Writers' block is not a disease that I seem to succumb to. For me, writing has been like breathing--not a wholly conscious act--but something that my body does on its own. I'm not being metaphorical here. Even before I had the alphabet down, my mind thought in story-lines and images. Since childhood, falling asleep has been a chore: how to stop those "movies" in my head: how to slow down the plots and the sensory input?
As I've grown, I have questioned if I might be suffering from any of a number of diagnosable mental illnesses. However, two bouts of long term therapy and a plethora of psychologist and psychiatrist friends later, I find that that is not a valid answer. A few psychic acquaintences have also warned: 'Minns, you may, in your adult years, be accused of being crazy--rest assured--you are very sane--just 'different'... This was less helpful.
But, even as God sends angels to watch over the little children, I have been surrounded by other artists: dancers, filmmakers, painters, musicians--and of course--wordsmiths. I highly recommend finding one's "pack"--whether they be wolves or writers...
So, even as years have gone by without a major "publishing event"--the words have not dried up. The urge to put down my impressions of what was bubbling up around me hasn't lessened. The activity of the pen--now also the electronic keyboard--flourishes. (As Rita Schiano says: "Live a flourishing life!") However, a writer needs an audience. More than friends who are also struggling with putting down thoughts on paper (or in cyberspace), a writer needs readers--someone out there curled up on a lawnchair, on the beach, or in bed, with a flashlight!
Like Stephen King, I visualize my reader--see her/him scrinching their toes up in horror when I create monsters in the dark--or gasping at a particularly surprising ending. I need the "juice" of my audience, or I get parched. Other writers can offer some encouragement--or criticism--but they can't quench the thirst of being "unpublished". Luckily, I do publish smaller pieces--short stories and poetry--and of course, this blog. But it has been a long, long time since a novel of mine has hit Amazon squarely in the jaw.
On my hands, and newly revised, the most recent novel out of my brain. It is the story of a middle-aged academic on sabbatical--finding not only answers to her hysterical blindness--but also to cryptozoological questions that have plagued mankind for centuries. It takes place off the coast of Maine--on a tiny island. There are old people, young people, fishermen, cops, college students, college professors, witches, Indians, pirates, shipwrecks and huge howling storms rolling in...a village hiding a decades old mystery...murders and mayhem and voodoo aplenty...and of course: MONSTERS!
Personally, after four years of re-writing this opus, I'm finally pleased. It is a short, intense, scary novel--with some sex and drugs and violence, of course--but mostly, a scary story. Perfect for October reading. Perfect for beach-side getaways in summer, too. And though the main character might not be the person you imagine yourself to be, she is fiesty and funny and pretty and smart and worth following through her own adventures. So, what now?
I don't have an agent. I don't have a regular publishing house. The market has gone sour, along with all other markets around. But I do have this novel. It is ready to be read and ready to go out into the world, I think. I hope. (I pray.) I don't want to self-publish--though that is getting more and more respectable each passing day. However, all of my novels were sold and brought out by paying presses. I'd like to keep that impetus in my life. God knows, it isn't about the monies! It's just a bit of ego and vanity--perhaps all that I have left! Hah!
I have been "shopping it around"--but it is a hard book to pigeonhole--as have all my other novels. I don't fall into a specific genre. No niche has ever fit. (My teen vampire stories were way before their time--and that has always rubbed me wrong--as I was taken over the coals by everyone, except the critics who actually read the novels. Hmmm..."Twilight", you were nowhere near "the first".) I'm not tooting my horn, just making a point. So now, I'm looking for a press with somewhat Gothic sensibilities, open to characters on the fringe who don't usually populate your average cliff-hanger. I think the writing is thoughtful--which should appeal to women readers of a certain age, in particular (though not exclusively)--and to anyone who enjoys actual historical research into the cryptozoological realms incorporated into a riproaring good tale!
(Did I mention there is some sex, drugs and rock and roll? Yeah...well...I AM a writer of this century...) So, if there are any AGENTS, or friends of agents, or PUBLISHERS or friends of publishers, I am willing to cut a very cool deal. The novel isn't too long: about 270 pages. It moves quickly. It's intense and interesting and covers areas I haven't seen covered very much in contemporary fiction.
