Writers and Readers Websites Wednesday - dropbox

I know, I know, this feature has been on hiatus a few weeks and I have to admit it may be a bit sporadic as I continue work with partner Charlene Brash-Sorensen on Planet Of The Eggs Comic Series.  

But, I made it through today with a new website Writers and Readers might appreciate. 

It's called Dropbox. If you don't know what it is, it's a way to share and store large files. It just saved me a couple of days ago when I had to get an uber large file containing lots of illustrations to a writing partner.  The basic service is free - and you can upgrade if you need to.

Don't just read this - go on over and see what I'm talking about. And don't forget to click on the Egg Planet council member above to get your free PDF copy of the first in the comic series, Cracked Open, absolutely FREE!

From Writer Peggy Bechko - A Sample of Romance Cloud Dancer

This week I'm posting a sample of my romance novel Cloud Dancer. It's laced through with history in the southwest US in a time before the 'wild west'; a time when the Native Americans were beset by the arrival of the  Spaniards. It was a time of culture clashes and war and it was great fun researching and writing this novel, one of my favorites to date.  

Cloud Dancer has gotten some nice reviews and 5 star ratings on Amazon.

Enjoy the sample! 

 

Prologue November 30, 1598 Beneath the vast expanse of the shimmering blue sky, Juan de Zalvidar and his thirty soldiers rode hunched against the biting cold of the New Mexican winter. The wind, relentless, blew out of the east. The rhythmic scrape and thud of the horses' hooves was a familiar sound of comfort to the men as were the soft jingling of bridles and the clank of armor. There were no clouds this day, but already in days past the men had seen white patches along the river, and the smell of snow was upon the air. As he rode at the head of the column, Juan de Zalvidar's stature and carriage easily marked him as the leader. At twenty-eight, his air of authority floated about him like a cloak; there would be none who would dispute it. He and his brother, Vicente, had already done much to explore and begin to tame this wild land. They were backed by the power of their uncle, Governor Onate. Juan's thoughts strayed as he rode. His tanned face creased in a smile as he remembered the tales his younger brother, Vicente, had told of his own attempts to capture the buffalo herds in cottonwood corrals built near a river. Vicente had returned after fifty-four days of travel to and from the buffalo plains with none of the beasts. When Juan had taken his leave of his brother, setting out with his thirty soldiers to reinforce their uncle in the west, Vicente had still been good- naturedly swearing that he would not give up so easily; he would try again to capture the buffalo. Putting aside the thoughts of his brother, Juan turned to the young soldier at his side. "We will reach the pueblo of Acoma soon. There we will get corn for our horses and meat for us. The people of these pueblos raise turkeys in great numbers. We may even have a feast!" His companion chuckled against the chattering of his teeth. "I relish food in my belly," he admitted, "but I relish even more the thought of being warm once again! I will barter for blankets and firewood as well! There is so damned little of it in this godforsaken country. I want a large, roaring fire. How these people can manage with such tiny fires to warm their homes I don't know!" "They are used to this miserable cold," Juan de Zalvidar pointed out, bowing his head against the chilly breeze that had suddenly sprung up out of the north at cross-purposes with the wind from the east. "They were born here. They were not softened and spoiled by the gentler climes to the south," he said with wry amusement at his own discomfort as well as that of his men. He could afford to laugh, for soon they would know full bellies and warmth again. The Pueblo peoples were tame Indians, who would provide all that was needed. The king of Spain had ordered his armies not to steal from the simple natives, but to trade instead, so Zalvidar's party had brought along plenty of items, hatchets being of particular appeal, to negotiate with the Indians. But the Pueblos had recently begun to balk at trade. At first they had been open and friendly with the Spanish, but now they seemed reluctant to give up their corn, deerskins or blankets. Still, Juan was not worried. Should it become necessary he had a great enough force with him to take what was needed from the Indians. After all, the king of Spain was not riding at the head of a column of cold, hungry soldiers. These Pueblo Indians were easy to manipulate or coerce. Onate's colony had arrived too late in the year to build or plant in preparation for winter, so the colonists had traded for and taken what they needed from the Indians. Already they had dispossessed almost the whole pueblo of San Juan to obtain shelter from the bitter cold of the New Mexican winter. A few of the Indians of San Juan had stayed, making themselves useful in carrying wood and water for the colonists in exchange for being allowed to remain in their homes. Juan knew that his uncle had stopped at Acoma on a past exploratory trip; the Kere of Acoma had been no more difficult than the other Pueblo Indians. And while Juan had no intention of bullying the natives unnecessarily, he and his men would have what they required to continue their trip to meet Governor Onate at Zuni. "There!" The soldier beside Juan jabbed his finger in the direction of a great rock in the distance, thrusting into the sky. "There is Acoma! Soon we will be there." Juan laughed. "Distances are deceiving here, my friend. We will camp tonight at the foot of Acoma. Tomorrow we will climb to the heights and obtain our supplies." A wave of curiosity, excitement and apprehension swept through the Pueblo of Acoma when the report came that Spanish soldiers could be seen at the foot of the mesa. For months they had talked, planning what they would do if the Spanish arrived again demanding the food and blankets that the people of Acoma could ill spare with the long winter still ahead. Standing with many of the Kere, Cloud Dancer peered down from the heights at the strangers. "They have come again," she said to her sister, Woman of the West Wind, who stood by her side. "I had hoped they would not." Her sister nodded slowly in agreement. "I think we all hoped they would not come again." She touched Cloud Dancer on the arm. "Come, we must move away from here. Chief Zutucapan and the men will handle the Spanish, and they have said we should not stay outside." Cloud Dancer nodded her agreement, but found she felt more than a little reluctance to be tucked away in a kiva or hidden inside one of the mud houses. Why must they always do what the men decided? She sighed and quashed the rebel­lious thought, returning with her sister to their home. Both daughters approached their mother in respectful sience as they entered, for she was working the clay. Woman of the Willows smiled her greeting, her hands moving swiftly, dexterously about their chore, smoothing and shaping the clay into a vessel of great fineness and beauty. It was the Kere custom to work the clay in silence with respect for the spirit that it contained. When Woman of the Willows finished, setting the pot aside to dry, Cloud Dancer informed her quickly, "The Spanish have returned." Woman of the Willows's eyes darkened and her mouth set in a tight, grim line. Her eyes went to the small doorway open to the outside, searching. "Your father will be with the others. We must remain here." "But what are they going to do?" Cloud Dancer demanded, forgetting her woman's place in her agitation. Woman of the Willows smiled indulgently at her younger daughter. Cloud Dancer always had been the impatient one, always questioning, never satisfied with the way things were. "Your father has said it was decided we would give no more supplies to the Spanish. We will trade with a few old blankets and skins if they so desire, but they will have no cornmeal, pumpkin, pine nuts or other important stores. If we trade those, our people will go hungry when the deep snow comes. If the Spanish demand what we cannot willingly give, our men will attack." Cloud Dancer's face glowed. Her older sister's paled. "Good!" Cloud Dancer exclaimed. "The Spanish must be taught they cannot take whatever they wish from us." "It is very dangerous," Woman of the West Wind murmured. "It is very dangerous," her mother agreed. **And if you'd like a bit more of a sample,  head on over to Amazon and read a larger sample for free.

