We call him Mister B Part I

Writer guy

Consider this is Part 1 of a 2 part blog. The second half will run Thursday. I’ll swear right now on a stack of religious books of your choice, Thursday’s blog will be both funny and entertaining.

On the writing front, I met with Editor person and reviewed the query letter for the Ridge Runner. That conversation went something like thus…

sam: It’s good on the sales pitch side, but it lacks personality.
Editor Person: There’s only so much personality you can cram in 350 words.
sam: I need something that makes mine stand out just that extra bit.
Editor Person: Let’s see, you have zero publishing credentials. You’re a novice on the subject matter. You still don’t know how to use commas consistently. I think you stand out.
sam: This query has got to look different from the others, or it’s getting tossed.
Editor Person ( reads ): You got one shot at distinguishing yourself. Go for one laugh and hope for the best.
sam: Suggestions?
Editor Person: For you to be funny? Look in a mirror, perhaps?
sam: Anything else?
Editor Person: 2 words, Harry Potter. Play the JK Rowling angle. Publishing loves the underdog forced into a career change.

So the new query letter does just that.

Where we at Rock, where we at?

Writer guy

Another day, another 7 pages. 12-14 more days like this and the 6th draft should be in a good place.

Think writing is an exciting job? Here’s what a full writing day ( when a full one is available ) looks like in my apartment:

Each writing day starts with a review of the first 50 pages and about 1/2 hour of tweaks. A review of the last 3 days worth of work follows immediately after, lasting about an 1 hour. This provide focus and preserves continuity, mostly by keeping me in touch with what actually is on the page. Most writers think they are a lot more skilled than they are until confronted with their recent work. The next 5 hours are reserved for all new material. Somewhere in there there’s some snacking and lunch. After dinner there its time to review the days work.

And then it’s blogging time.

One thing I’ve learned through the revision process is that Hemingway was right. First drafts are s***. Or in my case, the first 3 sucked wind.

Site Updates

Writer guy

Tech guy had a busy Saturday of coding and made several modifications to the site, most of which I’ve been after him about for months.

Handy changes like:
1)Consistent navigation. No matter where you are at samhilliard.com, the left hand side navigations are the same.
2)Mailing Lists. Want the inside track on the goings on? Sign up for one of the lists!

Thanks to Russkaya’s much appreciated testing efforts, it appears Tech guy upgraded the site without breaking anything.

With the lists in place, next stop – downloads! Huzzah.

A streetcar named Brando

Writer guy

Perhaps the most venerated actor of the last 50 years, Marlon Brando has left the building.

His career exploded in the early 50’s with work on The Wild One, A Streetcar Named Desire and Julius Caesar. Films like these marked the dawn of a new era in film, the era of stars insisting everything be done their way.

While many of his performances on screen were inspired at times, almost surreal, little credit is given to directors who coaxed these kind of results out of him.

His role as Don Vito Corleone in the Godfather was sheer genius, bordering on flawless. What was less than perfect was the exacting toll on the Francis Ford Coppola, who not only had to endure Brando not showing up for weeks at a time, but when the actor did deign to appear, he required more than a month of work to determine the right approach for the role. It was a tactic he reprised during Apocalypse Now.

His advancing age did little to soften his attitude. More recently, Brando starred in The Score. Referring to Frank Oz the director as Miss Piggy, he refused to appear on the set if Oz was present.

Betcha lots of people wish they could get away with that at work huh? Sorry boss, I’m not doing anything as long as you are around.

Come to think of it, maybe Brando was onto something…