ozma914 | Entries tagged with red is for ick

Here's the interesting history of the "Riviera of the Middle West":

https://ndsmcobserver.com/2020/02/indiana-beach-gone/

For several years I got Indiana Beach tickets through my work, and would take my kids, and sometimes their friends, there. Later Emily and I went, once taking the grandkids. Like the local drive-in theater I've talked about before, it seemed like it was becoming a multi-generational thing.

Now, although there are efforts to keep it going, the almost century old Indiana Beach Amusement Park seems gone for good.

The last time we visited was in rainy, dreary weather, which maybe I should have taken for a sign.

I took the news personally, because I just finished changing the title and doing a few corrections to my so-far unpublished young adult mystery, Summer Jobs Are Murder (formerly Red Is For Ick, but I'd rather we all forget that.)

The story's protagonist is a teenager who investigates a murder while also working her first job--at an Indiana amusement park. Since Indiana Beach is the only amusement park of its size within easy driving distance, I used it as an inspiration and model for my fictional park. Details were changed, of course, to protect ... well, me. I'm getting ready to send that manuscript back out on the agent hunt, so I'll let you know.

This isn't my first time stealing, as the basic layout of the town of Hopewell, in my published novel Coming Attractions, is based on Kendallville, Indiana. In the immortal words of Thomas Edison, "Why invent, when you can steal?" (Kidding!)

So I'm taking this loss a bit hard, and I hope against hope someone will step in to get the park running again. Meanwhile, I'll continue my efforts to show non-Hoosiers that there is still more than corn in Indiana.

http://markrhunter.com/
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0058CL6OO
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/"Mark R Hunter"

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I've been kidding myself with the name of one of my novel manuscripts. It's not that I was in love with the title: I was more in love with the possibilities the title represented.

Many readers are familiar with book series that have a progression in their titles. One For the Money, for instance, is followed by--well, what are the Stephanie Plum stories up to now? 27? And each numbered in order.

Sue Grafton has a letter in each title of her series, meaning that Z has to be her last one unless she starts throwing in subtitles, or something. AAA Is For Roadside Assistance might come after Z, but she started way back with A Is For Alibi.

When I started my young adult mystery novel, I wanted it to be a series, so I looked for something like that. Famous author names, cities, types of flowers, whatever. That would also make it clear to editors and agents that I was interested in a series, and series are big these days.

So, for instance, A Is for Asimov, or Boston Mystery, or Carnation Crime, or something like that. After thinking not long enough on it, I chose colors. For one thing, I could do those without going alphabetically. I'm not that good.

So I chose Red Is for Ick. I didn't realize at the time that all of Grafton's books have "is for" in the title, or maybe I'd have thought longer. But hey--red's the color of blood, and this novel would have a murder or two; and what would my fifteen year old hero, Cassidy Quinn, say about the blood? Yep: "Ick!" (You get to meet Cassidy, and briefly her father, in my YA adventure The No-Campfire Girls.)

It was brilliant.

Except for one problem.

The title makes sense when it's explained, but I just took three hundred words to explain it. You don't get that kind of space when you're querying an agent or editor. You need to cut to the chase.

I've been using this manuscript on the agent hunt, and got compliments and a few requests for the complete manuscript, one of them very enthusiastic ... but in the end, three dozen rejections. No, no one ever said they rejected it because of the title, and maybe the title's just fine and doesn't need explaining. But in the crowded world of publishing, you need every advantage you can get--starting with your title.

So what do you, the reader and/or writer, think? Granted, many titles are changed after the book is picked up, but (assuming you don't self-publish) you have to get the proverbial fish on the hook, first. Yay or nay on the title?

Here's a brief description of the book, if it helps:

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( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )

Current Mood: curious

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     I wondered about the best way to start the New Year. I rarely drink, and had no desire to see Miley Cyrus' Epiglottis on New Years Rockin' Eve. What I do want in 2014 is to get published again.

     So three hours into the New Year, I sent my Radio Red manuscript to a publisher. That means all seven of my completed but unpublished manuscripts, four novels and three shorts stories, are out and about and seeing more of the world than I. What do I do next? Well, I have a few more stories that just need some polishing ...

     I know what you're thinking: "You lazy sod, why didn't you send it three minutes into the New Year"? Well, my paranoia had me pouring over the query letter and synopsis for hours before I uploaded the manuscript and hit the send button. Besides, I have a morbid fascination with seeing how incapable the folks in Times Square are of finding and using a trash can.

