peggyullmanbell.com

The Phoenix by Ruth Sims (Writers Collective, 2004) 343 pages ISBN: 1932133402

This is one story you don’t want to miss. It had me crying before I got past chapter two and laughing halfway through chapter eight. The book is a marvel of passionate difficulties without ever feeling like an emotional rollercoaster.

There were a few point of view problems with description of what the POV character did not see but they were not severe enough to interrupt the flow. Altogether, the writing is superb, evocative. I found some details a bit jarring, not because they were out of place, but because I was surprised to discover that such things existed so long ago.

The author’s research is flawless, her writing tight and uncluttered. This is not a book for skip readers. Every word and comma is essential to the story, which, to this reviewer is exactly as it should be.

The love between St. Denys and Dr. Stuart is subtle, sultry and real; their emotion deep, rugged and lasting. I paused many time to sit back and let the intricacies of the story flow quietly through my mind.

One could not help but laugh at the thought of The Mrs. Aster with diamonds on her knickers.

The Phoenix thoroughly involves the reader. The specifics of both theater and surgery pull the reader into diverse scenes with ease, and hold them there – in the past – with Kit when his worthless excuse for a father comes after him. Tom Roarke is an excellently drawn villain. This reader could not wait to see him meet his end.

By chapter twenty-two, the urge to steal a glimpse at the end is strong and difficult to resist but you must resist it or you’ll miss the fun. As with any good drama, just as near unbearable the move toward the finale begins complete with comedy, unexpected misunderstandings and false hints.

Overall, I can’t remember when I’ve ever enjoyed a book so much. Get it. Read it then pass it along. This one is definitely worth sharing [if you can bring yourself to part with it at all]

Peggy Ullman Bell: author Fixin’ Things & Sappho sings. http://peggyullmanbell.com

Link > Review by Margaret Leigh < Link

The first rule for pitching anything to an editor or agent is Have Something to Sell!  Unless you are an established author with good credits, you need to have a finished, polished project in hand before approaching an editor or an agent.  To do otherwise is to waste time and valuable contacts.

Secondly, you need to be able to answer the inevitable “What’s your book about” and “about 400 pages” won’t work.  You need a tag line as they call them in the script world.  A single sentence, or maybe two that sums up your project.  Something that would fit into a 2min. promo and stay in the reader’s mind.  A “stick” phrase.  That unforgettable little something that tells it all.

Tag line example - “A brief time in history when Scarlet’s world exploded and collapsed.  Would she survive?”  My tag line for Gone With the Wind.

Third, you need to be able to provide a brief expansion of your tag line.  Book Jacket stuff.  Quick and to the point.  These people have a lot of pitches to wade through.

After that, if the editor or agent questions you further, answer succinctly.  The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  Do not elaborate unless requested to do so.  This is a job interview with employers on both sides of the table.  They want to know what you and your project can do for them and you want to know what they propose to do for you.  But make it fast.  There’s a line of anxious author’s behind you.

"Writing is like those childhood mazes where you take your pencil down one path, hit a wall, and backtrack to take another path until you wind up at the winning spot. That’s writing. Sometimes you get there on one try. Other times it takes you several tries. But it doesn’t demean you as a person. Just consider it a part of the game."
- C. Hope Clark

Fixin’ Things is among the featured books on this month’s SPOTLIGHT @ http://www.highspiritsbook.com/Spotlight.htm

While raising five kids I learned that if Mother cries everybody cries so stoicism was the order of the day.

You already know what my year’s been like.  Now I want to tell you how I laid all that to rest.

Vanessa and I took the last of your father’s ashes to the cabin on the lake where last they fished together.   I had packed them into an "Ancient Mariner" stein that Daddy had asked me to keep in its box for just this purpose.  The stein was extra full and securely sealed with tape but we live in a damp climate.  (more about this later)

When we arrived at the lake on Saturday, the wind was whistling across the lake and the air was bitter cold.  Inside, we had central heat augmented by a blazing fire in the fireplace.  The first thing I did was cover the mantle with aluminum foil and place the stein of ashes there along with a large bayberry candle.  Ubaka Hill & Scott Fitzgerald drumming CDs lent perfect ambiance to our rustic privacy.

