Once more my friends...

Yes, Yes...why haven't I written, why haven't I called....

I'll use the tried and try "researching" as my excuse and point out that all good things come to those who wait...whatever that may mean.

But it's true, I hane been researching, both for my writing and for my own resaons. For the writing, I've been doing the hard spade work on Who killed Reggie Plowski? The original idea was simple enough - a man celebrating his birthday remembers the death of a school friend twenty five years before and begins to dwell on it. It was only meant to be a snippett, a momentary indulgence but 500 words became 1000, became 200 and suddenly I realised that I did not know what the story was about or why I was writing it. Of course, looking at it from a distance I understood it was a strangely twisted 'mid-life-crisis' story.

They do say you should write what you know....

So now it's becoming a full length story, and fortuately for me, out of the blue, the whole story came to me and made sense in a pleasenly surprising/disturbing manner. Apart from one 'ugly' scene it has very little blood, gore or splatter, but it's one of those chills-in-the-bones, hug-someone-you-love type of story.

Fear puts alot into perspective.

In other news, The Cat called Follow Me - my all time favorite short story - has proven itself once more. It's been picked up by the wonderful guys at Sex and Murder in the USA and appears in the current edition, Volume 1, Isuue 20, October 2011. If you've missed it before, give it a read this time because it's now been published 4 times, on both sides of the Pacific, and it might just be it's last outing (for a while).

On the personal reseach, I've been doing my family's history for a while now, you know that 'Where do I come from?' routine that's popular and have just found the elusive missing link. ( I'm 90% sure anyway). Now, I know it's not that exciting to hear about other people's families, but stay with me. I'll keep it short and there really is a point.

I found a newspaper article from the 1950's which states my ancestors had, at that stage, been farming the same farm for 445 YEARS!!

Short of trying to trace myself back to Rome, I think I have fairly well found where I came from.

And yet I don't feel 'complete'...I don't feel the journey is over. I don't feel satisfied.

And that's my point. Who we are may have been influenced by alot of things from the past, but really, who we are is also about who we are now and who we will be.

The journey continues.

By the way, my cousin, Craig Greenhill, the photographer, has been again nominated for both the WALKLEY and NEWS Awards. Check out his site, Saltwaterimages, to see some of his brillant work, or just catch him in The Daily Telegraph.

Well, as all good thing come in small packages ( whatever that means) I'll get going...

And I haven't forgotten those hanging on the edge of their seats for another life lesson through the magic art of debt collecting. I'll do another post soon on perhaps some of the most important lessons I learnt.

Cheers
Anyway,

The Horror of it all....

Back again in 2011....the wait's probably been killing you all...

I can only give two excuses for my tardiness - the Australian Christmas holiday break (which on one occasion in the sixties went right through to June) and getting caught up with other things (like visiting New Zealand).

So, without further delay, let's get down to business. Although I've (still) been working on The Cabin - with a great new twist that raises the interesting question DNA plays when we think about mass murders - I haven't written many new short stories, but then again it's quality that counts not quantity, isn't it? However, I have been polishing some of my 'works-in-progress' and sending them out into the big bad world to fend for themselves.

Behind Every Successful Man and Honus Wagner are two of my 'literary offspring' that fall into this category. Behind Every Successful Man arrived as one of those fully fledged stories, a whimsical moment that began with someone repeating that old phrase 'Behind every successful man is a woman' and my imagination hijacking my mind for a few moments. The feel of the image in my head was a sort of mini tribute to B-grade, last night, schlock horror and the little man that keeps the records in my computer tells me that it happened sometime in early June last year. It's definitely horror, but I can't help laughing myself silly every time I read it.

Maybe that says more about my mind than it should...

Anyway, you can see for yourself and be the judge...Behind Every Successful Man has now been published in the Sex and Murder (USA) Issue 16, my first published story for 2011!!!

Honus Wagner is horror too, but on a different level. This one came about by chance with me opening a page on Honus Wagner, the famous American baseball player. An incredible man in his own right, and the facts about him and his legacy about his stand against cigarettes in my story are all true. This idea didn't arrive in my head as a finished product, strangely only the character of Josh remains as I first saw him. It took months and months of gentle tweaking and a final wholesale slash and burn approach (it's approximately 2800 words, it was 4300). Hard work, but I'm glad I took my time. Maybe not my 'favourite' story, but certainly a labour of love.

