down the writer's path

Author's Guild spices up membership offer

"Kafka toiled in obscurity and died penniless. If only he'd had a website." So begins the latest ad for the Authors Guild. Since 1919 the Authors Guild (AG) has worked on behalf of its members for free speech, copyright protection and other concerns of published authors. The Guild provides everything from the latest in publishing news that has direct impact on writers and their careers to healthcare. Of particular help to authors in this age of electronic publishing and a shrinking global landscape, are the legal services regarding contract reviews and dispute resolutions. Now, for a limited time, the Guild will set up their members with a full-featured website.

Another literary discovery

During a recent visit to Barnes and Noble, I raided the writing and lit magazine section and stumbled across the latest copy of the Mars Hill Review (MHR). MHR "reveals Christ within the various texts of our contemporary culture. We commission full-length essays from provocative thinkers, conduct in-depth studies of issues having theological import, and conduct interviews with leading-edge writers, teachers and artists. The journal also publishes original fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and critical reviews of film, books, music, and other texts that remind us of God and of his participation within the stories of our contemporary lives."

I have already read a couple of the essays. There are several sections including essays, studies and "reminders of God" (the writing life) as well as '"views and reviews." Included is an interesting review of the movie The Matrix.

First-time author nets $1.5 million in publishing deal

Did the title catch your eye? Those words certainly caught my attention when I flipped through the pages of the February issue of Writers Digest. The article goes on to relate the story of how Jack Kerley "went from part-time copywriter to millionaire in a matter of weeks." I once heard Sue Grafton describe publishing success as a "great claw" that plucks a lowly writer up out of obscurity and takes him or her to the heights of publishing success. Of course, the first lesson to be learned is that writers must be out there. They have to interact with the publishing industry and make their presence known, otherwise no one will ever publish them.

Kerley's literary thriller, The Hundredth Man, debuts in June and I, for one, plan to read this apparently remarkable book. The story of how Kerley managed, after having written three books and gathered more than a hundred rejections, to snare the attention of literary agent Aaron Priest and win up with $1.5 million--so far--in publishing rights (including audio book rights, movie rights and foreign rights) is fascinating. After agreeing to represent Kerley, Priest--who hadn't multiple-submitted a book in nine years since Balducci's Absolute Power--conducted a two-day auction which resulted in the sale eleven days after Priest took Kerley on as a client.

Nancy Drew bigger and better or just one more retread?

Scanning Publisher's Lunch this morning, I discovered Nancy Drew is being trotted out one more time but as a woman for the 21st century. USA Today's Gary Strauss commented on the "heavy dose of 21st-century hipness and relevancy" being injected in the Nancy Drew series, beginning with four new books coming in March. (S&S plans to issue six books a year.) 'She tools around River Heights in an environmentally friendly, gas/electric hybrid car. She uses computers to solve detective work. And she tells her crime-fighting tales in first person.' Meanwhile, the first Nancy Drew mystery still sells; THE SECRET OF THE OLD CLOCK is said to have sold 150,000 hardcovers last year (that's what it says)."
USA Today story

As I read this I recalled Houston's mystery writer Joan Lowrey Nixon's comments in an interview a couple of years ago. She spoke of the inspiration she received as a young girl from reading the Nancy Drew books. (On a sad note, Joan--a 5-time Edgar winner--left us last year but her lifetime achievement in writing is a source of inspiration for other writers and a continued pleasure-filled reading experience for young adults and children.) “Nancy Drew was ahead of her time because she was so independent,” said Joan. “She had that independence kids craved. She didn't have to ask permission for anything. She just did it."

Will the "hip, new" Nancy Drew catch on? She will if Simon and Schuster and Her Interactive have anything to do with it. They've already licensed the name and have Nancy Drew "apparel, video games and backpacks." Now USA Today reports the publisher and Warner Brothers are considering a film. Will The Case of the Branding of Nancy Drew make it to the silver screen soon? Probably not, a woman of the 21st century must go DVD.

What's up with those literary journals?

For years I gave those literary journals a mere wink and a nod and not much else, but slowly, ever so gradually, that has changed. I suppose it began four or five years ago when I attended Stonecoast, an annual writers conference put on by the University of Southern Maine.

Actually, it probably began when I met up with my editor/mentor-friend Michael Seidman at the then-annual Golden Triangle Writers Conference in Beaumont. We met: we sat in the lobby and his first question pushed hard: "What are you doing here?" Taken aback, my response, as I recall, was a combination of a mutter and stutter. He pushed. "You already know everything offered here. You could present the workshops, probably even mine, so why are you here?" I finally squeaked out something about meeting up with old friends but it fell on apparently deaf ears. "Do something else. Something more hands-on. Go to Stonecoast."