Contact me! karenminns@yahoo.com
This writer wants to boogie! (For reals!)
As I've grown, I have questioned if I might be suffering from any of a number of diagnosable mental illnesses. However, two bouts of long term therapy and a plethora of psychologist and psychiatrist friends later, I find that that is not a valid answer. A few psychic acquaintences have also warned: 'Minns, you may, in your adult years, be accused of being crazy--rest assured--you are very sane--just 'different'... This was less helpful.
But, even as God sends angels to watch over the little children, I have been surrounded by other artists: dancers, filmmakers, painters, musicians--and of course--wordsmiths. I highly recommend finding one's "pack"--whether they be wolves or writers...
So, even as years have gone by without a major "publishing event"--the words have not dried up. The urge to put down my impressions of what was bubbling up around me hasn't lessened. The activity of the pen--now also the electronic keyboard--flourishes. (As Rita Schiano says: "Live a flourishing life!") However, a writer needs an audience. More than friends who are also struggling with putting down thoughts on paper (or in cyberspace), a writer needs readers--someone out there curled up on a lawnchair, on the beach, or in bed, with a flashlight!
Like Stephen King, I visualize my reader--see her/him scrinching their toes up in horror when I create monsters in the dark--or gasping at a particularly surprising ending. I need the "juice" of my audience, or I get parched. Other writers can offer some encouragement--or criticism--but they can't quench the thirst of being "unpublished". Luckily, I do publish smaller pieces--short stories and poetry--and of course, this blog. But it has been a long, long time since a novel of mine has hit Amazon squarely in the jaw.
On my hands, and newly revised, the most recent novel out of my brain. It is the story of a middle-aged academic on sabbatical--finding not only answers to her hysterical blindness--but also to cryptozoological questions that have plagued mankind for centuries. It takes place off the coast of Maine--on a tiny island. There are old people, young people, fishermen, cops, college students, college professors, witches, Indians, pirates, shipwrecks and huge howling storms rolling in...a village hiding a decades old mystery...murders and mayhem and voodoo aplenty...and of course: MONSTERS!
Personally, after four years of re-writing this opus, I'm finally pleased. It is a short, intense, scary novel--with some sex and drugs and violence, of course--but mostly, a scary story. Perfect for October reading. Perfect for beach-side getaways in summer, too. And though the main character might not be the person you imagine yourself to be, she is fiesty and funny and pretty and smart and worth following through her own adventures. So, what now?
I don't have an agent. I don't have a regular publishing house. The market has gone sour, along with all other markets around. But I do have this novel. It is ready to be read and ready to go out into the world, I think. I hope. (I pray.) I don't want to self-publish--though that is getting more and more respectable each passing day. However, all of my novels were sold and brought out by paying presses. I'd like to keep that impetus in my life. God knows, it isn't about the monies! It's just a bit of ego and vanity--perhaps all that I have left! Hah!
I have been "shopping it around"--but it is a hard book to pigeonhole--as have all my other novels. I don't fall into a specific genre. No niche has ever fit. (My teen vampire stories were way before their time--and that has always rubbed me wrong--as I was taken over the coals by everyone, except the critics who actually read the novels. Hmmm..."Twilight", you were nowhere near "the first".) I'm not tooting my horn, just making a point. So now, I'm looking for a press with somewhat Gothic sensibilities, open to characters on the fringe who don't usually populate your average cliff-hanger. I think the writing is thoughtful--which should appeal to women readers of a certain age, in particular (though not exclusively)--and to anyone who enjoys actual historical research into the cryptozoological realms incorporated into a riproaring good tale!
(Did I mention there is some sex, drugs and rock and roll? Yeah...well...I AM a writer of this century...) So, if there are any AGENTS, or friends of agents, or PUBLISHERS or friends of publishers, I am willing to cut a very cool deal. The novel isn't too long: about 270 pages. It moves quickly. It's intense and interesting and covers areas I haven't seen covered very much in contemporary fiction.
Contact me! karenminns@yahoo.com
This writer wants to boogie! (For reals!)
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