Sunday, the music was switched to Robert Gass and On Wings of Song "From the Goddess", "O Great Spirit" & the "Ancient Mother" CD.  During the day, we each wrote 3 letters. My three were to your father, my sister Betty, and my "lost" friend Sandy.  Vanessa wrote to Daddy, her about to be evicted roommate & her bosses.  Into these letters we poured all the thoughts we could not, or dared not speak.  These we made into paper boats and placed on the mantle.

In the afternoon, Vanessa grilled ribeye steaks outside in the wind while I cooked French fries in the nice warm kitchen.  She’s got a "thing" for ribeyes. {}:>).  While she was outside, I lined the edge of the mantle with 20 tea candles.

After dinner and dark, Vanessa built up the fire and lit the Bayberry candle from which the others could be lighted.  As we lit each small candle, taking turns beginning at opposite ends of the mantle, we spoke a toast to your father letting our tears flow freely.  My second toast brought a broad smile to your sister’s lovely face.  It was "To the boy who weilded a mean diaper but wouldn’t be caught dead holding a child in public."  I explained that "it just wasn’t done in those days."

When all the little candles were burning, I read the following Solstice chant as Vanessa dropped the paper boats, one by one, into the fire.

Set sail, set sail,
Follow the twilight to the West,
Where you may rest.

Set sail, set sail,
Turn your face where the sun grows dim,
Beyond the rim, beyond the rim.

Set sail, set sail,
One thing becomes another,
In the Mother, in the Mother.

Set sail, set sail,
Make of your heart a burning fire,
Build it higher, Build it higher.

Set sail, set sail,
Pass in an instant through the open gate,
It will not wait, it will not wait.

You struggle for months/years, making your novel an intimate part of yourself. Each line, each word has been pampered and worried over. There is so much of your Self on the pages that you’re not sure how much is left for the next novel, and the next after that.

But, you have to let it go sometime. Eventually, all manuscripts have to be sent out to rise or fall on their own, or be forever relegated to the closet of oblivion, and you could not do that to your “baby”. So, off it goes into the cold, cruel world of professional publishing. Then it comes bouncing home again like any human child, but without the encumbrances of spouses and/or children your human ones tend to accumulate.

And, like any presumably mature child, your novel must return to the outside world, away from the cuddling safety of its creator’s embrace.

Then one day, it does not bounce. One day, someone out there wants to publish it. Your “baby” has arrived! It’s going to be all shined up in a fancy jacket and be presented like a regular débutante.

Whoa! This is a whole new scenario. Just when you had succeeded in convincing yourself that rejection slips were just report cards from the school of editorial knocks, your “baby” went and graduated without warning and you are sitting at your computer thinking, “Gosh, Boss, what am I s’posed to do now?”

First, you laugh – that hyena stuff that always comes when what you feared has vanished.

Then, you cry – relief tends to do that even to tough souls like you when you’ve worked and hoped for something too long to remember exactly when the hope began.

After that, you sort of go numb, afraid to breathe for fear it is all an illusion. Then, you buckle down to contract negotiations, praying all the while to whatever power got you to this point in the first place.

And, while you’re at it – get an agent!

The voice of my Muse is Sappho. Too bad she’s been dead for thirteen hundred years.

Today, I have as my guest Owen Fiddler, star of Marvin Wilson’s new biographical novel.

Hello, Owen, before we begin I have to ask you – are you sober?

“Is the Pope Muslim?”

Are you enjoying your cyber tour so far?

“Oh, yeah, sure – never had this much attention paid to me before. Not sure what all the fuss is about, I’m just an average kind of guy. But hey, ya take whatcha can get when ya can get it, right?”

