Ransom Noble's Blog, page 31

Okay, not all of them. But I went to a local mother-daughter book club and I had a wonderful time tonight. They read my book!

I think I had as good of a time as they did. They had so many questions about the writing and rewriting and publishing and even the naming of the characters. I loved listening to their discussion of the book and I could even ask my own questions of them. (And did, once or twice.)

I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of their discussion. They were great girls and...

Not very far.

I keep trying to limit the number of projects I'm working on, but one character keeps inviting herself into my head. And she doesn't leave.

I guess it's a good thing, but it's a little funny that I want to get through the rewrite and I can think of nothing but what else to do with this other project I'm trying not to write.

Ah, that's how it goes. So tonight I made notes about her backstory. Perhaps tomorrow we'll make it better.

Authors are not alone in the quest to protect their work. Creative people everywhere worry about their creations and keeping them safe from thieves. I've noticed some of us worry more than others, though. How much is warranted versus rampant paranoia? That I cannot answer.

I have learned a lot about the methods of protecting work. I hold a patent, worked a little with trademarks, and as a writer I live by copyrights. Sometimes I hear others mixing up the words, but they're very different...

Notes from the Author:I wrote this book when I was 14, when I was a dreamy, bookishadolescent who could listen to the teacher with half an ear andwrite the book at the back of the class. My main reading at thetime was novels set in Roman, Greek or medieval times. Aweekend trip to Anglesey with my Mum gave the backdrop forthe starting point, and traveling back in time was always afavorite fantasy. I believed my main character, Karen, was fictional, but with hindsight I realize she was me...

Reviews for the Book:

By: Lady D in San DiegoThe book begins in a small village in Vorarlberg where we meetMax one of the main characters who loves to play the piano,along with his mom and dad, a sister, too. This family has asimilar lifestyle as mine, the love of gardening, cooking andpreserving food. Right away Tania reveals to us the familydynamics of a laid-back father, a strict mother who stronglydesires for her two children to be successful in music and a fouryear old sister who adores h...

And I got another rejection today.

I wasn't surprised – I expected it. I knew seven other authors who also received rejections for this particular magazine's round of submissions. It's part of a group of authors who are trying to help each other get published. It's an online critique group, but we don't have a set meeting time.

I'm a recent addition to the group, and I'm not close with many members yet. However, I find the advice fascinating and I'm glad to have a contribution to the group.

One ...

Do you wonder about authors that do this? I know putting a story in a blog is self-published and not eligible to post elsewhere, like in e-zines, but what about stories that have been published and the rights have reverted back to the author?

Or, just for amusement on the blog? I read about an author doing that and it makes me want to read his blog for the stories, to see his style, and to read. (I think all writers love to read.)

Blogging is about a platform, and what better than...

No, they're not all recognized, but it seems like there's a lot happening this week, between Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year (Did you welcome in the Tiger?), President's Day, Mardis Gras, and Ash Wednesday…

And that's only in the first four days this week. I also know four people with birthdays.

While I'm not physically situated to celebrate with any of those friends, I haven't done anything for those other five, either. It probably doesn't count that my dad took me out to breakfast on...

I think everyone has a novel idea in them somewhere. Not that everyone writes a novel or has the desire to, but the ideas are in there.

Some of these people talk about the idea to others. Sometimes people even start writing.

Do you ever wonder what happens to these ideas?

I think some of them get talked out. Eventually there is no way the paper version could even measure up to the image, or pieces get lost in the telling.

Some of them languish after a start and never get finished.

I've learned...

I recently read an article that compared writers to baseball players. Not for much, just talking about a different thought of success.

We write stories and we submit them to magazines. Once we start getting an acceptance or two – we start thinking every idea we have can be turned into a saleable story, especially after completing an MFA program.

The point is that baseball players have a batting average. Some stories are just better than others. What if we did think about it as writing a .200...