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I've finally had a chance to catch up on my DW and LJ friends lists a little, and I noticed a lot of my friends are planning to participate in the National Novel Writing Month this November -- or are at least considering it. It's a big committment, to write 50,000 words in 30 days! Good luck to those of you who go for it; I've tried it only once, but I do think it's a worthwhile project.

I considered starting work on Storm Damage over that month, but due to getting tied up with my home refinancing, maintenance tasks, winter preparation and various RL stuff, I still don't have the fire history book ready to go out the door yet. I have to finish that (I'm close), and I also need to do some columns up in advance, so that if I get too into my first draft I can skip writing a new one for a week or three.

I wouldn't have officially participated in NaNoWriMo this year, anyway. While it works well for many people as a kick in the pants to get that first draft finished, I found it didn't match my writing style. My long stories work best if I go back over the previous day's work every writing session, cleaning it up a bit and adjusting my plot and other details along the way. I've found that if my first draft is too rough when finished, I tend to put off going back to put the work into it, which is part of the reason why Red is For Ick (my only NaNo novel) is languishing on the back burner now, needing some work to its middle.

Just the same, I still think NaNo's a brilliant concept, and good luck to everyone who's participating. Keep writing!

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Red is For Ick was rejected by the agent who'd been looking at it. That was a particularly hard blow because she liked my query and loved the first five chapters enough to request a full, but after some time decided to give it a pass. However, she was also nice enough to give several suggestions for improving the manuscript, and I'm giving the ideas a serious look; I foresee more revision in my future.

First, though, will come my fire department history book, since we want to have it ready for sale by the Albion Fire Department's 125th birthday celebration -- which is only two years away, and in the publishing world that's a blink of an eye. The manuscript's mostly done, but I need to pick out photos to go into the book, then make a final decision on a POD publishing company and get things rolling. Emily and I are going through AFD photos anyway, as she's setting up a Powerpoint of fire related pictures that will play during our annual fish fry fund raiser, on June 8. Proceeds on sales of the book, which is tentatively titled Smoky Days and Sleepless Nights: A Century or So With the Albion Fire Department, will go toward the AFD.

An order has been sent for the print version of Storm Chaser. I still don't know whether the e-book version will come out on June 1 or June 15, but the paperback should be available in around four weeks, or close to the end of June ... if all goes well. The print retail price will be $14.95, which should put the e-book price at $5.99.

Finally, here's a blog that leaves me feeling humbled and honored: One of my friends has given me the Luminous Luminary Laurel!

http://www.dmyates.blogspot.com/2011/05/three-exceptional-writers-receive.html

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Sadly, I didn't make it to the quarter-finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition with my young adult mystery, "Red is For Ick". (Maybe because I still haven't come up with a better title?) Time to start gearing up for next year! ... I know I should sugar coat it and look on the bright side and all that, but I have to admit -- kinda bummed.

On the other hand, five years ago my writing career seemed to be one step forward and two steps back, but these days it's more two steps forward and one step back, which is the kind of progress I prefer.

There was a lot of great competition, and the list of who made it in the YA and general fiction categories can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com/b?node=332264011

Current Mood: depressed

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Congrats to everyone who made it into the 2nd round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest -- including me! *does Snoopy dance*

"Red is For Ick" is one of 1,000 manuscripts that advanced, out of 5,000 in the young adult category ... I still face long odds, but passed the initial cut. The list of top writers in YA and adult fiction can be found here:

http://www.amazon.com.../Breakthrough-Novel-Award-Books/b?ie=UTF8&node=332264011

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It took me awhile to jump through the hoops (and writer a better pitch), but I've got Red is For Ick signed up in the young adult category in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest (ABNA). Wish me luck! They're taking "only" the first five thousand manuscripts, so my odds are great. :-)

Now I'm busy polishing up Coming Attractions , a manuscript I haven't touched since it was rejected by Avalon Books last summer. I don't know now why they requested a full in the first place -- the opening scene was too long, and while writing it I apparently became the master of run-on sentances. If I can get it cleaned up before the ABNA contest ends, I'll put it in there in the adult category.

This is what I've been up to. I live life in the fast typing lane.