I heard all of your tour hosts were required to have cyber cocktails ready and waiting. Is that correct?

“Part of the amenities clause in my contract, yup. Speaking of which, you got any Hard Drive Highballs over there? New favorite of mine.”

Well then, let’s have a party. Can you think of anyone special you’d like to invite?

“Not picky. Anyone who likes to tie one on and have a good time. Lots of loose women, of course.”

What’s your favorite music?

“Country Western. White man’s blues.”

Do you dance?

Sober, no … too shy. After a couple stiff ones, sometimes. Fully gassed, I’m the star of the floor.

Are you good at it?

Sober, no … too shy. After a couple stiff ones, sometimes. Fully gassed, I’m the star of the floor.

With whom would you most like to dance?

“Faith Hill. God, what a babe. But chicks like that’re outa my league. So, I just drink until those skanks at the local pub start lookin’ all sexy and pretty through the bottom of my whiskey glass.”

What about your author?

What about him? I sure’s hell ain’t gonna dance with him!

Really?

Are you puttin’ me on? Hey – lemme have some of whatever you’re drinking.

I hear he’s a stodgy old soul. What’d ya think?

“From what I hear, he used to be quite the party animal himself. Says he sees a lot of himself in me. If that’s true, I don’t envy him his past. I don’t know about “old soul” or whatever, that sounds like that spooky spiritual stuff he tends to rambles on about. Mumbo-jumbo. Overall he’s OK, I guess – pretty stand-up guy. Makes me laugh, I like that about him. Workaholic, though – drives me crazy, that part. He had me up, sometimes four in the morning workin’ on this damn book. I’m like, dude – don’t you ever chill?

Did you tell him “the whole story” or is there more?

“See, that’s the helluvit – he keeps telling me I don’t KNOW the whole story yet. Makes my skin crawl when he gets to going on about some out-of-body experience with god or some such crap. I don’t believe in all that afterlife hooey.”

Come on; tell readers something even Marvin doesn’t know about you.

“Well … there is one thing. My old man used to come home late all drunk and beat my mother. Sometimes he’d slap me an’ my brother around, too – if we tried to stop him. I hated him for that. When I was ten, I had this plan to steal, I mean borrow - a gun – my friend Billie – his dad has a closet full of guns. I was gonna shoot the (bleep)ing son-of-a-(bleep). But then I ran away - that part’s in the story – and the old man left Mom before I ever came back. If not, the book mighta ended up with me on ice for life.”

Was there anything Marvin said about you that you didn’t like?

“Oh, hell, yeah! How’d you like to be called a lazy, selfish, irresponsible, trouble-making jerk who never amounts to nothin’ cuz his troubles are all his own fault and he ain’t got the guts to man-up and admit it? (bleep) him.”

Why do you think he did that?

“Simple. Makes for a better story. Who wants to read about some boring Mr. Nice Guy? Good writing (so he tells me) has to have conflict and resolution. He’s just like all those silly novelists – conjuring up some sensational bull(bleep) to snag people into reading his little fairy tale, then givin’ ‘em some Sunday school lollipop warm ‘n fuzzy conclusion. Life ain’t like that. Life sucks and then you die.”

Would you like him to tell his readers “the rest of the story” as Paul Harvey says?

“That’s what I been tryin’ ta tell ya – it don’t matter the way I see life, or whatever, he’s got it in his head there’s more to life than just everyday existence. Some (bleep) about karma, ancient teachings, quantum mechanics, Jesus, Buddha, Divine Oneness, Law of Attraction, all this horse(bleep) – it gives me a headache when he starts lecturin’ me on that (bleep). Look - ya only live once, ya have as much fun as ya can, then ya die and that’s it. Sorry, but that’s just the way I see it. If he wants to believe all that other-worldly junk, I don’t give a damn. But I ain’t believin’ in nothin’ I can’t see or experience.”

What is the most important thing you would have him add?

