This Friday in publishing… I’m not here!
I wrote this a few days ago and set it to post automatically. I’m not in the office, and in fact I’m currently hanging out with Dick Cheney in his top secret bunker and I’m so glad to be…… that’s messed up, Dick. Come on man, seriously, light a match or something.
We’ll have some classics and some new posts and possibly a guest appearance running at regularly scheduled blog times early next week to tide you over. (Oh, and I’m not actually at BEA, hope everyone has a good time though.)
See you next week! Assuming I survive this. I don’t think Dick likes me very much.
Unsupervised open thread! No roughhousing allowed!
And…
Have a great weekend!
Bane of Anubis says
It makes perfect sense, but in an open forum (particularly a literary one), I don’t see the issue – again, it comes down to tact and diplomacy – and I imagine in a forum like this one more mean-spirited attacks will be shot down by the legion of Bransfordites far faster than in other arenas…
Laurel says
B of A:
I think you’re right!
Cheers,
L
Thermocline says
I agree that opinions are fine, but intention also plays a roll – whether you post something expressly to rip on an author or just to share your humble opinion that a particular piece is weak.
Amber Argyle-Smith says
Man, I leave to do some yard work, get some sleep, play with my kids, and the thread just goes to heck.
Laurel says
This article is over 2 years old but I just stumbled across it and thought it was too good not to share:
Great Art Out of ContextBest quote:
“No. If you love something but choose not to do it professionally, it’s not a waste. Because, you know, you still have it. You have it forever.”
It’s a long read but worth it!
Marilyn Peake says
Lupina,
That’s so cool one of your friends went to BEA this weekend. One of these years, I’m going to go. It looks like SO much fun!!!!
Bane of Anubis says
Laurel, Thanks!
I remember my parents telling me about that (they live in DC)… I love these sort of social experiments… I’m not sure if it demonstrates our inability to recognize greatness or our susceptibility to the herd mentality (this goes both ways – i.e., everyone else is passing up this schmuck w/ the violin, so I should too VS. everyone’s going to this guy’s concert, so he must be great)… probably a little of both. Too many ellipses 🙂
Laurel says
My sister was in DC at the time, too, and L’Enfant was a block and a half from where she lived. She missed the whole thing!
That boy I married gets embarrassed at me sometimes because I do stop for street musicians on occasion. A trumpet player in New Orleans brought me to tears once. Aforementioned spouse loves music but has that Northeastern Seaboard aversion to stopping for anything not in the plan.
At the end of the day, though, validation is a very highly prized commodity and one I wouldn’t turn down…
Marilyn Peake says
Laura,
How cool that you participated in BOOK: THE SEQUEL, and that your publisher is the one publishing the book. I love visiting the website for the project because so many of the first lines are absolutely hilarious!! I always come away from there with a huge smile on my face and in a really good mood.
How many entries did you submit? For which book(s)? I got carried away, and submitted 10 entries.
Bane of Anubis says
Laurel, it might just be an eastern seaboard thing (or perhaps an XY chromosome thing), b/c I definitely don’t like veering from plans, much to the chagrin of the missus. Tell your husband that I feel his pain (j/j – sort of 🙂
Laurel says
Ha! Maybe it is XY related. He is also descended from German heritage.
In Argentina they would call him “quadrado.” That means “squarehead.”
You know, for all the static we give Mira I have really run with this open thread…I finished book number one for the weekend. Perhaps I’ll log off and start book number two 😉
Laura Martone says
Marilyn –
Wow, 10 entries! I noticed your name scrolling by on the BOOK: THE SEQUEL website, but I had no idea that you’d submitted so many. I ended up submitting four sequels – for A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES, THE AWAKENING, THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB, and HOOPER HUMPERDINK…? NOT HIM! I don’t know if any of mine were chosen (apparently, we’ll be informed via email next week), but I know at least one of yours was… I spotted your sequel to THE PEARL in the excerpt at http://www.btsbook.com – very funny, by the way!
My hubby doesn’t completely understand why I wasted so much time creating sequels and reading other people’s entries, but like you, I really enjoyed participating in the project. I, too, felt inexplicably happy every time I read a new sequel – especially a funny one.
I can’t wait to see the final product. Until then…
–Laura
P.S. One of these years, I plan to go to BEA, too. It does sound like so much fun – and I would’ve loved to have seen BOOK: THE SEQUEL in production.
