Nov 28, 2019
Happy Giving Thanks Day!
Dean Fearce is grateful and appreciative for many things not the least of which are you, my friends, family and supporters, who have gotten behind this project and have waited patiently for its fruition. Being Thanksgiving, it felt appropriate to provide an update on the status of the book:
https://www.inkshares.com/books/murder-happens
The latest manuscript was submitted to Inkshares this past summer. It went through a read by the editor. It came back with interesting comments and observations. The bottom line was that the plot was not working. Recommendations on books to read were made. Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice was one. I tried to read it but failed. Tried to watch the film and failed.
Moving on, I found a tattered copy of Gardner’s The Art of Fiction online. It’s on my bedside table held together with a rubber band. It was entertaining and informative with a side of anxious guilt that I hadn’t gotten a degree in literature and therefore knew not the high-browed references he made. But as I said it was informative. And entertaining. That was unexpected.
Read a few other books in that time that weren’t recommended by the editor. Breathless by Shane Lindemoen was good. It’s recommended reading. I originally backed the project on Inkshares but Shane chose to publish it elsewhere. He’s now started an independent publishing concern, which is intriguing.
Check it out here: https://www.amazon.com/Breathless-Shane-Lindemoen/dp/1949472620/
Bunches of authors like Mike Welch and Susan Hamilton, both met on Inkshares, are publishing themed short-stories. If you haven’t seen the Writing Bloc anthologies, you can find them on Facebook. The editor accepts submissions for projects well in advance of publication.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/383485668831888/
In regards to MINE, I took a break to absorb the feedback (it’s never easy to accept helpful criticism, but it’s always advisable) and do additional reading and watching to figure out how to plot the novel. I love good stories, so it’s not like work. Good news is I’ve arrived at a solution. Next steps are to read the manuscript through, then begin the re-write starting December 1st. Hopefully you will hear from me again next year with a loud and resounding cheer, something like Eureka!
Hugs and kisses,
Dean Fearce
Thanksgiving Day, 2019