New Project

A couple of weeks ago I asked my kids (Kennedy wasn't home but at dance practice, and Crew, well he just doesn't really talk quite yet) what they wanted for lunch. Hunter said he wanted a cheese sandwich (which meant he wanted a grilled cheese sandwich.) So I made him a grilled cheese sandwich. I sat down to eat with him (I can't remember what I had--probably something a little healthier). When I finished I started to clean up lunch when I heard Hunter say, "Dad, look! I made a boat!"

I turned around and saw his masterpiece

which was grilled sandwich with some bites out of the 'diagonal' part of his sandwich. "That looks awesome Hunter," I said--and the idea was born. Hunter's imagination had sparked an interest in me. That interest egged me on to make a children's book about Hunter, my four year old son.

I can't quite show you what the cover will look like, but I'm telling you, it's going to be great.

This is a Test

So I'm dorky. I've just set up my Amazon Author Central page which enables me to post my blog posts via rss feed, but I wanted to test it out first. So this post is just for that, just a test to see if it will work. Cheers.

It's Affirmative...

Wow! I'm really excited I signed up for the For Young Readers Conference in June. Just as my previous post says, we've started an online writer's group to critique each others writing. We've elected to send one chapter each week, I elected to take Wednesdays, to get feedback from those in the group. I sent mine out and got some really great feedback. I made some changes and can't wait to send mine out again with the revisions. It's always great to get constructive criticism that will assist my story as it is still in the works. Thanks all for the great critiquing! I hope and know I will learn from all of your great suggestions.

Online Writing Groups

Well the time has come. Those of us in Dave Farland's class that will be attending the For Young Readers Conference in June have formulated an online writer's group and I'm thoroughly excited. This will be the first time that someone from out of state will begin reading chapter one of THE DECODER. This is a first for me and I can't wait to get some more feedback. I've given many family and friends my manuscript for feedback, I've even given it to many of my Jr. High students. Most have given me great feedback and have loved the book. I do have to be truthful and say that I did have one former student that started but couldn't finish it because she thought it was too slow in the beginning. I'm okay with that, and maybe she couldn't relate to the characters themselves, but what I have to believe in is the story itself. It's also very helpful to not take it personally. I hope to have many many people read my books. If some of them are going to put them down because of that reason alone, hey what can I say. I'll keep on writing and coming up with different ideas and stories and characters and just keep on writing. I'm enjoying this. Can you tell? This is going to be good.

The Writing Know How

So from what I've heard from around there from friends and others that have already gone through the processes of becoming published (I am thinking positively because that's a dream of mine), I've briefly researched the internet and have found that it's very helpful to get an agent to represent and sell your book. Like I said in my previous post, I've signed up for a writer's conference in June and I am looking forward to it. I thought about sending some queries to some agents just to try it out and see where it would take me. I sent out three email queries. Of the three queries I sent I heard from one of them, and unfortunately I was rejected. Although my heart almost skipped a beat when I saw his reply in my email, the result was that he didn't think my book would be a good project for him then. He was very cordial and ended his response with hopes that I would find the right agent. I'm grateful for that experience. You're probably reading this and thinking that I don't know what I'm doing, and you are right. This is a first for me. But There's isn't anything I haven't accomplished that I've put my effort into (oh, except those piano lessons. I wish I would have stuck with them.)

If you have any insights on writing a book, publishing, or literary agents, then don't hesitate to contact me.

And I will keep on writing.

My First Post

So here I am, blogging. The world of blogging boggles my mind. Kira, my precious and most wonderful wife, is the great blogger of the family. I've been intimidated by it mostly because I didn't write. But things have changed. I've finished writing a book. I had always wanted to write a book and regret for not having done it earlier in life. I probably wouldn't have much trouble knowing how to write if I had started earlier in life, but that's okay. As long as I keep writing I think I'll be okay. So anyway, back to my book. When visiting with one of my friends and found out she was writing a book I said, "I've always wanted to write a book." She replied excitedly, "You should."

With a lot of motivation and brainstorming with my wife I came up with an idea and began writing. My book is a Young Adult Sci-fi/Fantasy that really gets me excited when I talk about it. I just hope that it will someday arrive on the shelves of many bookstores.

I have just recently signed up for a writer's conference and I'm really excited for it. I'll be taking classes from David Farland. If you're a writer, I suggest signing up for David's 'Daily Kick in the Pants' writing updates for great techniques on how to write.

I want to make this a place where people will come and see what in the world Jay's been doing in the writing world kind of place. So come beck once in awhile.