Patrick Rodgers says
Didn’t we roast Stephanie Meyer pretty good recently and she has huge PR (there was also some disgruntled rumblings of King and On Writing). I honestly don’t see the problem in sharing our opinions on authors or books who get a huge PR push even if their work is unworthy of it.
Mira says
Darn, I had to do other things today. Waste of a perfectly good unsupervised thread.
Ink! You’re funny! I knew you were a sweetie, but I didn’t know you were funny. That was funny.
Lupina, I love your art work. A masterpiece. And yes, like puppies, we must keep our readers in line. Otherwise, they get all into having their own opinions, instead of being good little readers, like they should be. That’s a good reader! Who’s a good reader? You are! You’re a good reader.
Laura – is Drag me to hell scary? I heard it was funny, but if it’s scary, no way.
Laurel, I can actually answer that one seriously. Why do people choose lovers who are bad for them? Well…..what we do is…we pick lovers who do NOT give us the same things we did NOT get in childhood, but needed. Then we try to make those lovers give it to us.
They, of course, are doing the same thing to us.
High drama ensues.
Laura Martone says
Hey, Mira!
I’m up too late – must go to sleep – but I figure, what the heck, I’ll answer your question… and then toddle off to bed.
DRAG ME TO HELL is a terrific film – it has funny, disgusting moments as in the EVIL DEAD flicks – but it’s rather terrifying in other spots. I really enjoyed the experience – however, the main character does something that I found hard to forgive. When you see the flick, you’ll understand.
Good night, and sweet dreams!
–Laura
Mira says
Okay Nathan.
It’s past midnight, the site is quiet, and I have a couple of bones to pick with you.
I’m a bit miffed.
Yes I am.
Here is why:
a. You are on vacation. I couldn’t help but notice that I am not there with you.
Enough said. I think the implications of that are obvious. I’m trust that you will correct that oversight in the future.
b. You’re on vacation. And I sent you a query. I did. And I was counting on your patented 3-minute turn-around. And what do I find? You’re out. You’re not there. I have to wait until NEXT WEEK!!! My god, what kind of world is this where someone has to wait more than 3 minutes for a query response?
Enough said. I’m sure you feel just terrible about this, and will schedule your vacations around my query schedule in the future.
c. You’re on vacation. And I sent you a query. I did. I got the 36 elephants and tied the 72 stone tablets on their back. I had the 41 parrots all chanting your name and the interpretive dancers doing their version of my query. Then there were the monkeys with the tubas and the 36 puppies (I was hoping you like puppies. By the way, I don’t know if you were thinking about getting a monkey, but if you are, under no circumstances should you give him tuba. Trust me on this.)
I was abit worried about the effect this would have on Market Street, what with the neon lights, strobes and orchestra. Also, with Brittany Spears leading the parade and everything (you’re a fan of hers, right?) Fortunately, though, this is San Francisco, so everyone just assumed the gay pride parade was early this year. The police immediately directed traffic, and everyone else took off their clothes. Including Brittany, of course.
So, what happened?
Please see itema A. and B. above.
Okay. Enough said.
I just needed to get that off my chest. I feel much better now.
Okay, I hope you have a nice vacation, and by the time you get back, I’m sure all the naked people who gathered in front of your office building will have gone home. I’m not sure about the monkeys, though. Like I said, really. Don’t give a monkey a tuba.
Actually, given that. And the fact that I seemed to have misplaced the elephants again (not my fault. They didn’t fit in the elevator, so I sent them up the stairs. I’m not sure where they went to)…..I’d say we’re about even.
Mira says
Hi Laura,
Oh, I’m glad I asked you. Sounds too scary for me!
Sweet dreams to you too!
Christine H says
Dear Nathan,
I have a question for you, if you have time to answer it when you return.
I am feeling very discouraged right now about my financial situation, and wondering if it’s even worth the time and effort to finish my current manuscript, considering how few books are likely to get published in the next few years. I actually found myself wondering if I could query agents as to whether the project itself was a good one.
For example, sending a cover letter and the first few pages and/or a synopsis, with a pre-paid postcard with a box they could check with “yes” or “no.” Or if they take email submissions, asking them to simply respond with “Yes” or “No” in the subject line.
But then I thought that could be really annoying and make myself seem as insecure and inexperienced as.. as I am.
What do you think?
allegory19 says
Laurel said: That boy I married is a treasure and I adore him but honestly, time to myself is the ultimate pinnacle of ecstasy. Love the comment. I feel the exact same way. In fact my hubby is off fishing this morning and I can’t wait to start writing. A Sunday morning all to myself? Seriously?! How good can it get.
