Long Tale Press

I guess I'm not so new here as some, but what the heck, I'll play.

I got into writing seriously about 3 years ago after dinking around un-seriously in my youth and then writing nothing more creative than term papers and software documentation for years and years. It's hard, hard, hard to find time to write and to edit with the demands of small children family, and work taking up the lion's share of my days, though.

Ah, well. What would life be without family? You'll notice I don't say the same about work. :)

What do I like to read? It's hard to pin down. I did genres in my youth, going through the compulsory rapacious Sci-fi and Fantasy reading phases. These days neither of those genres particularly appeals to me for reading, so don't even ask me how ironic it is that my first novel was a fantasy novel and my next one is going to be sci-fi. I can't even begin to quantify the irony factor there.

I like things that make me laugh without being stupid or juvenile (Christopher Moore generally gets high marks from me). I like things that make me think or see something I think I know from a new perspective (recently re-read Harper Lee's masterpiece "To Kill a Mockingbird", which definitely fits that mold). I like books with fresh and interesting characters, plots, settings. I like books with interesting "what-if" ideas behind them (despite what I said about sci-fi, most of Neal Stephenson's pre-Cryptonomicon books fit that mold, "what would the world be like if X happened/were true/etc" and I liked them quite a bit). I like things that are beautifully written.

In short, when it comes to grown-up books, I like things that don't suck. I'm not sure how else to describe it, except possibly to allude to the notion of "quality" as explained in that other classic, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I like a quality book, but don't ask me to define what "quality" is.

Other than that, lately I find myself reading a lot of young-adult and middle-grade books. Partly because I tend to enjoy writing for that audience, so I read a lot of it to keep my head in the game. And partly because my wife is a children's librarian and she used to bring home a ton of stuff in that category to review for her work, so I got exposed to a lot of good ones that way and developed a taste for them. Hands down, my favorite kids book of the last few years has got to be "The Tale of Despereaux". They're making a movie of it, so quick, go read the book before the movie spoils it for you. It's a quick read, only 35,000 words or so, but they are amazing words, every one of them. I'm blanking on the author's name at the moment but she's an amazing writer and does the smoothest job I think I've ever seen of breaking the "4th wall" in her narrative.

Well, I'm the new guy on the block, though I assume that title will quickly be lost as others hear of this sight.

I came over here from Storywrite, attempting to get my novel published. I built it on three different writing sites, working constantly through reader suggestions to create what I hope to be a sci-fi novel that will really take off.

The premise of this site is incredible! Many authors are overlooked because editors are busy looking for that one special gem, and so often they overlook stories worthy of publication for fear that readers might not take to it. I'm one of those who live in that boat, as I had one editor read an excerpt from my story and say how I had dialed in on a great story -but- she felt she had to pass because she couldn't take on a sci-fi project right now. Sadness. Despair.

Let the readers decide what's worthy of print! Why isn't this done everywhere? I suppose it takes a lot of non sellers in print to bring this idea to light. No longer can the publishers guess which story is the next bestseller, so why not ask them personally? The concept has been long coming, and I feel excited to be a part of it all - even if it isn't my story that hits the racks.

I've already bookmarked this page, as as you can tell from this posting, brevity is not one of my specialties. However, I would like to say hello to all the members here and to say a special thanks to the creators of this site for delivering what I believe will be a tremendous plus to the writing community.

Thank you! :)

Okay, enough about me. Who's next?

The spoken lasts but a moment; the written lasts forever.

gulp!

Note to myself: Do really, really good on your rewrite, Yoshi... Elspeth is counting on you.

The spoken lasts but a moment; the written lasts forever.

Like Yoshi, I came here from StoryWrite. But unlike Yoshi, I'm nowhere near as close to being published. I have two novels in the working and have for some time. My problem is that I love writing but I hate all the thinking that often comes with it (in terms of figuring out those extensive plot details, that is). So I tend to find editing rather easier to do than the actual writing itself.

In real life, I make a living as a software engineer and as a result (also as a result of working at a place that's an hour away from home) I don't have much time to work on my stories. But I think this works for the good at times, because of that thinking issue I have which often gives me writer's block. In other words, it means I have lots of time to think about my ideas before I write them.

As for books I like, I prefer fantasy above all else but I tend to stick with Young Adult because it's more light hearted. Having said that, I can't stand simple stories (unless they're short) and so stories with more depth and complexity and detail rate a lot more highly with me.

I'm looking forward to seeing what this site has to offer. Also what writers have to offer. Now I just have to find the time to explore. =)

Greetings!

I found Long Tale through the "Funds for Writers" newsletter, published by Hope Clark. I've always been interested in writing, and really learned about review processes during my college years. I ultimately majored in Art History and all of my classes, especially the high-level courses, required a plethora of writing. By the time I graduated, I wrote three major thesis papers, instead of the typical one thesis written for many other subjects. I loved every minute of it though, even those moments when I wanted to tear my hair out and couldn't stop dreaming of paintings.

Until this year, writing was something I planned to do on the side, to enjoy a creative outlet. However, this past spring I began freelancing and met my current employer who hired me to write for his internet marketing agency this past summer. Prior to July 2008 I worked in insurance only to discover myself on the wrong path, so writing is like salvation for my mind and creative spirit. The ability to write all day long, while sometimes frustrating and contributory to eye strain, is rewarding.

But I still want to publish novels. I believe that the purpose of life is to contribute to the world, to change some aspect so as to better someone's life. Some people accomplish this by becoming doctors, some join the peace corps...Since I met Carol Higgins Clark at a book release party for "The Book that Changed my Life" (very appropriate!), I knew that my path to changing the world is through books.

I've not yet been published, but starting this summer, I took (and am taking) more steps toward that goal than ever before. I enrolled in "Breaking Into Print," a course offered by Long Ridge Writers Group. So far I'm finding the course invaluable in my endeavors to improve my writing. Over the passing months and years, I kept careful logs of my ideas.

This month I've been prepping for NaNoWriMo (This November will be my first!) in the hopes that I'll have two novels ready to finish and edit by the end of the year (one for my practice, one for NaNo). Speaking and working with other writers, and immersing myself in writing, reading and editing (both my own work and that written by others) gave me the drive to get moving and last month I started submitting short stories.

I already received two rejections, but see those as notches on my proverbial belt; those stories are in my "edit for a fifth time and submit elsewhere" pile. Other projects I'm working on include launching an e-zine for zombie enthusiasts, comprised mostly of short fiction that use the conflict presented by all sorts of ghouls to invite readers to question society and/or the human condition. I also write two blogs, one about writing and the other about movies. My other on-going project is my website, which I am attempting to design so that it offers beneficial resources to other writers while, at the same time, promoting freelance services.

I always feel, with introductions, that I could write tomes...not because my life is super wonderful or anything (though most of the time I enjoy it) but because in general, I'm a very open and honest person. But I'll spare you all at this point, and wrap this up with one last note: I'm glad to be here, and looking forward to getting to know all of you and counting you as esteemed colleagues.