“I wish he’d write me in as winning the Mega-Ball lottery so I can quit my (bleep)ing job and get me a big boat loaded with classy chicks who’re attracted to me cuz I’m so rich and live the high life on easy street. Now, that’s what I call a happy ending!”

Were you happy with his physical description of you?

“So so. He coulda built me up more, you know. I mean, it’s just a frikkin’ novel, for god’s sake. I guess he wanted to keep my image more down-to-earth - someone any regular person can relate to.”

Was it accurate?

“Yeah, yeah … I mean, I am just a plain looking guy. My brother got all the looks. Thanks again, god.”

In what way would you change that before encouraging him to write more about you?

(Owen throws up his hands) “Ain’t no use talkin’ to him! If Marvin Wilson was any more bullheaded he’d grow horns. Least that’s been my experience with him. His book, his way or the highway’s what he tells me. I’m just along for the ride – well, and for the money, of course – hehe. No, I pretty much gave up on tryin’ to get him to change anything. Only person I know can talk any sense to him is his editor. She must be one stubborn, strong-willed, helluva taskmaster is all I can say. Had him doin’ so much re-writin’ at one point, I thought the poor fellow was gonna chuck the whole project and go looking for some serious narcotics.”

Do you plan to help him write another novel?

“Yeah. He’s plannin’ on maybe a series of books based on this one. Got one sequel in the works right now – some sleuth story called ‘Detective Snoop.’ Trying to catch and bring down the evil Lou Seiffer. I play just a small part in that book, but he keeps me around all the time as a sort of realism advisor.”

That’s all of my questions for today. Before you move on to the next stop on your around-the-web junket, is there anything else you’d like to say to my readers?

“Sure.” (Owen stands up, extends his arms out, palms-up) “Gimme a break and BUY MY BOOK! Hey, seriously, though – I know I come off sometimes as a hard-ass, a real jerk. But Marvin believes in me for some obscure reason. Claims the book (and me) are headed for one righteous ending. We’ll see.”

G’day to you, Owen Fiddler. It’s been great havin’ you come by.

“Sure, no problem. You were great. ‘Preciate you havin’ me on. (points at the wet bar) Hey, ya think I could get one for the road?”

Note to the reader: OWEN FIDDLER is available at www.amazon.com and www.cambridgebooks.us or at your favorite bookstore.

You can visit and communicate with Owen Fiddler at his myspace at: www.myspace.com/owen_fiddler - Book info is available at: www.owenfiddler.com

Marvin Wilson has a myspace at: www.myspace.com/Paize_Fiddler and he LOVES to hear from readers – email him at: marvwilson2010@gmail.com

READERS: LEAVE A COMMENT! Marvin Wilson is giving away a free sample first chapter of OWEN FIDDLER to ANYONE who leaves a comment. A drawing at the end of the tour will select on person from all the commenters to receive a free paperback copy of OWEN FIDDLER.

Friday, January 18, 2008

Today I have the privilege of interviewing Author, Marvin D. Wilson. Good morning, Marvin, glad you could stop by and so kind of you to offer such fine incentives.

• Everyone who reads this interview and leaves a comment will receive a downloadable PDF file first chapter sample of both I ROMANCED THE STONE and OWEN FIDDLER.

At the end of the month, once all the hosts have sent Marvin a complete list of all those who left comments, he will do a drawing and select 3 winners:

• 2^nd runner-up receives (his/her choice)
  either a print copy of I ROMANCED THE STONE (Memoirs of a Recovering
  Hippie), or, a downloadable PDF file copy of OWEN FIDDLER.
• 1^st runner-up receives the same choice.
• The Grand Prize winner will receive both books.

I’m sure your generosity will be appreciated, Marvin. Before we begin, would you like to tell my readers a little about yourself?

