Editors. Editors. Editors. AAAAH!
I think my mind the last few days has been melted and reforged over and over in a monotonous cycle. I finished draft 5 of my novel The Blade in Hiding and now I’m at the point of looking for an editor. (If you’ve been wondering why I haven’t posted much lately, this is the reason.) I thought this would be the easy part.
Now that I’m actually looking it’s become a monster.
I know a few of you have offered to edit my novel, but I honestly can’t accept. Mainly because I’m looking for someone who has made a living at editing and critiquing books. Unless your full time job is editor (and you can tell me how it is) , I will consider you. I don’t want to upload a junkie eBook.
Right now, I’m perusing through the editor thread on Kindle Boards, and I will eventually find that editor. If you are an editor, or are a writer who has an editor, feel free to post a link to your/their website. Thanks for your time. 
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“Fantasy Short Stories: Issue 1″ out now!
Well, the day is finally here! My short story called “Demon Stone” is now published in “Fantasy Short Stories: Issue 1″! Below is more info on this issue, and where to buy. Feel free to spread the word, and post a review!:
Fantasy Short Stories is a new publication established with the aim of publishing the best short stories in Heroic, Epic, and High Fantasy, and with plenty of Swords and Sorcery thrown in. Although many of our authors may be unknown to you, we aim to set high standards for publication, and to discover some great new talent in the world of fantasy fiction.
Fantasy Short Stories will provide a safe haven for all lovers of proper fantasy – we wave garlic maces in the face of all urban vampires. If you want tales of magic, dragons and sword-play then Fantasy Short Stories is for you. We love the work of writers such as George R. R. Martin, Michael Moorcock, Lord Dunsany, J. R. R. Tolkien, Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance, Roger Zelazny, Joe Abercrombie, Ursula Le Guin, Robin Hobb and David Gemmell, and hope that you do too.
Fantasy Short Stories Issue 1 contains the following new and original short stories:
· ‘The Dying Elf’ by Mike Pielaet-Strayer: Oberon the swordsman watches a young elf die on the battlefield and tries to come to grips with his own humanity.
· ‘The Empty Dark’ by C. L. Holland: Korix and Leveri are far from home, farther than either of them could have imagined. As they search for a way back they discover it’s not only children who should be afraid of the dark.
· ‘Demon Stone’ by Jake Scholl: When his kingdom and his wife are held ransom by an evil sorcerer, King Dagr goes on a quest to give the sorcerer what he wants. At what cost is Dagr willing to go to save his kingdom?
· ‘The Pivot’ by 
Noeleen Kavanagh: Two boys are thrown together in a chance encounter that turns their world upside down.
· ‘Sparrows Falling’ by Gretchen Tessmer: A black sorcerer and a foreign enchantress practise their arts in a castle on the borderlands. But when the lady locks herself in her tower, even the servants know something’s amiss in Grendl Castle.
More information about Fantasy Short Stories Issue 1 is available at http://fantasyshortstories.org/current-issue/, including free previews of each story.
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The Quest for a Title
The handy "snap" feature in Windows 7. A very good feature for creative types.
I went on Amazon.com the other day to see if the title of my book Shattering of the Sword had already been used. And whattaya know. The title had already been used. It was called The Shattering Sword. Not the exact same title, but nevertheless very similar.
Thankfully my book hasn’t been published yet. If I had published it without checking on that title, I could’ve been sued.
To come up with a title, I resorted to brainstorming. I made a spreadsheet, and divided the sheet into three columns. Column one for Nouns, column two for Verbs, and column three for Adjectives.
In Fantasy or Sci-fi, a title usually consists of one or more of these kind of words. Like The Lord of the Rings, A Game of Thrones, Dune, The Golden Compass, e.t.c.
I’ve narrowed down my title choices to four, and I’m having a problem. I can’t decide which one to use.
That’s where you come in.
The reader is the one who reads what authors write. One job a writer has is to attract the reader. So, I have included a poll. If you want, feel free to let me know what title you like. The title you choose will help me decide what title will end up on the final version.
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Update on my book.
Five months ago I wrote the first draft of a novel for NaNoWriMo. Now, I am almost done with Draft 4! After years of writing, I have finally written a full length novel I can be proud of. (If you ever find any of my first novels, burn them or shred them. They were horrible.) I admit, I was filled with dread after I finished draft one. But now with every subsequent draft, the story has become stronger every time.
Some may say “Oh Jake good job! Now you can publish!”. Stop that thought right away! My book still needs some work done.
The next step: get an Editor.
Why? An Editor’s job is to tell you the honest to God truth about your writing. If you just have close friends and family read it, they will say that your book is good, even if it’s bad. (Unless they are not afraid to tell you how it is.)
One thing I have noticed is that many eBooks are very bad books. I have found horrible grammatical and spelling errors. Very big plot holes. And sloppy descriptive language like “The sun was as bright as dog urine.” (OK maybe not that bad, but you get my point.)
