Pirate King
The case of the piratical poet
Very well: I had my place (Lisbon) and my local character—and what a character Fernando Pessoa turned out to be. (“a poetical individual. It being 1924, and the weedy, artistic look being all the fashion even in this distant enclave, there were several melancholics who fitted the description.”) First of all, as Mary Russell describes…
Read MoreIn which our heroine sets out for Lisbon
Sometimes, the story comes before the setting—that is, I decide to write a story set in a specific place (and if you’re one of those who wondered about the Japan adventure mentioned at the start of Locked Rooms, yes, I’m going to Japan for the research next year.) But other times the story shapes itself…
Read MorePirate ready to sail!
Pirate King sets sail three months from today! That means it’s time for: Details of the contests, drawings, and piratical shenanigans will be given in weeks to come, but for the moment, you should know from here on out, the excerpts will be given first in the LRK newsletter, then some days later on the…
Read MoreWriting scared
I had another post ready for today, on Writer’s Wednesday, but then I received the first review for Pirate King, and I decided to talk about reviews instead. I’ve been lucky with reviews. I’m sure there are any number of loud and pointed complaints on my various books’ Amazon pages, but I take care not…
Read MoreWednesday (oops) on Writing
Today’s subject is deadlines, and the breaking thereof. Not really, although I do mean to post on Wednesdays, and this week got away from me. Writer’s Wednesdays (or in this case, Thursday) here on Mutterings are my musings on various aspects of the writer’s trade and life. This week: a venture into e-publication. ** Last…
Read MoreThe absolute final cover
…and when I got back to Santa Fe from Taos this afternoon, what do I find waiting for me on the tubes of the Interweb but a final version of the Pirate King cover, really truly final this time: You can compare this with the one I’d thought was the final cover, a few posts…
Read MoreClothes make the (wo)man
We are instructed not to judge a book by its cover, and yet we do all the time. I once had a publisher tell me he initially rejected one of my books because he disliked the US cover, although later he adored the story. And if a publisher falls for what a cover has to…
Read MoreGuess the gent?
You need another hint as to the natty gent’s identity? Here’s a photo of me (looking quizzical, which is quite appropriate) with his bronzed version (no, that’s not a euphemism for drunk.) It was taken in March:
Read MorePirate King sails
This is what I’m doing today. Taking this: down the hill and into town and putting it into a box, where some nice person will pull it out later today and other nice people will stow it in various trucks and a plane, and some time tomorrow my editor in New York will hold it…
Read MoreTall ships, taller tales
For sheer happiness, there’s nothing like being out on the water. One of my brightest memories is of a catamaran trip taken years ago in Maui where, when we turned for home, the crew put on a song popular at the time: Alanis Morrisette singing “What if God Was One of Us?” It’s a song…
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