I am a man of many careers and walks of life; first as a rock and roll musician, then a nightclub entertainer, I’ve been a Zen Buddhist lay-minister, a carpenter, woodworker and cabinetmaker, a small business owner, a network marketer, a building trades instructor, a drunken crack head, and am now a recovered old hippie, a non-religious Maverick Christian spiritualist launching a golden years career as an author. I’m kind of a nutcase. I can be a very good friend, although I might embarrass you in public with spontaneous and/or eccentric behavior. I can say wise things and also make wisecracks. I can tell a good joke and also be one. I have a wonderful wife of thirty years, three great fully grown children with four grandkids and one on the way.

Thank you. And now for those dreaded questions.

1. Your first book, which I thoroughly enjoyed, was the autobiographical I ROMANCED THE STONE and I noticed that one of your IM signatures is that of the "good" brother, Paize from your just released novel, OWEN FIDDLER. However, after talking with you and reading OWEN FIDDLER, I have to wonder - isn’t Owen himself closer to your "real" personality than one might expect from a fictional character?

We are all multi-faceted complex beings. But, we are also equally endowed with the intuitive knowledge of right and wrong and have identical free wills with which
to make our choices. When reduced to choice-makers in a universe of basic
fundamental dualities and dichotomies, we are in this sense quite simple beings. When I was a youngster, my Dad used to tell me, “Marvin, there are always two ways to do anything. There’s the right way and there’s the wrong way. Do it the right way.” OWEN FIDDLER is the Marvin (or anyone else, for that matter) who ignores that simple but wise admonition and chooses to do the things the wrong way because it is either: easier, or more self-gratifying, or one of those (what I call) “short cuts to a dead end” in the pursuit of quick fix pleasure and/or happiness. Owen gets his name because he likes to dance, but never bothers to pay the fiddler. Hence, he is always in a state of owing (“Owen”) the fiddler, the proverbial karma debt collector. Paize gets his name because he is the opposite; he always makes sure he “Pays” the fiddler. I
believe in the truth of the Law of Attraction, so I am making conscious and
sub-conscious efforts to be more like Paize and less like Owen. Is Owen the more “real” me? I hope not, not anymore, at least. Used to be. I’ll leave the final judgment (on this plane of existence) to those who survive me.

2. Do you find that your work gets negative feedback due to its controversial theme?

If you mean the underlying Christian Theology in both books I’ve published to date, no, so far it hasn’t been a problem. I try to write in a way that is not at all “preachy” – I’m not evangelical with my writing, and actually I’m not a religious person at all. I leave dogma and outdated litanies out of it. I do my best to write
books that will engage and entertain readers from any faith or no-faith at all.
True spirituality transcends any particular religion. I suspect OWEN will be more controversial to traditional religious Christians than to the secular readership, because while I acknowledge the power of redemption and salvation, I poo-poo any notion that there is some evil deity with the power to damn us. We do a fine enough job of damning ourselves without some giant flaming boogeyman poking us in the arse with his spear as a prompt. Free will is the key to Heaven or Hell and it is always an erroneous copout to think or say, “The Devil made me do it.”

I ROMANCED THE STONE is somewhat “controversial” because I give testimony to a CURE for addiction … this goes head up against traditional AA/12-step philosophy, and STONE has met with some rejection from those folks. It’s the truth, however, and my own cure is not some fluke. Recent advances in treatment philosophy and methods have debunked the idea of “once an addict always an addict.” Addiction is a symptom of a deeper “dis-ease,” not the disease itself. Cure the
underlying disease, the symptoms go away naturally.

3. Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what kind?

No, probably because of my formal Zen training years ago. I like to do one thing at a time. The old Zen saying goes, “When you eat, just eat. When you sit, just sit.” So,
when I write, I just write. When I listen to music, I just listen to music.

Not that I can’t multi-task, I can do it with the best of them. That’s because
when I multi-task, I just multi-task. Sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s not –
there’s truth in that. As for music, I love ALL genres of music … mmm, except
for the quasi new-age schlocky “easy listening” jazz. If I’m going to listen to
jazz, give me Coltrain, Miles, Weather Report, stuff that gets deep and out of
sight, delivering the WORD in the universal spiritual language of music. I love
improvisation.