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The last post of 2010, most likely. I'll be on to check my e-mails here and there, but otherwise I suspect I'll be too busy to get online much between now and early next week. Too much to do, and not enough energy to do it.

How was 2010? Well, that's hard to say right now, because for the past couple of weeks I've been going through some pretty bad bouts of Seasonal Affected Disorder -- also known as wintertime depression, otherwise known as "Duh -- of course winter sucks". All I want to do is sleep, brood, drink Mountain Dew, and eat chocolate. The extra sleep helps a bit ... the rest of it, not so much. Emily and certain TV shows help me through it (Thank you, Doctor Who Christmas special), but it's been especially rough at work.

So it's hard right now to take a good look at how the past year has gone. It certainly had its high points -- hey, fiancee and book contract! Outside of that there haven't been many more setbacks for me personally than in any other year. So my problem right now is just the weather and the season; both of which will, no matter how much I think otherwise, come to an end.

Writing news? I haven't heard back from Whiskey Creek Press on Storm Chaser edits, but it's been only six months -- a vast amount of time for anything except the publishing process. An agent who requested a full on Red Is For Ick said she'd try to get back to me by Christmas, but she got busy, and the good news she hinted about in a blog turned out to be taking on another client, not me. It still hasn't been a very long wait, considering she's got an entire novel manuscript to look over. So, while I'm getting mopey and pessimistic about things ending well in those areas, it's a fault of my SAD inflicted mind, not the people I'm waiting on. There's still a signed contract, and as far as the literary agent is concerned, even if she does reject me she did it after asking for a full manuscript -- one of only three she asked for in all of 2010, which according to her blog puts me in the top .04% of authors who queried her.

And that ain't too shabby.

If that doesn't work out I'll search through Writer's Market, pick another agent who seems like a good fit, and steam on into 2011. In the end, that's what we all must do: Persevere, take care of ourselves, work hard, do the right thing, and keep our fingers crossed. The days are getting longer. The snow will melt. Tomorrow, to steal a phrase, is another day.

So Happy New Year, everyone -- keep your spirits up! And I don't mean just the booze.

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Hey, I'm back -- did you miss me? Whaddya mean, no?
I popped back briefly once or twice, but for the most part I've been offline longer than I thougth -- something like ten days. In that time I ate Thanksgiving dinner in three states (Indiana, Missouri, and Arkansas), drove for something like 28 hours in a five day period, got stuck in a traffic jam on I-57 in Southern Illinois (nowhere near as bad as what motorists ran into in upstate New York), and got to drive in our first snow of the year (see above about nowhere near as bad ...)

We saw so many horrible motorists that I came up with an idea for a new novel: A serial killer who only preys on bad drivers. He'll be the good guy, "Dexter"-style. That and my other novel ideas will have to wait until I'm finished with my history of the Albion Fire Department, which I'm polishing now with the idea of putting it out through print on demand to coincide with the AFD's 125th anniversary.

In other writing news, an agent I queried has requested the full manuscript of Red is For Ick. I'd really like to work with this person, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my attitude positive. So far I still haven't heard back from Whiskey Creek Press on Storm Chaser edits.

Also, we got the Christmas tree decorated, but I don't think we'll put up outside decorations this year -- we could live without the extra electric bill.

So, yeah -- I've been a little busy. I've missed catching up with my online friends; anything to update me on?

SLIGHTLY OFF THE MARK

( Real history is interesting and not dry at all – if done properly – making it somewhere between blowing things up with Harrison Ford and reciting dates in middle school. I was terrible at dates, all the way through school, but enough about my love life. My own archeological misadventure would have been shrugged off by Jones, involving as it did only one spider. )

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I've finished the final polishing of "Red is For Ick", which for those who missed it is a 62,000 word young adult mystery. It's ready to be sent out to potential agents, which I'll probably start right after Halloween. It's got a kind of Veronica Mars meets Gilmore Girls vibe to it ... I think it's pretty good, but that's up to future agents/editors to decide.

We didn't blow away, although I was out on storm watch for awhile Tuesday. There were 10 confirmed tornado touchdowns in this general part of Indiana: Two counties that adjoin ours suffered damage, but although we were placed under a warning there were no confirmed touchdowns here in Noble County.

Insurance is getting the accident all sorted out, and it looks like I'll get a rental while my car is repaired. Since we're taking a trip to Missouri in November, it'll be nice to know we won't have to hear the vibration of the crumpled panel or worry about the damaged tire giving way.