Lisa says
Christine, I can’t speak for Nathan, but I’d like to chime in on this one. A proposed project and a finished manuscript could end up being worlds apart. The original idea could be written infinite ways based on the writer’s style and voice. And, there are all the other lovely details that make a great story a great story, like timing, plot, conflict, and character development that aren’t fully realized in an unfinished project. So, even though it seems like a good idea to query an agent with an idea in the spirit of time and emotional efficiency, I think you’ll need to write the story and send it off. If it’s what you really want to do, you’ll find a way to complete it. Good luck!
Mira says
I’ll chime in too. Christine, I remember Nathan posting a whole thread once about this – not pinning your financial hopes on selling a book.
Unless you are writing something that sells like hotcakes, for example, romance novels, personally, I think it’s best to separate the two. Write for self-expression and find other ways to make money.
The benefit of this is you don’t have to write for money – you write from your heart.
The downside is that it’s terribly unfair that everyone else in the publishing industry can make a living at it, except the author.
But until that changes, we do the best we can, right?
Sorry to hear about your money stuff – I hope it works out soon. I know you’re not alone right now.
Laurel says
Hey, Christine!
I tried to email you but I couldn’t click through to your profile…
I wouldn’t go there. It’s never a good idea to sell the future, no matter what you’re selling. If someone is excited about your product you need to have it ready to deliver. Otherwise they may talk themselves out of it or develop expectations that you can’t meet, even if you found an agent willing to deal with you on just a concept for a novel.
Anonymous says
I vowed I wouldn't post without Bransfordan supervision but it's sunday a.m. and I'm feeling skitterish …
So.
This reminds me of how much N.B. brings to the floor/dialogue/blog. Without the Admin there to remove (um, cough, scurffle, look down at feet) sort of comments, it's not nearly half as fun.
I should know, I had one comment removed last week (and I wasn't even trying to be obnoxious.)
Oops!
But my second one survived so I can't be all bad. Or, I'm only half bad? Or, or, or …
'Come Back to the Five & Dime, Nathan Bransford, Nathan Bransford … "
At 9:47 am. P.S.T., now screening & everyone in the original cast but Sandy Dennis showed up (she, being dead and currently understudied by lisperally sesashational Anna Ferris)
What we, bad, huffin' kitties that we are, gathered and mewing for your return is: Nathan, did you borrow a page from Cher's character and disappear to audition for the Ice Follies? Or, were you in L.A., ducking into Cedar's to deliver Dame Taylor a get well basket filled with cartons of her favorite cookies (mint milanos) and daytime activity (the entire Law & Order DVD collection)? And what do you think of the new WMA / Endeavor logo?
https://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/exclusive-heres-the-wme-logo/#comments
Christine H says
Hey Laurel,
I wasn’t looking for any kind of deal or commitment from an agent. Just an unbiased professional opinion as to whether the concept was worth developing at all, since eventually an agent will be the person to judge it. Of course my friends like it but, they’re my friends. I need someone with a professional eye to say whether it’s even remotely marketable or interesting. (i.e. worth my time.)
I’ve spent 2.5 years on it already, and it’s so far from what I want it to be, that I am getting to the point where I’m seriously thinking of giving it (and perhaps writing) up altogether.
Mira says
Chrisine, there are professional editors that you can hire to evaluate your manuscript.
I’d trust your friend’s opinions though. Self-doubt is something I think it’s important for writers, who are so frequently plagued by it, to ignore.
Anonymous says
Does anyone know if it’s important to personalize your query?
Do agents really care about that? Just wondering.
Patrick Rodgers says
Christine you got to write for yourself and because you want to write if you start just worrying about the money aspect of it all the joy will be leaked from it. If you love to write and you want to write then write and let everything else be icing on the cake.
I love to write and I started writing because I had stories in me I wanted to get out and that had been nagging me for over a decade. Would I like to be rich and famous from it, hell yea but that’s not why I started writing. If all you concentrate on is the money aspect then writing will just become another job, a chore a task and there will be no joy in it.
As far as self doubt goes I think all writers feel that. When I finished my manuscript I was on top of the world but as I edited it and spent more and more time on it the self doubt monsters begin to eat my soul. I really think it’s good but it’s so hard to not self doubt. I have let a few people read it and I got a response of engaging. That was like a white knight slaying a self doubt dragon for me. I always thought it was good but I was driving myself crazy.