Honus Wagner T206 Baseball Card

When I wrote Honus Wagner I wrote it for myself, because I wanted to see it on paper and read it and I had no real 'market' in mind. Despite that, it has now found a home where it belongs - in the USA. Sex and Murder have just accepted it to be published in either their March or April issue!! (to be confirmed).

It will be my second published piece for the year and about my sixth horror piece in a row (the horror of it all!). Maybe that should tell me something.

On another note, I'd put Jack Be Nimble on the back burner for a bit but I had another look at it and decided to return to where my writing began to get a fresh perspective. In this case, that's Irina Dunn - author of The Writer's Marketplace (Allen & Unwin, Aust), former Executive Director of the NSW Writers' Centre and currently the director of ID Editing and Publishing Consultany. When I first started writing, I had a 'supersession' with Irina. These are really a form of manuscript assessment with a one hour face-to-face feed back session addressing character, story, plotline, tone pacing etc. Irina not only did this but was also able to assist me by advising the courses that would best assist me. I've now sent off a sample of Jack be Nimble to her and in a few weeks we'll be sitting down again. I'm feeling very positive that she will be able to help me in the right direction once again.

So, it's back to Jack Be Nimble, The Cabin and the longer version of Long Live the King! for me, probably with the more than occassional horror piece thrown in for good measure. When will the next post be? Who knows...

Cheers

In fine Company or The madatory rejection letter explaination blog

Back again after only two weeks....I'm really starting to apply myself to this blog writing caper, but I don't expect it to ever become daily - I just don't know if I could commit to that.


So, anyway...

The title of this episode is In fine Company or The mandatory rejection letter explanation blog and probably explains itself. Yes, for those who haven't guessed, I just received ejection letter/email for Jack Be Nimble from one of the major Australian publishing houses. I'll admit that it's not the first one from an agent/publisher and I don't expect it to be the last one that I'll ever get either.

While I'd be a liar if I said it was just water off a ducks back, in all honesty, it comes close.
For better or worse, when I started writing a few years ago (and still to date), every Australian writer/editor/lecturer/publisher/agent I have encountered has felt the fervent need to bemoan the difficulty to get an agent/get published/make a living. I can't remember how many time I've been told the number of manuscripts written each year verses the number that are actually published and that the average income for an Australian writer is $15k or less. These dire warnings no doubt tell the truth, and are issued with good intent I'm sure, but to me, they always conjure up the image of a 18th century black-cloaked figure, walking the streets, crying 'Bring Out Your Dead! Bring out your Dead!'

Fortunately, instead of being overwhelmed by this deluge of negativity, like a lot of writers before me, I've taken it as a challenge and picked out the important facts. Little gems such as:- Stephen King's Carrie was rejected 30 times before being accepted, Jodi Picoult had 100 rejections by agents and has gone on to write 16 best selling novels, J. K. Rowling was rejected by 12 publishers before Bloomsbury took a chance, and Mathew Reilly was rejected by every major publishing house in Sydney before self-publishing his first novel Contest.

What did I learn? Obviously, rejection letters are par for the course, and if internationally renowned writers like the ones above have received them, then I'd have to be stupid (or a God of writing!) to believe it's not going to happen to me.

So, what are the positives that I can take, and what advice can I give, from this rejection letter?

Firstly, that I did the right thing in paying for a copy editor and manuscript assessment. The publisher I sent the manuscript to does not take unsolicited manuscripts unless they come through an agent or have been assessed by a recognised manuscript assessor. This is what got me a foot in the door. Think about it...after all, you've got to spend money to make money.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, even though the email I received was on a form template, it did include that it was a 'well-written' manuscript. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but the email was sent from an actual person with a 'reply-able' contact, and I'm choosing to believe that this publishing house wouldn't advice every aspiring writer that their manuscript was 'well-written'. I admit that I may be grasping at straws, but whatever gets you through the day, know what I mean?

Thirdly, while I may not be kicking my heels up in the Med, with the ink drying on a ten book deal, the rejection letter reminds me of the most important point.

It means that I'm still in the game. I'm still playing, and although I might not have won today, may not have even managed a draw, tomorrow is another day...

Which is all logical, and easier to say then believe, but despite these points there's one other reason that I can't take this rejection, or any other, too much to heart.

It's simple. I'm a writer. That's what I am and no rejection letter will ever change that.

