A Couple of Things...

I just finished the most recent revision of The Red. The phrase, "Writing is rewriting," has been attributed to Hemingway. Regardless of who said it, it's absolutely true. Even after many previous revisions to the manuscript, I still found better ways to write certain passages and in a few spots I even found some outright errors.

It just goes to show that I probably never really be done with a story. Even now, looking at short stories and essays that I've already declared "done", I still want to edit when I read them again.

Speaking - or typing - of short stories, an acquaintance of mine who hopped on my site and read some of my work asked me about Leaders of the Modern Rebellion. He said that while he really enjoyed the story, he wondered if I had something against Democrats.
"No," I told him. "Why would you think that?"
"Well, because in the story, the kid is a real ass clown, and you make a point of him being a democrat."

Okay, I get it. I wrote that story over a year ago, or somewhere about then, and this was the first time someone has asked me that.

As I explained to him, the point isn't that Barry is Democrat, the point is that Barry claims affiliation with the Democratic party, but obviously knows very little about the tenants of the organization with which he has allied himself. Stating that the government is "too damn big", which is normally a complaint you hear from Republican pundits - regardless of whether or not their party actually does anything to change that fact.

I won't go into more detail on that, as I want to keep this blog geared more toward writing than politics. As far as the story is concerned, I suppose I could have tried a reverse tactic, having Barry mention a Republican affiliation and then asserting an opposite device. However, in this day and age, given Barry's social proclivities and the current popularity of the Republican party, it just didn't make sense.

This takes me back to rewriting. I've been writing for a while, but it's only been within the past several years that I've really taken it seriously, and only in the past few have I actually shared my work. At one time I would have immediately gone back into the story and tried to clarify that point about Barry's political affiliation, but anymore I won't. While the man had a valid question, he is just one of many that read the story, and he's the only one that asked me about that particular point. More importantly, I like the way it reads.

I better get back at it. The weekend is short and I have to get the manuscript ready to send out. There's also a short story about two thirds of the way done that I'm itching to finish.

Thanks for reading.

-A. Michael

The Launch of the Website!

At long last, I’ve finally published my website. I selected three short stories to go up, I’ll probably rotate them out periodically and I’ll definitely post new stories as I write them.

As many of you know, I’m a student and I also work. So when I do get breaks from the semester like this I try and bust a move on writing or writing-related projects that I’ve tabled while trying to keep up with life’s other demands. While I certainly do write during the semesters, I don’t usually have time for the bigger projects, like the website. Those tend to be the bigger goals on my “to do” list that have to wait for times such as this to come to fruition.

For this break – the next week and a half until the summer term starts – I told myself that I would finish the latest revision on The Red, publish my website, continue my quest to find an agent, and write at least two more short stories that I've been really itching to get to.

How’s the agent search going? Well, about as well as one could expect. I started sending query letters around the end of January, I only sent five out – which is a very small amount – and all five resulted in “thanks, but no thanks” responses. I would say that it’s disappointing, but it’s really not unexpected. I can’t remember where I read it, but I recall an author stating something to the effect of, “If you’re not getting rejected, then you’re not trying to get published.” Fact is, there are a lot of authors and a lot of agents who represent a wide-array of clients. I’ll find the right match. I just need to keep at it and more importantly, keep honing my skills as a writer.

So check out the site and let me know what you think! Drop a line or leave a comment.