4. Do you edit as you work, or do you prefer to get the whole thing down before switching from your writer to your editor mode?

You know, Peggy, it varies with me. When I’m in the writing “zone” and can’t type fast enough to keep up with the thoughts and inspirations, I have no time to slow down and edit. Editing involves thinking, and my best writing comes when I am
thoughtlessly absorbed in a sort of trance. Those spells can last for hours up to a couple of days. Might sometimes be the sloppiest mess of grammar and
punctuation you’ve ever seen puked onto a page, but the essence of the writing
is the best stuff I do. So, during those hallowed times, I just let ‘er rip until the inspiration runs dry. I refuse to re-read for at least a day … I need fresh eyes to evaluate it properly. When I do re-read, I then put on the editor’s cap, pull out my scalpel and start cutting the crap out of it. I have almost as much fun with this process as in the actual writing. Didn’t used to, it used to seem like work to me. But learning all I have from other professionals (including you) about crafting good prose has given birth to a new delight in me towards this part of the art. It’s a more conscious, savory fun than full speed ahead first drafting … finding and saving the nuggets, improving the pretty good stuff, re-writing the not-so-good-but-worth-trying-to-salvage stuff, and taking joy in hitting the “delete” button when you know it will
improve the impact of the story. If I’m not in the “zone” and writing just because it’s “time to get some work done” on one of my books, then I often do at least some of the obvious editing necessary as I go along.

5. Your vision of the devil’s role in things is quite similar to that expressed by Piers
Anthony in his Incarnations of Immortality series. Have you read them? And if
so, what is your opinion of his work?

Well, if his vision is similar to mine, he must be a very wise man indeed! (smile) Honestly, I haven’t read them, but your question prompted me to go online and check his writing out. I’ve heard much about him. He’s a prolific writer who does seem
to write along some of the themes I take interest in. His reader reviews range from a few of the “This is crap – save yourself the time” kind, to lots of the “Brilliant! Best book I’ve read in years!” kind also, so that means he’s evoking emotion and stimulating thought and dialogue. Thanks for the pointer, I’ll pick up a couple books and read them.

6. On that note, what authors have inspired you? Which have turned you off?

Richard Bach and Herman Hesse are my number one and two favorites in the spiritual/inspirational genre. Gotta go with Stephen King in the suspense/thriller area. I’m not a big fan of that genre overall, but his writing technique and style are phenomenal. I’ve read his “On Writing” and keep it as a textbook.

In historical fiction, James Clavell’s “Shogun” blew my mind. I read it in my mid-twenties while on the road with my rock and roll band. Another band member had just read it; she handed me the still warm book and told me I should check it out. That was early afternoon. I got so lost in that book I read it straight through. Picture me in a shared hotel room in bed with my flashlight on (so as to not keep my
roommate awake) at 4:00 in the morning swearing to myself I’ll just read to the end of this next chapter and then get some sleep. A while later you hear me groan because there’s no way in Hell I’m gonna get any sleep without turning the page and finding out what’s going to happen in the next chapter. That’s good writing.

Who has turned me off? Many will consider this heresy, but Hemmingway. I’m not turned off by his writing and storytelling skills … he was brilliant, oftentimes genius. It’s just that he was such a racist bigot. I’ll be reading along enjoying every
phrase and plot nuance and then he’ll throw a “nigger” at me and piss me off,
disrupting the read. I’m not against using ethnically degrading words if they are placed properly within the context of a story. For instance, “Abdul’s face twisted and flushed crimson. He slapped his ‘so-called’ friend in the face with a shout, ‘Nobody calls me a Camel Jockey!’” … that is to me appropriate writing. But, “The nigger ran over to the fallen man and shot him twice in the head. Some nigger.” - that is not. That’s first person narrative with a shot of internal thought comment, and it’s a racist doing the storytelling.