Here is my advice just from a fellow writer take a sabbatical from your current project and write something else. After awhile you get so close to the project that you can no longer see the forest because of the trees. Then in 2 months or 6 months come back to the project and you will once again be able to see it with fresh eyes. Don’t think about the project, don’t touch it or read it for awhile.
I am taking a one month sabbatical from my manuscript and letting my wife help edit it and as of today I plan on not looking at or thinking about it for a month.
Mira says
Yes, Christine, I think there’s a reason that writers get a special term: writer’s block.
Even Stephen King says in his book ‘On Writing’ that he writes as quickly as possible to out-run the voices of doubt.
I suffer from terrible self-doubt, and have had writer’s blocks that lasted years, so I really identify.
And, now, I must go commit hari-kari for the sin of quoting Stephen King’s book “On Writing.” Oh God of Writers, forgive me my transgressions.
Mira says
Oh, Christine, I’m sorry you deleted that. I found your post to be moving.
Also, it makes it look like I’m talking to myself.
I’d never do that. How embarrassing.
Laura Martone says
Christine –
I know I’m not Nathan either… at least, I think I’m not. Maybe it’s like the 5th season of Buffy, when Glory and Ben shared the same body. I hope that makes me Ben, though – Nathan can be Glory.
Anyway, I digress… Christine, I hate to hear any writer say she’s going to throw in the towel – especially when it’s mostly due to money. I literally just had the same conversation with my very supportive hubby, who REFUSES to let me give up my goal/dream of being a published novelist… despite the fact that we’re VERY poor right now. This summer is the first that I haven’t had a writing gig (I write travel guides) – and the two film fests we run are struggling due to a lack of sponsors – but as Dan (my hubby) said, if I were to give up my goal of writing novels, it would make all the previous struggles so pointless. I have a novel right now that is WAY too long (although I did manage to edit it from 212k words to 194k, so it’s getting smaller…) – but I’ve put too much blood, sweat, tears, sleepless nights, etc., into it to give up now. And I’ve been working on it for nearly 9 years!
Believe me, I, too, would love to hire a professional editor – but, alas, my finances couldn’t handle it. So, as Mira suggested, rely on your friends’ advice – that’s what I do (I have some very critical pals, which helps), and it’s better than writing in a vacuum.
All my ramblings aside, listen to this, if nothing else: DO NOT GIVE UP! If writing is your passion, you will regret letting it go for the rest of your life. Just don’t rely on your writing to put food on the table. Do it because your heart calls for it – and perhaps the money will follow in the future. Good luck!
–Laura
Christine H says
Thanks for the encouragement, everyone! Sorry, Mira, I was afraid I was name-dropping, which is why I deleted the post.
I don’t suffer from writer’s block. I suffer from the opposite! I get so consumed with the novel that everything else around me goes to h*ll. So my husband basically threatened to leave me a couple of months ago, and I quit writing until I could get the demon under control. (I don’t blame him one bit for this – he was perfectly justified in being fed up.)
I have been “novel-free” for 55 days and counting. (Not including, of course, playing around at Mira’s site!) It’s amazing how much more I’m able to accomplish as a wife and mother when I’m not writing. So part of me is happy, and the other part, miserable.
My husband is now out of work for the forseeable future, and I’m trying to figure out if and how I should try to find a full-time job, which would mean giving up writing entirely for the duration. I currently teach part-time at a college, so my income comes in spurts, depending on whether they have any classes for me.
So I just basically dumped my whole life story here on the Internet! Nathan, please come back so I’ll shut up!
What I had said in the deleted post was that I *did* have a professional editor very kindly offer to look at my first chapter a couple of months ago, and he was very encouraging. I’ve just been so depressed I’d forgotten about it.
Patrick, I really appreciate your comments. I started this project just for fun, but as I went along I started meeting other writers and agents and editors online, and starting to think about the whole publishing angle. And now I have to justify what I’m doing as a potential source of real income to my spouse, as opposed to a selfish hobby. So that’s why I’m trying to really evaluate this. I’m not sure I have the luxury of being a part-time teacher and writer any more.
But perhaps things will change. Who knows! Anything can happen in this weird, wacky, wonderful world.
Laurel says
Christine,
What they said.
Mira says
Laurel, I meant to tell you. I thought what you said about time away from your husband as being ecstacy was hilarious.
And so true!