Writers And The Hurdles of Publishing

Writing and publishing in the modern, digital world is changing and changing very quickly.

Your off–the-cuff response may be well, duh!

But here’s the thing, duh or not, all that changing is offering a whole lot more opportunities and choices but also some conundrums the writer hasn’t faced before

There’s the traditional method which is still a strong one, but it also still has the amazing hurdles the writer must negotiate before publication.  Sadly the chances of running the marathon and getting all the way from query letter to holding that book in your hand is truly scary.  Writers submit every day to agents and statistically about 95% of those manuscripts never get represented. Furthermore the odds don’t improve much even if you do get representation since less than half that get represented actually get a book deal.

Discouraging?

I’m not finished. Even with that failure rate, it potentially gets worse. Advances are pathetic and not dependable. Most books published don’t do very well (despite the hoo-haw you hear about ‘best-sellers’), get returned after a very short window of exposure on a bookstore shelf and cost the author even more as advances must be ‘earned out’ before more income can be seen from a book and returns come back against that balance. 

On top of all that, when a book is accepted for publication it can easily take up to two years (or even more) for that book to become a real,  hold-in-the-hand object. Still, for many, it’s the way to go. Book prep and design, cover design, editing, all that’s taken care of for you. It is a big plus

So how goes the alternative, the shiny and new self-publishing? There are some rumblings that the ‘gold-rush’ is past, that self-publishing has hit the ceiling and is now on the decline.

Um, don’t think so myself. I think it’s just changing, hitting its stride, becoming the evolving and maturing alternative to traditional publishing.

In a number of ways self-publishing can be better and in some ways worse. It’s much better in that the whole process is shortened and in the hands of the writer. This is good if the writer makes sure the editing is professional and the formatting perfect before publishing in digital or Print On Demand or Audio books or all three. It means more work and learning for that writer, but it also means ultimately more time to write that next book since it eliminates lots of time spent writing query letters, contacting agents, possibly dealing with a bad agent and doing constant rewrites at the request of a seemingly interested agent who doesn't come through, and pitching new works.

But it can be a lot worse if that writer gets the book looking great, professional and polished and then it doesn’t sell. Why not? Despite writing and rewriting blurbs, doing another edit, playing with the cover and price point and creating promotions, very little happens. Since it all falls on the writer it can be a very heavy burden. Frustrating and demoralizing. For the writer who expects to earn a living that way it’s very difficult.

