Writeful

a weblog for readers and writers

Monday, November 24, 2014

This Thanksgiving, Save the Goose for Reading


As you prepare you holiday goose*, allow me to put you on track regarding some Black Friday specials that will be good from now through the end of the weekend.


Buy a copy of Tracks: A Novel in Stories for $10 + $3 shipping and get a free audio CD with radio readings from the book—set to music and sound effects.
 

Buy a copy of Flightless Goose for $10 + $3 shipping and get a free DVD Storybook of the book.


Buy a set of both Tracks and Flightless Goose for $20 + $3 combined shipping and get both books, the free CD and DVD AND an unpublished, deleted story from Tracks.


Just visit www.EricDGoodman.com/tracks.html to place your order.


Learn more or place your order at www.TracksNovel.com


Happy Thanksgiving from the Goodmans and the goose!


*Gilbert, the flightless goose, recommends eating turkey and reading about goose.

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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Novel in a Month?


Tens of thousands of writers are racing through their pages during National Novel Writing Month this November.  Thousands will cross the finish line to complete a manuscript of 50,000 words or more.  Now, what can you do with it?


In a nutshell?  Rewrite it.  Revise it.  Edit it.  Make sure it’s the best book it can be.  Then start looking for an agent.


That’s what I did.  It took me a month to write that first draft of Tracks: A Novel in Stories, then a few years to take the spillage and sculpt it into a novel I could pitch to agents.  The result?  Representation by one of New York City’s top ten agents! 


And a book deal with Atticus Books!


But it all started with a month of intense writing, as you can read in Ally E. Peltier’s story about the beginnings of Tracks as a NaNoWriMo novel.


Here’s a snippet from her article:


Eric began writing Tracks five years ago, during NaNoWriMo. He wrote about 60,000 words that year, then went on to add and subtract stories, rewrite and revise, until he had a final draft ready to take to publishers. “The nice thing about NaNoWriMo,” Eric says, “is that you’re forced to write even when you’re not sure you have it all figured out. And for a first draft, that’s good. Tracks is a different, and better, book than that original draft. But the original draft helped make it possible.”

She also uses Tracks to teach some writing lessons, such as the importance of staring small, reading other writers, avoiding traps like procrastination and perfection-seeking.

 

I’ve attempted and won NaNoWriMo five times. I’ll admit I don’t do it every year, because I have enough rough drafts to sculpt into presentable prose. But this year, I sort of did it again. But this year, it was EarlNoWriMo—Early Novel Writing Month! I wrote my most recent draft novel, a literary thriller set in China, during the month of October. It fit my schedule and deadline better than NaNoWriMo.



Read Ally’s article about Tracks and NaNoWriMo, published in her monthly newsletter, at the following link.
 


 

 

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Tuesday, November 11, 2014

For Veterans Day

Baltimore writer and veteran Tom Glenn has some bitter memories about the fall of Saigon. He was there, and under fire, when it happened. Tom regularly shares his (unclassified) experiences with presentations and readings.

He wrote a three-part series for the Baltimore Post-Examiner called Bitter Memories: The Fall of Saigon. Read part one at the link below—and follow along to parts two and three. Good reading material for Veterans Day … or any day.



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Monday, November 03, 2014

America Land in The Loch Raven Review


Halloween has ended, and now the most frightening day of the year is at hand: Election Day! I hope everyone is ready to weather the storm—and the attack ads—and get out to vote.

I don’t have a “rock the vote” story to share. But how about settling for “America Land,” my story that was published in the most recent issue of The Loch Raven Review?

In the same issue, you’ll find the works of other writers and poets, like Charles Rammelkamp, Margo Christie, David Eberhardt, Jacqueline Michaud, and Sid Gold.

Check out the Spring-Summer 2014 issue of The Loch Raven Review at  www.lochravenreview.net.
Visit “America Land” at http://thelochravenreview.net/eric-d-goodman

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