I love time alone – it’s delicious.
Elaine 'still writing' Smith says
My other half is in Cyprus (gotta love the International Curriculum – our school, one from Budapest and one in Cyprus are in cahoots – ensuring teachers are paid to visit each other’s schools – it’s a hard job but someone had to do it!
I’ve been able to do so much guilt-free writing – editing literally.
If I needed to prove the work-life-responsibilities balance I’d draw up a timetable – work, family, work, me times.
I think the idea of time off the ‘real’ book to do work on other projects is sound. I invested so much in Flower’s book that I had to shelve it – living her misery was seriously affecting the family – where fun in the weald Jess and Caleb was just as engaging but if I had to drop it to speak to the rest of my family I wasn’t either venting or wailing.
Thoughts about the Anti-god book – choose your God carefully – Salman hasn’t exactly got his life back and it has been a while now.
Aunty God, sitting on a soft, fluffy cloud with little white net curtains, peering out and tutting at us over her knitting?
Patrick Rodgers says
Christine I think you can still put in a full time job and writing as well if needs be. Just make a schedule and let hubby and everyone else know that between say 7pm and 8pm is Christine time for her writing. Find a nice quiet place, lock the door and lose yourself in the writing for an hour every night.
Everyone everywhere deserves and hour that is theirs to do the things they love. You might have to conquer your addictive side at first that wants to go over the allotted time but you can tell that part hey you get an hour tomorrow and the day after and the day after that.
Mira says
Unsupervised thread.
La di da di da
Unsupervised thread.
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee
La di da di da
You know, there’s only one day left of this precious un-supervised thread.
Although, like you Anon 9:59, I do miss Nathan very much, I don’t want to waste this opportunity.
So I was thinking of opening up a one-day mail order business here.
Or. I was thinking I’d do a sort of Twitter journal. Like, now I’m doing laundry. Now, I’m staring out the window. Now, I’m plucking my eyebrows.
Or. I could read out loud from my favorite books. So, I can share them.
“And then Freddy, the devout wealthy Catholic, raised the bloody axe above the impoverished 13 year old Islamic girl’s head. He was caucasion. She was not. This was after they had adulterous sex.”
Wouldn’t that be fun?
Is this site unsupervised?
But sadly, I have to leave and not do any of it.
I can only hope that one day, in a distant dream, there is another unsupervised thread I can dance the dance of freedom.
Mira says
Oh. I will do one thing before I go.
Here is a poem on writing I like. Especially the last line.:
For the young who want to
Talent is what they say
you have after the novel
is published and favorably
reviewed. Beforehand what
you have is a tedious
delusion, a hobby like knitting.
Work is what you have done
after the play is produced
and the audience claps.
Before that friends keep asking
when you are planning to go
out and get a job.
Genius is what they know you
had after the third volume
of remarkable poems. Earlier
they accuse you of withdrawing,
ask why you don’t have a baby,
call you a bum.
The reason people want M.F.A.’s,
take workshops with fancy names
when all you can really
learn is a few techniques,
typing instructions and some-
body else’s mannerisms
is that every artist lacks
a license to hang on the wall
like your optician, your vet
proving you may be a clumsy sadist
whose fillings fall into the stew
but you’re certified a dentist.
The real writer is one
who really writes. Talent
is an invention like phlogiston
after the fact of fire.
Work is its own cure. You have to
like it better than being loved.
Marge Piercy
Laura Martone says
Ooh, great poem, Mira! So true!
But I just have to ask… are you on something, and can I have some, too? You just seem too perky and quirky to be real.
Thanks for the fits and giggles!
–Laura
Jil says
Writing does not have to be at the computer; It can be when you’re walking the dog, sitting at Starbucks,listening to a boring lecture, teaching a class, reading the newspaper. Noticing the tilt of a stranger’s head, that odd limp, the anger in a mother’s eyes and the fear in her child’s. Odd ways of dressing and speaking. Everything can be used to build characters or situations, so each experience becomes food for your future work. Life makes you a better writer so go out and stop dwelling on being frustrated. Use what you have.
I had a friend who divorced her husband because he got in the way of her writing. On her own, she never wrote another word.