Aaaaannnnddd, the moment you've all been waiting for: Cute grandkids in costume, photo taken by their proud momma!

( Buzz and Woody, also known as Hunter and Brayden )

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Writer/actress Felicia Day commented over on the GoodReads site that she suspected the writer of a book she'd just finished (Unclean Spirits, by M.L.N. Hanover) was a male, and it turns out she was right.

When I asked her about it, she told me she could definitely tell, but couldn't say why -- just a gut instinct. (Yes, she actually replied to my comment, just as Amber Benson did to my comment on her Twitter some time ago. I don't expect we'll end up hanging out together, sipping coffee and discussing characterization.)

This is something I've thought about from time to time, as I've written three novels I call romantic comedies -- in other words, romance novels, written by a male. It's more common than you might imagine, but it's far from unheard of. Emily says it's okay; I write like a girl, anyway. Um ... thanks? :-)

Storm Chaser would be shelved as a romance, and the novel I'm working on now is from the POV of a teenage girl, so I'm curious: How many of you can tell whether a writer is male or female, and why? I mean other than their names, of course! If you see initials instead of a first name on a book cover, there's a good chance it's someone working in a genre that's usually thought of as appealing mostly to readers of the opposite sex.

Oh, I almost forgot: My internet presence will be sparse over the next few days. Emily's feeling under the weather (nothing serious), so we're going to stay warm and comfy at home as well as, if weather and health permits, spend some time at the Kendallville Apple Festival and hopefully visit with Charis, Vinny, and the twins.

Current Mood: curious

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I've been on a tear with my new YA mystery manuscript, "Red is For Ick" (Haven't heard back from Whiskey Creek Press on edits for "Storm Chaser"). After being clobbered over the head by my muse I tore apart the last few chapters, and I'm in the midst of putting them back together into something that will have a bit more action, and extra surprises. Yesterday I worked on it at the Indiana University/Purdue University library while Emily was in class, and apparently being surrounded by all those books was inspiring: I wrote obout 2,500 words in the course of an hour and a half.

SLIGHTLY OFF THE MARK

( Some people say the soon to be late, lamented August (well, lamented by me) seems so long because it’s the dog days, the time of all heat and nothing cool, the long month with the short tempers. I say it seems so long because of all the observances that have been assigned to it. )

Current Mood: hopeful

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I'm making great progress on my YA mystery, "Red is For Ick" -- I'd say I'm about halfway done with the major revisions, thanks largely to staying away from the internet for a few days. Then comes polishing, of course -- the story must shine.

Luckily, I got on long enough to stumble across a request from a LiveJournal friend of mine, who wanted to know something about the process of getting a novel published. I only had time to pass on the very short version, but I thought some of you also might be curious, so here's the answer I gave her:

( I think I hit the major points, anyway: )

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I stumbled across (I prefer the term research) an agent who I think would be perfect to represent the Young Adult mystery I've been working on -- and the best part is she's actively seeking new clients.

But the manuscript for "Red is For Ick" isn't completely done. (The title is a takeoff on all those adult mystery series with numbers/letters in them. I figured if it became a series the next one would be "Murder Makes me Blue" or "Dead Bodies Turn me Green". Or is the joke too obscure?)

Don't get me wrong: It's mostly done but needs a few changes, a final once over, and a bit of polishing. I have a good feeling about this agent, and I want to get my query letter and sample pages in early, but I'm too paranoid to risk getting a request for a manuscript that's not finished. So, I'm going to go somewhat off the grid for a week or two for intensive work on the manuscript.

I'm afraid I might not be able to check my friends lists much, let alone comment, but since I'll still be online from time to time feel free to e-mail me -- and let me know if I'm missing anything big!

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Slightly Off the Mark

Indiana Beach ... Gone For Good?

Red Is For Ick, or: How icky is that title?

New Year's Writin' Eve

NaNoWriMo

News on publishing, rejection, and luminaria

Novel Writing Contest Fail

Red Is For Ick makes cut in ABNA award

ABNA

The last post?

column: Arachnid Evicts Garage Owner

Good news, mostly, and grandkids pic

Men who write like women

column: Observances Arrive With Dog Days

The publishing process

Agent hunt: Going off the grid

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