It's a good concept, and I get a feeling for who the characters are/were.

I think the Allen/Sheila angle would need some fleshing out (the reader is going to have to identify more with Allen in order for John's later actions to generate enough sympathy/common ground) but John's motivations are clearly spelled out and -- given some additional background, etc. -- completely understandable.

I would probably put something in there about John watching Sheila over the ensuing years, seeing her do this sort of thing over and over to other guys, and having thoughts of revenge on her....then something happens to her (maybe she dies in a plane crash or something), she's beyond his reach, and at THAT point, he broadens his plot to encompass the internet that killed his son.

He has a psychotic breakdown and develops a second "Allen" personality (out of guilt and compensation for his son's loss, and his own inability to have saved him), and goes from there....

But this is strictly off the top of my head. A normal plot line takes me much longer to ferret out....!

GENIUS!

Yes...and I think it's just too much!

I know about what happened to her...but I just think it's too personal.

There are those who say that this sort of thing can be cathartic.

Not me, though -- I wouldn't want my biography out there. Nobody would believe it, and too many people would know where to look for me.

Then your best bet is to, no matter how insistent she is, tell her that she needs to find someone who is more comfortable with that kind of writing.

Her reasoning for telling the story is honorable, but it wouldn't come out correctly if the writer isn't comfortable doing that kind of thing.

Ok, fellow writers and aspiring writers.

Work is underway on the new site I am setting up.

We are going to be needing a couple of testers when we start getting things up and running. I'll need at least one and possibly two people who are willing to be " guinea pigs ". lol

I need some ideas as far as what kind of features you would like to see available.

So far...here's what I have come up with.

1. We are going to be trying to set up individual author pages. Each author will have a page on the site.
2. A links page. Links to self publishing options and other such stuff.
3. An advice page where people can come ask questions to the writers on the site. Not necessarily a " How to " page. More of a support and ideas type.
4. A live chat system for general discussion for those who choose to take a " group " or one on one approach.

I also need a few name suggestions for the site.

The two names I have at this point are Writer's Roundtable and Write Now.

Any suggestions for the site are welcome.

After all....this is going to be OUR site. Created by people like us, FOR people like us.

Thanks. :-)

Bringing this back up to the top.

Sweeps away the dust bunnies. :-)

Here's a question for you all...

If you were reading an interview with an author....what kind of questions would you like to ask them?

Well, there are some standard questions that seem to come up a lot:

"Where do you get your ideas?"

"Who has influenced your writing?"

"How long does it take to write a book?"

"How do you prepare for a new project?"

....and so on. And these can be useful because I think writers learn from other writers.

But I personally would like to see some questions that are a little less predictable. Something like "What is the book you would LIKE to write but don't think you ever will?" or "Which author would you most like to collaborate with?" or "How would you feel about trying to write a book in a completely different genre?" (say, me trying to do a western or something).

A good interview should never be a string of softball questions. Sure, it's great to make the readers think about the answers, but it's even better if you make the subject of the interview think, too....!

Heh. I was actually gonna try to avoid the " Where do you get your ideas " question because very few writers that I know of can actually explain it. lol

I know that I have absolutely no CLUE where the idea I am working on came from. It just started rattling around in my head.

Still might be worth asking though. Just because.

I really like the idea of asking questions that are " off the beaten track ".

I think one of the goals of doing the interviews should be letting readers know what makes us tick.

Give them a little insight into who we are and what drives us to put thousands of words on paper for the purpose of entertaining others.

Thanks, Lex

Ya know, Lex....

I would LOVE to see you take a shot at writing a Fantasy.

Talk about giving the genre a kick in the butt...lmao

I'm editing a manuscript right now from a guy who wants to have his fantasy novel published.

It's good, too -- he needs some brushing up in some technical areas, but the story holds together nicely and the characters are solid. Of course, I only have the first 77 pages, so I have no idea where it will go after that....!

But I'm not sure if I could write in that genre.

And it's not like it's all that much different from what I'm used to (a lot of bookstores shelf "Sci-Fi" and "Fantasy" together), but the differences concern me. And maybe it's just because I'm still having flashbacks of high school, and how I simply could not muddle through "Lord of the Rings," and, to this day, I've avoided anything even remotely reminiscent of Tolkienism at all.

It would have to be a hybrid sort of thing -- fantasy/detective story or something. Wonder if anyone's done that yet?