Marilyn Peake says
I need to catch up on reading the posts here. But, with the unsupervised free thread, I just wondered if anybody might be interested in participating in writing a round robin story in which each person adds the next part to the story, any and all genres included? Since I've been researching time travel for so long, I offer a fictional time travel episode, in case anyone wants to follow up. Here it is:
———–
Cassiopeia blazed upon the night sky, individual points of light zigzagging and ripping through the solid patch of night sky. Stars expanded, moved farther apart from others of their kind, exploded into dust cloud webs in fingers of blue, white, gold. Other stars imploded, sucking space-time with it, stealing light and sinking it within the mysterious swirling void of the black hole.
Chrononaut Samantha Nachman calmly observed the shifting of time, stilled by the little blue pills she had taken earlier. Ocean waves crashed upon the sandy shore. Like a warm blanket, eternity fell upon her shoulders and comforted her.
Jen C says
I went to see Star Trek on Saturday night – it was a 9pm show and we arrived at 8pm and it was already sold out! Bummer…
I was going to comment on other things in the unsupervised thread, but now I am in the comment box I can't remember what y'all were talking about… le sigh.
Christine H says
Jil, that whole "writing isn't just when you are at the computer" is a large part of my problem. As I stand in the middle of the kitchen watching the light play on the leaves of the tree outside, thinking about the landscape my characters are currently riding through, dinner burns, the dog pees on the carpet because I forgot to take him out, and the bills on my desk are one day closer to being late.
It's the "head in the fog" syndrome that I can't seem to shake, and which makes my long-suffering husband feel like a piece of furniture.
But, to quote Mr. Darcy "I must conquer this. I will!" (Colin Firth version.)
Thanks so much, everyone, for the encouragement. I know there is a middle ground somewhere, I just have to find it. Sorry for being the DW today. (Designated Whiner)
Marilyn Peake says
Patrick Rodgers said:
"I am taking a one month sabbatical from my manuscript and letting my wife help edit it and as of today I plan on not looking at or thinking about it for a month."
I’m taking a three-month summer sabbatical that will include both relaxation and adventurous travel. I was hesitant to take that long a break. But, wow, it’s been fantastic, very rejuvenating, and it’s only been a couple of weeks so far. I highly recommend it.
Christine H says
Jen, the movie is great!!! Not very faithful to the original show, but excellent anyway. They basically reinvented the franchise for a new generation.
Laura, I agree. Whatever Mira is on, I want some of that!
Elain, yes I have thought at CIC that Flower would be tough to write. I'm glad you have something else to work on. I know what you mean about tough characters or situations making you irritable.
Patrick, thank you for the suggestion. For some reason, whenever I schedule an hour to write, I end up either on Blogger or Facebook. As one of my friend puts it, "It's too bad our workstation is also our playstation."
Christine H says
P.S. I should explain that the reason I say that working full time would eliminate writing, is that not only would I have a long commute, but my professional career is so mentally demanding that I know I wouldn't have anything left over for writing. I have a young child now, too, which I didn't before, and that changes everything.
Christine H says
Okay, enough excuses! ;o)
Laurel says
Marilyn Peake:
The best time travel adaptation I have read in current publication was Mary Doria Russel's The Sparrow and Children of God. New concept, cool science, and interesting theological exploration. If you haven't had a chance yet I highly recommend you pick them up!
And Christine H: I do the exact same thing. The people in my head just won't shut up!
Marilyn Peake says
Laura,
Thank you so much for letting me know that you discovered one of my entries has been accepted for BOOK: THE SEQUEL! And how cool that I first found out about it on this blog. I can’t wait to find out if any more of my submissions have been accepted. It’s so cool that you submitted multiple entries! I submitted sequel first lines for:
THE PEARL by John Steinbeck
THE SCARLET LETTER by Nathaniel Hawthorne
MOBY DICK by Herman Melville
THE MAGIC TREE HOUSE Series by Mary Pope Osborne
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE by Maurice Sendak
THE GLASS BEAD GAME (or MAGISTER LUDI) by Hermann Hesse
STEPPENWOLF by Hermann Hesse
THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA by Ernest Hemingway
DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? by Philip K. Dick
THE ILLUSTRATED MAN by Ray Bradbury
Marilyn Peake says
Laurel,
Thanks for recommending another time travel book.
Thermocline says
Christine,
I feel for you. At the risk of repeating some of my post the other day, one of the little ways I sneak in time to write among days packed with a full time job, three year old, and a commute is to use a hand held mini-recorder. It allows me to use the rest of the ride after dropping my son off at pre-school or the last half of my lunch hour to write. Sure the editing still take a while, but I get to create during those times that might otherwise go to waste.
Don’t give up.