It's coming down to the wire

Matthew the editor is finally working on the last four pieces of the Bonbons collection. I should have something back from him in a couple of weeks. I'll implement the changes and post the whole busines on the http://www.bonbonsandbitterpills.com/ site.

Trial Balloons

Okay. The stories are done. Complete. Finished. I've started to email them to people I trust to read and give me their take on what they got out of the story in question. So far the reviews have been very positive with people asking to read more of my stuff. Now if only a paying editor, or an agent would come across my prose, I'd be laughing.

Enough is enough already

Ok that's it! I've had enough of editing for the rest of my life. I was working on a couple of stories, doing a copy edit. I changed a word here, deleted a phrase there, and rewrote a sentence or two when it hit me. I could go on like this forever and never be done. I decided to let the stories stand as they are. I mean enough already!

Don't You Just Hate it When....

Don't you just hate it when just as  you think you're finished with a project  you find more to do. Now I love writing, it feels like it's the right thing for me to do, but implementing my editor's suggestions is tiring. I've been working on this collection of stories for two years. I've pared it down to 10. But even at that number the work is almost overwhelming. Four more to go, as in four more stories to edit. I've been living with them for a while and I just want them done and posted online. Is that too much to ask?

More on editors

I've tried several editors from the Editors Association of Canada web site. They all seem very nice, but pricey. I lucked into my editor in this way. He's local so we can meet and just chew the fat about my writing and where particular stories are heading, versus where I want them to go. We've got a great rapport. Although he's not cheap, I wouldn't trade him in for the world. He has helped bring my writing to a higher level. And I swear he has ESP: not a bad thing for an editor to have. So if you come across someone like this in your editor search, hang on to him/her for dear life. Your writing will flourish.

Editors

Editors are really just like any other people, with one exception: they're psychic. How else can I explain their intuitive sense of what an author's story really means on a deeper level. That kind of psychic I can handle. On another note, what ever happened to The Amazing Kreskin? Maybe he turned to editing.

There! I'm done.

I have finally finished the unedited collection of short stories that make up "Bonbons and Bitter Pills". Also my official copyright document from the Canadian Intellectual Property Office came in the mail so it's now officially registered.

All that remains is for me to put  a fire under my editor's behind to get him working at a faster pace in editing my works. Yes he's a busy man, but so am I and I have deadlines to meet in order to get Bonbons up and running on the internet. That should be fun and hopefully it will generate a dollar or two.

Here's hoping!

It's in the Works

Posting my short stories and the novella will be happening in the next month. I just have to take out Copyright with CIPO and I'll be all set with content for the Bonbons and Bitter Pills web site (http://www.bonbonsandbitterpills.com/). Hopefully that won't be too onerous a task: just need to convert files to PDF, upload to the site and there I go.

Wish  me luck.

A Cure for Writer's Block

I've been trying with varying degrees of success to work on the 10th, and final, story in the Bonbons and Bitter Pills collection. It has been a hell of a battle, because the creative juices refuse to flow. However, I think I have it beat. I just start writing about anything to get my muse's attention and then switch to the story I'm actually working on. Fifteen pages later I think I have something good happening. It's about half-way done so let's hope this free writing method of approaching the story continues to work.

Writer's Block

It's not funny when writer's block smacks you upside the head. You can do anything and everything that you normally do, except write. You sit in front of the computer and you draw a blank. I hate it when that happens and it's happening now. I take solace in the fact that yesterday was an extremely productive day in that I got reams of pages complete as first draft material. I'm quite pleased with that, but today is a bit disappointing. I'll do some writing exercises, perhaps they'll loosen things up a bit. Yes I'll do that now.

A work in progress

The name of this blog, "Bonbons and Bitter Pills" comes from a collection of vignettes, short stories, and novella of the same name.

It is close to completion and will be posted on http://www.bonbonsandbitterpills.com/  All of the stories will be for sale on a per word basis. That is a 1800-word vignette will cost less than a 2800-word short story or a 16,000-word novella. The collection will also be sold as a whole.

The subject matter can be described as reality-based fiction dealing with the sometimes extraordinary lives of perfectly ordinary people. Some will be sweet and silly - hence the "Bonbon" in the title - and some will be bitter and sad - hence the "Bitter Pills" in the title.

I have nine completed pieces varying in length from 1,800 to 16,500 words. A tenth piece is in the process of being written. Once all of the pieces are professionally edited, and registered with the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, they will be posted for sale.

Wish me luck and good writing.