read a variety of authors and topics. Currently, I’m reading Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series. I should finish up The Confession of Brother Haluin this week.

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is available on Amazon, as an eBook, and in physical formats. It is also available on the Barnes and Noble website.