The Writing Life, 19 October 2024
A proper autumn in Iowa finally as I try to keep up with the writing.
It finally feels like autumn in Iowa, so I am celebrating that for all it is worth. But those of you who have been reading my posts recently have possibly gotten a bit tired of me ranting fall was taking too long to arrive. Let’s talk writing instead, eh?
The Home Front
Laura (my wife and I) continue to plan for our move to our new home.
Much of the essential work (painting, carpet removal, floor treatments, floor trim, adding about three new ceiling fans) is already done. We are continuing to move our belongings into the new place for later arrangement. The main move should be happening soon at this point.
I am also looking forward to getting my new writing space set up in the new house. I must share some pics with everyone once I’ve moved in.
Our son continues his own move to a home of his own at the same time. We’re planning on visiting him soon to tour the place and see if he needs any help. He is eagerly awaiting an antique dining room table I received from my parents, have used throughout my married life, and now have bequeathed to Jacob. I’m looking forward to seeing the new place in Des Moines.
What I’m Writing
The progress so far on my ongoing projects:
The Yank Striker 2, the sequel for The Yank Striker: I am now at more than 57,000 words for the first draft of the book. There are times where I think I am just slapping words into a document and praying it all holds together, only to remind myself this is, in fact, only the first draft.
I am currently shooting for 75,000 words as a new target for the end of the year, and if fortune favors me, Part Two will be coming out in summer 2025. This would be the shortest turnaround for any writing project I’ve ever done up to this point..The Untitled Pro Wrestling Family Drama project: There was only slight progress on this project. I undertook a sketch of the remaining essential scenes to the book recently, and was happy with the process. We’ll talk about what I mean about essential scenes below (I think I’m overdue for a bit of writing advice).
The Untitled Liegois Poetry Chapbook: The vast majority of my poetry revisions are done. Currently, I am debating how much inner artwork for the chapbook to add and some of the final table of contents. Since I am only going to have some limited printing resources, I question how much sense it makes for me to include a large amount of photos, especially color photography. I’ll definitely do one on the cover, however1.
I am not sure when I will have this ready for sale when I’m out and about. I have to eventually figure out how to print the thing. It would also be cool to have some way to sell it online, but it would be a first time for me, since I’ve never done a chapbook myself or any book on my own. However, it is getting closer to reality.
What I’m Doing Having to Do With Writing
(AKA personal appearances)
I (also sometimes known as The Dude In Purple) have some events coming up very soon for this fall and some others I’m tentatively adding to the schedule. All these events will be me appearing live and with my books, The Holy Fool and The Yank Striker.
I’ll be participating in the Local Writers’ Book Fair, which will be part of the 2024 Iowa City Book Festival. It will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20 [that’s TOMORROW, everyone], at MERGE, 136 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. This is again my second year of participating, and I am looking forward to being back in Iowa City.
I will also attend the Fort Madison Area Art Association’s Meet the Author Book Signing event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, November 30, at the FMAAA’s center at 825 Avenue G, Fort Madison. This would be my first author’s event in my new home of Fort Madison, and I am overjoyed to be part of this gathering.
I’m hoping to be part of the DSM Book Festival at the at Franklin Junior High Event Center, 4801 Franklin Ave., Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, 22 March 2025. This is being sponsored by one of my favorite independent book stores in Des Moines, Beaverdale Books. I’ll provide more information, hopefully, as the event approaches.
I’ll be looking to add some more dates on the appearance calendar as time goes on. Hope to see you at one of those places.
Writing Advice for the Week:
While I was talking about the untitled wrestling project, I mentioned something I called an essential scene. Some people might have their own terms for such things, but it’s the one I’ve decided to stuck with.
When I start thinking about a story, I start thinking about certain scenes, certain guideposts along the main story arc. As I consider those scenes, I begin to split them up into two groups - essential scenes and bonus scenes. I tend to use a simple criteria to divide them up into these groups, and I have two reasons specifically for my interests to make this distinction.
First, I want to make sure I am only adding the scenes which are important for understanding the most important parts of the story. There’s no reason to add anything additional to the story, especially when you can tell a story in eight scenes rather than 16.
Also, concentrating on the essential scenes tends to shorten up the first draft. You would be surprised how indulgent people can get if they decide to write everything rather than the important things. You want to eventually finish the first draft, don’t you? Then, you have to have a clear finish line which is attainable and not overly wordy. Productivity is the key here.
Hope you got something out of all this, fam.
Writing Quote of the Week:
A very true statement from Papa himself.
There is no rule on how to write. Sometimes it comes easily and perfectly; sometimes it's like drilling rock and then blasting it out with charges.
Ernest Hemingway
A Few Links About My Books and Where to Find Them
(Feel free to ignore this bit if you’ve read it before)
Currently, I have the mighty total of TWO novels which make up my official backlist4.
My first book is a journalism thriller set in Chicago during the turbulent days of the 2008 election and the start of the Great Recession. Check out more about it here.
The Holy Fool
Debut novels are tricky things. While I’ve not asked this question specifically of some of my fellow writers, the general impression I get is most writers consider their debut novels both with pride at their accomplishment and ruefulness at missed opportunities for improvement. And I’m no different.
You can get the paperback version of this book on Amazon here and the ebook version of it here.
A fellow Iowa writer and organizer of the Windsor Heights Book Fair, Tyler Granger, recently did a review of my book: you can find it here5.
My second book, the first in the The Yank Striker series, is a soccer drama telling the story of the beginning of a young American’s career as a player. There’s more about it here.
The Yank Striker: A Footballer's Beginning
What would an American soccer superstar look like? Not just someone who was a good player, but an actual legendary, world-class player, someone on the level of a Lionel Messi, a Diego Maradona, a Pele? Where would he come from? What would he be like as a person? And what would his path to soccer superstardom look like?
The paperback version of this book can be found on Amazon and the site of my publisher, Biblio Publishing. It is also available in ebook format on Amazon here.
John Buzbee of The Culture Buzz radio show in Des Moines (KFMG FM) interviewed me about the Yank Striker. You can catch it here.
For full links to these and other helpful places having to do with me and my writing, you can go to this page on my Wordpress site, Liegois Media.
You can also get my books in person at these fine Iowa bookstores:
Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines
Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.
The Book Vault, 105 S Market St, Oskaloosa.
I’m always looking for some new places to place my books, so feel free to hit me up in the comments if you have a suggestion.
Final Thoughts
As we get closer to Halloween, hope everyone either has a happy spooky season or deals with it in their own manner if they’re really not into it. Take care, everyone.
-30-
If anyone has any advice about the type of paper stock to use on this project, I’d love to hear about it in the comments or DM’s.
All promotional images courtesy of their respective organizations.
Also, big thanks for the previous weekend for the Windsor Heights Book Fair, especially Tyler Granger, for hosting me among many other Iowa area writers last weekend. It was a great event.
I know I promised I wasn’t going to replay this part this week. Sorry, folks, I just gotta promote. But feel free to skim it if you already clicked on the links.
If anyone does any reviews of my work, I’d love to post some links to them. Send it to me in the DM’s or comments.