Tag: Novel
Book Covers
Choosing the right photo for the book cover is much harder than I anticipated. This will be people’s first impression of my work. As a debut novel, I feel as if I can’t make any mistakes. This is what will start building my readership. Before, writing was purely a selfish act. Now, as a soon to be published writer, it is no longer about what … Continue reading Book Covers
Titles and character names are harder to get right than writing the story
A bit bummed. The working title I’ve had for my work since about 2004 has been Native Moments. In 2013 someone else published a book with that title. My second choice comes from a Bruce Chatwin quote, Gentlemen of the Road. Michael Chabon wrote a book with that title in 2008. I do not have a third choice. Also, I’ve started a Facebook page. … Continue reading Titles and character names are harder to get right than writing the story
Tuesday is the Day
I’ve been away for a while. Because, to paraphrase Hemingway, if you talk about it you can lose it. But I’m not superstitious. That’s what I tell myself anyway. But for the past couple of weeks I’ve been talking to a publisher of a small independent press. He is very optimistic about my novel. His editor said he can work with it, which is a … Continue reading Tuesday is the Day
Native Moments, a novel
I haven’t written much about my novel except about queries and rejections. It’s a surf/travel adventure. I’m doing something different with this story though. It isn’t Point Break or North Shore. In fact, the only thing similar to those movies is that there is surfing in Native Moments. It seems as surfing stories very rarely get taken serious. I’m hoping to change that. This is the … Continue reading Native Moments, a novel
My writing is shit
In my case, the second and third are also shit. By the fourth, I had a story. After the fifth, I began sending off query letters. After 47 query letters, I looked back at my novel. And now I hate the first chapter. Time for another rewrite? Is it just self-doubt? Continue reading My writing is shit
September Submissions, updated.
In the month of September I have sent 36 queries for my novel Native Moments. I’ve received 5 rejections in return. All forms. The most straight forward was one that said, “not for me.” No capitalization, no punctuation, no gesture of gratitude. I guess it just wasn’t for her. I may tweak my query letter yet again. At least I haven’t received one like Gertrude … Continue reading September Submissions, updated.
Philip Roth and his ability to make us feel less alone.
Received a text from a dear friend this morning. We live in different parts of the state and haven’t lived in the same city for 8 years. He isn’t on Facebook. We have to communicate through text messages and phone calls instead of pictures and memes. When I visit Miami, we get together for Cuban coffee and croquettes. Izo introduced me to a lot of … Continue reading Philip Roth and his ability to make us feel less alone.
Another epigraph I’m thinking of using for my upcoming novel, Native Moments.
The Songlines is one of my all time favorite books and so is Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. I like how this quote, although written well before The Road, encompasses the ideas McCarthy so often times plays with. Native Moments also discusses these ideas of hierarchies and dominance and anarchism. “As a general rule of biology, migratory species are less ‘aggressive’ than sedentary ones. There is one obvious … Continue reading Another epigraph I’m thinking of using for my upcoming novel, Native Moments.
Epigraph from my upcoming novel, Native Moments
“Native moments – when you come upon me – ah you are here now, Give now libidinous joys only, Give me the drench of my passions, give me life coarse and rank, Today I go consort with Nature’s darlings, to-night too, I am for those who believe in loose delights, I share the midnight orgies of young men, I dance with the dancers and drink … Continue reading Epigraph from my upcoming novel, Native Moments
Nic Schuck 