It has been so long since I’ve blogged, I feel there is a lot of catching up and some explanation to do:

Where have I been?

Well, busy, to say the least. Primarily writing, finishing up “Scimitar Moon” and getting it off to a prospective publisher. Well, we’ll just have to see if that tree bears some fruit. I hope to have some kind of news in time for DragonCon, which I am once again attending as a dealer. I’m trying to plan a little “Writer’s Night Out” for a few of the authors who are attending, so if you are a writer, and you’re going to DragonCon, drop me an e-mail and come hoist a few with your fellow writers.

Conventions have been taking up some of my time of late as well, with Mobicon, Florida Supercon, and Oasis all coming along at what seemed like a rapid-fire pace. Met some great folks at all of the above, especially impressed with Eugie Foster, at Mobicon. If you have not visited her site, please do. She is not only wonderfully talented, but a real worker. Her capacity for networking is astounding, and she is a great resource.

Some very interesting, and temper-testing panel discussions around the convention circuit, as always. One of the most contentious was a panel on “Independent Publishing” at Oasis. Four independently published authors sat on a panel with a traditionally published and award-winning author of about 50 years experience. This was rather like throwing oil and water into a bottle and trying to get them to mix. Although I respect his work, I could not accept his opinion that independent publication is “a horrible mistake” and “a sign that you’re not good enough to get published by a traditional publisher”. I see independent publishing as simply another avenue to breaking into the market, one that seems to be working better for me than sending out manuscripts to publishers to sit and never even be read in most cases. The sheer volume of slush is the barrier new writers are fighting (about 1000 manuscripts per month in most large houses, and they choose one or two). With these volumes, it is only human nature to simply start at the top, and find something that isn’t too terribly horrible, and go with it. That is what happens, and that is why I chose to publish my own work and get it out to readers, who will make the choice whether it is good or not.

The problem is, with 1000 submissions per month to root through, you can’t really blame the publishers for taking the short cuts. There aren’t enough readers, editors and marketers to really make a discerning decision given the allotted work load.

My solution: let the public make the decision whether something is good or not. After all, there are millions of fans out there really looking for something good, and I mean REALLY GOOD, to read. This is why the few new good writers dominate the book shelves; Neil Gaiman, for instance, who is a fabulous writer and deserves every penny he earns. Well, his first efforts were graphic novels, not exactly high literature, but he made a go of it, and suddenly he’s at the top of every list. He did this through very hard work, from the bottom up.

Wow, did I get off on a tangent, or what.

Well, there’s the catch up. I’m currently working on the third in the Cheese Runners saga, and preparing myself for Necronomicon, and a great writer’s workshop on Martha’s Vineyard called Viable Paradise. Both happen in late September and early October… In fact, they overlap one day… Yikes, I’m going to be busy… again…