I mean, one of the reasons I've made my three books (thus far) all so radically different from each other is because I don't want to get caught in that trap of writing the same book over and over....there are writers, good writers, popular writers, very wealthy writers, who have done that, and who are still doing that, and more power to them, but it's not for me.

So I do want to "branch out," so to speak. But there are going to be some limitations! Probably.


But, yeah, the whole fantasy genre really does need a kick in the butt. And that's one reason I think your story is so suitable....!

Is the personal sacrifice you make to be a writer worth becoming a successful writer?

Point being, before you were published, you were a regular guy/girl with an, excuse the pun, novel idea that you thought people would enjoy reading. Why'd you decide to publish...to have your thoughts and words read? To make a living off it? To reach Stephen King status, though that's admittedly a lofty goal? And what if you do, would you revel in that?

Writing involves exposing who you are to millions of people. You lose your anonymity with each book, with each new reader you draw in. Were you nervous about putting yourself out there? Did you consider the consequences of establishing a following, of a legion of people knowing you so intimately, and the expectations from them that would follow? Do you ever wonder if the legendary writer I mentioned above wishes he could walk out the door, go to the Sox game (he's a big fan I hear) or take a stroll down Main St., USA without being hounded by an adoring public? Fame and fortune have a price. Deadlines to meet, demands for more thoughts and words, more baring your soul. Is becoming a successful writer worth it?



I'd START with those.

Lex,i noticed the mention of Stephen King..

have you read the Dark Tower series,and if so,what did you think of king placing Himself not only Into the story,but becoming a Vital part of it??

and also,assuming you read the whole series it took to actually Get to the Tower,what is your opinion of the ending?

he didnt have the Horn,therefore he must do it All over again?

I've only read two of them thus far, and enjoyed both.

But I've probably read about 20 of his books in all, and his "Danse Macabre," in which he talks about his writing, was particularly interesting.

His "From a Buick 8" is one that never seems to get any attention, but I loved it.

And "The Talisman," with Peter Straub, had some nice interconnecting-to-other-books bits in it....!

o God,im sorry about the Spoiler then..my Apologies.

from a buick 8,wow,thats So true..that was a great story.
ive noticed that a Lot of Kings books are interconnected..same characters are mentioned/or/involved in several,ie,for example,the Priest from Salems lot,ends up in the dark tower,etc etc.

Which is one of the things I like most about him.

Frank Zappa used to have this term he used a lot -- "conceptual continuity" -- relating to the idea that he would consistently reuse themes, characters, etc., in his songs (i.e., Billy the Mountain, the ongoing poodle references, and so on).

As a writer, I've found a distinct preference for the "recurring character" -- but I have made an effort to avoid the strict "original-followed-by-linear-sequel-followed-by-second-linear-sequel...." pattern.

That's why my first book was a humorous sci-fi novel, the second was short stories and poems (and, although some of the supporting characters from Book One do show up in Book Two, the two main characters from Book One don't show up at all in Book Two), and Book Three is a novel about one of the supporting characters from Book One. They're connected, they're ostensibly "linear" (at least temporally), but I'm working the storyline from any number of divergent angles.

This is intended to address a problem I have run across with many authors' recurring characters -- the fact that the author basically just writes the same book, over and over, changing only the supporting cast, the identity of the stolen and/or missing object, the specific city or cities where the action occurs, and the particular but inevitable denouement where the bad guy gets his.

I don't want to do that. I want my works to be connected but all, hopefully, different.

Ooooo...ALL of those are excellent questions. I am totally writing those down.

That, right there, is one of the problems I had with writing a Fantasy.

It seems that most Fantasy stories wind up being at least two or three books or some kind of " series ".

I mean, I already have more ideas for the main character that won't work with this first story. I'm not sure I want to get stuck in a " M.O. " for him and the others.

But, I also think the main character I have is REALLY good and could be kept interesting through more than one story.

Something like the Shannarra Series from Terry Brooks, while great, are basically the same story over and over again. Like there is a boilerplate somewhere with the same plot lines and character profiles stamped on it.

I love the books...but....then again.....if you don't use at least most of the elements on that boilerplate, fantasy readers will revolt.

It's like Tolkein started the genre with the LOTR books, and everyone else just decided to follow along.

Again, those books are great, but no one seems to have found a way to branch out a little with the plots. Good vs Evil...little guy vs impossible odds....etc.

I know I will wind up being guilty of doing that kind of thing myself...but it almost seems that I HAVE to do that to get read.

But...I'll also be taking the genre into a " style " that hasn't been seen before. Maybe that will be enough.