Cheers

When it rains, it pours

Back so soon? Yes, I know but there you go - when it rains, it pours...


Just thought I'd update things a bit. No book deal or publishing credits to share (and I've given up on the sponsorship thing) but that's not to say things haven't been rolling along...I feel a bit like one of those steam engines building pressure and gaining traction...I may not be moving yet but once I get going it will to full steam ahead.

At the moment my dry period of ideas and inspiration (I refuse to call it a drought) while I have been reading and reasearching, has broken like a dam...or a drought..I'm mixing my metaphores a bit so I'm not sure which it is but it doesn't matter. The ideas are coming thick and fast, and while they may not all be good or even great ideas, there are some real gems. Some are longer, like Dying Civilization (working title only) and Audrey and Jane, a story my wife particularly wants to read after hearing the pitch. Then there is a selection of short stories some that are still ideas, some I have started. Amongst the ones I've started writing are Only a day away (a story with tulips but not about tulips), Reason to Live (no tulips, but I think will turn out to be a hell of a story) and All in your head (which I hope will have a sort of Twilight Zone feel)...

Anyway, for a change of pace, I will not be doing the usual 'history of Sean Greenhill as a debt collector' interlude (never fear, dear readers it shall return) but in it's place we will have a special guest segment I like to call 'My Family Tree/ I heard it through the grapevine' or 'Is it in the Genes?'

I imagine that most writers/painters/musicians have reached some point where they ask themselves 'Do I really have IT or am I just kidding myself?' I hope they do anyway, otherwise it's just me. Luckily for me, I've been able to look to my cousin, Craig Greenhill. Craig is a photographer with The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Aust and has won numerous awards, including two Walkley awards for his stunning images. (and yes, actually, I took all of the images in my photography page).

Recently, I was also able to confirm that I am related (distantly admittedly - first cousin twice removed) to Harold Greenhill, the renowned Australian painter, who won the Sulman Prize in 1950 and 1956.

One of Harold's daughters, Annette Kay - who became Annette Kay Blackwood, Baroness Dufferin and Clayeboye - is the mother of the illustrator and special effects artist, Freya Blackwood. Freya's special effects work can be seen in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and she has won this years Kate Greenaway Medal for her illustrations in the children's book Harry & Hopper.

So, what does this show, apart from the fact that I can name drop too? It means that if it's in the genes, then I just might have a hope. Who knows, it might even be a head start? Of course, if you don't believe, it doesn't mean anything...but still, it helps.

Cheers

Nothing but time

October already? Like Alice's rabbit - I'm Late! I'm Late!

Okay the (few) highlights first...

My story Ease of the Midnight Visit - a ghost story that's more thought provoking than scary - was published in Short and Twisted 2010 (Celapene Press, AUS) in June and, I think, that copies are still available for purchase at Celepane Press. My story is the last in the book and I'm taking this as 'saving the best for last'. Submissions are now open for Short and Twisted 2011 and I'm going to see if I can't go for two years in a row. We'll see...

Long Live the King! has had another outing, this time in Twisted Tongue (UK) Issue16. For some reason I really like the main charcter of this story, Vince Card/Charlie King, to such a degree that I have continued it beyond the orginal 2500 words or so, and it's now out to about 9000 words. Could it possibly be a novella or novel I hear you ask. I'm hoping so and have done a mountain of research on the D.E.A. and  the mafia, including wading through Selwyn Raab's 800 page Five Families. Fascinating but I wouldn't try to read it again. So much detail, it did my head in.

I've also knocked out a couple of good short stories, Everett - featuring a character so annoying that I can't help loving him, and Live to Ride - a story I will admit was directly inspired by the recent reposts in the media of the  'Lemontree Passage Ghost'. I also have written a story called A Friend Like Bob to see how far I could take what was essentially a one line joke. 1500 words, apparently. Don't expect to see it published - ever.

I've also kept myself busy reading about 20 - 30 real crime novels as research. They are fascinating but stightly horrifing, not just what some people are capable of doing to other people, but in the fact that chance and dumb luck seem to solve more crime than any amount of so called 'traditional policing'. I constantlly wonder how anyone is ever caught at all.

Anyway...I won't leave it as long next time...promise

What's that? My lesson from the past?

Back in the 80's, more than twenty years ago, I worked in property finance, when it was still like the wild west, and slick cowboys rode into town and rode out just as fast, some with their ill gotten gains, some with their tails between their legs.