Nine months later I traveled to the north. Talk about getting out of your comfort zone. It was fascinating, energizing and well worth my time. My workshop leaders were Ellen Lessor and Wesley Brown. The group consisted of pretty advanced writers and I don’t' think I've ever sat in on such invigorating conversations about the craft of writing before or since. Nine days later I returned on a major high. At that time the whole creative nonfiction concept was making its way into the writer's vernacular. Michael Steinberg, conference faculty member, was leading the charge. He went on to become co-editor of Fourth Genre: and I became a charter subscriber. Five years later I still look forward to each new issue.

Last fall there must have been something in the air other than SARS because I suddenly caught the literary journal bug. It's probably the Missouri Review's fault because they offered such a good deal and included their 25th anniversary edition as a free teaser. I subscribed. Next I found Ploughshares on the web. They actually post a daily entry from the current edition. Caught again. Then the Bellevue Literary Review, a journal that combines health and writing, tempted me with another good offer, and not too long after I succumbed to The American Scholar. Forget the Chinese and their years of dragons and monkeys. Mine is the year of the literary journal.

I'll keep you posted.

ALA 'Academy Awards' and "a teacupful of story in a big fancy bathtub...."

Earlier today the ALA announced the 2004 Newbery and Caldecott winners.

(SAN DIEGO) Kate DiCamillo, author of "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread," and Mordicai Gerstein, illustrator and author of "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers," are the 2004 winners of the John Newbery and Randolph Caldecott medals, the most prestigious awards in children's literature. They were among the award winners announced today by the American Library Association (ALA) during its Midwinter Meeting in San Diego. Considered the "Academy Awards" of children's book publishing, the 2004 Newbery and Caldecott medals honor outstanding writing and illustration of works published in the United States during the previous year.

(more)

In addition, Ursula Le Guin received the Margaret A. Edwards award for her lifetime contribution to young adult readers. AWP's October/November 2003 Writer's Chronicle has a lengthy interview of Le Guin by Ramola D. (If you like serious, in-depth articles on writing, AWP's magazine might be for you.) Le Guin discussed a wide-range of subjects from her various writing modes to feminism to Star Trek parodies. My favorite Le Guin quote?

"Well, the first problem often, as you set out to write a story, is to find out what the right length for this particular story is--is it in fact a novel, a novella, a short story? You don't want to end up with a teacupful of story in a big fancy bathtub..."

A mere blot in the blogosphere

I've spent some time exploring the blogosphere, a term offered up by pioneer blogger William Quick to define the intellectual space occupied by bloggers, in search of inspiration for my own efforts. Here's a tidbit that can give one pause:

Cambridge, MA (October 4, 2003) - For the BloggerCon 2003 conference at the Berkman Center of Harvard Law School, Perseus Development Corp. randomly surveyed 3,634 blogs (frequent publications of personal thoughts and Web links, also known as Web logs) on eight leading blog-hosting services to develop a model of blog populations. Based on this research, Perseus estimates that 4.12 million blogs have been created on these services: Blog-City, BlogSpot, Diaryland, LiveJournal, Pitas, TypePad, Weblogger and Xanga...Based on the rapid growth rate demonstrated by the leading services, Perseus expects the number of hosted blogs created to exceed five million by the end of 2003 and to exceed ten million by the end of 2004.

My purpose in creating down the writer's path is to have a place where I can bring together my thoughts, experiences and learning as the result of my twenty-year pursuit of the art and craft of writing. Along the way this has led me to explore a variety of fields including space, art, politics, even such an archane subject as Byzantine iconography. And the process continues.

Spring 2004 Class Schedule: Writing Series

These are the spring classes I'll be teaching. Two are in January, two in March. Please feel free to forward this information to anyone you think might be interested. If anyone has questions, they can contact me at vikksimmons@aol.com. Thanks

Contact Tomball College Continuing Education at 281.357.3676
Course: Writing Popular Fiction: The Basics
Tuesdays Mar 16 - May 04 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm Willow Chase Campus
Think you can write a best seller that equals John Grisham's best efforts? Perhaps you have a tale of romance or intrigue that haunts and taunts you? If so, jump start your creativity with a class on the basics of writing popular fiction and find out how to get the story out of your mind and onto paper. We'll discuss basic story elements such as character, conflict, plot development and more. In-class writing exercises, story development -- and trouble shooting -- and the basic elements of fiction will help you generate raw material and complete a finished short story or section of a novel in progress. Class time is devoted to discussion and in-class writing exercises. Be prepared to write. 2.4 CEUs
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Course: Tell Your Story Wednesdays Mar 17 - May 05 6:30 pm - 9:30 pm Willow Chase Campus
Do you have a lifetime of stories or ideas to tell? This class is designed to help you find your way through the vast field of memoir or life writing. Discover how to make memories into memoirs, ideas into essays and life into literature. You'll learn techniques to help you access memory, material, ideas, the unconscious and, yes, meaning. In-class exercises and assignments will trigger ideas, help you see your life more clearly and show you why real life stories are often the best. 2.4 CEUs

JANUARY CLASSES begin Jan 13 and Jan 14 and are the following: