Glug, glug, glug
It was a wet weekend, and it continues to be a wet week. I had this nagging feeling on Sunday evening that I should mow the lawn and I’m glad I did. We received three inches of rain yesterday morning, amid thunder loud enough to rattle the knickknacks. But that was a proverbial drop compared [...]
Chat with me at the Red Light District, June 4
I sent the synopsis back to my agent on Saturday and have been working fervently on the new short story since then. Some days I get more done than others—yesterday wasn’t terribly productive. But I worked out the end of the story in my waking mind this morning and dashed upstairs before breakfast to jot [...]
Viral marketing
I’m an associate member of the International Thriller Writers. The group’s first anthology, Thriller: Stories to Keep You up All Night comes out at the end of next week. (June 1). Pre-orders have already topped 120,000 copies, and the organization is pulling out all the stops to try to make this the first-ever anthology on [...]
Disappointed
Didn’t get any farther on my new story this morning because I received revised versions of my biography and the Missing Persons synopsis to go over. First things first! I was interesting to see that my agent recommended a synopsis that stopped short of giving away the ending. Everything I’ve ever heard about synopses says [...]
Questions answered, asked
Did some more work on my new story this morning. It seems to be moving along. When I finished, I had a pretty good idea of where it was going next. In fact, I didn’t really want to stop when I did, but I ran out of time. I read through the entire nine pages [...]
Forcing it
I’ve been trying to write a short story. No particular story, which has been the problem. I tinkered with old, unfinished manuscripts, started something new and stalled after about 500 words. Realized that it was actually a reinvention of another story I began two or three years ago that I never found a thread through.
You [...]
Desperado
My agent received the final, clean copy of my manuscript and is currently helping to brush up my unwieldy synopsis. The current plan is for him to start contacting editors next week, after the holiday. He’s putting together a list and I added a few that I’ve had contact with over the years. So, off [...]
In Cold Blood
My daughter and I went to see The Da Vinci Code yesterday. We were at an 11:30 am showing, and the theatre was nearly full. I had diminished expectations based on the advanced reviews, but I enjoyed it. One criticism was the lack of chemistry between Hanks and Tautou, which I found not to be [...]
Going, going
I revamped and resubmitted my biography to my agent this morning based on his feedback. I thought I’d put in too much, but he wanted a little bit more, which I gladly provided. Sometimes it’s tough to utter glowing things about yourself, but after a while it becomes second nature. (What, by the way, is [...]
Telling stories without plugs
My essay, What an Agent Can Do For You, is now up at Storytellers Unplugged.
I have no more words today—I used ‘em all up.
About
Bev Vincent is the author of The Road to the Dark Tower, the Bram Stoker Award nominated companion to Stephen King's Dark Tower series, and The Stephen King Illustrated Companion, which was nominated for a 2010 Edgar® Award and a 2009 Bram Stoker Award.
His short fiction has appeared in places like Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, From the Borderlands and The Blue Religion. He is a contributing editor with Cemetery Dance magazine and a member of the Storytellers Unplugged blogging community. He also writes book reviews for Onyx Reviews.
