With an unusually cold/longish winter and a painfully intrusive utilities project both dragging on, “other” work appears to be coming along nicely. By “other” I mean work unrelated to the writing of my second novel. Animation projects continue taking the bulk of my time, but I’ve managed to start putting together the foundations of a musical recording project that will occur concurrently with Title #2’s resumption. Like anyone else, there are brief moments for personal time. During a few of those last month, I finally read Stephen King’s part autobiography, part educational piece entitled On Writing.
I image most curious writers would make a study of Mr. King’s wise advice well before their own attempts at greatness (or in most cases, mediocrity). My own experience turned out to be somewhat retrospective having already completed and published Dust. To my relief, most of his teachings (he was, and in my opinion, still is, a grammar instructor) were followed and the holies of holies left intact. Okay, I didn’t follow every rule one of America’s most successful authors outlined, but hey—Mr. Predictable-F-bomb-on-every-fourth-page didn’t either! I’ll let some Sun Tzu 101 reject nitpick the reasons.
What I wanted to say about On Writing is that it’s a fascinating read with practical information for anyone pondering their first work. King’s history is enjoyably interesting and the information valuable. While the book could use a minor update with his thoughts on the current state of electronic publishing, most of the advice is timeless. I especially liked the fact he recommends Strunk and White’s Elements of Style as his single most important reference volume—a little book that’s had a permanent place just on the other side of my keyboard for several years now. (Honestly, I should have it all in memory by now!)
And now for something completely unexpected, but not terribly different: Dust is currently undergoing preparation for electronic distribution. That’s right; after several months hashing the ins and outs, I’ve come to the conclusion that e-distribution should be explored. Why? If you’ve read my ramblings on Facebook regarding this subject, you may be familiar with my apprehensions as well as the potential catalysts that would tip the scales. Back in September I mentioned Apple’s then-rumored iPad may bring e-book downloading into the mainstream the same way the iPod did for music. While I don’t think everyone will run out and buy yet another niche device, at the very least, Apple is validating the format and doing it in a way that is publisher-friendly.
What does this mean to you? Dust will be available electronically towards the end of this month and at a tidy discount! I expect to make that announcement soon, so stay tuned…