The last thing I want to publish is a horrible eBook. When you publish, you need to make sure your writing is the best it can be. Even Stephen King needs an Editor.
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My Response
Internet opinion articles are everywhere. Blogs (like this one.) and News websites. Now, I have no problem with op-eds. As a former High School Newspaper Geek, I loved writing opinion articles. Why? Because I firmly believe that in order to live in a democracy, you need to be able to speak your mind. Yes, even if it’s controversial.
A few days ago, I was reading an op-ed by journalist John Stossel on FoxNews.com. The article was called “Everyone out of the Pool?”. In it, Stossel was talking about this 80,000 pages of new regulations congress is proposing. The rule he had the biggest problem was on page 56,235, the rule that says that Hotels should be required to put access ramps and/or lifts by their pools.
As a disabled person in a wheelchair, I don’t see a problem with Hotels being required to put in ramps. The only problem I have with it is that Hotels are already required to do this, because of the ADA. Stossel mentions that, and also says the ADA is a waste.
I had no problem with the article itself or Stossel. But I had a problem with the commenters. One guy said that “I love diving, and I can’t dive if there’s a ramp.” (Duh! That’s why you dive in the deep end.) . Another said that the reason the lifts were there because blacks can’t swim. (???) Another said the handicap parking places take up too much space, and that he never sees disabled people at the store. I was fuming.
That wasn’t all. I’m saving the most offensive comment for last. Let’s call the guy Bob.
Bob: What moron wants to put people in wheelchairs in swimming pools? They could more easily drown, they have much less control of their defecations, many are hosed mentally and would not understand what is happening, etc……..
That was it for me. I had to respond out of duty to my fellow disabled brethren.
My response: Firstly, look up on YouTube on how people in wheelchairs swim. Secondly, we don’t defecate all the time. Lastly, have you heard of Stephen Hawking? FDR? They were/are in wheelchairs, are they stupid? Heck, I was even on the Honor Roll when I was in High School. It was an online school, where no one knew I was disabled. Do some research before you type hateful and cruel stuff.
The ignorance of people on the Internet is just bewildering. People don’t think before they type. We all have freedom to type whatever we want to say. But we need to be mindful of what we say. If you wouldn’t say stuff like this in public, don’t type it.
As the day went by, more and more of these kind of comments popped up. I had to leave the page I was getting so angry. Then, later the website administrators shut down the comment function on the page. Thank God.
Here is a challenge I want to give these bigots. Buy a manual wheelchair, and pretend for a week your legs don’t work. Try to use a non-accessible bathroom. Go swimming at a local pool with a ramp or lift. Go to the busiest part of your city, and see how well you can navigate. Also, see if you’ll break when people treat you like you’re a leper. Then, report back with all the stuff you learned.
It will open your mind, and make you wise.
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DEPRESSION AND WRITER’S BLOCK
DEPRESSION AND WRITER’S BLOCK.
via DEPRESSION AND WRITER’S BLOCK. This is a post from Phillip Athans’s blog about the dreaded Writer’s Block. Its pretty good.
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Video Games and School Shootings
Blaming a game for School Shootings is like blaming Cookie Monster for Obesity.
Today, another horrible school shooting has occurred. This time a shooting occurred in Chardon, Ohio. When I turned on the news this morning, the story was all over the place. It was sad, and I said a quick prayer in my mind for the victims of this shooting.
As the news kept talking about it, I knew where the station was going to go with the story. They would say how the shooter played some first person shooter game, and planned out the whole shooting. Then they—Ahhhhhhhhh…Fox Ne…Chooo!- would interview some psychiatrist who thinks games are evil, and yet had never even touched a game in their lives.
And my prediction happened.
I watch the station a lot, and this issue seems to be very one-sided on the station. For a station that prides itself on being fair & balanced , they have failed miserably on this issue. As with every news channel there is some sort of bias. There is no innocent news channel. All have a one-sided view on certain issues.
Before my rant on cable news takes over this post, let’s go back to the shooting and the shooter.
I remember in the 90′s, as with plenty of other people; the Columbine Massacre. At the time, the popular shooting game was DOOM for PC. The Columbine shooters played DOOM a lot, as with tons of teens and adults back in the day. So, a popular theory went around that DOOM caused them to kill.
For the record, DOOM is a game about Good Vs. Evil. You play as a Marine fighting his way through Demons, Aliens, and other creatures. What is wrong with that? I could name plenty of movies, books, and other entertainment that has the same plot. Were the developers of the game homicidal maniacs who wanted others to become homicidal maniacs?
No. The developers were nerds. I’m a nerd, and I play shooters. Am I going to kill anyone? No.
I have used a gun in real life, but I didn’t kill my peers. I shot a turkey. The experience of shooting a gun in real life is nothing compared to a video game. I found it was harder to shoot a real gun than it was to shoot an imaginary gun in a game.
Let me tell you the kind of people the shooters at Columbine and Chardon were. They were loners. No one had anything to do with them, for some petty reasons. I am not justifying their actions, but in the end it wasn’t a video game that killed those innocent teens.