But again, realize making it as a writer is damn hard and it doesn’t matter which way you choose to approach it. Many writers, whether following the traditional or self-publishing route get discouraged and quit. Not surprising and not a bad thing really. If it’s not for you, you shouldn’t be doing it.

Because through it all we have to remember that careers in entertainment, any career there, probably won’t be steady. Screenwriters come and go. Novelists have their day, then fade from the scene. You’re part of the public, think about what authors you’ve read in the past but no longer read, what movie stars you loved, but now no longer care about, what producer got you to his every movie, what TV show you wouldn’t miss but now don’t bother with. That’s the way we are.

So back to publication.  Quite simply it provides better chances but that doesn’t give any guarantee. In my experience self-publishing is less frustrating than dealing with crazy agents, delays in publication, very small advances and long dry periods. However, I’m not married to it and think a writer keeping his or her options open is definitely the way to go.

Look, self-publishing started from scratch a very short time ago. It has changed and will continue to change. And traditional publishing will also be forced to change.

So keep your options open and keep your excitement up for whatever way you choose to pursue your writing career.  Do your homework, make informed decisions and keep writing.

Stormrider - Book Giveaway from Author

 

 STORMRIDER!

Yes, it's true, I'm giving away a Kindle copy of my SciFi/Fantasy book, Stormrider. Ending Feb. 14 at midnight.

For your chance to win a free copy head over to my Stormrider facebook page, click on the 'giveaway' tab and enter. 

Good Luck! 

Grandpa Was A Character - A Writer's Inspiration

It’s a new year and while I don’t go in for the ‘resolution’ thing, I have spent a bit of time recently reflecting on my early beginnings as a writer and the transformation that has happened over the years. Life is change after all and nothing ever stays the same.

Currently I write a lot of things. Novels, screen scripts, commercial copy, and pretty much anything that comes my way that sparks my interest. I’ve published with major houses, optioned scripts and done some self-publishing.

But, what I’m centering on here is my beginnings; that which brought me to this point. 

When I look back it’s rather amusing, that very first jump and accomplishment. I’d started writing when I was about fourteen and just enjoyed creating other worlds but knew right away it was something I wanted to do for real, for publication, for a career.

What was that very first jump? It was a western novel titled Night Of The Flaming Guns, published when I was twenty-two .

That was waaay back and is still available used through Amazon.

But here’s the thing, how exactly did that book, published originally by Doubleday come to be? There was a whole lot of weirdness connected with its actual publication. The Cliff’s Notes version is an agent had it, went defunct. While I panicked another agent had picked it up and had an offer from Doubleday. I got the offer, I accepted, then the publisher decided we had to go with my initials as author (P.A. Bechko) since I was writing a gritty western in the first person as a middle-aged man and I was a twenty-something young woman. Sure rattled my editor at that time. 

Anyway, I was off, that was the first of sixteen books so far. But what inspired the writing of that particular original book?

If you’re another writer or reader and curious about such things, let me tell you. It was two things that tripped my writer's imagination.

1. A dear friend (male) dared me to write a gritty western, because I suspect, I WAS a young, fairly shy woman. Hey, what he didn’t know was that was a great way for me to utilize my love for the west and let go of a lot of frustrations. Heck I could shoot people at will on the printed page and let the hero win. Whohoo!

2. The second, and most important inspiration for writing that first western novel was my grandfather. Yep, my grandfather IS the hero of the book. He is long departed and much missed, but he was the original inspiration and hero. Not because I made the hero look like him, but because Grandpa possessed the strength, determination, compassion and down-to-earth, get-it-done attitude coupled with some pretty deep philosophical outlooks on life that completed that character. You go Grandpa! An incredibly intelligent, profound man who made it through the depression doing any job he had to for his family, held a hand out to those less fortunate, participated in a few brawls in his youth, and always had a wonderful and sometimes twisted sense of humor. All of that made up the core of the hero, Matt Logan in that book.

Not every bit of my grandfather is visible in the tale that is told, but those characteristics are at the hero’s core and they are what drive him to do what he does.

That was the first with many others following. And today, while not ALL my characters are based directly on life, there are many of them that are bits and pieces of friends and relatives I’ve known throughout my life (I’m not going to name any more of them here). I suspect that’s true of pretty much all writers. You can’t create characters without stealing bits and pieces you love of family and friends. Even bits and pieces you hate (another place I won’t name names).

And while most characters I create are made up of various parts of people I’ve crossed paths with, the original book, the original inspiration. was quite simply Grandpa.

So, tell me, what characters have you, as a writer, created based on someone in particular? Do you still see them in that character now that the story is written? Comment below, I’d be fascinated to know.