I was introduced to one on those cowboys once, we'll call him 'Sneaky Pete' to avoid any law suits. Sneaky Pete was a wheeler and dealer, a man with a smile on his face all the time. But Sneaky Pete wore a black hat and I was warned. 'Don't be fooled and don't get to close. He's bad business.'

Later on, in the nineties, I saw 'Sneaky Pete' again. He was spruiking his latest idea, and quiet respected people were being photographed with him, but then it all feel through and Sneaky Pete disappeared again.

Imagine my surprise when I turned on the news this week and saw 'Sneaky Pete', slightly older, rounder and with grey hair, telling the media that he couldn't talk about the current case invovling hundreds of thousands of dollars that shouldn't have gone missing.

The lesson. A leopard never changes it's spots.

Cheers

Long Live The King!

No, no...I'm not talking about me, I'm not that egotistical...yet

Let me explain...

At the end of last year I set myself a goal of getting one publication credit per month for 2010. Reach for the stars, I've been told, and even if you don't make it, you'll still have a hell of a trip. In some ways, my target is a little ambitious, but then again if I really am a storyteller of any worth, I should be able to do it. Let's consider it a sort of litmus test...

So, to this end, in January I had Cruisin' published in House of Horror Issue 8. This is a bit of a fudge because I actually knew about it last year, but I'll take every free hit I can get.

As announced in my last blog, Ease of the Midnight Visit was accepted for publication in Short and Twisted 2010 for June publication. Not exactly a 'Feb publishing credit' in the true sense, but I refer to my 'free-hit-rule' again and have the score as 2 - 0 in my favour.

And yesterday, I was advised that my new American crime short story, Long Live The King!, has been accepted by the US ezine, Sex and Murder. It's described as 'a magazine of extreme horror, dark fiction and splatterpunk', so another departure from the Horror, Romance, etc, genres I've been published in, and yet it isn't really. It's crime, gritty and real, (vaguely reminiscent of the 'American/Pulp Fiction/Gangster' mode) and I really like the main character. Could there be a follow up/longer story  to be written from it? I hear you ask.

We'll see...anything's possible.

Haven't got a publication date for it yet, but when I know, so will you.

So, I make that three publication credits so far (2 KO's and 1 on a points count). Maybe a publishing credit per month was a little rigid...Maybe I should go for twelve (or more) for the year...never let it be said that I'm not prepared to move the goal posts in the middle of the game...

And, as usual, something from the past...

Twenty years as a debt collector taught me a lot of things...one of the most important is that if you lead an argument, you'll win the argument. Think about it...if you're answering the questions, if you're on the back foot, you've already lost. Try leading next time...you'll be surprised.

Gotta run...haven't written anything in a while...been 'researching'...

Cheers

Summer down under

   

I know, I know...another two months without an update. I put the blame on Australia's habit of closing down some time in early December and not reopening for business until January...or maybe February, it all depends on how relaxed we feel.

So, it's a New Year...I'd like to say I've done nothing and be proud of it, but yet again, that would be a lie.

Regarding the novel, Jack be Nimble, I've finally run through all the options as far as 'legitimate' agents are concerned and will shortly be assaulting the portals of the Publishing houses...or at least the ones that are still interested in aspiring authors. We'll see...

In the meantime, I've been tinkering with another two novel length stories; The Cabin, a thriller, set in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and The Girl Who Could Smell Poision, a crime thriller based around Boston (USA). They are, obviously, aimed at a US audience, and once I get the first draft of one or the other completed, I'll be trying to sell them directly to US publishers...bigger market, more opportunity...

I have also completed, and submitted, several short stories including Art for Art's Sake and Behind Every Successful Man as well as One for the Money, all horror pieces and have another four or five 'works in progress'. Another story, Ease of the Midnight Visit (not horror?!), has just been accepted by Short and Twisted 2010 (Celapene Press, Aus) which will be out in June.

Anyway, I've got a sore throat from all this talking, so we'll take a short break, but I promise that it won't be two months this time..

I did, however, say I would give some history as we go along...today's lesson...don't throw away or give up on those old stories that you did ages ago...Ease of the Midnight Visit is actually eight years old...written back when I was still a debt collector and not the suave, confident and debonair writer you see before you today...hell, I hadn't even done a grammar or editing course then...what was I thinking?

So, stick to it and believe in yourself...

Cheers