7. What is the most challenging aspect of being a novelist?

Striving for perfection. As a published author, that is. You can write any way you like to your little heart’s content for you own personal pleasure or the entertainment
of your circle of friends and family. But when you step over the line into the world of professional writers, you’re in some deep waters occupied by a plethora of accomplished swimmers. I used to read just for fun, and I still do read for fun, but now I also read with more of an analytical approach. It’s my job. I want to add to the volume of well-written books out there, not contribute any to the piles of dung on the page. It’s kind of like becoming a musician. Before you understand music theory, how music is put together, what makes good sonorous combinations, what makes a well-written composition and why, etc., you can just enjoy yourself listening to music. After you cross the line into professional musician, you can’t help but “take the thing apart” in your mind as you listen to a tune or a symphony.

8. What do you hope readers will take away from your work?

I write books that are intended to deliver spiritual messages in an entertaining, oftentimes humorous, more than often irreverent, sometimes sexy and even ribald way, through the spinning of a good tale. It is my hope that the reader will have
been entertained along the way, and that he/she will have been given some food
for thought and inspiration at the conclusion.

9. Do you have any advice for aspiring novelists?

Keep your day job for a while, this is a loooooong process! (smile – no, make that a grimace)

Seriously, you have to believe in yourself, in your ability to communicate
through the written word. Develop thick skin, you’re going to get slammed from
time to time, but also be open to criticism. There’s no room for self-pitiful emotions in this business when it comes to perfecting your craft. Have your manuscripts read by professionals (not your friends or family) in the field and if the first reviews don’t come back so good, don’t pout about it. Set about with determination to improving your draft. When I sent my first manuscript I ROMANCED THE STONE in to the publisher’s editor the first time, it came back so marked up I felt like I had just flunked third grade English! Grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, passive voices, paragraph composition, she beat the crap out of my precious little baby. What? You mean my cherished brainchild is not perfection just as it is? ALL my family and friends think it’s sheer genius! (laugh) And that brings us to my last bit of advice.

Work with an editor – a good one, one who is not afraid to hurt your feelings and
step on your egotistical “style” toes in favor of well-written English. Style has its place, but overdoing it (especially as an “unknown”) can make you come off as amateurish. Do this BEFORE making submissions. Small pub houses (and they are the only ones you’re going to get through to as an “aspiring” author) these days more and more want to read polished manuscripts, not “diamonds in the rough.” They often don’t have the time or money to do all the work for you.

10. What are you working on now?

I’m about half the way through writing a third book, a fiction titled “Heaven’s Slope Ascended,” and have begun to sketch out a story synopsis for a fourth book. AND, I have accepted another author’s invitation to do some collaborative writing on an historical fiction project. Besides the writing, I am in a feverish marketing mood, part of which is this blog tour.

For any readers who wish to know where they can get my books and/or how they can contact me, (and I LOVE hearing from new readers, enjoy dialogue and making new friends), here is my contact info:

OWEN FIDDLER – The Ebook is now available on www.mobipocket.com and

www.fictionwise.com. By the end of January, it should be on www.ebooksonthe.net, and for Kindle Book lovers on amazon.com. Print copies will take a bit longer; the trade paperback version will most likely be out by mid-year 2008. For more info on OWEN FIDDLER, reviews, excerpts, and a 3 minute trailor video, go to: www.owenfiddler.com.

I ROMANCED THE STONE (Memoirs of a Recovering Hippie) sells as a trade paperback on
www.amazon.com – If you would like a signed copy direct from me, contact me via e-mail at:

marvwilson2010@gmail.com

My MySpace is: www.myspace.com/Paize_Fiddler

My Blog, Free Spirit, is: http://inspiritandtruths.blogspot.com,

And my E-mail address is: marvwilson2010@gmail.com

Thank you, Marvin. It’s been fun. Please stop around again when your next book comes out.

Thank you, Peggy. I got a bit wordy with some of the answers, but that’s because your questions were so stimulating, and they tickled some of my creative writer’s rib bones. Thank you again for hosting me today. My very best to you and your readers.