The Crooked Knife is here!

 It is the monthly meeting of the Insecure  Writer's Support Group and I couldn't be happier to report in! 

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds!

Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. 

I'm excited to be able to talk about my triumph instead of my struggles today. Huzzah - the book is here! 

I went and got a box of them from my publicist on Monday and I've been floating on  a cloud of fluffy dream stuff ever since. Wednesdays is always the day that I meet with Gwen, my writing pal, and we write and drink coffee and walk the dog and eat lunch and talk. Today I will be working on quite a few launch details so that will be fun too. My plan is that my fella and I will drive to Labrador for the first launch early June and then to St. John's on the island (Newfoundland) for another one before heading home. It is a 5,000 kilometre road trip (over 3000 miles) so lots of planning to do. Then I'll do a launch in Halifax and some other ones in Nova Scotia (Chester, Lunenburg, Wolfville...). Boulder Books is a small publisher but they've given me lots of help - a publicist here and in Newfoundland.

But this is all just the gears going round in my head.

What I wanted to say about it for those of you insecure writers who have been slogging away without too much action for some time - don't give up. Keep on with your discipline. Passion (or intention) and discipline are the two virtues that will keep you developing your craft. Elizabeth George talks about the qualities needed to be published in her wonderful book Write Away. She says that a writer will be published if they possess three qualities - talent, passion and discipline.

They will probably be published if you possess two of the qualities as long as one of them is discipline. Discipline is key. Or as my Daddio called it Bum Glue. 

What I've learned about discipline is that it is full of joy. I did not know that at the beginning of this and other discipline practices I've employed. But creating a firm boundary - knowing that I chose to write - nobody gives a hoot if I do or don't - so that I can play safely within that boundary is a wonderful joyful exercise.

The other thing that kept me going with this project is that I believe in the story I told. I wanted other people to understand what I experienced working on a reserve in Labrador. I care about the kids of Sheshatshiu and know that this was one thing I could do to help bring light to the multiple obstacles they face day to day.

Guess that is the passion part. The talent part - meh! I do not recognize that.

So thanks for being here - it does make a difference to have this community.

Tell me what you do to celebrate a writing victory. Get a tattoo? Go out for dinner? Start another project?

The Crooked Knife

 I thought it might be fun and helpful for me to write down my impressions of this part of my writing journey. I have spent years writing posts that talk about trying to get here and it would be easy to dust off my hands as if to say this job is done. But it is not done. Like the fox in the I Ching hexagram 64 - Nearing Completion, I can see the shore, but if I am wise I will not rush this last part, or I risk misfortune. 

At first, however, one must move warily, like an old fox walking over ice. The caution of a fox walking over ice is proverbial in China. His ears are constantly alert to the cracking of the ice, as he carefully and circumspectly searches out the safest spots. A young fox who as yet has not acquired this caution goes ahead boldly, and it may happen that he falls in and gets his tail wet when he is almost across the water. Then of course his effort has been all in vain. Accordingly, in times "before completion," deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success.                                                         The Richard Wilhelm Translation

 

a fox I met in Labrador...

So where am I with The Crooked Knife? By the end of this month the editor will send the manuscript the two of us have been working on to the publisher. He may require another copyedit or he may give it the go ahead. This week is the final big push with the words on the page in other words. Then I have to let go of it. I thought I would be sick of the darned thing by now, but I am not. I am like the Golem holding on to the ring, muttering my precioussss.... 

Working with the editor provided by the publisher has been an extremely satisfying experience. She is young, very young, and very sharp. She gets the book and everything I want for it completely. I've always enjoyed the revision process but it is one I've usually done alone. Back a couple of years ago I decided that CK was worth investing in and I worked with another young woman, Kate Juniper from Juniper Editing and Creative. I hired Kate to do a comprehensive edit and an analysis of the project as a whole. This was a very scary step for me to do and it paid off tremendously - but more on that later.

So, next weekend, when the manuscript flies away - what then? I have already begun designing a launch campaign with the third young woman in this story, Willa Creighton. I've known Willa since her first breath and am very excited that she is joining me on this journey. She understands marketing, and as a creative herself (singer/songwriter) particularly in the arts scene.  We have designed a website which will be linked to this blog, and all my social media sites. 

I have renewed some professional memberships and joined some new ones. I have read extensively online to see what is done in this new world. My publisher, Boulder Books, is an independent book publishing company headquartered in Newfoundland and Labrador. I like that they are local (Atlantic provinces, Canada) and small. With the small comes close care but no big budgets for getting the word out. From what I read this is pretty normal even for the bigger publishers out there. I'm okay with this. I was in arts management many years ago and still know that if you want the word out, you better wear out your own shoe leather before expecting others to do the same.

We think the book will be ready to launch by June so have planned accordingly. I will do three launches - one in North West River, Labrador, where the book is set, one in St. John's, where the publisher is, and one in Halifax, my home town.  Before that we will do a social media campaign to encourage people to like my facebook page and preorder the book. We will also start putting feelers out for media possibilities. Writing about the North is of interest, also the fact that The Crooked Knife takes place on a reserve is a hook. The book involves several social issues that are of interest right now - environmental racism, the resource curse apparent in Labrador, and the one I wrote the book to highlight - the vulnerability of youth on reserves in Canada. My personal hook is that I'm 70 and am having my first book published. Ageism is a real issue in our world and the thing is that everyone who lives long enough will encounter it at two periods in their lives (or maybe more)!

So that is that for this post. There is so much more to talk about, but I fear wearing you and I both out so will stop here. 

If you have any questions about my publishing journey I would be happy to entertain them though to call me even a newbie is a bit grand!