It was the fault of the teens who fired the guns.
These teens should have gotten help. If the teens didn’t want to seek help, the parents should have dragged them to counseling. The massacre most likely wouldn’t have happened if they had help. But, even with help, the shooters would have had to decide whether or not to follow through with their anger.
If you feel alone, talk to somebody about it. Don’t stay stuck in depression. Trust me, I’ve been there. And I got help. If I can get help for my depression, you can too.
We are all praying for those of you who live Chardon.
The Dreaded Break Up
Thought this would turn out so well
But I’m beginning to see
That instead it’s trouble
Into a pattern we fell
Of prolonging the inevitable
Why don’t you
Come right out and say it?
Even if the words are probably gonna hurt
I’d rather have the truth
Than something insincere
–“Come Right Out And Say It” by Relient K
Breaking up is always hard. Whether it be breaking up a relationship, or breaking up with a close friend.
A few weeks ago, I had to tell a friend that we could no longer be friends. I won’t go into why, because the last thing I want to do is offend the person. See, I don’t hate the person, Love the sinner, hate the sin as they say. With that, I refuse to write a hateful post.
The lesson I learned from this ordeal, is to not be afraid. I chose to ignore what was happening for so long, and not say anything because of man’s worst enemy: fear. Even for a man who has stared death in the face, and came back, I still feel fear like everyone else. I am no Tarzan.
I thought about what I would say to that friend for a few days. I wrote out how I wanted to convey my points, and worked to make it not sound angry. I consulted another friend. I prayed. I psyched myself out with my favorite fight songs. Then, I told her I thought we would be better off not being friends. She tried to talk back, to try to convince me to not leave. I ignored it, and haven’t talked to her since.
I felt bad for a few days, and not until recently, I feel free. I feel like a boulder has finally been lifted off my chest. Now, I have hope for a better tomorrow. I feel thankful I have plenty of other friends to talk to. And, I know that experience will never be the first or the last one, and I will be prepared for the next time.
If you are afraid, do what I did. Write out the points of what you want to say, and make it into an essay. Then, practice. And talk to someone you trust, for chances are they have been through the same problem.
The LORD is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? The LORD is my fortress, protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble? When evil peopl come to devour me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will not be afraid. Even if I am attacked, I will remain confident. The one thing I ask of the LORD— the thing I seek most— is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’s perfections and meditating in his Temple. For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary. He will place me out of reach on a high rock.–Psalm 27:1-5 NLT
Handling Rejection & Acceptance Letters: Part 2
Getting an acceptance letter for a short story is rare. I wish it happened as often as getting a rejection slip, but that’s just life.
It’s especially exciting when the story that gets accepted is the story you least expect to sell. That’s what happened a few days ago. But before we get into that, we need to look to the past.
Let’s rewind to 2, almost 3 years ago. It was summer. On a hot July day, I sat in front of my computer, and had a story in mind to write. I plugged away on my onscreen keyboard, typing one letter literally one at a time.
It took awhile, and I was able to finish it that day. I thought it had tons of potential. I went through it once, and everything looked crisp and clean. Sent it off to Teen Ink, to see what would happen. They rejected it, and said it had potential, but my writing needed more work.
I moped around.
Then in early 2011, I edited it again, changed the title to “Demon Stone”, and then sent it off to another magazine. I got rejected. The editor said they thought about publishing it, but changed their minds. I didn’t know what was so wrong about it. I let the story sit in my external hard drive.
Then in early January in 2012, I read the story again. I noticed all sorts of big problems with the plot, characters, details, and all sorts of other problems. I took my time, and edited it through multiple times.
I wasn’t going to send off the story until it was the best it could be. Then I did some research on what magazines accepted stories written in the fantasy subgenre of Sword & Sorcery. I sent it off to Fantasy Short Stories:The New Magazine of Fantasy.
Then it was time to wait. I only had to wait 2-3 weeks, and I was expecting like 2-3 months. When I saw the editor’s message in my email inbox, I thought either he hated my piece of writing, or he wanted it for the magazine.
I was pleasantly surprised that it was an acceptance letter. My first one ever.
One might say now that I’m going to be published, that I don’t have anything to watch out for. Wrong. I still have some things I need to do now.
- Keep Writing. Even though my work was accepted, it doesn’t mean I should stop writing. If anything, I need to keep writing. I know I will get more rejections, but that will only make me better. And besides, I don’t want to be forgotten in the sea of one hit wonders. I want to grow an audience.
- Stay Humble. I am not the best writer on the planet. There are tons of writers better than me. I have more things I have yet to learn as a writer. I am going to keep writing because I love the craft.
- Keep Reading. If I want to keep writing, I need to keep reading. I was inspired to be a writer, because of all the great stories I read. There are more good books I need to read yet, and get inspired by.
That concludes this series of posts. If you didn’t read Part 1, I recommend reading it. Happy writing!
jakeescholl
